I'm back! I'm sure everyone is out of the fandom by now! Whoops. Sorry folks, I am not the most reliable updater but you should all know that.
In other news MY BOOK IS COMING OUT SOON. YOU SHOULD ALL BUY IT. JUST DROP ME A PRIVATE MESSAGE (PM/IM) ON MY PROFILE AND I'LL LINK YOU TO THE BOOK.
SUPPOOOOORT MEEEEEEEE.
Wow I totally didn't notice how remarkabad the last chapter was. I am so sorry for the spelling errors.I'm really trying hard to remember where I was going to take this story. And honestly for the life of me I can't, so I've made up some new paths that should be fun.
I've done some things in this that will either be explained later in the chapter itself, or later in the story, so if something seems completely out of place or unexplained ...yeah, that.
Disclaimer; I own nothing. I'm not making a profit off of it so shut ya pie hole.
Alois opened his eyes.
He was struck with the sensation he'd long parted with; A general sense of ...good. It might have had something to do with the fact he'd had a nightmareless rest.
No, he decided. This was something entirely different.
Did he rest at all? A slim finger inched up to dance along his throat. Alois remembered a breaking snap of bones in his fragile neck; he knew all too well that feeling.
Ah, yes.
He knew all too well, everything.
Turning eyes to the heavy crypt door, a smile curved over his lips that simply wasn't himself.
Claude was willing up transport to St. Patrick's Cathedral, more than ready to use up large reserves of his energy to get to Alois.
Will shut his schedule, and eyed Claude with a (more than usual)-serious expression.
"There's no point; He's dead," His eyes shifted to Ciel who was looking paler than moments ago. Maybe the boy thought his wish of never having to see Alois again had come to horrible fruition. Unlikely, given the Ciel of past would have more or less been responsible for the boys demise and elated in it.
"There is however a chance of saving your mother, her death time is fluctuating rapidly."
Ciel opened his mouth to speak, most likely to Sebastian who was already moving to grab the boy up, however he was cut off by Claude.
"No! He can't be dead; He can not have died," A clenched jaw accompanied the averted gazes the triplet demons had.
"Is this remorse, demon? For a human?" Will sneered, the concept of a demon having remotely savable characteristics was laughable at best*.
(*Not that William T. Spears ever engaged in something as foolish as laughter.)
"No, that isn't it, is it? You're connected somehow, to Alois."
Ciel's voice was odd, it was his own but at the same time it wasn't. Not like the time in which Alois had possessed Ciel's body, but the change was noticeable that Sebastian visibly pulled back from the injured boy.
Claude tensed again, before responding.
"On the island, after I was dealt the wound by the demon blade...for a short time, all of our beings converged. Us, as demons pulled away soon after as our bodies started to mend but we were still somehow connected to Alois' soul. His rebirth, and our revival are I believe connected some how. When his soul wanes and flickers, we feel it. I, more so than the others. My connection to him is the strongest since without him, my wound would have not healed from such a weapon."
Claude adjusted his glasses with a single finger, he purposely left out a few details they need not know relating to Alois' rebirth and Luca Macken.
"If Alois was well and dead, I suspect at the very least myself and Hannah would die or perish."
"Let me suggest something, as I'm sure William is about to argue that his records do not lie, and it will spark another fight. We all have business to attend to at St. Patrick's, why not we save our supernatural bickering until we observe for ourselves what the situation is, yes?" Sebastian smiled curtly, and the elder brunettes of the room nodded to themselves.
And with that the bespectacled men swished out the room in not but a blur to the casual viewer. Thompson, Timber and Cantebury bowed their heads before following their leader.
Sebastian breathed out, what was one to do when it seemed the forces of both heaven and hell were against you?
Work them against one another until you got your own way, obviously.
But what exactly was his 'own way'? He hadn't stopped to work out the specifics, but while turning a red eye to the injured boy next to him, Sebastian knew exactly what he wanted. Even if admittance to himself of those facts was a far off mile to go.
