#egin nichols

[keikaku-sama]

Book of the Atlantic: Chapter 7

Rating: Some early chapters are rated T. Some later chapters are rated M. Reader discretion is advised.

Side note: Sentences in Italics without quotation marks are thoughts. Sentences in “Italics” with quotation marks are characters on the other end of a phone call speaking. Sentences in “Bold and Italics” with quotation marks are characters saying things angrily, venomously, for emphasis, or the like.

And, sentences in “Italics and are in headline font” with quotation marks, are two characters speaking in unison. Sentences in “Bold, Italics, and are in headline font”, are three or more characters speaking in unison. Sentences in Bold and Italics without quotation marks is a character telepathically speaking to another character.

“Now rise from the ashes, my dear!

“Like a phoenix!!”

Adrian placed a hand on the gun holster on the back of his belt, glaring at the corpse, as it rose.

“Please, take a good look!

“Our medical science can overcome even death!”

The mourning woman-The corpse’s mother, then hugged the corpse.

“Maggie! Oh, Maggie, my sweet child!! Thank you so much, doctor!!”

“This is ‘Absolute Salvation’!”

Ciel suddenly stood in shock, as he gaped. “What exactly is going on here?! Did a corpse really just come back to life?!”

The corpse’s maw then opened wider than any human could.

“As long as you are alive, your mothe-“ The woman then screamed, as the corpse bit into her neck.

“M-Maggie-?! What is the-Ow-“The woman was then killed.

The audience screamed, and ran for their lives.

The corpse then got up out of the coffin, and headed for the nearest person.

Which, apparently, was Yuki.

The ghoul summoned her weapons, and was about to draw her shotgun, when-

BANG!!

The corpse’s head exploded, splattering brains, blood, and skull fragments, everywhere.

Yuki, and Ciel, looked to the source, and saw Adrian with a large hand gun….cannon, pointed at where the corpse had been.

“Adrian?”

“I told you I’d protect her just fine on my own if Larten didn’t get here in time, Vlad.”

At that, the ghoul’s eyes widened, before she, Ciel, and Sebastian, looked to see a tall man in red glaring at the mortician.

“Okay, I was wrong. You don’t have to rub it in…..I’m staying, though.”

“Alu~!”

The black haired man was then hugged tightly by the white haired girl, who looked up at him with a radiant smile.

Alucard stared at her, before smiling softly, and ruffling her hair. “Hey, flower.”

“Undertaker, what-How was that corpse moving?! Wouldn’t it have been soulless?!”

The renegade reaper looked at the Earl, as he let his arm drop to his side.

“It was being made to move by the electricity, and a chip implanted into its brain. The electric currents send signals from the brain to the rest of the body. So that it can move, even in death.”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “So, by destroying the head, you destroyed the chip?”

Adrian smiled politely at the demon, before responding. “Yes. Or is that too hard for you to understand?”

At that, the butler’s eyes glowed red, as he glared at the Undertaker.

Yuki had to bury her face in her uncle’s chest to keep herself from laughing at that, while Ciel’s eye twitched. “Would you stop it?!”

“May I kill him, young master?”

“No, you may not!”

“Hee Hee Hee Hee~! Insulting you is fun, master butler~!”

“I’m going to kill him.”

“I order you not to kill him!”

Michaelis was halted in his steps toward the laughing reaper by that.

“I see that you killed it before I could get here.”  

A blonde man rode in on a lawnmower, making Yuki laugh. “A lawnmower? Really?”

“Hey! I like it! The girls at administration let me get it modified!”

“So you didn’t have a choice.”

“Shut up!”

The man glared at the ghoul, before going over to the half eaten corpse in the coffin. “You gonna eat this?”

“I’d rather not eat something someone’s already taken a bite out of. And I ate two weeks ago.”

“Hee Hee Hee~! But you steal my food all the time, Yuki~!”

“That’s different!”

The white haired girl then looked back to the vampire king, who she was still hugging. “Alu?”

“Hm?”

“Do you know where Larten is?”

“Let’s go.”

“Wha-“ The vampire then gently pulled his niece out the door Rian Stoker escaped out of, Adrian following behind.

Meanwhile, Sebastian and Ronald were talking.

“Would you happen to be the famous ‘Bassy’?”

The demon’s face lit up at hearing his ex-girlfriend’s nickname for him. “I am indeed Sebastian Michaelis, butler to the house of Phantomhive. And you are?”

The reaper plastered on a fake smile. “Ronald Knox. Grim Reaper dispatch, retrieval division. Thanks for lookin’ out for my senior.”

“N-“

“Not.”

“Huh?”

Ronald glared at the demon butler. “Really, you’re an asshole. You weren’t there for her when she needed you the most, you threw her away like she was garbage.”

“Young master, I believe that you should go find Rian Stoker.”

“Sebas-“

“Now.”

Ciel tensed at that, before nodding reluctantly. “Al…All right. Come find me later, then.”

“Yes, my lord.”

The slate haired boy then ran out the door that Alucard, Yukino, and Adrian had gone through.

Sebastian glared at Ronald with glowing red eyes. “Now, what were you saying before?”

The reaper scoffed at the butler. “She told you didn’t she? She said she did, and you said that they weren’t important enough.”

