Kuroshitsuji © Yana Toboso
OCs © reaper-of-lost-souls
A/N: Well I decided it was about time to post another chapter, and to be honest I just wanted to review this story because I'm trying to write the next few chapters. Hopefully I'll finally get this done, but once again we'll see. Sorry for the long wait. Sometimes I have all the time in the world and other times I don't… and I was busy with school and had some writer's block so I've been getting out of that slump. I hope you guys enjoy the next chapter! Bye!
! #$%^&*()
Sophie watched from afar at the mortuary, watching as the Undertaker confronted her mother and she began to cry. It pained her to see her mother like this, but what can she do? She's just a ghost now, wandering the world trying to achieve the goal that was internally keeping herself there: to stay with her mother till her death… and stay with the Undertaker and keep him from being lonely. The first job she could do easily, it won't be hard, but the second will be. Tears streamed down the girl's face, though she gave no recollection of wiping them away. The shinigami made everything very clear to her that he didn't want her… he wanted her to pass on. In sense it was the best option. After all she's always said how she wanted to move on and her soul rest in peace, but on the other hand she's leaving behind a man whose spirit was broken… he even said this. Yet why would he go through such lengths to keep himself incomplete? Either he wanted to protect her or trying to keep the familiarity of having a soul that was torn to pieces… or a combination of the two. She felt sick to her stomach for no real reason in particular. This wasn't her world, Sophie knew this, and it wouldn't be long till this spiritual form of her childhood self would turn into her old, young adult self. Would her necklace show up again? Would… would the marking on her left hand show up again? She sighed; staring at her left hand as she only looked at flesh and bone. Nothing happened no matter how much she tried. It was as if the symbol was wiped clean from her soul… showing that she wasn't owned anymore. Should she be happy? She didn't feel that way. Everything was tearing her mind to pieces.
She didn't understand what was clearly going on in front of her. Was it real? Was it fake? Sophie knew from her memories the moment the Undertaker came to the mortuary to confront her mother was about her father's death. Her mother was brought outside and they talked, all the while the little girl knowing what had happened. Now there are two deaths, so what was to come from this? She didn't have anyone to care for anymore. What will her mother do now that she's lost everything?
Sophie could see that the Undertaker had known her presence was there ever since they left the building, if not longer. With one glance her way the girl knew he had murder in his green/yellow shinigami eyes, aimed to take her soul where it can rest for eternity. Can't he just understand she needs to stay? Why can't he see that? Undertaker used to, that's for sure… the man she knew, knows. Not this being that looks like him, without the scars to boot. How come he can judge her? Huh? She figured the man would know she would try to come by the mortuary to appear to her mother. He'll be keeping a narrow eye on the place, waiting for the girl to slip and appear in the human realm. Sophie will have to figure out everything, the Undertaker's schedule and everything he does. Does he work all day and night? Does he take time off? Does he do mostly paperwork or mainly field work? The girl will have to find these things out quickly or else she's done for. Deciding the shinigami was preoccupied with her mother's sorrow the ghost of a child felt it was best to leave, infiltrate the shinigami realm while Undertaker was there and disappear before he could find her. She can still disguise her aura as any creature, so she'll make sure she doesn't touch a death scythe. After Sophie finds his office and sees everything he will do she will make a plan of attack, knowing full well the man was much older and wiser then she was. In order to win this game she can't give him a second to rest, completing everything she has to do before he could find her. Then… only when she is done… Sophie will willingly give her soul up to him and to Death, she promised herself.
