Kuroshitsuji © Yana Toboso
OCs © reaper-of-lost-souls
A/N: Just a quick warning, this chapter goes back into the plot pretty fast. There's not a huge time skip from the first part to the second part, but think of it as some time went by like a week or something. I don't know because I don't want to calculate that, but there will be exact dates later… just not right now X3
Now I'm actually going into the plot. Big surprise huh? XD I'm just getting tired of where the characters are and want to move on. Now it may get a bit confusing, and I'm completely ready for any questions and utter confusing responses from you guys. If you don't understand something, then tell me! I'll do my best to explain... without giving away TOO much X3 And as always, ENJOY!
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Alex and Sophie chugged their beer mugs, before slamming them down on the table at the same time. "Hah I win!" they jumped up, only to sit back down laughing their heads off.
"Wow you guys," Julia giggled, nudging Margaret in the shoulder. "So competitive, am I right?"
"Yeah," she replied with a nod, going back to looking at her beer mug and running her fingers over its dewy outside.
"So how was Miss Farah?" Sophie asked, filling up her mug and drinking it down slower then she had been a second ago. "Has she been treating you good?"
"Of course," Margaret said, still running her fingers on the mug in her hand, "she's a nice lady."
"I knew you'd like her," Sophie smiled. "She may not seem it, but she can grow on you, trust me," she finished with a giggle, drinking down more of the alcohol. "Do you think you'll be ready for the final exams if you train under her?"
Margaret looked up, before giving her a shrug, "Maybe… it's if I'm not persuaded to go back to Chaz's group –"
"And why would you do that?" she asked, drinking down more beer. "You're highly more intelligent, and frankly, you're nicer than anyone in that group. Besides, what have you been doing in that group that wants you to go back?"
"Well…" Margaret thought, "That's where all the cute boys are. Plus they're so sweet and kind once you get to know them… well a few of them," she shrugged. "Obviously you can see that Chaz isn't the best man on the block, but there are guys in that group who are nice. Chaz is just intimidating to them, that's all."
"That's weird," Julia said, deciding to interrupt. "I don't know about this Chaz guy, but he seems like a real dick. If you like someone and the other one like you back, why don't you hook up and leave the group?"
"Chaz is skilled in manipulating people," Margaret sighed, "and putting others down." She glanced over at Sophie, before letting out another sigh. "My boyfriend is too transfixed in this reality with Chaz that he doesn't see a future with me. Besides, he's failing his classes just as much as I am. I don't know why Chaz is still around, but all I do know is if we fail then we'll be kicked out and turned back to humans and our memories erased."
"Well that's why I'm trying to help," Sophie responded, "because I do not want you to fail. If you fail, who's going to be my wingman when we go out? What about your boyfriend? Do you seriously think he'll change??"
Margaret frowned, looking down at her mug, "I-I don't think so… I've been trying for seven months to change his mind, but he never talks to me anymore. I've almost given up hope."
Sophie sighed, drinking down the rest of her beer, "Perhaps he can't be change. Men can be stubborn. Trust me Margaret; this isn't the end of the road for you. You have so many experiences to create without a man. Maybe once you gain a stable career you can try to date, but right now you should work on your studies. So what if this boyfriend of yours is a loser? You can go out and find a loser with a stable career. And I know you want to party every night like Chaz does, but we do that too! I think our nights out are rather fun, right?"
"Of course!" Julia held up her glass, before gulping down the rest of her mug of beer. "Besides girl, there are plenty of fish in the sea. Look at Alex over there; do you think he was smart when I met him? No! He was a dolt without an education and nothing to his name. He would just go off and feed on souls like any common demon, but then he wanted to better himself. He wanted to leave his roots of constantly eating and aspire to new things. Now he can reap souls, not eat them. I think that's a rather big improvement," she finished.
"So I'm a dolt, huh?" Alex growled at her with Sophie and Julia laughing at him.
