Ciel Phantomhive x Spirit! Reader (Ch. 8)

As Ciel laid in bed that evening, still slightly in a daze, he tried his best to relive the events that had transpired earlier. What had started off, innocently enough, as a birthday celebration for him had quickly descended into a life threatening night jam-packed with action; including discovering your best friend was in terrible danger, finding out that the human race relied on her safety and then realizing that the only way to save them all was to go around the world to collect segments for a necklace that would vanquish evil spirits. But before he got into those details once again, he figured he should back it up to the beginning; the monster which had broken down the door of his study.
***

The situation Ciel found himself in at the current time was not one most people would deem 'favourable'. The expensive, custom made door which he had purchased specifically for his study had now been knocked off it's hinges and was lying flat on the floor. The creature that had done such a thing was standing in the doorframe with it's jaws wide open, to reveal teeth as large as his hand, it's intentions rather clear; destroy the figures standing before him. That would be himself, and his ghost friend behind him.

Paying more attention to the ghost friend behind him, you may notice that she was not in a very positive state. In fact she looked as though she had almost broken down completely; whether that be because she was face to face with this disgusting monster or because she may still be in physical pain from earlier ( Ciel, though originally believing her word that she was 'okay', was now having second guesses ) was something he couldn't say for certain. Whatever the reason though, it was clear that she was not capable of fending off the thing before them; she may not even be able to run away.

So considering that (y/n) was not fit for duty and Ciel himself had the upper body strength of a hamster, along with the reflexes of a slug, the only option really was to call in someone who may have a fighting chance at taking this thing down. It was time to bring in the big guns if you will; Ciel was calling Sebastian. So ripping off his eye patch, Ciel demanded the following:

"Sebastian, I'm in my study. Come here at once; this is an order!"

Now that this monster was going to be taken care of, Ciel was feeling a tad more confident as he slowly backed up to where (y/n) was standing. The monster looked briefly.. Confused if you will, but stood it's ground and just watched with calculating eyes; it sort of seemed shocked in a way that Ciel could see it. So in the few moments that nothing was happening, Ciel turned to (y/n) and reached out to place a hand on her shoulder.

"(n/n)..? Are you alright, what were you saying.. you wanted me to 'help you'?" She said nothing in response, instead she kept her attention on the massive being that stood before them; seeming to challenge it to make the first move with her eyes ( which Ciel noticed didn't seem to be as close to tears as before ). Seeing as he was getting nothing from her, he assumed the same position and turned to face the creature again.. Oddly enough it was still there; he was sure it had been a few minutes by now- where was Sebastian?

"(n/n), do you know what that thing is?" Sebastian wasn't here yet, he might as well get some answers whilst he was waiting.

".." But if (y/n) wasn't willing to provide him with any, that was a different story. He turned to look back at her, briefly wondering if she was going to notice the fact he had two different coloured eyes; she seemed to ignore his existence though so he assumed he'd be fine. Then suddenly she shot her hand out to grab his arm and all but threw him in the direction of the wall beside them, letting out a quick 'Run!' as she did so. At the same moment, the monster which had been previously standing still in the door way leaped towards them; landing on all fours on Ciel's desk, successfully crushing it and sending everything flying.

Ciel, who had scrambled to his feet by now, was quick to make a break for it out the now clear door frame as he followed after (y/n) who had just done the same. He hadn't the time to realize that Sebastian had not come as he was, within seconds, literally running for his life. The monster behind him had let out a loud 'howl' if you will and Ciel could hear crashing coming from the direction of his study as the creature realized it was now having to give chase. Neither him, nor (y/n) ( whom he had now managed to match pace with ) had noticed the faceless body lying just outside the room.

The monster had now exited the study, and Ciel could practically feel the pounding of it's footsteps as it started after them ( still on all fours ). Now Ciel knew this monster would catch them in little to no time at all. Their only change of survival, with lack of Sebastian, could only be by slipping into a hidden passageway. Ciel knew where they were of course, he knew his own manor like the back of his hand, so that wasn't the problem. The problem however would be to get to these passages before the monster could catch them; this happened to be a very large problem. The monster was quickly gaining distance and was within around ten feet of them now, and Ciel didn't know if they could make it in time.. Considering they were on the second floor and the nearest passage was on ground level, it meant they would have to attempt to get down the stairs without falling or getting ripped to shreds. Not an easy task in the least, if he may say so.

