Author's Note: I'm still working on website. I don't want to launch it until I have a couple posts written. That way, if something comes up, I'm covered. Kat and Nikolai are still fighting me. Someone make them stop damn it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or any of its characters. I only claim Serena, as well as the demons and descendants that I introduce.
A Demon's Mate
Chapter Twenty One
"Ccciiieeellll!" It was his only warning before Lizzy burst into the Earl's suite as Sebastian was sliding his shirt over his shoulders. He clutched the shirt closed in surprise while his butler stood back.
Lizzy stopped at the sight of the black clad butler and blushed a little. The scene from last night was so at war with the normally cold man. She shook it off and rushed to her fiancé. Taking his hands, she bounced slightly.
"There is something that I have to tell you!"
"Can it wait until I have finished dressing?"
Lizzy stopped for a moment. "Fine. But hurry. I'll meet you in your office."
The blonde tornado ripped back out of the room and both men heard the door slam in her wake. Ciel sighed as Sebastian finished buttoning the white shirt and held out his waistcoat.
"Honestly, what reason could she have to burst in here?" The Earl shook his head as he put his arms through the next layer of the outfit that his butler had picked out.
"I do not know, Master. However, I would not make her wait for very long." The demon couldn't help but smirk at his Master's predicament.
"What did I do to deserve this? Was selling my soul to a demon really bad enough to disturb my life too?"
He didn't see the demon behind him struggling not to laugh.
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When he stepped into his office, Lizzy was still bouncing in anticipation. As the door shut behind him, Ciel's hands were grabbed and he was pulled further in.
"You will never guess what I found out." Her voice was an excited whisper as she leaned close.
"What is that, Lizzy?" He asked obviously bored.
"Serena is in love with Sebastian!"
"And?"
The blonde watched him, not understanding why he was so casual about this.
"Ciel!"
"What? I already know. I've known from the beginning." Ciel pulled away. "As long as it doesn't affect his work, I don't see any problem with it."
"But this is so exciting!" She smiled brilliantly. "Sebastian has always struck me as cold. It gives me hope."
The Earl blinked at her smiling face for a moment before her meaning finally sank in.
'Just because Sebastian opened himself up to another person, she thinks that I will too.'
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Serena was surprised to enter the dining room and there was no one at the table. Sebastian and the servants were in their normal places however, Ciel and Elizabeth were nowhere to be found. She sent a questioning glance to the butler.
"Lady Elizabeth requested to speak to the Master this morning."
"Oh, well that's good." She smiled at him, knowing that it was because of what the blonde had seen last night.
The door opened to show Lizzy on Ciel's arm. Serena stood as the two came to their place settings with a smile.
"I see you both are in a better mood today."
"Oh, yes." Lizzy smiled at Ciel as he pushed her chair in.
Sebastian was smirking when the Earl turned for his own seat and received a glare from his Master. The butler was quick to serve after everyone was settled. Lizzy giggled at the look shared by the butler and red head as he set a fresh cup of tea in front of her.
"What?" Ciel watched the blonde shake her head and take a bite of her breakfast. He turned to Serena but she just shrugged.
"Also, since you two are back to normal. I don't think that it is wise for early morning meetings by yourselves." She took a bite of the fruit that had been served with the meal.
"Serena!"
"Chaperone." She reminded him with a smile.
His face was shocked with what she implied. (I would never...)
She smirked. (I don't care. You're a couple of teenagers and shouldn't be left alone.)
He looked between her and the butler with a superior glance. (Perhaps I shouldn't leave you and Sebastian alone.)
She raised an eyebrow that appeared to be reasoning. (Neither of us have a reputation to protect and you should know how people love to gossip.)
Ciel shook his head. (Fine.)
Elizabeth watched as the two carried on a silent conversation. Her excitement quickly faded as she realized that whether or not Serena was in a relationship with Sebastian, the red head was closer to her fiancé than she had originally thought. Closer than she had been to him in years. Ciel's thoughts had been a mystery to her since his parents' deaths, but here was someone he had only known a short time and she knew him well enough to not say a word.
In the end, Ciel shook his head and started on the meal before him. Lizzy watched as her fiancé seemed resigned by whatever had transpired in the few moments and felt dread well up in her again.
"Miss Serena, I would like to talk you after breakfast."