"Yes you are!" Sophie smirked, giving Julia a high-five before turning to the situation at hand. "See Margaret. This is just the first stages of a new journey, where you can find out about yourself and aspire to your goals. This isn't the ending, but rather the beginning. Do you understand?"
Margaret thought for a second, before giving them a nod. "Yes," she said, cracking a smile, "yes I understand… Now Alex, I bet you can drink this beer fast them me!"
Alex smirked, filling up his mug full of beer. "You're on," he smirked, Sophie and Julia cheering them on as they started to drink down their mugs of beer.
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Sophie let out a sigh, finally finishing her homework and paperwork for the day. She looked out the window, watching the wind pick up a pile of leaves and blow them in a dance across the sky. She smiled, standing up and walking over to the receptionist. "Here you go Jasmine," she smiled, "How is Margaret doing?"
"She's doing well Miss Ioreta," she smiled back, putting her paperwork in the proper files before leaning on the counter. "Out of curiosity, why did you ask me to help her?"
"Because she needs it," Sophie sighed, "and I can't really help her since I'm going into a completely different field then her. It's irrelevant to tutor her…" Then she gave her a smile, "Plus she's my roommate. She's a good person and just needs some help right now. That's all."
Jasmine chuckled to herself, "Well you're a very good roommate then. I don't think my roommate would have done something silly like that."
"Yeah okay," she shrugged, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. "Now I have to get going. I'll see you later Miss Farah," she nodded to her as she was about to leave.
"And do tell Alex hi for me, unless he's taken already," she giggled, noticing Sophie pause suddenly before walking down the hallways.
Sophie let out a frustrated sigh, coming into contact with Alex. "Hi Alex," she said, rubbing her forehead. Then she looked up at him, noticing he was spacing out. "Hello… Alex!" she snapped at him, causing him to come back into reality.
"Oh sorry," he said, rubbing his head. "I spaced out again…"
Sophie narrowed her eyes, not liking his answer. "This has been going on rather frequently. Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah… I think so," he sighed. "Well come on then. Julia is expecting us… is Margaret coming?"
"Can't, "she shrugged, "has homework to catch up on."
Alex nodded in understanding, "Well let's seriously get going. She may not usually mind if we're late, but when her father isn't around then she's more likely to worrying." Sophie gave him a nod in response and followed Alex as they walked out of the building and towards the human realm.
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"Seriously what's going on here?" Sophie grumbled, noticing that Alex and Julia had blanked out in front of her. "Is it me or something?"
"N-no…" Julia said, "I don't think so… well now that I think about it, I usually don't black out until you come over."
"I'm sorry Sophie," Alex said, putting a gentle hand on top of her own, "please go on."
Sophie narrowed her eyes before drinking down some of her drink and looking at her drunk in frustration. "As I was saying, I feel that my powers are strangely diminishing. I don't know what's going on, but you know that black haze stuff I can summon? Yeah it's not appearing anymore. I try and try but nothing seems to be coming like it should. It's like my powers vanished or something," she grumbled. "Do you know if this has happened before?"
"N-no…" Julia answered, "I've never heard of something like that. Right Alex?"
"Right," he nodded, "that is rather strange… perhaps you're just tired and need to rest?"
"I thought that, but it has only been about a week since I got rest… that can't be it," she thought, before standing up and finishing her drink. "I think it's about time I head home though. If it is something involving sleep or stress then I'd better sleep for eight hours. Alex are you coming?"
"I was going to stay for another few hours," he responded, "but –"
"It's alright. I'll just walk myself home. I'll see you, okay?" she smiled at them, giving them a wave as they said their goodbyes to her. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a few of the demons in the place had their eyes on her, causing her to get rather nervous. She left the pub quickly, walking swiftly into the London smog. Usually she wouldn't mind demons looking at her, but their eyes… they seemed to look hungry than just the normal stares she gets because she's a shinigami. Even though she didn't know what was going on, it was beginning to frighten her. Demons seem to be staring at her more often than normal, even other supernatural beings were doing so. Then Alex would space out on her as she talked to him, as if his mind was in a different world; lastly her powers diminishing and being unable to summon her black haze made her virtually powerless, since she was never a natural born fighter. If she hadn't been able to summon her long scythe then Alex would have cut her the other day with his claws during their training. It was even affecting her training with Mr. Shezmu, causing her to slip up and almost get killed several times last week. She figured the best thing to do was go back to the dorm, enough with the partying and she'll look towards her problems and try to fix them.
