"Ciel..?" called the blonde, swallowing hard as he stared at the smiling man with wide eyes. "Who is that?"
The Watchdog's eyes darted to his counterpart. "I told you to lead me to him! Not kill hi-!"
He was cut off when the smiling man pointed off to the side. Following his finger, there was a door. Furrowing his brow, Ciel thought for a few moments, and tried to feel the air. No matter how hard Ciel tried, he couldn't pick up Alois' signature with sixth sense. Suddenly he looked back to the menace.
"You're a fake…" he said. "Aren't you?"
"C-Ciel?" whimpered the blonde. "I-I'm not! Ciel, please!"
"You don't even act like him…" accused the Watchdog. "If you were Jim, you wouldn't be standing there, groveling. He's not a coward…"
"Ciel!" called the other, his voice breaking. Tears streamed down his cheeks, but Ciel looked to him with nothing but contempt. "Please!"
"He's beyond that door, isn't he, Chuck?" questioned the Phantomhive, prompting his counterpart to nod. "Can I leave this to you, then?"
The blonde's head whipped around to lock eyes with the smiling man once again, only for Smiley to raise his eyebrows and widen his eyes. He recoiled a bit at the sight of the man crying, which did not go unnoticed. There was a slight flicker in the blonde's eye as he focused on the umbrella-wielding gent, but he still continued to cry.
"Ciel…" he sobbed. "Please… You can't… I… I thought…" Smiley's eye twitched while the other bluenette stayed stern.
"You thought what?" Ciel asked, prompting the blonde to lower his gaze.
"I… I…" the man hiccupped, staining his suit with fresh tears. "I thought… I thought you… Th-that you l-l-loved m-me…"
Then, the corner of the smiling man's seemingly permanent grin twitched. It was the first time his mouth had moved. It was now the Watchdog's turn to be surprised, taking his eye off of the blonde momentarily in order to find out what was wrong with his counterpart just long enough for the blonde to look up again. Turning his attention back to the blonde again, however, he immediately reached into his coat and pulled out his gun, realizing that the man was up to no good.
"Be quiet!" Ciel commanded, pointing the gun at the menace and causing him to take a few steps back and yelp. The blonde held up his hands defensively and cowered. Once again, this caused the smiling man to hesitate. Once again, his smile began to falter.
The corners of his mouth twitched again before falling slightly. His smile was now less painful-looking, but his eyes made it appear to be less genuine. There was sadness in them, and they wouldn't stray from the blonde. Seeing him upset was somehow getting to him.
"Smiley, don't listen to him!" ordered the Phantomhive. "He's not real! Even I can tell!"
Just then, his counterpart looked as him with solemn eyes. It appeared as though water was collecting in them. Rather than his usual game of charades, he decided to communicate with Ciel without gesture—silently, motionlessly, with only his eyes, saying: "But what if he isn't?"
The smiling man expressed doubt to Ciel, worriedly wondering if the blonde was telling the truth. Smiley, who knew things about this world that Ciel did not, was experiencing doubt. The world was now fooling his guide, or rather, his guide's weakness had been found. The blonde, unfortunately, had seemed to notice as well.
Quickly, the blonde darted past Smiley's umbrella and hid behind him away from the gun, surprising both bluenettes. With the new proximity, the smiling man's lips began to crack as his smile fell further. As the bluenette struggled to continue smiling now, widening it by force and causing the cracks spread further and part more harshly. Ciel looked on with his gun trained on the blonde. The Watchdog had to move from his original spot in order to not hit his counterpart. His eye was wide at what was happening to the other bluenette, shocked by how the immovable expression was now crumbling away.
"Get away from him!" he barked at the blonde, but his order fell on deaf ears as the others continued to lock eyes. His command, however, caused the other to jump and utter a yelp once again. The cracks on Smiley's face reached his cheeks and reached toward his cheekbones as a result. His eyes, however, stayed locked on the blonde's..
"Smiley!" Ciel called out, trying to snap his counterpart back to his senses to no avail. The blonde stepped closer, ruining Ciel's shot. The smiling man was now at risk to be used as a shield. "Smiley! Wake up!"
The blonde extended his hand and reached out to the frozen Smiley. Slowly, he made the gesture, but the bluenette's eyes didn't stray once, but his smile fell almost completely. Then the blonde pressed his finger against the man's lower lip, gently touching a large crack in his visage. With that simple gesture came horror as the Watchdog witnessed the lower half of his counterpart's face shatter completely like glass.
Shards of Smiley's face fell to the floor, pitter-pattering against its surface as the grip on his umbrella loosened. The weapon fell to the floor as he fell back and soon joined it with a loud, hollow thud on the shiny, sharpened pieces of his own face. His eyes were still open, but there was no spark inside. Everything below them was gone. It had broken off, leaving the inside of his head exposed. It was reflective, just like the inside of each piece of it, but it was not smooth. It was scratched and smudged, but Ciel could still see his own reflection as he looked inside.
