Adult-FanFiction.org : Anime

Memento Mori	By : zoni Category: > Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji ???) Views: 2931 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji and do not profit from my fan fiction.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
Memento Mori

(Remember to Die)

by Zoni

The silence was deafening in the office of the Phantomhive mansion. The quiet ticking of the clock was the only thing that Ciel could hear as he sat in the chair behind his desk and stared at the papers in front of him. The desk was in a state of disarray. Several envelopes, already filled and sealed, were piled haphazardly along one side. A number of business documents had been signed and stacked at the far corner. In front of him, the earl looked at the crisp white sheet of paper that he had just finished writing out, each detail flawless. The ink was not yet dry. It had now been twenty-three hours and forty-eight minutes since the contract had been completed.

The previous morning, barely after the sun had started to rise, Ciel's highest ambition had been achieved. Revenge. The last of the people who had burned the Phantomhive manor, murdered his parents and sullied him in both body and soul had been killed. The actual deed had not been as exciting or dramatic as he had imagined. To the contrary, it had been dull and cheap. The perpetrator had been an old man who was slightly senile. He had used a walking stick simply to move. However, in a single down stroke of Sebastian's hand, their contract had been fulfilled. His personal justice had been dealt. His soul was no longer his own.

Compassion and care were not things that he would have expected from a demon. Still, Sebastian had given him a day to get his affairs in order. In the time allotted, Ciel had not slept. He had taken care of the things for which he felt responsible. Each of the servants was to be given a generous bonus check, as their employment would be coming to an abrupt end. Funtom Company would be left in good, capable hands; he had given the keeping of it over to Tanaka. Even Lizzy had been accounted for, a generous sum reserved for her future life. Everything had been seen to. There was no detail that he had left unfinished. For Ciel, it was not a sad thing. These were details that he should have seen to long ago, when the contract had first been created. It was a matter of oversight that he had left them unattended for so long.

A soft knock at the door interrupted the silence. Ciel did not even look up from the papers. "Enter."

The wooden door opened slowly, admitting Sebastian. Behind him, it slid shut once more as he stepped forward and moved to stand beside the desk. "It is almost time, young master."

"I know." Ciel's voice was flat as he reviewed the words in front of him for a final time. Quietly, he asked, "Where are the other servants?"

"Though it is early, they have left for the day," Sebastian said. "I have given them a small bonus and the day off. They decided to go into town, I believe, and Mr. Tanaka went with them."

"Very good. That should make things easier." Reaching forward, Ciel picked up the piece of paper that had occupied his mind for the past quarter of an hour. The ink was dry, the words crisp. He held it toward Sebastian. The butler leaned forward and picked it up, studying the contents even as his master explained. "These are my final orders as your master under our contract. You will carry them out even after I am gone. Is that understood?"

"Yes, my lord." Sebastian bowed deeply, a last gesture of respect in response to the finality of the words. After reading the paper once more, he folded it neatly and tucked the paper into a pocket of his tailcoat. Looking down at the boy sitting behind the desk, he asked, "Are you ready to go, young master?"

Nodding, Ciel slipped out of the chair and stood. Quietly and without comment, he followed Sebastian as the butler led the way out of the office and down the hall. All around them, the house was eerily quiet. With the servants gone, the only sounds in the air were those of their shoes hitting the well-polished floors. In his mind, Ciel reasoned that the heavy weight of the silence probably felt the same to prisoners who were being led to their execution. Even with that comparison in mind, the feeling did not bother him.

Ciel watched the smooth, even steps of the tall figure in front of him. Ever since the day that their contract had been formed, Ciel had known of this eventuality. He had not cared at the moment that the contract had been struck. He did not particularly care even now that his doom was upon him. It simply was not something that bothered him or had ever weighed heavily on his mind. His entire life had been about service since the very day that the mansion burned. Duty. Whether it was his service to the Queen, his duty to his family name or his rights and responsibilities as an earl, his life was not his own. All of these things were mimicked in the faithful service that Sebastian had provided for him for the past three years. The fact that this unpleasant eventuality was the end point of that service mattered little.

Ciel had come to respect and trust Sebastian. That trust was not something that had been given freely. It had been earned. As he followed the man down the corridors leading toward the back patio, Ciel was not afraid. He felt grateful and resigned to this last part of both of their duties. He knew that this would be the last time that they walked through the halls of his mansion as master and servant.

Outside of the house, a heavy fog hung in the chilled air. It painted a white veil over the carefully landscaped garden that surrounded the back of the house. The patio was barely visible through the haze. Even in the early morning hours, Ciel could see his sterling silver roses. This early in the year, they were out of season. It did not matter, for the heavy flowers looked unearthly and beautiful in the thin light of dawn. Sebastian had suggested the garden. Ciel felt that it was appropriate.

The pretty, well-trimmed plants that lined the patio trailed away into a wild tangle of flowering bushes that led away from the house. Following the quaint brick pathway deeper into the garden, Sebastian led the way to the only part of the estate that had not been rebuilt after the fire; a bench nestled beneath a rose trellis. All of this was on a decorative circle of stone. Sebastian paused as they entered the circle, watching carefully as his young master stepped forward and seated himself on the worn bench. Once seated, Ciel looked at him expectantly. For a long moment, neither of them said a word as they contemplated the twisting path that had brought them to this moment.