“Tell me what?”

“That she gave birth to your daughter thirteen years ago.”

■————————————————————————————■

Yuki sighed, as her uncle stayed silent, ignoring her questions.

“Yuki!”

The girl perked up, and looked behind her, to see Ciel running to catch up with them. “Hey, Ciel. Where’s Michaelis?”

“He’s fighting with a grim reaper I believe, over an insult.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

The ghoul’s eye twitched at that, as she turned back to watch where she was going.

“Oh, Lizzie, you may need this.”

Ciel blinked in confusion, when Yuki said Lizzie’s name, before ducking, as the ghoul had thrown a weapon behind her.

“Thank you!”

The Earl yelped, and jumped, startled when he heard Lizzie’s voice behind him.

Which made Adrian laugh.

“May I ask what kind of weapon this is?”

“Rapier-machine gun. I have more rapier weapon combinations than that, if you want a different one.”

“No thank you~ I quite like machine guns~ I almost always use them in Fallout 3, and any other game with guns in it~”

The ghoul smiled at that, before walking next to Alucard. “Alu, did you get into an argument with Larten?”

“We’re almost there.”

Yuki growled, and pouted, as her uncle avoided answering her.

They had almost made it to the cargo hold, when Adrian grabbed the vampire king’s shoulder tightly. “You guys go on ahead of us. I need to have a word with Vlad.”

The ghoul looked at the renegade reaper worriedly, but nodded, and led Ciel and Lizzie further down the hall.  

Once the trio was out of earshot, the silver haired man glared daggers at Alucard, as he squeezed the other man’s shoulder.  “What did you do?”

The man in red raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what the fuck I mean, Vlad. What did you say, and do, to Larten? Did you actually throw him overboard as you said you would, when you muttered it under your breath yesterday?”

The black haired man’s eyes widened, as he thought that Adrian hadn’t heard him.  “I was just kidding. I wouldn’t actually do that. He’s my nephew, after all.”

The Undertaker dug his claws into the vampire’s shoulder, and glared death at him. “You don’t kid about things like that. And I wouldn’t be surprised if you actually did throw him overboard, given all that you’ve done in the past.”

At that, the No-Life King snarled at the reaper.  "Don’t you fucking dare bring that up, Adrian. Especially not in front of Yukino.”

“Why not? She’s read about you. She knows what you’ve done. She just chooses to ignore that, in favor of loving you unconditionally, what with her belief of ‘The past is the past. What matters now is the present’.”

Alucard tried to shake off the mortician’s claws, and strike him, but Adrian’s grip wasn’t to be trifled with, and he caught the vampire’s fist in his hand, and squeezed, nearly breaking the other’s hand.

“Let me tell you something, Vlad.”

The vampire king growled, and tried to strike the other man again, only to be kneed in the stomach.  

“The anger of your dear big brother’s that you know so well, is not his own.”

Alucard coughed, as he raised an eyebrow.  “Huh…?”

“It rubbed off on him.”

The man in red blinked at that. “What? Then…who-“

“It rubbed off on him from me. Except, my anger can be much, much more deadly at times.”

The vampire’s eyes widened, as Adrian released the fist he was holding, and tightly clamped his hand over the vampire king’s mouth, then brought the other’s face closer, before whispering in his ear.  

“I don’t care if you’re Crowley’s little brother. If you hurt my step-children, or anyone else in the family that I have come to love so much, you will find yourself a pile of ashes. Understand?”

Alucard tensed at that, before grunting in understanding.  

The Undertaker grinned at that, as he let go of the vampire, who quickly jumped away from the silver haired man. “Good~! I’m glad we understand each other then~! Now, come along~! We don’t want to keep them waiting, do we~?”

Not trusting his mouth, the vampire king shook his head, and followed the renegade reaper, to wherever the teenagers were.

They found them waiting at the entrance of the cargo hold, and Yuki was showing Lizzie how to actually use a real life machine gun, and Lizzie showed-or tried to show-Yuki how to use a rapier.

“GAAAAAH! I don’t like just stabbing things! I like going ‘Slashy! Slashy!’ and ‘Hack! Hack!’ You can’t do that with a rapier!”

Adrian, and Alucard, burst into laughter at the ghoul’s use of sound effects.

“GYAH HA HA HA HA!!!! HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE!!!”

The white haired girl blushed, and glared at them.

“S-Shut up!”

Yuki then quickly turned her head to Ciel and Lizzie, as she heard them chuckling. “Stop!”

The ghoul whined, making Lizzie stop, as she thought they were hurting her feelings. “Oh, I’m sorry, Yuki. It’s just that, you were so very cute when making those sounds~! ♡”

Ciel stopped chuckling and blushed, his eyes widening at what Lizzie just said.

“L-Lizzie!”

“What?”

“Where did you hear such dirty pick up lines?!”

“Believe it or not, that was not the dirtiest one I know. I believe that the one Adrian told me yesterday is the dirtiest.”

“UNDERTAKER!”

“Hee Hee Hee Hee Hee~!”

Lizzie suddenly noticed that Yuki was being silent, and looked, to see the ghoul’s whole body flushed, and she was swaying back and forth. “Yuki?”

