Chapter 48:

"So he knew someone in your family and my mother..."

"Claudia Phantomhive was my grandmother. It seems that the Undertaker wasn't just acquainted with my predecessors."

I grabbed the locket and looked through each of the letters. I stopped upon my mothers but there was something amiss with hers.

"My mother's hair is missing..."

The other parts of the locket held hair from each person, ranging from the midnight blue that the master had to the blonde that another person had. But, my mother's was empty with only the name to show for it.

"It would seem that they could never find your mother's body. The death certificate was only a formality, in other words-"

"She could still be alive. But that doesn't make sense... Wouldn't the Undertaker have seen her name in the death book?"

"Those of the supernatural world do not appear in the death god's names of the dying, it is only humans," Sebastian chimed in.

I looked back at the death certificate of my mother. It showed her marriage to my father and the child they had, my name was displayed under theirs.

It was strange believing that they were dead. A small part of me, one that had hope and longing to reunite with my parents, believed that they were still alive, could feel that they were still alive. But another part of me, the more rational side knew them to be dead. Whoever was chasing them were out for blood, and I shouldn't be surprised if they didn't make it out alive.

"If only the Undertaker wasn't a complete lunatic..." I mumbled.

"Yes, that is a problem, isn't it?" the young master sarcastically stated. I rolled my eyes at the child in front of me and shifted the items closer to him. Ciel took them and placed them temporarily in the drawer on the side of his desk. "Onto more pressing matters," the child began, placing a letter with the royal emblem stamped onto the front of it, "the queen would like us to investigate Germany, however seeing as how it is outside of our jurisdiction I'm sending Claus to investigate it and bring me any information he finds. If it is serious enough we shall head there."

"Hmmm."

Ciel took notice of my lack of enthusiasm for such a trip. Under any normal circumstances, in which I still had both of my wings, I would have been nothing but ecstatic. Seeing as how I can barely manage to keep myself upright without falling under the imbalanced weight on my back, I would be not only a burden on myself but a liability to the others.

It was more than obvious that at that moment, the child did not care for my enthusiasm.

"Let the others know that we will be heading into London for new supplies." With a wave of his hand and words of dismissal I stood from the chair and bowed before making my way out of the door.

I walked mindlessly throughout the manor as I my thoughts turned back to the death certificate and the locket with the names of my mother and the Earl's.

I stopped in the hall and slapped my hand against the wall, a sudden headache attacked my brain while I groaned in pain. The pain was growing and almost blinding as my eyes began seeing dark spots. A small image formed in my head, a silver locket displayed in front of me. This one was different from the one I had already seen. The Undertaker's was gold and held 8 lockets while the image that flash for a brief second was a dark silver, almost as if it hadn't been cleaned in years.

"Are you alright, Celesta?" a voice spoke behind me. The headache stopped, almost as if it didn't want to be noticed by another person, allowing me to straighten my back and face the maid.

"I'm fine Mey-rin, just a small cramp in my side. You'd think that I'd be used to it by now." I gave an awkward chuckle to the maid. She didn't look an ounce convinced but didn't seem to want to probe the situation any further. "I'm alright. Truly."

"Alright."

"Why don't I help you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was aching again. I was forced to stop trying to make the rest of my wing disappear by Sebastian. For once, a demon who I thought could hold no other emotion other than anger, was worried about something other than his meal.

It had never occurred to me that I would be a demon's mate; I didn't even think that demon's existed. From what I could remember, my parents never told me what they were, they never explained to me why I had wings and they never told me that we were in danger until it was too late. But it was this thought that was constantly invading my mind the more my wing ached. I didn't necessarily hate my parents, because, to this day, I knew that what they didn't tell me and what they did were only done out of love for me. But that didn't mean it hurt any less than the truth.

I was laying on my bed watching the moon rise from the little window in my servants quarters.

I thought back to the first night that I spent as a new servant. Coming to my new home and remembering how the manor was destroyed with the help of my circus family. It saddened me still, to remember that we all deserved what we got, the karma that plagued us from behind and watching over us to take the right moment to pick us off one by one. Though it still didn't make sense to me, even to this day. Why was I the only one that survived? Was my punishment to live a life full of agony and pain? Was my life meant to in control of someone else?

