AN: So this is new. If your going to read my other stuff, don't judge my old Naruto stuff, I'm still rewriting it...Also, all times are approximated.
1751
"Kyōki-san, I have the latest shipment for you." The young man places a crate in front of me on the shop counter.
"How much do I owe for this one, or have they left me to appraise the souls this time?" I begin to pry the lid off of the crate; some sawdust begins to cling to the air in clouds due to my efforts.
"They said the base price is normal, but you're free to raise it if you feel these are woth more."
"Ahhhh, this is a nice one…" I pull out a jar, and carefully view its contents, slowly rotating the glass cylinder. "However, it seems that it was fairly messy." I raise my eyebrow at dried blood crusting the lid of the jar.
"I didn't do it, I just deliver." The young man shrugs.
"Yeah, but tell your employer to be more careful." I hand him money, and he counts it as he turn to leave the shop.
"If you don't want blood on the goods, you should do your own dirty work."
"I do, actually, I just don't do all of it." I follow him to the front, locking the door behind him.
"Alright bitches, time to clean this shit up," I mutter to myself, picking the crate up and blowing out the solitary candle resting on the front counter, bathing my shop in shadows. The door to the rest of my building creaks as I push it open. Light from the dying day outside my windows bleeds a weak glow into the nearly impenetrable darkness of my sparse living space.
Today's deliveries I carefully pull out of the crate and place on a large shelf, holding several more mason jars. I retrieve one in particular, and pull out a book behind, flipping to a bookmarked page and walking through my makeshift dining room and kitchen to get down to my cellar.
1891
The carriages slows to a stop, and I snort in amusement.
"Sebastian, why are we stopping here?" I hear the muffled voice of the demon child seep through the door of the carriage.
"We are simply picking up a passenger."
"Well, Demon Junkie, I believe it is us who have picked a passenger," I state, swinging my self into the posh carriage.
"Is that so, Soul Smith?" Demon Junkie sounded pissed.
"Angry that I'm not going to just end the contract and restart the game, eh?"
"Sebastian, who is this and what is going on?" Ciel Phantomhive also looked pissed.
"I'm Soul Smith, or Kyōki." I stare at my masterpiece, and smile despite its desecration. This will be interesting.
"Soul Smith, if you are not here to reset the game, why are you here?" Demon junkie glared at me through his fringe, his eyes glowing pink.
"Two things."
"Nani?"
"Two things. I had two options, and now I must walk you through my thought process." My smile widens, so much unlike the smile I wore when I first summoned Demon Junkie.
1751
I press the cold blade of the knife against my skin, drawing crimson liquid to the surface of my skin. The scarlet droplets fall and splash into a small puddle in a bowl below my wrist, and a sad, regretless, smile finds its way onto my face. I close my eyes and sigh; it's almost over. I don't need this pain, these emotions. I won't have them anymore. The expression on my face hardens, and my resolve turns to stone.
"You have summoned me, this cannot be undone." A cold voice reaches my ears, and I look up into the eyes of a demon.
1891
"The first option I had, and the most obvious and least time consuming one, was too sever the contract between you two, and reforge your soul into a human one." They both stare at me, but my dark brown hair covers my red eyes. "The second option, and the one I'm going with, is much more interesting."
"How so?" The young Phantomhive rests his chin against his fist and crosses his legs.
"Should you choose to accept my offer, I do believe we have found a third player." I chuckle darkly, and Demon Junkie's jaw drops. I can see Ciel smile despite himself.
"Now, obviously, this leaves dear Demon Junkie here at a disadvantage, and due to the fact that created your soul, also leaves you at the slightest disadvantage."
"So that's why he calls you 'Soul Smith'."
"Yes, I'm a licensed resurrectionist, the only one, and I can create and destroy souls. I achieve what Shinigami can't, the full merging of two souls. Which, consequently, is how I made your soul, except there were way more than two involved in the creation of my masterpiece."
"How interesting." Ciel chuckles, and Demon Junkie stares impassively at the wall.
"Anyway, here's what I propose: the same game, but with partners."
"Before I accept your proposition, Kyōki-san, I would like to know what game this is." Ciel raises an eyebrow.
"Oh right. Well first, there are three phases, and three rules. In the original game, there were two players and the prey, you."
"I was the prey...I see...then you two were the players."
"Indeed, bocchan."
"Phase one is the tracking and contracting with the intending contract, and if won, gives a slight advantage in phase three. Phase two is the completion of the targets wish, and strategic positioning by the player who did not contract with the target. Phase three is the final competition for the soul of the prey, and anything goes as long as it is not against the rules."
"Why did you not kill Claude Faustus or Hannah?"
"Blame Demon Junkie and his damn obstinance for that one."
"Oh?"
"I refused to let Kyōki-san interfere. Last round was the first time I had been winning against her for fifty years, and it became personal."
"You won nearly straight for the first half-century, but I gained footing eventually. Anyway, your very immature, Demon Junkie."
"What were the rules?"
"The first one, bocchan, is you never mention or explain the game to uninvolved entities."
"Hai, and the second rule is that resetting the game by killing the target is only acceptable if the game has reached the point where neither party is capable of obtaining victory."
"And what is the third?"
"You never kill you opponents." I make eye contact with Ciel and he flinches, ever so slightly.
1751
I pull the jar I selected from the shelf upstairs out from behind me. "This," I state, "Is a goddamn soul." The demon picks up the jar, and a corner of his mouth turns up.
"Are you intending to pay me with someone else's soul? If so, I'm afraid I must turn down your offer." The demon began to stand from where he was kneeling.
"No,"
"What?"
"This soul, I made it. I made it, so that when destroyed, it would reform itself and be reincarnated."
"I still won't accept less than your soul for granting a wish."
"Unfortunately if you actually fulfilled my wish, you wouldn't be able to have my soul."
"I don't turn people into demons."
"You may want to rethink that when I tell you what's actually on the table."
1891
"Now then, Ciel Phantomhive, if you accept my offer, you and Demon Junkie would be one team, my partner and I would the other."
"What partner?"
"Why do you think I plan on meeting up with you two again in a century? I don't have one yet."
"I assume some of that time will also go to you making a new soul to chase."
"Yes, this one will be better. I'll have to go reclaim my shop from my apprentice, but I have already started collecting."
"I see. That is why I was unable to sense them."
"Sense whom, Sebastian?"
"Hannah and the Macken brothers."
"Anyway," I cut in, "One last thing before I go. Ciel, the transition your mind has already started will be difficult, but I expect good things from my masterpiece, yeah?" I pause and he just stares at me. "Whatever, just don't go insane or commit suicide. Also, Demon Junkie can explain the details of the game." I jump out of the moving carriage, dissolving into the trees.
1751
"I see, this is quite interesting, but what exactly do you want from me?"
"Not much, I need you to help me catch a killer, and then turn me into a demon." I smile sadly at the thought.
"Where would you like the contract seal?" I pause for a moment at his question.
"It doesn't need to be too powerful…" I trail off, looking at the wall with eyes clouded in thought.
"In that case...the back of your neck?"
"That's fine." I shrug, and my hand soon flies to the back of my neck.
"Itai, that shit burns," I hiss through my gritted teeth. The demon just smirks.
AN: Don't expect a new chapter for a while, I still need to come up with a good plot for the rest of it, other than Soul Smith's backstory. If you have some ideas, feel free to review/PM me, I can't promise I'll use them but the power of a review is magical.