The trio looked all over the ship, hoping to find some clue as to where Dr. Stoker's stateroom was, but there wasn't much of a lead to follow. Since he was sponsored by the Aurora Society, it was likely that he would have a room in first-class, but there were plenty of rooms to check. On top of that, they had no idea how to work the device even if they found it, so they would need to find Ryan as well. There's no telling where the doctor was, but if he was intent on stopping the walking dead, he would probably head to the device immediately after being freed, or at least, locate his wife so they could get off this hell on the sea.
Luckily, their search did not last long as they ran into the least likely person to stay onboard: Viscount Druitt. "What is he doing here?" Ciel asked his servants, not caring that the person in question could hear him. He seemed undisturbed by their sudden appearance and casually turned toward them with a glass of red wine in hand.
"You look familiar. Perhaps we met before?" he said with curiosity in his voice. The trio had a moment of panic, thinking their cover was blown, but since they wore disguises earlier, he did not seem to recognize them. However, he got a closer look at Lilliana and pouted. "And what cruel creature on this earth would dare harm such a beautiful woman like you?"
She knitted her eyebrow as she calmly said, "The undead can be quite a handful if you're not careful."
"Oh you poor dear. You must have been so scared," he said as he put a hand on her shoulder, but she winced in feign pain and he immediately removed it. "My apologies. Luckily for you, I have the answer to your prayers right here," he said as he gestured his glass to a towering device that had to be carried by four men. It seemed to be a mishmash of mechanical parts that must somehow work together to power it, but to a novice like them, it was nothing less than a puzzle.
"You're telling me this thing will stop the corpses?" she asked for clarification, hoping for a straightforward answer, but she wasn't so lucky.
Druitt chuckled. "If you want the answer, you'll have to follow me. Come and you all can witness the dawning of a new age. You wouldn't want to miss something like that, right?" he said almost seductively to all three of them, making each one shiver in disgust. He started to walk away from them and led the way as the men carried the device down the hall after him.
When the trio had a bit more privacy, Sebastian asked his young master, "Shall I liberate the device from his care?"
"No, there's no point when we don't know how to use it," Ciel said as the trio had no choice, but to follow them.
"I guess we're better off waiting for him to activate—," Lilliana said, but stopped halfway in her sentence as she realized she recognized one of the men carrying the device: a man who had a lot of strength despite his elderly appearance. "U-Undertaker?"
He looked back at them as he said with an innocent grin, "Oh, hello there."
"What are you doing?" Ciel asked, just as equally shocked he was here.
"Forced labor. I was on my way to the deck when Mrs. Stoker stopped me and told me to help carry this thing."
"Why would she ask you to do something like that?" Sebastian asked with suspicion in his tone. It didn't come across to him that it was her interest to end the carnage.
"She said something about finding her husband so he could use it. She wanted to wait in their stateroom, but our dear Viscount said he knew how to work the device and now we're following his orders."
"Do you by chance know how to operate this thing?" Lilliana asked quietly, seemingly too quiet for a human to pick up, but Undertaker heard her just fine.
"What use would an undertaker have for a mysterious machine like this?" he said matter-of-factly, but she didn't believe him.
"And where is Annabeth Stoker currently?" she asked, but her question was immediately answered as double doors opened and Annabeth poked her head out.
"It's about time you guys showed up," she said with an annoyed expression on her face. "I did as you asked and made sure no one was in this room. Now, activate the device before this situation gets any worse."
"Ah ah ah~ Be patient, my dear. We need to make the right preparations," he said as he passed by her and she moved out of the way so the men and the device they were carrying could enter the room.
However, she saw the trio approach and grinned when she saw their angry expressions. "I'm glad to see you made your way back to your group, Mr. Michaelis, and it looks like you took my advice about cleaning her wounds."
"I made the rational conclusion to take heed from the person who seems to know an alarming amount of information about these corpses," he said, making his tone clear that he knew more about her than she intended.
She chuckled. "And you will learn more shortly." She held the door open for them and they walked in the banquet hall.
The men tried to carefully put the machine down, but due to the heaviness, some of them struggled. "Do have a care, gentleman," Druitt said with some arrogance in his tone. "That is worth more than all your lives together."
"Are you activating it?" Ciel asked, hoping that this man would provide a straight answer for once.
"Not just yet. The full cast hasn't been assembled," he said and almost on cue, a voice cried from the other side of the hall.
"You bastard!" Ryan yelled, grabbing everyone's attention. Though, the Phantomhive trio were not expecting the Reapers to accompany him. They must be desperate to stop this madness if they are asking a human for his help rather than trying to find the device on their own. Plus, it must not be good for his soul to have so many Reapers looming over it. "It was you who took it!"
"Ah! There you are. I've been awaiting your arrival," Druitt said as he simply walked toward the device with little care for their situation.
Hearing her husband's voice, Annabeth walked in view of him and he gasped in relief. "Annabeth! I have been looking for you everywhere! I'm ecstatic to see that you are all right," he said before running to her. Though, as he wrapped his arms around her in a hug, she seemed rather uncomfortable by his affection. "I was worried that those things had gotten to you. I can't bear the thought of losing you after all we've been through!" She could see the tears forming in his eyes, but all she could do was feign a smile.
"So that's the girl he keeps blabbering about," Grell said as he squinted in their direction. True, a Grim Reaper's eyesight is terrible, but their spectacles can really perform miracles as long as they get checked every year. "Still, I can't shake the feeling that I've seen that face before."
"I doubt you can forget someone like her," Ronald said as he leaned against the railing. "I know you have a thing for redhead girls."