It was these thoughts that started the aching in my chest and my wing that was decaying more and more by the day.

I looked longingly at the sky, wishing more than anything that I could fly through the air and feel the warm breeze of the summer air. It would have been nice to do something so fulfilling, so calming one more time. Had I known that the ship would be the last time that I would be able to fly I would have cherished it more.

I didn't notice the door of my quarters open until I felt a warm, gloved hand on the small of my back.

"Celesta, are you alright?"

I turned towards the black clad butler.

"I'm alright. I can't sleep again."

The butler's worried face was replaced with a deep frown. "Again?"

"Yeah. Ever since the incident with Undertaker at the school I haven't been able to sleep..."

"Would you like to help me prepare the manor for tomorrow?"

I mumbled a soft scoff, more from amusement then irritation.

"Why don't we just lay here and pretend to sleep?"

"My, my Celesta you have gotten so brazen recently, I wonder why~"

A tick mark grew on my head. "It's not my fault. I can't help it that I feel better around you..." I paused, thinking of how to phrase my next set of words. "It may sound strange, but I don't think I've ever genuinely hated you. Though, I can say that for most people because I don't think I am capable of truly hating someone. But, when we first met, I couldn't help but feel a tinkling sensation. Even with the days that came after, I couldn't help the little skip in my heart beat whenever you were near." I paused in my little monologue. I couldn't muster up the courage to look him in the face. I knew it was dumb to tell a demon something as vulnerable as this, but I felt that I should. I felt that there wasn't much time before my mind wasn't my own mind anymore, when my body wasn't my body anymore.

"Even though we fought a lot before we both figured out our fates, I couldn't help but take a liking to you and the young master and those idiots that can't do anything right."

It was the truth. A truth that I knew long ago. But there was also something within me, whether it was a gut feeling or something that my brain knew to happen someday, but I felt I needed to accept everything.

"No matter what happens," he began, "I will always be with you, my mate."

"Technically, you won't." Sebastian's face contorted into one of confusion, though it was more with a tilt of his head than actual confusion on his face. "You will always have your meals before me. Your own survival will always be more important to you. I'm not blaming you for anything, Sebastian, but it is just how you are. It is just how you are made. To worry about your own life is the way of the demon and I understand that now, and I'm alright with that."

"But, a mate is just as important."

"No, it's number two when it comes to a list of important things for a demon. I know because you never once looked for me while I was with the Undertaker. You may have worried to an extent but you never actually came for me."

Sebastian was silent. My eyes were lowered to the mattress underneath us once again.

"I'm not angry. If anything I can only understand what you were thinking. Would it have been nice to see you walk through the door instead of the Undertaker, yes. But I know that you couldn't."

I hugged Sebastian. My face buried in his chest as the smell of apple and cinnamon wafted through my nose. It was such a comforting smell, one that I never thought I could get used to.

The sudden image of a man with black hair drifted into my head. My limbs began shaking as he I he appeared in front of the home that was once mine.

As fast as the image appeared it disappeared. I opened my eyes and found that I had somehow managed to go unconscious, if only for a couple of minutes.

I cuddled back into Sebastian, not wanting to think of the image I saw. But my will was not as strong as I had hoped, for it was the only thing I could think about for the rest of the night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There was no trauma from being back on a boat. It was smaller than the Campania and rocked a little more than it should have.

"I can't believe the young master is taking us on another trip!"

They were yelling again, causing another headache to form. I couldn't help but want to zip their mouths shut, literally and metaphorically. Other passengers of the small ship were eying us as if we were circus animals that invaded the ship. I turned over to Sebastian, and irked twitch in my eye showing my obvious irritation.

"Can they go anywhere without making such a scene?"

"They are very excited that the young master was so gracious to let them come along on this journey."

The said boy's eye twitched as he glanced at the two of us. "I didn't want them destroying the manor while I was gone. I figured Finny would want to see his home again."

My ears perked up. "Home? Finny is German?"

