Kuroshitsuji © Yana Toboso
OCs © reaper-of-lost-souls
A/N: Well I decided to post another chapter, since I'm bored, so here we go! I hope you've enjoyed the story so far. Once I the second to last chapter up I'll post the second part of this story, so look out for that once it comes up ^^ If you wish to read this story, that is. Anyways, I hope you guys have a great Halloween. I'll be going to a haunted house this weekend (can't wait =D), will bake some sugary foods, and probably drive my brother on Halloween night to wherever he wants to trick-or-treat from because I have no plans that night DX And… yeah! And if I haven't answered your comments yet I'll do so after posting this chapter. Well… enjoy! =D
! #$%^&*()
"Good afternoon Undertaker," Sophie said as she walked in through the front door of the mortuary, instantly noticing the man's energy on the other side of the room. "… Reha," she finished, closing the door behind her and setting her black coat and hat on the coat rack.
Reha looked up with a smile, who was sitting on the other side of the room talking with the Undertaker as he productively worked on preparing bodies. "Hello Sophie – You look horrible. How are you feeling?"
"Terrible," she sighed, slumping down on a closed coffin and unbuckling her boots. "My head won't stop throbbing, but at least it's not bright in this building."
"That's the first time you've ever said that, hehe~" the Undertaker giggled, Sophie rolling her eyes as she ran a hand through her hair and let herself chuckle along with the man.
"I guess… but I'm not looking forward to disappearing," Sophie commented, Undertaker glancing up before looking back down at his work and Reha standing up to sit down next to the girl.
"Sophie… it'll be alright," she smiled weakly, "after all Naum was able to escape. You shouldn't have any problems if that's the case –"
"But," Sophie shook her head, "they said that if I stay alive you'll have to die and if I die then you can life… I'm sorry, but I won't let you die –"
"You shouldn't worry about someone as mediocre as myself," Reha told her, running a comforting hand through her long, wavy auburn hair. "I'll die one day, but you're an important piece in your own world, even in my own! So don't worry about myself. Think about yourself –"
"Yeah, but I can't do that," she chuckled lowly, "because if I think of myself I won't have anything~ to think about. There's not much for me… and I'd rather spend my energy keeping you alive then trying to keep myself sane."
Reha frowned as she watched Sophie stand up and walk out of the room, hearing her boots 'click' down the hallway till they stopped at the bedroom. Then Reha sighed, taking the dagger that was hidden under her clothing out and staring at the images on the handle. "… This is my fault, isn't it?" she mumbled to herself, looking up to hear laughter coming from the corner of the room
"I doubt it," the Undertaker snickered, "or else Sophie would have let you die by now!"
The woman shook her head as the man laughed, Reha standing up and walking over to the window. "No," she continued once the Undertaker's snickering had died down, "it's me. You said so yourself, if that Haden boy hadn't died Sophie wouldn't be searching for a mate. You want to know why I'm alive? Because Naum willed it to be. He used his powers to revive me even though, at the time, he didn't know what he was doing… perhaps I should have just stayed dead. Then poor Sophie wouldn't be trapped and Naum wouldn't have to worry anymore –"
"Humans tend to not see the whole picture," the Undertaker giggled from behind her, his hands wrapped around her waist as he set his head down on top of her head. "Perhaps this is what's supposed to happen. It gives a reason for Sophia and Naum to challenge what they know, confront the voices and maybe get their own ways. I don't know~~, but I do know that Sophia will come back in one piece –"
"But how is the question," Reha pouted, "because I have a feeling she'll end up contracting herself without finding another way out –"
"Perhaps, but once again it may just be the way things are," Undertaker shrugged, letting go of the girl and walking back to the body he was sewing back together. "You mustn't worry your pretty little head on the matter. If she doesn't come back I'll bring her back myself, and if she contracts herself to another I'll show that being who's the one in change. Simple as that~" he giggled, Reha smirking slightly before sighing and sitting down on a coffin so she could look out the window.
"… But can't a person just worry?" Reha huffed.
Undertaker smirked, "Of course~ you can, my dear~" Reha watched as the Undertaker finished working on a body, sighing as she looked out the window and waited for Naum to show up again.
