Chapter Twelve

Date and Time Unknown.

The bed was warm. The sheets wrapped around me made me want to stay still. More importantly, the pain I was feeling everywhere really wasn't helping. I focused on breathing in a slow rhythm. Trying to conceal the fact I was awake. I doubted I was in any danger. You didn't put someone you planned on harming in a nice soft bed after all.

I let my senses flow outward. I can't hear much. There's warmth on my face from above and to my right. No wind. No airflow. The room is sealed. Likely a window. If it's shut then either it's a normal window or there's some magical chicanery going on. I couldn't hear the beeping I'd associate with a hospital. So it probably wasn't that, well unless it was a magical one.

A rustle of paper to my right, directly across. I focus again. Small inhales and exhales. Breathing. Someone in the room, someone is being very quiet. I still don't open my eyes. It's another two minutes before another rustle of paper. Probably a book.

One unlikely enemy and a window I could probably jump through given a few seconds and half a chance. Assuming I can move in this state. Not ideal but I'll take it. My mind reached out towards Mordred brushing the connection that joined us. Pain flared through my entire body, as though I had been lit on fire. I didn't even realise I was screaming until and hand hit my chest and pinned me to the bed. With a fresh wave of agony ripping out from the point of impact.

"Harry!" My eyes flew open. It was like being stabbed. The light was searing. I closed them immediately. The only thing I got a good look at was the worried blue eyes looking down into my own. My body shudders and shakes a few times before the convulsions stop and the pain reduces from a raging inferno to a dull ache.

"C-Ci-Ciel." It takes me three tries to get her name out and even then I barely manage it. My throat rough and raw.

"I'm here." The hand pinning me removes itself. The pulsating core of pain disappears with it. Leaving behind only another ache. There's the sound of water sloshing in a bucket and a towel being rung out before it's placed on my forehead. The cool feeling is a welcome relief from before. I groaned and felt blood in my mouth.

That was going to get old quickly.

"Are you okay?" If I'd had the energy to give her a look that told her how stupid a question that was I would have. "Right dumb question." Thank you.

"W-water." I managed to force the word out. It was slightly easier the second time.

"Give me a second." The sound of a jar of some kind being picked up from across the room. I heard water pouring from it. Must have been a water jug, not a jar. Her steps across the floor were light but not inaudible. I felt a straw pressed between my lips.

"Not sure you could hold the glass," Ciel explained. I forced my lips to move and pulled in. It took me almost ten minutes to finish the glass. I felt bad she had to hold it for that long. I forced my eyes open keeping my eyelids half closed to help them adjust. The light stabbed me in the eyes again but it didn't hurt as much this time. Closer to a throbbing pain than as though someone had stabbed and twisted.

"Thanks." My throat still hurt but not as much as it had.

"No problem." I turned my head despite the argument or my muscles. She was in her nun's habit. She didn't look like she'd been fighting. But considering how thoroughly she'd kicked me up and down the alley we'd fought in that didn't mean much. At this point, I was willing to put money on Ciel being able to beat seven shades of hell out of basically everything else.

"How'd you find me?" The water certainly made talking easier. My throat still felt like sandpaper and tasted of iron.

"I went to see the circle myself. Before I got there I saw a lance of red light shoot towards the sky. When I arrived I found you in a pool of your own blood clutching that sword of yours. Figured you'd gotten into a brawl with a vampire of some kind and that was the result."

"Nightmare."

"Yeah, that'd do it." She winced.

"How close to dead was I?" Because it sure as hell felt close.

"You weren't doing well. I can't remember everything Father Jacques said but I can give you the major stuff. A broken arm, obviously. Apparently, you'd shattered just about every bone in it. How'd that happen anyway?"

"Nightmare grazed it." She winced again.

