His Master, Devoured
It is swallowing my entire being. All I can see is dark red haze. It's coming. It's closing in, devouring everything that I am...
The young Earl Phantomhive who once sat back-to-back with a certain blonde maniac now stood in his mind prison alone. The crumbling chess board beneath him was not his only concern, as a new haze of crimson was crushing the black of his mind. His royal blue eyes stared up, waiting for the mist to finally hit him. It was minutes before the boy realized another individual now stood against his back. Ciel turned, eyes widening at the sight.
Dressed in a high quality blue overcoat was a slender boy of only around thirteen years of age. Upon further inspection, Ciel realized that the coat so familiar to him was indeed the piece of clothing he was wearing. Odder yet, short cut blue-grey hair matching the Earl's style was shifted as the boy turned to face him. He matched every detail of Ciel, right down to the glare of contempt in his pupils. No, that wasn't completely true.
The only fact that separated these two individuals, and the very thing that sent a small shiver of fear down Ciel's spine, was in the boy's eyes.
Instead of a royal and dignified blue, a deep red was nestled under the thick eyelashes. It stared into Ciel, willing him to question the doppelganger.
"Who are you?" He demanded, turning around on what crumbling part of the land he had left. His mirror image turned as well, smirk now seen fully.
"Who do I look like? Come now, you've had the highest education; that of a demon. Tell me you can answer such a triflingly easy question." The rudeness sent a shot of annoyance to Ciel, but he willed away any come-backs. This was too odd. But, after all that had happened, he should have expected something so strange as this.
"You are me." He stated, beginning a small circle around the red-glowing boy. The smirk the doppelganger wore further developed into a laugh.
"And you are me. Yes, that is correct. We are both one another, and separate beings of our own, all at the same time." He folded his arms, crimson stare still settled upon Ciel.
"You understood the terms of Alois' contract, did you not?" He asked.
"Of course. No demon will be able to take my soul, the one thing they desired most." Ciel paused, folding his arms as well. He glared forward.
"And by that, he meant-"
"Yes, I understand. I become a demon. I lose my soul to become something I have despised. What does any of that have to do with you?" His interruption did not cause the smirk of the other Ciel to dip. The red eyes blinked slowly, dropping the folded arms. Without a word, the boy strode towards Ciel.
"It has everything to do with me, and nothing to do with you, I'm afraid. You see, a human does not often become a demon. It's extremely rare, and I might even be so arrogant to assume I am the first case of it happening." His speaking of the first-person willed just a bit of annoyance from Ciel. How dare he speak as though a monster-like being such as himself were the Lord Phantomhive. The very thought made Ciel sick.
"A new demon is a very particular thing, Ciel. It does not feel. It does not house particular relationships with anything or anyone. Most importantly, it does not house any of the weak emotions that you do." Any hint of smile disappeared from the boy's lips. He glared down with an intensity one would only describe as demonic.
"You are not fitting to become a demon."
Debris fell from the chess board, sending Ciel's foot down to the darkness. He caught himself with his other leg, giving the boy a mere kneel towards the demon. He clenched his teeth, looking up with the same glare.
"So what!? Are you here to tell me you are? What would becoming a demon matter if I'm not the same person!?"
The demon approached, smile back with a sharp intensity.
"Oh, trust me, no ordinary human would be able to tell the difference. Our memories are the same. Even better, I can just cut all ties, sacrifice any human part of you, crushing out the old world you lived in. Perhaps just killing all those close to you would suffice." He supposed.
The blue eyed Ciel stood to his feet, all intimidation replaced with an intense burning hatred.
"I have not come this far to be outmatched by a mere demon. I do not doubt that our memories are the same or that you would be willing to kill all those in my past life. Do you want to know why?"
He stepped forward, face closing in only several inches from his doppelganger.
"Because that is exactly what a weak human would do."
The demon seemed to take quite an exception to these words, red eyes burning back. He latched a hand around Ciel's throat, lifting the boy a few feet into the air.
"Do not insult me. I am nothing like you. The weight on this chess board is far too heavy, outweighed by the weak and subservient thoughts of the human I was!" He tightened his grip, teeth clenching in anger.
"It is outweighed by you!"
The black-white pattern of flooring disappeared from the ground just below Ciel, his body still held in the air by his demon counter-part. His royal blue shifted over, eying the demon, who, just by letting go, could end his entire existence.
"Just... Just by- doing t-this.." Ciel struggled to make the words out. The crushing grip on his throat did not lessen to try and listen. They seemed rather intent upon the death of the Lord.
