The trio was very anxious to return to the Trancy manor again, but they had no choice. Ciel needed to investigate Alois Trancy as much as he could if he wanted to get his revenge on him for what he might have done to him and his parents, or at least, that's what he was led to believe. They set up a story that the two houses were both viewed favorably by the Queen to deal with underworld crimes, but Alois wanted to monopolize all the power, so he spread a rumor that the Phantomhives were possessed by a demon and he soon "purged them". After all this, he and his butler destroyed all the evidence regarding their death. Only the two devilish butlers and equally devilish Grim Reaper knew the truth, but could not say anything for the sake of the contract binding them. As the mediator between both parties, she had to make sure that both demons kept their end of the bargain, but of course, she had some bias toward Sebastian, but had to keep things fair.

The carriage finally arrived at the Trancy manor. They received a letter a yesterday, presumably from Alois and Claude, apologizing for what happened at the previous ball and they would like to host another in their honor. Obviously, it was a trap, but if Ciel wanted to get his revenge, he had to abide. They exited the carriage and they were greeted by a smiling Alois, who said, "Ah, Ciel! You came!"

"It was very good of you to come, my lord," Claude said with a bow.

"Come right this way! I'm holding a special ball for you today," Alois said as he guided his guests into his mansion. It was clear that this was a trap and they didn't seem to try to hide it that much, but they still had to play along. That's all they could do for now. Soon, they led them out to a life-size chess board with many unusual statues either surrounding it or on it. They all looked in confusion, wondering what the hell was going on inside that little blonde maniac's mind.

"What is this," Ciel asked.

"It's one of the dueling areas of old," Sebastian explained.

"I say, Ciel, why don't we have our servants dance in place? Whoever can dance the longest wins. The loser will have to follow the victor's orders. What do you think," Alois asked in a playful tone and sinister smile.

"It appears that they prepared a death match as well," Lilliana said under her breath.

"That sounds like just our sort of ball. Much better than dressing ourselves up in false costumes," Ciel said with a calculating smile, making both Sebastian and Lilliana smirk. He took off his eye patch and said, "Sebastian, Lilliana, this is an order: win and bring Alois Trancy to stand before me! I'll kill him with my own hands."

"Yes, my lord," they said in unison and with a bow, although Sebastian took it a step further by having one knee on the ground as he bowed.

"Your orders, Master," Claude said, waiting to be taken off the leash for just this bit.

"Hmm? Ah, yes. Make Ciel Phantomhive mine and give Sebastian Michaelis and Lilliana exquisite agony. She deserves to be in agonizing pain in any way you decide. I'm sure you can do it, can't you, Claude," Alois ordered.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Soon, all the servants took their place; the twins had their own weapons along with Hannah, who looked as if she regretted doing this. Lilliana readied her Death Scythe while Sebastian smirked as he got his silverware ready for the dance. However, before they could fight, they were interrupted by a certain blonde nobleman who had the worst habit of popping out of nowhere. "Fantastic! This is the ancient dueling arena where legendary heroes crossed swords. And this is to be this evening's ball? I have never felt so honored to receive a dance invitation." Viscount Druitt said with his usual over flamboyancy.

"Um, Sir, might we ask what brings you here today," Claude asked in utter confusion. It was suppose to be a death match for the two opposing houses. What was this idiot doing here uninvited, especially with an unusual blue lobster hat?

"But of course! I am ever honored to be invited to this costume ball. I am Aleister Chambers, the Viscount Druitt and today, I am accompanied by this lovely lady. . . . Where did my beautiful blue swan go," he said as he looked around for his "special" lady

"I'm here, don't worry," the woman said as she approached the group, but all the demons and Lilliana instantly recognized the woman.

"No, it fucking can't be," Lilliana said under her breath. However, their eyes were not deceiving them. The woman had blue hair that was curled at the ends and reached her lower back, a slim boy, but with enough curve to attract any man. Her nails were black, but she wore fingerless gloves that would be able to hide the devil marking on her left hand. She wore a simple slim black dress and wore heels that seemed to be too high for anyone to be comfortable in. Her makeup was dark, especially with her dark red lipstick that could seduce a man or woman into doing anything and finally, he piercing blue eyes that couldn't be mistaken for anyone else. "Lucille!"

