Minutes turned into hours, hours turned into days, days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, months turned into years, and years turned into decades, which then turned into centuries. That was how long Ciel had been a demon, that was how long Sebastian had been serving this said demon. The previous earl had been in this form for so long that he could no longer eat human food, it disgusted him. He loathed such things now. What had cake even tasted like before? What had tea even been? He could no longer remember.
Sebastian was forced to teach Ciel how to use his demon abilities, because who could tell when Sebastian wouldn't be there. All things that live must die, it was one of the cruelest rules to life, death. Demons are not immune to such things, it is just that their life spans last far longer than a human's. Sebastian did not tell Ciel this, he would never tell Ciel this. Why ruin the good times with such a sad tale?
It simply wasn't right.
The duo was still living in the manor that Ciel held so many ties too. Why shouldn't they? No humans ever came to this place anymore. There was no concern about who would remember them, who would know their story, because everyone who they knew (that wasn't a reaper of course) had already died. Ciel had outlived them all...and they didn't even know he was alive. This didn't sadden the previous earl one bit. In fact he felt liberated from it all. Ciel, who had lost all of his human emotions and self, only felt one thing...love for his butler. That was the one thing that would ever remain.
Ciel could tell that something was off about the demon though, he always had that ability. It was very nostalgic to remember the time in which they had first made their feelings known to each other. How long ago was that? Did it even matter? Perhaps not...but it was still a time in which Sebastian was hiding something from him. Ciel could tell now, that it was something much worse this time around...but what? It didn't matter if Ciel asked Sebastian directly, Sebastian would never say a word. They had promised not to keep things from each other, so long ago, but Sebastian was back to his old habit.
Why couldn't they just talk like normal people?
Oh, that's right, they weren't normal people, were they?
They were demons.
Stubborn demons.
Way too stubborn.
Should Ciel try the last thing he had up his sleeve? Should he transform into the older version of himself and force whatever he needed to know out of Sebastian? Ciel had been pondering this for the longest time but something was holding him back.
They weren't in much of a relationship if Ciel had to force everything out of Sebastian...that would be rather counter-productive.
"Young Master, it is probably time I started teaching you how to take souls," Sebastian stated. Ciel was lying down on his bed staring at the ceiling, it was what he did when he felt he needed to think. You'd be surprised at how weird it helped...
"I've never taken a soul and I'm not really interested in how they taste," Ciel said, just like all of the other times Sebastian had brought this up. They had repeated this conversation so many times, Ciel began to think that maybe Sebastian was forgetting things in his old age.
"Young Master..." Sebastian sighed. Ciel couldn't very well be a proper demon if he didn't take souls.
"Why are you so bent on making me take people's souls? Can't you just relax? I don't need to eat them, do I? You're the one who told me it didn't matter," Ciel said. It was true, Sebastian had told him that souls weren't required for a demon's survival, how he wished he didn't say anything of that sort. What would Ciel do to pass the time if Sebastian wasn't there with him?
The demon folded his hands over his lap as he sat down on the bed. The sunlight shone on him in a way Ciel hadn't seen before. It was almost heavenly, he wasn't used to Sebastian looking so angelic. His skin was whiter than usual, his eyes were duller than they had ever been, no, angelic wasn't the right word...ghostly. Sebastian looked like a ghost. Ciel had to fight back his urge to touch the demon, he wanted to reassure that the demon was even there to begin with.
"Sebastian?" Ciel asked sitting up.
"Yes?" Sebastian asked not turning his head to face the previous earl. Ciel frowned. Seriously, what is wrong with him? There has to be something on his mind to make him act like this. There has to be some reason that makes him look like that...
"What's wrong?" Ciel turned Sebastian's face toward him and cupped both hands around his butler's face. What was wrong? Would he ever know?
Sebastian, obviously not wanting to tell him that he was dying, did not say anything, for if he opened his mouth, only lies would escape his lips. Ciel would be able to tell, and so, he remained silent. How could he tell the love of his life that he was about to turn to dust? Sebastian had forgotten just how old he was, he never remembered his age, for he had lived too long. He didn't even remember his original name.
"Young Master," Sebastian began, the words had started to form themselves, the sentence was beginning to take shape but somehow, someway, he could still not say the words aloud, for if he said them, if he admitted it to himself, the reality would be that much more real.
"Sebastian? For God's sake just spit it out already!" Ciel raised his voice in frustration. It couldn't be that hard to say! But it was, and little did the previous earl know, that once he heard them, he would regret asking Sebastian to say those words aloud.
"I'm dying," the words hung in the air leaving an eerie silence between the two. Ciel did not hear them at first, he did not believe them at first, nor did he wish to.
"You're what?" the previous earl asked. It couldn't be so, it shouldn't be so, Sebastian was the one person who was never supposed to leave his side. They were never supposed to part...and yet...
"It's true."
"No, no, I won't allow this!" Ciel got up from off the bed and began to pace the room. There had to be some way to save him, there had to be. The previous earl would not allow anything else.
"Sebastian, this is an order," He stopped pacing and looked his ex-butler in the eyes. "We will find a way to save you! So you are not allowed to give up!"
The ex-butler just smiled a pitiful smile, he had been telling himself those same things too. He had hoped that there would be some way to save his life, or to at least extend it a bit longer, but sadly they both knew that was but a false hope. So, instead of bursting Ciel's bubble, he allowed the boy to live with his delusions. It was the only courtesy he could give. So he looked at his 'young master' and smiled, repeating the ever-familiar phrase...
"Yes, My Lord."
