Well, I'm back again with another chapter. This one was more difficult to write, so I hope I did okay. Confession: I am not a biologist. Whenever I write about Lydia's job or her studies, I have to do a bunch of research first.
Anyway, READER POLL! I'm curious to know who our favorite characters were in the Weston College arc. Also, how do we feel about the arc in general? I myself had a few problems with it, mainly that the cricket match seemed to take forever, and also that the characters were discarded so quickly at the end. However, being that this is my version of the storyline, I can make things different, so I'd like to know what my readers think. :)
"Master, really. This is most indecent. And you are going to get yourself soaking wet."
"That's the plan," Lydia replied cheerfully, discarding her undershirt atop the clothing pile at her feet and feeling the early summer wind brush softly across her bare breasts. "It won't do to slop around the forest in soaking wet clothes, so this is the best way. And you are absolutely forbidden from looking. That's an order."
"But master," the demon protested, eyeing the waterline of the deserted lake before them, "How am I to know you are all right? If you would let me go down and retrieve it instead-"
"Stuff and nonsense," Lydia countered, and Sebastian heard the shuffle of hair as the girl tied her brown locks up in a ribbon. "Just listen to my vibrations underneath the water. You'll be able to tell if something goes wrong, and then you may look to come and get me. But trust me, nothing of the sort will occur. I've done this many times before."
"You will catch cold."
"Don't fuss," Lydia scolded, dipping her bare feet into the lake while Sebastian, his back turned, listened to the brush of skin on skin as she waded into the shallows. "I'll be right back." There was a splash, and then he heard the stroking sounds of her arms as she swam out into deeper water and stilled, treading over the location of her quarry. Another splash sounded as her head submerged, and then his ears alone could discern the shifting sounds of lake water being parted as her body descended into its bosom.
Lydia swam downward toward the shadowy realm of the lakebed, her naked body streamlined in the blue-green water. She spotted what she was after right away; a small metal trapping device with a hinged door that only opened inward, full of a sifting mass of newts. Smiling victoriously, the young girl quickly unlatched the trap from its links to the rock-weights around it, seized it, and kicked off from the muddy bottom, her lungs' buoyancy and need for oxygen driving her upward until she broke the surface like a cork popping out of a bottleneck. Sputtering, she checked to make sure the trap was still secure in her bandaged hand before swimming one-armed back to shore. She waded out of the lake streaming water and set the trap in a patch of grass. "Sebastian, the bath towel, please."
Without turning around, the demon handed her a fluffy towel with a large 'W' monogrammed onto it. Lydia shivered slightly as she toweled off her hair and set about drying herself from the top down. Once she was no longer damp, she strode over to her discarded clothing pile and dressed quickly, pulling on a black pair of breeches, a tan flannel shirt, a pair of woolen socks and heavy shoes, a sturdy canvas belt, and a long overcoat with many pockets. "All right," she said, sitting down beside the dripping trap, "I'm decent. You can look now."
Sebastian turned around and raised his eyebrow at the odd sight. "Master, if I may ask, what is the purpose of trapping newts on the lake bottom and then dredging them up like this?"
"I don't trap them to keep. I trap them to count," Lydia replied, reaching into one of her pockets and removing a single leather glove. "This is one of the ways we do population research on the species in these areas. These are palmate newts. Aren't they cute?" She smiled endearingly at the speckled amphibians, reaching into another pocket and propping a notebook and pencil against her knee. "They were suffering rapid depopulation in these areas a few years ago. We had some unseasonably long winters that shortened the growth period of the lakeweed they feed off of and live in. When one animal population gets jogged out of kelter, the whole biosphere is destabilized." Scribbling quickly, she jotted down several categories in her notebook. "But the fact that so many managed to find their way into this trap means that they must be coming back in large numbers. And if they're here, it means the lakeweed they depend on is recovering too, and that means that other animals who eat the weed, like frogs and ducks, have a positive population projection as well." She hummed enthusiastically and unlatched a small door at the top of the cage. "I'm going to take a look at them before I let them go, see how many males and females we've got and what their health is like. Sebastian, your job is to keep a count of the grand total of overall newts. All right?"