"I met this beautiful sapphire swan at one of my balls and thought of taking her to this ball as my special guest. How can someone deny this exquisite beauty?"

"Oh, Viscount, you flatter me," she said flirtatiously, fully aware of the glares she was getting. In fact, as she looks at them, she giggled.

"I'm afraid the costume ball ended last week. Today's ball is a private one for the Earl Phantomhive alone," Claude explained calmly, but the reaction was not as calm.

He gasped. "Great Scott! What a terrible mistake! How could I have mixed up the dates?! I suppose society really does look down on those with a criminal record. However, how can I miss a ball so charged with allure and danger? I, Druitt, serve the goddess of beauty and I insist we observe this for my own edification!"

Viscount Druitt and Lucille headed up to the viewing area to watch the duel below along with the young earls, but as Lucille passed by the demons and Lilliana, she separated herself for a bit to say with a red-eyed wink, "You thought you could have a duel to the death without having someone like me watching. You need to determine a winner."

Once the couple took their seat, the death match was ready to begin. The first to attack were the triplets with their various weapons: a dagger, an axe, and a crossbow. They all aimed toward Sebastian, but he single-handedly defended himself, even managing to split all three weapons in half. In a hurry, they gathered similar looking weapons and started a three-man attack on Lilliana. She blocked their advances with her Death Scythe and she was smirking as they kept fruitlessly trying to hit her. "You have just the rapport I should have expected from identical faces." They looked at with her angry demon eyes as they started to combine their weapons to make one long spear that all three of them could hold. They threw it toward her, but she not only dodged it, but let go of her Death Scythe to twirl the entire spear single-handedly. The triplets looked in shock and she suddenly threw it toward them, piercing their skulls like a shish kabob. "Now you three can get along even better."

Everyone in the viewing area either cheered or looked in amazement by the scene that played out. "That beautiful woman displayed such exquisite dangerous talents," Viscount Druitt said in amazement.

Lucille chuckled. "She is quite a unique servant, isn't she?"

Soon, Hannah began to attack next and threw large knives toward Sebastian. He was able to avoid harm, but one of them damaged his tailcoat. "Oh, now I'll have to mend this."

"No need. You'll be full of holes soon," she said as she pulled out two handguns and started shooting him. However, instead of being completely focused on the battle, Sebastian started to sew his tailcoat, all while avoiding Hannah's bullets.

"That cocky motherfucker," Lilliana said as she tried to distract Hannah by attacking her, which only worked for so long before she pulled out a heavy-duty machine gun and started to shoot her with it. "Shit," she said as she nearly dodged the line of fire.

"I shall repay you for every bullet," Sebastian said as he hid behind one of the statues and readied his silverware. Soon, he jumped into the air and Hannah tried to hit him, but none of them landed on him. Instead, he threw down a rain of silverware and it was aiming towards her. She thought they were going to hit her, but instead, they only ripped her dress and pinned her down to the ground, none of them harming her. However, as he landed, he got his silverware out, ready to kill her, scaring her, and surprisingly, Lilliana. Grant it, she was about to kill her a minute ago, but she did feel bad Hannah since she was, unfortunately, Alois's punching bag. However, as he threw them to her, the attack was blocked when a giant statue blocked the way. They all looked to where it came from and saw that Claude had kicked it their way.

"That will do. It's teatime," Claude said with a stone face.

"Goodness, is it that late already," Sebastian asked with a smirk.

"I must prepare my master's refreshments. We'll suspend the match temporarily."

"In that case, might I make use of your kitchen as well?" Without getting an answer, the demons started walking off the arena, confusing Lilliana.

"A-Are you serious?" She didn't get a response and was about to follow Sebastian, but she noticed that Hannah was still pinned to the ground. She sighed, but went to help get the silverware off of her without tearing too many holes on her dress. "Sebastian's is going to need these." Although she said that, Hannah knew why she was doing this and smiled.

