Many thanks to my Reviewers: Ennael, God Of Cake, Bougainvillea Blossom, Guest (1), Cloud Carnivore, Guest (2), SilverRider09, pataponvideo, LovePuppy25, ScarletIsCool, MarieTolentino, Guest (3), ShimmeringCrimson, ladyfox15, KillerAkuma, lovablebamboo, Rex888, Great Zamboni, Guest (4), Guest (5), Siren60000, Darke13, Ice Night, Guest(6), Jacquelyn Frost, Not-Your-Average-InuYokai, Lady Layla Mikk, lionlover, Nicki99W, Galskab, MegamiTenshiHime

I loved all you reviews! Thank you so much!

Q/A:

Ennael: I'm happy you liked my Cross, couldn't help adding him in. XD Yeah Ciel likes pissing off Sebastian, doesn't he? But to be fair, he sold his soul so he really shouldn't have to take Sebastian's smugness. I know the translation to 'God and my right' isn't perfect, but I don't know how to do it better either. Sadly that happens a lot when something gets translated, the meaning it carriers just...doesn't translate with it of sorts? Well, anyway thanks for the comment! Here some Allen and Tyki for you (even if no earl). :D

Bougainvillea Blossom: Glad you like Cross, he's one of my favourites too. And yeah, I too can never decide if I like or hate Lenalee, so she's just not going to feature all that much in the story. I'm happy she didn't turn out too annoying though, because I'm not trying to bash her or anything. ^^

Guest (1): Woooo! You pretty much figured out what's gonna happen! I think you'll like this chapter very much XD (You'll have to know who you are 'cuz there were a few 'guest's)

CloudCarnivore: Don't worry, I actually dislike how ridiculously overpowered Sebastian appears to be in the manga (even if that is due to the lack of a proper opponent). So nope, he won't just trash them or anything remotely close to that. If there is a fight it will definitely not be easy for him. And I too think of Noahs are holy beings rather than demons, so...yeah ;P

SilverRider09: Viscount Druit? O-o Why didn't I think of that? The possibilities...muhahaha

ScarletIsCool: Well let's say it like that, Sebastian will be in for a surprise ;)

ShimmeringCrimsom: Aww thanks. Tyki and Allen are just my favourite charas and writing them together is so much fun. The sillies XD I'm happy you like their friendship even if it's kinda dysfunctional.

ladyfox15: Thanks for commenting! And feel free to use the idea (of how Allen knows Undertaker) in your ow fic :) About Kanda, I guess I can see why you would think I'm making a bit too much fun of him. But keep in mind that until now he was only 'seen' from the perspectives of Allen and Cross and well...they are asses. ^^° Also, most characters will be made fun of in this so I can't promise that I'll stop it exactly. Still, I like Kanda too and am definitely not trying to bash him with this, it's just very easy to troll him a little. If it cheers you up though, I'll let you know he'll have some 'badass' scenes too in this story. ;)

Rex888: Ahh…the speechmarks, yes. That happens when one has no Beta. My computer system isn't in English and so it always re-corrects them into my language which kind of makes everything weird….sorry -_-

Great Zamboni: Haha, if you didn't understand the implication, then I prefer not to take away your innocence. XD No really.

Guest (4): Oh, that's an important question! Yes both the Order and the Phantomhive manor are officially located in London. I do believe however, than neither are located directly in London the city, but rather the London area. The Order is on this giant cliff-thingy and due to its secretive nature I just feel like it wouldn't be directly inside the city. Similarly the Phantomhive manor has been shown to be in a somewhat rural environment and in the past many nobles had their mansion outside the city limits. The Phantomhive townhouse is also not something that I have made up, it exists in the manga and probably the anime as well and Ciel also had to travel to London in the manga. I hope that explains things.

Jacquelin Forst: Hehe, correct !

Galskab: Aww thanks for asking. No except killing my laptop and then losing interest for some time nothing bad came up XD Life just is stressful, meh. It's funny because just as I started writing again lots of people suddenly reviewed in the last few days. I'll count that as a sign, haha

So hey, here is the next chappie, thanks for reviewing!

AN: This chapter was long overdue. It has been what? A year? OMG time flies so fast. I'm really sorry for the wait. My old laptop died on me and with it everything I had written. I nearly died. I have of course a new laptop and had it for quite some time now, but re-writing this chapter was really hard. I dunno it just kinda brought me down that all my work was gone and then I was too lazy to do it again.

However, this story isn't abandoned! Thank you for all your kind reviews they helped a lot! Also, finally the original DGM continues as well! WUHUU! I'M SO FUCKING HAPPY!

