A/N: Now, before we begin this chapter, I'd appreciate if you all kept an open mind from this point on. Hitherto, I've mostly stayed in line with the 'canon' that the anime has established. However, from here on, I'm taking some… Creative liberties with the plot. I am not going so far, though as to entirely throw out anything that the canonical plot could have produced had it more time. So with that in mind, please enjoy.
Chapter Ten: His Butler, A Trainer
"Pardon me, Milady?" A young man who seemed remarkably well groomed and bred with perfect, and very long platinum, almost white blond hair. He bowed politely to Elizabeth and kissed her hand in a formal display of chivalry.
"Your servant, Milady." He said with a polite smile.
"Um, how can I help you, sir?" Lizzie asked with a smile.
"I wish to speak to your fiancé, Ciel Phantomhive, if I may. I promise I won't breathe a word of your date with this lowborn piece of Irish-English trash." The man said with a disdainful look at Finny.
"Your aura reeks of disgusting beer and cabbage, you filthy piece of trash. How dare you attempt to lay your despicable hands on this fine, upstanding young lady? I should have the right to kill you here and now."
"But alas, you despicable monster, you haven't that right. He is not my date. He is my escort. My fiancé is out of town on business with his butler, and Finny agreed to take me out on the town for the night. He is far from my date."
"Regardless, I feel I've no choice but to kill this disgusting piece of Irish trash."
"Please. I-I didn't want this to happen. I promised to take Lady Elizabeth out tonight so that Bard and Maylene could have the evening together. I was to keep her out as late as I could. Forgive me, Milady for lying to you. No. I refuse to fight.
I will accept any punishment you think appropriate later, Milady." Finny said, sweeping Lizzie off her feet and running with her in his arms, bridal style, making excellent time. However, in the next moment, Finny was blasted off his feet by a palm strike to the chest, somehow getting past Elizabeth, who was tightly in his arms.
"You can't escape me, little Culled. I have trained for nearly 200 years under my own demon butler. You see, I commanded him to do battle with another demon, who put his own demonic essence on the line, and to win.
My butler won, and gave the demonic essence to me, as he was commanded. He wasn't happy. But I had commanded him to do so, so he had no choice. I then immediately began training under him, and when I was more powerful than he, I killed him with Gungnir, another demon sword, much like your master's Laevatin, though it takes a slightly different shape.
"Tell your master that I challenge him to a Demon's duel. If he accepts, meet me in the Demon World in one year's time. The prize will be Gungnir and my own Demonic Essence to add to his. Tell him that if he is to have any hope of winning, he will have to train very hard. That is all. This is my card.
If Lord Phantomhive accepts, tell him to simply cut himself and wipe some of his blood on the symbol. His butler will know what to do from there, even if the stupid brat doesn't."
"Hey! Don't you dare call Ciel a stupid brat! He's smarter than you by a million times, and he's also more mature and way more handsome!"
"Ha, yeah, right. If you ever want a real lover, sweetheart, come find me. A beautiful young lady such as yourself deserves a much better man than a revenge obsessed brat like Phantomhive. He's off on a contract with a young lady right now about your age, and I'll bet he's banging the crap outta her!" The young man said, smirking, having reverted to a grotesque and guttural Cockney accent, as was probably the accent he was born with.
"You're wrong. Ciel would never cheat on me. Are you going to detain us, sir?"
"Of course not, sweetie. You and your escort are free to go. Enjoy the play."
"I'll get you to the playhouse, lickity split!" Finny said, sweeping Lizzie off her feet once more and moving with a haste that surprised even the demon. Lizzie looked at the card, and scoffed at the pretentious name on it.
Johann Shaitan
His last name was the Muslim name for Satan.
"Finny?" Lizzie said as they ran. Finny looked up and smiled at Elizabeth.
"Yes, Lady Elizabeth?"
"Just call me Lizzie. All my friends do. And could you hold onto this? I haven't got any pockets."
"O-of course, Lizzie." Finny said politely, taking the card and sticking it in his pocket, making sure not to wrinkle it.
"I love you, Maylene." Bard said, gently kissing Maylene on the lips, moving down to her cheek, beginning to lay kisses down her chin, going to her shoulder, her breast and eventually reaching her stomach, all the while prodding her pussy lightly with his fingers, pleasuring her lightly, but not allowing her the chance to climax. Had Maylene had her way, she would have climaxed multiple times already. She was certainly hot and wet enough. But this slow pace was kind of pleasant as well.
Maylene returned Bard's kisses with as much enthusiasm. There were no clothes to be taken off as she had come into the room naked directly from the shower. Gently, Bard fondled Maylene's breasts, causing her to moan his name softly. However, they were quickly interrupted when the front door opened and they heard Ciel's voice.
