Hello one and all. It's been a long time hasn't it? Sometimes inspiration just takes its sweet time. Life can get hectic too. But for those of you who STILL (amazingly, I may add) review this hoping I will finish this, here is an honest attempt to get back to it. I'm deathly afraid my style won't be up to par... I'm rusty af lol. But let's start off slowly, shall we?

Shout out to a Zoe who has promised to stalk me via reviews. Your persistence is duly noted. And appreciated :)

Usual disclaimers apply folks. Enjoy. I aim to make the next chapter longer.

Jagged glass sharpening against flesh.

An unbearable cloying of molten bile.

The screech of a raven echoing throughout his skull

This was the essence of Sebastian's pain. Ciel both shrunk and marveled at the way in which he was immersed in another being's emotion. As if it were a meal made only for the mouth of his soul. Something that had to be devoured in order to fathom it properly.

His soul ate.

Of ache and loss and little bones perfumed by death.

Ciel clasped Sebastian's hands and attempted to nourish him in return. He fed him jubilee, nectar, and the feel of blades of grass crushed beneath bare feet. It did not make the pain dissapear. Rather, it twined with it, diluting it into something more bearable. Less monstrous. No longer quite as lonely.

"How are you doing that?" Sebastian asked quietly. The god gazed at the younger male through crimson eyes softened by gratitude.

"I wish I could say," Ciel answered, "but I am not altogether certain. It is... nearly instinctual. You are doing it too. Much less consciously than I am I imagine. I am just mimicking what I feel from you."

"Curious."

The fledgeling nodded. "Quite. Do you feel somewhat better?"

"Yes. Thank you, Ciel. For understanding."

"I have a feeling I understood much of nothing until this union, Sebastian."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Your long life has been such a mystery to me. But now I can feel the countless years that you have lived brushing against me like the wind. Whispering stories. Is it the same for you?" Ciel looked up from beneath the shadows of his lashes. His mismatched irises were both beautiful and haunting.

Sebastian closed his eyes for a moment before confirming with a nod. "I feel warmth and newborn life along the edges of my being. A soul unburdened. Untainted. Yet reaching towards darkness."

At this the fine cobalt hair upon Ciel's head shook as he fixed a very serious gaze upon his lover. His voice was steel as he spoke, "Ignorance is a blissfulness that only the foolish would hope to abide by forever, Sebastian. There is misery in the world, is there not? Should I spend my entire life fleeing from it that my soul may remain a veil of white forever? Is that what you would wish of me?"

One large hand rose to stroke the plane of a rosy cheek. "No, Ciel, precious thing. Should you fall into despair I will be there to pull you up and away from it. And should there ever be a reason that I fail to do so," he whispered to the world beneath the world as if his every word were the incantation of promise, "then I will follow you to the pit of it, and we shall despair together."

Ciel's smile was radiant. "I look foward to it."

A fleeting twang of guilt stung Ciel's senses as though he had been swatted on the wrist, a method of reprimand employed by his mother when he had been smaller yet. The brow above his newly pigmented eye rose like a dark wave of doubt.

"Something you wish to discuss, love?" The fledgling asked in the usual tongue-in-cheek manner.

"Yes... In fact there is. And as much as wish it were not, it is of dire importance."

"What do you-?"

"Your mother, Ciel. Rachel has fled Olympus. The world above is suffering, human and animal alike wasting away. Nothing grows. All has been thrown into an imbalance that becomes more chaotic every day. None... know where to find her.

The only way in which to free you from the invisible shackles of this world was to form a union with you. A contract of the highest bond achievable. We are a part of one another. Your entire being radiates with it. And as progeny of the Underworld, you are now welcome to come and go as I do. I can only hope this gift is enough to make a difference."

The god of the dead absorbed an immediate churning pain from Ciel. Blood-red eyes observed his lover, watching as Ciel's expression became pinched and the emotion receeded away.

"Do not hold it back often, little one. It is not only your pain to bear any longer."

And then all at once the churning became a quick, white-hot slash against his heart. Sebastian drew in a shallow breath before enveloping the smaller body with his own. "We will find a way."

"No, Sebastian. I will find a way. I must. She is my mother. All she has ever done is try to protect me from all of the heartache that life brought her. Perhaps it was not the best of ways in which to do so... but, in some way, I betrayed her. I-" Ciel wiped at a lone tear resting upon the corner of an unchanged azure eye. "I have to be the one to search for her."

"You know nothing of the mortal world, Ciel. They may be quite weak by comparison but can nevertheless be cunning and dangerous when left unchecked. Especially in this unprecedented state of savage desperation they have been introduced to."

"Perhaps you could acompany me?"

"Perhaps... although in light of the madness I may very well need to return to this realm, if only to be certain that nothing strange plagues it, as well."

"Undeestood. Although, if it is eyes and ears you have need of, I may know of a group largely capable of the job."

"Oh?"

Ciel simply smiled mischievously.

The king of the world below and his mate eyed their gathered forces.

Lined up in the center of the palace courtyard stood Bard, Finny, and Mey-Rin. There was a shuffling of feet against stone as Pluto's massive body sat mere feet behind them, his tail wagging expectantly.

"It is of the utmost importance," Sebastian began, "that should you see anything out of the ordinary, you make it known immediately. Rachels dissapearance has caused widespread starvation and consequentially a great slew of deaths. A desperate mortal may wish to recover a lover. Family. Attempt to escape and regain life.

This is not to be allowed under any circumstances. All souls may be lead within by those whom assist me. But no mortal is to enter. And no dead are to exit. Clear?"

Pluto tossed his head back and let loose a yowling affirmation that left his master glaring.

The three nymphs nodded.

"We promise to use the feather you have given us, Sebastian," Mey-Rin nodded as she clutched the soft, dark, irridecent plumage in both pale hands.

"You can count on us Ciel!" Finny declared proudly.

"I always have," their dear young god smiled gently. As he remembered the task set before him, however, his lips tightened into a hard line.

Ciel had never been anywhere close to the mortal realm. His mother had banned the notion on the grounds that a mortal too clever could trick just as well as any god. And with no power besides strength to speak of, Ciel had been dubbed inadequately prepared for such adventure, and that was that.

He wondered: what would he find there, in that unexplored territory? Would he be able to find his mother? To convince her to return home? To finally wield power enough to make a difference?

Sebastian whistled a trilling melody that brought on the entrance of his pitch black horse drawn carriage. He turned to Ciel, extending a hand in invitation. A hand to hold onto should things prove difficult. A grip of love eternal.

"Shall we?"

Ciel's bare feet touched upon cold, wet, white.

"What is this?" He asked in awe as his toes sank into the chilling slush.

Sebastian answered solemnly

"The end of what was once unending summer."

Wish me luck :)