July 8th, 1888, 8:00 AM.
"A suicide investigation?" I ask, as Alois walks beside me in the garden, Claude trailing behind.
"Yes, the Queen has asked me to take part in this investigation as the Watchdog is currently out of town." Alois sneers in disgust at the word 'Watchdog.'
"What is the information? Is it a royal?" I ask confused, and Alois nods.
"Yes, it is. Claude!" Alois shouts, and I jump slightly at his sudden yelling. "Yes, your highness?"
"Read us the information," Alois demands, and we stop walking to face Claude.
"Duke Alexios Stavros of Greece has committed suicide on July 7th of 1888 in his residency in Volos, Greece. Reasons are unknown. Stavros was born on August 11th, 1864."
"That makes him almost 24 years old..." I side-noted aloud, "but why are we investigating a suicide?"
"We are investigating his reasons for suicide," Alois states, "Greece's police couldn't find a suicide note, and the Queen wants answers."
"Alright, when are we leaving for Volos?" I ask, and Alois and Claude look at me oddly.
"We?" Alois asks, before snorting out a laugh. "We don't need to do anything! I'll just send Claude to Greece to handle it for m-"
"Oh shut up, will you?" I ask, and Alois stops laughing. "No wonder the Watchdog gets all the tough cases, because he handles it personally instead of sending his damn manservant to complete everything alone!" I yell at him, "You complain of not seeing the world, of not having friends, but all you do is sit around this wretched mansion and drink tea!"
I'm not pissed off, just annoyed! The damned brat Alois thinks the world revolves around him, everything at his beck and call.
The world doesn't work like that.
"Claude, I am coming with you to Volos. I know how to get a job done right," I fume, "I will be ready to go in an hour."
"Yes, Miss Ivy."
Turning from Alois, I walk out of the garden to my room, where I quickly pack everything I own. Hopefully Alois will accept the rude awakening I have given him, and will decide to attend alongside us.
Finishing with my suitcase, I attach my parasol to the side loop it has, and I don my grey coat. Slipping on my combat boots that are hidden by my dress, I walk to the front entrance where Claude awaits me.
"Miss Ivy, we can do this the human way, or the other way." Claude says, and I look around. "Isn't Alois coming?"
"No." Claude says, and I sigh. "What do I do? Do-" I start as Claude picks me up bridal-style.
"Close your eyes, mere humans die at the sight of this-" Claude says and I immediately shut my eyes.
I feel air whoosh around my body for a few moments, and I float in air. My feet clank down on the wooden floor, as I open my eyes.
A hustling and bustling port lay before me, with ships being loaded with shipment boxes by sailors. The time difference between Britain and Greece is...2 hours? So it must be around 11:00 right now... Claude sets me down as we walk off the port and into the small town.
I notice how jovial it is. Everyone is talking to everyone with happy expressions, there's bright colors everywhere and it's good weather. Speaking of good weather, I'm sweating up a storm in these London clothing...
Stepping inside a clothing shop, I quickly purchase and change into a less form-fitting dress in a burgundy color, and I stuff everything I was wearing into my suitcase.
This weather was similar to California's, which made me a tad bit homesick, but nevertheless happy. After all, who could be sad and dreary in this weather?
"Let us start the case immediately," Claude says, drawing me from my thoughts as we walked the cobblestone streets "we will be going to the scene of the crime."
"And where is that?" I ask, as he points to the hills. "He resided in that area in a mansion. Shall I carry you there again?"
"Mmmm...let's take it the old-fashioned way. See the scenery, soak in the culture..."
"Miss Ivy, you realize I am over 20 centuries old and have seen Ancient Greece myself." Claude states blandly, and I sweat drop. "Not everyone is as old as you, Claude. Besides, everything changes, even if ever so slightly. The world is ever-changing, and if you see it once it shall never be the same again."
"That's very philosophical of you, Miss Ivy." Claude says, as we start walking. I didn't have the heart to tell him the last sentence was a line from an Elvis song. "Pay no mind to it, and call me 'Ivy.' The little brat isn't here to harp on either of us, right?"
"Correct," he says, a small smirk on his face. "I don't have to deal with the 'little brat', as you say, until we finish the case."
"Now that's the spirit!" I cheer, as we walk to the train station and await the train on the platform.
"I apologize, Miss Ivy, but we won't be riding first class on the train due to me believing we'd have other methods of getting to the crime scene," Claude says, and I shake my head.
"Don't worry Claude, I wasn't expecting first class anyway." I respond, as I feel a small tug on my skirt. Turning my head, I look downwards to see a little boy.
"Blahblahblah blahblah?" He asks, and I arch a brow before nearly facepalming. I don't understand Greek!
"Miss Ivy, he was wondering if you'd like to buy a peach for 25 cents," Claude mutters, and my eyes light up.
I love peaches!
Nodding my head, I reach into my suitcase's side and pull out a Euro. He passes me a peach as I give him the Euro, causing his eyes to widen as he attempts to pass it back at me, speaking foreign words to me again.
"He says it's too much," Claude says, as I smile. "Please tell him to keep it."
Claude turns to the little boy and says something, and the little boy turns to me and smiles brightly, and cheerfully says something before running off excitedly.
"What did he say?" I ask, as the train reaches the platform. "He said 'may the gods bless you on your journey.'" Claude translates for me, and I smile.
"Alright," I say, as I take a bite into the peach. Sweet juices pour from the peach, overflowing my tastebuds.
Swallowing, I smile widely. "Woah! This peach is so delicious!"
