My first shot at writing a Kuroshitsuji fanfiction. I do not own any of these characters, and they belong to their rightful owners.
They say there will be a second season! This is just a fantasy outcome I wrote as a continuation of the series, so I hope you enjoy it. As warning to younger audiences beneath 18, mature scenes to occur as story progresses.
In case you were wondering; Poupée means Doll in French.
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-26-
Poupée
As the music slowly faded away, Ciel could only hear the sound of his own heavy breathing, and the steady thump of the heart held deep within the black clad torso that he pressed his forehead against. He searched inside himself; all the thousands of questions he wanted to scream at the demon held captive beneath him floated up to the surface, but he could not settle for a single one. Overwhelmed by the pain that gripped his body like a vice and shook him senseless, he finally managed to whisper forcibly, "Say something."
"I didn't know you felt that way," Ciel felt his body suddenly plunge into subzero, his breath catching in his throat like a stone and nearly choking him, as the flirtatious purr caused Ciel's head to shoot up, as if a bucket of ice water had been thrown over his head. The face did not belong to the that did not belong to Sebastian, but to a very intoxicated and enamored Grell. Ciel's eyes widened in shock, as he slowly looked around him, seeing that the ornately adorned Phantomhive parlor had translated itself into the brooding scarlet and black bed chambers of the Rouge Manor. A little frantic with confusion, Ciel blinked, unable to comprehend the change, before he looked down and noticed that his current position was straddling the rather puzzled Death God's chest, fistfuls of his master's shirt and vest balled up in his fists.
"I-I--" Ciel stammered, as he watched the crimson reaper's lips curve into a wicked smile, "What... I--"
Slowly, he released his hold on his master's clothes, and rose slowly on his forearms, timidly as if he was straddling some sort of dangerous animal that could tear him apart. Despite his current situation, his head pounded with a feverish pulse, and his heart cried with a sharp pain from the cruel searing hot knife that Sebastian had plunged so far into him by trapping him in his own painful memories. The feeling of betrayal and ultimate disappointment festered in the pit of Ciel's stomach. The knife twisted further, as through his matted bangs, the startled boy blinked down at the person beneath his legs, feeling immediately the sense of urgency rise up along in his spine and scream at his mind to move. Unfortunately, as the boy subtly shifted one leg, the Death God snatched ahold of his wrist and pulled him down, netting his fingers around the back of the boy's head and pulling that delicate face close. Despite the obvious reluctance from his little victim, Grell attempted to plant a kiss upon those soft pursed lips, though Ciel wriggled too much to allow the reaper such satisfaction.
"If you would have told me that sooner, I would have easily helped you," Grell crooned, though Ciel thrashed a little, trying to keep his distance as best he could, "You kept saying all those romantic things, confessing how you truly feel~!"
The enamored reaper twisted his long fingers in the snow white hair, his voice lilting as he quoted the boy's declarations verbatum, "'You leave me here to rot, and you play these stupid mind games', and 'destroy me, already!', and 'make up your mind!' So you actually wanted it all this time! I should have known you were just playing hard to get~!"
"THAT WAS NOT MEANT FOR YOU!" Ciel shouted, wriggling desperately, teeth gritted. The knife buried in his heart twisted further.
"Oh really?" Grell looked up at him, one eyebrow cocked in scrutiny, "Then who was it for?"
Ciel would have said exactly who it was for, but as he thought back to the moments before he came to, and the desperate situation he had woken up in, the more he just wanted to tear out of the reaper's grasp as fast as he could, run outside, and scream his heart out into the night sky. No wound in the world could amount to the pain born once again to Ciel's tortured mind and soul, and slowly, he could feel his own resolve crumble into the churning sea of chaos raging within himself. The frustration of the illusion taunted and tore at his mind, and the rude awakening was the beyond the breaking point. He twisted a little in the reaper's grasp, his effort to escape dwindling as he was overcome by the torment of the beautiful, cruel lie. His wounded psyche grasped at straws, trying to find a reason behind the mirage; a denial that could save his sanity.
"I-it must have been the alcohol," Ciel said, thinking back to the party that had occurred earlier that night, and how his insistant drunken mistress had forced him to partake in some wine, "It made me delusional."
"Oh please!" Grell scoffed, "That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard! Who's ever heard of getting drunk off one glass of wine?!"
