I'm sorry updates are a bit slower from this point forward. I'm starting school and since it's college and I'm paying for classes I will be spending most of my time doing that. So hopefully the updates won't take too long. Also, I know that Grell says he's a female but because this IS the late 1800's I am going to be keeping his gender as a male only because society back then wasn't so accepting for non binary and trans and all that good jazz. So please don't be offended.
Chapter 40:
There were lots of walking corpses as Sebastian and I ran to where the young master was. Because Sebastian had the contract with the young boy it was easier for him to find the exact location.
Worry was gnawing at my insides for the two children and my best friend. From the direction of the halls and which way we were going, I could tell they were somewhere at the lower levels of the ship, which meant that they were possibly on the verge of drowning.
Catching up with us was the sound of hooves. I felt hands on my waist and was moved out of the way. I landed against a familiar chest and breathed heavily as I noticed the corpse that was controlling a carriage with horses. My eyebrows furrowed at the strange sight.
"We must go down the stairs..."
"Yeah," I breathed out.
Sebastian let go of me and we headed down their stairs, Sebastian still in front of me.
We continued running without any further disturbances. I followed Sebastian into a room just a few steps away from the stairs and walked in. The room seemed relatively bloodless, as if there was no one in here the entire night.
A sound reverberated throughout the room. I looked around and noticed the vent attached to the ceiling was shaking slightly, a small gloved hand trying to push it open.
Sebastian quickly went under it just as the young master fell out. Sebastian smirked as the young master flailed in Sebastian's arms.
"Sebastian!"
Lady Elizabeth's head popped out of the vent a sweet smile on her face. I looked up and smiled only for it to disappear upon noticing the disappearance of my friend.
"Lady Elizabeth, where is Snake?"
"He told us to save ourselves. He's still in one of the boiler rooms," the young master answered for her.
I looked at him, eyes wide.
Sebastian grabbed Lady Elizabeth as I stared at the blue haired boy in front of me.
"Young master we have to help Snake!"
"He will be fine on his own. I trust he will find a way back to us."
"Young master please!" I begged
The Earl opened his mouth to reply only for the sound of a machine roaring erupted behind Sebastian and I.
In the blink of an eye Sebastian turned around, a long blade in between his hands.
Another maiming instrument almost slammed itself on my head until I grabbed the mower on the sides so my hands wouldn't get shredded between the blades. Sebastian and I pushed the two death instruments away, both landing heavily on the wooden floor creating a small hole.
The red haired man stood up form his crouched position, a maniacal smile plastered on his face.
"Found you, hottie!" he said.
"Grell Sutcliff!" Ciel exclaimed.
"Wait," I said, causing all eyes to turned to me, "you're the one that Suit was always complaining about."
"Who?" the red head questioned.
"Suit. I think his name was Wenan? No. Wilbur? No... William... Yes, it was William."
"Oh~ That hunk of a man~ I knew he talked about me when we aren't together! Our love is just too strong!"
"I don't think-"
"What are you doing here, Grell?" Ciel demanded.
"It seems that fate wants Sebby and I together, what else!?"
"It is just a coincidence," Sebastian states with disgust lacing his words.
"AH~ So cold! That side of you is as lovely as always."
"Oh great, he found him... Please don't forget about the souls," Ronald begged.
"I'd appreciate it you stopped attempting to flirt with my mate."
Grell's face turned from playful to spite within a matter of seconds.
"No hussy shall take Sebby from me!"
"Are you sure you're not speaking of yourself, sir."
"You little-"
The others began running out of the room. Sebastian grabbed my hand while Grell was distracted by the blonde reaper.
I ducked as I heard the chains saw swing above my head. I shoved Sebastian's and off my arm and grabbed Lady Elizabeth while he grabbed the young master. Their safety was our first priority.
"Letting that whore talk to me in that way was really low Sebas-chan! How mean!"
"Please refrain from calling my mate such names. But, if you could be so kind, we are in a bit of a hurry, so could you please open the way?"
