Chapter 20: The Cat is Out of the Bag
Hello my lovelies! Since I wrote that last chapter, I feel like I am on a roll so I'm writing the next chapter. Here is the magic!
L0n3W0lf36: Thank you for your feedback! It's so great to hear from you again my lovely!
"Round, innocent eyes, unaware of this world's impurities
A tail that lends its cuteness as an air of refinement
Soft rosy pads
Let's go you cat obsessed moron"
-Ciel and Sebastian (I simply couldn't resist this quote when I made up the chapter title XD)
Anyways, this looks like all I want to say beside urging my readers to give feedback on my story ideas so I will get started on the next chapter of An Earthbound Angel.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o An Earthbound Angel o0o0o0o0o0o0o
The next morning I woke to sunlight pouring through my window and an annoying headache. Alright, note to self, do not mess with demon venom. With a groan I sat up in bed to see Sebastian tying up my curtains.
"I want to thank you for yesterday Sebastian," I told him as he finished his task.
"There is nothing to thank me for," he assured me while he sat down on the side of my bed. "You are my mate. Your well being is crucial to my survival." A small smile grew on my lips at his words. It was nice to know that I meant so much to him.
"So, you're king of Hell?" I asked him, running my hands through my bed hair.
"Yes, there I am known as King Malphas."
"So that's your real name. When I found out Sebastian wasn't your real name, it kind of felt weird to call you that." A pleased rumble came from his chest that had me giggling softly to myself. I have to admit that it was kind of cute. It kind of reminded me of a cat. My peaceful, happy bubble was then burst when I realized that I needed to explain to both Ciel and Lizzie.
"Are Ciel and Lizzie up yet?"
"Both the Young Master and Lady Elizabeth have already awoken and are getting dressed," Sebastian, no, Malphas answered easily. I sighed but none the less slipped out of my bed to stretch out my limbs. Might as well get this over with, I thought as I trudged over to my wardrobe to take out a pink, white, and silver dress that had a base color of a pink rose with a sweetheart neckline that had three silver beads on the thin spaghetti straps, the bodice hugged my form down to my hips where the material was gathered in a bunch on my left hip that made the fabric have a waterfall effect which had a white underskirt peeking out from under the pink material that reached the floor.
"I'll be down in a moment," I promised him, subtly requesting him to leave the room. He didn't take the hint. Instead he strode over to me and wrapped his arms around me from behind me.
"You know Ariel, I am always happy to help you dress. We are mates after all."
"I realize that Malphas, but I am a big girl. I can dress myself."
"You know, sooner or later I will see you naked." At this a large blush settled on my cheeks. "So you might as well get used to the idea."
"Malphas," I sighed in exasperation. "Out. I will be down in a moment." His body at once heeded my order, his legs walking smoothly to the door.
"Now Ariel, there is no need to be shy. But, I suppose our alone time can be postponed." A groan of embarassment left me as I shut my bedroom door after him. Finally, I sighed to myself while attempting to calm my racing heart and cool my cheeks. Now I can get dressed in peace. I slipped on the dress along with a pair of silver slippers that went with my nonremovable red bracelet on my right wrist. As for my hair I put it in a bun on the left side of my head that had some hair hanging down from the bun down to my waist. A simple dusting of silver powder was placed on my eyelids and a spritz of beach scented perfume was put on before I deemed myself ready for the day. Let's do this, I thought as I steeled my resolve before opening my door. There was no one in the halls on my way down, but I saw everyone waiting for me in the dining room. There was no conversation between Ciel, Lizzie, or I but Mei, Bard, and Finni were more than happy to strike up a conversation with me. Thanks to the others, or no thanks to the others I couldn't really decide at the moment, breakfast seemed to pass quickly which left my brother, Lizzie, and I in Ciel's study with a pot of Earl Gray tea, a pot of the blackberry/raspberry tea that Malphas had made for me, and some sanwiches and cakes for us to nibble on as we had our discussion. I had a feeling that I was going to need my tea and the sweets.
"So Lizzie, where would you like to begin?" I asked her, taking a cup of my tea.
"Um," she bit her lip. "How about you. Are you really an angel?"
"Yep. I am an earthbound angel, an angel who volunteered to reside in the human realm to help and protect the humans. I am also known as Archangel Ariel, the angel of nature and animals."