"Okay." The red head tried to hide her confusion at the abrupt change in the other girl.
'Guess I won't know until later.'
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Serena walked into the salon a little apprehensive about what Elizabeth had wanted to talk about. No one had known what she wanted to talk about and in the end, Serena had no other choice but to face the younger girl head on. The blonde was seated in front of the fireplace and didn't acknowledge her until she sat in the chair that was opposite the lady. Even then, her eyes didn't leave the fire in front of her.
"How do you do it?"
"I'm sorry?" Serena tried to get the younger girl to look at her.
"You and Ciel. You've only known each other a short time, but yet, you act like you've known each other forever."
'Because I know a hell of a lot more about your fiancé. I've only been watching his life on a TV show for the last few years, of course I feel like I've known him forever.'
"I'm not sure." The red head looked into the fire, hoping to find an answer that would satisfy Elizabeth. "My grandmother used to say that some people just click. That they don't need to know each other to know each other."
"Why won't he click with me?" She choked out.
Serena tried to find something to say as the blonde broke down.
"Why won't he tell me about anything? I thought it was just his work for the Queen, but lately, it's like I don't know anything about him."
"Because he doesn't want to tell you about his life." Lizzy looked up, eyes full of tears. "Ciel's life is very...dark and you're not. He's doesn't want to show you that."
"But I can handle it."
"He doesn't think that you can."
"Why? I've been raised my entire life to handle it."
"Because you act like a normal girl." Serena leaned back in her chair. "A normal girl can't handle the life that Ciel lives. So, he'd rather be alone than bring someone in that's going to end up scarred for life or dead. You can't be an airhead and that's what you always show him."
"But, men want the weak lady they can protect. They want the girl who looks pretty and gossips and occupies herself with embroidery and shopping."
Serena sighed. "I don't disagree with that. Most men in this time want the woman that's going to sit home and be the perfect little countess."
Lizzy nodded and looked back to the flames.
"But, Ciel is not most men. He's a genius and is annoyed with normal people. He's not a fighter. Why do you think he surrounds himself with them? He doesn't want the woman that he has to worry about protecting. He's still going to worry, but it would ease him a little if he married someone that knew a little about protecting themselves, physically and mentally."
"He doesn't have to protect me." Her voice was small, quiet as she let out her biggest secret. "Mother insisted that I learn fencing, as well as other forms of swordsmanship. I also know how to shoot. But, Ciel doesn't want that wife."
"Yes, he does." The red head rubbed a hand over her face. "Alright, you two obviously aren't going to figure this out yourselves. I'll tell you."
"What?"
She looked around the room, toward the door, making sure that no one was around.
"From what I gather, your aunt was like the side that you show Ciel all the time? She was pretty, and perfect. She spent most of her time focused on making the manor a home and making her husband's life as comfortable as possible. Once Ciel came, she made perfect mother another of her priorities. I don't know if she knew about Vincent's work for the Queen, but if she did, she spent her time acting like it didn't exist. She knew no self-defense and wouldn't even think of something so outside of what a lady should do."
Lizzy nodded.
"You know that his parents were murdered, that it wasn't the fire that killed them. Ciel saw that." The lady gasped and she pushed on. "And that is what pushes him away from you. You act like there is not a thought going on up there other than the latest fashion and the latest gossip and what's Ciel doing. Vincent wanted a wife like that. Ciel doesn't."
"I don't want him to think that I can't be a good wife or a mother. I don't want to push him away because I'm stronger." She twisted the handkerchief in her hands.
"Yeah, unfortunately men seem to think that women can't be both. However, like I said, the man that we're talking about is different. He thinks a little differently than normal men. I think that Ciel would be able to see that." She stood up and looked outside. The salon looked over the part of the garden that was currently home to the two cats. They were playing some kind of game, chasing each other. "It's like cats."
"Cats?" Lizzy stood and came over to the window to look outside.
"See, he knows that she could easily come back and claw his face off. But, in some ways that is a good thing because it makes her a good protector for their offspring. Granted, Ciel doesn't like cats but there are a lot of animals that have that thought process. I honestly think that, taking his past into account, he would think like that as well."
"You really think so?"
"I do."
Her eyes brightened and a smile returned to her face. Lizzy spun around and started for the door.
"I have to talk to Ciel. Cccciiiiieeelll!"
