Ch. 4: Unveiling
Back in the manor, Sebastian glanced at his fuming little lord. Fighting to hide his smile, he remembered the previous evening in the town house belonging to the Black Order.
Kanda hadn't been overly impressed with the story about the Queen's Watchdog. He had listened, looking to be at the end of his patience, and then he had all but thrown the guide out to find a carriage for the "midget lord", as he had so elegantly put it.
Sebastian almost chuckled as he remembered the reaction that statement had gotten. If looks could kill, Kanda would have been incinerated just then by the furious earl of Phantomhive while the other exorcists shared resigned glances. Before Kanda had to repeat his "request" or Sebastian to restrain Ciel, however, the guide had run out of the town house to find the carriage, breaking the mood somewhat as he had nearly missed the door in his haste.
The guide had only managed to arrive with a carriage at dawn, by which time Sebastian had been more than ready to leave. He had even been contemplating just walking out of the building into the night, Ciel in tow, whether the little lording wanted it or not. Although on the surface, the exorcists had been pretty kind throughout the night, minus Kanda, Sebastian hadn't appreciated the company of possibly deadly tools that they wielded. Neither had it escaped his attention that they hadn't been left alone for a single moment, even as they had been packing with disheartened expressions. No further questions had been answered as long as they had pertained in any way to innocence or the Black Order.
'Will you finally answer my question?' Ciel asked after what seemed like an eternity of tense silence, rage barely contained in his voice. Sebastian snapped out of his thoughts and bowed slightly, asking what his lord wanted. 'Did you know about those people before we went there?' Ciel gritted out through clenched teeth.
'I knew they existed, my lord,' the demon answered calmly, ignoring Ciel's fury at the answer. 'I have heard about an order that fights demons, although I have expected their fight to be far less literal,' he added.
'You couldn't have seriously expected some crazed priests saying that they will exorcise demons from humans,' Ciel growled. Sebastian almost laughed at the image, but, seeing the humour of his master, he restrained himself.
'I wish I had realised the danger before we blindly followed the Queen's guide,' he said, half to himself, again speaking the truth. He had expected the encounter to be more amusing than it had been, even if the Black Order wouldn't be composed of half-crazed priests.
'Are you trying to tell me that they really could have killed you?' Ciel asked, sounding disturbed, his anger gone in a blink of an eye. Wondering if the boy was worried for himself or for his butler, Sebastian hid his smile and said that he wouldn't go that far in his assumptions. 'Explain yourself, demon,' Ciel ordered, all worry gone from his cold tone. Sebastian bowed.
'The creatures that disturbed the Queen were most probably creations of my younger brother,' he said calmly, enjoying the incredulous look his little master was giving him. At least his stupid, little brother was good for something, even if it was as little as provoking the hilarious expression. There wasn't a lot that surprised his little master anymore, especially after the living corpses of the Undertaker.
'Your younger brother,' Ciel repeated slowly and the demon inclined his head. 'You have a family?' he asked, sounding as though it had never occurred to him that a demon could have anything other than the souls it was eating. Sebastian contemplated the question for a moment.
'Not in the human sense of the word, but it is the closest description that I can give you,' he said calmly. 'In any case, my idiot brother likes to call himself the Millennium Earl and bother humanity by creating demons out of despairing souls,' he added disdainfully, watching expressions changing on his master's face. The boy repeated the last six words and Sebastian smirked, thinking back to the desperate boy he had met a couple of years ago.
'Indeed, my lord, but my brother reacts to a different kind of despair,' he said, replying to the thoughts he had seen reflected in Ciel's big, blue eye. 'He aims for those who don't want to fight. My lord should be happy, for the demons my brother creates are weaklings,' he added with the smirk still on his lips. 'Consequently, the fact that those people are able to destroy my brother's demons is not necessarily a threat to me.'
'Not necessarily but it is possibly a threat?' the boy asked and, resentfully, Sebastian inclined his head, knowing that he couldn't lie. 'I see,' Ciel muttered. 'So you are saying that it is your brother who is the culprit behind the Queen's worries?' he asked, changing the subject. Sebastian knew where this was going, but he nodded anyway, unable to lie. Was his little master going to order him to kill his brother? Not that he had any brotherly feelings towards the little brat, but it could present problems, should somebody get the wind of it. The only question was: would getting rid of the annoying pest be worth the trouble?
Ciel looked away, thinking. He stayed quiet for a long while and Sebastian waited patiently, letting his own thoughts amuse him until the boy took a decision. He wondered if he would still be ordered to eradicate the Black Order and if not, would he do it anyway. Even though it would be something the Queen could appreciate, Sebastian didn't doubt that getting rid of that particular danger would benefit him as well. Not to mention that the exorcists could provide him amusement in the slow time that Ciel seemed to have hit recently.
