CHAPTER 27 - "ENEMY AT THE GATES PART 2"
William T. Spears, Head of Reaper Affairs, was displeased. Reaper policy stated under no circumstances were employees to get involved in human affairs, even if it concerned human's possessed by Fallen Reapers. But Grell Sutcliff and Ronald Knox were blatantly choosing to defy a direct order from a superior.
Him!
Spears stood in a darkened room looking at the scene that was taking place in the human world through what was called a "Looking Glass Receptacle Ball" or the LGRB or the ball, for short. It was a large spherical crystal device attuned to mental waves situated on a solid stand. Whatever the user wished to see, it was shown, and he often used it to view the happenings of his fellow Reapers while on missions.
Suffice it to all, he was always watching. He was the so-called omni-pseudo Reaper that seemed to know everything that was going on, everywhere at anytime. But, it was his job to know.
Standing poised and calm, watching events taking place at the Phantomhive mansion, his eye-in-the-sky view encompassed all visual aspects of the battle between a demon and a grotesque Fallen Reaper mutation, birthed by dark energy from a piece of a cursed piece of human jewelry known as the Hope Diamond.
He was disgruntled that he - of all Reapers - was at a loss on the complete story of this powerful blue gem that was fueled by a "spiritual" power that not even he could explain, however supernatural in making. And it had made a very powerful Fallen Reaper even more dangerous, along with his companions.
Spears knew each of the Fallen Reapers histories and all three of them were a disgrace to the profession. Their crimes were the talk of educational lectures and schooling topics of what "not to do" if you wanted to be a Reaper. They had spent centuries floating aimlessly without mass, it had been their punishment. However two years prior - and he had kept watch of them since then - they had learned to possess human beings, which was a Reaper trait frowned upon, and now they demanded their "original bodies" back, which strangely were to be found in the unconscious mind of Lukas Phantomhive…?
Humans possessed three forms of thought: the conscious mind which allowed humans to be fully aware of their thoughts and actions, the subconscious mind, which was the subterranean level of the conscious mind where humans dreamed, and the unconscious mind, where humans were completely unaware of certain things that had had happened to them or involved them and were completely suppressed from them.
There are two levels to this: First, on a conscious level, where something causes a human such devastating mental anguish that the brain suppresses any remembrance of it; or second, on an unconscious level, where something has happened to the human and they are completely unaware something has happened, or existed, and it has been purposely suppressed from them by an outside force.
This was the case of Lukas Phantomhive and his memory loss, given to him to hide something from him.
But that was in regards to his memory suppression. When it came to having or the belief that he had the knowledge of the "images" of these Fallen Reapers original bodies, Spears was again at a loss. Again, he disliked not knowing the whole story. Which begged a question: Why only Lukas? Why weren't the Fallen Reapers also after Ciel Phantomhive since they were twin brothers?
Perhaps Mathu Kelvin explained it best: "Transference".
And it may be the reason why at some point in the past seven years, Lukas Phantomhive had come in contract with someone else who had had this knowledge and it was transferred to him by way of chemical transference, through sweat glands or another form of means, and the Fallen Reapers had somehow come across this information that Lukas was now in possession of it and he poised an easy target to acquire it. The human called Bryon Kelvin, Spears thought, or someone who had been associated with or had come in contact with him, then passed this knowledge onto Lukas Phantomhive at some point…?
However, it was mere conjecture. Millions of humans come in contact with millions more over their live times, it would be near impossible if not improbable for him to exactly pin point whom the originator of the knowledge had been in the ten thousand years since the Reapers had fallen, and who had had images of their original bodies to begin with. Or, it could have been Vincent Phantomhive, the boy's father along, and the knowledge was given inclusively to Lukas alone…?