The white haired girl then fell to the floor, with her soul flying out of her mouth.

“Waaah! Yuki!”

The blonde girl panicked, and crouched next to the younger, then grabbed a hold of Yuki’s soul, and stuffed it back into her.

The girl ‘came back from the dead,’ before she began to stammer, and fumble over words in Japanese, as Lizzie began shaking her friend, trying to unfry her brain.

“I believe we should go look around in the cargo hold now~”

At that, Yuki sat up, her blush gone, as Lizzie helped her up, before threading her arm through the taller girl’s, as they followed the males down the dark staircase.

“Why’s it so dark….”

“No one comes down here until the ship gets to port, dearest.”

The ghoul whined at that.

Before she stood up straight, as she had an idea.

The white haired ghoul requipped black and green leather gloves, before the one on her right hand suddenly combusted seemingly spontaneously.

Ciel yelped at that, startled and worried about the ghoul. “Yuki! Put it out! You’ll burn your arm!”

“It won’t burn me, Ciel. These gloves are fireproof, and make it so the flames don’t travel unless I want them too.”

“Wha-How-How-“

“Magic~”

Ciel’s eye twitched at that, before he looked ahead to watch where he was going.

The light of the flames engulfing Yuki’s hand was much brighter than any flashlight could ever be, and helped the ones with human eyes see better, as they made it down to the cargo hold.

And when they did, Yuki was tackled in a hug by a silver blur, making the flames go out.

“Yuki~!”

“Papa?!”

The one who tackled her kissed nearly every inch of her face like a thousand times, making the ghoul whine, and try to pull away. “Papa! Stop it!”

“But I just wanted to give my step-daughter some love! I haven’t seen you in forever, you know!”

“You saw me five days ago!”

“That’s too long!” The man then nuzzled her cheek, as Yuki tried to crawl out of his iron grip.

“Hee Hee Hee Hee Hee Hee Hee~!!!”

“Shut it!”

“Mr. Bathory, I believe that you should let Yuki go, as we need light, and she’s it.”

“Hm? Oh. Sorry.” The silver haired man let go of his step-daughter at that, kissed her face once more, then helped her up.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome~”

The flame burst back to life, letting Ciel and Lizzie see the man who hugged the ghoul, as well as two other men behind him.

The one who had hugged Yuki, had long silver hair that was in a ponytail, ruby red eyes, long, pointed ears like Yuki’s, and wore a white vampire noble uniform.

The tall, orange haired man behind the silver haired vampire stood defiantly, with his hands on his hips, and had a smile on his face, and wore a white Rend Collective t shirt, under a black leather jacket, with military green cargo pants, and brown, knee high combat boots.

And the third man, was crouched on the floor, feeding food to snakes, and had white hair, with golden eyes, and had scales on his cheeks and forehead, and was wearing a footman’s tuxedo.

“Snake?!”

“TenTen!” Yuki was happy to see her older brother, and had to restrain herself from hugging him, as she had her hand engulfed in flames that could hurt him badly.

The orange haired vampire smiled at his sister in greeting.

“T-Too bright. -Says Wordsworth.”

“Oh! Sorry!”

Yuki then made the flames become smaller than her palm, before yelping in surprise, as a certain pitch black King Cobra slithered up her leg, and wrapped himself around her shoulders. “Well, hello, Bram~!”

The cobra hissed happily, while Larten and Ferid looked at her in confusion.

“Yuki…”

“Hm?”

“You do know that you have a very venomous snake around you, right?”

“Yep!”

“Then why are you letting it on you?”

The ghoul raised an eyebrow, and frowned, while letting Lizzie pet Bram. “Cause he’s my friend. And aren’t you being a bit hypocritical? You let probably the most venomous spider in the world crawl on you, and let her spin a web over your open mouth, and countless other things.”

“But I’m a vampire. The venom would have no effect on me if she bit me. You, however, aren’t, the venom could kill you should your cobra ‘friend’ decide to bite you.”

“He wouldn’t bite me. He-“

“Alright, that’s enough, you two.”

“But-“

“That’s enough.”

”Yes sir.”

“Jesus Christ! This place is like a maze!”

At the new voice, Yuki’s eyes widened.

A figure walked forward, and came into the light of the flame.

It was a man, with messy sky blue hair, and matching eyes, with teal markings like a panther’s around his eyes. He was wearing a white sleeveless denim jacket, had on white distressed Levi’s, donned white fingerless gloves, and wore black combat boots.

The most peculiar things about him, however, were a sword strapped to his waist, that seemed to give off the same sort of power Yuki gave off, and a jaw bone mask on his cheek.

[keikaku-sama]

Book of the Atlantic: Chapter 2

Rating: Some early chapters are rated T. Some later chapters are rated M. Reader discretion is advised.

Side note: Sentences in Italics without quotation marks are thoughts. Sentences in Bold and Italics with quotation marks are characters saying things angrily, venomously, for emphasis, or the like.

 Snake stopped in front of a lavish town house, and scanned it. His eyes stopped at a window on the first floor, as he saw a white haired girl flail in anger. The golden eyed male chuckled at her, before opening the gate, and walking to the front door, then knocking on it.

