Unyielding
Yosuke
Angst/Drama

AN: Here ya go, a contribution to the tiny and insufficient Black Butler fanfiction world. Well, I guess "tiny" isn't a suitable word, but "insufficient" works pretty well. I will try to redeem the Black Butler category with this story, so let me know what you think and how I did. Enjoy this strange, spontaneous concoction.

Okay, THIS is how Black Butler should have ended. No second season crap, no "omg what happened to ciel's soul, dat stoopid spider lulz", no a million and half terrible plot twists. The story should have ended with the first season, and Sebastian should have just gotten his dinner. Thank you, despicable continuation, for ruining a perfectly good ending.
So I'm writing this as homage to a great first season, and detailing how it was supposed to go. For the purposes of this fanfiction, there is no second season. Sebastian gets what he wants, Ciel dies, END OF STORY.

Black Butler not mine.

"Carve the pain of my life into my soul."

In many different instances, this would have been a sentence Ciel Phantomhive would have happily avoided, if possible. While pain was not neccessarily forbidden or feared by the young earl, it was definately not a preference. Except for today. Today, tonight, this eerie morning would be different. Everything felt strange and tedious, like finally reaching the end of a very long race and awaiting your long-desired prize. Nervousness crawled in his belly and it seemed like his very blood was thickening from the pressure. Oh, if Sebastian were to hear his racing heart at that passing moment... But what would it matter? He'd be dead soon anyway.

So many thoughts had crossed his mind, though none of them were tangible. Everything was just one giant incoherent con within himself, a million of his own voices asking all the questions to each other while physically his mouth remained shut. He'd asked the only thing he needed to: "Will it hurt?" Sebastian's sympathy had been all but warranted, however the child could not allow it. He only had one more order for his faithful butler, and that was to make it hurt. Carve the pain of his life into his soul, the soul Sebastian (who's name at that moment could finally be removed, seeing as he would no longer partake of this human substitute) would be consuming for having fulfilled his deeds to the earl.

He really didn't want it to hurt, Ciel knew. The boy was terrified, even moreso now that the horrendous pain he was to endure was imminent. Surely the blood had drained from his face at that point. His limbs felt a little numb... Perhaps the extraction of his soul had already begun? Was his body slowly being turned into a mere corpse? Had the demon started his work before Ciel could even register it?

But no, he hadn't. This demon, this former butler, this one once called "Sebastian" was closing in, ever-steadily closer. Ciel's terror finally seemed to blossom into his face, his eyes shaking and his breath held precariously, waiting for that one moment when the pain would start. He could still see; he saw the crumbling stone walls blanketed by trees and shrubs, and the empty makeshift courtyard where he sat. He could barely make out the grey sky, and he knew that if the demon would allow him to turn, he could see the targeting bird, the raven just behind them, watching, waiting. That black, devlish creature would be the voyeur to this sinful act, the ending to a hellish trade of lives.

Ciel couldn't see the raven, though. And he was partially glad for this. The beady eyes would just reflect the fear in the boy's face, and see how close he was to the precipice of his own demise. Ciel could rightfully say he feared death and pain at that very moment.

But this moment would be long, torturous, and unyielding. He would suffer just as greatly as he had in his life, all the pain of his years, the horrible things he'd seen and suffered... His parents' death, the destruction of his home, the shame and degradation as a slave, his pure, viscious anger towards his captives, his need for their deaths... the weight of his sins crushing his mind when he first looked his demon savior in the eyes and gave him a name and a face...

That face, the face of his father, the face that was suddenly so unfamiliar to him and so frightening, was nearing his own.

There had also been the pain of returning home to no one, to crying to no one, to falling asleep with no one, to being no one... And Elizabeth... Poor Lizzy, the girl he'd sworn to love had been so distanced from him. He couldn't imagine how many sleepless nights she'd had, worrying herself to wakefullness over her fiance's well-being. He'd blatantly disregarded her feelings, and purposely tried not to understand her. But he knew he had to, had wanted to. He did love her, and he wanted to keep her safe no matter what. And there was that pain, the pain of knowing he hadn't done all he could to protect her. She'd been hurt because of him, and now he could finally and rightfully suffer for it.