But that only pressed more questions. How did the Fallen Reapers find out about their bodies thousands of years later? Unless, and Spears shuttered at the thought, that that there were indeed sympathizers among other Reapers for the Fallen which were rumored to be. And he so loathed the thought of traitors in his midst. He had suspected something of the sort for years, but these traitors were well hidden, masking themselves among the elite, the only Reapers elevated enough to know of these particular Fallen Reapers from history past. They would need to be weeded out and he silently vowed he would.
Another Reaper stepped to his left side to observe the ball.
Spears didn't need to avert his gaze to know who it was, he knew this Reaper by his spiritual aura quite well. The Reaper emanated a very powerful aura, as one of the elite. In the human world, in the city that was London, England, he was also well known, but for an equally important to them, if not a lesser profession of the same stature. There he was known for his non de plume "The Undertaker", here, his name was Salem.
"You have some explaining to do, Salem," William worded, with a seriousness that he was renown for.
"As I said to your subordinates in my shop, William, it was my prerogative to reveal the true nature of the situation to the lad of whom he would be facing and who wronged him; preparation is also paramount to survival," the Reaper said in his crackity voice, as he watched the events in the ball. "But they do look like they are having a hard time with these Reapers, even the demon."
William fixed his glasses, slipping them back to the bridge of his nose. "Indeed. Ciel Phantomhive, Lukas Phantomhive, and the demon, are against insurmountable odds even with your help." He then turned to Salem. "But where did you acquire that Triad? I was given to assurances that all of them, save four - the four these Fallen Reapers acquired somewhere - were accounted for by Inventory? Which means the count inputted into the records is wrong and it so displeases me when things go missing."
Salem grinned. "Then I suppose a more thorough inventory is in order, William." He chuckled.
William didn't laugh. Regardless of the missing items, Salem did have authority to take any items from inventory when needed. The fact that he had not recorded a fifth Triad had been taken and was missing stuck in William's craw. Without order there would be chaos. And since he had taken over as Head of Reaper Affairs, there had been unprecedented order. And the fact that Salem was also Book Keeper as well as Head of the Hall of Records also unnerved him. What else under his watch was out of order?
In fact, it fit the Reaper's personality and catered to his interest why Salem spent so much time in the human world. The human world to some was exciting because it was disorderly and unpredictable, and this was what obviously fascinated those who had fallen, who had tried to enjoy its pleasures. Repetitiveness was boring, which was the Reaper way. But repetitiveness was order.
Spears had never known a more odd Reaper than Salem, and he wished he never had. "You are utterly fascinated with these creatures, aren't you?" he said, turning back to the ball.
"What's not to be fascinated with? Their unpredictable nature, their illicit behaviors, their uncompromising personalities, or their fragile, emotional nature? All are equally intriguing. I thrive on learning about the psychology of other beings, it helps me understand them better. I enjoy talking with them, to dwell deep into their minds, to learn how them think - and each human and creature is different. None are alike."
William didn't say a word, merely listened. Salem continued. "Take Ciel and Lukas Phantomhive, for instance. They are twins, but they have contrasting personalities, and yet, when they are suddenly free of the demon's covenant, they chose to become imprisoned once more, agreeing like one mind. And they are willing to accept the consequences knowing what it will wrought. Which is ironic, because despite the notion of freedom, no human is truly free; they are subjected to their emotions, enslaved by their wills and ambitions, and those whom they associate with, until the very idea of freedom is merely a word of insignificance and unwanting. They need to feel longing with others, trapped in their 'safe circles of friends', much like the Inner Circle were. And like it or not, these boys need this demon right now."
William nodded slowly. "Grell and Knox are interfering, this is not allowed."
"Let them interfere," Salem said, "they'll do you a favor, or am I assuming too much?" William was straight-faced. "You staged this whole thing from the beginning, William. From the Phantomhive brother's hardships…all the way to their encounter with the Fallen Reapers, carefully crafting things to your wanting, and other things just happened to fall into place without your interference. And now you're betting on a demon to finish the endgame for you, because you failed to capture the Reapers accordingly. After they possessed human hosts, you lost them, and I know you. It irks you when things are don't go to order. They knew how to elude your detection with those Triads, which someone up here gave them."