 “MOTHERFUCKER! CAN’T A GIRL PLAY VIDEO GAMES WITHOUT SOMEONE INTERRUPTING HER?!”

 Silence.

 “ITACHI NOOOOOOO!!!”

 The white haired man on the porch chuckled at the girl’s yelling, before stopping, as the door opened, to reveal an angry girl in sweats. The anger soon turned to happiness, as she saw who it was. “Egin!”

 “Hello, Yuki.”

 The man’s snakes hissed happily at her, making her hiss back in delight. “Oh! Why don’t you come in?” The snake man nodded, before stepping into the house, and closing the door behind him. “Yuki, is there anyone else here?”

 “No, but Soma and Agni should be back soon….Let’s go up to my room. They won’t disturb us th- Wait. On second thought, let’s go to the basement. They’re terrified to go down there. We definitely won’t be disturbed there.”

 Egin stared at her, before nodding silently, following her to the sub floor. Which was just as lavish as the first floor. “Why are they terrified of the basement if it looks like this?”

 “They watch too many American horror movies.”

 “I see.”

 Yuki sighed, as she sat down on a couch, the snake man following suit. “So, what’s up?”

 “I need to know where a couple of people are.”

 The ghoul raised an eyebrow at that. “And what do these people look like?”

 “A lad possibly an inch or so taller than you-” The half demon dodged a pillow to the face, tilting the top half of his body to the right. “Maybe a year younger than you, and has slate hair.”

 “And the other one?” At that, Egin nearly crushed the arm of the couch they were sitting on, clutching it so tightly in anger that his knuckles turned white. And he was glaring death at the floor, with a snarl marring his face. “A man I hoped to never see again, no matter how much I wished to catch him a century ago.”

 Yuki looked at her friend sadly. “And I suppose now that you know he’s still alive, you’re bent on catching him again?”

 “Yes….But how is he still…..I thought……”  

 “He was reincarnated as a demon, in another world, where time goes by much faster than it does here. That’s how he’s still alive. That’s what he told me, at least.” The half Naga stared at her with wide eyes. “What?”

 “He was with Ciel because he’s his demon butler. Five years ago, they made a contract. The deal was, that he gets Ciel’s soul, as long as he helps him get revenge on whoever killed his parents. After that, he will go back to Gehenna, or whichever Hell is his home.”

 “Smile’s…..in danger?”

 “Very much so.” Egin looked at her with a concerned frown. “Is there a way to get him out of the contract?”

 “There are a few ways. One of them is to turn Ciel himself into a demon, and the other….”

 “What is it?”

 “The other is to get Michaelis away from Ciel for twenty four hours, transplant a ghoul heart into him, making him a ghoul in turn, and have Ciel defeat Michaelis in battle.” The snake man looked at her confusedly, as she drummed her fingertips on her thigh in irritation. “I don’t understand….”

  “I suppose Amaimon hasn’t told you about the non-human food chain yet. Ghouls are higher than demons. Vampires are higher than ghouls. Demons are higher than vampires……I honestly don’t understand it one bit.” The half Naga stared at her with wide eyes. “Ghouls are higher than….seriously?!”

 “Yep.”

 “So you could defeat my father and I in battle?”

 “It depends. You and your dad know how to use magic?”

 The half demon nodded. “Father has Lightning Devil Slayer, Lightning Dragon Slayer, and Lightning Angel Slayer magic. I however, have only begun to learn how to use magic, so I only have lightning devil slayer, and lightning dragon slayer magic.”

 “You two would wipe the floor with me.”

 “HUH?!”

 “I have Ice Devil Slayer, Ice Make, and Water Angel Slayer magic. My magic is based on water. Electricity based magic like you and your dad’s would electrocute me if I tried to fight you.”

 “But what if you were really determined?”

 “Hmm…Maybe.” Egin gave her a cute look, his eyes sparkling in excitement, and his mouth open wide, gaping at her. The ghoul blushed, and looked away. “Um…..Yuki?”

 “Yes?”

 “Could you tell me something?” The blue eyed girl looked back to him, raising an eyebrow as he looked serious now. “Sure.”

 “Did….Smile and…..Michaelis….kill Joker and…..the other first stringers?”

 Yuki looked at him sadly. “Ciel didn’t kill them…The Heathen did. And…Joker’s still alive…he’s in the Fairy Tail guild’s infirmary, recovering from his wounds….”

 “Joker’s still alive?!”

 “Um…..Yeah…..I saved Joker….But….I couldn’t save the others…I’m sorry…”

 Egin stared at her, before suddenly wrapping his arms around her, and pulling her close to him. “Thank you…..Thank you, so much…..”

 “Huh? But I didn’t…..”

 “Just knowing that you tried to save all of them means a lot to me, Yukino. I appreciate it.” The girl went silent for a moment, before letting out a sob. Both her, and Egin, then began to cry. ○———————————————○  A short time later, the two had stopped crying, and were now just lying in each other’s arms. “Yuki?”

 “Hm?”

 “Amaimon brought my father to one of our meetings two weeks ago.” The ghoul looked up at that. “So, you got to meet him, and talk to him a bit?”

 “I did.”

 “And is he as awesome as I’ve heard?”