Serena caught the other girl as she opened the door. The red head closed the door quickly. Pulling the younger girl back into the room, she pushed Lizzy back into her seat.
"Okay, you need to stop that too." Serena pointed at her.
"But, that's what I always do."
"Didn't we just talk about changing what side you show Ciel?" She sat back down in her own chair and rubbed her forehead.
"But..."
"Listen, you can't approach like that."
"Why?"
Serena looked around, rubbed a hand over her face and then twisted her hands in her lap.
"Because it's annoying. You yelling through the house for him makes everybody cringe."
The blonde sunk into her chair.
"Look, you want him to look at you as a woman that he would marry?" She waited for the other's nod. "Then act like it. Ladies don't go running through the house, yelling at the top of their lungs. If nobody is dying, they walk calmly out of a room, up the stairs and knock on the door."
Lizzy nodded again.
"Ciel is a quiet person. He's very cerebral and you're loud. Very loud. He can't handle loud if nobody's dying. There is a lot going on up there. Every time that you yell, this," Serena waved her hands around her head. "Stops. And everything that was in there flies out the window. Which automatically puts him a bad mood."
"Why?"
"It's like reading a book. Someone comes screaming into the room and what do you do? You drop the book to find out what's going on and in the meantime, you've lost your place. It's irritating, isn't it, when you find out that it's not an emergency? That is what happens to strategic people. He loses his mental place. A gentle knock, allows him to put a mental bookmark in what he's thinking about and he can come back to it later. Therefore, leaving him more receptive to whatever it is that you want to talk about."
"Right." She stood and marched out of the room without a word.
"Well, it is an improvement." Serena watched her go and flopped back in her chair. "It'll work for now."
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After Lizzy had left the salon, Serena felt an undeniable urge. Leaving the warm and cozy room, she struck out across the hall. The dining room held the door that was easiest to get to the servants' part of the house. Leaving the splendor of the Earl's living area, the red head went down the halls that were almost as familiar as the noble's rooms.
He was in the kitchen. Exactly as she had anticipated. He wasn't paying attention, mixing something in a large bowl. When she touched his shoulder, the man jumped.
"Oh, Miss Serena. Can I get you something?" Bardroy set down the bowl and wiped his hands on the towel hanging from his apron.
"Yes actually. Where are your cigarettes?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Where are your cigarettes?" She added a slight glare, hoping to intimidate him. It didn't work, but then again, he was a full head taller than her.
"Now, Miss. I really don't think that smoking is something that you need to be taking up. It's not something that a lady like yourself should do."
Serena grabbed the front of his white jacket and hauled him forward. Bard yelled but the look on her face made him focus.
"Look, I just spent the whole morning explaining to Lizzy what it is that makes Ciel not want to spend time with her, as well as what she needs to do to fix it. I want a cigarette and you constantly have one hanging out of your mouth. Now, where are your cigarettes?" She kept eye contact as the soldier weighed his options.
"Inside pocket."
She kept a hold of his jacket with one hand while the other delved into the jacket and pulled out a half full pack. Pulling out one, white stick, Serena smelled the tobacco and sighed.
"Oh, my old friend." She put the stick between her lips and looked at the cook expectantly. He hurried to light a match for her, afraid that she would start looking for one herself. The girl inhaled deeply.
"Thank you." She said, letting the smoke out.
"Miss, smoking is a very bad habit."
"I know. I know. After this, I am right back off it." She took another drag and felt herself relax farther. "I hate teenagers. I even hated myself as a teenager. Everything is life and death. So much drama. Just deal with it and move on, damn."
Bard laughed and went back to his bowl.
"Well, I guess that I can't say much. Lately, my life has been nothing but drama. It started when I came here."
"It normally does. There's something about this place that makes the unusual come out in everyone." He waved the whisk to encompass the house.
"What are you making anyway?" Serena tried to peek over his shoulder.
"It's a surprise." He moved so that the contents weren't seen.
'I should probably warn Sebastian about this.' The red head tried again and was blocked again.
'Warn me about what, my mate?'
'Bard is cooking a surprise.'
She heard a sigh in her head. 'I will deal with it. What are you doing in the kitchen?'
'Just needed a break from the angst.'
'The kitchen is no place for a lady.'
'Not a lady, remember. I'm the old maid that gets to be chaperone for the young and stupid teenagers.'
