Here we go with chapter six. This chapter will be mostly just a chapter to explain a few things to poor Ciel and have him and Sebastian have some bonding time. ;) I know all the fan girls are looking forward to that. Again, Shounen-ai (or possibly hinted yaoi) only. That's just the way I write. Sorry about that.
I changed something in the story, the color of demon marks. Basically it's like this.
Red = normal/in return for your soul
Other colors = strange/odd payment for a demon's services.
Red is common and used most because most demons want to eat human souls. Other colors mean that the demon has offered some other payment for their services. Purple (as Ciel's is) is because basically Sebastian wants Ciel to love him and "be his". This is a very strange mark and no one really has any idea what it means except those two. But Sebastian isn't exactly a normal demon in this story either.
Anyway I hope you guys enjoy either way.
Chapter Six: My Little Kitten
Ciel woke, not wanting to move. He felt sick, and his back hurt badly. He couldn't figure out why, and for a moment he couldn't remember why he felt like this. He felt the bed move as someone sat beside him and he felt a hand lay on the side of his face. He shifted again, and the hand retreated. He opened his eyes. His cobalt eyes met reddish-brown. Everything came back to him and he jumped a little, blinking uncertainly up at the demon who was now in human form. The demon just smiled however.
"Good morning," he said. "my little kitten."
Ciel was confused at being addressed like this by the demon, and quickly tried to sit up. However he yelped with pain from his side and he felt the demon's strong arms wrap around him. He looked up and saw...worry in his eyes? Ciel felt himself blushing and looking away quickly. The demon either seemed not to notice or ignored this.
"Don't hurt yourself," he cautioned. "You've been through a lot. You need to let your body heal."
Ciel was quiet for a long moment, thinking hard. Had all of that really happened? What about his family? His home? Was he the only one left, only because of a demon? His father would be disappointed to see what he had done to save his own life. Suddenly the thought of all of that brought tears to his eyes. He started to cry, and he couldn't bring himself to stop. The demon just watched sadly and hugged the boy tighter to his chest.
He just let him cry. He knew the agony of not knowing what was going on well, and he was just a child after all. Unsure what else to do, Ciel buried his face into the demon's shoulder and continued to cry. For a while that was the only sound the could be heard in the still morning air. Eventually the boy's sobbing began to subside and Sebastian smiled at him again.
"Come now," he said gently to the boy. "There's no need to cry. After all, you have a lot that you need to do."
The boy looked up at the demon with surprised eyes. He just smiled at him though and was silent. Ciel slowly looked around the room. They were in a house, of that he was fairly certain, but why they were here or how they had gotten here he wasn't sure. He was also fully clothed again, though in clothing that would be worn by a normal boy his age and not someone of high bearing like he was. He was suddenly aware of the demon's arms around him.
"What do you mean?" he asked to distract himself.
The demon stood and bowed to him like a butler would, his hand over his heart and a smile on his face. The boy watched him a moment, still not quite convinced that any of that had actually happened. He watched as the demon straightened and smiled.
"I know of course of your name," he said. "You are Ciel Phantomhive. I know too of the work your father does."
"Y-You do?" Ciel asked, surprised and unnerved.
"Of course," the demon replied. "It's rather in my nature to do so. My name however is Sebastian Michaelis."
"Sebastian?" Ciel asked.
He watched the politely smiling demon for a moment. Sebastian...what a normal human name he had. It seemed almost a little comical to think about it. Ciel was quiet for a long time, simply watching the demon. What was he supposed to say, or do?
"Exactly," the demon replied, seeming to have expected this silence. "I expect that you'll be wanting to continue your father's work?"
Ciel felt a pang and looked down suddenly. That's right...his father. What had happened? After everything that had gone on it had seemed nearly impossible that they would have survived all of that. However he wanted confirmation that they were dead, that they were all gone. He didn't want to believe it, but he needed to know. He looked up at Sebastian.
"What happened?" Ciel managed to ask.
"The Phantomhive manor was attacked," Sebastian replied instantly. "The staff appeared to be all dead though a few were not among the bodies. The manor was also set ablaze. It's already been two days. I can assure you that people know of what happened, and they'll probably assume you and your parents are dead."
"Are they not dead?" Ciel asked, his heart leaping a little.
"No," Sebastian replied. "However they have been captured. What I heard may be nothing more than rumor, however it's thought that it wasn't just the Coven of the Serpent who was involved in this, though certainly they tried to kill you. It seems that other groups of undead are involved with this entire incident."
"But why?" Ciel asked, completely confused.
