Author's notes: Hello again my lovelies! I've gotteon more kudos and reviews and I'm just so happy to see that you're all enjoying it! Please do let me know what you think of the story so far, I love hearing from you all! A big thank you to Moneera for all her help with giving me ideas of the story! This chapter is mostly silliness whilst setting up for their next move, mostly me having fun torturing Sebs with the effects of the sigils.
So now Ciel and co have found Sebastian and must decide where to go from here. Sebastian's body is covered in sigils which seem to affect his physical and mental strength, leaving him vulnerable. What will Ciel decide to do?
Warning: Sebaciel (just mushy from Ciel worrying over Sebs), OCxOC, an OOC Sebastian, gore and a naked Sebastian.
That Butler, Rethinking
Rain pattered on the windows as the young earl sat in the window box of the hotel room. He stared out, lost in thought, and watched the everyday scene on the streets below.
'We're back in this room again. So where do we go from here?' he mused, sighing heavily. He felt tired; this case had drained him more than usual and revealed to him more information than he could have ever expected.
'The Queen's Secretaries are involved in this case and not only that, they're actually angels! Sebastian said they claimed the Queen isn't involved in this, but does that mean she's unaware of the situation? I can't imagine anything goes on that Her Majesty doesn't know about, much less something involving her personal servants like this! Either way, who are our allies? What resources do we have stuck out here in Paris?'
Ciel sighed again, irritated with all these questions he had and no answers. He turned away from the window and listened to the sounds of splashing and scrubbing from the bathroom. He looked up at the clock,
'They've been trying to remove those sigils for an hour now' the boy realised, getting up and heading towards the bathroom door, 'They must be nearly done'.
Ciel thought about the sigils painted on Sebastian by the angels and their effects of weakening his butler so much. He then felt his heart race as the image of his butler in nothing but that loin cloth they found him in resurfaced. Ciel recalled how they left; his butler pulling him close to his chest before using his demonic powers to conjur up those dark winds. The demon's eyes glowing brightly with his warm smooth skin brushing against Ciel's cheek and strong arms encircling his slender frame. As he was pulled in, it allowed him to breathe in the demon's scent leaving him feeling heady and almost intoxicated.
'Sebastian smelled so nice…' the boy thought hazily before shaking his head. He clutched at his chest,
"Stop that!" he muttered, his face reddening despite this. He struggled to dislodge the image of his naked butler and bit his lip hard, the pain helping him focus again. He started berating himself,
'What are you, some prancing lovesick girl? You are Ciel Phantomhive, the Queen's Watchdog! You should not be so affected by the sight of your butler's skin! Besides, that form isn't his real one; it just helps him to get what he wants! Sebastian's true form horrifies everyone who sees it and reveals his true dark intentions as a ravenous beast. He is only a demon that just wants to eat your soul. Nothing more! If he knew what you were thinking, he'd just mock you like he does everyone who falls for his looks!'
Ciel stopped, frowning at this last thought. Fall? For Sebastian? That couldn't happen! For a start, Sebastian was only his butler, not his equal nor his betrothed! Laying with a servant alone would tarnish his family's name! Secondly, they were both male! A crime punishable by death if they were ever caught! He'd have to turn himself in to Scotland Yard and like hell if he'd ever give that Lord Randall something to hold over him!
Anyway, the idea of someone as powerful as Sebastian falling for him was ridiculous. Sebastian could have his pick of any lover he wanted in this world so why choose a skinny teenaged boy? The demon merely flirted with him for entertainment.
Despite this tirade of reasons, Ciel found his mind still forming treacherous thoughts.
'Although, now that I think about it, Sitri and Rachel had mentioned something about Sebastian and I falling for each other before when they thought I was asleep during the mission. Could that mean that maybe Sebastian had said something to them? If so then maybe…'
Ciel jumped when the bathroom door opened suddenly. Rachel squeaked in surprise, splashing water from the bowl in her hands over both her apron and Ciel's shirt ,
"Y-Young Master! I'm so sorry, I didn't realise you were there!" she cried out as she put the bowl down on the chest of drawers. Ciel noticed it was filled with murky blue water, no doubt from the sigil's ink. He also saw that there were streaks of red and felt his throat tighten,
'Just how hard have they been scrubbing him?' he panicked. Rachel ushered him into the bathroom, pulling off her wet apron, and closing the door behind him.
"Let me get a towel for you, sir" she said, rushing to a cupboard in the corner of the room. Ciel nodded, pulling off his soaked shirt, and looked around.
