If someone were to ask him about it later, the only thing Ciel would have been able to remember about the Second Circle was the awful weather. If a hurricane, a monsoon, and a hailstorm all combined, it would not match even a thousandth of the terribleness that was this storm. Everyone around them was being blown to and fro, hardly touching ground, yet Sebastian walked though without so much as a misstep, his hair whipping around his face. He had an iron grip on Ciel's arm as they walked, but the boy didn't complain. Somehow he felt sure that if the demon let go, he too would be blown away by the ferocious wind.
They walked for a good fifteen minutes over the rocky ground, Sebastian sure-footed and Ciel stumbling along. After a time, they came to a rectangular hole in the ground with a flight of stairs leading down, cut into the rock. Ciel groaned.
"More stairs?"
"This is a short flight." Sebastian replied, leading the younger down. It was indeed a short flight, and certainly a relief to get out of the wind. At the bottom was a heavy metal gate that blocked further entry. A woman behind a glass window to their left summoned them over.
She ignored Ciel entirely, instead focusing on Sebastian. The young Earl found this irritating; he wasn't used to coming second to his servant. But down here, the rules were different.
"Name and title?" The woman inquired.
"Araziel, Margrave of Hell presiding over the northwest border of the Ninth Circle, formerly of the Order of Thrones."
She picked up a small magnifying glass that appeared to have a light glowing inside it and slid the glass window open. "I'll need to see your identification." Ciel was fascinated by the object in her hand, and stared at it with interest.
Sebastian leaned over the heavy desk she sat at, eyes wide and glowing bright pink. She used the glass in her hand to examine his left eye, then pulled back with a nod. "That's all in order. And you'll be taking the soul with you?"
It took Ciel a moment to realize they were talking about him, and he didn't like it. Sebastian gave an affirmative answer while Ciel glared at the world.
The woman opened the heavy metal gate so they could pass through. "What circle are you headed for?"
"Ninth. Are there any delays?"
"Express track's been blocked in Fourth, you'll have to take the local and change trains."
Sebastian cursed, which Ciel had never heard him do before. "What's caused the blockage?"
"Nothing to be unexpected. The occupants of Fourth were fighting on the tracks and some bags split. Track's buried in coins."
Sebastian sighed. "But the express track is clear beyond that?"
"From what I've heard. The local's to be here in another few minutes, you can have a seat over there." She indicated a heavy stone bench inside the station. Sebastian thanked her and the two of them sat down.
"So, the train is underground?" Ciel had never encountered such a thing before; it was quite fantastic.
"For the most part. Fewer obstructions that way, though sometimes accidents do happen. Like in Fourth currently."
"Fourth?"
"The Fourth Circle of Hell, where those who indulged in greed are punished."
"How are they punished?"
"They fight for eternity by throwing giant money bags at each other."
"...You're joking."
"I wish I was."
They waited quietly for another few moments for the train to arrive, and it did shortly, speeding into the station. It was quite unlike any train Ciel had ever seen, sleek like a bullet and painted a lurid metallic green. They boarded and he took all the unfamiliarity in with wonder.
The only other two occupants were a pair of female demons who stopped their gossiping the moment Sebastian and Ciel stepped into the train. They picked up their hushed conversation a moment later, throwing glances at the two every now and then. Sebastian and Ciel sat down in a seat facing away from the other two passengers, pointedly ignoring them.
"So where are we going first? A lawyer?"
"No, we'll be going to my home first. It's not too far from the train station."
This piqued Ciel's interest. He'd never thought about where Sebastian lived. "What's your home like?"
"Well, it's a bit hard to describe, really."
"Is it big?"
"No. About average for one of the Fallen."
They were interrupted at this moment by a smiling demon with slick black hair that presented them with a variety of delicious-looking refreshments, most of which Ciel was surprised to discover that he recognized. His stomach growled and suddenly breakfast seemed like a very long time ago.
"Would you like something to refresh yourself?" He ignored Sebastian, instead directing his dazzling smile at Ciel. After feeling throughly snubbed by the woman behind the desk, he felt quite gratified by this. And the man had such a nice smile.
But before Ciel could take any of the proffered snacks, Sebastian grabbed his wrist tightly. "We won't be needing any of that."
"But surely the young man is hungry after such a tiring journey." The sparkling smile widened enticingly and Ciel felt a flare of annoyance at Sebastian.
"Yes, I am. I'm quite hungry." He reached again and once again the butler grabbed his wrist, holding it so he couldn't move. Ciel glared at him, trying to jerk his hand away. "What the hell are you doing?"
Sebastian gave Ciel a thoroughly irritated look, which he'd rarely done before. Shocked by this, the younger stopped struggling. Sebastian looked back at the other demon. "We don't need anything. Leave."
Seeing that he wasn't going to get past the protective Fallen, the other demon retreated, but not before cooing to Ciel, "If you do need anything, don't hesitate to ask!" with a conspiratorial wink.
As soon as he was gone, Ciel reeled on Sebastian, ready to let him have it, but he stopped short at the look in Sebastian's eyes.
"Young Master, with all due respect, have you learned nothing about demons? Even basic mythology?" Sebastian was obviously disgusted at what, to him, was clearly a display of completely moronic behavior.
