Chapter Twelve: His Master, Proposing
"The Demon World is really dark and bleak." Ciel said distastefully. Sebastian smirked. "Well, I apologize if you expected rainbows and lollypops. That is just the way the Demon World is, though. There's nothing bright about it." The faithful butler said with a sneer.
"How far do we have to go to get this gem?" Ciel asked. Sebastian rolled his eyes. "You stated that you wanted a special gem for a special lady. It is not just going to appear right before you. We are going to the place that has the widest and purest selection of precious gems."
"And, here we are." Sebastian said, waving his arm, and lighting up the cave with a were light that seemed to have no point of origin, but lit up all the jewels in the cave. The gems were gorgeous. They were pure and beautiful and technicolor. Ciel walked over to one of the gems and yanked on one. However, it didn't come out.
"These gems are called Ðæs'mœ'ßÞyea'ȼœ. If you wish, you can just call them Zæthuramite. That's the common name for the stone. Do you have Laevatin with you like I told you to bring?" Sebastian asked. Ciel took out the Demon Sword and handed it to Sebastian, who took it and walked over to the Zæthuramite, and jammed the sword into the gems, ripping a large piece out. He then smirked at Ciel.
"These gems, the Zæthuramite, is ten times as hard as diamond, and about a hundred times as dense. Only a pure act of will can shape them into any kind of shape, and it leaves the Demon drained and exhausted afterward. So be careful. I am certain that if anyone can exert the will required, it would be you. However, do not mess up. Even the slightest miscalculation could cause the gem to become twisted and hideous."
"I understand, Ciel said, taking the gem in his hand and closing his eyes, taking a deep breath and focusing hard on the task that was required of him. He would never get another chance like this most likely. So he took this one chance. Though the gem was dense, it was lighter than diamond and even warm, as though heat was being exuded from within."
Ciel continued to focus, his forehead creasing. Suddenly, he felt something snap, and he felt inexplicably tired, as though he had used up all his Essence. He knew that was impossible, though. He just wasn't terribly efficient with his Essence.
He looked down at the Zæthuramite in his hand. It was now molded into the beautiful heart-like shape with forest green veins running through it. Sebastian chuckled darkly and took another piece of Zæthuramite from the wall with Laevatin and grabbed Ciel, teleporting out of the Demon World and back to Phantomhive Manor.
"Good morning, Aunt Frances… I apologize for coming to call without alerting you. I wanted it to be a surprise."
Frances sighed as though it was very much a problem, but then rolled her eyes and stood back from the door.
"Please, come in Ciel. I assume you wish to speak to me about something?" Frances asked.
"Not exactly, Aunt Frances. I came to give Elizabeth something." Ciel said with a smile. Frances sighed.
"Did she leave something at your house, Ciel?"
"Not exactly." Ciel replied quickly. Frances scowled. "And what exactly does 'not exactly' mean?" She demanded.
"It means I had a gift made for her and I would like to give it to her personally."
"How… Uncharacteristically romantic of you. You were always so morose and serious, almost compulsively so. I'm glad to see you have loosened up slightly, but it does make me wonder what you intend by this." Frances said suspiciously. Ciel smirked.
"Nothing untoward, if that is what you are implying. May I please speak with Elizabeth?"
"Hi, Ciel! I thought I heard your voice down here! How unexpected. I'm usually the one to drop by at your home."
"Elizabeth… Aunt Frances, may we please have a moment alone?"
"Of course. I will be in the next room in case you try anything funny with your lecherous face and your long hair. You really need to get it cut, Ciel."
"Don't worry, Ciel. I like your hair long like it is. And don't worry…" Lizzie said, leaning over and whispering to Ciel. "I haven't told anyone about the fact that you re a Demon. I'm pretty sure they'd think I was crazy anyway, and send me off to a mental institution."
"Lizzie, I-I'm really not used to doing things like this, but… I-I made this necklace for you, I had the stone set in gold for you…" Ciel said, blushing slightly as he handed the necklace to Lizzie, who gasped, literally squealing with delight at the gift Ciel had made for her.
"I-it's beautiful, Ciel! Wherever did you find this!? I've never seen a stone like this!"
"That's a secret…" Ciel said with a mysterious smile. He was sure that he would be mining more Zæthuramite for his company, solely on a commission basis.
If he flooded the market with the stone, it would become worthless. So he would make them sparingly on a custom commission basis. He wasn't sure why he cared about money still. He was a demon. The only real need for money that he had was to buy clothes. However, old habits die hard.
