Mordred sipped from his glass, watching the devil's army rushing in every direction.
"This cannot be happening, No one can close all the gates there must be some way" The Queen paced the floor of the throne room until the King reached out to pill her close.
"My heart, this is my doing and I will find a way to make this right. Our son and his mate are strong, they will stand together against this horror and and defeat it, they will survive. Once the blood moon has left the sky-"
"This is no ordinary blood moon, it will not simply disappear. Can you not get a message to Michael, he may despise our kind but Ciel and the children mean the world to him. Surely he can-"
"I can get no messages out, all communication is gone. We will keep searching as long as it takes. I am on my way to another location in the hopes that a gateway remains functional. I will take half of our army with me and the other will remain to-"
"I will join you." Ann insisted.
"Rhiannon, this is dangerous, I cannot put your life in peril." The King said taking her hands in his own.
"Sebastian is my son, Ciel is just as good as one to us and their children- our grandchildren are out there, something must be done. You alone cannot take on this threat."
"Rhiannon-"
"I knew the risks involved when you asked me to be your Queen. I knew the day I became a mother, that there would be times that I would need to protect my children, sometimes perhaps my mate. I know the ways of our kind have always been set in stone and followed closely by our family, but my love, there comes a time when such rules are to be broken, must be broken in order to protect our kingdom, Ciel and Sebastian, along with those precious children are our future. As long as I live, I will let no harm come to their family. Even if that means I must see to it myself, you will either take me with you, or I shall go alone."Ann proclaimed, her eyes staring deeply into her mate's.
The King placed a massive palm on Ann's cheek, allowing her to lean into it. Her hand gently stroking the back of his.
"My dearest love, you have always amazed me with your strength and courage. No devil has ever been able to claim such a strong mate and no Queen has ever been as loved by her subjects as you. How very proud I am to know that such a mate belongs at my side alone."
"Have you a decision then?" Ann asked. The devil leaned down, pressing his lips to hers gently.
"Come my heart, our son and his family need us now, we mustn't fail them, Together you and I will find a way to open the gate and join our armies in the search for our loved ones." The deep voice replied. He turned, taking her hand and leading her back through the throne room.
"Come my soldiers, we will not give up, our task is too great, we must journey on until all is well again."
"M-Mama?" Evian sobbed as the skeletal beasts moved closer, surrounding the small group on the grounds
"Mama, I am so afraid. They will make us go away and they are not like our puppy."
"I know Evian, but you're such a brave boy. I need you to show me that now. I promise I won't let them hurt you." The Necro Hounds growled, inching closer. Forcing the family into their circle.
"Bad puppies, go home!"Rachel sobbed angrily.
"I'm sorry Princess, but I don't think that will help us." Sebastian replied. Naveen tightened his grip on Lenora and Luca's hand.
"Ciel, what should we do now?" Lizzy cried, letting out a shriek as one of the creatures swatted at her with it's large claw. She pushed in closer to the group.
"Mum, Dad, I don't like it. Make them go away, please!" Rowan was shaking now, tears filled his eyes.
"What now, do you think my brother's okay?"Naveen looked down at his brother in law. Ciel took in a deep breath and turned from the beasts, placing Evian on his feet. The child's eyes widened and panic set in.
"M-mama, Mama, n-no Mama, I want to have up. I need up, Mama!" Evian cried frantically.
"Evian, listen to me, I don't want them to hurt you or your brothers and sisters. I don't want their claws close to you so you'll have to stay behind me." Ciel explained as the others followed his lead, everyone except Lizzy, Naveen and Sebastian who were holding the children who were unable to walk on their own. Instead, they tightened the circle, moving inward.
"Ciel, I want you to slowly reach for our daughter. I'll-"
"She's scared, she's better off staying with you, if anyone tries to take her now, it'll scare her more. You can't move her around too much she needs security and...you're the one to give it to her."Ciel said quietly.
"I won't have your live endangered anymore than it has to be. You-" Sebastian narrowly dodged the massive paw, turning away from the hound to shield his child.
