His Butler, Tamashi
Dusk to night, night to dawn, dawn to morn, morn to noon, noon to dusk...
One doesn't see this transition in the world of demons. A world where the sky is ever inked black by the black sins of its dwellers. It is always night for the creatures of the dark and it provides a suitable atmosphere for the demons of all various kinds to breed, live and survive. The smell of rotten souls fills the air.
It is believed that the Demon world is "flat" unlike Earth which is considered to be "round". If you move ahead without watching your step, you might end up falling down into the deepest pits of hell which lies, conveniently beneath the demon world. Basically, the demon world lies between Earth and hell.
Sebastian Michaelis looked around himself while he walked the filthy streets of the Demon world. It looked like any normal city but it would not take an expert to decide that it was so not that, a normal city. He saw many demons feeding on souls and likes. Some of the demons were heavily built, whereas some were only made up of bones. They all emitted a weird smell he could not place of what. Many of them were staring at him with greed shining in their eyes. If it weren't for the guards on his side, he thought, he wouldn't have survived a minute in this land of the sinners. Not that he won't fight himself, but he wasn't sure how.
He glanced at the guards. They had told their names were Finnian and Bard. Pretty funny names for demons. And they looked like normal humans except that their eyes were red like the other demons. Glowing red. They were treated with little respect, he noticed. Many demons snarled when they passed. This made him lose some of the trust he'd placed on Finnian and Bard. He let his mind wander elsewhere to keep himself from giving into the clutches of fear.
He thought in his mind, how did he end up here. With a bit of struggle on his gray matter's part, he could remember it. He had been a sinner too. Though not as hopeless as the ones he was passing by.
But still, he too had walked on the path of immorality. He was a man of wits who used whatever means he could to achieve what he desired. Many times, he had played with people's hearts, mind and sometimes, body too, to fulfill his dreams. His desires were given to him but the aftermath was what he was facing now. He sighed.
As he had heard from Grell Sutcliff, the red loving death God (shinigami) who holds a soft spot for handsome men, whom he could force to enlighten him about what was to happen to him. He was told by a sore Grell that his karma were bad enough to keep him from going to heaven but not as much as would plunge him to hell directly. He'd have to go to the judge of souls in the Demons' world who would decide whether his soul would be consumed, slaved, lost, saved or sent to hell.
He prepared himself to meet his destiny.
The 'Judge' of the Demon's world sat at his desk, his busy day has started already. Ciel Phantomhive was the person in charge of deciding the fates of the souls that entered through Hell's gate. He knew very well it was just a formality on part of the Shinigamis to make the souls pass through the Demon's world. A formality on his part too. Most of the souls were consumed on the way to his mansion itself, sometimes by the 'guards' or other demons. The few which reached him were completely under his mercy and he did with them as he wished. He reached for the records of the souls kept, inside the large old oak cupboard with ornately designed glass panels. He browsed through the big, yellow paged notebooks that held the details of a soul, like name, date of birth and death, deeds, fate, etc. He was quite amused to find that the number of souls that went missing and with undecided fates was quite high.
Today, as usual, again he was expecting a dozen souls to arrive before him awaiting their judgment. He had already gone through their records and he wouldn't mind if some didn't show up. It'd just lessen his burden. But there was one soul that he was anticipating to see. He had already thought ahead as to what he'd do to it. He smirked at the thought.
Mey-Rin, his maid - a soul he had destined to serve him, announced the arrival of his first guest.
He looked himself up in the mirror. Not that he cared about his looks much, but he liked to toy with the souls by giving them a good first impression. He was dressed in a midnight blue suit, a matching ribbon around his neck which complimented his turquoise colored hair. For some reason, he looked like a thirteen year old boy, which he hated very much. But he hasn't been able to change that however hard he tried. So, he used it to his advantage as much as he could. His short and young stature often made the onlookers underestimate him. That made the game more interesting when they were caught off-guard.
By the time Sebastian reached the huge mansion, where he guessed resided the Judge of souls, he couldn't tell how much time had elapsed. But then time didn't matter anymore. One minute, one hour, day, week, eternity, anything was okay with him. He was just impatient to get this over with. A creaking noise caught his attention. He looked up to find himself entering through a large iron, rusted gate. The gate closed behind them automatically with a loud clang. They were walking on something like a gravelly path that led to marble staircase, which further led to a large Victorian styled room, the door to which was wide open.
