Kuroshitsuji © Yana Toboso

OCs © reaper-of-lost-souls

A/N: Hey guys! So I've noticed I haven't posted anything in a while so here's the next chapter. I've been working on trying to finish this arc so I can move on ^^ Tell me what you think! I think the story is still confusing, but that's just me. I don't even know what I'm saying half of the time XD Well… that's it! ENJOY!

! #$%^&*()

"Where the hell is she?!" Naum sneered as he grabbed hold of Xaskesiel's neck and began to strangle him. "You told me she would be back. You told me she would be fine. Where is Sophie now?! The volcanoes are erupting!"

"I-I don't know –"

"You don't know?!" Naum growled, staring deeply into Xaskesiel's eyes. He gasped in terror, seeing silver and emerald swirling intently in his eyes and anger radiating as he shoved him away and pushed him to the ground. Xaskesiel sneered back as Naum held his sword to his neck, the blade slowly piercing into his skin. "I made a promise that I would keep Sophia Serbus safe from harm. You so much as have the nerve~ to make me a liar that will be the last thing you ever do."

"Wait Kaoboros –"

"Don't you dare call me that!" He hissed, "It's Naum. Naum, damn it!" Xaskesiel yelped in suprise as the blade began to pierce into his neck, Naum's eyes glowing mad as the daemons stepped away in terror.

"Naum snap out of it –"

"Shut up!" he yelled. "Don't talk to me! I can't stand this! I can't stand another being I promised to care for die again! Not again! –"

"Enough," said a low voice, Naum's eyes looking up in shock as its owner jumped off of a large black horse and made her way to him, "let the man go."

"S-serbus…" Naum gulped, throwing his sword to the side as Xaskesiel coughed and quickly held his hand to his neck.

Sophie gave Naum a hardened stare and he looked down in shame, until Sophie looked down at the girl trembling in her arms as she pressed her hand on her neck. "Xaskesiel," Sophie said sternly, quickly getting his attention, "You know this daemon don't you. How?"

He frowned, standing up and dusting the dirt from his clothes. "I… here I'll tell you in private," Xaskesiel sighed and walked into the camp, Sophie walking past him and into the tent Naum had set up for her. Xaskesiel raised an eyebrow at the sight, the colors in dull grays, blues, and purples where the light could barely reach into the tent. He watched as she set the daemon in her arms on her bed, a groan escaping Luhar's lips as Sophie lifted her hand from her neck and inspected the deep cut. "Y-you see Serbus –"

"Come sit," Sophie told him, her eyes still on the other woman. "I still haven't healed her completely." Xaskesiel's eyes widened in shock as Sophie set her bag down beside her and pulled out a sewing kit, pulling out a thread and needle and quickly tying the end before turning her attention back to Luhar. "Hush little one," she said sweetly as the woman whimpered in pain, "It will all be over soon." Luhar nodded and closed her eyes tightly, Sophie beginning to sew into her skin as Luhar bit back tears. "So," Sophie began casually in a somber voice as Luhar laid on the bed, biting her lip and close to screaming, "who is this daemon to you?"

"… My sister," he sighed with disappointment. "We had different mothers and as is tradition we were given our mothers' last names. She is Luhar Rulebrood, born in Blackflame, and I am Xaskesiel Necrosnare, born in Graveshroud. I am a full-blooded Helvilo while Luhar is only half, but her mother was a highly acclaimed daemon so she didn't have any trouble till her mother passed away. She tried living with me in Graveshroud and learned to be a Helvilo, but she was always being teased and almost came close to dying once. So I let her go, Luhar going off on her own without me. It has been a few centuries since I last saw her… all I knew of her was Luhar became a daemon for hire. That's all I know about her…" Xaskesiel looked over at Sophie as she kept to her work, gritting his teeth at the small cry coming from Luhar's mouth as Sophie held up her head to finish the stitches. "H-how did you keep her alive for so long anyways?" he decided to ask. "Since I thought you had chopped most of her head off –"

"I only pierced through a quarter of her neck," Sophie told him, "and I kept her neck in place and her breathing stayed consistent with my powers. The only problem I have is getting away from the volcanoes as they exploded, but we made it back in one piece…" She grew silent as she pierced once more into Luhar's neck, tying the thread off and cutting it with a small pair of scissors. "Now don't speak for a few hours," Sophie smiled as she set her things aside and ran a hand over the girl's cheek, "If you do the thread will snap and you're too close to death for that."

