Yoooooo, hello everyone! Due to several inconveniences, most of which involve school, exams, tests etc., I was unable to update for the past few weeks or month. I probably will not be able to update much until maybe June 4th? Yeah that sounds about right.
I own nothing!
Watery Grave
Water, wind and sleet slashed my cheeks and the skin of my bare arms. My stomach lurched and I wrapped my arms tighter around Sebastian's neck, bracing myself as he leaped off the broken, rapidly sinking back of the ship and onto the slightly less rapidly sinking front. I could hear the screams of people who couldn't make the cross, and the distant splash of bodies hitting the water.
The front of the boat rocked dangerously, it was just a few seconds away from becoming perfectly vertical and disappearing between the waves. "Young master!" Sebastian put Ciel down, and quickly jammed a red and white lifesaver over his head and shoulders. Ciel screeched in surprise, especially when Sebastian picked him up, lifesaver and all. Where did he get that? "Take a deep breath. With the situation being what it is, please forgive me!"
"WHAT ARE YOU DO-AAAAAH!"
I gaped in shock as Ciel soared away and landed somewhere in the ocean with a distant plop that I probably couldn't hear and was probably imagining. "SEBASTIAN, THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" I turned to him, and yelped when he then swung me off his back and into his arms. My eyes widened even more and I raised my arms higher up his shoulders. "Sebastian, I swear to everything, if you fucking da-!"
The rest of my threat was interrupted by him heaving me in the same general direction that he had tossed Ciel. At least he had excellent aim, I hit the water a yard from Ciel. The sudden shock of the frigid water nearly caused me to lose consciousness. I could feel the chill pervading my skin and settling into my bones. It hurts.
I kicked my legs sluggishly, a tired attempt to keep myself above water. It's so cold...I feel sleepy... My mouth disappeared below the water's surface, and then I caught sight of the lifesaver. Ciel... As I watched, eyes half shut with lethargy, his arms seemed to loosen slowly by degrees until he slipped below the waves.
The sleepy chill was replaced by a different kind of chill. Ciel! I dived below the water, my body screaming as the icy temperature stabbed at my skin and eyes. Below the surface was dark, but I could see Ciel's body sinking by the light of the moon, and the red lights of the sinking ship and boats.
Our heads broke the surface, and I gasped for air while Ciel choked, coughed, and clung to my shoulders. Keeping myself afloat was hard enough when it was just me, but I somehow managed not to sink too much until I spotted a dark shape torpedoing towards us. Sebastian. And he had a boat. "It seems they weren't able to lower all the lifeboats in time," he explained as he heaved Ciel, and then me, and into the boat. "So I went ahead and borrowed one."
I wrapped my arms around Ciel's shoulders, feeling the shivers and gasps that wracked his small body. For once he didn't pull away. It was amazing how many times I had come so close to losing him. I didn't even notice that I was shaking as well until Sebastian threw his coat around us. I'm not sure how he managed to keep it nearly dry, but I wasn't about to complain.
We could hear the screams of those who hadn't been able to get on the lifeboats in time. There were so many of them, all clawing and shoving at each other to stay afloat. "If we let them on, they'll sink this boat too," Sebastian pointed out quietly.
Ciel gritted to his teeth to stop them from clacking together, and gripped the edges of the coat tighter. "Let's get away." Accordingly, Sebastian gripped the boat and began to swim in the direction of the other boats. A part of me worried that he would get cold, while the logical part of me informed me of how unlikely that was to be true. A sigh escaped my lips, forming icy crystals in the air. Ciel had stopped shivering as hard, but he seemed...limp, tired.
I shook him by the shoulders firmly. "Don't fall asleep!" If he slept off, his body temperature would reduce even more. He might slip into a coma, or worse.
The boat suddenly jerked, and Sebastian grunted with surprised pain. One of those monsters had latched onto his leg and bitten down with enough force to draw blood. "Ugh!" He kicked out, shattering the bones of the neck.
Ciel looked horrified. "They can move in water!?"
"Seeing as they're not exactly alive, they probably have no need to breathe," I felt sick and scared, and the feeling grew when the water around us began to bubble. Heads began to rise out from the water, hundreds of them, all turned towards us.
Oh my god. Ciel screamed. "Sebastian, get in the boat!" The demon vaulted himself into the boat, narrowly avoiding having his arm bitten off. The unholy sound grew louder, the deafening groans and monotonous grunts as they came closer. A few grabbed hold of the hull and tried to climb in, but Sebastian grabbed hold of one of the oars and struck them hard enough to shatter the bones in their arms and skulls.
