Kuroshitsuji © Yana Toboso
OCs © reaper-of-lost-souls
A/N: Well for this next chapter, there will be a flood of new OCs. Just so you're aware ^^ Most will only be talked about by name, but trust me they'll show up sooner or later. And also get ready for an information overload! I hope you guys have enjoyed your New Years because I am! =D
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Sophie let out an agitated sigh as she rested her head on a table, only being given her lunch break to sleep for the day. She grumbled to herself as she buried her head into her arm, not bothering to eat any of the food that she had gathered from the cafeteria as she sat in a corner of the room. 'It's all Jamal's fault!' she felt like yelling, but was too tired to say anything and curse at the air. 'Having me stay up all night... When did I last sleep, a month ago that's what! That jerk… is he trying to kill me or something. Ugh…' Then she pulled out a gun from her side and pointed it behind her, right in the face of a shinigami that was planning on sneaking up on her. "Touch me and die…" she growled as she kept her finger on the trigger.
"Oh is that how you greet everyone these days?" said the person from behind, causing Sophie to set her gun back in her holster and lift her head up.
"Hi Alex," she sighed, watching as he set his tray down next to her own. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the Territory of Utah right now?"
"No," he chuckled as he sat down, "actually it's a good thing I found you. I just arrived this morning with Lewis and Ben."
"Lewis and Benjamin Herman?" Sophie asked with sudden interest. "Oh no… what's happened now?"
"Well you see –"
"Hey it's the Boss!" a shinigami with styled brunette hair called to them as he parted his hair off to the right side of his face. "Great thing you found her already! We were going to send Ben off to find you."
"Is that so…" Sophie smirked, watching as Lewis sat across from her and another shinigami sat next to her. He had light, short, and wavy brunette hair with a few natural blonde highlights going through his hair. "So Benjamin," she began as she slowly sipped her tea and looked over at the shinigami next to her, "how are things? Where's Theodora?"
"Oh she's with Veronica, Alistair, and Sasha right now Boss, but they'll be coming over soon enough," Ben shrugged as he also sipped his tea, not giving the other shinigamis any interest.
Sophie nodded and looked at the other two shinigamis, tilting her hat up slightly so she could see them better. "Can someone fill me in why you're here?" she grumbled, narrowing her eyes at them.
Lewis let in a gulp and Alex just sighed, too used to Sophie's tough demeanor to be affected by it. "First off," Alex began, "Rosa and me want to move over to Germany with our children, since you left us and I didn't feel a need to stay in a top position anymore because I'd rather spend time with my family above all else. As we were on our way to purchase tickets in New York, we got a message about a massive migration of demons into Europe. So I had to wait for Lewis, Dora, and Ben to show up and we decided to come here first. Now, since we heard that you moved to England, they wanted us to give you the details and head one of the divisions. What do you think?"
Sophie frowned and let out a tired sigh, drinking down her tea as she thought. "Maybe… but I'm currently busy. I am reviewing a lot of tainted souls from Gabriel and Jamal is on my case right now. Plus my boss is also on my case about showing up to work on time and leaving on~ time~… and I think they're going to make me start working on field work again. I don't know Alex. I haven't slept in a long time and –"
"Excuses, excuses!" Alex laughed as she narrowed her eyes at him. "I can understand how your God of Death job can get in the way, but with your supervisor you will be given a pass for that. This is extremely serious Sophie and if you can have our backs we will finish everything in no time… I promise."
She blinked at him for a few moments, evaluating everything he said, and took a little black book out of her bag. "See," Sophie said as she flipped through her planner to March 24th, "I am swamped for the rest of the week and most of this month! I have to finish evaluating the souls and… Jamal is planning something and I know it – HEY! Give it back!" she growled at him as Alex swiped her planner.
He flipped through the pages with a bored sigh, throwing it over to Lewis as he caught it with ease. "What you need to do is stop worrying about everything. Relax a little. Isn't that why you came back?"
"You know why I came back," she huffed at him, "and right now I don't have time to rest."
Alex shook his head as he slowly stood up, followed by Lewis as he held the book tightly in his hand. "Well… if that's how it is… Lewis run for it!" he laughed as he took off, Alex trying to pin Sophie down to the chair as he ran out of the cafeteria. "Go burn it!"
"You burn my planner and I'll kill you all!" Sophie hissed as she punched Alex in the gut, pulling out one of her guns and firing it at Lewis. "You bastard! Get back here!"
"Hey calm down," Alex grumbled as he tried to grab for her gun, "or else we'll really burn it – OOOuh!"
He gasped as Sophie bashed her head into his and made Alex fall to the floor. Then she ran after Lewis, leaving a groaning Alex and a bored Ben in the cafeteria. "I told you that would be a bad idea," Ben laughed a little, letting out a sigh as he stood up and grabbed Sophie's messenger bag. "Well let's catch up with them. I bet you the Boss has Lewis in a headlock and is about to blow his brains out."
"Y-yeah let me just –" Alex staggered back to the floor and groaned, holding his bleeding head. "God… that hurts!" Ben just shook his head and left the cafeteria, following the gun shots that fired through the hallways and leaving Alex on the floor.
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"Oh god," Sophie grumbled to herself as she appeared in a black haze, getting a smirk from Harry as he noticed her. "Can't anyone understand that I just want to be left alone, geeze…" she kept grumbling as she put her hat back on her head and set her planner back in her bag.
"What happened? Didn't you say you wouldn't be here this early –"
"Well I ran into some trouble," she grumbled again as she pulled her black gloves tighter on her hands. "Apparently there are a lot of demons gathering in Europe. I don't get it, but someone wants me to head up one of the divisions for the search. Jericho is probably behind this… he always is," she snarled a little before looking over at Harry with a smile. "Sorry. I haven't been able to sleep for a while."