"What is Sebastian?"
"Sebastian is a demon," Ciel answered for me. "I want revenge on the people who wronged me so I made a contract with him to get it. In exchange for my revenge, once my business is finished, Sebastian will eat my soul." During this explanation, Ciel untied his eyepatch to show the purple faustian contract on his right eye. "This mark on my eye allows Sebastian to know exactly where I am and allows me to give any order I want to Sebastian." Her eyes widened in shock at the information, but she only took a calming sip of Ciel's tea.
"I guess that makes sense," she offered. "So, what is Undertaker?"
"Undertaker is a shinigami, or a death god," I told her. "A shinigami's job is to reap the soul of a person on the to die list." By now she was gently rubbing her temples while letting out a shaky breath.
"Alright. Now what is it about both Undertaker and Sebastian being your mate?"
"Well, an earthbound angel is given the ability to have either a shinigami or a demon as a mate, but the angel will only meet one or the other because demons and shinigami tend to stay away from the other. However, I had the pleasure of meeting both my demon mate and my shinigami mate. This causes some friction between the two besides the species rivalry because both have the urge to have sole possession over me."
"This brings us to the issue of you and Undertaker," Ciel said with narrowed eyes at me. "Did you sleep with him Ariel?"
"Yes," I answered sheepishly. I could see the anger on Ciel's face while I could feel the anger in Malphas.
"This is exactly why I didn't want you to stay there! I knew something like this would happen!"
"Big brother," I interrupted firmly, causing Ciel to stop his shouting at once. "What happened between Undertaker and I would have happened anyways. We bonded which allows us to know where the other is and allows us to communicate telepathically. With this being done, I have never felt so complete." At this I could see the hearts in Lizzie's eyes at my words while Ciel let out a deep sigh.
"I can at least see that you wanted it as well," Ciel commented with a blush on his cheeks. "So I'm not as angry as I was. I just wish you would have waited until you were married."
"To earthbound angels and their mates, technically, this is marriage," I pointed out softly. A huff left him but he didn't say anything else on the matter. During this little chat, I had devoured seven cakes and had drank three cups of tea.
"There is one other thing I have a question about," Lizzie admitted.
"Ask away Lizzie," I encouraged her.
"Who was that that attacked us last night?" This was Malphas's turn to speak up.
"He was Lord Alvarez of the Southern Lands in Hell. He was a relatively weak demon as was pointed out by the appearance of his ears and tail, but he won't bother you again Lady Elizabeth."
"Are more demons going to be going after Ariel?" Lizzie questioned which made me choke on my tea. I had never thought that I would be targeted by a demon again. This caused Malphas's eyes to swirl from his wine colored eyes to his blood red then back to the wine color.
"Not if I have anything to say about it," he seethed. "However, if I were to bond with Ariel, the demons would back off and she would be safe."
"Absolutely not," Ciel denied at once.
"I'm sorry Young Master," Malphas countered. "But if Ariel wants it, I can do nothing but obey." He didn't look sorry or sad about it at all. Lizzie gave me a questioning glance while I held a very flushed face.
"It's a demon mate thing," I supplied for her. All she did was nod.
"I agree with Sebastian," Lizzie spoke up, surprising everyone. What did she mean she agreed with Malphas?
"What do you mean?" Ciel voiced for me.
"I think that Sebastian and Ariel should bond." Both Ciel and I sprayed our tea, with me coughing at the end, and Malphas's eyes only widened quickly before they returned to his normal stoic expression.
"Lizzie," I protested in embarassment.
"Hear me out Ariel," she insisted with raised palms. "By the two of you being bonded, it is basically telling all the other demons to keep their hands off. I don't know about you Ciel, but I would rather Ariel be safe than possibly dead." All Ciel and I could do was stare at Lizzie in shock while Malphas kept a neutral facial expression, but I could feel how pleased he was with what Lizzie said. While I could feel the embarassed blush on my cheeks, I could also feel the sadness of feeling like I would betray Pheobus if I bonded with Malphas. Surely it was not possible to have both of my mates at the same time. Was it? My focus around me faded out as I pondered over this while worrying my bottom lip between my teeth. Lizzie seemed to sense my unease on the subject so she placed a hand on mine which caused me to snap out of my daze and look at her.