"And if I say no?" he challenged.
"Then I will have no other choice but to force you," Sebastian stated menacingly. It caused shivers to run down my spine.
The air got slightly colder as the two other world beings faced off with each other.
"I wouldn't mind if you got a little aggressive~ Let's have a match to the death that's even hotter than a love romance!"
"Who is that!?" Lady Elizabeth exclaimed.
"He's just an imbecile, Lady Elizabeth. His stupidity is highly contagious, so please stay away from him," I responded.
Grell sped forward towards Sebastian, his chain saw burring as he got closer to Sebastian.
"That is just rude! I'm just honest about my feelings!"
Grell swung his saw at Sebastian only for him to dodge it. I stood by the two children, protecting them from lunatic that was a reaper. But I also kept my eyes on the other reaper as well. While Sebastian was busy dealing with the red head, the blonde was using his mower as an arm rest. The blonde watched the two as if it was a performance worth his while.
"Stay behind me, young master."
Nothing was said as the two listened to my slight plea.
I looked back over to Sebastian and Grell just as water spurted in through the window. The chain saw was ebbed slightly in the metal part, causing a decent sized hole to appear.
The water gushed on us, the freezing temperature causing us all to gasp in shock.
"Young master!" Sebastian yelled.
I grabbed the nobles and held them away as Ronald attacked Sebastian. I knew I had to do something, but protecting the kids was more important than me.
The water pressure was too much for me to stand. It pushed us through the doors, causing my back to land on the wall in hallway and Ciel to flatten against me and Elizabeth to fall a few feet away from us
I groaned in pain. The wall directly hit my spine causing the pain to spread throughout my back and my eyes to lose focus. I couldn't see as everything became blurry. I heard the walking corpses to my right and knew that Elizabeth was in danger.
I huffed as I tried getting up, only for the pain in my spine to keep me tethered to the ground.
"Elizabeth!" I heard Ciel yell in fear.
He tried getting up only to hiss in pain. "My leg!"
It only took me a moment to realize that somehow my left leg managed to trap Ciel's right leg.
"I'm sorry young master..." I mumbled in pain.
I tried blinking to get my vision back to normal but it was only making things more blurry. The black spots were fading slowly, making way for more blurry objects.
"Celesta help her! Lizzy get up!"
"I wanted you to think of me as cute until the very end..." I heard those sad words as she quietly cried.
I turned myself over onto my hands as I heard Ciel scream for Lizzy. My back still hurt but I couldn't let Elizabeth die because of my mistake. I couldn't inadvertently kill another child.
I held myself on the wall, my vision finally returning to normal. I stopped noticing the monsters heads bleed through on by one. I watched as she stabbed each one with tears in her eyes.
She stabbed two more that were behind the young master. She cried telling him that she didn't want him to see her as anything other than cute.
I stepped over to her as she prepared herself to fight the hoard of corpses and placed my hand on her shoulder.
"Lady Elizabeth, let me take care of them. You have done enough for the young master." I smiled at her and walked away.
"Lady Elizabeth, stay by the Earl please."
I faced the creatures and finished them off just as I had in the storage of the ship. Just as I finished Ciel yelled towards Sebastian.
"Sebastian, wait! We have no time for this! Ryan hold the key to everything in this case! We have to follow him now!"
All men stopped. I hurried over to Sebastian and stood beside him, watching the blonde reaper look through his strange book.
"Wait a second... you're saying that if we put the screws on that guy, we can learn about these walking corpses!"
"Sir, look."
Grell looked over at Ronald, an irritated look in his eyes.
"It seems we don't have time..." He looked over at Sebastian, ignoring my presence behind him. "It's too bad but we have to leave it the way it is, Sebby! I will earn you love back from that hussy! Bye!"
We turned over to the Earl who was still on the ground, his right foot still laid out in front of him.
"We should hurry-ah."