"Yes, peaches are native to Greece and are usually grown during the summer months during their peak." Claude says as we step onto the train.
"Interesting," I respond, as we settle into our seats. I watch as we pull out of the train station and the scenery of the town and hills.
After an hour, we finally arrive at the base of the hill. "Shall we walk to the mansion?" Claude asks, pointing to an area of the hill. "That is where his mansion lay."
"No, it looks so far away," I groan, as Claude picks me up like a feather. In a burst of air, we landed on the porch of the mansion.
"I could've apparated," I defend, pushing myself off him.
"The suicide took place in his bedroom," Claude says, ignoring me as he leads me towards a room and swinging open the door. I look at the scene before me.
A young man in a suit was slouched on the bed against the headboard in a sitting position, right hand loosely wrapped around a knife plunged into his stomach. The bed sheets were ruffled and crinkled. A dark red stain came from Alexios' stomach, turning his white dress shirt into a dark red.
"Our duty is to investigate his suicide, and possibly find his note?" I ask, and Claude nods. "If nobles don't have wills planned out before they commit suicide, they will write it on their notes." He explains, and I nod, looking at Alexios again.
"We are having close friends and family come today, to see if they would possibly know of anything." Claude says, as I look closer at the sheets.
"There's something under the sheets," I note, noticing the bit of red coming out from under the sheets on Alexios' left side. Claude pulls back the corner of the sheet slightly to reveal numbers.
"3134?" I ask aloud, looking at the numbers. "Why is it not in the Greek alphabet?"
"I do not know, hopefully this is the code to a safe containing possibly answers, though," Claude notes, looking at Alexios again.
"His left fingers are slightly bloody, explaining why he wrote it on his left side, meaning Mr. Stavros uses his left-hand to write," Claude says, and I arch a brow.
"If he was left handed, he would've used the knife with his left hand. Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Claude?" I ask, and he nods.
"This gives us reasons to believe homicide took place here instead of a suicide." Claude looks at his pocket watch. "We should be ready to meet the family and close friends in about 15 minutes. We will conduct further information from there."
"Claude, do not let them know we believe it is a murder, though." I say, and he arches a brow. "Why so?"
"They'll get jittery, besides, we can see if the murderer is among them," I reply, and he nods. "Alright, let's go."
Volos, Greece, 1888, sometime around 2:00 PM.
I stand at the front door, when realization strikes me. "Shit, I have to talk to Greek-speakers, I forgot that mishap from earlier with the peaches..." I state, before grabbing my tongue.
"Graecia lingua mutante," I mutter quietly to say with my tongue in my fingers, as tingles run up and down my tongue and a ringing sound echoes through my ears.
"What was that, Miss Ivy?" Claude asks, and I smile uneasily. "A mantra before I start talking in Greek?" I reply, and Claude rolls his eyes.
A woman enters the patio before Claude can make a remark, and she walks up to us with a large stride.
"I am Alexios' mother, Aoede Stavros," A woman greets me. She is a woman a few inches taller than me, with dark roots in her greying hair and a tan complexion with few wrinkles. "Hello Mrs. Stavros, I am Ivy Adams," I reply, "and this is my friend Claude, and we are here to find more in depth information of the suicide of your son."
"Hello," Claude bows slightly, and Mrs. Stavros nods to him. "I apologize for not bringing along my husband, but he is currently in Italy on a business trip. We grow a large variety of nuts on a farm, and we export them to Italy. Our son was planning on expanding our nut export business to Britain." She explains, and we both nod.
"Oh, so one day you planned on doing the entire United Kingdom for nut exports?" I ask, and she nods. "Yes, we planned on hopefully spreading it further with each decade. My husband and I both speak Italian, due to our business in Italy, while our son learnt English to start the business in England. Maybe Ireland later on, as it is soon becoming an English-speaking country."
"Interesting," Claude says, "was your son fluent in English yet?"
"He is, I'm sorry, he was attempting to be," Mrs Stavros says, a tad bit nostalgic. "He would use English constantly. In his free time he would translate Grecian documents to English as practice, read English books, and switch between English and Greek when speaking to people. It was quite funny, because sometimes we'd start talking using some of the English words ourselves after he explained it what it meant to us." Mrs Stavros laughed slightly in the end, and I smiled and nodded.
That would make sense why he wrote those numbers in English...
"I see, what would you say he struggled most with in the English language?" I asked, and she looked thoughtful for a moment.
"I believe it would be...writing? Yes, it would be writing. Though some of the letters are similar to English, it is complicated to learn. His writing is blocky, and when he attempted to write in cursive it looked like a bunch of circles," Mrs Stavros tittered a laugh, "Nevertheless, Alexios would always try."
"Mrs Stavros!" Two voices call, and I look over her shoulder and see two women running over to us. "Oh! Hele and Edda!"
The women approached us, both giving a hug to Mrs. Stavros. They were twins around 20 years old, with hair tied in low ponytails on their backs and tanned skin. Freckles dotted their cheeks, and they turned to us. The only difference I could tell from first glance was one had watering amber eyes, and the other had turquoise eyes like the sea. Their clothes were different in their patterns, and the amber-eyed girl had a large diamond on her ring finger.
"Ivy and Claude, this is Hele and Edda." Mrs Stavros says, gesturing to each of them in turn. Hele was with turquoise eyes, while Edda had the amber eyes. "Nice to meet you ladies," I say with a smile, and they nod back. Now that I could get a better look, Edda's clothes were not as form fitting as Hele's, and she seemed a bit shorter and a shade paler.
