18. Claude

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It was some time before I got back to sleep, the threat of the angel lingering over my head, the hundreds of ridiculous but undoubtedly frightening stories I'd heard when I was younger whizzing around my mind. Obviously, I was well aware that Michaelis was merely trying to scare me, with his assertion that the angel was worse than it had ever been described in the stories, but was still a thought that lingered with me as I finally fell asleep.

I was awoken by Michaelis, at what proved to be five in the morning. I fumbled for my glasses, then put them on, glaring over at ex-demon. "What?" He snapped.
"Is it honest to Satan time to get up?"
"Well, if you were capable of reading the clock-"
"- Which I am."
"Then you would notice it reads five o'clock, which, given we are no longer demons, should give us the three hours we need to go about our morning tasks. So, unless you think you can do everything you need to in half an hour, then yes, it is time to get up, as you so eloquently put it." I huffed, and reluctantly pulled the covers off me, before picking up my not-terribly-well-folded-uniform, and beginning to pull it on. There wasn't even a slim chance I'd be able to continue getting up at five in the morning, I was barely awake; admittedly my sleep had been interrupted, but I still didn't see this turning out too well for me.
In deathly silence, we went about our daily tasks in rather method-less manner. As Hannah had predicted, since neither of us spoke to the other, we would be part way through one task, when the other would interrupt, and we would all too often end up working in the same room. As I was polishing the silverware in the kitchen, Michaelis turned up to clean the oven, when Michaelis was carrying fresh firewood to the rooms, I was sweeping the ash from the fireplaces, and goodness knows we ended up in the same room for some time as we both organised text books and lesson plans. I was hoping myself and Michaelis' use of the classroom wouldn't overlap, as we hadn't discussed it. I don't even wish to recollect cleaning the floors... That had been a nightmare.
By the time the windows were cleaned, the mail and newspaper taken in, the doorknobs polished, and the floors left spotless, I was quite ready to go back to bed. I pulled out my pocket watch, and saw that I was seven minutes and twenty-one seconds behind schedule. Not only was that a horrible number, but I was late, and I could only hope Alois wouldn't notice, but would spare me his "games", so I could make up for lost time, because I just knew Michaelis would be bang on schedule.
I knocked on Alois' door. "You're late." It struck me as slightly peculiar that Alois would have noticed, but I opened the door as usual.
"My apologies, my morning duties took longer than I expected." As I wheeled the tea cart into Alois' room, it began to click as to why Alois had noticed my tardiness; I could see the beginnings of dark shadows underneath his eyes, as he stared at the clock on the wall, as the second hands ticked rhythmically round and round in endless circles. He probably hadn't got back to sleep after the angel attack in the night, and goodness knows he needed sleep with the amount of bouncing around he did during the day. I hesitated, leaving the tea cart by the side of his bed, and trying to figure out how to approach the subject. "Was it- Did you get back to sleep after the angel came here?" Alois finally looked away from the clock face to look me in the eye.
"Does it look like I did?" He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair, having lost his childishness, the shadows looking a lot harder on his pale face. "No, I didn't. What if I or Ciel don't run fast enough next time? What if we're not as lucky? Hell, I don't think that thing was even trying, it was probably just trying to bloody scare us, if it'd wanted to it could've killed me or Ciel before anybody would've even had time to fucking act." Alois drew his knees up to his chest, a frown on his face. "Not that I think it's after us." I blinked, and began to pour Alois' tea.
"What do you mean, your Highness?"
"I mean it's probably after you and Sebastian. Think about it, if you and Sebastian are out of the picture, what hope do me 'n Ciel have- have of killing it. Besides, you're both demons, I don't think you're evil, but that thing is an angel, and... I shouldn't imagine a thing that can kill, what is it? Seventeen people in the course of a bit over a month, would even hesitate before killing a demon..."
"Why do you suppose it hasn't touched Hannah or the Triplets?" Alois frowned, as I started lacing one of his boots.
"I couldn't say. Maybe its waiting, maybe it doesn't want to get caught, or it could just be that it didn't have enough of... whatever it used, to turn more than two demons into humans, I'm not sure. It certainly sounds like a difficult thing to do. I don't suppose there would be any books on the subject?" I shook my head, tying a bow, and standing up to put away Alois' tea cup.
"Not here, and whilst there are probably some in Hell, it's not as if I could go back there, unless I died, I suppose, and even then I'm not sure if that would work." I began to wheel the tea tray back to the kitchen, as Alois walked alongside me, presumably deep in thought.
"Could Hannah go?"
"She could go, but her return would require the blood of the innocent. It would also leave us defenceless, given she is the one possessing Lævateinn. And if you sent one of the Triplets, we'd also have weaker defences, since they fight best as a three. They're also not terribly trustworthy - Hell houses all numbers of... distractions, and we'd have no way of keeping any eye on them." I saw the sides of Alois' mouth twitch upwards at something I said, and whilst I wasn't sure what it was, it was something of a relief to see him smile again.
Alois and I parted when we reached the entrance to the dining hall, where Earl Phantomhive was already waiting, and as I had somewhat suspected, the first thing I got when I wheeled the tea tray into the kitchen was a hiss of 'you're late' from Michaelis. "I'm well aware." Michaelis looked away to retort, but for whatever reason thought better of it, and instead handed me a plate of food, and pushed open the kitchen door with his hip, leaving me to follow behind. As we approached the dining hall, Michaelis tossed a scathing look over his shoulder in my direction. "Is that any face to be pulling when you're serving?" He muttered, eyes narrowed.
"I'm technically not serving yet. Regardless, I can't imagine what other face I'd be pulling given the fact I was woken up at five in the morning by you of all people." Luckily for both parties, we reached the dining hall before the argument could continue, and we both knew better to bicker in front of the two Earls.
Just as we were about to finish serving, an expression of alarm crossed Ciel's face, and I felt something cold run up my spine - if it was bother Earl Phantomhive, then it must be serious. "Sebastian." The bastard in question looked up inquiringly.
"Yes, my Lord?"
"Li- Miss Midford is supposed to be coming up today." As Earl Phantomhive and Michaelis exchanged anxious glances, I racked my brains to work out where I'd heard that name before. Ah, yes, she was Earl Phantomhive's fiancée. I could vaguely remember seeing her at that ball Alois held Devil knows how long ago. She looked utterly insufferable.
"Ah, yes, she is. Do you wish to cancel her visit in light of recent events?" Earl Phantomhive pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed.
"It would be too late to cancel now, she'll be leaving in a few hours, if indeed she hasn't already. But we don't need this going out to the public... Sebastian, meet me in my study after breakfast and we shall discuss matters," Earl Phantomhive stated, brows furrowed and face stony. Alois merely looked bored, and something else that looked disturbingly like malice and greed mixed into one.

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