A/N: Written for Kurtbastian Week 2014 Day 3 Summary: This is a second part I wrote for my Kurtbastian Week one-shot The Last Scion, by anon request, detailing 'the ceremony' and how Sebastian was chosen to be Kurt's protector.

Rated M (For talk about sex, language, supernatural elements, and loose interpretation of religious themes)

Kurt fidgeted, watching through narrow eyelids as Sebastian adjusted the collar of his ceremonial robe.

"If you're going to be naked anyway, why do they make you dress up?" Kurt groused. Sebastian turned to peek over his shoulder at Kurt with a smirk on his lips, more sheepish than condescending.

"Actually, I'm not wearing anything beneath the robe," Sebastian commented.

'Oh,' Kurt mouthed, turning his back on his friend.

Sebastian watched Kurt's body as he turned – his shoulders slumping, his head bowing, eyes that Sebastian couldn't see trained down to the floor.

"Look…" Sebastian came up behind Kurt and wrapped secure arms around his chest, trying hard not to press his body against Kurt's and make him any more uncomfortable. "This is just a technicality. It doesn't mean anything. It will be over and done with, and then I'll come back here and we can watch a movie or something."

"Can we watch Moulin Rouge?" Kurt asked quietly. Sebastian smiled.

"Whatever you want, Scion."

Kurt's head popped up.

"Why do you call me that now?" Kurt asked. He had noticed more and more that his friend referred to him more by his title than by his name.

"The priests want us to," Sebastian said, hooking his chin over Kurt's shoulder.

"Well, I don't want you to." Kurt turned in Sebastian's arms and looked deep into his emerald green eyes. "We're here alone. I'm not Scion here. I'm just Kurt. So call me Kurt. Okay?"

Sebastian pecked a kiss to Kurt's forehead.

"Whatever you want, Kurt," Sebastian said. "Of course, I could just call you gorgeous. I think it suits you better."

Kurt smiled weakly, but he looked down the length of Sebastian's gaudy ceremonial robe and the smile fell.

"Don't," Kurt said. "Don't…just…call me Kurt."

Sebastian nodded. No reason to break Kurt's heart more than it already was.

Three quick knocks on Sebastian's cell door interrupted their private moment.

"Come in," Sebastian sighed, turning to greet the man who would usher him away from Kurt and the one moment they would never get the chance to share.

"It's time, Sebastian," the elderly man said, his voice clipped and curt, thick with his obvious disdain and disrespect. It wasn't really a mystery that Sebastian wasn't necessarily a favorite among the other priests, and it amused Sebastian to no end to use that to his advantage. "Have you properly prepared yourself?"

"Do you mean am I ready to go fuck some guy I don't know and will never see again?" Sebastian asked, not even trying to hide his bitterness. "Then the answer to that is yes, sir."

Shielded behind Sebastian's body, hidden from view, Kurt flinched.

"You know, I don't even see why they bother," the man sneered. "You are never going to become protector for…"

Kurt stepped to the side, revealing his presence, seething at the surly man who had insulted his friend. Kurt might be thin in stature, he might be quiet in nature, and he might seem small, but angry Kurt – Last Scion Kurt – could be downright intimidating. In the dark confines of the small cell, the man standing in the doorway could swear he saw Kurt's blue eyes glow.

The priest's mouth dropped, his face going so pale it turned an ashen grey.

"Sc-scion," he stuttered, bowing low in front of Kurt. Kurt looked at Sebastian's amused face and rolled his eyes.

"Grumbald." Kurt acknowledged the man with a stunted nod. "You may leave us. I will be walking my friend to the temple."

Sebastian's face went pale as well and he swallowed hard. They had discussed this. Kurt wanted nothing to do with the ceremony, wanted nothing to do with watching his best friend make love to someone else, especially with the unspoken feelings that seemed to swirl around them whenever they were together. In his heart, Sebastian knew Kurt loved him. Kurt never had any reason to doubt Sebastian's feelings. Sebastian told him every single day.

"But nothing," Kurt growled with a stomp of his foot and a hint of restrained tears in his voice. "Be gone or I'll fuck him myself."

Sebastian chuckled once nervously, but Kurt might as well have threatened to kill the elderly priest, who looked close to vomiting at the thought of the chosen one, the last Scion, sullying himself with a common priest and destroying a mission that the order had been preparing millenia for.

"As you wish, Scion," the man replied, tripping over himself to back out of the cramped quarters, keeping his head bowed while simultaneously scowling at Sebastian. Sebastian plastered a bright, patronizing smile on his face, raised a hand, and waved.

"Bye-bye," Sebastian sang out as the door slammed shut.

Kurt sighed, falling back into his friend's arms when they were finally alone.

