I do not own Kuroshitsuji. For some reason, I can't even say it. It's the "ji" that throws me off, I swear it. Anyway, that privilege/right is exclusive to Yana Toboso. I'm terribly sorry if this chapter is a little boring. It will get more exciting.
At this particular point in time, the sun was somewhere in the sky. It really couldn't be said where, as the cloud cover was rather extensive. Alistair was at Amelia's feet under her desk. Amelia was sitting in her inherited study looking seriously over papers. She furrowed her brow and pointed at a line in a modified contract given from a company trying to partner with her. Amelia's irritation was growing, "Did you know about this, Sebastian?"
"Yes, it seems they want to hire more workers and cut hours."
"Our workers have families to support," she exclaimed heatedly, "and we pride ourselves on having a loyal work staff because we treat them well. I will not tolerate having a bad name amongst my workers."
"The Funtom workers are treated better than most other factory workers, and it's been said that most people who work for us hold their jobs for life." He concurred, "This should be kept up as long as we can afford it."
"Funtom is doing fine, especially with lending a few factories to the king. There is no reason to make many people's lives miserable." Amelia sighed, "I want to help these guys' business. I really do. But I'm not going to change the policies that are already working for ones that are employed by a business that isn't working."
"Shall I contact Mr. MacHale and tell him that he can look elsewhere for help?"
"Yes, please. And it seems the way they're going, even if I just pay their debt, they'll still fall. I don't want to get caught in that sort of business." Amelia sighed. "They had such a wonderful recipe for those cakes, too."
"Perhaps you could buy the cake recipe from them?"
"Yes, and I'll pay extra so they can 'better their business', even though they will just fall."
"At least it will look like you tried."
"Yes, at least. There is nothing I can do, though. This paperwork is boring. I'm going to read."
"Shall I finish it for you?"
She shook her head, "Thank you, but leave it. I'll get to it later. Have you eaten today? Why don't you go find something delicious for yourself? I'll be in the library." They took their leave of each other and Amelia padded to the library.
"Go find something delicious," Sebastian chuckled. He leaned against the side of the manor. She was practically inviting him to take what he had rightfully earned and deserved. He couldn't, however. For one, though rich from birth, her soul is not yet mature enough to fully enjoy. Her soul, like her father's, had the potential to be absolutely exquisite. He rose her allowing her to become how her heart tells her to be. Those that are themselves to the soul and never lie to themselves tend to be a soul demons rarely get to taste. With the right feelings, the right seasons, she may be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Then, there's the damned contract. A contract that neither knew the terms to, other than that Sebastian must serve her, and he will someday get her soul. That is assuming, of course, that her soul doesn't get taken from him, too. She may not have even known what a demon was.
No, of course she knows what a demon is. People seem obsessed with them, no matter what the time period is. Young and naïve though she is, and ignorant; too, she must at least know what a demon is. Ever since Sebastian had to convince her to start reading the newspaper and listen to the radio, she had become more and more aware of the on-goings of the world along with social normalities. Not that she cared, but at least she knew what people thought so she knew how to act. Outside of business, though, he had never seen a human so comfortable with their self. Growing up with only a demon for company most of the time and a lack of social inhibitions will do that, though, he guessed.
He sighed. Sometimes, Amelia really could be hopeless in current events. She didn't even know there was a war going on until she just happened to want to go to London shortly after a bombing. Perhaps he was being too harsh. She was, after all, only a child. Still, how one misses the war to end all wars (Sebastian had to scoff at the thought. As if humans will ever stop fighting.), Sebastian had no idea.
Something delicious to eat. Amelia reminded him occasionally to eat whatever he wanted, since he lived there too. She picked up the habit once when she felt like being alone and realized she had never seen Sebastian eat, though he is by her almost all the time. The look on her face when she realized was, well, adorable. She was irate because he wouldn't stop fixing her hair, but also shocked that Sebastian fed her all the time, yet never ate. Then, she was scared she was starving her butler, and something he couldn't quite describe was mixed in. He had the image saved in his mind because something about it struck him as ironic.
