Okay... So you probably noticed that I changed the name of chapter eleven... Yeah... There's still more of the story. I had no idea it was going to take so long to write XD
Well, enjoy finally getting the whole picture. Tanaka becomes majorly awesome here.
"Twelve days and seven hundred cuts later, the angel Angela appeared to him. In exchange for the next born heir to the Phantomhive name and ten years of his own life, Angela granted Michael numbness from his grief, clarity of mind, a fortune twelve times the size of what he had been born into, and her own service. He went as far as to marry her the next month, and she remained his wife for eighteen years until she killed him according to their contract and disappeared, leaving Vincent heir to the Phantomhive name." Tanaka paused, stood, and walked over to the desk. Knowingly, he turned the handle of the top-left drawer clockwise, unlatching the hidden drawer above, from which he procured a bottle of brandy and six drinking glasses. Silently, he poured the alcohol, distributed the glasses, and slid the stopper back into the bottle, replacing it.
A few minutes passed in silence before he began again.
"Within the same year, Vincent Phantomhive married Rachel, whom he loved very deeply. You, Ciel, were born on the day of their anniversary. Both were elated to have a son, however, Rachel's health was failing. As the contract held, the angel Angela returned that day to claim the heir, sealing the child's fate to become angel. When she did your father formed another contract, exchanging his own soul for the life of his dying wife.
"By then the Occult had begun, led by a man named Alexander Macken. With Vincent's soul, Angela seized control of the movement; she destroyed Alexander's integrity and placed Vincent at the head of the organization.
"Jealous and vengeful, Macken steadily formed a resistance within the occult. On the young Earl's birthday, aided by the demon Claude Faustus, Macken and his followers burned the Phantomhive estate to the ground, killing Rachel, wounding Vincent, and kidnapping you Ciel. Angela healed him and fused their souls, sewing their bodies together.
"Shortly after, your parents and the angel disappeared, and I suspect that's when our current Earl formed his own contract."
"How do you know all this?" Ciel followed up.
"Well, I'm sure you noticed my katana downstairs… I was your father's personal guard, Ciel. How I came to be that is a story for another day."
After he had finished, Maylene, Finnian, and Bard politely excused myself and began the cleaning of the estate.
Tanaka leaned back in his seat. "The Phantomhive name carries a great infamy for misfortune. I am glad that it ends with you, Young Master, but I have a question of my own. It isn't imperative that you answer; I'm only curious."
"Go on," the Phantomhive Earl prompted, blinking his eyes a few times.
"How is it that you have come to be a demon?" Ciel turned to Sebastian, curious himself. Neither held an answer for Tanaka.
"Truthfully," Sebastian began. "Neither Bocchan, nor I know why—"
Excitedly, a certain flamboyant, red-headed reaper tumbled through the door. "Oooh! Pick me! Pick me!" Grell giggled. Sebastian glared silently at the young, wild shinigami.
"Well, I suppose it's your choice, young master," the older demon sighed. "Shall I kill him?"
"That won't be necessary, Sebastian. I am curious," Ciel replied lazily. "Let him speak." Grell bounced up and down happily.
"Story time!" The reaper declared. "It's really quite fascinating, I think," Grell hummed. "That humans can become demons—it's extremely uncommon, mind you—but possible.
"The first time this phenomenon occurred was ages ago." The reapers yellow-green eyes shined with interest. "There are three known methods in which a human can be made into a demon, all of them tied to the same principle...the decomposition of the human soul. The first method is natural, and therefore almost impossible… this occurs when a person loses all humanity. What exactly that entitles is incomprehensible, but it's been known to happen. In any case, they become animalistic demons, nasty things to deal with. An angel, of course, can be created of the complete opposite.
"The second method is artificial. Of course, demons can reproduce, but there aren't many who get along well enough to do so. Naturally, they have another way to create more of their kind. It's a spell, kept, of course, under lock and key. Few demons have access to it. No others even have the ability to speak it, for it is said that only the lips which have touched souls will know their language. Likewise, angels have a similar spell.
"The third is also artificial. We shinigami call it Soul Splitting. Listen closely, because this is a bit more difficult to understand. Firstly, two souls must be bonded together, and there are thousands of ways to do this. The first must, of course, be human, but the second can be any race; all are equally likely, and none seem to have an influence on the outcome of the process."
