Chapter 6
In all seriousness, she wasn't too concerned about her own safety. She could teleport faster than any of them could realize, but now she was slightly concerned for the welfare of her friend. Perhaps he's grown in strength since she last defeated him, but would it be enough to stand against a creature even greater than her?
She has no choice but to sit and watch.
Of course, Grell couldn't contain himself and lunged at Sebastian, smirking wildly as the butler withheld the strange weapon from slicing him in two. The demon himself was looking none too pleased at the redhead's new obsessive personality, disengaging from their stalemate and leaping back to Ciel. The reaper somersaulted to Madam Red all while blowing a kiss in his direction.
"I can finally show you just how strong I really am," he winked.
A grimace curved the butler's lips involuntarily before turning to wrap his coat around his master to shield him from the chilling rain. When he faced Grell again, he was evidently disappointed, admonishing the poor excuse of a reaper for going against the very reason of their existence - to remain unbiased in the affairs of mortals. Looming over the redhead from his place next to his lord, Sebastian couldn't contain his disgust as he verbally cut into the reaper, going so far as to say that he sickened him.
Undeterred, Grell only smiled wider.
"Even so," he sang. "I'm a butler to die for."
The Phantomhive heir, evidently done with their chit chat, reached towards his face.
"On behalf of Her Majesty, and by my own sullied name, I order you…"
Pulling back the mock eye patch, a lavender pentagram etched into his iris glowed in power as he recited his command. Madam Red only frowned at the sight of the seal which only cemented any doubts to a demonic bond that she stubbornly held.
"Dispose of them!"
Bound by the law of their contract, burgundy eyes illuminated to their signature cardinal hue. Sebastian smirked in arrogance, finally being able to unleash his power against a worthy opponent.
"Yes, my Lord."
Seir beheld the messy dance of combat before her. Sebastian bobbed and weaved between the slices like a leaf in the wind, the scythe harmlessly whizzing past his features. His assailant seemed to be enjoying himself immensely, gushing as he swung the weapon as carelessly as a doll. As the demon flipped backwards, he realized that he had underestimated the reaper's speed and just barely managed to catch the whirring blade between his hands as he was rammed against the wall. Grell pushed the weapon into the brick beside his head, smirking as he attempted to remove his arm from his body while Sebastian struggled to keep the grinning reaper at bay.
Meanwhile, Madam Red turned her attention on the vulnerable boy ahead of her, looking down at him in pity. She would have loved to continue to play chess with her nephew, but the longer her eyes lingered on those familiar features of his, the more she's reminded of his father - the one thing she had longed for that was now forever out of her reach. That man, if he had just chosen her, would have turned her life onto a brighter path where none of this had to happen, but instead left her forsaken on this terrible road of self-loathing and regret.
A life where people didn't realize what they want, or what they have.
People who take their precious gifts for granted.
And she was cursed to be the one who would take these gifts away from them but never get hers in return.
No more...
...she wouldn't regret anymore.
Anger that had built over her entire pathetic life bubbled up at that one moment, and in her anguish she brandished the knife she had hidden in her pocket, charging at her nephew who stood frozen like a defenseless deer. He didn't even react as she was upon him, and without hesitation she stained the blade with his blood.
Her family's blood.
Ciel gasped as he staggered back, gripping his arm in pain. Yet, with adrenaline coursing through his veins, he gathered his composure and stared at the heaving woman, holding her weapon in a death grip.
"Why would a doctor like you - "
"You wouldn't understand," she interjected, whipping around to face him. Her face was contorted into the rawest form of anger he'd ever witnessed. "You wouldn't understand!"
Her nephew didn't put up a fight as she pinned him to the wall by his neck. The more she saw his pained features, she tighter she squeezed. All of her pains, all of her burdens - perhaps she can find reprieve in destroying the closest thing that man had ever held to himself.
His life for her unborn child's. It would be a fair trade.
Madam Red's face was the picture of delirium. Ciel suddenly feared for his life as he saw her true intent, and he finally struggled in her vice like grip.
Raising her knife, she poured all of her misery and broken dreams into her next action.
"You should have never been born!"
Time seemed to slow around them. Ciel's eyes were wide as he stared at her in disbelief. Her hand was around her neck -
- Her. Her neck.
This wasn't just Vincent. This boy wasn't just him.
...This was her sister.
The Prince within the house winced as Sebastian leapt at Madam Red with all of the the ferocity of a mother bear, charging at her with total abandon. The Phantomhive registered his servant's next actions in a split second and screamed.
"Sebastian, stop!"
Angelina had already withdrawn into herself like a timid child, holding her shaking hands close to her chest. The knife laid by her feet, the gravity of her actions chaining her to her regret. The weight of what she had tried to do - to take her sister's precious thing away from her, to kill her own nephew…
Despite everything she's suffered, despite everything she's lost -
- she could never hurt her dearest sister, whom she loved more than anything in the world. Killing her son would be killing her.