"So… so Luhar will be fine?" Xaskesiel bit down on his bottom lip.

"Yes," Sophie answered bluntly, standing up and setting her supplies back into her bag. "Now there was one more daemon that had run off before I could kill him. I am guessing the daemon will be heading back to his master and telling him the events that happened here. Once Luhar is better I expect her to give me honest information. Can I trust she will do that, Necrosnare?"

Xaskesiel gulped, noticing the glare coming from her blue, green, and yellow eyes. "Yes Serbus," he bowed, "you have my word."

Sophie nodded, a smirk coming to her face as she nudged his shoulder and walked past him. "Go ahead and stay here till Luhar wakes up. Have someone alert me when she does. Good luck." Xaskesiel cracked a smile as she left the tent, quickly kneeling down beside Luhar and running a hand through her long, dark blue hair.

Sophie hustled through the camp to find Naum off to the side with his knees to his chest, hiding behind a wall so none of the soldiers would see him. "You were worried about me?" Sophie asked calmly, Naum looking up as he quickly rubbed the tears from his face and nodded. She smiled and sat next to him, placing a hand on his knee and rubbing it in a comforting manner. "Naum," she sighed as he looked away, "why would you go so far as to kill someone over me? Don't you trust that I'll come back alive?"

"I-it's just…" Naum sighed as he placed a finger in the dirt and began making patterns on the ground. "It seems that every time I grow to love someone they have to die. It's a miracle that Reha and Eve haven't died yet, but still I can see that Reha will soon… Sophie, I'm sorry. It was senseless for me to lash out at everyone just because you went missing for a few minutes. I just can't trust anyone to say that they'll come back to me…"

"Naum listen," she patted his knee to get his attention, "I'm not mad, but you need to understand that I have spent all my lifetime coming close to Death. It is natural for me to die and die again, but it doesn't mean I'm gone, not yet anyways. I don't like to be babysat Naum. You have to understand that beings will come and go in your life and there's nothing you can do about it. You just have to except it… not let revenge take over your heart and all that fun stuff."

"I… I'm still sorry," he sighed, leaning over to rest his head on her shoulder, "and I hope you'll forgive me. I promise to control my anger, alright? It's just something that happens sometimes… I lose control."

"Happens to the best of us," Sophie chuckled and patted his head, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as she rested her head upon his. "… You know if you need someone to talk to about this I'm here. That's why I'm around, you know. This stuff has happened to me too and I'd hate to see your little heart getting hurt over this."

Naum smiled, nuzzling his nose into her shoulder. "I know," he chuckled, "thank you."

"No problem," she answered back, the two of them growing quiet as they sat in the shade of the sun and waited for someone to come and find them.

! #$%^&*()

"Serbus she's awake," a goddess came up to her, Sophie giving her a nod and patting Naum on the back.

"See you squirt," she chuckled, Naum mumbling under his breath with his head buried in his knees. Sophie stood up and brushed the dust from her clothes, looking up at the evening sky before following the goddess through the camp. "Say is Naum always~ like that?" she decided to ask.

"Actually no," she looked over at Sophie and smirked, "but he does when he's with Eve and Reha. He must really like you or something –"

"Nah it has nothing to do with that," Sophie grinned. "It's just… well I don't know. He's just acting like I do sometimes," she chuckled, passing into her tent and looking into the room. Xaskesiel looked up with murder in his eyes, but they quickly softened once he noticed the amused grin on Sophie's lips. "So how's our little patient?"

