Author's notes: Oh wow! Another massively positive response! I'm so happy that people enjoy this and are happy to wait so long for updates! Thank you again to Moneera and jenmoon1 for your lovely reviews! I love hearing from you guys! And to answer your review Moneera, I am planning a small story after this one with Sitri and Sebastian when they were younger (not Fallen yet). Still working that one out at the moment though.
So now, Ciel must decide if they descend underground. Sitri can sense Sebastian and the angels, what will await them?
Warnings: Sebacial (implied), OCxOC, gore (LOTS) and swearing
That Butler, Revelations
Staring at the now furious demon prince, the weight of Sitri's words hit Ciel. For a moment, he felt like ice had been dropped down his spine.
'There are angels down here?' he had no experience of dealing with angels but, if they were anything like his experiences with pretty much every other inhuman creature he'd met, he imagined they wouldn't be pleasant. He glanced down the metal stairs, which led into pitch black and intense heat, nervous. He screwed up his courage.
"I have to find out what has been causing these mobs; it's my mission from the Queen! Also… I have to rescue Sebastian" he spoke, fixing his stare into the darkness.
Rachel came up and touched his shoulder gently, he looked back into her warm face,
"You're not going alone. If there are any angels, Sitri and I can handle them" she squeezed the boy's shoulder reassuringly then turned when Sitri scoffed.
"I don't care about your 'mission', boy, but I'd prefer to get Malphas away from those bastards before they use him for their own ends. However, if you decide to go running head long into danger, do not think I will save you" the demon's distorted features made his words harsher and he stared at Ciel like he was dirt. "I have fought them too long to risk everything for a miniscule creature like you"
Rachel started towards Sitri, looking shocked and annoyed,
"Sitri…" she began, but felt Ciel pull her back. He shook his head at her then glared at Sitri.
"I have no intention of relying on your help in this. If things get out of hand, take Rachel and run. However…" the boy's eyes were filled with pride and anger as he stared at the demon. "I am the Queen's Watchdog! And I will not run away from any mission given to me!"
Ciel glared at Sitri, who looked back passively. The demon looked into the unwavering blue stare then grinned widely,
"Very well then, Brave Little Lord. Lead the way"
Ciel turned back to the stairs, still finding it too dark to see. He gulped and began his descent down the creaking metal, closely followed by Rachel and Sitri.
As they were swallowed by the darkness, Ciel felt his eyes become accustomed to the gloom. He looked around and realised that there were pipes criss-crossing the walls all around them along with smears of blood. The stairs themselves were encrusted with dried blood as well; this stairwell hadn't been used in a while. He could hear the steady thump of machinery clearer now, as well as movement of people. The heat and stench increased as they continued further down and it reminded Ciel of the iconic images of Hell that his governesses tried to frighten him with when he was little.
'It seems ironic that I'm descending into Hell in order to save a demon' he thought as they walked. The pain in his chest returned and he found himself again hoping that Sebastian was ok.
Finally, they reached a metal door bolted into the rock. Heavy locks kept it tightly shut but Ciel could see a dim light under the crack at the bottom. Sitri leaned forward, easily stretching over both Rachel and Ciel, to face the door.
"Allow me" he purred in Ciel's ear, one clawed finger swiping the bolt of the lock like it was butter. Ciel nodded to the demon in thanks, trying not to think what Sitri could do to his soft throat with those claws.
He listened intently at the door, pressing himself against it, but heard no movement nearby. He opened the door a crack and peeked out.
A warehouse greeted him with bare concrete walls and high ceilings. The iron beams bolted to the bedrock supported the building above and held up thick electric cables and pipes. Bare bulbs hung down from the supports in the ceiling, casting a stark light over everything. Ciel realised they were on the second floor, which was a suspended platform and served as a vantage point for the supervisors to watch the workers below on the shop floor. An office at one end had no one in it, but showed a phone, a desk and an intercom. There didn't appear to be anyone currently working.
"It's clear. Let's go!" he whispered harshly, gesturing to the other two as they slid out silently.
As they neared the edge of the platform, Ciel had a better view of the shop floor below. He started with fright at what lay before him.
"W-what?" he muttered before covering his mouth. Rachel and Sitri joined him and openly stared as well, shocked.
Below, in the harsh light, he saw bodies. Dozens of them. They were packed in crates, surrounded with straw, and were being stacked up by a machine before being moved out through a large pair of doors and up a slope to the ground level above on a conveyer belt. Ciel stared at how it seemed to be a mechanised process of some sort; bodies were piled up in vats of ice to slow their decomposition before they were packed, stacked and rolled away by the machine.
'So many bodies! What on Earth could they want with all of these?' Ciel stared at the bodies floating in the ice; they looked extremely fresh.
Ciel moved nearer to the vats, realising that he recognised one of the bodies in there. As he neared, the body bobbed slightly and turned, revealing its face. Ciel jerked back in horror at what he saw. It was the girl from the bathroom!
