"Allow me to get this straight:" Ciel looked up from his cup, "You're telling me that this Guardian Angel, Matarius, put a 'lock' on your, a demon's, mind?"

Sebastian nodded, "Yes."

"For the sole reason to force you to use some ability on Rose, who also has the same lock?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"And what does this lock do?" The young lord crossed his legs in his chair.

The butler shifted, "It blocks memories from resurfacing."

The young lord did not look pleased, "Why, again, do you not wish to use this 'ability' on her?"

He frowned a little bit, quickly putting his stoic face back on. He supposed in his mind, this was an easy choice: don't use the abilty. Not only could it break her, he could find out something that shatters everything both he and his master had thought.

He cleared his throat, "It could break her."

Ciel rolled his eyes, "You cannot break something that is already broken." The master picked up his cup again and brought it to his lips, sipping quietly. "Use it."

He took a step forward, "My L-"

"You have the way to tell us who Miss Rose is." Ciel told him simply, "Use it."

He hesitated. Regardless if his hand was being forced by two parties, Sebastian still did not want to find out what would happen lest he purposefully unlocked her -their- memories.

He wasn't particularly surprised when the young lord spoke up, "You refuse me?"

He paused for a moment, "Until you order me to, yes."

Ciel stood from his seat, setting his cupt back onto the saucer.

He walked around the room for a second before making his way over to Sebastian and looking up at him. "And if I do?"

"Then my hand is forced even moreso."

Ciel tilted his head a moment before chuckling to himself, "Don't tell me that you care for her."

Sebastian watched him walk back to his desk.

"You were the one who told me that demons don't get attached to humans." He turned to the bookshelf, reaching for the nearest one on what looked to be memories.

The butler moved to the desk and grabbed empty cup, setting it onto the tray. He let the room remain in silence for a while. Not that he was in any mood to speak about this. The young master shattered the silence with a quiet question.

"What is this ability? What will it do to her?"

Sebsatian slowly blinked, "It allows my subconscious to enter a physical representation of her mind. Essentially, I will be able to enter her mind and break down locks if I so choose to."

"Why do you still refuse?"

"I don't wish to hurt her should a lock not meant to be broken breaks." He explained.

"And if one does?"

"It could break her completely."

The young master sat back down with his book, thumbing through it. "How do you use it?"

"Usually physical touch is enough, but depending on how closed off of person they are, intimate touch may be required. Touches such as a kiss or furthur will suffice."

Ciel turned the page, "Which is Rose?"

"I'm sure you can figure that out."

The master chuckled, "Can you bring in another person?"

"If that person is making physical contact with me."

He was given a noise.

Sebastian continued to clean up from the mid-morning snack. The young miss was still asleep. She had managed to sleep without fuss for the remainder of the night since she'd woken with the nightmare. Under the master's orders, he had still yet to wake her.

"Do you still refuse?"

He nodded, picking up the napkin, "Yes."

Sebastian watched as the ringed hand reached up and removed the perfectly placed patch, revealing such a definite answer. "You will break the lock on Rose's memories. You will find out who she is. I order you."

The butler grit his teeth a moment before placing his arm across his chest, "Yes, my Lord."

Sebastian turned to the door, the tray nestled carefully in the crook of his arm. He knew silently that he should have expected nothing less of telling the young master, however when he was ordered to explain he should have known it would have led to nothing more than another being forcing his hand.

But this time he had less than a choice.

He paused before he left the room, "May I offer at least one request as to ease my unwillingness to do this, my Lord?" He didn't turn around as he spoke, only leaving his hand on the doorknob.

"Go on."

"We do this while she is sleeping tonight."

"Why is this?"

"If she does experience any negative responses, it will simply appear to be nothing more than a dream to her."

"Very well."

Sebastian opened the door, stepping through the threshhold. The clinking that the chinaware made echoed unpleasantly through the halls.

I'm sorry, Miss Rose.

ยง

Once the night had crawled up from the depths it slept, Rose had crawled back into Sebastian's bed. She'd spent most of her day sleeping, only waking to be fed a mixture of soft and nurturing foods. It was odd for her to have someone look after her.

Even someone not human.

