Chapter 10; Bloodshed

"Sebastian..." a faint voice called, "Sebastian!"

Sebastian's eyes flashed open and he found himself standing in a freshly painted gazebo. The sound of birds singing and a light breeze echoed in the distance, while the scent of fresh, red roses filled the air. Light from the sun beamed bright on the vibrant, green grass that was slightly manipulated by the wind. The scene seemed almost timeless. The demon was just about to step onto it when he heard his voice again, followed by a chuckle and then a sudden cry. It was a young boy's voice- a very young boy; a little boy who had been playing far off in the endless field with his trustworthy dog. Sebastian observed the child fall to a sitting position and sob. The butler clearly recognized the face. It was a young Ciel Phantomhive. "What's wrong, my sweet child?" Rachel asked, that mother running to her baby's aid. The father known as Vincent soon came rushing to their side, kneeling and lightly smiling.

"Sebastian hurt me!" The child wept. The dog barked merrily at its master, unknowing of what it had done. Sebastian frowned at the situation, not exactly understanding the purpose of the event he was witnessing.

Vincent chuckled. "I'm sure it was an accident, and Sebastian is very, very sorry." He picked up the wiggly puppy and lifted it to Ciel's face. "So," Vincent said. "What do you say then?"

Ciel thought for a moment before placing his small feeble hand on the animal's nose and finally spoke; "I forgive you." A small smile flashed across the demon butler's face. "Now play dead!" Ciel giggled, his mother letting him run out into the field again. The dog wriggled from Vincent's hands and galloped a moment before finally flopping over on its back and groaning, his tongue hanging from its mouth. Ciel began to playfully pat on the dog's chest. "Now wake up, Sebastian. Wake up!"

His voice began to fade. "Wake up!"

"Wake up…!"

"Wake up!" Bard shouted in Sebastian's face. The chef wiped his tears with his sleeve and held it there. "Ya gotta wake up, man!"

Sebastian's eyes flashed open once again, followed by a deep gasp for air- and this time he found himself lying on a warm, soft bed, staring up at all of the Phantomhive servants sobbing over him. Sebastian's gaze traced Tanaka's silhouette and his demonic hand lightly began to tug on the old man's uniform. "Tanak-" The wounded butler suddenly spat out blood and he immediately sat up. He looked to see minor injuries on all of his team mates, but it was a little price to pay in order to keep the young master as safe as possible. Their wounds were all dressed lightly with bandages, as well as his own. Unfortunately, the pain would cease to leave his being.

"Mr. Sebastian! You're alive!" Meirin wailed, overjoyed to see the butler animate once again. Finnian threw his arms around the sore demon and started laughing, tears of joy now running down his face. Sebastian winced with slight pain and gently patted the gardener's back.

"Wh.. where has the young master gone?" Sebastian asked, slowly regaining consciousness again.

The crowd woefully bowed their heads. "We jest wer'n't strong enough," Bard sighed, removing his cigar from his mouth. "Thuh Trancy's took 'em away."

Sebastian's eyes widened. Without a second thought, he quickly threw the bed sheets off of his legs and shoved the four out of the way, soon taking his feet as fast as he could through numerous corridors out of the Phantomhive estate. The mansion doors burst open, and out flew Sebastian, now fully coated in his true demonic figure; his dark and deep, smoky shadow trailed behind him. He hastily scaled the high, dusk sky and took a whiff of the air, hoping to catch a bit of Claude or Ciel's fading scent. With what little he was able to smell, the demon escalated down the mansion once more and began to speed through the narrow path of trees in the forest near the mansion. Sebastian flew left and right, dodging each rapid passing tree and boulder. As the scent grew stronger, the eager butler moved faster. It was only then he began to take notice to the pain, and came to an immediate rest, having to kneel down for a breath. He clutched his shoulder tight, and then slid his hand to his bandaged chest. His head also throbbed with each beat of his heart. Sebastian was in no condition to battle four remaining Trancy servants; he could only hope his demonic figure would give him just a little more strength, but at this point it didn't seem so.

