2020 Wilma: What's up guys, I have ~*covid*~ and I'll be locked up in my bedroom for almost a week with not much to do at all so here we are.
2022 Wilma: Lol we got covid again, like a month ago... it was worse the second time.
Angeline couldn't believe this was her life.
Months of hiding, nonstop surveillance, and planning, all for her to end up like this? Back exactly where she started?
"I don't know what you think is going to happen," Angeline started. "But you'll lose. The Phantomhive estate will find me. Sebastian will find me."
"Hush, darling, soon you will see that your best interest lies with me," Ash replied. "Though I do apologize for the... conditions... under which I kept you during your last stay. Do you find this to be more comfortable?"
Angeline was in a room identical to the one she stayed in at the Phantomhive Manor. Although, instead of the dark wood and rich colors of the Phantomhive Estate, this room was stark white and silver. Bright and lifeless and bleak and cold. So cold it sucked the life out of her and made her shiver uncotrollably. "I would be more comfortable if I were in the real Phantomhive Manor," Angeline grumbled. Never did she think she would miss the stuffy mansion, but here she was, longing for the safety, comfort, and familiarity it brought her.
"Don't be ungrateful, pet. Everything I do is for you."
"Go to hell," Angeline spat.
"You'll soon learn to respect those you love," Ash said dismissively. The door opened, creaking loudly, and an unfamiliar man entered.
"What have you done with this place?" He asked.
"William, so good to see you. Look who I got ahold of," Ash said, referring to Angeline.
William? Angeline thought. Hadn't Ciel said that a William brought her to the estate? She looked toward the man, hoping her gaze conveyed her desperation, conveyed that she so strongly hoped that he would save her again.
"You're blind, and a fool," William scoffed, looking Angeline up and down. "Have you become so infatuated with this girl that you didn't notice the sin reeking from her?"
"The sin?" Ash asked.
"She's bathing in it!" William said. "She's been compromised by that butler of Phantomhive's. You shouldn't still want her after she's been tainted by the Devil's kiss."
"A simple lapse in judgement on my dear Angeline's part," Ash argued. "He is a very charming being, it does not surprise me that she thinks that he is what she wants."
"Sebastian cares about me more than you," Angeline spat.
"What exactly is your plan, Ash?" William asked with a bored sigh. "Keep her here until she succumbs to you? You're pathetic."
William left the room, brushing past Angeline on his way. Ash watched as he made himself scarce, then turned to Angeline and gently tilted her chin toward him. "Worry not, dear Angeline. We will find a way to make you clean once more, you will be as pure as you once were, as pure as your namesake, and you will be mine."
Angeline glared at Ash as he meandered toward the door. "I'll leave you to get comfortable," He said, then exited.
Lunatic! Angeline thought.
Angeline felt as though she'd been pacing the room for hours, unable to do anything under the watchful eye of Ash.
"My dear, you must be getting tired," Ash said, watching from a chair as she paced the room, refusing to look at or speak to him. "Would you like me to sing you a lullaby to help you get some sleep?"
Angeline could feel the blood rush out of her face. "Don't," She whispered, finally looking at Ash with a fearful expression.
"London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down, London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady,"
Angeline's eyes grew heavy. She began to fall, caught by the angel from hitting the floor. Ash brought her to bed, bringing the blankets over her and brushing her hair out of her face. Such a shame his perfect Angeline had been soiled by the demon Phantomhive butler, but no matter. He would find a way to fix it all, for himself and for his dearest love.
Meanwhile, Ciel paced his study in the Phantomhive estate. "What next? How do we find her?"
"I'm afraid I don't know, my lord. Ash is very cunning, and he will not make it easy to find their location," Sebastian replied. "We may simply have to wait for William to come to her rescue again."
"You're useless!" Ciel shouted. "What kind of butler are you that you haven't the slightest idea how to find her? The Queen will have my head for losing her!"
"I urge you to stay calm, master," Sebastian said. "Worrying will do us no good."