"That was one time! And even then, I paid dearly for it," he said as he held onto his chainsaw tightly. Noticing the commotion from up above, Annabeth looked up and saw Katia looking straight at them, or really, at her in particular. She smiled and winked in her direction, making Katia blush uncontrollably. To her detriment, the other Reapers noticed her nervous body language and their faces lit up with realization. "Wait a minute, is that . . . is that the girl you met?"
"No wait! You got the wrong idea!" she tried to defend, but once again, her best friend was shaking her shoulders with so much force that she was afraid that he would accidentally throw her off the railing.
"Out of all the girls here, you had to pick the one that was married! I know the concept of marriage means nothing to us, but she must have felt some sort of guilt! Or did she instigate it?! You. Have. To. Tell. Me!"
"I wish I had some popcorn for this. I feel like I should have paid admission for this show," Ronald said with a teasing tone.
"Why are you taking her side?!" Katia managed to cry out.
The scene was broken up when they heard the Viscount Druitt announce, "Today is a historic day for us all! The empire the doctor has created has fallen and mine will rise in its place, stronger than any the world has seen before."
"Am I missing something?" Lilliana said with a tilted head. "I could be wrong, but I thought I heard him talk about–,"
"Yes, you heard correctly, my poor injured maiden. I shall harness the power of this great device and create a new world order! A deliciously corrupt and decadently beautiful society ruled by the immortals. Today is the day–the rise of the Aurora Empire!"
"Well, this is a lot more complicated than we bargained for," Katia said, trying to cut through the confusion in the air. Though, she noticed Grell holding up his chainsaw, as if he was about to attack.
"Let's see how this fellow looks bathed in red, shall we?" he threatened, though his colleagues moved quickly to prevent him from jumping down.
"Take care, now," Druitt teased as he spilled a couple drops of his wine onto the machine. "If I'm startled, I might accidentally spill."
"That's not fair!" he yelled with frustration as Ronald and Katia tried their best to keep him back. He has had problems in the past letting his emotions guide his actions rather than logic and they could not afford to be careless right now.
"This is power in its truest form! I made you all tremble in fear using nothing more than a wine glass!" he exclaimed before laughing arrogantly, but all he was doing was testing everyone's patience.
"May I kill him, my lord?" Sebastian asked.
"Not yet, though I understand the urge," Ciel responded rationally, but that soon went out the window as undead arms managed to pierce through the doors and windows and tried to grab at the souls inside the room. They were completely surrounded as all possible exits were blocked off by groaning zombies. The ones that managed to enter the room even managed to feast on the poor humans that were roped into carrying the device that was supposed to save their lives. Even the Reapers in the room were worried by the number trying to enter and only Lilliana knew that they were more targeted than the rest. Then again, she probably would not care much if they got bitten a couple of times, but remembering how she ended her last conversation with Katia made her reconsider her selfishness.
"Viscount Druitt, activate it now!" Ciel demanded as Sebastian carried him away from the undead hands after his master.
"No. I am no longer to be addressed as 'Viscount'. I am Caesar. Call me that, and I shall consider activating it."
"I want to kill him," Lilliana said with red eyes as she started walking in his direction, but Sebastian held her back.
"We should wait, though I understand the urge," Sebastian said, though he knew he wouldn't be able to diminish her anger. Suddenly, the corpses managed to break through the doors and cut themselves through broken windows to get inside. Sebastian was quick to use his feet to kick any that got close to Ciel while Lilliana managed to push some back with the shaft of her Death Scythe, watching as some sliced themselves as they were pushed toward the blade.
At the other side of the hall, the Reapers wasted no time disposing of the onslaught of the dead, though the sheer number was going to tire them out sooner than later. Despite being skilled fighters, one of them managed to catch onto Katia's sleeve and she was dragged back into a horde of them, but before they could get a bite of her flesh, Lilliana managed to come in and save her.
"Please be careful," she said as she sliced off the heads of the herd like Lizzie did before. "If they get a whiff of your blood, they'll come after you."
"D-Did they get you?" Katia asked as she pointed at her bandages, which were slowly soiled by her own blood. Apparently one of her wounds had opened after exerting herself too much trying to get here.
"Shit," she said as fought off the wave of zombies now following her. With some quick thinking, she managed to remove a piece of the soiled bandage and used its scent to lure them toward a corner of the room before throwing it. Almost like a piece of meat, the ravenous corpses went after it, trying to consume the little blood they could, unknowing that she would use this distraction to slice them all down at once. She breathed heavily before noticing her colleagues looking at her with horror. "What?"
"How are you still fighting with that kind of injury?" Ronald asked with genuine concern. She was confused, but she soon realized that they could see her bite marks and one of them was bleeding.
"We don't have time for this. We need that bastard to activate the device or else a lot of lives are going to be lost that are not on the To-Die list," she said as she searched for Sebastian and Ciel, who were still safe with the butler's impressive skill of fighting without the use of his arms. She looked around and saw that Ananbeth was protecting her husband with a knife and despite it being a close-range weapon, she managed to fight them off with ease. Sebastian was right: they were just ignoring her and she used that to her advantage. Lilliana looked for Undertaker, who did not move from his spot and just watched the scene play out. Out of all the people here, he should be on high alert, but all he expressed was a macabre grin.
"Ah, valiant gladiators fighting for the honor of a glorious death! This is a veritable colosseum of corruption! And here I am, Emperor Nero, watching it all unfold on high, presiding over the bloodshed!" Druitt said with perversity in his voice, further angering the fighters in the room.
Ronald let out a frustrated yell. "Can we please kill him?!"
