About a month passed since Grell returned and everything in the Labyrinth continued on as normal. At least, the bare minimum of normal. Grell seemed more whimsical than usual, not even bothering to torture the inmates outside the scheduled torment or whipping the demons awaiting trial if they slacked on their work. Demons would make themselves useful by digging deeper into the catacombs, their powerlessness when it came to the holy earth and architecture did not aid them when they fought the Warden. Sutcliff had a reputation of whipping inmates to death for disobedience, but lately she could only be described as preoccupied. It wasn't that she was tired or just plain blank, she was so busy daydreaming when her shift didn't call for excessive work ethic.
Ronald seemed to notice more than any of the guards, he was closer to Grell than most guards. When he asked Grell about her new, whimsical attitude she merely told him she was so happy to finally be in the body she should've been born in. It made sense, at least that bit did. What did not make sense was that William was visiting more often than not. He explained that he was investigating some of the Death Row inmates, having learned quite a bit about them when he had taken Grell's place a month back. Half of his excuse was a lie though, and even the true excuse held no real meaning except he was going to see Gregory.
The doctor, even more than Grell, had the strangest attitude change of all. He had taken samples of Grell's blood when she came back and found that the Thorns were gone. He was entirely shocked, he hadn't expected them to be gone at all! It took this month since Grell's return to process he blood test and it was incontrovertible! Grell had no trace of the deadly disease left in her body. He decided to call her into his office, William there as well for matters of discretion.
"Grell," Gregory smiled softly at her, "I'm pleased to inform you that the Thorns have completely disappeared from your body,"
"Thorns?" Grell furrowed her brow, "What Thorns? I never had any Thorns..."
Gregory's brows knitted in confusion, "You didn't know? William went to tell you the first day of your medical leave,"
He turned to William, "Sen-pai? What's the meaning of this?"
William sighed, rubbing his eyes, "She wasn't home when I went to tell her, alright? I went looking for her, never found her, and left her a note and the pills on her doorstep. Some wild animal must've come across and taken them,"
Gregory did not look convinced, "Grell, would you mind leaving the room. I have to speak with William in private, then I will speak with you,"
"Ahhh..." Grell stood, "Whatever...I got to check my make-up anyways. A lady must look her best~!"
She let her tongue curl over her upper lip, rock-star sign in her left hand, as she sauntered out of the room.
"William," Gregory turned away and opened a medical drawer, pulling out a syringe, "You know when I was training to be a doctor for our sorts, I was given a course in psychology?"
"It's required," William nodded, "Are you suggesting you think something is wrong with me?"
"I know something is wrong," he pulled out a syringe, "Ronald Knox told me he saw the demon's blood touch your skin, your attitude lately has convinced me something is wrong with you. I didn't think anything of it until just now with what Grell said. You're not acting like yourself. I can understand your being overly concerned for your workers, but your excuse isn't anything like you. I want a blood sample, if you're infected with the Thorns, your psychological state could be in jeopardy. It's rare, but it can happen,"
"I don't need a blood test," William denied, "And I refuse to give any blood,"
"I'm going to have to insist," Gregory approached him with the needle, William brandished his death scythe, the shears ready to attack.
"I'm going to have to insist you put that needle away," he lunged the shears toward Gregory, snapping the syringe in two. Gregory shifted uncomfortably, the hostile look in William's eyes forcing his heart rate to increase rapidly.
"W-What happened that day?" the doctor asked softly, "If I can't have a sample of your blood...Then tell me what happened...You came back quite frustrated that day...Like Grell angered you,"
He paused momentarily, William hadn't retracted his death scythe, Gregory licked his lips, "I saw how you acted with her when she was comatose. You weren't frustrated, you were concerned. I don't believe you to be the bipolar type, your sudden anger convinces me though that something is wrong. What happened that day?"
William sighed and retracted his scythe, "What I tell you will not leave this room,"
"By my Hippocratic oath I cannot share anything that is said within this room," Gregory nodded, sitting back down. His superior sat down as well, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes. He also scratched the bridge of his nose before putting them back on.