He looked at the mental image again, and a rusty old cog turned again. Concern! He laughed out loud. She was concerned for him! Worried that her butler would die because she had never seen him eat! He has seen many things in his several centuries, but he has never had a master or mistress that has shown concern over his well-being. "He's a demon," they'd all say, "He is fine". He shouldn't be surprised that she cared, even if she were to know of his status. After all, he raised her; anyway she never had cared for the difference between angels and demons, and other mytho—Oh. Again, he couldn't help but be amused.
Amelia doesn't believe in demons.
He had never asked her. He just knew. It would be a strange conversation and the topic has never come up from her, but one day she listened to the radio when a news story came on. She felt sorry for the family that lost a son until they claimed it was the work of Satan. That was when she scoffed and turned off the radio muttering under her breath about ancient superstition based on desperation.
Sebastian hummed in thought. Leave it to him to have a mistress that doesn't believe in his existence, and all because he never thought to bring it up to her while she was growing up. He will have to tell her soon.
He didn't want to.
He dreads the day he will have to tell her the truth about himself, and it will probably be when she has yet another nightmare about a woman with white hair burning a man that looks like her. Her father, she thinks. He had to agree, from the descriptions she gave him. It will probably be when she calls for him in the night, so desperate and afraid, so vulnerable. One of many times when he enters her room, not even bothering with candles anymore, and is looked at with wide-open eyes that beg to be read, and indeed almost force emotion upon him. Trust, fear, relief, desperation, and the one he wasn't sure he felt about; when she pierced his eyes with her love.
He hated her love. He learned from the first time she looked at him with love, his stomach could indeed turn. The contract made him take care of her needs and the commands she rarely, if ever, gave. That look made him instinctively need to give her everything she wanted before she even asked. Yet, it made her soul so decadent and hers. Smelling her need his protection, need him to soothe away the fear, made him hungry. Though, seeing it made him want to tear himself apart for thinking of it. Her love ate at his intestines and scratched at his brain while bellowing a grating tone in his ears, it made him sick, and he just hated that she loved him. He hated that she made him feel at war with himself, like some… some human.
He loved her love. That he had earned the privilege to see Amelia at her most vulnerable with unconditional trust raised him higher than God. He could do anything, even the impossible for a demon. It would all be for her, for her soul, for her love; but he was the one that did it, and the only one that ever could. In her eyes, he knew, he was Alpha and Omega, and only he. And since it was in her eyes, her loving, innocent eyes, it was true, and will always be true. Her trust gave him power. It made him accomplished, as well, for what human places such trust in a demon? Only one that didn't know what he was.
He finally understood something about parents. He finally understood how that woman felt when she refused to give up her baby to him when she couldn't guess the name he was going by. He was a foolish young demon at the time and gave her an extra day to watch her suffer. It made sense now how she looked into the baby's eyes, then at him, and told him his contract name; one no one could possibly have guessed. He understood how human fathers could kill several others with his bare hands for even looking at his daughter suspiciously, and does so without regret and will spend years in hell being tortured for it after death. He has tortured these men himself, and they still never regret it. Even when the humanity is gone from their soul, he could teasingly say something about their child and send the man into a crazed frenzy.
A child's love really is the most precious thing. More powerful than any sort of magic.
His brows knitted together, imagining the only time Amelia touched him- when she needed comfort. He could see the faith in him broken when everything she ever knew becomes a lie. When she learns that Sebastian raised her for her soul, and needs only that. When she learns that he can't possibly love her in return. It wasn't hard to know how she would look hurt and turn her head away from him. She would never be good at hiding how she feels from him because she has never needed to. Avoiding his gaze would suffice until she could learn how to lie to Sebastian. He knows what it would smell like, too, how it would stain her perfect soul. It would smell slightly less sweet as the mistrust multiplies and rots her heart, if she can't control it. It would ruin her and her soul, her love, therefore his power. Only a stupid demon gets himself into a position where he can ruin the soul.