"You're the one who just stopped me from doing it!" Grell yelled back with equal frustration.
"You idiot! Turn the freaking thing on, will you?" Katia yelled, though she too had the same urge to break Reaper Law and kill the man.
"Very well, then. The time has come to birth my empire. Though, before I do, I shall require a display of loyalty. Prove to me your dedication by showing me your Phoenix dance!"
"Phoenix dance?" Grell asked, but as he turned toward his blonde friends, he could see the dread in their faces. "Is it that bad?!"
"Let's kill him," Katia said with darkness escaping her voice. "It'll be better for everyone."
"What are you waiting for? Dance!" Druitt demanded, making everyone hang their heads in shame as they proceeded to follow his instructions, unaware of Undertaker's stifled chuckles underneath the moans of the corpses still left alive in the room. The Reapers quickly taught Grell the words and moves required, making him grimace at the gaudiness of the deed he was about to partake in.
"The perfect flame that dwells in us may be hidden but it cannot be extinguished," the participants recited reluctantly.
"That's right, because through it all . . .," Druitt said as he performed the dance willingly.
"We are Phoenixes!" they all chanted as they mimicked his flare to appease him, though none of them, except for the Undertaker, reveled in the spectacle. In fact, most of them felt nauseous.
"Ah, magnifique! What a marvelous show!" Druitt said as he moved his arms a little too carelessly, letting some wine spill out of his glass, making all of them panic. Luckily, he was far away from the device to not short-circuit it and he laughed at their expense. "Now, everyone, prepare to see an army of the undead bowing before me!"
He pressed the button to activate the machine and it lit up and whirred with loud motors, but after some time, they all noticed that the zombies were not ceasing their pursuit of the souls in the room nor did they seem to have any effect. They waited a while, but the confusion on Druitt's face was a clear sign something was wrong. "Please tell me . . . you know how to use the fucking device," Lilliana said as calmly as she could, but she was clearly at her limit. When he didn't respond, Undertaker started laughing so hard that he was crying and it sounded like he could hurt himself if he wasn't too careful. To him, this scene was pure comedy, but to the rest of the crowd, it was going to turn into a tragedy for the idiot with the massive ego.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Ciel demanded as he watched Druitt try to escape the humiliation he was under.
"Ryan, this device you made appears to be defective," he said, trying to blame someone else for his failings.
"No, I . . .," he said in defeat as he looked at Annabeth. "You . . . You told me he knew what he was doing. You told me that it was a fail-safe if we trusted him."
"Mon cher, I told you what you needed to hear," she said, though not in the tone of a concerned wife, but rather of someone finalizing a deal.
"Bastard!" he yelled suddenly as he looked at Undertaker. "You were lying all along!"
"What an absolute farce," Grell said as he jumped down from the second level and headed straight for the bumbling aristocrat with a sin that needed to be paid.
"Wait, hold on a second! You know we're not meant to kill humans," Ronald yelled, though Katia was a bit eager to watch a justified murder played out. "Aren't you going to stop him?!"
"Would he change the world if we kept him alive?" she asked cold-heartedly.
"That's only if they are on the To-Die list!"
However, before any blood could be shed, Grell's chainsaw was blocked by an object that could not be cut through. Sparks were flying from the collision and all anyone could observe was a fast blur of gray and black shielding Druitt from imminent death. Though, things became clearer when they heard Undertaker's sinister cackle.
"I don't remember the last time I laughed this much! I'm afraid this is where I must step in. The death of a man so entertaining would be a loss to the world, if you ask me. I cannot allow you to take his life, despite what you little Reapers think," he said, losing his jovial tone and turning a more serious tone, a tone that no one in the room has heard before.
Grell backed away to reassess the situation, but Undertaker was quick to throw sotobas in his direction. Luckily, he was as quick to block them with his chainsaw, but only barely, and the impact forced him into the glass ceiling, causing it to shatter and the pieces to fall below.
"I suppose it's over now," Undertaker said as he pushed his bangs back with one hand and kept a single sotoba over his shoulders. Behind those bangs exposed his green eyes, the same eyes that the Reapers possessed. "A shame . . . I enjoyed it when this room was filled with laughter, even if it was merely my own."
He looked at the surprised faces that were staring at him, but no eyes were wider than Lilliana, who arguably should be the least surprised by the revelation, though she had to play dumb as the rest of the group was piecing together the scene.
"You cloaked your true power masterfully. Hiding your eyes was smart as well; they would have given you away at once," Sebastian deduced.
"He fooled us all," Katia said as she and Ronald lowered themselves to make sure Grell was all right. "That yellow-green phosphorescent is a dead give-away. He's a Grim Reaper!"
Undertaker let out a chuckle before continuing, "That brings back memories. It's been half a century since anyone called me that."
"This whole time, he was a Grim Reaper," Ciel repeated before looking at his servants. "And neither of you knew?!"
"How would I know, my lord? A Grim Reaper can hide his presence if he is surrounded by death regularly," Sebastian said before looking at Lilliana, who couldn't take her eyes off her friend. "Lilliana . . . you have developed a friendship with Undertaker even before you were hired as a Phantomhive servant. Did you know his true nature?"
She looked at the ground before muttering to herself, "It's been half a century already?"
"Lilliana, answer my question! That's an order," Ciel demanded, but before she had a chance to respond, Ryan ran down the stairs to confront the old man with Annabeth chasing behind him.
"So, this was all just some elaborate trick?! You told me that we could use this device to control the corpses!" he yelled, but before he could try a flimsy attempt to harm the Reaper, Annabeth held him back.