'She's one of the students from the college! What is she doing down here? Is Madame Gagnon selling off the college girls?' Ciel tore his gaze from the girl's face and looked down at the other wall.
There was a door that led to another part of the building. He felt a dark aura surrounding that door
'Is that where they're killing the girls?' he mused and gestured to Rachel and Sitri. As the pair approached, Rachel saw the dead girl floating in the vat and covered her mouth in shock,
"T-That's…" she started, recognising the girl's bloated and greyed face. Ciel nodded darkly,
"Obviously they seem to be using the college girls in human trafficking, selling their bodies to someone" Ciel explained. He started heading towards the stairs but noticed the office. He headed inside,
"Perhaps we can find a list of buyers and addresses?" he murmured as he started rummaging through the papers. Rachel followed suite and opened the file cabinet, rifling through the folders. Sitri instead sat by the door, watching the machines with interest.
Suddenly, Rachel spun towards Ciel with a manila folder in her hands,
"My Lord! Look at this!" she whispered and held out the folder. Ciel took it and began to scan its contents,
"'Process of the purification of human society through the retraining of humans'?" he read aloud, perturbed. "What is this?" he flicked through the pages until one page caught his eye. It had a crest with a bird surrounded by laurels on it,
"The Phoenix Society?" he realised, incredulous. "But, they claim they want to improve mankind! How would this…?" he read the page further, "'We have found that, after the unfortunate events on the Campania, changes must be made to how the complete salvation treatment should be used. Instead of its use being focused as a medicine, it will be more suited as a tool used to improve society'"
"Improve society? Like eugenics?" Rachel asked, looking anxious. Ciel's mouth set into a grim line as he read on and then flicked through the pages again. No mention of names or addresses could be found,
"Whoever is behind this, they know how to keep it secret. There's no mention of any buyers or anything apart from the Phoenix Society!" the boy tutted in frustration.
Suddenly, the pair heard growling outside the door and looked out. Sitri's eyes were glowing pink again and they realised the door to the next part of the warehouse was opening.
"I sense those angels are near" Sitri rumbled low as he pushed both humans to the ground, "Stay down".
Ciel felt his heart hammering inside his chest as they watched the door open, waiting to see who it would be. A small figure stepped through, followed by a taller one, their white hair shining bright in the stark glare of the lights. Ciel felt his breath catch in his throat. It couldn't be…
"Bleh! Why did we have to come out here to this creepy place ourselves? It stinks!" whined Charles Grey, rubbing his arms. Charles Phipps ignored this complaining,
"Madame Gagnon requested our involvement. It seems the boy has proven more elusive than we thought" he spoke low as he checked some settings on the machines. "At least this side of things is going to plan"
"Urgh whatever!" came the peevish voice of the other man, who was currently looking at one of the bodies with disgust. Quick as lightning, his sword flashed in the air and the body fell to the floor in wet bloodied chunks. "Let's just find the brat and get it over with!"
Phipps frowned,
"Don't damage them! We'll need every last one if we want this to work!" he chastised. Grey scoffed and headed for a door to the ground level.
"Fine fine! Let's get out of here for now! I can feel the stench seeping into my skin! I hate humans! Even in death, they're disgusting!"
And with that, the Queen's Secretaries left through another door up to the ground level.
The door clanged in the deafening silence. Ciel felt numb with shock.
'Why were the Queen's Secretaries here?! And what did they mean that Madame Gagnon requested their involvement? Does that mean…?' Ciel gasped and looked at Sitri, eyes wide.
"Sitri, were they…?" he started, finding himself unable to say the rest. He stared at the demon who snarled at the door the pair had left through.
"Yes, those were the angels" he said, fangs now bared and his fury apparent.
"No!" cried Ciel, jumping up. Sitri and Rachel looked back at him in surprise. The boy realised he was gasping for breath and tears had started to form in his eyes.
"No… you're wrong! You have to be! It's… a mistake…"his voice broke, the shock of this truth too much for him to process.
Rachel stood up and walked over to the hyperventilating boy.
"My Lord…" she spoke softly, reaching out. Ciel smacked her hands away,
"No!" he cried again, now filled with blind rage. "Don't touch me! You're wrong! You've got it wrong!"
Ciel felt like his world was breaking apart. Why were they here? Didn't they bring him his mission to stop the mobs and investigate the college? Why would they do that unless…
Unless it was a trap.
Ciel started as he realised this, shaking now. Did the Queen know? Had she been involved in this? Did she want him…
A pool of blood filled his vision with two bodies laying there in the smoke filled room.
Dead.
Just like how his parents had been killed that fateful night. He still didn't know who by.
He'd taken up the title of Queen's Watchdog in their stead in order to get his revenge. But could this have all been planned. Could it have been the doing of the Queen's secretaries? Could it have been… the Queen's herself?
Ciel felt bile rise up his throat and he vomited profusely, collapsing to his knees. His body convulsed as wave after wave of nausea hit him, making him wretch until there was nothing left to bring up.
