Ciel's Curse

Rated: M

Genre: Adventure/Supernatural

Anime: Black Butler- I do not own the Characters used in this story.

Written by: Outsidersproxy

Chapter: 28

"- Is an outstanding dick…" Alois paused as silence interrupted the conversation, "hello?" His phone beeped notifying him of the dropped call. A deep sigh wilted from his chest as he tossed his phone onto his nearby desk deflating into the chair next to it. Pinching the bridge of his nose as he made effort to tune out the murmurs of chaos outside his office door. The office cluttered with the remnants of Sebastian and Claude's snooping when looking for Ciel prior.

His attention stolen from his thoughts by the sudden music emitting from his phone. He snatched it from the counter flipping it and clicking the lit answer icon with his thumb.

"Hello?"

The person on the other end was someone he instantly recognized, lighting up when he heard the voice come across the call.

"Yes." He answered, "that'll be fine. Besides, we could use the extra help." He paused for the caller's reply, he grinned. "Yes, I'll get the usual setup for you, and it is as you say: 'Karma will always find you' but yes, I'll be here. Hopefully, things are not flying in a chaotic stupor by the time you get here." He fell silent awaiting the answer. "Alright, see you soon." The caller hung up. Alois paused, slipping the device into his pocket, glancing at the jarred door tucked into the far corner of his office. He clicked his tongue against his teeth in distaste recalling the fact his snakes were still ajar.

"Fucking Claude." He hissed, shifting his attention to the hallway's door. Nearly flinging the door from its hinges as he opened it. Forgetting about his entire demonic strength- something which he had gone without for years after discovering Ciel.

He stepped into the chaos which filled the manor's ambiance as he reached the banister.

Sebastian was still banging on the bathroom's door, while Claude tripped over his own boots chasing after the fleeing reptiles.

Alois cleared his throat.

"Everyone shut up!" The chaos was halted in an instant.

"Was that really necessary?" Claude groaned adjusting his footing having frozen at an abnormal angle.

"Yes!" Alois answered, "it obviously was!"

"Well you have our full undivided attention now Alois." Sebastian stated pushing himself off the bathroom door throwing his thumb at it, "well at least most of our attention's."

Alois shook his head.

"Look, Ciel's matter is dire alright? But we have a guest coming over as we speak and we cannot have this place as chaotic as this shit alright?" He rubbed his temples easing into a continuous pinch between his brow.

"Who the hell is coming over Alois?" Claude sneered. "Don't you think we are a little busy with saving the universe?"

"Someone that is going to help with that plan, thanks for the consideration Claude." Alois quipped. "Look. Bitch." Alois pointed his finger at Claude, gaining amusement from the never failing surprised look that emerged from his previous butler's face. "Find the fucking snakes, clean up the mess you made when chasing Dipsas and Obitus, and I'd recommend the parsal tongue trick."

Claude threw up his hands in annoyance at Alois's barked chore, he almost felt as the Butler he was so long ago- except this time Alois wasn't a sniveling brat which bawled at every given chance.

Alois honed his gaze onto Sebastian, "and you!" He started, "leave poor Ciel alone for the moment and do what you're good at- cleaning up this disaster of a place! We have guests Sebastian, would you really allow a messy invitation?"

"I thought we established I wasn't a butler anymore?" Sebastian contested.

"Sebastian as long as the contract still stands you're still my bitch so do everyone a fucking favor and clean the fucking manor!" Ciel's voice interjected from behind the locked door. Sebastian sighed in defeat.

"As you wish." He answered retaining the last of his dignity skulking off to help Claude.

"Thanks for not busting down my door, I'll talk with him." Alois assured Sebastian as the two crossed. Sebastian silently nodded in thanks as he descended the staircase.

Alois approached the locked door at last, he knocked quietly.

"Ciel? It's me, Alois. Can I come in?"

"Alois I really don't feel like talking right now."

"But you are talking right now." Alois teased, "Ciel? Please? Sebastian isn't here, it is just me." He heard a sigh on the other side of the door.

"Alright Alois." He answered after a moment. The locked clicked and the door was pulled free, revealing the other side. Ciel stepped away from the door as Alois slipped inside quietly locking it behind him. Alois glanced at the mirror,

"Oh look," Alois gestured, "the one mirror that escaped Sebastian's wrath." He jested more to himself than Ciel.

"Alois." Ciel mumbled, "what do you need?"

"I want to talk about where you went, before you came back."

"You know where I went."

"Yes, I do, but you're going to need to explain how you ended up in the void in the first place…" Alois stated. Ciel gave a long sigh as he moved to the side of the tub taking a seat, looking away from Alois attempting to hide his face. Alois had already seen it, and partly wondered if Ciel was embarrassed by it- or concerned. He knelt by Ciel's side balancing himself on the toilet cover.