"Hmm," the young master mumbled before turning his head back to the ocean few. We were lucky to have been allowed to sit so close to the edge of the ship, Although it was more cold and rocked faster than a baby's cradle, it was still pleasant to be a few feet away from the other passengers.

The boat ride to Germany wasn't too long since the current was still and the August weather was calm. The sun shined brightly above us, almost as if it was trying to kill us just from brightness alone.

The stump of my wing started aching slightly. I tried moving the shawl back and forth to stop the ache, and then tried pressing it against my back but it wasn't working. I sighed. I then felt a hand on the stump, delicate and soft. It rubbed circles on what was left of my wing and I couldn't help but sigh in content over the relieving feeling.

"Are you alright, Celesta?"

"Yeah. It's just aching a little..." My eyes lowered to look at the floor.

A child's cry sounded from a little way's away from us.

"Nein! Nein! Ich will nicht zuruck nach hause!"* The child was tugging away from his mom while she tried with all her might to keep him seated.

"Poor kid...," I mumbled.

"Do not pity the child," Sebastian said, now standing next to me to watch the child's tantrum, "he is merely upset that he is not getting what he wants."

"But you can't blame him, every kid is like that. Even I was like that... I think." It was a minor slip but it was something that just felt right to say. Most children, whether they were born in with a bad family or they were born of a different species always acted in rampant in the best way they knew how. It was strange to think about, but the more thought put it into that idea the more it made sense. Children were a lot smarter than adults gave them credit for, and it's because of this that most children hide their intelligence until the opportune moment.

"She's not wrong, Sebastian." The young lord spoke up from the edge of his tea. Our line of sight was soon replaced with the child that we called master. "Every child, every human has tantrums. It is just a matter of how they show, even children."

I stuck my tongue out at Sebastian in mock victory. The said person only rolled his eyes and went back to watching the waves with the young master.

My eyes turned back to the child that was screaming. I shouldn't have been able to understand what they were saying, but I could.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Our destination for the investigation was a village called Wolfsschluct. Apparently, it was the only village that was held in the middle of the forest.

The servants and the young master got off of the train. It was a short ride but thankfully it wasn't too far from the dock. We passed the entrance of the train station and walked into the outskirts of the town attached. The three stooges carried the luggage behind us, almost wheezing and heaving from the amount and the heaviness from the load. I offered to carry something, only to be denied by their stubbornness.

I turned to where the young master and butler were supposed to be, only to see them heading towards a plump civilian with a carriage. I walked over to him, hearing but not understanding words that he was saying, but Sebastian was able to understand every single thing that slurred its way out of the strangers mouth.

"What is he saying?!"

"It's East Franconian, a dialect from Southern Germany." My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I thought all of Germany just spoke one type of language..."

Ciel took the news worse than I could. His anger was shocking to us, especially the Germans. I could imagine that his outburst was more confusing to them because of the language barrier.

As they continued talking I listened. There were some words were as clear as day, werewolves that caused a cursed to those who trespassed. I couldn't help but let out a slight scoff, but it went unnoticed as the young master was intently listening but not truly understanding what he was saying.

In the end, we bought the man's carriage. The others were happy that they didn't have to carriage the luggage for a long distance while I was happy that I could sit down. My wing was aching again but it seemed to get worse the deeper we went into the woods. While I sat with the Ciel and Sebastian, the others were behind in a separate carriage, conversing about what they would like to see in Germany and the differences between London and another country.

I stopped listening as I face the young Earl. "So, there's a problem with werewolves? I'm sorry but I don't believe in such a bullshit story."

"After all that you have witnessed, and what are, you don't believe in werewolves?" he asked incredulously.

"But there's a difference. Werewolves are humans with the added ability of strength and speed. It's basically a demon that has the option of turning into a dog instead of whatever demons turn into."

Sebastian chuckled next to me. "You will find out what we turn into someday. For now, it is best that you see us as human."

"Why?"

"Our appearance isn't for the weak of heart. It is unsightly, gruesome. Even the strongest human won't be able to withstand the fear from our appearance."