Just then, a piercing scream echoed through the night. Birds that caught Sebastian's attention crowed and scattered from the tall trees to escape what might have been a deadly fate. He stood up once more and spread his broad, powerful wings that were lightly surrounded by his thick fog, and again began to make his way to his young master's location. The demon was quickly approaching the scene, but it could have been too late. "Young master, I'm coming!" Sebastian encouraged, pushing himself to the extreme. In the blink of an eye, he was at the grounds. His heart dropped from slight fear. The demon had to unexpectedly force himself to a stop in front of a blade pointed right at his nose. Hannah was now dressed in her demonic suit, prepared to fight. Claude and the remaining servants stood behind her, grinning wildly at him. Where Ciel and Alois hid was beyond Sebastian's comprehension. His fingers twitched, yet he shadowed an unruly smile. Sebastian lifted two fingers and pushed Hannah's threatening sword down. "You wouldn't happen to know where my young master is hiding, would you?"

Claude stared directly at the enemy a moment before swiping his glasses off. He and the remaining triplets began to patiently circle the threat, taking long, slow paces to study his opponent. The suspense was killing Sebastian, but he wouldn't say another word. Claude stopped behind the demon and threw his glasses back on. A contemptuous sneer creased across his wet lips. "The deed is done."

Sebastian cocked his eyebrows, his smile leaving his lips. "I can still smell him," Sebastian repined, taking a step forward in the direction he thought Ciel was placed. Hannah stood in front of him once more and lifted her sword a second time. Sebastian focused his eyes on the weapon and then traced it to Hannah's model face. Her emotionless expression urged Sebastian to thwack it, but a movement would be postponed for the moment. "I don't think you understand the wrath I behold right now." He took another few paces forward, and Hannah only stepped back, still holding the weapon to his face. "I wish to be told the whereabouts of my young master or I will find him myself; otherwise may I restrain myself from picking out your ribs from your mangled body. Where is he?!"

Claude laughed; "Then tear us limb from limb because you're never seeing that delicious child again!"

With an unbearable scream of blind rage, Sebastian tore at the blade of the sword with his own hands and turned the weapon against its master, blood from his hands running down the handle. Hannah had no time to move as the sword sliced her throat open with ease, letting blood fall down her neck. She wheezed and blood gushed from her mouth. With another yell, Sebastian sheathed the weapon from her trembling body, and she collapsed forward on her knees face first on the forest ground. The Phantomhive butler was indefinitely pleased with her short death, believing he had made his point across. The butler let the weapon fall from his hands, finding the blade now useless. His new target was much stronger; Claude, the unmoved rival. But before he could engage in that battle, the young blonde haired child fled from his hiding place and spread his arms in front of Claude, acting as a human shield. He shook his golden locks from his face and revealed his eyes. "Phantomhive is unconscious in those bushes," Alois sniffled, failing to hold back his tears. "Please don't harm my butler! He's all I have left! I can't allow you to steal him away from-!"

Alois' chest suddenly exploded with dark red, and Claude removed his claw from the child's mutilated back, allowing the deceased to fall on his face just as Hannah did moments ago. There was a small pause between Sebastian and Claude. "I was growing tired of that brat," the Trancy butler groaned. He kicked the boy over on his back to reveal Alois' lifeless expression. Sebastian stared at the pale body as if that could have been Ciel. To murder the young master in such a gruesome manner would be absolutely unheard of in the Phantomhive family. Although they most often bickered, Sebastian would never find it in his heart to steal away Ciel's life, 'less it is the departing of his soul. He could only wonder what pain could have been inflicted to the innocent child that made him scream just minutes ago. There was regret that Sebastian couldn't arrive sooner to the young master's call, but nothing could be changed. Sebastian shifted his eyes from the violent scene to look at Claude, who was now in similar demon form as Sebastian. The two remaining triplets lay dead behind him, their limbs and insides now spread across the stained grass. "I didn't want them getting in my way," Claude growled, taking all seriousness into the situation.

Sebastian lowered his gaze while still keeping eye contact. The two demons began to pace in a large circle, unknowing who would make the first move that determined their fate. Eager to return to his young master, Sebastian sped towards his opponent and thrust his arm forward, only for his hand to be captured by Claude. Sebastian did the same with the other hand and ended in the same result. Frustrated, the demon bashed Claude in the head with his own skull. They both staggered away from each other, but Claude went to rapidly strike a daring kick at Sebastian. The Phantomhive butler swiftly dodged the attack, and then spun around and tripped the rival demon. Claude slammed onto the ground, and just as Sebastian was about to attack, Claude rolled out of the way and stood up again. He narrowed his eyes at Sebastian and frowned.