"I…" he started, shifting his posture folding in his arms, "I slipped."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure how to explain it, as I was healing, there was a moment between demonism and humanity, and I slipped further between them. When I awoke my body was mended- but my consciousness and physical form were.. how shall I say? In-between realms? Or, the 'void' as you say- I was nothing." He twitched as he spoke, Alois managed to slip a comforting hand onto Ciel's shoulder. Ciel didn't shake it off- despite Alois expecting it. He remained silent as he took a breath to continue, "I was nothing but incoherent violent thoughts, thrashing their way through the nothing, franticly looking for the way out. I was back- as if I was back in that fucking coffin." His voice tripped, as dark streams of freshly embellished soot rolled down his cheek.

"One thing about the void that I can tell you Alois..." Ciel uttered, "the most utterly terrifying thing?" He finally turned toward Alois, having kept too much in. Alois looked at his new articulated face, "the thing about the Void, is you never know your there, until after leave. And beyond that? I don't know what I am anymore Alois." He admitted, "I'm starving."

"Have you tried food?" Alois questioned moving his hands to share Ciel's own in his lap- this time Ciel shaking them off.

The void seemingly flicker throughout strands of his hair as the light would catch and rapidly vanish. His hair a shade of a broken black- as if it was struggling to exist. His eyes, shattered from what they were. His left side of his face hollow, sunken in as a damage bruise-like blue wound. Eclipsing around his bone structure underneath, sharply outlining into a near protruding skull. His once bluish-purple eye now completely encapsulating the hollow shine of an empty night sky. No whites, nor iris escaped from underneath. While the other, the one which occupied the mutated mark was also gone. Only remnants of what was there endured. The long discernible streak on his cheek now dredged intense scar tissue, indented firmly of where the edges once resided. The color now bearing the same as his other eye- a solid disfiguring soot, which only hinted of a fallen ash color in its place in certain lights. The center of Ciel's iris now retained an ever-glaring hollowing silver pupil. His tears staining a darkened streak on his cheek as his tears shallowed.

Ciel nodded at the question in distaste.

"I have, but the food turns into ash in my mouth. My insides feel as if it's wrapped tightly around a baseball. Like I want to double over and vomit, but nothing comes out. A hunger that persists that you forget why you're feeling pain! I feel my inside, in a way that I shouldn't feel it." Ciel doubled over, clutching his stomach as a stab of pain burst through him.

"Have you been feeling this ever since you woke up?!" Alois asked in shock, Ciel nodded.

"I'll get used to it." He gritted letting go of Alois's sleeve he'd unknowingly snatched.

"Ciel, I'm sorry you're in pain." Alois managed- it was all he could say. He knew that there wasn't anything he could do to aid him in the physical sense. Ciel nodded, both startled by the knock at the door.

"Don't be." Ciel snapped to Alois as he braced himself back up from the floor.

"Ciel, are you alright?" It was Sebastian.

"I'm fine Sebastian." Ciel called bemused.

"You don't sound fine."

Ciel took a sharp breath, wiping away his tears.

"I am Sebastian." He nipped.

"May I come in?"

Alois stood up moving from Ciel, awaiting his response to the demon's question, Ciel considered for a minute before nodding in agreement to the sentiment. Alois unlocked the door stepping aside allowing him inside.

"I'll be out here." Alois stated stepping out of the room leaving the two together. He closed the door behind him quietly clicking it shut followed by the soft shuffling come from behind it. Alois looked out into his manor, heading down the staircase as he mentally plotted for their coming guest.

Reaching the first floor, he stopped in the silence of his manor- which was suddenly broken by a shuffling coming from the direction of his kitchen. It was then he realized he had yet to see Claude anywhere.

"Claude?" Alois called heading towards the kitchen off to the side of the cellar door. Freezing in his tracks as his kitchen came into view. "Er- Claude?"

Claude froze, as his cheeks flushing to a bright red as he sat on the floor. The fridge door bridged open against the cabinet behind it. The demon leaning against the island counter in the center of the long kitchen- lined walls of dark marbled counterspace and even more darkly wooded cupboards.

"Claude, what is that?" Pointing to the demon's side.

"Um… Nothing?" Claude answered weakly, knowing that he was caught.

"Really?" Alois folded his arms shifting into his hip, "because it looks to me that my fridge has just been raided of all the monster drinks, and their corpses are now littered in a pile. On my floor…"

Claude sighed.

"So sue me." Claude grumbled, "I needed a drink, and stumbled across your very own selection of monster drinks."

"Claude, those were my morning coffees you dick."

"You mean your legal demon crack. So what? Get more!" Claude protested shifting his form clinking the many empty cans piled around his lap. Alois grumbled, moving towards the demon and knocking his legs out of the way as he shut the fridge door.