I leaned closer to the demon, careful to keep most of my body in the carriage while he manned the horse, with an eyebrow raised. "Then why did you show Arthur Doyle the day that he found out you weren't actually dead?"

His hand went under his chin, almost as if he was in thought. "He needed a bit of inspiration." His smile caused a tick mark to protrude from my forehead. I knew damn well that that was not the reason he did it, but didn't question his excuse.

"Then why did you have to block the master and I's vision when you did?"

"I cannot let my master or my mate see me in such a state, at least not yet."

The forest was growing darker the deeper that we went in, however everything looked just the same as before. It was almost as if the brightness hadn't changed at all.

"S-So this is the werewolf forest..." Mey-rin squeaked.

"I can see why people say it's cursed..." Bard warily stated.

Sebastian took out the compass that he kept in his waist coast. I watched as it spun in his hands, not avoiding all points of direction as if its life depended on it.

"I wonder why it's spinning so much..." I murmered.

"There could be minerals around here," the young master stated monotonously.

"Or it could be the curse~" Sebastian coerced.

I tsked at the demon that sat in front of us. I scooted away as his face grew more demonic and playful as he turned to the young master, a devilish look on his face.

"I find it peculiar that you, who controls a demon and has met Grim Reapers and a fallen angel, does not believe in curses... And that which binds you to myself, is also a type of curse..."

"Are witches real?" I asked.

"Witches are just humans that have been falsely accused of at rubbish trials. They didn't really fly through the air or summon storms. Besides, curses are more of a supernatural power... it's more peculiar to believe in such things. But, that's only what I think," Ciel chimed in before the old demon could answer.

"Let me rephrase... Have you ever met a real witch, Sebastian?"

"I have met many people that call themselves a witch. They held a Sabbath, however they were never truly used for summoning demons. It was merely a place for humans to escape from reality and drown themselves in lechery. That would be an accurate image... They were never truly able to summon us. Giving up your soul for your wish, if you were not prepared to do that then we could not be summoned."

"Were you ever summoned on accident?" I asked.

"Hmmm... Only once, though the souls were not worth the trouble."

Our conversation was cut short when buildings grew closer. The atmosphere was dank and silent while each of us got out of our carriages. There was no one in sight either. The buildings that surrounded us looked old but well kept, save for the few vines that grew over the roofs of the houses. The town looked almost as if it was a couple hundreds of years old behind in modernity.

"This place can't be abandoned... Everything's too well kept to be..." I stated letting the rest of statement hang in the dense air.

"I'm certain there are people living here," Sebastian said.

With hands over his mouth, Finny screamed into the air in hopes of anyone answering. We were soon met with the screams of women, all dressed in clothes that looked like were from the witch trial era. Each of the women, only women that seemed to placate this village, held up pitchforks and other various gardening tools in offense.

Words were exchanged between Sebastian and the women, though with instruction from the master as all of us waited for the next action to be made. All of us were wary, thought for multiple different reasons.

Soon even Finny began panicking as the women believed us to be rats, though there was no reason for them to believe such a thing. But, if they were stuck in the old ways of witches, that explanation was more than understandable.

Through the not so quiet commotion, another player entered the game of war. A man with bushy white and the manliest of sideburns walked forward with a little girl that looked to be about ten. Her hair was black and long and she had the widest green eyes that belonged to any child. I couldn't help my eyes from wondering to her feet. It looked smaller and tight for a child her age, almost like the feet of a baby.

"Mr. Sullivan!" the crowd gasped.

Each of them bowed with a sorry look among their faces, their eyes closed while some of their hands fiddled with each other.

"We are sorry for letting intruders in."

"You are Master Sullivan?" Sebastian asked incredulously.

"Yes. I am the Lord of this forest."

It took me another second to realize that I was able to understand what they were saying, even if it was in German. Was this an ability that I unknowingly took from Sebastian? Was this an ability that I took from the Undertaker unknowingly? I wasn't sure how I was able to understand the language that seemed so foreign to me a day ago, but it was something that I would have to figure out later.

The man holding the child stalked towards Sebastian while configuring an ugly expression.

