Nightmare Aftermath and Black Order

Allen left the dining hall to find his way down to his room to see if Ryan Stoker was still there. Good, he still is. He went to the kitchens to see zombies and dead kitchen staff. He killed them all before eating what food he could to restore his energy after spending a large chunk blasting icebergs away. He had read the story of Titanic and he sure as hell didn't want a real-life experience. He ate what food there is in the kitchens, before going down after having the bulk of his power restored, but he brought some sandwiches along. It's dinner and most likely his cute cousin hasn't had some yet...upon seeing dead bodies and walking zombies, he let loose with his powers. He turned his cowl into numerous sharp ribbons that sliced everything within his reach. 'Ohhh yes! Easy life at last!' Allen cried in a glee of thrill as he danced in slicing off heads. 'No witnesses to boot! I'm free to have fun!' laughing gleefully, he made short work of the second deck.

Someone DID witness him though, Ronald Knox who was busy reaping souls.

'What the hell wazzat?!' he gasped as the 'white thing' laughed gleefully like he was having fun. 'Hey hey, I'm definitely investigating...dammit, where's my back up?!' he was torn between following the 'white thing' and his job. Poor Shinigami...

xxx

Said back-up was at the Third Class Deck, having just as much fun as Allen.

And so...

The lower levels...Allen met up with Ciel, Sebastian, Snake and Elizabeth, fending off Zombies. 'Er what part of 'being quiet' do you guys not understand?' he sweatdropped as he reinforced them.

'We just can't afford it.' Ciel scowled irritably as Sebastian was doing the fighting. 'How are the Midfords and the Barnetts?'

'Safe on the upper decks and they're rallying survivors to get them onto lifeboats.' said Allen. 'After a night like this, who wants to stay, luxury cruise be damned?'

'I for one agree with you.' Ciel sighed. 'Where's Stoker?'

'Oh, I put him in my room bound and gagged, so he's quiet and still alive.' Allen smirked before frowning. 'Thing is, nobody's controlling the ship and I'm not even sure if we're heading for America anymore...the guys controlling the ship are all dead.'

'Rest assured we're still going straight because I didn't feel us turn.' said Sebastian. 'But for now, we need to turn the ship back or stop it in hopes for a rescue. We can send a mayday message.'

'What about the freight and back storages?'

'All covered.'

'Good. So it's almost over then.' Allen sighed in relief.

'It wasn't an easy task though.' said Sebastian with a twitch. Indeed, it wasn't when he's the only fighter surrounded by the bulk of the Corpse Corps. Allen got the easy share of the deal since there's the Midfords and his power.

'By the way...I saw this weird red-head guy with unusual eyes, wore a suit and a red coat armed with an unusual weapon...he seems friendly since he didn't fight with me.' Allen quipped.

'Unusual eyes?' Sebastian and Ciel frowned.

'Yeah. Yellow green out, green in.' Sebastian and Ciel shared dark looks. 'Uh...something wrong?'

'Nevermind!'

'That's rude!'

'Somehow...they know things we don't...says Webster.' said Snake to Elizabeth who sighed. 'We're being left out...says Keats.'

'I get what you mean..' said Elizabeth in a long-suffering voice. Ciel and Sebastian are talking about stuff and she never gets her questions answered which is kind of frustrating. The only parts she liked was when Ciel protects her. They found more survivors huddled together on top of some equipment to avoid the zombies. They rescued the survivors and had them join them and the search for survivors continues and gradually, worked their way up...and still more survivors hiding in rooms...until they got quite the amount. Much to Ciel's dismay, Viscount Druitt survived and Undertaker was ahem, talking to some corpses. Sebastian was watching the front, Allen watches the back until they got to the decks.

'Lizzy!'

'Big brother!' while Elizabeth and Edward had a tearful reunion, the adults were all about business.

'Is this everyone?' Marchioness Midford asked the Phantomhive company.

'Yes, although there are more deaths due to the panicking...but all zombies are dead.' Ciel reported. 'From bottom to top.' the Midfords looked relieved.

