To those still reading this, I can't thank you enough. I know it has been forever since I posted anything and you have my apologies. To those that have favorited, followed, commented, my most sincere apologies. I lost a great many people around me in a very short amount of time and basically, lost my will to write. I have recently found that will and here I am.
I also want to say, I have not read the manga, only watched the anime, so, if there are any inconsistencies, please forgive me. I really hope you enjoy this and please feel free to comment. Thank you so much!
Without further ado...
Sebastian
Having tidied the rooms that would soon be in use, I sent the messenger off with two letters. One of these was to an acquaintance that had helped supply information to my former master. The second was to the dressmaker that Lady Elizabeth preferred to use. As soon as I closed the door behind the departing figure, I regretted my decision.
Surely in all of London, one could find a multitude of satisfactory dressmakers. I didn't have to use the one of the young master's fiance. Only I knew that she worked quickly. My Mistress wanted the beginning of a new wardrobe within two weeks.
And if a butler happened to pick up on some information about a certain couple, well, information was knowledge, wasn't it?
As for the Undertaker, as one who worked in the dark, he would be able to refer me to certain individuals. I needed more than simply servants. I needed them to be… special. While I was supremely talented in protecting my employers', there would be slight chances that I wouldn't always be by her side.
Like when I stood by the door, having a conversation with myself on the merits of my choices.
Lunch needed to be prepared and I was lazing about, second-guessing myself.
Enough of that.
Dashing to the kitchen, I made quick work of the meal. She usually only wanted the smallest of meals, thin cucumber sandwiches for lunch. But, this being a day of firsts, I added to the platter a dish of olives imported from Italy, thin slices of local cheese, and a small bowl of grapes and strawberries. A cup of fresh custard finished the trolley.
Ah, but there was a drop of custard on the silver dish. How unsightly. Unfitting for the Lady Livingston, I cleaned the offending spot.
Alanna
Now that the time had come to start taking back my life, I found the idleness frustrating. My fingers trembled, wanting to wrap themselves around the hilt of a blade. But I wasn't ready for that. As a 'noble' lady, I never had a reason to pick up a dagger, much less a sword. Though it seemed as if my body knew what to do.
All I had to do was close my eyes and I could see me sliding the shining steel into warm flesh. Just the idea made my breath quicken and my heart race.
Sebastian. He would teach me.
Just thinking his name, there came a knock on the study door.
"Yes," I said, bidding him to enter.
The door opened and there he stood. My teacher.
"Lunch is ready, my Lady." He said with a bow. "Where would you prefer to dine?"
Food. Why did people care so much about it? It kept us alive. It was such a bother. What I really wanted was to begin learning. But, I still wasn't strong enough.
"I would prefer not to, but, as I am reentering society, I suppose I should once again acquaint myself with the dining room."
The curve of his lip convinced me that he was laughing at me, though no sound escaped him.
"Do you find something amusing?" I asked.
"Once again making comparisons, my Lady. This seems to be becoming a habit." He gave a small shake of his head.
"Comparisons? As to what?"
"My last master once threw his dessert in my face because it was bland. And you have no desire to eat, taste means nothing to you." His smile grew a touch wider. "I will forget everything I learned if this continues." His face grew emotionless once more. "By your leave, I will return in a moment. I must take the trolley downstairs. I shall be back directly."
"There is no need. I do remember where the table is." Where was this pride coming from? "I can find my way, Sebastian."
There was that hesitation again, eyes unreadable. "Very good, my Lady." He bowed and left me.
With a sigh, I stood. While eating was a bother, it would be something to do to pass the time.
Time. While I was looking for anything and everything to make it pass quickly, I was also hurrying toward my death.
Sebastian
I had just finished setting the last dish on the end of the long table when she walked in. Silently I pulled out her chair and held it for her. She sat and I adjusted her. She needed to eat more. The weight different was hardly noticeable.
I removed the silver dome and set it to the side before taking my place one step behind and to the side of her chair. From here, I could see if she needed her tea refilled, but remain out of sight.
