Hi! I really don't like this chapter (too short) but it's important... :)
Anyway, I actually have an important announcement:
THERE IS A POLL ON MY PROFILE. I NEED IT COMPLETED SOON OR I CANNOT CONTINUE THE STORY. ALSO, BEFORE YOU SELECT A CHOICE ON THE POLL, KNOW THAT IT EFFECTS THE REST OF THE STORY COMPLETELY!
...
Ehem...
Thank you...
Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroshitsuji
_Genus Mali_
The first thing Ciel noticed was the faster heartbeat of his butler.
The young earl had been carried more times then he liked by Sebastian, but from it he knew very well that demons rarely had heartbeats, and if they did, it was faint.
But the thumping he heard from Sebastian's chest was most certainly a heartbeat, a loud, horrified heartbeat.
Before Ciel could get up to see what had happened, Sebastian gave a sharp shriek and push him off before throwing himself on his knees.
Everyone rushed over to the butler's side, trying to help, but Sebastian merely stayed were he was, panting heavily on his hands and knees. Soon, with combined effort of Bard and William, Sebastian was leaned against the wall again, this time though, he leaned his head back, eyes closed firmly, and supported himself against the wall. The others gathered around him rapidly.
"Sebas-chan?" inquired Grell, as he leaned beside William.
"I'm fine," Sebastian managed between pants, "Just... tired..."
Tanaka helped him to sit more comfortably against the wall as everyone took in what happened.
Just while they watch the screen, Sebastian had changed so much. He eyes were now mostly blue, but a little red still clung to the edges. The one dirty blonde streak in his hair made a mighty contrast to the usually calm hair of the butler. Also, his skin looked tanner then normal. But the main worry of the group was the expression on Sebastian's face.
The butler usually was a silent person, but this wasn't normal. Sebastian kept his head down, eyes trained on his hands. He kept wringing his hands, mostly feeling the spot where the soul ring of Matthew Walker was on his brother's hand. The Phantomhive butler had a blank, expressionless look on his face. He looked... Broken. He looked like Johnny, not Sebastian. What ever made the butler what he was began fading the second they found out the angel's intentions.
"Sebastian?" asked Ciel, intently watching his faithful servant, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," the butler snapped, "I said I was fine alright?"
The earl flinched. Snapping at people wasn't like Sebastian at all. Normally it was Ciel snapping at the butler, not the other way around. But unlike the earl, Sebastian had an excuse.
The butler quickly registered his previous words and quick lowered his head, "I apologize, my lord."
Everyone flinched at that, not because of hurt, but more of shock. It was not part of the butler's famous 'ethics' to himself to others, even his master. If he made a mistake, a sarcastic bow was much more likely to happen. Such a humbling act was not something Sebastian ever did, but it seemed a very likely thing for Johnny Walker to do. As that registered in their minds, it became apparent that snapping at his master was also not a common occurrence for the level headed butler. That was when they realize both John Walker and Johnny Traveler were becoming present in their butler. The bright side was that it seemed clear that Sebastian wasn't completely gone, just very mixed up with his human selves.
"It's alright, Sebastian," Ciel responded, coming out of his shock.
"And you are most certainly not alright, Mr. Sebastian!" argued Finny, "Please tell us what's wrong."
"Tell us what's going on, Sebastian," agreed Bard, "We're your friends, we can help!"
"If you just stay silent it can't be good for your health, says Dan," responded Snake.
"Yes," calmed Tanaka, "Remaining quiet is never good."
"Sebastian, just-"
"SHUT UP!" screamed the butler, hugging his legs and throwing head down, "Please just shut the hell up! Please!"
Everyone was silent, leaving only the butler's crying as the only sound in the room. They let him sob for a few minutes, no one moving. They just watched as the ever faithful butler had a breakdown. It was about three minutes before anyone moved to comfort him.
Tanaka knelt beside the butler, and rubbed his back gently. Sebastian tensed for a second but then continued sobbing.
Not even Grell interrupted. In fact, said red reaper looked about ready to burst into tears himself. The rest of them were in lesser states of despair, as well. They all had once again say against the wall, but Ciel now sat by his servant's instead of by the butler. There wasn't a sound in the room except for Sebastian's slowing sobs, and Tanaka's quiet comforting whispers.
It was moments like this that the servants were amazed and grateful for the elderly steward. Tanaka truly was like a grandfather to all of them. He was their guide in times of failure, a doctor in times of pain, a scolding in times of mistake, and a comforter when things got rough. Most guests to the manner would always ask just exactly what the man was steward of. Even Sebastian knew the answer right away. Sebastian maybe the caretaker of the house, but Tanaka was the care taker of those in the house.
Soon, the sobs subsided, and Sebastian wiped his eyes with his sleeve, then once again looked at his hands, wringing hands.
"What's in the package?" Finny questioned, breaking the silence.
"I'll check," said Bard, "It's probably from that damn angel."
It was. Inside was a beige envelope, a small rectangular wrapped box, a flat wicker basket, and a container emanating a delicious aroma.
"What do you know!" chuckled Bard, "The angel actually did get us food."
In the container was a rich, spicy curry with a few small loaves of buttery buns and a canteen with hot tea inside. They opened the flat basket to find what looked like china from the manors cabinets and some the silver ware. Along with the knives and forks, their was a small note in curly writing with the words, "I'm not all bad," on it.