Took me forever but here is the new chapter with an extra amount of Undertaker for you guys! ;P

(Finally 503 Error stopped ….dat timing -_-)

Chapter 7

Necromancy for Beginners, or Socializing for the Insane

Allen gave a proud huff as he reached the dark oak doors that were the entrance to the local morgue. He hadn't gotten lost on his way here, which -at least in his book- was quite an achievement. And okay, maybe all he had to do was walk down a straight road, with the building already visible in the distance and no streets or dark alleys branching of from the main path that he could accidentally wander down. But point was that he hadn't gotten lost (no matter how difficult that would have been in the first place) and that would always be something special to him.

The morgue itself was a pretty little thing. It was squashed between two traditional looking brickwork houses with wooden decorations that were around two stories high and with bird nests on their chimneys. Unlike its neighbours the morgue was made of big, grey stone slaps and the only visible windows were two air-slits close to the floor. Around the door there were some dark decorations of what Allen assumed were little devils with oversized forks and brilliant, wide smiles.

'Cute'

Allen tried pushing against the doors and to his surprise they actually opened, albeit with an ominous squeak.

Huh.

That was weird. Wasn't Undertaker worried about burglars? What if someone tried to break in and steal...something? They wouldn't even have to try hard at all - they could just walk right in!

Really, sometimes Undertaker was so silly.

With a sigh and completely ignoring the heavy door-knocker and the fact that he himself hadn't been invited in either, Allen stepped through the door and into a dark hallway.

"Hello?" he called out as the door fell shut behind him. Waiting for a reply, he strained his ears for any sound that would indicate the presence of another person, but the only thing he could hear was his own voice echoing back.

"Undertaker?" he tried again, taking a few uncertain steps down the corridor. "It's me, Allen Walker. I came to visit!"

Still no reply.

Allen frowned.

It looked like Undertaker wasn't at home.

That was...unexpected.

What should he do now? Truthfully, he hadn't even considered the possibility that Undertaker might not be at home when he arrived. Sure, looking at it from a realistic point of view the guy probably didn't spend all his time in the morgue. And yet he had fully expected the man to greet him with open arms and a jar of cookies.

Especially the cookies.

Damn.

Basically, this situation left the young exorcists with only two options: Leave and come back later or wait here until the man returned. And because Allen was a patient person and didn't particularly feel like walking the whole way back to the inn (a full 200 meters) he opted to wait.

And maybe look around a little.

Because he was getting hungry and particularly miffed about the cookie thing.

"Why is there no food here?" Allen whined loudly as he looked through the empty cupboards in the kitchen "What is wrong with that guy? Doesn't he eat anything?".

In the back of cupboard number three he finally found a cookie jar. It was empty.

Allen nearly cried.

He had been in the house for roughly fifteen minutes and had by now gone through most of the rooms bordering on the hallway. The first one had been a boring, bland office with books and papers and the usual overfilled desk. The second one had been a sitting room. Couches had been placed around a small coffee table and pictures and plants gave the room a livelier feeling. Okay, the frames were dusty and cracked and the plants withered, but it was the intent that counted.

Room number three had been the first real ray of hope for Allen's stomach. It was darker and smaller than the other rooms and shelves had been lining the all of its walls, even blocking the light coming through the singular, little window on the far wall.

What had been important however was that there were things on those shelves. Beautiful things that usually held food.

Jars. And a lot of them at that.

And those jars weren't empty. Oh, no. Instead they were filled with some kind of fluid with stuff floating around in it.

Being the glutton he was Allen's mind had quickly jumped to one solution: preserved food!

But alas this was the Undertaker's house and therefore Allen's mind had been painfully corrected once he pushed the door open completely to allow more light to fall into the room.

He stared at the jars. Some of them stared back.

Literally.

Because they had eyeballs in them.

'Bloody hell!' Allen cursed mentally 'What is wrong with this house?'

Inspecting the other jars he quickly confirmed that were also holding an array of different human body parts. But at least those didn't stare.

On the closest shelf Allen could make out the shapes of fingers, brains and even kidneys (the reason why he was able to correctly identify said organ was connected to slightly illegal activities that he had accidentally stumbled upon in the Ukraine some time ago and would rather not have to explain). The assorted body parts were all swimming in a greenish-yellow substance in what Allen assumed had been marmelade glasses and coockie-jars once upon a time. At least according to some of the remaining labels, because he surely hoped ''James Keiller & Sons" was a brand reference and not the names of the people in it.