"(y/n).. We'll have.. We'll have to get down the, the stairs. Follow me, please" Ciel managed to gasp out those few words. He was tiring quickly and he knew he would have some difficulties keeping the current pace up for much longer, not even factoring in the fact he'd have to speed up or be caught by their pursuer. He heard a 'mm' in response and attempted to go a tad faster, (y/n) falling the slightest behind him so he could lead.

He ran through the hall, and soon enough the stair case came into view. By now he was almost ninety percent done with running, he estimated he could go for maybe five more minutes tops at the current pace and then he would be as good as dead. Breifly glancing in (y/n)'s direction he noticed she was tiring as well and he knew he had to get them to the passage quickly. Coming out at the top of the staircase Ciel checked once more at the distance between himself, (y/n) and the monster; he panicked slightly as he noticed it was less than six feet. They were never going to make it.

Having no other choice though he took off with little hesitation down the stairs, both the monster and (y/n) following close behind. The next moment went by in a flash. From behind he could hear a very distinct mix between a roar and a pained screech, he hadn't the time to look behind him as (y/n) and the monster went tumbling past him and fell down the stairs. Realizing that he was no longer running away from the monster as running towards it, Ciel himself let out a loud curse as he attempted to slow himself; he was succeeding too, until he tripped over his own feet. Falling face first down the remaining stairs Ciel landed atop the monster, which had just been attempting to get up to chase after (y/n), who had also scrambled to her feet.

"Ciel, you dumbass!" He heard her yell at him as the monster moved to a standing position and Ciel could do no more than wrap his arms around it's neck. He was now over 7 ft off the ground and was currently being tossed and flung around the room as the monster tryed it's best to get him off. If Sebastian had any plans to make his appearence, now would most definately be the best time.

Naturally, he didn't show.

"(y/n), the hell are you doing?! Help me!"

"Okay, um.. Just hold on!"

"No, my plan was to let go!"

"Don't get snarky with me pal! Just be careful!"

"If I were not being careful, your telling me to be careful would not make me careful!"

It didn't appear she heard that last one however as when the monster twisted in the direction of where Ciel thought (y/n) had been, there was nothing. Now feeling slightly angry at this betrayal and mildly annoyed that it was becoming more and more apparent that his death was most definately going to be coming soon, Ciel began to mutter curses as he hung on tighter.

Now the monster finally seemed to have had enough with Ciel at this point in time. This was evidenced by the fact that it released a loud roar and backed up into a wall and smashed him against it, leaving dents and cracks galore. Mentally congradulating himself for not being knocked out, Ciel had precious time to keep this positive attitude as the monster had turned on him and bared it's fangs. It probably would have killed him at that moment, if it weren't for the small distraction that was the butchers knife that was sticking out from it's back. Surprisingly enough, as the monster collapsed mere centimetres from him, the figure standing behind it was not Sebastian; it was (y/n). Looks like she hadn't left him for dead after all! The thought was admitedly, comforting. She ran over to him and knelt down beside him.

"Gosh darnit Ciel, didn't I tell you to be careful." Really, no 'are you okay?' or 'I'm so sorry for not filling you in on my plan to save you, and instead making you think I'd abandoned you!'. Huh, figures.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking." She looked slightly miffed that he would choose that route ( sarcasm ) instead of the grateful road she would have chosen.

"You could have said thank you, you know."

"You could have asked me if I were okay."

"You could have held on better."

"You could have told me that there were monsters out trying to kill you." 

"..Alright you got me there.." She spared him a brief glance before lowering her eyes towards the floor. He smirked triumphantly at finally winning an argument before some questions came to mind.

"What was that thing?" She looked up at him, and seemed to think carefully about her words before finally answering him.