Ciel looked up slowly to meet his gaze, a look about his face Sebastian hadn't seen before. No, trash that; He had seen it before, but never directed at himself before.
It was a look of nostalgic longing, one Ciel had often looked at lady Elizabeth with. 'I need you by me to stay connected to myself', would be the literal translation if there was to be a book written of his traits.
For Elizabeth, it was obvious to mean that Ciel couldn't lose touch with the happiness of his own childhood; though moreover a reminder that those days were purposely ended too soon with disaster and despair. Sebastian had no idea why Ciel's gaze was fixed upon him so, was it because he remembered his possible 'past-life' and wanted to return to it? It was worth questioning him about.
"Your name...Sebastian, was it?" Ciel spoke quietly, but not softly. A quirk made itself to Sebastian's lips; The Queen's Dog was onto a scent.
Nodding, "I've been called that for some time now, but I'd imagine you're reaffirming a hunch you have rather than really wanting to discuss such matters when such dire news faces your ...mother, correct?"
Ciel didn't bother to respond to the assertion, and didn't need to. Sebastian, whether Ciel knew it right now or know, knew the boy better than anyone.
"Will I be able to walk?"
"I say, you haven'a noticed I been healin' ya this damn whole time." Jennis, the pustule of a pixie chimed in, having been silent through most of the previous encounter. Ciel positioned himself to survey his leg, which had only a faint pink line of recently healed skin. It would scar, but it was better than dying. Pushing off the side of the hospital bed, while extremely happy his gown actually had a back to it, Ciel bounced gingerly on the previously injured and found his body had no complaints to the motion.
"I need new clothes, and a ride to the church."
Sebastian pulled an entirely new outfit out of seemingly nowhere, and smiled.
"I've picked out for you a Burberry wool blend coat, and dress shirt, as well as slacks from Armani."
Ciel eyed him carefully, and may or may not have been wondering what kind of person took that much joy in picking out an underage boys clothing. Was he dealing with some sort of lolita-loving vampire? His nose wrinkled at the thought of their previous guests being somehow worse.
"I'm not going to ask where you got those, or how much they cost,-"
"Roughly $756.52"
"-Just get me to St. Patrick's Cathedral this instant!"
Sebastian chuckled, it was dark and smooth like velvet and just entirely terrifying and maybe just a bit attractive. It was something he had most certainly never practiced doing.
"Very well, Ciel..La Mer."
Deirdre had been grabbed just near Broadway, and woken tied up and half haphazardly thrown onto some sort of table. Her eyes cracked open and took in where she was.
A tall golden peak, of expertly crafted gold rose above her and the stone walls created such amazing shadows that danced and played from the light shining in from stained glass windows. A profoundly bad feeling crept into her stomach as she came to realize she wasn't just on a table, she was on an altar. A familiar one at that.
Grell was sitting on the closest pew, diligently sharpening the blade on what looked like an extremely obnoxious chainsaw. Deirdre struggled to get out of her shackles, and to do it silently, but there was no use. Grell looked up and shot her a toothy grin,
"Don't worry, as soon as Sebby gets here you're..probably free to go. Maybe. Well, I wouldn't put it in pen just yet."
There was a loud crash back behind the main sanctuary possibly from one of the side paths or...oh...the crypt. Grell was up in a heart beat with weapons at the ready.
Rounding the corner came an unlikely visage.
Alois brushed off his clothes and grinned at Grell,
"Why, I think we need to rethink our arrangement."
For once in his life the redhead was completely silent, even with his mouth open and slack. He was morally certain he killed that boy and enjoyed doing it. Alois Trancy, or was it Meister, looked different. Older maybe, more mature. There was the same bubbly psychotic outside, but it was more refined. More focused.
"Oh, right. We didn't have one. You kidnapped me, and then killed me. Rude. Well, I think the message here is...and really has it ever been different,-"
Alois' once light fairy blue eyes turned to deadly icy fire
"You don't really kill Alois Trancy."
