Warning: Unnecessariness. You may start the chapter. I could have done it at the end, but I didn't want to ruin it.
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On December 22, 2014 at 3:34 p.m...
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His Butler, Elizabeth?
Chapter XXVI: His Butler, Black
A/N: Deai ni iro wa nakute, MONOKURO fukinukeru, itami goto kimi yudanemashou...
(That's Monochrome no Kiss. For those of you who don't know.)
Last Time:
She cringed.
Never before in her life had she seen so much blood, at least not so much of her own blood.
The gash in her thigh ached, gushing blood at a thousand gallons a second. Her head was stinging, her ears were ringing. She hurt everywhere. She could not stand, she could not speak, she could not breathe.
Then, his butler, Elizabeth, went blank.
"Lizzie..." he breathed.
He had split up with the mirrors a few minutes prior. They could walk no further (some kind of force field or something), and Ciel's legs could move nearly correctly.
Then he found her, a giant, bleeding laceration in her thigh. He had fallen to his knees. He couldn't protect her.
"Greetings."
Ciel's head turned around slowly and he huffed furiously, "You...killed her..."
"If it's any consolation," he started, "She's not dead yet."
A hidden sigh came from the boy. He tore of his eyepatch. "This is my final order. Keep her alive, and take her home safely, after eating my soul."
"Yes, my lord," he bowed.
With a quick gust of wind, her thigh was bandaged, and so was her arm, and a cut under her eye.
He turned back to her, "Elizabeth...if I wasn't about to die your brother would kill me."
"I am going to kill Ciel!" Edward screamed.
"Ci...el..." she croaked, her eyes barely opened.
"Stay strong," he directed randomly, "Always."
"Ye...yes, my love," she promised.
It didn't wear off, and he wouldn't live to let it.
He walked over to the chair, his final destination.
Sebastian leaned over him, "This has been very fun, my lord. Any last words?"
"Elizabeth," he called.
She strained to sit up, "Yes, Ciel?"
He had to tell her, before he died, just so she wouldn't live not knowing.
"I remember."
"Are you sure...?" Ciel asked.
"What are you talking about?" Elizabeth tilted her head.
"I don't mind staying like this," He promised, grabbing her hands.
She blinked, "Staying like what exactly?"
"We don't have to break the potion spell," He told her, "I can stay in love with you. Like you want."
"Okay..." She agreed, "Wait, no. You aren't in love with me. The potion is."
"No. I'm still me. It's not just the potion. It's me, too," he assured, "But, I'll drink it, if you really want me to."
She nodded in affirmation, "You have to."
"But first," he began. He put his hand on her left cheek and kissed her right one. The kiss lasted longer than a usual kiss on the cheek would, but she understood. It was his way of telling her something. Was it his way of letting her know, 'I love you.' Could it have been his way of telling her, 'Don't do this.' Perhaps it was his way of assuring her, 'We can stay like this forever...'
Maybe, it was his way of saying-
"I'm sorry," he admitted, "I remembered yesterday, but you were so distraught and stressed, and I forgot to tell you."
She touched her right cheek, "Ciel..."
"And, Lizzie," he took a deep breath, "I meant it."
And then dam that was holding her back broke.
Tears streamed down her face faster and heavier than she, Ciel, and even Sebastian ever thought was humanly possible. As she tried to stand up, and her blood began to move from activity, her thigh became warm and wet, it had stopped aching a while back.
"L-Lizzie," she was making him feel so guilty, "You just said you were going to be strong!"
She sniffed, "But, doesn't it take a strong person to cry?"
"Lady Elizabeth, if you continue to keep up this charade, you will ruin my dinner," Sebastian noted with irritation.
"Well, I would hope he gives you indigestion!" She cried, "But he won't because...because...
"I will prevail!"
Why did she hurt?
She was back at the Phantomhive Manor now, and she could talk without touching him (even though it was wonderful excuse to hold his hand). So why did her entire body ache? Her thigh especially...
"Elizabeth," Ciel's voice grabbed her attention, "are you alright?"
"I hurt," she whined, "Everywhere."
His eyes widened. "This response overwhelms me, as I have no possible way to respond sanely as a male."
"It's not a female thing," she dismissed, "I think. Do you think it has something to do with Lizzie?"
"I have no idea," he replied as he sat next to her.
"Ciel? After your parents died, why is it that you didn't get depressed, like Lizzie's Ciel?" She wondered, "I think you even got happier. Why?"
"I lost my parents, I lost my home, I lost almost everything," his eyes grew melancholy, something she hadn't seen in many moons, "But, I still had somethings. I still had the company to run, a title to live up to, and I had Uncle Alexis, and Aunt Frances, and Cousin Ed, and Madam Red, and...you. I decided that I would make the most of what I still had."
"Ciel," she interrupted, a rare smile appeared on her face, "I'm glad I didn't lose you."
He opened up his arms and pulled her into his embrace, her being consent-less. She relaxed, enjoying his warmth.
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She swung the heavy sword as fast as her weakened limbs would allow her, but with every move she made, and with every cocky, sure step Sebastian took, she became more tired and aggravated.
"I...will..."
"Stop."
Ciel's hand stopped her in-fluid, choppy movements and her pants of hopeful victory, "What is wrong with you?"
"Wha...Huh?"
"Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Midford, you are fighting an immortal demon, losing, and continuing. Do you understand the situation?" His words were slow, sharp, and condescending.
"Yes, but-"
He snatched the sword from her hands, "I am not a cause worth fighting for. You're going to get yourself killed."
"I am not a cause worth living for. You are, and I want to save you," she announced.
"Sebastian, I changed my mind, you're new order is to take her home safely now," he demanded.
"Yes, my lord."
"No," she whispered.
"Yes," he replied, "You are going home and...thank you."
"But, Ciel, I-"
And with one flick of the wrist, that was unexpected, the best butler Ciel Phantomhive ever had...
...was dead.