Hi world! Yea, I started a new story. Again. I guess I just loss motivation quickly. But, for once, I worked a head! Meaning, I plan on at least having more than eight chapters.
Recently, I have become utterly addicted to this fandom, thx in part to one of my friends whom I choose to call Sue. Sue introduced me to Kuroshitsuji and is kind enough to put up with my anime rants.
I really, really, really, really, really, REALLY, hope this doesn't suck too bad. I've been in a writing slump for a while and would appreciate some constructive criticism!
I don't own Black Butler, if I did, the anime would have been a lot longer.
_Genus Mali*_
Ciel Phantomhive couldn't sleep. He didn't know why, but he couldn't enter dreamland. Maybe it was just the stress of the day, or maybe the fear of the nightmares he knew would be waiting for him. Either way, he just could not sleep.
Instead of just lying in bed, the young earl decided to go to his office and do some work. It was much better to work then to just lay there anyway. Maybe Sebastian would realize he was awake and bring him some hot milk and honey to help him sleep.
Slipping on his slippers, Earl Phantomhive exited his chambers and headed for his office.
As the young earl walked through the corridors of the manor, he felt a slight chill, making Ciel instinctively draw his night clothes closer to his body. It was strange for a cold feeling to erupt in the Phantomhive manor in the spring, because of his butler's endless work in ensuring that his master had absolute comfort. Also, their was nowhere for the chill to come from, as the hall Ciel was currently in had no windows. And to add to the already odd situation, it felt like the journey was much longer than normal, being the normally three minute trip between room now felt like it was taking three hours. It almost felt like every time Ciel would reach the end of the hall, a new one erupted.
The earl almost turned back to his room, but just as he was about to turn, Ciel stopped a bronze doorknob from the corner of his blue eye.
Ciel quickly sent up a silent prayer as he exited the hall and reached the door to his office, though his joy was very short lived.
_Genus Mali_
The young earl's ecstatic joy faded as he saw whom his 'office' was occupied by.
"Young master!" cried Finny, "Not you too!"
"Why the hell are you idiots in my office in the middle of the night?" Ciel glared at the three servant gathered in the room, "This room is off limits to everyone but me, Sebastian, and those I give consent and I most certainly did not give you permission to do so."
Bard shrugged, "I'd apologize, m'lord, if this were your office."
"Of corse this is my office, you dope!" Ciel retorted, but Meyrin quickly interrupted.
"No it's not, young master, no it's not!"** said the clumsy maid, "Look around!"
The room they were currently standing in was about 16" on all sides and had no doors or windows. There was no furniture in the room at all. All the walls were pure white, as was the floor and ceiling. Against the wall behind them was a large cloth-like thing covering it that was just a little bit more brilliant then the surrounding wall.
Before Ciel could utter a word, Bard interrupted, "Don't ask where we are, we already thought up every possible answer."
Ciel scowled, "Well, that couldn't have taken long."
The invisible door opened again just as Bard was about to flip when...
"Ho ho ho..."
"Tanaka! The room of doom got you too?" Finny cried as everyone's favorite steward(?) walked in wearing bunny patterned pajamas.
"Can we please focus!" Ciel screamed at his servants, "We need a plan. I think Sebastian is our last hope of getting out of here so-"
"I don't think so," said a random girl who just appeared in the middle of the room.
Everyone jumped about ten feet and stepped away from her.
"Who the blazes are you?" said a very startled Bard. The girl just rolled her eyes and twirled her pale blonde hair in her hand a few times. The stranger had bleach blonde, long wavy hair with her bangs held back via a gold circlet. Her skin was sun kissed and her flowing dress was an iridescent white that matched her scaly silver chain mail under armor. She couldn't be older than fifth-teen.***
"I think she's an angel, yes she is!" whispered a gawking Meyrin so that only her companions could hear her.
"Only half," said the angel, leaning against the wall and crosses her arms.
"Your half angel?" Finny asked, "How can that be?"
She rolled her eyes, "That's a story for another time. I have a job to do you know."
"This isn't going to be a repeat of the Angela/Ash thing again is it?" growled Ciel.
The angel laughed and shook her head, "No, I am Adrian, the peaceful justice and the bringer of the past, or as I like to call it, the ultimate comeuppance."
"But that does explain why your here, no it doesn't!" stated Meyrin.
"Yeah, if your some sorta angel cop, why are you here?" Finny asked, wide eyed.
Adrian rolled her eyes again, "First off, never call me 'angel cop' again. Second, I came to serve final judgement on the demonic being of this household."
Ciel's blood ran cold, "What?"
Adrian smirked, "You heard me," she fake pouted, "Aw, little boy didn't think his friend had a life outside of him? Ha, what a riot!"
