Crossover Together ~クロスオーバ 一緒に~

It had been a bit of a trip since they had left Japan, but a bit of a nostalgic breath of fresh air for the two working together. The groups may have had a bit bigger of an understanding when it came to their demons, but in this case, Ciel and Sebastian had been brought over to a far more familiar playing field: straight back to England. Again, pretty nostalgic after many a trip to everywhere else. And today, they were in for a treat.
A bright and simple day off over by the docks of the port. It was a fairly busy day one way or another, with usually was how it goes, with how many boats come and go with cargo and what not, but today was a bit special. Aside from a standard shipping vessel, today stopped by a rather spectacular sight in the form of a giant cruise ship. But not just any ship, a luxury passenger liner, truly a gigantic ship, biggest one they've ever seen. A black underbelly with a shining white upper floor, three huge ship funnels running along it, and plenty of luxury floors were easily evident here just by looking at the cruise liner. Ciel and Sebastian observed this from a road away, keeping a sharp eye on the situation from afar rather than up front.
Speaking of which, Ciel Phantomhive had a bit of a costume change: the main change being a mirrored outfit to Sebastian, a blonde hair wig and bandages covering the eye. It wasn't the most elaborate of disguises, nor as embarrassing as a particular ball night, but it did the job anyway. So long as Ciel kept the eye hidden, he should be just fine. Sebastian himself had nothing to worry about in his appearance (obviously). Sebastian smiled and looked to

"Right on schedule: The Campania's just ready for the passengers to board," Sebastian reported, though Ciel could see that for himself. After all, there was quite a lineup of aristocrats lining along the dock to the Campania ship, all of which appeared high-class like them in some sort of way, if not just there to watch to boat go off on its way.

"Very well. Have you figured out a solution to our ... current predicament?" Ciel asked.

"I took care of it, my lord: I've taken the liberty to acquire us both a set of line tickets, under the permission of the queen herself," Sebastian said, and to prove it, he even gave Ciel his, and he held his own. Ciel nodded.

"And Alphonse?"

"I've given him some unique accommodations."

.......

Cut to Alphonse in the cargo hold, his head poking out of one of the cargo boxes. He really wasn't too amused by this decision, who would be?

.......

"You're gonna drag us both into hell one day, I swear," Ciel groaned. But, so long as Alphonse was on the boat, what was he to say? What kind of story could he make up to have Al on the boat anyway if he did just walk up with Alphonse behind him. Too much attention, and too much of a stand out for any sort of camouflage or disguise to work right.

"Let's go, Sebastian," Ciel announced.

And go on over they did, joining up with the crowd. As Ciel and Sebastian had hoped, not many of the crowd took too much notice as it would've been, and they blended in quite fine. Bit by bit, the crowds started to go up onto the ship, each one showing their tickets to the boarding ticker taker as they went for their authenticity. Several pairs got by with little trouble when Ciel and Sebastian came up, presenting their tickets. There was a bit of a pause, but eventually they were given a pass, and both earl and butler went right up onto the main deck ala entrance ladder, following the others up.
Once up there, Sebastian and Ciel took a moment to walk around the main side of the ship, taking note of more passengers boarding, and the eventually preparation of the ship's departure. None of the people recognized him as Ciel Phantomhive, nor recognized his butler.
It took merely a half an hour of work to get the entire ship ready to set off, but eventually the lone Campania began to move off out of the dock, and out to the open sea. Many people still out on the dock gave their waves and their goodbyes to the others up on board, though Ciel knew better than to join them in that regard. Sure, it would be authentic, but this wasn't just some casual, and convenient ship cruise, this was a mission he had to handle. With Campania moving, there was no turning back now.

"Sebastian, go and check in on Alphonse. Make sure none of the staff decided anything crazy with him," Ciel instructed. With a nod, Sebastian went off on his way down to the cargo hold where Alphonse Elric would've ended up. As he did that, Ciel quietly observed the ship slowly making it's voyage away from Southampton, and out into the Atlantic ocean. How this will turn out was anyone's guess, but the moment of silence for him gave him time to think about his target: a seemingly regular person far as he could see based off the picture he could remember on the wanted poster.

"If this demon is as crafty as King Sombra would be, taking him lightly would not be a good idea. ... All the same, something's with him. Did I meet him somewhere before?" Ciel's thoughts continued to ponder about this man, as he tried to work his memory on him. Appearances could be deceiving when it came to demons, Ciel knowing that better than anyone else, so if he were to find this demon here, he would have to figure out the person in the wanted poster and see if he could really pin it on him. He'll just have to figure it out as he went along, but for now, word about Alphonse and how he was on the ship was probably a good idea to handle first. But still. That man ...

"Master, you've made it. Didn't have too much trouble with getting aboard, did you?"

"Not now, Bardroy, I'm thinking," Ciel said, as he turned to walk away, hand to forehead.

... Wait. Bardroy?

Ciel stopped cold in his tracks, and turned to the man who referred to him as master, turning out to not be Sebastian. Turned out, and to his shock, there was Bardroy standing there, but not as the typical cook he knew of back in the Phantomhive Manor. To start, Bardroy wasn't dressed as such, but instead dressed as a great Britain soldier: red and white uniform with loaded rifle included in his appearance as a true soldier to the queen. Seeing Bardroy not only showing up here, but shown in such a way had Ciel completely off guard.

"W-What the devil - Bardroy? What're you doing here?" Ciel asked. Bardroy brought the rifle up to his shoulder.

"Well, lot had happened while you were busy: the queen gave us a letter one day and asking me to come back to the forces," Bardroy explained.

"And you accepted it, I assume?" Ciel asked, now a little bit annoyed that his worker had just accepted such a thing behind his back.

"It was a request by the queen, how could I not?" Bardroy stated, though that just bugged Ciel more than anything. Then again, how can he himself go against the queen? It was her wish that made him join the team in the first place. Anyway, Ciel just sighed, hand over his eyepatch.

"Do keep it down, then. No one on this vessel knows who I am aside from you," Ciel advised.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that, my little dog.~"

"You got to be kidding me," Ciel thought. But sure enough, walking up casually to Ciel and Bardroy was madam Victoria, princess of England, and now passenger of the vessel. As if seeing Bardroy wasn't enough of a surprise, Ciel actually felt a little less surprised on seeing her coming aboard.

"Of course the princess of England would join the ship's parting," Ciel thought.

"It's interesting that you've joined us, Phantomhive. Yet I am disappointed. I wondered what dress you'd be fitted into this time."

"Very funny," Ciel grumbled. Bardroy didn't know what Victoria was talking about, but it was a story for another time not on guard duty. Victoria brought up a more calmer face.

"So, dear, given a break from your hunting trips?"

"Well, no. In fact, that's why I'm here," Ciel simply stated. He waited for Victoria to follow up on his question, but instead she simply nodded her head and began to walk by him.

"Well, keep up the good work, then, don't have me distract you. And have some fun while you're here, will you? Come Bardroy," Victoria advised, patting him on the shoulder as she passed him, Bardroy following her. Ciel didn't answer her straight away, but it wasn't merely a friendly gesture that pat on the shoulder did, and something was actually left on his shoulder. He got it and took a closer look at it.

A small golden pin of a red bird.

.......