Again, the image of her in pain was clear in his mind. His hand touched his stinging chest and he closed his eyes to combat the headache coming on. At least he would get some relief from these human pains in ruining her love for him. The extra strength he had would be gone, but at least so would the headaches. Maybe she'd learn to tell him what to do, rather than look at him with expressive, needy eyes. Then he would be clear that what he did was for the contract, thus her soul. He'd just have to hope her soul isn't ruined by the time she is done with him.
Go find something delicious. He scoffed at himself. Sebastian, what a hole you have dug yourself into.
Amelia affectionately stroked the spine of a book in front of her on the shelf. The fabric binding it was tattered and rough. It fell off in chunks if she was too rough with this particular book, but inside was a beautiful story about a man who fell in love with his tutor. And the one next to it, a musty book that was salvaged from a burning library a long time ago was a diary of an old queen. Her husband was a nasty thing and treated her terribly. It was not the happiest book she ever read.
In this section of the library, the one where Amelia got all her reading material, all the books had fading ink or smelled like they've been through a storm. Most of the books were forgotten about by most people, and she felt very rare in getting to read them. Occasionally, she'll make a reference when people visit for business, and she and Sebastian would smile, being the only ones to get it. She read almost every book back here, except the ones that were terribly boring or the ones she couldn't lift from the shelf by herself. Suddenly, she realized she had no idea what was in the front of the library. She would certainly find new material there, and it might be interesting.
With purpose, she strode to the front of the library to look at the newer, crisper books. On most of these, she would be the first one to break the binding. Some were tall, and others were short of varying widths. Only two on the first shelf had a title embossed in the spine. They were covered in new green or red linen, with the occasional black or yellow thrown in. She didn't feel like looking through all of them to decide what she would like to read. Instead, she just chose a book- a red one- and lay on her fainting couch. On the first page immediately after the cover was a design in a circle that struck her. It was an upside down star surrounded by intricate rune work that looked like lace. It was even embossed in the paper and highlighted with fine gold leaf. It was an exquisite book.
On the next page, there was a warning in three languages. She, of course, read the one in English.
More than often, the truth is something that strikes fear into a person's heart. In a world consumed by lies, humans have learned that the truth will get them killed, or worse. Humans lie to get what they want or to stay safe. In here, there is nothing safe. There are no lies to hide behind. This book is to be used strictly for reference, because every last letter is true. Accept the responsibility that comes with reading this with the utmost gravity. And please, dear reader, do not do anything you will regret.
Immersive, Amelia thought. She was interested now. Any book that comes with a warning can't possibly be boring, be it real or fake. She turned the page, starting, naturally, at chapter one. In bold Fraktur font at the top of the page, "Demons: Real Life And Fantasy" was written. Fabulous, Amelia sighed, a book about superstition that might actually be worth reading. Though it was a topic she disagreed with, she couldn't find it in her to put the book down. She was hooked. She had half a mind to flip ahead and see what the next chapters were about, but decided against it. She'll just see when she gets there. Three feet away, Abaddon gave a long stretch atop a table and lept into her lap, purring contentedly. "Hey, kitty" she greeted. "You don't believe in demons, do you?"
He meowed in return, long and mournful and head butted her book. Amelia giggled. He was jealous of the book.
Sebastian was in the courtyard teaching Alistair some basic commands. He didn't learn too slowly, but he was far more focused on playing than learning. One day, and he had been successful in teaching him that relieving himself inside the manor is unacceptable. Sebastian had been very insistent in that lesson, and Alistair had no trouble understanding his point. Aside from that, he knew how to sit. He did so every time Sebastian threw something in the yard. Then he'd bark curiously.
"Now, dog, you go and get the toy." Sebastian sighed. He had never trained such an obstinate dog.
Alistair barked and trotted after the toy this time. When he reached the toy, he lifted it from the ground, brought his head to the side, and threw it right back at Sebastian. So, then, that was the kind of dog Alistair was. Sebastian caught the rope in one hand and gracefully tossed it back at the dog, much higher this time. Alistair lept and caught it by the fringe, spun, and launched it back at the person who threw it. If Sebastian weren't a demon, the rope would have hit him in the face.
