AN: Clockwork Doll is an idea that came to me before the Christmas / New Year break began. I understand that readers might be upset that I am starting the sequel to Princess Grell before finishing Princess Grell, but because Princess Grell is written by two people if one of us is not available it cannot be continued. I wanted to write something that readers may enjoy while they wait for the next chapter of Princess Grell.

I will warn my readers: Clockwork Doll is the sequel to Princess Grell and it may contain spoilers about Princess Grell. Clockwork Doll can be read without reading the material in Princess Grell. Although Clockwork Doll is the sequel to Princess Grell the material is not romantic as the material in Princess Grell was and is intended to be a more serious read.

If my readers read the above than I am grateful and I hope you enjoy the first chapter of Clockwork Doll. The poem below was written by me before the idea of Clockwork Doll came to me. It was written for a personal character to another personal character, both of which will not be in this story. The second chapter to Clockwork Doll is being written now and will be done when it is done. Thank you. - Madame Stephanie

Written by: Stephanie Nichole Williams

Clockwork Doll -

I wait by the entrance to a place within my mind

With artificial lighting and carnival rides.

I've been waiting too long, you're ten minutes late

But we all make mistakes, so I'll wait.

Clockwork Doll -

I see you approaching, and I wait near the ticket stand

When you are near, I take your hand.

I ask you then why you came here, and you reply, "out of fear"

I look you in the eye and reply, "you're so drear".

Clockwork Doll -

You say that you hate me, for your unfortunate fate

I know that you are irate, but is that hate?

Of your cake you eat, of your tea you sip, and with powdered sugar on your lips

You reach in for a kiss.

Clockwork Doll -

Your mechanical body, your fiery soul

Are mine to control.

Clockwork Doll.

It was true. Sebastian Michaelis, as he had been called by a previous master, stood before the entrance to the once-great city of London. The term "once-great" was appropriate because "great" could not be used to describe the smoking wreckage of deteriorated buildings which were stained with blood or folded streets littered with the corpses of humans, reapers, and demons.

Sebastian had been in Russia, making the preparations for a new contract when a demon had come to him from the Underworld to inform him that their Lord, Lord Lust, had overthrown the Ministry of Hades in England. He had said that the reapers that had not been killed had been made slaves. Sebastian had known of this war between demons and reapers before the demons' victory, but there had been wars of this nature before and those wars had always ended in a truce. Sebastian had been very surprised to hear of the demons' victory, because had never happened before.

Before humans, before reapers, the demons had been the greatest power on Earth. Where humans lived now, the demons had lived. On the surface they had built grand palaces and cities, now of course nothing but ruins defiled by cobwebs and dust. When humans were a new species, the demons had not considered them a threat, from their high balconies they watched as humans discovered fire, invented the wheel, learned to hunt and gather – things that demons had discovered centuries before them.

Before humans, demons had eaten the souls of animals as sustenance, and devoted their time to more important practices depending on the tribe that they belonged to. There was a tribe that focused on degrading others and dignifying themselves, because the leader of their tribe was the first demon, or the first demon born in the litter of the first seven demons. There was another tribe that focused on wealth, including: gold, silver, bronze, gems, furs, or whatever else they could find. There was a tribe that had the elements of the other tribes but never felt as though they were as well off as the others, and envied their possessions; this tribe was at war with the fourth tribe for something or other they wanted.

The fourth tribe was the most unstable. The leader of this tribe could not control his temper, and when he was crossed, heads would roll. It was rumoured that the halls of his palace had spilt so much blood that the stains would never come off; this tribe and the third tribe had been at war for almost a millennium because he refused to make peace. The fifth tribe was the tribe Sebastian belonged to, the tribe that had waged war with a force that had never before been defeated, and won. This tribe, more than anything, focused on the carnal act of making love; not only with their own kind, but with humans, and even with reapers, which was considered taboo in most tribes as reapers were the demons greatest enemy.

The sixth tribe cared for naught but to eat, this tribe was of course the first tribe to eat a human's soul. It was not uncommon, even now, for this tribe to keep humans and animals in abundance to eat them when they wished. The last tribe was considered lesser than the rest because their leader was the last of the litter, and their tribe did not care to do much of anything. It was unusual for this tribe to be at war because it was unusual for them to do anything that might cause it.

The names of the seven, demonic leaders in order of birth are: Pride, Avarice, Envy, Wrath, Lust, Gluttony, and Sloth.

Although demons as a whole were powerful, their society was and remains, fractured; for whatever reason, the siblings and the demons that had attracted to their kingdoms couldn't make peace, there was constant war among the tribes above the surface, as there is today beneath it. It was not uncommon for a peace treaty to be written, but not followed; contracts signed in blood were often destroyed shortly after they were signed for the most idiotic reasons, or so Sebastian thought.

As demons did as they have always done, humans evolved: they created language, agriculture, architecture, education, religion, and art. Humans were not ignorant, and acknowledged their demonic neighbours, although demons had chosen to ignore them; they learned the names of their leaders and what they practiced, and incorporated their names into their language as those practices, and outlawed those practices so that they could differentiate themselves from demons.

