Unfortunately, I do not own Kuroshitsuji. I think everyone here would like to, but we sadly do not.

Also, this is the story of Sebastian's past, so no Ciel. I'm also calling him Aquila, which means Eagle in Latin. Side note: Beelzebub's nickname is pronounced "Ell-zee".

Yay! 7th chapter! Does this make it lucky?

Fire and Ice

Summary: Aquila could feel a current in his blood, an ancient power that dwelled within him and his brother.

The entity which called himself Iram regarded Aquila with sleepy-looking eyes, as if he had just woken from a nap and was rather annoyed that the reason wasn't important. However, Aquila could tell that a dark malice resided in those eyes, one that was only barely controlled.

"Master...Aquila only woke up a few hours ago. He does not yet know the limits of his power," Elze bowed slightly, with one hand curled over his chest.

Iram blinked slowly, and then smirked. "How delightful! I shall watch with interest..." Iram's hair color faded to reddish-blonde, and his eyes were replaced with Luke's calmer, red ones.

Aquila's brother yawned and blinked a few times, staring at his bangs. "What did he do to my hair?" Luke asked instantly, swiping the pointed strands back over his head, where they took notice of gravity once more and fell loosely to the sides of his head.

Elze looked relieved. "I hoped you'd be coming back out, my l-mmf!" the grey-haired demon was cut off as Luke clapped a hand to his mouth.

"Quit it with the title," Luke growled. "I keep looking over my shoulder, mentally speaking, for Mr. Anger Management." Aquila coughed in surprise, wondering if he'd heard that right.

Luke removed his hand from Elze's mouth and turned to Aquila. "As a demon, you have access to a different style of magic than an angel," he explained. "And since you are my brother, you may be able to call upon some of my powers in addition to your own."

"Um...what's a basic power I should try?" Aquila asked nervously, glancing around. A few demons had wandered over from the palace construction sight and were observing the proceedings with amusement.

"Shapeshifting is a necessary skill, and anything involving fire should come naturally," Elze offered.

"Work your way through the other elements as well, and you should be fine," Luke coached.

Aquila closed his eyes for better concentration, and focused on the first animal his mind thought of...which was a raven. He remembered the bird in flight, all of its feathers, its beak, its feet. He willed his body to take that shape. A cloud of darkness surrounded him, and his body began to change. But...something was wrong. He couldn't feel his arms-his wings. A cold feeling of dread crawled up his spine, and Aquila immediately thought of something different-anything different-and changed shape once more, but not before a searing pain, one much, much worse than his ravenous hunger, sliced briefly across his shoulders, making him see spots before his eyes. He was uninjured, though, and the pain quickly faded. The cloud of darkness retreated, and a small black cat sat before the demons.

Luke smiled, and nodded at Aquila to try out a few other magics.

Aquila turned back into his normal shape and held out his hand. With an experimental snap, a few flames crackled into the air above his fingers. Delighted, Aquila tried out the other elements. He summoned vines, gusts of wind that bowled over a few demons in the little gathering, and a swirl of color that looked something like the Aurora Borealis. He had purposefully saved the element of water for last, though, because he could...detect something. Aquila could feel a current in his blood, an ancient power that dwelled within him and his brother. He called upon that current, and said the first combination of words that jumped to his mind: "Aliquam virtus Aquilo, Vox Australium Cross, Frigus in decore pervenit usque terrae, Venite ad me iam dicere!"

A surge of frigid air blasted the area around Aquila, but he did not feel the cold. Spears of ice surrounded him, spinning in midair. They spiraled and clustered, hovering in the air just above his back. Controlling them through his thoughts, Aquila lifted off with a flap of the ice wings, floating on currents of cold air. He felt as if he could run three times around the Earth, slow as the encroach of winter, never faltering in his stride, as if he was drawing his strength from massive floes of ice and snow. He could feel the astonished eyes of all the demons on him, and with that realization, he quickly dropped back to the ground and released his hold on that inner current. The wings of ice vanished, as did the feeling of surging power.

Silence reigned among everyone. Finally, Luke stepped slowly forward, and gave Aquila a sheepish look. His elder brother closed his eyes, and a roiling flame surrounded him, resolving itself into two black, bat-like wings, smoldering and glowing like a hardening lava flow. His eyes reflected an unstoppable fire, snapping into the air and vanishing faster than the eye could follow. With a crisp shmp!, he folded the wings, and the flames died down. "It seems that you and I are Fire and Ice," Luke looked at Aquila.


Judging from the way that Bel seemed sleepier than earlier when they returned, Aquila guessed that it was night-time. Or had a night passed, and it was day again? Aquila found it confusing to tell time in the secret caves beneath the ground. His energy had been heavily depleted from the magic, however, and he decided that whatever time it was, it was bedtime. Luke had found him a spare room and bed, and, before leaving him to sleep, gave him a long, worried look.

Aquila waved him off. "I'm fine, brother. No need to worry."

Luke's frown deepened. "You don't remember, do you?"

"...No," Aquila looked at the floor. "Maybe that's a good thing."

"Better by far you should forget and smile, than that you should remember and be sad," Luke sighed, turning to leave.


The Latin earlier translates as: "Power of the North Star, Power of the Southern Cross, Cold beauty in the far reaches of the Earth, Come to my call now!"

Yay a longish chapter for me! I feel so accomplished!

The last sentence in this chapter was from a poem by Christina Georgina Rossetti:

"Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turning go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you planned:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad."