Chapter 12

Seir found herself deep in thought. Admittedly, this wasn't the best situation to "put on her thinking cap" as she called it, but she took solace in the fact that Ciel would honor their deal - in other words, leash his dog. Her contemplative state was a familiar place to her, withdrawing into her mind so much so that she could concentrate wholly on the problem at hand, whether it be seal designing, or in this case, identifying the mysterious demon before her.

Despite her affinity as a creature of sloth, or rather because of it, the one thing she enjoyed more than luxury is a problem that tested her mental acuity.

She doesn't have many experiences with Sebastian, but she could entertain some hypotheses with her observations despite some being rather groundless. Considering that she is familiar with the seven Kings, she knew that his power was not up to their level but still greater than hers, and could then safely guess that he was one of the Dukes. That leaves twenty-three possible demons.

Actually, she corrected, the thought pulling her lips into a grimace. Twenty-two.

The affinity of a demon can be made apparent by observing the demon's behavior. Alternatively, she could identify them with her magic, but she doubted it would go unnoticed by him, and until she figured out who he was she quite liked her head attached.

All demons possess the seven deadly sins to varying degrees, but ultimately their personalities and characteristics show preference to one particular sin. The only affinities should would peg Sebastian for would be either pride or wrath, but judging from the way he looked at Ciel she would more confidently assume the former. This leaves four possible demons: Dantalion, Astaroth, Berith, and Barbatos.

Now, the most baseless assumption she had on him was that he was not proficient at magic, garnered from the fact that he did not remove Pluto's collar despite it a trivial angelic binding. It could just be that he chose not to for whatever reason, but entertaining her observation she could confidently rule out Berith, since he has written tomes on magic theory which she has read.

So, she mused. Dantalion, Astaroth, or Barbatos?

She withdrew a sharp breath as she was pulled rather violently from her mental space. Her eyes were blurry as she was jostled rather harshly, and blinking rapidly she was able to witness Sebastian grabbing Ciel and leaping out of the window. The boy's wide blue eye was focused entirely on her for the hot second that they made eye contact before he was taken away, presumably far from the mansion to safety.

...Wait. Safety?

Snapping fully back into a reality, she found herself alone with the strange man from before. When she took in her surroundings, she realized that she was among a sea of broken bodies. Pretty little heads have been ripped in a gruesome fashion, and the girls were as lifeless as dolls. It took a moment for her to register that they were, in fact, dolls, and she remembered what kind of situation she got into that night.

Her scarlet eyes were observative when they made eye contact with his glassy ones. He looked equally as unconcerned.

"So I said to myself," he murmured, expressionless. "She would make a beautiful doll."

"Are you threatening me?" Seir mused.

Unblinkingly, he shook his head. "I say to her, she does not possess the Hope Diamond; therefore she does not belong to Master."

The demon would be hard pressed to hesitate in his presence, especially since she has not seen him lift a finger to fight once. The music box hanging from his neck occupied both of his hands, and he did not flinch away when she gingerly approached his form.

Leaning in, she plucked a piece of straw poking from underneath his dress shirt. He did not react if her breathy chuckle bothered him at all.

"You know," she murmured seductively as she rolled the silage between her fingers. "I could free you from your master, if you wished it."

Seir waited a moment, but the man's eyes were as glassy as his creations. Seeing as she wasn't going to get a response, she found herself quickly growing bored with the dead man walking. Clicking her tongue in disappointment, she flicked the hay in his expressionless face before turning to walk away.

"Always the ones I'm willing to help that don't want it," she muttered. "Why do I even bother?"

She didn't look back as she approached the window that Sebastian had so enthusiastically jumped out of, propping a heeled foot on the ledge in order to follow his trace. Her movements were deliberately slow to give the puppeteer a moment to think, and a knowing smile graced her features at the tug on her sleeve.

At the demon's pause, he mustered up the courage to speak.

"So I said to her," he whispered, more to himself than her. "Freedom is not my desire."

Her voice did not raise an octave higher than his. "What do you wish for?" she murmured.

A flicker of determination passed in those lifeless orbs of his, and her smirk grew wide at the delicious sight. The puppet did not blink as her eyes sparked an ominous hue of scarlet.