"Please calm down! You're not thinking straight!" she pleaded, though it was clear she was holding back some laughter. Did she delight in his misery?
"Perhaps I misspoke," Undertaker said nonchalantly, making her laugh a bit and lose her grip on her hysterical husband.
"Why would you do this?!"
"I just couldn't help myself. You were trying so earnestly to bring the dead back to life using medicine, and it was desperately amusing."
"I had a goal! I wanted to use medical knowledge to make the world a healthier place!"
"Did you though?" he teased.
"Of course! I managed to bring her back from the dead," he said as he pointed to Annabeth, causing everyone to gasp. A lot of secrets were being exposed in succession. Even Annabeth was surprised by his bold accusation. "My poor wife died of a heart attack, but with my miraculous medical talents, I was able to bring her back. I have not been able to replicate the results, but she is living proof that it has worked!"
"Are you sure about that?" he said with a chuckle.
"Now I remember!" Grell exclaimed, taking the focus away from the Shakespearean scene before them. "Annabeth Stoker, the wife of a doctor obsessed with his work. She used stimulants to mask her loneliness, but it corroded her heart and she suffered a heart attack. I collected her soul weeks ago."
"So, the To-Die list wasn't wrong," Katia said as she looked at the woman in question. However, before another word could be said, Sebastian was quick to throw his knives toward Annabeth, piercing her vital points and causing her to fall on her back.
"No! Annabeth," Ryan cried as he tried to hold his resurrected bride, but a knife aimed for his feet prevented him from going further.
"I suggest you stay back for your safety. The woman you see before you is not your wife or ever was," Sebastian warned as he brandished his free hand.
After a moment of silence, they could hear a chuckle, but it wasn't coming from Undertaker. Instead, it was feminine and it was coming from Annabeth's body. "Mon Lucifer. Quite the forceful man you are, Monsieur Michaelis," she said as she slowly rose from the ground in an unnatural way with her back bent. As she rose to her feet, her appearance started to change to one most of them were familiar with. "It's rude to penetrate a woman without her consent, Black," she teased as the knives fell out of her body and her hair turned lilac and her eyes matched.
"Eris!" the trio exclaimed and Lilliana's eyes immediately turned red and she let out a growl.
The Reapers looked at Katia and had surprised looks on their faces. "So, you're telling me that you slept with a demon?!" Ronald asked in a tone that was somehow both teasing and serious.
"If you two would give me a chance to explain, I would tell you everything," she said with a bashful face.
"I'm afraid that's not going to happen, mon cher. The seeds of doubt are already planted and no matter how hard you try to explain yourself, I doubt they will believe you," Eris teased as her right eye turned green.
"I . . . I don't understand," Ryan said with a dumbfounded expression as he lost his footing and fell to the ground. "How could I . . . fall prey to . . . a Reaper . . . and a demon?"
"We couldn't just let you quit on your dreams simply because you couldn't bring someone close to you back from the dead," Eris said as she helped him up to his feet and wrapped her arms around Ryan's neck like a lover would. She got close to his ear as she whispered, "Rest assured, your wife is buried in her grave; just slightly deeper than you remember."
"When you began relying on the technology that I offered to manifest your dream, your work was no longer purely medical," Undertaker added, "A man who performs procedures on his patients without understanding how they work is no true doctor. Even performing such experiments on your own wife should have been a warning sign of your depravity. Of course, if I didn't ask Mademoiselle Melania to rekindle your flame, we may have never gotten this far."
"I . . . I just wanted . . .," he said as he fell to his knees and groveled on the floor in utter humiliation.
"You believed everything I said; lapped up every lie I told like an eager puppy ever since your wife was brought back from the dead," Undertaker said as he put a comforting hand on the doctor, knowing fully well it would not ease his pain one bit. "That's a good boy."
"To be clear, it was never Druitt or even Dr. Stoker masterminding the reanimation experiments," Ciel said as he was finally placed on the ground, though he was still leaning against a railing as his ankle was still recovering. "It was all you and Eris."
Undertaker smirked. "Normally I would leave you guessing, but those phoenix poses were hilarious enough to purchase a veritable mountain of information, so I will tell you all," he said as he addressed the young master. "You are correct: I'm the one who reanimated our decomposing friends here."
"To what purpose?" Lilliana shouted, wanting more answers out of her dear friend more desperately than the rest of the crowd.
Seeing her distressed. face and getting a good look at her injuries, he lost his smile. "It's difficult to explain. At first, I was merely curious about people and their mortality," he half-lied. Of course, he wanted to explain his reasoning to her, but with Reapers, humans, and another demon involved, they would not understand his true reasoning. He knew this and thus prepared a story in case he needed to cover up their true intentions.
"Curiosity can only go so far. What in hell possessed you to do something like this and work with a succubus?" she said with eyes now turning red. He knew about her history with Eris, but he knew the anger cut deeper than that. Some of it was purely directed toward him.
"I'm sure everyone in this room is aware of the role of a Grim Reaper. They collect the Cinematic Record, or in lamest terms, the soul of a person when they die. Their memories, emotions, trauma, elation, ambitions, all inscribed in their Cinematic Records and us Grim Reapers must look on them with no attachments day after day, month after month, year after year, without incident. But after so much time reaping, my mind began to wander and question everything we Reapers were taught. One day, a thought occurred to me: what if there was more to the Record after it reached its end? If I spliced in additional footage, so to speak, after the assigned collection, then what would happen to the body of the deceased?"
"So then, you're telling us that you edited the Records?" Grell asked for clarification. All of the Reapers, including Lilliana, were astonished.