After only a few moments they heard a 'crash' coming from the end of the hallway, Undertaker giggling into his sleeve as he set his work aside and attended to the noise. "I hope Sophie will be okay," Reha sighed, deciding the Undertaker didn't need help in the matter and simply waited for Naum to come back from the other realm.
! #$%^&*()
Slipping off all of her clothing Sophie rummaged through her footlocker, grumbling under her breath till she found something that seemed somewhat comfortable. Slipping on an old, dirty white shirt and baggy dress pants she jumped into the bed, letting out a tired yawn as sleep quickly overcame her before she had time to shuffle in between the sheets and set her head on a pillow. Though instead of her dreams being filled with darkness they were flooded by intense light, Sophie barely able to see from the blinding white glow coming from the world around her. "This… can't be right," she pouted, hoping to run into something of some sort of value. A memory, even the worst of memories, would be better than this light she was seeing. Was this yet another problem that was caused by the voices? Just what exactly could those voices be? Deciding there was nowhere else for her to turn Sophie sat down, noticing nothing changed as she moved around and hoped whatever was causing her to see this in her mind would soon show up within her head. "Just… what do they want?" Sophie frowned, rubbing her eyes as she groaned and tried to close her eyes, but even as she did all she'd see is a blinding light intercepting into her mind. "I'm not of any value, am I? If so, what exactly? –"
"They don't want you, they wish to have me~" came a sudden voice within her head, Sophie's eyes quickly opening to find that the white light around her was slowly fading into a pale gray.
"W-who are you –"
"Young Serbus," the voice chuckled, "if you don't know who I am then how can you possibly keep me in control within your own mind?~"
"… That soul," Sophie realized, standing up and trying to see what was going on around her. "You're the reason I'm still alive, aren't you?"
"More or less~" the voice told her, Sophie feeling as if the being had shrugged while a soft black haze began to roam around her body. "You just happened to be the body and soul that I was destined to reside for the time being –"
"Then why are they after us?" Sophie decided to ask. "Why are those voices, whatever those things are within the Dagger of Death, trying to bring me into their void?"
"… To separate you from me. You're the only creature of this place keeping me in this realm of the living. Without your body, your soul… I'll be brought back into the netherworld… and everything I have gained will be gone." The voice seemed to sigh, as if it was taking a lot off of its chest, and Sophie simply wished that this voice would appear to her in some sort of form instead of whispering within her and manipulating her thoughts. "… I do not understand everything myself. I only learn the ways of the world through you, my host~ –"
"If that's so then why not someone else?" Sophie huffed. "Why me? Why is it always me –"
"I know this about myself. Once long ago I had dreamed of becoming part of the living. I wanted to be human… have humanity… I wanted to be free from the demands and the frustration I was given over my existence. Thus I made a deal with Death… that's why you're a God of Death because of what I done," the voice chuckled lightly. "I never regret what I have done, but for some reason there's a being within your own world that wishes you, your family, and myself to vanish. I do not understand why, but perhaps they wish to rule the entire existence instead of myself."
"Wait," Sophie thought aloud, "so you control existence –"
"I believe I control everything~: from the world of the living to the world of the dead, from your world to Naum's world, from darkness to light… I control everything that has been and will forever be." The voice paused, knowing that Sophie was having problems understand what it had said. "… The only reason I speak of this is because that is all your father has found. Not only can we control the darkness, but also the light. We can bring death, but also life. We can destroy humans, creatures, and souls, but we can also bring back and create from absolute nothingness new humans, creatures, and even souls. A creator and destroyer, that's what we are."
"We?" Sophie questioned the voice.
"We are a part of each other, linked together for eternity and the ages to come. When you die you become a part of me and if I disappear you will vanish along with me. Your soul was created specifically to be my host and even before your birth you were destined to become a part of me. Your father is this way, your brother is this way, and that's why your souls live on with Death instead of vanishing from complete existence." Then the voice sighed, a sigh Sophie was very familiar with that seemed to sound exactly like her own voice. "… I do not understand what these voices are, but I know they fear me."
"You?" Sophie asked.