"Right. You were missing a fair bit of skin on your side and it looks like whatever hit you scraped your ribs. But there was no organ damage. Half a dozen broken ribs. The cut on your chest was superficial. Your right arm had picked up some kind of burn. Oh and apparently you'd also somehow had a stroke and gone into shock." It wasn't a long list of injuries but almost all of them were serious. "You're lucky to be alive."

"Not sure I feel like it right now."

"You should. Almost anyone else would be dead."

We lapsed back into silence. This was awkward and painful. I'd say more painful than awkward though that could change. I groaned and sat up. The world swam and I blacked out for a second before righting. Ciel's arms were a hand span away ready to catch me if fell towards the floor.

"What time is it?"

"About one pm Sunday the seventeenth. You've been out for about thirteen hours."

"Shit. I'm going to have to answer some questions about why I missed family movie day."

"No. You're fine." I turned towards her confusion visible on my face. "We rescheduled for three pm. If you were still out I was going to have a 'family emergency' that I needed your help with."

"Wait, how did you reschedule?"

"Oh, your mother asked for my number when we were at the museum."

"Of course she did." Ciel smiled at the sour expression on my face. I knew this was going to come back to bite me somehow. I just knew it.

"Now, now, if she hadn't you'd be in hot water. Take the win."

"Fine," I said petulantly making her giggle. I let out a chuff of laughter too. My entire body ached. Alright no more laughing. Laughing was bad right now.

"Fou!" My squirrel-dog companion jumped onto the bed and carefully made his way up the sheets until he was looking me in the eyes.

"Wait. Where did he come from? I haven't seen him since last night."

"I stopped asking that question a while ago."

"You're a strange man."

"Dimension-hopping vampire boss."

"Fair point."

"Fou! Fou!" I turned my attention back to the squirrel-dog who carefully made his way up my less injured side to rest on my right shoulder. Then began licking my face and nuzzling close for all he was worth.

"I'm alright." I tried to lift my left arm and stopped straight away as sheer unrelenting agony rolled through it.

"Fou!"

"I'll be okay." I amended. Fou looked at me eyes crinkled in concern before wrapping himself around my shoulder and burrowing into my neck. I got the feeling I wasn't going to get him off me with anything short of a JCB.

"Fou."

"Alright stay as long as you want then."

"Fou!"

"He really likes you doesn't he?"

"Yeah. Couldn't tell you why though." She gave me a small smile and shook her head.

"Are you going to be okay to go at three?"

"I think I'll manage."

"Father Jacques said you should probably stay away from casting any spells for the rest of today and maybe tomorrow. Apparently, you overtaxed yourself fairly significantly." That made me grimace considering what was wandering around the city.

"Any chance you've called the Aurors?"

"No. The Church isn't the biggest fan of most ministries and the feeling is very much mutual. Given our history that's to be expected. The relationship is usually cordial. But sometimes they drag their feet or get antagonistic. Granted there's not a lot they can do legally. But that doesn't mean they can't make a nuisance of themselves and make my life a lot harder." Ciel took a deep breath in and continued.

"I wanted to talk to you about that circle you found. While I haven't seen that particular design before it looks similar to a few I've seen in the past. I can't be completely sure. But I'm willing to bet that it had something to do with human sacrifice." My stomach dropped into my feet.

"Seriously?"

"I can't be sure. Not without more research. But it certainly seems that way based on what I know.

"Fuck."

"And it's why I want you to introduce me to those Aurors working this case."

"You sure?"

"Honestly no. But this is bigger than what I want. I was waiting for you to wake up so we could take everything we've gathered about the Dead and the Vampire to the ministry all at once. That way they can't ignore it. The danger posed is just too great. Plus hopefully, the fact you've already met the task force involved helps us put our best foot in the door."

"Okay, I can do that." I nodded slowly. "But I told them I didn't know who else was hunting the Dead. Don't you think that could hurt our case more than help?"

"Maybe it's hard to say for sure. Like I said this is bigger than us now. I could be wrong about that circle. But I don't want to take the chance with something like this. We'll deal with the fallout as it comes. But right now we could use all the help we can get." She made a good point. If Ciel was right and some part of that circle involved human sacrifice I wanted as many people to help figure it out and get rid of it as possible. Even if this could backfire on us.

