The Return of the Order—Act 1

Few demons ever create bonds with another being beyond the confines of their contracts. It’s not that they cannot, it’s just that most see no need and therefore lack the desire to do so. Most are happy to enjoy the pleasures that eternal life affords them, the ability to corrupt, to encourage the baser desires of humans, and of course, the pleasures of the flesh. However, none of these pleasures compares to the final moments of a contract when the soul they have craved finally becomes theirs; when the master draws their last breath and the demon feasts.

There are those, however, particularly among the first demons, who have spent so long in the human realm that the nuances of human emotions have affected them to varying degrees. For them, the capacity to love still comes as a shock, but once stirred, it becomes all-consuming, second only to the need to feast. Typhon had felt it with Jayne Phantomhive; Vincent Phantomhive’s sister and the result was their daughter Louisa. Malphas felt it too. The respect and admiration he had for his mentor Typhon had led to a promise to protect Typhon’s daughter. That promise, in turn, had led to him now holding her as his mate as they marvelled at their beautiful twins.

Lilith and Raven played happily under the watchful eyes of their parents and Margaret. Lilith resembled her mother in every way except her eyes; they were red like her father’s and already turned pink whenever her temper rose. Raven more resembled his father but had inherited the Phantomhive blue tinge to his hair and bore one blue eye and one red eye. When his long hair fell forward covering the red eye, he could easily be mistaken for his second cousin, Ciel.

As the children entered their early teenage years and their powers began to manifest, Malphas worried more about leaving them and their mother while he was bound to a master. It was the only way to keep them safe. Taking them with him always risked them becoming pawns in the game of any master that he had; leaving them behind meant that visits home were rare and always too short.

“I will need to leave before morning, my love.”

“So soon?”

“The contract is nearly fulfilled; once it is complete, the soul should satisfy my hunger for many years.”

Louisa turned her head and kissed him. She knew that his decision to turn Ciel rather than feast on him still weighed heavily on him. Souls of that calibre were rare and staying in the human realm only increased his need to feed. Malphas pulled her around onto his lap and deepened the kiss. For a brief moment, nothing else mattered, then shouting erupted from the trees where the twins had been climbing.

Rushing over, they discovered Raven sat on the ground pouting and Lilith swinging from her knees high in the tree. They both started talking at once, then stopped suddenly, staring at their father, eyes wide as he stood there glaring with fiery eyes and his dark, feathered wings fully extended. While they loved their father, they also respected him and had grown up with stories of how demon parents often ate their less fortunate offspring. Now at nearly sixteen, they were less sure of the validity of these stories it was, however, not a theory either wanted to put to the test. They fought the desire to cover their ears as his voice boomed around them.

“If you are going to wail like banshees, I will treat you as such. Now, one at a time, what happened?”

Silence filled the space between them. “I am growing impatient, Raven, an answer?”

“We were trying to see who could hang upside down the longest. I slipped, and she laughed at me.”

“And that was the reason for the wailing?”

Lilith spoke up. “No, that was because he threw a knife at me.”

“I missed, then she threw hailstones at me.”

Malphas beckoned Lilith down from the tree.

“While I am glad to see your powers are beginning to materialise, they are not toys, and should NEVER be used against one another. They are to protect you and those bound to you. Am I clear?”

Eyes lowered to the ground, they chorused, “yes father.”

Malphas’ features softened as he folded away his wings and held the children close.

“Good, you must keep practising while I am away but not in public and not on each other. Now off to the house with you, I want to spend some time with your mother before I need to return. I will see you both before I go.”

The twins rolled their eyes and giggled before following Margaret back to the house. Malphas and Louisa made their way to Margaret’s old cottage. They had decided long ago to keep the cottage to give them some privacy and to shield the children and Margaret from their more physical exploits.