"You better watch that mouth, Sci…Kurt," Sebastian said, placing a secret kiss in Kurt's hair. "They're going to wash it out."

"Yeah, well, I'd like to see them try," Kurt said, his voice muffled by the multitude of material draped over Sebastian's body that Kurt hid his face in.

Sebastian wanted nothing more than to stay with Kurt forever, but he had responsibilities – they both did - and as ridiculous as this ceremony was, the faster he got it over with, the faster he would return to Kurt.

"Come on," Sebastian said, looping his arm through Kurt's, "walk with me."

Kurt nodded, brushing away a tear from the corner of his eye with his fingertips. Another tear broke free to take its place and Sebastian caught that one, bringing the drop to his lips and kissing it away. Sebastian's eyes looked a bit longer at Kurt's somber face, wishing he could kiss Kurt's lips instead.

They walked in silence across the courtyard, arm in arm, to the temple lit with torches along the outside and a single line of priests awaiting Sebastian's arrival. Most of the priests eyed the two of them suspiciously. Kurt and Sebastian had been raised together - they had been discovered at roughly the same time - but they seemed to have no other friends among anyone else in the order save for Sebastian's mentor, Tellemband, who hated every day the vows and duties that would forever keep these young men apart. It was unavoidable. Kurt had a job to do, an important one, and if Tellemband had any say in the matter, Sebastian would be right by his side.

It was simply a matter of convincing everyone else.

Tellemband stepped forward, knowing Sebastian had no real supporters in the group gathered, and smiled as genuine a smile as he could muster.

"Are you ready, my son?" he asked Sebastian gently.

Sebastian took one last glance at Kurt and tried to look supportive, but the edges of his mouth quivered beyond his control.

"Yes, sir," Sebastian said, and from what he could see, something in the depths of Kurt's blue eyes shattered.

Tellemband turned to Kurt with the same genuine smile.

"Scion," he said, greeting Kurt formally with a slight bow, "will you be…"

"No, I will not," Kurt snapped. He tried to pull his arm out of Sebastian's grasp but Sebastian held him, circling his arms around him and holding him tight. The other priests gasped that Sebastian would have the gall to manhandle the Scion so familiarly, but Tellemband simply shook his head.

Sebastian knew he shouldn't. He knew in many ways it was too, too cruel, but he couldn't leave Kurt with any doubts.

"It'll be you, Kurt," Sebastian whispered. "It doesn't matter who I'm with, it will always be you."

Kurt crumbled in Sebastian's arms, sobbing like a wounded animal. He wrenched free of Sebastian's embrace and, with a tormented cry escaping his throat, ran off into the darkness. Sebastian hung his head. He felt that cry rip through his entire body. Full of Kurt's boundless despair, it echoed off the walls of the other temples around. Sebastian's mind followed it, trying to stay connected to Kurt for as long as possible. When it faded, he heard the other priests murmuring their disapproval.

"Too selfish…"

"Too connected…"

"…never be a protector…"

Tellemband put his hands on Sebastian's shoulders and led him past the glowers and glares of the other priests and into the temple.

"Don't you dare listen to them," he whispered into his young charge's ear. "There's more written into this prophecy then they'll ever understand because it is meant to be read with the heart, not the head, and I don't think they have any."

Tellemband led Sebastian down a long, dimly lit hall that opened up into a large theater, much like a coliseum, where other priests and acolytes of the order had gathered to bear witness to the ceremony. In the center of the theater, seated on an intricately woven rug, was a man, older than Sebastian by only a few years, already naked, beautiful if Sebastian was willing to admit it. But when he looked at the man with the come hither hazel eyes and the tanned skin, all Sebastian let himself see was Kurt – his Kurt, sitting on a picnic blanket in the sun out in the courtyard, smiling up at him, blue eyes sparkling as they caught the light. This was the fantasy Sebastian had created to get through this – a fantasy of Kurt and their first time together, a first time that would never be real. In Sebastian's dreams, there was no divide, no duty, no responsibilities. Kurt wasn't the Scion and Sebastian wasn't a priest. They were just men, together, in love, sharing a private moment, enjoying each other.

Sebastian let himself get lost to this fantasy, let himself believe that the arms reaching out to him were Kurt's. He dropped his robe and the man on the rug gasped at his first sight of Sebastian's body. Sebastian's wasn't like many of the other priests who didn't value physical exercise over mental fitness. Sebastian wasn't soft; he wasn't spindly or weak. He was strong, muscular, every inch an athletic man in his prime. Sebastian, his mind filled with images of Kurt, approached the man on the rug eagerly, and the man grinned like the cat that had found the hidden bucket of cream. The man rolled onto his stomach, his body already prepared for Sebastian's use. The priests and their consorts had been told there would be no eye contact, no kissing. This was about sex, not intimacy. Sebastian settled down between the man's spread legs and with trembling hands guided his hard cock into the man's body.

