Whoa, long time since an update, and since I already had this half-finished, thought I would finally finish up with this chapter.

Just a warning, there's not much action going on in this chapter, as this is mainly an informative + character development chapter. The goal is primarily to highlight Sebastian's change in character and thought process whilst in comparison (not actually shown) to how he used to be (aka read back in Chapter 1 of the first fic).

Hope you enjoy anyway though!

PLEASE R&R!

Disclaimer: Kuroshitsuji © Yana Toboso

Claimer: everything else © me

Chapter Ten: A Washed Mind

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Earl Phantomhive," Annabelle Michaelis –now Faustus, greeted with a polite curtsey.

Ciel's eye widened in shock and horror at what was happening. "Anna, stop this insolence at once and return to my side now," he ordered firmly.

The angel gave him a look of puzzlement before offering a bow. "Forgive me, but I do not understand what you mean," she replied, sounding confused, "I have always been living under the gracious generosity of Earl Trancy alongside my husband Claude. It was only recently when I was asked to officially become one of the maids here."

Based on her response as well as the formality of her words, two things were made clear to Ciel and Sebastian; one: Anna had forgotten all about them as well as the time she had spent in the Phantomhive Manor; and two: Anna believed herself to be married to Claude and false memories had somehow been implanted in her to convince her of it.

"Alois Trancy!" Ciel hissed, whirling on the earl, "What have you done to my maid?!"

The blonde acted surprise. "Whatever do you mean, Ciel?! Has your maid gone missing?!" he 'gasped'.

"Don't play dumb, Alois Trancy!" the Phantomhive snapped, "You must have brainwashed her into believing the absurd lies you fed her!"

"How cruel, Ciel," he pouted. "Anna has always been here. She and Claude married last year, and she's currently pregnant with their first child."

Heavens no, Sebastian thought both in anger and possessiveness as he glared at his fellow demon butler. That's our second child. Annabelle…

"Anna, dear," Claude said in the sweetest voice possible, "you and Hannah attend to both Earl Phantomhive and His Highness' tea."

Ciel felt extremely annoyed. "Sebastian, you're excused from teatime," he instructed. "I'm sure you and the Trancy butler have much to talk about."

Sebastian bowed. "Thank you, Young Master."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The moment Sebastian and Claude were alone in the forest within range of the manor, Sebastian whirled on the other butler, his eyes flashing demonically.

"What did you do to my wife?" he demanded, his voice filled with darkness and anger.

Claude smirked, pushing up his glasses. "It wasn't too difficult to lure her away from the Phantomhive Manor," he taunted. "The image of her precious son in danger drew her far enough for me to catch her in my web."

Sebastian's lips drew apart to reveal bared teeth as he hissed at the demon. "You dare steal away what is rightfully mine?!" he snapped. "What did you do to her?!"

"She was merely subjected to some torture, not to mention a demonic drug that meddled her consciousness just enough for me to brainwash her into making her my wife and a Trancy maid," Claude answered simply. "Now, both your wife and your unborn child are mine."

No words came to Sebastian that could even begin to describe the anger and rage that welled up inside. His precious wife and unborn child… at the hands of this fiendish demon. It was unbearable.

"And who knows," the butler continued tauntingly, "perhaps after the child is born I'll ask Annabelle to give her life to me. After all, the secret of the angels is that their souls cannot be taken, but instead only freely given."

Sebastian was shocked. "B-But how… how did you know that?" he demanded.

Claude smirked triumphantly. "Lord Ridley, of course," he responded. "After all, you and Anna were the ones who killed his Greater Demon butler, were you not? Hence, as a price for the request of revenge, Lord Ridley told me what had been told by Andrew Hawkins before his untimely demise."

Words could not describe the anger and rage Sebastian felt, but he refused to give in to his emotions at this. He needed to figure out how to restore Anna's memory as soon as possible without hurting her and their child. And if having Claude's hasty elimination would be a detriment to her and their child's health then he would have no choice but to stall his revenge.

"On my life, I swear I will have you pay for what you've done," Sebastian hissed, his eyes blazing with anger.