Grell stumbled backwards and swung his weapon forward. He wasn't yet ready to turn the machine on, it would alert anyone in the area; even off it was a tool of destruction.
"No, no that's not right! You died, you are dead. You're in my Book DEAD. You-..You know you're Alois Trancy"
Alois tilted his head to the side, and brought his hand up to tap at his chin."Hmm, I wonder about that. Am I really?" His eyes floated over to the tied up Dierdre on the altar. "I really wonder."
She gulped, but there was a familiarity to the boy.
"I know you're dead I just-," Grell grumbled and flipped through the pages in his book and then stared in wonder, "-..You're gone. You're..not..you're not even in the book anymore. How?"
Green eyes widened in wonder and horror. He was intrigued. Scared, but intrigued. He liked being intrigued.
Alois in the blink of an eye moved forward, and in a flurry of movement kicked Grell. Hard.
The next moment, Grell found himself in the middle of broken pews with Alois Trancy grinning down at him.
"Maybe your superiors aren't telling you everything they should be. Maybe, we should work together." The blond extended a hand, one Grell looked incredulously at.
"Why should I believe you? You've put your lot in with demons! Ones that aren't Sebastian!" And Alois laughed, and laughed.
"Isn't that exactly why? You remember what happened to me don't you? I was lost, my only family who had been ruthlessly mocked by humans was dead. Humans were then responsible for selling me as a sex slave. But..but then I found hope...I trusted Claude..Hannah..the others. I trusted them and they betrayed me. I loved Claude and how did he betray me? Not by taking my soul, but by crushing my skull."
Alois' voice was growing more and more desperate and angry as he continued on speaking.
"I thought my life had fallen to pieces, broken and shattered. Again, but this time in this world. Yet there was Claude. Again, again. He shows up right at my worst like a guardian angel, but he's worse than even a demon. He broke my trust again..my heart."
Grell had fallen silent. What was this feeling? He knew it...
"Kill them, I say. Kill them all. All of the demons, and let the humans live their pitiful lives with no help from us or them. Let them destroy one another, and let the demons be slaughtered or starve to death."
Grell knew this feeling; The desperate anger and hate. The boy, for just a second, had the same expression as Madam Red.
"And I say, we kill Ciel Phantomhive first."
A sharks grin split over Grell's features.
Ciel hadn't really stopped screaming in Sebastian's ear until they landed just outside the church. There were people walking around, but no one was looking. It was like the people of New York weren't pay attention to their- okay, never mind that seemed rather normal.
Sebastian let Ciel slide down until his feet his solid ground, and they were instantly 'greeted' by the other demons. It looked as if William and Claude were conversing over something a few feet away, which Sebastian took as odd if Claude was so eager to get in to see Alois.
Hannah was here this time and smiled sadly at Sebastian, then again she never made many other expressions besides sad smiles.
"Alois' name isn't in William's book anymore. We're not sure whats going on, but given the situation we decided on waiting for another helping hand. You'll help won't you?"
The burgundy eyed demon nodded civilly, but his attention was more focused on the still rather peculiar way Ciel was looking at him. A slight tick of the mouth, sharp eyes. Oh, Sebastian knew the boy was still working things out in his head but just what had he concocted in his mind?
"Well then, which way do we enter? The front is a bit of a grand gesture," Ciel voiced, turning away from Sebastian.
"There is another entrance, hidden just past the south transept. Though I'd assume that regardless of which party is responsible, Grell or Alois, would prefer a grand gesture."
Ciel gave a curt nod to his former demon, and moved towards the right side of the two entrance doors of the cathedral.
"Then let us abandon all hope, and enter hells gates." Will said calmly, and was instantly elbowed in the stomach by some individual of the group I'm not at liberty to say*.
[*Timber]
The doors swung open with a resounding noise; an olde noise that follows crafted bronze on heavy hinges.
It had taken them a moment to figure out their order, though everyone agreed that William was to go first*
[*As canon-fodder.]
