-125 years later-
The spider demon sat alone in the large manor. It still stood after all these years, but long ago the humans turned it into something close to a museum, honoring the Phantomhive Family that served them in the underground for so long. It was night now thus no human was anywhere near the old building. It was still kept in pristine condition by both its human and inhuman inhabitants. The place was considered haunted by the last earl who ruled as the last head of house. Earl Ciel Phantomhive. Little did they know, they were very correct.
As of right now, however, the demonic earl was off on another lead on an investigation over a century old. Ciel and Claude had both decided to cooperate with one another to find a way to revive the crow demon they both had come to cherish so much. The loss of the demon that had practically raised him nearly destroyed the newborn demon. It took 5 years for him to stop blaming Claude, but after that they started to work together in attempting to find a way to revive the beloved crow. Even he still resided in the manor. In a secret room in the basement, there was a demonic spell cast to stop time in that room and keep humans away and out. He lay in there in the casket Undertaker had made for him at the center of the room. Candelabra decorated either end of the casket and candles lined the walls. At the same time, it was still incredibly dim. The room was rarely visited by either of the two occupants. At most twice a year.
Now, the spider demon sat alone in the room with the most windows, looking out at the large moon that was slowly travelling across the sky. It wasn't his shift tonight. He was supposed to be resting. After trying to find something for 2 years straight without a break, Ciel had forced him to take a break. The younger demon had grown up remarkably in Claude's opinion. He was powerful, smart, prideful, stubborn and pretty much a carbon copy of the beloved crow demon, other than the fact that he was less sadistic. He'd rather get in, get it done and leave. It was something Claude figured he'd picked up from him. Though every demon had a sadistic side in some way. Claude liked to trap his food, Sebastian liked to play with it and as far as the spider could tell, Ciel loved to do a perfect cross between his two demonic role models.
"Claude...how long are you going to just sit there thinking?" An all too familiar voice asked, causing a knife to go through the golden-eyed demon's heart.
"What would you rather I do then?." Claude asked, looking with sad eyes to the crow demon sitting against the window across the room from him. Crimson eyes looked outside sadly, as if longing for something.
The demon turned from the window to face the other,
"I miss being able to go outside. Staring at the stars. Finding kittens, cooking, even the investigations." He sighed, not answering Claude's question. Standing, he walked up to the spider. Slowly, wounds opened on their own across his body and leaked blood that dripped down to the floor. It stained the carpet the same dark red color of his eyes. The demon stopped in front of the other and knelt down.
"I miss everything. Running until I can't anymore, soaking myself in the pouring rain, sneaking out in the middle of the night just to see you.
I miss being able to cook the impossible with no time at all. I even miss cleaning up after Mei-Rin, putting out the fires Finnian caused, fixing a blown up kitchen thanks to Bardroy. Heh, I even miss being tackled by that silly demon hound, Pluto. I miss breathing. Seeing. Feeling...I miss living."
"STOP IT!" Claude yelled, putting his head down. "Stop...I'm trying...I've been trying for over a century now. We've gathered so much information. Please...stop...I can't...Sebastian please..."
"You can't what? What Faustus? Put up with all you've taken from me? Accept the fact that you murdered me? Accept that I forgave you as I died in your arms?" Sebastian questioned, tilting his head to the side. "Why can't you forgive yourself? I know it's hard, but Claude...the worst part about being dead is that I can't wipe away your tears or comfort you when you're upset. I can't share in your joy or sorrows and I can't pick you up when you fall. I know you're trying, but you're not trying to forgive yourself and that's all I want from you."
Claude looked up at the bloody mess that was his dead love. He watched with tears dripping from his eyes as more blood stained pale skin causing red eyes to twitch from time time in pain as the wounds opened. They closed, a gasp escaping him as his stomach tore open of its own accord causing the crow to fall to his side, head landing in Claude's lap. The spider whined softly in response, unable to touch the figure that lay against him. Unable to do anything to help. Unable to respond.
"Claude!"
Golden eyes snapped open, looking around the faintly lit room in surprise. He looked up to see Ciel standing over him looking rather pissed off. The young demon now took the appearance of an adult. He was finally taller, but had only grown to be about an inch taller than Sebastian had been and an inch shorter than Claude. This would have annoyed Sebastian to no end. The young demon wore black jeans, a plain grey t-shirt and a dark blue vest. Both his cerulean eyes were visible, the contract with Sebastian having faded over the years to the point it was barely noticeable in the others eye.
"Was it…" the young demon knelt beside Claude, anger turning to the smallest hint of concern. He knew the spider hadn't forgiven himself.
"Yeah, it was…" Claude sighed, standing and stretching. "Did you find anything?"
"Actually, yes. I met up with the Undertaker again today and we both figured out a way that might work, but the ingredient list is really long and hard to get ahold of." Ciel sighed, standing as well. The boy's investigation skills were still the best. "He wants to go over the list with you present."