"I'm not forcing you to do anything Ariel," she assured me softly. "I just think it's a good idea, though I can kind of understand the confliction you have for both men." I was grateful for her words but because they were said in the presence of both my brother and Malphas, my blush turned a much darker red. At the sight of my red face, Lizzie pulled the both of us up from our seats and proceeded to drag us out to the garden.
"There," she said once we settled in a secluded spot. "Now we can have our girl talk by ourselves." At her mention of girl talk, this had me thinking about her relationship with my brother. Auntie Anne had once told us that a wife should always be lively and cute for their husbands which Lizzie took to heart while I disregarded it. My husband should love me for who I am, I had thought at the time, or else he wouldn't be marrying me.
"Hey Lizzie."
"Yes, Ariel?"
"Speaking of girl talk, I want to talk with you about your relationship with my brother." Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but by the look in her eyes, she was encouraging me to go on. "Well, we both know that how you act around my brother is not how you really are. You should try being yourself around him." Tears immediately appeared in the corner of her eyes.
"But Auntie Anne told me that I was to act cute -,"
"And you are cute Lizzie," I interjected. "Just by being yourself you are cute. However, you should know that now Ciel has much bigger things to take care of than when we were children. He has business meetings and such that are a pain to reschedule." Her face fell at my words which had a soft smile appear on my lips. "Buuuut, if you help him with his work, I'm sure he can get it done faster which is more time that can be free to spend with you." This had her face brightening back up as she launched herself at me in a hug.
"Thank you Ariel!" she squealed happily that was interrupted by a loud bark. Confusion settled on Lizzie's face at the sound. "I didn't know you had a dog Ariel."
"Yep," I chirped before I turned to where I heard Pluto's bark. "Over here Pluto!" At the sight of Pluto's large demon hound form, Lizzie paled and clutched me to her. "Lizzie, this is Pluto my demon hound. Pluto, this is my sister to be Lizzie."
"Nice to meet'cha," Pluto greeted her once he traded his demon hound form for his human one.
"He says hello," I translated to the sight of a blushing Lizzie who was covering her eyes.
"Hello Pluto, it's very nice to meet you," she responded like a true lady before she whispered to me, "He's not wearing any clothes." With another look at Pluto I realised that he wasn't.
"Oh yeah. I forgot about that," I admitted as Pluto came to curl up on my lap.
"How could you forget that?!"she exclaimed in shock while keeping her eyes covered.
"I just don't see him that way I guess," I replied. "It's like he is an animal companion. Not quite a pet yet he is not fully human. Do you get what I'm trying to say Lizzie."
"Sort of," was all she gave me before she stood and pivoted to face the mansion. "I'll see you later Ariel. I'm going to try the advice you gave me about Ciel."
"Oh, don't forget to give an explanation on your behavior Lizzie," I reminded her before she moved away. "No doubt Ciel will be confused on what he would call your sudden change in character." She gave me a nod then left Pluto and I alone in the garden.
"That girl is hopeless Pluto," I chuckled to myself, running my hands through his soft hair.
"You are too Ariel," Pluto told me with a roll of his eyes.
"Oh, how so?" I questioned him with a raised eyebrow.
"I overheard your conversation you had earlier. The answer to your problem with your mates are simple?"
"Really?"
"Yeah. Just mate 'em both." A blush sprang up on my cheeks at his blunt answer. "I mean they're both your mates right? You belong to them as much as they belong to you?" My eyes widened at the way Pluto said the facts. He was right. I did belong to each of them just as much as each of them belonged to me. The only problem was, well, mostly the problem is is getting Malphas to see this. At that thought I gave a deep sigh and lightly ran my nails against Pluto's scalp, making him let out a pleased hum/growl.
o0o0o0o0o0o An Earthbound Angel o0o0o0o0o0o
Well there we have it my lovelies. Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. My Brothers Conflict fanfic was calling my name like a siren. Anyhoos, what did y'all think about the conversations that happened in the chapter. How about Pluto's simple logic? Please leave a review if you have any questions, or have any comments or concerns. Remember, reviews are magic. The last thing I want to leave you guys with is to tell you that the next chapter will take place during the ice sculpture contest episode so the storyline will be moving along. So with that I bid you adieu until the next chapter.
-White Wolf