Sebastian smirked. He could go wonderful places with this ability. He still didn't like dogs, but this may be more enjoyable. He tossed the rope back at the dog and put his hand way above his head, hoping the dog would understand to throw there. Fortunately, it did. Every time the rope came flying at Sebastian, he caught it and threw it back in a single graceful move, then shifted to a different position with his hand in a different location. The rope always landed in his hand. He couldn't help but be impressed.
He held the rope and threw it far away from the dog. The dog, sensing the change in the game, sprinted to catch it and threw it at Sebastian's foot. Sebastian smirked. It was war now. He tossed it high and aimed for Alistair's tail. He spun and caught it, then launched it to land four feet directly behind Sebastian. Perhaps he isn't so difficult to teach after all.
Back in the chaise, Amelia had just finished the second chapter of her book. It discussed the many ways in which a demon may exist on the earth, the many forms taken, and how they got there in that form. The Fraktur text at the beginning of each chapter still stunned Amelia, and with each page turned grew the feeling that she was learning things she wasn't supposed to know. The print starting chapter three read thusly: "The Faustian Contract". The image below it was of an encircled star with a pentagram in the centre. From each point of the pentagram, a line extended to the circle that enclosed the star. The caption said "A Unique Faustian Seal".
Amelia swallowed. That star was incredibly similar to her birthmark on her—she raised her hand to her throat and rubbed the mark that lay there.
With invigorated interest, she read on.
For a demon to be summoned, there must have been desperate need. When the demon is summoned, a contract maybe formed. The human may use the demon's services until a certain goal is achieved. When the human gets what they want, the demon will take their soul. This is called a Faustian Contract. Demons rely on desperation and greed in order to get souls through the Faustian contract. As far as is understood, the contract is not necessary for them to obtain a soul. Once they have been summoned, they cannot be un-summoned, so there is nothing to stop them from taking the soul anyway. It is believed that demons prefer the contract because it is easier to manipulate a soul to get it to "taste better" or more "complete". A demon has not yet been known to settle for anything less than a soul, be it theirs or their childrens'. Once the contract has been sealed with a name, both the human and the demon bear the demon's unique mark. It is proved that the more visible the mark is, the more powerful the contract bond is.
A demon working under a Faustian contract is not to be trusted. They pull the strings and give the human illusions of power. The average length of a Faustian contract is one to four months. It is rare to last longer, as a demon can usually accomplish a human's goal in this amount of time. While bound, they will follow any orders and protect their "master" with their lives, if need be. Only rarely will a demon will turn on their "master". No matter what, though, the demon will be the end of the human.
There is no bond on earth stronger than that of a Faustian contract. When a human has made a deal with this demon, some task in exchange for their soul, that demon will always know where they are and what they need, if anything. It is still not known how they know this; it is merely an accepted fact. The demon will provide anything. The human may never escape.
Amelia closed the book and scratched Abaddon behind the ears. The sleeping cat blinked and resettled into her lap, now purring loudly. Amelia was suddenly very warm and torn between dropping the book and continuing on merrily with her life.
It would be absurd to assume that the mark on her throat is the symbol of a Faustian contract. She had been happy almost her whole life, and certainly hadn't summoned a demon. She didn't even believe in them! Did she? Anyway, what could she be desperate for? She had more than most adults, let alone children her age. She had a butler-slash-guardian figure that was good at everything, more money than anyone will ever need, and a positive enough outlook on life. But it was an explanation when she was never given one.
She couldn't get the idea from her mind. Yet, she has had the mark her whole life. How could she have summoned a demon as a child? It isn't likely. She wouldn't even have been able to give it a name. That is unless someone is running around using the name of "WAAAHHHHHH". And she was sure she would know if she knew anyone with that name.
She removed her finger from the page she was on and continued reading with a thick feeling in her stomach.