"Kurt," Sebastian sighed, needing to say his name to keep the dream from disappearing. The man's incredulous face snapped around to meet Sebastian's closed eyes.

"My name's not…"

Sebastian put a hand on the man's back between his shoulder blades and shoved his face firmly into the rug. He didn't need that foreign voice destroying his carefully constructed fantasy.

"Kurt," Sebastian murmured, moving slowly in and out of the nameless man's body, and at that point the man beneath him could care less what Sebastian called him. "My Kurt…"

Tellemband smiled at the sour men beside him.

"I told you," he said, beaming at the young man who continued to moan Kurt's name. "It has to be him."

"He's in love with the Scion?" a faceless voice asked in disgust.

"He'll jeopardize the mission," another grumbled. "He'll put his own needs ahead of everything else."

"Never," Tellemband said, turning to the row of men. "He'll protect the Scion with his life, I'm sure of it."

Grumbald, sitting amid the row of priests, his expression a twisted, calculating grimace, huffed loudly.

"We'll see," he said, turning away from the scene before him and heading out of the temple.

Sebastian did up the buttons to his robe, not even sparing a glance for the sated man with the goofy smile reclining back on the rug.

"You know, they say the priests and their courtesans can hang around and get to know each other a little better," the man mentioned. "Did you want to…"

"I have somewhere I need to be," Sebastian said quickly, finishing the last of his buttons and turning around, walking headlong right into another priest.

"Are you going to see the Scion?" the man asked with a sneer and a raised eyebrow.

"What does it matter to you?" Sebastian bit out angrily.

The man glared at Sebastian, but then his lips curled into a vicious grin.

"Well, I guess it's best that you spend as much time with him as you can," the priest said with a touch of grim humor. "He has a mission to begin, so he probably won't be around much longer."

Sebastian's whole body went cold.

Kurt wouldn't be around much longer.

Implying that Kurt was leaving and Sebastian would be staying behind.

Sebastian brushed roughly past the priest and ran from the temple. He had intended on stopping by his own cell and showering first to get every last trace of that whore off his skin, but he didn't have time. That priest knew something…something Kurt must already know by now. Sebastian had to find out for himself.

Sebastian raced through the courtyard and past the dormitories, into the rectory where Kurt was kept.

Sebastian heard Kurt's muffled crying before he even approached the door. Sebastian knocked and the crying quieted into choked sobs.

"Kurt," Sebastian called softly. "Kurt, can I come in?"

After long moments of silence, Sebastian thought that Kurt might not open the door, but then it creaked open slowly. Kurt took one look at Sebastian and threw himself into the young priest's arms. Sebastian wanted to push Kurt away. He felt dirty and ashamed. He had convinced himself that he had made love to Kurt in order to survive that ceremony with his sanity intact, but the truth was he hadn't. He had lain with a whore - a common whore. But Kurt's arms were insistent, pulling Sebastian into the room and sitting him onto the hard bed. Sebastian couldn't refuse him.

"I'm so sorry," Sebastian groaned into Kurt's hair. "I'm so, so sorry." He felt tears roll down his cheeks but Kurt shook his head.

"It's not that," Kurt murmured, though Sebastian could tell by the tone in his voice it might have still been that, if only just a little. "Grumbald came back after you left. H-he said that I'm starting my mission t-tomorrow." Kurt looked up at Sebastian, his cheeks red, his eyes watery. "I'm leaving, Bas. I'm leaving…with Alistair."

Sebastian's whole body went rigid, his teeth clenched, his head filling with vile, hateful thoughts. Alistair - that whimpering, weak suck-up chosen to protect his beautiful Kurt. Sebastian couldn't ignore the fact that Alistair also happened to be Grumbald's pupil. That no-good excuse for a priest. He had this planned out. He did this to them. He had intended on finding a way to keep them apart all along.

Sebastian refused to believe that this was happening. He had always imagined that he and Kurt would end up together. He was so sure of it, that even now he couldn't convince himself that things would turn out any different.

Kurt's body trembled and Sebastian realized that he had spent far too much time lingering in his loathing.

"Don't worry, Kurt," Sebastian managed in a voice that sounded weak even to himself. "I won't let them split us up."

"B-but…" Kurt whimpered.

"But nothing," Sebastian said firmly. "I don't care what they say. They can't take you away from me."

Sebastian held Kurt's limp body at arm's distance, noticing how much Kurt had already given up. There had to be something else. Grumbald must have said something else. He had never seen Kurt like this before, but he decided now wasn't the time to ask.

