Sebastian traveled to the Grim Reaper Dispatch, doing his best to avoid as many green Reaper eyes as he could. He just needed to see one particular Reaper and then all of this would be over with.
The stench of the place was overwhelming and Sebastian resisted the urge to cover his nose. He entered the Management Division and a female Reaper at the front desk narrowed her eyes as she saw him approaching.
"What's your business, demon?" the Reaper asked coldly. "You should know that your kind isn't welcome here."
"I need to speak to William T. Spears," Sebastian told the female, not bothering to hide the disdain in his voice. "It's urgent."
"What could possibly be so urgent that a demon is asking a Reaper for help?"
Sebastian's eyes glowed pink. "Get him…now."
The female Reaper just glared at him.
"I thought I smelled something foul," a monotone voice said next to him. "Why are you here…Sebastian?"
"DID SOMEONE SAY BASSY?!"
Sebastian put his hand to his head as it began to throb. Between the horrid odor of the Reapers and the one Reaper he had attempted to avoid more than any other, he hoped the young master would let him indulge in the luxury of sleep just for one night.
Grell appeared out of nowhere and launched himself towards Sebastian. "What are you doing here?!"
Sebastian side-stepped, and the redhead went crashing to the ground. He turned to look at William as Grell stood up and leaned onto his shoulder. "I need to speak with you. Now."
"I'm terribly busy at the moment," William answered as he adjusted his glasses.
"You'll want to make time for this. You have a rogue Reaper on your hands."
William's eyes narrowed. "Come with me."
The two of them went to William's office, Grell trailing close behind. Once Sebastian and William were inside the office, Sebastian firmly closed the door causing Grell to slam into the closed door.
Sebastian was very close to losing control the longer he stayed in such a place. He had never been to the Dispatch before and for a good reason. He hated Grim Reapers.
"What's the problem?" William asked him.
"One of your Reapers has been delivering his own sense of justice to criminals throughout London. Normally, I wouldn't really care, but he's started to interfere with my master's business and such cannot be tolerated."
"Who is it?"
"A Reaper by the name of Lukas Everett."
"Lukas…" William murmured. "He's a new Reaper. Arrived at the Dispatch on the 14th of April, currently preparing for his examination."
"Yes. Although he's doing more than preparing for soul harvesting. He's also made it his personal mission to eradicate myself, my young master, and the head maid of the manor."
"And you haven't caught him?"
"He's fast. Faster than any Reaper I've ever seen before."
"So a Reaper managed to get the best of a demon. How the tables have turned."
Sebastian fought the urge to change into his true form and rip William's head off. "I could say the same of you. This has been going on for weeks and you haven't even been made aware of it."
The two supernatural beings stared each other down.
Finally, William sighed. "It looks like I'm going to have to be working overtime yet again."
Without opening the door, the two of them took off out of the window of the office to London to find Lukas.
Grell hurriedly opened the door to find an empty office. "Well, how rude!" he exclaimed. He ran to the window in William's office. "Never fear, Bassy! We'll be together again soon!"
Demon and Reaper flew across the rooftops at top speed to find Lukas before he killed another human or worse, did something else to harm Ciel.
William stopped on one of the roofs and adjusted his glasses with his pruner. Then he extended the gardening tool and slammed the young Reaper in the back of the head just as he was about to bring his Death Scythe down onto a man cowering in the corner of an alley.
Lukas abruptly turned around. "Will?! What are you doing here?"
"Honestly…the amount of unpaid overtime this is going to cause…"
Sebastian hopped down in front of the man Lukas had been about to kill and knocked him into the wall. It wasn't hard enough to kill him, only to knock him unconscious.
William nimbly landed in front of Lukas. "Lukas Everett, you are in violation of regulations set forth by the Grim Reaper Dispatch."
"Yeah, but Will, listen, I did all this for a good reason!"
"You have killed people not on the 'To-Die' list, you are in possession of a stolen Death Scythe, and you have revealed your identity to multiple humans in exchange for their services."
"Yeah, but Will—"
"You will be brought to the Grim Reaper Council and disciplined for your actions."