"I'm sorry, young master. I should have protected you better," I said.
"It's only a little swollen..."
I lifted Ciel to his feet, or foot, and held his arm as he used me for balance.
"Ciel, I'll carry you!" Elizabeth exclaimed.
Sebastian and Ciel raised their eyebrows in shock, Ciel more so in embarrassment.
"Lady Elizabeth, I can take care of that," Sebastian said.
"Oh- I- That's right! I-" she began, only to break out in tears. The three of us looked at her, slightly uncomfortable with the sudden burst of tears.
"I'M TOO SCARY FOR CIEL! CIEL HATES ME!"
"What!? What do you mean!?"
"You said you didn't want a strong wife!"
A sweat drop appeared on the master's forehead as he tried calming his fiancé.
"That was in the past! I should be the on apologizing."
"Will you still take me as your wife? You won't hate me?" she begged, eyes still holding a little bit of tears.
"I could never..."
Ciel's face got darker as he spoke. Sebastian and I eyed the two children before us. Sebastian covered his mouth attempting, very poorly, to hold his laughter while I smiled softly and chuckled at the display. If anything, it was adorable seeing them adore each other the way they did.
"We don't have time for this! We have to go upstairs!" Ciel blurted, embarrassment still on his face.
"That was really cute, young master," I said.
"Shut up..."
"Let's go, young master."
Sebastian lifted Ciel in his arms. I looked over to Elizabeth and noticed her looking in a different direction. I looked up and noticed the one person that I was worrying about before the two reapers came.
"Bird! Smile!"
"Snake!" I exclaimed out of relief. "Are you alright?"
"Where's Ryan?" Ciel asked.
"'I'm sorry. He managed to get away,' says Oscar."
"I see. In any case, let's meet up with the Marquis for the time being."
"Yes."
Without a moment of hesitation we left for the area where the lifeboats were being held. Sebastian ran with Ciel in his arms. Elizabeth followed behind him and Snake and I behind Elizabeth for extra protection. The snakes were all hanging around Snake while some jumped on my shoulder for extra room.
There were no corpses in our way, seeing how most of them in this area were already dead.
The cold night air hit me in the face as I exited the inside of the ship and stepped foot on the top deck. I felt my nose turn red and my body shiver as the water from below made the coldness worse.
After spotting the Marquis, Elizabeth ran past Sebastian and Ciel and immediately hugged her brother. He, too, was relieved to find his sister safe.
"Lizzy! I'm glad you're okay! It must have been hard..."
Sebastian placed Ciel down on the ground, his right foot barely grazing the ground as he stood. He held onto Sebastian's arm for balance.
"I'm sorry I've been completely useless," he said.
"I'll say," Edward spit back. "Well, whatever. I'll save the lecture for later. Now get into the boats you two."
"Edward, I have a favor to ask you. Let him and Celesta on in my place."
Snake and I looked at the young master in complete shock.
"I can't get on the boat just yet."
The young Earl stood, unwavering with the gaze of the marchionesses son.
"Alright, I'll take them."
"If Ciel is staying-" Elizabeth began, only to be cut off by Sebastian knocking her out.
"Pardon me. It would take too long to get Lady Elizabeth to understand so I had to be a little rough. I'll take my punishment after."
"No. I should thank you. I wouldn't be able to that myself."
"The ship is already sinking at an alarming rate. Escape and get away from the boat as quickly as you can. I leave them all in your care."
Sebastian grabbed Ciel and carried him bridal style once more.
I looked over at Edward and Snake, a sorrowful look in my eyes.
"I'm sorry. But I won't be going with you. Please understand. I owe my young master a lot to stay by his side."
"'But it's too dangerous!' says Emily."
"I know. That's why I have to go and help them."
I placed a hand on Snake's shoulder, allowing the snakes on my shoulder to go back on his.
"I'll see you later, Snake."
I ran and followed them without waiting for a response. I knew, in my gut, that I had to stay with them, and protect them no matter what.