 “He is, despite what I thought over a century ago. He is a very likable man.”

 “Cool……Did you tell him what happened?”

 “No need. He said that he visited this world occasionally to check up on us, and Adrian told him what happened, the day after the murder.” The white haired girl hummed. “How did he react?”

 “He was devastated, and furious. He had hoped that Mother would die in peace, of natural causes, not be brutally murdered by ‘some douchebag trying to play God’, as he put it.”

 “Did he tell you why he left?” Egin nodded at her. “He did. He said that he left because he was getting too powerful, and needed to go somewhere where he could seal his power, and that ended up being Earthland. He left to protect Mother and I, as he feared that he would accidentally hurt us. He truly did love my Mother….”

  Yuki gave him a small smile, as she bonked their foreheads together, making him frown cutely, and his eyes widen in surprise and confusion. “W-What was that for?!”

 “My cousin used to do that to me to cheer me up.”

 “To cheer you up?! All it would do is make you a bit angry!”

 “And then you’d forget why you were sad! It works!” The snake man stared at her, with his eye twitching. “Is your whole family like this?”

 “Yep~! Along with my extended family in Fairy Tail~!”

 “Your family is crazy.”

 “Well, technically they’re your family too, as your dad is one of the people that founded Fairy Tail.”

 “HUH?!”

 “Yep. Mavis Vermillion, Yuri Dreyar, Warrod Sequen, and Precht Gaebolg were the four that founded Fairy Tail one hundred and four years ago.” Egin stared at her. “But…”

 “And your younger brother was the third guild master.”

 “Was?”

 “Alu’s mate, Zeref is the current guild master. He became the master six years ago, after a dragon called Acnologia destroyed Tenroujima, or Sirius island, where a team of some of Fairy Tail’s strongest, along with your brother, and grand nephew were.”  

 The snake man blinked at her. “So they’re dead?”

 “No!” The white haired man jumped, startled when she shouted angrily at him. “S-Sorry….”  

 The ghoul glared at him, growling with her sharp teeth bared in anger, before turning away, and breathing deeply, to calm herself down. “No….I’m sorry…..I just……get upset when anyone says that they’re……Sorry.”  

 Note to self: Never make Yuki angry. And by extension, never make anyone in Fairy Tail angry.

 “Y-You’re fine…Um…they’re not….”

 “No. They’re just in a protective stasis field called ‘Fairy Sphere’ that Mavis’s spirit cast. It’s weakening, and should be down by my birthday next year.”  

 “They’re alive?”

 “They are. Fairy Sphere suspends the target in time, essentially halting physical aging, so you may get to meet your little brother next year, if you so wish to.” The half demon hummed. “May I ask how old my brother is? Father didn’t tell me.”

 “Eighty...Ninety four.” The white haired man smiled at her, in thanks, before she spoke again. “How is your dad so powerful?”

 “He’s been revered as a deity in Japan since the fifth year of the Yamato period, and is a Nagaraja.” Yuki stared at the half demon. “Holy shit….Can I seriously not tell them?”

 “No. I’m sorry.”  

 The ghoul groaned in frustration, before looking back at him. “What are you going to do?”  

 “I’m going to infiltrate Phantomhive Manor and kill Jack the Ripper.”

 “ARE YOU CRAZY?!”  

 “You said that your family, and extended family, is crazy. Your extended family technically includes me, so, yes, I am.”

 “But- But-“

 “I-Is everything alright down there?! Agni and I heard you yelling! Did the basement murderer get you?!”

 Yuki’s eye twitched at that. “I’m fine, Soma! Just talking to a friend that I let in!”

 “Oh~! A friend~?” They heard two people run down the stairs, before seeing an Indian duo, made up of a teenage boy with purple hair, and a twenty something man with white hair. The teenager looked absolutely ecstatic that they had a guest, while the man was glad that his friend was excited. “Any friend of Yuki’s is a friend of mine! Tell me, what is your name, friend?”

 The snake man glanced at Yuki, who’s arm was being slithered upon by Bram the King Cobra. “I….I am Egin Nichols….Though I go by Snake…”

 “Well, Snake~! Welcome to the Phantomhive townhouse! I am the caretaker of this wonderful place, Prince Soma Asman Kadar, and this is my butler, Agni! Would you like some curry, Snake? Agni makes the best!”

 Egin looked to Yuki, who shrugged, before responding. “I would love some, but I’m kind of in a rush to get somewhere…”

 “Oh! No worries, then! We’ll just make you some curry buns, and you can be on your way in a jiffy! ….Yuki, did I say that right?”

 “Yep.”

 “Agni! Some Curry buns for our friend Snake, Please!” The man behind Soma bowed. “Right away, my prince!” ■————————————————————————————■  “Egin-“  

 “No.”

 “But-“

 “No.”

 “Egin-“

 “You cannot talk me out of this, Yuki.”

 “But-“  

 “I said no.”

 “Listen to me!” The snake man looked at her. “What?”

 “Don’t attack him head on. Don’t provoke him. Play along with the lie Ciel will tell you, act like you don’t know what happened to the first stringers. Bide your time, and get stronger.” The half demon raised an eyebrow at her. “Why?”