Claude nodded, pulling on his heavy trenchcoat on over the jeans and t-shirt he wore. It was never his favorite prospect of leaving the manor when that trip was to the creepy mortician's parlor. He'd kept it open, his long life going unnoticed by the humans as he changed his appearance and claimed to be a descendant that was carrying on the family business that was cursed to only have a single boy.
The two demons made quick work of getting to town and making it through the crowded streets to the parlor that had upgraded and improved as time went on. The sign was still the same, but new regulations required it to be cleaner and no more coffins laying in the open. For some reason humans were getting more sentimental about things like that.
The walls of the building were black and inside the flooring was a shiny black and the walls were white. Pillars were placed periodically, seeming to divide the room into three sections. Fake vines wrapped around them with no flowers and fake potted flowers bordered the entrance of every door. The room and building would have been beautiful, even to demons, but the dark truth was easy to see in the room across that showed coffins. Next to it, a room that smelled of embalming and preparation materials for the dead. There was a room to the right that was the office and to the left, a viewing room.
The office was dark, but the two demons walked in anyway, knowing it was only a rouse. In there was a large, closed coffin. A coffin coffee table sat in front of it and another large coffin sat on the other side. Neither moved until the lid of one cracked open and a few giggles filled the room.
"Ah, good to see you both again. How are you my little earl? Not so little anymore though." The Undertaker smirked, pulling himself from the coffin and sitting on top of it.
His hair was shorter now, done up in a ponytail that dropped to about his shoulders. Bangs were stylish and messily trimmed. The retired reaper was back to wearing his glasses after he failed the eye exam that was required a few decades ago. It was strange to see his scar so openly displayed now that there was no hair covering it, but one got over it.
"I am well. I brought Claude, so now will you tell us how to revive him?" Ciel asked, obviously frustrated.
"I can, but my price remains the same~" The mortician snickered, crossing his legs.
"Claude...could you-"
"Don't say another word and go wait outside," Claude sighed, shrugging off his trench coat and laying it down on a coffin as the younger demon stepped out.
Ciel waited…
and waited…
After a few minutes the demon was about to step back in and question what was going on when loud and boisterous laughter filled the air. The sign rattled above, clearly tempted to fall like it used to, but was held firmly by the nails that were screwed into it.
Hesitantly, Ciel walked back into the parlor to find Undertaker on the ground giggling like a drunk man and Claude sitting down on the coffin with his coat in his lap. The spider demon looked unamused at the older reaper's antics.
"He..heehee...I'll tell you everything I know~" The silverheaded reaper smirked, sitting up straight as Ciel took a seat next to Claude.
"First, you need to know this has only been done once, but it was successful," He said, suddenly serious.
"That's all we need to know. Please continue. We'll do anything at this point." Ciel said, looking to Claude and then the Undertaker. The spider demon's hallucinations were getting worse lately. Whether or not it had anything to do with the anniversary of the crow's death or not was irrelevant since the last 40 years he hasn't had that problem.
"The list isn't long, but the ways to get it and prepare it are. That and it must be performed the night of his death." Undertaker started, going to a shelf and pulling out an old book. "I just recieved this from an old friend whom I told about your goal. I trust him, so no need to fret. Cost me quite a bit to convince him to lend it to me though. I'll be expecting that payment if it works."
"Page 246, section 12."
Claude accepted the book offered to him and opened to the desired page. There, in faded black ink was a picture depicting a demon with 8 objects around it, one blank space. The first, above the head was the blank space, the left shoulder had the shape of a fang. The left hand held a long feather; by the left knee, an ice crystal; the left foot a scale; the right foot, a talon; by the right knee, a fire crystal; the right hand held a vial filled with a liquid; the right shoulder, a gem in the shape of a cross.
"What are all of these?" Ciel asked, curiosity seemingly endless.
"They're the 9 crystals of revival." Undertaker spoke up. "The crystal of death, the crystal fang of Anubis at the left shoulder. Going clockwise, there's the crystal feather of phoenix, the ice crystal for the darkness in your hearts, the crystal scale of the dragon, the talon of previously mentioned dragon's mate, the crystal of fire for warmth, the crystal vial of soul's essence; for demons, Lucifer's crystal cross and last, but certainly the most important is an item that meant most to the demon being revived. Something that represented them.
Claude, yours would be a spider, Ciel a dog. Sebastian would most likely either be a cat or a raven. Though you must gather the other items first.
Anubis's Crystal Fang can be found at Hell's gate, guarded by Cerberus, it shouldn't be too hard for you two to gather.
The Crystal Feather of the Phoenix can be found in the eldest phoenix's nest in the hottest place on Earth. The Lut Desert in Iran.
The Ice Crystal is in the South Pole, guarded by a large Ice Pegasus, ridden by Artemis of the Moon.
