And now... AN EXTAR LONG CHAPTER FOR MY LOYAL SUBJECTS! Please, hold your applaud and simply enjoy!
We appeared in a dense forest area in the Earth realm some time during the late afternoon. I could see a road about 150 yards off with my keen eyesight.
"Where are we?" I asked Lucifer.
"North America. This is a place called 'Maine' in the 'United States of America'. The year is 1892. This country broke off from Great Britain awhile back and now the inhabitants considers themselves 'Americans.' I assume you've kept up with human world issues and events."
I nodded. "I have." I hefted my trunk off the ground. "Where am I going?"
"Get on that road and head west. In about an hour, it will begin to rain and build up into a pour. It will be more prudent if you arrive at the Balin mansion slightly wet and ask for lodgings. I understand that the servants have strong empathy streaks. After you get in, find some way to get Sebastian and the Ciel child alone and explain the situation. And one last thing, please, don't do anything rash."
"Fine." I sighed a sigh of defeat and hugged him goodbye. He tore open the hole again and stepped through. Fool. I was already planning ways to torture Sebastian. I pulled out a piece of paper and pen I had stowed into my pocket from Caitlyn's room. I wrote a long letter to Ciel that would accompany the other papers I had to give him. Within five minutes, I had a perfect plan.
I couldn't let Sebastian recognize me yet, so I changed my appearance. I made myself shorter, only about 5"6' now. I wasn't as curvy and I made my hair short and a very dark brown, almost black. I made it so short, it almost didn't touch my shoulders. I changed my lips too, not as shiny and a bit thinner. I gave my skin a bit more of a tan. Just a bit. My boobs shrank and I gained a little weight in the middle. I was still beautiful, just not so drop-dead gorgeous anymore.
I flipped my hair, knowing I still looked very good. I stowed my paper and grabbed my belongings I began walking parallel with the unpaved road. I pulled out the mirror as I walked. Looking into it, I didn't see Will immediately, so I angled it around until I found him. He was in his office, and he stopped and smiled. Upon seeing my changed appearance, he tilted his head slightly in confusion. I mouthed to him, explaining, the slight change and addition to the plans. He said he would fill Grell in and they would plan accordingly. I nodded and said goodbye putting the mirror back.
I was going to pull out the other documents and Phantomhive records to quickly study them before the rain started. I looked for them in the handbag, but was distracted by something hard and smooth in the bottom. I pulled it out and found a silver pocket-watch with a picture of Caitlyn and Lucifer on the inside. I smiled. It was set to human time, which was six fifty-two. It made me smile. I placed the watch back in the bag and pulled out the first document, a copy of Sebastian's current contract.
I quickly figured out what had happened. Ciel, in an attempt to end the ridiculous fight between Sebastian and Claude, the now-deceased arachnid demon, ordered Sebastian to remain his butler until he ate his soul. Then, Hannah turned Ciel into a Demon, permanently incarcerating Ciel's soul and poisoning it. Sebastian can never eat Ciel's soul, and therefore is forever his butler.
And I'm stuck with Sebastian forever. Great. I thought.
What? Is this all too confusing for you? Honestly, keep up…
Another paper was an unburnable, untarnishable, officially stamped declaration of Pairing between Sebastian and me and listed all of the things that the Pairing meant. It had to be at least ten pages long, in very small print. The sky turned dark and it began to sprinkle lightly, so I put the papers back into my bag. I ran quickly to the Balin estate and waited in a luxurious gazebo in the back. What was I waiting for? I wasn't sure myself. I was probably stalling. So, I went through the Phantomhive/Balin history. The staff had been turned immortal by Sebastian recently, so they could continue to serve Ciel Phantomhive.
As for Ciel, he had his name changed when he finished his demon training and decided to return to the human world. He was now Mr. Ciel Balin. He ran an international toy factory, surprise, surprise. I studied the rest of the information on him and his staff quickly, finishing within a half-hour.
I sat and thought about my plan of action, thinking over all of the things that could go wrong and how to avoid them. I decided to wait until it was a little later, to avoid interrupting dinner at the mansion. I made sure that I wasn't distinguishable as anything other than human to the naked eye by ensuring my marks were completely covered. I waited until it was eight-forty, and then ran through the rain to the front door.
I was slightly wet, giving off a pathetic, empathy-inducing look. But my shoes and clothes were pretty dry. Perfect. The water simply sat on my shiny hair and face. I lifted the knocker and clanked it against the door. Waiting, I tilted my head down slightly, allowing my hair to fall in my face and conceal my identity a bit further. Humans enjoy mysteries.