"Where did you come from?" Sebastian's eyes widened while the man stood over him. I never thought it possible that there was someone that stood taller than Sebastian, and I had the assumption that he didn't believe it either.

The young lady that was attached to the wolf-like man's arms knocked him in the head, punishing him for getting to close to strangers. She apologized to us, but stopped her eyes on the young master. Her staring was incessant, however the thoughts in her head weren't apparent as her eyes held no emotion to them other than curiosity.

"I don't know how you got here, but our village doesn't take outsiders in. If you understand, leave right away!"

The other servants, besides Finny, and Ciel only looked confused at what he said. However, Ciel could tell with the mans foreboding aura and the towns stares of death that they were not welcome. He found it best to leave and come back with another plan.

All of us turned, ready to head back to the normal part of Germany. But we were stopped by the booming voice of the wolf man.

"You know, I don't think you know how lucky you are to cross the forest unscathed. I'm sure you've heard about it, the rumors about this town, of the werewolf that protects this forest."

"So this is the witch's village that is protected by the werewolf?" Sebastian stroked his chin, a small glint of his fang protruding from his mouth.

The little girl turned toward the man and whispered something into his ear. His face contorted into one of shock and anger, though she looked as if she didn't care.

My attention was lost on the confrontation upon hearing the sound of a rustling bush. There was nothing special about. It could have been a bunny, it could have another person that was hiding away from the rest of the village. It could have been a slight brush of wind. But I could feel it, the supernatural energy that moved across that bush.

An odd smell wafted over to my nose. It smelled of burnt wood and lavender, an odd combination of smells but I could smell it nonetheless.

The smell disappeared once Sebastian moved in front of me, replacing it with the calming smell of apple and cinnamon. My attention was brought back with the others grabbing the luggage that we had and following the man and the girl.

"Celesta are you alright? We had almost left without you, was there something that caught your attention?" the young master asked. I walked behind him next to Sebastian, watching the other two in front of us.

"I'm alright. This place just feels off..."

On our way to the child's manor we saw various objects that looked like torture devices. The others began panicking the closer we got to the torture devices. Ciel's expression was slightly bothered, but not too visible for the others.

"There might be something of an occult behind this..." the Earl mumbled.

"Hey, shortie..." the girl ahead called. "What's your name?"

I chuckled behind my hand. Though it wasn't the first time that someone had thought the young master was shorter than he should have been, it was ironic that she was calling him short considering she herself was a little smaller than him.

"Celesta, you understood what she said? What did she say?"

"She's asking for your name."

Sebastian looked questioningly over at me as well as the others. There eyes penetrated through my skull, almost as if they were attempting with their hardest might to not trample me with questions.

"My name is Ciel Phantomhive," he said. "Why do I feel like she said something offensive..."

"How old are you?" she asked.

"He's thirteen years old," Sebastian answered, a smile prevalent on his pale face.

The only mumbled while she continued looking at the young master. Her complexion read that of only curious but also thoughtful. The rest of the walk was spent in silence, for most of the way. While we walked, Finny and sometimes Snake exclaimed in excitement over the surroundings and how different they were to our manor. Finny, however, couldn't stop his curiosity enough and touched more things than he should have, rewarding him with a scolding from Sebastian along the way.

"Welcome to the green manor."


So a little side note, this is the first time ever that I am going to anime expo and I am super excited to be going and I might be cosplaying as Shinobu from Demon Slayer XD I know it isn't originally but it makes me happy thinking about it so I am going to do it.

Also, there are a lot of things that I am trying to bring into the light because I know a lot of the stuff that I do have written isn't exactly explained in full. As we are, oddly enough, coming decently close to the end to this fanfic I'm trying not to rush it but to rush it at the same time so I'm sorry if there is too many "XXX" that you see in the chapter. There will also be a lot more Sebastian and Celesta scenes especially since I believe there weren't as many that I had hoped for. So hopefully, as you read this I will be constructing the next chapters and grab your hearts for the ending. Also, the German boy was saying "No! No! I want to go home!" Until next time, BYE ^_^