Author's Note: This is a little background on Raiden, I thought his character needed some fleshing out. Also, this is mostly solo scenes for our characters. Lastly, I won't be posting a new chapter this weekend but there will definitely be a new one between June 9-11. I hope you all come back then :-)
Chapter 38
Raiden quickly went from town to town searching for Ciel. Unlike his brother, he did not have the patience to deal with other races he deemed inferior to himself. As a powerful being, he did not see the need to blend in or to play nice. Even now, he could not understand his brother's fascination with humans. He silently conceded that Ciel was indeed someone special but he saw almost everyone else as pathetic, greedy weaklings, slave to their own desires and weaknesses.
But your own mother was a slave to her own weakness, her pride led to her downfall, a sly voice in his head pointed out. True, he admitted to himself, but she had the power and viciousness to back up that overweening pride.
Thinking of his mother led him to compare Ciel and Carmila. Ciel, like most humans, did not possess any magic or extraordinary qualities, however, she radiated a quiet strength, something born from surviving a terrible ordeal. What does not destroy you, makes you stronger. This phrase fits Ciel to a "t". It takes a tremendous amount of strength to retain one's sense of self, pride and honor after a tragedy. As a demon, he has a healthy respect for strength and he finally understands why his brother was willing to risk everything to get her back. Now he feels guilty for kidnapping Ciel. Although he did not owe her anything, he still felt bad about dragging her into the middle of their squabble. His primary aim is to put her out of Sebastian's reach so she could live a normal life. He still wanted to take his revenge on Sebastian but he would do so without relying on anyone.
Since he had no clues as to Ciel's whereabouts, Raiden decided to try to find the mystical caves instead. As soon as she is found, they can proceed to restore her memory. Finally, he reached the edge of what is known as the Misty Forest. Earlier, he heard from some locals about the existence of caves within this forest that everyone avoids. It is said that anyone who enters this forest never comes out the same. They either emerge deranged or soon commit suicide.
From the outside, all those stories seem possible. Thick fog wended between the trees, hence the name. It doesn't help that the tree trunks and branches were all white, giving the forest an eerie visage. The trees were so tall that no sunlight reached the forest floor. Not a single animal could be seen and the thick moss on the ground muffled all sound. A strange cold permeated the place covering everything with a thin layer of ice.
Having grown up in savage surroundings, Raiden entered alone and unafraid. Almost immediately, he found a well-trodden path on the frozen ground as if everyone who dared to enter this place was led to only one destination. Without much effort, he found the mystical caves. Raiden felt a sense of anticlimax, he expected a bit more difficulty in finding a supposedly magical place.
Once inside the cave, it branched off into several more caves but they all looked ordinary in every way. Strangely, the fog and frost stayed outside the cave as if there was an unseen barrier. As Raiden walked further in, he noticed that the ceiling gradually rose until he was in a vast cavern. There was a faint glow on the walls clearly showing that there was nothing else in there except for more rocks. Thinking that he made a pointless trip, Raiden turned to go when his sharp hearing caught a faint sound. He couldn't sense another being in there but he thought the sound seemed like voices.
"Who's there?" he said but only his voice echoed back to him. He turned to leave believing that he was just mistaken when the sound came again, louder this time.
"Show yourself!" he demanded, beginning to get annoyed. As he listened, he couldn't make out the words but it seemed as if there was more than just one person talking. Gradually, wispy smoke appeared in front of him. The smoke twisted and undulated until it formed into shapes. The shapes began to form into beings, from them came the voices that Raiden heard. They paid him no mind as if he wasn't there at all. These ghostly beings began to act as if actors in a play but the story is one that Raiden never wished to remember. They were showing him his past and now he realized why anyone who went in here was driven to madness.
Sebastian ran on silent feet, hopping from one rooftop to the next effortlessly. At this late hour, not a soul was about. Only the shining full moon witnessed his rapid progress towards the circus. As he ran, his mind went over the day's events. Nothing strange happened but for some reason something was niggling at his senses, as if there was something right in front of him that he could not see. He recalled the snippets of conversation he overheard with his sharp hearing, of people disappearing without a trace. In a busy town such as this, it is inevitable that crime would occur but what's strange about the disappearances is that the victims seemed to have nothing in common. Also, some of them made unlikely targets such as beggars, prostitutes and drunkards.
Although Sebastian had very few clues to go on regarding this mystery, he could not help but investigate. There was a malicious aura from this circus and he felt that the two was somehow connected.
Once he reached the circus, he began stealthily searching the tents but found nothing suspicious. He then retreated to a secluded corner as he thought to himself, if I don't uncover anything tonight, I will grab Ciel and return to my realm. I know she will not appreciate the brute force but I will not place her in harms way.
Then to his shock, he saw the very object of his protection waltz into the circus grounds.