"Us~" the voice corrected itself. "They simply did not take us to the other side, they're testing us. They wanted to see what we would do, how we'd react to their statements. You jumped into the ray of light before it struck Rehana Taranaki and wasn't forced to leave this place right away. If they wanted they would have done so by now, or that's what I believe."
Sophie paused, looking around and noticing that the colors were trying to turn from gray to black, but were stuck in the middle and went back and forth between the two. "… I don't believe they're testing us, but me. They're trying to take our humanity away, and our humanity is myself, not you… I do not understand what is going on, but if this is truly a test it must be a test to see if I am destined to house your soul. Maybe that's what's going on here. They want to see if I'm the correct soul for you –"
"Didn't you overhear the Xaskesiel one? This has happened before with two beings of Death and Life… and knowing how these items operate they would have been powerful beings to have escaped," the voice insisted. "I believe these two daggers are tied in with Death and Life. After all one is called the Dagger of Life~ and the other the Dagger of Death~"
"… I have a feeling that the dagger we have found in Naum's world is truly the Dagger of Life," Sophie realized, "and it is a trick of the mind to say it's the Dagger of Death. I feel that Naum's world chose to call it the Dagger of Death because that dagger took souls and bodies into the light and infused them into themselves. Perhaps that's how it works, after all with life comes death and with death comes life. When something dies they decompose into the earth and out springs a new life that is even more beautiful than its predecessor. This is all a cycle, like light and darkness and day and night. We are opposites and Naum and I are linked together by our opposite forms. He is reaching to be a demon, a daemon in his own world, because of how the daemons present themselves and hold themselves in his world. I am reaching to be an angel, trying to grab that source of light that radiates from above. This is all so simple, but yet so complex. I simply had to realize what was going on," she chuckled lightly.
"Well~~ we haven't had time to think alone," the voice responded with a light chuckle that was similar to Sophie's, "and with these voices invading our thoughts it's only a matter of time till they take over –"
"Oh hush now!" Sophie huffed. "If I can block you so I can think by myself, I think I can take on a bunch of lowly souls."
The voice snickered before sighing, Sophie looking around and noticing that the light black color was slowly turning to a dark gray, and the dark gray color was then slowly turning to a light gray. "… There isn't much time till they suppress me again," the voice tried to explain, "and I am a creature who hates to be suppressed."
"So am I," Sophie sighed, reaching out a hand to the air as if to try to comfort her other self. "It will be okay and I will make sure you stay in this world of the living. I promise you this on my name, Sophia Maurus Ioreta Serbus."
The voice suddenly giggled, amused by her pledge. "Do you know the road you will be forced to take if you promise this~? Do you even understand what you are pledging to me~? I simply cannot let you disappear into the light. You are my host, master… my other self. This cannot be done –"
"When I made the pledge to forever house your soul and take over the work of my father I knew of the consequences I would have to face," Sophie huffed and looked up, watching as the light was starting to flood in through the gray space around her. "I knew that one day I may have to give myself up so you could live on, and I will allow myself to do so if you simply promise that you won't do anything stupid."
The voice chuckled at her statement, but once it spoke again the voice was much darker and stern. "I understand what you are saying, but on that day I made a promise to you to keep you safe. After all we are almost one in the same. Once you are gone you will be infused into me –"
"You may think that, but we are not," Sophie huffed, "because I am Sophia Maurus Ioreta Serbus, servant of darkness and God of Death, daughter of the mortician Undertaker and Athena Ernest. I may have only lived thirty five years, but in my short life I know who I am and what my intentions are in this world. You have not. We are two different beings, and in my lifetime I wish to find or create a true name for you so my descendants and generations after me will have some sense of a name to you. You may have never been born and created with a name, or perhaps you have forgotten, but even so I will search far and wide till I find a suitable name for you instead of talking to you as if you're just a voice I can talk to you like we're equals."
"Equals~ you say~~" the voice snickered.