"Yes, master," the demon settled onto the grass beside Lydia, smiling in amusement at her very unladylike partiality to the slimy creatures. The brunette reached into the cage with her gloved hand and picked up one newt at a time, turning them over gently as their tails flipped about. Her ungloved hand took notes as she examined them, then placed them by the water's edge and let them waddle their way back into the lake. Sebastian let her work in silence, thinking to himself that she would have found a way to procure a most unusual job such as this. It disconcerted him to think of Lydia spending so much time wandering around in the woods alone. At least she'd had the sense to ask him to come along this time.
"Awww, looks like this poor chap's missing a leg. He looks hungry, too. Here you go, little one," Lydia reached into the cage and removed some lakeweed from the bottom, placing the one-legged newt in the middle of it. The creature immediately dug its head into the fronds. "They don't actually eat the weed, you know. Newts are carnivorous. They eat tadpoles and other invertebrates, as well as the microorganisms that build up on the weeds' surface. That's why they live there." Sebastian chuckled, and Lydia made an indignant face at him. "What? What's so funny about science?"
"That fact that you are a part of it is funny, master. Did you not used to be afraid of things that lived in the water? I remember quite clearly, you used to climb up on my shoulders and hang onto my neck whenever the family took a trip out to the lake beside the manor grounds. You would not even dip your toes in, not even to please your mother."
Lydia blew a damp strand of hair out of her face as she released the last newt. "Well, that lake was….different. It wasn't always like that. When I was a young girl, we used to play there all the time, remember?- but one day it….changed. I could feel it. As it turned out, there was something underneath the water, so I was right to try to stay away. It still got my arm in the end, though." The young girl stretched out her bandaged arm, gazing at the drying gauze. "But it's all right. I don't regret what I did. Anyway, that thing is gone now." She stared out across the lake, her face taking on a strange shadow. "Well then, Sebastian, how many newts did we have?"
"Twenty-two, master," the demon replied softly, a thread of worry stirring within him.
"Is that so? Then we've passed the critical mark. I don't need to re-set this trap right now. Just a moment…." The young girl dug into her pockets again, striding down to the lakeside. Balancing upon a set of stones half-way submerged in the water, she drew out a vial and dipped it in, then stoppered it and replaced it in her pocket. She hopped back to shore and stared down at the one-legged newt, still struggling to maneuver in the ball of lakeweed. "I suppose I had better put this little one back in the water. He's probably going to die; he can't compete with the others to find food. I would take him home, but the water we have available doesn't contain the nutrients he needs, so he would die anyway." She sighed, picked up the newt in its nest of weed, and carried them down to the water's edge. "When I was younger, I had trouble with this part of the job. Sometimes I still do. It's not easy to just let life happen, even if we must." Sebastian joined her at the water's edge, his face an inscrutable blank as the brown-haired girl dipped the nest into the lake and watched the struggling newt sink with it. He wondered if he ought to have left the past alone, as it seemed to have darkened her mood. Taking one last look over the sun-bright waters, Lydia marched back to her supplies, tucked the journal away, and wrapped a swath of canvas around the empty trap. Sebastian lifted it and followed her as they headed into the heart of the deciduous forest. They had been roaming around Hampstead Heath all day, inspecting various plant and animal populations, having "borrowed" two of the horses in Weston's stables to bring them here. It was clear that Lydia had been monitoring this particular location for a while. She knew what to look for without interfering with the forest, and she knew all the best places to observe various woodland creatures without disturbing them. She had been in a cheerful mood for most of the day, but now she had fallen silent. Frowning, Sebastian walked quietly at her side over several hills before uttering, "I am sorry, master."
"Eh?" Lydia peered up at him, her blue eyes speckled with confusion.
"I am sorry I mentioned that time, but also…." The demon's claws gripped the metal trap tightly, "I am sorry I could not protect you back then. You almost died, and I could not stop it. As your servant, I failed you."