"Hello? I hope nothing has been destroyed!" the young master called to whoever was listening. Bard and Maylene rushed to get dressed, despite the fact that Bard was horny as hell and Maylene was soaked already.
The two servants hurried downstairs, now in their serving clothes once more.
"Hello, Young Master…" Maylene said cheerfully, though she was blushing heavily.
"What's that I smell on you two? Bard, you smell like Maylene, and Maylene… I don't even know what you smell like…"
"S-sorry, Young Master, we'll…"
"You shall come with me for a moment, you two." Sebastian said sternly, picking them both up bodily and dragging them out of the room.
"Now, you two. I could not care less what you do on your own time, as this clearly was before Young Master and I walked in the door. But I would ask you please not to do these things when the Young Lord is around."
"But, Sebastian! We didn't think you would come home for another few days! We even were careful to have Finny take Lady Elizabeth out for the night, we were!"
"You fools! I swear, if anything happens to Lady Elizabeth because of Finnian's rash and careless behavior, I shall flay the two of you alive! And you shall not even die because you can regenerate the damage due to the Seed. I shall explain all of this at a later date. I do not care what you do on your own. But make sure that the Young Lord does not pick up on it. You may go."
"Young Master! Young Master! I am so sorry we took so long getting back!"
"What are you two even doing out at such an hour? Lizzie, how are you?" Ciel asked cordially.
"Um, what are you doing up at such an hour?" Lizzie asked.
"Demons don't need to sleep. Sebastian's bed is just for show. Finny, you have something in your pocket that undoubtedly is meant for me. It smells like Demon Blood."
"O-oh! Yes! A man claiming to be a Demon named Johann Shaitan accosted us in London and challenged you, Young Master to a Demon's Duel in the Demon World one year from now. He claims to have gained his demonic powers in the same way as you did, and wants to battle you with your Essences on the line, whatever that means."
"Well, I suppose now is as good a time as any to explain all this. Please sit down, all of you." Sebastian said sternly.
"Good, now, the Blood of Demons contains two fundamental aspects. It contains The Seed, and to a lesser extent, The Essence. The Essence is the supernatural force that gives a Demon its eternal life. On the other hand.
The Seed is the 'mundane' aspect of a Demon, and is responsible for its healing factor, the fact that it requires no food, drink or sleep and other smaller abilities. The Essence is in simplified terms responsible for all of a Demon's magical abilities, whereas the Seed is a byproduct of the Essence, and responds to the Essence."
"The Essence is present in every Demon, and is present because the Demon eats souls. There are Demons that have transcended the need to eat souls simply due to having been alive for so long and eating so many souls that the Essence becomes more fundamental than granted.
These Demons typically solidify their Essence after a time into what are known as Demon Swords, though these swords need not be literal swords, and they pass from the world, leaving only a legacy of destruction via the Sword that they created."
"The Young Lord possesses one such Demon Sword, and apparently, Johann possesses another. The Essence will weaken over time if souls are not devoured, and the Seed will become inefficient in its healing and Demons will become weaker and slowly lose its ability to regenerate and bring to bear its fantastic strength.
"Culling a servant passes on a tiny sliver of its Essence to the Culled. On a scale of 1-100, A typical Demon would vary from maybe 15 or 20 to 100, and a typical Culled would vary from maybe 1-10. A Culled with a rating of 10 would be transcendent in terms of Culled.
You three are perhaps a 1. I would be perhaps a 60, maybe 65. The Young Lord would be probably 80-85 as a higher order Demon, though he has not yet fully consolidated his power. Once he does, he will reach Hannah's level of between 80 to 85, maybe more."
"The efficiency of The Seed is not directly proportionate to the level of your Essence. So you can be highly efficient in healing, strength, endurance, etc, but not have a powerful Essence yet. The Young Master will need to consolidate his power quickly if he is to do battle with this Demon.
I have seen his Blood, and it indicates a powerful Essence, especially if the Demon from whom he took it had a Demon Sword as powerful as Gungnir. But first, the Young Master must decide if he is going to accept this Demon's challenge. You do not need to, My Lord. You are under no obligation."
"No. I must. I have seen Finny's memories and Lizzie's. He has threatened my fiancée, insulted me, and threatened my servants. I cannot let him get away with that. Come, Sebastian. I shall send him my acceptance and then we shall train as often and as long as we can."
"Yes, My Lord…" Sebastian said, seeing the old Ciel coming back. Ciel bit down on his finger, drawing blood and smearing the blood on the card, causing it to glow. Suddenly, the card burst into flame and disappeared in a cloud of noxious smoke and another card appeared with directions to the location of the duel on it.
"Excellent, now that you have so ill advisedly accepted a duel against a clearly more powerful and experienced Demon, we must train for the inevitable moment when you lose and must give up your Demonic essence, and thus your life." Sebastian said, looking very ill at ease at the moment.