"Neither will sitting here doing nothing!" Ciel retorted.
"Have patience, Master. Remember, William is on our side," Sebastian reminded the young Earl. Ciel scoffed, to which Sebastian said "Well, hea is as far as Angeline is concerned."
"What shall I tell the Queen? That I lost the only person that Ash shows himself for?" Ciel asked.
"Master, I would advise that you do not tell the Queen."
"Don't tell the Queen? Are you mad?" Ciel demanded.
"We have until the new year to find her without catching the Queen's attention. She is in no danger. Not so long as Ash's infatuation lasts."
Ciel let out a long sigh, collapsing in his desk chair and resting his head against his fist. "I hope you're right, Sebastian."
"I have every confidence that I am."
Sebastian exited the room upon Ciel's dismissal. It was not long until dinner, and a butler's work was never finished, no matter how worried he was about Angeline. It would be one thing if Sebastian failed under normal circumstances, but the fact that he let Angeline slip away he could not bear. Sebastian never failed, but even more, he never expected that did he fail he would take it as personally as he was now. Was Angeline comfortable where Ash held her? Was she scared? Did she find comfort and hope in thinking about him?
They had just mended their friendship after he had been so cruel and cold toward. Her One afternoon- one afternoon in his eternal life that he felt, for once, that things had been set right.
Truly a weak demon you are, failing at your task and falling for a human at that, wasting your time thinking of her instead of your duties.
"Sebastian, look out!"
Sebastian pulled himself out of his thoughts just in time to see Mey-Rin barreling toward him with a tea cart, having lost her footing and control. Deftly, he leapt out of the way, pulling the tea cart out of Mey-Rin's grasp on the way. Mey-Rin toppled over her own two feet, somersaulting over herself and landing on her behind. After a quick recovery, she rubbed at her head in embarrassment.
"Mey-Rin, are you alright?" Sebastian asked, standing calmly at the end of the hallway with the tea cart.
Mey-Rin's face reddened and she scrambled up, burying her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry Sebastian! We didn't know where you were and the Master will be wanting his afternoon tea soon! I wanted to help but I tripped, I did-"
"Not to worry Mey-Rin, everything is fine. I will take the tea to the Earl's study, if you will please clean up your spill."
Mey-Rin peaked through a gap in her fingers to see a tea spill running down the hallway, the hot liquid running as far as she had gone the moment she tripped, almost down the entirety of the corridor. "Yes, Sebastian, right away!"
"Oi, Sebastian!"
Sebastian's eyebrow twitched as he turned to Bard, who was running down the hallway with a forceful clutch on an envelope. "This arrived for the Master!" Bard continued, holding the fist with the letter out to Sebastian. He, too, tripped at the last moment, landing on top of the tea cart.
Sebastian sighed, plucking the letter from his hand. Bard scrambled off the tea cart, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "You'll do well to learn to slow down," Sebastian said, inspecting the crumpled letter. It had no writing, only a wax seal with a pair of bird's wings. "Help Mey-Rin clean up, then prepare what I need for dinner. You and Mey-Rin are welcome to end your duties early for the day when you are done. Do not do any cooking, Bard," Sebastian emphasized. "I will take care of it tonight, the last thing we need is another incident."
Both Mey-Rin and Bard bowed with a defeated "Yessebastianrightaway."
As the two began work on cleaning the hallway, Sebastian rolled the cart back to the kitchen. He disposed of the broken tea set and put the kettle on the stove to start brewing another, then flattened out the letter the best he could and placed it on a silver tray.
Sebastian brought the tea to Ciel's study, knocking quickly. "Enter," The young Earl's voice sounded.
Sebastian walked in, rolling the cart in front of Ciel's desk. "This afternoon we have a cranberry and vanilla black tea. It is splendid in the winter weather."
"Fine," Ciel said as Sebastian poured the tea. Sebastian set the saucer down in front of Ciel, then presented him with the letter. "You have received a letter, Master, though I am not sure who from."