The young girl shook her head and nudged him slightly. "It's all right, Sebastian. It wasn't your fault, what happened that night. I know you tried to stop it. But it needed to happen, no matter how much pain I went through. I'm much better now than I was back then," she assessed, examining her bandaged arm like it was a rare artifact. "And anyway, if I hadn't lost my arm, I would have lost my brother. I made my choice."
Sebastian growled lowly. "But master, because of that….you left."
Lydia stared sharply into his eyes. "Liar," she jabbed him swiftly in the chest with her finger. "Don't you try to blame that on anyone but yourself. It was your fault I had to leave. You knew what you were doing to me, all those years. I had to become strong enough to overcome the darkness you filled me with, and I couldn't do that with you following me around, meddling in my life." She sped up so she was walking ahead of him. "Even though you worked so hard to preserve my life, you nearly destroyed me."
Sebastian bit his lip and cursed inside his mind. He did not understand this type of situation. He knew the reason Lydia mistrusted him had everything to do with her realization of his true nature in the past. The fact that he had tried to corrupt her in order to eat her soul seemed to him completely natural and practical, considering that he had had no better use for her at the time. However, now that fact stood between them like a concrete wall, and it seemed like whenever the demon tried to pull her closer, to latch his claws around her mind, he was always running into it. But he did not comprehend how to make it go away. He knew better than to think he could trick her or woo her into coming to him, not his master. Lydia was not desperate, nor was she stupid. But aside from that, what was it that made wrongs disappear? He had seen humans come together again after one of them had betrayed or hurt the other, but he did not understand how or why that process worked. The simpering fools called it "love" or "forgiveness," but he was sure there must be some darker motivation behind it, something he could appeal to. He pondered deeply as he followed his master at a respectful distance, watching as she paused here and there to gather samples of peat moss, clay, and stream water. They had started up another hill when it suddenly came to him, so obvious that he could have slapped himself for not thinking of it earlier. He caught up to Lydia and seized her hand.
"Master, please," he murmured, rearranging his features into a paragon of humility and kneeling at her feet. "I wish to prove my remorse to you. Words are cheap and fleeting, and I am aware that an apology alone will not suffice. So please-" he looked up at her, making his eyes wide and sincere, "please punish me for my wrongdoings. Let my pain gratify you until you feel you are avenged." He bowed his head, releasing her hand and waiting for the blinding agony, forcibly reminding himself that it would be worth it if he could just get rid of that wall.
Nothing happened. The demon glanced up and found his master staring down at him, a gleam of trepidation and weariness in her eyes. "Get up, Sebastian," she commanded. He stood uncertainly, and the young girl turned her back on him and continued her trudge up the hill.
Sebastian ground his teeth together, but kept his voice placating. "Master- wait!" He hurried after her. "Master, please, I am in earnest. I only wish for you to gain retribution for the wrongs you hold me to. And eye for an eye will even the balance, yes?"
Reaching the top of the hill, Lydia sat down so abruptly that Sebastian almost walked past her. She stared down the hill before her as he settled tentatively beside her. "….Master?"
"I don't want to hurt you, Sebastian," she declared, gazing at him in a piercing way that made him want to look away. "Even if I did, it wouldn't even any balance. That's not how it works." She wrapped her arms around herself and sighed. "Besides….you're the only one who has to exist within yourself, for the rest of eternity. What you are is punishment enough. You hurt yourself far more terribly than anyone else will ever be able to hurt you." She eyed him sadly, the wind stirring wisps of hair about her face. "Stupid demon."
Sebastian stared at her, overturning his mind to think of some way to refute her. The hated suspicion that he had lost this round crept acidly into his mind, and he still didn't know why. He felt the prick of something harsh within the bone in his hip, and he winced hard. Lydia reached out and clasped his hands in hers, taking the pain away. "You are so frustrating, Sebastian," she grumbled sternly. "I know you can't help being like this, not anymore, but even so…." She ran her fingers over the pentacle upon his hand. "….Isn't it miserable?"
The demon closed his eyes and curled up closer to her. He did not know what to do. He spent so much time trying to break from the pain, trying to kill off any weakness that could bring it closer, and yet he still ended up in these situations, lost in a realm he could not comprehend. He clutched his hands to his head, bringing hers with them. "I do not understand, master."