'So yeah' the boy's mind reluctantly concluded 'no food'.

And with that last thought he had simply closed the door again, ignoring whatever he might or might not have seen.

Which, eventually, brought him to room number 4. The last room. The kitchen. Where there was absolutely nothing edible either.

With a sigh he let himself sink to the floor in a rather dramatic fashion, hanging his head and hoping that some random deity would take pity on him. "What should I do now?" Allen wondered aloud, something he had started doing ever since acquiring Timcanpy. "Undertaker is taking forever to return and I am bored."

He waited for some kind of answer but with Timcanpy being at the Order and all, none came forward.

"And not even Tyki is here" he continued his complain towards the empty room "at least then we could have played poker."

The house remained silent.

"And I'm hungry!" he wailed in frustration

"Huuu -GryyY" the house wailed back.

"Right, exactly that" Allen agreed before blinking "Huh, this sure is the most responsive house I've ever been in."

"HhaHaaNgry!" another scream tore through the hallway.

This time the young exorcist quickly stood up from the floor, his mind going into overdrive and his muscles tensing. Staring jars were one thing. Weird, inhuman sounding screams however were on a completely different scale.

Stepping back into the hallway his eyes zeroed in on the only door he hadn't opened so far. It was a heavy metal and wood construction at the very end of the hallway, directly facing the front door. Since he had tried and failed opening it before he knew it was locked. Of course he could have opened it with Crown Clown, but had abstained from doing so out of respect for the dead. After all this was a morgue and since he had gone through all other rooms and the dead bodies had to be kept somewhere...well...

"GaaAh!"

Which made the fact that there were screams coming from a room of supposedly-dead people slightly unsettling. It wasn't even a man's voice, so Undertaker was out of the question too.

Naturally a part of Allen's brain had immediately jumped to the conclusion of 'Akuma', but he couldn't recall any Akuma screaming their throats out like that – they were more the covert type, pretending to be human and killing people in secret. Also, his eyes hadn't activated yet, even though ever since its evolution it wasn't necessary for him to have visual contact with an Akuma anymore, just being in its vicinity should have been enough.

Still, even if it this didn't seem to involve Akuma, Allen chose to activate his innocence anyway. He could always use it to hit someone over the head if nothing else. (Mis)Using his Innocence in the usual fashion he quickly managed to pry the door open and nearly stumbled down the stairs.

'Who the hell builds a narrow, steep staircase right behind a door?' he wondered in slight annoyance after just barely managing to regain his balance. 'This is suicidal. And what about the corpses? Do they actually have to carry them down here?'

"Aaah...grrry..." the voice – definitely female- called out again. Now, being at the top of the stairs, it was clear that it was coming from somewhere below and in addition to the screaming, Allen could also make out noises that sounded like something heavy was being dragged over the flow.

At this point most people would have been highly hesitant to go down a dark staircase into a chamber full of corpses and towards what sounded like a deranged woman screaming in agony. They would have felt a reasonably big amount of fear and would therefore have- if at all- approached the situation slowly and carefully.

But alas, Allen wasn't most people and was sadly also completely incapable of feeling the appropriate amount of... anything really.

So, much unlike a reasonable person would have done, he simply skipped down the stairs and stepped into the underground chamber with a smile.

"Good afternoon" he decided to address the situation like a true gentleman "I heard screams, is everything alright?"

There was a short pause in which two pairs of eyes – one of them a toxic green and the other a dead, unseeing blue – turned towards him.

Then: "HUUNNnnGGggryYY!"

As soon as the woman -who had previously been dragging herself around on her arms- laid her eyes on him she had left out an unholy shriek and jumped up from the floor to lunge at him.

Allen noticed that while she was wearing a long, pink dress and had pretty blond hair, the dress was torn in several places and her hair dishevelled. There was also some blood on her face and hands and upon closer inspection he could see stitched-up scars running around her neck and arms.

And for some reason she was now gnawing on his left arm which he had automatically raised in defence.

"You okay, madam?" Allen tried to ask politely, slightly unsure of how to address such behaviour. "You seem to be...uhm...bleeding?"

"GAHww..." came the garbled answer as the woman continued to try and sink her teeth into his

blackened flesh.

"Now, now Gwyneth! This is no way to treat a guest." Undertaker's voice rang out through the room as he walked over to the two of them.

"Undertaker?" Allen asked in realization "I thought you weren't home. I called out for you a few times!"

"Sorry, sorry, Allen~kun." The man responded with a grin, green eyes glinting "I didn't hear you. The walls here are quite thick you know?"