"Will!" Lukas shouted. "Listen to me! I was killing humans who have committed crimes and were never punished for it! They deserved to die!"
"That is not for Grim Reapers to decide. We only deal with humans scheduled to die and do not concern ourselves with any others."
"Okay, fine, but I tried to get rid of that demon and that stupid kid who made a contract with him and some woman who is in love with him. You're the one who's always saying that demons and anyone associated with them are foul creatures."
"Perhaps, but that doesn't give us the right to attempt to eliminate them or any humans who have made contracts with them. That human has made their choice, and there is nothing us Reapers can do about it."
"Come on, I thought you'd want me to try to kill the demon…"
"It is true Reapers do not get along with demons. Demons do not get along with Reapers, but they usually do not go around trying to kill us all. They simply attempt to steal souls from us due to their insatiable greed."
"Didn't this one try to kill Grell a little while ago?"
"I was under orders from my master," Sebastian interjected. "Grell could've been another demon and I would've had no choice but to kill him. Fortunately for him, William stopped me before I could complete the order."
"We have all wanted to kill Sutcliff at one point or another," William continued. "But we do not. You are a young Reaper, and you have a long way to go before you can ever get out into the field again. Now hand over the Death Scythe."
Lukas clenched his jaw as he handed over the large sickle.
William tossed the sickle to Sebastian. "You'll see that gets returned to its rightful owner?"
"Naturally," Sebastian smirked.
"What happens now?" Lukas asked.
"You are suspended from reaping souls for an indefinite amount of time," William told him. "The Council will decide on your punishment. Come with me. Now."
"One moment," Sebastian said before the two Reapers departed. "Now while I agree that we cannot be attempting to kill each other all the time, there is one thing I simply must take care of before you go."
Sebastian calmly approached Lukas and punched him hard on the jaw. Had Lukas been human, his face might've been damaged beyond repair.
Sebastian's eyes glowed pink as he angrily grabbed a fistful of Lukas's hair.
"That is for Adalina," he growled.
Lukas stumbled back in fear. "Will, he just hit me! Aren't you going to do something?!"
William's eyes narrowed a little bit as he once again adjusted his glasses with his pruner. "Just this once, I'll allow it."
"What?!"
"Let's go. I now have an unbelievable amount of paperwork to complete thanks to you."
Sebastian watched the two Reapers depart feeling extremely unsatisfied. He wanted that Reaper to suffer. He wanted him to feel every inch of pain he had forced upon Adalina. He wanted to personally tear his limbs from his body.
Unfortunately for him, he wouldn't be able to do so. While Lukas was a corrupt Reaper, he was a Reaper all the same. Harming Grim Reapers was not easy at all, especially when William was nearby.
Instead, he closed the Death Scythe and put it into his coat pocket before heading to the shop where he could return it.
"Undertaker," he called as he stepped inside the funeral parlor.
"Why, if it isn't Sebastian Michaelis," the gray-haired man said as he popped up from behind the counter. "What brings you here?"
"I believe you've been missing something."
He procured the sickle and handed it to the Grim Reaper. Undertaker was the only Reaper Sebastian ever tolerated. Since he was technically retired, it made it a bit easier to be around him and it was true that he had helped his young master on several cases.
"Ah, yes, I've been looking for this," the man laughed.
"I recommend keeping a better watch on such possessions. It fell into the hands of a young Reaper who had his own way of delivering justice."
"A Reaper vigilante, eh?"
"Yes. He hit Adalina with some kind of paralyzing drug, and now she's lost some of her memories. Are you familiar with such a drug?"
The man put his long black fingernails to his chin. "Now that you mention it, I think I am."
"Is the memory loss permanent?"
"I don't believe so. Her memories should come back eventually, but there's no telling how long it will take. They may come back all at once or they may come back a little at a time, and it may not be in the right order. It depends on the person."
"Thank you."
"Sebastian," the Undertaker called before he left the parlor. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, I can't have the Phantomhive head maid wandering about with no memories, now can I?"
The Undertaker laughed a little as Sebastian exited. "Mm-hmm."
