The Return of the Order: Act 37

Act 39: Truths Revealed

The sky was still the slate grey of early morning when William was woken by knocking on the bedroom door. He felt Lilith shift beside him as the door opened just a fraction. Undertaker's head appeared in the small gap, his bright eyes shining in the dullness. William watched as a grin formed on Undertaker's face as his eyes settled on Lilith's still sleeping form. William's brow furrowed as Undertaker beckoned for him to rise and follow him; he did not want to move from the warmth of the bed or his sleeping mate. Shaking his head, William sat up, carefully swinging his legs out of bed trying hard not to disturb Lilith or expose himself while Undertaker watched from the door.

William raised his hand, flapping it towards Undertaker, signalling that he understood before bending to search for his trousers. As he groped around, he heard the door close and sighed with relief. William dressed quietly before turning back to Lilith's sleeping form. He smiled as he watched the slow rise and fall of her chest. His cheeks heated as he remembered the soft touch of her skin and the sounds that she had made as they had taken their exploration a little further. She looked so delicate in her human form that he still feared hurting her in his clumsy fumbling.

Dragging his mind back to the present William quietly left the room meeting Undertaker and Grell at the top of the stairs. Grell’s head hung low as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. A small smile spread across William’s face as he realised the usually flamboyant red reaper was about as happy being dragged from his bed as he was.

“What is the meaning of this Undertaker?” asked William, his voice hushed but his tone sharp.

Descending the stairs, Undertaker replied, "there is something we need to discuss before the others rise, and someone you need to see so that you know exactly what is at stake."

William and Grell followed behind, still none the wiser as to why they were awake and dragged from their beds before the sun was fully up. William had known Undertaker for a long time. He was the only remaining reaper that knew Undertaker's true identity; the only one trusted with the secret of his involvement with the first demons. There had been times over the years that this had weighed heavily on William,. This was especially true when Undertaker had begun some of his stranger experiments. Undertaker's connection to Jayne had settled him for a while, he had so firmly believed that somehow his Lilith had come back to him in her form. When she had chosen Typhon over him, he had withdrawn into himself once more. The more William considered all that had passed, the greater his conviction grew that Jayne had simply been the bridge that led Undertaker to Margaret. He smiled at this thought. If Undertaker had finally let go of Lilith and embraced a new love, maybe it would bring an end to his years of madness.

William pulled himself from his thoughts as they approached Lord Birch's study. Opening the door, Undertaker turned and looked at them both, "be assured that we are very clear, and there is no mistake about what you are about to learn."

William's eyes slowly adjusted to the light in the study, revealing a figure tied to the chair in the middle of the floor. His eyes widened as he realised that it was Ronald. Sweeping his gaze around the room, he saw Typhon sat on the leather couch with Ciel next to him. He watched silently as Undertaker made his way behind Ronald and lifted his head. Purple bruising snaked its way across Ronald's blood speckled face. Congealed blood matted the hair at the top of his head. William's brow furrowed as he tried to form a coherent thought that would explain the scene in front of him. His head snapped towards Typhon as the demon lord spoke.

“I am sorry to have called you both from your beds, but as you missed last night’s excitement and this is a reaper matter as much as it is a demon one, we needed your input.”

"What the hell is going on?" William asked, his voice strained as he tried to remain calm at the sight of his injured companion. He had never really considered Ronald a friend, but he struggled to find anything that would have made him deserve such treatment.

“Oh William, I wish you could see your face right now,” whined Ronald, a malevolent sneer spreading across his face.

William turned his attention back to the bound figure, “I think you had better explain yourself, Ronald. I can think of very few things that would leave you in this position with Undertaker making no effort to free you.”

"So trusting and loyal to Undertaker. You knew all along what he was, didn't you? Yet you never thought to share with your fellow reapers. Your blind obedience and misguided loyalties will be the death of you and those you love," mocked Ronald.

William glanced from Ronald to Undertaker, the questions that swirled around his mind since he had entered the room began to form into answers. He glanced at Grell whose own clenched fists betrayed that he was coming to the same conclusions.

“It was you, all along. You were the one behind this, why?” questioned William.

A thin smile graced Ronald’s lips. William caught a slight movement out of the corner of his eye and moved swiftly to grab Grell’s arm before he could continue the action that would call his scythe. "No, Grell. We need answers from him, not his blood, not yet. And after, he will answer to those he has harmed the most, as Typhon has already promised." William watched as understanding flickered across Grell’s face. He felt Grell’s arm relax but knowing the reaper’s tendency to act before thinking he kept his hand gently gripped on his arm. William turned his attention back to Ronald, “you will not trick us into betraying a promise made, now explain yourself.”

“You are blinded by obedience to the one that made you and now by a pretty face that hides a monstrous nature,” taunted Ronald.

William waited, watching as Ronald's eyes scanned him, looking for a reaction. He gave nothing away, his hand still clasped to Grell’s arm as much to steady his own emotions as to stop the younger reaper from doing something stupid.

