I was thinking about doing an AU like this for a while. I haven't given up on "His Butler, Domestic" though- I'm still working on it for sure. But this plot bunny wanted to come out so here it is!
Note: This isn't the "official" beginning of the story; it's more like a prologue and the rest of the story will cover how we got up to this point, AKA the lowest point in AU!Sebastian's life.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroshitsuji
It hadn't always been like this. Or maybe it had, and he was too caught up in his own arrogance to notice. Somewhere between the crowd chanting for his blood and the tearing of freshly scarred skin, he let the memories- facts -flow by. He had been a poet once. He was a tutor, an adviser. An emperor's aide, a general's right hand. His back hit the rusted cage, leaving a shapely dent in the steel.
He had been on top of them all.
He had thought-
Claws closed around his throat. Blood gathered in his mouth and he sputtered in spite of himself. And to think, that feeble windpipe of his had once been so beautiful.
He had thought wrong.
"Rip his head off!"
"Off!"
"Eat him!"
He was nothing. He had always been nothing, save for a vile leech preying on the lowest dregs of humanity. And why was that? Envy, perhaps. The lights danced ahead of him, fluorescent, flickering panels. It was all the light he would ever have. But he would commit the same mistake over and over. Such was the nature of his kind.
"Fight back, you son of a-!"
"Foul play!"
Starving, toxic, desperate. Unfit to even look at the sun. The crowd's insults poured in, directed at him or the opponent, he didn't care to tell. Teeth ripped into his torn shoulder, the mangled arm rendered useless long ago. He clawed at his assailant, a wild hulk of a being, as hungry as himself. The last of his stitches came apart and to his surprising relief, the blood flowed. The warmth on his torso calmed him somehow, the overwhelming scent of fresh iron momentarily distracting him from the pain. It streamed in blots, pushing past clotting wounds and painting over damaged skin.
He finally understood why that reaper loved the color so. It was a welcome change of scheme against the darkness. Broken fingers stopped struggling. May the best beast win, the lights had once blared. He was not the best nor had he ever been, and somehow that revelation took a world of weight off his crushed shoulders.
He no longer needed the light. The red shone. And it was all he would need now. Yes, how easy it would be to relax and let go...
"Sebastian!"
It was a dim voice in the crowd, valiant in how loud it tried to be in spite of its timbre. He looked through blurry eyes, past the pain and teeth, and into that sea of greedy faces.
"Sebastian!"
Booming, now. The child was pushing a path for himself, forcing his way through the crowd. But he was such a tiny, angry being- one electric blue eye, hair matted down by sweat. Ciel Phantomhive. He should not have come. He should not have. But why-
He slammed against the floor, ears ringing with the other demon's roar and the clang of a bullet. Each eyelid was more weight than it was worth- he struggled to glimpse their audience. Ciel had ventured to the front of the spectators and was now climbing onto the bars of the cage, a shotgun in his grasp. Ciel fired again, to the crowd's dismay.
"Boy, get out of here!" the announcer ordered, removing himself from the crowd and rushing at the child.
"Stop me and I kill you where you stand!" Ciel roared. To make good on his threat, he aimed the gun, hands dangerously still. The cage rattled behind him, from where the demon tackled, eager to rid itself of the pesky child.
But Ciel didn't flinch. Yes, this was the human Sebastian could not understand. If the last thing he saw before swift death was Ciel Phantomhive, that would be a blessing in itself.
"You! You're his owner, aren't you! Call your pet off now!" the boy barked, at who, Sebastian couldn't tell. It was all dark now.
"Get that brat away!"
Bang.
"He shot me!"
"Let me go! Sebastian!"
"Finish the fight!"
"Sebastian- gah!- The fight is already finished and the lot of you cheated! Every single one of you!"
Bang.
"You! Open that cage!"
He felt a violent kick connect with his skull. A simple human kick.
"I bet double on you!"
He expected another kick, but only heard a child's cry. Ciel's. He tried to open one swollen eye. The boy's back was facing him, half slouched. Had he taken that blow for him? Why. But his mouth refused to comply.
"All of you, get away from us," Ciel growled, "this is the last cockfight he'll ever be in."
The jingling of coins. The sack of money left Ciel's pocket and hit the ground. "This- this is all I have."
The boy was an excellent actor, as good as a little imp. But then and there, he didn't seem to be putting on a show. Perhaps Sebastian felt too weak to see past the farce, too injured to process the thoughts- he could have sworn he heard a trace of sorrow in his master's voice. And yet again, causing pain was all he was good for.
"Just let him- us go."
Gentle hands cradled his head, fingers running over the cuts and bruises- it might have stung, but he felt nothing save those soft caresses.
"Damn it," the boy hissed, palm pausing over the demon's bleeding forehead, "your fever's acting up again- you really are a senseless idiot."
Why, was all he wanted to ask. But even breathing proved too hard a task.
"If you were this badly hurt, why didn't you tell me?" Ciel whispered, the strain finally catching on his voice.
The crowd was restless again. He could hear the insults and jeers raining down on them, but they were incoherent to his senses. He thought of Ciel being drowned out by that savage group; noble, steadfast Ciel, his soul stronger than a thousand of their frames, buried under that sea of ants. And all for him, a crippled insect flipped on its back and no more useful than a pile of ash. Why?
"I'm," he managed to croak, low and wispy, "sorry."
He poured his last vestige of strength into those words. Even his hearing chose to fail him by then. The last thing he saw was indeed Ciel Phantomhive's face, expression pained and lost.
Thanks for reading! Reviews are more than welcome and please let me know if you're interested in this plot or not.
I do have a request for reviewers, though: feel free to leave suggestions on what other horrible things should happen to Sebastian. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course haha)
Elizabeth and Bard are the other main characters in this fic so they'll have a ton to do here too. The other thing I can guarantee about this story is that there is a TON of hurt!Sebastian, like a ridiculous amount.
