Chapter 8-Divine Intervention

Ciel loathed his slumber. For most sleep is a peaceful end to the day, a well deserved rest, but for Ciel Phantomhive, it remained nothing but a time of nightmares. Every night, each and every night without fail he would be plauged by the same horrible dream. He would be sitting at his old desk sorting out toy orders for his factories when Sebastian would walk by his door dressed as a rabbit. Intrigued and incredibly confused the boy would run after him and be taken on a wild journey with mad hatters and dissapearing grins all ending in his own mock trial.

He would be accused of terribly confusing crimes, and blamed for all the misfortunes of the insane characters who surrounded him. And all throughout his misadventures he couldn't remember his own name. He would be called Alice for some odd reason, but he knew that wasn't his true title. Only at the very end, when accused of the dreaded crime of forgetfulness, would he remember himself and he would scream his name at the top of his lungs, crying out to the world that he was indeed Ciel Phanthomhive.

Then he would awaken with a foggy memory of the night's events and a sorrowful fear of returning to the so called Wonderland. Wonderland? He scoffed at the name. It was anything but what it claimed to be, and he thought it a whimsical hell. Alas, he would surely return as he had every night and would every night for the rest of his days...

So you can imagine his shock when things began to change...

Tonight's dream had been different, incredibly so. Ciel found himself walking in a long, black void surrounded by nothingness. The world seemed to have no beginning and no end, and his only motivation was to keep walking, walking, walking...

Where? He didn't know. He couldn't possibly know, but nevertheless he kept on walking, walking, walking...Step after step he continued his journey through the shadows, never an idea as to where he had come from or where he had been. He could be walking in circles for all he knew, and yet he didn't care.

No matter how endless the void appeared, no matter how bleak or shadowed, Ciel was thankful to be in any place other than Wonderland. There lay the other difference in his dreams, he knew who he was. He knew of his name and his past and his experience and his dreams, never before had he recalled so much in his slumber. It was a welcomed change of pace, but it made the boy uneased.

Why? That was the question that plauged his mind. Why was he able to recall so much of himself? Why had he dreamed differently tonight? Why? Why? Why? His curiosity knew no bounds and searched all throughout the darkness, but all his searching for was not, for he came back empty handed. Without an answer to be found Ciel called out to the nothingness, a final and futile attempt to find what he so ferently searched for.

"This better not be your doing Sebastian!"

"Oh no," said a voice from the shadows,"Sebastian had nothing to do with this little rendevous."

"It was all us," said another.

"Who are you? Show yourselves!"

Frantically, his eye scanned the darkness seeking the bodies of which the voices belonged. However, they remained in the void, hidden from his sight, everywhere at once, yet no where at all. Frightened, he shouted again.

"I said show yourselves!"

"Whatever's the matter Ciel? Afraid of the dark?"

"Well then, why don't we shed a little light on the situation?"

Suddenly, Ciel was blinded by a bright flash of sparkling white. The world faded away, and for an instant he felt totally and utterly alone. When he had finally recovered he found himself in the place of his nightmares: The Wonderland courthouse. But unlike his other dreams it lay empty and dimly lit, still hiding the voices in its shadows. Still, there was no mistaking the building where he had been held in trial so many times before. He sighed. Even in a different dream, he couldn't escape this blasted place, and silently he cursed his luck.

"Come now Lord Phanthomhive, is that anyway for a noble to speak?"

The boy nearly lost his balance, stricken with fear to his very core and shaking in the afterwaves of shock. He hadn't spoken aloud, not a single syllable did he utter for the world to hear. Yet, she knew what he had said...How could that be possible?

"Many things are possible when you're in our line of work," he said.

"W-Who are you? Show yourselves!"

The man sighed.

"I didn't hear a please in that sentence, did you, Dear Friend?"

"I certainly didn't. And you Lord Phantomhive? Did you hear a please?"

Ciel sighed and calmed himself, knowing that if he was to get anywhere with these voices he would have to control his temper.

"Show yourselves...please.." he choked out.

A gleaming light shone down upon the throne of hearts, but instead of a vengeful queen there sat the two of whom the voices belonged to. The female stood erect, prim and proper and gazed down upon Ciel as if to judge his every last fiber of his being. She looked at him distastefully as if she could see the black stains his sins had created, and in her hands there lay a small scale engraved with the word of Judgement. Her hair lay long and flowing, straightened without a single wave and her eyes were golden and shining like treasure gleaming in the moonlight.

Her associate was a different man entirely. Leaning against the chair he was a man at ease with a relaxed air about him. He smiled warmly at the boy, and with kind eyes he seemed to be watching over him. With a sparkling shimmer his golden locks curled perfectly upon his scalp and did nothing to shadow his bright, blue eyes. Held tightly in his grip were two small cubes, one made of ivory and one of coal. Occasionally, he would throw them into the surrounding air and Ciel watched as they landed onto him palm at exactly the same time.

The two shared little in common, excluding the same all ivory suits and a pair of golden angelic wings...

"You're...You're angels," whispered a shocked Ciel.

"So you've finally caught on," said the woman,"You're correct Lord Phanthomhive. We are of an angelic nature."

"And if our information is correct, we we're certain it is, you are of the opposite kind. You've become a demon. Have you not?"

The boy's teeth clenched.

"I don't like to be reminded."

"And why is that?" she asked,"Ashamed with the choice you've made with your soul?
"Excuse me? How dare you speak to me in such a way! I am the Earl of Phanthomhive manner and I demand that you apologize!"