The Crystal Scale of the dragon can be found in Alaska near the glaciers. Its mate is in the same vicinity and guards the Crystal Talon.
The Crystal of Fire is guarded by a large Fire Unicorn, ridden by Apollo of the Sun in a large volcano in Hawaii.
The Crystal Vial of Soul's Essence can be found in the Reaper's library in the restricted section. There will be a door that leads into the cellar down below. Further than that is another passageway into a deeper basement. It's heavily guarded and you'll be lucky to get out without being caught.
Lucifer's Crystal Black Cross should be right where you would think it is. Around the demon lord's neck.
It's up to you to find the Crystal of the Raven."
The two demons took all this in, nodded when appropriate and taking mental notes. The Undertaker certainly wasn't kidding when he said it wouldn't be easy. They were almost hesitant to ask about the ritual involved if the ingredients that needed gathered were already near impossible to obtain. The two would certainly be making a few enemies on the way.
"So...the ritual?" Claude asked, looking up from the book at the reaper.
"Well, if it's not obvious by the picture, that is how you're to assemble the crystals, but you must also draw the symbol underneath. There's a clearer drawing on the next page." Undertaker said, leaning back against the wall and munching on his bone cookies. "Next, one of you will need to say the spell while the one who was closest to Sebastian, traces the symbol with his blood before drawing it over the body so the symbol is clearly visible with and without the body on top of it. They'll also need to force the newly awakened demon to drink their blood first as a way to jog their memories per say."
"I suppose I'll be the one reading the chant and you'll use your blood?" Ciel asked, looking to Claude. The demon understood he wasn't anywhere near as close to Sebastian as Claude had gotten. Especially after that night so long ago. The night he'd only been told about, but still remembered, because that night was the reason the crow and spider had gotten together. The young demon wasn't aware that he and Claude were thinking along the same lines.
-Flashback-
Claude was out patrolling that night when he heard the sound of wolves and crows cawing and barking. It was strange enough for the spider to want to investigate, so he moved in the direction of the sounds. It wasn't until he smelled the metallic scent of blood that he realized this was more serious than just two animals fighting. He stepped into the clearing and scanned the area, surprised at the blood staining the ground.
The golden eyed butler jumped in surprise when a body fell from the sky, landing with a thump and a cry of pain. It only took a second to see that it was Sebastian. The Phantomhive butler didn't move, simply panting heavily as he bled out in the clearing. Another body dropped down, but it was dead and dissipated slowly.
Waiting until the other was gone before approaching the fallen demon. Sebastian growled at him at first, tensing. It was obvious he was regarding Claude as the enemy. His eyes focused in on the spider demon and narrowed dangerously. He was preparing himself to fight again if need be, however it was painfully obvious to Claude that he was scared and by the amount of blood and state he was in, the golden-eyed butler could only assume how badly Sebastian really was hurt.
The Phantomhive butler had put up one hell of a fight against whatever he'd just fought, but he was weak now because of it. Claude tried to approach, but the other misunderstood for a bit and tried to lash out and protect himself. It wasn't until the other demon had put a hand gently against the semi-conscious crow's head that he realized Claude's intentions and relaxed enough for the other to help.
Claude put splints on his shattered left leg and broken right arm, bandaged most of his body and carried him to the Trancy manor where he took care of him in secret until the morning when he snuck off to the Phantomhive manor to describe the situation to Ciel. After receiving the young earl's permission(after a few threats and reasoning) to continue to take care of Sebastian, Claude did so. At first, Claude had only wanted to find out what had been strong enough to put Sebastian in such a sorry state and use this as an opportunity to gain a favor or even use this as an opportunity to steal Ciel's soul, but after the spider walked on Sebastian in a deep nightmare to the point to when he woke up the other just clung to Claude, he couldn't bring himself to do such a thing. It was as though holding the trembling demon against him had switched something in the spider demon's mind.
-Flashback End-
"Sounds about right to me," Claude agreed, pulling himself and Ciel from the memory.
"Good. Return to me tomorrow and we'll start getting ready to gather the ingredients." Undertaker announced standing. "It'll be nice to see Mr. Butler alive and well again."
Lunara: Well, tell me what you think of this. I'm thinking of following a questing type storyline with this. Will this actually turn out to be the break Ciel and Claude have spent over a century hunting for? Why did I skip so far ahead? Will Claude ever be able to forgive himself and stop hallucinating over the dying form of his love? Read and Review and I may tell you~ (if I find out the answers myself that is…)
Thanks for the reviews from last time!
emberstar55(because you're using a guest thing, I'll answer you here): I remember you ^^ I'm sorry, it just seemed fitting at the time and I've wanted to do something like this for awhile. ^^; I'm glad you liked it so much and I hope you get your new email soon! I miss our roleplay. :)