So, this is my first official Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler) fanfiction, so yeah, I'm very nervous lol. I don't really experiment with OCs and OC ships a lot, so I figured this would be a good way to challenge myself. I just hope that things aren't too OOC or Mary-Sue. Plus, I'm a massive history nerd and the Victorian era of Britain was my specialty field in university, so that's a nice extra bonus for me there!
Rated T for graphic violence, some strong language, darker themes, occasional suggestive scenes, and obsessive/possessive/not healthy behaviour. If you feel that the rating needs to change at any point (or you want it to change), please do not hesitate to let me know.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji. This fanfiction is written for fun and no money is being made out of it. No copyright infringement is intended.
Other notes: In this story, I will be referring to the character, Grell Sutcliff, with her/she pronouns, as this is what the character uses to identify themselves. There may also be some British slang or historical slang, but I'll try to reign it in for the sake of a worldwide audience. If you don't understand anything, just let me know and I'll translate it for you and provide an explanation.
~ Reflection ~
Prologue
No one truly knows how angels came to be in this world. Were they the children of God? A recent creation of his just before humans walked the earth? Or had they simply always existed?
Regardless, they played in the heavenly planes, their souls shining with purity and power. They watched the humans below them, fascinated as they lived their daily lives, growing up, finding love, producing children, and living off the lush land that provided for their every need. Many of them loved the humans deeply, and longed for nothing more than to aid them and preserve the purity of their souls. Nothing brought them greater happiness.
As you may have guessed, to say that humans were completely pure would be a lie.
Many angels chose to look past this, but there were some who could not. After all, humans had disobeyed their Creator and had allowed themselves to become self-aware; to be like them. They were no longer the pretty little pets that frolicked through the green trees and grass; the innocent children who lived a basic existence of happiness and ignorance; the creatures that felt no pain and fear, nor any other sinful feeling.
Often, the angels could only watch in despair as the humans tainted the land that had been so lovingly gifted to them. Blood and rotten corpses stained the ground as wars raged, villages were sacked and pillaged, as women were raped, and children were enslaved. Men were tortured and imprisoned, exposing the angels to horrors that they could have never imagined. Yet, many of the angels continued to love the humans so blindly, always loyally following the wishes of the Creator, who had long since vanished from the known universe.
Why? One archangel simply could not fathom it. The humans who he had once loved so dearly now disgusted him. If he had his way, he would simply wipe these ungrateful creatures out of existence. Maybe he could. The Creator had not been around for such a long time now. Had he too given up on these pitiful, hopeless, vile creatures?
This angel very much wanted to use the humans' own methods against them. Their own torture would be nothing compared to what he had in store for them. Their emotions, so dark and twisted, would become his fuel. His once pure golden heart began to turn black, and the clouds around him began to grow dark and thunderous.
Lucifer, the archangel, could not stand by and watch the humans like this no more. How could he love such creatures? How could he love them more than the Creator? It wasn't right. Throwing the humans out of paradise simply wasn't enough – more drastic measures needed to be taken against them.
But Lucifer was not the only one who felt this way. Other angels and creatures of the heavenly plain shared his views, and they too believed that the humans should be tortured and punished for all eternity for their sins. They could only watch their brethren with disbelief and disgust as they continued to admire and love the humans who defiled the earthly plane.
Tensions grew, until the two factions could no longer live in harmony together. The hatred and division began to pollute the heavens, turning everything dark and rotten. With the Creator nowhere to be found, Lucifer, as one of the highest ranking angels, wanted to take control. He channelled the wrath, the lust, the gluttony, the pride, the sloth, the envy, and the greed of the humans and used it to fuel his power. He marched his army of loyal followers through the gates of heaven to the earth.
The world was plunged into chaos as the two factions fought. The war lasted for thousands of years, coating the earth in darkness as great plagues spread across the land. The sun was blocked out by an endless, smothering blanket of cloud, making the earth cold and dark. Harvests failed, and the humans began to starve and wither away, much to the pleasure of the angels who had turned against them.
They were on course for victory. Soon, the humans would be no more.
These angels gleefully sped the process along by feeding off the humans. They found that they were able to seize their souls and use them for more power. The other angels could never have conceived such a horrific idea. A soul was one of the most sacred things in all of creation. To touch one, to feed off one, to use one, and to taint and defile one was the most atrocious act of all.
But these means assured supremacy for Lucifer's army.
Their once glowing gold wings became dark feathers. The golden glow that surrounded them had vanished as they began to take on a new grotesque form. Horns grew from their heads, their bodies became deformed, mangled, and their pupils became slits as the dark essence of human sin corrupted them, as well as their own lust for power. They knew they had lost their purity, but this was the price that they were willing to pay to ensure the annihilation of all the humans from this world.
The last battle fought was the worst of them all. The world was left barren, and the human population had decreased to such small numbers. The sun's light had not touched the earth in eons, unable to penetrate the thick black clouds that coated the sky. Only ash now rained from the sky, and luscious green plants no longer coated the land. The once thriving landscape was now deserted. The humans had been reduced to primitive creatures who hid in caves, and the air was now cold and dry.
Angels and otherworldly creatures had perished in high numbers on both sides. They cried and mourned their dead, swearing vengeance and an end to this ordeal. But this only ever created a vicious cycle that appeared endless – never to be broken.
