Notes that pertain to this chapter:
So, this is actually my first time posting anything that I've written anywhere. I was super-nervous, and for some reason, it really didn't get through to me that there were going to be people actually reading this story. XD So when I signed back in and saw the visitors, I was like, "Wowee wow wow wow! People have actually been reading my story! READING MY STORY!" XD *random shouting in my head* So yes. That is my excited introductory rant to . Thank you all for reading my story! You make me happy. :)
Magna shalom= concept made up completely by me for the creative purposes of this story. :)
In this slightly AU universe, the nature of Sebastian's contract is pretty much the same. He has to do whatever his master wants, they have the pentacle seal on both of them, he can't lie to his master, etc. However, just as it's possible for Sebastian to be devious and manipulate the contract, it's also possible for his master(s) to use their power to hurt him with it. So it's basically a covert power struggle between the demon and his human master(s.)
The next day, the human returned.
Sebastian felt its presence around lunchtime, when he was quietly serving light sandwich samples to the ever-present guests in the main drawing room. His master was noticeably absent from this gathering, as he'd preferred to be so more and more over the past few days. Sebastian made the young boy's excuses for him tactfully, but in truth, he doubted that anyone presently cared about where the young Phantomhive heir had gotten to. They were all far too focused on the passing of the old patriarch, and the money which he would leave behind. While Sebastian had been mulling over the possible changes that this death would bring upon their household, he'd felt it again- the light in the air. It was practically the only thing that had been on his mind since yesterday. The burning hurt had seemed twice as bad as before for the rest of the day, and he'd spent the night pacing around his small, out of the way bedroom in a state of high agitation. He had not honestly expected the human to return after he had assumedly scared it away yesterday, but as soon as he felt that sudden, cool relief wash over him, he knew that there could be no mistake. The creature with the huge soul was back. The demon ducked out of the room almost immediately and climbed down from the nearest window, sliding to the ground noiselessly. His master would not be pleased that he was sneaking out, but then, Sebastian did not have to ask his master's permission to leave the manor itself, only the general Phanotmhive property. The demon rushed right away to the spot on the fence where he'd detected the human yesterday, but much to his consternation, it was not there. He listened for several minutes to make sure, and then began his search anew. In a few more minutes, he had located its presence on the opposite side of the main gate, hidden further back from the fence under a grove of bushes that bordered the crest of a small hill.
"I know you're there!" he called into the bushes, assuming a nonthreatening stance before the bars. "Come out, I don't want to hurt you." Silence. "For what purpose are you staking out my master's house, human?"Still silence. "I only want to talk to you. How did you develop a soul like the one you have? How was it possible?" The leaves rustled under the bushes, but no human body nor voice emerged from underneath them. "If you don't want to come out, could you at least tell me your purpose? Perhaps I can help. I have a great deal more power than you can possibly imagine, and I would be perfectly willing to make a trade in services…."
This cajoling went on for almost twenty minutes, punctuated by Sebastian's occasional attempts to force the human to come out by disturbing the ground or throwing things into the bushes. He only did this as a last resort, since he feared it would scare the human away, but the creature seemed to be resolute in its vigil, and well-versed in evasion techniques. It avoided his projectiles by simply rolling down the hill, and it held steady while the ground underneath it shook and cracked. Honestly, what was this human made of? Sebastian tried sweet-talking it, bribing it, threatening it, and pretending to simply be curious about it, but the human would not budge. It seemed that this human had dealt with demons before….which was not an encouraging thought. Finally, frustrated beyond belief, Sebastian heard the voice of his master yelling to him from an upstairs window. Ah, he'd been spotted. How much had Ciel seen? Relenting to the forceful power within the voice, the demon turned away and began to trudge back up to the house, stopping after a few moments and bowing to the fence. "Well, I fear I must go, but I hope I shall have the pleasure of talking with you again, although I would hope that you would see fit to make our conversations a bit less one-sided next time." As he turned to continue his journey up to the manor, he could have sworn that he heard a small, soft laugh from within the bushes. Shaking his head in consternation, the demon had to admit to himself that he was impressed with this human. Aside from a having a huge, glowing soul, and all the spiritual insight that such a soul would no doubt bring, it also clearly possessed nerves of steel and a very tenacious spirit. What on earth could such a human want around here? Sebastian vowed that he would not give up until he could bring this human to him. As for today, he only hoped that it would stay a little while longer, so that his pain would be kept at bay.
/
"Sebastian, if there is any logical reason why I observed you outside talking to a fence earlier today, I would very much like to know what it is."