Harry nodded and walked into the camp, followed by Sophie right behind him. "So you're here for refuge?" Sophie gave him a nod and walked into a tent, falling right onto a soft mat that was laid out with a few pillows on each side. "We may be in trouble," he said with a sigh as he sat next to her on the mat, "because we also know about the increase in demons… that's why we're doing this in the first place, or so I've been told."
"I just want to sleep," she mumbled as she rubbed her face into one of the pillows. "I decided to just not come back to work for a while since I broke a few windows… though I know my employees were trying to help me. It's not nice to steal someone's stuff."
Harry laughed, "You broke windows! Don't tell me it was Alex again –"
"And Lewis," she grumbled to herself. "Yep… they're back, but I don't know for how long. I think Alex is keeping his family in the Americas until this situation is under control. I just need a – AAAuHmmm… a nap," she yawned and cuddled into the pillow, getting a chuckle from Harry. "Tell me when we have to move out… you don't mind that I'm sleeping in your tent, do you?"
"Nope," he shrugged as he stood up to leave, "good night Sophia."
"Good night Harold," she yawned again, closing her eyes and falling right to sleep. Harold continued to chuckle to himself as he closed the flap of the tent and walked around the camp. Then he looked up to the bright sun, deciding to give Sophie some privacy as she slept for the first time in weeks.
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"You shouldn't have chased her –"
"We know Ben. Geeze!" Lewis grumbled to himself as he walked next to Alex, swinging an arm around Ben's neck as he gave him a noogie on the head. "Maybe we should really get rid of that planner of hers, right Alex?"
"… I don't think so," he told him as they made it to the N floor, walking to a large meeting room and sitting down. Then Alex let out a huff as he looked at a chart, which contained different colored dots all over the British Isles and on a few other land masses that happened to be on the map. "Hopefully she'll come back… I'm sorry about that Ben."
"Hey it's okay," Ben said as he pushed his brother aside, sitting down a few seats away from him as he took out a water skin and drank the liquid down. "I'll ask her later, but you should be kinder to the Boss. She seems to be agitated recently… though I don't know why."
"I do," Alex groaned as he grabbed a random sheet of paper and began doodling on it. "Sophie is having trouble sleeping again."
"Oh?" Lewis and Ben asked.
"Is it because she's busy again?" Lewis asked as he sat next to his brother in a comforting manner.
"Nope," Alex shrugged, "she's used to all the pressure on her. No… she says it's because of night terrors. Even when she gives herself time to rest she can't sleep. That's why she's loading up her days with a lot of pointless work she doesn't have to do. Honestly I think it's more than that, but she doesn't want to talk about it. Though it's funny… she can sleep when she's resting on Jericho's arm, but no other time. Still after fifteen years and Sophie can't sleep properly… she's killing herself. I just know it."
"Didn't they have a fight?" Lewis asked as he looked at the map, the colorful dots making his eyes hurt.
"Yes, but don't talk to Sophie about it. She's not in the mood," Alex pointed at them in a stern manner and then let out a huff, putting his head on the table as he sprawled out his arms. "God. I thought suggesting that she move back to England would help her, not keep her angry. It must be those angels. They're always keeping her busy."
"Not only that," Ben said, "but so does the organization. I don't know why they're fighting over her, but it can't be good in the long run. She's going to either try to kill everything or end up passing out and dying for exhaustion."
"So negative," Lewis shook his head and laughed, taking Ben's water skin from him and drinking most of it down in one gulp. "What now, second-in-command?"
"I don't know," Alex sighed as he kept his head on the table. "We are currently waiting for a report from America before we start any investigations, but knowing those angels they're already doing something now… that's probably where Sophie is."
"Then how about we go and get the Boss lady back?" Lewis stood up, throwing the water skin back at Ben as he made his way back to the door. "Didn't you see her planner? She scribbled out three times that those angels would let her go so she could have a break off. Plus we need to secure the demons in one area. If they keep wandering around then a bunch of people will die. Come on!"
"Yeah, yeah," Alex rolled his eyes and stood up, waiting for Ben to stand up before they followed Lewis out of the room and back down the stairs.
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Sophie shivered to herself as she slept, holding onto one of the pillows tightly as she shook her head back and forth. "N-no… no…" she groaned, "nno… No stamáta!" Then she threw her head up and groaned, setting her head back down on a pillow and rubbing her eyes. "Not again," she continued to groan, rubbing her tired eyes as she kept them shut. She plopped her arm over her eyes and sighed, trying to shake off the terror that her dream held. No wonder she couldn't sleep, but she had to do what she could. Sophie knew she could never sleep peacefully again, but she would continue to try to sleep soundly even if she can only sleep a few minutes every hour.
Then she heard the tent flap fly open as someone panted, walking into the tent and rubbing her arm slightly. "Hey Sophie, are you up?"
"Sadly yes," she groaned, opening her eyes and letting them adjust to the darkness before looking over to Harry with a small smile on her face. "What's up?"
He couldn't help but crack a smile noticing how she was trying to keep a pleasant look on her face. Then his smile faded, replaced by concern. "There are a few demon groups rising up and attacking humans and other beings alike. We need to get moving and –"
"Alright I'm getting up," she groaned as she grabbed hold of his hand, using it to prop herself on her feet. Sophie let out a sigh when she put her coat and hat back on her head, glad that Harry was the only one in the tent. "Where do they want us?"
"In Spai –"
"No we're going to the British Isles," Sophie said before Harry could finish as she slung her bag over her shoulder. "I know two of the demon groups from Spain are heading up to England right now. Plus I work up there so I may be able to get some help." Harry gave her a nod and followed her out of the tent, securing everything down before he continued to follow her.
