A/N: HEY GUYS! So, I decided to look over one more chapter before bed. Figured I'll look this over before tomorrow, since I have some time to.

This is the beginning of a 'new arc', and if you don't figure it out by the end of this chapter… then you have my dearest sympathies.

Anyways, I hope you guys ENJOY this story, so far. I've been enjoying other people's stories in the Black Butler fandom… though I wish there was more. At least about Undertaker… or the reapers in general. Oh well. I get when a person has writer's block or stops writing their story entirely. Just stare at the buttload of stories I've begun, posted, but never finished… Honestly, I don't even know if I ever will get back to those stories. Coming up with new material is fun, for me. But, I thought about deleting them… but I don't think I will. Just in case there are people out there who like to reread fanfic stories.

Oh, and if anyone cares, I do have a question for you guys:

If I do write 'lemons' into this story, would you guys enjoy that sort of stuff or not? Trust me, I'll be writing blood and gore. That's kind of my thing, once I get into it, but sex?... I can do it, and sometimes I'm in a mood to write smut, but I don't know. For me, it can be hard a times to get in a mood where everything just works. So, would you like it if I write some lemons into this story, and change the rating to a 'M', or just write some simple romance, without all that stuff?

I will have you know that sort of stuff won't be happening till past the 30th chapter, but if you guys say 'yes' now, then I'll start writing it. If not, then it may never happen… I don't know. It's just a thought I've had, for a while now, and it'd be a while till we get to all that smut, but I may enjoy writing it? But I would like your opinions cause I don't know if I could be offending someone or maybe they're a young reader… up to you guys.

Well, for the most part. It's still my decision, after all.

But I may go the route of slow romance, and while I wouldn't mind doing that… meh. It can get boring, fast, so some COMMENTS would be great.

Or not. Whatever. No one has actually commented on this story, but it may be because I keep posting chapters, without any real breaks. Anyways, I think that's just about what I wanted to say. I hope you guys ENJOY your weekend, and see you later!

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !

You couldn't stop yourself as you sat on the edge of your seat, staring out the window as you watched the trees drift by as the carriage rolled along. All the while, you could hear Undertaker snickering at you, trying to contain his laughter, until you looked at him with bright, excited blue eyes. "I'm so excited!"

"I can tell, my lady," he giggled to himself, his hand up against his lips as he tried to stop himself from laughing, but you grinned in response and returned to your perch right by the window. "… You can settle down, my Clara. The Phantomhive mansion is the same as it's always been –"

"For you, maybe. For me, I only saw this place once, and it was in ruins. Sure I owned the land, but that doesn't mean I could live there. The pipes were messed up, no running water, and only two bedrooms. How could I not be excited?" you grinned over at him before you turned back to the window, watching the scenery go by as the driver rode the carriage through the countryside.

Only one and a half hours away by car, but more then three hours away from London, by carriage. No wonder your family had a townhouse in London that your mother sold, for some easy money, but the manor has always been in the family. Always. Perhaps it was sentimental… maybe just an ideal plot of land… honestly, you don't know why. You just know that it was a terrible dump the first and last time you saw it.

Like when you found that plot of land your uncle had owned in the Rocky Mountains, only to learn it was an old miner's strip of land and had no real value. It was an interesting discovery, but that doesn't mean you'd ever live here.

Ever.

"So… what happened, then?" you heard Undertaker ask as you gave you a curious look, but he simply grinned at you, apparently having calmed down from his laughing fit, but as you looked back to the window he sighed lightly to himself. "I'm simply curious, child."

"Curiosity killed the cat~" you told him with a light snicker, before your snickering died down and you sighed lightly, to yourself. "… Telling you would reveal a lot of history… and I don't think I should do that. I wouldn't want to change worldwide events," you decided to say, causing the man to pause, before he smirked and leaned against the side of the carriage, looking at you with an intent gaze behind his silver bangs.

"Well~… if I promise not to try to change said events, will you tell me?" he began, your head glancing over at him, before you turned away and shrugged your shoulders.

"I'll agree, only if you tell me one thing," you began, but before he could ask you pointed to his belt, "those medallions you keep around your waist. I've been wondering, what are they?"

Noticing the confused look on your face, he simply smirked, knowing to himself that this conversation will not die down until the two of you made it to the mansion. "These, my dear," he began, unclipping his belt in a casual manner and gently caressing the shimmery items through his fingers, "are called mourning jewelry."

"… What makes them mournful?" you responded, causing the man to snicker at you, but you simply gave him a confused look, leaning forward in your seat, but this time towards the jewelry instead of gazing out the window.