“And, now I see that you are too far gone, William,” Ronald continued, “nothing I say will change your mind. I wonder if the same is true of the young one.”

William felt the muscles in Grell’s arm tense again, but he made no move to remove William’s hand. “The truth, now Ronald, it is the only thing that could possibly save you from what lays ahead,” said William, his voice level and calm.

“The truth, you say, then let us explore the truth. I was the first reaper to attend the castle the day Malphas slaughtered the Order. I saw first-hand what an unrestrained demon could do. Not only had he torn their bodies apart but also their souls. He did not feast he simply destroyed. There was little left for me to reap. Not one of those in that building will ever find peace, and why? Because they sought to do the work of the angels. I didn’t understand to start with, I just mourned a poorly completed collection and hated the demon for making my life more complicated. Then, as I travelled further into the castle, I found one alive. Yes, the great Malphas had missed one.”

Ronald stopped, William felt his eyes searching him, waiting for a response. He heard Typhon shift his weight on the sofa, but not one of them spoke. The silence seemed to last forever before Ronald began again.

“When I say missed, I mean in his rage he had not stopped to check that he was dead. He was a young novice, a true believer that had been willing to die for the cause of the Order. I took him from that place, nursed him back to health, kept him safe. You were so busy with your paperwork and clearing up the messes that your darling Grell kept leaving that you never even noticed my absences. For that Grell, I thank you, although it won't save your hybrid whore either."

William shot a glance at Grell, frightened that even he would not be able to stop him at that moment. The growing tension in William's arm stopped as he realised that Grell had made no move to rid himself of William’s grasp. The red reaper raised his head and stared at Ronald.

"It will not work Ronald. If I react now and press my blade into your flesh as I so wish to do, then I will have let my Raven down, and I will not do that, not for anything."

Pride overtook fear in William’s being. Never had he thought Grell capable of such control. He squeezed his hand around Grell’s arm and nodded as the reaper turned his attention back to him. Grell returned the nod and William released him from his grasp.

“Get on with it, Ronald. We are busy people with a war to stop and warm beds to return to,” snapped William, receiving a chuckle from Typhon.

“What else is there to say. Ah yes, I nursed him back to health. Told him of the reapers and he told me of the vision of the Order. The desire of the angels to put right the mistakes of humanity. By ridding the world of demons and their spawn the angels would once again bring the humans back onto the right path, teach them the true nature of obedience to their higher power, and we, we would dispense justice accordingly at the end of their days.”

“And you believed every word? Enough even to tell him how reapers are created, to ensure that he became one of us. Even to ensure that he would join another company and not cross my path until he had begun his work. You are responsible for Peter.”

William looked around. All eyes in the room were now trained on him. He felt their gaze burning into his very being. “Peter, the reaper that attacked Lilith, that I had sent to the demon realm to face justice for breaking the accords before we knew that a faction of the demons was aiding the angels.”

Ronald laughed, "yes, it is true, William. Even Amo saw that things had gotten out of control, that the rules needed to be reset. He understood the true nature of demons is to destroy and punish those unworthy of life. He would have ruled correctly, kept the demons in their place. Allowed the angels to rule this realm. The angels are perfection itself; they know what is best for the humans. The degenerate demons only themselves to blame."

William took off his glasses, pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Replacing his glasses, he looked once again at the reaper in front of him. "The angels have no more right to rule the human realm than we do. They are a sperate race just as the demons are, they interfered in the early days of humanity out of curiosity just as the demons did. The only difference between them was that the angels sought to rule and control the evolving humans.”

“No, it is not true. They sought to guide to prepare them for better.”

"No, they interfered, they created division and then howled when the humans created their own versions of the ideas and imposed them on the angel realm. The human capacity of creation and destruction has been underestimated by both sides since the very beginning. Now both the otherworldly realms are full of human souls that are trapped in afterlives they do not understand with races that did not want them, and we have become the arbiters of which endless hell we send them to."

"You lie. You lie, William, that is not the truth. The angels are the first race, they and only they can bring order and peace back to this realm. If what you say were true, then why would you continue to do your part all these long years?"

"Because once the rules are set, we can only do our best within them. After the last war between the demons and the angels, it was agreed that neither would interfere. Death and the reapers would send souls to where the human believed they should go based on their actions and beliefs in life. Humans would find their own path and that any interactions between humans and the other realms must be instigated by humans and set in contracts."

“It did not account for humans creating religion and forming such an all-encompassing contract with one side over the other,” added Typhon

William turned at the sound of the door opening and Malphas, his family, and Margaret entering the room. He smiled as Lilith moved to stand by him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He looked across to see Raven slip his hand into Grell’s.

“No lord Typhon you are quite correct. Nor did the original agreement account for demons learning to love nor humans loving them in return,” stated William. Moving his gaze to Malphas, he continued, "I assume then that you heard all of this and were not present to ensure his potential barbs did not have unintended consequences."

Malphas grinned, "you assume correctly, William. I believe we have everything we need from him. I can fill you in over breakfast on everything else Typhon told me. The only question that now remains is not if, but when Ronald receives his just rewards."