This is officially also one of my fav chapters. So excited.
Things are about to get really f'ing weird here, guys, so hold on to your skirts and britches, and remember that I A) study demonology, and B) that this is sourced totally from my mediocre world-building skills. So with that in mind, feel free to point out any major plot holes or universe holes.
Moving on!
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CH VI
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"Village...of demons?" Ciel muttered. He wasn't quite sure what to make of that, nor the fact that, as a proud student of Latin, he knew that Inferos at least meant "Hell".
"Come," Gabriel waved at them to follow. "You must surely be hungry after spending a night in those woods." He nodded towards the forest behind them. "I'm sure with our supplies that I could probably find something for you to eat..."
"Wait." Ciel said, stopping abruptly as he realized he'd been following without his awareness. "You said that the village is full of demons?" Ciel nearly shuddered. "Doesn't that kinda make me..." He daren't think of the idea.
"Relax," Gabriel said, waving a hand dismissively. "As I said; so long as you have a contract, no one is likely to try and eat you, least of all the soul-eaters. They've usually got more integrity when it comes to stealing from each other than we fleshies do." A broad, almost stupid grin spread across his face, revealing canines that were longer on the top than the bottom, and which should have rightly stuck out of his mouth when he closed it, they were so large – yet, somehow, they found a way to vanish beneath his rosy lower lip instead, their surely pointed ends concealed somehow without stabbing him in the mouth.
"Fleshie?" Ciel quirked a brow at the unfamiliar term. Gabriel blinked before explaining, as if everyone knew, "Demons that eat flesh, rather than souls. Not all of us can make it on blood and spiritual energy, y'know." the tall, pale demon shrugged charismatically as he said this. "Some of us actually have to eat what we catch." He gave Sebastian a playful glare. The butler only responded by raising a brow. Uncomfortable with the topic, Ciel cleared his throat to draw attention away from it.
"C'mon. Don't wanna leave Alistar hanging now, do you?" Gabriel said in a cheery tone, striding along ahead. "I can assure you, having lived with him for the last seven hundred years, that he gets quite upset when his expected company fails to arrive. Besides, you're not likely to last another night in those woods without some kind of protection, besides your butler." He kept talking as he walked, encouraging Ciel to begrudgingly follow him, if only to listen. "Sure, he's well bred and quite capable, I'm sure, of fending off the little beasts," Gabriel looked back at him now, a mischeivious smile on his pale face. "But there are bigger baddies out there. Think of them like big, demon bullies, if you will; they technically own the land around here, and anyone who goes outside the village is technically tresspassing on their turf, which, of course, they don't like." Gabriel explained as they descended the hill, still looking over his shoulder at Ciel as he walked. "You should be grateful, little Earl, that they did not catch you last night." His lower lip drew away from the edge of his canines in a wicked grin, showing their tips where they overlapped clear down to the gumline on his lower jaw. They were the fangs of a creature that bit and held down onto prey, long and curved like a leopard or some other big cat. His lower canines were not much shorter, only barely missing his upper gums; all in all, the show of his teeth was an intimidating sight indeed. It lasted no more than a moment, however, and he just as quickly turned his attention back in front of him, stopping as they reached the bottom of the hill.
"You'd be wise to stand close to your butler regardless, or else stick close to me. None of the demons here will cross me except the largest of them." Gabriel turned a much gentler smile to him this time. He turned back in front of him then, and Ciel looked, for the first time, closer at his face. He appeared to be wearing lilac-coloured make-up of sorts around his eyes, though it looked to be – and probably was – an actual part of his skin. Also odd about him were the colour of his irises; even Alistar's eyes had been red (though he was albino...) but Gabriel's were instead a pretty aqua blue, though the cat-like pupil remained. Also, like Alistar, he had pointed ears – but unlike him, Gabriel's were studded with gold rings pierced into them.
"Stand back, please." He advised, stepping forward with his hand raised. Curious, Ciel watched as he seemed to draw a letter or symbol into the air, before thrusting his palm forward. "Galah" He said in a commanding voice. Suddenly, the air surrounding his hand itself seemed to waver, and the image of the village before him, full of dilapidating houses and overgrown weeds, began to fall away like a mirage, unveiling instead a sight of quite different sorts.
"A barrier." Sebastian commented, though it was nearly appraising. "A complex one at that. Even I didn't sense it."