"We'll need to get to the ministry in Paris. Am I okay for apparition, sidelong or not?"

"Honestly I have no idea about the apparition, you'll need to ask Father Jacques he's the one who actually knows healing magic." I shook my head. This was just what I needed today.

"Don't suppose you've got any clothes in my size? My work clothes kinda got shredded." I considered those words and my eyes went wide. "My wand! Did you get my wand!" Panic rushed through me and I felt my heart beat a tattoo on my ribs.

"On the table," Ciel said gently. Forestalling my rush of questions and my hammering heart slowed down.

"Thanks."

"It's fine. I know how important they are." She looked me up and down before shaking her head. "No nothing that would fit you well. Your pants were okay, shoes too. But we'll need to replace your shirt. I think I can grab one of those easily enough."

"Thanks, Ciel."

"No problem. Okay then!" She said standing and dusting her hands off on the skirt of her habit. "I'll go get you a shirt and call in Father Jacques he should be able to handle any of the questions you've got about healing. If you can do sidelong apparition would you be okay talking to the Aurors today? The sooner the better."

"Should be fine."

"Thank you. I'll be back soon with the shirt." Ciel shut the door behind her and I looked at Fou who was still on my shoulder.

"Do you think I should try standing up?" My squirrel-dog looked me up and down before shaking his head. "Give it a bit more time?"

"Fou!"

"Okay then." He nodded his fluffy head and went back to pushing it against my neck. I never noticed how light Fou was. It was like he didn't weigh a thing. I may not know what he was. Eldritch Horror that devoured magic aside. But I was glad he was here. There was a knock at the door.

"Young man, are you awake and decent?" The voice was strong but carried the weight of years. It reminded me of Dumbledore. I looked down. I had a pair of pajama pants that weren't mine on. Bandages around my waist and yet more bandages going up each arm but that was it.

"Yes," I answered after a moment of hesitation. I think this could be called decent.

"Wonderful. My name is Father Jacques Moreau would it be alright if I came in?"

"Yes, Father." I almost stumbled over the title. There was a chuckle behind the door as it opened inward.

"Now, now, if my title makes you uncomfortable you may call me Jacques or Mr. Moreau if it would please you." I was right. He was an old man. Probably in his mid-sixties and moving into his seventies, maybe older. He could use magic and that always made determining age a little tricky.

Even with my prodigious healing speed due to my Contract with Mordred, I couldn't have walked off that kind of damage Ciel had told me about. Not without spending a few days in bed at the very least. That Father Jacques Moreau could heal me enough to be up and about in a few hours said a lot about his skill.

The old man moved forward his well-trimmed white beard twitched around his mouth into a smile. His brown eyes warmed as he looked at me. He was wearing a cassock that clearly denoted him as a priest. Jacques took the seat that Ciel had vacated a few minutes before and looked me up and down before smiling.

"It does this old man good to see you well."

"Thanks." I didn't quite stumble over the word but it was a close thing. "Are you even allowed to use magic?" Alright, I was probably still out of it, since I had just voiced that question aloud.

"You are asking me, a man of the cloth if I am allowed to use heathen magic!?" His expression of outrage would have been more believable if he could have stopped himself from laughing every other word. "Well in answer to your question, yes I am allowed to young man. Under certain circumstances at least."

"Thanks. But isn't that, you know?"

"Against the teachings?" I nodded at his question I wasn't exactly religious, few magic users were, and the church's dislike of magic was well documented. Thou shall not suffer the witch to live and such. His smile fell from his face as he rubbed his beard in thought.

"Without getting into a long and rather well-worn debate yes. However, over the years it has been decided that in many cases magic is too valuable to be ignored. Moreover, while certain types of magic are absolutely forbidden such as Necromancy. Others like Healing are encouraged to be learned among those of us who serve the Church and can do so."