! #$%^&*()
The days wore on and the nights were too short. Sophie had to sneak around in the night because that was the only time her soul could become visible, when it was dark. Why? She couldn't quite say, but this didn't fit into her plans. The Undertaker seemed to know this too and thus he was only working during the day, scouting the cemetery and the mortuary at night. The girl had missed everything: Thomas preparing the bodies for burial, a group of shinigamis taking her father's body away, her own ceremony… which she saw from afar. Her mother's sorrow was eating at her heart; the girl just wanted to walk up to the woman and hug her tightly. Yet she couldn't, not yet. She had to be patient, waiting for something important to happen in the middle of the night or a job the Undertaker is forced to do so she can visit her mother. This was difficult. The man held much power in the shinigami world, which Sophie didn't find surprising. After all he's a legend, but thus the being could order a subordinate to do the job instead of he, and he had many shinigamis that worked under him… even some from the council themselves. It was odd to see this side of the Undertaker, Sophie quickly realized, and she wondered who and when did he get his name. From his talks with Fiona she could tell he had another name and from that name he had many more names to speak of. What was his real name? She didn't know and now the child was getting curious to whom he really is. She won't find the answers here, Sophie knew this, but if she can just get back to her real world perhaps she can find out Undertaker's secrets little by little… as she had done over the years she had been alive.
Sophie sighed. She didn't know if the being was toying with her. She figured by his powerful aura he would have been after her by now. Perhaps this was a test to see what she would do… after all this is the Undertaker. He likes to play mind games and for Sophie this was one large mind game, even bigger than the man could ever anticipate. Details of her life were changing in a blink of an eye. The longer she stayed the worse everything became. She was warned this; Sophie knew. Yet this won't bring her down. She wanted to stay till she absolutely had to leave, but at that point she may never be able to leave. Was Tiqvah right? Will she disappear into nothingness if the Undertaker successfully reaps her soul? That's a possibility, Sophie realized, and that'd mean she won't actually be at rest… ever. Time flew past and her mother's health was deteriorating. Sophie wondered how long she would last, if she would die the same time she had before or even sooner. For Sophie she felt that she had eternity to wait, but her mother only had years to live, if not days. That's probably Undertaker's mindset. He had the rest of his existence to wait for the soul to reveal herself. He had time… but Sophie was running out.
The spirit decided that one day she would try to get her mother to follow her into the woods. There, under the shade of the trees, the girl could show her mother her current form. Maybe then she could change her mother's mind and perhaps she'd start taking care of herself again… maybe move on from this tragedy. Sophie blew on the tops of the trees, the wind picking up and blowing past her mother's hair. How she missed sitting under the shade of the tree at the top of the hill. If she ever got back that'll be one of things she does, simply sit and meditate without disturbances from anyone or anything. Noticing how her mother closed her eyes the child tried again, this time breathing a small whisper of words that floated around her mother's ears.
"Mommy~~… Mommy~~… Mommy~" She whispered, hoping her mother would hear.
Sophie's mother looked up, but then pressed her head back and sighed. Perhaps her mother had been hearing her own voices. She'll have to try again, but this time with more words.
"Baroness~… I'm trying to speak with you~~… plea~se~~… listen~…"
"W-who's there?" her mother looked around in fright, but Sophie was going to continue to try till she was able to let her mother see her face to face.
"Mommy~… it's meee~~… Sophia~~~" The girl blew the wind around the tree, watching as her mother stood to her feet startled. "I~… don't want yo~u to be lonely~~ anymore. I~~ won't rest~ till you're~~ happy again~… I~I'm sorry~~ Mommy… soooooo~~~ sorry~"
"Sophia – No… it can't be you. Undertaker told me what happened," her mother sighed, "you died alongside your father –"
"Mommy listen" Sophie whimpered, her voice rising just slightly to get the woman's intention. "I'm like Papa. Do you really~~ think I wouldn't be able to live… just for a few more moments~?"
She watched as her mother looked to the ground, chuckling lightly and rubbing her arms. "That thought crossed my mind, but the Undertaker said you died and he's like you, right? –"
"I only died as a human~, not as a shinigami," she explained, "but… Uncle wants me to pass on~~"
"S-shouldn't you –"
"I can't," she bluntly huffed, a sigh escaping her lips as her breath escaped in the wind. "I… I-I don't want you to be hurt mommy. I want you to move~ on too~~. Please… for Papa's sake. Then I'll disappear~"
"Sophia –"
"Please Mommy? Pleeeeease~~… I want you to be happy. Don't… don't stay in disappear for this long, please~" Sophie bit her lip, close to tears, but she knew if her mother rejected the whole idea she'll have to accept her death.