"Ieehhg!" 'Gwyneth' let out a high-pitched scream as she seemed to somehow realize that trying to eat Allen's left arm wouldn't work and decided to go for his shoulder instead.

Allen stopped her by putting his left hand over her mouth, looking slightly apologetic "Pardon me, Miss but...could you please cease that?"

Apparently not.

The woman didn't stop, instead she started screeching and trashing around even harder in an attempt to pry the boy's grip on her jaw lose.

"I fear she won't listen to you" Undertaker chuckled as he pressed some buttons on a weird-looking machine on a nearby table. "She isn't quite 'all here' at the moment if you get my drift. I think it would probably be for the best if she went back to sleep now" With that the machine gave a loud beep and Gwyneth's whole body' immediately went slack before falling to the floor.

"Is she...?" Allen began to ask as he stared at the unmoving form at his feet. With the way her chest wasn't moving and her empty eyes were just gazing nothing she nearly appeared..."dead?"

"Yup!" Undertaker responded happily "Even if she is very lively for a corpse."

"Oh." Allen actually needed a moment to process the situation, before he frowned. "You are practising necromancy?" he asked sharply.

"You could say that" Undertaker responded "But I'm still very much a beginner. I can get the bodies to move, but all they ever do is to try and eat me."

"Eat you?"

"Yep!" the man grinned, before adapting a mock-serious expression "I think it's because they lack a soul or something, so they try to get other people's. Of course eating them won't really help with that, but I fear my experiments are not exactly all that smart."

"So... you are experimenting on the dead?" Allen asked slowly, sending the man a look that was a clear warning of what he would do should Undertaker try and lie to him "And you say you are making them move around and talk without having an actual soul?"

"Yes, that's pretty much it" Undertaker shrugged, completely unperturbed by the questions and the harsh gaze the other white-head shot at him. "I'm not sure if you can call it 'talking' though" he mused "since they aren't really articulate."

"I see" Allen said, looking back down at the female corpse on the floor with a heavy frown.

There was a lull in the conversation.

"Say, Allen~kun?" Undertaker inquired happily after nobody had said anything for nearly a minute. His grin sharpened slightly and toxic eyes got brighter. "Are you possibly bothered by my little experiment?"

There was something overly sweet in his voice as he asked that, like the smell of rotting people.

Allen's eyes were cold as he looked back at the man.

"Of course I'm bothered. Very much so in fact."

"Is that so? Well, that is truly a pity" the Undertaker eyes narrowed and for the first time in a long while his smile disappeared completely "I fear I cannot help it though. So what do we do about this?"

The silence only lasted for a heartbeat this time.

"Of course you can help it!" Allen very nearly snapped at the man as his eyes took on a new kind of spark. "For starters, you could help me get this young lady back into proper shape!" he exclaimed angrily, pointing at Gwyneth who was still lying crampled at his feet.

"There is absolutely no excuse for this Undertaker, you hear me? This is most unbecoming behaviour for a gentleman! Letting a lady look all dishevelled and dirty and then simply dropping her on the floor?" Allen shook his head in disbelieve "That is no way to treat a woman, dead or alive."

Undertaker just stared at the boy blankly, before his grin slowly returned to his face "Oho?"

"Don't 'Oho?' me!" Allen hissed as he picked up the woman himself, grumbling angrily "Honestly, not even my arse of a master treated Maria like this."

"Your Master?" Undertaker asked and something like realization appeared on his face before he started laughing loudly. Because that, at least, explained quite a lot. The boy was truly far more amusing than most. He deserved a reward.

"Say boy, would you like some cookies as an apology?"

"Huh? Did you say cookies?!"

Tyki wasn't having much success so far. He had gone out into town with the purpose of finding someone who specialized in psychological problems and could give him some advice on what to do with Walker (and maybe even his family by extension). But as it turned out psychology was still very much a fringe area of medicine and therefore most of the doctors he had met so far had believed it to be nonsense.

Moreover, pretty much everyone he had talked to so far had advised him to go find an 'exorcist' for matters of the mind. 'Exorcist' being used as a very broad term here, because even he, as a Noah, felt slightly insulted by what types of idiots where allowed to label themselves as such. He hadn't of course expected a 'real' exorcist with innocence and everything but at least someone with maybe the skill of a Crow. But nope, nothing like that. Apparently to the public it was enough if they pulled out a bible, splashed some water around and sort of tortured their 'patients.'

And while Tyki had to admit that the torture part of the job had looked like fun he very much doubted its usefulness.