"Is that even possible," Katia asked the rest, but they had no answer.
Eris chuckled. "Would you like to see for yourself? Go ahead and have a look. I'm sure you are dying to find out."
The Reapers looked at each before each of them ran to the nearest zombie and sliced them in their chest, releasing the Cinematic Record that was inside them. They looked careful and noticed the Records playing like a normal collection, but after the time of death, there were blank frames, signaling the end. However, just when they thought it was over, they witnessed an unusual sight: Undertaker in a costume and fake mustache making a fool of himself. "What the hell is all this?!" Grell vocalized for the trio.
"Most odd," Sebastian quipped since even demons can see Cinematic Records once they were released from their mortal husks.
"What are we seeing here?" Ciel asked, as one of the three people in the room who couldn't see them.
"Perversity," Lilliana said as she got a good look.
"I would have thought someone like you wouldn't care about breaking the rules, Lily," Eris teased as she tried to get closer to her, but she quickly brandished her Death Scythe and Eris raised her hands in a soft defeat. "Mes excuses. I seem to have hit a nerve."
"You've done a lot more than that," she said as she tried to lash at her, but Sebastian held her back.
"I don't think now would be a good time to confront her," he said, choosing his words carefully.
"Listen to your demon, Lily. You don't want him to learn about your little secret, do you?" she teased before feigning regret. "Oups, au temps pour moi."
"You bitch!" she said as she tried using all her strength to pass through Sebastian's grip, but he was stronger. Though, he was taken aback by her comment.
"Eris, don't you think this is not the best time to tease her?" Undertaker said in a fatherly tone.
"But it's so much fun," she said with a pout. "She's acting like what you're doing is so wrong, like she is a part of the group that constantly degrades her."
"That may be so, but she has to or else she would face dire consequences and you know it. Don't forget who you associate with." Eris rolled her eyes before looking back at Lilliana, who was still trying to fight her way to her, which made Eris smirk a bit.
"Back to what I was saying; I know the Records look confusing at first, but it was rather simple in the end. At the point at which death is supposed to occur, I added a false Record onto the real one, making it never-ending. As I predicted, the flesh thought it was alive again and began to move on its own, though slowly and clumsy. It was nothing more than an empty husk with only one purpose: to fill the void of a missing soul."
"And that's why they attack humans and especially Grim Reapers," Sebastian pieced together, finally able to calm down the angry maid.
"Correct, master butler. They instinctively know that something is missing. They seek the souls they are missing by ripping open the bodies of the living," Undertaker explained.
"And they come after Grim Reapers because they collect those souls," Ronald said. "Is that what happened to you, Lilliana?"
"You could say that," she replied. "But then why would our blood be attractive to them if our Death Scythes collect the souls?"
"I'm not sure if you are aware of this, fellow Reapers, but you too have a soul buried deep inside you. Even demons have Cinematic Records, though theirs are only in recollection of their human forms," Undertaker explained. "Did you ever wonder why Reaper blood specifically is a cure-all for any ailment that falls on humans and deities? The high exposure to souls is unique to Grim Reapers, so our blood is more valuable, even to dolls that seek to find a soul.
"Not that it will do them any good, of course. No one else's soul could ever become their own," Eris interjected. "Demons would know this best. Human souls are usually our main source of sustenance and try as we can to fill our bellies with them, there will never be enough to fill that hunger."
"So, these creatures are more demon than human?" Katia asked.
"I never said that," Undertaker said as he got close enough to one of the female zombies to hold it in his arms. Although it clearly wanted to bite him, he made sure to keep her teeth away from his flesh. "They're bizarre dolls. Neither living nor dead; simply flesh puppets with no self of their own. Her skin may be waxy-white and marred by sutures, but she's nearly as beautiful as in life. And now her mouth no longer babbles or lies, her head is empty of all but a single desire. That must be a vast improvement over her living self, I should think."
"You disgust me," Ciel exclaimed, making Undertaker chuckle.
"Clearly you are still a child if you don't understand the appeal, my lord," he said as he let the doll go. They all watched as it tried to go after him again, but she missed and fell over the railing of the staircase and down a story below. However, despite face-planting onto the ground, it got back up with no trouble and started wandering toward the nearest soul. "I wanted to test the durability of my dolls and this seemed to be a good place to conduct a controlled experiment. I arranged to have an equal number of humans and dolls aboard to see which side would be the victor. How many on each side would survive? Though, when I designed this experiment, I hadn't imagined we would hit an iceberg. Since I retired from active duty, I don't have a To-Die list to reference. Still, it saves me the trouble of sinking the ship."
"You are unhinged," Sebastian said.
"Grim Reapers are forbidden to kill humans, regardless of if they are on duty or not," Ronald said. "What you are doing is treason to the laws of life and death and you will be severely punished for your crimes."
"That may be true for law-abiding Reapers, but Rogue Reapers aren't exactly known to follow the rules, aren't they?" he revealed.
Lilliana's eyes widened at his words. "Y-You . . .You're a Rogue Reaper?"
Eris looked into her eyes and her eyebrow lifted in surprise. She looked back at Undertaker before saying, "You never told her all this time?"
"I didn't want to worry her," he said before looking at his friend's shocked face. "If I didn't take the title, then she might have never left that rehabilitation center."
"What do you mean?" Lilliana asked genuinely.
"Another time, perhaps. There is only so much time we have and there is a lot for me to say."
"Well, now that we are airing out our secrets, maybe it's time for us to reveal the other Rogue Reaper in our midst," Eris said with a trouble-seeking smile.