Sebastian returned to the manor, curious to see how Adalina had gotten along without him.
Meanwhile inside Phantomhive Manor, Adalina was doing her best to do what was expected of her which was difficult as she didn't really know what was expected of her.
"Hey, Adalina!"
The young woman turned around as a blond-haired man flung his arm across her shoulders.
"Mind helping me out in the kitchen?"
Adalina tried to remember what his name was. It started with a B…
"Oh, right…I heard you lost some of your memory. The name's Baldroy, the cook at Phantomhive Manor. Anyway, I could use some help making dinner if you're up for it. You sometimes help me out in the kitchen when you've got time."
Adalina nodded a little since she wanted to learn her way about the manor more. She had already gotten lost three times while trying to complete her chores.
Baldroy led her down to the kitchen and showed her where all the utensils and food were kept.
Adalina hadn't cooked anything in a long time. Or at least, she couldn't remember how to cook anything. So she trusted Baldroy to help her make something.
That did not end up being a good decision.
When Baldroy attempted to cook the meat, he set the oven on fire. The man grabbed Adalina around the waist and flung her to the ground to avoid the fire's trajectory.
"Heh, heh…" Baldroy chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry about that. I should've warned you about my tendency to start fires by accident."
At that moment, Sebastian walked into the kitchen. "This is your idea of not overwhelming her?"
Baldroy quickly looked up at the sound of the butler's voice. "Oi, Sebastian, you're back already!"
With a sigh, Sebastian went over to Adalina and helped her off the ground. "Clean this up, Bard."
"Yeah, yeah…"
Sebastian escorted Adalina out of the kitchen and back towards the foyer, trying to keep his temper in check at seeing Baldroy on top of her. Sebastian may have true feelings towards her, but if demons were anything, it was possessive. That hadn't changed at all. He didn't particularly like anything threatening what was rightfully his.
"Adalina, there is one thing I want to make you aware of," he said to her as they walked.
The young woman looked up at the butler, secretly thankful he had returned to the manor unharmed.
"I know what happened to you before you were hired as a Phantomhive servant."
Adalina's eyes widened a little. How did he know about her past…? She couldn't have told him.
"It's complicated to explain how exactly I know, but I do. When I found you, you had been living on the streets for some time. You attempted to steal from me, but I saw your potential, and I hired you to work here rather than turning you over to Scotland Yard."
Why couldn't she remember any of this? What else had happened to her that she couldn't remember?
"The men who took you…they are dead now. You don't have to worry about them any longer. And the other captured girls have been freed."
Adalina was a bit confused as to how that had happened, but she didn't care so much. The fact was that all of the other girls who had been held prisoner with her would not be subjected to that cruelty any longer and the men would never come back to harm her again.
Adalina moved a bit closer to Sebastian as they continued walking. Something about him made her feel…safe.
Things went relatively back to normal all things considered. None of Adalina's memories returned, and if any did, she didn't let on that they had.
As the days progressed, Adalina relearned all her jobs and what was expected of her.
Basically, things were almost exactly the same as they had been before she had found out Sebastian's true identity.
Adalina began wondering if something had been going on between her and Sebastian prior to her memory loss. He acted a lot differently with her than he did with the other servants, and she wasn't exactly sure why. He seemed a bit more…attached to her. And for some reason, she felt extremely comfortable around him. She couldn't say what it was, but she kind of enjoyed being around him even if it was in complete silence.
Though Sebastian appeared calm on the outside, the whole situation was killing him. When Adalina had first found out he was a demon, all he had wanted was for things to return the way they were. He should be grateful that this happened. And if it had happened back then, he would be.
But now, he wasn't.
Adalina was the only woman he had ever truly loved, and now she couldn't remember anything about their feelings for one another. She couldn't remember all the times he had done everything to protect her. She couldn't remember their times training together. She couldn't remember when he had faked his death which helped her see that she cared about him. She couldn't remember him tending to her injuries and the very intimate moment they had been able to share.