"So I say to myself… to please Master."

"Intriguing." Seir rubbed her chin as she laid witness to the girl on the table. The puppeteer walked around to the opposite side, fiddling with the tools before him as if he was unsure how to proceed. The girl herself looked entirely at peace considering her circumstances. She could only imagine how great an eternal rest must feel.

...There she goes again.

Ignoring her pessimistic thoughts, she turned her attention to her new companion who now looked terribly lost, which she considered an upgrade from his expressionless face from before.

"So I thought to myself, I must create the perfect doll to please Master."

"And pray tell, what constitutes a perfect doll?"

"A doll that is both flexible but strong." He absentmindedly caressed the face of his latest creation, drawing Seir's attention to the unnatural sheen of her skin. "A doll that does what Master demands."

The demon stared at the girl's features, a nagging thought at the back of her mind. She felt as though she recognized her from somewhere, but she had the farthest idea as to from where.

"I can improve your dolls," she said offhandedly. Despite not moving it was obvious that the man was attentive to her every word. "Though I will not help without a promise of payment."

"Payment, so I ask her?" The way he cocked his head in curiosity may have been cute he his eyes weren't so damn lifeless.

Her head whipped sharply to the entryway as she felt a surge of demonic energy, and one would have to be entirely deaf to miss the booming howl that shook the edifice to its very foundation. Not only that, but it looks like the guard dog brought his pack, too.

A shame, she thought to herself as she gave the puppeteer one last glance. I think I could've gotten creative with some of my seals here…

Nonetheless, there was nothing she could do about it. "If you survive this," she murmured with a devious grin. "Then we'll talk."

In the next instant, she seemed to vanish into thin air - and not a second too soon, as the demon hound's paws pounded in the halls and mercifully past his workshop. Drossel could only clean his tools and prop his newest doll against a chair as time ticked on, and he had just disappeared into the rafters as the door was swung open, revealing an unceasingly angry Ciel and his two servants.

Unbeknownst to the dollmaker, Seir too found herself among the wooden beams of the ceiling to give herself a better view of the show. Grell gave her a passing glance, sensing that she was cloaked judging from the way his two companions did not so much as look at her, and trailed behind Sebastian as his master ran up to the girl and shook her in desperation.

"Lizzie," he shouted with a hint of madness in his voice. "Lizzie!"

Slowly yet surely, her emerald irises peaked out under her heavy eyelids. Ciel gave a sigh of relief when he realized she wasn't comatose, and Seir could make out a lethargic smile on the doll's face from her aerial viewpoint.

In front of her, the puppeteer's features were devoid of emotion as he announced his presence to the party below, though they were more focused on the girl as she started to move. Tugging at marionette strings tied to the girl's limbs, he effortlessly lifted her high into the air. In as dramatic a fashion as she could have possibly witnessed, Drossel moved her body like an extension of his own, gracefully catching the polearm thrown her way, and almost as if she were then moving on her own he maneuvered her body to slash at the Phantomhive boy with abandon. Sparing a glance from where the weapon was projected, she could not fathom where it could have come from.

Her shrieks drew the demon's attention back to the battle at hand, unable to spare another second to the thought. Sebastian held Ciel close to his form as he dodged Drossel's strikes with the elegance of a ballet dancer. A well aimed swing at the butler forced his to grab the hilt with a hand to pause its descent, and she could hear him request something of Grell.

At first, she could see his reluctance as he played with the tips of his scissors.

Then Sebastian shot him a flirtatious smile in askance, and fuck is he an incubus or something?

The reaper's swooning tone reflected her shook nerves for a moment before she reminded herself: If I can ignore Asmodeus - the personification of sex itself - then a smile from some random demon is nothing.

Exactly.

...But it's okay to appreciate the finer things in life, right?

Seir almost growled out loud as her irrational brain reared its ugly head.

Nice of you to show up, her right brain snarked.

Nice to be back, now that you actually need me. Good old reliable left brain.

There's a fine line between genius and madness, right?

...She's not going crazy.

Ciel's desperate cry snapped her back into focus - she needed to do something about her attention problem - in time to see Grell strike down the girl. There was no remorse in the reaper's face as the young boy kneeled before the doll, face stricken with grief. Sebastian lifted a string from her body which led up to the puppeteer among the rafters, drawing their attention to the man himself.