As much of the crew and passengers were enjoying their time up on the top deck, Sebastian took his own time of lonesome, as instructed by Ciel, to head down into the ship's cargo hold. With so many up outside of the ship and on deck, he had little trouble in terms of extra passengers, or crew members, as he went down the halls, cutting corners, until he ended up finding the door into the cargo hold in question.
As expected from such a large ship as the Campania, the cargo hold was especially large inside: wide open and plenty of supplies on board, many in crates as it seemed to be. The demon butler took one extra look around the place for just a bit, before slipping into the cargo hold and taking a look around. For a luxury cruise liner, there was a lot of cargo on it. Sebastian strolled around the place, looking around for where Alphonse might've ended up. Looking around here and there, eventually the sound of clanking metal got to his ears. He took a short walk to the noise, and one of the crates was starting to stir a bit, seeing Alphonse's head just outside of it.

"There you are," Sebastian sighed, before walking over to him.

"Thanks," Alphonse simply said. He didn't have much to say, nor wanted to.

"Just doing my duty as a butler."

"Ok. So ... can I come out?" Al asked, waiting for Sebastian to open the crate for him to move again. However, Sebastian simply smiled, and instead of doing that, he reached his hands out, and pulled off Al's head.

"Hey, what're you doing?!" Alphonse yelled.

"Now, you truly believe that a whole ship of high-class humans will not take notice of a walking, talking body of armor wandering around their presence? I find this a bit more sufficient to avoid unwanted attention, if you understand," Sebastian explained, as he began to casually walk out of the cargo hold with Alphonse's head in front of him. Well, what was Alphonse supposed to do now that his head was removed?

"Oh alright, but don't forget my body in here," Alphonse said, sounding rather serious about it.

"I won't even think of such."

"No, Sebastian, I'm serious. We're going overseas, and the seal in my body is the only thing keeping me alive. If it gets washed away ..." Alphonse didn't need to finish his sentence for Sebastian to understand the importance of it, and nodded his head just as they reached the door back to the hallway.

"Very well. I'll warn my master about it in just a bit."

"Thank you."

~~

After getting Alphonse's head out of the cargo hold, it was mainly silent stairs for the day when it came to what involvement Ciel, Sebastian, and Alphonse had with everything. With new knowledge about not only Alphonse's body, but with Victoria and Bardroy on board as well, this could make or break the mission altogether. At least, if it weren't for their little clue that Victoria had dropped off for them, namely the pin with the bird on it. Rather small, but still rather interesting too.
As dusk approached, Ciel and Sebastian met up in the dining hall of the Campania, which at the moment was quite crowded with the standard guests roaming around and engaging in small talk over a bite to eat. A rather similar idea to the Royal Ball, but unlike before, there wasn't any extra people to back them up, and it was just them three. Ciel sat down at one of the tables, and actually having a sweet snack in some sliced strawberry cake, as Alphonse was placed down at the center of the table, looking over to Ciel, and Sebastian stood alongside him like a good butler would.

"Ah, so the princess has decided to join us," Sebastian stated after the information was exchanged.

"Something I have mixed feelings on, I admit. On one hand, she could be a hurdle of our investigation. On the other hand ..." Ciel finished his statement by placing the pin down onto the table, which Sebastian and Alphonse looked over.

"A membership badge," Sebastian concluded.

"A what?" Alphonse questioned, as Sebastian picked it up to examine further.

"I believe we found our culprits, my lord, Elric. It would seem that the Aurora society has boarded with us," Sebastian revealed.

"What's the Aurora society?" Alphonse asked.

"I've heard rumors about this society. Apparently their a kind of secret group, not dissimilar to manors of a hospital, hidden out of the eyes of even the highest of authority for many years now. Unfortunately, what this group is exactly about, or what the goals are in detail, I'm not too sure," Sebastian explained, his hand resting under his chin as he did his monologue. Ciel and Alphonse pondered for a moment about this Aurora Society, and honestly it didn't take too long to figure out what concept this society might be getting themselves into. It made too much of a coincidence that this Aurora Society would be here after the trio went off on this bounty hunt for demons.

"How predictable. Are there any members here?" Ciel questioned, a little quieter this time. Sebastian went over to him, actually moving Alphonse's head so it was lined up with his young earl in terms of vision.

'Look closely at the couple over to your left there, my lord. The women in violet," Sebastian instructed. Ciel did just that, and looked around to the left at the couple in question, seeing them both starting to walk out of the dining hall. Ciel studied the two a bit more closely, and something ended up glistening in the light of the Campania that caught their attention. Sure enough, they too had at least one membership badge on them.

"What do we do?"

"We follow them, that's what. Come on," Ciel said, picking Alphonse up, and quietly beginning to go off after them.

.......

After a short bit of silent walking, eventually the trio followed the couple off away from the main crowd, and off into a more isolated area, possibly another get-together area on Campania. Ciel peeked around the corner at the couple, who presented the membership badge to the two greeters right by the door. Only then did the couple went on inside.

"That must be it. Alphonse, if you can refrain from saying anything, that'll be much appreciated," Ciel quietly concluded. Alphonse, who was being held by Ciel at the moment, had to agree, but before they could go, Sebastian grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Wait, my lord. There's something you should know: evidently the Aurora society has a secret greetings. Unless you know it, you won't be permitted to enter," Sebastian informed.

"You didn't think of telling us til now?! ... Alright, what's this greeting then?" Ciel asked, a bit bugged than anything.

"You must say ..." and Sebastian proceeded to whisper the exact greeting to Ciel Phantomhive. ... Which in turn made him back up to the wall.

"No, absolutely not, you can't possibly be expecting me to do that!" Ciel insisted. Alphonse wasn't sure what this greeting was, but if it made Ciel freak out of all people, it wasn't any good.

"Don't perform the greeting, and they'll turn you away immediately. You mustn't hesitate," Sebastian informed. If they were to get to the bottom of this, Ciel had no choice but to agree. As much as he didn't want to.

"In that case, shall we go?" Sebastian then asked. Ciel and Al agreed.

In little time, the trio went right up to the door, and the greeters, after a little bit, opened up the doors to let them in. Alphonse tried to keep quiet, but he couldn't help but feel a little surprised on what they were seeing in there. The room appeared similar to the dining hall, but had a fairly good-sized alter towards the back not dissimilar to one in a church. A whole room full of Aurora Society members, all aristocratic in some way, but that wasn't the only thing he was catching out of this crowd. And that was evident when the first man stepped forward to see them, a membership badge on his person for them to see.

"Are you two new to the Aurora society?" the man asked. A rather bold question to ask straight away, but it was something they've come to expect. With a nod from Sebastian, Ciel placed Alphonse down onto the ground in front of him before looking up to the man.

"The uh ... The perfect flame that burns within us." Ciel began.

"May be hidden, but cannot be distinguished," added the man.

"Through it all ..." Suddenly, Ciel and Sebastian got into what Alphonse would assume to be the "secret greeting": both of them got onto one leg, both arms spread up in a display as if the two had wings, and then exclaiming "We are Phoenixes!"

... Did it work?

"... Phoenix! Brothers, I welcome you to the Aurora society!" the man said, going into a similar pose as they were. Guess they were in, and once more, the man then went into his pocket and pulled something else out for them: a set of membership badges. Still feeling a bit shaky, Ciel took them with a nod, but he was red in the face and steaming from that display.