"… I'll think about it," her mother smirked to herself, a shaky sigh escaping her lips as she looked to the mortuary and then up at the sky. "You… you have your father's intellect child. It's no wonder you hadn't died before birth… a miracle really."
Sophie frowned, knowing she was thinking of her older brother at that moment. Then her head shot up, feeling the intense aura of Death coming towards her as the sun began to go down. "M-mommy I have to go~" she shuddered, her mother looking up wishing she could see her child.
"I know," her mother smiled, watching the sunset. "I hope you can rest in peace along with your father soon enough." Ellen looked towards the forest, noticing two blue glowing orbs of light coming from the trees, but then it disappeared, the woman letting out a sigh as if a huge weight had vanished from her mind. Was that her daughter? She may never know, but what had transpired calmed her nerves. She won't return to her family and she won't think about death, no… she had more to live for, and Ellen knew that's what Maurus would have wanted her to do: move on.
! #$%^&*()
)(*&^%$# !
"Yo'h Naum! How's the reaping?" Xaskesiel smirked, the silver and green haired boy looking up from the paperwork in front of him with a glare.
"How in Ura's name are you able to do all this?!" Naum groaned, finishing writing on a form and placing it on a stack of paper. "There are so many souls to snatch, but not enough time to do it. Plus I got into a bunch of trouble with these groups of daemons –"
"They're demons Naum –"
"Whatever," he huffed. "This is all nonsense in my opinion. Why all the paperwork? Why do all this… records and bookkeeping for the dead when there are beings out there walking around alert and alive?"
"I probably can't change your mind, since I'm not Sophie," Xaskesiel smirked slyly, causing Naum to narrow his eyes in disgust, "but the point you ask? What's the point of keeping records of the living, little Life boy~? Simple, to remember every being that ever existed on Ponta. Now think of it this way: even in our world there are records. You know this and you know it's my job. A book of someone's life that has been played out from beginning to end shows everything, their birth to death and how they lived their lives. You can't do that with simple recordkeeping. There'll be errors because humans lie and in honestly so do we. So here's the simple request: why not keep the records of the souls' deaths as primary sources instead of scratch work you and every other Goddess of Life does? It'll save up on time and strengthen both our realms. Besides~ wouldn't we just resolve our differences already? This game is starting to get old and you know better than I it'll help everyone, even the humans."
"Seriously we're having this discussion now?" Naum growled, a chuckle escaping the daemon's mouth before he continued.
"Yes, and every moment of very day of your life till my group is out of the daemons' corruptions and can live in peace. Then, and only then, will I stop talking about this," Xaskesiel finished with a snort, his face getting serious to get back at the matter at hand. "The British Museum is located towards the center of a city called London, sort of… east to us I believe? Maybe west? I don't know of the directions, but the city is nearby. I saw that the dagger is on display in a room called 'Antiquities' in the north wing of the building. I have a feeling the task will be tricky because we will have competition. There's a group of daemons that have congregated in this particular city and uses a building called the 'Foul Mug' in a gruesome, disgusting part of the city. I overheard them from afar. They know about the dagger, but are currently searching for it too. It's only a matter of time till they find out where it's located, so we must be quick –"
"Who's there?" Naum decided to ask, standing up and grabbing his things from the desk.
"Let's see…" Xaskesiel thought, poking his chin as the boy began to glare at him. "Oh! I recall seeing Asebab and Ocazes talking in the corner and I could feel Isitnanox's aura from afar."
"Isitnanox? That's not good," Naum sighed. "He was Ekahuz's right hand daemon… damn…"
"Also I noticed Halzron, Pepanioltaz, and Eriel being there... and I guess Amnaos and Mahes too," Xaskesiel snorted.
"So… eight daemons?" Naum asked.
"That's whom I found," Xaskesiel told the boy, "and anyone else tried to disappear completely in this world –"
"Then let's do this," Naum sighed. "You finish this work for me and I'll grab the dagger. Then we'll decide what to do with the daemons later –"
"Oh~ trying to get out of work now?" Xaskesiel smirked, Naum narrowing his eyes and letting a snarl escape his throat. "So lifelike~~ of you," he snickered.