"Yes," Sophie smirked, "after all you're the one who keeps saying we're one in the same. You will hopefully pass on to another, but I will not. Unlike you I wish to rest once my time is done, not continue on a road towards one goal. Of course Death has a way of taking lives much too quickly. I may not be able to find your true name, but I at least wish to…" She paused, feeling that the voice was almost gone as the light began to flood into the room around her. "To… to give you your own name," Sophie sighed, squinting her eyes once the light completely flooded into her mind. Then the voices came, but not a voice she was familiar with, but combinations of voices that she had never heard of before. Refusing to hear anything from them Sophie snarled and tried to get back to her body, trying to wake herself up from her dreaming before they began to speak twisted truths to her.
! #$%^&*()
Sophie yelped, her eyes widening as she fell out of the bed. She groaned as she lay on the ground confused, noticing the broken candle beside her. Luckily it wasn't lit, but she couldn't help but wonder why she wasn't actually in the bed. "O-oh yeah," she chuckled lightly, shuffling around on the floor and using the side of the bed to help herself back up, "I didn't get into bed yet –"
"Is everything alri –" The Undertaker paused, looking at the broken candle on the ground and the his little maiden shuffling off of the floor and prying the bed sheets from around her.
Sophie frowned as Undertaker's snickering quickly turned into laughter, the man falling to the ground holding his sides as tears fell down his face. "Hey it's not that funny!" she pouted, throwing the sheets back onto the bed before groaning and slump her head into the folds of fabric. "Damn you…" she mumbled under her breath, staring at him as she laid sideways on the bed and couldn't possibly get back to a peaceful, if she'd call her dreaming peaceful, sleep again.
"I'm sorry, just –" He could barely finish his sentence before he erupted into laughter again, Sophie rolling her eyes before rolling up into the sheets in an attempt to keep herself warm. "You haven't done that since you were a small tyke~! Hah!"
"Oh god," Sophie sighed, snuggling up into the sheets with her butt sticking up to the air underneath the sheets she wrapped around her. She waited till the man had stopped laughing before cracking an eye to stare over at him, the Undertaker standing off of the ground and brushing the stray dust from his clothes. He tried to keep his posture, but snickers came from between his teeth as his large grin lay plastered on his face. "… You're drooling," she rolled her eyes again; watching as he scurried over to the broken candle and picking up reminisce from the ground.
"My small love~, what has the small faerie done to you?" Undertaker gasped in horror, Sophie couldn't help but smirk at him calling her a fairy. "Broke you in two~ that's what she did, but don't worry my small love. You'll be back together soon enough~~" he giggled as he set the candle and its holder on the nightstand, jumping onto the bed and causing Sophie to yelp as he grabbed her ass and pressed her down into the sheets.
"Undertaker!" Sophie laughed, struggling against him as they shuffled around on the bed and tangled themselves into the sheets. Fighting for dominance Sophie ended up facing up at the Undertaker, panting tiredly as he pinned her down with the sheets tied up around her body. "… You're still drooling," she giggled lightly, prying a hand free as she wiped the slobber away from the corner of his mouth and smiled happily.
He let out a low chuckle, leaning his head close to her own so their noses were practically touching. "How did you sleep little maiden?" Undertaker decided to ask.
She grinned, giggling and shifting away as he rubbed noses with her. "Well enough," she told him with a tried sigh, "and I was able to think to myself one last time before the voices took over."
"They're that close, are they?" Undertaker smirked, though Sophie could tell he had worry hidden within his words.
"Sadly yes," she sighed, "but don't worry. I won't let them bind me and do you want to know why?"
"And why's that little maiden?" he decided to ask, breathing on her face and causing her to shudder.
"Uuummmm… I…" She shook her head and chuckled lightly, "because I belong to you, that's what."
Undertaker chuckled, though Sophie could tell he wasn't convinced by her words. "Whatever you say, little maiden," he giggled and kissed her forehead, smirking when he noticed the pout on her face. "I know you mean well, but it's hard to believe you when you're about to disappear."
"W-well I won't be gone for long, right? –"
"Of course not," he smirked, kissing her forehead before kissing her nose. "Because…" Undertaker sighed, breathing on her mouth and grinning widely when he felt her shudder underneath him, "because if they wish to take you away from me forever they'll have to go through me first, understood~?"
"I-intelligitur pater," Sophie gulped, Undertaker smirking as he leaned in and kissed her on the lips. "Ego t-ibi, rectum?"