Claude went next, followed by the triplets; and then to Hannah who was followed by Ciel and Sebastian bringing up the rear. As the doors closed behind their little merry group of humanly-awkward super-beings, music began playing on the magnificent organ the church possessed. They continued on forward, past the odd-yet-not-unexpected Gift Shop and on down into the pews.
Ciel jerked to a stop for a moment before clenching his fist, and Sebastian noted that the melody was being played by a woman who must have been Ciel's mother. The organ she was playing was on a second story, to their rear. While they couldn't see her face while she was playing, it was obvious from the way she carried herself that her entire frame was stressed. She was obviously being threatened.
Claude was the next to react, "Alois!"
Hannah rushed forward towards the boy, but Alois simply rose one hand in the near universal sign of, 'Stop'.
The blond was seated on the altar, putting out what appeared to be stolen candles from the Lady of Guadalupe shrine. His eyes were focused on the task itself, slowly bouncing one leg in a rhythmic fashion to the music. Without saying a word, the hand he had up moved to his neckline where he tugged down his shirt collar. The action revealed a nasty dark hand shaped bruise around this throat, the telltale sign of a violent attack.
Alois spoke one word, "Grell."
The group took this to mean Grell had been the aggressor, which while true was not the reason Alois had said it. An electrical sound roared to life, and from somewhere behind the Crypt entrance Grell came forth. The weapon swung at a few of the demons, completely bypassing Will and within moments it became obvious the redhead was aiming specifically at Ciel.
The game was changed instantly, and the music stopped and was replaced by a shrieking Deirdre. Sebastian danced around Grells movements, knowing them all too well. However, there was something of note in his mannerisms; for one the man wasn't speaking or making any come-ons, the flirting was gone and replaced with a more manic gleam than he had seen in...
Ah.
In a flash, Sebastian had grabbed Ciel and tossed the boy towards Hannah, who instinctively tugged him away from the action.
"Alois is Grell's master!"
Will was involved now, whipping his weapon around like an expert lancer that he was. Though he was only using it defensively, he still had an advantage over his underclassman. No matter how many years would pass, Grell never had the concentration to be as lethal as he would be otherwise. A small saving grace in the end it turned out.
Claude looked dumbfounded to the blond he believed he knew so well, and their eyes met. Alois was a complicated little shit, but his expressions weren't. They just always had another meaning, but once you knew them it was easy enough to figure him out.
Happy wasn't happy, it was 'look at me'.
Angry was self loathing, not a form of wrath.
The look he had now was clear as ice. Hatred. Pure, cold calculating hated.
Alois slunk off the altar, and stalked forward like a dangerous feline. Claude never moved, maybe he was captivated...
The boy bit into his own hand until blood bubbled up, and when he reached centimetres from Claude, he made his play. Dragging a blood coated finger along Claude's lips, Alois leaned in next to his former demons ear and whispered.
"How do I taste now?"
Definitely captivated, Claude thought to himself.
Which was the last thing he thought before being propelled backwards and slamming into one of the stone support pillars.
Grell fell back, smiling happily next to his new master.
"Demon..," whispered Will, mirroring the odd groups expression towards Alois. Shaking his blond locks, Alois laughed and fit Claude one last look,
"You brought this upon yourself, highness."
Turning his attention back to Ciel who was still being hugged into safety by Hannah, Alois smiled and out stretched his arms in a mock of friendship,
"Ciel, 'For in that sleep of death what dreams may come'!(1)"
"You program my phone to terrible pop songs, and now you're quoting Shakespeare? You really are off, aren't you?" Ciel snipped at the blond, and pushed away from the strange woman he had just met.
"Ah, yes. But I'm not a demon, unlike the individuals you're metaphorically laying with!" Alois glanced between Sebastian and Ciel,
"Or maybe not so 'metaphorically' afterall, hmm?"
Ciel turned a wary eye to Sebastian, and really hoped Alois was just teasing.