Instead of digging into it like they wanted to, everyone stared at it, drooling.
"Should we eat it?" questioned Grell.
"Gah," moaned Bard, "It's the damn apple pie all over again!"
"At least we knew Sebastian didn't poison the pie before we ate it," argued Finny.
"You ate the pie?" said Sebastian, who jerked his head up, "That's where the damn thing went? When did I give permission to do that?"
"You told us to clean it up!" defended Meyrin.
"Since when do 'clean' and 'eat' mean the same thing?" replied a now rather exasperated butler.
"Stop it all of you! We need to figure this out. You can argue about pie later" said Ciel, trying quite hard not to laugh at his out-of-charachter butler. He was pretty sure that at the moment it was more Traveler than Michealis at the moment, but the earl had to admit that an annoyed, good-humored butler was much much more entertaining than a strict, no-nonsense butler.
While the servants were arguing about pie, William went up to the food and cautiously put a finger in it. When he tasted the curry, he nodded in approval to himself, but when he tasted the bread, William made a very William-like face of shock, but it was quickly replaced with an another nod of approval.
"The curry is safe for the humans," he said, "But not the bread."
"Why?" questioned Grell, picking up the bread.
"At first glance," he said, taking a small bite, "It's butter bread. But when you taste it, it's not butter."
"And you eat it?" asked Finny, who already was eating curry.
Grell had taken a bite of the bread and his face became very joyful, "Ambrosia!"
"Really?" Sebastian raised an eyebrow, "Why would the angel give the food of the gods to us?"
"Hum..." William thought, picking up the note, "Perhaps she's asking for forgiveness."
"As she says, 'what a riot!" The butler rolled his eyes, "Angels are arrogant and self-centered. Why would one want forgiveness from us?"
The reaper sighed, "Who knows?"
They then all ate in silence.
_Genus Mali_
"You know," said Bard, after they finished, "We never looked at what was in the last box, or the letter."
At that, Meyrin passed the box to Sebastian and opened the envelope as everyone sat back down, "'To the readers of this message..." she read:
To the readers of this message;
The first half of the Recall has been completed. Now that the beginning has been successful, and an appropriate amount of humanity has been drawn out from the guilty. Because of this, the Council has issued warrant to begin the second half of the Recall.
In the second half, there are two options to take. The chose may only be made by the guilty, and no one may interfere:
A. The course of the first half of the Recall may continue and completely merge the human soul with the immortal soul to return the being into an immortal human existence. The guilty would be rendered unconscious for the whole of the event. The result would be a completed soul and an immortal life expectancy, but the loss of all immortal powers. (A note: This is the more common and recommended choice.)
B. The guilty may open the enclosed package. Inside of the package is a belonging of the it's from there other life. When touched, the idem will take the immortal soul of the guilty and will begin the Recall again with the guilty conscious. At the end, the guilty's soul will become mortal, but the being's immortal abilities will remain. Also, the remains of the immortal soul will become that of mortal, and one worthy deceased being from the past of the guilty will return to the earth as an immortal.
When the letter was read, everyone looked to Sebastian. The butler looked at the box intently.
"Well," said Bard, "It's pretty clear that Sebastian's going under again."
"How do we choose our choice?" asked Grell.
While everyone else spoke about the first choice, Sebastian put a hand on the boxes lid.
"What are you doing Sebastian?" question the earl. "Open it and you lose your immortality. It's not worth it."
"Power isn't," the butler said, as he began to open it and everyone shushed, "But life is."
He opened the box.
_Genus Mali_
Inside the box, sat a rather out of place object. It was surrounded by a rich, expensive orange velvet with a black checkered print. In it laid an old, worn out bracer with a scabbard holding some kind of blade with a circular hole in the top.
Sebastian held it by the box and smiled, "Well, I'll be damned."
The rest of the group was less happy, "Why Sebas-chan?" exclaimed Grell, sobbing, "Now we can't grow old together!"
"Do you care about anything else?" asked William, "What the demon does is his business, not ours."
"Sebastian," asked a shocked Ciel, "Are you nuts? Why would you do that?"
"Yeah, Mr. Sebastian, why would you give up immortality for power?" questioned Finny.
Bard was more expressive in his opinions, "Are you daft man?"
Sebastian looked up from the box, "No, and there are much more things to this then life or power."
"Of course," interrupted William, "You want the one thing no one else could give you. You want to give back a life."
Sebastian nodded, "I want to give back one of the lives that I gave up for my own purpose," he fingered the box, "Even if it's just one, I did... things I'm not proud of back then. I want to right all of the things of done to those who's only crime was loving me. My only problem, is which one do I save when this is all over?"
"It seems," William adjusted his glasses, "You won't have a choice. The contract states the your immortal soul will go to the most worthy being of your past life."
"So it seems," replied Sebastian, "Well, I guess we should just get this over with."
He picked up the bracer.
_Genus Mali__
Sebastian's eyes widened as the cool metal touched his palm.
He couldn't breath.
Wait since when did he need to breath?
Demons don't breathe.
It was really happening?
Sebastian...
once again
Human
...
...
once...
...
...
again
...
...
...
serving...
falling...
losing...
dying...
...
for those he loved
...
...
...
and it felt...
...
...good
...
Then he was woken by a voice...
...
He had to go on...
...
...
Human or not...
...
He was still one hell of a butler...
_Genus Mali_
review! Poll! Happiness!
