Ciel's heart raced, and his head pounded. Those eyes… Those eyes frightened him… Those eyes sent shivers down his spine and made the hair on the back of his neck stand.
He could hear the witch onstage as she said, "Now that we have introduced the royal family, we shall commence our sacrificial ceremony."
The audience roared with excitement.
"You all will love the boy chosen to be sacrificed to the gods… He's pure in every sense of the word, still the tender age of twelve years old. Audience, welcome the blessed boy who will return to the gods who love him, Ciel Phantomhive!"
The audience's screams increased in volume and passion, and the man beside Ciel pulled him up, leading him out of the crack and bringing him onstage. When Ciel reached the stage, he discovered it was the altar of Pluto, god of the underworld. There he was, Pluto, in the form of a statue, bearded, with his dead, carved eyes boring into Ciel. The statue was all white and tall, taller than anyone else on the stage. The god's arms were outstretched, his fingertips delicate as they lingered in the air. On one side of him were his attributes – a cornucopia, a key, and a scepter. On his other side was a bronze statue of the three-headed dog, Cerberus. Beside Cerberus was another statue, this one silver, of a screech owl, an animal valuable to Pluto. The altar was sprinkled – tainted - with blood of young boys from previous sacrifices. The audience began clapping and hollering at the sight of Ciel at the altar, looking out at them with wide, blue eyes.
The witch smiled, feigning sweetness as she said, "Aww, isn't he adorable?" she gestured for him to come close, but he didn't take a single step, always warned by his parents to never approach witches. The man pushed him closer to the witch, and she took his hand, holding it up in the air as if Ciel was a champion of the Olympics.
As the audience went crazy with their screams and hollers, a group of masked men carried in a large, glass table upon which was a sharp axe.
The sun was beginning to set, and the air was getting colder, making Ciel tremble slightly as he looked at the scene around him.
"I'll need a little help undressing him," the witch said to the man standing beside Ciel.
The man nodded eagerly – perhaps a little too eagerly – as he quickly grabbed for the blue-eyed boy and began undressing him.
Ciel grabbed for the man's beard and pulled on it roughly to the side, kicking and struggling vehemently, his mouth set in a frown and eyebrows furrowed with anger.
"HEY!" yelled out the man, grabbing for Ciel's wrist and yanking it away. "You stop struggling! Little bastard!"
Ciel still struggled, now grunting and whimpering with effort as he tried to free his wrist from the older man.
"You're not going to kill me. I'm not going to die. I don't want my head to be chopped off. I will not die!" Ciel yelled out, his voice full of determination and conviction far beyond his years. There was a small tear clinging to one of his eyelashes, threatening to spill over.
The older man spat at Ciel, saying angrily, "This isn't your choice, you stupid little boy! The gods want you! You must obey! We need to rid Athens of the demon that plagues it!"
The witch finally cut in, saying to the men who brought the table in, "Gentlemen, it seems we need some help here. This one's a fighter."
The men rushed over and held Ciel down against the table, one holding his arms, one holding his legs, and another holding his midsection.
The man who was with Ciel earlier quickly ripped Ciel's white garments off, disposing of them and laughing loudly, running a hand down Ciel's torso and lightly stopping right at his pelvis, just inches away from his crotch. "How does that feel~?"
The men and even the witch laughed loudly, finding this hilarious. Ciel tried to kick, but the man at the end of the table was holding his ankles way too tightly. "D-don't touch me!"
He didn't like this. He didn't like his body being exposed to the people of Athens, he didn't like this stranger touching him, he didn't like being vulnerable. He didn't like being minutes away from death.
"I don't like hearing his voice," the witch said matter-of-factly, glancing at the man who brought Ciel onstage. "Kyros, make him shut up."
Kyros nodded quickly, saying, "Right on it!" He ran to the clothes he had thrown to the side and ripped a piece of it, using it to gag Ciel's mouth. He struggled to tie it from the back, Ciel moving his head and trying to bite the cloth off, but he finally managed to do it with a loud huff of triumph. Ciel's voice was muffled and barely audible behind the cloth.
The witch placed her index finger on her lips, looking thoughtful before saying slowly, "This fight he's putting forward causes me to believe he may be possessed by the spirit of the same demon who murdered his parents and burned down his house."
The audience gasped, shock and horror on hundreds of faces staring at the boy, and Ciel's eyes widened as he tried to say behind the cloth, "I'm not possessed! I'm not!" It only came out as muffled grunts, however, and the witch continued, "We may need to implement a different procedure altogether. We cannot send a possessed human being to the gods. We must first remove the evil spirit inside of him, and then we can send him, pure and holy, to the gods."
The audience nodded with agreement, some murmurs of approval sounding.
I'm not possessed! I'm perfectly fine! I'm perfectly fine!
Ciel kicked and thrashed harder against the glass table, but the men holding him down were far stronger than even his willpower.
"Now, we shall begin…" the witch said gravely, eyeing the audience. The audience fell silent when she said this, a solemn, grave atmosphere taking over.
A group of people wearing hooded robes walked onstage holding several lyres. The stringed musical instruments were larger than usual, and the music that filled the arena was haunting and melancholic. Everyone in the audience bowed their heads as the sun continued to set, now minutes away from complete darkness. Ciel shivered against the glass table, goosebumps making their way across his milky skin.
Another group of people walked onstage, holding large, gray candles that were lit, the fire atop of them wavering in the night air. They all stood around the table Ciel was set on, gazing down at him with pitiful, yet hauntingly serene eyes.
More people were filing onto the stage… Another group of people came, each holding a small yet obviously deadly knife. The final group of people came holding whips. With each group walking onto the stage, more and more fear settled into Ciel's heart, and he began trembling and squirming on the table, the cold air no longer being the reason behind his shivering.