"Are you sisters of Alexios?" Claude asks, and Hele shakes her head. "No, my sister was Alexios' fiancee and I'm a good friend of his," Hele says with a small smile.
"How long was Edda and Alexios engaged for?" I ask, and Edda looks at me. "We've been engaged since June. The wedding was to be the first of September," she says, and I nod.
"So, what are Brits like you doing in Greece?" Hele asks, and she blushes slightly. "That sounded rude, but we usually don't get the English up here much."
"Don't worry," I say with a laugh.
"We received a message from the Queen, who was concerned about the ordeal that occurred," Claude bluntly states, and I roll my eyes.
"Claude can be a bit rude and blunt at times, please forgive him. He's much like a stereotypical Brit," I say to the ladies, who laugh slightly.
"Don't worry," Mrs. Stavros says, "but, your accent is different from his. Where are you from?"
"Oh, I'm from California," I say with a smile, "the weather is quite similar in Volos as it is here, which is refreshing. I only moved to London last year."
"Wow, you're from America?" Edda asks with wide eyes, "did your family own anybody?"
"Nooooooooo," I say, shaking my head. "My whole family is against that kind of stuff, and so is a lot of people."
Dammit, I forgot slavery was only abolished 20 something years ago!
"We've never met an American before," Hele nervously laughs, "most Americans don't come over to England. It's only been a tad over a hundred years, after all."
"Yeah, America still has its issues, sadly," I respond, as I hear footsteps coming into the room.
"Guess who's here?" a deep voice announces, and a Greek god of a man walks into the room...
...and by that, I mean Hephaestus.
Though he was toned and tanned, he had a disgusting look on his face like he just smelt dead meat. An arrogant expression diffused with this, making his could-have-been handsome features disgusting. With dark red hair that was slicked back and a dark red beard on his face, it made him look all the more wild.
"Who's that?" I ask, and Mrs. Stavros looks at me sadly. "That's-"
"No need for introductions for me, Mrs. Stavros," he says, sending my a glimmering white smile. "I am Stefanos, pleasure to meet you. I control the ports in Volos, and Alexios and I were partners for business."
Ugh, an arrogant man who controls the shipments.
"Ivy Adams, pleasure. This is Claude," I say, as Claude nods to Stefanos. "Wow, you're pretty pale, aren't ya?" Stefanos asks, looking at Claude.
"I suppose. London's climate is different than Volos.'" Claude replies simply, and Stefanos grins. "You're damned right! Ha! But, how is this pretty lil' lady not as pale as you are?" He asks, slinging an arm around me.
"I'm from California," I say, brushing his piggy arm off me nonchalantly. "I have a naturally tan complexion and I go outdoors a lot."
"I love a woman who likes going outdoors," he says, leaning in close to me, and I can practically smell the wine off his breath. Is he drunk before dinner?!
"I also love people who mind my personal space," I state, backing away from him and closer to Claude. "I don't mind friends and I getting close, but if it's with an acquaintance I had just met, it's a bit uncomfortable."
"Oh, I understand. I don't want the little lady getting scared off now," he grins eerily down at me from his 6' foot tall position, and I fight back a shudder.
I've been through grueling training, gutted a bear, hunted down a cult and committed crimes for humanity, but THIS gets me shivering?! An arrogant man who resembled a photoshopped Rupert Grint?!
"I don't get scared easily, I just know what I like and dislike," I brush him off, as I turn to the women. "Do you have any idea why Alexios would commit suicide?"
"No..." Mrs. Stavros says, "we had a very close relationship, and Alexios never seemed depressed. He always told me how he was excited to be married in September and soon have mini Stavroses running around the house..."
At this comment, I noticed how Hele looked aside at Edda. "I agree with Mrs. Stavros, Alexios was always happy," Edda starts, before she starts coughing into her sleeve. Instead of a normal, light cough, it sounds heavy and throaty. "Excuse me, I'm sick right now." Edda apologizes, and Claude holds up a hand.
"Do not worry, even the best of us get sick at times." Claude says, and I restrain a brow arch. Since when was he so chatty?
"As friends, I never noticed he was depressed. He must've tried to hide it from us," Hele says, and Stefanos shrugs. "We had a business relationship, but he always seemed put together."
"Alright, thank you everyone for your time." Claude says, "You can all leave now."
"Why are you kicking us from Alexios' home? We have as much rights to be here as you do, Brits!" Stefanos yells at us, and Claude arches a brow. "We are to conduct investigations to find a suicide note or a will. Everyone will be contacted if need is to arise."
"I dont give a fu-" Stefanos starts, before Hele grabs him and pulls him back.
"Stefanos, let's go," Hele says, seemingly eager to leave under Claude's orders. "The faster we leave, the more they'll find of his suicide."
They quickly leave, and I turn to Claude. "Claude, can you search for the note on your own and a safe? I'm going to get something to drink quickly."
"Of course, Miss Ivy."
"Stop calling me Miss Ivy, Claude. I call you Claude, so you should call me Ivy, alright?" I ask, and he gives an exasperated sigh.
"Alright, Ivy."
"Great!"
July 9th, 1888, 9:00 AM
"Have you found a safe yet, Claude?" I ask, sitting on the weird-sofa thing in Hele's and Edda's home. They had kindly allowed us to stay with them during our investigation of the 'suicide.'
"I have, and I attempted the code 3134 on it."
"Did it work?" I ask, and Claude shakes his head. "I'm afraid not, so I tore open the safe."
"WHAT?!" I ask, and Claude looks taken aback. "I believed we were attempting to open the safe-"
"Claude, that means nothing of importance would be in the safe!" I exclaim, face palming as Claude looks down.