He suddenly realized that his eye-sight seemed to be better than when he was a mere human. What was he now, he questioned himself. A soul? A human? A demon... no, it can't be. He ruled out this possibility. He was still musing over this question, when he was suddenly interrupted by the younger looking guard, Finnian's voice.
" Mr. Sebastian," he stated, Sebastian had to admit he was taken aback by the respectful address, "you are supposed to wait here till your name is called."
He suddenly felt himself getting a little nervous. He couldn't remember last when was he so. He tried to convince himself by repeatedly telling himself that this was obviously something new for him. He had brought with him his pride and characteristic personality to the land of the supposedly dead.
Soon enough his name was called by a human like creature( since her eyes were not glowing ) who was dressed in a maid's uniform. She came towards him when he started to get up from where he was sitting. For some reason, he could feel her getting uncomfortable around him. And he'd swear by the name of God, if he believed in one, that he could see her blushing. A smile teased at the corner of his lips as this amused him greatly.
The mansion was really as huge as it looked from outside. He lost count after fifty of the number of rooms they'd crossed. There was no light. But he found himself seeing quite clearly. This further confirmed his earlier suspicion of better eye-sight.
To pass the non-existing time and to satisfy his thirst of curiosity, he decided to start a casual conversation with Mey-Rin, that's the name she'd given him.
" So, what are you?"
He realized it to be too rude just as he finished speaking. But Mey-Rin's reaction made him forget all about it.
She suddenly stopped, making him almost bump into her. Her cheeks were turning redder by the second. He could clearly see that she wasn't expecting him to talk to her.
"A...a ...s-s-s-s-so...oul." she stammered out.
That further raised his curiosity.
"A soul? How come have you survived?" he asked her. He'd heard the rumors that souls surviving in this land is quite rare.
By this time, they'd began walking again.
"T-t-the Master d-d-d-decided my destiny s-s-so. I'm to serve as his m-m-maid for as long as he desires." she said, her volume as low as a leaf whispering in a windy night.
"Is the master generous?" he asked in a breathy voice.
This made Mey-Rin's whole face go a bright red. She almost tripped by her own feet, but caught herself from falling at the last moment. But apart from this, she kept quiet. The reason to which Sebastian understood as a slightly ajar door came into his view. He guessed it to be the place where his 'destiny' would be decided. The door seemed to open to a study of some sort. He couldn't help himself from chuckling lowly. Study. For a demon.
Mey-Rin sent him a questioning look but didn't say anything still as he tried to compose his face.
The door opened on its own accord as they entered.
"Mr. Sebastian Michaelis, master." with this and a slight bow Mey-Rin exited.
Ciel Phantomhive was facing the large glass window, which almost reached the ceiling, when Sebastian continued his way to a spot in the middle of the room. He assumed he had to stand there because the spot was glowing and he found some white liquid thing splattered around. He wondered what it was when another thought stuck his mind. And the grim line that his lips were shaped into, as the nervousness has caught onto him again, changed into an amusing smile.
He hadn't expected the Judge to be so short and slightly built. No offense to short people, he thought, because he'd known people in his lifetime who had quite the power as compared to what they looked capable of holding. And true enough, as if the demon heard him, he saw a slight red aura surrounding Ciel. He couldn't understand why he was seeing it since he didn't see it around any other demon he came across to his trip here. Strange, he thought. But his musings were abruptly stopped when the demon turned around to face him.
Sebastian just stared at the figure standing in front of him. In spite of the glare -which intensified by the passing seconds- directed at him, he could not help himself from gaping. It was beyond his believing powers that the demon who is responsible for making judgment for thousands of souls, apparently, and also is about hundreds of years old, looks like a young boy of twelve – thirteen years old.
"What are you staring at?" Ciel asked slowly but menacingly.
As if the weird way he was suddenly starting to feel for the first time in his life of 10000 years wasn't annoying enough that this human soul was staring shamelessly at him with an even more annoying smile plastered on its face. His question seems to have made not much difference than the widening of the smile by few centimeters. What's going on? Wasn't this creature afraid of him? This was getting really insulting and somewhat hurt his demon pride. He couldn't remember when he'd smiled or rather has seen anyone smile around him, mocking or not.