Then again there was always the fact that the butler was probably only following orders.

The candle on the desk flickered a moment before dimming itself, giving a much more comfortable light level. Rose pulled the covers over her legs, laying down and fully surrounding herself in the blankets.

The was a knock on the door before it opened without answer. The butler in question strode in quietly, not saying a word to her. He only offered a soft smile to her.

She curled up in the bed. Rose stayed just as quiet, not wanting to disturb him aith his paperwork anymore. He was always doing paperwork at night.

"Sleep well, Miss Rose."

She looked over her shoulder at him. He was removing his coat and laying it on the back of his desk chair.

His eyes caught hers and the butler smiled at her.

Odd, she thought. He never wished her a good night, nor was he usually in the room when she gell asleep.

Nevertheless, she relaxed again, closing her eyes and listening to nothing more than the sounds of the butler rustling papers and padding around the room.

Sebastian watched quietly as she drifted off to an onset slumber from the sleeping medicine he'd put into the soup given to the young miss. Drugging her hadn't been his first choice, as he much rather would have had her sleep the whole day and night without awakening.

But he didnt want to harm her.

He pulled open his door quietly and ushered the young master in before closing it. Thankfully the other servants had taken heed to his request that they stay in their rooms past sundown.

Ciel sat in his office chair, "Don't take too long."

"Without knowing what I'm looking for, this will be a challenge to finish quickly." He replied.

" Are you saying you can't?"

"Not at all."

Sebastian pushed the chair the young lord was sitting in closer to the bed in the middle of the room. Ciel quietly waited, not giving much to say. He sat down on the edge of the bed, leaning over the tiny, sleeping form.

The butler reached out his hand, "Young Master, hold my hand."

There was a chuckle before he did.

The black butler brought his other hand to his lips, pulling his glove swiftly off with his teeth. He pressed his now bare hand gently to Rose's cheek, brushing away the loose strands of her curling hair. Sebastian allowed his hand to trace over her features until an idle cough brought him back to the task at hand.

His crimson eyes flared with a slight irritation upon remembering the young master's orders. He bent over next to her form, his face nearing hers.

A misplaced shiver ran down the young miss's body.

There was little more than nothing left to do before he brushed his lips against her soft, cracked ones. He exhaled loudly with a crackling breath as the pain quickly spread through his body.

It was always a strange feeling to watch the fragments of his sight flicker away into black nothingness. His ability to feel dropped out from under him before suddenly burning through him to deposit him on a cold wooden floor.

Sebastian opened his eyes, finding nothing more than a candle sitting on the floor of an openly empty room. He allowed his arms to push himself up before he stood.

"Who are you?"

He turned to the source of the voice, finding nothing.

"What are you doing here?"

He turned again, yet again having nothing found. He waited a moment before quickly turning around again and finding nothing more than a small child looking up at him.

"I'm sleepy."

The butler watched her take a step forward towards him and silently ask to be held. He obliged, gathering her in his arms before turning again.

The small child laid her head on his shoulder, nuzzling into the coat around his upper body. Sebastain walked around in silence, listening to nothing more than the child's breathing. The fragmented peices of his separated mind slowly found their place.

That's right, he was there to break the lock. The butler took a step, finding his footing until it jerked him forward into another room. He looked around and furrowed his brow for a moment.

A human's mind was a wretched, messy place.

Manifestations of wooden floors and empty hallways that led to locked doors boarded up with barriers of childhood.

"Sebastian!"

The butler turned just in time to see the young master run up to him.

"There you are! Do you know how long I've been looking for you?"

Sebastian adjusted the child in his arms and bowed his head for a moment, "My aplogies, my Lord."

Ciel tilted his head a bit upon the sight of the child. "Who is this?"

"Who are you?" The child's voice countered.

"I found her when I woke up."

She sat up and looked at the young master. "Hey, wait I know you."

"You know me?"

She thought a moment. "Weren't you in those cages too?"

"Cages...?"

Before either of them were allowed to think on it, they were interrupted by the child scrambling about in the demon's arms until she fell to the ground. "C'mon! I'll show you!"

She was gone before they could take a step forward.

Can you help me?