Seriously, don't kill me! Put the knives away that you stole from Sebastian, people! Lol
Anyways, I finally, finallygot this chapter finished! About damn time, huh? Sorry if it seems a little rushed, the only time I got to write was at work when I wasn't busy. When I get home I'm dead -3-
But anyway, I've kept you guys and gals waiting long enough. Enjoy! And don't forget to R&R and tell me what you think! Ta!
Blood Stained Blossom
By
Koneko Onee-chan
x-x-x-x
Chapter Eight
Deathly Mesmerizing –
A Demon Queen?
x-x-x-x
Sakura suddenly fell to her knees, her hand grasping her neck as she coughed. Her eyes watered from the dry soreness of her throat from the constant screaming. Sebastian was instantly by her side, hovering just enough for her to feel his presence. She looked up, and the look of such raw emotion made the raven-haired butler turn away, his eyes searching the woods until they shifted to a high tree branch, narrowing heatedly at the smirking face of Claude.
"Alois..." Her voice was soft, so very soft with a catch from all her screaming. But the platinum blonde looked up, his once cornflower blue eyes tinged greyed and cloudy. A small smile formed on his bloody lips and Sakura sobbed, shakily reaching her hand out to grasp his clammy skin.
"Sakura... I don't... I-I," Tears welled up in his pain-filled eyes, spilling in hot lines down his pale cheeks. "I don't want to die like this. I don't want to die with regrets, at not being able to tell you... show you... how much I'm sorry." Sakura's eyes glazed over with her own tears, her shaking hands pulling Alois into the warmth of her lap to embrace him tightly, but gently. Time seemed to slow down for the both of them, blotting out everything and everyone besides themselves.
A small tremor ran through Sakura when she felt Alois's small body relax against her, his skin cooling under her fingers shaking fingers. His tears soaked into her modern-type kimono, sticking the silky material to her skin. His fingers weakly grasped onto the silk above her heart, burying his face into her chest as he let out a small, heart-wrenching sob. She felt her tears finally fall, landing silently into the boy's soft hair.
"I'll save you, Alois. I'll save you because you're... my Jim. My precious otouto." She leaned over him, hugging him so desperately close to her as his consciousness began to slip away. Her long, silky pink tresses tickled his cheeks where her hair slipped over her shoulders, falling around him like a warm sunset-filled curtain. He smiled.
"Don't die... Please don't die, Jim. You're all I have left. I forgive you for everything, so please! Please... don't leave me alone again..." Her voice grew hoarse, the tears falling faster, thicker. Hiccups destroyed the sobs that escaped past her lips, her small body shaking involuntarily.
"How disappointing."
Sakura stiffened at the sound of the voice, her head snapping up to lock eyes with Claude. He looked down at them from a high tree branch, a noticeable lift at his lip and disgust reflecting blatantly in his golden eyes. She felt Alois's grip on her tighten, and instinctively she drew him further into her arms.
"I would have thought this little event would have awakened you, little human. But it seems as though your mortal human emotions are still a hindrance." He jumped from the branch, landing gracefully on his feet in front of them. His gloved fingers reached for her, stopping just short of her face when he jerked out of reach, a stray piece of cutlery missing him by a hair's width. His golden orbs narrowed in distaste at the Phantomhive's butler.
"You have stooped low, Sebastian Michaelis. You, a demon, have been be-spelled by a human that you are not even contracted to; it is truly a disgusting sight." He bent at the waist to retrieve the knife embedded into the soil, and even the slightly aggressive action was graceful. Sebastian's ruby gaze, growing lighter and turning a bright pink, glared at the other male with a building fury.
He ignored the demon's taunts and insults, and instead turned his gaze to Sakura; her figure frozen with something he couldn't quite understand that left her eyes wide and mouth slightly parted.
"Sakura," He softened his tone, hiding away the anger so perfectly it left his voice smooth and almost gentle. He watched as her head lifted slowly, her weary, watery eyes resting on his form that stood protectively by her side.
"Sebastian..." Had he not been a demon, or one that never showed real, genuine emotion, he would have given in and reached for her, just to touch that mesmerizing perfection with his sinful hands.