"Oh. I apologize."
"Yeah, now it's kinda suspicious. Did you at least find anything?" I ask, as Claude nods, holding up a piece of paper.
"Medical records, they appear to be from Hele's safe as this was in the woman's closet. It was reading of Edda's doctor appointments," Claude says, and I arch a brow.
"That's probably because they keep family information private. So, if the safe code wasn't 3134, what could it have been?" I ask, as Claude thinks long and hard.
"I do not know, but I have also found a note," he replies, holding up a piece of parchment it from him, I look at it.
"We both know this note is fake," I remark, looking over the cursive English on the paper. It spoke of his 'depression' and how he no longer wished to live on in the world. "Mrs. Stavros said that Alexios was horrible at cursive."
"Also, the exact same type of parchment was found on Mrs. Stavros' desk too, meaning the murderer would be her, logically." Claude says, and my eyes widen.
But...but Mrs. Stavros seemed to love her son deeply!
"Really? But why would she do so?" I ask, standing up as I begin pacing in thought.
"Who is to say? The important thing is that we know who the murderer is now and we can go home so I can tend to my master. I left the uncontracted demons with the brat," Claude grumbles, snatching the paper from me. I turn to him, crossing my arms.
"Give that back! Something is amiss…" I note, thoughtfully looking downward.
Something was amiss, but I couldn't quite place my finger on it. Something Mrs. Stavros said about English…
"Aha! Mrs. Stavros cannot write in English!" I declare, stopping my frantic pacing.
"So someone was attempting to frame Mrs. Stavros?" Claude quirked a brow, and I nod in affirmation.
"This means someone close to Mrs. Stavros must have attempted to frame her, but who?" Claude asks, "Stefanos seems too dim-witted and arrogant to murder someone, while Hele and Edda seem too close to Alexios to commit the murder. But it had to be one of them, as those were the only people who would have a motive…"
"I was going to confront Mrs. Stavros at dinner tonight, but the matter has changed…" Claude says, and I sigh.
"And I was to meet Hele for dinner tonight at Alexios' house for further investigation, but I don't know what we're going to do now…" I say, and we both look up in realization. Claude's eyes went wide.
"But the human seemed so kind-hearted..." Claude says, "Humanity never fails to baffle me."
"I agree," I reply, straightening my clothes. "We need to resolve this matter immediately, so this is the plan..."
"Thank you for coming to dinner with me! I'm so glad to have some girl time," Hele says as I flash her a white smile.
"I cannot wait to eat some Greek cuisine! All we seem to eat in England is turkey and tea," I say, as Hele arches a brow.
"Well, you absolutely need to try some wine then. It'll pair well with the food we're eating. Come, let's go down to the cellar," Hele says as we both make our way to the dim cellar.
"There should be a lightbulb in there, can you possibly turn it on?" Hele asks, and I nod. "Yeah, sure! Let me get it," I reply, walking into the center of the cellar room, my footsteps' sound bouncing off the walls.
The door behind me slams shut as I turn on the light, a click sound quickly following and I turn to face Hele as a smirk grows on her face.
Dropping the smile on my face, I look at Hele seriously.
"You killed Alexios, didn't you?" I ask, as Hele walks towards me threateningly, and she pulls a kitchen blade from behind her back. The dim lights of the cellar make her face look haunting, like a vengeful warrior.
"Obviously," she sneers, the innocent facade fading. "I had to. It was the only way."
"Only way for what?" I ask, and she frowns. "You wouldn't know."
"You plan on killing me because I know, correct? If I am to die, at least tell me," I barter, and she sighs. "Damn me, being a courteous woman. Alright, I'll tell you, but you sit down."
"Fine," I say, placing my hands in the air as I sit down on the cold tiles of the cellar.
"First, tell me how you figured out it was me," she demands, and I lean back.
"First, Alexios was left handed, because when Alexios' mother showed the Greek-English translations Alexios did the ink always smeared left-right, which I recognized because my sister is left handed. He would never use his right hand to stab himself, and if he did stab himself he wouldn't scribble a name before he died. We thought it was a number combination, due to the odd squareness of the writing, but it was a name. '3134' was actually 'Hele' upside down, which would make sense on the angle how Alexios wrote it. The mother doesn't write in English, and your alibi was too perfect." I look her in the eyes, and she frowns.
"I should have scrubbed that blood off the sheets, but my fingers were already too bloody," Hele complains, flipping the blade up. "And I'm not afraid to commit another murder for myself!"
"But why would you do it? Tell me!" I plead, as she looks at me, fierce facade fading slightly.
"I met Alexios at a wedding for my cousin," she starts, "Alexios was friends with the groom. When I saw his bright, intelligent eyes, it set my heart aflame. I was in love with him the first moment I met him. We danced for a bit, chatted and it was a dream. He told me his family exported nuts, but he never told me he was a Duke. I could care less of titles, though, he was the man of my dreams, after all. I knew it was meant to be...I left for one moment to talk to my sister and she was looking at him with such love in her eyes and I realized she had fallen for him too."
"You loved him, and met him first, but how did he end up being Edda's fiancee?" I ask, and she sighs.
"Edda is the kindest soul I've ever met, she would always help others. Loyalty and family were important to her, and she always put such trust in others, no matter their actions. I know her like the back of my hand! And if I told her I loved him, she would let me have him. That's her kindness! She puts everyone above herself! She would lie and say she was fine, but that's not alright! I care for her, I always want her to be happy!" Hele cries, voice rising in the end before growing quiet.