Both demon butlers worked on their own pastries that would be served to their young masters and guests while the others either recovered or, in Lilliana's case, made sure no one did anything stupid while they were on a temporary truce. They set up two little kitchens outside so that the two butlers could work, but so that they could also display their talents in front of the viewers. As Claude worked, he kept looking at Ciel and kept thinking to himself why a demon would work this hard to get one soul. It must be very tasty if-

"Oh, do excuse me," Sebastian insincerely apologized as he "accidentally" flung dough at Claude's face. "The way you looked at my young master concerned me. The way you seemed to be assessing his soul's flavor." In anger, Claude "accidentally" flung dough at him, but he dodged it and instead hit Lilliana. However, instead of noticing his error, both demons continued to throw dough at each other, clearly not accidentally at this point.

"They're acting like fucking children," she said as she wiped the dough off her face and dodged any more heading her way. "Fuck this; I'll get the table ready."

"I won't allow you to lay a finger on his soul or give him any lip," Sebastian said.

Soon, both butlers prepared their desserts as Lilliana and Hannah finished setting the table for everyone. The earls and guest took their respected seats and soon, the butlers showed off their treats. "Today's tea features puits d'amour crème pâtissiere and raspberry jam in a pastry made of pie dough, accompanying Mariage Frères Eros tea," Claude said as he gave his young earl and guests his dish. However, one person in particular was overwhelmed by the flavors invading his mouth.

"Excellent! This puits d'amour pairs rich cream with the tartness of raspberry in a satiny ensemble one could justify call the Silk Road of flavor! I thirst for more! I travel the Taklimakan Desert of the palate! Could you be the flavor's Marco Polo," Viscount Druitt said with his usual flamboyant flair.

"Relax, it's just a dessert," Lucille said as she took another bite. She obviously wasn't impressed.

"Forêt noire: layers of chocolate sponge cake and cherry compote dressed with white cream. It accompanies a superfine Keemun tea I had sent to us from the Qing Empire's Anhui Province," Sebastian said as he placed the desert in front of his young master while Lilliana served the other two plates. Lucille smiled as she saw her favorite Grim Reaper again, but Lilliana scoffed.

"Três bien! This forêt noire . . . the rich aroma of the chocolate accentuates the aroma of the cherry! Its sweetness and mellowness are like surging waves which arrives at your feet having navigated the globe! Yes, one could justly cal this flavor's Age of Discovery! My head spins at the overwhelming deliciousness! It's the Ptolemaic model of the palate! Could you be flavor's Vasco de Gama? Oh, who could say which of the two is better? I . . . I . . . I'm just so moved! I must powder my nose!"

"Honestly, I don't know who is worse: him or Grell. If the two of them ever met . . . oh god no," Lilliana said under her breath.

"I have to admit that the deserts are divine, almost as if these were doused in sin," Lucille said as she took the last bite of Sebastian's dessert and winked.

Once the three viewers took their seats at the viewing area and the death match was ready to resume. Two against two; two demon butlers and two maids. Lilliana looked up to Lucille and could see her sadistically smiling as she watched the battle commence. "Shall we dance," Sebastian asked.

"Very well then," Claude said as he pulled Hannah close to him and pulled off his glove with his teeth. She seemed to be in distress about what was going to happen, but she seemed to consent to whatever pain that would come to her. As his hand got closer to her mouth, she opened it and he slid his fingers in. Then his hand. Then his whole arm. She grunted in agony as his arm went deeper and deeper down her throat and Lilliana tried her absolute best not to vomit from the sight.

"That's just . . . ," she said before putting her hand over her mouth, but Sebastian seemed to be unaffected by the sight. However, Claude started pulling something green out of her mouth and she started to collapse to the ground the more and more the green object exited her mouth. Even the audience was disgusted by what was happening, except for Lucille, who knew exactly what the object was. As soon as the object was pulled fully out, Claude swung it so everyone could see it clearly and to remove any saliva that was on it.

"Well, goodness me. If it isn't Lævateinn, the cursed ancient sword cloaked in eternal darkness. I wound have never dreamed that you would possess such a fine article," Sebastian said with a smirk.

"I'm merely giving your invitation to dance the response it deserves. Let's begin our Danse Macabre," Claude said as he advanced his attack toward Sebastian and dodged it, but soon learned that his silverware was useless in this fight since with one strike, they split in half. Lilliana tried her best to get him to fight her since she was the only other one with a weapon by attacking him and although he did attempt to hit her a couple of times, it was clear that his target was Sebastian. Still, whenever he did strike, he had to make sure that it did not hit her. She knew all too well how much damage a demon sword can do to a deity.