"Oh that's right! You don't remember anything do you? Unlike me, who remembers everything. It's understandable though, I've been reborn and you're left in that little useless husk of a body." Alois' cat metaphors are near cliché, but the other was practically purring. Scary, scary purring.
"Let me tell you a little tale about a boy named Ciel Phantomhive, now I'm at liberty to speak here since we shared a body for awhile,"Ciel wrinkled his nose at the very thought.
"Once upon a time in London, a young boys parents were killed in a horrible attack by a fallen angel. He went through such tough times after that, to the point where he swore revenge. But seeing how he weighed about 2kilograms in wet clothes, his hopes were dashed until he met a happy little demon named Sebastian. Or, he was given the name Sebastian, it doesn't really matter..Anyway, instead of turning to remaining family in a time of struggle or even better yet to a psychologist, Ciel sold his soul."
Ciel began to feel dizzy, and his brain a bit fuzzy. All of a sudden it seemed as though Alois' little phrase had begun to ring true in his head.
..sleep of death what dreams may come...dreams may come...
"Then, you didn't die! Why? Because the demon I got completely fucked me over, and not in the good way! You didn't die, until you did. Plummeting off the side of a cliff into water I believe, for the second time even. You and water, not a good relationship La Mer. I, I was the kind one who gave you death and the one who fed your demon. Our deeds weren't ignored either; We were given life again, our books were stopped and we came back! But why, you ask?"
Alois' voice grew quieter near the end, but the ice in his eyes continued to spread.
"To be given a gift, because we know their manners in ways no one has been able to speak of before. The demons, they had power which we craved for different reasons but reasons none the less. Their power is meaningless now. You could posses the power you crave, like I know you still do."
One hand outstretched,"abandon the demons and I can give you knowledge."
Ciel wavered where he was standing as his dreams...his nightmares seemed to spiral in front of his eyes. Sebastian quickly moved into Ciel's line of sight, and the navy haired youth stumbled backwards.
"They've given you nothing but strife; I can give you your memories and your very person back to you. Ciel, come with us," Alois motioned to Grell next to him.
Will pushed forward, yelling out,
"You say 'us' as if you mean to convert one of my own to your delusion!"
Alois cocked his head, with an innocent smile that wouldn't fool ….well, a demon.
"'Convert'? No, I didn't force Grell to follow my will. He's following orders, simply speaking."
The blond looked at Hannah for a long moment, before his eyes flicked to Claude who was pushing himself up out of dust. The bespectacled demon looked between Alois, Will and Sebastian in hopes they'd appear to be more informed than him.
Hannah clutched at her own heart, "Alois, ..what about Luka?"
Instead of reacting explosively like they'd expect from Alois, he just glanced down for a moment with a tick of the jaw.
"I will free Luka. I will save all the souls lost to you ..monsters." Looking up, his eyes flashed green before fading back to cold blue. Will immediately fell back and looked shocked, while Grell fit Will with a smug look.
"I will do this because I'm no longer kept to a mortal frame. I will, because I am a Death God," Alois' gaze flickered to Ciel once more.
"As you could be, my anathema."
-TBC?-
Okay I have no idea what any of that was. I'm sorry, I think? ( fucked up my ...everything, so I had to edit it here kind of on the fly, sorry if I missed something.)
(1): This is a line from Hamlet, which I found to be fitting, though I'm not the biggest Shakespeare fan on the literary planet. ….'anathema' at the end was a not-reference to Good Omens. And its a cool word)
Uh, so. Essentially, as some of you know if you've read my AN or reviewreplies, I'm honestly more fond of Alois than I am Ciel. While I am capable of turning a favorite character into a bad guy, in regards to Alois however, NOT EVERYTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS. (most of the plot right now is at a 'just...I'll explain it later.')
Also, AGAIN HEY I WROTE A BOOK AND YOU SHOULD PM ME ABOUT THAT AND I'LL GIVE YOU ALL THE DETAILS.
Thanks for reading, I know this AN is stupidly long already but I just want to thank everyone who has reviewed or read and stuck with the story. Thank you so much.