She took a turn around a corner, a scent suddenly coming to her senses. It was a few feet away from her, but she hadn't sense it a second ago! Even her basic shinigami powers are fading. What is going on? Before she could react to it the new presence had thrown her into the wall, a big and strong hand gripped her neck tightly as it held her up above the ground. The demon smirked, his cold breath blowing on her face causing her to cringe slightly. "Now who is this?" He said, his mangy black hair hanging over his hidden eyes. "What an interesting scent you have, human," he smirked, licking his lips keenly.
Sophie grabbed her small standard scythe, aiming for his head and causing him to drop her to the ground. She kicked him in the shin, backing up so they were a few feet apart. "I'm a shinigami, demon," she hissed at him.
He groaned, holding onto his side rather pathetically. "Oh is that so?" he said, looking at her through his shaggy black hair. "Could have mistaken me." She snorted, deciding to leave before anything else happened. Before she could, he ran at her and swiftly slammed into her, causing her to fall to the ground and drop her scythe. He chuckled, dark amethyst suddenly staring into her frightened double-iris blue/green eyes. "Interesting…" he said, a wicked smirk coming to his face.
"What?" she snapped at him, trying to wiggle away to get free. She hated being vulnerable, especially to a demon. If her powers hadn't been vanishing then she would have already taken down this demon and walked away.
"You're a Serbus, aren't you?" he said, Sophie's eyes suddenly going wide.
"H-how –"
"You smell like him," he said, sniffing her too close for comfort, "you smell like Maurus." Sophie blinked in confusion at his comment. He smirked, leaning into her face and breathing into her neck. "But you also smell young… and like her…" he sighed, licking her neck. She shrieked, trying to pull away from him. He only chuckled, his actions not wavering as she tried kicking him off of her.
"Stop!" she yelled, finally getting him off of her slightly, but he was back again and swiftly forced her back down before she had a chance to get up.
"You don't remember who you are, do you?" he said, her eyes going wide. He smirked, leaning back into her face and looking into her eyes. "Sophia Maurus Ioreta Serbus… you better watch your back." Then he bit down into her neck, quieting her scream with his hand as he sank his fangs into her neck and sucking her blood. After he took his fangs out from her neck, he licked up any remaining blood, leaving two gaping holes in her neck. "I'll be back for more," he said into her ear, getting up and disappearing in the smog. Sophie stood up in fright, running as fast as she could towards the shinigami realm. She didn't care if she ran into anyone along the way, only as long as she got as far away from that demon as she could. Unsuspected to her was the amethyst eyes stared intently at her as she passed into the shinigami realm, smirking when Sophie slowed down in her run assuming she was safe.
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Alex looked at Sophie strangely as he noticed her new outfit. She had a random scarf tied around her neck, a black scarf but a scarf nonetheless. She sat down, setting her tray of goodies down and beginning to eat. "What's with that?" he said, grabbing for the scarf.
She flinched back, slapping his hands away. "It's just a scarf and I was chilly today," she said rather gruffly. Sophie stared down at Alex, till he let out a sigh and decided to pick at his plate of food.
"First you smell like rose petals, then you start losing your powers, and lastly you have that scarf… Sophie what's going on?" he said, munching down on some food on his plate.
"I don't know…" she sighed, before lifting her head up in shock. "What roses? What are you talking about?"
"Oh you just been smelling like rose petals for the past few weeks," he shrugged, "so whatever products you're using keep it up! It really smells simply divine –"
"Alex," she said rather roughly, "I haven't been using any flower products for my hair or anything else."
