I OWN NOTHING BUT THE STORY LINE AND THE CHARACTERS THAT YOU DON'T KNOW FROM THE ANIME/MANGA!

Chapter Eight

The Undertakers

"So, just where exactly is it that you're taking us?"

It was a month before Christmas and they have a week left to find out where Phantomhive had been when the deaths of the Drakeford Parents occurred.
The streets were dark and the shops were closed. Aurora gave the demon beside her a side glance. They both had changed their looks a bit so their investigating wouldn't come back to the Drakefords. Vincent no longer wore his glasses and his hair was no longer slicked back, leaving it hanging around his face. Her hair was pulled back into a braid and both were dressed head to foot in black leather. Both their eyes were a glowing red in the dark, leaving both of them able to see in the dark streets at night.

Vincent gave her a look from the corner of his eye. "They're old friends. They've both helped us before in a few previous tasks. When you see them, you'll remember them."

She stared at him for a moment before a smirked spread across her face. "So, it's a surprise, hmm?"

"Yes," He closed his eyes with his own smile as he came to a sudden stop before a dark building. "A surprise."

Aurora glanced up at it, rather surprised to find out that it was a Funeral Home(Guess who! lol) "Here?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes," Vincent repeated himself before entering the large building.

It was well after midnight. Aurora wasn't sure if they were allowed in here at a time like that but she kept her mouth shut as she followed the man before her. The room was dark with a candle lit here or there. Spider webs were all over the place, accompanied by coffins and jars of things that she didn't feel like getting a better look at. She wanted souls, not livers and spleens.

No one was in the room, but there was music coming from what appeared to be a set of stairs behind a door, leading down below the building. Vincent didn't even pause and made his way down the stairs. Aurora, eyebrows still high, followed after him. He apparently knew what he was doing. Besides, the two of them could take care of themselves if anything foul happened.

As they approached the other door at the end of the stairs, singing began to join in the music. It was two voices. A man and a woman. Steps accompanied the music as if the two were dancing.

"My humble self is the funeral home's undertaker,
and I humbly await the day to provide service to you.
Let me make your body nice and clean,
and allow me to examine you carefully.

My humble self is the funeral home's undertaker,
and I humbly accept your request for service.
I will provide a handmade coffin, just for you,
and you'll surely be satisfied with its comfort.

In the big moment of your life's conclusion,
please allow my humble self to lend you a hand.
I will paint it beautifully and lovably.

How fun! How fun! Being an undertaker is fun!
Your body will be in my possession.
There's no need to be troubled or distressed,
because you can always feel free to consult me.

My humble self is the funeral home's undertaker,
and I can also provide you some underground information.
If you wish, I can use my pink bookmark
and completely change your destiny.

Have some lukewarm black tea and freshly baked cookies,
and let's slowly and leisurely have a chat.
The price, is to give me the greatest laugh.

How fun! How fun! Being an undertaker is fun!
Today, too, I'll have some fun with the corpses.
There's no need for restraint or money.
Just let me induce you into an eternal slumber.

"Now then, this is the special product I'll introduce today:
a high-class coffin specially handmade by my humble self.
The wood is first-class mahogany produced in Wales,
and the futon is made from Yorkshire wool with a warranty letter.
In the coffin, your body will be gently embraced
by the countless white lilies placed around you.
Ahehehehe..."

In the big moment of your life's conclusion,
please allow my humble self to lend you a hand.
I will paint your body beautifully and lovably.

How fun! How fun! Being an undertaker is fun!
Your body will be in my possession.
There's no need to be troubled or distressed,
because you can always feel free to consult me.

Just let me induce you into an eternal slumber.
Ahehehehe..."

(This song was officially made for the Undertaker. It's called Youkoso Sougiya e – by Junichi Suwabe)

Vincent pushed the door open as the final laugh began, cutting it short. Aurora had to wait while her eyes readjusted to the candle-filled room. The music suddenly stopped and instead, a male's laughter took its place.

"Welcome. Did you come to see how it feels to sleep in my custom-made coffins?"

Aurora looked at the man and woman that had been singing, now wearing smiles, and she was surprised. She did know these two well. Very well.

The man held long silver hair with a few braids here and there which seemed to want to hide the eyes that Aurora remembered so well. He was dressed in all black: an incredibly long, top hat and a suit with a long jacket. The Jacket was open, revealing a long, grey scarf across his chest and knotted at his hips. His fingernails were long and black with a noticeable scar across his face, his neck, and his left pinky finger with several earrings in his ears.

The woman's hair was an extremely dark red with a pair of silver/green eyes that Aurora was sure to glow in the dark much like hers and Vincent's would. She was dressed in a pair of black leather pants, boots, and a long jacket like the man beside her that was buttoned up over her torso. Earrings were in her ears as well, accompanied by a few bracelets. There was one scar that Aurora knew was there but couldn't see. It was on the back of the woman's neck.

After all, she was the one that put it there.

"Well well, if it isn't ole' Crow and Cat," The woman grinned, tilting her head to the side. Her accent wasn't English. She was American, much like Aurora's. "What are two demons like yourselves doing here at a time like this?"