"Well, you'll find I am quite skilled at protective spells. The only reason you are standing there is because I spotted you before you went over the crest of the hill. Had you gone on without me there, the secondary barrier would have tripped an alarm system to alert the village to your presence. After all, we can't have random demons coming in and out of this place." Ciel let their conversation fall away as he looked around him, a thrill of both excitement and fear making his once hungry stomach cease and his body tense.
They stood now before a doorless gate made of cream-coloured wood, with strange letters written in bold red on the top, though what they said he didn't know, and wasn't sure he wanted to, since it looked like a warning. But that wasn't what had his chest clenching up or sweat beginning to involuntarily run down his neck – where once there hadn't been a single thing in sight, now there were hundreds of...well, demons. Most of them carried human or humanoid forms – except for the dozens of little creatures running about in groups. They are what gave him abrupt pause, for they looked so odd to him that he couldn't help but stare.
None of them looked exactly the same, though the ones that held together all had basically the same shapes, with skin that was a range of colours ranging through blue-green, gray and reddish-brown. All had more or less human-like faces, but that was the extent of their human appearances; one in particular that came not a meter in front of him had long, black markings on it's face, just beneath the eyes, and like the rest of those moving about together walked on feet that were anything but human, resembling a bird's more than a man's. Also behind it was a tail as long as it was tall – which wasn't very, since it reached no higher than his mid-thigh standing upright, the size of a two-year old perhaps. The thing stopped abruptly, looking up at him with large, cat-like eyes and ears that were more elfish than anything. Ciel couldn't help but stare back at it, noticing a mop of black hair atop it's head that came down in front of it's face, prompting the creature to shake the strands away. As he looked on at this creature, who's skin was a rufous colour, more of them also stopped to look at him, some with curiousity in their big, childish faces, and others, like the one closest to him, looking on at him warily. Overwhelmed by the situation, Ciel stepped back – and grew quite startled when the one nearest to him jumped back also, an animalistic hissing, akin to a cat, escaping from it's tiny throat.
'These things are creeping me out.' Ciel thought as they all continued to stare at him with unblinking, owlish expressions. Sensing movement from his left, Ciel turned sharply to his side –
And jumped quickly out of the way when a small, monkey-like hand with long, clawed fingers made a swipe at his ankle.
Ciel leapt quickly back to his butler's side, finding no shame in hiding behind him as one of the creatures, this one with a pale, grayish hide and a short crop of red hair chased him a short ways, kicking the ground hard like a pissed off horse when it stopped just shy of Sebastian's shoe. Ciel shuddered as it let loose the same horrible, raspy hissing Sebastian had made earlier, warning him to stay away.
"Oh, come now, off with you!" Gabriel intervened, kicking at the creature with his boot, though he didn't actually hit it. Still hissing, it ran back to the others on all fours, who had all come to form a half-circle around the newcommers.
"What the hell are those things?!" Ciel exclaimed, "They're freaking me out!" Sebastian's low chuckle made Ciel glare at him menacingly.
"They're the demon equivalent of children." Sebastian said with a smirk. "They're no more powerful than a monkey of similar size." Ciel looked incredulously at the little impish things, noticing again that they did have child-like faces. "That is what demons look like when they're kids?" Ciel asked. It was Gabriel's turn to chuckle now.
"Well what'd you think? A demon's human form is all an illusion. Babies like these guys can't hold a human form very well yet. Like your demon said, they're not very powerful. In fact," He said, grabbing ahold of one that came willingly up to him, picking it up like the child it apparently was. "Humans are more than capable of killing these little guys – hence your lack of a warm welcome from them." He held the greenish thing in his arms, his expression becoming somber for a moment.
"A lot of these guys are here because of humans." Gabriel explained as Ciel's eyes went wide with surprise. "You might not know it, living with someone like him," He nodded to Sebastian "But humans can hurt demons, though sometimes it's not on purpose. Take the little one who charged at you," Gabriel indicated to the red-head, who had wandered off with the rest as they gradually disbanded, having lost interest. "He was separated from his mother when humans came in to log the forest he was born in. The humans had guns with them – and as much as you'd might think elsewise, it takes a demon a long time before he's immune to something that powerful, though we do naturally have quite a resistance to mortal weaponry." Gabriel sighed. "While a shot wouldn't have killed him by itself, it would have wounded him to the point he might as well have been dead. After all, just like with anything else, there's always something out there that can and will eat them." Gabriel frowned deeply. "Young demons are no stronger, relative to our own ecosystem in Gehenna, than a mortal child in the human world. Beasts like the one's I'm sure you encountered out there will gladly eat a baby demon if they can catch it, as will mortal animals like dogs or wolves." Ciel recalled the flying creatures he'd evaded before. He'd never given any thought to what demons were like when they were young...nor did he know they could be so fragile, what with how resilient his own butler was. "That little one," Gabriel again indicated to the red-head, who was now playing what looked like a game of tag with the other "children".