'I would not call you an old maid.' She could hear the suggestion in his voice and felt a blush come over her cheeks. 'You know what you said earlier about cats was incorrect.'
'Shut up. It sounded good and that's all that matters.'
"Miss Serena, are you alright?" Bard's question broke her concentration.
"I'm fine." She threw the cigarette out the small window above the counter. "Thank you, Bard. I'm ready to face them again now."
The cook shook his head as she smiled and walked out of the room without another word.
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When Lizzy finally made it to Ciel's office, she was surprised to find the door open and the room empty. She was coming back to the central staircase when she spotted her fiancé and his butler leaving the Earl's rooms. The girl opened her mouth to yell for him when Serena's face popped up in her mind. Straightening her shoulders, Lizzy walked down the hall and met them.
"Ciel."
"Oh, Lizzy. Was there something that you needed?" The Earl tugged on the cuffs of his outfit.
"I wanted to talk to you about something." She finally noticed that he was wearing fencing whites. "Are you practicing today?"
"Yes. I haven't been able to practice as I normally would recently."
"That's great." Everyone turned to Serena coming up the stairs. "Lizzy, why don't you be Ciel's partner?"
"You fence?" Ciel asked in amazement.
"Of course. Mother taught me." She said with her nose in the air.
"It's good to have a different partner every once in a while. Mix it up a little." The red head smiled.
"Perhaps you're right. Do you have your things with you, Lizzy?"
"I...I do." 'Is he really going to let me fence with him?'
Ciel looked to Serena and got a nod. "Alright. We normally use the ballroom for the space."
"I'll change and meet you there." She smiled while spinning for the door to her own rooms.
Serena watched her go before noticing that Ciel was staring at her.
"What? You said that you would feel better knowing that Lizzy could take care of herself. Here's your chance to test her."
The Earl just shook his head and strode down the hall. Sebastian leaned down and sniffed the air around his mate.
"Have you been smoking?" He asked.
"Let it go."
"Smoking is a disgusting habit." The demon leaned down to look her in the eye.
"I know and I quit a while ago."
"Then why do you smell like it now?"
"Because I was stressed and stole one from Bardroy."
"I will inform him that he is not to share his filthy cigarettes with you again." Sebastian straightened.
"I threatened him for it. It's not like he offered."
"You are using a crutch, just like the alcohol."
"Really, I didn't notice." Sarcasm rolled off her in waves as she crossed her arms. "Lizzy stressed me out. I had one cigarette and I'm better now. I already told Bard that one was it. You don't have to go around behind me and tell others what I can and cannot do. I know what I did was wrong."
"You are angry." The demon cocked his head to the side.
"Very perceptive. Could it be that you're trying the whole controlling thing again?" Serena whipped her skirts behind her and went down the stairs to the ballroom. Sebastian watched her go, rubbing his forehead.
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"Alright, here's what we're going to do." Serena picked up Lizzy's mask and tugged it over the younger girl's head. "Ciel needs to see that you are capable of defending yourself. He's not a normal man, but you still can't pummel him into the ground. All men have that pride thing that, when stomped on, rules out any better judgment. So, defeat him. Don't annihilate him."
"Right." The blonde straightened her plastron. "I'm afraid that I will hurt his pride if a girl is better than him."
"Ciel is not a fighter, and he knows it. He's the brains of the operation." She could see that this was getting them nowhere but Lizzy more stressed.
"I'll walk around the outside of the room. If you see me go like this," she gave a thumbs up. "You're doing good. If you see me do this," She waved her hands like she was tamping something down. "It means, take it easy. That you're pushing too hard."
Lizzy nodded and picked up her tipped foil. It had been a gift from her mother when the child had started to surpass her teacher. The metal was perfectly weighted, the weapon exactly suited to her size, height and grip. She swung it a few times, readying herself, before walking forward. Ciel met her in the center of the room. There was something different about facing him now. No matter what she said, no matter what she did, this was the test of whether their engagement would fail or survive. He knew it too. The lady found herself facing a different being than her childhood love. There was a coldness in his stance, weapon in hand with his fearsome butler just over his shoulder.