"Oh…" he responded, "that's weird…" he thought, shrugging it off and eating from his plate yet again. "Funny it must just be me then," he sighed. Then he looked up, noticing her eyes dead locked on his own, showing traces of terror and fear in her stoic face. "Sophie are you okay?"
She looked down at her food, shaking her head no. "What do mean smell?"
"Well I have a strong sense of smell because I'm half-demon," he beamed, "even though I'm here doesn't give me a reason to not use some of my abilities. Why do you ask?"
She bit down on her bottom lip, still avoiding eye contact. "A demon tried to eat me the other day," she cringed, hearing him slam his hands against the table and stand up.
"What?" he yelled, causing a bunch of shinigamis to look over. "What the hell? Why didn't you tell me –"
"Sit down and I will," she growled at him, Alex grumbling as he casually sit back down. She waited for a while for the noise in the cafeteria to get back to its maximum volume till she continued. "I-it happened last night… and he said that I should watch my back. Then the strange looks I've been getting from other demons… as if they want to… eat me." She finished, biting back tears that suddenly started to form in her eyes. "I don't care much about dying, but… I don't want to be eaten," she finished, her blue/green eyes full of fear.
Alex walked over to the other side of the table, swinging his chair around to sit next to her. Then he rubbed her back, trying to comfort her, "Hey its okay, don't cry."
She continued to bit back her tears, not wanting to show her weaknesses in front of a room of shinigamis. Then she suddenly got up, grabbing her bag and tray full of food, "I-I've got to go," she quickly said, throwing her food away in the trashcan and departing, leaving Alex confused beyond belief.
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"There you are!" Grell giggled, swinging his arms around Sophie. She flinched, quickly pushing back with terror, a frown coming to his face. "Eh? What's up with you?"
She shook her head, giving him a less then convincing smile, "Nothing. What's up with you?" she said with a huff, trying hard to not show off her petrified emotions.
"I'm going to go to the Undertaker's for some investigative work. What to come?" he asked with a smile on his face.
"Y-yeah sure…" Sophie responded, hesitance in her voice. Grell frowned, taking a huge step closer to her and intentionally invading her personal bubble.
She shuddered, stepping quickly back. "What's the matter Sophie? You know if you have a problem you can tell me," he said with an honest smile on his face, but Sophie still looking away from him.
"I-it's nothing," she said.
Then she let out a yelp when Grell grabbed her chin and tilted her face up so he could see into her. Her face only showed a monotone expression, but her eyes said differently. They were wide, scared and petrified. Sophie's eyes only had a single-iris in her eyes, her eyes a plan looking color of solid blue and green. "Why won't you tell me?" he said with worry in his voice, Sophie trying to avoid contact as best she could. Grell let out a sigh, letting go of her face and watching as she stepped back a few feet, letting a cough escape her lips. "I don't think you should go –"
"I can!" she said, standing up tall and proud. "Nothing is wrong with me Grell, trust me~" she smiled at him, Grell giving her a smile back.
"Then let's get going then!" he giggled, grabbing Sophie's hand and pulling her out of his cubical.
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As Sophie walked down the street she stayed as close to Grell as she could without causing him reasons for alarm. She didn't like this new situation of hers, especially since things were starting to get along great! She wasn't thought of as a traitor anymore, she could see her friends, and her roommate seemed to be doing alright and studying hard. For the first time she had woken up at the academy, Sophie had felt at peace with herself and her situation, but now… now her powers were leaving and she was turning into a regular shinigami. Not only that, but even any regular shinigami powers she had were diminishing! Now it's gone to a progress of hours and not days for her powers to be leave her, causing her to wonder what will happen to her now. How come demons are after her, only to eat her? Is there something more that they want?
Sophie paused, waiting as Grell opened the door for her. She smiled and walked in, only to jump back by the Undertaker's sudden appearance a few inches from her face. "Wel~come~ Shini~gamis~~" he giggled, grabbing Sophie is a tight embrace and attempting to stroke her hair.