'For now, we better turn this ship back to Britain to properly arrest Ryan Stoker.' said Sebastian. 'We're still heading for America as we speak. We better lock up all doors for safety and security.'

'Who knows how to steer the ship?! We're heading back to Britain! We cannot go to America like this!' Marquis Midford hollered. Some surviving ship crew rose to the task...and for the time being, everyone can relax at the decks, while ignoring the cold atlantic air.

'Sebastian, go assist the ship's crew just incase.' said Allen. 'If we go back on the straight path again, we'll hit the iceberg the ship barely passed through. We were lucky but I'd rather not go through a close shave again.'

'Right...'

'Iceberg?' Ciel frowned in a whisper as Allen nodded. Ciel then looked thoughtful as he thought about what he knew and sighed. 'We're in the Atlantic so I suppose...we really are lucky.'

By morning...everyone regardless of social class slept on the upper decks even if there's no bed at all. Clean-ups were made and the corpses of the zombies and eaten people were stored in the storage room as evidence to the yard. The Midfords and Sebastian protected the ship's crew while Allen stayed to watch over the survivors. Thing is...nobody can cook breakfast. The chefs are all dead, so Sebastian took to task of making a lot of warm coffee, tea, and curry in generous, deep bowls. He also took care of lunch.

He was one overworked demon. 'Whew...all done, I'd say.' he swore. He at least, earned his reward somehow. He snuck in for a few souls when they were moving corpses to the storage room. While he swore he left off the habit of messily sampling dishes, this trouble was worth it.

xxx

The Rooms...everyone took well-deserved baths upon making double-sure it's safe enough to. Back in Allen's room...

'Yo,' said Allen as he freed Stoker. 'I'm freeing you temporarily to escort you to your room so you can take a shower and change clothes, then after that, have a meal. Be lucky because I'm much nicer than the Queen's Dog who really WILL kill you.' Ryan meeped at this.

'W-what about the bodies?' he choked out.

'All dead~double-dead.' Allen whistled. 'For all the trouble you caused, you're having quite the much-awaited chat with her majesty...if she wishes to see you so pray to whatever religion you're in that you won't have to deal with her. She's not-so-nice either to idiots like you. Now then, who are members of Osiris? Care to talk? Osiris cannot be a company name so it's not their true identity. It's a fake identity because their purchase of moving corpses cannot be known after all. Descriptions please.'

'W-well, they were dressed like scientists for one thing, along with a guy who really looks german. Middle-aged, shifty-narrow eyes with a toothbrush moustache.' said Ryan. 'He's the only one dressed like a military officer and they have a symbol.'

'A symbol?'

'Yeah...' Ryan stood up and went for his luggage, by a small pocket to take out a rather awkward drawing that Allen looked at when he took it. 'Here, excuse my lack of drawing skills but that's what I can do. And they feel kinda familiar too but I couldn't place where...'

'I see. Now go get a shower and get changed. I'm supposed to take you out for meals before keeping you under House Arrest again. And prepare to meet some irate society members because your 'complete salvation' medicine gave all of us quite the horror show.'

Ryan sighed.

'Can I eat here instead?' he whimpered pleadingly. The nobles from Aurora Society spent quite a lot of money on his organization and they got what they definitely did not expect...

xxx

On top of the ship...

'Mmmm...that chef down there is good-looking too, too bad he's not a bad boy~' Grell pouted as the two shinigami were enjoying lunch.

'Ahem, we have a lot to report you know.' said Ronald. 'The people on our list who are supposed to die lessened considerably.' he said. 'About 55 percent of our list survived the night, so we might wanna take it up with our superiors. And also, five souls are missing, most likely eaten by a demon suspected to be here.'

'But what of the rumored demon? We never encountered him.' said Grell.

'That's their problem, not ours! We're not given descriptions of the demon in question you know!' Ronald griped.

'And what about that cute boy I met on the docks that used powerful holy energy to blast off half the iceberg away?' Grell inquired.

