Konnichiwa!
I want to say that after Sunday, I probably won't write for a week of two, since I have school and I have this week coming up where all you have are tests and tests and more tests (not sure what that's called in English though :/ test-week or something?) so I want (actually need) to focus on that. But because of the followers (sixty! Sixty followers! That's just awesome!) and because of the sweet and positive reviews (you guys are way too kind to me :D Thank you!) I want to write and write and write.
Oh, and I always just write the number of the chapter as the chapter name because I have no idea what else to call it, but I think I'm going to switch to numbers from now on. So instead of 'eleven' it will become 'Chapter 11'.
So yeah, that was a little update. I don't own Kuroshitsuji, but I do own Clarissa. Love you guys and hope you enjoy the chapter!
XxX
Chapter 28
Prince Soma went to sleep soon after Ciel ordered Mei-Rin and Finnian to 'get the hell out of his sight', but his servant, who told me his name was Agni, went to sit in the living room with me to tell me about how he and his master met Ciel and Sebastian.
'Street fight, huh,' I said. I was sitting in front of the window, looking at the snow falling down like angels from the sky.
Agni was sitting next to me in some strange, Indian way of sitting. I had tried to copy it, but I doubt my legs could even do that.
One thing that Agni had done before prince Soma went to sleep, was to make sure that the house was warm, not 'London' warm, but 'Indian-day-in-the-desert' warm, and I had taken my scarf of without thinking twice.
Since Agni had finished his story we were quiet, both staring at the snow. I guessed that that would be fascinating to see, since Agni had probably never seen snow before.
I heard footsteps and I assumed that it must be Finnian, since Mei-Rin wore heels and Sebastian was as silent as a mouse.
But then someone grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back, making me fall onto the floor, staring into a single blue eye, that looked pretty intense. 'Were did you get that?!' Ciel asked, sounding incredible emotional for some reason.
It took me a while before I realised that he was talking about the mark in my neck. Shit! And I thought that Ciel had already gone to sleep!
I tried to pretend that I didn't understand at all. Okay, I was a bad liar so I kind of acted like a drunk lunatic, but at least that would distract him, right? 'Hey, Shorty! Are you here to watch the snow with us?'
Ciel didn't think it was funny. 'Clarissa, I'm serious,' he said cold.
Then a bandaged hand shot out so Ciel and pulled his hands from my shoulder. 'There now,' he said, 'that's no way to touch a lady. Or speak to one for that matter.'
Ciel looked like he wanted to hit Agni in the face with his walking stick… Which made me think of something. 'Ciel, where's your walking stick?' I asked, looking at him frowning.
Now Ciel was blushing, looking away. Ah, I seemed to be better in distracting people than I thought I was. 'I don't need it all the time.'
'Ciel! We're talking about your leg here! You can't just go and ruin it for the rest of your life!' I said, sounding strangely like a mom.
There followed a moment were Ciel and I seemed to have a conversation with our eyes.
'The rest of my life' will be quite a short period of time, his eye told me.
I frowned. You don't know that.
He closed his eye. I do, though.
Agni didn't understand, of course. 'I saw you walking with a walking stick today. Do you have a condition?' he asked Ciel.
Ciel let me go and went to sit in the big chair in the living room. Crossing his legs, he said: 'There's nothing wrong with me.'
I rolled my eyes. You sure you want to waste the short time you have left with an injured leg?
Ciel narrowed his eyes. Shut up. He then sighed. 'Clarissa, I want you to come to my room,' he said, standing up. 'I prefer talking to you without some servant interrupting our conversation.'
I sighed now too, knowing that I could not keep avoiding this conversation. So I could just as well get it over with. I stood up, but decided that I still wanted to tease Ciel for a bit. 'Yes, my Lord,' I said, copying Sebastian's way of saying it.
Ciel twitched, but didn't say anything. As I followed him to his room, Agni found fault with it. 'Is it appropriate for a young man to have a conversation with a lady in his bedroom?' he asked.
'Don't care,' was the only answer he got from Ciel.
XxX
'Drossel?' Ciel said, frowning. Then he looked at his ring, looking angry at it, as if this was its fault. 'That damn demon,' he then muttered, clearly not talking to me.
Ciel slept in Madame Red's old room and was sitting in the chair that stood in the corner of the room, his legs crossed. I just sat on the bed for now, since there wasn't really anywhere else to sit.