"When I went to give Grell her medication and tell her the news she wasn't home. That much is true, there was no sign that she had been there all day in fact. No fire or burnt wood was in the hearth, and some clothes were strewn about the floor. I was concerned, as you put, and I did go looking for her,"
He took a deep breath, "I found her at the springs, she showed me that place before and I just assumed she might be there. She wasn't alone, however,"
"Oh?" Gregory furrowed his brow.
"There was a man with her in the spring," William's tongue twisted in anger, his frustration lacing his voice, "They were having sexual intercourse,"
"Do you know who he is?" Gregory asked.
"Yes, it was the mortician, the rogue reaper," William hissed. Gregory was shocked.
"A-Are you certain?" he stuttered, "If he is in fact her lover...She could be executed. Don't you know why that man was forced to retire? He's a mad scientist, I don't even know why the Division wanted him to deal with the bodies of the demons!"
"What did he do, exactly?" William inquired.
"I-I've been at my post for longer than you can imagine, I used to be a medic, and I was put on a terrible assignment," Gregory started, "The reapers out in field began to bring in bodies, bodies that had already been reaped but somehow they were still living. They had no souls, only cinematic records that made the body think it was still alive. Sort of like being brain-dead with a functioning body. These bodies were far from comatose though, they were killers. They slaughtered humans that were still alive, ripping them apart to get to their souls. They were almost demonized, in that sense, only no soul could sate them. They had no morals and they certainly didn't know anything about vices. The autopsies revealed large amounts of black magic, magic not even in the history books. It was extraordinary. The culprit was the mortician, he had legendary skills, intense intelligence, and perhaps the worst case of insanity the Psychological Ward had ever seen. He claimed he was trying to make a sinless body, a race of humanity that would never die or feel the need to die or commit vices. That didn't stop him from laughing at the resulting carnage though."
"He thought he was a god but he was just a madman...He spent so long in the London Division Reaper Asylum, that is until the war began. They set him free, used his research as a weapon against demons. Miraculously, he seemed to be partially rehabilitated, his laughter was still maniacal as his illegal methods slowly became popular on the battlefield. It was effective at first, but the demons gained the upper-hand and wiped out most of our female counterparts in retaliation. I'm not sure who suggested renovating the Catacombs, but the bloody bastard put that deranged reaper in charge of utterly disintegrating the demon's blank body. The worst yet is that no one is watching over him to make sure he's doing his job. I suspect he might be continuing his research,"
"You think he is using Grell as his research subject?" William asked.
"I'm not so certain," Gregory sighed, "The blood-work supports Michaelis' blood, that demon made her what she was. I'm not sure yet, I'll have to do more tests. Send Grell back in. For now, I'll say I'm trying to find a cure for the Thorns. If I find nothing relating to the Undertaker's dark magic, we can be certain this is just an affair and nothing more,"
"Gregory~!" Grell whined as the doctor slid the needle into his superior's arm, "This is boring~! How much more blood do you need?"
"This is the last vile, sen-pai," he solaced, pulling the needle out when he had the adequate amount of blood in the vile, "I'm going to try and find out how the Thorns disappeared with medication,"
"I didn't even know I had the Thorns," Grell pouted, "Wouldn't I be showing signs by now?"
"It's possible when Michaels cursed you," he turned to put the blood sample on the medical table, "He didn't have enough time to implant the Thorns and took the alternate route. A demon of lust knows our deepest desires, his goal was probably to make you suffer in your new body,"
"Pft," Grell rolled her eyes as she rolled her sleeve down, "Seems unlikely, I love my new body,"
Gregory sighed, removing his rubber gloves, "Grell...I have to say...The blood work I did when you came back was a tad strange. The chemical tests showed spikes in hormonal development. Have you been doing anything? I won't tell anyone,"
Grell blushed, holding her cheeks, a ruby ring shining on her ring finger, "Oh...No...Nothing at all...Maybe I'm just growing?"
The doctor cracked his neck, shrugging, "I suppose that's possible, you might just be in your first cycle. If you feel ill or anything come and let me know. Women are more prone to illness in such a delicate stage,"
"Alright," Grell stood, stretching, "I gotta get back to work."
With that she left, leaving the doctor to his blood-tests. Gregory hadn't seen that ring on her before, he'd have to ask later.