He felt like a complete idiot.

"There. Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Sebastian said with a smile. Ciel didn't even bother with an answer, as Sebastian got his badge onto him. Ciel went on to pick up Alphonse after that, and turned his head so it locked onto his eye.

"You are not to say a word about this, am I clear? Unless you want your body thrown into the sea!" Ciel grumbled, quietly as to not draw anymore attention to himself.

"I-I promise, I swear, wouldn't dream of it," Alphonse meekly answered. Unfortunately ...

"Hehehehehehehe, oh how priceless! I'm afraid if I laugh and longer, I'll give myself an injury," said a giggling voice nearby. OH GOD NO.

"U-Undertaker?!" gasped Ciel. Indeed, it was Undertaker, the giggling character also sporting a badge of the society in question.

"Oh the way you said that. 'We are Phoenixes!' oh how princess that was, and you kept such a straight face too."

"You bloody -"

"Temper, my lord," Sebastian advised. Never a good idea to start a confrontation this quickly on. Alphonse was a bit weirded out by the man, and any name like "undertaker" wasn't making this person's image any better on him. Sebastian kept his usual calm demeanor though, and looked to the Undertaker.

"I must say, this is quite unexpected. What brings you onto the Campania today?" Sebastian asked. After a few more giggles, Undertaker looked to them.

"Oh, you can call it professional curiosity. A hospital has the best customers for someone of my profession, don't you know," Undertaker explained. Well, if a hospital was what this Aurora Society was about, guess it would only make sense for a man in charge of the dead to show up to a place like this.

"Bloddy hell: first Bardroy, then Victoria, and now him! How many more characters from my side of the story are going to be dropping in?" Ciel thought. It was then that Undertaker took note of Alphonse sitting in Ciel's arms, just for the Undertaker to pick him up.

"Oh, what do we have here then? Am I mistaken, or is this Alphonse Elric's severed head I have the pleasure of seeing?" Undertaker asked in glee, though it didn't help Al any, making him shiver. Ciel quickly snatched Alphonse back.

"I-I think you're the one who's mistaken."

"Oh, come now, we both know I'm not. How could I ever forget such a memorable face like his? News of sentient armor travels fast you know, especially if one's apart of the army, isn't that right?" Undertaker pointed out. Nothing would get past this guy, no matter what they tried.

"O-Ok, you got me. You know eachother?" Alphonse quietly asked, trying not to talk too loud.

"You can say that me and the young lord have a interesting relationship with eachother," Undertaker answered, his signature grin edged on his face. Ciel gave Alphonse to Sebastian and corrected himself.

"Yes, I am curious about the Aurora Society's activities. What information can you tell us?"

"Steady now, we know I won't blabber on anything without proper payment."

"You just laughed for a minute straight!" retorted Ciel.

"I suppose that's true ... how about another Phoenix pose for old times sake?" No, that didn't make Ciel any better, and he began to fluster up. He already embarrassed himself enough, he didn't need anymore of it. However, and supposedly lucky for Ciel and his dignity, someone else caught wind of their conversation, and.

"We are Phoenixes!"

Enter a new player to this Aurora game. The figure who decided to arrive to the scene appeared to be a man in his prime, and an extremely handsome one at that: blonde hair that went past his neck, violet eyes that had a sort of natural charm to them, and the outfit of a true aristocrat with a black suite accompanied by a red stone around his neck as display. He too did the Phoenix pose, but for his there was a lot more enthusiasm than what Ciel and Sebastian pulled off: one leg straight up in the air, and both hands aimed to his left side in a dazzling display, a rose in between his right fingers.

"Pardon me, but I wanted to include one of my own," said the man. Admittedly, a rather interesting display to an otherwise stupid pose. The man straightened himself up, and went over to see the newcomers himself. The Undertaker went off to check out the rest of the meeting's guests.

"Ah, some new members, I would presume?" he asked.

"Indeed: we heard about the success of the hospital's work and decided that it would be an intriguing experience," Sebastian explained, Ciel and Alphonse keeping quiet. However, the man was a bit more interested in them over the butler, and slipped by him to see what they were about. Soon he noticed the bandages on Ciel's face, and his hand gently grazed his cheek, the man looked a bit concern.

"Oh dear, how sad that such a young man's pretty face to be met with such a experience," the man noted. Ciel had to think fast.

"Y-Yes that's right! I heard that the society could cure me!" Ciel quickly stated. Mainly it was just so he could get off of him, but he didn't have a clue what he himself was talking about, or if this was that kind of place to do it. The man looked startled at first, but then just smiled down at him, much to his dismay.

"Is that all? Oh, the Society can do far more than a simple surgery, my little robin. I do have to ask though; you have a sort of attachment to that armor piece your holding?" he pried, referring to the Alphonse head. Boy, the hard questions are rapid fire in this place, and Ciel had to work the gears in his head on some sort of answer, yet Sebastian already had one.

"Well, if you must know, that is actually a sort of puppet. He got it from his late father when he was little and found it quite hard to get rid of. You might say it's a memoir to him," Sebastian said. The man paused for a moment, and looked back to ciel.

"Oh? Dabbling in ventriloquism, are you? How about you present your little puppet out? It can't hurt, could it?"

"What's with this cretin?" Ciel thought, now on the spot. How did 'memoir' turn into 'ventriloquist'?!

"Oh, don't bother with him, he's nothing but a silly loon!" Alphonse suddenly said, good and loud for him to hear. Ciel grew shocked.

"I beg your pardon?!"

"You're always leaving things behind you. You'll lose you're head too if yours wasn't attached," Alphonse said, adding a few chuckles.

"Shut it you, at least I can walk around!" retorted Ciel.

"And how many bananas did you slip with your steps?" Alphonse asked. Ciel was getting angry with Alphonse, but the man ended up laughing not too long after the bickering.

"My, you got me in stitches," the man laughed. Ciel and Alphonse clammed up, and the man playfully fluffed his hair.

"Well, back onto our little topic, I'll see if we can give you a little appointment to make you handsome again. Well, not up to my standard, of course. Though I do believe a little display is in order first."

"Display?" Alphonse asked. The man found that a bit cute.

"You'll see. Until then, my robin,~" and with that remark, the man strolled away, leaving both Alphonse and Ciel a bit shaken up. Boy, are things going on a rollercoaster with this boat, and to top it all off, they even heard Sebastian snicker not too far away. Now they both agreed silently to keep this to themselves - last thing they want was some kids at home asking for a ventriloquist session out of them, but the idea that a display was going to be presented was a bit interesting.

"What kind of display did he have in mind, you think?" Alphonse asked.

"I doubt it's a basic surgery, I'll say that much. Perhaps it can prove worth looking into," Ciel concluded. And looking into it was something they had to do, for the sake of "pinning the problem". Sebastian went on over back to them at this point.

~~

As Ciel, Sebastian, and Alphonse were doing that, back in the dining hall, Victoria and Bardroy were doing their own rounds as well throughout the ship, Bardroy keeping good guard over Victoria as she was enjoying herself. That didn't mean Bardroy didn't take some bit of wine himself during his stay.