The tiled floor was covered in puddles of blue water; towels were thrown down to mop up the worst of it. Washcloths and sponges were dotted around the bath, dyed dark blue from their use and some had hints of red as well.
"My Lord…?" came a familiar enquiring voice. Ciel turned his gaze over to the centre of the room and looked at the occupant of the bath, grimacing as he did so.
Sebastian looked like a bedraggled kitten, his hair sticking up in all directions and sopping wet. He had been facing the wall but turned when Ciel entered, now sitting sideways in the bath with legs splayed and knees poking out of the shallow water. His flawless skin had become bright pink and scratched from the harsh scrubbing Sitri was giving him, who was still rubbing determinedly with a scowl on his face and ignoring Ciel. Ciel saw that some of the deeper scratches were bleeding and the butler's lips were tinged with a pale blue, the bottom lip shivering slightly from the cold.
But, despite all this effort, none of the sigils appeared gone or even faded. Ciel felt like his butler was suffering for nothing and anger welled up inside him at this thought.
"What do you two idiots think you're doing? Can't you see that Sebastian is bleeding and freezing cold!" he snapped, storming over to the tub.
Sebastian blinked in surprise at his master's rage,
"Young Master…?" he asked softly, his voice betraying the tiredness and pain he felt. He watched as the boy stomped over, launched a hand into the water surrounding Sebastian and pulled it back, now further incensed at what he found.
"There's no warmth in that water at all, I've felt ice that was warmer! Do you plan on letting him die of hypothermia?" he snarled, wheeling on Rachel. The stunned housekeeper reeled back from the intensity of Ciel's glare,
"Young Master, I'm sorry but we've had to focus on getting the sigils off first! We've had no time to refill the bath with hot water!" she explained. Sitri rumbled an agreement, still scrubbing,
"Besides Malphas is a demon, he isn't going to die from a cold bath, Little Lord" the demon prince commented roughly, glancing briefly at the earl. Sebastian nodded, reaching a pink and bleeding hand out to Ciel to beckon his master,
"They're right, Young Master. We must remove these sigils as quickly as possible or else I won't be able to recover my full strength" the demon reasoned gently. He touched the boy's cheek, who flinched at the cold but didn't pull away, and stroked it to placate the boy's anger. He smiled warmly,
"It's alright, My Lord, I'll be fine" he soothed.
Ciel's eyes flashed a desperate look at the demon before he covered this with his usual proud glare, shaking the demon's hand off,
"Sebastian, you are my butler. I understand the need to get you back to full health as quickly as possible, but this is…" the boy paused momentarily and looked at the markings covering Sebastian's chest. He touched them, rubbing them gently, and noticed the ink didn't smudge.
"It's not working at all, is it?" His voice was barely above a whisper and he was shaking. It surprised him to realise he was actually scared for Sebastian; scared of what might happen to him if they couldn't remove these sigils and how powerless he felt to help.
"Rachel, tell me" the earl murmured as he continued to stare at the sigils, "If these marks can't be removed, what will happen to Sebastian?"
"My Lord…" Sebastian whispered, looking down at the boy with worry. Ciel was still shaking a little, looking helpless, and Sebastian's features grew more anxious at knowing he was the cause of his master's anguish. The demon's arms came up and slowly encircled the boy, pulling Ciel in close to his chest. Ciel looked up in surprise and saw the anxiety in the demon's face, the sigils making it impossible for Sebastian to mask his emotions,
"Sebastian..." the boy murmured, looking up into those deep crimson eyes in amazement.
He stayed in his butler's arms for a moment before gently pulling away to look at Rachel, determination renewed. He knew the answer wasn't going to be good but he had to hear it. He had to know just how bad things would get for his butler.
The housekeeper looked conflicted, glancing at Sebastian briefly over the boy's head before sighing,
"It's hard to say, My Lord. Different sigils hold different powers over demons; these ones in particular are designed to suppress the demon's physical and mental will, basically weakening him and rendering him incapable of attacking or using his intellect to trick his way out of situations. No doubt those angels had the idea to keep him subdued in that cage for as long as necessary whilst they tried to find you. I imagine the longer these sigils stay in place, the harder Sebastian will find it to use either his strength or cunning. Eventually, he won't even be able to lift a finger or tell a simple lie. In short, he won't be able to protect himself, much less you, my Lord"
Ciel listened in silence and looked back at the sigils on Sebastian's chest.