I curled myself further around Ciel. One of the monster made a wild grab for his arm, and I slit its neck. My knives felt uncomfortable in my hands, bulky and difficult to grip between my frozen fingers, but as long as I could hold them I would. "How many are there?" I yelled.
The oar in Sebastian's hands slammed against the skull of another. "I don't know," he replied. "It seems that they will keep coming for the soul closest to them, meaning that the two of you are the only other living humans around."
The young boy studied the surging mass of monsters, and then the distant light of the other lifeboats. He gritted his teeth and scowled. "Then we can't escape," he muttered. "If we do, Lizzy and the rest will be targeted. We can't expose the survivors to danger."
I consider now how selfish and human Ciel always was. Rarely was anything he ever did out of the pure goodness of his heart. His actions were always out of some form of self-interest; a way to alleviate feelings of guilt or fear. I expected nothing more from him, and nothing less.
Thin fingers latched around my wrist when I tried to stand. "What are you doing?" He snapped, traces of worry evident in his visible eye. "Don't be stupid, you're just as cold as I am."
"But-" I tried to argue, but he had already turned to Sebastian.
"You can take them, can't you?" He asked the demon, and Sebastian smirked, his teeth sharp and his eyes glowing just faintly.
"There is no need to ask a servant anything," he replied smoothly. "Please give me an order."
The hand on my wrist tightened and yanked me down to the seat of the boat. "In that case, Thalia I order you to sit. As for you, Sebastian," his tone hardened. "Eradicate them!"
The boat rocked uncontrollably from side to side, sometimes just managing to not tip over. I gripped the edges tightly, quietly fearing that one of the monsters would bite them off, but unwilling to let go when Ciel was gripping me like I was the only thing keeping him from losing his balance and tumbling into the water. Which I was.
Interesting. Water sloshed into the bottom of the boat. Something grazed my fingers painfully. Humans will drag each other down even in death to get what they want. I clenched my teeth together. What truly insatiable creatures.
I'm not sure how long it took, but finally the lifeboat ceased its frenzied shudders and settled into a gentle rocking. I exhaled softly, relieved, and unpeeled my fingers from the sides of the boat. Ciel raised his head warily. "Is it over?"
I think so. My fingers felt numb with cold, but also rubbed raw. I flexed them gingerly, wincing at the intense prickling sensation as blood seemed to start flowing again. Sebastian stood and surveyed the carnage he had caused, and then he suddenly grunted and collapsed. "Sebastian!" I had never seen him look so...tired. So spent. He coughed, and blood pooled at the side of his mouth.
He grimaced. "A blow from a death scythe is quite tough, even for something like me."
"Stop talking," I muttered, pressing the heel of my hand against the gash to staunch the flow of blood. "Just lie still." The palms of my hands feel hot and rubbed raw, but I don't let up the pressure.
A contemplative silence fell over the three of us, lulled by the now gentle rocking of the boat. While I tended to Sebastian, Ciel considered the silver lockets Undertaker had dropped. "Undertaker..." he muttered. "What is his goal?"
Good question. "I cannot be sure," Sebastian replied slowly. "But I am sure, as long as you hold on to those lockets, you will meet him again. He did not seem to want to cause the two of you any harm," he frowned and winced slightly, just slightly. "But I cannot say I would like to run into him again."
"Didn't I say you should stop talking?" I snapped, pulling him back when he tried to sit up. "Lean back, or you're going to force out more blood."
Ciel stared at his butler, his expression inscrutable, but I was certain I could see a hint of awe and...something else. Something I couldn't put a name to. "I have never seen you like this before," he comments quietly.
You've never seen him being struck by a death scythe either. That is what I want to say, but I bite my tongue and rip a strip of fabric from my dress to use as a bandage. "I am deeply sorry for my unseemly state," Sebastian replies. He looks like he might go on, so I glare at him. He smirks/smiles, but keeps silent.
Another blanket of silence descends, but it is quickly blown away by the sound of a foghorn. "A rescue ship." We look to see, and somehow it is now dawn, and the sky is slowly turning from dark blue to pale pink. We can see the bodies of the monsters, the ones that still float, and beyond them are the other lifeboats.
A cheer rises up in the distance, and I exhale softly. "Sebastian, Thalia..." Ciel isn't looking at either of us when he speaks. "I can't have Phantomhive family servants looking like this. When we get back to the manor, take a good rest. You both did well today."
