DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KHR OR BLACK BUTLER. ALL CREDIT GOES TO THE AUTHORS AMANO AKIRA-SENSEI AND YANA TOBOSO-SENSEI.
ALL I OWN IS THE PLOT OF THIS STORY.
I'm sorry for taking so long to update. Nearly two months since I last updated, you're all probably thinking, "FINALLY SHE UPDATES! Took her long enough." I'm really sorry. And well this chapter I can guess you all pretty much get an idea of what's going to happen with the title of the chapter. After almost two months of not updating here I go and update a chapter which I kind of feel is lacking. Also I'm sorry since there isn't nearly as much talking in this chapter as there usually is. I don't know when I'll update, but I hope to update soon. I'm sorry. Also I noticed at the end of the previous chapter I made a mistake so if anyone noticed that, I kind of fixed it here. And I'm sorry for any bad spelling and if something doesn't make sense. I went over it, but I might have missed a few things, so I apologize ahead of time.
Enjoy
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Once they were all in their carriages they left the Phantomhive mansion, with the carriage Ciel was in leading the way towards their destination.
Even though they had all wanted Elena and Julia to stay behind, not because they were weak or they would get in the way, but because what they might find there might be something horrible and unforgettable something that might be too much for them to handle and eventually break them. But knowing how those two are, there was no room for debate when it came to the children.
~Flash Back~
As they were getting ready to head off to the place Ciel had said might be where the children are, they had forgotten one thing, or rather they had forgotten about what to do with two people.
Knowing the possibility that what they might see will be gruesome Giotto took a deep breath and walked to the center of the room where he would be able to see everyone, "I think it would be best if Elena and Julia stayed here."
Elena froze in place as she looked at Giotto, they way she looked at him would make it seem as if he had just said the most horrible and insulting thing in the world. Julia frowned and made her way closer to Giotto.
Once Julia was practically in front of Giotto she spoke after a few seconds of looking at him, "Why? Why should we stay behind while all of you go?!"
Elena walked up to where Julia was, "We have every right as you all to go and help search for them. What makes you think you can tell us what to do!" Elena said as she clenched her hands tightly.
"She's right. They're our children too!" Julia took a shaky breath, "I....I know that we might not find them or that we might see....an unpleasant sight there, but we need to be there."
Giotto sighed, but said nothing seeming as if he had given up on changing their minds since they were set on going. G on the other hand decided it was time for him to speak up, "You do realize that we're trying to keep you safe. Unlike you two we've seen and done things that would probably make you unable to sleep for a while. I won't stop you if you want to go, but are you sure you want to come? If you do you better not regret it, it was your decision to come, so choose now."
"Are you sure you want to go? You don't have to if you're unsure, if...." Daemon didn't get to finish what he was about to say since Elena interrupted him.
"Daemon, so help me god if you try to stop me right now you'll regret if for the rest of your life! I will go, and that's final!"
Daemon crossed his arms across his chest, "Nufufufu, very well."
"You also made your decision as well didn't you Julia." Giotto asked.
Julia nodded, "Yes. I'm going as well."
"Very well, then let's go. We need to be there before the sun starts to set any further." Giotto said as he turned and began to walk towards the door.
Soon after G and the rest followed after him. G walked up closer to Giotto and sighed, "I just hope there isn't anything too unpleasant there."
Giotto slightly nodded while he spared a glance at G.
~Flash Back End~
Even though they had been in the carriage(They were all able to fit in one carriage, but they still took an extra carriage with them) for quite a while now, no one had really started any type of conversation. They occasionally talked, but it was mostly on what they should do once they get to their destination, and what they should do if they found the children there, and what they should do if what they find is what they fear the most.
In those moments of silence all they could really think about was the "what if's" and "why's" and the "should have". This made them all realize that they weren't a strong mafia family as people said them to be. Yes, they were all individually strong, but they still all had their own faults, and weaknesses. And they hadn't even been a mafia for a long time, they had just recently turned their vigilant group into a family barely over two years ago.