"Such doctrine has changed with the times. In one hundred eighty-seven amino dominai. A decision was made to introduce Witches and Wizards who wished to join the Church. Into a branch called the Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament. Since then policy has shifted away from kill the witch and such to each user of magic should be judged by their own merits. Not that it has not backslid more than once. As I'm sure you know." He shook his head ruefully.

"At the current time, the Church's position is that those who seek the betterment of their fellow man are considered to be using their gift, regardless of where it comes from, for good. While those who use it for evil are to be slain. That is about as far as I can get into it without spending a significant amount of time informing you of the history behind those decisions. And you don't look to be the type that would enjoy a four-hour dissertation on the history and theology of Christianity."

"Alright." He was right. I wasn't.

"A lot to take in isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Do not worry about it too much young man. It is an understandable question and the acquisition of knowledge and wisdom is one of the highest virtues one can aspire to. So long as you do not lose your humanity along the way." There was a lot to unpack in the back half of that statement. Almost a warning. But I didn't feel up dissecting it right now.

"Why do you keep calling me young man?"

"Well first and foremost because you are young and you are a man. Unless you prefer to be addressed differently?"

"No. Definitely a man."

"In that case, I suppose we can move on to the second reason." I leaned forward a little. "You have yet to introduce yourself." I blinked slowly. Looking the old man up and down.

"Don't you already know my name?" He had to right? Ciel had to have told him.

"Oh indeed." Father Jacques replied almost nonchalantly giving a theatrical shrug of his shoulders. "But knowing your name and being given permission to use it are very different things." Well, that wasn't something I was expecting to hear on top of everything else.

"I'm Harry Potter, nice to meet you, sir." I held out my right arm. It rose slowly and took more effort than I wanted to admit. But it moved. Father Jacques grasped it gently and have it a small, firm, shake.

"A pleasure to meet you as well Mr. Potter. May I call you Harry?"

"Yes sir."

"Wonderful! But please Harry, as I said before, call me Jacques or Mr. Moreau if my title of Father is not to your liking. I don't dislike being called sir but for private conversations it's a little formal for my tastes." The old man smiled at me indulgently. "Now I believe you have questions?"

"Yes s-Jacques. You're a healer?"

"I am. I have a modicum of skill in the healer's arts. Though I needed to use a few potions to assist in your recovery. The, I assume vampire, did quite a number on you." I went to ask another question but was interrupted.

"Fou!"

"Oh this is Fou." My squirrel-dog companion looked up from where he had been curled to my neck and nodded to the old man.

"A pleasure to meet you Fou." Father Jacques didn't miss a beat. Fou raised his paw and waved. "If it's not too rude of a question. What is he?"

"He's my Fou." I didn't stumble over the explanation this time. Though admittedly it was kind of bad that I didn't have another one.

"I see. Can he understand us?"

"Pretty sure."

"Fou." We answered at the same time.

"Alright. Not at all what I was expecting today. But alright." The old man shook his head.

"Anyway I wanted to ask how bad my injuries were. Ceil gave me a rundown but..." Jacques nodded and his smile turned to a frown. Lines forming upon his brow.

"Ah yes, when you arrived you were in a bad way. I needed to use a modified mixture of Skele-Grow, a general healing potion, and some bone healing charms to put your left arm back together. The wound in your side was large but given it was a flesh wound it much like the wound on your chest was healed with minor charms. Your broken ribs were a bit more of a challenge and I needed to use a blood-replenishing potion to keep you stable long enough to do all of this. Finally, we needed to address the stoke you've had."

"I honestly wasn't sure how to heal that. As I said I am a passable healer but I am by no means a Doctor or a Ministry Certified Healer. More a very enthusiastic and experienced amateur. Which is why I was surprised when your body healed that by itself. I was half a minute away from sending you to Saint Jeanne's when I noticed." He gave me a look of significance. "May I ask a question?"