So yeah, normal doctors and exorcists were definitely a no-go.

(And thinking about it, for some reason the best scientists and specialists for pretty much everything where employed by the Black Order. No wonder there was no decent help left for the general public. Stupid church)

But now, finally, he had found something that could be considered to have something of an expertise when it came to mental issues. A well respected establishment, a safe heaven for those that are troubled, with the sole purpose to cure the mentally ill and scientifically unravel the secrets of the human mind.

Okay, that might be a bit of an euphemism. It was pretty much just a loony bin. A famous one, mind you, but well... it was Bedlam.

Or, to put it correctly 'The Bethlem Royal Hospital for the Mentally Ill'.

And that was fine by the Noah, because as long as something had 'royal hospital' in its name it couldn't be completely disastrous, could it? The building itself looked nice enough at least.

Unlike what Tyki had expected, Bethlem wasn't a gloomy, dark hell-hole full of screaming people. Okay, maybe the area sucked and the screams were there too, but the building itself actually looked pretty decent from the outside. It was huge and sprawling, with high walls, iron gates and an impressive cluster of pillars at its front entrance. And while some trees blocked him from taking in the full view, Tyki was pretty sure the whole complex had to be nearly 200 meters in length and god-knows how far it continued in the back.

"Hm...I expected worse" the Portugese mumbled as he stared through the tall iron gates to where broad stairs led to the front door. "Now, how to get in is the question?"

"Why the 'ell wouldcha wanna go in 'ere?" a voice asked from his right.

Turning towards it Tyki's eyes met a gruffy looking man with a beard and clothes that looked just as worn out as his own. He was sitting against the wall with an empty bottle of ale next to him.

"Oh, I need help" Tyki explained with a small grin "Any advice on how to contact the people in there?"

The man just raised an eyebrow. "Ya can't jus' walk in 'ere like that no more. If ya wanna talk to 'em ya either be rich or barmy."

"Oh, really?" Tyki frowned. This would all be so much simpler if he could use his powers. He'd walk straight through the gate and make them talk to him. "Well, you wouldn't know how I could get an appointment with someone then? I just need to ask a few questions, nothing much."

"Didn't I jus' tell ya?" the man grumbled back, hands in his pockets and shoulders hunching up. "They only talk to rich folk. If ya're poor ya're nothin' to them."

"But surely there must be some way to get to speak with them? Isn't it their job to help the public? I mean, they are a hospital after all, so there must be some way to enter, right?"

The man just grumbled something under his breath while his eyes roamed Tyki's form, trying to gauge him somehow. "Why do ya want ta go in so badly?" he finally asked.

"Like I said, I need some advice."

"For yerself?" there was some wariness in the other's tone.

"No, a friend of mine" Tyki answered and immediately the other man relaxed.

'Ah' the Noah realized 'he was worried that I might be loony.' That thought brought a small grin to his face as he quickly strode over to the man and plopped down on the wall next to him. "So tell me, is there really no way to get in? You look like a local" -or at least someone that literally lived on these streets- "I'm sure you know a way after all?" he finished his sentence by pulling out a newly bought box of cigarettes and offering one to the man.

The man in return only shot him a short look before quickly grabbing one. "Fine, jus' wait 'ere with meh. In the afternoon they often come and ask the strays 'ere to do some cleanin'. Too nasty a job for 'em ya know?"

"Okay?" Tyki didn't really know what was quite so horrible about doing some cleaning but figured he didn't really want to know either. Lighting up the man's cigarette and one for himself he leaned back against the wall with a low groan. He had walked all over town today to find this place and his feet were hurting badly. In his opinion one of the worst downsides of wearing old clothes was that the shoes never really fit and he was sure to have blisters by now.

"So what's ya friend's problem?" Mr. Scruffy -Tyki didn't care enough to ask for his real name- asked. He seemed a lot happier to talk now that he had some tobacco to kill his lungs with. "He hearing voices? Hallucinations?"

"Yes to both" Tyki answered easily. After all having a Noah in your head usually made you liable for theses sort of things. "But that's not the real problem. The real problem is that he doesn't get it."

"Huh? Waddya mean?" Scruffy sounded confused now.

"Oh well" the Noah sighed, blowing out smoke from his mouth in the process "the problem is: he's nuts but he thinks he's not. Actually he even thinks I'm more nuts than him. Which is ridiculous of course."

"They nevah think they're nutters though" the man replied quite reasonably "usually havta be told. Wouldn't be barmy otherwise, no?"