 “You’re my friend. I’m only trying to make it so you don’t get hurt, or worse. Just do what I said. Alright?” He blinked, before nodding.  

 Yuki smiled at him, before suppressing their spiritual pressure, as Phantomhive manor came into sight. “Hide in the green house. Don’t attack him if he goes in there…I’ve gotta go now. Call or text me if you need something. Bye.”

 Egin smiled at her, before waving goodbye. After the ghoul left, the snake man hid in some shrubbery, waiting for the last few people arriving to go inside. “Let’s bide our time somewhere until night falls. – Says Keats.”

 The half demon then quickly ran to the green house, and shut the door behind him, before looking around.  

 Plenty of places to hide…Yuki said to bide my time..,I’m going to do just that.

 The white haired man then sat on a short brick wall, and pulled the bag of curry buns Soma and Agni gave him, out from his coat pocket. “It’s so warm here. It’s like paradise, don’tcha think? -Says Wilde.” ■————————————————————————————■  The door of the green house creaked, as Sebastian closed it. He had found a snake inside the manor, and in his Young Master’s room, no less. So, he had followed the scent the snake left when it slithered into the manor, back to the green house.

 The demon quickly glanced at every nook and cranny that a human, or demon, could hide in. He growled, when he didn’t see anything. Before his eyes widened in surprise, as he just barely dodged a sudden spark of lavender electricity.

 “Ah. I hadn’t expected to see you again so soon, Mister Snake…..Or should I say, Egin Nichols?”

 A loud roar, that sounded something between a hiss and a growl, was heard, as a white haired snake man jumped out from behind some bushes with lavender lightning sparking around his whole body, and…..black markings appearing on the right of his body, going over his eye, making it glow an electric lavender, as the man rushed at Michaelis.

 “DON’T YOU DARE SAY THAT NAME!! YOU DON’T HAVE THE RIGHT TO!”

 Snake bared his teeth at him in anger, and pulled his fist back, it charged with even more lightning, before he launched the fist at the crow demon.  

 Sebastian’s eyes widened, as he sensed extreme danger from that lightning. He narrowly dodged Snake’s fist, the lightning grazing his cheek, making it burn terribly. The black haired man breathed sharply in slight pain, as it actually hurt…..and wouldn’t heal. The demon kneed Snake in the stomach, before quickly knocking him out.

 Or, tried to knock him out.

 The white haired half demon had better reflexes, and was quicker than Michaelis thought. The half breed recovered from the knee to his stomach, and dodged the fist to the back of his head, before having the lightning travel to his leg, and wiped out the older demon by kicking the leg that Yuki nearly crushed with her kagune one hundred nineteen years ago.

 Sebastian grit his teeth, and growled inhumanly in pain, barely managing to refrain from screaming, as that would only wake the people remaining in the manor. The lightning fueled kick hurt immensely, but not as much as having the bones in his leg nearly crushed by a biological weapon.

 The full blooded demon fell onto his back, before Snake quickly straddled him, and opened his mouth wide, revealing a ball of lavender, and yellow lightning, sparking inside of the snake man’s throat. The maroon eyed man underneath him widened his eyes at that, as the lightning quickly traveled into the white haired half demon’s mouth.  

 The half breed was going to take his head off by burning it to ashes with some strange lightning. Sebastian quickly slid out from underneath Snake, the lightning narrowly missing the taller man’s bad leg.  

 Michaelis growled, and roundhouse kicked the snake man in the head, knocking him out before he good do anything else. The crow demon panted, trying to get air back into his lungs as he glared at the unconscious half breed, before glancing at his leg, then getting up.  

 And losing his balance, gritting his teeth and taking in a sharp breath, as the pain he had felt in his leg when he was human seemed to be coming back full force. The demon growled, then leaned against the glass wall nearest to him, before looking around the green house.  

 It was a mess. 

 One bed of flowers and bushes had caught on fire, the lightning having touched one of the leaves, a lightning strike that had moved toward the black haired man left a trail of an ugly burn mark across the stone on the ground, and where that…..elemental roar, had aimed, where the demon’s head had been, was a large circle shaped burn mark, that Sebastian doubted he could get out with only soap and water.  

 Michaelis gaped at Snake.

 How the hell did this half breed, this half Naga, get to be so powerful in just one hundred nineteen years? ■————————————————————————————■  “Well, now that the professor has gone home, I shall see to luncheon-“

 “Wait.”

 “Hm?” Sebastian tilted his head in confusion at his young master, who raised an eyebrow at him.

 “I kept silent because it seemed like you purposely didn’t want to bring it up in front of him, but…you haven’t explained how Phelps’s murder occurred.”

 “Anything else, Young Master?”

 “Why the hell are you limping, and why is there a scar on your cheek? I don’t know what happened, but shouldn’t it have healed?”

 Michaelis hummed. “That’s just the thing. I tried to heal it myself, but it just won’t disappear….And, the limp…We had another visitor at the manor, in addition to our invited guests. This visitor put up quite the fight, and I fear he was strong enough to permanently damage my leg.”

 The Earl’s eye widened at him. “What?! How?!”

 “I don’t know, but it must have had something to do with that lightning…….magic he was wielding.” The demon growled, and put as much venom into the word ‘magic,’ absolutely hating it, as Yuki, Crowley, and one of the many demons in Gehenna that he hated, wielded magic.  