There came a time when humans were powerful enough to defend themselves from demons, who came to their towns and cities for their souls; demons noticed this, and used magic against their kind to curse them, the more powerful curses could last for generations. However, not all tribes chose to curse humans, and instead of doing so invented the idea of contracts. Instead of taking the human's soul through force or magic, they used persuasion to convince the human to sell their soul to them. It was not the most popular of demonic inventions and was not often used, until reapers were invented.

The first reaper was invented by a human, who took the corpse of another human and returned it to life with the intention of creating a force to defeat the demons. Perhaps the human had discovered how to use demonic magic, because no human since has been able to bring another to life, or discover how to become immortal, as this invention was. This human trained his creation to be intelligent, powerful, and vigilant. This first reaper was taught to protect humans and their race from demons. He did this by collecting the souls of humans after they died so that demons could not scavenge them.

He became something of a legend among humans; he was rumoured to wear a black hood, robe, and cloak. Humans said that he not only collected the souls of humans, but killed them when it was their time to die: which wasn't true but was assumed because he carried a scythe, said to be his inventor's own farming scythe, which he used to cut open the human corpse to obtain the soul. He came to be called, "The Grim Reaper".

The Grim Reaper was powerful, more powerful than demons were, and with him demons found it difficult to access human souls. The idea of a contract became very popular among demons then, who discovered that there was little that The Grim Reaper could do if the human gave their soul to a demon.

Perhaps it could have remained this way, but after his inventor's death, The Grim Reaper began to create more of his kind from dead humans that he favoured, and their population was not the only population growing: human population became so high that there was not enough room for humans and demons anymore, the humans began to war with demons; although humans in one-on-one combat were no match for them, demons were overwhelmed by their numbers. It was more difficult for demons to conceive than humans, and conception was even considered degrading for the female demon that was unfortunate enough to become pregnant.

With human population high and rising, and with reaper population rising, the seven, demonic leaders met for the first time in centuries and decided to create a new home underground, where there was more space than they could ever use and where their enemies could and would not follow.

Once the demons had abandoned their palaces and cities, to build new palaces and cities underground, The Grim Reaper founded the first "Ministry of Hades", which he named after a human legend about the god, "Hades". The demons also took from this legend and named their new home underground, "Underworld", after the place where Hades had lived. The demons constructed landmarks underground after what was written in human legends, and built bigger and better structures than ever before.

Demons and reapers had been enemies ever since, and as Sebastian had mentioned, there had been wars between demons and reapers before; there were so many casualties on both sides that the enemies would make peace and shake hands, as was the human custom, with a dagger hidden behind their backs. Sebastian supposed that it had been a matter of time before one side defeated the other, but somehow he had never imagined that he would witness it.

When he had heard this, he cancelled his plans for a contract in Russia and left immediately for England to see the damage. Even at a demon's speed, the trip from Russia to England had taken a fortnight. He stood before the damage now and could hardly believe what he saw. The demon who had informed him had also told him that Lord Lust was giving the enslaved reapers as gifts to his favourite subjects. Sebastian was an old and powerful demon, and had decided that he would glance over the selection. Sebastian could not help but remember red hair and green eyes adorned with pronounced lids.

He was not certain how he felt about the demons' victory or the enslavement of the reapers, but he was aware that there was very little he could do, however he felt.

As Sebastian approached London he began to feel rain-water on his face, the rest of his body was clothed in a functional black suit, white gloves, and leather shoes. Once he could see the gates of London however, the rain was heavier; it began to soak through his clothing and run through his hair and down his face. It collected in his eyebrows and on his eyelashes, and it even attempted to pass his shut lips.

As Sebastian walked through the ruined streets that perhaps had once been grand, he heard a man's voice shout out, not at him, but at another. "Robert, Stephan! Come out lads, and look at this 'ere! Do you see 'im? A man, and he doesn't have anyone with 'im!"

Sebastian watched the man curiously, and two more men came out from the remains of a store with heavy, burlap bags over their shoulders to join him. He didn't know who or what they were, he would have assumed that they were common thieves, but they were dressed in rich fur and velvet, with more than one gilded necklace around their necks. Their ears, wrists, and fingers were decorated with jewels. The man who had called the other two from the store had an expensive crown on his head that looked too small for him, and the man to his left had a lady's parasol strapped over his shoulder in an attempt to keep dry. Perhaps they might have been impressive if their clothes weren't torn and dirty and their hair uncombed.

Without a warning, these three men came running at Sebastian and the man with the crown pounced on top of him and pinned him to the ground with his weight. This man hit Sebastian across the face, and with his other hand took Sebastian's hand to pull the ring Sebastian wore off his finger.

"How dare you steal from me!" Sebastian shouted, "It is a decision you will not live long enough to regret!" and Sebastian lifted his hand and allowed it to transform into a hand with long, black fingers as dark as the night with long, sharp claws that he brought across the man's face in his defence, knocking his crown to the ground and into a puddle of rainwater. The human fell off him with a scream of pain, and Sebastian pinned him down likewise, so he could sink his fangs into the flesh of his neck.