"A person takes a piece of their deceased loved one, a strand of hair or perhaps clothing, or even pieces of their ashes, and makes jewelry out of them… Do you not know of this practice?" he questioned you, but you shrugged your shoulders before suddenly standing out of your seat, only to sit right next to him to get a closer look at his jewelry.

Which startled him at your swiftness, but other then that he tried not to show his cautiousness.

"So, like, when people take pieces of clothe or bone from a saint? Kind of like that?" you asked, causing the man to smirk deviously at your question.

"You could say that."

"Hmm… I mean, I think I get the point. There are people in my time that kept their loved one's ashes, sometimes putting them into a ring or a tiny piece of jewelry, but after some point it was just too expensive to do, and there was an apocalypse, mind you. No one had time to do that," you explained, causing the man to sigh lightly to himself.

"Yes, very true –"

"But why does a mortician have jewelry? Did you make this?" you had to ask, your hands reaching up to touch the items, but you pouted as he moved his belt away from you, closer to his spot in the carriage as you huffed in response. "I-I won't damage it! I just want to touch."

"Yes… perhaps you wish to, but you shouldn't if you can read cinematic records," he stated, simply, causing you to pause for a moment before you began to pout at him.

"Did you steal memories from the Grand Library?" you had to ask, a suspicious gleam in your eyes as he glanced away and let a huff leave his breath.

"Why do you ask so many questions?" he scoffed, but you rolled your eyes, slumping back into your seat as you crossed your arms over your chest and let out an annoyed huff. The two of you sat that way for a while, Undertaker wishing that this carriage driver would move a bit faster, while you were honestly annoyed with his roundabout questions, until he sighed, breaking the simmering silence, before his gaze turned back to his jewelry, his finger running over one in particular. "… These are… beings that have passed on, and I wished to keep a part of them with me. These are my treasures," he stated, causing you to pause before you turned back to him and gave him a curious look.

"So… did you make these yourself?" you asked, again, this time causing the man to give you an intrigued look, before he smirked, chuckling to himself as he gazed at his jewelry with longing.

"Yes. Before mourning jewelry became fashionable amongst the humans. Before I left the association."

"… Oh. So, this is a hobby of yours? Jewelry making?" you asked once more, the man realizing this conversation was going off into a completely different direction then he assumed, and he gave you a keen smirk.

"Yes~~. At least, when it comes to jewelry such as this," he explained, sighing lightly while you gave him an intrigued look in return.

"Maybe you can make something for me?" you decided to say, calmly sitting back into the carriage seat as the man cast you a glance, before smirking and nodding his head to himself.

"Perhaps one day, child –"

"I mean, if you like making jewelry, I could tell you what I've seen with mourning jewelry. I think the coolest one I heard about is using ashes to create a diamond, and then making a ring out of it… but I don't think the equipment that exists in this day and age can actually do that. Maybe wait until the 20th century? Maybe by then the reapers will have something worthwhile," you decided to say before glancing back at him and giving him a curious look. "… No need to be so defensive. I was just wondering. I see you wear that belt around your waist all the time, and just now I realized that cannot be too normal."

"Pah! I suppose," he giggled to himself, pausing before sighing once more before turning to you and giving you a devious smirk. "Sooo~… about the mansion?"

"Oh. Right. I forgot," you honestly replied, causing another giggle to leave his breath, but slowly his laughter stopped as you jumped back over to your side of the carriage, sitting down contently into the padded seat before sighing to yourself, your gaze looking back out the window.

It took you a moment to process your thoughts, decide what was truly important to say and what wasn't, before you looked back to the Undertaker and gave him a light smile. "To put this into context, soon enough the world will erupt into wars, which the humans will call 'world wars'. It'll encompass all of Europe, parts of Africa and Asia, and the Americas… not so much, unless you count Cuba and the Untied States," you began, your eyes looking a tad tired as you thought over history, but you continued with a sigh leaving your breath. "So, during the 2nd world war, when things really got crazy, let's just say Germany had conquered a lot of territory, but were stopped by the Brits at the edge of France. So, the Germans were bombarding the Brits with bombs they drop down from the sky, with airplanes. I don't think you know what that is, but an airplane is a manmade metal contraption that can lift up into the air, and hold a bunch of people.

"But during that time, my family was already having mixed feelings with their position as the royal watchdog. Most of the time, they were not home. They were off in different countries, acting more like spies then they did as British citizens. They were getting tired, and the final straw was…

"During the German bombardments on British soil, a bomb struck very close to the mansion. Right smack dab on the soil that we owned. A third of the manor had blown up, and a few servants died in the process. The earl's mum, at the time, was visiting the family, but she died, and he lost his wife and one of his children. The rest had been in the basement, as they should have been. They had converted the wine cellar into a fallout shelter, of sorts, but I believe the story goes the wife was trying to bring the mother down into the basement? And then they were killed? Something like that," you told him with a shrug, before sighing to yourself.