"No wait a moment," said Bard, "What exactly do you mean by 'demonic being'? Do we have a ghost or something?"
The angel laughed even harder, "Jesus, you all really are clueless aren't you?" She took in the servants confused expressions and their masters panicked one, "Man, come on, who's the only person not in this room?" Blank faces met one that was rapidly growing pained, "Oh, gosh. I guess I'll just get Sebastian myself then..."
The angel exited via the wall, leaving the stunned group.
"What does she mean by getting Mr. Sebastian?" asked Finny.
Ciel swallowed the lump in his throat, "It means that she is going to kill my butler."
"She can't just up and kill Sebastian!" Bard argued, "I don't care if she is an angel!"
"What did Sebastian ever do wrong?" questioned Meyrin, "He can be a little strict at times, yes he can, but that's nothing to call him a demon for!"
"Sebastian is a demon."
All eyes turned to the earl, "What?" breathed Finny.
"My maid is an undercover sniper who can kill a man a mile away without a scope. My chef is a soldier who was smarter than an entire military fleet. My gardener is a super strong science experiment. Is it so hard to believe my butler is a demon?"
All was silent as those words sank in.
_Genus Mali_
About twenty minutes later, Ciel had explained the story to his servants of how Sebastian came to be his butler.
Soon after the earl had finished, a loud clatter was heard outside the room, and a heartrending scream shattered the air.
"I hate demons," mumbled Adrian as she re-entered the room, dragging something behind her through the wall by a semi-glowing chain.
Through the wall, gloved hands, wrapped in the chain, was pulled through. Then an arm, a shoulder, and finally the bruised and bloody head of Sebastian Michealis, followed by the rest of him, slumped to the ground at their feet.
"Don't undo those chains, or I'll have to kill you," Adrian said to stunned residence of Phantomhive manor. She then turned to the cloth-like wall and began to do something, "Wake him up if you can. He really doesn't need me to wake him up."
Finny was the first to move to the fallen demon's side. The gardener gently pulled Sebastian into a sitting position against the wall farthest from the weird angel as the rest of the servants deemed it safe to go and help, Ciel staying off to a distance.
Bard, the only one with any actual medical experience, quickly gave the unconscious demon a once-over, "The damn angel," he mumbled, "He has a mild concussion, at least two broken ribs, and his arms broken. If we don't wake him up, he may never get up."
Leaving that in the air, Bard quickly slapped the butler hard across the face, trying to rouse him. Meyrin grabbed Sebastian's shoulder and shook hard. Finny, afraid of hurting him further, only watched.
Ciel had enough of their pointless worry, "Stand aside," he said, removing his eyepatch and kneeling next to his butler. He looked Sebastian straight in the face, ignoring the shocked gasps of his servants at his contract eye, "Sebastian, this is an order. Wake up, now, before these idiots worry themselves to death."
In less than a minute, the butler's eyes slowly opened, "Young master?" He said groggily, "W-What happened?"
"Oh, I see your up, then," sat Adrian, turning around from the cloth wall, "I can start now."
Finny stood up, "No! You can't kill Mr. Sebastian! I don't care if he is a demon."
Meyrin pulled up her glasses and grabbed her hidden shot gun, "Finny's right, yes he is!"
"If you want to get to my comrade, you'll have to go through me," proclaimed Bard.
Sebastian watched, half conscious, as the servants stood in front of him and his master, ready for a fight.
"What a riot!" chuckled the angel, "I wish my friends were like you lot, but loyalty isn't very thought of were I come from less it's for the big guy, ya' know?" She yawned and pulled a scroll from out of nowhere, "No, your friend here is to be executed, sadly. But I have other orders," she squares her shoulders and reads, "As an angel of true justice, I hereby state that punishment was ordered to the demon currently know as Sebastian Michealis, on the crimes of treason, soul theft of a minor, and the murder of an angelic being. If the guilty would wish to plead mercy and innocence before the council, the punishment may be lowered on standards'. Guilty, how do you plead?"
Sebastian panted out a few cusses to the angel.
"I'll take that as guilty," she said, writing of the scroll, "'The verdict of the council was decided April 3rd at 3:14 p.m. in the presence of a Legendary Reaper, a high angel, and a high demon. The agreed punishment for your crimes," Adrian put down the scroll, pushed her way past the servants, and looked into Sebastian's eyes, "Is Recall."
Sebastian's eyes widen as he started to shake, "N-No... You can do this... No, please!"
Adrian laughed, "Oh I love it when they beg," she paused to spit on the butler, "Sadly, I must deny you request."