A young human opened the door, a mid-twenties boy with spiky blonde hair. He was dressed in a gardener's uniform. I recognized from the files, Finnegan, I believe. He looked at me and spoke kindly…
"Oh. Hello there! Can I help youuuu-" He stopped mid-sentence, shocked at my still amazing looks, he blushed like crazy.
"Whoaoaoa! Uh…. hi! My name's Finny! I'm the manor's gardener! What can I do for you madam?" He bowed slightly.
"Yes, hello." I said meekly. "My name is Holly. I was going to come by this afternoon to speak with Mr. Balin. I have some business to attend to with him. But, unfortunately, I was delayed in arriving and then it began to rain. Is there someone I can inquire to about having lodgings for the night?"
"Oh yeah! Sure! Of course!" He looked over his shoulder. "SEBASTIAAAAAAAAN!" he screamed into the large mansion. He turned back to me. "Just a moment madam." He ran in and upstairs. I remained in the entryway, ever patient. He returned within a minute, running back down the stairs and down to me.
He saw me still standing in the open doorway and ran up to me, motioning me inside. "Please do come in out of the wet and cold! I'm sure that no matter what, you'll be allowed to stay. The young master is quite kind!" He told me this as he led me to some chairs farther inside the large room. I thanked him and followed as he sat me down in a large armchair. I brushed my hair into my face in a manner that made my identification quite difficult, but so I still looked beautiful. Finny sat across from me and smiled.
"Sebastian should be right down, madam!" He beamed brightly.
I noticed something about "Finny" then. Specifically, a flaw of his that would be to my advantage. He was completely trusting!
I studied his facial features a bit more. We demons have a sense, it's rather difficult to explain. It's something similar to mind reading without mind reading. It's more of "personality reading", if you will. We sat for a few minutes in silence. He studied me and I studied him. He would be trustworthy in my journey. His loyalties lied with Sebastian and Ciel, of course, but once I explained that I wasn't actually going to cause any harm, he would play along for sure.
So, I dropped the pretense. Finny had a soul of pure gold and would easily side with me and could be recruited for my plan of torture. I was already tired of waiting for Sebastian to come downstairs. It seemd my patience wasn't as everlasting as I'd like to think. I was exhausted by this whole Pairing. Patience… patience…
I quickly recalled the history of Finny and all of his qualities. Let's see, extreme strength due to medical experimentation, love of nature, kindness, honesty, and many more wonderful redeeming qualities. I sat up straight and addressed him;
"Finny," I allowed my hair to fall out of my face and a smiled brighter. My eyes flashed red and his smile disappeared, his muscles tensing. I remained calm to prove I was no threat. "You are incredibly strong, Finny, and have been alive for at least a hundred years now. I need to see Sebastian and Ciel Phantomhive now. I am here because I have been contracted with Michaelis." Finny nodded solemnly and we both stood.
"I require proof of this contracting." Finny said. I began to pull up my skirt, and he gasped, shocked, obviously unaware of what I was really doing.
"I WILL NOT BE PERSUADED OTHERWISE!" he shrieked in a derpish, never-kissed-a-girl, voice. He probably thought I was going to tempt him to think otherwise with my womanly charms. Then he saw the symbol on my leg and stopped shrieking. He came closer and crouched, examining it.
"Does it hurt…?" he muttered.
I looked him right in the eyes. "More than anything you can imagine."
He stood, his eyes softer now, a small smile back. "Well, it's genuine. What…What's happened?"
I nodded and began to recruit him for my devious plan. I explained my story and most of what had happened, with a few alterations. I told of the heartbreak, the Pairing and everything relevant. I then told him my plan.
"We aren't actually going to hurt anyone, right?"
"No, sir. No physical injury. I'm just dragging out the seemingly inevitable for myself."
His smile returned and he laughed. "This sounds like something Sebastian might do to someone. I know he has a really cold, harsh, dark side. I've seen it once or twice…. scary." His eyes glossed over and he looked away for a moment. "But I'm in, definitely! You can count on me!" We moved back to where we had been sitting before.
"Thank you so much, Finny!" To my left, Tanaka, another house servant who was always like a ninja, laughed slowly as he made himself apparent.
"Ho, ho, ho." he chuckled slowly. I nodded towards him, acknowledging his presence.
"Finny, I need you to get the others in on it, May-Rin and Bardroy. Can you do that for me pretty please?"
"I don't know, they might not believe me… they still treat me like a little kid…" He looked down, but not before I saw anger flash in the back of his eyes.
When he looked back, I was sitting right next to him on the sofa. I had moved in the blink of an eye. He yelped and jumped a little. I calmed him back down and got right up into his face, our lips only inches apart. He began stammering quietly.