"Yes F-Father." I stumbled over his title.

"What are you?"

"I-I'm sorry?"

"What are you? I don't mean it as an attack, Harry. But you don't just heal yourself completely from a stroke. Well, not unless you've done something incredibly stupid. Like attempting to recreate the Curse of Restoration on your own body. I know you haven't done that because I would have known if someone baring that curse walked through the doors of my Church thanks to the Bounded Field. So since you clearly haven't done that and appear human I must ask. What are you?"

"I'm human." I asserted as he drew up a single eyebrow. His disbelief at my statement was quite clear and not a little offensive. "I am! It's just that may not strictly apply to me all the time anymore."

"Oh?" I settled on a version of the truth. I had to tell the man something. He had saved my life. Which bought him a lot of goodwill. Besides the question was a fair one. But that didn't mean I was completely comfortable telling him everything.

"How much do you know about Spiritual Evocation?" I settled on a lie after a second. One that had just enough truth to be easy to remember.

"It's the summoning of spirits to aid the caster in an endeavour. It is considered a borderline heresy but depending on the situation both allowed and tolerated in the Church."

"Got it in one." I attempted to give him a thumbs up but my arms weren't moving quickly enough and I gave up. I'd keep the back half of his statement in mind if I ever needed to use this lie again. "I assume you saw the scar around my bicep." I flicked my head at my left arm.

"Yes, I had been wondering about that."

"Well, I got that when my arm was blown off during a terrorist attack on Diagon Alley."

"What?" The word was said softly but the incredulity in his voice was palpable.

"Yep. Blown clean off. I was dying of blood loss. Then a guy walks up and offers me a chance to live in exchange for being a lab rat more or less. I'm half convinced it's a hallucination but I don't want to die so I say yes. Next thing I know I'm waking up with a new arm and a spiritual connection grafted into me. It saved my life but I'm not quite a normal human anymore. There are a few side benefits to that."

A very similar story to the one I told Ciel with additional detail and lacking Zeltrech. Hopefully, she'd play along if Jacques asked about it. Assuming he didn't already know about Zeltrech of course. Not like I managed to work a restriction on information transference into that Geas.

"I see. Is it a danger to you in any way?" I was quite floored by that question. I don't mind admitting that.

"I'm sorry what?"

"Are you in danger from this connection? Do you require help in removing it, if you wish to?"

"No. Not really. Not unless I do something really stupid anyway." Father Jacques didn't look completely satisfied by my answer. That was fine. I could field more questions later. When I'd made my decisions about what lies to tell. For now, I chose to redirect him. Looking down at my bandaged right arm frowning. "Ciel said this had been burned but not much else how bad is it?"

"Ah yes, your other arm. Well, I didn't want you to panic over its new additions."

"New additions?"

"Yes during the healing process, I found discolourations running up your arm. They do not appear to be dangerous to you in any way. Nor do they appear to cause you pain. But I didn't want to stress you unnecessarily. If you woke without Ciel or me watching over you and able to explain the situation. I believed given the fight you just came out of you would be unlikely to remove things like bandages."

Fair assumption. Correct too. If I woke up in a bed alone bandaged up I probably wouldn't pull them off feeling the way I did right now. I flexed my fingers. They were slow to react but moved the way I wanted them to. Didn't seem like there was any nerve damage to speak of.

"Can you take them off?" I held up my right arm and focused on keeping it steady. Which was harder than I wanted to admit.

"Are you sure?" I nodded and the old man reached forward carefully unwrapping the bandages. He wasn't terribly fast but he had a consistent pace that had them all off in a matter of course. Jacques was right about the discolouration.

It started just below my elbow. My first thought was that it resembled a burn scar but that wasn't quite right. It was too well-formed for that. Additionally, it moved in straight lines. Splitting and joining at ninety-degree angles making a lattice that reminded me of circuitry.