Ciel looked down, cursing that his own self soothing lie had fallen through so easily. He paused, thinking deeply in a chaotic frenzy; had he actually seen Sebastian, or was it just a dream? What sort of thing could have brought upon such a horrendous hallucination?
Overwhelmed by despair, Ciel finally shook his head and twisted suddenly, breaking the reaper's hold upon his body and tearing free of those wretched fingers. Tumbling to the floor like a doll, he bolted up to his feet and towards the door, only to have a hand firmly clamp down upon his wrist and jerk him backwards against a cloth covered wall. A forearm encircled his shoulders and chest, pinning him against his captor, while those fingers kept an iron grip upon his own arm, biting into the fragile flesh.
"Ha~!" Grell cheered victoriously with a little giggle, "I've got you now!"
Ciel twisted in vain, a game he had played so many times before with the reaper, though this time, he had no assistance available to free him. He felt the accursed reaper nuzzle the side of his face, drawing his tongue along his jawbone and coaxing a sickening shudder to crawl up the boy's spine. Ciel thrashed a little, and Grell giggled sinisterly, turning his captive around to look him in the eye.
The boy stared up at him, past him into the darkness of the wall beyond the scarlet hair. He stood defeated, as he felt his head blare with unfathomable pain, temples throbbing from the endless run through the mental maze. What he had seen. The touch of those white gloved hands, the soft soothing scent of black tea and white roses, the remarkable taste of the chocolate on his tongue, and the sound of that heart that pounded with it's bold devotion. That dream had been so beautiful... the cruelty of it all was that none of it had been real. What's more, he had ended up in this dire situation, conned into a sickening and dire situation of which there was no escape. His forehead was still warm from pressing it against Sebastian's chest. How that brief moment had been the most comforting he had ever experienced within those hectic disturbing years. That one fleeting moment within the partial embrace of the one he feared the most. Within those arms, believing that he had never been betrayed, that his servants still survived, that his world had not been disturbed. How his heart shattered, knowing that the heart that he had listened to had not been the demon's at all, but the enamored scarlet devil's that now hovered above him, face smirking with twisted irony. Sebastian had tricked him a final time; had thrown everything he had held dear into his face and rubbed it like gravel against his eyes, leaving him in the clutches of a villian to face one more humiliation.
Ciel couldn't take it anymore.
It had been so cruel, so horrible, so mortifying...
It had been the final blow.
There was nothing for it.
Ciel allowed it all to take over him. He felt the darkness bite down onto his heart and rip it asunder. Tears flowed easily from his eyes, and he cried out in agony, his trapped hand flexing painfully while his free one grasped his forehead and cradled it.
"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Ciel shouted at the floor, "I WANT HIM OUT OF MY HEAD!"
Grell blinked at the deranged young man standing before him, and he raised an eyebrow cynically, "Who?"
"Don't play stupid, Grell! You know who I mean!" Ciel shouted, eye wild with torment, "Sebastian!"
He shook his head violently, "I'm seeing him in the dark. He's haunting me in my dreams, torturing me with these painful memories and things that could be and should have been. Mocking me with these delusions. Trying to break my soul with his endless parade of painful illusions that keep flashing in my head. He's tearing me apart from the inside out!"
"Oh really?" Grell said, releasing the boy's hand with an air of annoyance, "And how do you suppose he's doing that?"
"I don't know!" Ciel barked viciously, "I just know he's haunting me and I want him gone!"
Ciel stared at the ground, and saw swing into view a little glass talisman. Taking it into his hand, he stared into the transparent trinket, an idea floating to the surface of his chaotic sea. His idea in full bloom, he looked up at those jade green orbs with frenzied enlightenment, "I need you to improve the Ward! Make it stop him from entering my head!"
Grell put his hands up, "Sorry, honey. That's not my department."
Ciel grasped ahold of the older man's torso, balling the fabric into his fists with desperation, "Then call William! Get him to find someone to put something into it that'll keep Sebastian from tearing my head apart!"
"And why would I want to do that?" Grell smiled, tilting his head to the side and flipping his hair playfully, "I love Sebas-chan~! I'm jealous that you get to be mind-fucked by him every day, to tell you the truth. You don't know how lucky you really are."