"Sure is nice to be out of that palace, wouldn't you agree Bardroy?" Victoria asked, as she enjoyed some of the wine offered.

"to tell you the truth, I'd never imagined I would end up here," Bardroy admitted. A soldier like him in such a high-class area just made him feel out of place really, as many typical soldiers don't end up in places like this. Victoria smirked to him.

"Don't be so modest. I'd invite all of you if I wanted to, but you're the only one with an actual military record. Care for more wine?" Victoria offered to pour him another glass, which he declined with a wave of his hand. One glass was good enough for him, as Victoria poured herself another glass of wine.

"Try not to get too carried away, please?" Bardroy advised. But rather than just sip it, Victoria smirked and gulped it down fast.

"Who're you to give me orders?" she questioned, giving him a more serious look. Bardroy shuttered a little and turned away.

"Sorry. Your mother didn't want you to get too carried away, so she asked me to make sure of that before we left," Bardroy said, as Victoria got herself another glass.

"She should know by now I can handle my own well-being. And anyway, we got other matters to attend to aside from a few glasses of wine," Victoria explained. Bardroy felt a little puzzled, as Victoria drank her now fourth glass. Bardroy brought his gun around and at the ready, just to be sure things will be alright for her sake. Her, and the queen too.

"I think they'll start now. Come along, let's see what our friend of the Phoenix are up to," Victoria advised, beginning to walk off out of the dining hall. Bardroy began to follow her after a bit, but he began to feel a little bit unsure with this whole thing, feeling a bit suspicious about her. But he knew better than to say anything to her, and he simply followed her quietly.

~~

With time ticking on by, those amongst the Aurora society were getting a bit of anticipation, as this "display" was starting to take shape up on stage. Ciel, Sebastian, and Alphonse managed to find a seat amongst the tables set up within the room, along with plenty others, though most of the were standing to see what was about to happen. Pretty soon, as the trio was considering just going they were waiting so long, eventually the handsome man that met with them earlier took a step up onto the alter, getting some good applause from the crowd, and getting the attention of Ciel, Sebastian, and Alphonse again. The man relished in the applause, and both hands were raised as a smile went over his face. As a bit of an example for the presentation, something was brought out to the place, all covered up by a sheet.

"Thank you, thank you everyone, it's just a pleasure to have you all here tonight. And grateful as well for a fine audience for my presentation, a toast for you all coming," he said, even raising his own glass, some returning the gesture as well. Some of the members of said society then being forth a rather peculiar device up onto the alter, none that they've seen before surely. After the gestures, the device itself was placed in position. The body of this device looked like something out of some Frankenstein movie: a set of satellite-like pieces connected to six different electrical cylinders, with the main base being a power cell of a generator. The whole machine itself was huge, about a good fifteen feet tall, and looked more like a tower than a machine of sorts.

"How peculiar," noted Sebastian.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you all: the complete salvation. You may hold your applause until after you see what magnificent medical power that I'm willing to show. I like to personally introduce to you all the grateful participants for this event, may I please welcome Mrs. and Miss. Connor to the alter," he then brought a hand out to the couple that the trio had seen earlier arrive to the alter, Miss. Connor praying that this presentation will be successful, whatever it was.

"Please bring her back for us. It's been only weeks, but it's been too long," Mrs. Connor insisted gravely. The man was willing to do just that.

"I, Aleistor Chamber, will guarantee it. Speaking of which ..." The man, now known to the trio as Aleistor Chamber, presented another little extra assortment to the crowd, as a assistant pulled off the sheets to the object in front of the device. To their surprise, it was revealed to be a corpse! The body really did have a Frankenstein look to it: stitches in several places, her body in only a night gown, her eyes covered in a sleep mask, and wires beginning to be placed onto her torso and body. Aleistor looked to the crowd again, his glass of wine raised towards the body in presentation.

"A poor, unfortunate accident has taken the life away of seventeen-year old Margaret Connor merely two weeks ago, and so many feeble minds would declare her dead. To that I say hogwash! For the grand salvation of my medical science will bring this fair maiden back from the dead!" That last part especially got their attention. Sure, medicine could save people from death, but bring one back from it? Even Sebastian found this a bit intriguing, being a demon of the underworld himself and all.

"Back from the dead? He's serious?" Alphonse thought, which was the main reaction that the others shared just as well. Eventually, the workers under Aleistor gave him the thumbs up, and prepare to start the machine next to her. With a flip of a switch, and press of a button, the machine began to roar to life, blue sparks shooting out like crazy, as the device roared in glory. Electricity shot through the corpse's body, surges making the body twitch and shake from the sheer force of it, Aleistor himself relishing into it with his arms spread like the bird the society has symbolized.

"Bring this girl back to us! Give her life again, like the Phoenix you are!" Aleistor declared, as the electricity continued to surge through her, everyone, including the trio, watching to see what'll happen to her. It felt like forever had flown by, but what was truly just half a minute of thousands of volts, before the machine calmed down, and the body ceased movement. The crowd waited with baited breath, waiting for what sort of sign the body would give. At first, the body remained just that: just a body. Cold, stone dead. ...

Then a twitch.

Then the hand moved.

"S-She's moving!"

and indeed she was. Much to the amazement of the crowd, Margaret, slowly, but surely, begun to rise up from her death bed, managing to sit up in her bed. Her body still felt a little twitchy, but apart from that, she wasn't falling over again. And to just prove how alive she became, her hand slowly felt the wires and plugs, and proceeded to remove them herself with simple tugs of the wrist, and curiously felt the blindfold over her eyes. Her parents were simply amazed at what they were seeing, tears of joy coming from both of them on seeing their daughter back with them.

"Allow me, my blossom," Aleistor decided, gently untying the bandages over her eyes, and allowing her to see her parents for the first time in weeks. Her eyes were still a little glossy somewhat, but considering she was just dead, that was easily overlooked. Slowly, she even grew the strength to get up back onto her own feet with little help.

She was back from the dead. Just as Aleistor promised.

"Oh ... Oh M-Margaret!" the mother cried, embracing her daughter on her arms. Margaret didn't react too much to the gesture though, as Aleistor looked on to the crowd of amazed members with only one thing to say.

"THE PHOENIX HAS RISEN AGAIN!"

That response gave the entire crowd into a roar of applause to this amazing feat. Not only did he prove that his method worked, but they brought back a family member's lost relative just as well. On the surface, a very good deed, at the least, and a god's gift at most. For the first time in his missions, Ciel Phantomhive was speechless. Almost as shocked as everyone else would be. This man can bring back the dead.

Or so it appeared.

.......

"He actually did it."

that was the main statement Ciel gave to the whole thing once they got back to their room on the Campania. It was a basic room like any other on a ship, with the basic necessities one would have. Being a luxury cruise liner, fancy was the main word for the room, and one Ciel was more used to. Speaking of, Ciel sat there on the bed after a long day, Alphonse placed over on a nearby counter by a mirror, and Sebastian at his main post as per usual.

"Quite an intriguing display of engineering, wouldn't you think so? And here I thought you humans didn't have that kind of ability," Sebastian commented, giving his master some late night dessert (his sweet tooth demanded it).

"This is a rather unique case: Bardroy, Victoria, and now the Undertaker joining us on the ship, and now we have a man who is actually able to revive the dead."