But he was, and it was something he hated at that very moment.
Her voice was so soft, so utterly broken and filled with lost hope that he had to clench his hands into fists to keep them at his sides. He watched as a tear trickled out of her eye, and before he realized that he had moved his gloved finger was already at her cheek, catching the small water drop from falling. The soft gasp that left her lips stirred the demon within him, a sudden warm breeze ruffling the softness of her hair. It straightened him up onto his feet, his tall lean body blocking the pinkette from Claude's scrutinizing gaze. An eerie, wide smile that seemed more like a sneer stretched across his lips as cutlery of all sorts appeared between his fingers, his long, graceful legs taking a taunting step forward. His power flared over them all in a rush of heat.
"Sakura, take Alois Trancy with you and move from the area. I do not wish to have you harmed," He paused, glancing over at the unmoving girl who stared back at him with a dazed expression, her jade-green eyes shimmering with a red glow from the reaction of his power mixing with her half-awakened demon. A smirk replaced the earlier sneering smile, his eyes trained on the movement of her small, pink, cat-like tongue that darted over her lips to moisten them. "My blossom."
A pink hue dusted her cheeks, a sigh shuddering from her form. Sebastian turned his attention back onto Claude, his eyes once again narrowed in displeasure at the spider demon. Claude only smirked, his figure disappearing and reappearing in front of the ruby-eyed man. His arm cocked back before he struck, thrusting the small knife as far as it could go into Sebastian's arm.
Sebastian flinched, his hand snapping around Claude's wrist in a bone-breaking grip and pried him off harshly. His arm stung long enough to know he could still use it, no matter how deep the irritating spider had dug the knife in through his bone. If he had been human, it would have done a lot more than just hurt.
Sakura's eyes focused once the flow of Sebastian's power receded back into his form, her mind clearing like a rain cloud drifting away to reveal clear, bright blue skies. She gasped, pulling herself quickly but gently away from Alois to check his condition, only for tears to once more cloud her vision.
He was completely still. His skin pale and hair limp, the shine no longer present in his platinum blonde locks. Dread and fear both coiled tightly in her stomach, a coldness settling over her that had nothing to do with the night air.
"Alois..." She shook him gently, her voice turning high with panic. But there was no response. She blinked, and two small drops of moisture landed on his cheek where she moved him onto her lap. Her throat tightened with the suppressed urge to sob. "Alois... Wake up." Again, nothing.
Sakura let out a shaky breath, raising her hands to rub the heels against her eyelids, but even that didn't stop the tears that continued to fall.
A twig snapped to her right, though she didn't react. It wasn't until she felt someone next to her that she dropped her hands limply to her sides, her eyes rolling up to find Ciel panting harshly, his attire a mess. He looked down at her and seemed startled to see the fresh tear tracks staining her cheeks, her eyes brimming red from crying.
"Ciel..." She blinked, her voice sounding strange. Her gaze fell back to the unmoving boy on her lap, her lower lip trembling. "He... Alois..." She trailed off, her arms unconsciously hooking underneath Alois to carefully move him off of her lap. His head lolled to the side and she froze, breathing in a sharp intake of air. She placed him on the ground with shaking hands, taking in his closed eyes and the smile forever adorned on his angelic face.
"Is he...?" Without a chance to finish his question, Sakura threw herself at him; her arms tightly embracing him made him stiffen at the close contact. Her tears quickly soaked the skin at his neck, making him squirm in discomfort.
Her crying continued, and Ciel found himself at a loss of what to do in such a situation. His muscles slowly relaxed and he let out a quiet sigh.
"I don't know what to do… I don't know how to live without a purpose anymore. Even… even when Alois was taken away from me, I still hoped to be by his side." She paused, and Ciel felt her trembling against his smaller body. He hesitantly lifted a hand to place on her head, stroking along her silky pink hair in a calming gesture. He never really realised a girl's hair could be so soft, he thought absently.
"Even though everything he's done to me… I-I… Ciel, why does it hurt so much?"
She couldn't keep it in any longer and gave in; her pain, anger, sadness; every emotion she felt then and there was let out in one, anguish-filled sob. When enough air filled her lungs, another followed, until she was on her hands and knees in front of him crying so heartbrokenly.