"No. The card said that I was allowed to bring one Culled with me to back me up. I really feel that I will have Maylene at my side, as she is a long distance fighter, and is a skilled assassin."
Maylene, Bard, Finnian. I command you to join me immediately. Ciel said telepathically.
Almost immediately, the three servants were outside standing at attention before Ciel, and Ciel noticed that Lizzie was there as well.
"I'd like to train with you four, Ciel-kun. I know I'm not as strong as you guys, but I'm going to be a Culled someday as well, so I think I should learn to fight like you four are. And I won't take no for an answer!"
For a moment, Ciel considered. He could just knock Lizzie unconscious and send her home, but she would never forgive him for that, and it would be wrong to do regardless.
"Fine. Get dressed in appropriate clothes, and meet us back here in ten minutes."
"Thank you, Ciel. I'll be right back!" Lizzie shouted ecstatically, running inside at a breakneck speed considering she was still wearing her corset.
"Good, now, while Lady Elizabeth is indoors, I expect no less than ten laps around the mansion out of all of you. If you understand, hurry. We cannot keep the lady waiting." Sebastian said. The three servants immediately began running as quickly as they could, finding to their delight that they were not only faster now that they had been Culled, but also tired less easily.
The group completed the ten laps in no time at all, and by the time they got back, Ciel was already waiting with Elizabeth, who was in sweats, and looking far less distinguished than she usually did, but no less beautiful.
"Okay. What are we doing first, Sebastian?" Lizzie asked in intense interest.
"Well, first, you're going to stretch, then run a lap around the mansion."
"Ciel only did one lap?" Lizzie asked, surprised.
"No. I did ten. But that's irrelevant. You would pass out if you tried to do ten laps. That's nearly ten kilometers. There isn't any way you could manage that." Ciel said, much to Lizzie's chagrin. Lizzie scowled, though, and went off to prove Ciel wrong.
Thirty minutes later, when she came back exhausted after only having done three, with much difficulty, Ciel would have said he told her so, but he didn't. Instead, he went over to Lizzie and put a hand on her back, which was soaked in sweat, and eased her into a chair that he manifested out of nowhere.
"Just sit down and relax, Lizzie."
"I would not advise that, my Young Lord. I hate to contradict my master, but she should stretch and do basic anaerobic exercise to avoid cramping up after overexerting herself like that. She should have stretched in the first place, but she did not, so she must do it now."
"A-alright, Sebastian." Lizzie said, feeling quite defeated, standing up and stretching, making a valiant effort not to show how tired she was, and how sore she was.
"Okay, Young Master, are you ready? You will not get any sleep for at least a week, nor will you require it. The servants may come and go as they need. Culled have a drastical ly diminished need for sleep, but it is not completely gone. They will need to sleep at least once every three or four days, or begin to suffer from fatigue. Do you understand, Maylene, Bardroy, Finnian?"
"Yes, sir!" The three servants said together.
"Good. Now, I have begun already to teach you martial arts. You will pair off and spar for three hours., assuming you have done your stretching?"
"Yes!" The four said, saluting Sebastian and splitting up.
Ciel went to work with Finny, who was the strongest physically, and Maylene went to work with Bard, and they began sparring. Maylene proved to have been better at long range combat than at hand to hand, and though Bard was better than she was, Maylene made up for it with great speed and agility.
Fnally, Lizzie got up and got into a fighting stance against Sebastian. Sebastian smiled politely and stood up to his full height, taking a fighting stance against Lizzie, who gulped. Though Lizzie was taller than Ciel (if only by a little bit, now that he was using his demonic powers to make himself taller, only going a little bit at a time so that it wouldn't appear too suspicious in growing a lot all at once.
He had seen people grow a lot at once, but it was uncommon, and Ciel had always been short. Maybe everyone would simply assume he had hit a growth spurt. His father, after all had been a tall man. It was a shame that Vincent had died before his time like that. But Ciel was done lamenting the past. He was through crying. He had no more tears left.
Ciel moved quickly and closed in on Finny, surprising the much taller person with his agility and kicking him in the chest, sending the young man flying. Fortunately, Ciel knew that Finny was strong and tough, and could stand back up from a lot of things. Sure enough, Finny stood back up and looked lamentingly at Ciel.
"Young Master, I don't feel comfortable attacking you. I could never be such a lousy servant!" Finny protested. Ciel merely grinned and focused, making himself taller and sturdier looking, looking down now at Finny. Ciel was almost as tall as his father now. He looked down at Finny with an imperious look.
"I give you permission… No, I command you… To attack with all your strength. You cannot harm me, and your fighting me will only help in training me to fight a man much more experienced than I. I will fight Maylene or Bardroy if I must, but I would feel less bad hitting you, given your fortitude."