William remained focused on the LG ball, still straight-faced, but his eye twitched momentarily. Whether Salem was accusing him of some devious act just to find these Fallen Reapers or was just "talking", he didn't like the implications. But said nothing of it in return.
"I received permission," was all he said. "I do not regret the consequences. And Lukas Phantomhive was an acceptable risk, and it appears the efforts have paid off."
"At what cost?" Selam's voice elevated, almost angry. "It cost Lukas seven years of his life, seven years apart from his brother. And what do you say about Bryon Kelvin's crimes against the Phantomhive's?"
"Acceptable losses," William said.
"Even the kid's parents? This was all to redeem yourself. These Fallen Reapers were under your watch. The human's have a saying: 'Every action has an equal and opposite reaction'."
"I had no part in the boys' parents' deaths," William stated flatly. "It was - "
"It doesn't matter who it was, now. What matters is this whole "issue" was brought about by your over-analytical approach to order. You felt embarrassed that you lost track of these Fallen and the High Council - those who oversee that policy is enforced and who rule over all important sociological issues concerning Reaperdem - were starting to blame you for all the trouble it caused, including whispers of sympathizers that friends were being accused of transgressions because they did not fit your "ideal" of Reaper order. These three Fallen Reapers are the only criminals that have eluded your watch. You always pride yourself in keeping track of every important thing, even the spiritual energy of the Fallen. And through logic and cunning, you formulated a method to capture them, receiving permission from the High Council, even if it meant 'acceptable losses'." What did it matter if you destroyed human lives in the process?"
William gave Salem a hard stare. "May I remind you that all this is confidential. If you speak of it to anyone, you will be in breach of confidentially and will be stripped of your Reaper license and will no longer be able to visit the humans whom you find so fascinating, despite you being one of the elite. With all due respect, sir, I don't care if you outrank me. I am Head of Reaper Affairs, appointed by the council."
Salem nodded slowly. "Indeed. And the High Council knows best," he said, bordering on cynicism. "It is a said situation," he further said, as he watched the ball with William," that the boys will never know the whole truth. Perhaps it's true what some humans are saying: that fate is not in your hands and that a higher power is actually dancing you with strings like a marionette."
From a certain point of view, William agreed with that.
Spears continued to watch the ball and wondered who would win this battle. The fate of all Reaper kind was with Sebastian Michaelis and these two small boys. If the Fallen Reapers won, their sympathizers would rise up and start a civil war. It was not looking good, and with this monster Ironstadt using the power of the dark energy of the Hope Diamond to fuel his own inner darkness, he was secretly worried.
He gave Salem a sideways glance and the Reaper was grinning at him. He would never say it out loud, and if anyone knew what he was thinking it would destroy his reputation, but for the sake of all Reaper kind, he secretly hoped for the demon to win.
Holding the horse reigns, Tanaka mused, as he sat on the upper seat, leading the carriage with the other servants in the main cabin across town. Sebastian had sent them all on an errand to collect items for a rock garden Master Ciel wanted, Sebastian had said, suddenly deciding to build one in the front courtyard.
It took Finny two days straight working day and night to fill in a perfect large square of tiny white stones, and Sebastian said it had to be to his exact size dimensions. Finny was happy to do it because he enjoyed working outdoors and the temperature was warm and the atmosphere serene, the grounds lit by moonlight. However, Finny was now dead tired sleeping in the main cabin.
I am old, but I am no fool, he thought to himself. He didn't express his theory to the others, but he had reason to believe that they had all been sent away purposely and not to look for items for the rock garden. What the true reason was he was unsure, but Sebastian was the only one overseeing the children at present, and in case of another surprise attack on the mansion, he was the only defending it and the boys, especially from Lukas's enemies.