It was bedtime, and the black-haired demon was kneeling on the floor of his master's bedroom, halfway through the process of unlacing the boy's shoes. He had known all day that he would be required to explain the reasons for his actions, and that Ciel would spring it on him when they were alone….now he looked up into his master's eyes, one a bright blue and the other's color obscured by a glowing purple pentagram, the mark of the contract. "I was not talking to the fence, young master. There was someone on the other side of the fence to whom I was speaking."
The boy's eyes widened in surprise. "Someone? I saw no one out there."
"They were hidden in the woods."
"Hidden in the- why?" Ciel inquired, sitting straight up and staring intently out the window. "Are they still there?"
"They are not still there. They left around dinnertime. And as for why-" the demon lowered his eyes again, figuring that he was probably going to be punished for the way he had gone about this- "that was what I was trying to discern by speaking with them, young master."
"What did they say? Did they come out?"
"They did not emerge, and they said absolutely nothing to me, though I tried many different methods of persuasion. They already knew what I am. Their behavior makes me suspect that they have had experience with demons before."
"But-" sputtered Ciel, turning back from the window to glare at his demon, "why did you not immediately report this to me? If someone is hiding outside of our front gate, probably spying on the manor, it is a matter of concern for our security!"
"I would not have allowed any harm to befall this manor or its inhabitants, young master. And I did not think it wise to tell you at that time. There are some things that humans such as yourself….do not understand." The demon explained apprehensively. He knew where this was going, Ciel was going to ask him straight-out and he would have to tell him because he could not lie….
"Things like what, Sebastian? What is different about this human as opposed to any other you would normally deal with?"Ciel asked, folding his arms as if daring the demon not to answer him. Sebastian took his time, but when Ciel nudged him impatiently with his foot, he knew he had to speak.
"Young master, do you remember when I told you about shalom?" he asked quietly, looking out the window. His master, who was an intelligent child after all, nodded swiftly.
"The light of the soul. Of course. What about it?"
"Do you remember when I said that the souls of most humans are about the size of an acorn, and have the light intensity-"
"Of a candle, yes, where are you going with this, Sebastian? This spiritual tangent hardly serves to explain our rather temporal predicament."
"If master will listen patiently, I will explain. What I have said about shalom, that is true of most human beings. However, there are a few- a very few- whose souls, over the course of their lives, become….bigger. And brighter as well."
The demon saw comprehension beginning to dawn on his master's face, and he continued.
"This is a good thing for said human bearer of such a soul, for it means that they are close to The Named in their heart, and will go to Heaven when they die. However, while they are on earth, this is also a good thing for demons, because we can bask in the light of their large and flowing souls. The power and intensity of these souls spreads grace all around them, and thus, as long as we stay near enough to the human, we can have our pain suppressed. Since demons are outside of the grace of The Named, the only way that we can evade the wrath of our eternal curse of fire is by using humans, beings who stand in between the divine and the unholy. We need to share in the light of their souls, since we have no souls of our own to help us."
Ciel was looking unnerved as he again gazed out the window. "So this person that was out there….was one of those? A magna shalom? And you want….to eat their soul?"
"No, no, no, master," the demon objected, shaking his dark-fringed head. "It would be a terrible waste to either attempt to eat or otherwise corrupt their soul. Firstly, it is unlikely that it could be done, since the human in question is already so close to the celestial vision. Secondly, if it were done, the light of that soul would go out. Why would I want that? I merely want to bask in it, not to harm the human or their soul."
"To bask in it….so what exactly were you trying to do out there?" Ciel demanded.
"I was attempting to convince the human to come over onto Phantomhive property. As you know, I cannot leave the perimeter without my master's permission." The demon bowed his head subserviently, hoping to placate his master's anger.
"And they already knew what you are?"
"A soul such as the one we are discussing would naturally endow its human bearer with supernatural spiritual senses and abilities, some with which I am familiar and some with which I am not. They seemed quite unafraid of my presence, and very able when it came to dodging my attempts to force them out."
"Mmmmm." Ciel pondered, slipping his chin into his hand. "This soul….exactly how big is it?"
"I am not sure as to its exact measurement, young master, but I know that with the human out at the front of our gate, the expansion of their soul covers the entire manor, including the grounds. And that is merely one direction in which it radiates. I have never beheld such a huge soul in all of time." The demon declared, shifting eagerly as he remembered the bright, cool feel of it upon him….
"If you weren't contracted to me, what would you do?" the young aristocrat asked, tilting his head in his hands. The demon met his master's eyes.
"I would follow the human, of course, and attempt to protect it from harm so that I would have access to it for as long as possible, considering the relative shortness of the human lifespan."