But then, one day, the fighting was halted by a presence that had not been felt in many millennia. The Creator looked upon all of the destruction with dismay. How could his creations have done such a thing? His precious humans were dying and hiding away. His lovely angels had divided, half of them allowing their hearts to grow dark and a desire for power and chaos to consume them, while the other half lived in denial and sought to preserve a way of life that was no longer possible.
When brought before their Creator, each side blamed the other. The Creator listened to what they had to say and considered all of their words carefully. One side hated his human creations while the other loved them blindly.
This would not do at all.
He needed to further see this for himself. He needed to test his beloved creatures and see if there was any hope of their redemption. Were they truly as self-aware as he had hoped? He did not think he would have to punish his angels as he had done the weaker humans; they should have known better.
A human was brought before them; a humble young man with a mate and children. He lived a quiet life in a remote corner of the world, however, that did not mean he had not committed sins in his life. This man loved his children, yet he could not settle with one mate, allowing his lust to control him. He had stolen food many times, but had done so to ensure his family's survival. He had killed a neighbouring tribesman in self-defence when a skirmish over a freshly killed deer had occurred.
A complex human indeed. But what actions would the angels take?
The male human was presented to each faction in turn. A sharp blade was held against the human's neck and he cried out in fear. Lucifer's faction eagerly awaited the spilled blood and the release of his soul. This man had sinned. He was not worthy of rescue. His soul would belong to them and fuel their power to seize the heavens. The other angels cried out in fear, desperately reaching for the human to save him, fully believing that their creator intended to kill the man.
With a sigh, the Creator had seen all he had needed to see. He had created creatures that were too blind to see they were as complex as the humans they fought over. He refused to let this war continue, and would punish them for behaving in such a way, and nearly bringing about the end of days.
Taking both a dark and light cloud in hand, the Creator fashioned a large, beautiful, golden mirror that was the most glorious object his creations had ever laid their eyes on.
"Tell me, my blind children, what do you see when you gaze into this mirror? What reflection stares back at you?" the Creator asked them.
The dark angels, unable to resist admiring themselves in the mirror, eagerly gazed at their reflection, proud of what they saw. Their hideous forms showed just how powerful they had become and they admired every flaw, every perfect imperfection. However, the remaining angels refused to look upon themselves. They covered their eyes, unable to face what they had become, long now afraid that they had transformed and mutated like the other factions. They could not allow themselves to see what these…these demons had turned them into.
Suddenly, the mirror began to glow and both groups of angels began to scream in agony.
"Clearly reflection is an ability that you all lack, my children," the Creator spoke to them again. "I gave you a chance to reflect, yet you did not do so, so for all of your crimes, my punishment will be severe."
The screaming continued. The mirror began to crack.
"To my angels, who refuse to accept flaws and blindly follow without question, may your hearts be removed so that you are no longer blinded by love again. May your appearance become ashen, and your eyes an ultraviolet that can see nothing but the flaws in each soul before you. You will never again live the illusion of purity and blissful ignorance," the Creator decreed.
The angels screamed as their once glowing skin turned a sickly pale white, and their hair, each one having previously been a different colour of the rainbow, was now a bone white. Their eyes, once hidden by their angelic glow were now a bright purple. Their vision burned as they saw every flaw in the universe in gruesome detail. Everything was so dirty. So unclean. So impure!
The Creator then turned to Lucifer and his followers. "And to you, my angels who have caused the most destruction of all, you shall be angels no more. You will fall from this place and shall never again be allowed entrance. As punishment for the unforgivable act of consuming souls, you will forever feel a ravenous hunger that will never be satiated. As punishment for your treatment of the humans I shall split your own souls into two separate pieces."
As this was stated, the demons began to scream and writhe in an unimaginable pain. The mirror cracked even more as their bodies contorted, their souls cracking under an invisible force just like the mirror. Half of their souls were ripped out of them through their mouths, leaving them feeling empty and incomplete. The close proximity of the other half of their being burned, and they desperately attempted to lunge forward like starving creatures to devour that half of their soul once again. This was the greatest pain a creature could ever experience: to have one's soul ripped in half and taken away.
With a wave of his hand, the glowing orbs that had once belonged to the demons were sent scattering down to the earth below before they all disappeared, leaving the demons whimpering and crying out in longing. The mirror then smashed into hundreds of pieces, following after the broken souls and raining down on the earth.
"Those halves of your souls will come to inhabit a human body, becoming the very creature that you despise. Like your stomach can never be satiated, so too will your hearts which will always long for their missing piece that they can never properly reunite with. The love and longing you will feel for the human will be unbearable, forcing you together for all of eternity."
Then, with another wave of his hand, the Creator sent the demons falling from the heavens which they shall be never again allowed to enter. They fell through the earth itself, coming to reside in a new dominion that Lucifer rose up to rule over. Life was never the same again. The hearts of the demons grew even darker as their spirits remained broken and incomplete. As broken as the mirror that had shattered and scattered across the world.
That damn mirror. That damn mirror upon which they refused to reflect.
And there you have the prologue. Thank you so much for reading, and I really hope that you've enjoyed what you read so far. Pretty please feel free to leave a quick comment to let me know your thoughts. We writers feed on them like Sebastian feeds on souls. I'll hopefully have the first chapter out very soon to officially get the story in motion.