The demon's face portrayed genuine pain as he tried to catch his breath, gripping his arm that definitely wasn't about to fall off. Ciel gazed at his maimed shoulder in shock. "Sebastian…"
"My, so daring," Grell mused, pulling his bloody scythe from the gore-stained wall. He admired the scarlet that coated his weapon, extremely pleased. "To save a kid, no less! If only I could say the same for you, Madam Red…"
The woman stared at her stunned nephew through tearstained eyes, gazing at the picture of her loved ones with a newfound clarity.
She had always looked at the boy in Vincent's likeness. But now, she sees - she finally sees - that this was her lost beloved sister all along.
And maybe… Vincent wasn't to blame either.
"This child," she muttered, her voice hoarse. "I can't…"
"Are you really saying that after cutting up all those women?" he asked, incredulous. "You do realize that after tonight, it's kill or be killed? There's no going back, Madam."
There is, she assured herself. Ciel's face, full of promise and innocence, told her that she could start over.
That she could appreciate the gifts she never realized she had.
She whipped to face her partner, full of both regret and hope. "But this is my - "
The chainsaw whirred to life and found itself buried in her chest. Seir was somewhat disappointed - granted, she was a sucker for happy endings - but supposed that she should expect nothing less from her theatrical companion.
Madam Red could say nothing more as she was thrown to the side like a forgotten toy. "How disappointing!" he sneered.
The Phantomhive and his butler withdrew in surprise as her cinematic record burst from the mortal wound.
While the two were engrossed in watching the playback of the reel to witness Madam Red's life, the hidden demon beckoned the reaper over with the seal he carried on his arm. Glancing at the two and deciding that it would be fine, he quietly walked back inside the rank house. He didn't notice her immediately - or at all really - until he felt him being pulled out of sight of the door by an invisible force.
"Do you even plan on going back to the society after this?" she whispered in his ear.
Grell propped his scythe on the vermillion stone floor, leaning against it more comfortably as Seir maintained a firm grip on his collar. "Where's the fun in that?"
He felt the hold loosen as his companion sighed and smugly straightened his cuffs.
"Great, now we're both outcasts. You are not staying in my place when this blows over."
The reaper waved off her concern. Looking over his shoulder to see that there was still plenty of Madam Red's life left to be shown, he turned back to where he assumed the female was situated, who stubbornly remained invisible. "Like I said, we made a deal - "
"Which we demons take very seriously."
" - which you demons take very seriously, and I plan to see it through!"
"Right," came the incredulous response. "So, let's say I wanted to live in the hidden bamboo forests of China. You'd help me do it?"
"Sure, sure!" Grell flashed his million dollar smile.
"What about in the northern reaches of Russia?"
"Why not?"
"An island in the middle of the ocean?"
"I'll swim there with you on my back if I have to, hon," he smiled innocently. The sound of Madam Red's dying voice and the slowing clips of the reel stated that their short meeting was adjourned. With no time for pleasantries, the reaper waltzed back to his position as if nothing happened, and Seir returned to her front row seat in the forgotten room.
Angelina's body hit the floor in finality, a tear escaping her with all of the things left unsaid to her beloved nephew. Ciel and Sebastian turned to look at Grell who in turn ignored them, fully focused on the woman who desecrated the very thing they stood for. Abandoning his society-issued waistcoat, he carelessly peeled the noblewoman's body out of the crimson coat and adorned it himself, theatrically flaring his exit with a salute at the corpse and turning his back on the three who lingered behind.
Seir watched as the boy kneel before the body and delicately close his aunt's eyes, fully understanding her revelation and the things she wished to relay. In a rare sign of respect, he sat in silence for her passing.
"Sebastian," he murmured, still gazing at the distraught features of Madam Red. He had said before that familial connections did not matter to him - at least where cases were concerned - but now being presented her body on a silver platter, he allowed himself a moment of vulnerability.
A moment, and no less.
He turned to his butler, authority lacing his tone. "You have your orders. Kill the other one."
The demon stared at him for a moment, perhaps patting himself on the back for having such a heartless child as a master, before an evil smile stretched his features. "Understood."
Grell halted his steps, unable to help the ominous chuckle that escaped him. "I was going to let you go, but if you so desire…"
With the same recklessness as before, he swung his weapon at the butler, who dodged the scythe with ease.
"I'll send you both to Heaven myself!"
Author's Note:
I deeply apologize for the week long absence. I've been considering getting a beta reader and and I believe I have one, though I'm waiting for them to get back to me. In the meantime, I wanted to flesh out an end goal before I continued any further, which I believe I have! Going in blind was (probably obviously) not the best idea, so I wanted to take some time to get my bearings. Please note that I will only be writing during weekends as my real life takes priority.
Thank you for all of the reviews and follows! I really appreciate it and it encourages me to write more. :D
-Chapter 5 and 6 are revised!
-I also sketched Seir, if you're not sure how I imagined her: deviantart (dot com slash) aesanna/art/Seir-10-26-2018-769911819
+Feel free to flame my art if bother looking; I'm not an artist and I've had the account since 2012 lol
-Writing song: Flower Dance - DJ Okawari