Sebastian Michaelis, the man who had seemingly come from no-where, was next to masterful in everything he did, and his resume was extensive, butlering for some of the most posh families in England, while still very young. With the amount of experience under his belt, someone of his stature should have been working for the Queen. But Sebastian made the perfect compliment to Master Ciel after his parents' deaths. And Ciel had depended on him for most everything. But there was a drawback, and over the last two years, Ciel had hardened his emotions to the world, and it turned him from a once happy, smiling, shy kid, into an arrogant, unsmiling, but well business-conscious young man. Tanaka knew an uncaring world would do that.
But just recently with the reappearance of his twin, Lukas had started to bring out a side of Ciel that Tanaka had not seen in years. Ciel didn't show many "positive" emotions, but Lukas was unknowingly adding tiny hairline fractures to Ciel's apparently hardboiled shell that he had unconsciously encased himself in when he returned from being tortured and almost killed by the Inner Circle during some sort of sacrificial sermon; the full details of how Ciel escaped he never fully revealed. Tanaka figured it was a difficult subject and the young master didn't want to recall it and tried to shove it down into the deepest fathoms of his mind.
Despite everything he had been through, Lukas was the polar opposite of Ciel in way of personality. But he was also very opinioned and stubborn, much like his father at times. But something happened during the seven years while he was apart from Ciel that made Lukas felt that independency and self-reliance was very important, and he often argued the point to Ciel, that he shouldn't rely on Sebastian for everything.
Ciel just waved him off, and it often ended in a heated argument with Lukas storming off. While Tanaka was glad the boy had strong opinions, he had a short-fuse and was very argumentative, something his father did not possess. He must have picked it from somewhere or someone else, Tanaka theorized.
Lukas had not fully revealed everything from the past seven years to his brother despite having his amnesia lifted with a visit to the Undertaker, whom he said, helped him look deep inside himself through some sort of aroma and incense therapy, to help bring his buried, forgotten unconscious-self to the surface. It was said that certain sounds, sights and smells can trigger memories to resurface. Whatever Salem did, he'd have to thank his friend, and once confidant as member of Vincent Phantomhive's secret sect of aristocrats, for his efforts in bringing back Lukas, the young boy, Tanaka had once known, back home.
The grotesque monster called Ironstadt - a fusion of both twin bodies of Sasha and Samuel, mutated horribly into a single, massive, muscular creature - towered above Sebastian, grinning innately.
Ironstadt slammed his right leg to the ground, quaking the ground beneath Sebastian and the boy's feet. It took all their balance just to stay up right. Ciel and Lukas Phantomhive stayed close to the mansion and let Sebastian handle Ironstadt; there was very little they could do. But they did stand at the ready with now loaded pistols in hand. Ciel wished he had his six-shooter that he had taken with him when he was confronting Jack the Ripper, but it was in need of a repair; the rotator cuff was jammed and would not work.
The stomp had been a fear tactic and Ironstadt thrived on the fear of others. The names of his hosts were notorious throughout the underground as serial killers and they had no allegiance to anyone. Whoever could afford their services, they went with. And that been the beauty of them. They had their enemies, but none had the guts or the want to infuriate their wrath because they would end up dead. And this fueled Ironstadt now. Sebastian Michaelis had defeated them at the mansion, days prior, and their collective anger from that defeat enraged Ironstadt, and with the dark energy from the shard of the Hope Diamond and his regenerative powers in being a former Reaper, his invisibility was assured.
Ironstadt swung a massive closed fist at Sebastian, but the demon easily leapt away. The other arm came swinging from the opposite direction and Sebastian avoided that as well with ease. The monster lumbered, quaking the ground as he tried to follow Sebastian, but there was an obvious disadvantage to Ironstadt's size. Despite being big, he was slow to react.
Sebastian took this into consideration and ventured out in the front monster. Ironstadt tried to grab him with both hands, but Sebastian slipped beneath the monster's legs and came up behind him. Then with a swift, hard kick to his rear, Ironstadt fell to his hands and knees; the ground shaking with the heavy impact. Ironstadt rose to his feet once more, and Sebastian slipped around the monster again and repeated the kick, and Ironstadt once again dropped heavily to the ground.