"I could ask you the same, Snake." Aurora gave her own grin, but they could all feel the displeasure between the two of them. The two women still had unsettled battles between them, despite their acceptance of being sisters.

That's right. The Cat and the Snake were siblings, though the Cat took after whoever was their father and the Snake took after their mother. A thing that neither of the women wanted, nor liked, to talk about.

"Melony is here with me," The man took a step forward, grinning happily himself. "She's my assistant."

Aurora raised an eyebrow at both the name and the answer, but she couldn't say too much on the first part. "Your assistant?" She glanced back at the other woman. "Given up on fresh souls, have you?" She decided to tease.

"On the contrary," Melony replied. "How do you think he gets so much business?" The two of them gave each other a swift look before laughter left them.

Aurora let a smile of her own break out again. "To think, a demon and a Shinigami…working together." She glanced at the man. "Do the others know?"

"Do you think I care?" The man gave another laugh. "I'm retired from being a Reaper and enjoy what I do now, so it doesn't matter." The man turned and sat in a chair, slipping one leg over another as he drank something from a beaker.

"I'm surprised to see that the two of you are working together again," Melony smirked at her sister. "Just couldn't stay away, could you?"

Aurora's eyes narrowed and she went to retort but the Undertaker had seen the look in her eye and decided to put a stop to it before it happened. "So, what are the two of you here for? I doubt you came by for just a friendly visit."

Vincent took a step forward. "You're right. You work for the Phantomhives, do you not?"

"I wouldn't call it 'working'," Melony replied, taking a seat on a table. "But he's just a friend to them. I have nothing to do with the humans."

"A friend, hmm?" Vincent grinned. "And as a friend, you just wouldn't happen to know where Lord Phantomhive would have been, say, a few months ago?"

"As in around the time the Drakefords died?" The Undertaker stared at them over the top of his beaker as he spoke, a small smile on his face.

"Yes." Vincent nodded.

"Why?"

"I don't think we really need to explain why," Aurora told him.

"Well, if you're looking for their killers, shouldn't you just find a mirror?" Melony asked. "After all, you're the one in possession of their souls, are you not, Cat?"

The woman smiled. "And just how would you know that, Snake?"

"Well, Undertaker here received their bodies. Each demon that takes a soul leaves its one little mark, each different from others. I can recognize yours in my sleep."

"Hmph," Aurora continued to smirk. "I do have their souls, but we want the ones that caused me to take them."

"And you think that the Phantomhives have something to do with it?"

"Think of it as, 'cutting them out' of our thoughts." Vincent replied with his own little smile. "We'd like to make sure that they didn't take part in it."

The Undertaker set his beaker down, still grinning. "I cannot answer your question. I am in a little…'friendship' with the Phantomhives. To answer your question would be rather foolish."

"Is that so?" Vincent pulled a face. "Well, that's unfortunate."

"You shouldn't be so fast to accept answers," Melony told the man before her as she stood before facing the one in the chair. "Why not tell them? He's just a human," She referred to Phantomhive.

Undertaker shook his head. "I can't. I have…" He cut himself off when he began to laugh. Aurora raised a brow as they watched Melony tickle the squirming man in the chair. His laughter was loud (Don't forget that the Undertaker is a very ticklish man) and he was trying to knock Melony's hands away from him but the woman was too fast at the moment.

The American demon looked up at her sister. "The Phantomhive man went to Westminster; most likely to see the Queen for some reason. Everything after that, we don't know."

Aurora grinned. They might not get along some times, but she and her sister were good friends. "To see the Queen, hmm?" She pondered. "What would he want with Victoria?"

The Undertaker sighed as he leaned forward. Melony was done tickling him. "Victoria," He frowned. "I'm not a fan. She sits herself up so high above everyone else, and leaves the painful dirty work to the earl." He looked back up at the two standing before him. "You didn't get this information from us, you understand?"

"Of course," Vincent gave them a pleased smile. "Thank you and we shall leave you to your night. I'm sure we'll cross paths again."

"Oh," Melony locked eyes with her sister. "You can be sure of that. It is almost Christmas, after all. You can expect to see us both there at this…Drakeford home that day."

"Will we, now." Aurora replied coldly.

"Without a doubt." Her sister assured her.

They shut the door behind them, stepping back out into the chilly streets. Aurora glanced up at the sky; it should start to snow soon. They could hear the music start playing again and they both knew that Melony and the Undertaker had resumed their dancing and singing. Aurora shook her head. Her sister sure was strange.

"So, Westminster, is it?" She glanced at Vincent.

"Yes, it would seem so." He replied with a small smile. "Will you be able to handle seeing the Palace again?"

She scowled at him. "Please. The King was nothing and I doubt that the Queen will even remember what I look like," She rubbed her stomach with a small smile. "After all, I wonder if her soul would taste just as good as his."

Vincent shook his head for a moment with a slight smile before walking off. Aurora grinned, gave another glance at the building her sister now resided in, and followed after him into the night.

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