The Return of the Order: Act 28

Grell remained motionless. Raven held his hand, willing him to wake. Strange emotions surged through him as he watched the pale reaper. Raven's father had told him of the reaper's infatuation with him, of the time he had been forced to spend with the reaper, and the amusement it had given Ciel. Raven and Lilith has been raised to be wary of all reapers, but especially the red reaper. And, yet, in the library, at the moment that Grell had looked at him as they fought side by side, he had felt something new. Raven would have dismissed it as pure curiosity on his part had the draw to the reaper not been so strong. Then Grell had taken the blow from the scythe that had been meant for him. Had Grell not been so quick to move as the blade came forward it would have sunk deep in his chest, proving fatal immediately.

Raven could not understand why Grell had risked his life for him. Even Grell’s obsessive behaviour with Sebastian did not explain it, not when coupled with everything the reaper had said since. The more he watched the reaper, the more the strange feelings in Raven grew.

Raven was pulled from his thoughts by the door opening. He looked up; his sister's face was wet with tears, and her eyes were red. She had been crying for some time and guilt now added to the turmoil that swirled around Raven's mind. He had been so immersed in his own thoughts and pain that he had been unable to distinguish or acknowledge hers.

“Lilith, what is it?”

“Margaret, she’s…….” Lilith’s voice tailed off; she could not bring herself to say the words.

"I know. Margaret chose, she left mother with little choice but to release her."

"I don't understand. Why will Margaret not become one of us? What is so wrong with being a demon?"

As she spoke, Raven sensed something much deeper was dragging at her heart. He did not afford Lilith the same tact or space as their mother had, and asked outright, "what did William say to you?"

“I heard him tell father that he understood Margaret’s decision.”

“And, you think that means that he rejects your demon self?” Raven paused before continuing, “and now you are considering rejecting it yourself, for him?”

“Why not, mother rejected her humanity for father.”

“Now you even sound like one of them,” Raven spat before thinking. He cringed as he saw the shocked look on Lilith’s face and took a breath before continuing. “I’m sorry, Lilith, but mother never rejected any part of herself, she simply embraced what had been kept from her. We will never know whether father would have loved her as a human because she never was fully human, and neither are you.”

Tears fell from Lilith’s eyes once more as she moved to sit on the edge of the bed. “What if he rejected your demon self, would it be so simple then?” She said motioning to Grell.

Raven smirked, “I’m not the one in a relationship with a reaper. But yes, it would be that simple. If William loves you, wants to truly be with you, then he must accept all of you, not just the part that conforms to his view of the world. Now let’s start again, tell me exactly what you heard William tell father.”

Lilith recounted the conversation that she had heard as she left the room. Raven's smile grew as he pieced it together with what had passed between his mother and Margaret before they broke the contract. Lilith's brow furrowed at her brother's sudden amusement.

"Dear sister, I think you have the wrong end of that conversation completely. It is Margaret's personal reasons, which have much more to do with our grandfather, than his general distaste for demons that are behind his words. I suggest you speak to William before you make a decision you will definitely regret."

“I don’t understand, Raven.”

"Considering you were always the brightest of the two of us, you can be foolish at times," he laughed. "Margaret was in love with our grandfather and always has been, just as Undertaker's feelings for our grandmother were never reciprocated. It led them both down the paths they took. Margaret does not want to bound to a realm where she will watch grandfather's pain every day and know there is nothing she can do because she isn't the woman he gave his heart to. Now do you see?”

“But,….”

“Speak to William. If I’m wrong, you can throw me out of a tree like you did when we were children.”

Lilith smiled at the memory of their childhood. She leant over a kissed her brother on the cheek before rising to leave. As she reached the door, she was met by her father and William.

"Ah, Lilith, you are here too, that makes things easier. You and Raven need to go to the garden. Ronald and Undertaker are waiting; they will help train you to fight against the reapers’ weapons.”