"It's called a Sinner.. Um, it's a spirit if you will and it preys on humans. Usually it chooses to possess them, but sometimes it'll go straight for a kill if it thinks that's the better choice. Most people can't see them, in the same way that they can't see me; if you noticed it looked confused that you acknowledged it's existence, it was because I can guarantee you it doesn't happen often. They also may look ugly as hell, but they're pretty intelligent as far as monsters go."

"And how are you associated with these 'Sinners'?"

"Negatively." That answer left a lot to be desired, but it was clear from her tone that this was not a subject she enjoyed talking about. Ciel really did want to get to the bottom of why this thing had come after them and how (y/n) actually knew them, but she had always been rather stingy with her past. Ciel had come to a couple conclusions on why that actually was ( ie. it was horrible, or maybe she had forgotten it.. etc. ) but never bothered to really ask, for most people this would be the perfect opportunity to find out; but he decided he could wait a little longer.

"Alright, then tell me this; it's the same with the darts and now with the knife. How can you throw them so well, being completely honest you sucked the first two time you threw the darts.. What changed on the third and fourth throws and, including just now, with this knife?"

"Oh. I told you; I hadn't been trying. Then I tried my hardest and remembered how to do it.. Easy peasy."

"You specified 'remembered' right there; who taught you?"

"..um.. I uh.. Did I? Ahah woops, what a mistake! I didn't mean 'remembered' I meant.. Uh-"

"(y/n)" She coughed lightly into her hand and then awkwardly looked around the room; avoiding him. He let out a sigh and attempted to get to his feet, wincing slightly as he stretched his back. She did nothing so he chose the moment of silence to look around. He hadn't noticed at first, but it appeared as though (y/n) and him were alone. 'This moment of silence' was actually a moment of silence; Ciel could hear absolutely nothing.

No search parties calling out for him, no music playing, no chatter of guests.. Nothing. Maybe they had actually all gone home, this would have been a preference of his, but than again maybe something had happened. If there were one of these monsters that managed to find himself and (y/n) all the way on the second floor in a room not so close to the main hall, were there more of them that found the guests? Beginning to panic slightly Ciel tapped (y/n) on the arm, she looked up at him rather confused.

"Hey, haven't you noticed anything odd?" The confusion never left her face as she looked around.

"Now that you mention it, I don't really notice anything at all.. Shouldn't there be some of your party guests running around or something?" He let out a confirmatory 'hmm' and started to walk towards the door that would take him to the main hall, (y/n) following close behind. He put his ear to it, just in case there was something to be heard.

"..Well?"

"Nothing" He muttered, and twisted the nob slowly so it wouldn't make any noise. Opening the door with a snails pace, he peaked inside. He could feel (y/n) behind him pushing against his back so she could see in as well, he told her to knock it off, and moved his attention back to the room before him.

"Alright, now what!" She was starting to get impatient.

There still seemed to be nothing, so Ciel opened the door fully and walked inside. Inside the room was a positive disaster; the drapes and rugs were torn up, the windows shattered, chairs and tables were broken and tossed around and the wall paper on the wall was scratched up to the point where it was almost unrecognizable. There were about four bodies on the floor, all of them unmoving- other than that though, the room was empty. Ciel walked briskly over and checked the pulse of the first person he came across, they were lying face down and they felt cold.

There was no pulse.

Flipping the body over to check who the unfortunate soul was, Ciel was shocked to find that they were faceless. Stumbling back a little ways he turned to (y/n). He gazed at her expectantly and she stared back for a few moments before finally seeing the question in his eyes.

"Sinners possess humans. I told you that." There was a slight frown accompanying her answer.

"..And they leave them faceless?!"

"Well, I know that when the Sinner leaves a human body, the human dies.. I wasn't under the impression that the Sinner took their face too.." Ciel had moved to look at the body again before he heard a 'shit' come from behind him. Not bothering to look back as he moved towards the other motionless beings on the floor Ciel asked her what was wrong this time.