They ended at my fingertips ever discolouring the fingernails a little. The difference in colouration was clear I wasn't the palest man in the world. But I wasn't tan either. These lines were black and stood out clearly. I really wished I could throw some questions at Mordred right now. Assuming they even knew what was going on. But after last time I was going to hold off on that for a bit.

"Well, they're certainly distinctive." I tried for nonchalance. I don't think I quite managed it given the frown on Father Jacques' face.

"Has this ever happened to you before?"

"No. Not this."

"According to my diagnostic spells, they don't cause you any pain. But can you confirm that for me?"

"No pain. Not from that anyway."

"Good, good. Now if you're done trying to distract me?" He asked with the kind of indulgent smile a Grandfather used on a child attempting to hide something inconsequential. "Is this spiritual connection a danger to anyone else?" He homed back in on the one thing I'd hoped he'd leave alone. But it was a fair question.

"No. Not a danger to anyone else either. Like I said I get a few benefits from it when we work together. But it's not an active danger to anyone." That sounded a lot better than 'I have a Knight of the Round Table stuck in my head via a card that allows us to communicate and I'm using their skills and teachings to further my own, not completely upstanding, goals.'

"I see. Given the trust Ciel seems to have in you, I shall leave off questioning you further upon this matter. But if you ever feel the need to talk about it please feel free to come and see me. I shall turn away no child from this house of God." Well, that was nice of him. I was never going to take him up on it of course. But I did appreciate the offer.

"If you don't mind me asking Father. How's the whole vampire thing going?"

"Well enough, we know this is a wide-ranging threat. The next step is to discover what exactly those circles do. Destroy what we can of them, involve the Aurors to help remove the problem, then track and kill whatever Master they have. I may not know exactly whatever this thing wants but I know it can't be good."

"Seems simple enough."

"Seems yes. Actually doing it however I imagine will be considerably harder." He cocked his head to the side and smiled.

"It seems that Ciel has returned."

"How could you know that?"

"The Bounded Field. It tracks a number of things. One of them is if a registered person has just entered or left it." I heard the deceptively light steps on the stairs and figured either he had incredible hearing or Jacques was telling the truth. And I didn't see a reason for him to lie. The door opened a moment later.

"I'm back," Ciel stated unnecessarily as she looked around her eyes landing on my arm and grimacing.

"Well thank you for a wonderful talk, Harry." Father Jacques said standing with a smile. "I wish you a good day and remember if you ever wish to speak my door is always open." He left with a small bow towards us both and shut the door.

"He seems nice."

"He is." Her blue eyes didn't move from my arm.

"What did you do?" I contemplated lying. It was like breathing to me at this point and decided against it. I enjoyed having someone I was honest with instead of weaving a tableau of lies and truths. I may refuse to part with information. But I didn't want to lie.

"That sword I have can amplify magical energy. Unfortunately, I couldn't control it completely." I looked at my arm again. My fingers closed a little faster this time.

"I see." Her eyes narrowed a little. "Would it happen to be responsible for that lance of red light?"

"Yes," I admitted slowly. Not like there was much point in hiding that, she smiled.

"Oh good. Congratulations Harry. You're responsible for several million euros in property damage."

"I'm sorry what?"

"You. Are. Responsible. For. Several. Million. Euros. Of. Property. Damage." She enunciated each word to make sure I understood them.

"How!?"

"Your discharge of energy destroyed several shipping containers and gutted a couple of small-ish buildings. Luckily it cleared the ground after that." Well shit. Guess I'd need to aim higher next time.

"Was anyone hurt?"

"We don't think so."

"What do you mean, you don't think so.'

"Anyone who was hit by that head-on would have been vaporised. Like that Nightmare. So we can't be one hundred percent sure. But didn't hit anyone with the edge of the attack and no one's been reported missing. Plus it was a mostly industrial area. So you probably didn't hit anyone. Just a lot of things." Well, that was better than it could have been.

"Could we not mention that to the Aurors?"

