A/N: LONG TIME, NO POST~, THIS IS CAELI13! Due to my charger going retard on me, my stories were left unattended in my lappy, so, now I have to find a way to buy a new one, and, I'd just have to post...*points with exaggerated enthusiasm* THIS! So, all long stories are on a hiatus… .

Zero: You're supposed to be focusing on your schoolwork, you know. +_+

Me: You're a bit off today. Whazzup?

Kaname: That's... Ichiru.

Me: *Double takes* Holy COW! SINS OF PENEMUEL! I'm sorry for mixing you both again~

Ichiru: *sighs* Let's...just do the disclaimer before nii-san does anything to ruin the mood.

Me: I don't own, I don't buy, getting angry would make me cry? ;)

Kaname: Now, Kaikai, be a good girl and say it properly.

Me: *writes on the board* I shall redo my disclaimer since Kana-chan forced me to. *Erases writing and writes again* I don't own Kuroshitsuji. I only own Rima Mikaela Kuroisuki and the cliche plotline of the shiz.

Vessel of Mine

"You do know why I called you here?" his voice was cold and nonchalant as he took a sip from his cup of tea.

I looked at my cousin, Ciel Phantomhive, with impassiveness. It was a rule to him that I should not show any emotion at all when we talk, even if I'm with my friends and other relatives to show no sign of weakness whatsoever. Such rule was too dictatorial to my liking, but I took it in my stride as this ebony haired cousin of mine looked at me with such coldness in his azure eyes while the right one was covered with an eye patch. He trained me to live this way ever since I was eight, and despite the years we've been apart, I've been an emotionless shell whenever I visit my family here in England.

A few days ago, I was called from my school in Japan to travel to England. I was supposed to discuss something with my estranged cousin and I felt my blood turning into ice at the sudden short notice.

I would be frank. Ciel and I were as good as siblings, but that was until I found out how he sold his soul to the demon who was his butler, Sebastian Michaellis, the butler of his with fascinating blood-luster eyes and jet-black hair, to help him in his quest for vengeance when his parents were mercilessly slaughtered seven years ago. Since then, I planned every way to avoid him as I took it in my stride to decide what would be right for me and my own sanity.

Placing the golden china cup back unto its saucer, I shook my head, "No, Earl. As what Sebastian said on the phone, it was urgent and could only be discussed if I was present physically here, thus, I had to skip school in order to attend to your little whims." That was meant to be a jibe, but, as expected from the great Earl, Count Ciel Phantomhive, he was unfazed.

"Hn," was all he said. Lazily, he gestured with his gloved hand and Sebastian came to bring a small box right in front of me. My curiosity was well hidden in a mask of nonchalance. I looked at Ciel, who just spoke, "Open it."

My hands shook. I slowly took the box from right in front of me and pulled the lid up. Inside was a golden ring, and the golden ring was encrusted with the brightest ruby I could imagine only in my mind. The metal that surrounded this ruby was gold, and I even wondered how much he spent on have this made.

"That, cousin," he said, "was the ring of Alois Trancy."

I looked up at him, my eyes betraying for the first time a hint of desperation the use of the past tense. "Was?"

Ciel continued as if nothing was spoken, "He died a few weeks ago, Rima. In his will, he wrote that you would be his sole benefactor, and, by doing so, you are, not anymore Rima Mikaela Kuroisuki, but, as what Alois stated, would be Mikaela Trancy, his heiress." There was a vein that looked like as if it wanted to explode that appeared on his temple.

I covered my mouth with both hands, "Oh, God. Alois…"

I didn't expect… that blond boy with the most cheerful smile… his ecstatic attitude… so soon to vanish from this earth…

I gulped my saliva, "How did he die?"

"I killed him," Ciel said simply.

I stared at my cousin. Handsome, inheriting my Uncle Vincent's good genes, he was far from the kind seventeen-year-old everyone portrayed him in the papers. He was cruel, both in business and familial affairs inside the walls of his domain.

"He was my friend, Ciel," my chest tightened, feeling the emotion of fear, hate and anger conglomerating to form an even bigger emotion.

"And so is his clan the enemy of the Phantomhive, cousin," he reprimanded me coldly, even worse than before. "I thought you would be aware that, despite being a descent of the royal blood, you are in no right to tell me what o do and not to do since your blood has been tainted by a commoner."

I bit my bottom lip to hide a retort. Though Ciel placed it that way, I knew he was trying to tell me to be strong in the harshest way as possible. He knew how I was in love with Alois, and the shock of his death rattled me to the core. My familial allegiances were nothing when it came to Alois. I had long proclaimed that I was his, and forever I will be. Now that he's gone…

"Thank you, Ciel," I whispered.

Ciel nodded in cold understanding. "I will have Sebastian prepare your suite. You will rest here and wait for the lawyer to come and bring in the papers."

