YAY! NEW CHAPTER! … I dunno what else to say, other than this is the third of today's consecutive updates. Hummmm… what to do now…? lol

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Disclaimer: Kuroshitsuji © Yana Toboso

Claimer: everything else © me

Chapter Eight: A Moment's Respite

Sebastian! Anna called again.

But both the Phantomhive and Trancy butler had already stopped in their tracks as –with their demons' ears, they heard the sound of metal meeting metal in the heat of ferocious battle.

"Young Master!" Sebastian hissed. Anna!

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Ciel and Alois' duel brought them to the second floor of the huge library, parrying at each other with the fierce intention to kill.

"Come on, 1-2-3, 1-2-3," Alois taunted, advancing on Ciel.

Damn him! Ciel thought as he raised his sword to block a blow, being pinned with his back against the balcony.

"Here!" Alois exclaimed, his right hand suddenly grasping Ciel's throat as he pushed him off the balcony.

Ciel hit the library floor with a heavy thud, pain radiating from his body.

"Ciel-!" Anna stepped forward, but stopped, as another wave of nausea hit, causing the world to churn around her before she fell to her knees, grasping both her head and stomach as all of her senses drained.

"Ah! Mrs. Maid!" Viscount Druitt exclaimed, kneeling down to the maid's side, "What ails you?!"

But she didn't respond, as she couldn't hear him. Her vision began to darken, and she blinked rapidly to try and clear her vision, looking up toward where her young descendant had fallen…

…Alois leapt down from the balcony and swiftly landed on his feet, walking over to kneel on top of him, pointing the tip of his sword at the Phantomhive earl's throat.

"I've finally caught you, Ciel," Alois declared with a wicked grin, turning his sword so its edge was pointed directly at Ciel's pale skin. "Sebastian wants to eat Ciel's soul, doesn't he? But I won't let him. I'll tear your soul to pieces and feed it to the family spiders. Surely, Sebastian will suffer then, won't he?" He chuckled evilly, leaning in closer to look Ciel directly in his one large eye. "The fun starts now."

But Ciel's gaze merely changed to one of patronizing distain. "The soul of the Queen's watchdog isn't so cheap that something like spiders could consume it," he retorted calmly before smiling at him mockingly. "If you have the resolve to have your legs chewed off, just try and do it."

Alois sat back, snorting in amusement. "You still have the spirit to talk back, don't you?" he commented, raising his sword. "Just give up already. Become mine!"

He thrust his sword down towards Ciel's heart, but to his surprise, Ciel's hand suddenly shot up and grabbed the blade, preventing it from piercing him by mere inches. Ciel's expression was not of one who was waiting for death, but of one who had fought bare-handed against a tiger and emerged victorious.

"I've finally grabbed it," he declared, blood streaming from his cut hand and down the blade.

Seconds later, he raised his right hand –still grasping his sword, and thrust the weapon into the Trancy Earl's left side! At that moment, Sebastian and Claude burst into the room.

"Young Master!" Sebastian exclaimed, and both butlers froze in shock at what had occurred.

Alois had dropped his sword, hands twitching by the sword still embedded into his side, pain burning like a fire as they saw crimson soak into his clothes. Pulling back, the sword cleanly slid from him like a key sliding from a lock, and fell back before writhing in pain.

"What?! Blood!" Viscount Druitt gasped, fainting at the sight.

Throwing his head back with tears in wide blue eyes, Alois spotted his butler and cried out, "Help me! Help me, Claude!"

Claude moved forward to attend to him, and Sebastian moved to do the same for Ciel. "Yes, Your Highne-"

"Don't come, Sebastian!" Ciel ordered demandingly. "Not until I kill him!"

Sebastian smiled and dipped his head. "As you wish." Then he turned to attend to his wife, who was still on her knees, her fluttering gaze directed at the floor. He kneeled down next to her. "Anna? Anna, are you alright?"

She didn't respond as if she couldn't hear him, and he firmly grasped her shoulders, bending his head down to look into her face. "Annabelle?" he prompted, his gaze flashing demonically. "Annabelle, come back to me."

Suddenly the angel tensed, blinking rapidly as she suddenly found herself staring into the face of her husband Sebastian Michaelis.

"S-Sebastian?" she murmured, sounding dazed.

"Agh!" Ciel's grunts alarmed them both, and they turned to see Claude grasping onto the sword that Ciel was about to kill Alois with. "Let go! You bastard!"

"Young Master!" Sebastian exclaimed, releasing his wife as he ran forward to sweep the young earl away from Claude, grasping Ciel tightly in his arms as he looked back at the Trancy butler, who had three blood streaks on his cheek where Ciel had slapped him with his bloodied hand.

Claude glanced at the blood for a moment before letting his tongue brush over the crimson liquid and swallowing it. At once, his eyes flashed demonically purple for a moment as ecstasy rushed through him, the environment around him fading into white noise as the only sense echoing through his demonic being was pure blood-filled pleasure.

Sebastian was alarmed. First my wife, now the Young Master too?! He thought angrily.

"Alois… Trancy!" Ciel raged, trying to break from Sebastian's hold before panting weakly in pain from his own injuries.

"In a situation like this…" Sebastian began seriously, "we cannot possible continue the dance. I apologize, but we'll be excusing ourselves for today." Looking back, his eyes narrowed. "Claude?"

Finally the Trancy butler returned to reality and looked at Sebastian. "A-Ah," he stammered, "The ball will wait for another day."

"Then, let's return home, Young Master," he said, glancing back to see that Anna was on her feet and looking poised like before. He smiled before looking back at Ciel. "Running out on your own, selfishly getting hurt… you are quite a troublesome young master. Did you hate the dance that much?"

"Let me down, Sebastian!" Ciel shouted, trying to push the butler away and slapping him repetitively.