"His mother was killed inadvertently by the humans who chased them out. She wound up running into another demon's territory; a male a lot bigger than she was." He continued. "He blamed the loggers for her death, and has hated humans ever since." Ciel felt a pang of pity then, and if he was honest, a bit of guilt as well.
"But...she could have killed them, couldn't she?" Ciel asked, watching the little creatures play just as human children might. Gabriel set the one he'd been holding down then, and the demon child came up to him with obvious curiosity, cocking it's head to and fro as it examined him up and down whilst sitting on it's haunches like a dog. "You're quite right; nothing is more frightening than a mother demon protecting her baby." Gabriel agreed as they both watched the little one sniff Ciel's pants cautiously, eyeing him as if expecting to be kicked away. "However, while I'm sure you were raised to believe differently, most demons don't want any quarrel with humans outside of the predator-prey relationship we can't really help but have with your kind."
So, what? He'd been lied to his whole life? Ciel couldn't deny what Gabriel said. He was raised to believe differently. He grew up, like most children did, on stories extracted from the Bible; he was told, as most children were, the story of Eve and the trickery of the Serpent of Eden. When Sebastian had appeared before him, he'd already given up his faith in the goodness of the Lord. But living with Sebastian for so long, he could barely keep count of the number of times he'd likened him to the Devil he knew of lore – micheivious, evil, and heartless; no morals, no loyalty, nothing but lies, deceit and selfish hedonism. And he'd made peace with that – after all, he made a deal with him. It's not like he had a choice.
But this, and Alistar as well...He didn't know what to think any more.
"My Lord? Are you alright?" Sebastian leaned down to his level, as genuine of concern in his voice as Ciel had ever known him to use. The Earl shook his head to clear his thoughts.
"I'm fine." He lied. He looked down again at the little creature sitting there before him, looking up at him strangely. As soon as he acknowledged it, it came forward again, reaching tenatively out to touch him with a hand as childish as it's face. Ciel felt Sebastian move to intervene, but he put up a hand to halt him.
"It's fine." He said, flicking his hand to indicate for Sebastian to back off. He didn't need to look at the butler to know what expression he had on his face.
Gathering his courage, the Earl slowly slid down onto his own haunches, making the small demon back away a bit.
"It's alright." He encouraged, overtaken then by a mood he couldn't put into words. It was as if he felt the need to make right, somehow, what these demons seen him as.
'To them...to them, I'm the monster here.' Ciel thought strangely. 'The tides are different when they're younger. If I can hurt them, then adults must be...' Ciel stopped his thoughts right there, not daring to let his mind venture that far away from his state of normal just yet. He'd go mad if he did.
"It's okay. I won't hurt you." Ciel tried to keep the nerves from his voice as he carefully extended a hand to the little demon. It gazed at him inquisitively, coming forward on all fours to sniff at his hand. Half expecting it to bite him, he jerked a little when it's clawed hand touched his, turning it over as it examined him closer.
"Human." It spoke in a feminine voice. Startled, Ciel looked up – only to see Alistar standing before him, watching their interaction with an amused expression.
"Alistar!" Ciel exclaimed, having not seen or even sensed his arrival.
"I see you're getting on with the children well." The pale demon responded. "Best you not get to close with them, though. Little one's like that are supposed to avoid humans until they get bigger." He glared at Gabriel then, who wore a sheepish expression.
"I can't help it if she was raised as a changeling." Gabriel defended. Ciel quirked a brow for the umteenth time that day.
"Changeling?"
"In demon terms, a young demon who is found and attempts to be raised by humans." Alistar explained, coming over and picking her up like a puppy. The little one only blinked as she was handled, going limp else wise. He set her down on the other side of him, pushing her lightly onward towards the others. "You should really be playing with your own kind, Maria." Alistar chastisized, ushering her along. She let out a huffing sigh, looking back at Ciel one more time before running along with the other children.
"She was raised by humans?" Ciel asked incredulously.