"Hm," Ciel hummed, taking the envelope and slicing it open.
"Dearest Phantomhive Estate," Ciel began aloud. "Do forgive me for the intrusion, as I am sure you are quite busy, as always. However, I know you have a pressing matter on your hands. The matter, of course, being that of miss Angeline Redthorne."
"Angeline?" Sebastian asked.
Ciel gave Sebastian a pointed look, as if to say, obviously. "She is in Ash's possession once again. I thought that if you demons could do one thing, it would be to not lose the girl, yet here we are. Once again, I must come to your rescue. Expect me at the Phantomhive Estate tonight shortly after eight o'clock. I trust that the boy will have had his dinner by that time and I may join you for your evening tea. See you soon, William."
"This is good, my Lord, a step toward finding Angeline," Sebastian said as Ciel placed the letter and envelope on the silver tray Sebastian had outstretched toward the young Earl.
"Indeed," Ciel replied. "Leave me, prepare for the reaper's arrival."
"Yes, my Lord."
Sebastian paced the foyer, awaiting William's arrival. Had he seen Angeline for himself? Would he tell them that Angeline was well?
The door creaked open and William appeared in the doorway. "Excuse my intrusion, but I believe we have urgent matters to discuss."
Sebastian lead William down the long hallway leading to Ciel's study, a tray with a tea set in hand. Sebastian stopped at the door, knocking swiftly. "My Lord, William is here."
"Enter."
Sebastian lead William into the room, pulling a chair out for her to sit. William stared at Ciel intently as Sebastian poured the tea.
"William, I never thought I would say it is good to see you," Ciel said, grasping his teacup.
"The pleasure, for once, is all mine," William replied, leaving his cup on the saucer. "It appears you have lost something. A miss Angeline Juliet Redthorne, perhaps?"
"Yes, unfortunately, she has slipped through our fingers."
William looked pointedly at Sebastian. "She is well," William said. Sebastian remained stoic outwardly while relief washed over him inwardly. "And she is in no danger yet. Right now Ash is focused on wooing Angeline, not his cleanse. Now we must focus on removing her from Ash's clutches. Ash likely will not leave Angeline's side if he can help it, so we will have to find a way to draw him away and present an opening to ourselves."
"Do you suppose we can get the undertaker on our side?" Ciel asked. "I believe we could draw Ash away if the undertaker told him he has a body that looks suspiciously like something to do with the angels."
"I suppose that would work," William agreed.
"Sebastian, what appointments do I have tomorrow? Will we have time to visit the undertaker?"
"There is time in the morning, my Lord."
"Then it's settled. Sebastian and I will pay a visit then. Please show our guest out, Sebastian."
"Yes, my Lord," Sebastian said. William stood and followed Sebastian out of the manor. At the door, the reaper turned to the demon.
"I never thought I'd see the day I thought a demon were capable of having a heart," he said. "All will be well and Angeline will be in your care soon. It is such a shame that such a nice girl has given herself the fate that comes with falling for a demon."
"She did nothing, I am the reason for her sin."
William shook his head. "It is one thing for a demon to fall in love with a human. If the human does not feel the same, or if they resist, life goes on as it were. It is another thing for the human to reciprocate. Any outcome that comes for Angeline is because she allowed herself to fall for you. Go to the undertaker and bring her back. She could be a great asset to ensuring that Ash is defeated before he can try to cleanse the Earth against God's will."
Sebastian nodded and William turned, leaving the estate. Though Sebastian hated the idea of stripping Angeline of her humanity, being Ash's prisoner while he watched the world burn would be a far worse fate.
2022 Wilma: This one was a bit short, not quite as good as the new content because it's just edited old content, but we're moving it along.
2020 Wilma: Whew, this thing is getting longer than I expected it to be! I think it'll wrap up in the next few chapters, but who's to say anymore.
2022 Wilma: Seriously. We thought it would be like, 7-10 chapters done in a month or two. Ten years later... anyway,
2020 Wilma: See y'all next time!