Ciel let her slip out of his hold, his lone eye showing only one emotion, and that was pity. He couldn't help but feel pity for the pink-haired woman, because in a way she was like him. He had locked the pain of his parent's death deep within his mind and soul, placing such a thick barrier between him and his emotions, yet when he thought about them, it still hurt.
Deep in thought, he never noticed the bright red glow that began swirling around both Sakura and Alois; thick black markings creeping up her skin agonizingly slow until it reached her neck, cutting her off mid-sob. Ciel's gaze snapped to her, his eye widening at the familiar seal marked beneath the kneeling pinkette and the unmoving blonde. He panicked, squeezing his eyes closed and shouting a loud 'Sebastian!' within his mind.
The black markings seeped into Sakura's smooth, pale skin; the glow fading until it eventually died out into a soft shimmer. As soon as the markings disappeared, a scream tore from her throat, her body thrashing wildly on the ground. Ciel stumbled back in shock. He reached out to her after a moment of hesitation, a strange feeling of wanting to help her welling up in his chest. His hand was smacked back as Sebastian appeared; his appearance only slightly dishevelled from fighting Claude. His voice was calm and not the least bit breathless as he spoke to his young master, his ruby gaze not once leaving the writhing woman on the ground.
"Young master, it would not be wise to offer yourself to a newly formed demon." He cautiously began walking towards Sakura, feeling the power pouring out of her wash over him in a almost freezing caressed. He stopped just short of the seal circling the pinkette, eyeing it carefully. It no longer glowed, but he could still see it clearly, even in the dark. It resembled a contract; a Faustian Contract, just like he and his young master shared. Though it was different at the same time; a thorny red flower encircled by thick red; elegantly curved where it joined with the circle. And if he wasn't mistaken, there were small, elegant kanji blended into the curves that crept around Alois Trancy's form, too.
Sakura stilled. Her body abruptly slumped forward, her long hair falling over her shoulders to pool in her lap. Sebastian couldn't see her eyes; though he knew they were no longer the green he had found to be mesmerizing, like staring into the reflective shine of a feline's almond shaped orbs.
"Claude..." His ears picked up the faint, almost inaudible murmur that came from the young maid. The ground cracked underneath her, a chilling wind picking up and caressing her hair to fly in the breeze. Her voice came louder, though it was still soft, with an edge of a growl rumbling unearthly in her cold tone. The small hairs at the back of Sebastian's neck rose at the chilling aura of Sakura's demonic aura.
"Where... is Claude." It was a demand as she slowly lifted herself up, the long sleeves of her kimono billowing. Sebastian was ashamed to admit it, but his breath caught in his throat just watching her rise like a demonic Goddess. She looked ethereal; her light pink hair nearly silver in the shine of the moon; her skin seeming as though it were glowing. If she hadn't been emitting a chilling, demonic aura, he would have thought she were a mythical creature; a fairy.
His teeth grit together at the burn in his chest, his anger at Claude almost overpowering him. He had tarnished Sakura's purity, her immortal soul. He could never forgive the damned spider for that; ever.
"I presume you are looking for me, little human? Ah, but I cannot really call you that now, can I?" Both whipped their heads up to find Claude standing on a high tree branch once again, his spectacles reflecting in the light of the moon, hiding his eyes from view. A sickening grin etched itself onto his face as he stared down at the pinkette.
A feral growl trickled out of Sakura's throat.
She launched herself at Claude too quick for him to stop her, the tree destroyed instantly from her overwhelming power. Dust rose into the air creating a cloud thick enough to hide the two from view, but the sounds of groaning wood and the large tremors in the earth told Sebastian that his blossom was merciless in her rage-driven state. At the rate she was going, she would not stop until blood was spilled, or until one of them was dead. The uncomfortable, mysterious burning in his chest had him hoping it would not be his blossom.
x-x-x-x
A scream that was more roar than anything erupted from her throat as she grabbed onto Claude's arm, throwing him forcefully into a row of trees; the thick trunks shattering upon impact in an explosion of thick splinters. A stray few penetrated her skin, burrowing deep into her flesh. Her fuelling anger blotted out the pain, the adrenaline pumping through her sending her after the spider demon before he even hit the ground.