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"Ready?"
"Ready," Harry responded, turning to the troops behind them and giving them the signal to disperse. "Are you sure about this?"
"As sure as I want to bake myself a mountain of pastries once this is all over," Sophie chuckled, letting out a sigh before looking out to the city and narrowing her eyes. She breathed in deeply and then out, putting a hand on top of the other as she held it out in front of her. "You will cover me… right?"
"And command the group for you," Harry said with a slight smile, "I promise."
"I hope so," she nodded to him, closing her eyes and letting out a huff, "because I've been disappointed too much now a days." Harry frowned at Sophie's comment as she began to concentrate, the black haze collecting into her hand and spreading around her. The haze slowly built up and spread, taking its time as it surrounded the city. Sophie breathed in deeply and out, trying as hard as she could to keep her concentration on finding certain demons. Then her eyes opened wide, revealing the yellow color had almost taken over the crystal blue and shinigami green in her eyes. "There," she pointed to the far end of the city, Harry whistling and sending a group of angels in that direction. "There," she pointed again to the left of her, Harry letting out another whistle and sending the angels off. "There," she said one last time, letting out a tired sigh as Harry sent the last group off into the city.
She rubbed her temples in frustration, the black haze still coming from her hands and moving into the city. "Are you okay Serbus?" he asked with concern, flinching back as Sophie let out a cough into her bandana.
"Y-yeah…" she gave him a nod, the concerned expression still not wavering from his face.
"Boss!" they heard from the ridge above them, the two of them looking up to see Lewis jumping down from the steep hill and standing next to them. "We have been looking all over for you!"
"Look we have everything under control," Sophie told him, looking up to see Alex and Ben making their way down to them. "… just…"
Then she looked over to the city with concern, her eyes narrowing to one of the places she sent one of the groups. "What is it Boss?" Lewis frowned, Harry looking over at her as she let out an angry huff.
"That demon… he actually needs to be destroyed," she stared.
Alex shook his head and nudged her in the arm, causing Sophie to snap out of her trance. "Put on your glasses on before you go out this time. We don't' want you killing random pedestrians, now do we?"
Sophie gave him a nod and took out a pair of glasses from her pocket, her yellow eyes narrowing in on the location she was being pulled to. "Be back in a second," she told them sternly, leaving in a cloud of black haze as she disappeared.
"Could someone tell me why Sophie slept in our encampment?" Harry turned to them, causing all three of the shinigamis to raise an eyebrow at him.
"She hasn't been getting sleep," Alex sighed, "but Sophie is keeping herself busy, as always –"
"But she had told me that she wants time off," Harry told them, "but yet she knows that Jamal is up to something. I need to know… why take the time off?"
"Perhaps you don't want her responsibility, huh?" Alex smirked as Harry' eyes narrowed at him with his comment. "Look, Sophie is one to like the layback life. She didn't like all the fame and glory in the Americas so she left. There are a few reasons why she came back to London, but right now we need to help her. Then she'll be back to her giggly, taunting old self, alright?"
"Sure…" Harry grumbled to himself as he looked back to the city, suddenly taking off as they heard a screech coming from the center of town.
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"Hah!" Sophie yelled at the demon, holding a long black scythe in her hand as she jumped backwards. The demon let out a screech and faded away, cursing at her as it fell onto the ground. Ignoring its pleas, Sophie walked over to it and grabbed its chest, pulling out the black soul that showed no signs of light. "Oh poo. I forgot you're not here anymore," Sophie frowned to herself as she looked around and let out a sigh. Then the black haze surrounded her hand and grabbed hold of the soul. Then it slowly disappeared into the haze, Sophie's eyes going wide as she let out gasps of pain.
All at once the demon's cinematic record showed to her in her eyes the reason it had been created to the point of her battle with him. She cringed with hate, clutching her chest tightly as she began to scream. Harry showed up beside her followed by Alex, Lewis, and Ben right behind him. "Sophie… shit. Why did you do that?" Harry grabbed hold of her before she hit the ground and held her steady, noticing the colors in her eyes were swirled around in a chaotic way.
"Y-you-you-ou-ou are gone! Go a-a-away you dark soul!" Sophie screamed, gripping her head as the demon's thoughts swirled around in her head. "You're dead! D-d-dead! Dead, dead, dead! Dead! Die… y-you… uhhmm…" she paused, looking up slowly and rubbing her head as she stood back up as if nothing had happened. "Okay," she let out a calm huff as the black haze began to disappear around them, "the other units cleared the demons out… but I still don't like doing this job."
"… Sophie don't do that again," Harry narrowed his eyes at her as he tried to look angry with her, though he was more worried than angry. "What do you want us to do with the souls we collected?"
"Release them," she said at once, Harry giving her a slight bow as she continued, "the rest of them aren't evil. I reviewed them beforehand and the only soul we had to destroy was the one I just devoured… though for the humans around here –"
"Woman don't even think about it," Alex shook his head, a smirk coming to their face as Alex and Sophie chuckled at his comment.
"So… how much trouble am I going to be in this time?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked over at Alex.
Ben walked over to Sophie and handing her his water skin to drink from. "Nothing," Alex shrugged, "just basic forms. I told you already, we were going to bring a group together for this, but since the angels took care of it –"
"Yeah," Sophie shrugged as she drank the water, "but you know them, they don't like nosy fairies."
Alex chuckled and grabbed the water skin from her, closing it up and handing it to Ben. "What's the schedule now?"
Sophie just shrugged to him and took out her planner, reviewing her writing as she took off her glasses. "I'm done… for the most part. The shinigamis haven't told me what position I'm going to be holding. Then there are a few pure souls I have to collect a few days from now… after that my time should be back to normal, well except for the occasional, 'Agh save us!' calls I get at least once a week," she shrugged again as she closed up her planner and put it away in her bag.