"Whatever," Naum snorted, shoving a pen in the man's chest. "Get to work."
Xaskesiel snorted back as Naum chuckled lightly and set the pen in his hand, a smirk coming to the daemon's face as the boy disappeared down the hallway. "Good riddance," Xaskesiel chuckled, sighing as he sat at the desk Naum was working at to finish the work he was neglecting. "I don't need Life breathing down my throat. Let's just get this over with before I have to see those annoying council members again," he huffed, "who think they need to know everything for some reason. Please~! I'm much older by far. Worthless tyrants are what they are."
)(*&^%$# !
! #$%^&*()
Escaping Death was harder then Sophie thought. She was constantly on her toes and she had to expand her range of movement from just the cemetery and the woods to inside of London. Quickly there were demons on her tail, catching the scent of a wandering soul and trying to sustain their nourishment by grabbing hold of her. Even her best friend, Alexander, was on her tail. Apparently, after several long years, he had given up trying to become a shinigami and decided to stick to being a demon. Haden was doing great, but died when he was supposed to. Everyone she had known showed up at small points in her existence, but they never last long. At least her mother lasted, thank goodness. Baroness Ellen Ioreta Serbus was living well beyond the length of time she had previously, but yet she was always sad. Sadness… no matter how much the child tried the woman wouldn't change. Ellen tried moving on, meeting other men, but her heart always yearned for Maurus. She began to think, was it better for her mother to feel this way? Wouldn't it be better for her to move on with her father? Should… should this ever have happened? She didn't know; Sophie simply didn't know the answers.
Little by little she felt her soul getting away from her, getting swallowed up in the air around her. Was this the voices' doing? It sure felt like it, but after a while they had stopped corresponding with her… simply let her die… Sophie was slowly starting to get mood swings. One minute she would feel and act normally, but the next she would lash out and break all the windows around her. It usually was over the simplest of matters, like hearing someone disrespecting the dead or even so much as to say that the weather was gloomy. She didn't know why she was having mood swings, but Sophie knew she had to stop. This wasn't what she was supposed to do… not what she was supposed to be… and… the look of blood… the soul that lingered in a human's heart before departing for another body, caused her to feel… hungry. She was starting to feel hungry. How could a ghost feel hungry? Sophie didn't know, but she knew that this wasn't a good sign. Her mind wandered to what Xaskesiel had said about his own kind turning to daemons and eating souls. She was slowly starting to think this was what she was becoming. After all shinigamis are mainly just souls and spirits that were changed to become grim reapers. She had read this in a book once. They could only do this if it was by a much older shinigami, a God of Death to be precise. Shinigamis were like servants… servants of the dead… but she had always wondered what would happen if a spirit that was destined to be a shinigami, perhaps a soul that hadn't moved on, stayed on the earth for too long. Sophie was starting to feel the effects and it was causing her mind to go crazy. She was hungry, hungry all the time, and wanted to feast on the dying souls and even go as far as to grip a soul right out of its body before their time had come. The brighter their soul, the hungrier she felt. Sophie was slowly… losing her sense of… right and wrong. The life she had was becoming a distant memory. All she felt was survive; she had to survive… stay away from Death till her mother had died. Then she will move on, then Sophie can sleep in peace, but will she ever get to that point?
When a soul turns demonic it can never get back to what it once was. Once she feasts on a soul she won't be able to be a wandering spirit, she will become a true demon that walked the earth seeking the ruin of souls. She can't do that… right? The longer she roamed the worse her symptoms became. Sophie went as far as to leave London, the British Isles all together, her eyes locked on one goal: to keep away from Death. Was she changing? Sophie couldn't tell, but she knew one thing: her soul was definitely in pieces. There was something inside of her that was missing… it was the evil soul that had lived inside of her, no… it's not evil… not as evil as she was starting to become. Tiqvah… ever since that last day she hadn't heard from the spirit ever since. Was she alone now? How could a piece of herself just leave her like this. Why? Why?! Sophie wanted to shout, cry out for help, but it was all helpless. If she called for help a grim reaper would take her soul, Undertaker most likely. God… Sophie didn't even know where he was anymore. She was starting to forget what she was doing. All she felt was to keep moving forward, clutching her mother's wedding ring in her hand as if it was the only lifeline that kept her from becoming insane. If she kept going she'd find the light at the end of this endless tunnel… right?