The still didn't have a firm grasp on being in the mafia, and since it seemed that something new happened in the mafia, or new sets of rules had been set down by the Vindice. They did everything they could to not be just like the other mafia families who just kill for power, or anger, revenge. They never killed or hurt anyone unless it was necessary. And they especially didn't involve any innocent civilians if they could avoid it.
They all blamed themselves in their own way. For not having been strong enough. For not being able to notice the changes in the town and the people before the kids were taken. That they should have left earlier or had the carriage closer to where they were in town.
Each in their own way were determined to get stronger physically, emotionally, and mentally. They would never let anyone they cared for be hurt or taken like the kids were, or let any innocent person get hurt. They would never let their emotions become their weakness in a time of need and danger. And they would keep their mental state sane, and not become some sort of killing monster living to just hurt and take the lives of people carelessly.
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(Ciel And Sebastian)
Ciel had taken his own carriage along with Sebastian, the reason why, there were things that he wanted to talk about that he wouldn't be able to if he were in the same carriage as the first generation. Ciel looked out the window for a brief moment before sighing and leaning back in his seat.
"We should be arriving shortly before the sun sets." Sebastian said as he looked at Ciel.
Ciel nodded, "I want you to go on ahead of us and look around. Leave in twenty minutes."
"Yes my lord."
Ciel glanced at Sebastian for a few seconds before turning to face the window once again, "Also if anyone comes to that place before us don't do anything, just observe them for a while. That is if you spot anyone in the area."
Neither of the two said nothing as they waited for the time that Sebastian was to go.
~Time Skip~
Sebastian reached over towards the door and opened it, but before he could leave Ciel spoke, "Sebastian if you find anything I want you to leave it as it is. Also before we arrive there I want you to come back once you see the carriages that is if you're still there, we mustn't attract any sort of unwanted attention from them. Come back once you find something."
"Yes my lord." And Sebastian jumped out of the moving carriage. He made sure to be as quick as he could, just in case if the Vongola were watching. Not that it mattered anyway since he was fast, and if they were looking they wouldn't have been able to have gotten a good glimpse at what is was or who it was.
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As he left the carriage he glanced at the carriage that the Vongola members were in. From what he saw none of them were looking in the direction of the carriage he was once in. But it never hurt anyone to be just a tad careful. So he moved as quickly as he could and managed to leave the carriage without getting any attention to himself.
Since the area that they were currently passing by was near the forest it was a rather good chance for Sebastian to go as he pleases without going noticed in the trees.
After pulling out and checking the time on his pocket watch he quickly made his way towards the direction to where the warehouse they were going to was.
Normally if someone were to run or walk to that place it would have taken them at least three hours and a half or up to four hours, but being Sebastian it didn't even take him five minutes to get there.
Before he fully walked out from behind the trees he made sure to check if there was anyone near or coming near the area. Once he sensed and saw no one he walked out from the trees and headed towards the warehouse which was still quite a distance from where he was, at least a twenty minute walk....to a human that is.
~Time Skip (Less than Five Minutes Later)~
Sebastian stood in front of the door of the warehouse. Nothing seemed out of place, nothing seemed odd about it. Normally to a human's eye they wouldn't be able to notice small details the way the eyes of a non-human would, unless those said human(s) are good at observation.
The warehouse was big, probably half the size of the Phantomhive mansion. It was old, practically falling apart, the color was dull and chipping, cracks adorned the walls, windows, and the doors. It looked unused, but there was something off about it.
As Sebastian looked around the warehouse making sure not to move anything. He looked through the windows, through the cracks on the door, one of the doors was even slightly out of place and ajar giving Sebastian a wider view of the inside of the warehouse. It did indeed look unused, but it seemed too clean to have been unused for such a long time. From what he was able to see of the inside, there was hardly any dust, it looked as if it had just been cleaned only a short days ago. And on the outside, some of the weeds growing seemed as if they had been planted there on purpose. Almost as if to give it a look of having been lacking any sort of maintenance.