"Your father's work made him many enemies among members of the undead," Sebastian replied. "Especially those who are into illegal activities. He was employed by the Queen of England to hunt down and destroy dangerous undead creatures. I also assume he ran into demons and other such creatures like me many times. I assume that's why he warned you of making a contract with one."
"And now I have," Ciel said quietly.
Sebastian turned his eyes to the boy as he shuddered suddenly, trying to calm his racing heart. He'd made a contract with a demon, though apparently Sebastian didn't want to eat his soul. He had no idea why that was at all, but he couldn't help but be a little surprised at it. Now his parents were missing. He wanted to find them, but he also understood that his father's work was very important. He closed his eyes, wondering what he was going to do.
Sebastian walked around in front of the boy and knelt in front of him. They were now about eye level since the boy was sitting on the bed still. Ciel opened his eyes wide as the demon reached out and laid his hands on either side of the boy's head, holding the soft hair gently between them. He reached out and traced his thumb along the boy's bottom lip, making his eyes go wide. However the demon's eyes were locked onto the boy's.
"You have nothing to fear," the demon purred. "No harm will come to you as long as I am here beside you. You have only to decide you course, and I will follow you down it faithfully. Our contract binds us together, and it will never break."
Ciel stared uncertainly at the demon. The touch was foreign, something he'd never felt before. Sebastian's hands were warm, his touch gentle. He really was a rather attractive looking man. He looked to be around in his late teens to early twenties, tall and thin. However his eyes now were somewhat dead looking. He wasn't quite human, but neither was he quite demon either. He was something in between. Ciel shuddered at the touch, but his hands remained reluctantly balled into fists in his lap.
"You have two choices," the demon continued. "You could think of everything that happened, all the pain and agony, the horror of what you saw. You could break and never become more than you are, a terrified child. Or you could do as your father would. You could grow more powerful because of your pain. You could embrace your inner, and outer, demons and bravely press on. You could become the Phantomhive that you were meant to be."
Ciel closed his eyes a moment, all the horrible images of what had happened popping up into his head again and again. It was replaying like some terrifying movie he was forced to keep watching and never stop watching. It was horrible. He wanted to just curl up in a ball and cry, to act like the scared child he was. To just forget.
But there was something that held him back. He couldn't accept that path. There was no way on earth that he could. His mother and father needed him to be strong. Besides, Sebastian was right. He was a Phatomhive. He had a duty to this nation and to its Queen to protect them. And with Sebastian's help that would be easy. He'd have no problem with whatever they could end up facing. There was something in a pride of him when he thought of the dangerous work his family had done for generations. The scared child retreated. What was left in this boy was a determination like iron. The effect of nearly dying at the coven and meeting the demon was to age him. He had grown far beyond his few years.
He opened his eyes and met the demon's unflinchingly. Even Sebastian paused to see the eyes that were now looking back at him. They were somewhat bitter but resolved to do what he had to. Even with that though, he could still see human empathy and compassion in his gaze, kindness even. He had accepted that the demon was here to stay, and had even accepted his offer to help him. What a delightfully perplexing little kitten he was. He hadn't seen a human like him in quite a long time, and never one that was this young.
"I'll continue my father's work," he said. "I assume that doing so might give me information to find my parents. Besides, I'm a Phatomhive. I won't allow myself to be distracted." Sebastian released the boy's head and put a hand over his heart, inclining his head to him.
"Of course my Lord," the demon replied. "I'll start preparing for you to return as well as find the details of the last missions your father has to complete. We should begin with those. However there is one other thing."
"What is it?" Ciel asked.
Sebastian stood and moved to the bedside table, picking up a small hand held mirror and holding it so that the boy could look at his reflection. What he saw made him pause. In his right eye was a strange symbol, a circle of a strange shape with a star in the center, or rather he supposed, a pentagram was a more appropriate term. It was an eerie purple color, and he realized it matched the mark he had seen on Sebastian's hand. This was confirmed as the demon pulled up his glove on his left hand to reveal part of it. His wasn't glowing now.
"What is this?" Ciel asked.
"A demon's mark," the demon replied. "It was placed on your to signify our contract. Usually when a demon places a mark it's a red color, since the general contract is that a demon serves the human in return for their soul. In return that prey can never escape since the demon will follow them everywhere no matter whether they want them to or not. The more visible the mark is, the more powerful the bond."
"But you didn't want my soul," Ciel said. "So what does this color mean?" The demon smiled and lifted the boy's chin with a single hand, setting the mirror down. The boy paused as he met the demon's eyes, again thinking how attractive the creature really was.
"Exactly what you promised me in our contract," the demon replied. "That you will be mine. Harmless for you, though I also have my reasons for making this contract."