Sweat trickled down the back of his neck as he stared at his counterpart before looking to the copy of his beau. He felt sadness. He felt loss. He felt shame. That soon turned to anger, however, as he peered up at the nightmare, becoming enraged at the sight of that smug grin the creature was wearing. That grin with that face? Unforgivable!
"What? Are you mad?" asked the nightmare in a mocking tone. "Don't tell me oyu got attached to the thing… Useless creature… It wasn't even supposed to exist! But you… You and that other one… You demons are quite the handful, aren't you?"
Without answering, the Phantomhive merely pulled the trigger of his weapon, firing several shots into the nightmare's chest. It took a step back with each hit, but it did not fall. It merely smiled while wearing the lion's face and cackled. It cackled a nasty, distorted cackle as the colour drained from its visage. The only hue visible was its crimson eyes, the whites of which were now coated with inky black.
"Cute." The creature said, its voice piercing. "But I won't be beaten. I already made the mistake of underestimating the other one, and I won't make that mistake twice."
"Jim?" Ciel questioned, his voice shocked for a moment before his anger returned. "What did you do to him?" he demanded in a low growl.
"He'll get his soon enough." The nightmare said, stretching. Its limbs popped loudly in a grotesque fashion. "But I'm afraid you'll have to go on without him."
The creature's limbs continued to pop and snap, causing the beast to twitch, slightly. With the ugly sound, its limbs elongated and so did the creature's face. Parts of it grew while others sunk in, like its eyes and nose. The suit that it had been wearing had changed, turning into feathers that formed a long cloak, and long antlers began to protrude from its head on either side as pale hair fell out in clumps. Skin peeled away, leaving only bone like the skull of a deer. The only sign of life on its face was the two small, red, lights that served for eyes, glowing brightly from deep within the sockets. Slowly, it parted the feather cloak and reached out a long, grey, hand covered in callouses. The arm was concealed with the tattered sleeve of a shirt.
"Now come quietly, and be with your lover forever." It beckoned, hoping that the bluenette would oblige.
Ciel stared at the monstrosity for a few moments before his frown deepened. "He is not my lover." He stated harshly. "He is my husband, and we were going be together forever long before you arrived!"
Firing off a few more shots while knowing that they would do him no real good, he was able to distract the beast for a few moments in order to duck behind some cover. Now was time for a plan. As the creature recoiled before snapping back to its senses, it taunted him.
"It didn't work last time, so what makes you think it will now?" it asked. "Come out! I will find you… I know you're still here…"
Stifling his breathing, the Watchdog stayed hidden, thinking of a plan. He knew that the symbol tattooed on Captain Harland's arm was the key, but he wasn't sure how to implement that, or if he even remembered what the symbol looked like correctly. It was somewhere deep within his mind, but he couldn't bring it to the surface. Pulling the small memopad he always kept with him out of his pocket, he quickly tried to sketch the basic outline of what he remembered, hoping to jog his memory, even in it wasn't the time for it. As far as he was concerned, there weren't any other options.
"Is that you scratching?" called the nightmare, listening closely to the sound of the Phantomhive's pen scribbling against the paper. Slowly, it crept closer. Ciel could hear the sound of its talon-like feet hitting the floor and inching closer and closer to where he was hiding.
"AH-HAH!" barked the beast, locking eyes with the demon. Holding out its arms, it pounced at the man, only to recoil and gasp as it glanced at the incomplete drawing. Ciel held it up to its view, holding the pen to the paper, threatening to finish the symbol despite not knowing the rest. Still, it was enough to buy him some time.
He stood up and backed away from the nightmare, never moving his secret weapon as he heading toward the door. Standing next to it, he moved the hand with the pen in it to grasp the handle and began to turn it, pausing to glance at his fallen counterpart one last time. It was strange. Ciel only knew the creature for a short while, and they never spoke, but he felt a bit sad that he was gone. He had just started to like Smiley a bit.
Then, his gaze returned to the nightmare as it seemed to be recalculating its options. Quickly, Ciel then flung the door open and stepped through it. Immediately, it shut behind him as he found himself blinded by the sudden entry into bright light.
A/N: Why hello, there~ Long time no see~
I'm finally done with my finals, thank goodness, and I plan to write like mad over the break! So hopefully, more updates more often!
...but then when I'm back in school, it'll slow down... a lot... I'm taking more classes this time... and go to class on more days... I'm afraid all I'll wanna do when I get home is nap...
nuuuuhhhh...
Still, it's not like I'm going to quit altogether anytime soon. Thank you all for being so patient! I don't like these "once a week" updates, so I'm gonna try to update all I can until that fateful day when class starts back up! Be sure to review as well, as it kinda helps jog my brain a bit. I actually learn a lot from them. "What should I focus on in this arc?" "What is liked?" "What is not liked?" "What needs clarified?" Shit like that.
I was actually very worried, starting this arc... I haven't done anything like this before... I wasn't sure how the audience would react...
Even after 600+ chapters on this series, I still expect "This totally sucks!" Aha... I need more confidence...
Until the next chapter, my duckies~!