Lydia rubbed his head softly, as though she were petting him in his cat form. "I know," she said, and nothing more. The wind sloped up the hill and whispered all around them, and the life of the forest called out like an invisible spirit in the trees. The young girl watched the blue of the sky deepen to the shade of her eyes, breathing softly as the tired demon slowly fell asleep on her shoulder, his face sunken into melancholy resignation.
She let him sleep for several hours, and she nearly fell asleep herself at one point, but the windstorm of thoughts whirling in her mind kept her awake. The road before her was full of uncertain variables, and with so many unconnected mysteries hanging about her family, she knew she must take action to protect those she loved, especially Ciel, who was in just as much danger as she had been all those years ago. She had to ensure he had the chance to save himself. To that end, she had to ensure he remained safe for long enough to do so.
Lydia rubbed Sebastian's slackened fingers in a combination of affection and exasperation. The demon had his own agenda, and she knew he would do whatever he could to win her over. At the moment, she was a bit frustrated with herself. She knew he was a demon, so why did it still make her sad to see his face, perfectly composed as silver lies rolled off his tongue? Why did it hurt to watch him move like an actor on a stage, playing up his false regret? She ought to expect this from him, accept that this was all that he was….but even so, a small, foolish, childish part of herself still wanted to believe he could do better, could be something other than self-obsessed and evil. She sighed again, biting her lip. He had honestly looked surprised when she had called him a liar. He truly didn't understand what she wanted from him. She knew he could fake any emotion almost perfectly, and if she wanted to, she could allow herself to forget it wasn't real, forget and enjoy the masquerade….and yet, some harsh and wild part of her soul refused to accept this. She wanted something real, or nothing at all. And since he could not give her that, she could not acquiesce to his desire to stay by her side. She had to move forward with her own purpose. She eyed the sleeping demon, and grimaced softly. "Sorry Sebastian," she murmured, shrugging off his dark-topped head. "I cannot permit either of us to be selfish now."
/
"You want me to do what?" Sebastian gaped at her, his eyes flashing angrily. Had he been a less graceful being, Lydia felt he would have fallen off the horse he was currently riding on the road back to Weston College.
Riding beside him on a chestnut mare, Lydia did not allow him to stare her down. "I want you to do exactly as I said. This is an order. A hypothetical order, but an order nonetheless. If the time should ever come when Ciel and I are both in mortal danger, and you do not have the option of safeguarding us both, you must go to him and leave me to whatever fate finds me." Sebastian looked to be too furious for words, so Lydia carried on. "Of course, if you can save us both, I would prefer you do that, since I do not particularly want to die anytime soon. However, if it is not possible, you will save Ciel. This order will remain in effect from this moment until I am no longer living, at which point you will no longer be bound to obey me." She gazed sternly at the unhappy demon. "Understand?"
"I most certainly do not," Sebastian snarled, pulling his horse in front of hers and stopping them both. "My ability to protect you is already limited due to your continuous refusal to take the contract. Now you would jeopardize your safety even more when you have a pack of assassins out for your blood? What exactly are you trying to accomplish, other than your death?!"
"I am trying to accomplish my brother's chance for a future," Lydia replied stoically, maneuvering her horse around his. "This decision will not be changed, so any arguing you wish to do on the subject will be superfluous."
Rested though he may have been, Sebastian looked like he had half a mind to explode into a typhoon of demonic rage. Lydia continued riding down the road, pretending to be unconcerned, while he collected himself and caught up with her. "There is something you are not telling me, master."
"Is that so?" she murmured faintly, ducking her head as the wrought-iron fence around the college came into view.
Sebastian sighed heavily. "Well then, if I am to be forced to obey this order, I will simply have to make sure such a situation never occurs." He clenched his clawed hands and glanced back the way they had come. "I will not fail you again."
Lydia looked at him gently, the infallible butler whom she had thought of as perfect in her childhood, until that fateful day when she had seen him for what he was. "If you truly wish not to fail me, Sebastian…." She tapped her bandaged arm softly, "Then do right by me, even if it seems impossible for what you are. Even if you don't understand. Protect what I love."