His slanted eyes widened when she suddenly appeared above him, her wide, rage-filled eyes blazing bright crimson. He threw his arm up to grasp the hand that came down on him, his teeth grinding together as he struggled to push her strength back at her.
She snapped her teeth at him, her actions like a wild dog angrily bearing down at him to attack his face. A small grunt left his thin lips, his muscles achingly pushing her slowly away from him enough to let him sit up.
His golden eyes bled into red, his irritation burning them a bright pink as he released his demon. Webbing wrapped around Sakura's small waist, yanking her further away from the tall male until he stood, producing more webs to wrap around her neck, wrists, and ankles.
He stood back and dusted himself down, his long fingers reaching for his dropped spectacles that lay cracked on the ruined ground. Claude made a small 'tsk' sound, breaking the broken lenses in his palm before letting the remains drop carelessly to his feet.
"I'll kill you Claude! I'll kill you!" Sakura screamed at him, thrashing wildly in the strong hold of the web. No matter how hard she pulled and tugged, the delicate-looking threads did not budge or snap. It was as though they were made from steel; unbreakable and resistant.
The butler ran his gloved fingers through his hair, tossing it back into its usual array in an angry jerk of his arm. He glared at the girl, taking a few steps toward her to grab her chin between his clothes digits non-too gently.
His power scorched her where he touched her skin, and she flinched, her eyes flickering back to jade-green as her demon calmed its fiery rage from the drowning force of his aura.
"Why are you so attached to that boy? He became weak because of his infatuation of you, and it has lost me a meal." His grip tightened until she could feel the skin beginning to bruise painfully, a soft gasp leaving her parted lips.
"You have back-fired my plan, and now I will have to kill you. With your little display of power it was almost impossible to even injure you, but now you are not much of a threat; you cannot break free from my webs." A slow, sadistic smirk crept onto his lips as he let go of her chin, his other hand prying the glove off in disgust.
Sakura watched him wearily, her muscles tense. A long, sharp knife appeared in Claude's hand from his sleeve, his long fingers twirling it tauntingly.
"If only you had obeyed me; became my puppet, then you would still live, little Sakura." The tip of the knife touched her collarbone, the sharpness cutting down to the smooth skin across the upper curve of her breasts, drawing blood in a perfect line. She winced at the slight pain and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. Something told her that Claude's actions were more than just hate. There was something else; something almost akin to lust in his bright pink eyes and the now audible sigh of his breathing. It sent a chill down her spine.
"You could have been so much more, Sakura. So much raw power, such beauty; you would have been perfect for the demon world; a queen amongst all others."
She twisted in the web's hold once more but it was useless. She knew she couldn't get free without at least the help of another.
Sebastian flashed into her mind, and her body stilled against the webbing. A small smile tilted her lips up even as she spoke.
"It doesn't matter to me. Alois is dead; I don't care if I die now." Her eyes slowly opened, green bleeding into crimson beneath her long lashes.
"I will gladly die as long as I bring you to hell with me, Claude Faustus."
A hellish grin stretched itself across her pink-glossed lips, a hint of pointed teeth showing through.
"Sebastian!"
The tall handsome Phantomhive butler appeared from the shadows seconds after her call, his own eyes melting into shining pink, a pleased smile on his pale face.
"You called, my lady?"
Ciel stepped next to him, once again out of breath with his arms supporting a hunched figure shrouded in the shadows of the woods.
The moon shifted, moving its beam of light onto a platinum-blonde head. The boy Sakura thought dead stirred; the grin slowly slipping off her face until she stared in shock, her body sagging against the webbing in relief and wonderment.
"Alois… You're alive…" Tears prickled at her eyes, a smile growing on her face that lit up her orbs in obvious relief.
Claude's eyes narrowed at the boy, another part of his plain foiled by the Phantomhive butler and the pink-haired wench. His grip on the small blade tightened until he bit it deeper into Sakura's skin, a hiss of air passing through her clenched teeth.