I whispered, looking deep into his eyes, "Please, Finny. Do it for me… It's been so long, and I'm so weakened from travel. Tanaka will help you convince the others… please…" He was clay in my hands, prepared for molding.
"Of course! How could I be so stupid! I'll tell them while you speak with Sebastian and the Master! And no more waiting!" He said it enthusiastically while blushing a deep crimson.
"Thank you sooo much!" I squealed giddily. Oh yeah, I was going to like this boy.
"This way, ma'm!" He led me up a wide staircase and down some hallways. We continued until we entered a large sitting area where Ciel Balin sat in a plush armchair. Sebastian stood behind the chair, pouring tea. He looked up but didn't recognize me. The only thing that kept my hatred for him from spilling over was my plan for his drawn out torture…
"Finny! Who the hell is this and why is she in here!" Ciel demanded.
"But, Master! The rain and, and, and…" Finny started to stutter. I raised my hand, palm out, and interjected.
I nodded to Finny. "It's not his fault, Mr. Balin. I had business with you earlier today and got delayed. I convinced the lad to let me come see you." Ciel thought for a moment, then nodded and Finny hurried from the room. Sebastian now handed the tea to Ciel and smiled politely towards me, still clueless as to who I was.
I took a deep breath. Show time. I lifted my head, letting my hair fall away from my face. The two of them simply stared at my beauty. Sebastian merely kept the polite look of calm. Ciel, a still young and reckless demon snapped.
"Well, what do you want?"
"I believe this will explain it all, sir." I handed him the Pairing agreement, the new clause to be added to Sebastian's contract, and my written idea for torturing Sebastian for a while. Not two lines in, Ciel assigned Sebastian to rearrange the books on the other side of the room. I knew that this mindless task was to assure Sebastian would not see the papers or read them. And since Sebastian thought I was human, he had to appear to do things at a human speed.
Part way through the reading, Ciel looked up at me and smiled, having realized what this was mostly about. He waved his hand and set the papers in his lap.
"Where are my manners Ms. Holly? Sebastian! Pour our guest some tea and bring a chair closer to me for her to sit in. And get something for her to dry off with."
"Yes, Master." Sebastian said curtly with a bow.
He poured me some tea and sat me in a large armchair across from Ciel that he had pulled over. It felt good to have Michaelis serving me. He then left the room swiftly. Ciel quickly turned to me and spoke in a voice too quiet for even a demon to hear.
"Lovely. I approve wholly. I take you under my domain until the contract ends. You will be a guest here for tonight and train tomorrow to adjust to life here, then begin duties as an extra house servant and my tutor. Agreed?"
I put my hand over my heart and bowed slightly. "Yes, Mr. Balin. Tomorrow it shall become 'sir' and 'master'."
Sebastian then returned with a fine towel. I noticed something then that only very keen eyes would, Sebastian was looking me over. And he liked what he saw. There was no passion in his eyes, but he acknowledged my beauty...
"Now, Sebastian." Ciel started, smiling. "Be kind and dry our tired guest off." Ciel almost snickered.
"Yes, Master." Sebastian replied. With a perfect smile, perfectly fake that is, he kneeled and began to dry my leggings, slowly and smoothly. His touch was so light and soft… Damn this whole "bonding process"! I was already beginning to see him as I used to. I wouldn't let that happen just yet, though. I would hold on to my pride and hatred as long as I could! Sexiness be damned!
Oh, wait. We already were…
As Sebastian dried me slowly and very sexily, Ciel explained the situation as I had suggested.
"Sebastian, This is Ms. Holly. She will be staying as an guest for tonight to adjust and recuperate. She will observe tomorrow and train for duties as a house servant and my tutor. May-Rin could use some assistance during the day, I think. I believe you will find Holly quite capable."
"Of course, Master." He then turned to me with his glowing smile and his tasseled hair and his perfect eyes and… SHUT UP BRAIN!
He bowed slightly. "Welcome to the Balin manor, Ms. Holly." He turned back to Ciel. "Where shall her quarters be, master?"
"I believe the old library could be converted within only a few days." Ciel was grinning ear to ear.
"The one downstairs, Master?" His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Yes, Is there a problem with that room?"
"Not at all sir. I shall begin work on it immediately." Sebastian said smoothly.
Ciel smiled. "Yes you will, Sebastian." That threw him off.
"Beg pardon, sir?" Sebastian was confused. The look on his face was priceless.
Ciel repeated. "You WILL begin immediately, as in right now."
"Of course, Master." And just like that, Sebastian left.