"But still… the scrubbing isn't working. They aren't coming off" he pointed out, "Isn't there another way to remove them?"
Again, Rachel looked unsure,
"Well…" she began but paused, trying to think how best to respond. Sitri sat up, pausing in his work, and sighed. He looked at the young earl,
"Little Lord there is another way, but it's a risk. It would involve us sneaking back into the school again" the demon explained, dropping the blood soaked sponge. Ciel raised an eyebrow,
"Go on" he pressed. Sitri scratched his head, debating how to explain,
"The only other way to remove these marks, is to use a similar power as that which put them there in the first place. In other words, I could remove them using my abilities as a demon since I am as powerful and capable as those angels are. That method would be significantly quicker than what we're doing now" he continued. Ciel looked surprised at this revelation and flushed with anger, thinking of how much pain they'd put Sebastian through needlessly. He launched himself over at the demon prince,
"Then why don't you? How dare you continue inflicting this pain to Sebastian! Are you enjoying this sick method, you filthy loathsome beast? Stop torturing him with this barbaric treatment and remove these sigils at once! Can't you see he's suffering?" the boy cried, gesturing to Sebastian's bleeding back.
To Ciel's surprise, he seemed to hit a nerve and Sitri suddenly snarled at him with his eyes furiously aglow. The boy stepped back as the demon prince rounded on him and leant into his face, fangs now bared,
"Do not think I enjoy this, Boy" the demon spat. "I hate having to do this to Malphas more than you can imagine! However, this is the only safe way! Using my powers would light us up like a beacon! Those angels would be on us in seconds and there's no way we could all escape with Malphas in this shape!"
Ciel stared up at Sitri in dumb horror, transfixed by the furious glowing eyes, until Sebastian placed a hand on the demon prince's arm. Sitri looked over into the stern unwavering expression on Sebastian's face and calmed slightly, returning to his human guise. He scowled at Ciel,
"The only alternative would be to take Malphas back, into the school building, and remove the sigils there. With all the activity those vermin are doing, they won't notice the slight increase caused by my powers. But we will be vulnerable whilst I'm removing the sigils; I can't defend us whilst using my powers and Jez isn't strong enough to take on two angels by herself. So, if we're caught, we're as good as dead" Sitri explained. He looked Ciel in the eye steadily, "However, Malphas is currently contracted to you, Little Lord. Therefore, it's your choice on what we do"
Ciel thought about this deeply,
"Going back to the school… I doubt we'd get into that building the same way we did before…" Ciel spoke, recalling Sitri using his powers to shift them through the walls. Sitri shook his head,
"They aren't stupid, they'll have guards protecting the perimeter now" the demon stated.
"Then we will have to use a covert strategy like we planned to use at the start" Sebastian suggested, sitting forward in the bath. He managed his trademark smirk at Ciel, having briefly won control over the sigils, "I take it you still have that dress, My Lord?"
Ciel flushed at the insinuation and glared at the demon,
"Shut up! Now is hardly the time for that! Besides, Madame Gagnon is also involved so she would recognise me in an instant!" the boy snapped. Sebastian continued to smirk,
"My dear Young Master, so eager to get back into women's clothes? Whilst you do look deceptively feminine, there is one other who could go in as a female student" the butler eluded, eyes flicking up to the corner of the room. Both Ciel and Sitri raised an eyebrow at this suggestion and turned to look, following Sebastian's gaze. They looked at Rachel, who had been standing there quietly with a towel, and Ciel hummed as he considered this plan. The girl blinked under all three scrutinising stares and felt sweat accumulate on the back of her head. Ciel grinned as he came to a conclusion,
"Well now that could work" he agreed, his expression pure evil.
"No." the girl stated, now glaring at all of them and the dress Sitri had retrieved.
"Rachel, please, it's the only way" Ciel spoke coolly, ignoring the glare. "We must get Sebastian in there somehow and you are the only one who can serve as a distraction! Besides, you get to mingle with other females again, that would be fun right?"
Ciel had made the mistake of thinking Rachel would be like Lizzy, who would love the chance to socialise with anyone, and had forgotten that who he was talking to was a centuries-old undead human soul and not a giggling blonde 14 year-old girl. He was soon reminded by the irritated spark that fizzed past his ear, causing him to flinch.