"Wasn't planning to. But I'm pretty sure they'll put it together sooner or later given where that circle is and the damage. Though they did cordon off the area already from normal people so that's something at least."

"What am I looking at in terms of legal damages?" I couldn't help but wince as I asked.

"Given you were fighting for your life not a lot I guess. So long as you didn't actually kill any humans anyway. But in any case, we'll say you were acting as an agent of the Church under my authority. That way any legal stuff will go through us first."

"Thanks." That was a weight off of my shoulders. A curiosity of mine perked up as I looked at her. "By the way how do you bypass a Curse of Restoration? Because I needed an ancient magical artefact and luck."

"Black Keys." She said flicking her hand and deploying the blade of three of them. One red hilt held between each finger. Giving her a distinct, and absurd, warrior nun wolverine look.

"They're created by a special process." I got the feeling I wasn't going to get anywhere asking about that. "But they're imbued with the concept of purification. Stab one of the Dead and the area struck will start burning. Get a lesser vampire like a Nightkin or Nightmare in the heart and they ash almost instantly. Full vampires will have greater difficulty making use of their Curse of Restoration. As the keys purification concept will attempt to prevent it from activating. There are some other techniques you can use with them as well. It's why I prefer them over an Ash Lock harder to use and master but more versatility."

"Okay got it." I had no idea what an Ash Lock was but I'd take Ciel's word for it. I considered phrasing my next carefully then gave up on it. "Can I have one?"

"Can you have one?" She asked confused.

"Yeah, a Black Key. Can I have one?"

"No?"

"No?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"They're not exactly made to be used by most people. It usually takes three or four years before you can even throw them well enough to use useful in a fight and that's what they're designed for. Then another one to gain enough grip strength to hold it between your knuckles in a melee. I've fought you, you're good. But you're not that good. Not yet." I digested that for a second before trying a different track.

"Come on!" I whined incessantly. "All I've got is Clarent and while I love that sword a backup blade would be nice. Besides not meant to be used in melee or not I can think of a few ways to hurt someone with a magic extend-o blade." She sighed and seemed to consider it for a moment before looking at my wounds guiltily. I played them up a little, shamelessly, in an attempt to get what I wanted. Ciel sighed and rubbed her temples with a hand.

"You get one. Mess it up and I won't lend you another until you're good enough to use it the normal way." Her ultimatum delivered she looked out the window. "You should probably get ready. I'll show you where the shower is we can pick some snacks and things on the way to the villa."

"Right." I stood my legs buckled and I almost fell. Ciel's arms wrapped under my own and held me for a moment as I got my feet back under me. It didn't hurt as much as earlier. Didn't make it any less embarrassing.

"Thanks."

"No problem." It wasn't the last time the vampire hunter needed to keep me stable. Luckily I was able to shower by myself. I wasn't sure I'd be able to take the humiliation if I passed out naked and she needed to rescue me from the shower. I deliberately didn't consider who had changed me while I was out. I didn't want to know.

"Did you ask about sidelong apparition?" She asked as we walked back to the room and I swore. "That's a no. I'll go ask Father Jacques you focus on getting ready." Without a backward glance she strode away and I slipped back into the room. The bottom half of my outfit was still in good order. It was when I pulled out Ciel's chosen shirt that I stopped.

It was pink.

Not only was it pink. It was aggressively pink. Flamingo pink. It was the pinkest dress shirt I had ever laid eyes on. Fou stared at it with me and then began vibrating on his seat, my shoulder, before falling off waving his small paws in the air. He hit the floor with a dull floof-like sound.

"Foooooooou!" He let out a cackle as he rolled around on the ground and I sighed and rubbed my temples looking down at the squirrel-dog.

Traitor.

Chapter Twelve- END.

So about Clarent Blood Arthur. The stab forward was up on a slight 45 degree angle. Aiming for Marcel's chest. The line of energy went through him the containers behind him. The two small buildings behind that and then had enough clearance from the ground to avoid any more collateral damage.