Drossel looked as bored as he could be as he effortlessly lifted his arms, and in that instant he had the three on the floor effectively bound by his strings.

"So I say to myself, what materials shall my new dolls be made of?"

The butler was evidently unamused. "Then I ask you this: what are you made of?"

The puppeteer blinked at his remark, repeating the question to himself. Seir could see the conflict in his face, wondering what he could possibly mean by that statement.

"Because," Sebastian pressed. "You don't seem to be made of very good materials yourself."

Neither agreeing or disagreeing, Drossel stuck a finger in his ear. "So I thought to myself, I must be human, yet I often find termites falling out of my ears."

When he pulls it out, a handful of bugs fall to the ground below.

During his distraction, Seir watched as Sebastian kicked the polearm into the air, striking the puppeteer in the chin. Forced the stagger back in order to avoid falling, he loosens his hold on the marionette strings, and without a moment of hesitation the butler advances. Using Grell's face as a boost, he leaps into the air, catching the suspended weapon in the air and delivering an otherwise fatal blow to the sentient doll, putting an end to his miserable life. His lifeless body falls to the ground with finality.

The three of them surrounded the corpse in observance, noting the straw that spilled out of the wound.

"Drossel Keinz," the reaper said again. "His soul was reaped five years ago. But for some reason we detected signs of survival."

Knowingly, Sebastian interjected. "Someone must have fitted him with a makeshift soul."

Ciel gave him a look that screamed why am I not surprised by this shit anymore until his attention was drawn to the girl in his arms. Exchanging a few heartfelt comments, the boy spoke to reassure the girl, and surprisingly the unnatural sheen from her face faded as she relaxed into his embrace. Ciel allowed a moment to relish in the sight of her safe presence, but of course Sebastian had to ruin it a heartbeat later.

"It's not over, my lord."

The boy's head whipped around at the snapping of dry straw. Drossel, lifting himself to his feet with apparent difficulty, looked at the trio with eyes that looked even more lifeless than she'd ever seen.

"So I said to myself," he murmured. "I will report to my master."

No one dared to move as the puppet staggered to the door, silage spilling to the floor with every motion.

"Why does he still want to serve his master after being all torn up?" Grell questioned, genuinely curious. Sebastian only gave a smile, his attitude towards the doll changing in that one key moment. One could say that there was a modicum of respect in his eyes.

"I can understand," he said with his smooth voice. "You see, he's just one hell of a butler."

For once, both sides of her brain were in agreeance.

I'm going to fucking kill him.

OMAKE:

Grell couldn't believe it. He did it. The ultimate accomplishment in his entire career.

The reaper snickered into his hands as he pulled out the photograph from his pocket. Depicted on is was Sebastian smiling flirtatiously back at the tower when he said, "Please."

Even thinking back to the memory got him so riled up that he squealed, unable to contain his excitement.

"Someone's happy."

Startled, Grell jumped, only to find Seir staring at him in bemusement.

"Ah, bear! Yes, though it's nothing to concern yourself w-"

Tripping on an unassuming rock, the demon gracefully steps to the side as he falls on the ground. Hundreds of photos of Sebastian spill out of his jacket.

Fear and humiliation wash over him. "W-what a fucking loser haha these aren't mine I'm just-" Grell refuses to make eye contact with her as he laughs nervously, gathering them up frantically with increasingly sweaty hands. "Listen I just fuck-" Thousands of pictures of Sebastian scatter across the floor. "Shit fuck I'm just holding them for a friend just listen-"

While the redhead floundered in his mess of photos and sweat, Seir bent down to pick up a stray picture. It was Sebastian back at Drossel's tower, smiling flirtatiously as he asked Grell for a request. She stealthily tucks it into her corset for later.

"Clean yourself up," she remarked disdainfully, hurriedly walking away. It's all Grell could do to not cry at that moment, ashamed.

Author's Note:

Hello again! I'm on time :D

Miss Meep: That's true, burnout is such a recurring issue. OTL The reminder was well needed, and I'll feel less guilty when I take a much needed break. Thank you :3