"Let me go shower and change," Sebastian suggested quietly, "and then we'll climb into bed and think of a solution."

Sebastian wanted to sound confident, but other than running away he couldn't really imagine anything they could do.

But if running away was their only option, Sebastian would take it.

"Can I come with you?" Kurt asked. "And just sit on the floor and wait?"

Sebastian sighed. His original plan had been to turn the shower water up to scalding and scream out his frustration, to cry until he had no tears left, to mourn something that never had a hope of being, but he couldn't say no to Kurt. He would never deny him anything.

"Sure," Sebastian said, offering Kurt his hand and pulling him to his feet. "Whatever you want."

A sharp white light broke through Sebastian's dreamless sleep, and he curled over Kurt's body protectively, preparing for a fight. He had made a decision; he was determined that there was no way anyone was taking Kurt from him, Scion or no. He would follow Kurt to the ends of the Earth, he would give up his place in the order, even if it meant discommunication…even if it meant death.

"Sebastian? Kurt?" a soft voice muttered, rousing them further awake. "You have to get up. You have to go now."

Sebastian blinked his eyes open and saw Tellemband, backlit by the bright light, a duffel bag open in his hands as he shoved clothes from the dresser into it along with other odds and ends.

Sebastian shook Kurt, but Kurt whined, not wanting to leave the peace of his dreams to face the reality of a life without Sebastian.

"No, Bas," he murmured.

"Kurt…babe…it's Tellemband. He says we have to leave."

That only vaguely caught Kurt's attention. He opened one eye, watching Sebastian's mentor shove a few more things into the nearly ancient, olive drab military duffel and zip it shut. He turned back onto his side, hiding his head beneath his pillow.

Tellemband grabbed Sebastian's arm, pulling him upright from the bed and away from Kurt to get his attention.

"Don't go back to the dorms," he said severely. "I got all your things. Everything is packed in the pick-up outside."

Sebastian shook his head as he tried to understand.

"Take the north road out," Tellemband continued, shoving a hard plastic card into Sebastian's hand. "This is for the bank account that the order set up for the protector of the Scion, but the minute they know he's gone they're going to close it, so find the first ATM you can and empty it. Every cent. Do you understand?" Sebastian looked down at the card and saw a Post-It wrapped around it with four digits written in clear block script.

"I think so," Sebastian said around a yawn. Tellemband looked at the tired young priest, reared back, and slapped him hard across the face.

"What the fuck?" Sebastian groaned, putting a hand to his wounded cheek, his eyes opened wide.

Tellemband drew his face close to Sebastian's and spoke slowly, significantly.

"Listen to me," Tellemband said. "There will be dire consequences in the morning when the others discover the two of you gone. You need to leave now, go as far as you can away from here…and don't look back."

Sebastian nodded, his green eyes shining with renewed understanding.

"Continue the mission," Tellemband advised. "Keep him safe. Trust no one. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Sebastian said, finally awake with the gravity of the situation. "I understand."

Sebastian shouldered the bag and lifted a sleeping Kurt into his arms, then followed Tellemband quietly out to the courtyard. He didn't ask any questions, didn't wonder out loud why there were no other priests roaming the rectory halls even though there was always one or two about at this hour. He figured Tellemband had done something but felt it better not to know exactly what. They padded out to the cobblestone yard and made a break for the waiting truck. Sebastian slid Kurt into the cold passenger seat and he started to whimper.

"No," Kurt groaned, kicking out his feet but still mostly asleep. "No, I don't want to go. Not with Alistair. Not without Bas."

"Kurt, baby," Sebastian hushed, running a soothing thumb over Kurt's right cheekbone, "it's alright. Go back to sleep. It'll all be okay."

Tellemband watched with a sad, fond smile as Sebastian parted Kurt's bangs and kissed his forehead. Kurt settled back to sleep and Sebastian buckled him in, closing the truck door quietly so as not to wake him again. Sebastian quickly rounded the front of the truck to the driver's side. Tellemband met him there and hugged him, patting him on the back and squeezing him tight. Tellemband released the boy too soon, but he knew if they didn't go, they'd never make it off the compound before the priests on first watch regained consciousness.

He opened the truck door and Sebastian slid into the driver's seat.

Sebastian rolled down the window and looked into the face of the man who raised him, who taught him everything he knew, who defended him and kept him safe…a man whom he would most likely never see again.

"Sebastian," Tellemband said, his voice shaking with emotion, "don't come back."

Sebastian nodded. He understood why. He fired the ignition, shifted the truck into drive, and took off down the road with Kurt by his side, away from temples and ceremonies and disappointed eyes…and the only life he had ever known.