"But I did tell him!" Tyki protested "He just ignores whatever I tell him!"

The man shrugged. "Dunno, maybe he just doesn't like ya? "

"Well he did try to throw me out of a window..." Tyki murmured to himself before shaking his head "But nah, that was just because he thought I was Cross."

The other man gave him a highly sceptical look at that "He tried ta throw ya outta a window? Ya sure ya only want him to know he's crazy and not to..well, stop being crazy or som'thin?"

"Hm..." Tyki had to seriously think about that. Did it bother him that the brat was a bit of a whacko? Nope, not really. And even if it did, there was no helping it. After all, he had long since realized that being a Noah always came with a bit of mental instability. But at least all of the others (or most of them, he wasn't so sure about Sheryl) knew that they weren't exactly normal.

And really, a sane Allen Walker? That sounded a bit...

"Boring" he concluded aloud.

"What?" the homeless guy just stared at him in confusion and so Tyki felt the need to explain himself properly.

"I don't need him healed or whatever. That would be boring. And his taste is usually pretty good you know? I like dark, dingy and bloody places too, really. It's just that his complete denial can get quite annoying at times."

The man just stared at him, still not understanding his point.

"Okay, look. Me for example – I know I'm nuts" Tyki tried to clarify "So let's say I rip out someone's heart or lungs or whatever, okay? But I fully realize that I'll creep others out with my behaviour... "

The man just continued staring.

"...and sure my reactions aren't always normal either, but again I know that. So what if I think watching people die is fun? And, really, some of the faces they make are just too weird not to laugh at -" Tyki couldn't help his trademark grin from creeping up on his face and eyes taking on a golden sheen "gurgling out broken words, with their mouths twisting and their eyes bulging and ..."

He trailed of before forcing his face back into a normal expression and turning towards his conversation-partner.

"...but at least I know how to behave myself in public, right?"

Tyki gave Scruffy and expectant look.

The other just stared back in horror.

Then he got up and started running.

The Noah blinked in confusion for a moment before getting up as well and cupping his hands around his mouth so the other could properly hear him shouting his last words.

"See?! This would be a whole lot creepier if I didn't even know why you are running, right? But I promise I do know!"

After Undertaker and Allen had managed to make Gwyneth look presentable again- or as presentable as any corpse could look- they sat down on top of a pair of coffins for tea. Luckily for Undertaker the man had been smart enough to offer the boy not just one, but three full cookie jars as compensation for his un-gentlemanly behaviour. Allen in turn had graciously accepted the excuse and kept himself from berating the man further, the whole thing quickly forgotten by the time he had emptied the first jar.

Now, that Allen had some time to properly look around the area he found that Gwyneth wasn't the only corpse currently stored here. On a table not far from him he could make out the shape of a man covered by a white sheet and the coffins at the far end of the room also seemed to be occupied. Though at least the staircase made sense now, it was quite a bit cooler down here as it had been on the ground floor.

"So, how exactly does your Master do it?" Undertaker asked as he nipped at his tea "I never got to ask him about it. He was always a bit...curt."

"Oh, yeah, he's unbelievably rude" Allen agreed "Not a very good conversationalist, really. And I don't really know how he does it. The only thing I can tell you is that he uses magic, not technology as you seem to do."

"Oh, the machine? Yes, but technology is just a part of it, the other is...you could also call it magic I guess."

"So you are a magician too?" Allen was interested now. He'd never really met any magicians besides Cross.

"Not quite. I do have some tricks up my sleeves though" the man gave a small chuckle "But what about you? Did your master teach you any magic?"

Allen just gave a snort "No, the only thing he ever really taught me was the definition of 'scum-bag'. But that at least he did pretty thoroughly."

"Aww, so no magic tricks for the little clown?" Undertaker pouted "That would surely have made your performance all the better!"

Allen smiled at that "That might be true, but I don't think I currently have enough time to learn something as complicated as Master's magic anyway. I'm an exorcist after all and I still haven't completely mastered Crown Clown."

"Crown Clown?" Undertaker asked "Is that the name of your Innocence?"

"Right! You don't know it, but it evolved and is now called Crown Clown."

"Ohhh, so that is why your hand was all shiny and black when Gwyneth tried to eat it? I remember that the last time I saw you, you always refused to show me your arm at all! You even stabbed me with a fork when I tried to sneak a peak!"

At those words Allen gave a small grin and scratched his cheek in embarrassment. "Yes, well, it looked quite unsightly back then and I was a bit self-conscious about it. Sorry about that."