However, all three of them saw that the young earls were leaving the viewing area and started to head for the mansion, making Sebastian chuckle. "Well now. I don't think much of you passing off the dance to your butler and then leaving, young master. I think even less of you letting your eyes wander during our dance," he said as he continually dodged Claude's attack. Soon, the only person left to watch the fight was Lucille, who had her red eyes fully in view and that same grin on her face.

Lilliana's eyes grew red with anger as she threw the knifes that she kept toward Claude, but when he dodged them, they could see that they were about to hit Lucille. The two demons looked in horror, thinking they were going to hit her and make her mad. Yes, they wish to see harm to Lucille as well, but the destructive power she had when she was angry was more frightening. Luckily, she dodged them with ease and laughed. "Nice try, Lily," she yelled, making Lilliana even angrier.

"Are you out of your mind? You could have hit her," Sebastian said before he had to dodge another attack from Claude.

"That was the goal," she said before she started to help him by attacking Claude, which only helped so much.

"Are you sure being so keen on that human's soul hasn't dulled your demon instincts," Claude asked. Before they could figure out what he meant, they finally saw the spider web wires that had surrounded them, one of them cutting Sebastian's cheek and another slicing Lilliana's hand as she tried to move her Death Scythe, but couldn't.

"When did that happen," Lilliana asked, trying to stay in place, but being so tempted to deal with the pain and cut through the wires with her Death Scythe.

"The house of Trancy's spider threads can cut through steel. If you two move, you'll lose your head." He started swinging randomly at the two, watching them accidentally cut themselves with the wires as they tried to dodge. Lilliana's demon instincts were starting to take over, but she had to control them if she wanted to not harm herself too much, but the cuts on her were a lot deeper than Sebastian's. He was getting worried about her more than himself since he too knew what would happen if she lost control.

However, Claude was ready to deliver the killing strike toward Sebastian, but both demons heard the sound of clashing swords in the distance. "Young master," Sebastian said. Both earls were in danger of hurting themselves and they both knew it. Claude loosened the spider wires around them and they were free to move. He also threw the sword toward Hannah, who was still recovering from the sword-pulling trauma, and all three headed inside the manor.

They ran inside, hoping to stop the fight, but when they opened the door to the room, they were too late; Ciel had stabbed Alois in the side with a sword. Ciel pulled it out so the wound could bleed heavily and Alois fell to the ground in agony. Even Lilliana, who had blood red eyes entering the room, but were now green, had to cover her mouth in shock. He may be a brat . . . but they did have something in common. "It hurts! Help me, Claude!"

"Yes, Your High-"

"Sebastian, stand back! Stay back until I've killed him," Ciel ordered. Even Claude was surprise by the ferocity of his soul, but Sebastian smiled.

"Very good, my lord," Sebastian said with a bow.

"Die, Alois Trancy," Ciel said as he aimed the sword toward him.

"No; I don't want to die! It hurts . . . Spare me, Ciel," he begged as he tried to crawl toward him.

"You're a disgrace, Alois, begging after you killed my parents!"

"You don't understand anything! You're just being tricked by a demon! My parents were killed too, you know. My dear family was burned to death along with the whole village. Someone stole what was dear to me! You and I are the same. I won't pester you anymore. I'll apologize for everything! So . . . So . . . Please spare my life," he begged.

Ciel chuckled before saying, "Atone for the crime of sullying my pride with your life." He aimed his sword to kill Alois and started to swing down.

"Claude, help me," Alois begged. Luckily, Claude was able to hold back Ciel just in time so that he could not harm him anymore.

"Let me go, you bastard," Ciel yelled as he tried to get out of his grip and finish killing Alois, even slapping Claude with his bloody hand. Lilliana snatched Ciel out of his grip and held on to him tight, making sure that Claude wouldn't try to steal him back. Sebastian followed behind her and soon took the young lord out of her hands, which he could see were still injured by the wire earlier. Claude noticed the blood on his cheek and decided to have a little taste of the soul that was so obsessively pursued by a demon. He licked the blood and he instantly was entranced by the taste. His soul . . . so divinely seasoned and perfect.