'How sure are you about that?' the boy asked finally. Sebastian hid a smirk and answered that he was certain. 'I see,' Ciel muttered. 'And yet the Queen had directed us towards the people who were most obviously fighting those creatures,' he added. His tone told Sebastian that the boy hadn't yet forgiven him for not mentioning his knowledge about the Black Order earlier.
'It seems to be the case,' Sebastian agreed neutrally, ignoring the unspoken complaint until the boy outright claimed his excuses. Being the boy's sword and shield was one thing, having some fun while doing it was another and it was certainly amusing when the child scoffed.
'You seem to be convinced that the Queen sending us to those people was a trap,' the boy spoke after another moment of silence, seemingly getting over his anger. Sebastian inclined his head slightly.
'That katana had a similar effect on me as the Undertaker's scythe,' he admitted unwillingly, ignoring Ciel's gleeful comment about there being more things that can hurt a demon. He knew that Ciel didn't want him dead or damaged. 'I had underestimated its wielder and I would not commit the same mistake again,' he continued as though the boy hadn't spoken. 'However, should all those have similar weapons and should they have attacked at the same time, even I would have trouble defending myself.'
'But you would have succeeded,' Ciel half asked, gleeful gleam gone from his eye. Sebastian didn't manage to supress a wince that twisted his flawless features for the shortest of moments. He was sure that the earl hadn't missed the expression, as he was by now used to fishing out the smallest hints of emotions from his demonic butler. It was a game they played and enjoyed immensely.
'I would not like to put that statement to the test, my lord,' he answered, knowing that, together with the wince, it would be enough for the boy to understand and he wouldn't have to voice the horrible truth that he might not be as invincible as he would like to believe. 'I think we have to assume that the Queen has finally realised what I am,' he added calmly, pushing away the nagging thoughts. Ciel snapped his head to look at him in shock.
'How could she have found out?' he asked. Sebastian shrugged. He had no idea and he had already spent half of the previous night thinking about it. 'Of course, I see no other reason to send us there either,' Ciel added, stopping himself as soon as he realised that he was thinking out loud. Nevertheless, Sebastian could clearly read his thoughts in the cold, blue eye, because they mirrored his own thoughts.
The Queen finding out was of course a problem, but she must have known that her faithful Watchdog, like his predecessor before him, had some tricks up his sleeve to manage all the tasks that had been thrown his way. The Queen, despite what she wrote in her letters, had no warm feelings for the Watchdog. Hence, her wishing to get rid of Sebastian was more troubling because it implicated her wanting to get rid of Ciel rather than her worry for the state of the boy's soul.
'We have no choice but to continue the investigation,' Ciel said finally, leaning back in his huge armchair. Sebastian bowed his head, again wondering if he would be ordered to kill his brother and whether or not he would fulfil that order.
'I wait for your orders, my lord,' he said when Ciel didn't continue for a moment. Was the boy more troubled by the issue of the Queen than he wanted to admit?
'I want you to find those exorcists and observe them discreetly, to make sure that they are not the guilty ones in this affair,' Ciel ordered him and Sebastian realised that it was with some relief that he acknowledged the order, bowing low wordlessly. There was a slight pause, but Sebastian knew better than to leave yet. 'I also want you to make sure that it is your brother, who had provoked the disturbance,' the boy finished.
'Of course, my lord,' Sebastian answered, bowing for the third time. He knew already that his brother was the Millennium Earl and it was just to ensure that he had targeted the hospital's inauguration, so it would be an easy task.
'Do not make contact with him,' the boy warned firmly. Sebastian winced internally. Here goes the easy task, he thought. 'Family or not, I expect you to obey my orders faultlessly,' Ciel clarified, his tone getting colder with each word. Was his little master afraid? Sebastian found that thought amusing.
'Of course, my lord,' he repeated, not letting any emotion enter his voice. He didn't have the slightest intention of betraying his master. 'I shall leave to find the Black Order first. Bard has the lunch prepared and the situation should be under control here,' he added. Ciel dismissed him with a wave of his hand and he left the room.
Leaving the manor, Sebastian knew that he wouldn't have a problem with locating the new hideout of the exorcists. All he had to do was find the distorted soul that smelled of lotus flowers and follow its owner long enough, probably not more than a day or two. Eventually Kanda would maybe even lead him as far as the headquarters of the Order and then Sebastian could really start to contemplate his ideas.
It would do no good to kill the five exorcists as the Order would continue and his stupid brother wouldn't even realise what had happened. However, if Sebastian knew where the headquarters were, it would change the situation drastically. If he'd dare to venture there on his own and eradicate the exorcists, he amended with a frown.
Come to think of it, maybe he should first figure out how many of there were there and whether or not they all wielded "innocence" infused weapons. Barging unprepared was a bad idea in any situation and in this particular one it was possibly deadly.
Smiling coldly, the demon pushed the planning away for the moment. A bit of spying would be good exercise for him and maybe he would be able to toy with his victims a bit before Ciel called him back for something else.
