Sorry about the late update, I had a SE wave of inspiration and it had to be written on. It was a pro quo. It had to be done. *solemn look* Bah, whatever. *loses the look and grins* I shall now be writing time stamps on my chapters, just to keep track of things. You can ignore them or whatever, doesn't matter to me. *shrug* On we go…
November 5, 2013
Rāta's POV:
I tucked my tail between my legs, hiding it under my loose skirt as Agni and Soma walked up the gravel driveway, my ears hidden by my hooded cloak as my feline companions wound about my ankles and purred, Dina having turned just a few hours ago and Śāma proffering to stay in cat form, for the moment at least. The Chinese man, Lau opened the door, and I grinned in anticipation. "Ah, my lord, how good it is to see you." He said cordially, and I could hear Ciel stiffen. "What is he doing here…How many times have I told you to send a note first?" he snapped, and Lau stepped in with a chuckle as Agni and Soma crowded up in front of me. "Well I haven't kept a tally." I heard Sebastian turn. "Shall I bring some refreshment for our guest? Perhaps some tea my lord?" he asked, and Ciel sighed nosily. "Oh dear…you might as well…" he grumbled and Lau beamed. "Perhaps some Thai rather than Earl Grey?" he asked eagerly, and Ciel sighed again. "Fine, whatever." He suddenly jumped, seeing Soma and Agni in the doorway with the cats spilling over their feet, me shrouded in the darkness behind. "What…how…" he stammered, and Lau smirked and shrugged at us. "Oh them, I ran into them on the street corner, they said they said they wanted to speak with you."
"SO YOU JUST COME BARGING IN HERE?!" Ciel raged, and Agni closed the door with a nod to me as Soma approached the young lord. "Why certainly. We are acquaintances now; surely you have not forgotten me." Soma said in a friendly manner, and Ciel scowled. "We met during a street brawl." He muttered, and Soma breezed by him with Agni in tow. "And if you recall, I saved you." He said lazily, and Ciel gaped. "SAVED ME?! EXCUSE YOU!" he barked, and Soma ignored him. "Back home if someone does you a favor you offer them hospitality. Is it the British practice to leave your savior out in the cold?" he asked breezily as he ascended the stair, and we remained behind as the Earl fumed. "And you didn't meet us during a street brawl; you met us on your birthday. Even earlier than that, if you count Sister Cītā." I said with a chuckle, and we loped up to follow Soma as Ciel seemed to recover behind us and storm the door open.
"And just who the hell do you think you are?!" he roared, and Soma smirked at him from his position on the bed. "Who am I? Why I am a Prince." The servants crowded in the doorway as we draped ourselves across the chairs. "A prince?" Sebastian said neutrally as Agni took up a spot behind his master. "This is the son of the king of Bengal. Would you please extend your warmest welcome to my master, Prince SomaAsman Kadar." he said, and Soma smirked. "Thank you for your hospitality, kid." He said condescendingly, and the servants ohhhed.
"A real prince in our own home! Amazing!"
"Ooh, how exciting!"
"What an opportunity, I've never seen a prince up close before!"
"So who are your entourage?" Sebastian asked, and both Agni and Soma glanced towards us. "Oh them? They are followers of Neela Almaas; we met them on the street." I smirked icily and bowed as Śāma quickly transformed. "Sister Baghīrā, may you walk in darkness." I said softly with our usual bow, and she nodded, slipping her hood off to curtsey. "Sister Tēndu'ā, may you walk in evening." She murmured, and the servants oohed some more. Dina and Subaha yawned on the floor, and I frowned. "Sisters Cītā and Bāgha greet you as well, but sadly cannot walk in this light." I added with a sigh, and the servants knelt to pet both our comrades as they purred and rolled over. "So you can only take on human form at certain times of day? Unusual…" the demon muttered, and I gave him a tiny shrug as Soma beamed to himself. "It is a strange thing though, to be talking to one and suddenly have to translate it with another!" he said, and the servants turned to him again.
"Ooh, do you think he can tell us more?"
"Yeah, I bet someone from India would have lots of great stories, yes they would!"
"Sounds cool."
Soma nodded to them. "You may approach. I give you permission." He said grandly, and without further ado they were all over him as Lau walked up behind the Phantomhive. "I see you brought your servants into town with you this time." He said meekly, and Ciel glared over his shoulder at him as Sebastian answered. "Yes, we were able to leave the guard dog watching the mansion." We all shuddered, remembering that drooly mutt Pluto. "Ah, it should be alright then." Lau said cheerfully, and Ciel turned his glare to us. "Sebastian, don't let them out of your sight for a moment." He placed a hand over his heart and bowed just a little. "Yes sir."
Dina's POV:
I sat on the floor as Agni and Soma prayed, hearing Ciel practice his violin behind us. Suddenly it stopped as footsteps approached, and Lau turned. "If I had to guess I'd say they're praying." He said with a shrug, and Ciel raised an eyebrow at me. "So why aren't you doing it?" I gave him a little smirk. "We follow Neela Almaas; every breath we take is prayer enough. This is our first…formal meeting, lord Phantomhive. Sister Cītā, may you walk in light." I said with a bow, hands flat on my shoulders before I straightened and watched Agni and Soma some more. "Quite an odd idol they have though, isn't it?" Lau added, and Sebastian came up behind us. "It looks to me like the statue of a woman, who seems to be carrying a severed head. She's wearing a necklace of severed heads as well…and dancing on a man's stomach." His distaste was clear.