The Reapers looked confused, including Undertaker, but most of them turned their heads to Grell. "What are you looking at me for?!"
"Well, you are the one that murdered women in Whitechapel," Ronald said.
"But don't you know what makes someone a Rogue Reaper? They must have a close relationship with a demon and possibly possess some of their powers. As much as I want to be in a steamy romance with dear Bassy, he is unfortunately saving my job by coldly rejecting me."
"I think you are forgetting a certain blonde demon a few of you are familiar with," Eris quipped.
"Blonde demo–You met Bastille?!" Lilliana said as her eyes flared red. Once again, Sebastian had to restrain her, though he wished his duties wouldn't interfere with her cutting Grell down a size.
"Technically yes," he said, trying to get out of the trouble he was clearly in. "I was reaping one night and he approached me. I was drawn to his good looks, but I had to stay strong since I knew he was a demon. He wanted to make a deal to fulfill a desire I had in exchange for him to see his sister."
"And did you accept?" Katia asked.
"Of course not!"
"Don't be a liar Ms. Sutcliff," Eris teased. "You were just too incompetent to get the reward you desired."
"How dare you?!" Grell said before he rushed to strike her, but with every swing of the chainsaw, she managed to doge with ease.
"Oh my, did I strike a nerve? I haven't even told you who the other Rogue Reaper is," she said in between dodges.
"Well, if it isn't Mr. Sutcliff, then that would mean . . .," Ronald said as he looked at Katia with accusatory eyes.
"There's no way," Lilliana said. "She is the prime example of following the rules to the last detail."
Undertaker chuckled a bit. "Ah, that is interesting. You two are two different sides of the same coin: one side that does not hide her past and the other side that will do everything she can to forget her mistakes."
"K-Katia," Grell said as he finally stopped his attack to jump toward the guilty Reaper. "Please tell me she is lying. There is no way you would be in a relationship with a demon, right?"
"I-I-I–,' she stammered, but didn't know how to respond.
"Like I said before, once the seeds of doubt are planted, it will only flourish into mistrust" Eris said, though, she was quickly attacked by Lilliana, who managed to slip past Sebastian as he too was stunned by the revelation.
"You need to shut your fucking mouth," she said as she swung with precision. Though Eris dodged some of her strikes, half the time, she was forced to use her knife to dodge the large blade about to pierce her.
"Are you going to defend her?"
"Even if she is a Rogue Reaper, she is still a Reaper," she said, making Katia's heart stop for a bit. "We don't have anyone to defend us but ourselves. We can't tear each other down."
"Oh really? Even if she was assigned to terminate your brother?" she said coyly, but used Lilliana's shock to her advantage and managed to land a slice on her cheek. She winced in pain as she fell back, but disgust filled her body as she watched Eris lick her blood off the blade. "Not only is our dear Mademoiselle Vendoa a Rogue Reaper, but she is also a very skilled demon huntress."
"That can't be," Ronald said before turning to her, but she merely dropped to her knees in fear of retaliation.
"The person you thought that was an open book was the one holding the most secrets, though I'm sure at least one of you knew that," Eris said before turning to Lilliana, but her eyes were filled with shock that she needed Sebastian to hold her up. "Wait . . . you didn't know the whole time?"
"Why would she know that?" Undertaker said as he put a hand on Eris's shoulder, sensing anger filling her body. "What would be the point of telling your target's sister that you were assigned to kill her brother?"
"So, she played with her emotions . . . for no good reason," Eris said as she brushed off his hand and tried to approach Lilliana, but Sebastian threw knives her way to prevent her from getting any closer.
"I think you have done quite enough," he said sternly.
"It's time to put an end to this lunacy," Grell said, but he couldn't shake the new knowledge about his friend out of his mind.
"Agreed. It may mean overtime, but Reapers have no business distorting death," Ronald said as he lifted the motor of his lawnmower over his head. "Besides, Mr. Spears is going to have a lot of explaining to do when we are done with this."
"Are you sure you can put your differences aside and work as hard as before?" Undertaker teased.
"It's like what Lilliana said: we are Reapers regardless of the type we are," Katia said as she stood to her feet and brandished her katana. "And I am willing to fight for the Reaper cause before you can do any further damage."
"He-he. Then we shall see about that, Ms. Vendoa, but perhaps I won't be your only enemy," he said as he looked at Lilliana. She turned to her and to her surprise, her eyes were red as she looked back at her. She gulped at the thought of her being so angry that she would try to kill her.
"Besides, there is a greater crime here!" Grell yelled to get everyone's attention. "I don't give a damn how attractive he is, but cutting a girl's face is unforgivable!"
"Yep, that's Mr. Sutcliff for you," Ronald said as he watched his ginger colleague run up to Undertaker to cut him down with his chainsaw. However, like before, he was blocked by his sotoba, but they expected that; Ronald was quickly behind the elder Reaper to land a sneak attack. "Let's end this, shall we?" he said, but was unexpectedly kicked in the head by Sebastian. He tried to use that same kick on Undertaker, but he dodged with ease. In the corner of his eye, Sebastian could see Eris about to slice him with her knife, but she was pushed away by Katia, who had red in her eyes in anger.
"Not afraid to show your true nature now, are we?" she said with a teasing smirk.
"Shut up," she said as she tried to strike her with her katana, only to be blocked by her knife. Despite the smaller size, Eris had the strength to hold her back as if she was wielding a sword. "Why did you have to say all that? What purpose could it have?"
"I wanted to show you the dark side of that girl you admire so much, the side that you refuse to accept," she said as she pushed her toward the Reaper in question. "What you should really be asking is if she can forgive you for lying to her all this time?"