"Pull yourself together. Stay out of my fridge." Alois demanded pointing to Claude who still sat on the floor, "and pull yourself together! We are expecting company!" He repeated.

"Mhm, you still never told me who was coming over. And indeed how do you feel now that you're full demon again? Shall I grab a trophy?" Claude carped relaxing into the floor underneath him.

"Guess you will see then won't you?"Alois replied knocking one of the cans with his shoe. Ignoring his second remark. "Do me a favor. Pick up your mess." Pointing to the pile leaving him behind as he headed out of the kitchen back towards the front of the manor.

"Wait-" Claude called pausing Alois in his tracks, "are we going to talk about Ciel?"

"What's there to talk about?" Alois replied turning back to the demon now sitting up in the discarded heap.

"His face? For starters…" Claude answered hiccupping as he pushed himself off the floor and onto the dark marble island counter, pulling open a drawer that revealed the garbage bin and began feebly picking up the cans as he spoke.

"His face is his face, I don't see what the problem is."

"Oh, his sunken in skull face and black eyes are just what then? Aesthetic? No, the Curse has only gotten worse and it is taking its toll on Ciel's body and you know it." He hissed continuing to clean.

"So what if it has Claude? What do you expect me to do about it? I have no control over what happens to him, just what I do about it." Alois replied coldly.

"Well great then." Claude objected. "And how exactly are we planning to break the curse again?"

"Hunt down the descendants of the original contract and kill them. That has always been the plan and you knew that."

"But how do we know that will even work?"

"Because that's what bound the contract in the first place Claude!" Alois bellowed, "with them still alive the contract will thereby still be in place, so kill the original bindings and break the contract. Break the contract, break the curse. It's simple math Claude."

"Right." He replied, "simple. Oh- and by the way I found your snakes."

"Are they alive?"

"Yes, and snugly back in their tanks." Claude dismally uttered.

"Thanks." Alois replied turning his back on the demon who was still cleaning the mess. Alois moved to the main hall of his manor, stopping for a moment as he took in the peace of the manor which only lasted for a moment. Freezing as he heard a tapping at the door's knocker.

He smiled, moving to answer the door, cracking it open as he reached it.

"Well, aren't you a sight for longing eyes Alois." She said with a smile.

"As are you Kara." Alois bowed allowing her to enter the manor, her long blond hair sweeping behind her sharp-red soft fitted long-sleeved shirt, the length of her hair sweeping to the bridge of her torn skinny jeans. Coupled together with black studded belt wrapped snugly around her waist. "You look nice, I rarely see you out of your suit."

"And I rarely see you at all." Kara chuckled.

Claude emerged around the corner having heard the conversations.

"Kara?" Claude gaped as he approached them, Alois ushered her inside and shutting the manor's door. "When was the last time I saw you?"

"I'd reckon about the same time I kicked your ass out of Hell, Claude." Kara answered tucking her arms together.

"Yea, well," he said rubbing the back of his head his cheeks flushed with unspoken thoughts, "you look good anyhow."

"Right." She said stepping close to Claude leaning close to his ear, "so do you." Her lips curving into a sly grin.

Alois turned away as his phone once again began ringing, this time it was a text, Alois froze, turning back to the group.

"Well there's no time to waste." Alois said interjecting himself between Kara and Claude, "let's break a curse."

The bathroom door upstairs clicked open, and both Sebastian and Ciel emerged. Sebastian moved to the banister and instantly recognizing their new guest.

"Kara." Sebastian called from atop the stairway, descending to greet them, Ciel already ahead of him, "how did I ever never expect to see you again my dear sister."

Kara returned the look and smile.

"And my prince brother, how nice to see you."

"You two know are related?" Ciel interjected meeting Alois by his side.

"Well I'd imagine so." Claude answered pulling himself back from the group. "She is the princess of Hell after all. One of father's most loyal children. Just like Sebastian."

"Naturally." Ciel mumbled. Just as Sebastian was about to join the group- his arm was snatched by Alois pulling him away. Sebastian stumbled before catching himself- not used to the strength that had just halted him in his tracks. He caught himself- and went without question. Alois pulled him into the billiard's room where he had first awoken on the pool table. Clicking the door shut behind him, the group giving the two a confused glance before shrugging it off.

"Sebastian," Alois started, "I had to talk to you, in private, away from Ciel."

. "What is it?" Sebastian's tainted in concern.

"It's Ciel. I just got a text from Cryp who essentially thinks that he is rotting from the inside out."

"What does Cryp know?" Sebastian folded his arms.
"Sebastian, look- what I'm saying is, is that Cryp's words are not to be over jaunted as bore fruit. If he is right it just means that the curse is getting worse and we need to hurry."

Sebastian took a stale breath facing away from Alois.

"I know." He answered coldly.

-To Be Continued-