The Trancy butler suddenly spread his wings and flew straight up, his enemy immediately closely trailing beneath. Sebastian grabbed the demon's ankle and threw him down to the dirt again. The impact on the tree Claude slammed into bowed to the floor. Sebastian's heart jumped, wondering if Ciel had been in that area. Unfortunately there was no time to check before Claude flew up again and punched Sebastian under the jaw. He was sent back a ways but managed to catch himself before falling. The two began to battle it out in the sky, almost like dancing, but threw violent punches and kicks at each other.

Growing extremely tired of the fight, Sebastian flew back down to hide in the woods to catch his breath. Some of his bandages were torn and sliding off of his wounds. Not even a second later, Claude swooped down with a branch and began swinging it at his rival. Sebastian bounced back and back, trying to avoid contact with the weapon. As he was moving, he reached up and grabbed a branch as well, then swung it at Claude's stick. The demons spent much of their time beating each other with their weapons, until finally Claude's snapped. Sebastian managed to thwack the demon right across the face, causing him to stagger to the right. Sebastian then threw a lucky punch in Claude's stomach and sent the butler falling back onto the dirt again. The Trancy butler jumped right back up and hit Sebastian in the chest, throwing him back into a tree. Claude then flew back and came forward again, pounding Sebastian's already damaged chest. Before he could do it a second time, Sebastian clutched his chest and jumped upwards into the tree's branches. Claude began to follow, and they started jumping from tree to tree in their next scene.

Claude was quickly catching up to Sebastian's backside, so the Phantomhive butler jumped down from the trees and began running instead. He looked behind him and noticed Claude wasn't following anymore. The frantic butler skid to a stop and took note of his surroundings. Sebastian wasn't sure where Claude was about to pop up. He closed his eyes and listened to the quiet nature. Wind lightly brushed the leaves, and sleeping birds silently chirped- and quick sudden breathing quickly approached behind him. Sebastian hastily turned around and high kicked Claude in the face, knocking the nemesis into another tree that plummeted to the forest ground. Claude wasted no time in getting up, and he raced forward to punch the demon in the stomach, but Sebastian spun out of the way, and began to run again. To the opposite of his luck, the Phantomhive butler tripped on a root and tumbled down. Claude raced from behind and jumped high in the air, doing a summer salt, and so perfectly landed heavily on Sebastian's back with his feet. He then did a backwards flip off his foe and waited for him to stand up, but all was still except for the wind. Sebastian clutched the dirt. He forced himself to his feet and cracked his neck and turned around to face the other butler, who was most displeased that the butler refused to go down, no matter the blood loss he was experiencing. "You should be dead by now," Claude hissed. He flew forward and began throwing more punches at the demon that blocked all the attacks with his arms.

"I will be honest and tell you that I'm falling tired," Sebastian chuckled, spitting blood to the side from one of Claude's hits, "but I'm nowhere near prepared to die." He took hold of one of Claude's speeding wrists and threw him high in the air. Sebastian then flew up and knocked the wind out of the Trancy butler's stomach. He continued to fly upwards and punch the demon in the stomach, knocking the rival higher and higher. They began to go so high that they were able to see the rooftops of houses in London's tall city.

"E-nough-of-this!" Claude screeched between each punch. He greatly flapped his just once to get a little higher and threw his balled fists up. He then smashed them back down on Sebastian's skull and then forcefully kicked the demon in the head, sending the demon on a straight path towards the center of the lake. An enormous splash interrupted the calm waters. Sebastian then sped out of the water again, and the two butlers began shredding the surface in attempt to hit each other.

The Phantomhive butler threw blind punches at his enemy, who often made splashes to hide his body. Becoming terribly frustrated, Sebastian stopped and formed a gust of wind that splashed Claude, who was shielding his eyes from the impact. Sebastian took advantage and sped forward, lifting his hands over his head, and smashing his fists down on the foe's skull, just as Claude had done before. The Trancy butler sped like a torpedo into the depths of the water. Sebastian flapped his wings and gazed down into the murky lake, wondering if he had surely beaten his opponent. All of a sudden, Claude flew straight out of the water with his wings spread and came back onto Sebastian like a ferocious lion. They both hit the surface and continued their frenzy underwater. Bubbles and floating fog limited their vision as they tried so desperately to fight each other, drag each other down, and go back to the surface for air. Sebastian would rarely feel his fists come into contact with Claude, who managed to get in more hits against his weary rival. Sebastian suddenly felt a rush of bubbles hit his face; Claude was retreating back to the surface for air. Sebastian went rushing after, not even caring to pursue the fight for the moment. He barely reached the surface managing to get a breath of air when Claude had exited and reentered the lake, speeding past his rival and taking hold of Sebastian's ankles, dragging him down deeper and deeper.