"How do you know all this?" Ciel interjected. Grell paused and smirked, showing his dangerously pointed teeth.
"Let's just say Bassie isn't the only man who owes me favors…" After a moment, the reaper proceeded, leaving Ciel to ponder his statement silently. "At this step, if the two souls achieve synchronization, an angel is produced; however, the souls may also become unstable and split. If both are human, they decompose and are fused into one body, which becomes a demon. If one is a demon, of course, the human soul decomposes and is consumed by the demon; it hardly differs from traditionally consuming souls. If the second soul is angel, however, the soul is also consumed, and the being becomes a demon."
"So which is it?" Tanaka asked tentatively.
"Actually, none of them," Ciel grumbled.
"Untraditional means, indeed," the red-head purred. Ciel narrowed his eyes, sensing a new presence in the room.
"Yes, things do get messy when dealing with ex-shinigami." The new guest was none other than William T. Spears. "Now if you'll please excuse us," he growled, grabbing hold of Grell's silky red hair.
"Wait! At least let me finish my story," the cross-dressing shinigami whimpered. William sighed in annoyance.
"Between you and that man," Spears grumbled, "I have enough troubles to last me eternity." The brunette shinigami loosened his grip.
Ciel shifted slightly, playing with his ring. "I think I understand," the young demon cut in. All eyes turned to the Earl. "But I'm missing a few pieces.
"Which I have," Sebastian followed up.
"Fascinating isn't it," Grell purred.
"Explain," Tanaka stated blankly.
Sebastian first explained all of the previous day's events as bluntly as he could, save a few details that he kept to himself. Sebastian's baritone voice resonated, deep and rich as he recounted Grell's interrupting the angel's ritual.
"That thing forced their souls to bond," the demon growled dangerously, turning to Grell.
"Yes, troublesome isn't he?" William chucked. "But I do need him," Spears sighed, an affectionate note in his voice. Grell turned to the more experienced shinigami, admiration and disbelief painted all over his face. "To file the next years' worth of cinematic records," William added, coldly, prompting a great amount of whining from the younger reaper.
"After that, I assume," Sebastian continued. "Their souls achieved synchronization, causing Ciel to transform. After that, Undertaker intervened."
"As if I don't have enough problems to deal with," William cursed. "We're expected to remain neutral, but it's quite obvious he prefers you demons… Honestly," William admitted. "I understand why he does; angels tend to make our line of work more difficult than it needs to be…"
"I have a question for you, Mr. Spears, if you can answer it," Sebastian requested. William nodded. "Undertaker explained that we had entered Bocchan's soul…"
"These concepts are not so easy to explain," the dark-haired reaper replied, "but I will try my best.
"That man is… Unique to say the least. I do not know how it is that he enters souls, but I can explain the concept theoretically.
"A human soul contains three layers, the shell, a vast amount of empty space, and a core. You would have been in the space between the core and the shell. When a shell is broken or penetrated, the soul becomes unstable—"
"And decomposes, forming a demon," Grell finished. Glaring at the red-head, William continued.
"However, the boy's soul would have been bonded to the angel's, which retains its stability when breached. Now, if I am correct, you also brought the body in?"
"Yes," Sebastian answered.
"The reaper's scythe separated their two souls?"
"Yes."
"And the angel?"
"Permanently destroyed."
William pondered the events for a moment. "Well, I'm not completely sure of it, but from the events, I'd say the boy's soul began to decompose when you killed the angel. And because it was not within his body… He should have died—" Yet another presence appeared in the room.
"But the butler here sensed that their contract had not been completed," Undertaker chuckled. "And poured his love's soul back into Master Ciel…" Sebastian's eyes narrowed at the silver-haired legend.
"Transforming the boy into a demon," William finished. Ciel's eyes swept over the room and its occupants… Three reapers, two demons, and a human, who seemed to be digesting all the material.
Undertaker's nails drummed on the cold wood of the desk. "Leaving one left," Undertaker mused.
"Pardon?" Ciel questioned, confused.
"Well," Undertaker started, "Your sweetheart took care of the angel, the occult is all but destroyed, the queen died last night, and Macken's soul was eaten by Faustus years ago… Though I'm quite certain he had a son…"
"Alois…" Ciel hissed under his breath. "So the pieces fit together at last."
Not done yet, but almost there. 13 is a nice number.