Sebastian moved into action, appearing beside Claude in a flurry of blurred black, his hand slamming into the side of the man's neck in a fierce karate-like chop. It sent the Trancy butler careening into the ground, the force shaking the earth beneath their feet. Sebastian's eyes blazed, a possessive feeling overcoming him that made him move without thinking. The sight of blood on Sakura's skin sent his own blood burning throughout his body.
He glared down at Claude, shocking himself at the sound of the growling threat in his words.
"Do not touch her again, Claude Faustus."
Sakura blinked in surprise at his words, her plump lips parting as she let out a slow breath. Beforehand he'd always teased her, smirking at her reactions of either blushing or darting away. But now... he seemed so possessive, and maybe even caring; he was so unlike the sly, mysterious Sebastian that she thought she knew. A heat blossomed in her chest, and it had nothing to do with the blood soaking into the silk of her dress.
She didn't even think it had anything to do with her emotions as the heat continued to intensify into a burning pain, her heart erratic and breathing coming out in shallow pants.
x-x-x-x
Claude glared at the butler, using his hands to flip him backwards somewhat fluidly. He dusted himself off before standing to his full height, narrowing his eyes challengingly at Sebastian.
The Phantomhive butler eyed the man as though he were an irritating fly; something to smack down and hope it wouldn't get back up. And by his standards, he would make sure the spider would never walk again.
"Nnngh..."
The small groan had Claude peering over Sebastian's shoulder, his thin lips parting ever so slightly as his eyes landed on the panting pinkette. She was still tied securely in his tangle of webs, but it she looked anything but a captive. With her head lolled back into the cushioning of the webbing, a pink hue dusting her cheeks and her lips parted, Claude could unashamedly say she looked tempting. Now... now he knew how Sebastian saw her, and why he reacted the way he did when the cherry blossom was involved. It was so hard not to.
He felt his feet move on their own accord, and only the butter knife aimed as his neck, courtesy of Sebastian, halted him in his sudden urge to go to Sakura. His golden eyes, hazy in his trance-like state, shifted to the ruby-eyed man before swinging his long leg out. Sebastian jumped, landing a little to the side and narrowed his eyes in irritation. An ugly feeling clenched his gut at the way Claude looked at Sakura; his blossom. His teeth ground together as he snarled at the other man, readying himself to launch at the spider demon until her panicked, hitched voice met his ears.
"S-Sebastian! Help m-me!"
His eyes darted around, taking in the sheen of sweat on her flushed face, her heavy panting making her generous chest rise and fall; the drying blood slowly dripping down the upper curve of her breasts to soak into her kimono.
The breath was forced out of him in a loud gasp as a knee was driven into his stomach, sending him flying until his back slammed into a thick trunk. Claude appeared before him, a burning jealousy burning bright in his wicked eyes. His hand clenched around Sebastian's neck, his fingers digging hard enough to break the skin. A dribble of crimson blood dripped from Sebastian's lip, tapping softly on a dry leaf as it hit the ground.
"Why? Why does she call for you, when I am the one that made her?!" The building of the strange emotion he felt made Claude senseless, his mind crazed on thoughts of the pinkette. But why? He was ready to kill her beforehand, so why did he feel such a burning need to be with her; to touch her; to make her his?
He staggered back, his steel-like grip on Sebastian's neck realising. He clutched his head, knees bending as he screamed wordlessly, his thoughts and the unwanted emotions too much for him to handle.
Sebastian watched on uninterestedly, bringing his hand up to lightly touch the marks on his neck with gloved fingers.
x-x-x-x
Alois watched from behind a tree with Ciel, his breathing almost regular with a small hitch every now and then. The blue-haired boy had complained about his weight against him, but there wasn't much he could do. He had noticed, shocked, that the fatal wound from Claude had almost healed; it no longer bled, and if he concentrated, he could feel the sharp sting and irritating itch of his skin knitting back together. It was unreal.
"Ciel, while your butler and Claude are preoccupied, take me to Sakura." At Ciel's glare, the platinum blonde sighed, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. "Please?"
Ciel huffed, his glare directed to the ground, but he began to walk as quietly as he could with Alois's weight leaning on him.