'No, I asked him not to tell you. I don't really like people knowing about it.' I brought my hand to the mark to cover it, closing my eyes for only a second.
When I opened them again, I saw that Ciel had pulled one eyebrow up. 'And he actually listened to you? That mark could be a really big clue to who killed my parents.' He grinned. 'I would almost think that that demon doesn't want me to get my revenge.'
I shook my head. 'I made a deal with him… Not that kind of deal!' I added as I saw that Ciel looked at me shocked. 'He said that he would keep it a secret if I let him…' I stopped, didn't want Ciel to know about that. Didn't want anyone to know about that. Mei-Rin probably sort of did.
But of course Ciel wasn't going to let it slide. 'What did you give him?' he asked.
'He asked if he could feed off of my emotions,' I said, wanted to run away and hide as soon as I'd sad that.
'Emotions?' Ciel repeated and I realised that Sebastian hadn't told him. Ciel didn't know about it.
And right now I was pissed enough at Sebastian to just them Ciel about it. 'Sebastian feeds off emotions. Yours, your house staff's, everyone. That's how he survives. Your soul is just like some sort of delicacy to him or something.'
Ciel pressed his lips together as he thought about this new information. 'How do you know that?' he asked after a while.
'He told me,' I said, a bit proud of myself that I knew something that Ciel hadn't known. 'I'm not sure why he told me it, though. Maybe just to see my reaction or something.'
'And he can feed off of anyone whenever he feels like it?' he then asked, sounding a bit worried. 'And without the victim noticing anything?'
I nodded. 'I do believe that's how it works. I'm not sure though.' I pulled a face. 'That demon could always be lying, of course.'
'He does not lie,' Ciel said, making a waving move with his hand. 'Twisting the truth, surely and keeping things from his master, of course, but he does not lie.' Then he frowned. 'But if he does feed off of our emotions whenever he feels like it and without anyone noticing, why did he have to ask you for permission?' he asked me.
'Ah,' I said. 'Yeah. Well. I don't really get that myself. But from what I got, it seems like I can put up walls in my head, or something, to protect my emotions from being stolen. Or something.' I had no idea if that was the correct explanation or not.
Ciel put his hands under his chin. 'How interesting,' he said and the way he acted seemed way too suspicious. 'Maybe you really are the key to this case.'
I wasn't sure how to respond to that. '…Thanks… I guess?'
'Clarissa,' he then said, sounding cold and stern all of the sudden. 'I do hope that you won't betray me. If you aren't already.' He sounded like he wouldn't be surprised if I was.
I looked shocked. Was I really that untrustworthy? 'Do you really think I would betray you?' I asked him.
The smile on his face was devilish, made me feel like I wasn't talking to a human anymore. 'All humans are the same. They betray for their own selfish needs. No one cares for others. Not really. That's why demons are more trustworthy. At least they are straightforward. If they hate you, they will not lie. They will most probably kill you, but they won't pretend that they do like you for their own profits. Humans are way worse than demons.'
Okay, so Ciel had trust issues. No, I realised after a while. This is a boy whose spirit has been broken down, hopes and dreams crushed. I wouldn't believe in the good in humanity, or the world for that matter, either, if the only one to come for my rescue was a demon.
I just stared at him, not sure how I looked or what I felt. This rotten world destroyed so many lives for nothing. What did it accomplish? Ciel had lost his faith in humanity, but I started to lose my faith in God.
Ciel looked flustered as he looked away from me, a frown on his face. 'Why are you looking at me like that?' he asked.
At first, I didn't answer. I was just thinking. Being angry at Sebastian wouldn't accomplish anything. Feeling hurt wouldn't either. He was indeed straightforward; he wouldn't have done it without good reason and he would not regret or apologize for it at all. The only thing I could do was accept the fact that Sebastian had easily fooled me and was that really that hard to do?
I was still staring at him when I finally said: 'It's nothing. I just… think you might be right.'
XxX
It was prince Soma who woke me next morning.
'We're going out, Clary!' he said with his accent, 'show us around town today!' It was clearly an order, not a request.
That was so not the thing I wanted to hear first thing in the morning. 'Eh?!' I said as I sat right up in my bad, one hand at my head because it ached.
Agni and Soma both stood next to my bed. But Agni had the good manners to greet me at least. 'Namaste ji, lady Lane,' he said, clearly an Indian greeting of some sorts.