"It depicts one of the sacred beings of Hinduism, she is the goddess Kali." Agni said, breaking off from his praying for a moment. "A goddess of India?" Ciel muttered, and he nodded. "Kali is the wife of the god Shiva, she is also the goddess of power." He held up a scroll with Kali on it, and someone with a sword. "Here she is again. According to our faith, a demon once foolishly challenged her. Naturally, she was victorious. However, her destructive urges were not quelled. She gave herself to destruction and carnage. But then, in order to protect the earth, her husband Shiva threw himself at his wife's feet." He jabbed a finger at the statue as Ciel made a face. "Treading upon her husband brought Kali back to her senses, and peace was once again restored to the world. The statue shows her story, the goddess Kali walking upon her husband, and in her hand the head of the vile demon that she slew."
Ciel looked over his shoulder at Sebastian. "And there you have it." he told Sebastian, and the butler put a hand to his chin. "I've never heard of a goddess with such power. I shall have to keep that in mind if I ever go back to India." He murmured, and we raised an eyebrow at each other as Soma finished praying and stood. "Alright then, we are done praying now! Let us go out!" Soma said brightly, hooking his arm under Ciel's neck and marching to the door with a flailing Englishman in tow. "I'm too busy to go out I already told you that!" he snapped, and I chuckled merrily as we followed them out.
***Time Skip***
"Honestly, when are you going to be done with all this? Yawn, what are you even doing anyway? You look like an idiot." Soma commented from the floor, on his stomach and elbows as I sighed, silently praying for patience as Subaha pushed her auburn hair back, her chocolate brown eyes snapping with boredom and annoyance as we exchanged in a longing look outdoors, seeing Śāma and Rāta romp and play with the servants in the yard outside. "Be quiet! You're distracting!" Ciel snapped as he tried to fend off Sebastian's rapier, and Soma rolled his eyes. "Are all the English this short-tempered?" he murmured, and Ciel turned rigidly. "You're never going to shut up are you?! If you need attention so badly, why not give fencing a try!" he growled, tossing his sword to Soma as he caught it and stood. "Ha! And if I win you will go out on the town with me!" he cried out in excitement, and Ciel caught the other sword with a snort. "If you can beat me." Soma whooshed the sword a few times as Agni poured us tea. "Good luck to you my prince." He called out, and we watched as the two lords face off.
"Now, let the fight begin!" Sebastian said dramatically, swinging his hand down as Soma lunged forward, only to thap the bendy metal of the sword against Ciel's riding boot. "Hey what the-" he said indignantly, and Ciel smirked. "A strike like that will accomplish nothing for you." He said smugly, lunging forward expertly to jab at Soma's defense, easily passing through, although he pointedly didn't score a hit. "Wait, this isn't fair! I don't know the rules like you do!" Soma squeaked, and Ciel smirked again. "Hey, a fight is a fight, it's not my fault if you don't know." He said smugly, lunging forward to jab and tap against Soma's defense as he hurriedly skipped backwards. "HIGHNESS LOOK OUT!" Agni hissed as Ciel was about to land a blow on Soma's middle, catching the point of the sword in his tea cup and jabbing his finger in the crook of Ciel's elbow. He gasped and stumbled to his knees, dropping the weapon as Agni blinked. "Sir! I am sorry, I saw the prince losing, my reflexes took over, forgive me." He said frantically, and Soma laughed."You protected your master well Agni, so that is it kid. Agni is my servant, an extension of myself. Which means this fight goes to me." He said smugly, and Ciel sat up indignantly.
"Wait, that's not fair!" he snapped, and Lau picked up the rapier, flexing it a little in his hands. "How interesting. Sebastian, looks as if you'll have to avenge your master. Here you go." He said, flicking the sword to the demon, who caught it easily. "For goodness sake, master why ever did you have to provoke the bratty little prince?" he asked wearily, and Ciel growled wordlessly. "However, as the Phantomhive butler I cannot sit idly by while somebody harms my master. That would be an absolute disgrace to my position. Besides, we're a full ten minutes behind schedule now." He said primly, taking a look at his watch before stepping up to the little knot of people. "The time. That's what you care about…" Ciel grumbled, and Soma flourished his sword. "I am curious. Very well, I will allow you to duel. Fight him, and in the name of Kali, make sure you do not lose." He said solemnly, handing it to Agni, who narrowed his eyes with new purpose. "Sebastian, I order you, SHUT THE BRAT'S MOUTH NOW!" Ciel snapped as he stood, and I yawned. "We'll be judges, since we have no true connections to either of you." I said calmly, and they nodded, facing off.
"BEGIN!"
I end there, because I still gotta do my SE for tonight, or at least get it started. I go to bed at nine too…better get moving. Please review, I am losing motivation and while I will still get the story chapters out, they may steadily decrease in quality until it really isn't worth it. Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien.
7.42 PM, USA Central Time