"No big deal" Undertaker waved him off. "I managed to stop the bleeding easily enough after all."

"So what are you doing down here all day? Except practicing necromancy that is?" Allen changed the topic.

"Coffins!" Undertaker quickly exclaimed, happy that someone seemed interested in his work for once "And corpse-stuff of course but my coffins are way better!"

"I remember that they were pretty high quality, Cross wouldn't have let you make Maria's coffin otherwise after all. So do you make all of the coffins down here yourself?"

"Not all of them. But the one you are currently sitting on is in fact one of my newest models!"

Allen glanced down, looking at the dark mahogany coffin beneath him. It was quite elegant with gravures and a small hole at the top.

"Pretty" he thought oud loud.

"Thank you."

"But why the hole?"

"Air slit. Occasionally we bury people alive."

"Oh."

"Wanna try it?"

"The coffin?"

"Yup!"

Allen hesitated for a second, a small feeling in the back of his head telling him that maybe something wasn't quite right about trying out coffins, before he simply shrugged.

"Eh, sure why not?"

It had taken Ciel and the rest of his household the better part of the morning to get themselves properly settled into the Phantomhive's city house. As Ciel's decision to go into London had been quite spontaneous there had been no time to send a message to get the house prepared for his arrival.

Therefore, upon their arrival, Ciel had ordered his staff to free the house of any signs of disuse while he waited outside in the carriage. He would have preferred to get to work straight away, but decided that due to his asthma he would rather have Sebastian overseeing his staff to make sure the house was free of dust and properly aired before he set foot inside.

It was nearly noon when Sebastian returned to the carriage and informed him that despite "certain mishaps from the staff" (Ciel noticed that while his smile didn't waver Sebastian's eye did a miniscule twitch) the house was now completely clean and that a small lunch had been prepared for him inside.

Putting away the Queen's letter, which Ciel had been repeatedly mulling over during his wait, he gave a nod and let his butler help him out of the carriage.

"I have decided on our course of action concerning the investigation" he informed Sebastian as they ascended the front steps of the house. "We should begin with the only physical evidence that exists in this case – the body. While I eat I want you to quickly pass by the responsible police department and get me a copy of whatever information they have on the murder and which coroner had been in charge of the body." He gave his butler a fleeting look before adding "Be discreet about it, I don't want them to know that I have had a look into their files quite yet."

"I understand, my Lord."

"And find out where the body currently is at. I want to have a look at it myself if possible."

"Of course, my Lord"

"That naturally means you will have to do some digging if it had already been buried."

"Naturally, my Lord"

As Ciel stepped through the front door into the now sparkling interior of his town house he turned back to Sebastian one last time and with the same final tone added:

"Also, I want to eat strawberry shortcake for dessert this evening."

"…As you wish, my Lord"

One hour later Ciel stepped out of his carriage again, a slightly disgruntled expression on his face.

As expected Sebastian had returned just as Ciel had finished his lunch to hand him a perfect copy of the police reports. Perfect of course meaning that even the handwriting and miniscule details such as ink blotches had been reproduced in every detail.

From the reports it quickly became clear that very little investigation had been done into the murder and that it had simply been dismissed as a common burglary. Worse yet, the body had apparently not even been properly evaluated. According to the documents the coroner in charge of the post-mortem had agreed with the officers that led the investigation and decided that the reason for the person's death had obviously been the slit throat.

Ciel couldn't help but feel disgusted at the lax way such things were still being handled by the police.

The bad news didn't stop there however.

As ordered, Sebastian had also found out the current location of the corpse and while it was luckily still unburied (despite not having to do it himself Ciel didn't fancy an exhumation) it was also in the possession of someone Ciel didn't really feel like dealing with.

"Truly, what are the chances?" he grumbled as he and Sebastian stepped into the familiar walls of a certain Undertaker's morgue.

"Around ten percent my Lord, as there are roughly five morgues in the general area and this particular one has a capacity of-"

"It was a rhetorical question!" Ciel hissed, disrupting his butler's explanation and gaining a small smirk in response.

"I'm sorry my Lord, I didn't realize."

Ciel scoffed but didn't deign Sebastian's cheek to be deserving of anymore comment.

Without knocking or any other form of politeness that was usually called for when entering another person's home Ciel strode through the house and towards the heavy door at the end of the corridor. Noticing that it was unlocked he simply pushed it open completely and made his way downwards towards the basement.

With Sebastian at his heel he soon found himself stepping into a expectedly gloomy room, immediately spotting Undertaker's familiar figure lounging on one of the coffins and snacking from his usual jar of bone shaped cookies.