"I introduce the two, and he falls for her amber eyes that blaze with love. I was fine being a friend of his, as long as I stayed in his life...this was two years ago when I was 18 and Alexios 21. I started learning to write in English so Alexios and I could exchange letters of friendship that Edda couldn't spy on. Only friendship, mind you. 6 months into their courtship, Edda starts coughing lightly, but we paid no mind to it," Hele says, face turning dark.
"Her coughs grew louder and deeper, every so often there was blood but she hid it from everyone but I. After all, who could hide something from your twin?" Hele lightly laughs, frown overtaking it once more. "We took her to the doctor, and found out that Edda has tuberculosis. It's incurable, and she had less than 5 years to live with the treatments we could get her. But, if she was to have child in the time she was suffering with tuberculosis, she would die, and the treatments would be for nothing..." my heart sank, at the realization of Hele's actions.
If she took Alexios out of Edda's life, Edda would probably not remarry and would never get pregnant, but this would only prolong her suffering.
"But why? You could have told Alexios this, and he would understand if he loved Edda," I say, and Hele shakes her head.
"Alexios would have never stayed with Edda then, and Edda's heart would've broken. Alexios wanted at least 3 children, and Edda couldn't have given him that. If only I didn't introduce Edda to Alexios, this would've never happened! I would've never had blood on my hands!" Hele cries, as fat tears drip from her eyes. "I should have been Alexios' bride! But I was honest! And I tried to be as kind as my sister! I'm a liar! Liar! LIAR!" She screamed, pressing her hands to her temple as she dropped the knife on the tiles; the knife landing with a large clang.
She looked around like an insane animal. "Do you hear that?" She asks, as I strain my ears.
"I don'-"
"It's the beating of Alexios' heart, he's coming to get me!" Hele screams, shaking with fear. "He's coming for revenge! The sound is getting louder! And louder! Faster and faster! He's coming for me!"
"Hele, please calm down," I say, standing up slowly, holding my hands in front of me. "We can work this ou-"
"IT'S TOO LOUD, HELP ME!" Hele screams, "RID ME OF THIS SOUND!"
"I don't know how, Hele!" I reply, as she looks at me, eerily silent as a shaky grin places over her face.
"I must...I must end it myself..." Hele says, reaching down for the knife. My eyes grow wide as I run over to her, tackling her to the floor as she grabbed the knife.
"HELE! Let. Go. Of. The. Knife!" I shout, attempting to wrestle it from Hele as I sat on top of her. She positioned the knife between our stomachs, as I was pulling upward so she wouldn't impale herself.
"If I get rid of myself, I get rid of the noise! It's perfect!" She laughs insanely, "And in the Underworld, maybe Alexios and I can be together!"
"Stop it! You deserve to live!" I shout, and she stops struggling, a smile growing on her face.
"I did promise that one of us would leave alive..." she said to herself, and I look into her crazy eyes.
"We'll both leave here alive, we're going to-" I start, as she chuckles maniacally, hands shifting slightly.
"I'm not afraid to spill some more blood, maybe if one of us goes Alexios' ghost will be satisfied," she whispers, leaning up slightly as I feel the tip of the knife against my stomach. Realization dawns upon me, as I try shifting out of her grip...
But it's too late as as she grabs my back, pulling me into her as the knife sinks deeper into my stomach. I feel the intense pain of the knife, as I pull away from her, shakily standing up. Looking towards the shadows where Claude was waiting, shock is evident on his face.
Why didn't that bastard help me?!
Looking at the hilt of the kitchen knife embedded in my stomach, I wrap my hands around it, pulling outward. Damn it! This hurt like a bitch! The sound of wet flesh accompanied this, and as I scrunched up my face until it almost disappeared, I pulled it out completely. Breathing heavily, I watch as dark red started blossoming like a flower on the front of my dress.
Looking towards Hele, I tore the top part of my dress down, leaving me exposed in my bra and allowing the large wound in my stomach exposed, flesh exposed for the eye to see.
"Well, this hurts a lot," I say, placing my hand over my stomach. My eyes blaze blue as I start healing my internal organs. The top part would heal last.
Hele had now paled noticeably. "Wh-what, what the hell are you?! A vengeful goddess?! Are you here because of what I did to Alexios?!" She asks in fear, and I smirk, dropping the knife on the floor next to me.
"No, you see I'm merely one bitch of a cursed witch," I say, moving my bloodied hand from my stomach, watching my flesh mend together leaving a large scar surrounded by blood. The skin-mending wasn't me, it must be the Kiss of Death curse acting in...
I can't die until they find a replacement-death time, after all. And 'one bitch of a witch...?' Nah, that's too Sebastian-y.
"And this bitch is damn good at doing what she wants," I growl, looking at her. I'm mad now, she made me use a shitty catchphrase! "Somnum!" I exhale a breath of a blue cloud-like mist, forcing it to drift over to Hele. She backs away from the mist, backing away into the wall.
"I will see you in Tartarus!" She cries, and I chuckle.
"Save me a spot there, then." I watch as the ball envelops her. She attempts to swipe it away, but she inhales the mist and falls to the floor unconscious.
Walking over to Hele, I place my hand on her forehead. " Hele, this is in your best interest."
My hand thrums with energy as I slowly draw it from her forehead, a turquoise wisp disconnects from her forehead and trails behind my hand.
Those are her memories relating to Alexios...it's so beautiful. They look like condensed stars, twinkling in the most beautiful shade of turquoise I've ever seen...
Grabbing the wisp, images flash before my eyes until I get to thoughts of killing Alexios.