Sophie yelped and pushed away from him with all the force she had, falling to the ground in the process. She shivered, about to run out only to be stopped by Grell's presence in the door. Grell frowned at her, giving her a gentle hand and helped her off of the ground. She bit down on her bottom lip, knowing that Grell was soon going to use force to get her to confess what was going on. Though she normally wouldn't mind, this time was different. Her powers as a supernatural being were almost gone with only her standard death scythe and her basic combat skills to defend her. Even then her normal supernatural speed had left so she couldn't run away and quickly win a fight and her usual unnatural strength was gone too. She was back to being human even if she doesn't remember how that was it left her open to be rather vulnerable, and she knew that. Grell grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back into the room and closed the door behind him. Her eyes widened as she suddenly felt trapped in the room. "What is up with you?" he crossed his arms. "You're getting tired more often, you haven't been working nearly as much as you usually do, and you're hiding things from me. What's going on?" standing tall and intimidating as he waited for an answer.
She looked at him, noticing how stern and crossed he looked. If she felt like making a joke, she would have said that he looked like Will~iam~~, but right now she wasn't in the mood. She looked down at the ground and shook her head. The Undertaker slowly wrapped his arms around her from behind, his face getting uncomfortably close to her ear. "Is it the demons?" he asked, causing her to turn around with a gasp.
"W-wha – h-how –"
"You seem to be human again, haven't you noticed that?" he whispered in her ear, pulling her closer into his chest.
Her eyes widened and she tried pushing him away, unable to leave his iron grip. Grell glared at the Undertaker, walking forward and about to intervene. "I know~ you want to know why she's acting the way she is, right Mr. Sutcliff~~?" he said to him, any anger that had been growing on Grell's face receding. "Now Mr. Sutcliff," he said as he ushered him into the room and keeping hold of Sophie as he turned, "If you can kindly have a seat…"
Grell paused, unsure if he should, but decided to comfortably sit down on a coffin and cross his legs. He frowned, watching as the Undertaker picked her up slightly so he could walk further into the room. He sat her down on his lap as he sat down on a coffin across from him, keeping a tight hold on Sophie as she kicked at him to let her go. "What are you doing?" he growled under his breath, noticing the Undertaker had one of his long sleeves over Sophie's mouth.
"If we don't keep a firm grip on her ten she'll run off. Isn't that right Sophie?" he leaned into her ear, a frantic look on her features as if she was trying to scream. Then he smirked, resorting to petting her cheek to settle her down, but that only made her struggle more violently.
"Let's not play games Undertaker," Grell grumbled to himself, running his standard black shinigami gloves through his red hair.
"Then tell me what's going on," he said, still petting Sophie.
Grell raised an eyebrow before letting out a sigh of defeat. "I don't know… she hasn't been at her A game lately… I thought it was stress or something, but now she's even acting funny. Always looking over her shoulder as if someone was following her, and I'm getting rather confused," he groaned, rubbing his head in frustration. "Seriously, what the hell is going on! –"
The Undertaker put a finger on Grell's mouth, silencing him. "Now Sophie, dearest~, where do you get your legendary powers from?" he asked, her eyes going wide at the sudden question.
Grell looked at him confused, rather, more confused than he was pervious about the whole situation. "I…" she began to say, waiting for him to set his hand down from her mouth so she could speak. "My father… was the shinigami and my mother was the human. I… didn't know he was legendary though…" she said rather sadly.
"I see…" he said in thought. "It has been a while since I've come across a descendent, but perfectly understandable," he chuckled to himself. "Your father must have had a purpose for being on this earth and is trying to pass on his role onto you, is that right?"
"I-I don't know…" Sophie frowned, "This is the first time I'm hearing anything like this." She looked up, noticing his grin was slowing turning to a frown. "I-I don't even know what you're talking about, let alone coming to understand why demons are trying to eat me! –"
He put a finger on her mouth, quickly silencing her. Sophie frowned, trying to wiggle away from him again. "Then let me explain," he decided to say, quickly interrupted by Sophie.