"Undertaker" Ciel greeted with a nod of his head, his posture stiff as he mentally prepared himself to deal with the other man's usual antics.

"Little Earl!" the man exclaimed happily, his usual smile lighting up (or maybe not so much lighting up as there was nothing really light about it) his face. "What gives me the honour?"

"We are here because of a case and need your assistance" Ciel answered, slowly making his way over to the other, stopping next to a big oak coffin.

"So you are looking for information?" the white haired man grinned back "Is it another assignment by your dear Queen?"

"Yes and yes" Ciel answered "But more than just information I am actually looking for a corpse this time."

"Ohh~?" Undertaker hopped of his coffin and gave the oak coffin a few loud knocks as if to prove a point. "Then you are certainly right here! I have many of those!"

"Well, I'm not looking for just any corpse, I'm looking for a specific corpse" Ciel decided to explain before the man could come to any weird conclusion. "The victim of a murder. The police report states tha-"

Ciel didn't even finish his sentence before the coffin next to him suddenly burst open and the supposedly dead person lying in it sat up with a yawn.

"-Gah-!" Ciel let out a strangled sound as he took a quick step back towards his butler, staring at the apparently re-animated corpse in disbelieve.

Meanwhile Sebastian's only outwards sign of surprise was a slightly raised eyebrow. However due to being practically squished against him, Ciel could feel the demon's posture giving a miniscule shift as his muscles contracted and his stance changed to a more alert one.

"-buwahhh…..uhg." the corpse – not corpse?- finally let its yawn run out before stretching its arms above its head and cracking its neck.

Taking a deep breath, Ciel used this time to quickly gather himself again and to put on his patented 'I am not amused'- face. Once he had gotten over the first shock and calmed his heart a little it became obvious that the corpse wasn't a corpse at all.

From his current position the young Earl couldn't see the other person's face as his back was partially tuned towards them, but judging from his statue it was a boy. A teenager to be exact, maybe three or four years older than Ciel himself. He was wearing a relatively normal beige coat with a scarf and his skin, while pale, definitely lacked the greyish sheen of death.

Ciel watched in something akin to morbid fascination at the teen clambered out of the coffin and stretched his hands out towards Undertaker as if asking for a hug.

Undertaker, apparently understanding the gesture differently, simply handed him his cookie jar.

The teen promptly started snacking.

He hadn't even so much as glanced at Ciel and Sebastian so far.

"Excuse me" Ciel decided to make his presence known "But who are you and why did you just come out of a coffin?"

"Huh?" the boy turned his head to blink at them owlishly "Oh, hello. I didn't see you there."

"I noticed" Ciel answered curtly. Now that the other was turned fully towards them Ciel could clearly see the other's face. With his straight nose, grey eyes and good facial bone structure the teen was stuck in that transitory phase between pretty and handsome. There was still a certain roundness to his face that Ciel was sure he would lose overtime, but which for now made him appear younger than he probably was. Seeing him standing next to Undertaker also made Ciel realize that the teen's hair, which he had first believed to be a very light blond, was actually the same shade of bone-white as Undertaker's. It was however the red, jagged scar on the left side of his face that caught Ciel's attention the most.

While still clearly visible and contrasting strongly with his pale skin, the scar tissue itself seemed to be in a very advanced state of healing. 'It must be several years old' Ciel mused as his eyes traced its line up from the chin to his eyebrow where it disappeared behind the teen's bangs. If the young Earl was to guess he would say that the scar probably continued up his forehead as well and that – judging by its unusual form- it was probably man-made.

"Ohhh~!" Undertaker's voice broke the silence "Let me introduce you!"

"This" he said gesturing towards Ciel and Sebastian "Are the young Earl Phantomhive and his butler Sebastian!"

"And this" this time he pointed towards the teen who was still in the process of happily emptying the cookie jar "is Allen Walker! He is an exorcist."

Baba-dum.

So finally they meet. First contact has been made. The aliens have landed.

To clarify, Allen doesn't mind necromancy because it's not the same as Akumas as it doesn't the soul and his eye would let him see that if it was the case. And also because his childhood just really messed him up (between Cross and Maria, Maria was his preferred conversation partner)…luckily Tyki was smart enough not to get involved in this visit. And yeah, those who read the Kuroshitsuji manga know what Undertaker is already experimenting with here, hehe.

The cliffy was unintended … 3

Tune in again next time when things get even more awkward and Lavi is on the path to becoming homicidal!

Happy belated D-Gray Man continuation!