The look of fear in Alexios' eyes when Hele stood over him with the knife did not compare to the look of betrayal. Not wishing to see more, I open my eyes and look at the threed. Thrusting my hands in opposite directions of each other, the wisp disconnects into 10 separate smaller wisps. Grabbing the last 5 wisps, which are memories of killing Alexios, I shift them. They become memories of Alexios and her friendship, of happiness. This completely replaces the memories of her killing him...
The turquoise threads I touched turned a shade of blue as I weaved the wisps back together, before placing them in her forehead. Grabbing the knife next to Hele and pocketing it, I place my hand back on her forehead.
"When you wake up in 5 minutes, you will return to your room and fall asleep, forgetting everything that has happened since 9pm today." I stand up again and walking to the cellar door, unlocking it and stepping out. Claude follows behind, picking up the knife I left behind.
"Claude," I call, and a gust of air poofs beside me for a moment. I look from the corner of my eye and see Claude's haunting, glowing golden eyes in the dark. "Yes, Ivy?"
"Have you produced a fake will yet?" I ask, and he arches a brow, "I thought we were planning on turning in the killer."
"The plans have changed, Claude. We will let them believe it was a suicide instead of Hele." I say, and he smirks. "You seemingly care for these people's feelings, though you are only acquaintances and she did attempt to kill you. You're literally bloodied because of her. Why not tell them the truth? Everything would be much easier."
"Where there is a will, there is a way," I say simply, turning from Claude and making my way to Edda's room. He walks beside me, seemingly leering down on me. "It's not just that, Ivy. What has changed within you?"
"Hele did not commit the murder out of unrequited love as we had believed," I say, "she had committed the murder for requited love."
"Alexios did not care for her that way-"
"I will meet you outside in a few minutes, Claude. We can discuss heavier details later, but I have something to take care of first." I cut him off, and he arches a brow.
"Of course, Ivy." He says, and with a gust of air he was gone, leaving behind a small thread floating in the air behind him: a spider's silk.
I roll my eyes at this, he's too damn dramatic. When Sebastian disappeared suddenly, he never left behind a flurry of raven feathers. He'd leave behind a smart ass comment-
Scratch that, all demons are dramatic. I suppose immortality can be a bore for them at times, making them all the more dramatic-y and irritable.
Stepping into Edda's room, I saw her laying on her bed, bathed in the moonlight shining through her window. She was pale as Ronald McDonald in this light, skin glimmering with the sheen of sweat.
Gliding over to her, I placed my hands on her chest. "Tuberculosis, eh?" I ask as my eyes start glowing blue.
Clenching my fist, I focus my power on there, drawing out the ailment. Pulling my fist from her chest, a small black ball comes out of her chest, writhing like a swarm of ants around a popsicle in summer.
That looks nasty!
"Ew...inferno!" I spell, as it bursts into blue flames, completely disappearing.
Sighing, I make my way from the room to the front door where I quickly exit, seeing Claude waiting for me outside. "Ready to return to England?" He asks, and I shake my head.
"No, I want to see some of Greece first..." I say, and he arches a brow. "Ivy, get on my back."
"What?" I ask, and he sighs. "Get on my back, if you wish to see Greece then you must see. We can see the Acropolis before sunrise."
"Alright, though this is sorta out-of-character of you..." I say, hesitantly getting on his back.
"I feel bad for not helping you in time before you got stabbed, you aren't immortal," Claude says so quietly I had to strain to hear him. Before I could reply, Claude starts moving and I squeezed my eyes as wind whipped around me. In a flash, I opened my eyes to see that we were standing in front of the Acropolis, illuminated with the stars and the moon.
"Wow..." I gaze around us, entranced by the stars beauty as Claude looks at me. "You can get off my back now."
"You're taller, so I can have a better view," I say off-handedly, and Claude pushes me off his back. "Wow, thanks. Especially right after I was stabbed."
We are silent for a moment, and I look at Claude. "Have you met, you know, any of them?"
"Any of who?" He asks, looking at me with boredom.
"Well, Greek gods or goddesses, or demis..." I trail off, and Claude arches a brow.
"You know how demons are created, correct?" He asks, and I nod.
"I was created from Arachne's guilt and anger after she lost against Athena," Claude divulged, and my jaw drops. "What?" I ask, and he nods.
"Demons are born from the darkness of a person, or a large collective group of people. Arachne felt so guilty after the competition with Athena and also angry for turning into a spider, I was born from her darkness." I shudder slightly at the thought of one person creating a powerful demon. They must've been so angry...
"That's intense." I concluded, and Claude shrugs. "I know that Athena and Arachne are acquaintances now, and I've met with Athena a few times. She's very knowledgeable."
"What else have you done?" I ask, and Claude thinks. "Many things. I learnt early on that Hades and Satan are one and the same, and so is God and Zeus. Poseidon is just Poseidon, he's half angel and half human, granted with Zeus' blessing. Kind of like the tale of 'Hercules,' if that makes it easier to understand."
"That's...that's really interesting," I say, "so every religion is connected."
"Yes, that's why I don't understand why your human religions have trifles with one another. They all have the same roots from the same tree," Claude says, as the sun begins to rise behind the Acropolis.
"Humans quarrel just for the sake of quarreling, and will do it for the rest of time. It's a shame," I say, and Claude shakes his head.
"But from destruction, the chance to start anew sprouts."
I sigh, looking at the sunrise. "I suppose."
"So tell me, why did you do that for Hele? What was this 'requited love' that changed the plan?" Claude asks, as I lean back against the grass, looking at the stars above me.