I was too tired to make a fuss about this. 'Why are you guys in my room?' I asked, not being polite to this prince since he wasn't exactly nice to me. Which prince invades the room of a lady when she's sleeping?
'Because Ciel has lessons today and I want someone to show us around town,' Soma said, as if it was obvious.
The thought of Soma and Agni invading Ciel's room before mine made me chuckle. Wish I could've seen that. I bet Ciel did make a scene. 'Why should I?' I asked, staying under the covers as long as those two were in my room.
Then I saw that Sebastian was standing in the doorway, looking amused at me, as if he was having fun. I glared at him with narrowed eyes, hoping my glare could kill. I noticed that he wasn't wearing his normal outfit, but the brown outfit he'd worn to Aleister's party. The 'I'm a tutor not a butler'-outfit. He even had the glasses on.
It was easier than I had thought it would be, accepting the fact that I'd been fooled and getting on with my life. So Sebastian didn't like me. That wasn't really a surprise now, was it? He probably didn't even think I was remotely attractive, since I was a filthy human that was good for nothing except food.
Then prince Soma asked my attention again. 'Because I order you to do so,' he told me, taking the covers off.
I didn't scream like any normal girl would've done, I just sighed. I gave Sebastian another glare, but it was clear that he wasn't going to help me, so I looked back at the two. 'We're not in your country right now, I don't have to listen to you, you know.'
Prince Soma looked offended for a second, but before he could open his mouth, Sebastian did come for my rescue. 'I'm very sorry, but lady's schedule is also very busy today,' he said as he approached us. 'But please stay inside, it's storming outside right now, anyway.' Then he bowed. 'I'm very sorry, but I have to return to my master's side now.' And then he walked towards the door. He turned around in the doorway though, looking at me. 'Young master has violin lessons first thing in the morning.' Then he turned around and walked away.
I smiled, understanding why he'd told me that. I had to hurry up and get dressed. Ciel playing violin wasn't something I wanted to miss.
XxX
I arrived at the room that used to be Madame Red's office in time. I guessed that was because Ciel had to have breakfast before violin lessons.
I noticed that prince Soma and Agni had followed me, but Soma sent Agni away soon after entering the room.
There was a grant piano in the room and a music stand, but all the other things such as Madame Red's desk and book cases had been removed.
I sat down on the piano stool while Ciel was looking at the sheet music on his music-stand. 'Bach's Chaconne?' he said, confused. 'I can't play something this difficult…'
Sebastian, who was also holding a bow, but not a violin, like Ciel did, used his bow to pull up Ciel's face. 'I make the rules here,' he said, clearly enjoying the power he now had over his master. 'Do you have a problem with my teaching methods?'
Ugh, that smile of his really was way too beautiful.
I thought that Ciel was going to say something, that he shouldn't act so cocky or something, but he didn't. He just used his bow to the Sebastian's bow out of his face, but the look on his face was quite comedic. He looked like a little kid whose favourite toy had been stolen.
But Ciel did start playing the violin without protesting and as I heard him play I was surprised that he thought that Bach's Canon (or something) was too difficult for him. He seemed to handle it okay.
And I have to admit that Ciel playing the violin was kind of hot. I said it, okay? He looked really attractive. Even that ridiculous, Victorian era, outfit he was wearing seemed cool for the moment.
'That's pretty good,' Sebastian said, making me pull up on eyebrow. Since when did Sebastian compliment Ciel? No, I take that back. Since when did Sebastian compliment anyone?
Then I noticed that Agni carried a statute, like a legit pretty big statue, into the room, Lau following him. He put it on the grand piano, almost blocking my view of Ciel. As Agni and prince Soma sat on the and started praying in their language, Ciel stopped playing and looked up to see what was going on. He looked quite confused when he saw the statue. 'What is that?' he asked.
Lau was the one to answer. 'They seem to be praying, but it's quite a surreal idol, isn't it?' he said. As he said that, me, Sebastian and Ciel approached the strange object to give it a better look.
It was. Oh God, it was. It looked like a Hindi god or something.
But Sebastian obviously didn't think so. 'To me it merely looks like the statue of a woman carrying a severed head, wearing a necklace of severed heads and dancing on top of a man's stomach,' he said it as if this was a normal thing to witness.
I looked at him, an eyebrow pulled up. 'You forgot the four arms, the moon-shaped ears and the long tongue, dearie,' I told him, making him give me an amused smile.