'Er I didn't know that.' said Ronald. 'But I met a guy with stark-white hair, silver mask and a multi-tasking special fur-lined coat that sliced off the whole room I was in. He also used holy energy. Maybe they're the same guy?'

'Just what's going on here...oh well, at least we didn't have to deal with all 1034 souls...we only dealt with 414 souls and we never DID figure out the reason for the corpses moving or where the demon is...we're in for some scolding.' said Grell with a tired sigh. 'At least we should talk to that cute boy I met? We need his cooperation for our reports you know. He's with the people down there.'

'Right...'

xxx

After locking Ryan in his cabin with makeshift ankle shackle-and-chain chained to his bedpost with the chain long enough for the bathroom, Allen left him there to check on his relatives who wanted a good long talk with him because they never knew he was so good at fighting despite his health(they believed he's still sick because he threw up and really looked ill but he knew the trick how). He explained that he trained so he wouldn't be kidnapped for ransom or something THAT easily by taking advantage of his frailty. Training was difficult but given what happened today, it was worth it. For now, he spent time with his relatives until they docked-which is why Grell and Ronald couldn't approach him yet. Upon docking, everyone was forbidden by the Yard who was there to greet them. They wanted testimonies from the survivors...THEN they can go home.

Because Randall got mail from Sebastian using a seagull and with his power, sent it to the Yard with Ciel's letter regarding what happened on the Campania. The trip to America is cancelled and everybody just wanted to go home. The last to leave were the Midfords, the Barnetts and the Phantomhive Company who had Ryan Stoker and the Aurora Society...who survived at least, Viscount Druitt included. The Yard saw the corpses in the storage room and the stench was so much, but they separated the 'test subjects' from the 'victims'. Word of this reached the Queen courtesy of Ciel.

It was quite a long affair...and the Campania Incident was another reason that got the Queen furious for the second time. When Ryan squealed enough, she made a surprising decree.

The Black Order organization is no longer welcome in Britain starting today!

'Um...what's this Black Order?' Ciel asked Count Gray.

'Well, you work for the Underground so you wouldn't know.' said Count Gray. 'The Black Order is a religious organization that works to defeat a being called the Millennium Earl and his sorcery-made monster machines he calls 'demons'. Several hundred years before the main story, an artifact known as 'The Cube' was found by mankind. Inside were details, left behind by an ancient civilization, of a seven thousand year old war against the Millennium Earl. The Cube told of how the Earl was held at bay, and how future generations would be able to fight against the Earl when he returned to attempt to destroy the world again.'

'When the Earl returned as the Cube said he would, a group known as the New World Alliance founded the Black Order and charged it with recovering the shards of Innocence to equip them to new Accommodators. Our British Royalty is also a member of this New World Alliance when they founded the Black Order a century ago. The Order has four primary objectives:' said Count Gray as he started raising a finger from his left hand per objective. 'Collect the shards of the Cube known as Innocence, find accomodators who can use a piece and turn the piece into a weapon for its accomodator who becomes an Exorcist, locating the Heart of Innocence, the source of power and the strongest Innocence shard, and then raise an Exorcist Army to defeat the Earl and his followers, the Noah Clan.'

'The Noah Clan are a special breed of humans that can be identified by their gray skin, golden eyes and seven black crosses on their foreheads.' Master Phipps continued. 'In contrast to Exorcists who use Innocence, they use Dark Matter as a source of their powers. Dark Matter is poisonous to us humans. A mere scratch from it alone, as well as scratches from demons, we will die. It's an extremely potent poison that quickly spreads shown by black pentacle marks appearing all over your body at first, then your whole body turns purple and become dust within three seconds. There is no known cure to Dark Matter Poison. And to create these demons, the Earl takes advantage of grieving humans, and gives them an offer to bring their deceased back to life. Once the subject accepts, he is said to present a shell of dark matter skeleton before them. Once the griever calls the name of the deceased, they say the soul is forcefully pulled back from the afterlife and bound to the Dark Matter body, now a slave of the Earl. Its forced order? Kill its summoner and wear their bodies to blend into society, awaiting his orders. So you can never tell who's human and who's not.'