"I see." Ciel reflected, glancing down sternly at the older being. "But since you are contracted to me, what are you going to do now?"
"….I was hoping to speak with the human and establish a connection with it, young master." The demon explained carefully, twisting his shoulders in discomfort as the fire within him flared up in an especially painful way. "I wanted to find out its identity and encourage it to come back. Although it seems quite determined to do that without my help…."
"And then what? We are not taking some unknown hu- I mean, some unknown person from the woods into the manor just because they happen to have a huge soul. This is far more outlandish than asking for a cat, Sebastian! And I refuse to allow you to go wandering about the countryside after this person. You will continue to be bound to the manor, for if you remember, you serve my family, and I am your master."
The demon bowed his ebony head, biting his lip as he felt the pinpricks of Ciel's displeasure serrate his skin. "Master, I have no wish to leave. I only want-"
"Furthermore, the intensity of this person's soul may be important to you, but it is completely irrelevant to me." The boy interrupted, examining his fingernails with a regal indifference. "The matter still remains that this person is hiding in the woods, spying on the Phantomhive manor for purposes unknown. This does not bode well. I want to know who they are and what they're doing here."
The demon looked up eagerly. "If you would give me permission to step outside the perimeter, I could catch them quite easily-"
"No. Not you. I shall send Meirin and Bard out tomorrow at noon."
"But master!" Sebastian protested, outraged. "Those two will not be suitable at all! And furthermore, it is my duty to-"
"It is your duty to do as your master wishes." Ciel interrupted his demon for the third time, laying his head down on the mattress firmly. "Not to worry, if this mysterious intruder's soul is really as vast as you say it is, you'll be able to benefit from its effects to matter where in the manor you are. But until I decide otherwise, you are not to leave this building, starting now. That's an order. Do you understand?"
"Young master, this is most irregular, I fail to understand what will be gained by restricting me in this situation." The demon stated, turning his red eyes upon his master. The boy visibly bristled.
"I have already said that it is not your place to question my authority! It seems that you need to be reminded who you belong to." He paused, sitting up again and fisting the covers in his hands. "That is all for tonight, Sebastian. Finish preparing me for bed, and not another word out of you, about anything. That's an order as well."
Still outraged, Sebastian narrowed his red eyes at his master's boots but resumed their unlacing, unwilling to provoke the boy to the point of inflicting actual pain upon his demon. He was quite capable of doing this, as Sebastian knew too well…. Fuming in his head, the demon found himself unable to articulate his thoughts due to the sudden presence of a rather hot needle in his mouth, driving his tongue down into the tender skin at its base. Twitching uncomfortably, he forced himself to finish the process of replacing the stubborn boy's day-clothes with a white nightgown, brushing his hair, removing his eyepatch, and tucking the still body into bed. The sheer vastness of the king-size mattress seemed to swallow its small inhabitant as Sebastian picked up the candlestick and drifted quietly over to the door.
He did not return immediately to his room, instead preferring to wander the house and be alone with his thoughts. He was a bit taken aback at his master's bizarre decision not to allow him to pursue to intruder, which he would have given leave for with any other human in an instant. Surely Ciel had to realize that the most that Meirin and Bard were going to catch tomorrow would be a few bruises when they tripped over their own feet in the undergrowth. Despite their war-oriented backgrounds, the two were notoriously clumsy, and if they were going up against a human who had successfully dodged his attacks….they didn't stand a chance of finding the intruder. Didn't Ciel want to catch them?
To his dismay, Sebastian realized that the fire-hot pin which Ciel's order had inserted was still in his mouth. It should have dissipated when he'd left the bedroom, but he realized that Ciel had not been specific enough concerning the particular time period in which he wanted his butler to be mute. Damn. He did not bleed, since he was a demon, and the pain was not so much agonizing as aggravating. The demon attempted to work his tongue out from under the metal, twisting it right and left and pushing up hard against it, but it was no use. He was stuck- until tomorrow, at least. A frustrated-sounding sigh came through his nose as he curled his fingers and relaxed them again. Oh well….it wasn't like he could sleep anyway, or that he had anyone whom he needed to talk to. But he'd wanted to do some more pondering about the purpose of the mysterious human, and now this needle was going to bother him until he could get Ciel to remove it in the morning….damn. Resigning himself to being bothered, Sebastian turned on his heel and stalked down the empty hallways to his small bedroom. Dropping himself onto the bed, a thing he rarely did anymore, the demon curled himself around a pillow and absently continued to try to free his tongue, while in his mind he pictured the forest, the hills, the lay of the land, and wondered where the human might conceal itself tomorrow….