After having fully checked the surrounding area he began to look for any other possible location near by that could be used as a hide out aside from the warehouse. And indeed there was something else there. Fallen apart, barely standing up was another structure. But in a way it looked fake. The half collapsed walls looked as if they had been purposely made to look that way. It by no means looked like an old building.
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(Few Minutes Before Sebastian Left)
The silence and tension was so thick that if it were possible it would be suffocating. It seemed as if each of them were also scared and worried that they might say something that would worsen the mood, or just right out cause them all to lose what little patience and calm they had.
Releasing a breath he didn't realize he was holding G glanced at everyone in the carriage for a few moments, "We need to stop blaming ourselves. We'll only make things worse, we need to concentrate on what we need to do." G said, as he had also been blaming himself and his mind kept drifting off to when the kids were taken instead of keeping a clear mind, and keeping in mind what he needed to do once they got to the warehouse.
Giotto slightly bit the inside of his check and then spoke through the lump in his throat, "I know....I know. You're right G." Giotto managed to say avoiding his voice to waver.
The truth was that even though he looked calm Giotto was like a storm on the inside. He was angry. Angry at himself, and angry at the people who took the kids. Every time he thought of the kids he felt his chest tighten in rage and a lump form in his throat, and the back of his eyes began to sting. But he manages to hold everything back and hide it from everyone.
The same could be said for the others, they all tried their best to keep their emotions in check even though it was hard for them sometimes. But they couldn't let their emotions get the best of them and cloud their decisions.
As they all slowly began to talk, Knuckles continued praying his rosary. He prayed for two reasons, one was to pray for the best outcome, and the kids to be safe, and the second was to keep his mind occupied, and not think of the many "what if's" that he could have done to protect them. He had began to pray practically ever since they left the Phantomhive mansion, he did stop on occasion when they all spoke for a short while, but the majority of the time when it was all silent he prayed. He prayed to keep himself sane, and not drive himself crazy with all the thoughts of all the horrible outcomes that might happen to the kids.
For Knuckles it was a bit harder to not think of the possibilities of something happening to the tenth generation, he did after all see the lifeless body of the child that had been taken, he had seen what condition the body of the child was. No matter how much he tried he couldn't get the image of the child out of his mind.
Normally he was and is considered by some to be lazy, cowardly. Well he was lazy, and at times cowardly, but when he needed to be he was determined, and ready to protect those important to him. Lampo was indeed afraid of going to this warehouse they were heading to, but if it meant getting the tenth generation back safe and sound he would do anything.
Daemon and Alaude, they'd probably never admit it. But they were worried, and afraid for the safety of the kids. Daemon was worried mostly on how Elena would be able to cope with all of this if something bad were to happen.
G and Asari were just as worried as the others were. As were Cozarto, Elena, and Julia.
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As Giotto sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time he felt as if someone were watching them. He had been listening to Daemon mention a bit of what he had planned for the people who took the kids when he felt the back of his neck tingle. It wasn't only the tingle on his neck that made him think of someone watching them he had also felt his intuition slightly spike.
It didn't feel as if it were a warning of something bad happening, it just felt kind of uncomfortable. But it did give him somewhat of nagging feeling, something that he knew he shouldn't discard as nothing just yet.
Giotto looked out the window looking to see if there was anyone there, at first he had thought that they were being watched by the people who had taken the kids, but he didn't feel threatened. Just to make sure he moved forward in his seat to get a better look at the surroundings. But since they were in a moving carriage he didn't see things very clear, but from what he saw he didn't see anyone.
He sighed, and began to lean back in his seat, but just as he looked away from the window from the corner of his eye he thought he had seen a shadow dart into the trees. He quickly sat up trying to get a better look, and in the process making the rest of the people in the carriage stop their talking and look at Giotto.
G who was the closest to Giotto looked out the window trying to see what had caught Giotto's attention but he saw nothing, "Is something wrong?"
Giotto said nothing for a few seconds and just looked out the window for a bit more before turning to G and the others, "No, I just thought I had seen something. Must have imagined it?" He muttered the last part.
