Mike's POV
"Mike?"
I nonchalantly picked up the letter while Omen stumbled towards me. What a klutz.
"What are you doing here?"
"Picking up this lost letter."
"But I wrote that!"
"Is it?"
I shoved the letter into her face while eyeing Ciel and Sebastian who quietly observed the exchange.
Ciel Phantomhive, the young teenage aristocrat boy who lost his family to a fire and was kidnapped and tortured by a cult. He summoned a demon and killed off the cult members. After that, he came back with a butler from who knows where and took over his family business as well as being the Queen's Guard Dog, whose family was always in charge of taking care of evil aristocrats' dealings. Perhaps due to such a terrifying position, he and his family landed into such an unfortunate situation.
Sebastian Michealis, the Demon Butler who formed a contract with Ciel Phantomhive and followed his master's bidding like a dog. He was the one who killed the cult members. And became the butler to fulfil his part of the contract: find those who made him suffer and pay them back multiple times. The Phantomhive's part of the contract? What else but to offer his soul to the demon once his revenge is completed.
Of course.
Not everyone, including you, knows that Sebastian was actually a Guardian. This means that he was one of us before he decided to work in this World. That was why I figured asking him to work with us is much easier than asking a random character in the World. Furthermore, he is with Ciel Phantomhive and is one of the protagonist in the World, meaning that both of them have more power to defend the World against Dark Shadow.
"Wait, what? The contents changed! How can this happen?"
I bristled and snatched the letter back.
"Stop bombarding me with annoying questions."
Turning my attention to Sebastian and Ciel, I took a step forward to address them.
"It's not a convenient place to talk here. I am Michael Johnathan Evans but please call me Mike. I am Omen's partner and is also a Guardian."
"A Guardian?" I nodded at the Phantomhive's question. "If you are a Guardian, why are you a Grim Reaper?"
"In order to enter different worlds, we have to fulfil the requests set by the Library. Being a Grim Reaper is just one of the odd requests set by the Library."
He nodded thoughtfully at these words. "There are many questions that I would like to inquire but if it's alright with you, can we do it after the party? I can end it a little earlier."
I nodded in agreement. "That will make things a lot easier. I'm glad this whole thing is quickly resolved unlike a certain brat who drag things out. I'm sorry for the trouble."
"Who are you calling a brat, old man?"
"That's alright." Ciel answered while he watched the exchange with much amusement. "Well then, I must return to the party. No doubt the guests will be puzzled at my disappearance."
Sebastian waited until Ciel was out of earshot before he quietly said," the Library...."
"So, you knew."
He bowed his head. "My condolences. Please tell me the details after the party." He clicked his watch opened before shutting it. "I will have to go back to tend to the guests. Is it alright if I leave you guys here?"
"Yes, thank you, Sebastian."
He gave a bow before retreating to the mansion. And to spite Omen even more, he sent an arrogant smirk towards her earning a growl of frustration.
"Evans, why are you here?" She stared at me pointedly.
I rose an eyebrow at the usage of my last name. Usually, when she does that, it means she was a bit irritated. Well, I must have interrupted her fun. Not my business anyway.
"I am here to get the letter and give you something."
"What is it?"
I shook my head in amusement when she suddenly stared at me expectantly like a dog awaiting treats. Any traces of her anger was gone with the wind. If she had a tail, it would be thumping on the ground really hard. She truly was a girl who could change her expression quickly. I shook my head in resignation before taking her hand and carefully placed the metallic egg on her hand.
Slightly larger than a chicken's egg, the exterior of the egg was covered in a bronze colour with five fine lines running from the tip of the sharp end of the egg to the middle. That will be how the egg cracked when the familiar is fully formed.
The making of the inside was trickier and harder to make. Intricate circular spells overlap each other with a round and smooth azure magic stone in the heart of the egg. When owner's magic is inserted inside, the circular spells will react and decode the structure of their magic. Like making out the DNA, the user's magic would determine what kind of familiar they will have because the familiar was a part of them and what represented them. Basically, the familiar is the heart of the Guardian.
"This is a special egg that I recently developed in the lab. It will only hatch if you feed it with a bit of your magic every day. I'm not sure how long it will hatch because this is the first egg that I have created."
She marvelled the egg with eyes filled to the brim with a child-like curiosity, earning an inward chuckle from me. The she stopped and stared at me incredulously. "I thought you make robots?"
"I can create almost anything so long as I have the means to do so, Omen." I replied blankly. "Now, I'm giving you this egg so that you can have a familiar as a partner when you are alone on missions like this. As you know, we are severely shorthanded in the Library and adding to that, you have been bugging me for one after you seen my collections of robots and inventions... Stop looking at me with those eyes, brat."
Omen's eyes were shining with unshed tears, no doubt misreading my intentions again. Her Cheshire-like smile was stretching from ear to ear. Almost like she really wanted to hug me but was holding back to respect my personal space. Good thing she did, or she would have become an invalid.
However, a movement caught my eye and even Omen's smile had vanished as she listened intently to the rustling of the leaves. Someone was listening to our conversation.
Wordlessly, we summoned our contracted weapons with our ears perked up to listen for any movements. It was quiet, saved for the few crickets and feather-like blowing of the wind that tickled our cheeks.
He couldn't have realised that we noticed him, right? Omen threw me a worried glance while using the mind link.
It was in that instant did the assailant jumped out from the bushes and headed straight for me. One of his hands armed with a metal claw was blocked by Artemis, my bow.
"Gotcha."