"Well, they attempted to raise her." Gabriel said, coming up beside Alistar. "But the expression demon-child in the sense you humans know it is quite accurate, even for us." Gabriel sighed dramatically. "If you think an adult demon is mischievous or has a bad temper, wait until a literal child of a demon throws a fit. Even for our own kind, those kids can be terrors." He looked at the pallid face of the Earl then. "But that's why we came and got her. Her human parents, no matter how good-natured, would have eventually been forced to abandon her, or else become badly injured. Besides, it's not a good thing for baby demons to bond with humans."
"It's like a lion cub bonding with a ewe." Alistar finished. "Demons, soul-eaters in particular, only bond deeply so many times in their lives. As with all things, mother and baby normally have a close bond from birth until weaning." He said. "However, Maria's mother was nowhere to be found. An...understanding, pair of human parents took her in and tried to raise her; but she is a soul-eating demon. Because of her restricted diet, they couldn't feed her properly. She was half-starved when Gabriel found her at the house, which is why we came and took her from them."
"Awfully heroic of you." Sebastian half-mocked. Alistar shrugged. "There's nothing heroic about it. I seen a problem, and went about fixing it. No more, no less." He turned away then. "Come, Ciel. I'm sure you are dire for something to eat. You'd probably not feel so faint if you did." 'I'm not so sure of that...' Ciel thought as he followed along.
"Besides, there are things I do around here which could hardly be called charity work." Alistar said with a huff. "I do expect repayment from the teenagers, in particular, since they're a pain in my ass."
"How long do the young ones stay here for, generally speaking?" Sebastian asked curiously.
"Until they are capable of hunting on their own, generally, though species-specifics must be accounted for. Some demons naturally leave their young earlier or later than others. Some still never leave their parent's territory."
"What do you do with those?" Ciel inquired.
"They stay here for a time, then we find surrogate families for them in Gehenna. Though believe me, that's not an easy task." Gabriel responded, glancing at Alistar. "Especially since I'm the only one who can go back and forth. And what with the social classes as they are in that world, getting where I need to go is hardly easy, and usually means I'm gone for several decades if and when I have to go." He shrugged. "But it can't really be helped."
"What he means to say," Alistar corrected, looking over at Ciel. "Is that several decades pass in the human world by the time he comes back. Time doesn't pass the same way in Hell that it does here. One week there is roughly equivalent to three years here." Ciel blinked. "So..." he replied, glancing at Sebastian. "You mean to say that the reason he's always checking the time isn't just because of show, but because time passes faster for him?"
"Correct, most likely." Alistar looked over at Sebastian, who nodded in agreement.
"It's true, unfortunately. I lose track of time very easily in this world, and so having a pocket watch is not only part of my aesthetic, but also a necessary device if I am to have things done in a timely fashion – not because the days wear on for me, but because they pass me by in practically an instant." Ciel nodded, understanding. "I always did wonder why you were always checking that thing, what with the way you're able to memorize schedules."
"I memorize the timing of things by the position of the light, not the time of the day. To date, seasonal changes in the human world leave me perplexed at times if I am without my watch."
"What do you mean, the position of the light? Like how light or dark it is outside?"
"Yes." Sebastian replied, touching the chain of his watch absently. "Clocks exist in our world, but few demons use one. Most things are determined by the light of the day or how high the moon is. It's a primitive system, but it's highly effective."
"I see."
"Come." Alistar said suddenly, motioning with a showing motion to a rather well-made white house, of sorts. In fact, as Ciel glanced around, he noticed that none of the buildings or houses were as dilapidated as the illusion had suggested, and were actually quite well-kept.
"Are all demons organization freaks?" Ciel muttered under his breath, forgetting that his companions had super sensitive hearing. A light, bell-like laughter reached his ears, and it took him a moment to realize it was Alistar laughing.
"That would be the work of our resident architect, Sahri." he explained. "He is the one who maintains the houses and buildings here, as well as adds new ones when we need it. Word of advice to you, little earl," Alistar warned, though he was smiling. "Don't try to bother Sahri. He's more prickly than a cactus and his tongue is just as sharp. Crossing him might end badly for you if you aren't careful."
"Anyone else I should avoid, while we are on the subject?"
"We can discuss that later. For now, come inside and get something to fill your stomach with."
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The inside of the house-building turned out to be a mess hall...sort of. Rather than one large table, there were several dozen ordered in neat lines across the otherwise empty floorspace. It was impeccably clean, much to his surprise. At the far left corner was a sectioned off area that was probably the food prep area, and in the right corner stretching halfway up the walls was another area that could have been a separate room, since it had a door to get inside.