"C-Ciel… You're being so different from usual. W-what's going on?"
"Nothing. I just recently realized how important the people you love are. It's really a long story. Revenge has occupied my life for so long that I almost forgot about anything else."
"Who are you and what have you done with Ciel!?" Lizzie demanded suddenly, grabbing Ciel's face and pulling as hard as she could. Even considering that Ciel was a demon, it hurt. She was really pulling hard, displaying her strength, even as a normal human.
It was at that moment that Frances decided to come back in and see the two of them behaving that way.
"Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Midford! How dare you behave in such a shameful way! You must never consummate with a man before marriage!" Frances said angrily. Ciel pushed Lizzie gently off of him, showing that they were both still fully clothed.
"I-I-I'm sorry, mother, I just…"
"I don't want to hear excuses! Go to your room!" Frances snapped. Lizzie silently slunk out of the room, doing her best to appear small.
"Ciel, I'm disappointed in you, too. What were you thinking? Surely your father brought you up better than that."
"I wasn't consummating anything with Elizabeth. She was trying to pull my face off. I know it doesn't sound much better, saying it now. But… I was acting strangely, I guess, and she asked me who I was and what I had done with Ciel… I think she may have just taken the joke a bit too far. Nothing happened, I promise, Aunt Frances."
"Well, as long as nothing happened. I noticed a new necklace that Elizabeth was wearing. Is that your doing, Ciel?" Frances demanded. Ciel nodded sheepishly.
"Yes, it was an engagement gift.
I know we've been engaged for years, but I never gave her a ring. So now I gave her a necklace instead."
"What was the type of stone? I didn't recognize the colors. It was technicolor. Is it just a diamond with impurities in it?"
"No, Aunt Frances. It's a stone called Zæthuramite. I had it cut myself. It's… Sort of like diamond. I can see your skepticism, though. You can have it appraised if you're worried about the value."
"Well, I will have it appraised, but not because I think you got her something cheap. I know you better than that. I want to learn what it is."
"I wish you luck finding the answer. Normally I would tell you, but nothing I could say would be believed. For now, let's just say that it's a new precious stone." Ciel said with a mysterious smile. Strictly speaking, this was not true. Zæthuramite was older than the earth itself. In fact, if Sebastian was correct, then it had been around for multiple Universes
"I hate to interrupt, Young Master, but we have a guest coming soon. If you would finish as soon as you could?" Sebastian asked, bowing politely to Frances, who looked at Sebastian severely.
"I see you haven't fixed that lecherous look on your face, Sebastian! And your hair is still too long!"
"This is the face I was born with, Milady." Sebastian replied with a helpless smile. He knew that he couldn't change her opinion of him, save to make it worse if he told her he was a demon."
"Master Ciel?" Came a young, sweet voice from the entrance. Sieglinde had just come home from her first year of college."
"Hey! Miss Sullivan… It's nice to see you again, it is!" Came Maylene's voice from the kitchen. "How is college going? You're really amazing, you are, to be in college at only 13 years old."
"Hi, um… Melinda?"
"Maylene. That's alright. You enjoying college?" Maylene asked. Sieglinde nodded.
"It's nice, and I'm picking up English quickly. I don't feel like I belong, though.
Everyone there is so much older than I am, and yet, they don't know half what I know about chemistry and physics. Even some of my professors have never heard of some of the formulae that I know. But at least I'm learning more than I ever thought I could." Sieglinde said happily.
She liked college because there were other people around that were intelligent as well. And she had her feet fixed by Sebastian at Ciel's command, so she was learning to play Soccer, Cricket, and Lacrosse They were all fun sports to play. She was slightly confused about what a boy had said to her once. He had invited her out for a drink and after she had a glass of wine…
"Maylene? You're a woman…" Sieglinde said brightly. Maylene nodded, thinking that she had a crush on a fellow student and feeling that Sieglinde would need significant luck to get a boy from college to go out with her.
"A man invited me to his room for wine one night. I didn't get… Drunk, as they say… I think that's the right word. But I was feeling a bit dizzy, and the man asked if I wanted to 'do the horizontal shuffle'… I don't even think he was even really a student."
"He asked you to do what!? Did you report him!?" Maylene shouted angrily. Bard walked into the room, yawning and looking at Sieglinde.
"Hey there, little lady. Didn't know you'd be by so soon. I'd have gotten dressed, yes I would've… What's all the yelling about?"
"Bard!" Maylene whispered urgently. "There was some weird pervert 'oo tried to get Miss Sullivan drunk an' ave sex with her, yes 'e did!" She continued whispering. Bard drew back, appalled.