And what of his servants? He couldn't say he'd ever given much of a damn about them... They'd always been more trouble than they had been helpful. But they had been there, and that was what mattered. Sebastian had been right, he was a brat. But it was alright now, he could silently promise to his three servants, ones he wasn't even sure were still alive. He could now be punished for the things he'd done to them. And for Pluto, the beast those three had come to love but, with a heavy heart, had been ordered to destroy. So much death for Ciel. But also so much justification.

Part of Ciel's mind wandered to Tanaka, and genuinely hoped that the old man was still alive and well.

So many things followed; Abberlin's death, Lau's betrayal, the two-faced Queen's actions and her eventual demise... and Sebastian's mistrust. The young earl couldn't erase that moment from his mind, the look on Sebastian's face in the carriage after the orders to kill the Queen had been withdrawn. He'd disappointed his butler, something he never knew could affect him so much. Sebastian had left him that night, and for the second time in his life, Ciel was alone. The awkward and unusual panic felt like it had manifested itself into a hand to strangle him once Ciel had been made aware that his demon would not answer him no matter how hard he called. Without his butler, he was no one. Without Sebastian, what was Ciel Phantomhive but a useless, defenseless little kid? He had no idea he feared disappointing his own butler, but after being rescued, after having finally lain eyes on his demon savior, Ciel had finally realized how badly he needed his butler, and how much he feared recieving that disappointed glare. He would not allow them to seperate again that night, and ordered to stay by Sebastian's side no matter what. Together they had faced the final battle, the last event in the long, meticulous chain that had finally placed Earl Phantomhive and his loyal butler at the finish line, decorated with the ribbons of the boy's Magic Play.

And now, here he sat, having reached the end, having seen his battles through and gaining his prize, the death of his parents' assailants. Now all that was left was to give the demon what he wanted, the prize that had been scribed into the child's eye. Ciel's soul waited, hanging delicately onto its owner's body, knowing that it's time had come.

The atmosphere of the island slowly filtered away, and the surroundings became obstructed by the darkening face near his own. For a moment, he saw the demon's eyes, the reddish hue glowing as his hunger spiked dangerously. He saw the mouth open, and teeth that once sat flat and small like any man's, grow slowly into what could only be described as a devil's mouth. Glinting fangs, and the cold breath that escaped from between them. And then he only saw black, first the darkness of the demon's shadow overtaking him, and then the slip into the abyss of, perhaps, limbo. The stone bench was gone, and the cool of the morning air had lifted. Even the demon's breath was no longer detected, and Ciel knew he was approaching the moment where he would cease to exist. He could still feel the eyes on him, though. The piercing, devilish eyes of the targeting bird always watching, just waiting for that moment when the soul would be surrendered to its new master.

The moment felt like Ciel were sitting in a dark room, even his own bedroom, with the candles all unlit and the curtains blanketing the windows to keep out the moonlight. Or perhaps when he was a slave, and bound to an altair deep in the earth, away from the promise of sunlight. Yes, just like that... It was the moment before the demon first introduced himself, although nameless to mortals, and released Ciel from his bindings. But there was no light now, no glow of the demon's eyes or the bright splatters of blood on the wall or the fire that would consume the altair room. It was blackness, and Ciel was still bound, helpless and knowing of what exactly was to come.

"Just once more," Ciel called out weakly, though he couldn't even hear his own voice anymore. "Just once more, speak to me." He faintly feared he'd used up all his time to command the demon, but relief washed through him once he heard a response.

"Yes, My Lord."

"That's not my title anymore... I don't want to hear you in servitude now. I want to hear you. Just you."

"Young Master, I am yours. To the very end and even after that, I am your butler, and I will always answer you in that manner, for I've never had an existance that mattered more than to be yours and yours alone."

"But I'm not worth it. Not anymore. You can't serve someone who's dead."

"You will never die, not to me. The pieces of you that I consume will stay with me forever, therefore I will always be bound to you, regardless of if you have a voice or not."

"If that's true, then let me make another demand. Once I die, disappear from the human's world. I don't want anyone else to have you. If you get to keep me, then I want to keep you as well."

Ciel knew what he heard next, and knew that if he could feel anything anymore, it would be satisfaction. He had come to understand Sebastian's antics and mannerisms so well that without even looking at his butler, he could hear the cleverness in his reply, the crude demon's tongue drawing back patiently behind a wicked grin. Ciel always knew when Sebastian was making that delightfully evil smile, and even now, even after they'd both lost their manifested bodies, Ciel could still hear the wicked grin as the demon spoke.