"Just fine thank you," Luhar huffed as she sat up in the bed and glared at Sophie, "but if you hadn't cut into my neck I wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Well I actually found your honor admirable," Sophie shrugged, "but those sorts of things bring you to an early death."

"So you have no honor," Luhar grumbled under her breath. "Typical. You must be a daemon or something –"

"I am a leader to a few hundred of my kind and a master to many more. Don't tell me I have no honor," Sophie huffed, kneeling down next to her body and running a finger over her neck. Luhar shuddered as she tried to move away, Sophie smirking at her fear before letting go and waiting for her to notice. "As I said I find your honor admirable. I aspire to that every day even though such greatness usually ends in an early death," she chuckled lightly, Luhar looking in shock at the wide grin on her face. "Anyways you should be up and running tomorrow. Go ahead and sleep here if you'd like."

"W-why thank you Serbus –"

"It's Sophie," she smiled back, "and I dislike the formalities."

Luhar nodded and gave her a smile, looking over at Xaskesiel as she let out a tired sigh. "Well Necrosnare and I were discussing –"

"I told Sophie that you're my sister Lu," Xaskesiel told her.

"Xaskesiel!" Luhar huffed. "How could you –"

"She's someone I can trust Luhar," he told her, "now can you tell us what happened?"

"S-sure I suppose," Luhar sighed again, looking over at Sophie and back at Xaskesiel. "Well I was wandering and came across the city of Hellhound across the Ponta from here. There is a ruling regent there, Pinazaliel Cinderburn, and he hired me once he found out I was in town. He said he would need my skills as a Helvilo to take over the realm of Ponta, but I told him nothing. Still he gave me a place in his army and had me lead the attack today, but I didn't suspect to run into… into you Sophie."

"Right," Sophie chuckled lightly, "I figured you'd say that –"

"N-no you don't understand," she gulped looking over at Xaskesiel with worry. "Cinderburn is trying to infiltrate this nearby town in Ponta at the edge of the shore to achieve the holy relics. He kept speaking of a dagger that will bring about life and death, and was rallying his troops that if they gained the dagger then he could revive the plants and animals that had been here before and destroy the Goddesses of Life once and for all. I had to admit I saw the plan tempting, but how he's going about it… I can tell he has something more in mind then just achieving a dagger."

"So this dagger is pretty powerful huh?" Sophie huffed slightly. "There was one general that escaped me. I figured she'd go and speak to this Pinazaliel guy and –"

"Yes," Luhar interrupted her and nodded, "but it's more than that. You see… I can tell you're from a different world. I can tell you're here for the dagger… I've been close to the dagger once. You feel just like that object." She sighed as she held her hand to her throat before shaking her head and looking back at Sophie. "Cinderburn, once this general gets back to him, he will most likely open up a portal –"

"A portal?" Sophie frowned.

"Yes, a portal," Luhar continued, "that leads to your world or that's what I'm assuming. He has this power to create portals into different worlds and his plan is to make a large portal into this other world where another dagger lies and steal it away. You have to stop him. He's mad I tell you. Whenever he gets to another world he destroys everything~, the plants all die and wither away. That's one of the reasons why Ga is uninhabitable… because of him."

"Then when does he plan on opening this portal?" Sophie decided to ask.

"They had gathered a vile of your blood," she continued, "on your side. That general ran back to Hellhound to give it to Cinderburn and he will use the blood to contact your world through a portal. This battle was only a distraction. He planned on gaining your blood through this fight and then completing a ritual tonight –"

"Tonight?" Sophie frowned. "He's not giving us any time is he…"

"The ritual takes all night and the portal should open up before the sun appears," Luhar continued, "b-but you can never actually get there. You would have to be a daemon just to get through Cinderfury, and even if you got past there you have a few thousand miles to go. If you bring this whole army then –"

"We won't plan on doing that," Naum answered from the front of the tent, coming inside and standing beside Sophie. "I and Sophie will go. We can change our auras so they smell like anything a daemon can sense. The rest of the troops can stay here and protect Ponta from a possible invasion –"

"And I will go too," Xaskesiel said, giving Naum a grin as he eyed him suspiciously. "I've been there before. I can be the guide. Plus I have nothing else to do here except twiddle my thumbs and the two of you will need all the help you can get."