"I-I understand, Young Master." Finny said, bowing and kicking Ciel in the chest, cracking several of his bones and sending him flying.
"Y-Young Master! I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to hit you so hard!"
"Don't apologize. Keep it coming." Ciel said, standing and moving as fast as he could, which was faster even than Finny could see, and palm struck him to the stomach, driving the wind from his lungs and sending him staggering backwards. Finny gasped in pain, but stood back up, determined to remain strong for the master he loved more than anything. He didn't quite understand his feelings.
He had always felt an enormous respect for Ciel, but only recently had it evolved into true love for his young master. He wasn't sure if it was romantic, since he had never felt that kind of feeling for anyone. But he certainly loved Ciel.
"Young Master? You have a visitor…" Sebastian said distastefully, looking up and gesturing toward a tall and slender blonde fellow walking toward the group.
"Good evening, Lord Ciel Phantomhive…" Came a very facetious tone of voice, causing even Ciel's hair to stand on end. Lizzie gasped as the man walked over to her, kissed her hand politely, bowing to her.
"I assume you have gotten my challenge? My name is Shaitan. It is a pleasure to meet you. I wish to challenge you to a battle to the death. You may use any weapon you like, but I advise that you use Laevatin, just as I am using Gungnir. It is the only weapon that will truly kill me. And given that I have had hundreds of years to train while you have only had a few months to a year to train, you need every advantage you can get."
"Is there something the matter?" Ciel asked, smirking slightly. Shaitan sighed, smirked and shook his head.
"I just had heard that you were thirteen. I hardly expected to see a grown man standing before me. Was I misinformed?"
"No. In fact, Lizzie is older than I am. I merely aged myself up to make myself taller. It would be a problem if I didn't have the reach that I needed."
"I on the other hand would argue the exact opposite. Sometimes being small can allow for greater mobility, or at least more facile mobility. Your petite frame allowed you to dodge hits that would have struck a larger man. Consider that. I really only came to make the official demon contract with you so that we could solidify our agreement."
"Very well. Shall we retire to the sitting room?" Ciel asked, his frown deepening. Shaitan smirked and nodded.
"Sebastian! I want you to be my witness in this contract."
At this, Shaitan doubled over in cold, cruel laughter.
"Oh, Ciel. If only you realized just how incompetent you sound right now. You don't need a witness, as the contract is inviolable. It is sealed with your Demonic Blood and cemented with your Essence. The Blood is merely a carriage for the Essence if you will. Once you spill your Blood on the carrier of the contract, it will supernaturally compel you to comply with it."
"Now, I, Nœȼ'ßa-iïn do hereby challenge you, Cie'ñæ'dœßéçaïr to a Demon duel to True Death utilizing our respective Demon Swords: Gungnir for me and Laevatin for you three years from today at exactly 0000h on Mount Urim-Thumim in the Demon World. I'm certain your Demon servant can show you where it is."
"I, Cie'ñæ'dœßéçaïr, accept your challenge, and state that I am eager to claim your Essence for my own."
"I, Nœȼ'ßa-iïn also add in that if you lose, and are subsequently killed, the spoils of battle will include Laevatin, your Demon butler, your Culled servants, your gold, mansion, and your fiancée, along with the Demonic Essence that is inherent in the spoils of battle."
"I, Cie'ñæ'dœßéçaïr will bargain my Essence and my Laevatin, but will never bargain Sebastian, my Culled servants or Lizzie, all of whom are worth far more to me than what I could lose in a fight with you. However, I also demand that you, Nœȼ'ßa-iïn, wager your own Demon Sword and Essence, and any wealth and estates that you may possess.
Do you accept those terms?" Ciel asked, his expression hardening. Shaitan nodded and cut his hand, bleeding on a white rose, dyeing it red with his Blood, and causing it to shimmer briefly with the contact with the Essence.
"I, Nœȼ'ßa-iïn accept your terms and agree to the duel with all the aforementioned spoils of battle inherent in the contract."
Ciel then took the rose and cut his own hand, bleeding on it as well, dyeing it black. He then bled on his own rose and tossed it to Shaitan, who also bled on it, dyeing both roses black. Each demon then took their rose and Shaitan put the rose in his coat and Ciel set his aside.
"Very well. You drive a hard bargain. You are allowed to bring one Culled with you to aid you in battle, as may I. I don't have any Culled, though, so unless I find one that I care to induct into our world, I doubt I shall bring one."
"Good. Now, get out. And if you ever make a move on Lizzie again, or threaten any of my servants, I shall kill you. I'll kill you, rip your head off, disembowel you, dismember you, and then dispose of the parts in separate volcanoes. Understand? Good. Then leave." Ciel said fiercely, standing and pointing toward the door. Shaitan smirked and walked out, bowing to Ciel as he left.