/
After dinner, which she ate alone in the clock tower, Lydia lay in the middle of her bed, brooding. She knew she ought to start compiling the data she had collected in the forest, but she could not help being upset that she and Sebastian were once again on bad terms, even if it was mostly his fault and probably unavoidable. The demon had not spoken to her for the rest of the return trip to the clock tower, which had involved Lydia climbing into a small covered wagon and staying absolutely silent until Sebastian conveniently paused the cart beside the tower door and signaled her to jump out. She presumed he had taken the horses back to the stables, and she had not heard from him since. Lydia sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She knew that from his point of view, this was monstrously unfair- she was forcing him to compromise a precious resource, her light, which he needed to help him with his pain. Her death would mean his return to agony and emptiness. She also knew that her reasoning would never be enough to justify this risk- Sebastian had never known what it was like to have a brother, and to love that brother- or to love anyone, really. Even so, he would obey the order, and that was what mattered. Lydia figured it was probably a good thing she had not mentioned her reoccurring nightmare to him today. She was still not sure whether there was truly something happening inside this tower, or whether her nerves had simply hit a breaking point after the most recent attempt on her life. What she did know was that for the past few nights, the nightmare had come over her sleeping form like a fever. It was always the same- it started with the tapping, at which point her dream-self rose up, lit a lantern, and went into the stairwell to investigate. And he was always there- the grisly figure of Derrick Arden, standing below and gazing up at her with unseeing eyes. Only one detail was different- each night, without fail, he appeared a little further up the stairs. It was this fact more than anything that frightened Lydia and compelled her to wake up, crying out in terror. Sometimes, upon first opening her eyes, she thought she saw a tall, pitch-black figure looming over by the clock face. Other times she merely sensed an overwhelming presence in the room with her, yet never found anything no matter how many lights she lit or corners she checked. She had tied a small bell to the inside door handle, although she honestly did not see how it would be possible for anyone to get inside with the chair braced under the handle. She could not imagine how she was going to manage to hide in this tower if this state of affairs continued. During the day it was a cozy, bright little room, but when darkness fell it became a den of nightmares.
At the moment, Lydia was wondering whether she ought to go to sleep. She was extremely tired from a day spent traipsing around the forest, but she did not want to risk falling back into the nightmare. She turned her head toward the darkening clock face and wondered if she was overreacting because she was not used to having nightmares. She had seen things in the dream that had frightened her, yes, but nothing worse than lack of sleep had actually happened to her. She wondered suddenly if Ciel had nightmares often, and if so, how he dealt with them. She wondered whether he would be offended if she asked him.
Lydia was roused from her musings by a sudden knocking on her door. That was probably him right now, she figured. They were due for a strategy meeting. Thumping down the stairs, she waited for him to declare himself. She frowned when he did not. Tentatively, she called out, "Ciel?"
No one answered. Another knock came, and her eyebrows raised in suspicion. "Edward? Sebastian?" No answer. Still another knock. "Sebastian, if that is you, I order you to show yourself this instant." She glanced around; neither hide nor hair of the demon appeared. "Blast it," she mumbled, bracing her right arm defensively in front of her. "Whoever is out there, I am not opening this door until you state your name and purpose. As a matter of fact, I am not opening this door at all. Go away!" Her eyes widened as the knocking continued. "Stop that!" she barked, her voice rising into a tiny squeak at the end.
An idea suddenly dawned on her. Backing up a few steps, Lydia drew back her arm and smacked herself in the face, hard. Blinking, she stared at the door, hissing as the relentless knocking continued. She was reasonably sure she was not dreaming. If she was, this was a different type of dream altogether. Her dream-self never hesitated to go out the door, and never felt fear before she saw Derrick Arden's face. A horrible thought suddenly fell like a tremor over her body. She swallowed, and called out, "Derrick Arden?"