Katia was afraid to get too close to Lilliana at this moment and when she saw the anger in her eyes again, her fear intensified. "Look, Lily, I never wanted to keep it from you, but you know why I had to. Please, you have to understand," she pleaded. Lilliana looked away so she could try to collect her feelings, but without a word, she rushed toward Katia, or really, she rushed past her so she could kick Grell away from Undertaker.
He was lucky to land on his feet, but he was frustrated. "Why are you interfering?! Aren't we on the same side?"
"I'm afraid we cannot allow you to dispose of Undertaker just yet," Sebastian answered as he kept a close eye on everyone in the room to make sure no more surprise attacks would occur.
"We have a solemn duty to present the entire truth of this incident to Her Majesty. To do that, we will need him in one piece," Ciel said with authority.
"Though, I find it hard to believe that she would believe any of this," Lilliana muttered under her breath.
"Well, this is a Reaper issue and us Reapers have to deal with it, so keep your noses out of it," Grell threatened.
"I'm a butler and this is a butler's job. Kindly keep your nose out of it," Sebastian said.
"I love a stoic as much as the next girl, but now really isn't the time. If it's a battle you want, I'll give it to you without restraint."
"The fact you know the meaning of the word 'restraint' is by far the greatest surprise of this very surprising day."
"Then the first one to get him is the victor," Ronald said as he got up from the ground. "And not to be immodest, but I like our chances in this game. With four Reapers against one demon, this should be a piece of cake."
"I'm not sure if any of you have been listening to me, but I'll say it again: this is my time-off," Lilliana said as she raised her Death Scythe. "And right now, I have a duty to serve my master."
"Then let's make this more fun, shall we?" Eris said as she pursed her lips as if she was going to whistle, but a sweet pheromone secreted from her lips and was blown into the room. Unsure what the pheromone was, everyone tried to cover their mouths (with Sebastian covering Ciel's mouth quickly), but it was already too late; the sweet smell had already filled their lungs. When they looked back to the source, most of them were shocked by what they saw.
"What?! There's two Bassys in the room!" Grell exclaimed. "Am I dreaming or is this a dream come true?"
"Th-That's not possible. She can only change into the forms fitting of her gender," Lilliana said with shocked eyes. She too could see two Sebastians: one with a shocked face and one with a devilish grin.
"Wh-What are you guys talking about? There's clearly two Lillianas! Are you all blind?" Katia said with confusion.
"As much as I hate to agree with a Reaper, she is right," Sebastian said before noticing Ciel was pushing his hand away from his mouth.
"Lizzie?! What are you doing here? I thought we left you in Edward's care," he said as he tried to move toward her, but Sebastian stopped his advance.
"Now I'm starting to understand," he said. "A succubus's true power isn't her ability to change forms, but rather make a person believe they are the object of their desire. That pheromone you just released makes everyone in the room believe you are their desire."
"Right you are, Bassy," Eris said, though, her voice and image in his eyes was that of Lilliana. Even her clothes and injuries matched what she looked like at this moment.
"Wait, then how come I only see the demon?" Ronald asked.
"I find it hard to believe that you aren't the lustful type. How many girls have you taken home in the last week?" Grell said.
"It is only effective on those who have strong desires for a certain person." Undertaker explained. "You can exercise lust often, but if the desire is minimized, all you will see is the succubus beneath it. Though, you could also be deeply attracted to Eris. Can't say that I blame you; she is a beautiful woman, after all."
"You hound dog!" Grell exclaimed as he tried to swing at his friend.
"Now hold on a second! Isn't this beneficial to us?! Her spell has no effect on me," he defended.
"That is true," Katia said as she looked back at who she believed to be Eris, but she and Lilliana are so similar that it was really difficult to tell the two apart. "And knowing their history, she is most likely going to fight on Undertaker's side. We really need to keep our guard up if we want to bring him to justice."
"Couldn't agree with you more," Lilliana said as she and Sebastian brandished their weapons. "Though I know our reasoning couldn't be any more different."
Undertaker giggled. "It's like a pack of dogs after a fox. I can't wait to see who will sink their teeth first." With those words acting as a starter gun, everyone jumped in for an attack. The Reapers were first to strike, but Undertaker was quick to avoid before the Phantomhive servants intercepted their attacks. When he was some distance away, he started throwing sotobas at them and although they all had quick feet, one caught onto Grell's coat, making him fall on his face. Ronald was the first to attack Undertaker, who used his remaining sotoba to block any attacks from the lawnmower, though Undertaker noticed Lilliana heading their way with her arms prepared for a strike. He stepped back just in time for her to try to land a blow on Ronald, who was only quick enough to block it.
"Come on, Lily. You have to fight with us. Just imagine the trouble you would get in if William found out that you interfered with Reaper Law."
"Then the three of you better not fail," she quipped before landing a kick to his gut. "Imagine the trouble you would all be in if you let him get away."
Ronald spat out some blood from his mouth, "Then help us! None of us would get written up . . . or worse." Those words angered her more and he could feel the increased strength in her strikes. "A little help here!"
"A little busy at the moment," Grell said as he was fighting Sebastian, or who he thought was Sebastian as he noticed his twin fighting Undertaker at another part of the room. "You're not the real Bassy, are you?"
"I can be and much more, if you would allow me to fulfill your desires," the fake Sebastian said in a seductive tone, making Grell fight back his weak knees at the words he longed for him to say.