"FINE! You can have him!" Ciel cried, "I'm sick of his games! I want him out of my head! I've worked for you for six years! That's triple what Sebastian worked for me! You can at least do this for me!"
"Psh!" Grell scoffed, laughing a little at the thought, "I don't owe you anything! You're my little slave, remember? You sold yourself to me to get away from Sebas-chan. You're just lucky you have the immunity card right now."
Ciel felt the darkness suffocating him as it pressed down on his shoulders. He grasped frantically at solutions, frustrated to the point of wanting to grasp the Death God's throat and throttling him. His tears flowed freely, stinging his face with the salty liquid, making his eye see red. The stress and the hopelessness overwhelmed him, and he finally succumbed to the pressure, falling to his knees, and allowing his head to hang with his hands in his lap.
The Death God eyed the boy with a mixture of slight annoyance and intrigue. Tapping his chin lightly, he considered the wretched mess that lay silent on the floor, cradling his snowy mop as if it weighed a ton. Giggling to himself with wicked delight at the little plan forming within his head, he knelt down and took the boy's chin by his fingertips, guiding it up to look at him.
"Alright," Grell smiled, "I'll take your precious little trinket to get it fixed up."
Ciel looked at him with a look that dwelled between disbelief and suspicion. The crimson mistress's head tilted to the side as he continued, "Let mama take care of everything, sweetie~!"
The boy considered the reaper's words carefully, though he felt a small puddle of relief gently lap against the cinders of his heart, cooling them, though it was too late to reduce the damage already inflicted. He managed to whisper softly, "Thank you."
"Of course," Grell smiled widely, his teeth shining in the candlelight menacingly, "I'm sure you're familiar with the term: you don't get something for nothing?"
The Death God lightly stroked the side of the young boy's cheek, "Once I do this for you, we're going to have fun. A LOT of fun. No more of this 'pain threshold' business, you got me?"
Ciel could feel the nausea bubble up again, the acid lapping against his uvula in prayer, as he felt the burn of those fingertips as they slid against his flesh. His brutalized mind, however, begged him for relief. It cried out in misery as the memory of the black tea and white roses still lingered about his senses.
Though he was reluctant to do so, Ciel swallowed the acid down, and with his head still pounding from grief, he managed to lift and drop it in agreement.
"Do whatever you want. Just find out how to banish him from tormenting me again," Ciel whispered painfully.
Grell gave a victorious cheer, jumping up excitedly.
"Oh!" Grell paused and looked down at him, "By the way, I forgot to tell you something."
Ciel didn't look up, but the reaper continued nonetheless, "We altered the Ward years ago, though we didn't know what the after affects would be like. Gave it an extra little something-something."
The little butler looked up this time, though a bit slowly, and his sapphire eye was trained upon the reaper, awaiting what this unknown altercation could possibly have been.
"It was a barrier that the developers came up with. It makes it so that Sebas-chan couldn't actually touch you," Grell smirked, "See, Will thought that you'd be too easily reacquired if he could still lay his hands on you. You're a hostage, remember? So, the new little barrier makes it so that Sebas-chan would feel incredible pain if he even grazed your skin."
Ciel looked at Grell for a long moment, considering this new fact with great thought. If that was indeed the truth, then had he been worrying over nothing all those years? Also, though it was miniscule, Ciel could feel a glimmer of sadness. A spiritual bond, and now a physical bond... both severed completely. However, as he recalled the way Sebastian had been tearing his mind apart piece by piece, he felt the overwhelming need to obliterate that mental bond completely. That gentle clasp of his hand upon his own had been a trick, an illusion created from sheer maliciousness, and the more he reflected on the ugly truth behind the beautiful lie, the more the boy took joy in the fact that the demon would suffer if he ever lay a finger upon him. Despite that victorious emotion, Ciel could feel a lump form in his throat; a ball composed of sadness and disappointment.
"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Ciel choked.
"Well, I forgot," Grell shrugged simply, "Besides, Will thought it be best you remain vigilant. If you knew you couldn't be touched, you wouldn't have stayed aware of his presence. Just because he can't touch you, doesn't mean he can't still manipulate other things to capture you, right?"
Ciel stood up from the floor, and straightened his back, "I'm... grateful."