Sebastian, return to my side.

Claude, come here.

At that time both of their masters called the two butlers back simultaneously, making Sebastian feel quite agitated with the sudden outside interruption.

"Well," Claude sighed in content as he clapped his hands, "I think that's about our finished time. His Highness is calling for me."

Sebastian dipped his head. "The Young Master is calling for me as well," he said.

Without another word, the both of them returned back to the Trancy Manor and returned to their master's sides in the dining room where they had been having tea, Anna and Hannah serving.

"Welcome back, dear," Anna greeted gently to the demon she believed to be her husband, smiling affectionately at him.

That smile simultaneously shot a metaphorical arrow through Sebastian's heart, as that gorgeous woman that was his wife had been brainwashed into believing herself to be the wife of another, much more sinister, crueller demon. Sebastian knew that Claude did not love her, and that he was doing it for the sake of two reasons: one was because he wanted to covet her angelic soul for himself; and two, he wanted to make Sebastian suffer. Under those reasons, Sebastian knew that the longer Anna remained with Claude, the more danger she and her unborn child would be in.

"Sebastian," Ciel prompted, breaking him from his reverie, "we're leaving."

He bowed. "Yes, Young Master."

Alois smiled at Ciel. "Well, it's been a pleasure, Ciel," he said. "Please do come again anytime."

He stood up with a fake smile. "Well then, till next time."

"Anna will walk you two out," Alois offered, nodding to the maid.

She bowed. "Of course," she said. "Please, come this way."

They both followed her towards the entrance, and with Ciel's nod of permission, Sebastian strode past the earl to speak with Anna.

"May I ask you a few questions, Annabelle?" Sebastian asked.

She nodded.

"How long have you been living in the Trancy Manor?" he queried.

"About a year and a half, I'd say?" Anna responded.

As I thought, Sebastian mused silently to himself, her memories have altered from the day she had come to the Phantomhive Manor. Claude has thought through this extremely well…

"Do you remember a butler known as Andrew Hawkins?" he asked.

She blinked in confusion. "Who?"

Sebastian responded with an impregnable smile, none of it which reflected his true, raging emotions welling up within him. "Oh, no one important."

Anna shrugged lightly, and soon they reached the entrance where the carriage had been brought around for Ciel. As the pair entered it, Anna curtseyed deeply.

"On behalf of my master, I hope you enjoyed your visit to the Trancy Manor, Earl Phantomhive," she bid formally. "We welcome you to come as our guests anytime. I bid you farewell."

With that, they rode back to the Phantomhive Manor in bitter silence, forcibly and begrudgingly leaving behind their beloved angelic maid in the middle of enemy territory. For all they knew, this new Annabelle Faustus herself could have become their enemy as well.

The Annabelle they had known and loved was gone.

OAO NOOOO! Of course Sebastian ain't gonna take this easy. It'll be interesting to see how Ciel responds to the new information regarding Anna's brainwashing next chapter. Sorry about the length of this chapter though, I know it's quite short. ^^"

Dunno when the next chapter will be up though. Uni started again, and I wanna be at least a LITTLE more dedicated to school, hence, slower updates. TT_TT sorry guys. I'll do my best though. Luckily fanfiction writing is still my "break" from schoolwork. Hahaha.

And I want to take a moment to thank all of my fantastic and loyal supporters of this fanfic (and frankly, this "fanfiction series"). If it wasn't for you guys and your wonderful comments I don't think a second story would have ever been made. Give yourselves a pat on the back! I really appreciate all of your support and hope you will continue to support my works in the future. ^^ Thank you!

OH, and another thing: I have a confession to make: due to several requests in the last story to be a little more... descriptive, during Sebastian and Anna's passion-filled nights, I kinda wrote a lemon oneshot that's technically a filler taking place in this story (ya know the part where Sebastian helped Anna "forget" her troubles? ...yeah, that.). Umm... do you want me to post it up as just a one-shot lemon? Atm it's just sitting on my computer... collecting virtual dust.

PLEASE REVIEW!