 Ciel blinked in confusion, before speaking again. “That is most unfortunate. I do hope that you will be able to continue your duties as my butler, despite your leg.”  

 “What kind of butler would I be if I couldn’t?”

 “You wouldn’t be a butler at all.” Michaelis chuckled, as the slate haired boy sighed. “So, tell me. Where is this thirteenth person?” The demon blinked, before his eye twitched, as he crouched with a bit of difficulty, and pulled out a large crate with chains and antique padlocks surrounding it. “What the hell is that?!”

 “As I was not expecting him so soon, I showed him to these special accommodations here.” The Earl walked to stand next to Sebastian. “The killer is in there?”

 The old crow grunted with effort, and pain, as he used the crate to pull himself up, before leaning on the table, ignoring his master’s look of concern. “Yes, he is…Or rather, they.”

 “Let me see what’s inside.”

 “Are you certain?”

 “Just open it!”

 Michaelis nodded, and obliged. He pulled a pair of giant plyers out from under the table, and used them to break the chains on the crate, honestly not wanting to crouch again. He then dropped the plyers, and attempted to quickly dodge a strike of yellow lightning.

 He dodged it, but not as quickly as he wanted to, seeing as his leg was busted.

 I may have to get another cane for myself…

 Ciel’s eyes widened at the lightning, before he looked at the one in the crate.  

 “Snake?!” The white haired man ignored the slate haired boy, and glared at Sebastian, yelling muffled profanities at the full blooded demon. Michaelis sighed, before explaining to Ciel what had happened. After doing so, the Earl stared at Snake, his eyes wide. “He tried to kill you?!”

 “Indeed.”

 “Why?!”

 “Let’s just say that he and I have had a long running feud.” Snake’s muffled yelling became louder, and sounded much angrier, when Sebastian said that. “Oh, do be quiet, Snake. We can’t understand what you’re saying, so why speak at all?”  

 The white haired man snapped. Yellow and lavender lightning discharged from his body, making Ciel quickly move backward to a safe distance, while the crow demon just stood where he was, and sighed exasperatedly. And, despite Snake’s confines being metal wire, the lightning burned it to ash, not electrocuting the man.

 “A FEUD?! SERIOUSLY?! THIS IS MORE THAN A FEUD, MICHAELIS! YOU FUCKING MURDERED MY MOTHER! YOU MURDERED AN INNOCENT WOMAN, WHO WAS JUST DOING WHAT SHE COULD TO PROVIDE FOR HERSELF AND HER SON!

 “YOU’RE A MONSTER, JA-!”

 Snake was cut off when Sebastian wrapped both hands around the snake man’s throat, and strangled him. The half demon coughed, as he choked and gagged, trying to get air into his lungs, as he clawed at the crow demon’s hands, tearing apart the man’s gloves.  

 Ciel tensed, as his eyes widened in fear, when he looked at his butler. Michaelis was glaring pure death at Snake, his body engulfed by pitch black shadows, the only feature of him visible being glowing red eyes.  

 “You would do well to remember your place, half breed. You are nothing more than a weak, worthless child, who thinks he can bring justice upon his mother’s killer, who clings to others like a parasite, afraid that the people he loves will leave him, just like she did.”

 Tears threatened to escape from Snake’s tear ducts, but he refused to let them fall. “N…no…….you….you’re wrong….”

 “What was that, worthless child?”

 “I…..I may…..be weak…….but I……..am not…..worthless…..” The half demon suddenly dug his claws into Sebastian’s hands, making the older demon let go of the snake man. The half Naga quickly crawled away from him, before coughing, and hacking, to get some air back.

 “Every person is worth something…..Everyone is important….Yuki and….another friend of hers once told me…That they’ve travelled the whole universe, and travelled to other universes…..and during their travels…..they’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important…….

 “So how fucking dare you put people down like that. No one deserves to be treated like a piece of shit. No one except people like you, who step on, use, and walk all over others….you’re nothing more than a piece of shit yourself.”

 Sebastian growled at him, as he limped over to the half demon, who didn’t cower away. Michaelis caught sight of a blue, metal thing, under Snake’s shirt, and went to grab it, when the half Naga viciously bit his arm, the white haired man’s fangs breaking skin, and drawing blood.

 “Don’t you fucking dare touch that.”

 The black haired man raised an eyebrow, and smirked, before going to grab it anyways. “Sebastian! Stop it!” The demon scowled, before using his left hand to pull Snake’s hair, essentially pulling the half demon’s maw off of his arm, then limped back to Ciel.

 The Earl glared at him, before walking to the golden eyed male. “Snake.” Said man looked at the slate haired boy with uncertainty. “You may have come here to try and kill Sebastian, but….you know what happened to the other first stringers of the circus, don’t you?”

 “Yuki didn’t tell me everything. She only told me that most of them were dead.”

 Ciel and the crow demon blinked at that. “Most of them?”

 “She saved Joker. Told me she tried to save the others too, but didn’t get there in time.”

 “She went into a burning building to save a man she doesn’t know?”

 “Yes. It’s just the kind of person she is.”