"The requited love wasn't Alexios', it was Edda's. Hele loved Edda from the very start, and Edda loved her back, if not more."
"Did you sense any jealousy in her memories of Hele killing Alexios?" Claude asked, and I shook my head, looking at the stars still.
"No, but the emotion I sensed was the one that made me change the entire plan. It was a sense of inner peace...complete, inner peace. Blank as a slate, no storms stirred within her." I say, as Claude looks at me, slightly shocked.
"All humans feel emotions at all times, even while asleep. She must've felt some kind of anger, or some kind of-"
"She had accepted any consequence that would come her way, as long as she could protect her sister. And that gave her the power. Behind the mask of inner peace was true love, which is the bullshit of most fairy tales. This gave her the peace. But this was a true love that is unheard of, risking everything for someone else to live. Everyone tries to benefit, but Hele didn't care as long as her sister could live a life. They loved each other so much, and that love was so pure it blinded Hele," I say, turning to face him. His face was neutral as his eyes resembled molten pools of gold, as he looked back at me.
"Human emotion makes a person weak in the end, though. Her emotion overcame her," Claude says, as I pat the space next to me, gesturing for him to sit down beside me. Hesitantly, he did so, stiffly laying on his back. Smiling slightly, I lay down my head on his chest. This caused him to stiffen slightly, as I looked back up to the sky as the stars watched over us.
"Do not call it 'human' emotion, call it emotion, Claude. In all my time spent with demons, the things I've noticed most about the bunch is that they feel too strong to feel emotion. But every single one experiences emotion, Claude. You felt an emotion when you chose to serve Alois, when you get annoyed with his antics, when you wonder about Hele and Edda's sisterly love." Claude is still tense, as I turn my head to look at him. Our eyes connect, and I see a small wonder in his eyes masked with some discomfort, before its masked with a boredom.
"I don't feel anything except boredom with this conversation," he says dully, and I laugh, looking up at the stars again. "That's a start."
...
"You know, Ivy," Claude says, and I turn to see him with a smirk on his lips. "Yes, Claude?"
"You were wrong to instate these ideas in a demon's head, silly things such as emotion..." he says, as his gold eyes flash. I move to stand up as Claude clamps a hand down on my chest, preventing me from moving.
"Stop Claude!" I start, "It's not funny! If you don't agree, just tell me!"
Come on Ivy, think! If I try to apparate in a panicked state, I'll end up losing a limb again! Like when I apparated away from the oven while baking cookies, and I panicked that I overbaked them and lost my pinky toe in the spot where I apparated from!
I reattached it, obviously, but I was really panicked.
"I'm feeling quite curious, curious of what you taste like."
Claude's suit turned inky black as I clamped my eyes shut so I don't see his blood red eyes and pointed fangs. "Claude, please stop," I groan, as I feel him lean in, placing his cold, marble-hard lips on mine. I feel the inky-black tendrils of darkness surrounding me, as I gasp for breath against their coldness.
And then I fell down the rabbit hole.
"Ivy, come on! We're going on the cruise right after this!" Michael says, a smirk on his lips as his violet eyes were alight with happiness. I did a double take, as I stood up from the ground that resembled black marble, with Catholic architecture around it.
St. Samael's.
"M-Michael?" I ask, and he cocks his head, black hair shifting to the side as he did so. He was wearing a fancy attire for some reason, looking straight out of the 1800s. Looking down at my own garb, I notice I wore a purple Victorian dress. Turning back to him, he still smiled "What's the matter, Ivy? It looks like you saw a ghost!"
"I'm sorry," I say, stepping away in shock. "I can't believe I'm seeing you here..."
"What do you mean it's strange?" He asks, taking a step towards me and enveloping me in a hug. I inhale his familiar scent of oranges, sea salt-
-blood.
Backing away and pushing Michael as the expression on his face changed. He had sand all over his face, blood pouring from his mouth and his heart areas as he looked down on me.
"It's downright bizarre, after all you did kill me," he growls, as my eyes widen in shock at the demonic change in his voice. "This isn't real, you're dead!" I cry out, as he extends a hand out to me.
"I know, darling, but you can join me," he says, offering his hand towards me, "we can be in heaven together, or better yet, be reincarnated for another chance to be together."
Looking at his hand, I slapped it away. "No Michael, I need to go back to the real world to beat Claude's ass up!"
Michael twisted his wrist and took ahold of my hand, causing Ivy to begin creeping up my arm.
"Taylor Taylor, why do you continue on? You could've let yourself die in that car crash," He asks, as the room around me begins to crumble. "Did you want me to forgive you for killing me? By acting 'good' to others in hopes of redemption?"
"You asked me to, Michael! And I need to carry on!" I cried as the ivy creeped down my body to my feet, entangling themselves to the floor. "Did you want to replace me?" He asks, and I shake my head. "No Michael! I cannot forget you ever, but you are not the only death I have caused!"
"Did you think that by coming here to this place that everyone would forget you're a murderer?" He asks, and I shake my head, the ivy wrapping around my ankles.
"ENOUGH!" I scream, my eyes blazing blue in anger as I look at Michael.
"I am my own person! My choices are not all good and not all bad, they are grey! My actions come with a consequence, and though I may suffer I shall live on!" I scream as the ivy around my feet bursts into blue flames. Michael gives me a smirk as the blue fires spread around the room.
"You cause danger wherever you go, though. Is anyone safe?" He asks, and I shake my head.
"Nobody is safe, but I will protect them until I breathe my last breath," I vow, as his face shifts to the one of Natalie.