Asari watched Giotto for a few seconds, "What did you see?"
Nothing was said for a few moments until a sigh broke the silence, "I thought I saw a shadow go into the trees." And Giotto began to explain everything he had felt before having seen the shadow.
Of course this caused everyone to look out the windows on both sides of the carriage trying to see if they could see something, "Maybe it was one of the people who took them?!" Lampo exclaimed as he practically pressed his face against the glass to get a better look.
Watching everyone silently while also occasionally looking out the window, Knuckles glanced at Giotto, "If it isn't a danger to us what do you think it was? I know you said it was a shadow but it could have easily been an animal."
Giotto shook his head, "No, it was big. The size of a human, but the thing that bothers me is that it was so fast that it kind of makes me think that I could have imagined it."
G leaned back and closed his eyes with a sigh, "Well there's no use trying to think about what it was, but just to get this out of the way. From what direction did it come from?"
"It seemed like it came from up front. I'm not entirely sure, but that's what it looked like to me."
"Up front? So then it had to have passed by the boy's carriage or at least behind it." Asari said.
"....Probably, but for now let's just focus on what needs to be done." Giotto said as he rubbed his temples. He had noticed that what he had felt from his intuition was beginning to get more stronger. At first to him it seemed like nothing, but as the minutes ticked by when they were talking about the shadow the aching in his head began to get worse.
Julia who had been folding and unfolding her purple handkerchief trying to keep herself distracted had been glancing at everyone in the carraige from the corner of her eye when she noticed Giotto who looked slightly uncomfortable.
"Giotto is something wrong? Are you okay?" Julia asked as she stopped her folding and unfolding and put her handkerchief in the pocket of her dress.
Giotto looked up at Julia and gave her a strained smile, "I'm fine, just a head ache." He said, but then placed his hands on his lap he looked at everyone in the carriage, "Actually my intuition has been bothering me more now. It's even making my head hurt."
Elena clenched a handful of her dress, "The children. Could something have happened to them?! We need to get there now! We'd be have been there faster if we knew where this warehouse is!"
They all agreed with her, they knew that if they had gone of their own they would have most likely been there by now. But since they didn't know where the place was they had to wait. The pace that they were going was excruciating for them, they weren't going fast enough.
G sort of had the urge to jump out of the carriage and head over to Ciel's carriage and tell him to "hurry the hell up and get to the damn warehouse" before they were all driven crazy, and before someone began to think of ways to torture him for being so slow.
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This building was the only one that had gotten Sebastian's attention more. It wasn't just the fact that it didn't look old even though it was collapsed, it was that he could smell decay. The smell of something decomposing, but he also smelled and sensed live people near by.
Deciding that he had found enough he began to head back to Ciel just as he was instructed to if he had found something.
~Time Skip(A Few Minutes Later)~
During his way back to Ciel he suddenly stopped and straightened out his coat not like it had any creases in it to begin with. He walked over to one of the largest trees and stood slightly behind it unmoving waiting. As if he had timed and knew where the carriages were going to pass by he didn't need to wait long since just two minutes after he began to wait he could see the carriages coming.
He waited for Ciel's carriage to come just slightly closer to move. And in the same manner and speed he went back into the carriage.
As he sat himself down Ciel was looking at him, "So what did you find?" Ciel asked.
And so Sebastian began to tell Ciel everything he saw, sensed, and smelled there.
"I see. Well I'll be seeing it for myself in just a bit since we're almost there."
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~Time Skip(About An Hour Later)~
They had been sitting in a carriage in the same place for practically an entire day when they finally saw a building off in the distance.
"Are we finally here?" Lampo asked hopefully.
Cozarto who was looking out the window along with some of the others stretched his arms out in front of him, "Most likely, we're even beginning to slow down a bit."
The closer that they got to the building the more anxious they got, almost as if they were afraid of what they might find at that place, or if there was even anything to find. This building held all their hopes as well as their greatest fears.