I nodded and stood up, shutting the lid of the box with a snap. It was a surprise to me when I faced Sebastian, clad in black from head to toe, whom I didn't notice soon enough. Of course, what do you expect from a demon, right?

"This way, milady," he said with a smile as he gestured for me to follow.

At least he still has some manners.

I followed the flights of stairs Sebastian climbed while still holding onto the box. Somehow, it was bothering me that Ciel was acting even more coldly towards me. Looking at Sebastian's back, I piped the question, "Tell me honestly, Sebastian. What has been happening to Ciel?"

Sebastian, who was either a good actor or was just an emotionless, self-serving puppet I think he was, replied in a monotone, "He is now a demon, your ladyship, therefore, it is unwise for you to challenge his great temper, especially when he now hungers a soul."

I shuddered at the thought of Ciel's lips pressed against mine as he sucks my soul. That would be the one thing I'd hate to feel, and that was becoming an empty shell who was living yet dead deep down inside.

Arriving at a double door, Sebastian opened them with flourish. I stepped inside to witness a magnificent wall coated in blue roses as a motif while there was a roundtable at the center, a four poster bed at the edge where sunlight wasn't permitted to pass through, and a terrace filled with an overview of the entire mansion with a vanity mirror located somewhere west.

"Make yourself at home," Sebastian smiled one of those frighteningly false smile. "I'll be calling you soon when dinner's prepared. Excuse me." The door closed behind me and I felt myself sink instantly on the bed.

"So, I'm a prisoner, huh?" I muttered.

Now that the truth about Alois's death was out in the open air, Ciel would do anything to silence me, but what kept him from killing me now when I'm nowhere around the other family members? He could even fake my accident if the need arose.

I opened the box once again and stared at the ring. It was too big for my fingers, and it was, in fact, was not small enough to fit my thumb. Looking around my room, I saw my jewelry box on the vanity mirror's table. I took out a necklace and removed the pendant, replacing it with the ring.

"Better," I said, smiling sadly. I placed the necklace around my neck and stared back at the mirror.

A sudden jolt entered my body from the tips of my nerves to the bottom of my stomach. A shiver ran up past my spine. As if something exploded within me the moment the feeling settled within my guts. I felt myself being clouded by something unfamiliar as my arms moved around to encompass me in a gentle embrace.

"Wha… what is this?" I gasped.

I stared back at the mirror to see my eyes gazing back at me, only this time, it was blue, a familiar blue that I've seen before…

A sinister smile placated itself on my face, and something spoke in both of my voice and someone else's, "Now, Mikaela. We could be together, and this time, forever. You want that, right?" A maniacal laugh escaped my lips, and I let out a mental scream of terror.

I managed to control my body for the time being. I crawled up to the bed, clutching myself to make me feel stronger, but nothing helped.

"Why, Alois?' I cried as a stream of tears flowed out. "Do you hate me so?"

A reply, not from my mouth, but from my mind, answered in a gentle tone, You know that's not true, sweet princess. You know that I love you. From here on, we shall be together in everything we do. You are fifteen with a soul of a seventeen-year-old. Together, we are both powerful.

I whimpered, "Why won't you let me go? Please, Alois. It's true that I love you, but like this…?"

Because, he replied, you are mine.

I felt the darkness lulling me to an emptiness I didn't want to accept.

Ciel Phantomhive looked at his guest from his usual chair behind a wide desk for office purposes. His gaze was low and steady, but his lips were formed into a thin line.

"How is it, Alois? Does your new body suit you?" he asked as calmly as he could, a grim expression on his face despite his efforts.

The girl with ebony hair flipped her delicate locks snobbishly, "I like it and all since Mikaela and I became one, but she's just so hardheaded," she whined. "Besides, when you decided to seal my soul inside that ring, I expected you to pick someone else more," he frowned, thinking of a word, "masculine."

Ciel shook his head. "I thought you wanted to be joined with her?"

Alois nodded, "I do, but I wanted to be the guy who courts the girl, Phantomhive. Can't that pathetic genius brain of yours think of that?"

"How is she?" he diverted, his mind still on Rima.

He wanted to beg for her forgiveness, but demons don't beg. He knew that the moment that Hannah, a she-demon, gave him a choice, he had to harden his heart and shield it away from the warmth of Rima's smile. He has a reputation to uphold, and showing a sign of weakness in front of his favorite cousin, who was also favored by this retched brat in front of him.

Alois used Rima's body to assume a cute thinking position that made Ciel's eyes widen, "Asleep, I think. She hates me now, but she loves me all the same."

Proud and self-centered. That was Alois Trancy.

Ciel wanted to remove the necklace that hung around Rima's neck just to stop the possession. He loved the quiet and cautious Rima better than the annoying Alois Trancy who possessed her, but he knew that someday, Rima would thank him for it. Maybe not now, not tomorrow, but someday, she will.