"So, the Earl Phantomhive had enough. Right after the funerals, in the span of about five days, he relocated the rest of his family out of England, into America, and pretended to be refugees. It wasn't until my mother that they began to use the surname of Phantomhive, but for the longest time we called ourselves by different surnames… and after a while the name was forgotten," you told him, smiling meekly at the rather emotionless, but thoughtful look on Undertaker's face. "The only reason why we started using Phantomhive, again, was because of my uncle. He was more interested in the past then he ever was in the present… I enjoyed his visits," you mumbled lightly to yourself before your eyes went back out the window, and you sighed tiredly to yourself. "… Any questions~?" you asked in a playful tone, causing the man to cast you a curious glance before he smirked to himself.

"No… not really… but perhaps I'm glad you Phantomhives broke free from your duties," he began, causing you to give him an unsure look.

"… I-it wasn't like that –"

"Watching a group of delightful, but intelligent individuals fall upon hard times every moment of their lives… I don't understand how you humans can handle such abuse," he scoffed, and you raised an intrigued eyebrow at the irritation on his face, but slowly you scooted back over to where he sat, suddenly wrapping your arm around his own and slumping your head onto his shoulder, causing the man to glance down at you as you sighed tiredly to yourself.

"Call it a family curse, perhaps, but it's not like life became any better, Undertaker. Without the monarchy, we had to find our own reasons to keep living and moving forward. To have hope. To have a reason to keep fighting… Luckily, no Phantomhive ended up as a shinigami, but there were attempts at suicide. Depression. Betrayal. Life never was easy… but, we kept living, and that's all a human can really do in this world," you decided to say, before you closed your eyes and sighed once more to yourself.

Right. No queen or king could stop a perpetuating curse. Death always came knocking at your door, no matter how much a family member tries to avoid it. Even if there was a name change. Whoever held the ring, the position of 'head', always ended up with the curse…

That's why, there still is a Phantomhive ring. Why you still consider your family cursed. Even now. Even with you. Because… no matter how much good there can be in the world, there's always bad, and sadly, your family always ends up with the butt end. Always ends up with bad luck.

So, what's better? To fight or to give up? Because giving up only ends with more suffering… so why accept such a fate, if you can avoid it?

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !

"W-wooow~" you gasped, your face glued to the window while Undertaker smirked in amusement, one leg casually placed on top of the other as he watched your reactions.

Through the trees, past the steel gate that sealed off the estate from the rest of the world, up the hill the large mansion known as the Phantomhive manor, or mansion, whatever, slowly crept into view. With the entire building intact, to boot! The building was grander then you could possibly imagine. Perfectly symmetrical, from the outside. The bluish roof still intact, not old or in disrepair. The garden, just outside, was perfect. The various flowers were starting to bloom, which didn't help with your hay fever, but at least the sight is impressive. And the fountains… oh, the fountains are actually working!

Their water bill must be very high.

You waited in anticipation as the carriage finally came to a stop, the door opening, but before you could make a move to leave, Undertaker slipped out of the carriage, jumping to the ground and casting you a sly smirk, and you gave him an unimpressed glance while he held out his hand, giggling to himself as he began, "Welcome to the Phantomhive mansion, Lady Clara."

"Hmm… thanks, I suppose," you responded, letting the man help you out of the carriage and your shoes hit the brown stones, that were practically like cement, and while your gaze momentarily went to the carriage driver as he began to grab your bags, you couldn't stop yourself from staring up at the large two story building, impressed at the sight.

"Come my lady," you heard Undertaker say, politely offering you an arm, and a bit reluctantly, you took it, though your eyes weren't exactly on him and instead on the mansion as you walked closer.

"… This is more awesome then I can ever remember," you couldn't help but say, aloud, for his ears only, but then again it's not like you had any reason to be impressed, the first time around.

There were no butlers holding the doors for you, no one to welcome you into the mansion. It had just been you and your uncle, on the hunt for information. An investigation. Unlike now, the house had been in ruins. Water leaked from the ceiling, and you could feel the cold English air creeping into the building, making it ten times colder then it looked. Cobwebs, everywhere. Dust, everywhere.

But here, everything was pristine. The fancy pieces of art and sculptures were still in the fore. The gold trim was still intact, as perfect as ever.