Ciel turned towards me. We laughed quickly. His face turned a little more serious, but he was still smiling. "Let's get down to business. You're name is Holly Lankana. You're of the 6th circle of the inner light, aquaria domain, now eternally bonded to Sebastian Michaelis, 2nd order of the dark realm, avian-felus domain. Is this all right so far?"
"Correct so far, sir."
"And his domain is currently serving mine, through contract, yes?"
"Yes."
"So. You must be bound by all the same things that bind and restrict him."
"Almost."
He paused. "Almost?" his eyes slanted slightly. I could tell his slip-up annoyed him.
"Yes, sir. In section four, clause two of the Pairing document, it clearly states that if I become severely injured, or have a near-death encounter, or if Sebastian meets any of that criteria, all inhibiting contracts are null and void by order of Lord Lucifer, top tier, first class." I quoted.
He sat back, his hands folded together. "Ah, I see. So if you're in danger, you're priority is him, not my orders and my protection and vice versa." He sighed. "Very well, I've had enough of demonic business. Tell me about your abilities. You are going to be my tutor after all."
"I am fluent in every language except Native American and Cantonese, though I know enough of those to get by. I can speak and read Shinigami, which Sebastian cannot do. I play piano and cello very well. I have had many other contracts that have involved cooking and cleaning. I was once a four-star restaurant chef, and within a week of being contracted there, it became five-star with lines out the door and down the street. Also, I can cultivate the most beautiful roses."
He nodded and I continued. "I am an experienced dress and suit maker. I can teach anyone to dance to anything. I compose music and can manipulate water. I am very technologically capable. I am also an experienced medic and have many cures for many things. I have friends in high places. Sebastian exceeds in some skills and I exceed in those that he doesn't in addition to most of the ones he does. That about covers it."
"Wonderful, but," He stopped, thinking about how to phrase the question. "You aren't a cat addict, are you?"
I snickered a little and paused before answering him. "No, sir. I do love cats, but nowhere near the way Sebastian obsesses over them."
He exhaled with relief. "Excellent. Now, how about a test of faith? Tell me something about Sebastian… something he wouldn't want me to know…"
Oh, wonderful. I thought. This kid must like juicy tidbits of gossip. Well, I had all he could ever want to hear.
"Yes, sir. What would you like to hear?"
"Oh, tell me his weaknesses…"
"Very well. He tries to keep this hidden, but he speaks no Chinese, no Japanese, no Korean, no Latin, and no Greek. I speak Japanese and Korean fluently. I often sent messages and spoke to others in Japanese when I didn't want him to understand. I could teach you how to speak it…"
"Haha! Wonderful! We'll begin lessons next week! What else?"
"Well, if you were to speak poorly of me, or more specifically, speak ill of Lankana, it would be bad."
"Bad how?"
"He would disregard all orders and ethics and do everything in his power to…kill you. Without breaking the contract, of course."
"I see. An interesting card to add to my deck of tricks. More."
"He despises the color yellow. No idea why. And there is a flower, known as the deblo flori, or demon flower. Are you aware of it?"
"Yes, the ones used for certain demon-to-demon contracts? Similar to roses, but never red?"
"Yes, that one. Well, it has a certain… That is to say… It is an aphrodisiac for Sebastian and me, specifically for our domains. Out of all of the domains, ours are two that when paired, we attain certain levels of… Hmmm… How to put it… Sexual awareness. We gain new…insights? It is all very difficult to explain.
"Well, that's fine and dandy. I've gotten enough for tonight. Please, go acquaint yourself with the others. And may I just get this out of the way…?" He swallowed, as if very nervous. "You are a very, very beautiful woman. Sebastian should be honored, when he finds out."
I smiled. "Thank you sir. My appearance will change, though, once he finds out."
I saw curiosity in his eyes. "Is that so? I'm interested. Show me how you will change. Now."
Demanding much? "Yes, sir."
I began to change, concentrating, my hair becoming longer, straighter, browner. My eyes shifted on my face and changed shape as they returned to a sparkling light blue-green. My lips turned back to their glossy pink state and I became taller and thinner with larger breasts and better defined legs. My hands straightened and my nails became black, all while the he stared at me.
Ciel smiled, rather admiringly. "Wonderful. And this is how Sebastian will recognize you?"
"Yes, sir." I said as I began to shift back.
"And where is your symbol?"
I pulled up my skirt and lowered my right legging, revealing the binding symbol of Sebastian's domain.
"Very good, very good. Now, to test it. I order you, Holly, go acquaint yourself with the others." I felt the searing pain of a command that must be followed. My symbol glowed and I fixed my skirt and curtseyed.
"Yes, Master."
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