"Of course I have!" Ciel snapped, not really knowing what Sebastian was talking about, but not ready to admit it.
"Then of course you know that eating anything from the underworld will trap you here, correct?"
"...of course I knew that." Ciel sulked. "I was making sure you hadn't forgotten that you're supposed to protect me."
Sebastian chuckled, all smiles now, barely masking his irritation. "Of course. It is my duty to protect you from stupid decisions."
Ciel opened his mouth to lash out with a snarky reply, but another demon had just entered the car and Sebastian had turned his attention to the newcomer instead. "Ah, Mephistos! How is your Father?"
The demon, Mephistos, turned to look at them and Ciel recoiled slightly. Mephistos had beautiful, wavy white-blonde hair past his shoulder blades and flawless ivory skin. But his eyes were an endless, soul-sucking black that stood out from his fair complexion, as if they were black holes that had sucked all the color out of his face. His eyes locked on Ciel emotionlessly before turning to Sebastian and closed as he bowed respectfully.
"Lord Araziel, what a surprise. My Father is quite well, thank you." He smiled, but it was distant.
"Still on the council? We may need a bit of his sway." Sebastian smiled back, warmly.
Mephistos chuckled. "Of course he is. But you know how it is. If you want his vote, you need Lord Leviathan's vote."
"Levi? I'm not worried about him. He adores Zariel."
Mephistos looked distant again, almost bored. "Oh, I don't think Lord Leviathan adores anyone. Except perhaps Father. But good luck to you."
"Thank you." Sebastian, sensing Mephistos was ready to leave, waved him away. "You are dismissed, of course."
"Thank you for the honor." Mephistos didn't sound thankful or honored, but nobody pointed it out. He bowed again and walked away.
"Who the hell was that?" Ciel snapped, patience wearing awfully thin. "Who the hell are all these people you're talking about? Leviathan? Zariel? Keep me informed, why don't you!"
Sebastian chuckled. "Keeping you informed about all the inner workings of Hell would take centuries to explain. Leviathan is a member of the council we will be appealing to. The council makes up the heart of S.A.T.A.N. Asmodeus, who is the father of Mephistos, is another member of the council."
"And who is Zariel? Another council member?" Ciel was mostly unimpressed.
"Of course not. The council members are all Fallen. Zariel is a Nephilim. The first Nephilim, actually."
"Explain what a Nephilim is." All this new information was frustrating. Why couldn't Sebastian just tell him everything flat-out?
"A demon born of the union between a human and an angel or demon. Zariel was the first, born of an angel and a human. It caused quite a scandal." Sebastian smiled, amused at the memory.
Ciel snorted. "Trust an angel to be the moron to knock up some human and give birth to some mutant demon baby. Typical idiotic..." He caught the look on Sebastian's face. "What?"
"Zariel is my firstborn."
"Don't be ridiculous." Ciel replied dismissively. Sebastian didn't have children, of course he didn't. "You said it was an angel."
"And I was an angel at one time, if you recall. I am a Fallen, not a common demon." Sebastian's tone was slightly frosty. "And Zariel is not a mutant in any way."
He almost sounded offended. Ciel couldn't even remember a time he had heard Sebastian sound like that. Obviously this Zariel was important to him; well of course he was, being his firstborn son. But even knowing that, Ciel felt a twinge of jealousy that there was another creature in existence that Sebastian cared for as much as himself, or more so, that wasn't a cat. But that was silly, of course. They were master and servant. King and knight. Owner and dog. Why should he be concerned about who Sebastian cared about at all? It was just a surprise because he wasn't used to thinking about Sebastian having a life outside serving Ciel, but of course he must have family. Or something like it. That's all it was. Just surprise.
"So," Ciel said after an awkward moment. "You have a son. What does he do?"
"Normally, he's a skilled assassin and warrior. One of the best in Hell, truthfully." Sebastian's impeccable posture became impossibly straighter. He was clearly very proud of his son. "But currently he's running the clan while I'm contracting."
"Clan? What clan?"
"My clan, of course, Young Master. All my sons." Sebastian smiled, amused at Ciel's expression.
"Exactly how many sons do you have?"
"Thirteen thousand, four hundred and sixty-eight. Though it's probably increased since I've been gone."
Ciel stared at him in shock. "Thirteen thousand?"
"And four hundred and sixty-eight, yes."
"That's impossible. You can't possibly have that many children."
Sebastian chuckled. "Actually, I have quite a few more if you include all my daughters. But they belong to different clans. But actually, they aren't all mine."
"Then whose are they?" Ciel felt rather irritated and he wasn't sure why.
"My sons' sons, of course. And my sons' sons' sons. And so on. Humans call them grandsons, but we do not. Within the clan, they are all brothers, and I am their Father."
"Why don't they just go off and start their own clans?"
"Because only Fallen may have clans." Sebastian was beginning to weary of this.
Ciel, sensing Sebastian was losing patience with his questions, fell silent. He had already asked many of the questions he wanted to know anyway. Except one, and that one he was far too proud or cowardly to voice. If Sebastian had all these children, who was their mother? Or, more to the point...
...does Sebastian have a lover?