Perfection. Absolute aristocratic perfection…

You shouldn't be this amazed, but you honestly were, and you didn't snap out of your awe until you heard the familiar noises of children at play, and barking, and you managed to slip your arm out of Undertaker's grasp the moment you looked down the hallway to notice a big black canine rushing its way towards the two of you. "Sebastian, stop!" you heard a child's voice cry out, before the dog practically ran right into the two of you, its front paws up on your dress as it barked expectedly at you.

You chuckled. "Sebastian, is it~?" you grinned, scratching the large dog behind his floppy ears, as you giggled while he began to pant, wagging his tail as you crouched down onto one knee, giggling as you scratched behind his ears and neck. "Who's a good doggie~? You are! Yes, you are~!" you grinned, earning you a lick on your upper arm, and you chuckled as you turned your attention to the two much younger boys. "Is this pup yours?"

"Father's dog," the more confident of the two spoke, while the other stood behind his brother, gripping the back of his clothes, but looking at the two of you with a curious, hesitant gaze. "My name is Ciel! Ciel Phantomhive. And this is my brother!"

"… H-hi," he mumbled, causing his brother to glance behind him.

"Don't be scared! Sebastian likes her," the boy named Ciel stated, but you smiled lightly in response.

"The other one," the other twin stated, his gaze on Undertaker, and you gave the two boys a devious smirk at their hesitation.

"Yes. He is a tall, dark, mysterious fellow~. Wouldn't want to encounter him on a cold night," you chuckled, causing the two twins to suddenly whimper, but you stood to your feet, patting the dog as he barked and panted, expecting more pets and scratches, but you simply patted the top of the dog's head as you walked over to Undertaker and nudged his arm. "I thought you know these two."

"Supposedly, dear uncle Undertaker~ has been forgotten," he sighed, in a sad overdramatic tone of voice, putting a hand over his heart as if he's been wounded, but you scoffed, nudging him a bit harder in the shoulder in an attempt to jolt him out of his 'acting'. At least, you think it's acting.

"Don't be so melodramatic. Anyways~" you continued, deciding to give the curious looking twin boys a light smile, "it's a pleasure to meet the two Phantomhive twins I've heard so much about. My name is Clara Graves, but you may call me Lara," you smiled, though when you noticed Undertaker was snickering at you, you nudged him rather roughly in the side, causing him to let out a slight cough, but you smirked triumphantly at his discomfort before you motioned your hand to the man clad in black, "and this, my dear boys, is the Undertaker."

"The Undertaker?" the younger, or you're assuming the younger, of the two asked, eying the man with a critical stare while you smirked in response.

"Yes. The Undertaker. You must say the 'the'. It's part of the title," you grinned, only to laugh as he nudged you, much more playfully then what you've been doing, in the shoulder.

"No, dear boys. You do not have to say the 'the' –"

"Yes you do! If you don't, the Undertaker gets very, very~ angry –"

"Gods, Clara, please don't."

"Okay, okay," you snickered, unable to stop the grin that played on your face at the irritated look the Undertaker was giving you, only for the man to smirk, and then snicker, at your own snickering.

Though, at some point, you felt the dog leaving your hand, instead wandering down the other hallway, towards something, or rather someone, while you felt a hand tugging at the side of your dress, and you looked to the two boys with a curious look. "Yes? Have a question for me?"

"Why are you here, miss? Are you here to see our father?" the seemingly shier boy asked, but the older one scoffed in response.

"Of course! I want to know, are you both staying here?" the older twin asked, giving his other brother a smile. "Right? Maybe she can play with us!"

"Can you?" the younger asked, and you could hear the Undertaker let out a sad sigh.

"Oh~. The boys prefer you over myself. I am so~ sad~~"

"Maybe~, if you weren't looking so dreary, you'd be approached more often," you stated, as if your opinion was obvious, but then you gave the boys a light smile. "Well, here's the thing," you began, suddenly crouching down onto one knee as you looked at the two boys, noticing they were looking at you with unsure gazes, but also intrigued gazes as you looked them both in the eyes. "We are invited to stay over, but for how long depends on your parents. I wouldn't mind playing, but first~" you continued, standing to your feet and giving the two of them a devious smirk, "you must come up with a game to play."

"Game?" you heard Ciel ask, and you nodded your head at his question that you know the other brother was going to ask, too, but didn't have the voice to say it.

"Yes. Game. I'll give you both the chance to come up with three games for us to play, and I'll say yes, within reason of course. A game of wits, indoors, or a game to play outside, whatever you wish. You two can pick, but you need to agree on three games."

"Three… I-I have an idea," the younger brother stated, but before he could continue the older brother threw up his hands.