Then, finally, someone who actually did know what they were talking about turned around to explain. 'She is Kali,' Agni explained, 'a goddess of our Hindu faith.'
'A goddess of India?' Ciel repeated with his violin and bow still in his hand.
'Kali is the wife of Shiva and the goddess of power,' Agni said.
Great. That answered all my questions.
But Agni wasn't finished yet. 'Long ago, a demon rashly challenged her to a fight. Naturally, she was victorious. However, afterwards her destructive urges were not quelled, and she abandoned herself to destruction and carnage.'
Well, that sure sounded like fun.
Agni's look became more intense as he continued his story. 'But then! To protect the earth, her husband Shiva threw himself at her feet!' He pointed at the man's body under the strange looking lady.
Ciel didn't look interested anymore, neither did I, but Sebastian seemed to enjoy himself enough. Most likely because it was a story about death and murder, two things I knew Sebastian liked.
'Treading on her husband with her unclean feet brought Kali back to her senses and peace returned to the world,' Agni said, finishing the story. He wasn't done talking though, as he turned back to the statue and closed his eyes in a praying position, he said: 'Kali is a great goddess who defeated the demon after a desperate battle. As proof, she carries the demon's head.'
'There you have it,' Ciel said and it took me a while to realise that he was talking to Lau. Wasn't sure what he meant, though.
It was Sebastian who reacted. 'Hmm, I wasn't aware of anyone so strong,' he said, bringing his glove hand to his chin. 'I'll have to take care if I travel to India.' The funniest thing was that he actually sounded serious, too.
Princa Soma got up then, still in the praying position he was in, but now standing. 'Now then,' he said. 'Since we're done praying, it's time to go out!' As he said that he grabbed Ciel and dragged him towards the doorway.
While that happened, Ciel protested. 'I told you, I'm busy!' he said, his voice higher than normal.
I laughed. Poor Ciel seemed more like a kid than he thought he did. Not sure he would like me to tell him that, though.
XxX
This chapter is a bit shorter than normal: mijn excuses (a formal way to apologize in Dutch. See? I learned you something new today).
Did any of you actually watch the anime in dub? Because I recently saw a bit of it and the thing I noticed was that the feel of the characters and the show overall was very different, it seemed like the English voices changed the personality of the characters and the show itself. Don't know what it is, though, but I really really do prefer to watch it subbed (as I do with every anime, actually). Also, I'm just going to say it, Ciel sounds like a girl in the English dub. I know that he's voiced by a girl, but the Japanese version is voiced by a girl as well and I had no trouble believing that the Japanese Ciel was male. The English voice clearly sounds like a female trying to sound like a boy and I find it very distracting. Also, no one can do Sebastian better than Ono. At least that's what I think. But I think that, as far as dubbing goes, it's pretty decent. I guess. I haven't watched the whole show in dub (hell no, never going to do that. Although I don't hate everyone who watches stuff dubbed, I really don't like watching it myself.) so I wouldn't really know.
I do like watching panels of English dub actors though, which is strange since I don't know most of them and I don't really know any of their work. The only anime I've ever seen fully in dub was Pokémon, but that was Dutch dub, and InuYasha, but that was before I even knew what anime was and I was just clicking on random shit on YouTube and then I ended up watching a whole series. Oh, and I've seen Death Note in dub too, but only a few episodes. Still not sure if I like the dub of Death Note or not, but I think it holds up fine. I think they did I pretty good job with the L they cast, he sounded pretty… L-like (found no other way to describe what L sounds like).
promocat: I'm not trying to make Ciel seem stupid, he clearly is one of the cleverest minds on the show. I do think Clarissa is a bit stupid though, at least when it comes to the demon-contract thing. I actually do not think Ciel is crazy either. He does have his crazy moments, sure, but he always managed to get himself back together so he can focus on his goal again.
BlackMoon901: It was pretty interesting, indeed. But when I awoke, the first five minutes was me trying to figure out what the hell just happened. And, of course, I tried to have a Kuroshitsuji-related dream again yesterday, but that didn't work. Sucks to be me. But thank you! I really keep being unsure whether my story is any good or not, so I love to hear that it's still fun to read :)
Shadow demon Kitsune: Aww, thank you! That means more to me than you might think :D! And I'll try, ha ha.
Oh my god. I just noticed that I'm talking way too much again. Oh, well. See you guys!