"Yes... My Lord."

It felt like a bolt of lightning had passed through his body, his now non-existent body. The sudden, violent departure of relief from his being, followed by what could only be described as an axe trashing wildly into his stomach. Pain erupted from every fiber of his soul, and if Ciel could hear his own voice, or bear to for that matter, he would've heard himself scream. He knew only the echoes sounded in the demon's ears, as this was the sort of thing hellish beasts lived off of, the sheer agony and torture of a mortal's soul, and afterwards, the life that thrived in their bellies once the victim was consumed. Ciel, soon to no longer be Ciel, would be sleeping soundly in the demon's stomach.

Unrelenting claws dug deep into his belly, carving out a chunk of the young earl's soul and leaving a gaping hole in his once pure existence. The misery was indescribable; he'd never felt anything like this before. Was this the pain and torment of all his years added into a single moment? Was this what it felt like? Was this what he had asked for?

In what he could only hope was not a vain effort, Ciel opened his mouth to try and let his voice escape again, this time through the screams he was barely aware he was emitting.

"Am I dying?"

The voice that greeted him was not like the Sebastian he had known, but instead a stranger's, deep and warped and terrifying. It almost sounded like a different language, but the words processed so clearly within Ciel's mind, and the mannerisms that followed, that he knew it could be no one else but his demon savior. "Yes. You are dying."

"It's so terrible... So much worse than I expected..."

"Shall I stop, Young Master?"

The claws ripped upward, slicing open his chest cavity to expose his center where a beating heart would exist. Piece by piece, his innards were carved away. If he could see at that moment, Ciel would have tried to shut the world out. "No," came his trembling reply. "Don't stop. Don't you dare stop. Make it hurt more. It needs to hurt. I need the pain to consume me."

A leg was pulled from its joints, but not quickly like a guillotine, or carefully like a surgical amputation. It was like the jaws of a lion had fastened onto his thigh and yanked repeatedly until the sinew and muscles and bones finally just gave up and shredded apart. Ciel could only imagine where these parts were going, and tried to imagine this horrifying beast of a demon swallowing each bit whole. But all he saw instead was the vision of Sebastian, his loyal and upstanding servant, a devious smile on his face, holding the severed pieces of Ciel's soul in his hands.

"Young Master, I am flattered. You think of me even in death." The other leg was ripped from him, but this time from the knee down. "Even moreso that you see just the civilized side, the one dressed properly and standing upright, and not the image that I am now."

Between Ciel's screams, he managed to gasp out, "What is the image I'm missing?"

"Nothing for you to see."

"I don't deserve it?"

"I wouldn't sully your eyes with such a sight. It would be nightmarish to you, and I don't want you to see anything but what I worked precariously to impress you with."

"Impress me?" To his own horror, Ciel heard himself laugh a little. "A demon tries to impress a human? How absurd."

"Oh, yes, that's right. Demons are despicable. We're damned. We're nothing of worth to a magnificent earl such as yourself." Finally, the thigh was ripped from the waist, and Ciel could no longer feel anything from his sternum down. He tried to block the pain somewhat, but the demon, instead, chided to him. "Ah, ah, ah, Young Master. This pain is for you. Don't shy away from it. Accept it. Yes, take it in, all of it. This exquisite pain is all for you, My Lord." Another set of claws joined the first, and Ciel's chest was completely pried open like a bear trap. The screams that left his mouth were seemingly silent, though the demon could most certainly hear it loud and clear, and loved every moment of it, as his appetite directed him. Ciel wondered at what point had his devoted monster become so aggressive with his master's pain. He could always see the sadistic side of him, the true demon hiding behind the facade of an average human, sneaking a glance whenever the young earl had become injured, or was about to. Ciel could empathize; often times he wanted nothing more than to see his own enemies curl up in their torment, and found a sick satisfaction in seeing such agony. Sebastian couldn't have been much different.

But therein lied a problem; he had just compared himself to Sebastian. Sebastian the demon, a creature that delved in the evils of the world. As he had also said, a despicable, damned, worthless breed. Ciel was no better than a demon.