Nearly thirteen minutes since they saw the building they were finally coming to a stop. Once the carriages came to a complete stop the first generation all got off as quickly as they could.
Neither of them wanted to but they had to wait until Ciel was off his carriage. But it seemed as if everything that boy/brat(as they call him) did was so slow. That it was even beginning to irritate some of them, it was a miracle that Daemon hadn't already began his torture on Ciel for wasting their time, but he along with the others knew it wasn't a good idea to do anything bad since they all felt something was different about the butler.
The only people who didn't want to wait for Ciel were Alaude and Daemon, who didn't like the idea of waiting anymore than they had already did. So they began their search around and in the warehouse.
Once Ciel had gotten off his carriage the remaining of the group also walked over to the warehouse and also began their search. By the time they had gotten to the building both Daemon and Alaude were inside searching.
After a short while of looking around some of them left the area and began to look elsewhere for any sort of leads, while some continued to search near or around the warehouse even though they had already checked it all, after all it wouldn't hurt to take a closer look. And with the amount of people they had some could look somewhere else, while others took the time to look carefully.
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Alaude had been one of the people who had gone off to search the area. The one thing he knew for sure about the warehouse was that it wasn't unused as they had been told.
The building did look old and falling apart in some places, but it looked fairly clean for a place that was supposed to be empty for a decade. He had first thought that maybe it was being used by the homeless or if the previous owners would come and clean once in a while, but he quickly ruled those out.
If the owners had come and done any sort of cleaning to the place there should have been some traces left. The dirt around the area was soft, and just stepping on it left his foot imprint on it, so if someone had come they should have at least found a few prints. But that logic could easily be put in doubt after all there were large patches of grass, so they could have easily stepped on those said patches. That would have been used as the answer to having lack of prints, but there were also things that didn't make sense that eventually would rule that out.
There were no signs of anyone having been near the mansion for a while, and if a person had come by carriage there should have been some prints as well, or any excrement left from the horses or mules or whatever was used for the carriages. It could be said that maybe that person or people walked to the warehouse, but from what they saw there aren't any houses near by. The only explanation for there not being any tracks is that this person or people know how to cover their tracks, or the person could somehow fly.
And the ruling out of the homeless, there wasn't anything to indicate that anyone had been living inside. There were only the furniture in the warehouse, and nothing more. Nothing that indicated a fire had been lit in the fire place, nothing out of place. There had been some dust not much but some was settled on the furniture and on the floor so if someone had come in or was inside there should have been prints or smudges, but there weren't any. So he quickly rules out the possibility of anyone living inside.
As he made his way further away from the ware house looking in every direction Alaude noticed small but noticeable disturbances in the branches.
Alaude stopped walking and looked around for a while for anything else out of place aside from the branches. He saw nothing so he walked towards the branches. As Alaude stood in front of the small tree he saw that a few of the branches had been broken off. It could easily be explained as the wind having broken it or that maybe a very heavy bird perched on the small branch and broke, or that maybe a cat was there. But the thing was that there was a branch on the ground that was snapped in two, as if it had been stepped on.
He crouched down he knees almost touching the ground, he gently moved a few leaves to the side to get a better look at the branch, and he could faintly see the fading traces of a foot print.
Without a second thought he got up and began to walk in the direction that the footprint was facing towards. After a short walk he came to a stop. In front of him was another building, but it was collapsed.
"Get the others." Alaude said as he reached in his pocket and pulled out Hibird who had gone into his pocket since it had started to get a bit windy, but it would occasionally peek out.
Hibird chipred and ruffled his feathers then flew off.
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Just as they were all about to go off in other directions and search they all heard a chirping, and "Alaude Alaude" being repeated over and over again.
They all looked over towards the sound and saw Hibird coming towards them. Once he reached the closest person Hibird landed on Lampo's head and repeated "Alaude" again then flew off.
Wasting no time they all quickly followed after Hibird. Ciel and Sebastian were a bit surprised to hear the bird speak. They had seen the bird before, but it hadn't spoken, at least not in front of them.