"U-Unfortunately, duty comes before love. So sorry," he said as he tried to land a blow on Eris, but she jumped out of the way. However, now noticing that Eris was open, Lilliana used this time to strike after her. She dashed to the demon, still taking Sebastian's form, though his devilish charm would not subdue her intense anger. She even growled with every advance and even Eris was having a hard time keeping up with her attacks.
"I don't know what you did to convince Undertaker to work with you, but I'll see to it that this partnership ends tonight," Lilliana said, but Eris jumped far back to tease her a bit more.
"It's funny you out of all people think I use people. I'd say you're worse than a demon when it comes to manipulation," she said before noticing something behind Lilliana. She turned around quickly and noticed that Ciel was running away from Katia, who was chasing after him. He even tried shooting at her, but despite hitting her a couple of times, it barely slowed her down.
"Come here, you brat. Maybe they'll listen to reason if they think their precious master is in peril," Katia said as she advanced closer to the young human.
"R-Reapers aren't allowed to kill humans," Ciel tried to reason, but he was soon grabbed at the collar by the Reaper.
"True, but that doesn't mean we can't kill," she threatened, but soon, a fork got in between them and soon, Sebastian came to the rescue.
"I would advise not laying a hand on my young lord," he threatened as kicked Katia in her face, forcing her to let Ciel free and into his butler's arms. "Are you all right, my lord?" he asked as he put the boy down.
"I'm fine, though seeing Lizzie in peril is troubling me," Ciel said as he observed Lilliana still fighting Eris, now taking Lizzie's form in his eyes.
"You know it's not real."
"I'm aware, but I do have to remind myself often."
"You shouldn't distract yourself," Katia said before landing a swift attack on Sebastian, who pushed Ciel out of the way before being sliced by her katana. He jumped back to put distance between themselves. "Now that we all know my true nature, I no longer have to hold back," she said with her eyes fully red, like Lilliana's. Just like her, Katia's strength increased, maybe even more than Lilliana ever exerted and it troubled Sebastian, who was having a tough time holding back her attack. His silverware was even cracking under the pressure. "I guess this is the end for you, Michaelis."
Before his defense could break, Lilliana grabbed Katia by her waist and pulled her back with all her might, flinging her above her head and onto a nearby wall. "That was close," Lilliana said as she caught her breath, but soon felt a stinging pain in her chest, forcing her on her knees.
"Lilliana," he exclaimed before getting close to her and noticing more blood was seeping onto her bandages. "You have to take it easy. Exerting yourself like this is only going to slow you down."
"I can't," she said as she used her Death Scythe as a cane to help her up. "Not while they're still after the Undertaker."
"And how will you stop them?" Sebastian's or Lilliana's voice said, depending on who was looking at Eris. "Such a pitiful sight you are, Lily. I don't know how much longer you can last."
"Longer than you will," she said as she tried to advance toward her, but the pain returned and she fell to her knees again.
"Not so sure about that," Eris teased before noticing that Undertaker was fighting off two Reapers by himself. Although he was more than capable of taking care of himself, she didn't want him to have all the fun by himself. She jumped to the lower floor and Sebastian was quick to follow her, but a katana aimed for his arm forced him back.
"You should be on high alert when a demon huntress is around," Katia said as she tried striking Sebastian again.
"Then perhaps you should set your sights on the demon that is against us both," he said as he picked up Lilliana to get her somewhere more secluded from the fight, but that upset her more. She was careful not to strike Lilliana's hanging legs, but that meant she was sloppy with her strikes.
"You know that your influence is going to get her terminated. Fraternizing with a demon is strictly forbidden and the moment they find a single devil mark on her, she'll be put to death. She's already on thin ice as it is."
"Then you should be under the same scrutiny. Even if she was disguised, Eris is still a demo," he said as he watched Lilliana slip in and out of consciousness.
Her eyes widened. "Wait, how do you—those two are loud, aren't they? I never slept with her. She tried to seduce me with Lilliana's form, but I saw past her ruse. Lilliana . . . She would never fall for me under her own free will."
"I've been told many times that Reapers don't form attachments, yet here you are," he said before kicking a table toward her, but she sliced it like paper. Though, her attitude changed when she saw that Lilliana's bandages were almost completely soaked again from her own blood.
Katia sighed before reaching a pocket in her skirt and pulling a small pill bottle. She took one of the capsules out and threw it to him. He kept Lilliana close to him as he caught the capsule. "It's concentrated Reaper blood. Since demon hunters are constantly in peril, we are given these as first aid precautions. It's not going to completely heal her, but it will at least close her wounds," she explained.
"Awfully generous of you," Sebastian said before finding a chair to put Lilliana on.
"Rogue Reapers have to look out for each other. Besides, there are other demons to worry about," she said before jumping to the lower floor. He was confused by her sudden sigh of mercy, but was thankful for it, nonetheless. He quickly put the capsule in her mouth and forced her head up so that she would swallow it.
"Is she all right?" Ciel said as he ran to them. He had been following them the entire time, but kept his distance so he wouldn't be caught in the middle of their fight.
"She will be, hopefully," he said as he pulled out his roll of bandages to replace the soiled ones again.
"Those Reapers will pay for this," he said with clenched fists. "Interfering with our mission has caused us grave grievances."
"I'm sure Ms. Kiliamo would agree," he said with some bite to his words. She was slowly stirring, but she was clearly still in pain. "She won't give herself a chance to rest since she knows it will be detrimental to our mission."
"Then let's end this quickly. This is an order, subdue the Undertaker and Eris Melania."
"Without delay, my lord," he said with a bow.
Will anyone be able to capture Undertaker? Will the newly learned secrets hinder their missions? Is Lilliana going to recover? Reviews are appreciated!