Rachel knelt beside him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
"My Lord… Ciel…" she spoke quietly, soothing the boy. A sudden smack made her reel back and she held her cheek. She looked up in shock at the boy, who was now wild eyed and frantic as he stood over her.
"Don't call that name! Don't forget your place!" he snapped, smacking her again. He looked into her face, that face so similar to his mother's, and remembered his mother lying in that pool of blood. He cried out and continued to hit Rachel, trying to remove the blood stained memory from his mind.
"No, no, no, no!" the boy was lost to his fear as he mindlessly beat the girl until, finally, she collapsed.
Ciel raised his hand again to hit her, images of blood and smoke still before his eyes. Suddenly, a strong hand wrapped around his arm, holding it there like a vice. Ciel broke out of his hysteria and looked up at his arm.
"W…what?" he asked, panting from the adrenaline. He looked down the hand and arm into the dark face of Sitri. The demon stared down at the boy, eyes cat like and glowing with a silent fury. Ciel stared back, realising what he had been doing, and gulped.
"Sitri…?" he gasped, the strength draining from him under that stare. "I…"
"You know, I expected great things from you" the demon began, boredom evident in each word. "I was hoping to be entertained for a while watching you" the demon leaned in to the boy's face. "How disappointing"
Suddenly, Sitri stood up and hoisted Ciel into the air by his arm, causing the boy to yell out in pain.
"W-what are you doing? Let me go!" Ciel cried, legs flailing. He looked at Rachel, who was now sitting up, her face hidden by shadows. "Rachel! Please! Call him off!"
Ciel watched as his housekeeper stood up, her hair still obscuring her face.
"Call him off? You seem to think he is a dog. How pathetically stupid are you?" the girl's voice began to crack and sound distorted. Rachel raised her face, revealing glowing eyes and long fangs, the skin becoming distorted by shadows. "Well, My Young Lord?"
Ciel cried out again in fear, kicking at Sitri in a desperate bid to get the demon to let go.
"Rachel! W-what are you-?" Rachel grabbed the boy's face, squishing the soft cheeks under her lengthening nails, and forced him to stare into her eyes,
"You seem to have forgotten your place, boy. All that false pride of yours, so easily shattered by a simple truth" Ciel winced at the keening edge Rachel's voice had taken and tried to look away.
"So weak, under all that pomp and ceremony. I'm ashamed to know that part of me resides in you" The smile widened to inhuman proportions, causing Rachel's face to stretch.
"I guess I'll be taking it back now, Little Lord. This dull masquerade of yours is over" the girl's mocking tone rang in Ciel's mind as her face closed in on his.
'This… can't be it!' the boy thought as the eerie glowing blue eyes filled his vision. 'I haven't even… had my revenge'
'FIGHT' came a small voice in his head. Ciel was so surprised he forgot about being afraid. He focused on that voice,
'W-what?' he thought, hesitantly.
'FIGHT. You have come so far, is this how you want it to end?' Ciel listened to the voice, thinking it awfully familiar. He realised what it was saying and gritted his teeth.
'Yes, I have come so far. All for the sake of my revenge. I sold my soul to a demon and didn't let anyone stand in my way. So what if the Queen has betrayed me too? I won't be felled by this trivial matter!' As he thought this, he focused on the first day he met Sebastian and made the contract.
The demand for the power to kill those who betrayed him and his family. He allowed it to fill him with rage and pride again.
'I am Ciel Phantomhive, I will not be beaten like this!' he felt the fury well up hot and fast in him as he thought this. He jabbed his knee into Rachel's solar plexus, winding her and causing her to reel back.
In her surprise, Rachel's features returned to normal, the mouth becoming a small o of shock. She blinked and looked at the panting boy,
"My Lord?" she asked quietly, stunned. Ciel glared hard at her,
"We don't have time for your foolishness, Rachel! I still have to find Sebastian! Your wants are not my concern right now!" he whipped his head around to glare at Sitri, who now look amused again. "And put me down at once, you bastard!"
Sitri grinned and gently lowered the boy to the floor, sweeping away into a mocking bow.
"So terribly sorry, Little Lord" he jeered, standing straight and smirking at the boy. "I take it you're feeling better after your little temper tantrum?"
Ciel flushed with embarrassment but maintained his steady glare at the demon,
"I don't want to hear that from the likes of you" he spat before calming down to think logically through their next move.
'We don't know just what their plan is or their part in all this. But, no doubt, whatever answers we seek, they must be behind that ominous door.' he considered, looking down at said door. 'However, we'll be charging in blind with no idea what we're up against'
"If the Queen's secretaries are angels and have been involved this whole time, then they must have Sebastian close by. We have to go into that other room!" he ordered, looking around at the pair. "That means no more fooling around! We must face whatever is in there head on! Do you understand?"
Sitri bowed whilst Rachel curtsied,
"Yes My Lord" they chorused.
And that's it for now! *ducks rotten tomatoes* I promise Sebastian will reappear in the next chapter at long last! Let me know what you think of who the angels are! Tell me what you'd like to see more of! Until next time, take care!