"Don't you want paymen –"
"Not this time," he answered, "Besides, you come here rather frequently on your own time. It's the least I can do," he giggled, trying to lighten up the mood in the room. Then his giggles slowed down and eventually stopped, noticing neither Grell nor Sophie was laughing along with him. "Now…" he decided to say, "You need to understand that the legendary shinigamis are practically extinct, especially so is any thought of a child being born from one. You… well," he chuckled, "I haven't seen a child from a legendary so close to this stage in years~… perhaps 500 years now? No wonder no one knows what to do," he giggled into his sleeve, coughing slightly once he was done giggling to get back to the matter at hand. "I have come to realize that there are several stages for a child that has been born to a legendary. The first is the infant stage, where the child is learning his or her role in the world that will soon be passed on in given time. The second is the adolescent stage, where their parent's powers begin to come so the child can train properly for their role. The last stage is the adult stage, where they take an oath and accepted in their new role. There is a thin stage in between the adolescent stage and the adult stage, which I have come to call the parting stage; where the child's powers will vanish for about a month till they take a vow into their new role. This is a critical time for the child, because it's also a time where they're the most vulnerable. In your case, my dear, since you're half-human instead fully a reaper, you turn into a human instead of an ordinary shinigami. That causes even more problems because you have no~ powers to defend yourself and only have your human instincts to depend upon. Back in the day when these changes were frequent, demons would come after these children during the parting stage because of their vulnerability. You know that demons have a keen sense of smell, correct? Well the stronger the being is the sweeter their scent, or that's what they've told me. In the parting stage a child still has that strong scent, but their body is only incredibly weaker. So demons use this to their advantage and use the time to kill the child and eat them. It became a problem during the Black Death, since there were demons left and right slaughtering these unusual children because they had to work from the increase of souls that had to be taken. That was their opportunity, while they were in the human realm, to devour them." Then he let out a sigh, looking around the room and making sure they were still paying attention to him. "For a demon this habit is uncontrolled and completely on instinct, even if it's a demon that doesn't eat souls on a regular basis. To what they've described, the soul of a shinigami is like sweet nectar and the soul of a legendary shinigami is like forbidden fruit that is unbelievably delicious for the consumer that they still have been unable describe this to me. Because the strong scent is still there during the parting stage and demons can sense the child is getting weaker, their natural instincts are too great for them to control and they go after the soul, friend or foe. Once the soul is devoured the demons say their powers are strengthened ten-fold, perhaps surpassing groups of other supernatural beings they normally wouldn't in the process. They can also gain extra amounts of energy if they do things like drink the child's blood or simply lick their body, but it's killing them makes the powers last forever."
"So… I'm going to die," Sophie said, noticing he was done. "I wouldn't mind that if my soul wasn't going to be eaten too…" she sighed sadly, looking over at Grell.
"Not if you stay here~" he giggled, nuzzling his head into her neck.
She flinched, quickly pushing his head away from her with a dreaded horror on her face. "But you're saying I'm defenseless and can't defend myself," she glared at him, trying to get back to the point.
"Yes or no, depends on what you had been training for and your predecessor's powers. Sometimes just training alone can defend you or simply staying in the shinigami realm. Also I have seen cases of the child's powers coming back in dire situations, but that only happens to a few." Then he chuckled, "But," he said, hugging Sophie tighter against his chest, "if you stay here, then you don't have to worry about defending yourself. No demons come here, even if they're outstanding in power. What do you say~~?"
Sophie looked up at Grell with worry, before wiggling roughly and finally getting out of his grasp. She jumped to her feet, turning around so she could face the Undertaker. "Why would you think I would want to stay here? Besides, even if I'm in this 'parting stage' there's no way I can get to this adult stage. Plus… I don't know what you'd do if I stayed…" she looked away, looking towards the ground. "And the academy… and my friends… what about that? Am I just going to stay here until I die because I'm afraid of standing up to a bunch of demons? I doubt that's my reason for becoming a shinigami when I died, so why hide the rest of my life instead of doing what I was put in this world to do?"
