Disclaimer: As much as I want to, I owe nothing. The characters and the story belongs to Yana Toboso.
[One Shot – The Blood Baptism]
He was born twice- that was how he considered it. First was from his mother's womb and baptized soon afterward. He was an innocence child like any other child in this world. With a loving mother and caring father, and the whole fortune of the Phantomhives, the world was as beautiful and as kind as it can be.
At least until his parents was killed. His pet dog Sebastian stripped opened in the belly. His house steward Tanaka murdered before his eyes. And he himself kidnapped.
He was thought dead. With the house burnt to the ground, there was only a small chance a child like him would survive on his own. After a brief search with no particular leads, everyone gave up hope for miracle. No one thought he could be alive.
No one came for him.
Yes, he was very much dead.
He didn't understand much of what happened around him on those days. Sometimes it was from drugs, or just sheer pain. Sometimes it was him who let things go as if they were just bad dreams. Understanding can shake your sanity sometimes, but again he didn't even know what sanity was. Everything had gone crazy. The whole world had lost its shape, its color and its kindness. He didn't know anymore if it was the same world he had lived in with his family.
Probably not. He'd died from that world already, hadn't he?
He was glad when it was over. A little scare, yes, he had all the right to be scare when he was almost ripped open, like his Sebastian. He was no better than that, he came to notice. Human are no better than animal, a dog or whatever. There are prays and there are predators. He just happened to be in the former.
It was kind of frustrating, but it was just that.
But when he almost gave up, when his last breath almost left him, hope came back - a little crueller, more mischievous and ever so tempting.
The black crow towered over him, offering the last chance to become the predator again. And why won't he take it. He didn't have to think twice to say yes.
He didn't care if he had to give up his soul. There wasn't much left of it anyway. Anything he once considered his was never his. He had learnt now that they can be taken away. Then why not his soul? If it is just as easy to lose, why don't give it up for a purpose, another chance?
That was when he was born again, out of his enemies' blood. That was his second baptism into the world, a savage replica of the old one he used to know. The crow was his priest, a crow with limbs and body of a human, the crow he named Sebastian.
And he had nothing to lose, because nothing was his to begin with. His life was given, his chances was given - his title, his name, his glory. All that seemed solid and real had become an illusion to him, just a mere game. The warmth, the kindness, every little thing he had known lost their meanings. Only one rule was left true: the strong will survive. And if he wanted to master this game, he had to be the strongest.
There will be no more sacraments for him, this is his last chance.
-Fin-