"How exactly would mingling with children be fun, My Lord? And in case you have forgotten, I am a grown woman not a child!" Rachel growled with arms crossed in defiance and sparks occasionally flashing off around her. Sitri waved a hand dismissively,
"So we bind your chest a little to make you flatter and just say you've hit puberty early on to explain your height" the demon concluded, shrugging off the girl's concerns as he approached with the dress. She turned her glare on him,
"Oh really? And what about these?" the black bands shone darkly on her wrists and neck and her eyes glowed eerily. A lightning bolt shot the dress out of Sitri's hands and pinned it to the wall, "How do I explain these to anyone!"
Sitri laughed nervously at the irritated housekeeper and looked to Ciel for help again. Ciel sighed in exasperation,
"Rachel, please. This isn't ideal, I'll admit, but we have no choice now!" the earl reasoned, looking Rachel in the eye. "This is for Sebastian, so we can get him back to full strength. If I could go in your place, I would!"
Rachel looked into the steady gaze of her master and sighed, knowing he meant it. The housekeeper took in the mix expressions of desperation and fear and relented,
"Alright, I'll do it. But what exactly will I be able to do once in there? How do we get Sebastian into that other building unseen?" she asked, still doubtful. Ciel mused on this problem,
"There must only be a handful of girls taken from the school, otherwise it'd raise suspicion. If you can talk to the girls, perhaps you can find out how they're selected?" Ciel explained. Rachel still looked doubtful when Sitri suddenly brightened with an idea,
"You know, the teachers are more likely to know about the selection process. Even if they don't know what it's actually used for, they probably know girls get picked for certain special reasons and are told what to look out for in their students" the demon prince's tail seemed to be wagging excitedly. Ciel felt anxious, seeing Sitri so excited,
"But, Rachel won't pass for a teacher as well as a student…" the boy started, looking over the demure girl. Sitri shook his head, now grinning madly,
"Oh no, Rachel is dumb about anything of the modern human world!" the demon agreed cheerfully. Rachel glared at the demon with her glowing eyes now at full intensity,
"What was that?" she snarled as lightning flashed out from around her. Ciel was pulled down by Sebastian and Sitri ducked behind the bath just as chunks of plaster exploded and the dress caught alight. Sitri peeked out sheepishly, tail smoking lightly, and coughed out some dust.
"Ehehehe! W-what I meant was: Rachel isn't interested in what happens in the modern world currently! She's uh… preoccupied with other worlds' affairs" the demon corrected himself, still hiding low just in case. Ciel scowled at the cowering demon,
"So what are you suggesting then?" the boy snapped, standing. Sitri grinned widely again, pulling Sebastian close,
"We should go in as teachers!" he cried, pointing to himself and Sebastian.
The silence was deafening. Ciel and Rachel looked shocked and Sebastian incredulous.
Eventually, Sebastian recovered and gingerly extracted himself from the excited demon's grasp,
"Sitri…" he started wearily. But Sitri grabbed him again, looking at him with sad imploring eyes,
"Oh Malphas, please! Please? You know how I love learning about humans and this way I even get to interact and teach them! Please?" The prince's brown eyes were large and innocent, trying the trick he had used on Rachel many times. Sebastian glared at the other demon's behaviour,
"Sitri, I'm hardly in any condition to…" He suddenly found the imploring stare difficult to look at; it reminded him of his beloved cats when they were out in the rain. He coughed and tried again, "Sitri, the likelihood of us even getting hired is…"
'That damn face!' he thought as Sitri edged nearer, turning on the innocent look too, and causing Sebastian to tail off again. He tried to glare with silent fury at the prince but it was too much, 'Damn these sigils!'
"Ok, fine!" he snapped, throwing his hands up in exasperation. Sitri beamed happily and suddenly pulled Sebastian into a tight hug, lifting him out of the water and into the air to the shock of the other two.
"Hooray! You'll love it, Malphas! And I'll behave, I promise! We'll get those sigils off you in no time" the taller demon cheered with tail wagging, nuzzling the other's cheek with joy.
Sebastian tried to flail and cover himself, despite his arms being pinned by Sitri's hug, and realised Ciel was just the right level to get an eyeful. The boy gawked at his butler's now exposed lower half before coughing slightly and looking away out of embarrassment, face bright red. The demon also blushed, the sigils making him unable to smirk off the exposure or ignore the embarassment he felt.
"Damn it, Sitri!" he cried out.
And that's it for now. I hope you all didn't mind the silliness in this chapter (or the gratuitous amount of Sebastian seen). Please review, like and let me know what you guys all think! Next stop: back to the school!