"Right little maiden," he chuckled lightly, snuggling his face into the crook of her neck as he held her head tightly, "fy forwyn bach~~"
"Fy… forwyn bach?" Sophie asked questionably, Undertaker lifting up his head before snickering and snuggling back into her body.
"Sorry," he snickered, "I mean mihi parva virginis, mihi parva virginis~"
Sophie paused, staring at him confused before shaking her head and sighing. "Good night," she mumbled under her breath.
"Good night," Undertaker answered her, the two of them snuggling up close before the shadows on the wall disappeared and the whole room turned black.
! #$%^&*()
)(*&^%$# !
Reha yawned; her body curled up on a coffin with her head snuggled into her hands. Hearing the door open she quickly woke up, rubbing her eyes once she realized who it was. "N-naum," she grumbled as she sat up, the man closing the door behind him and locking the doorknob behind him, "it's late. Mr. Undertaker and Sophie have been asleep for hours now. Where have you been?"
"She is?" Naum couldn't help but smile, taking off the large black coat the Undertaker let him borrow before sighing and sat beside Reha on top of a coffin. "That's good. I've noticed she's running herself ragged over this."
"So where have you been?" Reha asked again, this time her tone of voice was sterner then before.
Shrugging Naum took off the shoes from his feet, his soles feeling uncomfortably sore from having to confine his feet to such torture. How Sophie could put up with tight, pointy shoes he may never know. "I have been trying to find the Dagger of Life, which we suspect is in this world," Naum explained, throwing the shoes across the room and watching as they hit the ground and landed right at the side of the door. "No one even knows what I am talking about and I don't know my way around to get any real information. Xaskesiel has been helping me and has taught me the ways of this world, what his kind do here in this world. Apparently they reap souls once they are dead, which I find amazing that a group of beings would take the time and energy to do so. My kind is called angels who play servant to a higher power that Xaskesiel has told me that they don't even know. I have a feeling, when I went up there, that the being they listen to is actually the voices… but I still don't understand how that is possible. Instead Xaskesiel and I have been helping Sophie's kind, the shinigamis, reap souls and I've been keeping up with the work Sophie has been neglecting because of our current problem. I feel that this was needed, seeing as Sophie put all her time and energy into helping us."
"I see," Reha smiled, wrapping her hands around his arm and curling up his shoulder. "So where's Xaskesiel now?"
"He's told me that he's staying with a being called Fiona Obki simply because they know each other from long ago," Naum shrugged, "but he's also staying up tonight helping with the shinigami nightshift and reaping souls. Xaskesiel is also collecting information on this place and anything I may find useful, but he insisted I go back home to rest."
"That's nice of him," she giggled and kissed Naum's cheek, "because that gives me some more time with you before my time has come."
"Oh yes," Naum sighed, "we've been working so hard that I've forgotten you're a sacrifice… Do you still have to do that –"
"Naum," Reha pouted, "It's my duty as a priestess to do as the gods' will –"
"But I'm a god for crying out loud!" Naum huffed, "And I can't stand to see you die! No one does! Life dislikes coming down to Ponta simply because we perform sacrifices to her. She doesn't approve of them at all. Can't you see this!?"
"Of course I do!" Reha yelled back, causing Naum to calm down once she bit down on her bottom lip and quickly wiped away a tear, "but… what can I do? What can we do? Nothing, that's what. So let it go Naum. I've been alive much longer then I should have. The least you can do is let me pass on into Ura."
"… Don't worry," Naum tried to smile, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her close to him. "We'll get through this, I just know it… and I never regret saving your life, even though I had no idea I was the one who saved you till years later," he chuckled lightly and kissed her forehead. "Save your tears. You're not going to leave me that easily Rehana Taranaki. I swear on my birthright that you'll forever be with me, I promise you."
Reha smiled, kissing his cheek before sighing and shuffling close to his chest. "I'll take you up on that promise, but don't be disappointed if it doesn't come true."
"Well," he sighed, "there are a few more things to be done before we can return to our world. I want to make sure you're safe before I leave you there and I want to find the other dagger before Sophie vanishes. I can tell she doesn't have enough time… she has almost a whole day left, maybe even less. The voices will take her soon, I can tell. I just can't have her vanish, not while we're so close to our goal! If only we had time… but we don't."