Within this limitless abyss, he heard the demon laugh, and the magnificent claws that were doing their job so well buried themselves deep into whatever was left of the child's stomach.

"Piece by piece, I pull my master apart. He begs for pain then tries to reject it. I encourage this pain and he calls himself a demon. Sometimes, you confound me."

"Stop it... Stop listening to my thoughts."

"Your thoughts? Young Master, you've been speaking aloud this whole time."

Ciel's eyes searched the deep black that surrounded him and saw nothing, and at the same time everything. Everything he'd thought had been spoken aloud? How mortifying... But was this part of the pain he'd asked to endure? The humiliation?

"Was that not part of the pain you suffered in your years?"

He was right. Humiliation was pain. But this was nothing, nothing compared to his time in captivity, his time as a slave to that loathesome cult. The sacrifice he was to become and been rescued from... He could knitpick Sebastian all he wanted, but to the very end, his demon did his job painfully well.

"Your praise does not fall on deaf ears, Young Master. I am humbled by your words."

"Prove it." Ciel no longer rejected the pain, but allowed it to swell as much as it could through what remained of his soul. It needed to hurt. The demon needed to make it hurt more. "Prove it. Prove to me your appreciation."

Hardly waiting for this approval, the demon magnified the intrusion into Ciel's soul. It was no longer just his claws, but seemingly his entire being, the whole length of his monsterous arms and so many other pieces that just felt unnatural. For a split second, Ciel truly had a full desire to see what this demon looked like, truly. The greater part of the being that had invaded him was pushing into his body, entering in through the great split he'd caused in his chest. Combined with the gaping hole in his belly, Ciel's whole torso had become a cavern. The agony was horrifying and immense, far too immense to create any comparison to other than what his vocalized goal had been: the pain of his life. This was it, this was the pain he'd endured throughout his years alive, from his parents' death to his butler's abandonment in London. This was what he needed. This was the pain he needed carved into his very soul.

Or, in this case, carved out of.

The pressure of the demon's body pushed into the child's soul, further into the torso before retracting to ease the stress it was causing. Then, it pushed back in, then pulled back out once more. The limits of his soul stretched and strained under the pressure of this creature's torment, each thrust in pushing on his soul just a little further. The demon was testing his limits, pushing to see how far he could go before his soul split in half completely. It was amazing to think (at least, for once, it was amazing to Ciel) that a demon could have this kind of power, the ability to take something as simple as a human soul and rip at it like a vulture with a carcass. And then to play with it, to pressure the soul so much that it threatened to tear apart right in the demon's hands... Ciel had no idea it could be anything like this. But this was how a demon ate, and derived its own pleasure. This could very well be a sensual act for a demon.

Again, that warped, horrifying laugh resounded without making a sound, as the fathomless abyss permitted. But he did not speak afterwards. He simply left Ciel to ponder that thought over as the arms reached further up into the boy's chest cavity and all the way to his throat. Ciel had long since lost awareness of his own screaming. Failing to realize he was still making these noises, he attempted to quiet down so he could fully appreciate the pain a little more. It was extraordinary. It was so intense, so unbearable, Ciel wondered how his soul was even still in tact (for what was left) enough to allow his existence to continue.

The slow pressure in and out of his body continued, repeating again and again, his torso resisting against the force for all it could before the young earl felt his sides begin to buckle. His whole torso would be split open soon, and the demon was still just playing around. Going in, moving out, in and out, it was almost like...

Ciel gasped aloud through his screaming, blind eyes staring wide open as he felt the hint trigger inside of him. Sensual act... This was a sensual act. The demon was... deriving pure, sexual pleasure from this. He was raping him.

The low-voiced laugh was all he heard in response.

Ciel screwed his eyes shut and let a few more strangled screams escape his throat as the rape of his soul continued. The demon was enjoying this thoroughly. Part of him wondered how long this particular piece of the act of suffering would last for, though he knew it should take the whole remainder of the time, as it did hurt far more than anything else the demon had already done. How much more of this could his soul take? How much more pain could he endure? As much as he allowed? As much as the demon allowed? When would he know that he had reached the limit, when the pain in these moments had equaled the pain of his life? Until his very soul was shredded, ripped at the seams like a jacket that didn't fit anymore?

"You're almost there, Young Master."

