Chapter 9

"Checkmate! I win again, Ciel!"

Ciel had stopped trying to beat Alois in chess, or any game for that matter. The irritation in his eye was persistent, and it made playing games less fun. All he wanted now was for the irritation to stop, no matter what exactly that meant for Sebastian.

"I don't want to play anymore," Ciel said in a stale tone.

"Are you jealous because I'm able to beat you?"

"No, I'm just tired. We've been at this all day."

Alois leaned back in his chair, "True. Come to think of it, I wonder where Claude is. I haven't seen him all day. He should've been back from running his errands by now."

Ciel knew how that felt. There were numerous times where he had to wait up on Sebastian for something; normally for him to stop petting some stray cat on the side of the street. But Claude wasn't Sebastian. What was keeping him so long?

"If you're tired, I'll let you rest in your room, if you'd like." Alois suggested.

"Really? You won't be bored?"

"Nah, I have some paperwork I have to finish in my study anyways."

Ciel nodded and walked towards his room, although in his mind he secretly wished Sebastian was here to pick him up and carry him.

Meanwhile, Alois was taking his frustration out on Hannah. Again.

"I know you know something about this," he snarled, "I order you to tell me, now! Tell me exactly what's wrong with Sebastian, right now, or I'll have to punish you!"

Hannah frowned and looked to the floor, "You aren't going to like hearing what I have to say."

"I don't care! I gave you an order! Tell me, now!"

Hannah let out a sigh, "The pain in Earl Phantomhive's eye is being caused by the fading of his contract with Sebastian Michaelis. The deterioration of the contract is being caused by an enchantment that is slowly draining the life force from his body. To put it simply, Sebastian is dying. That's why Claude has gone out, to obtain information about how to reverse the enchantment before it's too late."

Smack!

Hannah had seen that one coming. She learned a long time ago to anticipate times during the day when she would be slapped; whether it was with a hand, a boot, a book, or a walking stick. She now only saw the abuse as another part of her life as a maid.

Just then, Claude stepped in through the door to Alois's study.

The young blonde instantly turned to him.

"Is it true Claude? Is Sebastian dying?"

Claude's brow raised slightly in surprise. He was more accustomed to Alois acknowledging his presence with a bright smile and clinging to his side. Here, he was glaring at him, but there was something else too. Fear. The boy was also afraid.

"Unfortunately, yes," Claude confirmed, "At this rate, I'm pretty sure he'll be dead by sunrise tomorrow."

Splash!

Claude had learned not to care about the punishments Alois dealt him when he didn't get his way. Having tea thrown in his face was probably one of the least brutal punishments his master bothered to follow through with. He'd been doused in holy water before and it had felt like he had a god-awful sunburn for a week afterward. Tea only stained his clothes. He could clean them or buy new ones. It was no big deal.

Claude cleaned the beverage off of his face and glasses with a cloth.

"Hannah said something about the enchantment being able to be reversed," Alois piped up, "You do know how to reverse it, don't you?"

The Trancy butler shook his head, "I was denied answers to pretty much all of my questions. Unfortunately, Lord Satan and I are not on good terms, so he refused to tell me anything useful."

Alois crossed his arms, "Well, what did he tell you?"

"He told me that Sebastian knew perfectly well what he was doing when he activated the enchantment, that there would be no way for me to stop it, and that it would be better if I returned here and forgot about it."

The blonde scoffed, "So that stupid demon is all goody-goody with the king of all demons?"

"So it would seem."

Alois put his head down on his desk and groaned loudly in irritation, "You know what this means, don't you?"

"It means that if Sebastian dies, then there will be no way for you to obtain your revenge. I know, sir."

Alois lifted his head from his desk, "Does Ciel know anything about this?"

"I've only dropped subtle hints that something was wrong with Sebastian. I haven't come out and told him of Sebastian's condition."

"Sebastian's what?"

Rather than having his butler break the news, Alois took it upon himself to talk to Ciel for him.

"He's dying, or so Claude tells me," the blonde explained, "it's what's causing the deterioration of your contract; why your seal is fading."

Ciel lost himself in his thoughts.

Sebastian was dying? How was that even possible? Sebastian – a man that hadn't been stopped by bullets, knives, swords, moving vehicles, Grim Reapers, or angels – was dying. Some part of Ciel seemed to know that that's what was happening all along, but he'd never been able to come out with the thought completely, because it seemed to be absurd. Sebastian couldn't be bested buy anything before, and now he was slowly dying from an enchantment he activated himself.

Ciel had to wonder if his scolding had gone too far when he had ordered Sebastian away. He had ordered him to leave, because he couldn't stand seeing him. He hadn't ordered him to kill himself.

'Go crawl into a hole and die, for all I care.'

That's when Ciel slapped himself. He had given that order unknowingly! He should've realized this sooner. Sebastian took sarcastic statements like that as orders, too. He had learned this many moons ago when he had entered a curry competition, and Sebastian wound up putting chocolate in it.

"There has to be something I can do," Ciel finally said.

"What is it?" Alois asked.

"You're maid said she was able to locate Sebastian, right?"

"Yeah."

Ciel stood.

"Good. Have your servants prepare a carriage and take me to him! I want to see his condition for myself."