After having followed Hibird for a few short minutes they finally came to where Alaude was. They were all surprised to have found another building, except for two people that is. They had only been told that there was a warehouse here, so why was this here?
The building in front of them was what looked like to be a collapsed mansion. The only thing left of were the marble pillars, and the walls. But the odd thing about it was that even though it looked collapsed it didn't have any cracks in what "remained" of the walls.
As they all got closer to the building they began to notice that this mansion looked as if it had been just recently built. After carefully looking around the place they decided to look inside.
Giotto and the others all stood in front of the front door, they were all waiting for Giotto who was at front to open the door. So taking a deep breath which was a bad idea Giotto resisted the urge to gag. A strong smell hit him hard when he breathed in deeply, especially now that he was so close to the mansion.
"....Do you smell that?" Giotto asked.
Daemon moved closer to where Giotto was, "It's very faint, but there's no mistaking it. It smells as if something is rotting."
Giotto closed his eyes and let out a breath, almost everyone in the group minus Ciel and Sebastian had the same reaction as him.
~Time Skip (After Having Entered The Mansion)~
Nothing. There was nothing indicating where the kids were, the only thing was the smell. There was no furniture, no personal items that might have belonged to whoever owned this mansion. Absolutely nothing.
But this was just the main floor, there was still to check the basement since they had found a door leading to one. But the thing was that once the basement door was opened, they were met with boxes. Heavy boxes at that too, but they could see within the spaces between the boxes that it was a basement.
It was also there that the smell was the strongest, it wasn't strong as if whatever was rotting was there, but it was strong enough to indicate that it was near by.
Before anyone could move and start moving the boxes out of the way Ciel spoke up, "Sebastian move those boxes out of our way now."
"Yes my lord." And Sebastian moved forwards towards the door telling the first generation to move out of the way for their own safety.
Before they could utter a word Sebastian began to move the box at an amazing speed that literally left them all speechless for a few seconds, Alaude and Daemon would never admit it though. And this just made them more suspicious about him. They all felt something was off about him, it wasn't the fact that he was a perfect butler, but he just gave off a vibe that they all didn't like. It made them feel slightly uncomfortable. They didn't know why, but they just couldn't shake the feeling off whenever they were near him.
After Sebastian had moved all the boxes out of the way, they all made their way down the stairs. And since it was very dark Giotto lit his flames. His flames were bright enough to light almost the entire area where they were standing.
Fear. Hope. Worry. Anger. That was what they were all feeling at each step they took down the stairs, at each step the feeling intensified.
As they reached the bottom they were met with a few boxes but nothing of use. As they looked around the place they noticed another door, well it looked like a door, except that it didn't have a doorknob or any sort of handle to open it with. Knuckles who had been at the back with the girls keeping them company since they weren't close to the rest, he walked across the short distance to where this new door was. He looked it over a bit as if trying to find any way to open it before deciding what to do next. Seeing that there was nothing to be of use to open the door near or on the door, he slightly pushed back his sleeve so it won't get in the way, taking his stance he pulled back his arm ready to punch the door. After taking a deep breath and a muttered, "Here goes nothing" he punched the door.
Ciel was expecting the punch to the door to make a rather loud noise, but it hardly made any sound, only a dull thud was what he heard.
After the impact on it the door began to fall, but before it could completely fall over into the other side of the wall Knuckles managed to somehow grab ahold of it before it could hit the ground and make a ruckus. Just in case if there was anyone inside he didn't want to alert anyone of their presence in the mansion.
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The sight before them wasn't something they expected. They had expected it to be another room not this. What they were currently looking at was a hallway. A long hallway, a barely lit hallway, but it was slightly slanted downwards.
After a few seconds of getting over their surprise they all began to move down the hallway as quickly as they could without making any noise. As they went in it seemed as if the entire hallway was underground since it had gotten somewhat cold.
As they walked farther in the smell that they had smelled earlier was a lot stronger. If Giotto and any of the others felt like gaging when they were still outside, the smell now was just overpowering. Julia quickly placed her handkerchief over her mouth and nose once the smell became to strong for her. Elena used the sleeve of her dress to cover her nose.