"Cool!" Lewis cheered as he wrapped an arm around Ben and twirled him around. "Well get everything in place then. I'm bothered that you haven't been sleeping lately."
"I can rest when I'm dead," Sophie shrugged again as she looked over at Harry and he shook his head. "Now be careful of Jamal. If you get into problems with him then come find me, and don't let him intimidate you! He likes to do that… a lot," she snarled slightly before a smile came back to her face.
"Sure Serbus," he smiled back, giving them a quick wave before jumping onto a roof and collecting the unit of angels.
"… I have a feeling I still~ won't be able to sleep for a while," Sophie sighed as she looked back over at the three shinigamis, "but whatever. Let's get back."
"Yes Boss," the three of them saluted to her, taking off towards the shinigami realm.
"And it's Sophie, not Boss. I'm not your boss anymore," she snarled at them with a ting of disgust.
"Whatever Boss," Lewis laughed at her, getting a rough slap across the head by the handle of Sophie's black scythe.
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Sophie sat back in her chair and let out a sigh, looking over her new ID in her hand. She was glad that her new job won't be very hard, but the council still gave her a large title that she figured they took from someone else and gave to her. Why did they care anyways? She certainly didn't care about holding a high title. Either way she was able to stay working for William, even if he was starting to get on her case about leaving early or showing up late. For today she arrived at 8am and planned on staying till 5pm, just to keep William Tyrant Spears from asking questions so she could continue to do her jobs in secret. A few officers in the Americas knew what she was doing, but luckily for her most of them kept their mouths shut. Besides they knew the penalties of going behind her back and talking about her personal secrets with others; a few shinigamis still haven't shown up after the last incident. Sophie chuckled to herself at the thought as Ronald sat down and handed her a cup of tea, noticing time on her watch being about 9:04am. "So why is Mr. Knox late thi~s time?" she asked as she drank from the cup in her hand.
"Party last night," he groaned a little as he sat down in his desk. "I think I had a little too much…"
"Looks like it," she smirked, drinking from her cup and then tilting forward in her chair. "Hey look at this," she asked him as she holds out her new ID to him. Ronald raised an eyebrow and took his head off of his desk, grabbing the ID from her and reading it over.
ID Number: 3498-52430785
Sophia M. I. Serbus
Paranormal Operations, Director; British Isles
Sector Administrator: William T. Spears
Ranking: Expert
Exam Grade Average, A; Mentor, Grell Sutcliff
Final Exam Grades: Practical Technique, A; Written, A; Ethics, C
Souls Collected: 18,348
Missions Failed: 7
Death Scythe: Modified, Legal
Glasses: Modified
Administrator Notes: The Dark Rider. Professional. Neat, orderly. Do not bother when working. "First impressions are the key to success."
"They wanted to give me a high position here," Sophie shrugged as she sipped her tea while Ronald looked over her ID, "but I insisted on field work, so they're keeping me here with your group. Just in time too; I'm ready to relax for a while."
She let out a yawn and scratched the scar on her face, which had now a faded line on her normally unblemished face. "I thought that your scar would be gone by now," Ronald noticed.
Sophie just shrugged and sipped her tea, taking her ID from Ronald as he suddenly held interest on his grinning face. "It takes me longer to heal. I'm not completely a shinigami," she shrugged as she set her tea down. "That's all… why?"
"O-oh no reason," he chuckled as he turned back to his desk and looked as if he was working. "So why are they keeping you here? I can understand the field work, but this unit?"
"The Paranormal Operations Department is a branch organization off of the Dispatch Management Division. My father actually founded it," she shrugged as she leaned back in her chair. "The European Dispatch Management Divisions need more field officers and that's why I came here in the first place. The shinigamis in the Paranormal Operations here have been dispersed to different units anyways. They figured it would be easier in the long run." Then she let out a sigh and looked over at him, a smirk coming to her face when she noticed that Ronald was actually paying attention to her. "Anyways… I told them it would be easier to stay here since they put me here temporary, so I'm staying," she chuckled. "I'm now one of your field officers, but once a month I have to hold a meeting and every three months I either give my employees a nod with a smile or a boot out the door if they don't do the work I told them to do. Whatever comes first in my opinion," she shrugged as she sipped her tea and then leaned forward in her chair. "There you go. Any other questions?"
"Nope," Ronald smiled a cocky smile to her. "I'll just get to work then." Sophie gave him a nod and looked over at Eric, who looked down in embarrassment when she noticed he was looking at her and quickly went back to his work.
Sophie raised an eyebrow and shrugged, then looking over at Alan as he smiled to her. "Welcome Mrs. Serbus," he said with a nod.
She gave him a nod back and an award winning smile, "Thank you, but do call me Sophie." Then she gave him a wink and turned back around, deciding to get some work done before lunch started.
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"Hey look! Grell's back!" Ronald laughed, causing Sophie to glance over at him and blink in confusion. Boy he had changed from the last time she saw him. Grell's red hair was longer then she remembered; why it had grown twice as long as she remembered it! Plus his outfit was a bit different, for he wore a red and white ribbon around his neck instead of a black necktie. Were those red pumps Sophie saw on his feet? She cracked a smile to him, feeling rather pleased that Grell had changed his outfit the last time she saw him, though he still had the standard black suit and pants. "Why did you take so long this time Mr. Sutcliff?"
"I ummm…" Grell hummed to himself before letting out a gasp. "I told you to call me Miss. Miss! Why doesn't anyone do that around here?" he huffed.
"Because we all know you're a guy Mr. Sutcliff," Eric laughed.