"M-Mama!"Evian shrieked once more.
"I'm right here, it'll be fine."Ciel promised. Evian grabbed Ciel's jacket, nearly pulling him backward. The slight stumbling motion seemed to anger their captors and the largest one lunged forward toward the former Earl. Ciel remained still determined to protect the children. He waited for the impact, but it never came. Instead a single shot had been fired and the hound dropped to the ground, becoming motionless. The remaining beasts turned in the direction of the sound and another fell, this time the group was able to see where it had come from.
Alois stood in front of them, he swung the sword as best he could while Mey-Rin pulled the trigger a second time. Tanaka reloaded the guns, passing them back to the maid as fast as he could. Soon, the Necro Hounds were destroyed.
"Brother!"Luca cried running to Alois, but stopped in front of him.
"You got hurt." He said pointing to the older boy's shoulder. The crimson liquid covered his blue jacket. It was then that the blonde teen began to sway slightly. Tanaka moved forward to steady him.
"Precious one!" Naveen made his way to his mate, handing his daughter to Ciel.
"I'm okay, don't worry." Alois told his loved ones with a faint smile. Tanaka gave Alois to Naveen.
"Precious one, you're shivering, what happened?"
"Is he going to be okay?" Luca asked.
"Can you give me a minute with Naveen, Luca?"Alois requested.
"But-"
"It's alright." Luca nodded, trusting his brother's words.
"Alois, what is it love?" Naveen brushed back a few strands of golden hair from his mate's face as the slightly younger boy rested his head on his chest.
"You know how much I love you, Lenora and Luca. I w-want you to be s-safe. I can't-"
"Alois, I sincerely hope you aren't asking me what I think you are."
"I am. I've lost a lot of blood, I barely made it out here, if not for Mey-Rin and Tanaka, I'd be gone already. I'll slow you down and you need to get away from here. I had t-to bring the sword- promised to protect Luca and Lenora. Please don't let her forget-"
"She won't, you're going to be there to tell her you love her."
"I-I feel s-so c-cold." the statement came as a whisper. Naveen removed his jacket and placed it around Alois' shoulders, holding him closer.
"It's alright, I have you. I won't leave you, I'll carry you." The dark haired teen vowed, lifting Alois into his arms.
"D-Don't, I told you- Lenora needs you." Alois said allowing his eyes to close briefly.
"She will have both of us. The day we bonded, I promised to always take care of you, I love you more than life. I will not leave you. Stay awake, I love you so much. You're so brave."
When Naveen, Tanaka and Mey-Rin rejoined the group, Ciel was instructed to allow Luca to take Lenora and Alois handed him the sword.
"Won't be using this anytime soon." He said weakly.
"Thank you, for getting this for us. : Ciel said. "I owe you my life for saving my family."
"No. their my family too. We're cousins now. Remember, family takes care of each other."
"That's right, we'll get you to a hospital as soon as we can, just hang on until then." Ciel told his friend.
"Yeah as long as I can."
"What do we do mum?" Ciel sighed.
"We keep moving Rowan. I need you children to be brave. I have a feeling it'll get worse before it gets better. " Rachel and Vincent each took one of Ciel's hands.
"Do not worry, we are brave babies, just for you." The young princess sobbed.
"There's no time to dawdle now, keep walking. We shall find somewhere to go until this situation has blown over." Sebastian said leading the group down the path, away from the castle. The adults formed a shield around the young ones a they continued.
"What makes you sure it will?" Ciel asked.
"Wishful thinking my love, false hope perhaps. Whatever may come at us, we will face it with strength and as fearlessly as possible. We are a family, not jut any family-"
"We are M'chaelis babies, we are brave and strong like mommy and dad. We will be okay because we are together. We will be good." Vincent added drying his tears, the twins reached out their free hands taking hold of Evian and Rowan. Ciel and Sebastian exchanged glances. If their children could pull together to face the danger bravely, as parents, they had no right to show the terror that was gripping their hearts now.