That's as close to a compliment as we'll ever get, I smiled softly.
oOo
I decimated reanimated corpses. I killed several men. I survived the sinking of a ship and swum in the freezing cold ocean to rescue my drowning cousin, and what do I have to show for any of this?
"Achoo!"
That's right, a cold. An honest-to-goodness strain of the common cold. This was infuriating, not even Ciel got a cold, and the kid's frail and asthmatic! Not that I wasn't glad he didn't come down with something dangerous. In all honesty, I'm glad I was shouldering the worst of it, but it was still terrible.
I groaned nasally, and covered my entire face with the hot, moist towel Mey-Rin had placed by my bedside. "Please, just let me die," I muttered to no one, and she made a sound that was halfway between a giggle and a scandalized squeak.
"You shouldn't say that, no!" She scolded, taking the cloth and arranging it on my pale forehead. Most of my blood seemed to have concentrated itself on my cheeks and nose. My nose especially, which randomly went from being drippy and disgusting, to being completely bunged up and swollen. I had forgotten what it felt like to breathe normally again, and I had also nearly died several times during the night when my body seemed to have forgotten that my nose was actually blocked and tried to breathe through it.
Ugh, oh well. My body healed quickly, and this was just a common cold. Nothing a day of rest wouldn't fix. I rolled over, careful of my raging headache, and grabbed the cup of orange juice that had been placed on my bedside table. "Thanks Mey-Rin," I smiled. "You should probably go though. I don't want you to come down with this."
"Yes, alright!" The door of my room shut and I closed my eyes. Ow, my nose. Ow, my head. Ow, everything. Someone just kill me. I was kidding, of course, but you can bet that when I opened my bleary eyes and saw a dark figure standing over me I was certain that some reaper had heard my sub-vocal thoughts and had come to do just that.
Which was why I screamed/swore until a hand clapped over my mouth. "My apologies," Sebastian smirked down at me. "Did I startle you, my darling?"
No, I enjoy screaming and swearing for no reason whatsoever. It's a hobby now. He chuckled as though he could read my thoughts, and the hand over my mouth moved to cup my chin. "How are you feeling?"
I shrugged minutely. "Sleepy. Half-dead. I can't breathe right, and I've lost the ability to taste things. What about you?" I eyed him studiously. There was no visible trace of the scar, or the wounds caused by the battle. He looked as well put-together as always, and I envied him that.
His hand trailed down to curl around my fingers. "And your hands?"
I flexed my bandaged fingers with a frown. The skin had been rubbed nearly raw, and had been flecked with wood and debris that had needed to be pulled out. I would have noticeable calluses, but no lasting scars.
My right hand had taken the brunt of the injuries, and Sebastian lifted the palm to his lips. His body leaned over mine on the bed, one knee up so that he could lean over me. One hand was used to brace himself, while the other kept hold of mine. He spoke against the bandages and skin. "You look rather adorable."
I groaned and threw my free hand over my face. "I look like shit," I countered. I was pale, sweaty, my nose was blocked, I sounded nasally and I smelled like orange juice and germs. Oh god, I do look like shit. In a rare moment of vanity, I wanted to shove Sebastian out of my room before he could get another look at my face. "What do you want anyway?"
"Human vanity does not suit you."
"Well that's gonna be a problem because I am human," I raised my arm so he could see the way I rolled my eyes, and then I winced when my head gave a particularly painful pinch. "Go away, I want to sleep. Maybe I'll feel better after that," I tried to roll over, but he quickly grabbed my hand and pinned it to the bed. "Uh...what are you doing?"
Sebastian hummed quietly, still staring at me, and then he leaned down. Oh my god, you can't be serious. "Sebastian, seriously, this is not a good-mmph!"
I'd expected something tender, soft. I don't know how kissing fully works, but I do know that you don't kiss someone with a cold the way he was kissing me. He licked my mouth open and slid his tongue deep inside. I tried to breathe, but whenever I tried to gasp for air he would deepen the kiss, until I was certain I would pass out from the lack of air.
Finally he pulled away, and smiled smugly. "My apologies, my sweet," he kissed me on the cheek. "It seems I got a bit...carried away."
"You have-" deep breath "-ten seconds-" deep breath "-to get out-" deepest breath "-before I kill you." Really deep breath, and he snickered softly.
"Feel better soon, my love," he kissed my forehead softly, and I let my eyes slip shut and sleep claim me.
This was terrible. I know it, you know it. Just set me on fire someone, I'm so tired. I'll edit it when I feel less like a walking corpse.