! #$%^&*()
)(*&^%$# !
Naum jumped down from the rooftop, landing with ease onto the floor and glanced around. White walls, like the shinigami buildings, yet the structure of the building were much different and less sophisticated. He smirked. The beings that lived in this world seemed to treasure large, magnificent buildings, while in his world they could care less. As long as there was some sort of shelter the people in his world humans were happy, which made everything so much harder to find in this world. He attempted to ask humans on the street, who almost all shuffled away from his presence, until he came upon a man with a dark blue outfit and an oddly shaped hat that told him where to go. When the man asked what he was doing Naum simply replied he wanted to visit the museum, noticing that badge the man had and noticed he must have had some sort of authority in this world.
He showed up when it got dark, sneaking his way through the building and easily evading the guards. This wasn't the first time he had to sneak around, in fact Naum was very clever when it came to slipping past hoards of people without being seen. Yet the building was very large and it took the boy some time to come across what he was looking for. Sure, he sensed the presence of the dagger from a mile away, but the building was so elaborate with doors upon doors and turns upon turns that he got lost for half of the night. Finally he came upon his prize, a dagger, similar to the Dagger of Death Reha had on her person, but instead of a white bird there was a skull head on the handle with bones connecting the head of the handle to its blade. He stared through the glass case it was kept behind, seeing the same glow from its disturbingly vivid eye sockets as he would in the Dagger of Death. He shuddered, feeling something slowly luring him into its embrace, but Naum didn't have time for this. No, he had to get out before someone discovered him and the daemons let on to their plans. He pulled out specially designed gloves for this purpose, hoping that Reha was right that the gloves that worked for the Dagger of Death would work for this Dagger of Life.
Using his powers the locks on the glass case unlocked, Naum slipping his hands around the dagger and wrapping a cloth around its body till it was hidden away in the fabric. Then he tucked it into the dress coat he wore and began to sneak out, trying to find the hole he had created in the top of the building to escape. Death and Life… Life and Death… the boy slowly began to realize that the name they had given the dagger in his own world may have been false. The dagger he had didn't look to be any sort of Dagger of Life… maybe he'll have to change the names later? He didn't know, nor did he care. He just knew that the only way to get to Sophie may be through this dagger; even though he didn't know what this dagger did specifically. Did it do the same thing as the Dagger of Death? Would this dagger try to take his soul too or perhaps it'll be the same voices talking to him. Either way he knew his time was short, noticing a whistle blare in the distance as he hustled and ran into the room he had jumped down from. A light haze appeared below his feet and he levitated himself up through the hole in the ceiling, deciding it would be best to close the glass he had moved and began to jump away from the building. By the time the humans had the facility lit up Naum had disappeared into the forest outside of the city, narrowing his eyes as he felt a trail of daemons slowly gaining on his trail.
"Okay," he looked around, jumping into a field out in the middle of nowhere, but close enough to the shinigami realm that if he had to run he had an opportunity to. Taking the dagger from his side he looked at the engravings, using the glove to run a hand through the top of the skull, down the handle, and across the blade. "Dagger of Life… let's see what you can do –" He paused, a odd, sickening feeling gurgling in the pit of his stomach and slowly making its way throughout his whole body.
His hands began to shake, but he didn't know why and Naum gripped the dagger tightly to keep a strong grip on it. Even though he wore gloves Naum was starting to feel sick, a completely different feeling he felt when he had his hands on the Dagger of Death. Shuddering he reached his hand up to his mouth, unable to control himself as he pulled the glove with his teeth and slowly reached down for the dagger. "There's the Shark! There he is! Get him!..." The voices died away as Naum's hand reached down for the dagger, sweat coming down his brow as his body violently shook while he tried to gain control. He couldn't, Naum barely had any control over his body, and with his index finger ran a finger down the handle and over the blade. A shock burst through his body and he gasped in pain, a black light suddenly surrounding him as the daemons jumped out of the trees and aimed their claws at the boy.