"Fine," Naum nodded, "but they won't let us in that easily."

"I-I can go," Luhar told them as she lifted herself from the bed and pressed a finger to her neck. "The pain is almost gone, I-I think –"

"Yes you're right," Sophie continued, pressing a thumb to her stitches and helped her up, "but I'd still advise you to keep out of the fighting –"

"No she's not going," Xaskesiel huffed.

"But Xa –"

"Lu you've almost died and I won't let you go back and hurt yourself again," he snarled at her. "Besides the three of us can handle everything on our own. You're speaking to legends here."

"Who's legend?" Sophie pouted.

"Oh," Naum chuckled as a slight blush came to his cheeks, "W-we're nothing special. I'm not even like my mother at all, s-so I don't see why you'd say that –"

"Still I expect the two of you will be able to deal with them," Xaskesiel nodded, "and Naum can go back to the town and tell the priestesses what is going on. Once he comes back we'll get going and Luhar you stay here and help defend the mortals."

"But –"

"He's right I suppose," Sophie sighed. "Your neck should be healed up by then, if they come here and attack. You can help lead the attack, since you will know their movements better than any of us. Now go Naum. Go tell Reha to keep a closer eye on the dagger. I'll stay here and make sure all matters are in order for you."

"Yes Serbus," he nodded, turning around and leaving the tent.

"… You know I always found it troublesome that they have to sacrifice humans once a year," Xaskesiel chuckled lightly. "I mean isn't that senseless of them? Sure I've come across daemons that eat their own kind, but I wouldn't kill someone unless I had to or I was completely starving."

"Why do they do that?" Sophie huffed, "Because there must be more to a sacrifice every year then just honoring Life. Did something else happen for them to change?"

"Well~" Xaskesiel chuckled lightly, "After the First Empress left chaos followed. When they sacrificed that year Death had arrived and that same year the mortals were completely driven into Ponta. Once that was over and they gathered help, the next sacrifice Life showed up. So perhaps it was a sign to them that the sacrifices were essential for their world. I don't know. It confuses me to no end too."

"I just stay out of that mess," Luhar shrugged as she leaned back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "It's troublesome to come up with solutions for the reasons they do the things they do. They're just humans, mortals, with a free will and a free mind. It's what they decide I suppose, and I for one don't like to be a part of it."

Sophie chuckled, nodding her head as she stood up, "Yes well… Xaskesiel go ahead and say your goodbyes before we go. I have a feeling it'll be longer than just a night before this mission comes to a close."

"Yes Serbus," he bowed, watching as Sophie left the tent and closed the flap behind her.

"She's weird," Luhar huffed.

"Why do you say that?" Xaskesiel chuckled.

"Her eyes are crazier then Cinderburn's is, yet they are calm and warm. It's creepy if you ask me," she shuddered lightly, "so watch your back. I don't think you should trust her."

"I probably shouldn't," he grinned, "but you see, she is a God of Death, a powerful~ God of Death. I overheard one of her conversations with Naum and she told him how she meets with Death and he helps her. Yes, she may be more then what she seems, but to be so close to Death means she must have authority with him. So I'm willing to obey."

"Well be careful then," Luhar pouted. "I don't want to lose you too."

"Nonsense," Xaskesiel as he kissed the top of her head and stood up, "I can take care of myself. Have a pleasant night Lu." He smiled as he turned to leave her so she could rest.

"Pleasant night Xaskesiel," she smiled back, closing her eyes and pulling the sheets closer to her body till she quickly went right to sleep.

! #$%^&*()

)(*&^%$# !

