The Return of the Order: Act 12

They led the horses out in silence, each lost in their own thoughts as they set out across the deserted moorland. Louisa had insisted that the twins learned to ride at night, that they understood the movements and personalities of their horses so that they rode as one with complete trust. Clear skies and a full moon aided their ride; this coupled with the low light that Margaret conjured ensured the ride to Plymouth was uneventful. They arrived just as the first light of day spread across the horizon. Despite the time that had elapsed since their last visit, Louisa remembered her way through Plymouth’s still quiet streets. She led the group to stables close to the station where they said goodbye to the horses.

The twins and Margaret rested on the train, exhausted from the events of the party and the night time ride. Louisa stayed awake, fearful that if she closed her eyes, the visions would return and ever watchful for anyone that could pose a threat. While Louisa had always refused to carry a firearm, a knife was secured in her boot, and another sat nestled against her thigh. The cane that Raven carried hid his blade, and she knew that like his father, he always carried butter knives in his jacket pocket. He had always found it hard that his sister had come into her powers more quickly than him and that they were more visible, but it had made him practice harder with weapons and now more than ever that training was needed.

As Louisa watched her sleeping children, she thought back to the first time they had defended each other. It wasn’t long after Malphas had returned to his previous contract after an all too brief visit home. The children had taken on board his words and had started to take their training more seriously. As a reward for their hard work, Louisa had allowed them to go to the village to spend time with others their own age. It was a risk, but there had been no difficulties with the locals, many of whom had been more than welcoming when they had returned to her mother's house.

It was late afternoon when the cacophony arrived at her door. Opening it, she found a red-faced woman holding Raven by his ear, a smirking young man with a bloody nose and bruised eye next to her, and a sullen Lilith behind them. The insults began to fly before Louisa could open her mouth.

"Your son attacked my boy for no reason. You need to discipline him better, maybe if his father were around more, this wouldn't happen."

Louisa waited for the woman to finish her tirade. She exuded calm, but her fingers were already twitching at the tone used by the woman.

Smiling, she replied, “I’m sorry, my son would never attack another child for no reason, I suggest you let go of him so I can find out what happened.”

“What, so he can attack my poor defenceless boy again.”

Louisa looked at the smirking oaf that stood beside the woman, "I doubt he is defenceless," moving her gaze to Raven, she continued, "what happened?"

Raven stood sullen and silent; head bent as the women grasped at his ear.

“I told you what happened, and his silence just confirms it.”

Louisa’s fingers twitched again as the women’s shrill voice passed through her. She moved her gaze to Lilith, who stepped forward.

“He’s silent because he’s protecting me. I hit the boy.”

The boy’s smirk vanished as he moved closer to his mother.

“Lilith, why did you hit him?”

"He tried to kiss me when I said no, he grabbed me. I hit him because he wouldn't stop, and Raven said he'd take the blame because it should have been him that stopped it from happening."

Louisa fixed her gaze on the woman and the boy.

“They are lying, my boy would never do such a thing.”

“My children do not lie, madam.”

“Then she led him on, she’s no better than a common w….”

The woman stopped, choking for breath, the colour draining from her face as Louisa's hand tightened on her throat, and her eyes grew dark.

“Watch how you speak about my children. If your son so much as looks at her again, he will lose his eyes and any other part of him that goes near her. Am I clear?”

The woman nodded, dropping her hand from Raven's ear. Her son stood mutely at her side, unable to speak or look away from the scene that unfolded in front of him. Louisa did not move or loosen her grip, she stared at the woman allowing her to grasp the full force of the menace that lay behind her eyes.

“Louisa, let her go now, that is an order,” Margaret whispered in her ear.

Louisa dropped her hand. Margaret continued, “I suggest you take your son and never speak of this; I will not command her to stop a second time.”

The woman grabbed the boy by the arm and fled. Raven and Lilith jumped at Louisa and hugged her tightly. She kissed them both, “I’m sorry children, I should have had more control then.”

Margaret placed a hand on her arm, “you reacted as any mother would.”

It was the last contact the twins had with anyone from the village until Peter had arrived on the scene.

A sudden jolt brought Louisa back to the present. They were close to London; she could smell the change in the air. She woke the children and Margaret and readied them for their arrival. She hadn’t been back to the city since the night she had left with Ciel and Malphas to deal with the Order. There had been no need and no desire to go back; there was nothing left there for her and risks everywhere, especially as to the rest of the world Louisa Phantomhive was dead.