"You should be," Grell turned flipped his long crimson locks dramatically with a little toss of his head, "The things I do for love! One should canonize me for my generosity."
The boy couldn't decide what exactly he felt within him. The intensity of his own despair felt like a long heavy black cloak hanging from his shoulders, and there was a puddle of sadness that welled up within his depths as he looked down at his own hands, knowing that his own skin was a untouchable barrier. The knowledge confirmed one solid truth: the beautiful, terrible memory of Sebastian's hand upon his shoulder and wrapped over his hand, was truly a fantasy. However, a glimmer of relief, coupled with a smirk of victory, claimed Ciel's face, as he clenched his fists. He was invulnerable to Sebastian's tries. He was frustrated, and destroying him from the inside out, but he was powerless to tear him limb from limb. He enjoyed this knowledge, and he looked up at the crimson devil standing before him with a dark gratitude that his game piece had supplied him with the ultimate defense, and soon, he would be completely rid of any of Sebastian's attacks.
"It's late, so I will leave you to your beauty sleep," Ciel said, partially bowing.
Grell, a little flattered by the phrase, blushed softly, but as he whirled around to continue the romantic tirade, he saw to his own disappointment that the bedroom door swung ajar, and the space where the boy once stood was vacant. Crossing his arms in a huff, Grell scoffed, "Somehow, I feel like I'm being used..."
† † † †
It had been two days since that night, and as Dahlia Angelina sat alone within her darkened bedroom, she stared down at the delicate porcelain features of her beloved Faust doll. She softly brushed his hair with her fingertips, reminiscing about that concert within the parlor, and wondering about that puzzling reaction that her dear friend had to the enchanting music of that amazing artist. She thought back to the moment she had touched the bow to the strings, and looking at Ciel's eyes as they closed and he sat back in a chair. She could remember feeling her little heart flutter at this rare sight, and hoped that he was indeed truly appreciating her play, and sharing in her love for the ethereal musician's masterpiece. It was after a few moments, that his behavior became quite peculiar.
The butler started acting rather strangely, touching his face slightly, before he got up out of the chair, crossed the room to the windows, and just stared out them for a moment. Afterwards, the boy had traveled out of the parlor and began wandering the hallways, murmuring to thimself inaudible things, before he returned to the parlor and stood in place for a moment. Though it disturbed the child to see him react as such, she did not falter in her performance, playing the melody with all her heart, determined to complete it.
It was during this, that his most bizarre behavior emerged. Still within a trance, the boy had crossed the room and lingered by the dessert table, still murmuring to himself. He even sampled the cake, breaking off a piece and devouring it slowly, savoring it with a silent bliss. He also began touching his temples, acting as if he was possessed by a bitter headache. It was during this time that he turned and walked up to her mother, who was standing and observing his behavior with a confused furrowed brow. Dahlia then watched as the butler grasped ahold of her mother's hand and waist, and began dancing with him. Taking this rare behavior with delight, the small lady played happily, watching as the couple danced, though Ciel still continued to whisper to himself, and her mother was so intoxicated that he continued to giggle constantly. Closing her eyes for a moment and allowing the music to envelop her mind too, Dahlia's song entered its beautiful crescendo.
When she opened her eyes and drew the bow away from the violin, she discovered that she had been abandoned within the desolate parlor. Saddened that she had been left alone, but more than satisfied that she had truly entertained Ciel to the point of dancing, the girl walked over to the candles and blew them out one by one It was the next morning, when she had spent a good portion of it within the butler's company, that she felt a slight depression.
He refused to speak about the concert from the night before. Any mention that she made of it was immediately hushed, and whenever she reached for her violin, he would depart from the room altogether. Though he never did inquire about where she had learned her music, he seemed to want to avoid the subject of his behavior altogether, if not every subject she brought up. He opted for silence over everything else, and only carried out his duties with a silent thoroughness. Dahlia watched him work with a soft sadness, and devoted her time trying to get him to brighten up a little. She had gathered up her little chessboard and pieces, and held it up to him, urging him to play with her. The butler didn't look at her, but said simply, "I'm too busy for that nonsense."
Sad, Dahlia sighed and walked away, defeated. She had tried to help him with his work, but he ended up pushing her out of his workspace and saying, "You're a lady of high society. That is my job. Stop being a nuisance."
From what she gathered, he just wanted to be alone.