It took Naum the rest of the day to prepare. He had explained to Sophie everything she needed to know and was now wandering about without him noticing. He sighed, slipping the black garments he would have to wear. He frowned in disgust, wishing he could wear something like white or even gray. Just plain black didn't go with his complexion, and even if it did he never liked the color. He slipped on long leather pants and a black vestment. His chest was bare, but for him the coldness of the night won't be the problem. He decided to wear a necklace, a tooth necklace that had the arrangement of razor-tooth shark teeth with some beads to suit. He also wore a bone bracelet on his wrists and ankles, slipping durable brown and black shoes on that will help him through the dry climate. Lastly he tied up his silver-green hair in a ponytail and let his eyes change color to more natural green and gray eyes that could be mistaken for perhaps a human and hopefully a daemon. Once he was ready he equipped himself with the weapons he'd need. His main worry was for Sophie, since he didn't know what has happening back home. Naum wondered if Reha was keeping the dagger safe, since he knew a few priestesses and even evil-controlled souls will be after its powers.

Deciding he was the best he'd look Naum walked out of his tent, walking through the chilling sky as he made his way to Xaskesiel. His eyes widened, coming across Sophie as she talked and laughed with the man. She wore a long black dress that went down to her ankles, but there was a slip running up her left leg ending just a few inches below the top of her thigh. She wore long black high heeled boots with buckles on them, something Naum had never seen before. Her auburn hair was left hanging down her face, one lone braid on the right side of her face as her long hair fell behind in waves. A bright green ring was hanging around her neck, now visible for all to see. The rest of her outfit was a dark blue and black combo, a blue and black cloth around her forehead and pulling back her hair with a matching cloth around her waist to show off her figure. She still had her bag around her shoulder, her black cloak around her neck as it always had been. She had a few bangles around her arms, charms that had images of creatures that he had never seen before. She also had earrings, two red feathers that were held together with blue and black string. Lastly his gaze fell upon her eyes, bright crystal blue eyes shining with intensity that Naum was still guessing that she was supernatural. He gulped, noticing the stance she was giving as if she was of royal blood or with confidence that he had never seen before that fit the woman perfectly.

Once they noticed him Sophie invited him over with a wave, Naum hesitantly walking over to them as Xaskesiel laughed and they paid no heed to his nervousness. "So Kaoboros, are you ready? We should get going if we are to make it at the gates of Cinderfury."

"Yes I am," Naum quickly huffed and shook his head to get into the idea of walking right into a den of daemons, "but how exactly will we get in undetected?"

"Well Naum, I figured you can change your aura like I can since I've seen you do it a few times," Sophie began to explain, "so Xaskesiel will lead the way with us following him. He told me he'll bring about three loyal men of his with us and we'll infiltrate the ceremony this man Pinazaliel is planning. According to Xaskesiel we won't come across any real problems as long as we can keep our auras like daemons because Pinazaliel has hired many daemons and many show up last minute for the chance of food being served." She sighed, "But I'm worried about my home. What if this daemon actually creates the portal? It'll be bad for both of our worlds."

"Don't worry about it Sophie," Xaskesiel chuckled lightly. "We'll live. Oh and Naum that's a tacky outfit, but as long as you have some cloak over you and hiding your face you'll be fine."

"Thanks for the information Xaskesiel," Naum glared at him and snorted, his eyes flashing to his normal silver steel with emerald eyes before converting back to its dulled color. Sophie rolled her eyes and threw a cloak at Naum for him to use, Xaskesiel ushering them to follow him as he took off into the arid land. Naum and Sophie ran after him, their clocks fanning out behind them as they watched the sun set behind them. It'll take a lot of energy to defeat a massive swarm of daemons, but if they were anything like the demons back in her own home Sophie will be ready for him.

)(*&^%$# !

A/N: And there we go! Will they stop the portal in time? We'll just have to see ^^' and since there's so many parallels has anyone figured out who Xaskesiel and Luhar's counterparts are? Just thought I'd ask ;3 Also mainly the names I've come up with are from name generators, so I doubt they're even real… though if they have some meaning that's cool too. I just like how they sound =D SEE YOU LATER!