Grell growled at him and narrowed his eyes. "You're a mea~n man Mr. Slingby." He looked over at Ronald and soon noticed Sophia, who had turned her head back to her desk and was tediously filling out forms. "And who is this?" he asked, leaning against her desk.
"Here," she said avoiding eye contact, handing him her new ID and let out a huff. "Now Miss Sutcliff can you kindly take your hands off of my desk? You're making it dirty with that blood on your gloves."
Grell growled and took his hands away, looking at his black gloves with a frown on his face. "Hey I cleaned them –"
"Then not well enough," she shrugged.
Grell narrowed his eyes and spun her around in her chair, leaning into her face as they looked at each other eye to eye. "I have you know that I keep my clothing cleaner then you do! Look at that coat of yours! It's atrocious –" Then he paused, looking at Sophie's crystal blue and shinigami green eyes as she raised an eyebrow. Grell looked at her hair, back at her eyes, at the ID she handed to him, and back at her eyes again. "S-sophie – OH MY GOD!" He laughed and jumping into her, the chair rolling backwards and throwing the both of them into the middle of the hall. "My god! Y-y-youuu need to tell me everything! Everything!"
"G-grell you're killing me here!" Sophie tried yelling back, her voice being drowned out by Grell's yelling.
"What are you doing back!" he laughed, hugging her tightly and refusing to let go.
The three shinigamis looked over at them confused, noticing that Grell had Sophie pinned to the chair and was refusing to let her go. She groaned slightly as she gave Grell a face that hadn't come upon her face in the longest time, a look of utter dismay. "Hey keep it down!" William slammed his door open and yelled, raising an eyebrow at the sight. Then he grumbled to himself, noticing it was Grell and Sophie that were making the noise. "Grell get off the poor girl."
"But she's back and –" Then he narrowed his eyes at William and casually stood back up, leaving Sophie in the chair as she coughed to herself. "Why didn't you tell me Sophie was back?" he growled, Sophie standing up and brushing herself off.
"I didn't feel the need to –"
"You arrogant man!" Grell growled at William with venom in his voice. "Y-y-yyou're not even going to tell me that one of my apprentices is back? I hat –"
"Now, now," Sophie said casually, silencing Grell's mouth as she pressed a black glove to his lips. "Don't say things you'll regret later," she smiled to him, turning back over to William and narrowing her eyes at him, "which reminds me… I need to talk to you Mr. Spears."
"Of course," he nodded, looking over at Grell before he walked into his office.
Sophie pushed her chair back to her cubical and looked at Grell, a concerned look on her face as she looked up at him. "You know I was trying to get a hold of you, but I've been busy… plus it seems you are too," she sighed to herself as she grabbed her hat and scratched the back of her head. "Grell… what is going on with you and Will? Why are you avoiding him?"
"W-why umm –"
She cracked a smile as she held her glove up to his lips, letting go slowly before he could say anything else. "You know what, we'll talk about it later," she grinned, "When are you free?"
"I have a few souls for the rest of the day and I… well I don't have time till –"
"5pm, here, don't be late," she said in a stern voice as she put her hat back on her head, turning around and walking into William's office.
Then she slammed the door behind her, getting a whistle from Eric. "Wow, what a woman."
"Eric!" Alan shook his head, looking over at the shocked Grell with concern. "Hey Mr. Sutcliff, are you okay?"
"Me, okay? Of course I'm okay, Alan~!" Grell giggled to himself, his grin not as believable as it usually is. "Now I have to get going. I just needed to grab something," Grell said, grabbing a form from his desk and quickly taking off down the stairs. The three shinigamis looked at each other and turned back to their desks, their ears pinned on William's office since the noise had finally died down.
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"… no wonder Grell got mad," Sophie narrowed her eyes at William.
"A shinigami should not put personal matters into their work," William huffed as he wrote something down on a piece of paper and set it aside.
"How would you like it if you were told to reap a young man that was left in the streets and raped?" she snarled at him, William looking up from his work and adjusting his glasses.
"Then I would do it without hesitation," he told her, narrowing his eyes at her.
"Look Mr. Spears," she leaned across his desk and narrowed her own eyes at him, a chill going down his spine by her cold gaze. "There are situations when I don't want to reap like Grell does. For me, it's anyone who is drowning or has been trapped in a dungeon and tortured. For Grell, it's newborn babies and infants. You know why William, so just leave it alone and don't force him to reap them –"
"If I put personal matters into everything I assign then the work wouldn't get done," he huffed as he looked back to his paperwork.
"Then maybe I should do your work for you because I can handle everything while I'm director," she snarled back, crossing her arms and standing up straight. "Mr. Spears I'm not telling you how to do your job, but keep other people's matters in mind when assigning your employees jobs. Do you even know why Alan has to leave once a day? Do you know why Ronald is a few minutes late to work every day? No, I doubt it. I hate to be rude, but you better change your attitude and act like a boss. A boss needs to both be efficient with his job and considerate of his employees. If he is, then trust me Mr. Spears, the work will get done, and sooner rather than later. Besides, I know how you feel about Grell; from the few days I came back here I knew. Now straighten up and fly straight or so help me you would have wished you took my advice!" Then she walked out of his office and slammed the door open, walking to her desk and grabbing her things. She flipped open her pocket watch and it read 11:45am, just in time for lunch.
"Wait Mrs. Serbus!" William called to her, Sophie looking back and glaring at him. "I will keep your comments in mind," he told her, Sophie only giving him a slight nod.
"Good," was all Sophie said as she began to leave, "and by the way… you need to start giving me field work. When will you do that?"
"Tomorrow," he told her, watching as Sophie left and walked down the stairs.
" So…" Eric said as he whistled to himself, since the other shinigamis had already left for lunch or were out on a mission.