Honoring his wishes, the little girl now sat upon her bed, holding her little doll in her hands. Looking into that little crystal blue bead, she felt the trickle of sadness drip against her aching heart. The song was supposed to gain his approval, not cause him to alienate her. She did not understand why he was behaving as such; he had looked like he enjoyed the recital. He had even danced! However, his demeanor refused to budge from it's silent stoic state, and she felt uneasy. She did not blame the music, but rather herself. She must have gotten something wrong; missed a note, or perhaps she stumbled on a piece and upset it's beautiful rhythm. Perhaps she gave him a headache, and he was upset with her for playing so shoddily. The more she considered what might have gone wrong to cause him to act in such a way, the more she felt a guilty depression grip her little heart.
She sniffed, biting back a little tear that bubbled up in her eyes, before she sat up straight and whispered softly, "Faust, what did I do to deserve his scorn?"
The silent little doll just stared up at her, his lifeless sapphire eye bearing no comfort for the little girl's unease. She sighed heavily, clutching the little doll to her chest, "Things were fun when I could watch my toys dance... but, without my candles, I can't play with you the way I used to."
She looked timidly over at the little black cabinet that remained secured, the light of the fireplace bathing it in a soft orange glow that flickered menacingly. Dahlia hugged the Faust doll to her small chest, feeling her heart beat a little faster with fear. Within that cabinet was her beloved life giving candles, but amongst them now dwelled that mischievous little toy that had given her nightmares for the past few days. She shivered a little, drawing the little shawl up around her shoulders in an attempt to shelter herself from the nonexistent wind.
Despite her fears, she glanced back down at her little porcelain treasure, and said, "I really do wish that I could make you move again."
The little girl decided that she would seek out her only source of comfort in the cold dreary realm of uncertainty. Getting up from the bed, she walked across the floor to her violin, which sat in the chair, missing the touch of it's owner's fingers. Embracing the neck and bow with her small hands, Dahlia brought the violin up to her shoulder and played a few solemn notes. She glanced over at her little Faust doll, which watched her intently as she fiddled with the instrument. She considered it for a few moments, before she brought the bow up and began to play the familiar playful melody that she had used many times before. Though she lacked the essential candles for the proper awakening, she played the doll's song, looking at the little Faust doll as he stared right back at her.
Then, it twitched.
Dahlia gasped, taking a step backwards as the little doll suddenly opened it's mouth in a silent moan, and threw it's head back, it's little fingers twisting in it's silken hair with a maddened grip. The little girl's eyes widened in terror, as the doll thrashed on the covers, as if in burning pain. Seeing that it was in peril, the little girl took a timid step towards it, only to have it turn onto it's side and stagger up to it's feet, quivering and twitching as the music continued. The Faust doll then looked up at her with a piercing sharp blue stare, eye wide and flickering in the light of the fireplace, illuminating the severe state of discontent within that little porcelain head. Dahlia, though she was scared of the doll's unexpected behavior, felt a spark of accomplishment within herself, a sense of graduation from bringing the little doll to life without the assistance of the enchanted candles. However, as she watched the tormented toy's awkward dance upon the bedsheets, her pride was eclipsed by a faint veil of dread.
All around her, she could feel the pressure of darkness; a deep chill that crawled on spindly fingertips along her spine, and a looming feeling behind her that somewhere and everywhere within the room, were eyes trained on her. Slowly, that inkling of dread began to focus itself to one point; directly behind her.
Her breath catching in her chest, the little girl bit her lip in anxiety, her little body shivering from her own personal fear, as she slowly turned around to glance briefly over her shoulder.
The darkness of the room, as solid and claustrophobic as it had been, yielded no flesh eyes that belonged to the deadly stare that had caused her such paranoia. However, as her own crystal blue orbs looked around the room, eyes wide with panic, her attentions were drawn to the many lifeless glass and painted eyes of the toys that lined her room. Feeling a twinge of fear blossom into a rose of pure panic, Dahlia jumped out of her skin as she heard a small thud sound from the floor behind her. Looking down, she barely caught a glimpse of the azure coated Faust doll, as it staggered blindly across the room; twitching and quivering abnormally, every joint tweaking in a random matter. The possessed little toy picked its way blindly though the room, and Dahlia's eyes widened further with fear, as the little Faust doll's destination loomed into view; the black cabinet.