He began to wonder if the Oracle had told her of what would have to happen if they desired to be together. If she did, it was no wonder she had been so upset when he had not kissed her. After all, by not kissing her, it was more than a simple rejection which was humiliating enough for humans in itself. She knew that he was choosing his power over her.
It didn't matter anymore because Adalina didn't remember that either which meant that she would never kiss him willingly anyway.
Every time he saw Adalina, he wanted to kiss her to see if that would force her memories to return or at least help her recall her feelings for him. But he couldn't. If it didn't work, she would be terrified of him for a really long time as she had been the last time he had forced himself on her, and things would be even worse than they already were. Not only that, but if their first kiss wasn't initiated by her, any chance of them being together was gone forever, and he could not let that happen. He had worked too hard to make sure that their chance at being together was not wasted.
One night, Adalina was bathing in the servants' bathroom after a really long day of doing her own chores and then helping the other servants with theirs since they had completely messed everything up. She wondered how she and Sebastian had managed to put up with their constant screw-ups for so long. They were the most incompetent servants she had ever seen. There had to be some reason they were hired to work in the manor.
The warm water felt extremely relaxing on her aching muscles. She wished that she could remember more about her life here from before she lost her memories. It seemed like she lived a pretty good one here with the earl. He was a really good master to her, even if he was rather intimidating despite his young age. And though the servants were perfectly useless, they were very nice to her and always meant well.
All the same, this alone time was much needed.
Sebastian passed by the servants' bathroom and heard the sound of pouring water. Seeing as the other servants had retired for the evening, there was only one person who could be taking a bath now.
He knew that he shouldn't do it, but he couldn't help himself. He was still a demon after all.
He slowly opened the door to the bathroom, being extra careful not to let it creak so as not to alert Adalina of his presence. Her back was towards him as she sat in the bathtub pouring water over herself.
His eyes began to glow pink as he stared at her bare back which was covered in thin scars from the lash of the whip. His supernatural sight followed each and every bead of water that trailed down her pale skin. He desired nothing more than to run his bare hands over her curves and feel her flesh beneath his hands. He wanted his lips to graze over her bare shoulders like he had done several weeks ago.
He felt his fangs protrude as Adalina slowly ran her hands through her wet hair. If he didn't know any better, he'd say she was teasing him with something he could not have.
The young woman froze for a moment and turned around to look at the door. She felt as if someone had been watching her, but the door was closed.
Now that she thought about it, she had felt like someone had been watching her a lot recently. But surely she was still just on edge from being held captive. No one in the manor had any reason to spy on her, and it wasn't like someone could break into the manor. Not when Sebastian was around.
She wished she understood how that man seemed to be able to do anything and everything. He was a perfect butler. Almost too perfect.
Several nights later, Sebastian opened the door to Adalina's room very late. The young woman lay in bed asleep with one hand resting on her stomach while the other lay near her head. She looked more at peace than he had ever seen her.
Very slowly approaching the bed, he took one of his gloves off with his teeth. Then he gently rested his hand on her cheek, and for the first time in weeks, he got to feel her perfect skin underneath his fingers. He had forgotten how much he longed to touch her again like he had before.
Adalina stirred for a moment, but she did not awake. Sebastian fondled a few strands of her soft hair and rubbed his fingers against her cheek. In her sleep, she leaned into his touch which made him smile.
It frustrated him to know that this was the only moment he could be this close to her without any negative repercussions that would set them back even further.
Adalina suddenly opened her eyes and sprang up.
No one was there.
She knew someone had been in here. But there was no one in the room and there certainly wasn't any place to hide. There was no logical explanation for the sure knowledge that someone had come into her room.
She gently reached up and touched her cheek. It was tingling a little for reasons she couldn't explain.
What she couldn't understand was why she didn't really feel afraid at the possibility of someone in her room. In fact, something about the lingering presence in the room…comforted her.
Adalina slowly lay back down to return to her sleep. She pulled the blanket up around her, her eyebrows creased together in thought.
Why wasn't she afraid?
Nothing about this place made any sense.
What she did not—nor would she ever—notice was the dropped white glove just at the side of her bed.