The further they walked in the more the place expanded, it had various doors, which they all checked. The place was cold, barely even lit. With the way everything looked and smelled like it felt like something would come out at any minute and try to kill them all.
They continued searching they walked, they opened every door they came across which was always empty. All that was in the rooms that they had opened was a lingering smell. A smell all to familiar to them, they had after all been smelling the same smell all along since they went in.
They had just about begun to think that there wasn't going to be any trace of the kids or any of the other missing children the saw the final door. At least the last door in this hallway anyways.
Their fear grew, as far as they knew this was the only door they hadn't opened. Taking a deep breath G opened the door slowly. He had barely had the door opened little more than an inch when the putrid smell came out. He quickly closed the door, and slightly turned his head to the others, "Julia, Elena I want you two to step back."
"I'm not taking no as an answer!" G hissed. He knew what he saw in the small opening. It was something he didn't want the girls to see. The smell was bad enough, but the sight itself made him want to vomit.
Julia and Elena slowly but surely moved away, behind the group. Once G was sure they weren't in distance to see inside the room he opened the door again, but not before placing his hand over his mouth and nose.
Blood, and the limp forms of children on the ground. It seemed almost like a mountain of bodies, but made out of children. From what they could see there was only about five bodies. Just the smell was enough to tell them that they had been dead for at least a week or so.
Even though it pained them to see this they had to check every body to see if there was at least one child alive there. The search through the bodies had been too much for Lampo who left the room before he almost started to vomit.
Once they had searched and found no living child they left the room and closed it. They were left speechless, the lifeless bodies of those children were forever branded into their minds, seeing the dead body of a person is a common occurrence in being in the mafia, but seeing a child's body is something that they'd never want to see again. But since a lifeless body whether it be an adult or a child is something that they'd all rather avoid seeing.
Whatever hope they had of finding the kids alive and well was being to shatter. Having seen the decomposing bodies of these five children had made them realize that the possibilities of finding every child unharmed was nothing more than just a wish. Their relief of having found the place that most likely had all the missing children was beginning to diminish.
~Time Skip (Ten Minutes Later)~
Since they were getting nowhere in the speed they were going at they all split up into groups. Ciel and Sebastian went their own way. G, and Giotto formed one group. Asari, Lampo, Daemon, Cozarto, Julia, and Elena formed another one (since Daemon and Cozarto didn't want to be separated from Julia and Elena). Even though Alaude wanted to go on his own, Knuckles was asked to go along with him. It wasn't that they didn't trust Alaude on his own, but they just wanted to make sure that nothing bad happened, and if he manages to find anymore children Knuckles would be with him to help.
(G, Giotto)
From the last time that Giotto had checked his pocket watch it had been almost two hours since they split into groups, and they still hadn't found anyone. They hadn't found anymore dead children, or any living children either.
Just as they were beginning to think that they might not find the children they heard a sound. It sounded as if something had exploded, or something heavy had fallen over and hit the ground.
They quickly made their way towards the source of the sound, and saw a door that was practically destroyed and just barely hanging from the hinge. Once G and Giotto were in front off the door, they pulled what was left of the door off, and what they saw made them sigh in relief but at the same time made their rage grow more than it had before.
Once they saw the condition the room was left in and the condition that the kids were in they ran into the room.
Just as Tsuna went out of HDWM and began to sway he was caught by Giotto before he could hit the ground avoiding to further hurt himself. Looking at Tsuna, and the others was heartbreaking. The tenth generation looked broken, shattered as they looked at Tsuna, Lambo, Yamamoto, and Amanda.
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Once they made sure that Jonathon was tied up they left. As they made their way out of the room Enma walked over to Giotto and G, "We need to find James. He tried to help us, we can't just leave him here."
At having been told to get this James, they asked who exactly he was. And so Enma as best as he could explained how James tried to help them, and what had been done to him. Giotto and G agreed to go look for James, but only after they get the injured out and checked by Knuckles.