'The Black Order has a branch on each continent around the world.' he followed. 'The Black Order is overseen by Central, a subsection of the Vatican in Rome, Italy that exists for the specific purpose of controlling the Black Order when certain matters require that the Order get assistance from a higher source. Different branches of the Black Order are overseen by their own branch heads, and each branch head answers to Komui Lee, who is the official head liaison between Central and the Black Order. Despite there being a specific chain of command, it is not uncommon for higher ups to forgo informing certain officials of orders and operations, especially if the higher up in question feels that the official beneath them who typically handles the distribution of orders is too sympathetic.'

'If orders come directly from the Pope, entire chains of command are skipped completely, something that is not uncommon in modern-day military structures. Though the existence of Black Order isn't known by the general populace, government-run services such as train stations and local law enforcement agencies and their employees can recognize members of the Black Order by the Rose Cross they wear on their uniforms, something those who wear the cross use to get themselves free transportation and services run by the government and allows them to override law enforcement if a case is suspected to involve Innocence. However, they are unknown to the populace. Only higher-ups from each country know about them.'

'So if the whole world knows that magic exists...there will be trouble.' said Ciel grimly. 'People would want magic but at the same time...'

'Exactly. On world-wide scale especially if they get wind monsters DO exist.' said Count Gray wryly. 'Outside the streets, you can never tell who's human and who's not. You can only trust your family and friends, and watch out if there's a death in the family. To summon the Earl, he must sense immense grief from a summoner. He detects that grief and goes to them.'

'So far, no demon movements in Britain that we're thankful for because a year after the Order is founded, the Royal Family took steps to prevent families who had newly-deads from summoning the Earl by working through religion and spreading the propaganda of in paradise with God where there is no pain and suffering, only beauty, peace and plenty. We even print out children's storybooks regarding this belief so there's never reports of akuma attack on this country and it works well.' said John Brown. 'That is why our country is peaceful but we must still be wary. We suspect that he may have planted some to spy in our country because he too, is looking for Innocence to destroy them.'

'I-I see...I had no idea such a group exists...' Ciel muttered with a frown.

'Well, you asked.' said Queen Victoria. 'But for them to dabble in illegal human experimentation and desecrating the dead like this, they're no different from the Millennium Earl.' she said darkly. 'Earl Phantomhive, I will confront the Chief of Black Order Headquarters, Komui Lee. However, just to be double-sure, I wish to borrow your butler for this meeting and have him in disguise as one of my men.'

'Yes, your majesty. Sebastian is very good at sniffing out liars. He will signal if they lie.' Ciel curtsied.

'I will arrange that meeting with Komui Lee and we will keep Ryan Stoker in our custody. He knows who he met at that fake Osiris Company. They could be Order Members. Sebastian Michaelis is to come here the day before the meeting. I will have it scheduled.'

'Yes, your majesty.'

xxx

As for Allen...

He took some medicine to have the symptoms of illness to keep up with his alibi. He took on fever symptoms and then controlling his breathing to pretend he's having a hard time breathing. That was why he could skip the meeting with Queen Victoria(to Ciel's chagrin) and his relatives' worry and visitations to Madam Red's house. The longest to stay was Baroness dowager Barnett and Baron Reginald Barnett. He is just too ill he was delirious in bed as he talked to his grandmother and uncle. Madam Red also had to use her best acting skills to lay it on thick.

The best part in Allen's opinion at least, Baron Barnett is having trouble finding him a fiancee among their social class. As he feared, no girl wanted to have a frail husband who couldn't join them in on festivities. Madam Red made scathing remarks about inconsiderate, selfish girls and such brats aren't worthy of her kind and gentle son, so she asked if Allen can marry and love anyone he likes, even if they're commoners. Baron Barnett consented because well...they have no choice anyway.

When they left, Madam Red and Allen smirked.

One of their plans succeeded. As if Allen wanted to marry those spoiled rich twits anyway.