"You left me behind, though."
"Your path is your own, now," I state as the face shifts to Ciel's. "Everything's changed because of you."
"I'm glad to hear it, Ciel." The face morphs to Sebastian's, which in all honesty isn't much different from Michael's.
"If you had this effect on Claude with you words, it shows how stupid you are. Why do you devote kindness to beings of darkness?" Sebastian asks, and I smile a final smile.
"Because no one is heartless."
Sebastian's face changes along with his physique until I'm staring at a young girl with curly brown-purple hair pulled into two buns on her head, and she's wearing a t-shirt and shorts. Small agapanthuses are weaved into her hair, complimenting the purple in it. She looks at me, a small smile on her face.
"Has anything changed?" She asks, as I look back at her.
"I'd like to think so," I reply, tucking a loose strand behind my ear, and she copies the action. My eyes widen in realization, as I step forward, leaning close to the matching image of me. She does the same, as I stare down familiar blue eyes.
"Don't forget me," A raspy voice says, as I turn to face another Ivy standing next to the other one. She had bloodstains covering her hands and clothes with a powdering of sand, and a dead look on her face. She wore her long, brown curly hair in down that curled purple at the end, her blue eyes glazed over.
"I couldn't forget you," I state, as she rolled her eyes. "I can't forget anything like this," she looks herself up and down.
"And I am your favorite lie," a deeper voice said from next to me, and I turn to the other direction to see Ivan Taylor. He looks down at me with blue eyes, a crown of the agapanthus weaved around his curly hair.
"Now, which one of us do you chose to hang onto?" They chorused, staring at me.
"Your depression," the raspy one said, taking a drag. "Your lie," Ivan continues, as the middle Ivy looked me in the eyes.
"Your death."
My eyes glow blue as I raise a fist in front of me. "My future," I say, holding my palm out as small agapanthus floated out, soon growing in quantity as they swarmed the other me-people.
They were no longer visible as the agapanthus completely swarmed them until it exploded in purple petals. The world seemed to be completely made of a purple petal tidal wave, and I turned in the other direction and began running towards the light. Everything I passed burst into petals, as my dress shifted from the Victorian one to my Greek dress, to my shorts and to my tshirt, to my grey overcoat as I jumped onto the ball of light. Tilting my head back slightly, I saw that everything behind me was trapped on a spider's web.
"Claude, you asshat!" I scream, blinking to find myself back in Greece in a tangle of black tendrils shaped like a spider web. I looked up to see Claude's face hovering above mine, his red eyes screaming with lust...for my soul.
"Let go! I know anti-demon spells, and I ain't afraid of using them!" I start, blue eyes glowing brightly as the black tendrils started tinting blue at the end. Claude hissed, backing away as his web of doom retracted.
Standing up, slightly loopy, I glare at Claude. "Why on Earth would you try to eat my soul?!" I yell, breathing heavily as I straighten my back.
Claude pushed up his glasses, glare reflecting off them. "To see if I could eat your soul."
"And why would you want to do that?" I ask, putting my hands on my hips.
"Because I wanted to eat your emotions in the process," he admits, and I roll my eyes.
"Damn it Claude, go get your own emotions. I'm going back to England now," I state boldly, and with a quick apparation spell I was in my guest room at Trancy's house.
July 9th, 1888, 4 AM, outskirts of London
After quickly packing my suitcase to leave, I hopped into the bathtub, causing the water to tint pink. Claude was so frustration, and I hallucinated massively when I almost got my soul sucked. But, did I really think of my history like that? Myself before Michael was 'my regrets,' which is mostly true. I was pretty emo back then. Ivan could be considered my lie, since I had to lie to get into the school.
But myself last August was 'my death,' which I really don't understand. It couldn't mean the car crash since I didn't actually die, so it must mean something happened because of myself last August in 2017. But what was it?
And me being called a murderer? Though it's true, I only kill the criminals and evildoers in the world.
And would I ever do the same thing for Natalie? I mean, if I couldn't help her and she was in that predicament, what would I do?
Would I have been any better than Hele? Am I any better than her, but I believe myself to be justice?
July 9th, 1888, 7 AM, outskirts of London
"You're leaving?!" Alois shouts, and I give the blondie a short nod, swallowing the french toast. I swear, all I've eaten for breakfast here is toast.
"Yes, I thought it'd be a good time for me to leave." I respond, and Alois' brows furrow. "But you have just arrived!"
"Exactly, I don't wish to overstay my welcome. Besides, you never know what can happen while an owl's eyes are shut," I cooly respond, "I feel as if something might happen soon."
And something WAS to happen soon: the Constellation/whatever it is called arc. This was the last arc I remember was out before death, and it left off on the 118th chapter of Elizabeth running away...
And the sexy Phantom Five! Oh dear Lord, this is going to be so exciting...do you think Ciel would let me join and become the kick-ass chic?
"But why do you want to leave ME?!" Alois screamed, bursting my train of thought.
"It's nothing personal against you, you're still a great person. I just need to leave, y'know?" I say, standing up and grabbing the suitcase by the table. "I'll visit aplenty, I promise..."
"DO NOT LEAVE ME!" Alois screams, and I step back in shock as his chest rises up and down. His breathing increases, as he picks up the butter knife, holding it towards me. I sweat drop, looking at the knife in the toddler's hands.
"You actually think you can harm me with a butterknife?" I ask as he throws it at me. Raising my hand up, I catch it by the hilt between two fingers, dropping it down o the floor.
"I'll keep in touch," I declared, and with a simple apparation spell I was gone.
