Chapter II.

A name

"Ciel Phantomhive"...

... she had spoken his name. Worded by a human voice, the name had somehow acquired a bizarre strength. The sounds felt familiar for once, unlike the many times he had voiced the name in his thoughts. Yet now, the sudden bare appearance of his name, stripped from all protective abstractness and freedom, made his inner being rage with anger. Ciel did not know why he felt this sudden fury within him, but as his gaze fell to the ground, making no attempt to offer the two silhouettes that were watching him any further attention, he was certain that the name Ciel Phantomhive was being misused. Not only did the girl have no right to address him that way, she did not have any right to speak the name at all. The name itself was being violated for the simple reason that it was never meant to be uttered again. Ciel Phantomhive had been, along with his name, dead and buried.

Ciel attempted to raise himself to his feet but only managed to clumsily keep his body from falling backwards and stabilized himself on his hands and knees, panting heavily. His body was so weak, despite the rage that was burning within his limbs. He kept on glaring at the pale fingers clutching the humid soil beneath him.

Of course his body was weak! His chest was supposed to lye still, without any sort of motion that would betray the existence or even the mere intention of life. Then why was it that he was panting, why was it had he was feeling the cold mud between his fingers and the moist air that was flooding his body? Why could he see the ruins surrounding him and the grey sky threatening to unleash icy drops of water, above him? Why was he alive if the one thing that he had desired most of all was to finish it all and die?

Captured within his own thoughts, Ciel failed to notice the girl frowning slightly at him for not paying any attention to her. As she was about to utter a complaint, her eyes fell on the silhouette next to the boy. Ciel himself froze as he felt the faint twitches and moves of Sebastian's body, turning into brisk movements as the demon's hands started to feel for support on the ground and culminating with him raising his upper body. Sebastian's right arm was clinging to his chest as the newly arisen sat with his head tilted slightly next to Ciel, the demon yet unaware of the boy at his side.

Ciel's eyes traced the light trembling limbs of his butler, his usually fine kept clothes dirty and ragged, his normally composed frame out of breath and agitated. They boy couldn't help but stare at the demon beside him, a strong feeling of nostalgia overwhelming him at his sight. But there were other feelings flooding his senses once he had finally met the eyes of the demon, a slight impression of security, possibly even comfort. And yet there was pain, anger, cries of loneliness and terrifying fright that had gripped the boy's being.

After his body had finally stopped trembling and he had somehow regained his seemingly calm state, Sebastian threw his gaze at the figures surrounding him, his eyes slightly widening at the sight of the weak, pale boy beside him. As if frozen, the demon remained silent, his sight never leaving the pale skin of the boy, the torn clothes that were covering him and the piercing eyes that were so deep and yet filled with turmoil and emotion that was threatening to break loose. He then slowly raised his left arm, bringing it to the boy's face and gently touching his pale, cold cheek. The demon's gaze lingered on as his lips parted, voicing the two words Ciel had found so unbearable to handle up till then.

"Ciel Phantomhive". Sebastian's voice was steady, without betraying any emotion, yet his eyes bore a slight tent of relief as his hand left Ciel's cheek. As the demon then turned his gaze towards the two onlookers, his eyes turned glistening crimson while he slowly rose to his feet. His gaze was calm but the feeling the demon gave off was imbedded with rage and menacing fury. His voice bore a deceitful soft tone, as he spoke:

"What is the meaning of this?"

The girl did not make any gesture that would imply fright or any other emotion concerning the demon except cold hard composure. She took a step towards him, her arms crossed with a certain stubbornness that only fools or highly ranked and proud people could posses when dealing with a demon.

"I see you're well off, Sebastian. All healthy in one piece, are we?"

The demon kept silent, his crimson eyes burning.

The girl wasn't bothered by his glaring gaze, smiling lazily.

"Isn't it nice to have a sense of freedom, Sebastian? No chains to bind you down. No bars to keep you imprisoned."

At this Sebastian flinched faintly, his gaze narrowing before hissing.

"Who are you?"

"Someone who has summoned you here to make you an offer." She answered coldly.

The demon however smiled polity, earning a stare from her as she was taken aback by his unusual responds.

"I have no interest in any offers at the moment." He gently returned.

The girl threw the demon a cold glare before closing her eyes and smirking faintly:

"Then I suggest you find yourself something you can hold on to, my dear crow demon."

Sebastian wore a stern gaze, watching the girl smile victoriously at his anger.

"Now, since I've wasted enough time and effort to get the two of you here, I think it's time we should discuss the job in mind. You are to…"

Her speech was suddenly cut off as Sebastian's figure began to disappear in a haze of thin black crow feathers, his eye glowing brightly before vanishing within the pitch black mist that had taken his place. With a gust of wind, the mist vanished, leaving nothing but a crow feather in its place.

Ciel had been watching the entire scene unfold itself, as if all his senses and body had gone numb. Only after he saw Sebastian disappear in the haze of black feathers did he seem to finally snap out of the lifeless stare and acknowledge the present state, with all the maddening emotions and consequences that came with it. He watched as the girl burst into rage after she had realized that the demon had vanished.

"Running away is he?" she cried angrily. The girl was shaking with fury but closed her eyes, attempting to regain her calm by breathing in deeply. After a few silent moments, she then drained her voice and spoke:

"Decent help is so hard to find these days. But no matter! He can't hide forever." Turning her attention towards Ciel who was watching her calmly, she took out a white envelope that she had been carrying underneath her cloak, throwing it at his feet. Ciel gave it a cold stare, unfazed by the incredulous look the girl was giving him.

"Pick it up!" she spat, annoyance once again present in her tone.

"Why am I here?" Ciel asked, his grave tone baring unmistakable rage.

"To carry out a mission for me." The girl answered coldly. "I was the one who brought you back because you have yet to finish what you started."

"What are you talking about?" The boy was trembling. He had taken his revenge, all the people that had done him wrong were dead and he had ended his contract. There was no meaning for him to come back. There was no more meaning to his life. He had finished it all and Sebastian had accepted it and had made they boy's soul his own. So why was he flesh and blood now, a being Sebastian could see and touch so easily!

"Open the envelope and you'll find out."

"Stop mocking me!" Ciel raised his voice, gripping the envelope with a trembling hand and throwing it aside.

"Are you or are you not the queen's guard dog?" she then hissed. "Stop moping around and get on with it."

"Moping around…" Ciel repeated, his voice trailing off.

The girl was once again taken aback by the sudden hysteric laughter that erupted from the boy's small trembling frame. Ciel let himself fall back to the ground, gripping the moist soil in his hands as he rolled to his side laughing. Neither of his onlookers realized that tears of frustration were running down the boy's face, his chest aching, burning with the acknowledgement of deceit and meaningless existence. Frowning, the girl turned her back at the boy, giving an unwillingly deep sigh.

"In a week's time I will come to your mansion. We can continue our discussion there. Use the envelope wisely." she uttered, making her way through the ruins and vanishing in the distance, Grell Sutcliff following her every step without breaking his silence but having a wild grin plastered all over his features as he took a last look at Ciel. The fun's just begun, my dear earl.

A/N

Chapter two is up, just like I promised. I hope I can up-date weekly but we'll just have to see how my timetable turns out. Anyway, I wanted to write more to this chapter initially but had to cut it up to this point in the end. I hope you like it. Thank you for the reviews and alert addings.

Reviews are always welcome. :)