The boy felt a blush starting to creep up onto his porcelain features. His? Like some sort of possession? Or did he mean he wanted him to love him? Wasn't he just a little bit young for that? He couldn't deny that the demon was very attractive. The thought made him look away quickly. No he was just reading too far into this. What on earth would a demon want from him anyway? He was just imagining these things. Best not to think like that. Sebastian saw the boy look away and his smile faltered for just a moment. It was quickly hitched back up though.
"We should probably hide that," Sebastian said. "Considering that any creature that knows anything at all about demons, which is quite a lot of people, will be able to tell what that is. They'd be confused by the color, considering it's not a normal color that's seen, but it's far safer to pretend that nothing had happened."
"What should I do?" Ciel asked. "Keep it closed and wear an eye patch?"
"That might be best," Sebastian said, still smiling. "It would be rather unwise to return suddenly without anything wrong at all. People would grow suspicious. I can fake doctor's reports from a doctor and ah...convince them to think they'd done a check up on you, saying that you needed to keep that eye covered. It would be no trouble, of course."
"Do you really think it's necessary?" Ciel asked. Sebastian's eyes flashed a little as he smiled.
"Indeed," he replied. "It would keep your family name from being ruined, and until people understand about our contract they'll just fear you. Besides, you could just wear bandages over your eyes for a few months before moving to an eye patch. It would be easy enough to persuade people to think that your eye was injured. It's best to keep this a secret."
Ciel considered for a minute. It would be a flat out lie, but it was far better than having people know about Sebastian as common knowledge. He doubted that would be a very wise move, considering that people feared demons. It would be difficult to see without his right eye, but he doubted it mattered much. Sebastian had already made it clear that he wasn't going to let anything hurt him.
"Alright," he said quietly. "I'll do it."
"Then we'll begin right away," Sebastian replied.
He reached over to the nightstand again and pulled open a drawer. Out of that he pulled a small folded gauze pad and a long length of white bandages. Ciel watched him with surprise as he did so. Had he already prepared for everything? The demon walked back in front of the boy, kneeling in front of him and smiling gently.
"Close your eyes," Sebastian purred.
Ciel paused, blinking at the demon. Close his eyes? Trust the demon? He wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to. He was still unsure what this demon wanted. He hadn't done anything to hurt him yet, and he had even saved his life. But still...he was a demon. Sebastian saw his hesitation and reached out, caressing the boy's cheek with his hand gently.
"Trust me," he purred.
Ciel's eyes went wide for a moment as he watched the demon, trembling for a moment under his gaze. What a completely human gaze...how on earth could he be a demon? He knew he was but...there was something almost sad in his eyes. Ciel nodded and closed his eyes. The demon's hand remained where it was on his face for a moment before it was removed.
He winced a little on instinct as he felt the gauze pressed gently to his right eye. He remained still though as the demon began winding the bandage expertly around his eye and head so that it completely covered his bandaged eye and wouldn't fall off, while also leaving his mouth free. Soon the demon had tied off the bandage and stood again to put away the bandage again. Ciel opened his eye, though his other remained shut because of the force on it, gently though it was. He made a mental note to keep that eye closed in case it was ever exposed.
He supposed it was one way of making sure that he was training himself to do just that. If it was used to being closed until he forced himself to open it there would be far less to worry about. He looked up at Sebastian again, feeling very vulnerable without the use of the right eye. The demon paused as he turned again and saw the boy's worry written across his face. He laid his hand on the right cheek, the one with the eye he couldn't see out of. It made Ciel wince a little.
"I will protect you," Sebastian promised with a purr. "I will prepare everything to be put into place at once. Please rest until I return my Lord."
Ciel paused a moment, his one lingering on Sebastian's face for a long while. At last the boy nodded and Sebastian gently reached out and swung the boy's tiny body back up onto the bed, where he covered up and rolled over as if to sleep. Though he winced because of his injured back. That burn was going to hurt him for a long while.
Sebastian knew that he needed to let his mind rest and accept the position he'd just been forced into. The demon on the other hand knew that he had a lot of work to do, which of course would be no trouble for him. As Sebastian stepped outside of the room to leave the house he paused, letting a smile touch his face.
So that little kitten really does have claws. No matter. No one would dare hurt him, not while he's walking in the shadow of the big bad wolf.
So what did you guys think of that chapter? The young Earl of Phatomhive is soon going to be in action, in some rather odd adventures. I'm going to be changing around canon a lot and making changes, as you saw with the different colored demon marks. There will be other odd changes before I'm done. But keep in mind that this is an AU.
Anyway I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to leave a review below.