"Wait! Let's talk in secret!" the older stated, his enthusiasm startling his other brother, but he grabbed his younger brother's hand before turning to you and giving you both an enthusiastic smile. "We'll be right back!"

"Don't take long~" you spoke while giving them both a wave, watching them rush down the hallway, though the younger and slightly smaller one, you noticed, seemed to be out of breath a lot sooner then the other, and then you slyly turned over to the Undertaker, letting out a slightly exhausted sigh. "Well, that was entertaining."

"I assume you'll be upholding your promise?" he smirked in response, but you shrugged your shoulders.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I? –"

"I didn't know you had a way with children," he grinned, causing you to roll your eyes, but you turned as you heard footsteps coming down the hallway, and you smiled lightly as you saw who was emerging from the long hall.

Vincent, of course, with his black, long nosed dog beside him, but your smile was towards the beautiful blonde haired, blue eyed woman by his side, holding onto his arm before she let go and placed her hands together. "Oh my. You must be Undertaker's assistant. Lady Clara?"

"Indeed I am," you smiled, giving the woman a slight curtsey, before quickly recovering as Undertaker walked over, gently grasping the lady's hand and kissing the top of her glove.

"It's a pleasure to have been invited to your estate, my countess," Undertaker smiled before rising, and he walked back over to you while the woman giggled to herself. "And earl, it's been a while."

"Not too long," Vincent responded before giving you a smirk. "I'm glad to see you'll be entertaining my sons for the evening."

"Perhaps. It's not like I have anything else to do, and I do enjoy children," you stated with a smile, before you turned to Rachel to give her a lighter, more content smile, "but thank you for inviting us into your home, Lady Rachel. I'll assure you, I'll keep a good eye on Undertaker. He tends to be a troublemaker."

"Nuh uh," Undertaker scoffed in response, earning the two of you an amused smirk by Vincent, and a light giggle by Rachel.

"You seem to have your hands full, Lady Clara."

"You can just call me Lara," you responded with a smile, giving her a slight nod at her smiling. "My name is Clara Graves, actually. Just so we're clear."

"Graves?" Vincent snickered to himself, causing you to cast him a sharp look.

"Yes. Graves. Do you have a problem with my name?"

"Not at all~" he grinned, but you rolled your eyes at his smirking, only for Rachel to giggle lightly at the scene.

"It is a pleasure for the two of you to come to our estate, Lord Undertaker, Lady Graves," Rachel formally spoke and you smiled and gave her a nod, while Undertaker snickered to himself, giving the lady a wide grin in response to her kind words. "How long will your stay be?"

"That's a good question," you responded, casting Undertaker a glance, and he smiled, though you could tell it wasn't as large as it could have been.

"Possibly a few days. Maybe a week, if you would like. We do not wish to overstay our welcome," Undertaker stated, simply, his gaze falling on Vincent as the man of the household simply smiled lightly in response.

"A week shall be fine. In fact, Undertaker, I wish to speak to you about something," he began, but before you knew it Rachel was by your side, giggling lightly into her gloved her hand.

"Excuse my husband for being so blunt."

"It's alright. I'm told I'm blunt as well," you told her, giving Undertaker a slight glare before returning your gaze to her, and smiling to her lightly. "By the way, your letters were very nice to receive. I truly enjoy the parts about Vincent," you stated, causing the man in question to scoff lightly.

"Excuse me?"

"I never wrote anything too incriminating," Rachel stated, giggling behind her hand, and you watched in amusement as her husband sighed deeply in response.

"Simply enjoyable," you stated, and you smirked at the look Undertaker was giving you.

"Hmm… it seems the women in our lives wish to destroy us," Undertaker decided to say, while you chuckled rather roughly in response.

"Perhaps~. Only if you misbehave, Undertaker."

"Please, do not lecture me, child," he responded, slightly huffing, but the two of you were smirking.

After all, being surrounded by the dead all the time, it's hard not to be amused and a tad excited when you're around other people. Who are living, of course. Who aren't sad and depressed over the death of their loved ones. "Anyways, if I may be so inclined, Lady Clara," you heard Rachel begin, breaking any sort of tension that could be forming between the four of you, "how about I show you around the mansion, while the men get to their business?"

"Of course. I would love a tour," you smiled before giving the two men a slight wave. "Have fun, boys~"

"Do not roam for too long, my love. You know how you can be," Vincent warned, but Rachel simply scoffed and waved the man off.

"Come now. I can handle walking around my own house. Let us be off, Lady Clara."

"Certainly, Rachel," you responded with your own smirk, though you hoped you weren't being rude. Apparently, it didn't seem to bother the woman as she grasped your arm, tugging you slightly so you began to follow her down the long hallway.