"My, my," the butler sighed, unchanged, "even though you've bled this much, you still have the energy to be violent." Then he began to walk away, swinging Ciel lightly in his arms such that he'd stop his violent abuse. "Today's ball… Annabelle, Young Master, let us leave it behind us, along with the dance."

As the trio departed, Claude looked back at where they had left with an analytic look in his eyes. Those are the souls that demons must seek… Annabelle Michaelis… Ciel Phantomhive… You may consider yourself one of the luckiest demons in the world, Sebastian Michaelis. You're surrounded by such delicious and delectable souls…

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Upon their return to the Phantomhive Manor, they were greeted by an eager and excited Tristan Michaelis, whose expression turned to one of horror when he saw Ciel being carried in by Sebastian… as well as the blood staining the young earl's hands.

"Big Brother Ciel!" he gasped, azure eyes wide in alarm.

"It's alright," his father assured gently with a smile. "The Young Master will be just fine." Then he glanced over at the quiet Anna standing next to him. "Your mother, however, may be a different story…"

Immediately Tristan ran over to hug himself against his mother's dress. "Mommy!" he exclaimed, "Mommy hurt?"

She shook her head, patting him on the head.

"Go get some rest, Annabelle," Sebastian chided gently. "I will attend to the Young Master's wounds and put him to bed before I join you."

She smiled softly. "I'll go in a minute," she said.

He dipped his head, going on ahead to cleanse and bandage Ciel's wounds before putting him to bed to allow him to rest. Sighing in content, he leaned back to examine Ciel's sleeping profile, and smirked.

And yet again, you're showing me signs of weakness, Young Master, he thought in amusement, turning to leave. Just some rest and you'll be back on your feet trying to kill Earl Trancy again.

As he closed the door behind him, Tristan suddenly ran up to him in alarm. "Daddy! Daddy!"

"Shhh…" Sebastian hushed, placing a finger to his lips. "The Young Master is asleep. What is it?"

"It's Mommy!" Tristan exclaimed. "Mommy's collapsed!"

The butler blinked at his son as those words registered in him for a moment before he quickly headed back towards the main hall, finding his wife as a collapsed heap on the floor. Quickly he swept down by her side, taking her into his arms. She was shivering, and her skin was chilly to touch.

"Annabelle, can you hear me?" he asked calmly.

She didn't respond, and he lifted her into his arms, carrying her back to their bedroom.

"She'll be alright, Tristan," he assured his son. "Go along and play with the cats, alright? Let your mother rest."

Tristan left, and after laying her down, Sebastian quickly changed into a clean butler's outfit before crawling into the bed with her, wrapping his arms around her to keep her warm, gently rubbing his hand up and down her back to try and spread warmth through her. Eventually the butler's body heat managed to warm the angel enough that her eyes fluttered open to find herself in bed, Sebastian holding onto her tightly.

"Sebastian?" she murmured.

He smiled, pressing his lips against her forehead. "So… would you like to tell me what is going on with you, Annabelle?"

She tilted her head towards his chest. "Sebastian… I've got something to tell you," she murmured, cuddling against him. "I'm pregnant again."

She felt his body stiffen, and when she glanced up at him, his red eyes were wide with shock.

"Sebastian, what's wro-?"

Suddenly she found herself flipped underneath him as his arms gripped her shoulders tightly. Rather than happy, he seemed almost… alarmed, with the news.

"Please tell me this is a joke, Annabelle…" he hissed through bared teeth.

Anna blinked in surprise. "I-I wouldn't joke about something like this," she responded. "D-Did you… not want to have another child?"

"That's not it," he responded, forcing himself to calm down as he released her shoulders, climbing off her and lying down next to her. "It's just that… in the current feud between the Houses of Phantomhive and Trancy… your being in such a delicate state could prove to be dangerous… for all of us."

She seemed saddened at what he appeared to be implying. "So you're saying… I should abort our child?"

"Of course not," he responded, stroking her cheek gently. "It just means that until the safe delivery of our latest child, every move you plan on making must be reported directly to me. No matter what I will not endanger you nor our unborn child."

Anna sighed in relief. "Sorry for the timing of all this, Sebastian," she apologized guiltily.

He smirked. "It is not your fault," he eased gently, pulling her against him in a tender embrace. "After all, I am the one responsible for impregnating you, am I not?"

A gentle chuckle rumbled through her breast. "That's true," she agreed teasingly, nuzzling her cheek gently against his chest. "So I guess you're just taking responsibility of what you've done, correct?"

"Of course," he agreed, "after all, where would we be if the Phantomhive butler could not take responsibility for his own actions? Aside from that, how do you feel now, Annabelle?"

"Much better, thank you," she responded.

He raised an eyebrow. "Do you think you're well enough to heal the Young Master of his injuries?"

"Ah," she said promptly, pushing away from him as she climbed out of bed. "That will only take several moments. Then I will likely return for some healing sleep. Collapsing on the job is not something I would like to say I've accomplished."

Sebastian smirked, climbing out of bed as well to join his wife as they left toward Ciel's bedroom. Little did they know though, that these next days of respite would only become the prelude to a much larger, much more sinister plot that would change everything….

Okay… a somewhat short chapter, huh? Well, fortunately for me, this is where the real pull-away from the plot of Kuroshitsuji II begins…. FINALLY. YES! NO MORE NARRATING OFF THE KUROSHITSUJI II PLOT! MWAHAHAHA!

ANYWAY, craziness aside, things are gonna really twist up and stuff next chapter. I hope you guys like my transition from 'existing plot of BB2' to 'complete and total fanfiction now'. Hahaha….

What do you guys think? Like this chapter? If there's anything I can fix/whatnot, lemme know via review plz! XD

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

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