As the group watched the angel exit the room, she only turned once, "May The Lord have mercy on your soul," was the last thing they heard from her before she left."
_Genus Mali_
In the few years Ciel had known his butler, he had never seen Sebastian afraid. He'd seen him worried, annoyed, happy, scary, angry, even tired, but never afraid. Though, Ciel had yet to see him injured either.
But the moment in which Sebastian was in a state of absolute horror, the young earl could do nothing but watch as tears of fear slipped down his face.
"Come on, man," said Bard in a soft voice as he and the servants sat beside them, "This 'Recall' thingy can't be all that bad can it?"
Sebastian just drew his bruised limbs up to his chest, careful of his chains, and hugged his legs, "They can't do this... They can't..." was all he said, over and over and over again, as he began to shake.
Tanaka turned back to his human form and touched the younger butler's shoulder, "What is she going to do to you?"
Sebastian looked at the hand and wiped some tears from his face, "She's going to play my Cinematic Record."
Ciel stopped, "Angels can do that?"
"Wait, hold on," interrupted Finny, "What's a Cinematic Record?"
Sebastian went to stare at the ground, frowning, "A Cinematic record is the recorded history of a being's life that is replayed when they die."
"But she said she wouldn't kill you, yes she did!" argued Meyrin.
"And only Reapers can see Cinematic Records," frowned Ciel, "What would be the point in having us here?"
"And what with that damn chain, why's it glowing like that!" exclaimed Bard.
The butler managed to compose himself, then he sighed, "Young master is right, though normal people can't usually see Records, a Recall is more than a record. A Recall is the worst punishment an immortal being can suffer right behind execution or torture," he rattled the chains on his wrists, "These wrist mentally, emotionally, and literally tied my hands. As long as there on, I can't use my demon power, and I become weaker physically and mentally. The chain connects me to the room, so when the angel activates it, I will black out and go into a dreamlike state. My Cinematic Record will be displayed on that wall."
"But how exactly is that punishment?" asked Finny.
Sebastian chuckled sadly, "The Recall doesn't work for everyone. It replays only certain moments in one's life, while a normal Cinematic Record shows Reapers a person's entire lifetime in a glance. The whole point of a Recall is to force a person to relieve the worst experiences of their lives. It's meant to destroy the person's mind beyond any standard. The point of having you here is to make it harder to forget."
A deadly silence rained over them as the thought settled in the air.
"So how long until you black out?" Bard broke the silence."
"I don't know..."
_Genus Mali_
The butler's words added to the tenseness of the room. Not one of them said a word as they waited.
Ciel sat Indian style with his chin in his hands, deep in thought. Finny was dozing in the corner, fighting to stay up with his friends. Meyrin (for once) was silent as she sat against the wall, wondering just what they were about to witness. Bard paced back and forth, hoping to pass the time so they could just get their butler's torture over with. Sebastian did not move from his spot on the ground, only moving his bonds a bit show he could lean against wall in a more comfortable position. Tanaka used Meyrin's apron to make a makeshift bandage for Sebastian's arm and chest, along with his smaller wounds.
No body wanted to address the situation; everything happened too fast. First, there trapped in the room of doom. Next, Sebastian is a demon. Then, their friend is set to be tortured before then very eyes. What next?
The silence was shattered by the sound of a startled Tanaka supporting a coughing Sebastian against the walk.
"Fight it, boy!" said the steward(really?), "Don't give in."****
The others rushed over as the butler's coughing slow enough for him to speak.
"I *hack* need you to *cough* *cough* do something for me," choked out Sebastian, trying to force back the feel of Adrian's power forcing his mind under.
"What?" said Ciel, forcing a dignified, a serious expression onto his face, regardless of the fear he felt at known his butler's past.
"*cough* Don't judge me *hack* on what I have *cough* *cough* done..." The normally stoic butler shocked them with his request, regardless, they all nodded.
Sebastian gave one last cough as his world went black. The last thing he saw was his master's face and the cloth-like wall opposite of them flickering with the image of a lone farm house...
There! Done! I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter of Genus Mali. Remember to eat your veggies, listen to your parents, and that reviews are proven to make me write faster!
*Genus Mali means Kind Evil in Latin
**I don't like Meyrin. I'm sure in a different situation, Meyrin would be really cool, but frankly, she only has like two fight scenes and she only does well in one. I'll try not to bash her, but I really don't know how to portray her well, so any help would be great.
***Yes, I put an OC in, but didn't say. That would be because she will not have any major part in this except for the beginning and the very end.
****I like Tanaka put in a grandfatherly role. When you think about it, he is kinda the quiet guardian making sure all his boys (and girl) are okay, while being stern when the situation calls for it.