Getting in was one thing, but getting out was another. This place looked like a maze, so many hallways and turns, and not to mention that it was dark also.
"I'm going to go look for Knuckles and the rest. We need Knuckles to heal the kids." G said as he came to a stop just before they made it towards the door that led into the basement.
Giotto turned to look at G, he wasn't comfortable with letting G go, but he knew that it had to be done. They needed to have Knuckles come as quick as possible, "Very well. But hurry."
G nodded and ran off and began his search for the others, dragging with him an unconscious Jonathon since he couldn't exactly leave him with Giotto who was carrying Tsuna, and the kids who could barely even walk from how tired they were.
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Once the group had made it out Giotto set Tsuna on the ground not wanting to cause anymore harm to him by moving him. To the best of his abilities he applied pressure on the wound on his chest trying to at least lessen the blood flow a bit before Knuckles came. Giotto didn't have to stop the blood flow for long since shortly after he started Knuckles came running out of the mansion, and ran towards Giotto and the others once he saw them.
Knuckles quickly began to heal both Tsuna, Lambo, Yamamoto, and Amanda as best as he could. But he spent most of the time healing Tsuna and Lambo, "I'll only be able to stop the bleeding for now, we need to get him somewhere where I can treat him and everyone else properly to avoid an sort of infection."
As Knuckles continued to work on the kids Alaude, Cozarto, Daemon and the rest had all come out. And to say they were angry is an understatement, they were beyond Furious. They just wanted to kill Jonathon at that moment.
~Time Skip~
Once they had made it to their carriages they placed the children in the extra carriage they had brought, and some of the first and tenth generation had to go into the carriage that Ciel and Sebastian were in. But that still wasn't enough, there were to many children so some of the fist generation had to stay behind which they used as an opportunity search the place more for anymore children.
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The only thing they needed to do aside from getting the children treatment was to inform the parents that their children had either been found alive....or dead.
They felt that this was the hardest thing they would ever have to do in their life, having to call for an officer and tell them to contact the families to tell them the news.
They had all been taken to the closest clinic they could find with enough space to hold all of the children, and as well as James. Most of the children that had been found alive didn't have life threatening injuries, but they were still injured enough that an infection could set in if not treated.
Once all the children with minor injuries had been treated by a doctor that had been called in, Knuckles had been painstakingly working on Tsuna, and Lambo. Those two had injuries that could most likely kill them.
What seemed like hours had passed and the ones that had stayed behind at the mansion had come back, and Knuckles had still not finished with healing Tsuna and Lambo. He did come out once of one of the rooms in the clinic they were in, he told them the one news they had never wanted to know.
"The injuries are to sever, I don't know what more I can do. Lambo's injuries I was able to heal, but the injuries inflicted on him were to much and his system has begun to shut down." Knuckles took a deep breath to steady his voice, "Tsuna has lost so much blood....I don't know if he'll make it. But I'll do the best I can, I won't stop working on them."
At that moment the first generation were glad that the tenth generation were not there at the moment, that they were resting even though they had been against it at first. They were also glad that Elena and Julia were with the kids and not with them.
They all felt as if their heart had stopped beating for a short moments in fear. Giotto felt as if someone had been squeezing his heart, and a lump began to form in his throat. Lampo who was also there closed his eyes and grabbed a handful of his hair while muttering, "Now way. I can't be."
The only thing they could do was pray and wait for Knuckles to finish healing them. And wait for the best outcome no matter how slim those chances were. Their hope and relief were reduced to nothing more than wishful thinking. A short lived relief was what it is.
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So if any of you cried I'm sorry, or if something just didn't make sense at all, I'm sorry. As I said before I don't know when I'll be updating. It feels as if it's the beginning of winter now, it's cold. Squirrels(well we were told it was a squirrel) are evil, the internet at my house stopped working for a while, all because the cable was chewed on. I really hope to update soon, I'll most likely begin typing the next chapter after I update this chapter.
That's it for now, I hope you enjoyed it.