"What!? who'd be so sick as to have sex with an 11 year old!?"
"Bardroy, I will thank you not to utter such profanities before our honored guest. Thank you." Came a smooth, silky voice from the entranceway. The two servants turned around and started when they saw Ciel and Sebastian.
"No, I was just telling them about some weird tall blonde man who came to my college and asked me if I would 'do the horizontal shuffle' with him. I said no and left, but I was dizzy from the wine, so I rested in the infirmary that night."
"Weird tall blonde man? I think Viscount Druitt is up to his old tricks again, seducing young women. Do you remember what happened after you left? Did he follow you?" Sebastian asked. Sieglinde looked at the two oddly and shook her head.
"No. He merely waved goodbye and said 'farewell my sweet little robin!' It was kind of weird, but a little bit flattering, I suppose."
"Sieglinde, that man is a nutjob! If you ever see him again, run the other direction! Run and don't look back!" Ciel said emphatically. Sieglinde sighed and shook her head.
"Well, I'm not sure. H-he was really friendly, and…"
"Of course he was friendly, Miss Sullivan. He wished to defile you as only perverts can." Sebastian said irritably. Ciel rolled his eyes at this.
"Sieglinde, you should really report him to the Dean. If he is a teacher, they'll investigate and he'll be suspended for a time during the investigation. If they find that he's culpable, they will censure him and he may be fired."
"I wouldn't count on it, My Lord. Viscount Druitt has a long history of weaseling out of being punished. I've never seen a man so adept at avoiding punishment." Sebastian said distastefully. "I can certainly take care of the problem for you, Miss Sullivan, though I suspect my Young Master would object." Sebastian said with a grim grin. Ciel waved him off.
"Normally, I would not object, but I suspect that killing him would have greater repercussions than simply killing a bunch of circus people."
"Young Master, I feel that this was perhaps not the best time to mention the Noah's Ark Circus." Sebastian said uncomfortably looking toward the door. Ciel looked up and at Snake, who was standing, paralyzed with rage and horror at what he had just heard.
"Y-you killed my friends?… Says Keats." Snake gasped. Ciel looked at Snake, quite unabashed.
"Yes. As per the orders of Her Majesty, I was ordered to get to the bottom of numerous kidnappings. The investigation led me to Noah's Ark Circus, and your people. They, however were ordered to kill me and my servants. As you can see, they were no match for my servants' power."
"Y-you betrayed us, Smile!… Says Emily." Snake yelled, his snakes bursting forth from his clothes and attacking the group. Only Sieglinde seemed truly afraid. Ciel calmed her, though.
"These snakes cannot hurt us. You, on the other hand may want to find somewhere safe to hide. Finnian. Protect Sieglinde at all costs." Ciel said calmly. Finny bowed, and swept Sieglinde off her feet once more like he had done in the forests of Germany, and ran off with her.
"You shouldn't have bothered, Smile. I would never harm an innocent like that girl… Says Wilde." Snake snarled at the group. Sebastian by that time, though had rounded up most of the snakes and tied them in knots and Maylene had picked off a number of them with her guns. Ciel on the other hand had ripped a number of them in half, leaving only the snakes on Snake's shoulders left.
"Y-you killed my snakes… Says Oscar. You will pay tenfold for that crime!… Says Goethe." Snake yelled, throwing his two final snakes at the group and moving faster than Ciel had expected, using that moment to bite Ciel, himself, injecting poison into the boy's neck. Ciel merely laughed, though, and waited for Snake to detach.
When he did, Ciel made sure that Snake could see his wound healing more rapidly than any human could. Snakes eyes widened with fear and shock, and Ciel grinned, his teeth being revealed to be razor sharp. Ciel's eyes started glowing pink with cat pupils and he slowly advanced toward Snake, getting a little bit taller with each step.
As Snake saw this, he fell over, crawling backwards toward the door. Bard and Maylene blocked him, though.
"Young Master. D'you want us t'kill 'im?" Bard asked in his rough voice. Maylene nodded and pointed her handgun at Snake's head. Ciel shook his head, though.
"No. Let him live. I feel it would be a shame to waste a good servant. Snake." Ciel said, his voice changing from ice cold as it was moments before to smooth and it seemed to sussurate and fill the room, causing Snake to be unable to look away. Though he was shaking violently from head to toe at the malevolent look on Ciel's face, there was something about Ciel's voice that he wanted to hear, to understand, to obey.