The witch raised her hands up to the sky, and everyone in the audience did the same.
"Our god, Pluto… Earlier known to us as Hades… king and ruler of the underworld and the dead… Son of Cronus and Rhea… Sovereign over the underworld, one of the three realms of the universe… We pray to you… We plead with you… Rid Athens of the demon that wanders among its people! Rid us of the evil that plagues and torments us! Rid us of the demon whose fire not only burns down houses but lives and families! We offer to you a beloved, pure boy… Virginal and innocent… Take him, and with him, take the evil that infests Athens."
Murmurs waved around the audience as they closed their eyes and prayed sincerely and passionately, some falling to the ground and some weeping.
The witch paused, almost as if a revelation has come down upon her. "But there is a problem! The same demon we pray for you to remove occupies the boy! He has possessed the purity and virtue of the boy! Help us to rid the boy of him! Help us to remove the evil that holds him!"
The group of people holding candles began to slowly tip their candles down, facing Ciel. He was confused as to what was going on, staring at the wavering candlelight… until the wax began to drip from them. Ciel suddenly flinched as it began to fall onto his skin, and he winced sharply, his body jerking suddenly. "N-no!" he tried to scream out, but as before, his scream was muffled. More wax began to drip onto his bare skin, the pain increasing exponentially. The scorching wax against his cold skin caused an agony like no other as he writhed uncontrollably.
"We beg of you – remove the demon! Remove the demon! REMOVE THE DEMON!" the witch's features contorted; she almost looked insane. It was as if the demon possessed her instead of the writhing boy on the glass table.
When Ciel's entire body was covered with candlewax, the group of people holding the candles slowly glided away, replaced by the group holding knives. They snickered at the look of fear on Ciel's face as they suddenly began making shallow but painful cuts all over his body. Ciel screamed behind the white cloth covering his mouth, tears welling in his eyes and streaming down his cheeks as he thrashed against the table. The men holding him down tightened their grips. The men playing the music continued, uninterrupted… It was like the screams of the boy on the table were serving as the vocals for their music.
"Through the cuts we are making across the sacrifice's skin, remove the demon! Remove the demon's spirit from the cuts! REMOVE THE DEMON'S SPIRIT!" the witch screamed, now falling to her knees, her voice rash and screeching.
After they were finished making the cuts, they also glided away, each of them licking their knives with the blood of the pure boy, which they believed was sacred.
The people with whips came, and they suddenly began flogging Ciel with the dark, brutal whips, screaming out loudly, "GET OUT OF THERE! GET OUT OF THE BOY! LEAVE HIM!"
The witch was screaming as well, "No demon can rest in a body filled with pain! We shall make it difficult for the demon to occupy this boy's delicate body! But we need your help, Pluto! Help us! Pull the demon out! Pull the demon out!"
Ciel's face was damp with tears at this point, his body red with pain. Blood soaked the glass table; one would've thought it was originally painted crimson. He was unable to breathe, unable to even open his eyes from the pain. His breaths came out in small, harsh gasps. The cloth made his saliva gather around it and choke him. He knew he had asthma… He knew there would be an attack soon enough… He could feel it.
He could feel the sweat gather around his face… When he cracked his eye open, he could see his fingernails turning blue. Pain and unbearable pressure made its way around his chest, and he began to breathe rapidly, uncontrollably. The muscles in his chest and neck began to tighten, and he began to cough convulsively, his face turning pale.
Panic settled in, and his protests to "stop" and "don't hurt me" became incoherent; he had difficulty speaking. He began wheezing and jerking. The people around him dropped their whips and fell silent; even the witch stopped screaming and turned to look at the convulsing, coughing, wheezing boy.
His head lolled to the side and eyes slowly opened. His vision was blurry and head was dizzy, but he could see the foster son of the tyrant… staring at him intently… watching him.
Not doing anything to help.
I think I'm going to die…
But unfortunately for the boy, this was not the end of his torture. Not yet. When the people stopped whipping him, he tried to focus on what his parents taught him to do… Try to relax… Breathe deeply and carefully…
Slowly but surely, his symptoms subsided, and the boy was left lying on the table, completely worn out. His eyes were lidded and limbs were limp, his stare close to dead as his blue eyes remained locked on Sebastian's red ones.
I think I'm going to die…
Suddenly, loud cheers sounded from the audience, and the witch was clapping fervently. "The demon is out of him! The demon is out of him! Pluto has answered our prayers! PLUTO HAS ANSWERED OUR PRAYERS!"
Did they mistake my asthma attack for the demon leaving my body…?
"Now that the boy is completely pure," the witch started, "we must sacrifice him to the gods before the sun rises."
It's close to dawn… How many hours did they spend torturing me? Maybe it was days…
The witch grabbed for the axe and slowly approached Ciel, who didn't turn to look at her. His eyes were still focused on Sebastian's… He wasn't staring at this strange man because he wanted or expected help from him. He didn't wish to condemn him. He simply wanted to see red before he died… Red… fire… The same image his parents saw before their own death.
The witch raised the axe above Ciel's neck.
I'm going to die…
"Pluto, help us make this sacrifice successful."
I'm going to return to Mother and Father…
"Help his soul travel the heavens and arrive to you safely."
Will I have wings in the afterlife?
"Carry this beautiful boy in your strong arms… Carry him like a mother carries her newborn baby."
Who am I kidding? There is no god… No gods… No afterlife. No god would have allowed this to happen. If Pluto was so powerful, he wouldn't need a sacrifice to make anything happen.
"Love him and protect him!"
Someone…
"Care for him in the afterlife!"
Anyone…
"By your name, Pluto, I sacrifice this boy!"
Help me.