As Dahlia opened her mouth to cry out at the little doll, it laid it's hands down upon the tiny silver handles, and pulled. Luckily for the little girl, the doors stayed closed, held shut by the single lock. Feeling a deep sense of relief, Dahlia exhaled, with a little smile, remembering the cool metal that lay suspended on a ribbon around her neck. She would have giggled at her own foolishness, if it wasn't for the immediate feeling of something of light wieght grasping ahold of her skirt and making it's way up her nightgown. Looking down, she could barely make out the outline of the little Faust doll, as it scaled her garment like a cloth mountain, it's eye glinting up at her with a possessed madness. She screamed, wanting to break it's hold on her, only to realize that she couldn't remove her hands from her violin. Try as she might to will her hands to abandon their practice, they refused to submit to her will, playing as if they were only designed for that purpose alone. Desperate, the little girl tried to move her legs to dislodge the little doll's grasp on her, but it was no use.
Sure enough, the little Faust doll reached it's tiny hands up to grasp ahold of the ribbon that rested about her neck, tugging on it frantically to break it's hold upon the little silver key. Feeling the jerking of the ribbon cutting into her delicate flesh at the back of her neck, and unable to free her hands to even release the ribbon herself, Dahlia shook her head, shouting for the little doll to let her go. With one great tug, the doll finally tore the ribbon free of the little girl's neck, and toppled down to the ground, clasping in it's hand the key. Dahlia toppled onto the bed, and watched as the doll once again went back to it's previous task, her eyes widening in terror as it planted the key into the keyhole embedded in the cabinet's face.
Slowly, she heard the sound of the tumblers rotating within the lock, each one as deafening as her own pounding heart beat. Ages she waited, staring at the little black cabinet. The Faust doll collapsed backwards onto the floor with a little thud, and lay still as a brick. Dahlia's fingers were still glued to their instruments, and although she had fallen against the bed, they continued to play the haunting tune on their own accord. She struggled to get a grip on her own fingers, praying that they would surrender their grasp upon the hot violin and bow. She could feel the sting of blisters beginning to well up on her fingertips, and she felt the feeling of fear grip her as she heard the tiny creaking of the cabinet doors from within the darkness. Her eyes widened, as she looked at the little box, and saw a small white hand emerge from the depths of the cabinet's maw, pressing against the inside of the little doors. Bathed in the flickering orange of the wicked flames that crackled within her fireplace, the little Devil doll looked up at the girl, little garnet eyes twinkling with a sly menace. Upon that delicate milky porcelain face, slowly crept a small smile.
Dahlia's breath froze in her throat, as she saw the little doll walk towards her, little steps making pit pat sounds against the floor. Shaking her head, the little girl cried, "I'm not playing for you!"
The little doll paused, tilting it's head to the side as if contemplating what she said, if not mocking her. The possessed melody continued, and the doll smiled further, taking a few more steps towards the little maiden. Dahlia got up from the bed, and tried to back away from the doll towards the door, but the little toy had other plans. In a blink, it was gone within the dark, and Dahlia whirled around, hearing little tapping noises within the room. Looking all around, she thought she saw the little Devil, standing amongst her other toys, who's glass eyes now looked like they were all trained on her. Dahlia would have screamed with fright, backing towards the only source of light within her room; the fireplace. She could feel those cold hard stares pressing against her flesh, pushing her back towards the flickering flames with sharp daggers of cold.
A loud tapping sound caused her to whirl around, and she came face to face with two glittering ruby eyes. The little Devil stood upon the mantle, one hand behind his back, the other lying at his side. The doll smirked softly, and Dahlia felt as if her feet had rooted themselves to the floor, refusing to obey her desperate need to tear from that crimson stare and bolt out the door. She gulped, and the little doll reached one small delicate hand towards the little girl's face, and lighter than a feather, caressed a line along her jaw to her chin, bringing her face closer to him. Dahlia's heart froze, as the Devil doll opened it's mouth, and in a soft, dulcet voice, said two words: "Fetch him."
Dahlia's feet flew from the room, and no sooner had she gone down the hall, then the violin fell free from her fingers, to clatter upon the floor. The little girl ran up the stairwell towards the loft, and grasped ahold of the handle, tearing the door open and running into the darkened room, praying that Ciel would wake up quickly.