The Undertaker stood up, about to wrap his arms around her, but she quickly shrugged him off and moved away. He frowned, looking back over to Grell with a wide eerie smile on his face. "Well Miss Sutcliff? It's up to you since you're her mentor."
Sophie frowned, looking over at Grell. She may have known the Undertaker for a while, but not enough to trust him with her life. He was still a creepy old man, even if he could be surprisingly powerful and protect her. What would he make her do if she had to stay? Plus the problem of staying, feeling trapped, and having to follow him around because of protection reasons. It didn't sit well in her mind, plus any way of getting around this wasn't logged somewhere in her memories. If it was then it certainly wasn't accessible to her. And this training, she never trained for this! To have a role in the world that never occurred to her till now. Even more, she was frightened. She didn't know why, but she was just wholly frightened beyond belief of having to stay or the chance of being eaten. "There's a different matter I want to discuss first," Grell huffed, buying some time to think about the situation. "I didn't come here just for Sophie, you know. I'm here to get information on some suspicion on a gathering of demons a few miles away from London. They ordered me here to get information on the matter… so do you have any?" he asked, giving his undivided attention to the creepy man in front of him.
"Oh I see~~" he giggled, his attention leaving Sophie as he skipped over to Grell. "Why yes I do. Come over here young reaper…" he said, ushering Grell over to a coffin on the other side of the room.
Sophie let out a sigh, a wave of relief coming over her. She was on the verge of screaming, her back already up against the wall. She took a few steps forward and stepped closer to them, but more so getting closer to the door. She looked over at them with curiosity, but still had her mind on the front door. "Eeewww!" Grell gasped, the Undertaker giggling into his sleeve as he held the lid open.
"A few bodies have been recovered being ripped apart and others eaten. A few only have a severe stab wound imbedded into their chest, but other than it's only the works of vicious animals. Nothing the humans are greatly concerned about," he shrugged. "The holiday of walking around is quickly leaving due to the cold coming over the land. The council won't have a hard time keeping their investigation covered, now won't they?" he giggled, closing the lid. As he did so, Sophie saw her chance and took off for the door. Her speed was rather slow from what she remembered, but she was still fast for a human and grabbed for the door handle. Just as she grabbed the handle she was forced back into the Undertaker. She whined, trying to pry herself away. He grumbled under his breath with an awfully angry mood and forced her to look out the window of the door. "See that?" he said gruffly, turning Sophie's head and keeping it on the window. Her eyes widened, seeing a demon jumping down from out of nowhere and into the street, looking through the window with a look of hunger in his red eyes and drool coming down his face before disappearing into the alley. She gasped, feeling her heart beating rapidly out from her chest. "If I hadn't stopped you then you would be dead," he said in a gruff voice before he lightened his grip on her. "Now do you understand the severity of your situation?" he said in a soft whisper into her ear, now noticing tears slowly treading down her face. Then he let go of her and walked back over to Grell, seeing that she wasn't going to run away anymore. "Is there anything else you need, Mr. Sutcliff?"
Grell glared as he noticed the Cheshire cat smile the Undertaker had plastered on his face. "No, I believe not," he said, walking carefully around him and over to Sophie. He gently spun her around so she was facing him and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. Sophie wrapped her arms around Grell, gripping his clothes tightly as the tears kept coming down her face. After a brief moment he let go, Sophie still gripping hold of his suit coat. "I may not know what's going on, but all I know is I can't protect you," he said, looking into her frightened blue/green eyes with a soft smile on his face in an attempt to lighten each other's worries. "You… you should stay here Sophia," he sighed, "If this is true, then you're in a greater danger if you stay in the shinigami realm then here. I just… I can't protect you. As your mentor, I am doing what I think is best… and don't look at me like that!" he whined, wiping the tears from Sophie's face. She cracked a smile, wrapping her arms back around him and hugging him tightly, as if the assure him that it would be okay. Grell looked over to the Undertaker, a serious look on his face. "I shouldn't expect any foul business from you… correct? You'll take care of Sophie, right?... Promise me you will, that you won't harm her while she's here," he glared at him, rubbing Sophie's back as she kept sniffling into his chest.