"... He didn't do it."

Ciel and Sebastian turned to Alphonse Elric, who himself had been thinking on the situation ever since they got back form the society meeting.

"Pardon me, Elric? He did seem bring Margaret to life, as promised during his presentation."

"The body, maybe, but not Margaret. Didn't you two see just how lifeless she looked when her mother embraced her back there? She didn't react or anything. All that machine did was restart her physical functions, if anything at all. ... He didn't bring her back to life," Alphonse concluded. A very likely, and surprisingly more plausible idea now that Al had brought it up, and Alphonse would knew more than anyone there, ironically enough, the different of being alive and being, well, just there.

"Now, let's not jump to conclusions right away. All the same, we'll check in on the Connor family tomorrow morning, and we'll see just how "alive" their Margaret has gotten," Sebastian suggested.

"Why wait? It's been a few hours since they did this, you go and check on them, Sebastian," Ciel decided. Sebastian just did his usual bow gesture.

"As you wish, my lord."

~~

So, as Ciel and Alphonse were in their room to get some sleep, Sebastian did what his master requested, and was going about the ship by his lonesome, and heading on his way to the Connor's room to check in on their little Margaret. Being late in the night, that didn't mean that people weren't going around the place, and Sebastian was seeing multiple people still going about the late night hours. This wouldn't be a problem, normally, but some stray eyes could cause some problems if they saw him peering in on the Connor family, so he can only hope that the family wasn't out for the moment, nor was there a crowd awaiting at their door.

"Is there something the matter?"

Sebastian stopped himself on hearing Aleistor's voice coming from somewhere, though on the surface he wasn't anywhere around. A bit interesting though, on hearing such a voice out in the open. Sebastian took a minute to look around, and sure enough, down the next hall, there was Aleistor himself with the Connor parents. A good time as ever, and Sebastian placed himself over just by the corner, keeping a close eye on the three as best he could manage without making it obvious. The parents then invited Aleistor inside their room, Sebastian taking the opportunity to slip in closer, and stopping himself silently by the cracked door.
As for Aleistor and the two parents, they were quick to point out the problem to him, and they showed Margaret inside, who at the moment was just sitting on her bed. Sebastian just managed to see her from where he was, and looking at her, he could see what Alphonse was talking about earlier. Margaret was just sitting there, emotion lacking and barely reacting to Aleistor coming in. She simply sat there, as if she was a doll that was situated for a little girl's tea party, and lacking just as much life.

"She's been like this since we brought her back. We tried many of her favorite activities, but she wouldn't do anything," explained the rather worried mother, as Margaret just looked up to them with a blank expression, more like a curious dog than an actual human. Aleistor simply shrugged it off though.

"Needn't you worry about that: She's been practically gone for two weeks, you know. Her mind just needs to come back to her, that's all," Aleistor reassured them. That sounded like sense to them, but seeing their daughter so quiet and withdrawn like this was still a bit of a worry. Sebastian quietly took note of this, metaphorically, and literally, as he had a small little pocket book to write down the information (a butler must be prepared for everything).

"If you're sure," said Mrs. Connor.

"I know I am. I'll give her ... three to four days, and you'll have your daughter back to normal," Aleistor explained, as he took his leave. Aleistor took a step out, and began heading back to his room, Sebastian just out of sight and out of his way. He had the information they needed, and he went off to take his own leave. Or at least, he would've if someone wasn't standing a foot away from him.

"May I have a word with you?"

.......

Sebastian then ventured into another room of the Campania, though this one was a little bit isolated from the rest of the passengers, and even a bit of the crew. It looked like a singular bedroom, nothing too fancy, but Sebastian didn't care much for that, his mind more on the person who brought him here in the first place, who meanwhile walked in behind him with a case in hand. To put it simply: first there was Bardroy and Victoria, next came Undertaker, and now ...

"I do have to admit, I didn't think that a lord like you would have time to go on a cruise," Sebastian noted, as the demon lord gently walked in, closing the door behind him.

Sombra.

"I felt stressed as of late, and Chrysalis was getting to be a bother," Sombra stated. Sebastian smiled on the remark, but he didn't lower his guard for an instant. This was the demon lord he was speaking to, and now the first time either.

"I do want to ask how you managed to get onto the ship without suspicions," Sebastian inquired. Sombra walked over to him.

"Well, let's just say that you've had some proper involvement with that," Sombra said. Sebastian felt slightly confused, until something started to show on his wrist: and a similar sort of object formed from their first encounter with eachother.

"It always helps to have a backup plan in a situation. Why else would I have you tagged?"

"Rather clever of you," Sebastian noted. Sombra walked by him, and went over towards the mirror in the room. Sombra had more on his mind, as he began to work with

"That aside, Sebastian, I didn't come out here just for a simple talk. I have something for you," Sombra stated, referring to the case he brought with him. Sebastian waited patiently, but something then began to cross his sense of smell, a few whiffs of the air telling the demon that this was something very intriguing, not to mention delicious. Sombra opened the case, and then presented a medium-sized item, looking like some sort of medical needle, only the needle was the size of a turkey baster, and had a few extra attachments to the interior of the object. Sebastian could even make out a Arabic written spell onto the object in question.

"That's new."

"Oh, it's not just the needle you should be new to, Sebastian. Now, I took the time to study on this Faustian Contract of yours, and then something occurred to me. Sure, you could wait for the contract to complete, but once you do that, you'll end up with a rather ... messy scene. not to mention the unwanted evidence it would leave behind. That, and I can tell you do care enough for Ciel to keep him alive for so long. So ..." Sombra then placed the item down into Sebastian's hands, letting the butler read over what was engraved into this big needle.

"I've taken the time to work out this spell into this needle. It should be enough to get that soul of yours."

"I've seen this spell before, Sombra, yet this wouldn't keep the human's life in tact once used," Sebastian pointed out. Sebastian could already tell that Sombra had tested this device out from the smell of souls lingering from the end of the needle.

"If used on a knife or a scythe, maybe, but that's exactly why I've had it engraved in this needle," Sombra explained. "I've seen how humans used needles to extract blood from the body, and unless used extensively, it's usually harmless depending on where the item is used. So this way, you can extract that soul you've worked so hard for from that Ciel Phantomhive, and keep your earl alive and breathing like nothing happened at all."

"... To tell you the truth, I'm surprised you'll still go through with this. Considering our last excursion."

"Yes. Noted. Despite that, you're a demon, same as me. I may be a cruel creature to the surface world, but I'm not stupid, I won't kill my own kind if I can help it," Sombra made clear. Sebastian took the idea into deep consideration. Sombra fulfilled his promise after all, and Sebastian was so sure that it wouldn't happen, one of the few things he would be sure on.

"I see. ..."

"Well, that's all I came to do -" before Sombra could go though, Sebastian did a rather bold move and actually grabbed him by the arm, masking Sombra stop.

"We both know that's not true. You wouldn't just stop by without any other motive, would you? I AM with Team Harmony after all," Sebastian pointed out. Sombra got his arm out of Sebastian's grip, but he just smiled.

"Will you ever cease to humble me, Bassie?" Sombra said.

"Yes. ... Now, there is one thing I do want to tell you as oppose to the contract as well, Sombra. Though I can assume you probably know it. ..."