 The Earl and his butler’s eyes twitched. “Did Yuki tell you what they were doing?”

 “No…?”  

 The slate haired boy stayed silent for a moment, before speaking. “Your circus troupe was kidnapping children one after another from each stop on its tour. We joined up with you to seize any evidence of those crimes.”  

 Snake’s eyes widened at that.

 Could this be the lie Yuki mentioned?

 “J-Joker and…..the others…..were….k-kidnappers?”

 “Yes. I won’t tell you the full details, as I’m sure Yuki would be able to tell you if you asked her….Could I possibly ask your real name? And who your parents were, along with your legal guardian’s name?”

 The half demon stared at him, before nodding. “My name is Egin Nichols, though I go by Snake. My legal guardian is Adrian Crevan, an Undertaker. My father is Yuri Dreyar, a powerful demon called a Nagaraja. And….my mother…my mother was Mary Ann Nichols.”

 Ciel’s eyes widened, while Sebastian glared at the half breed.  

 “Mary Ann Nichols?! But she was killed by Jack the Ripper! While I have no doubt that Sebastian has murdered quite a few people in his life, but I’m pretty sure that he’s not The Whitechapel Murderer. And besides, no one ever saw the murderer’s face clearly.”

 “I have.”

 “Well, you could’ve just mistaken Sebastian for him.” Michaelis glared at Snake, silently telling him to play along with Ciel. The half demon was silent for moment, before he spoke with a sad frown. “…I…..suppose I did……I remember seeing red, and my vision was a bit distorted by anger, when I saw him….”

 “Alright then…..Snake….What with your legal guardian being Undertaker, I’m sure he let you read, and watch movies, about Jack the Ripper, along with a few detective movies, right?”

 The white haired man nodded. “Tell you what. You come to my manor, and help me close the ‘Jack the Ripper case.’ And you can stay here until we solve this, or, stay long after. How’s that sound?”  

 Sebastian looked at his master in surprise, before glaring at Snake, whose eyes were wide. “R-Really? You…..You’ll help me…..catch him?”

 Ciel gave him a rare smile. “Yes, but, don’t get your hopes up. He’s avoided being caught for one hundred twenty six years, so who’s to say that he won’t be caught for a another century?”  

 The half demon stared at him, when tears suddenly started streaming down his face, before he hugged Ciel, and sobbed into his blazer. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”

 That surprised the Earl, who stood there, letting the snake man cry, with his arms awkwardly wrapped around the half Naga. “T-There, there….” ■—————————————–■  After Ciel had gotten Snake to stop crying, the Earl had told him that to stay at Phantomhive manor, he would have to act as a footman. The half demon eagerly accepted, and was now sitting in a room of his own, with his snakes slithering along the floor.

 He was waiting for the Earl to get back from a funeral for Michaelis. Why they were having a funeral for someone who wasn’t dead (yet), he would have to ask Yuki, or Adrian.

 Speaking of Adrian, he just barged into the room with a scowl on his face, which wasn’t completely covered by his bangs for once. “What’s with you?”

 “Having to deal with that insufferable demon is tiring.” The renegade reaper sat down next to his charge, before collapsing behind him, then pulling the white haired half demon down, and snuggling with him.  

 Egin blushed at that. “A-Adrian! I’m not a kid anymore! You don’t need to snuggle with-“

 “Let me sleep.” The snake man shut up at that.  ■————————————————————————————■  “YIIIKES, SNAAAAAKES!”  

 “Do pipe down. They will not bite until he commands them to do so.”  

 “He?”  

 At that, Snake nervously peeked around the doorway, and looked into the kitchen. There were four people in the room, excluding Sebastian, who hadn’t been able to get an actual cane for himself yet, so he was just using a contraption he made, which was basically just two walking sticks Ciel didn’t want anymore, stacked on top of each other, and kept from falling apart with duct tape.

 Michaelis walked to stand next to Snake, then slapping the half demon on the back harshly, making the white haired man stand up straight. “Stand up straight now! Introduce yourself in a loud and clear voice! Now that you are here, you must follow our below-stairs rules!”

 He’s enjoying this, isn’t he?

 “I-I’m Snake. W-We look forward to working with you. -Says Oscar.” The snake man’s cowlick trembled, as he introduced himself.  

 A cute green eyed boy looked at him confusedly. “Umm…You’re Mister Oscar?”  

 “No! This is Snake, and I’m Oscar! -Says Oscar.” The half Naga pointed to himself and the green snake on his shoulders respectively, before pointing at some other snakes in the room.  

 The snake next to the red haired girl. “That’s Emily…”  

 A snake above the blue eyed man. “And the one next to you is Bronte.”

 A snake on the counter behind the cute boy and the short old man. “And Wordsworth is over there.”  

 A pitch black king cobra with glowing red eyes, currently being charmed with a flute by the old man. “And the one by you is Bram.”

 After Snake finished that sentence, Sebastian clapped, his temporary cane leaning against the wall behind the snake man, as he put his weight on his good leg, getting everyone’s attention. “All right. That will do. Let us leave the introduction of those servants for another time. Else it will be night before we know it. In any case, he is the Phantomhive footman as of today. Do try to work together, you lot.”