'Yes, I always tried to hide it, tried to rationalize it away, but Sebastian has always frightened me a little. It never mattered that much because I knew that he would protect Ciel and I outranked him. But here, my standing against his master, even in a mock battle, there is something terrifying that radiates from him. A warning, if this match becomes real.' A shiver ran down her spine. 'He really would do it. If I hurt Ciel, he'd...Sebastian would kill me. Good. That's how a butler of the Queen's Guard Dog should be.'
Both raised their swords in a salute. When the blades lowered, the threat of Sebastian faded from her mind. As they circled round each other, there was only her opponent. That she happened to love.
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Ciel had felt uneasy about this from the moment that Serena suggested it. This whole thing went against every courtly rule that he had ever learned, from tutors and from Sebastian. A man didn't fight a lady. A man definitely did not engage their fiancé in combat. However, Serena's words had echoed in his mind. Could Lizzy really defend herself? Could she actually beat him?
'Why do I listen to her so much? This is wrong. Even with the protective whites, it's possible to injure your opponent If I hurt Lizzy...I'll never forgive myself.' As he walked to the center, the Earl looked to the red head that started all this. 'Why does she have to get involved? Why do I listen to her? Why does a part of me hope that she is wrong and that this will push Lizzy further away? Why do I want the manor back to just us? Why do I feel like Lizzy is an intruder, a foreign being not welcome in our little world?'
He raised his own sword as Lizzy raised hers. Ciel admitted that her form was excellent. There was a possibility that Serena had been right, that she had seen his fiancé's talent when he hadn't. But, it didn't matter. It didn't change what he wanted in his life.
'I know what I want. I want to find the people who tried to destroy the Phantomhives. Who tried to destroy me. I know that Sebastian will bring me that. I want to show the world that we're not dead. That the Earl of Phantomhive has risen from the ashes of his own death and created an empire that would never had happened if we had been left alone. I want the family, my family, to endure.' His thoughts shifted in an instant from the past to the future. 'I want Serena to stay. I want her to feel that this is her home. I want to watch that demon give in to his emotions, give in to the humanity that she represents. I want to show her all of my home, our home. Serena can look into the depths of the darkness that surrounds the Phantomhive family. I don't want Lizzy to ever have to. I don't want her to see what I've done. What I've become. What I will be. I don't want her to know what Sebastian is. If I let her get close...I won't.'
Ciel darted into her space with the first thrust. Elizabeth blocked and leapt back to put some space between them. He feinted to the left before attacking the dominate right side.
'I don't want her to know how far I've fallen.'
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Serena circled the room on edge. There was a killer instinct that surrounded them all, filing the room with its cold promise of death. She looked to Sebastian, but the demon was merely watching the two humans before him. She looked to Elizabeth, but the blonde was too focused on survival to be radiating that feeling.
It was a shock to realize that it was coming from Ciel.
She moved quickly around the outskirts of the room, dodging the moving fighters easily by staying behind the columns that supported a balcony over the room. Sebastian watched her as she ducked behind columns as his Master and Lady Elizabeth performed a deadly dance in the room's center. When Serena reached the demon, he had made sure to stay slightly in front of her.
"I thought Ciel wasn't good in fencing?"
"Whatever gave you that idea?" Red eyes kept watch over the match even as he answered his mate.
"But, in both the manga and the anime, Ciel isn't a fighter."
"When we first came to the manor, Master set about eradicating whatever weakness that had made him vulnerable to his attackers. While it is true that his talents do not lie in physical combat, Master has made sure that he can be a deadly opponent" Sebastian moved them back a little as the fighting was coming closer. "However, he could not change his body's makeup. Master cannot keep up this pace for very long."
"Hit hard, get them down, before your body gives out."
"Exactly. His lungs will only tolerate this level of activity for so long, while Lady Elizabeth has more stamina but not the killer instinct behind her." A smirk came over the demon's face as he watched both fencers throw more sophisticated moves at the other. "She still sees her fiancé while he only sees another opponent to defeat."
"Why do you seem so happy about this?" Serena asked suspicious.
"I don't know what you mean."
"There is that look again. You're proud that he can do this. That Ciel could fight and defeat Elizabeth without a thought." She yanked a little on his tailcoat to bring his attention to her. "He's not your little demon child."
"I assure you that I do not think of my master as a child. Besides, demons do not have children."
The red head jerked back and his attention shifted to the mock battle again.
'If demons don't have children, then how did Sebastian get to be here? Was he...human?'