He stood stunned, watching as the light pushed the daemons away and they let out snarls and yells as they disappeared into the dark energy. "W-wha…" Naum blinked in confusion, looking down and staring back at the dagger. It was saying anything to him, trying to get hold of him like the Dagger of Death does… it was biding its time. Yes, Naum realized it was waiting for him to touch it again and he could barely resist himself as his hand reached down to touch the dagger.
"Wait Naum~"
"Who's there!?" Naum gasped, gripping the dagger in his gloved hand and looking around.
All he saw was darkness, but he felt a familiar presence moving around him, tempting him to come closer. "If you continue on with this plan~ of yours, you will end up with me again –"
"Damn you spirit!" Naum snarled, his eyes glowing angrily in the darkness as he tried to find the source of the voice. "Why are you always here tormenting me –"
"I left you alone," the rough voice huffed, "when you sold your soul away, Naum Karawan Kaoboros~~. You said you never wanted me~… so I disappeared –"
"That's right!" Naum huffed, "I hate you! I never want to see you again! Ever since you showed up my life turned to crap! I don't see why in Ga Sophie would wish to keep her evil spirit, I don't! Why are you talking to me now?! I thought you disappeared in the dagger –"
"I did," it stated roughly, getting Naum's attention as the voice snarled at him, "I am… but I am warning you, if you wish to never come into contact with me again, you shouldn't touch this Dagger of Death."
"Wait." Naum paused, "I thought this was the Dagger of Life –"
"You are mistaken~" the voice chuckled darkly. "This is the Dagger of Death. Can't you tell by Death's signature symbol, the skull?... You know, in the end, I am destined to destroy everything. This dagger calls upon you to do just that… that's why you are connected to this –"
"But… I'm not connected to you anymore!" The boy yelled in anger, "I am not! –"
"You always~ will be," the voice explained, "whether you like it or not. I am a part of you as you are a part of me. Even if you wish to lock me away I am still inside of you. Your soul was chosen to house me for a reason… you can keep your humanly soul sane even while I'm~ here~~. Now it is up to you if you want to plummet into the darkness… well~, will you~~?"
Naum paused, looking out in the thin glimmer of light he could see from the darkness. He could hear his name being called, Xaskesiel's hand reaching out for him and trying to pull him back in. He let out a deep sigh, looking back down at the dagger as he closed his eyes and tried to drown out the sounds. Naum looked up at the light and his bright silver steel and emerald eyes glared at Xaskesiel, hearing the man let out a gasp as the boy snarled, "I will," Naum said willingly. "But," he huffed at the voice, which he didn't know was not are anymore, "this isn't for you. This is for Sophie! I dragged her into this mess and I will get her out. It was my decision to call upon Time and Space for help… it was a mistake to do so and I am sorry. I just want her back, she's done so much for me and I must have her back!"
With the words the being said he gripped the blade hard with his bare hand, the glove on his other hand falling to the ground as he bowed his head and closed his eyes. He suddenly heard a scream and looked up, his eyes looking in horror as Reha reached out for him and tried to grab hold of him. Naum shied away from her hand, her eyes staring at him in shock as he embraced the darkness with open arms and disappeared into the dark light. "NAUM! DON'T LEAVE ME!" Reha cried out, falling to the ground as tears fell down her face. The dagger he had in his hand didn't fall to the ground; it disappeared along with him into the dark abyss.
)(*&^%$# !
A/N: And we end it with a cliffhanger again XD So what do you think? Yes, there's a spirit that is connected to Naum too. Now we saw a tiny glimpse of that spirit. As for Sophie… think about it like years had gone by, many years. I'm pretty broad on how much time has gone by, but still less than a whole human year. Other than that Naum is on his way, hopefully ^^; And I think that's all I have to say. SEE YOU LATER!