Merry Christmas everyone! Happy holidays! I hope everyone is having a splendid Christmas filled with laughter and fun!

In regards to the fanfic, this'll be a pretty short chapter. I'm kinda losing track of where I'm planning to go with this fanfiction, and in some sense I'd like to blend elements of Kuroshitsuji II in terms of the feud between Ciel and Alois, and hopefully end up wrapping that all nicely (with bows and everything. Haha) but for the moment I've no clue how to approach that point. I have some ideas thrown together for the moment, but I'm afraid the next few chapters might be, well, meh… lol.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

PLEASE R&R!

Disclaimer: Kuroshitsuji © Yana Toboso

Claimer: everything else © me

Chapter Seventeen: The Sinner's Mark

"How could this have happened?" Ciel demanded. "How could Anna have become blind overnight?"

"I don't know," Sebastian responded honestly. "Fang has gone to Heaven to retrieve Michael to see if he might have the answers."

Ciel's brow furrowed, glancing over at the now-blind maid who had a piece of white fabric tied over her eyes, a neat bow on the back of her head to hold the bandage in place. "How are you dealing with this, Anna?"

"I'm okay," she assured. "At first it was a little tricky, but since my senses are more enhanced than the average human's, I can still operate mostly like normal. It'll take a little while to adjust completely, but otherwise I'll be fine."

Seconds later, Fang and Michael descended through the ceiling, the cat landing on the table whilst the handsome angel settled on the ground, folding his majestic white wings behind him and glaring at Sebastian with fierce golden eyes. He had a white book tucked under his arm.

"Sebastian Michaelis," he scowled, "what troubles have you brought to Annabelle now?"

He smiled. "Always a pleasure, Michael Sinas Baites," he responded smoothly. "And it seems that Annabelle has become blind."

"So Fang has told me," he agreed, his worried gaze turning to Anna. "How do you feel, Anna?"

The angelic maid offered a light shrug. "Aside from being blind, I'm perfectly fine," she assured him. "Any ideas on the mark?"

"A white star pentagram, correct?" Michael verified, opening his book to a page and showing Sebastian. "This one?"

"That's the exact one," Sebastian confirmed.

The angel pursed his lips together. "It's the Sinner's Mark," he revealed seriously. "It's the reason why Anna has lost her eyesight."

"What's the Sinner's Mark?" Ciel demanded, eyes narrowing. "What does it mean?"

Michael scratched his head. "It's exactly what its name implies," he answered, "it's the mark of a sinner. In this case, it's the Sinner's Mark Level One. Level One means that Anna committed adultery by sleeping with someone that wasn't her husband. Since we're angels, there are grave repercussions to committing a sin. In this case, Anna's eyesight was stripped away from her."

Ciel slammed his hands on the table, standing up. "But that wasn't her fault!" he snapped, "She wasn't conscious of what she was doing! She shouldn't be punished for it!"

The angel shook his head. "It doesn't matter, as Anna still willingly slept with someone who wasn't her husband," he reasoned. "If it was unwilling, and she had been raped or assaulted, it would be a different story altogether, but..."

Anna drew her lips into a long pout. "Please don't talk as if I'm not here," she commented.

Michael let out an uneasy chuckle. "Sorry, Anna," he apologized, "but even if you were suffering from brainwashing… your angelic soul was still your own…"

Sebastian glanced at his blind wife, greatly irritated that Claude's actions had brought God's wrath upon Anna. Then he looked back at the obviously-frustrated angel Michael. "Is there any way for Annabelle to be redeemed of her sin and regain her sight?"

"I don't know," Michael answered honestly, "I'll do some research to find a path of redemption for Anna. I'll be back later when I find something." He placed emphasis on 'when', hinting that he wasn't going to give up until he found a solution.

Spreading his wings, he lifted off from the air before flying through the ceiling and returning to Heaven. After he left, all was quiet for a while as Sebastian, Ciel, and Fang were frustrated that the beloved Phantomhive angel was forced to suffer as a result of her manipulation by those of the Trancy household.

"Please, don't be so tense," Anna sighed, finally breaking the long silence, "I'm really alright, you know. Something like a little blindness won't stop the Phantomhive Head Maid from performing her duties."

Ciel pursed his lips together, his brows furrowed in slight concern and doubt, and Anna's smile widened.

"Really, Ciel, I've already adjusted," she tried to reassure, "With my sight gone, my other four senses have sharpened. Plus there's my sixth sense that I can rely on, so please don't worry about me."

Sebastian walked over to stand in front of his wife, a serious look on his face. "I promise you, Annabelle," he swore quietly, "until the day you are redeemed of your sin and your sight returns, I will be your eyes."

She smiled, nodding slowly. However, she added mentally to herself, to be honest I don't know if my sight will ever be able to return…

Poor Anna, tis all Claude's fault that she has to go through such a thing. TT_TT Welp, hopefully Michael can find a path for redemption for her. I find it cute how he still cares for her so much despite her being married to Sebastian already.

Once more, sorry for the super-short length of this chapter. TT_TT It was easy to end where it did, so yeah... don't worry, the next chapter will probably be longer.

SOOOOO, this'll probably be the last chapter of 2014. Man, can you believe it's been two years since I've started writing this fanfic? And four years since 'The Butler and the Maid'? Time flies. XD

Welp, till next time! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

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