"What Mr. Slingby?" William sighed as he rubbed his forehead in frustration.
"You should probably listen to her. The young lass seem to know what she's talking about," he shrugged. Then Eric stood up and grabbed his coat, pulling out a cigarette from one of the pockets. "I'm heading out for lunch. See you later," he waved to him, walking down the stairs and leaving William there. William adjusted his glasses and huffed, walking back into his office and closing the door behind him.
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"Grell… tell me everything," Sophie said in a comforting way, sipping her cup of tea as they overlooked a plaza in the middle of town.
"Not if you~ tell me what you've been doing," Grell smirked back, sipping his tea as he grinned at her. "No one here knows what happened to you, so what happened?"
"Oh okay," Sophie chuckled as she set her tea down and grabbed a scone from her plate. "I'm sorry for not corresponding, but I was too far away. After the council made me leave I…. well I just had to keep going," she shrugged. "Where would you like me to start?"
"How about…" Grell thought to himself as his leg swung a little bit as it sat crossed upon the other leg. "Just start at the beginning. You seemed to have changed Sophie… what happened?"
"Okay I can start with that," she smiled to him and sipped a little more tea from her cup, before letting out a sigh and beginning. "Well they sent me on a ship for the Americas. When I got there I had several other stops before I got to my destination, the New Mexico Territory. It took me a while to get there, about a month, but luckily for me I didn't bring a lot. I only had the clothes on my back, a footlocker that they told me to leave in Stanford, New York, and my messenger bag. Then after that… wow what an adventure," she laughed to herself. "For five years I only handled my shinigami job, letting Marius handle my affairs as a God of Death until I figured everything out. Someone would send me a notice at least one a month on what was going on with Marius and everything he was taking care of. After a while I took my job back as a God of Death, finding the confidence in myself to actually be the head of the Serbus household."
Then she let out a chilled sigh, sipping from her drink again before she continued. "As for my reputation, yeah I guess I'm a hard ass sometimes," she shrugged, "but I get the job done. When I started I was an average field officer, but after a few years I moved up the ranks because of my ideas on how to improve things. It was hard to keep everyone together and working, since there was a lot of distractions and a lot of dust. Every day would be a miserable day. They had me sleeping in tents because we had to stay hidden in the desert! We were served gruel and beans every day! We would have to ride out into the desert and move around, going after demons and reaping souls in between. It was a primitive way of reaping, but at least I knew enough to not have a hard time. After a while… well I just got used to everything." Sophie chuckled to herself as she picked up her cup, not drinking from it but only eyeing it as she scratched into the porcelain with her finger. "It was certainly different then England, but it had its benefits. For one, the night time was a lot better than it is here. The night air is… is so clean. The sky is so wonderful and… oh you can see every star in the sky! I only had to look up and watch them all night long to feel smaller then I really was… as if my life was only a small speck in the world. I loved it, not having to think of myself as a big thing and only little… little me among a sea of people. I loved sitting by the campfire and cooking. I learned how to cook anything with what we were given… though my cooking was par. Sure my associates said I cooked well, but I figured they were only trying to be polite or never had a well cooked meal. Most of the time we would have to work human jobs to get money for food, but my unit seemed to survive every day to make it to the next. Everyone had an amazing story too… now that I think about it." Sophie sighed to herself as she took a quick sip from her tea and thought to herself.
"Let me see… the officer I was assigned with said he had fought in the American Civil War and died in battle. Before that his family owned a plantation in the South. Another came elsewhere, kicked out of their country like I was. He came from a place they called New Zealand and was a local native. He would work for the British and eventually died of old age, becoming a shinigami upon his death. Because of his unethical ways of reaping, he was sent to the Americas and ended up in the same unit I was in. Then there was this female shinigami, who I got along with well. She was from Siberia, but was transferred to Canada when she became a shinigami. According to her, she was sold to a vampire by her parents when she was a human. She was still being chased by that vampire, even though she escaped and had died from the harsh cold. She came down south and eventually worked in the unit I was assigned to, the shinigami telling me she changed her name just to escape the vampire and had no traces of herself back to Russia. She was actually one of beings that thought I should come back… seeing as I constantly talked about home." Then Sophie let out a sigh and set her cup down, turning to Grell with a slight smile on her face. "Over time I did what I felt like. The rules didn't seem to apply to me and no one cared for anyone except for themselves. Understandable, since it was a harsh place to live in. A few times I tired tobacco, other times I've smoked, I did drugs a few times, but I mostly drank alcohol. I needed something to relieve me of the stress… and alcohol was one thing. I didn't change my act till Alex came there and found me. It was purely by coincidence too! Alex had moved to the Americas and ended up finding me while I was on a mission. Then he transferred to my unit and he told me everything about England…"
"Well," she shrugged, "with Alex's help I stopped drinking all the time and cut back. I began to get my personality back, though I have to admit I was stricter then I used to be. For me, my ultimate job came first and everything else came second. I began to plan my time accordingly and I started to go to the many meetings Marius went to because of my absence. It was hard a first, having to teleport myself using the black haze from country to country, but over time I figured out how to use my powers and not waste my energy from moving around so much. Next was my job as a shinigami. Well… I would work in the human realm for our meals. What I usually did was find a wanted poster and go after the bandit, making sure I didn't kill them so I got the reward. You see in the Americas each shinigami was given a standard handgun to use. Over time I fashioned my guns myself, well… after learning how to do so, and used them instead of the standard guns. One I fashioned as a standard death scythe and the other as a human gun. You can tell by my inscriptions I put on each one," she smiled, showing the guns to Grell before putting them back in her holsters. "Not only did I earn money for us, but I also gave some of it away. My unit was never greedy, even if we were on the move and never had a place to go to, so I would give some of the money to a town we passed by if I saw someone begging for money or a rundown ghost town. It worked in the long run. That's how I got the name, Dark Rider, for my skills of catching bandits and my generosity… I think."