"And what's that?"

"... My existence is as in jeopardy as him," Sebastian said. Sombra was a bit confused but allowed him to continue anyway with a motion of his hand.

"You keep saying to just extract his soul and be done with it, but if I do that before the contract is complete, then as a demon, I would betray my own duties. Pure will turn to poison, as it would be."

"There's always a catch, is there? So contrived," Sombra sighed. One variable that even he didn't know about.

"Needn't you not worry about that. Ciel's soul would be a wonderful taste for my final breath. I'm more than willing to take that. ... Though, I too have one request to ask you. As a fellow demon."

"A request, Sebastian?"

"... I'll agree to lend you Phantomhive as a reward."

That last part surprised him. Sebastian, a demon who had worked for Phantomhive for years, was this willing to go through with the soul extraction despite throwing his life away to do so. And here he thought Sebastian was a clever demon. Yet again, he wasn't the same species of demon as Sebastian, so perhaps it was a much bigger deal than he would know. But then again, Sebastian was promising quite a reward, and what other chance would he get for such a easy grab, and with Ciel of all people?

"No catch?"

"Even if there was, I wouldn't live to do it."

"... I'm listening."

~~

Back in the room, Ciel and Alphonse were both simply waiting for Sebastian at this point. They would go to sleep, but Ciel was still waiting for report from Sebastian, and as for Alphonse, the quiet ride now gave Al a bit more to think about. He didn't have much time to actually think things over for himself, with getting on the ship and all, not to mention the alter, but now he had one other thing to think over.

You said your so-called brother put you in that suit of armor. So how do you know you don't love him because he made it so you would? Altering your memories and personality to suit him best!

"... Ciel?"

"What now?" Ciel asked, feeling a bit tired himself as a yawn escaped him.

"... Do you know anything about transmutation?"

Well that was an odd question for the young earl.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well ... say you could transmutate someone. Someone you knew had just died, and you decided to transmutate them to bring them back. would you?" Ciel stopped him when he raised his hand to him.

"If you're asking me to revive your body, I wouldn't hold my hopes if I were you."

"N-No, not that. ... I mean, would you ... alter it?"

Alter it. Ciel stayed quiet at first, and began to ponder a little bit. Far as he was concerned, it was Edward who did this to him, and it didn't take the earl too long to figure out what Alphonse was really talking about. But rather than jump on him, he decided to humor him a little.

"If I could find them any use to me, then yes. I would try to remove any negative traits so they would do better at their tasks."

"So ... you think anyone else would do the same?"

"I don't see why not. ... But then again, I would want my true brother rather than an alteration," Ciel stated. Alphonse didn't need to hide this much anymore if Ciel could figure it out so quickly. Ciel got up, as Alphonse went to his next question.

"You really think so?"

"Well, if I did, I wouldn't even call him my brother, would I? ... I assume someone made you doubt?"

"... You can say that," Al simply said. Although he wasn't as deadly as other underworld deities, it still was hard to forget Barry's horrifying face, not to mention the fact he too was a transmutation brought to life like Alphonse was. Ciel then smirked.

"Did this other person try to gain anything out of you by telling you this?" Ciel asked. Alphonse had to rework his memory on his initial encounter, but eventually it drew blank.

"I don't think so. He was more willing to chop me up, actually," Al answered. Ciel pondered again.

"And was he sent by Sombra, perhaps?"

"He just showed up out of nowhere, so, I don't know exactly."

"I see. ... One more question: is your brother the type to be a good liar?"
Alphonse paused and thought it over again, but this one came a bit quicker.

"Not really. Ed doesn't really like to lie," Al answered. Ciel turned to Alphonse.

"Then you're just jumping to things: sounds to me like whoever tried to assault you and plant these idiotic ideas in your head was just trying to point you the wrong way."

"You think so?"

"Of course. I would do that in a heartbeat if I could avoid everything turning to hell," Ciel said. Now Alphonse wasn't too sure about him on this one.

"You mean ... you'll lie to me if it could help you?"

"Now what do I have to gain for lying to you? And before you answer, I already have Sebastian with me. In short, I didn't need you coming with me for the most part, so lying to keep you around would mean rather little."

Well, there goes Al's follow-up response. As cold as that was, that did ensure Alphonse that at least Ciel was telling him the truth. But then again, it also reminded him of what kind of person Ciel Phantomhive was: a kid with little faith, and who'll do whatever it would take to achieve the task given to him. He just hoped throwing his body overboard wasn't apart of that.

"You can be very cold when you want to."

"It tends to happen time to time," Ciel said. Ciel gave a stretch, and went off back to bed, but he didn't go the sleep just yet.

"Where is that damn demon?" he thought.

...

"My apologies for the wait, my lord."

Speak of the devil, Sebastian had arrived now, looking pretty content with himself. And just before Ciel would fall asleep too.

"About time. And the Connors?"

"Their daughter's not doing too fair, I'm afraid. Aleistor had arrived as well and reassured them a three day extent until she's fully recovered," Sebastian informed. Of course, Alphonse wasn't buying it. Before Al could say much, Sebastian picked Alphonse up.

"My lord? I believe it's time to confront our host for the evening," Sebastian said. Ciel got up to his feet.

"A bit soon, if I were to say so. Let's go."

~~

And so, the plan was brought on into motion, and the trio began to head off to their target in Aleistor. At this point, later in the night, not too many were going about the ship now, which was a pretty good thing for Ciel, Alphonse, and Sebastian to get by with. Sebastian brought them off over back to the same room where the presentation took place, only this time no one else seemed to be there. With the presentation over and done, guess there was no other reason for those of the Aurora Society to even be there.

"Well, where is he?" Ciel asked.

"He'll come. Take Al, and set up position out of sight, just over there. I've given him a private invitation on your behalf, so he should show up any moment with the device. Do you understand what needs to be done?"

"Not the type to give orders, but yes," Ciel said, and he went off out of sight with Alphonse in his arms, taking position over right behind one of the stands in the room. Not the best spot, but best considering what they got to work with. And right on cue.

"AH, welcome, fellow Phoenix. The pleasure's mine."

Enter Aleistor. He had a glass of wine in hand with him, and he looked as dazzling as he would be. What he also brought in was the salvation device from earlier, possibly the reason Sebastian got him into thinking for this meeting. and once more, Sebastian was seen first, and no time to think over what to do.

"Aleistor Chamber. That was quite a performance you've presented earlier today. I'm pretty impressed," Sebastian stated. nothing like buttering up the target for some false security, and Aleistor was quickly enjoying the admiration.

"Was there ever any doubt?"

"Not for me. However, it is curious: some rumors around the ship had been in regards to Margaret, and they do wonder if you truly brought her back to life."

"Oh, how ridiculous: you all saw her rise up from the ashes."

"The body, maybe, but not Margaret. Didn't you see just how lifeless she looked when her mother embraced her back there? She didn't react or anything. All that machine did was restart her physical functions, if anything at all. ... You didn't bring her back to life."
Alphonse was not amused. Aleistor paused for a minute, swirling the drink in his hand and considering this man's accusation. Eventually though, the man simply laughed.

"Oh, come now, she just needs time to bounce back, that's all. I mean, really, you'd be a bit out of it too if you were dead."