"You have three options. You may continue to fight. I can tell you how that will end. You may manage to injure one of my servants. But you will ultimately die. You may leave if you prefer. Your snakes are all dead, but there's no reason to think that you wouldn't find new ones. If you choose to leave, I shall not pursue you. You have your freedom. You may tell anyone you like of our true nature, but expect them not to believe you.
You may stay with me, and continue to be my servant. With that in mind, I have offered all of my other servants the chance to become demi-demonic in nature via a contract using my Blood. I will offer you that same chance. Those are your choices. Choose well and accept whatever decision you make."
"Maylene, Bard. Lower your weapons. He is no threat to us." Ciel said sternly. The two servants lowered their guns and bowed politely to Ciel.
"If I became one of your demi-demonic servants, I would undoubtedly try to kill you again. I will never forgive you for killing my friends, even if it means dying, myself."
"Then you choose to become Culled?" Ciel asked with a wide smirk. Snake nodded. He seemed uncomfortable, not having his snakes to talk through. Even Sebastian, who typically had no problem with potentially dangerous tasks was uncomfortable with this. Snake nodded.
"I would like to become a Culled servant… Says… Er…"
"You are uncomfortable not having your snakes to speak through?" Ciel asked. Snake nodded uncomfortably. Ciel nodded.
"Sebastian! Find snakes… How many snakes do you usually possess, Snake?" Ciel asked. Snake shrugged.
"I never learned how to count. I had Wordsworth, Emily, Goethe, Oscar, Wilde, Webster, Bronte, Dan, Donne, Keats, Bram, Stoker, Victor, Hugo, Edgar, Allen, and Poe. Beyond them, I had…"
"Okay, I get it. You had at least seventeen snakes. I'll… Replace all of them. I'm getting into some new venues in Funtom Company.
I'm going to start making new clothes for children and shoes as well. We have plenty of money." Ciel said, reaching his hand out to shake Snake's. Snake reached out to shake Ciel's hand, not sure why he was so willing to take in a man who was about to kill him.
Ciel shook Snake's hand and the two went out to the backyard where Finny and Sieglinde were waiting. Ciel stood over Snake, ordering him to kneel down. Ciel placed the candles and made the contract mark in Blood and put a thumb on Snake's forehead.
"Do you, Snake, swear to serve your master, Ciel Phantomhive until the end of time?"
"I do."
"And do you swear never to directly threaten or by omission of action allow to be threatened me or any of those currently in my care or those who will be in my care in the future?"
"I do."
"And do you swear that you will never abandon your position as my Blooded servant?"
"I do."
"Then I, Cie'ñæ'dœßéçaïr now mark you as my property." Ciel said, biting his thumb and allowing some of the Blood to flow into Snake's mouth. Snake swallowed the Blood, and Ciel made his Contract Mark on the side of Snake's head. It fell under his hair, so it was scarcely visible under his hair. It would begin to glow, though if Ciel tried to mentally search for Snake. As it glowed, Ciel would know exactly where he was.
"I'm honored to serve you, Master." Snake said, bowing politely. Ciel nodded once. He knew that Snake would take a while to really become used to serving the man who murdered his family. However, he was ready to take the time. After all, what but time did Ciel have? Ciel would be young and alive forever as a Demon.
"Well now, Snake. Do you wish to train with the rest of the Young Master's servants? They are all Culled, and I am certain they would be happy to have you train with them." Sebastian said with a grin. Snake nodded shyly. Upon seeing this, Sieglinde ran up to the group.
"Ciel! You have to Cull me as well! I'm not as familiar with English as most of my peers at college, but I gather that Culled are extremely powerful."
"The Culled are powerful beings. However, the process has the effect of arresting the aging process. As such, I couldn't in good faith Cull you before you were sixteen at minimum. Right now, you're twelve, still a child." Ciel said sternly. Sieglinde huffed at this and turned away angrily.
"I may be young, but I created a superweapon! What have you done!?"
"I have taken revenge on a deranged Fallen Angel, had my revenge on an obsessed and depraved Demon, cheated my own Demon out of its rightful prize, gotten a Demon more powerful than both those Demons to willingly give up its essence and thus accept death, and worked for the Queen of England for years. In addition, I am a human who became a Demon."
"Wow. You have me beaten. Well, when I turn 16, will you Cull me?" Sieglinde asked. Ciel thought for a moment.
"I'll consider it. For now, go on inside. Sebastian will make tea." Ciel said politely. Sieglinde nodded and ran inside with the servants running after her.