The knocking became a heavy pounding, shaking the bell upon the door. Lydia gasped and scrambled backward up the stairs, taking a defensive position behind her bed. "Derrick Arden-! That had better not be you!" she half-screamed, attempting to sound braver than she really felt. "By god, I am not in a state of mind to be trifled with! If I see your face, I will punch it across this campus!"
The meaty pounding suddenly lapsed into the hair-raising scrape of fingernails upon the wooden door. Trembling like an autumn leaf, Lydia promptly decided she had had enough of this tower. She raced across the room, grabbing her emergency rucksack, a lantern, a jacket, and her shoes. Keeping her eye on the door lest it start to open, she dashed back over to her bed and reached for a pillow. Her eyes fell upon something lying in the middle of her bed, and she screamed again.
It was a piece of yellow parchment paper, folded neatly. It was crisp and unwrinkled, and Lydia was sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that it had not been there only a moment ago. Beginning to hyperventilate, she turned her head frantically about the room, only to see, as usual- nothing. The pounding began again, causing the door to jump on its hinges. The chair slipped from under the handle and fell flat onto the floor.
Lydia was seized by a moment of heart-rending terror and indecision before she reached out, snatched the paper from the bed, and dug the quaking fingers of her left hand into her bandaged arm. In the moment she ripped the gauze away, she heard a roar of pain before she pushed off into the world of light. She cartwheeled through space and flipped across gentle lines, falling away from the terror and hurt, falling with only herself and the soul inside her.
She collided facedown with something fuzzy. It took her a moment to realize her face was pressing into grass. Rolling over with a gasp, Lydia clutched the uncovered space on her arm and quickly shifted the surrounding bandages over it. She seemed to be lying on the grounds below the tower. The things she had been carrying were scattered all around her. Lydia set to work gathering them up, her heart calmed enough to allow her to think clearly. She was out of the tower, but she was now in the open in a place she was not supposed to be. She had to find cover before she was found out. Snatching the piece of parchment, Lydia turned to stare up at the clock face and balked as she saw a black, featureless figure standing inside the glass, its head tilted downward. "Bloody hell," she breathed, then turned and ran for her life.
In one of the only fortunate occurrences to happen to her all day, Lydia seemed to have fallen out of the tower after Weston's nighttime curfew. The grounds were completely deserted as she barreled across the lawn, glancing obsessively behind her to make sure nothing was following her. She had no idea where to go, or when to stop. She finally reached a lily-white gazebo built beside an artificial river. Bolting up its steps, Lydia collapsed upon one of the settees located within, panting and trembling slightly. She fumbled with her lantern and lit the wick, casting it around to make sure the gazebo really was vacant. She was alone with the furniture.
Biting her lip, the young girl shook her head and tried to think of what to do. She could try to seek out Ciel or Edward, but Blue and Green House dormitories were massive buildings, and she had no illusions about her likelihood of slipping in undetected. She had no idea where the housemasters roomed, and she had no way to contact Sebastian. For the first time, Lydia found herself wishing she could call to him through the contract. But she could not, and so she had to handle this situation on her own, without exposing herself or her brother. Taking a deep breath, Lydia pulled on her jacket and shoes, then stared at the thick piece of parchment in her hand. Whatever the bloody hell was going on, it had something to do with this. Unfolding the paper, Lydia's eyes were met by seven lines of slanted cursive.
My dauntless girl-
I'm sure you know it would be such a shame
for this lovely game to stall.
So do not hide, and don't slow down;
I will protect you in your demon's place
while you make your play.
Don't stop or your world falls down.
Lydia gaped at the message, a tsunami of alarm rushing through her mind. She read the words over and over, glancing back and forth in the falling darkness, expecting a pitch-black, faceless specter to appear before of her at any moment. The wind funneled through the gazebo's beams, causing her to shiver and rattling the paper in her hands. Completely baffled, Lydia folded her legs up to her chest and set the lantern in her lap, curling her body around the tiny flame. Exhaustion wracked her mind, but she could not sleep, and she stared and stared at the parchment as though she could make it say something comprehensible. She stared for hours, rocking back and forth to keep warm, feeling like a grain of sand upon a frozen shore, very small and utterly alone.