Ciel reached up with his own hands, nails digging into the demon's flesh.
"You are... Proving me... Right."
Upon the utterance of these words, the red-eyed counterpart released Ciel from his death grip. The boy fell, a bottomless darkness waiting him.
However, the stubborn hand of the human refused to accept this. It latched onto a remaining square of the chess board, keeping Ciel clung to the only piece of land left. He glared up, throat burning.
"Why won't you just die!? There is no need for you anymore, can't you see!?" A boot stepped to the fingers, bringing a yelp of pain to Ciel's mouth. Even so, he did not lessen his grip or glare.
"I refuse to believe that I am a being that is not needed! However small my existence was, it was one that left a mark on others! I cannot let a pathetic parasite such as yourself erase any hint of my life. I would rather die than allow that to happen!" He yelled, the other hand reaching up towards the crumbling board. It latched onto the land, but the boy could not find the strength to pull himself up.
"Calling me pathetic? Have you taken a look at yourself? What could you possibly gain from fighting back? It's pointless."
The demon bent down, a seriousness and curiosity staring into the royal blue still hanging onto the ledge. They locked eyes, both measuring the other.
"I've told you; there is no point in fighting this game you will never win, yet you still have the strength and audacity to cling to the edge. Why don't you just give up? I would never try to best an impossible task."
A smirk settled to Ciel's lips at these words.
"You see, I already knew that. If you have no drive to even try, how could you call yourself me? How are you in any way, shape, or form the Lord Phantomhive?" He growled.
Ciel squeezed the cracking chess board, eyes still staring into a wide-eyed red.
"You say this task is impossible, but I find that fact very meaningless. You assume that I intend to come out victorious. That is wrong."
He reached out, grabbing the thick fabric of the now gasping demon. He pulled them close together, noses touching. A slight chuckle escaped Lord Phantomhive's lips.
"I only wish to drag you down with me."
With these words, he pulled on the demon's coat. With no time to react, the doppelganger was forced to collapse forward with the boy, both heads falling down an abyss of bottomless blackness.
I will allow no one but myself to control my actions. Even if this stubbornness is what ultimately ends my life, that is much preferable to the fate of my name being smeared across actions I would never attempt to do. That is the very pride of a Lord of Phantomhive, and perhaps the very thing that ends my existence at this moment.
The odd thing is, though.. I don't want to die. I truly don't want it to end here.
The boy's blue eyes opened, black being the only thing in their sight. The blowing wind of his fall had long since torn off his eye patch, leaving behind only the purple and contracted eye. Ciel closed his eyes for a moment, fingertips trailing over the skin of his eyelid.
If there's any a time, let it be now. Even if it would be for the last time, I will call upon you.
Ciel's eyes opened with a new-found passion.
"Sebastian! Sebastian!? Where are you!? If the contract still means anything, save me now! This is an order!" His echoed cries rang throughout the darkness, yet no response came to the boy's rescue. Ciel retracted his arm, deject fulness giving him a sour expression.
No, I don't suppose he could save me from something like this. So what now? And what became of the demon?
"Master?" A voice poked into the young Lord's mind, causing a glint of hope to surface. Oddly enough, the voice was of the one he had called to many minutes ago. He opened his eyes, surprised to see that his eye patch was now tied around his eye.
The royal blue pupil of Lord Phantomhive adjusted to the light of the room, allowing his sight of the butler to become more defined. Ciel looked around, the moving scenery of the carriage window causing him confusion. His eyes glanced back to that of his butler sitting across from him.
"Sebastian, where are we?" His question only gave the man a confused stare.
"We're on our way to the Undertakers', My Lord. Did you doze off, perhaps? We're investigating the recent string of children kidnappings. The letter from the Queen is in your hand, Sir." His white glove pointed towards the hand, directing Ciel's sight towards it.
Sebastian tilted his head with a smile.
"If you don't mind me saying, it seemed as though you were having a rather active dream. Are the, "Lord Trancy" and "Claude Faustus" acquaintances of yours?"
The past memories of the case came flooding back to the boy. He regained a smirk, eye flitting towards the window.
"Do not concern yourself of them. It was simply a dream, nothing more. We will be returning back to the manor house in the near future, will we not?"
A dream of a demon not getting the soul he was meant to have.
Ciel's eye drifted towards the butler, a smirk accompanying it.
"Of course, My Lord."
Perhaps I should doze off more often.