"N-nothing. It doesn't matter." Ciel wasn't convinced but he was to busy trying to contain all this new knowledge in his head to continue to bombard her for answers. Plus the fact that he could hear no sound coming from the rest of his house, and that Sebastian had not come to save them as ordered was starting to get to him and make him feel rather uncomfortable. The rest of the bodies were as expected; faceless.

"(y/n) follow me."

"Eh..? Where are we going?!"

Well being honest Ciel wasn't sure, but he knew he needed to get away from there.. He had priorities at the moment. That would be to find the guests that had attended his party, find the party thrower Lizy and then seek out Sebastian and the servants. He just hoped (y/n) would follow him and not make his life any more difficult than it needed to be. They had walked back out through the door in silence at first before she made the first move.

"Ciel, it looked as though two of those four bodies were killed before the Sinner left them. I think Sebas-chan must have gotten to them, or at least attempted too.. That may be why we can't find him; he's busy fighting Sinners. They become rather enraged when their human counterparts are disposed of before they want them to be after all."

Ciel paused and whipped around to stare at her.

"W-what?! Why would Sebastian fight Sinners? He's just a butler (y/n)..! And how do you know him anyway?" Ciel worried he may have given to much information out about Sebastian over the course of their conversations, not to mention he still hadn't donned his eye patch. And to be fair, he did order him to save them so clearly he had faith in his fighting capabilities.. but why (y/n) would mention such a thing startled him. Though her observation about the two bodies which had been killed before the sinner had left them was useful and thought provoking.. It seems she wasn't quite so naïve as he had assumed. But she didn't know of the contract; to her Sebastian must still be human.. Right?

"Why do you seem so confused. Sebas-chan's a demon.. Did you not know? Ah, but you have the contract so you must have!" Well now he seemed to be at a loss of words. She did know about both the contract and the fact that Sebastian was a demon; at this point the only thing he could say was 'how'.

"..How did you find out (y/n).. Can Sebastian see you? Did he tell you behind my back?!"

"What? No calm down, Sebas-chan said nothing of the sorts. I figured it out from this book I found in your study the first night Lizy came!" She held up the book from the study ( which he had forgotten she had been holding ) for him to inspect, it was titled 'Curses and Charms of Old, to Haunt the New'. "I was mildly confused that you could see me, as well as Sebastian.. But now that I know what's up with you two, it all makes sense!"

"You figured that all out from the book?"

"Yep! It has a whole part about Sinners too if you would like to read it, might speed things up a bit."

The house was still silent, and he was still concerned, but the fact that she was offering him information on the beings that crashed his party ( figuratively and literally ) was too tempting to decline. His original plan had been to check outside, but now the two sat on the stairs, Ciel with this book in hand and (y/n) watching the Sinner she had killed fade away. She briefly wondered how Ciel was going to react, but she figured that if the book could satisfy his curiosity, maybe she wouldn't have to explain her past anymore.

She had finally remembered it, but that didn't mean she wanted to share it.
***

Ciel yawned and turned over in his bed. Looking at the clock on the wall, his eyes widened a tad when he noticed the time; it was half past midnight. They were going to have an early start tomorrow so it may be best if he got to sleep, but the events of the previous day still plagued him.. If he remembered correctly, after he had read the section on the Sinners and the Imperials and the necklace ( because (y/n) mentioned it was important ) he had questioned her about the strange symbols on the otherwise blank page.. She had responded that she could only make out some words and explained a little about why she had panicked upon reading them.

Apparently the words she could read mentioned something about a joining segment. He had asked her what that was and she simply said you could activate a joining segment with a strong surge of negative emotions, mostly pertaining to the seven sins ( ie. if you were feeling a load of envy like she had been, then you could activate it ), and when activated the segment would attract Sinners. Apparently, the physical pain she had endured earlier had something to do with this, and left her with an assumption that she somehow possessed this 'joining segment'. It had been a bit of a blind side, but it made sense.