"... May I suggest you to explain your reasoning. I am especially curious as to why the Aurora Society would bring forth resurrection of all things," Sebastian stated. Aleistor found this very amusing.

"What a silly question. What's your name?"

"Michaelis. Sebastian Michaelis," Sebastian introduced. Aleistor thought it over, before he actually began to explain.

"With the power of this device, I shall birth a brand new empire under the Aurora Society!"

"Huh?" said the main reaction of those in the room.

"Just imagine: a kingdom where not even death is considered something to fear. And once our progress has been made, my great Aurora Society will branch out all over the globe, and yours truly will be in charge of it all."

"You got quite a goal, don't you? The authorities will be all over you, I'm sure," Sebastian noted. However, this didn't deter this man.

"I can defeat you all with one glass of wine!" He declared, followed by an ego-filled laugh. OH did that get under their skin.

"Would it be alright to kill him?" Ciel quietly asked.

"No ... but I understand your feelings," Alphonse said. Killing him won't do much justice, not by a long shot. And Aleistor either knew that by the look on his face, or flat out didn't care about the danger he was in. Sebastian started to adjust his glove on that sort of answer, letting the lunatic laugh himself silly.

"So you think you can challenge me, do you? You're as delusional as you are obnoxious," Sebastian stated. however, Aleistor then did a rather questionable move. He took the wine he had in hand, and actually ... poured it on himself.

"... Now I'm just confused," Sebastian stated. Aleistor made sure that the wine drenched his head and shoulders, running his fingers through his hair and tossing it back, looking dazzling in the display but Sebastian just found that obnoxious again.

"I just enjoy a little freshening up before I deal with the devil, as all."

"Devil. ... so you know who I am then?"

"Of course. You lot would be the only ones who would object to my fabulous work, isn't that right? Jealous that such a pretty face got the idea first, right?" Aleistor said, waving his finger to Sebastian as if he was pitying him, and giving him a wink. Sebastian had just about enough of this, and bolted forward to get at Aleistor, but the second he touched him, his hand began to sizzle! Suddenly, he had to jump back. If he held Aleistor any longer, and it would've burned him for good. Aleistor wasn't doing any metaphor here in terms of demons apparently, the ego man smirking.

"I'll have you know that I took some study on black magic when in my youth. It looks like my wine mixture worked like a charm. Then again, naturally it would."

"Black magic wouldn't burn me."

"But holy water would. Black Magic isn't only for the Underworld, you know."

Now it was getting troublesome: this man was mixing things up from both heaven and hell with mixing holy water and wine.

"This man's smarter than he looks," Ciel thought. Aleistor strolled over to the nearby table where Ciel and Al were hiding behind, and actually got himself another pour of wine. Sebastian didn't think much of it, but now it was like liquid poison he was pouring in his glass. Now Sebastian can't go near him without burning himself, which posed a bit of a problem in his situation. With the holy water in him, and on him, what can he do?

"Such a nice refreshment if I do say so myself," Aleistor commented with a triumphant grin.

"Steady now, Aleistor," Sebastian warned. All that did was make Aleistor dip his fingers into the wine, and flick droplets of it at Sebastian, those landing on his face burning ever so slightly like a bee sting. Sebastian got a napkin and wiped it off of him.

"How about you sit down for me, my pet. I'm not scared of you."

"How about us then?"

Then came even more. Looking over to the door to the alter, Aleistor, Sebastian, Ciel, and Alphonse found that more company had shown up to the party: Victoria, Bardroy, and Undertaker! Well, what timing for them to show up. Again though, Aleistor didn't appear too troubled. In fact, he looked pretty pleased with this.

"Oh, when will my children leave me be? I can't get enough of it!" Aleistor said, highly dramatic as a hand rested on his forehead as if he was gonna faint. Not a good showing for them.

"Oh, why if it isn't Aleistor Chamber. So this was your little plan, eh?" Undertaker said.

"Hmm ... Ah, you lot were the ones that saw my presentation earlier, weren't you? Hope you all had a good show," Aleistor said.

"He figures it out NOW?" Alphonse thought. How dunce was this man?!

"Don't give us that! Now come quietly," warned Bardroy, aiming his rifle at him. That did make him a bit hesitant, but he quickly corrected himself.

"Now what's all this here? I'm no lawbreaker, am I?"

"I believe you do: an underground organization like this, bringing those back to life is a crime itself. Plus if you do this, I'd be out of a job," Undertaker noted.

"AH, sacrifices have to be made for some progress, we know that. You all should be thanking me for keeping Grim Reaper at bay from stealing you all and dumping you six feet under," Aleistor joked, but Undertaker felt a cringe run through him, and his hand twitched on that response. Reapers can't continue without death, it just doesn't work that way, nevermind the actual job as an undertaker.

"Feisty one, aren't you?"

"I'd prefer the word 'bold'. A true heart of a leader," Aleistor stated, acting dramatic again.

"Can I just blast this idiot?" Bardroy quietly asked.

"No, no, be patient. Though I'm seeing your feelings," Victoria said, as she walked up and presented herself to Aleistor.

"Don't mean to tell me you're against this as well, my lord," Aleistor said, rather puzzled really.

"Not the idea itself, no: I mean, it's such a nice thought to go through life without immediate death. But this silly idea that your "kingdom" will overpower mine ... I'm afraid I can't have that," Victoria said. Aleistor chuckled.

"Don't be preposterous, I wouldn't even dream of challenging your family to my army. how conclusive can you be?"

"Army? What army?" asked Bardroy.

"Hmm ... Well, if you so insist."
Aleistor then brought his hand up to his mouth, and gave a long whistle. This one wasn't a regular one, extremely high-pitched, and while the group didn't hear much of anything of it. but that didn't mean it was ignored: the doors to their exit slammed shut, and something began to head out onto the alter: a good twenty staff members of the Aurora Society! Though, the way they moved didn't make them as normal as anyone else would be. When they got into the light though, the multitude of stitches and blank expressions presented themselves as nothing more than animated corpses.

"Did he had to ask?" Ciel and Alphonse thought.

"Ah, there they are. Margaret wasn't the only I've tried this on, and I have to admit, I've done wonders with them all. Now, I'll be out of the way, and I'll let you all have some fun," Aleistor said, walked past his corpses with little fear of them. They were brought to life by him, so he had no reason for it. Once he got situated well out of the way, he snapped his fingers, and the horde of corpses started to march forward to the foreign intruders.

"A zombie apocalypse. Damn, not something I expected honestly," Bardroy said, loading his rifle for the horde coming at them. None of the zombies too quick, about as fast as a fast walk, but Bardroy made short work of about a good two of them before the group had to move away. The zombies started to split up after the others. Well, all but one, and his sense of smell got Ciel and Alphonse not too far away.

"Uh oh."

"Blasted."

both of them had to move out of the way before the zombie could sink its teeth into them, knocking over the wine table as it did so. The group had plenty to deal with, but Aleistor was gleefully enjoying it all.

"Oh, this is like the coliseum of corruption! And I am up watching it all, enjoying my wine like the great Emperor Nero," Aleistor declared, imagining himself as said Nero as he did so. He was having too much fun with this, and the others were getting pissed off more and more.

"AGH, do we kill him?" yelled a angry Victoria.