Finally, the soul composed itself and answered, " Nothing in particular." It was a lie that was meant to be seen through. To compliment this, there was a gleam in the soul's eyes.
Annoying.
Ciel tried to ignore this and get over with the business in hand. Yes, it was his business. He figured that though he knew this meeting to be interesting but not insulting as this. But he was not one to give up and probed ahead.
"I suppose you are Sebastian Michaelis, charged of defying humane morale and orders?" he asked, although he knew the answer. But what better way can one start with?
The figure before him bowed. What?
"You know why you're here, don't you?" he asked Sebastian.
"I think you just mentioned my cause of being here." Sebastian answered, again the mocking smile in place.
If it was someone else, Ciel was sure he'd have devoured the soul by now. He can't tolerate creatures like this. But there was something different about this one.
"Well, what I wanted to know was why you're standing here before me. But anyways, let me tell you, I'm to decide where you'll go after here." he smirked and motioned to the white splatters on the floor.
"Tsk tsk. I should take more care of neatness next time during my meals."
It satisfied him to see a flicker of fear on the soul's face. But it disappeared as soon as it appeared and was replaced by a understanding nod.
More annoying.
"Judging by your record, I should send you to hell. But," he pretended to sniff the air around him, "you smell tasty."
Sebastian was surprised by what the demon was telling him. Did he hear right? Of course he did, his hearing seems better too. What was up with this heightened senses too?
So the demon planned to eat him in the end. Not much hay ward from what he expected. So, this was how his end was written. No heaven, no hell. He was to be engulfed by a demon. Okay, whatever. He didn't care.
"Come here." Ciel demanded.
What was up with that authoritative tone? Of course the demon was the master here. He could use any tone he wanted. And it was all going to be over eventually.
He slowly started to move towards where Ciel was waiting. But as he moved closer, he could feel a sudden heat emanating both from his and Ciel's body in the form of a red aura. Why was it there? What was happening? He saw the same questions pass through the demon's mind as well, it was clear on his boyish face.
Ciel felt the weird things too as he was sure Sebastian was too. He couldn't make sense of any of it. He decided to ignore it. He moved step by step closer to the human soul, which somehow he felt was transforming to something else. This really threw him. He has never seen this happen to any of his preys before.
"What are you doing to me?" Sebastian asked, slowly.
He felt power surge through his body. He hadn't expected this. And he was still a good arm-length away from Ciel. After what seemed like a few minutes, the heat began to recede. He was somewhat grateful because the whole experience was a bit painful.
Ciel kept the recent happening in the back of his mind, because all of a sudden his hunger started to gnaw him. The smell of the soul changed to a strong delicious spicy scent which was almost mouth-watering. He quickly shifted to stand in front of Sebastian.
"Bend down." he ordered. The man before him was more than a head taller than him. Thankfully, he was not questioned or mocked in return this time. Instead, his orders were followed. The human also wanted to hurry it up.
This was what he'd planned all along. He had the capability to sense what a soul would taste like just by knowing the actual name of the subject. Finally... he couldn't wait anymore.
As Sebastian bent down to come to his level, he inched closer to him and stopped when their lips were just about to touch.
"Are you scared?" Sebastian asked him. What? Wasn't this the question he was about to ask? Damn... human.
"That's what you were going to ask, weren't you?" Sebastian continued.
"Shut up. Be ready." Ciel said, irritatedly.
He closed the distance between him.
As their lips touched, there was a sudden blast of energy which caused both of them to be thrown apart to the opposite ends of the room.
Ciel didn't know what had happened, as before. He opened his eyes and the site that greeted him made him forget to blink.
There standing before him was a glorious raven haired, wine red eyed demon who seemed to be examining himself, especially a certain mark on his left hand. He knew it was a demon from the certain smell that only demons were capable of giving out.
Ciel astutely observed the mark while he started feeling his right eye smart. It seemed to be glowing as was the mark on now, demon Sebastian.
How the hell did Ciel Phantomhive ended up making a bond with Sebastian Michaelis? That too after converting the other into a demon?
AN : this is my first time writing... please review... ^^