"Given the circumstances, I can't allow this dance to continue. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we must excuse ourselves for today," Sebastian said.

"Qu-Quite. We'll save the rest of our ball for another day," Claude said, getting out of his trance.

"Let's be on our way, young master. First you run off on our your own, then you get yourself hurt. . . We're at our wit's end with you," Lilliana commented with a smile. "Do you really hate dancing that much?"

"Put me down, Sebastian," Ciel said as he tried to get out of his arms, even repeatedly slapping him, but to no avail.

"Honestly, I don't know how you still have the energy to act up after losing all that blood," Sebastian said as the three of them left the manor.

"She looks quite lovely," Katia said as she watched Undertaker put makeup on a dead girl. It was pretty late at night and she was cleaning the shop while he worked on beautifying the corpses for their funerals, but he had the gift to make their dead flesh look lively for a short amount of time.

"She does, doesn't she. It's almost as if she was brought back to life. . . . I wonder what she would be like . . . if she was given a second chance at life," he said, at first clearly, then mumbled.

"Hmm?"

"Oh, sorry. Just rambling to myself," he said as he kept putting makeup and embalming fluid on the corpse. "So, you will be out of rehabilitation in about a week, huh?"

"Y-Yeah," she said. "I can't believe I would have been here for over a year," she said with a slightly shocked tone. "So much has happened."

"Indeed. If only you followed the rules like a good little Reaper, you would have gone home earlier than expected, but . . . "

"I had to make a deal with my target . . . all because he was the brother of the woman I . . . love. I don't care what those idiots say: love is an emotion that a Grim Reaper can feel," Katia said.

"As a Rogue Reaper, I have to agree with you. After all, Lilliana and I are wired differently than those so-called 'normal' Reapers."

"I still don't understand how you are a Rogue Reaper. Other than your retirement, you don't act that much different than the others."

He laughed as he said, "In the London Sect, in order to be called a Rogue Reaper, you must have had a connection to demons that is not looked favorably in the Reaper Association. I am actually quite good friends with Lucifer and he raised our dear Lilliana to act like a demon and even devour souls. I would think like a Reaper like you would understand that."

Her eyes widened with surprise. "W-What?"

"You honestly didn't think I figured it out? If you were any other recruit, I wouldn't have thought twice about it, but you were different, just like Lilliana. You're a Rogue Reaper too, right?"

Katia was shocked, but nodded. "Y-Yes."

"Care to explain how you got that label?"

She was quiet, but said, "Well, I too was mentored by a demon, but he didn't try to convert me. Instead, he gave me this katana, telling me that I could gather the strength from any creature I slain with it, but not too long, he killed and was killed by a demon hunter. Despite my emotional state, they figured that since I was a 'Special' Reaper, I could fulfill his role. They even managed to modify the katana into a Death Scythe so I could collect souls with it."

"And does anyone know of your little secret?"

"William knows, but that's it."

"I'm surprised you haven't told Lily. I'm sure that she would be very interested in another Rogue Reaper."

She sighed, but said, "I didn't want to get her hopes up. If she was like me, she would want to make a connection with a fellow Rogue Reaper and cling to them, but I wouldn't be able to stay for that long and besides, my target was her brother . . . and I still feel bad that he's dead."

"Well, he's not really-"

"I know, but she seemed so distraught by his death. Poor girl . . . she must miss him dearly."

"Yeah, she does, but she has master butler to deal with that," he said, almost unaware of her saddened expression. "I-I didn't mean it like that."

"No, it's fine. You're right, she does have him. That's why I am still hesitant to tell her. I don't want to get in their way."

"But she does still care about you, dearie. Otherwise, she wouldn't have done so much for you."

"I guess, but still . . ."

"She cares about you enough to visit you as many times as she could while you were in the rehabilitation center."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

After a moment of silence, Undertaker clapped his hands and said, "Well, that's enough dilly-dallying. We should get back to work."

Will Alois survive the stabbing? What is Lucille's fascination with this scenario? How will Katia's secret role play out in the future? Reviews are appreciated