"We'll do the best we can," Reha sighed, curling up on Naum's chest as he held her close. "That's all we can hope for. Sophie will have to work to keep herself here, you know. It can't just fall completely on you."
"I know," he cracked a smile, mumbling under his breath as they slowly began to fall asleep, "I know…"
)(*&^%$# !
! #$%^&*()
Unable to sleep any longer Sophie opened her eyes, quickly noticing that the warmth from the Undertaker was quickly leaving as he shifted off of her and began to leave the bedroom. "U-undertaker?" Sophie whimper, a pout on her face as the man turned and gave her his famous wide, eerie grins.
"Yes my little maiden~?" he giggled, Sophie groaning as she threw the sheets out from around her body and scurried over to him.
"W-when I'm gone, what will you do?" she decided to ask, rubbing her eyes as her eyes tried to adjust to the darkness.
He chuckled lightly, "Why do you ask?"
"Because… because I don't know what's going on and I'm scared," Sophie told him honestly, grabbing his arm and rubbing her head into his clothing. "A-and I don't want you to be sad."
"Sad?" Undertaker smirked, running a gentle hand through her long auburn hair. She looked up as she felt him hold a clump in his hands, breathing in her scent before letting go and letting her hair drift down to her side. "Why would I be sad?"
"I-I remember that you were sad once," Sophie tired to explain, her grip becoming tighter as she felt that he was going to leave her, "and that's w-hy… I didn't want you to be lonely, because you seemed lonely to me. You looked tired, sad, and even with a stoic demeanor you seemed to be troubled. D-ad… Undertaker, you're not going to be sad when I'm gone, will you?"
"My little maiden," he chuckled lightly, lifting her up by her shoulder and moving his head down so they saw eye to eye, "you worry too much. I'll be just fine without you. After all I've been around much longer than your pretty little self. I'll be able to move on –"
"But will you be sad?" Sophie asked again, her bright blue and green eyes shining into his green and yellow eyes. "W-will you cry?"
"Such innocence," Undertaker smirked, running his thumb over her eye and down the scars over her left cheek. "Of course I'll cry for you. I can never forget you, little maiden."
Sophie smirked, getting the answer she wanted, and wrapped her arms around his chest in a bone-crushing hug. "Thank you," she mumbled under her breath, the man blinking in confusion by her sudden response before chuckling lightly and hugging her back.
"You're welcome," he answered her, burying his head into her hair and breathing down her neck. Then he sighed, kissing her on the forehead before letting go and turning back towards the door. "I'll see you soon, correct?"
"I-I hope so," Sophie smiled back, seeing the wide grin on his face as he left the bedroom and closed the door behind him. She sighed, noticing from a crack in the wall that the sun hadn't come up yet and she had a few more hours till sunlight. "I guess I'll get started," she mumbled under her breath, walking to her footlocker and taking out her clothes. Instead of wearing her normal attire, Sophie went for something simple that day. A white collared shirt tucked into black dress pants, her black buckled boots with long white socks under the folds of her pants, and a black suit coat with long sleeves where she placed the sliver watch Death had given to her so long ago. She buttoned up her coat and the silver chain hung on one side of her coat, Sophie sighing as she grabbed black gloves and pulled them up tight on her hands. She tied a black ribbon around her neck, too tired to find anything else, and combed her hair back before letting it fall in waves behind her. She tucked her black glasses case in her suit, just in case she would need them, before throwing her brown bag over her shoulder and leaving the room.
! #$%^&*()
A/N: And now we're about to get to the best part… a very confusing part in the story, I might add. Lots of betraying and suspense, and lots of tears. Well, I suppose we'll see how it goes ^^ and as always, I'LL SEE YOU LATER! =D
"With life comes death and with death comes life" – quote by viewer, Mystique Madjik ('With life comes death and with death comes life')
intelligitur pater – Latin – understood father
rectum – Latin – right
fy forwyn bach – Welsh – my little maiden
mihi parva virginis – Latin – my little maiden