As Sebastian was removing the man's oesophagus with his teeth, Robert shouted to Stephan, "He killed the boss! He be one o' them monsters! Run, Stephan!" and by the time Sebastian pulled away from the man, the two men were gone. Wiping blood from his chin, Sebastian took back the ring that the man still had in his hand.

It was a simple ring, it was gold and plain but for the engraving on the inside. He put it back on his finger where it belonged, Sebastian had not removed that ring from his finger since he obtained it. Sebastian stood to his feet and glanced at the human he had killed.

Sebastian did not often kill humans without a contract, as it was against his principles. Sebastian believed that he was better than to kill without a reason. He would not have killed this man if he hadn't tried to rob him, so perhaps his death could be excused. He averted his eyes forward to continue through London on his way to the Underworld, where he would find the enslaved reapers. He had only put one foot forward though, when it occurred to him that leaving a soul behind was a terrible waste. He grimaced, as he hadn't earned this man's soul, but without a Ministry of Hades it belonged to no one. If he didn't eat it, another demon would.

So, against his principles, Sebastian turned around and put his lips to the dead man's. With a powerful suck he began to draw his soul from him as if it were a thick drink from a straw.

It tasted good. Sebastian had not eaten once these past six months and had left Russia without a contract, so perhaps it was the element of hunger that made his soul taste this good. Whoever this man was, he was experienced. He had lived through many difficulties: difficulties like abuse and neglect in his childhood, and hunger and poverty in his adulthood. Sebastian could taste them as if they were his own. His experiences had made him bitter and lead him to a life of crime, but his lingering love for a woman long since dead served as a pleasant aftertaste. He moaned into the kiss, the kiss of death, as the last of the substance passed his lips.

Sebastian pulled away to catch his breath, and licked his lips, hoping to taste a remnant from his previous meal when a man's voice addressed him from behind, "I thought I sensed your presence here, Lorax. I see that you are quick to enjoy the pleasure I have provided you. It is enjoyable, is it not, a life without a Ministry of Hades? The reapers of which would kill us on sight only because we need to eat."

Sebastian stood up and turned around to face Lord Lust himself, dressed in a white linen skirt that reached the floor, the hem of which was stained with blood, and the whole of which was wet and transparent; he didn't seem to care. There was a bejewelled, golden belt around his waist and his naked torso was decorated also with tribal piercings and ornate jewellery. His hair was gold and fell loose to his ankles and his eyes were blue, both were disguised of course, as was his entire body. Although Lord Lust and all of his subjects had claimed England, they still disguised themselves as humans on the surface.

Sebastian could not help but feel plain in comparison to Lord Lust, as his hair was black, his eyes were brown and his clothes were humble in nature. He bowed his head, and Lord Lust held out his hand so that a plain ring on his finger, the plainest ring he wore, could be kissed. The number "5" was engraved on the ring, the number of his birth in the litter of the seven first and most powerful demons.

"Lord Lust, I did not expect to meet you here, but in the Underworld. I apologise for allowing you to see me here, eating a soul I did not earn. He attacked me and I had no choice but to kill him. I thought that it would be a waste to leave his soul behind."

"Do not apologise, Lorax."

"I have heard of your victory against the Ministry of Hades, congratulations, my Lord. I have also heard of your enslavement of the reapers, I imagine you took one for yourself. Where is it?"

Lord Lust smiled at the reminder of his victory and informed Sebastian, "We call the reapers 'dolls'. Do not call them 'enslaved reapers'. I do not want my doll to fight. She is more useful to me as a housekeeper and as an entertainer. I do not take her to the surface with me because it is dangerous, as you have seen for yourself."

There was a pause as Sebastian considered what Lord Lust had told him, he couldn't fathom why his Lord and his Lord's subjects would call the reapers "dolls". Perhaps against his better judgement he asked Lord Lust, "Why do you call them 'dolls'?"

Lord Lust laughed and said, "We couldn't call them 'reapers' because they no longer reap, for souls. Also, a doll is a beautiful creation that has no will of its own. Its owner may do as it will with it."

Sebastian paused in thought, he could not help but disagree with that statement and replied, "I have encountered reapers before and I would not say that they do not have a will of their own." Lord Lust's smile disappeared, and there was a short pause before he told Sebastian, "We won the war two decades ago, Lorax. I wanted to inform you of our victory when we had bred dolls that were useful to us. We killed most of the originals in recent years."

Sebastian glanced at the ring he wore as a sense of unexplainable dread came over him. Lord Lust did not seem to notice Sebastian's discomfort, but instead offered to take him to the Underworld so that he may choose a doll. Sebastian agreed; his voice was braver than how he felt, as Lord Lust took his hand in his hand and with a deceiving smile, lead him from the ruins of London to the gates of Hell, which in recent years had prospered from the destruction.