Quest for the Lost--Sebastian's Daughter Sequel (A Black Butler Fanfic) COMPLETE

Chapter 26

After everyone else had left, Alex led me outside. I was still balling my eyes out, but Alex didn't seem to care. He looked pretty depressed about the whole thing, too. He had his arms around me as we left the building, holding me gently like Finny always did.

I coughed again, longer and harder than before. I tasted my blood in my mouth, and saw it on my hand and the ground beneath me. I sat and tried to force myself to stop crying, but nothing I did worked.

Soon, Alex sat down next to me and held me, which comforted me a lot more than I'd expected. I finally calmed enough to stop coughing, and when I did, Alex smiled.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked.

I though about this. It was my birthday. My mother was now truly gone and out of my life forever. I knew that I never wanted to celebrate my birthday ever again. Finally, I said, "Somewhere dark and quiet."

Alex didn't ask questions. He stood, then picked me up and launched us both into the bright, clear sky.

Neither of us spoke for a while. Alex held me, looking around for a place to suit my request, and I had my arms wrapped around his neck so I wouldn't fall, and silently cried with my head on his shoulder.

A while later, I spoke up. "Alex?"

"Yes?"

I sniffed, then said, "Mom said that you might be the one meant to save me, and-" my voice cracked as a new wave of tears threatened my eyes. I stopped talking and lay my head back on his shoulder, trying not to cry.

Alex held me tighter, and I felt his flying slow to a stop. He just hovered there in midair, holding me.

"I promise," he said, "as soon as possible, I'll do everything I can to help you."

I leaned away from his shoulder to look him in the eyes. He looked completely serious, and it felt like some light was being shined on the pure darkness that was my heart.

I hugged him tightly. "Thank you," I kept saying, starting to cry out of happiness more than depression. I still had a chance at survival, and Alex was going to be a part of it!

I was so happy I didn't realize that Alex had flew a little more and then landed. "We're here," he said.

Letting go of Alex's neck, which for some reason felt like an action that should never be done, I looked around. It looked like we were in a small park. There were benches and toys for little kids to play with.

Alex had taken me to a place the sun didn't reach in the park. We were under a thick canopy of leaves and lush tree branches. The trees seemed to be about thirty to forty feet tall. Possibly taller. (Don't judge. I was trying to judge the height from UNDER the trees, after all.)

There were no children at the park today, since it was December, snowy, and cold. The snow wasn't under the canopy, which made the ground dry enough to sit on. The only problem was the below freezing temperatures.

I sat leaning against a tree and shivered. Alex walked over and sat next to me, hugging me. He was obviously trying to share body heat, but I guess it didn't really matter. We were both still freezing.

"Should we go somewhere else?" Alex asked. "You're freezing."

"Where else could we go? People would notice me in the blink of an eye, and all of our problems would start all over again." I looked at him sadly, then began coughing again.

Alex grabbed my hand and pulled me up and into his arms. I was too weak to resist, so I just let him take flight in the middle of the park, which could have been filled with humans, but luckily wasn't.

Alex flew fast, with me, shivering and coughing up blood all over the dress he had bought for me, in his arms. He held onto me tightly. I only had one arm around his neck because the other was trying to cover my mouth.

I wanted to scream at him to stop but couldn't. I stopped coughing and wrapped my other arm around his neck. Gross, I know, but he could take a bath and I didn't want to die by falling more than a hundred meters to the ground.

He soon landed and set me on the ground, then crouched down next to me, hugging me to try and help me stay warm. I looked around to see where we were.

It was the cemetery.

*

Third Person POV:

Sebastian arrived at the cemetery a lot later than expected. A lot of roads had been blocked due to heavy snow and thick sheets of ice. He'd had to find another way around, which added a great deal of time to the trip.

Moments after Sebastian had gotten out of the carriage, a huge gust of wind hit him, and as quickly as it had started, it was over. He looked around, and saw Alex crouched down next to Selena, who had a dress and wings which were both soaked in blood, and was shivering almost as violently as her coughing.

Sebastian quickly shrugged off his tailcoat and wrapped it around his daughter. It seemed to help a little, but not enough.

"Alex, I'm going to go and find Maria and Finny. Stay here and try to keep her warm," Sebastian said, then took off across the graveyard before Alex had a chance to respond.

Sebastian soon caught sight of Maria and Finny, and quickly approached them. They were talking to a rather large and dirty man who was digging a grave.

"So, we just need a grave and a stone. We don't want a service, as it is late and sudden, and we need to return to London as soon as we can. Can't you help us?" Maria was asking.

"Are you just now asking him?"

Maria jumped, then turned and sighed in relief to discover it was only Sebastian. "I apologize, Sebastian, but you have no idea how long it took us to find this man. No one was inside the building, nor were there any people around." She looked around her, then back to Sebastian. "Besides, I don't like places like this."

"Maria," Sebastian said, with his signature smile, "Are you scared of few night creatures?"

"Shut up," Maria said under her breath.

Sebastian just kept smiling.

Maria turned back to the grave digger. "Please, sir?"

"Alright," he said, in a deep, raspy voice. "You got the cash to pay for it?"

Maria was about to answer when a voice came from behind all of them. "Here you are."

They all turned to see Alex, holding Selena close to him. "This should cover it," he said, holding out a rather large stack of dollar bills.

The man wiped his dirty hands on his muddy pants and took the money from Alex. He flipped through it, counting. After a moment, he said, "How big do ya need the grave?"

Sebastian gave the man the length and width the grave should be, Maria stayed calmly where she was, and Finny walked over to Alex and Selena.

She was clinging desperately to Alex for warmth, while doing her best not to cough up blood all over him. Finny held her from the opposite side from Alex, trying to help.

Selena's shivering seemed to subside some, and her coughing became less violent. She changed over from coughing constantly to crying silently, with violent coughing fits occasionally.

The large man glanced over Sebastian's shoulder at Selena, who looked pitiful. His hard face turned soft with sympathy, and he dug a key out of his pocket. Handing it to Sebastian, he said, "This unlocks the building in front. Take the poor little lady inside and let her warm up. I'll come get you when everything is ready."

Sebastian gratefully took the key and thanked the man, who nodded in response, and told the boys.

"Alex," Sebastian said, holding the key out to him. "Fly on ahead and get Selena inside. We'll be right behind you."

Alex nodded, took the key, then carried Selena toward the building, and momentarily out of sight from the rest of the group.