Sophie chuckled and sipped her tea again, looking into the square before continuing. "You can thank Death's horse for that name. I used his horse to ride around in the desert and get from town to town. My outfit eventually turned into cowboy attire so I could fit in and my suits used for scraps, but I decided to wear a big, thick trench coat for the cold winters we would get. Mostly everything I'm wearing I bought from one town or another, but the hat was given to me… well," she shrugged, "that was that. Not only did I get the name Dark Rider from the humans and the shinigamis, but I got the name Hehewuti and Wihakayda; Hehewuti meaning warrior mother spirit in Hopi and Wihakaya meaning little one in Sioux. Hehewuti came first, since I worked close to a Hopi reservation, but once my job required me to go up north I ran into a Sioux reservation and they called me Wihakaya… probably because the first time they met me I was very silly at the time. Those names obviously didn't get around, but I'm called Hehewuti while I'm working and Wihakaya when I'm hanging out with the natives or anyone else for that matter. They are actually very nice. They made me a totem, see!" she smiled as she took off a wooden figure from her neck and handed it to Grell to see. It was a wolf that had been painted with blue, red, black, and white colors, but the colors had almost faded away except for a few hints it had once been there. "They actually have problems fighting among themselves, but it's mostly the white man's doing for their misery. They were fine till the Europeans came over, or that's what they told me. They have given me other things, but that totem is what I like to keep with me. I had to go on a spiritual journey for this… but enough about that," she chuckled as she ripped it from his hands and put it back around her neck. She gave a kiss to her totem before tucking it back into her shirt, obviously not wanting to talk about it further.
"In the end I decided I needed to get back home. It was eight years ago that I wanted to go home and it took me till now before the council would let me. I spent a lot of my time trying to transfer, but after a while I stopped worrying about everything and stayed in the Americas. If I had a real reason to go back then I would be given the chance, I decided, so I just sat and wait." Sophie shrugged and sipped her tea, thinking to herself before she began talking about herself again. "Basically what happened was this: you guys needed more workers and I filed for a transfer. It was a miracle really. I figured I would have to move somewhere else first and maybe change my name, but when a transfer came in for the London Division I jumped at the first opportunity! But by then, my reputation was through the roof and everyone wondered why I wanted to leave. I had made many friends and been through a lot of experiences… but it was time for me to go back home. I was just drawn home… with unfinished business I guess. Though it's not like I left right away. I trained someone below me to take over my job, but apparently he's incompetent like the others," she shrugged.
"Plus things were getting busy. My jobs as a God of Death were becoming overwhelming when combined with my jobs as a shinigami. I sent Marius to do half of the jobs and I do the other half, but then Gabriel wanted me around longer then I had hoped… it just got confusing! I practically nipped all of those jobs in the bud, though I have to meet with a few head Gods of Death every once in a while… it's not that bad." Then Sophie let out a sigh, looking over at Grell with a smile before continuing again. "And there's my job as a shinigami. You see, in North America we have four different shinigamis sharing the role as Paranormal Operations Director since we are so vast, the North, the South, the East, and the West Directors. I was in charge of the West, but I would have to talk to the other four because our territories would overlap. Mostly with the North and South Directors, but with the East Director… well I liked talking to him," she smiled, "but then some things happened and I wanted to leave. Pretty much I left because I wanted to go home, I wanted to get out of my demanding jobs, I had a pull to come back and… well I just wanted to leave my position. That's really it." Then Sophie grabbed for another sweet and ate it greedily, savoring the taste before she ushered to Grell. "So how are you? Do you like William or do you hate him now?"
"I don't hate William," Grell sighed as he slouched back in his chair, "but he's so infuriating! I ummm… he did something –"
"He told me that he assigned you to reap a baby's soul," Sophie told him, causing Grell to look at her stunned. "William explained his side of the story, but I want your side of the story. Perhaps I can help?"
Grell glared at her and then chuckled, sipping his tea before setting it down again. "You're a good person Sophia. I don't think I would put as much effort into things as you do… well maybe with some things. But that's for plea~sure~" he giggled to himself. "Well I… I don't know! It happened after Alex graduated and left for a different division. For some reason or another, Alex was able to get information about you, though he couldn't tell me where you were. I think it was from Julia, he told me… but he was my link to you. After Alex left I stopped having a reason to go to William's office. He got mad, that jerk, and ran me out! I was just trying to be friendly!... like we used to," he sighed as he played with a small droplet on the table with his index finger. "Then…" he chuckled, "I was given a way to be with him again. They were asking for a few of us to be demoted and I was the first to volunteer. I never liked my job anyways. I didn't get to do field work! So I ended up with William as my superior, ironically, but I got to hold the same position as I had. It was nice doing field work again, but then… he made me reap a baby soul." Grell sighed to himself and slouched back in the chair again, causing Sophie to frown. "When I told him I wouldn't do it he gave me another job the next day with an infant soul. Then another! It kept happening, at least twice a week, as if he was trying to test my patience. Then… well I yelled at him about it. Oh how he got mad," Grell chuckled lightly before sighing again. "I never told you about my relationship with him, did I?"