"You just told me not to earlier!" snapped Bardroy.

It sure did felt like he was watching some sort of play to Aleistor: multitude of the main characters of this little story fighting against a horrid enemy, and some into more trouble than others, and the addition of Ciel and Alphonse just added to the fun. While he saw his zombies getting killed, he began to notice something, as the group killed more and more.

"Odd. Could've sworn I had more staff. They starting to get lazy on me?" Aleistor thought, glancing to the back of the alter. Sebastian and Bardroy did most of the fighting, continuing to get at the zombies' weak spot, which we all know was the head. Aleistor actually took a stroll over to the back to see what was going on with them. His whistle should've gotten them here by now. One look was all Aleistor needed to see the fate of the other staff members.

Or rather, what was left of them. ...

"DOWN!" Sebastian called.

And not a moment too soon, as one more player jumped in. Bardroy and Sebastian did a good job in killing about ten zombies, but the remaining killers were immediately sliced and decapitated by this newcomer, the killing only taking about five seconds total. Everything went quiet.

.......

"Rather messy."

King Sombra! The final player! his involvement in killing these zombies was a bit of a U-turn in the eyes of many of these people, with the exception of Undertaker. Sombra had very little blood splattered on him from his onslaught, taking his own napkin and wiping off some blood off of his face.

"Sombra?" gasped Ciel.

"Hello everyone. hope I'm not intruding too much, but I couldn't help but notice that someone trying to play creator," Sombra stated, glancing back to the now scared Aleistor. All of his staff killed so quickly, he wanted to part of it. Sombra was disappointed in him, but he had other things in mind. Then Sebastian stepped forward.

"Thank you for the aid, Sombra. They've been giving us quite a trouble," Sebastian said, smiling. Sombra went over to him.

"A favor's a favor. Speaking of which, may I have my end of the deal?" Sombra looked over to Ciel, who himself didn't have much clue what was going on. Sombra wasn't wasting time with this, and Sebastian smiled devilishly.

"Assuredly."

"Wait a bloody minute, what's going on?!" Ciel demanded. Normally Sebastian would answer, but the demon remained silent, and rather show than tell. As he went closer, he then presented the item he had hidden away: the needle Sombra gave him. Ciel was shocked, and Sebastian made Ciel drop Alphonse, lifting him up and carrying the struggling kid over.

"Release me, damn it! SEBASTIAN!" Still nothing, and all he did was smile, his eyes locking onto him less like a master, and more like prey.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Bardroy demanded.

"Needn't it worry you. Just handling a favor."

"WHY YOU -" Bardroy raised his gun, and started firing, only for Sombra to rush over, and slam Bardroy to the wall, just like that. Ciel was stunned, and the needle was held right in his view.

"Don't struggle little one, it'll hurt only for a few moments. See this as a visit to the doctor's office," Sebastian said, before Ciel felt a stinging sensation hit him in the arm, the needle sinking into the skin and into his vein. Ciel couldn't believe what Sebastian was doing to him, and he tried to get himself out of it, but his struggles made it hurt even more, telling Ciel that he can't get out of this without losing his arm in the process. Sebastian waited for a minute until the writing on the needle started to glow a greenish color. Signal for activation, and signal for extraction. Ciel could only watch, as Sebastian slowly began to such out a white substance from his body, glowing slightly in a haze of smoke and energy. And then, just like that, Sebastian got his prize, and rested Ciel down onto the ground.

Ciel's soul was in Sebastian's hand.

"Bastard, what in hell do you think you're doing?!" Ciel yelled.

"Enjoying my dinner."

"WE HAD A DEAL, SEBASTIAN!"

",... Well, I'm afraid that just expired. Farewell, my young lord, it's been interesting working with you."

And with a slow release, the soul began to seep out of the needle, and Sebastian began to inhale Ciel's soul right in front of him! Ciel wanted to rush in, but Undertaker oddly stopped him from continuing.

"Undertaker, let go!"

"Just watch, my young earl," Undertaker said, and before Ciel knew it, the entire soul was now gone, and all eaten by this satisfied demonic entity. Sebastian took a moment to relish the taste of such a soul, very pure ironically. A soft smile went over Sebastian's face, as if he achieved his life goal.

"Like the fruits of Eden. ... And yet, just as deceiving. ..."

Blood began to seep out of Sebastian's mouth. Sebastian simply stood there for a moment or two, and the contract on his hand began to glow a bright red. Ciel's eye began to do the same, but his lasted shorter than Sebastian's symbol. Once the glowing stopped, Sebastian closed his eyes, and fell backwards onto the floor, a single thud echoing throughout the room. ...

Silence.

"W-Wha ... S-Sebastian? ..." Ciel slowly walked over to the butler, the demon simply laying there on the ground, not reacting to anything going on, or the presence of Ciel looming over him. The only other sound was Sombra walking up behind Ciel, as he proceeded to grab him by the collar.

"Well, my little Phantomhive. ... On that contract, you've agreed that heaven will never be in your reach. So you wouldn't mind it then, to be the first of your group to visit the Catacombs."

"The ... The Catacombs?" Ciel felt something tighten on his throat, only to find a metal collar and some chain, which Sombra had a firm grip on. With a snap of his fingers, a portal opened on up right by the alter, and Ciel immediately knew what that meant.

"NO YOU DON'T, DEMON!" Bardroy roared, gunfire suddenly ringing out. Each shot though either missed, or was blocked by a shield Sombra had made around himself. The plan wasn't going to get him killed, not by anyone. Instinctively, once that didn't work, Bardroy grabbed his young lord and tried to keep him from getting dragged into the Underworld. Ciel tried to get the chains broken, but it was no use out of that either. Bardroy glanced over and saw that Victoria and Undertaker weren't doing anything!

"Don't just stand there, bloody help!" Bardroy yelled. But neither of them did much of anything.

"It was fun, Ciel, but I'll find another dog." Victoria said.

"Sombra would know better than to drag us down with him," added Undertaker. At that moment, Sombra had enough with him: and whipped Ciel right out of his hands! Ciel was launched upward, and slammed into the ceiling before hitting the ground below, much to Bardroy's shock. The soldier tried to regain himself, but by the time he did, Ciel and Sombra were already right by the portal. Bardroy didn't had time to grab Ciel again, and could only watch his master get pulled right through. And after that, the portal disappeared, and everything was quiet.

Ciel was gone.

And Sebastian was dead.

"... Damnit. DAMNIT."

Bardroy fell to his knees, facing the alter where Ciel was just standing. His efforts were in vain after all, but then a bit of anger shot through him after a bit, his eyes turning back and locking onto Victoria and Undertaker.

"YOU IDIOTS, WHY DIDN'T YOU HELP?!" Bardroy roared.

"Well that's simple: if we got involved, we'd be dragged down to hell as well," replied Victoria.

"And you let Ciel die because of that?!"

"Of course."

Bardroy couldn't believe his ears. But before he could continue, they all began to hear a sort of quiet whimpering coming from Alphonse nearby. It didn't matter if they could see him or not, just seeing both Sebastian and Ciel get taken away like that, and him not doing anything, simply broke him. Bardroy locked up his anger for a bit, and went over to Alphonse.

It's gonna be a long ride back home. ...