"Do you have a knife? Something sharp?"
The blue-eyed boy gave him an incredulous look. Alois huffed a laugh and shook his head.
"Do you think I'm Sebastian? I don't carry around cutlery everywhere I go, you buffoon!"
"There's one there; on the ground not far from Sakura. Hurry and get it before they notice!"
Growling, Ciel dumped the cornflower-blue eyed boy on the ground without care, stomping quietly to the gleam of the knife. He grabbed it and turned to Alois, watching in slight amusement as the eldest of the two made a cutting motion with his arm, while pointing to the tied pinkette behind him.
He sighed and quietly began slicing at the webs. Sakura jumped, craning her neck to see behind her against the web wrapped around it.
"C-Ciel?"
The boy peered up from cutting, a rare, small smile on his young face. "Don't talk. I need to get these things cut before Claude notices."
She nodded stiffly and relaxed; her wrists and neck burning with a sudden sting now that the adrenaline faded away. One of her arms suddenly fell motionless to her side, startling her. She flexed her fingers, bringing her arm up to inspect her wrist to find it red raw and slightly bleeding from her earlier struggling.
"Ciel, my legs. Could you cut the web there first?" Without complaint, the blue-haired, blue-eyed boy knelt and began cutting the tough web wrapped tightly around her ankles.
Not long after, both her legs were free and she was left to dangle slightly by her wrist. The tips of her toes barely brushed the ground and she bit her lip, feeling the blood being cut off. Her fingers were numbing, but as soon as the feeling came, it was gone. She staggered as Ciel finished cutting the last of the web, freeing her completely. Small arms embraced her as soon as her feet were planted securely on the ground, and she knew instantly that it was Alois. A smile stretched across her lips as she stroked his hair, happy tears brimming her large, almond-shaped jade eyes.
"Alois..."
She realized, faintly, that the burning heat she felt beforehand had vanished when Ciel began to cut her loose.
"Sakura-oneesama! I don't know what happened, but look!" He pulled away from her and raised his tattered shirt, showing the bloodied but undamaged skin of his abdomen. Sakura's eyes widened as she knelt, gently running her fingers hesitantly over the bloodied area. The skin jumped at her touch, tickling him as he laughed softly. Her eyes watered at the sound. It had been far too long since she heard him laugh so genuinely, being like the child he was meant to be.
"Alois... I'm so happy. I'm so happy you're alive..." Wrapping her arms around him, she brought him into the warmth of her embrace. His smaller arms tucked themselves behind her neck, his fingers running through her long hair soothingly.
"I'm not going to give up now, Sakura. This time, I'm going to live to make you happy. I'm going to live every day just to make everything up to you, to see you smile again like you did those years ago, when you were my big sister."
Hearing those words, Sakura couldn't help the unexpected happy laugh that left her lips, bringing the attention of the two butlers upon her and the two adolescences.
"What have you done?! Why are you still alive?! Time after time, all of you ruin my plans!" Claude's sudden crazed scream made them jump, their eyes darting to the tall man being held back by Sebastian. Their hands locked together in a force of strength, pushing against each other aggressively.
"If she cannot be mine, then she will die! I'll make sure she's killed, right in front of all of you!" His wide, blazing eyes rested on Alois and the boy shivered, tightening his hold on the pinkette. Sakura stood, pulling Alois and Ciel behind her and glared at the spider demon.
"I'll make sure you'll join her in eternal hell, Alois Trancy!"
The green-eyed woman gritted her teeth, cold wind blazing from her form in anger.
"You will not touch my Master!"
Alois could only watch, shocked, as the Faustian Contract began to glow around them, his skin tingling as a deep red seal began to appear on his skin.
A/N: Yes, seven pages for this chappie. Thought I'd make it a bit longer as I haven't updated in ages.
Good, bad? I look forward to your feedback, as usual!
Next update is going to be Deep Down (if any of you have read it) if not, it's a Naruto/Blue Exorcist Crossover, and then Imouto to Nakama! a Naruto/One Piece crossover. Of course, Sakura's the centered character ;]
~Koneko Onee-chan