Sebastian clenched his fists. The demon constantly squirmed his legs in attempt to break free from his capture, but Claude had a strong hold on his ankles. The Phantomhive butler began to claw at the water in hopes that it would take him up. 'This is it. I'm going to die.' He thought. He didn't know what else to do; he couldn't think. Sebastian moved and kicked his legs until finally he hit under Claude's chin, knocking the foe out. His black, silky hair gently moved across his face and amongst the water. Not checking to see if the demon was still alive, Sebastian raced for the top again, letting in a deep gasp of air once reaching the surface, violently coughing and spitting out water afterwards. The butler whipped the hair out of his eyes and began making his way to shore, too tired to fly. His blood followed him in the water like smoke. The demon would have to hurry to bring his young master back to safety.

Once he approached shore, he lied there for a moment on the bank, catching his breath, and then spread his wings once more and took off into the sky. He quickly approached the scene where the dead Trancy servants lay. Ciel was somewhere in the bushes, Alois had said. "Young master," Sebastian called. He breathed heavily waiting for a reply. Receiving none, he frenetically searched the area, looking for the valuable child. Sebastian was relieved to see Ciel just waking up from his sleep. He knelt down and went to pick up the tired soul. "It's late. Why don't you close your eyes and rest some more?"

Ciel exhaustingly blinked and looked up at his butler, dazed and confused. "I must be dead if I can see you," he whispered, shutting his eyes again and lightly smiling.

Sebastian returned the smile. "No, I'm very much alive right now, and you're going to live too." He stood up and carefully caressed the small boy out of the bushes. It was a little difficult with the pain in his shoulder and with the young master rubbing against his chest wounds, but at that moment he didn't care; he was happy to have finally obtained his master. Just as he was about to take off, Ciel tugged on the butler's clothes. Sebastian looked down at the child in wonder.

"I forgive you."

Sebastian's already smiling lips increased slightly. He hugged his young master close to his chest, not ever wanting to let go again. "I know," he whispered, bringing Ciel's forehead to his cheek. "Thank you."

Just then, Claude burst out of the treetops, coming straight for Sebastian, who quickly dodged the attack. The fatigued servant had to duck to avoid another hit. Claude was doing all that he could do to try to knock the young master out of the Phantomhive butler's grip. He went to grab the small child, but Sebastian turned around and flapped his wings, throwing a gust of wind at the Trancy butler. When he thought he was safe for maybe a moment, Sebastian spun around to leave, but was suddenly knocked down on his back; he held on tight to the young master, being careful so that he wouldn't be harmed. The Phantomhive butler began to rise in panic and shuffled his feet, quickly taking hold of the sword that had recently pierced Hannah's throat. It was all he could think to do. With Ciel in between his arms, he then held the sword up in one final attempt to protect the young master. The Trancy demon raced to take hold of the child but screeched in realization, unable to stop due to his phenomenal speed. He made perfect impact, running into the very tip of the blade with his skull, and the sword struck out through the back of his head. The once ferocious demon dropped down between Sebastian's legs, who quickly scrambled to get up. It was over.

With another tight squeeze around Ciel's feeble body, Sebastian spread his wings for the last time and rose over the trees, now making his way back to the estate. Much of the fire was gone due to the assistance of the Phantomhive servants, but there were still little bits and pieces here and there. Sebastian had to be careful not to reveal his demon form to the humans, so he released himself of the figure and came calmly walking out of the woods in his torn uniform. Becoming a normal being again made him feel much weaker than he had felt before. A long trail of his blood followed him like it had in the lake. He dropped to his knees, his grip on the young master loosening. His last blurring vision was only able to catch the servants rushing towards him at what seemed like slow pace. The Phantomhive butler had fainted.

Man I had this one scene where Sebastian and Claude were duking it out in the streets of London, but it all seemed way too much this chapter and this story. That was like my favorite part, but you know what those directors say; "Be prepared to cut your favorite parts."