"I pro~mise~ I won't," he said as he held up his right hand in a rather silly way.
"I mean it!" Grell growled at him. "Sophie… she has problems with being in an uncomfortable place. She had to come stay with me as she waited to talk to the council because she kept screaming in the middle of the night in her cell. If she calls for me then I plan on coming back and taking her with me. Got that?" he glared.
"I assure you Grell Sutcliff that your apprentice is in good hands," he said, his features surprisingly suddenly becoming serious. "I promise I'll keep her safe and not lay a hair on her, if she doesn't want it~" he giggled into his sleeve out of habit, before turning back into his serious mood.
Grell bit down on his bottom lip, before letting out a sigh and kneeling down to Sophie's level and putting his hands on her shoulders. "I'll come by tomorrow with a few of your clothes. Do you want to stay here though? I won't leave you here if you feel uncomfortable and unsafe."
Sophie looked away, before letting out a sigh as she rubbed her eyes. "No that's okay…" she said in a sad tone. "I don't think anyone there can help me and the Undertaker seems like he knows what's going on more than anyone else. Though… is it alright to be scared?"
He chuckled, hugging her again, "Yes that's perfectly~ alright." Then he brushed her cheek before standing back up. "I'll see you later darling~~" he waved to her, Sophie giving him a meek wave back as he left. Sophie turned around, looking over at the Undertaker with a worried look on her face. Seeing as she had no other choice, she grabbed her messenger bag and walked down the hall and further into the building, with the Undertaker following behind her with a disturbing chuckle echoing through the building.
!#$%^&*()
A/N: Wow this chapter probably came to a big surprise and was a bit quick, but I need to start getting this plot going X3 Anyways, now Sophie has a threat… yet again! Know what or who is threatening her? Well good for you for paying attention ^^ Only to clarify, Margaret's relationship with Sophie has always been neutral. They tolerated each other, but only know each other because they are roommates. As Sophie convinces Margaret to hang out with her, they get to know each other and see that they have a few things in common. Sophie's true emotions begin to show, showing off her nicer side and feeling that she's a true friend. After a while Margaret learns to open up, having to be in Chaz's group and be abused slowly wearing off on her. She's rather enthusiastic in nature, but just her experience with the group causing her to be quieter about it. Even so, I hope I was able to show off her character more. She's a nice character, though I feel bad for not bringing her into this story very much.
Now Undertaker must have shocked you and Sophie's reaction to him, right? Problem is she's now threatened and has put up walls against it. The Undertaker was getting into her comfort zone, even Alex and Grell did that a bit, but that's why she didn't like him touching her and is screaming at him to let her go. Also, before she made her way back to London when she was kidnapped and a human she was abused. I tried to emphasize that while I was writing that part, but I wasn't sure if the readers got that. Just from that mental scar her mind is telling her to stay away from any potential threats that may harm her, which are the causes for her to be screaming while she was locked up and trying to get out of anything that she felt she couldn't escape from. Even if she doesn't know why, it's her best bet to stay away from danger. The best suspect to make it either better or worse, the Undertaker. Why? He knows an awful lot and even if she's known him for a while he hasn't shown his true colors, and Sophie seems to know that in the back of her mind that he isn't. Mentally she wants to stay away, but logically it's in her best interest to stay with him since he seems to be the only one who can protect her, well except Mr. Shezmu, but as I said he's left for somewhere and won't be back for a while… so it's only the Undertaker. It's now at a point where it can either heal or hurt their fragile relationship, depending on what transpires. Now that I cleared that up, if you still have questions comment! If you like it or hate it you can comment on that! I don't practically care, but I'll try to answer your various questions if I can X3 As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I don't know when I'll post the next one up, but it'll be soon ^^
Jasmine – Persian – flowering olive