"An earl? What a ridiculous statement. You're nothing more than decietful, fallen beast who sold his soul for revenge against his own kind. And when you became such you left your life behind and all titles that went along with such. As far as I am concerned, you're nothing more than a filthy pawn of hell."

"How dare-"

"Lord Phantomhive," he interrupted,"please excuse my associate. She has never been one for first introductions. If you'll allow me I would like to have a word with you."

The boy sighed, accepting the lesser of two evils.

"If I must."

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Harmony, and my easily angered associate is called Justice. We have been sent here on a mission to right the wrongs of which destiny was not to allow yet enemies of ours slipped through the cracks and made them occur. You are one such mistake."

Ciel felt the world shattered around him as he recalled the little puppet he was sent all those years ago. Unclean, unpure, unwanted...Those words had haunted him for so long..He had convinced himself that those horrible words didn't bother him anymore, that he was stronger than to let them affect him, but as a single tear slid down his cheek, he knew he had been lying to himself.

They broke his fragile heart just as severely as they had the day they were first pronounced to him. Those words had made him doubt himself, his very existence and combined with the confessions of Madam Red he had witness earlier that same year he barely fathomed how he kept from falling into madness...As his beloved aunt had before him...

Suddenly, he felt a gloved hand slide gently across his cheek. Turning, he discovered that Harmony had been wiping his tears.

"Lord Phanthomhive, I apologize that I have made you recall those painful memories, but you must understand that it wasn't my attention to hurt you in anyway. On the contrary, the Almighty God has sent us to assist in your healing and rebirth."

"What the hell do you mean?"

Harmony smiled.

"Justice hand me the scales."

She obeyed her companion and delivered the object of which he requested. Upon its arrival he took the cubes he posessed and held in front of the young boy. They glowed with a kind of light Ciel had never seen before, a glowing light that seemed to move around the objects with a strange sense of life and mortality, a light that burned his eye.

His Mark began to sear and excrusiating pain overwhelmed him. Crying out the boy trashed about the room screaming near the top of his lungs. This continued until he was finally subdued as Justice's hands wrapped around him and covered his patch.

As her slender hand made contact a cool sensation washed over the burning Mark, and pain, like a roaring fire, exhausted its flames. Ciel stood panting, lethargic from his experience, confused and afraid and weak, all the emotions he loathed with a passion.

"I'm dreadfully sorry Lord Phanthomhive. I didn't think that seeing these objects would harm you, but now I see that I'll have to be much more careful when presenting objects of a divine nature."

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?!" he screamed.

"This scale is no ordinary tool of measurement," she said,"This scale weights the world's judgement. Every person, every soul has been weighed upon these scales and sentencing has been passed upon them."

"These cubes represent the physical embodiment of good and evil. No matter how wicked the world became God always saw to it that light of the universe prevailed over the darkness of sin. Whenever the scales tipped in the direction of Satan, God would destroy the world and begin a new as he did in the flood of Noah. When these cubes were wieghed in the scales the good would always remain heavier than the black, but lately...Well perhaps it would be better to show you."

Harmony quickly took the scale and laid the cubes upon them. For a moment, they shifted back and forth, one higher then lower, one lower then higher. Finally, they settled in a stationary position

...And it was seen that they were of equal weight...

However, Ciel remained unmoved throughout the ordeal.

"What exactly does this have to do with me?" he asked.

"Are you aware of the story of the Devil's creation? There was a great war in Heaven above when Lucifer tried to overthrow the Almighty God. He failed and was cast out of paradise as well as the angels who had followed his wicked ways."

"However, he was unsatisfied with the legion he was able to create, and in a final act of defiance he order his fallen army to take hold of whatever they could and bring it down with them as they cascaded from the clouds."

"Because of this angels that were not meant to lost to the King of Darkness became members of the Fallen, and because Fate was not prepared to account for their loss...Deals were made that were not meant to happen."

"Because of these unforeseen contracts souls meant for Paradise were lost to the darkness of Hell, and that is the reason why the cubes are weighing even. We were sent by the Lord Almighty to correct one of these mistake of fate, sent to save the souls of which were destined for the company of the saints and to undo what unforeseen fallen had caused. Ciel Phanthomhive you and all you know have been a lie. You are-"

"Justice," he interrupted,"it's time to us to depart."

"B-But Harmony we-"

"The Boss says we've done our part for now. We continue at a later date."

The angel released Ciel from her graps and soon stood beside her accomplice.

"We'll come back for you Ciel Phanthomhive. Order will restored."

And with those parting words the angels rose from the courthouse into graceful flight, leaving Ciel alone dazed and confused. He called out to them, ordering their return, demanding a better explaination than they one he recieved. But in seconds they where no where to be found, and disappeared into a bright flash of light.

"Young Master? Young Master? Are you awake?"

Slowly, Ciel arose from the cushioned bed upon which he lay and was greeted by his faithful servant.

"I''m glad to see that you've awakened. It's nearly time to school."

The boy gazed at his surroundings, no longer lost in the darkness of the courthouse, once again surrounded by the comforting view his apartment.

"It had all been a dream," he whispered,"Nothing but a dream.."

Outside his window, the angels laughed at his ignorance.

"A dream," she said.

"One that's much too good to stay a dream..."

/

Hey guys! Sorry I updated so late in the day. I had it finished earlier, but as I was re-reading it some of the wording just didn't live up to my standards. I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading! God bless and byebye!