† † † †
Ciel was rudely awakened by the feeling of ten small fingers gripping ahold of his shoulder and shaking him back and forth rather roughly while he lay in his bed. Turning to his side to see the cause of the irritation, he could barely make out the outline of his little mistress. Sitting up, he rubbed the sleep from his eye, and tiredly bit, "What are you doing awake?"
The little girl looked disturbed, her eyes wide in terror and her little fingers gripping his shirt with a deep urgency. Ciel could hear her heart beating rapidly, like a bird's, and her breath was ragged. Concern gripping him, he opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, only to have her already whisper, timidly, "Ciel... come to my room."
The butler's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, as the little girl embraced him, conveying just how terrified she truly was. Her little body shook uncontrollably, and she whimpered softly. Looking up at him, the little girl continued, "Ciel... you know that Faust doll of mine?"
The young man nodded, studying her little face with with one eye with deep concentration, as she took a deep breath and continued, "W-well, he... he belonged to a set."
"A set?" Ciel repeated, his own sense of dread gripping him almost immediately, as she nodded her head heavily.
"H-he came with a partner," she said, looking up into his eye, seeing the darkened expression of dread creep up into his face. Ciel felt the pit of his stomach churn with painful unease. Within his heart, he felt the crystals blossom, their spires stabbing through the walls of his being with paranoia and fear, as the next words to spill from the little girl's lips confirmed that his fears were real, "What is Faust, without his Devil?"
Ciel's body froze in place, staring down at the little girl. Deep within his diamond shell, the darkness within the pit of his existence seized his mind, gripping it with an iron fist and squeezing tightly. Ciel found it almost difficult to breathe, but something else lurking within the recesses of his consciousness demanded he go. A feeling of revenge for the torment sizzling under his skin. Gripping the little girl's wrist tight enough to draw a brief whimper from the maiden, Ciel leered darkly.
"Show me," he demanded, as he abandoned his bed, jerking her along behind him.
The way to the bedroom seemed longer than usual, and the hallways seemed to twist and narrow in places; tricks of the light and his own paranoid mind. If he was correct in understanding it, the Devil Dahlia was referring to had to be Sebastian. If that were so, he had discovered another way, other than penetrating Ciel's mind, to attack him. This was the final straw; the moment he'd be able to confront the malicious beast. He did not know what exactly he would do once he opened the door, but as Ciel and his little captive arrived at the door to Dahlia's bed chambers, he could feel his heart pounding within his chest, threatening to tear free. Reaching out to grasp the cold handle, Ciel felt his entire soul freeze over, as with one slow twist, and the sound of the quivering clicks of the lock giving way like the ticking of his own mortal clock, he slowly opened the only barrier between him and the demon that waited in the darkness beyond.
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Chapter 26 finally!
Again, I'm so sorry for the long delay in updating. Thank you all for your legendary patience!
There's been a lot of drama within my home and work life, coupled with a tedious Psychology paper, that has been devouring my time to work on this in a more timely manner. I manage to type out as much as I could each day. HOPEFULLY I'll be able to get the next one out sooner than a week.... =_= I'm so sorry about that.
So, as for this chapter: Ciel's just about had it with this constant head trip. I think waking up straddling Grell would traumatize anybody, that's for sure. Ciel's silence for the couple days that Dahlia was thinking about earlier was the result of him trying not to think of anything that would remind him of the night a few days ago when he got his heart torn apart (I mean, that was really really mean), as well as him trying to recollect his sanity and protecting it.
The doll part actually started scaring me. Here's a fun little story that happened while writing that part: So I'm just typing away, really getting into the chapter, and I get up to make some tea, only to come back and see my little Sebas-chan nendoroid leering at me next to my keyboard. I nearly spilt my tea when I saw him. I forgot I left him there! I had his little glary face on, so it looked like "Why is this not done yet? It's been a week and people are waiting. Finish or die." ^^'' Sebas-chan dollies are very motivational.
Anyway, I will really try my hardest to update the next chapter soon. Don't worry, I will be carrying out with this entire thing, so don't fear me just dropping it cold turkey! ^^ I'll get it done as soon as I can!
Thank you for your reads and reviews, and for your patience!