Raven opened his mouth to argue that he did not want to leave Grell, only to close it again as his father continued in a voice that was not to be agreed with. "You will go Raven; William will sit with Grell. If there is any change, he will call."

“Yes, father,” the twins chorused.

The twins left with their father without a word, leaving a perplexed William to wonder at Lilith’s lack of response to his presence. William moved over to stand by the bed where Grell still lay motionless. It was hard to believe that the figure before him was the same person that had caused so much trouble over the years. William winced as he sat down next to the bed. Pain seared through his healing shoulder. William’s gaze travelled from his shoulder down to his splinted hand. The memory of Peter's grinning face leering over him as he smashed the bones in his hand came flooding back. He renewed his promise to himself to kill the reaper with his own hands, not just for what he had done to him, but for the pain that he had brought many others who had done nothing more than to be born with demon blood. William had never had much love for demons, but his distaste of them was based on a professional need to see souls dispatched correctly, the demon's need to feed disrupted that order. However, his history with Sebastian showed him that there was more to most demons than he had been led to believe. William turn his attention back to Grell. His breathing was becoming more regular as he sat watching him. The reaper had taken an enormous risk for Sebastian's son. Grell had never gone out of his way for anyone, not even his own kind. But for a young man that he barely knew he had been willing to sacrifice his life and had even fought against the actions needed to save him.

William shook his head, little made sense to him; his whole life had been turned on its head since first meeting Lilith, and now she would barely look at him. He could not fathom what had changed since he had woken with her by his side. William wanted nothing more than to be with her, to hold her and to understand what was happening, yet here he was watching a sleeping reaper while she learned how best to dispatch living ones. It was something he never thought that he would live to see.

Shouting from the gardens below raised William from his thoughts. He moved to the window to see Lilith arguing with her father. As he watched the heated exchange, his own anger grew. Lilith was refusing to shift to her demon form to aid in her fighting. Sebastian's anger at her choice was apparent, as was his concern that her refusal in battle could lead to her death.

“She will not change because she does not want you to see.”

William turned back to the bed. Grell lay motionless, his eyes barely open, but he was awake. Taking William’s silence for confusion at his words, Grell continued, “Lilith thinks you are disgusted by her demon self, she heard your words to Sebastian and has created her own reasoning. She does not trust the truth from Raven’s lips.”

Grell passed back into unconsciousness as William opened the window and moved out onto the balcony. The noise caught the attention of both father and daughter. As Lilith turned to face William, the pain and fear were clear on her face. William leapt down from the balcony, stumbling as pain shot through his shoulder as he landed.

Sebastian spoke first, “William, this does not concern you.”

"I beg to differ, Sebastian, I believe that I, unfortunately, am at the root of Lilith's refusal to shift forms."

Sebastian’s eyes glowed as he stared at the reaper, “explain yourself, William.”

“I will explain to Lilith, you may wish to attend Grell as he woke momentarily.”

A growl left Sebastian’s throat before he realised that Raven had already run past him and into the manor. Sebastian made to follow him, “William, we will discuss this later.”

William reached for Lilith’s hand, grasping it he pulled her closer to him. “Tell me what weighs on you?”

As Lilith looked up at William, her heart fluttered as it did the first time that she saw him. Then his words came back to her, and she snatched back her hand, dropping her gaze from his. “Do you truly despise demons that much that you would understand death over life as a demon?”

“No. I understand Margaret’s decision not to share eternity in the realm of a man that she loves but can never have. I would do anything I could to convince her to choose life if I did not understand the pain of that longing.”

“How can I trust that you mean it?”

"Come back in with me, show me your true face, and I will show you my true feelings for you."

He reached out for her hand once more. Lilith hesitated, before allowing him to grasp her hand led her back into the manor. William stopped just before they reached the door. Turning to Undertaker, he said, “you are the only one left strong enough now to do what must be done to save Margaret. If she wakes, my company will accept the responsibility.”

As William and Lilith disappeared into the manor, Undertaker chuckled to himself before following them, leaving a somewhat confused Ronald standing alone in the gardens.