A light arrow materialised in front of his face and he only had enough time to widen his eyes before I released it. He sailed off back into the bushes with a groan before dissolving into dust.
"One of the spies sent by Dark Shadow?" Omen asked, looking down at her sword reproachfully.
"That seems like the most probable answer. If they are here, then there's more than what's meets the eye. "
"What do you mean?"
"I actually wanted to let you finish off this Mission on your own but the letter," I held it up. "This letter suddenly got left in this world."
"What? That has never happened before."
"You're right. Ever since the battle with Astorath's army, our reliable connections are starting to breakdown."
Omen's orange eyes widened in disbelief.
"You mean someone was also a traitor among the Guardians way before? No way. That will be like Astorath all over again."
"We can't rule that out."
"But Mike, if that's the case, we have unconscious friends back in the Library that may be in danger."
I rose one of my eyebrows in disbelief.
"You think my robots can't handle intruders? I wired them to be able to take out the average Army soldier of Dark Shadow which means they are perfectly capable of dealing with a traitor Guardian."
I could see Omen giving me an unsure look. I frowned. Perhaps I ought to use better words for that.
"You... shouldn't have said it so arrogantly." She quietly said. "That's the reason the Library got invaded."
"S... sorry about that, what I mean is Dark Shadow wouldn't be so quick to kill all of us. If not, why would we be one of the few surviving Guardians left?"
"Make sense." She nodded her head thoughtfully before she sighed. "Geez, now I feel bad knowing that there's a mountain of problems behind us.... I'm just going to go back and enjoy the party. Even if it's for a short while."
Omen turned around while taking on the form of Kira Monrey again. She stopped and looked back to me, head cocking slightly to the side wondering whether I'm also heading back to the warmth and ambience of the party. I waved her off and she said with a chuckle.
"I forgot you didn't quite like being surrounded by happy people. Don't stay out too late, partner. We still got an urgent meeting."
As she quietly slipped back into the party, I frowned and walked towards the bushes where the assailant once laid. A shiny black pearl laid in his spot. It looked like someone didn't want us to find out about what happened here. I summoned Dice into the World of Black Butler to analyse the pearl.
"Analysis completed, Master. The object in question is undoubtedly a new form of possessing victims against their will and controlling them for their own uses. However, it seems like this pearl is not yet perfected and is still in its early stages of experimentation."
"What is it made of, Dice?"
"It is made of fragmented parts of the negativity of human feelings, most likely taken from time periods where negative feelings are plentiful. Adaptation to its uses is highly discouraged."
"Will it harm us?"
"Unfortunately, yes. However, I believed they have already tested this on some of the Guardians. Some of their memories of their pain and suffering as well as their hatred for the Library is also stored in this pearl."
The world seemed to stop as I processed the information. A searing hot heat overcame me, so much that I could almost see red. The energy and air particles around me became agitated by my magic.
"Dark Shadow..." I growled.
That sick bastard.
Is that how our numbers slowly dwindled over the years? Is that one of the reasons why our dead Guardians were sent back with faces that looked like they suffered immense torture? Is this how he grew his Army?
At that moment, an ear-piercing banshee-like scream erupted from the mansion. The muscles on my jaw tightened when I realised that whatever forces working with Dark Shadow aren't going to let us have our way. And I'm not going to let anyone harm Omen or any other Guardians.
"Dice, go back to the Library and protect the injured. Get the other robots to help you."
"Roger, Master. What about you?"
"I'm going to investigate that scream. Now go!"
Artemis hummed in excitement in my hand while I pocketed the pearl and sprinted towards the mansion. Upon reaching the doors, I casted memory removing devices on all possible exits. This was a compulsory precaution to minimise the damage caused by external forces outside any World to prevent further spread of fear. Where there was fear, Dark Shadow would have an easier grasp over that World, growing stronger with his forces while the Library and our powers will wane.
However, before I could reach the glass doors, guests stumbled out, screaming as they stared behind them in horror.
"Help me!!!" An elderly woman held tightly onto my left arm, eyes frightened until they became the size of saucers while she pointed her gnarly hand behind her.
Behind her, came the rest of the guests. Unfortunately, they never screamed but instead growled and snarled. Like marionettes on strings, they moved with one purpose: to kill the guests and eat them.
"Don't worry, I will deal with them. The sir over there! Bring her outside with you." I pointed to one of the running men who mutely nodded and helped the elderly woman out with the rest of the surviving guests.
"Well, well, who got you guys all hungry and possessed?"
Light orbs flashed around me and gathered into my hands as I positioned Artemis. As the only magician who was able to wield light and darkness, I had the unique ability to either purify or control the darkness. This time, I am not aiming to kill them but instead to expel and purify the darkness in them. A light arrow was shot out and went straight to the crowd, bathing them in its light. Yelps of pain and animalistic screams rang through the air as the light ate the darkness that consumed the hearts of the people. Several minute dark souls flew out and ran straight to me. Without hesitation, I sent several bolts of lightning at them. They didn't even last when the light touched them.
It was a convenient power but there was a cost in using it. I have little affinity with elemental magic and would be unable to use them to attack or defend. Omen was sad that I couldn't wield the elements like her but, I preferred my special powers over elemental abilities.
Once the angry and possessed mob was subdued, I sent them outside so that they would be far away from the mansion.
[Omen?]
I sent a message to her through the mind link that was shared through our partner bond.
[Mike, you... erm... better be prepared for the bad guy with a scar face. He's...terrifying.]
I scoffed at the reply before I slipped into the mansion quietly.
[Nice way of trying to be scared. Anyway, I'm coming.]