Especially when paired with the information Sebastian and himself were able to extract from that book.
***

After (y/n) had explained everything she knew about the joining segment to him, Ciel gave the book back to her and stood. He had just had a different idea of where to check for the guests. Instead of looking outside in the dark, Ciel figured that Sebastian would have been more likely to show the guests to one of the secret passages to keep them safe. So with his ghost shadow behind him, Ciel began towards the nearest passage.

Ciel estimated that there had been around thirty people invited by Lizy that had attended his party. If he included Sebastian, the servants and Lizy with her help that put the number at roughly 37 people. Minus the four bodies found in the main hall, and he was looking for around 33 people. Assuming it was safe enough he had asked (y/n) to just drift through a couple walls once in a while, just to see if there was anything going on. Every wall she had gone through had been empty, however all the passages Ciel had looked in contained people. Soon enough they had found 32 people, and one more faceless body outside his study.

It was late enough that everyone was sent home, it appeared that they had a limited memory of the party ( he assumed Sebastian had done something, but didn't question it ) and all was well; they wished him a happy birthday. Lizy had fallen asleep during the commotion and was sent off to bed along with her help.. Who's name he couldn't remember for the life of him. The other servants had also been sent off to their respective rooms and soon it was only Sebastian, (y/n) and himself standing in his study. Ciel had decided that he wished to speak to Sebastian alone to ask about the multiple problems he was having at the moment.

1) Where the hell had he been when Ciel had almost been killed?
2) Why didn't he mention earlier that he could see (y/n) and had held conversations with her?
3) He had a feeling that Sebastian would be able to figure out the symbols on the back from the book.

The only thing preventing him from being able to openly talk to Sebastian was (y/n). He had no real excuse to send her away and if he asked her to leave so he could speak privately with Sebastian she would get suspicious and most likely eaves drop. Especially if he asked for the book first.

So it seemed once again he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. What was he going to do?

"Pardon me miss (y/n), but if you don't mind; I would like to speak to the young master alone please.. And may I look at that book? I think it might be able to clear some things up for me."

"Eh? Oh, alright.. Um, here you go; the pages are already marked!" She gave it to him and bid her good byes and good nights to them both. Ciel was surprised she left so easy, she would never do that for him.. He turned to Sebastian and frowned at his smug smile.

"I believe, young master, that if you were to ask nicely once in a while than miss (y/n) may do things for you without complaint as well."

"..not likely.." He muttered in response as he moved to sit in his chair. Luckily for him, the chair was not crushed beyond repair like his desk. Sebastian just chuckled lightly.

From there Ciel began with his questions. Sebastian's answers didn't really satisfy him, but they made sense. Sebastian naturally sent everyone into the passageways to keep them safe and then proceeded to kill off the Sinner's. Apparently they gave him a lot of difficulty and on several occasions had attempted to possess new guests. In the end, he had been too busy to come to Ciel's aid, just like (y/n) had guessed. Ciel wasn't happy about that, but he supposed it was better than letting everyone else die. Next Sebastian explained his relationship with (y/n). Apparently there was nothing going on and she just happened to seek out his company whilst he was busy with Lizy; he supposed he could live with that too. But the final question brought on some difficulty as it didn't appear that the code was something Sebastian could easily break.

He had read the same articles Ciel had, to get the sense for what a Sinner was as he had limited knowledge on them, and then moved onto the symbols on the blank page. Ciel explained what (y/n) had said to him, but it didn't seem to help much. Sebastian thought he recognized some words, but not complete sentences. Ciel was getting frustrated, he knew this was important, but if Sebastian couldn't read it.. Who could? The answer seemed to strike the two at the same moment and before you could blink Sebastian was gone and Ciel sat back in his chair with a sigh.

The Undertaker would know.

There was a knock on the wall and (y/n)'s head popped through the open door way. She asked for entrance and, when she received it, she walked over to Ciel with a deck of cards in her hand.