Sebastian tisked, and dusted dirt off jacket with his gloves that had been kicked up from the fight. He looked back at Ironstadt, facing the monster's massive rear. "Not a pleasant sight, I do say."
Ironstadt roared angrily and stood back up. The monster repeated his previous two attempts to attack Sebastian, and with an elegant cartwheel, Sebastian again moved out of the way of Ironstadt's reach, came around the monster this time, and kicked him a third time in the rear. Ironstadt went down again.
Sebastian sighed. "This is getting tedious," he said. Then looked at Mathu Kelvin who was scowling, watching his brother being treated like some sort of bumbling fool. "Your monster is too slow. It's so hard to find an intelligent monster these days," barbing Ironstadt, dusting off his gloves.
"Sebastian! Stand back!" Ciel demanded, as Ironstadt once again got to his feet. Both he and Lukas aimed their pistols at the monster. A momentary reprieve had come about hitting the creature before, but Sebastian knew due to Ironstadt's regenerative abilities firing at him would be serve no avail.
Ironstadt turned to the boys.
"My lord's, it will be of no -" Sebastian tried to cease them, but Ironstadt stomped a leg to the ground and the impact shook the entire area, forcing both Ciel and Lukas off balance.
Ciel's shot went wide, completely missing Ironstadt.
Lukas hadn't fired, but he did drop to his knees with his pistol still in hand. He took aim at Ironstadt the instant his balance was restored, and - Ironstadt took two steps forward and the direction of Lukas's shot suddenly changed, but it was too late - fired!
Ironstadt froze in his tracks, and the monster's mouth opened in what could only be described as a silent scream, then a low painful groin could be heard, as Lukas's shot had indeed hit the mark, and below the belt - way below the belt. And with a creature that size, it only stood to reason, that everything was equally large. And Ironstadt had moved into the shot unknowingly for Lukas to hit that very spot.
"Oh my," Sebastian voiced, slightly amused and embarrassed for the monster, as Ironstadt instinctively reached down and cupped the area where he had been shot. He may be able to regenerate the area, but the initial pain would stand.
"Sebastian! Just don't stand there! Annihilate him while he's distracted!" Lukas ordered.
Not one to disobey an order, Sebastian nodded. "Of course, my lord," feeling confident. And leapt onto Ironstadt's shoulders, as the pain of the pistol shot still resounded and distracted the monster.
Sebastian situated himself behind Ironstadt's head, removed his gloves, revealing the covenants on the back of each hand, and his sharp, black finger nails, and dug his fingers deep into the sides of Ironstadt's neck. Using his demonic strength with vicious intention, he ripped the monster's head off its shoulders with bloody tendons attached. Blood gusted like a geyser from the massive opened wound, spilling out over the rest of the monster's body, and Sebastian leapt off with head in hand.
He landed safely, and as if speaking jocularly towards Mathu Kelvin, lifting the head in the air, mimicking a an African tribesman who had just cut off the head of a rival warrior, he said, "Heads - I win!"
"Not so fast, Michaelis!" Mathu said with a sinister smile. "Have you forgotten something?"
"If you are referring to your monster's ability to regenerate -"
But Sebastian never got to finish his sentence as two serpent heads suddenly sprang up out of the hole where Ironstadt's head at been with their widen cobra hoods extended and their fangs posed to attack - for which they instantaneously began to attack him with vicious ferocity. Unlike the body of Ironstadt, these heads attacked him with the collective swiftness of one of their snake-like brethren, snapping their jaws and spiting venom.
Sebastian moved quickly, avoiding an attack on two fronts, and the acidic venom that sizzled when it landed on the ground.
He ordered the boys to run away, even though they normally gave the orders to him, but their self-preservation instinct kicked-in, and they did so without hesitation, escaping closer to the mansion, knowing full-well that they would be unable to help the demon against such a inhuman, malevolent creature.