"Sebastian," she said. "Come to where I can see you."
"That isn't polite in society, my Lady."
"I don't care." She said, twisting in her seat to look at me. "I don't want to feel alone."
How could I argue with this? I took a place beside her before saying "As long as the contract hold, you will never be alone."
"Ah yes, the contract." She took a sip of her tea before picking at her plate.
"My Lady, you really should eat more. You will need your strength. Or, do you not find the taste pleasing?" I jested with her about her not tasting anything, but could it be me all along? Was I really forgetting everything?
"Taste…" She trailed off, staring at the offering on the table. "What does food taste like to you?" She asked.
"My Lady?" Why would she want to know that?
"Answer me, Sebastian." She met my eyes again. "Answer me and I will eat."
Did she want to play a game? I could oblige, though she might not like the answers.
"As you wish."
"And be honest." She said.
"I detest liars, Mistress. I would never stoop to become one."
She remained silent, keeping her steady gaze on me. "As a demon, I cannot really taste human food. I know when something is supposed to be sweet, or savory, and I can get a sense of when something is supposed to be something, but I don't taste food like humans."
"Interesting." She said before turning away and taking a dainty bite of her sandwich.
I had no reply, as I didn't know what that meant, so I remained quiet. I watched as she finished that then plucked an olive from the dish.
"So, you can't tell that olives are as salty as tears or as briney as the sea?"
I couldn't say anything as those images rushed through my mind. "No, my Lady. I cannot, however, with that description, I can imagine it." Had anyone ever done that before? Described something for me in terms I could understand?
My cooking had been praised, lauded before masses of people, but never in terms that made much sense in terms of taste.
"Would you like one?" She asked, holding an olive out to me.
"Thank you, but no. I have no need for food."
"Ah, yes. My soul." She turned from me and daintily ate the green fruit.
What could she be thinking? Why did I care?
"You can't know that I eat those sandwich because they are a bland as a sheet of paper." She said after finishing the fruit. Placing her napkin on the plate, she looked up at me. "I am finished."
"The custard, my Lady."
She frowned before looking back at it. Picking up the dish and a spoon, she faced me again, expressionless. "What taste does a soul have?"
Alanna
His eyes widened every so slightly as he hesitated. Would he answer me?
Finally, his insolent smile returned and I knew that he would. "You are the first, in thousands, to ask me that."
I waited, making myself eat the sweet, creamy, thick custard. Before my desperate need for revenge, this would taste like ambrosia. As it was now, it had as much flavor as water.
He gave a slight chuckle. "There is no way I could explain."
I was about to object when he continued.
"Most of the souls I have devoured have tasted… dark. Weak. Bitter. The souls of those with nothing left to fight for. The souls of those who only wished for me to get them more money for more drugs, more drink. They taste like tea, that has been steeped far too long in too much water. No body to them, no life."
He turned from me and took a step away.
Thinking he was leaving, I rose, pushing away the chair.
Turning back to me, he rushed to my side."You shame me, Mistress. Allow me to help you."
"It's fine," I said, but taking his arm. "Please continue."
He gave me a sidelong glance and smiled. "As you wish. But first, where would you like to go?"
"To the garden. I find I would like to be outside. To see the sun."
He gave me a nod. "The fresh air will do you good."
"You wouldn't be trying to change the subject, would you?" I asked and he gave another of those brief laughs.
"No, my Lady, I am simply trying to find the words."
He was silent until we got to the small garden. The white lilies I had planted, then tended on my own, were in full bloom. He had taken good care of them.
He helped me to sit, though I didn't need it, then straightened.
"Please continue," I said once more.
"My young master… His soul…"
I wasn't used to seeing my weapon at a loss for words.
"It was special. The trauma he had been through, the revenge he took, all of these were like the finest spices from India, Spain, the Orient. The purity he held onto." He was staring out over the maze of hedges. "Then it was stolen." When he looked back to me, his eyes were the glowing magenta of the night I summoned him. I wasn't afraid this time, however. "I refuse to go back to the dredges of humanity, though they are plentiful."
"What about mine?"