"I got bored playing cards by myself, but I noticed Sebastian leave.. Would you like to play with me?" Ciel wanted to say 'no' as he was still waiting on Sebastian, but really.. Was one game of cards going to hurt anyone? So he said he would; turns out she wanted to play a game called 'speed'. Like the name suggests, speed is a fast moving card game where half of the deck is dealt to each player, with the exception of two cards in the middle and five cards on either side of those two*. You're allowed to draw five cards into your hand ( no more at any given time ) and attempt to place them down in order of number ( ie. if there is a '5' laid down, you can play a '6' or a '4' ). The winner is the one who runs out of cards first. Ciel thought it seemed simple enough.

As simple as it was however, it seemed he wasn't to good at it though as they managed to play four rounds consecutively and he lost them all. They took a break from that to play 'go fish'* which he also lost before (y/n) got bored again and begged him to play more speed. By the time Sebastian finally showed up Ciel had lost count of how many rounds they had played and how many (y/n) had won ( she informed him that she was up to eleven ). Bidding another good bye and good night she left the room again with a large smile aimed at Sebastian and a triumphant smirk for him.

"Enjoying yourself?"

"Hardly, apparently I got my ass handed to me eleven times."

"Really, only eleven?" Sebastian kept that smug smile on his face as Ciel sent a glare his way. He normally would have fallen for that, but this time Ciel decided to prioritize finding out the information over losing in a spat with Sebastian.

"..What did the Undertaker say?"

"Ah.. About that, it appears we are going to have some trouble on our hands."

"Why? What is going to be happening?"

"Well, it doesn't necessarily concern us.. But I am assuming you do not wish to let miss (y/n) die?"

"If this is about the fact that sinners are attracted to the joining segment, which we had already deduced is somehow possessed by (y/n) than I am disappointed in your efforts, as that is already known knowledge."

"No that isn't quite it.. How can I put this? It appears the segment is inside of (y/n)'s heart.. The only people in the world who can possess this segment would be those who are descended from the creator himself. This also means that she happens to have the power to remove Sinners from existence if she manages to connect the segments."

"I'm following, continue."

"Well, we already know that a Sinner is attracted to this joining segment, but in turn the joining segment is attracted to the seven others. If miss (y/n) wanted to and was able to focus, she could find these segments rather easily. Though actually retrieving them, I'm given to understand, is a rather difficult task.. As the book says, these segments are spread through out the world. It appears the Seven Deadly Sins are already aware of their locations and are guarding them as we speak."

"..So what is threatening to kill (y/n) here? We already knew about the Sinners attraction to her; what are you not telling me?"

"A Sinner is not able to hold the joining segment for a very long time. In fact the strategy for resurrecting the Imperial would have been to take hold of the possessor of the joining segment, kill them so they may acquire it, and then piece all eight together within the hour."

"Now I'm not following."

"Then listen closely, young master. (y/n) is not completely human; she's half Sinner. The Undertaker, being a Reaper knew this. He also mentioned briefly that that was why she happens to be a spirit at the moment; whatever killed her didn't take into account that she would remain 'alive' afterwards. My theory, young master, is that miss (y/n) had been killed for the joining segment earlier, most likely by the Seven Deadly Sins. However since she did not fully die, they couldn't obtain it."

".."

"But what would really kill her is the fact that a normal Sinner would be able to hold onto the segment for about six days. However since she is also half human, it extends her ability to hold onto this segment by approximately 5 times. The Undertaker estimates that miss (y/n) has less than thirty days before she is consumed by the segment. If this occurs, not only will she perish, but the segment becomes open for anyone to take. If these 'Imperials' happen to obtain it, then naturally they will resurrect their leader and the whole human race will inevitably die out." Ciel didn't quite know what to say at this point, so he was rather relieved when Sebastian continued.

"However.. If we can collect these segments within the next month than not only will (y/n) be completely revived to the point where she can once again be qualified as 'alive', but all of the Sinners will be vanquished.. What do you wish to do, young master?"

..
..

"..We'll leave tomorrow, begin preparations and inform (y/n) of the plan to collect these segments; do not tell her about her time limit. Try and get her to 'sense' the nearest one, or whatever she can do to find it.. This is an order."

Sebastian let loose a small smile and bowed low, hand over heart;

"Yes, my lord."