In an effort to distract the creature, or at least one head, so he could attack and attempt to immobile the other, Sebastian threw Ironstadt's head back at one of the snapping cobra heads. The left cobra head snatched it out of the head, and in a surprise move, swallowed it. And suddenly a third head sprang up, and there was now a trio of vicious, snapping cobra heads, all poised for his destruction.
They attacked, snapping at him, spitting venom, and he weaved, bobbed, sidestepped, and leapt in every direction, in an attempt to avoid each venue of their three prong attack.
And that's when it happened.
In focusing on the heads exclusively, he had forgotten about the monster's two massive arms, and he was snatched by the left in mid-air as he made a leapt backwards to avoid the spitting venom of a cobra head. It snapped shut around his body and began to squeeze him tight.
Sebastian attempted to pull the massive hand apart with his arms, but Ironstadt was unexpectedly very strong and the effort was of no avail.
"It appears I may have made a fatal error," he said.
Ironstadt then turned Sebastian sideways and grabbed his feet with his other hand, stretching him across like a piece of corn on the cob exposing his torso while clutching his upper and lower body so the demon could not get escape. And then, much like eating a piece of corn, the three heads ravaged Sebastian, ripping him to shards, eating every morsel, and swallowing him whole without a trace left.
"BASSIE!" Grell Sutcliff screamed, and defying orders, leapt towards Ironstadt with his Deathscythe in hand. They were a small pair of scissors that Will, his superior, gave him to replace his one-of-kind built death tool that showed no adverse of malice. It was only part of a punishment that Grell received for his role in the Jack the Ripper case. That, and probation, because he was still a very good Reaper.
Ronald Knox, the second Reaper in attendance, shouted protest - but it fell on deaf ears.
Notwithstanding Grell's charge into battle and bloodlust to injure, maim or kill Ironstradt, the monster paid Grell little interest in his attack and merely swatted the Reaper out of the air like a insignificant black-fly with the back of a massive hand, sending Grell soaring at the speed of a comet into an abandoned near-by field.
"Grell!" Knox shouted, seeing a plume of dirt and flora/fauna, even trees, erupt into the air from the Reaper's landing, and then landing back down with thunderous impact. The Reaper was typically a laidback guy, but Knox was not going to let this stand. "Hell! I know I'm gonna regret this!" He "willed" his own personal Deathscythe into existence that he could summon mentally whenever he needed it.
Like Grell's pervious Deathscythe, Knox's was a unique, one-of-a-kind, custom-made "death weapon" and it did not have conventional blade at the end of a long staff like most beginner Reapers normally use. His Deathscythe was bred for devastation and mowed down any enemy it faced. Any enemy he normally faced were typically those spirits that didn't want to "move-on", who were defiant and clung to their human existence, but they were nothing like this guy!
This was new.
He had never encountered anything of this calibre before, and something still living, that had such a powerful dark aura that suffocated anything or anyone susceptible to it. The moment Knox had felt Ironstadt's true power he got a massive chill down his spine.
This is no time to be afraid, he told himself, and gripped the handles of his Deathscythe, and switched it on. It erupted sound with a thunderous roar as he turned the multi-level speed reading up to its highest. He pressed forward and leapt through the air onto the giant back of Ironstadt and began to sear skin and tissue off, spilling blood and gore into the air, dropping it, as the multi-purpose, rotating blades within his Deathscthye's housing, ripped the monster's back to shreds with intended wrath and discourse.
He leapt off as Ironstadt roared with incisive pain as pieces of muscle tissue fell off and blood spewed out from its massive body. But Knox knew the monster would soon regenerate itself. And he'd just have to continue his attack and hopefully rip apart Ironstadt enough that there would be nothing left of Ironstadt to regenerate himself with.
"Man, I just know I'm gonna get fired for this," he said, knowing he was blatantly defying Will's orders.
And then revved up his Deathscythe for another attack.
To be continued…