"What's the room for?" He asked.
"Defensive eaters. We try to keep the flesh eaters, which are the only ones who use this place, as separate as possible when feeding. Most of them just come and go from here anyway, but in the event that there are many in here at once, that room can come in handy."
"Some of the demons here," Gabriel continued effortlessly, "Come in to us starved or malnourished. Many others are wounded in fights and need to eat in order to heal." He pointed then to the room. "Being in pain or going hungry for a long time can make anyone really cranky, so to keep fights from breaking out, we put those that guard their food with their lives in there to eat. It has steel chambers in it that they can be put into to avoid confronting each other over a meal."
"I have to admit that that's clever," Sebastian acknowledged. "But I do have to wonder, how does a demon find themselves here?"
Ciel listened in on their conversation as he was sat down at a table. Gabriel went off to the food-prep area to fetch something – hopefully something edible for a human, Ciel thought.
"Demons come to us willingly most the time. I am, after all, a healer." Alistar reminded. "I have a known reputation in these mountains by the local demons living here. If they find an injured fiend, they usually bring it here."
"But there is a barrier around this place..." Sebastian implied a question with his tone.
"Yes. There are three layers – one at the base of the mountain that alerts Gabriel alone to demon and human tresspassers alike, one that will trip an auditory alarm within the village if Gabriel doesn't disarm it, and the third one is impassable by humans, and requires a specific password to get through it."
"Galah." Ciel remembered. "What does it mean, anyway? The way he said it made it sound like a foreign language."
"It's Hebrew." Sebastian filled in. "It means to reveal or strip away the disguise of. Not a very clever password, but I suppose it keeps lower demons out."
"Indeed." Alistar agreed. Gabriel came back then with a large metal dish of kinds, setting it on the table in front of Ciel. The scent of cooked chicken and something he couldn't quite place filled his senses long before he seen the meat, which was piled rather unelegantly on the dish.
"Sorry about the crap presentation – demons aren't exactly picky about things like that. Also why there's no glass plates." Gabriel shrugged apologetically.
"It's ok. I understand." He wasted no time grabbing what looked like a chicken leg and mercilessly biting into it, his stomach reawakening his hunger as he tasted the juicy meat in his mouth.
"Fear not about manners, either. Believe me, none of the demons around here have any at the table – it's a wonder Fukuo ever gets this place sparkling clean as she does." Ciel swallowed his food quickly, blushing in spite of Gabriel's words at his unseemly eating habits.
"Is she another I should avoid contact with?" Ciel would personally avoid contact with any of them, but that was more of his introversion talking than any sense of fear for his safety – after all, he still had Sebastian.
"Nah." Gabriel dismissed with a wave. "She's not privy to humans, being a flesh eater. See, we fleshies have considerably more variety in our diets than soul-eaters do. Whereas they don't have much choice but to hunt humans, flesh eaters can choose to eat just about anything with muscles – hence the chicken on your plate." Ciel gave Sebastian a sparing glance, having not quite thought about the fact that he didn't have a choice but to feed on humans like himself.
"Well, I suppose there are animals that can only eat certain things, like the way Pandas are dependent on bamboo, or how vultures can only eat whatever is dead." Ciel explained to himself quietly. Sebastian chuckled softly.
"I suppose that's one way to put it." He came up behind his master. "By the way, you are taking this all in surprisingly well." Ciel paused as he reached for another piece of meat.
"I guess I don't see a reason to get upset. I admit it did surprise me, the fact that young demons are really no less fragile than young children, or that humans could cause problems for them...but..." Ciel thought a moment how to speak his mind. "I admit, I never really thought about any of this before – but now that I know about it, I actually find it easier to accept than what I've been told my whole life." All eyes looked to him with surprise. "Demons are still living things, aren't they? They might not need to sleep, but you need to eat and bleed when you get hurt. No matter how powerful, everything has a weakness somewhere, or a chink in their armour." Ciel smirked as he turned to look at his butler. "I guess demon's general weakness is the same as everyone else's – their children." Sebastian smiled back, familiar mischief glinting off his fangs.
"Indeed, young master. You are quite right about that."
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WHOO! That was fun. But not nearly the end of it. Oh, by no means.
I apologize if my world building seems...cliche, but hey. This is anime. Cliche's are everything.
Just a reminder, reviews – I love 'em. :)
Until next time!