"Nope," Sophie shook her head as she drank some more of her tea and set it down, "but if you don't want to tell me then –"
"No I do! That's what I'm trying to say!" Grell huffed slightly, causing Sophie to raise an eyebrow and smirk. Once he noticed Sophie's smug look on her face Grell rolled his eyes, thinking to himself before continuing. "He was my partner for the final exams at the academy and before that he was my roommate! William used to not be as strict as he is now. I would pull him from his studies to go have fun and he wouldn't mind, though sometimes he was off in his own little world… anyways he was my… my first, a-at least as a shinigami he was my first." Grell paused waiting for Sophie's reaction, but nothing came and she kept an interest look on her face. "It was before we graduated and we finished our final assignment, reaping a soul. I don't know why, but that night we went at it like cats and dogs. It was magical!" he squealed and giggled, a smile coming to Sophie's face as she saw him. "But after the academy we went our separate ways," Grell sighed, "and he went his way and I went my own. He stopped talking to me, avoiding me, and one time he called me a whore!" Then he slammed his fist into the table and Sophie jumped slightly, a sympathetic look on her face as she nervously chuckled. "William was my first, first! I told him the rumors at the academy weren't true… but he didn't seem to believe me. Then… then… that's when it went downhill," he sighed.
"The only thing that kept our relationship going was when I had to get an apprentice. To think that you helped me so much! Knowing Alex gave me a reason to see him, to talk to him… but now William is being cold to me… distant. I don't know what's wrong with him, but he's being an ass about it," Grell grumbled to himself as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from Sophie. "And yet… it's not like I hate him. He only infuriates me! Pushes my buttons! If it hadn't been for the academy then I would never have met him!... but I don't regret it. He really was the first person to take me seriously… in a long time." Grell let out a tired sigh and drank some more, looking over at Sophie and giving her a slight smile. "I never told him about my human past, nor have I told anyone else for that matter. With him… well I gave him a reason why I don't want to reap infants. If you must know, I told him it's because I want a little child of my own… but he doesn't seem to understand."
Sophie blinked for a few moments until a smile come to her face as she chuckled. "I knew it had something to do with that," she said, a sigh escaping her lips as she set her tea down. Then Sophie reached over the table and placed a comforting hand on top of Grell's, his eyes going wide as she looked at him in a comforting manner. "Grell… you need to talk to William about this. Your feelings for him… you know it's there and he knows it's there. I talked to him, he wants to make up just as much as you," then she chuckled, "but you know he's never been good with showing his emotions! Plus, I think if you tell him, without any confusion and just tell him, then he will understand. I talked to him… just take the time to talk to him back."
Grell cracked a smile and chuckled, rubbing his makeup and getting rid of the stray tear that was about to mess up his day's work. "Sophie… there's also something that I have been doing that I haven't told anyone about."
Sophie took her hand off of his and sat up, a curious look on her face, "Oo~h? And what is it?"
"I umm…" he shook his head, "No I'm not telling! At least… I can't tell you yet. It's a bit complicated… a bit personal."
"Okay Grell, you don't have to tell me," she smiled, "but do tell me sooner rather than later. I don't like being kept in the dark about things."
"Of course!" he chuckled, drinking from his cup and setting it back down. "So have you seen the Undertaker yet?"
"A little, but not a lot," she shrugged as she sipped some more of her tea. "I'm busy… still busy… but he knows I'm back. I've only had time off for a few days and I've taken that time to sleep! Plus I will be getting field work and there's a list of things to do… and there's something that I need to keep an eye on," she finished. "Just… busy."
Grell chuckled to himself as he grabbed a pastry and began to eat it. "Well you better talk to him soon. He'll start going after you if you don't."
Sophie laughed a bit, "And that's what I'm waiting for! Also I'm tired… I just want to sleep. I don't want to talk to him about every~thing~~… not yet." Grell nodded and sipped his tea, calling to the waiter to come back and bring them some more pastries.
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A/N: There you go! So what do you think? XD Sorry. I really like introducing my new characters a little. Sorry if I didn't say a lot in this one, but there's not much more I can say. Only that I'm having a bit of writer's block. Just having problems getting from one point to the other… 3 Well I won't be keeping you any longer. HAPPY NEW YEAR! It'll practically be midnight when I post this, so I hope you enjoyed! =D
Lewis – Germanic – fame and war
Ben – Hebrew – son
Benjamin – Hebrew – son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age
Herman – German – warrior, soldier
Theodora – Greek – gift of God
Veronica – Latin – bringer of victory
Alistair – Greek man's defender
Sasha –Russian/Greek – man's defender
Dora – Greek – from Doris; gift
Jericho – Latin – city of the moon, place of fragrance
Hehewuti – Hopi – warrior mother spirit
Wihakayda – Sioux – little one
Wolves are the epitome of stamina, known to run 35 miles a day in pursuit of prey. They are highly misunderstood animals, who have gained the reputation of being cold blooded. In reality wolves are friendly and social creatures. Aggression is something they avoid, preferring rather to growl or create a posture to show dominance. Even though living in close knit packs provide wolves with a strong sense of family, they are still able to maintain their individuality. Wolves represent the spirit of freedom, but they realize that having individual freedom requires having responsibilities.
Because wolf is a teacher and pathfinder, he comes when we need guidance in our lives. Those who have a Wolf Totem will move on to teach others about sacredness and spirituality. Wolf can also teach how to balance the responsibility of family needs and not to lose one's personal identity.
Wolf teaches us to develop strength and confidence in our decisions. He shows we will learn to trust our insights once we learn how to value our inner voice. This wisdom keeps us from inappropriate action. If wolf appears in your life examine where you need to develop more confidence and if you need more balance between friends, family, and yourself.
Black – Native American – night, underworld, male, cold, disease, death
Blue – Native American – sky, water, female, clouds, lightning, moon, thunder, sadness
Green – Native American – plant life, earth, summer, rain
Red – Native American – wounds, sunset, thunder, blood, earth, war, day
White – Native American – winter, death, snow
Yellow – Native American – sunshine, day, dawn