Then, Ciel asked, "Will you stay with the house until the funeral?"

"Of course," Sebastian replied. The neutral expression on his face melted into a soft smile. "You have included that as part of your final orders, and I will see it through."

"How will you explain the fact that I have suddenly died?" The question was nearly rhetorical, something that Ciel had simply pondered. He was not certain whether or not he really wished to know the answer. With the eye that was uncovered by his eye patch, he watched Sebastian as the demon formulated an answer.

"Sudden illness, more than likely. That will probably be the easiest, with your delicate constitution. It is also the usual explanation when my kind is at fault." Sebastian's smile widened. "Though, if you would prefer, I could concoct something more elaborate - drowning, perhaps."

"No," Ciel said quietly. "That's fine. I was just curious. Sebastian..."

"Yes, young master?"

"Will it hurt?"

A moment of silence passed between them. Though they were outdoors and the morning was young, no birds cried out from the trees around them. The entire world was as still as glass. Then, Sebastian replied quietly. "Yes. There will be pain. However, pain - much like the soul - is a small thing. Both of these things fade and are forgotten with time."

Stepping forward, Sebastian paced toward where his master was seated on the bench. As he covered the few steps, he tugged the gloves off of his hands and let them fall silently to the ground. He paid them no mind. Standing in front of the boy, he reached up with both hands and tugged at the strings of the eye patch. The triangle of black cloth fell freely from Ciel's face, landing in his lap. Sebastian's long fingers ran through the silken slate strands of his master's hair, memorizing the feeling of the softness there.

Slowly, the black-tipped fingers drifted down to Ciel's face. The soft smile on Sebastian's own widened as he looked with satisfaction at the seal on his own hand next to the one in his master's eye. The sight of both marks together was pleasing to him, a momentary delight. He let the fingers of his right hand trace the soft curve of the boy's cheek, the line of his nose and the softness of his lips. Every feature on his youthful face was memorized, touched and observed.

Ciel looked up at the demon, unafraid. The expression on the man's face was something that he had only seen once or twice before. Even then, it had been while he was ill. It was not affection, really, but something closer to fondness. It was disturbingly similar to the way that he had seen Sebastian look at cats. This was made all the more clear by the feather light touches as Sebastian's hands drifted over his face. Touches like this did not bother him, and Sebastian had touched his face before. However, he had never done so with quite such intensity. It was as though the man was trying to memorize his face.

Watching the demon now, Ciel wondered if the man was even actually seeing him. This was a ritual that Sebastian had gone through countless times in the past. The look on his face was one of pure self-indulgence. The past three years of service had been dedicated entirely to his master. Now, in this garden, everything that Sebastian did was for himself.

"Young master..." Sebastian's brown eyes glowed an unearthly shade of red. Very slowly, he leaned down and pressed his lips to his master's. Ciel's eyes widened in surprise as he realized that Sebastian was kissing him. The demon's lips molded to his own. One slender hand reached up to hold his chin as Sebastian tilted his head, finding a better angle from which to taste him. This, too, was all for Sebastian. Ciel could feel the wet heat of the demon's tongue on his bottom lip. Unwittingly, he gasped. At the sound, Sebastian pulled back and looked at his master's face once more. Then, he leaned down again and recaptured Ciel's lips.

With that touch, Ciel's entire world exploded into hellfire. Every nerve in his body burned with unbelievable pain. There was nothing but darkness and smoke in the personal hell that consumed him. All that he was conscious of were the flames licking at his skin, his bones and his heart. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came from his lips. Instead, the fire flew into his mouth and burned him from the inside out. Everything in him turned to ash. He could not see, for his eyes were blind. The sharp smell of sulfur and brimstone twisted in and out of his fading consciousness even though he felt more alert and aware than he had ever been in his life. It was as though a thousand knives were being run through his body all at once, and he could feel and count each and every distinct blade. His body writhed in agony for what seemed like hours. His very existence was being torn apart.

The fire around him burned higher and hotter until he realized that all of it came from a single point. The molten heat poured from one point on his body; the twisted brand on his back that the cult who had raped and tortured him had left. The moment that the realization struck, the flames began to subside. They retreated into the evil mark on his skin. The brand was raw and oozing as if it was fresh. It burned. However, it did not hold him captive like the flames he had been in before.

Slowly, he became aware of his surroundings. Even the fire in the mark on his back chilled as the cool of the morning air rushed into his lungs when he breathed. It was morning, and he was still in his garden. Not even a moment had passed since Sebastian had leaned down to take his soul. Only a few inches above him, Sebastian's face regarded him with a look of shock. Blood dripped from the demon's lips. A drop of red dripped from his chin, hitting Ciel's hand. Ciel looked at it numbly and then lifted his fingers to his own lips. Looking at them, then, he could see that there were only traces of it on his own mouth. The blood was Sebastian's. Ciel felt weak. "What happened?"

The look of surprise melted off of Sebastian's face. He stood up straighter and pulled a kerchief from one pocket, wiping the blood from his lips and face. When he was clean enough to be presentable, he turned and regarded the boy with a somber expression. "Young master, it would appear that something else has laid claim to your soul."
- 1
- 2
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Memento Mori