"No," Ciel choked out, hands uselessly gripping at nothing. "I'm not. I'm nowhere close. This can't be all there is..."

"You ask for more?"

"Yes..."

"Then suffer, My Lord." The presence in his torso magnified, and Ciel could literally feel his sides creak under the pressure. And then, hardly even aware that it had happened due to the intense distraction in his chest, the child felt two fingers vanish. Pain suddenly exploded in his right hand, and Ciel became much more aware of it as he consciously registered the disappearance of his little finger and ring finger. They'd been completely chewed off, leaving the other three fingers much more numb and less obvious in existence than before. The demon had eaten two of his fingers... And amazingly, it had hurt just as much as having his legs torn off.

Gradually, each finger was gnawed off, one after another. Some were eaten piece by piece from each knuckle, until all that was left was the thumb that had carried the heart of the Phantomhive family, the heavy blue jewel that no longer existed within Ciel's grasp. It was with some peasant now, being passed around for money, handled with such little care and no reverence for what the thing was truly worth. But that had to be put out his mind. He was no longer the leader of the Phantomhive company. He was no longer the only surviving member. He was dinner for a beast.

Wicked, ghastly teeth finally broke through the fragile digit, snapping it like a chicken bone. Ciel could only imagine that his replacement ring, the dainty, pathetic flower that had been tied around his thumb in lieu of the actual jewelry, was being shredded between those beastly jaws as well. He didn't think it'd make the piece of his soul taste any better, but then he wondered if, perhaps, his soul even tasted good. Or was there even any taste at all?

The throaty laugh from the demon seemed to answer that question, and Ciel willed his savior not to go into detail, as he didn't want to hear anymore blathering centered around a monster's appetite.

It didn't take long before his hands were chewed clean from their joints, followed by his arms from the elbows down. The earl had a fleeting imagery of how ridiculous he must've looked right then. Slowly the direction of his attention moved back to his torso, where the continued thrusting in and out of his body had not dulled any since it had first began. The pain had been more than he had predicted, and the loss of his body had been just what he had wanted. And then there was also the humilation of how he looked combined with the intrusion of his soul, his whole body's chastity dissolved into nothing but mere memories of once begin complete, not just a few moments ago, but long, long ago, before he'd lost his parents, before he'd been a slave to that forsaken cult, before he'd been the prey, the source of amusement for a demon. Everything was gone now, his family, his home, his pride, his love, his life... He was stripped clean. His pain had come and come again, and now he was alone. Everyone he had ever loved, known, respected, was all gone, and now he was here by himself in this hellish abyss, left with nothing.

For the first time in a very, very long time... tears broke free from Ciel's eyes. The young earl cried, cried for himself, for his pain, for his late parents, and for his loss of everything.

And just like that... the pain stopped. The presence in his body vanished, and though the pain still lingered at the ends of where limbs had once resided, the agony had dulled to some degree. Ciel opened his blue eyes, one shining brightly with the purple hue of the reverse pentagram, the curse laying deep in his soul. Just barely, through the deep abyss of his limbo, Ciel heard a laugh again, but this time it was not the deep, menacing laugh of the true demon he'd becomed tied to, but the laugh of his butler, the facade he'd been familiar with throughout his quest for vegeance. It was Sebastian. Sebastian was back.

"And there, My Lord, is the pain you asked for. My task is complete." He could hear the wicked grin return, and felt relief at the familiarity. "Young Master, is there anything else I can do for you?"

No... There was something there. Alone in this abyss, he could feel it, something left there that he hadn't noticed. His body was gone, yes, as was his family, his pride, his everything... but there was still something there. And he could feel it in his eye, deep in the pulsating curse marked there, he still had something... He had his demon. He had his faithful butler, the red-eyed, mysterious creature who would always keep him, who would never abandon him, never.

Ciel's tears didn't lessen any as he let his head lull back and forth, gasps for air and breathy sobs wracking what was left of his body before shaking his head. "No... That will be all, Sebastian."

He opened his eyes, finally, expecting to see the deep continuous black of his personal limbo, but instead saw something he had yearned visciously to hold in his eyes once more. Sebastian. His butler, Sebastian, with not a strand of hair out of place and his work uniform just as clean and tidy as always, was cradling him in his arms, staring down at him with sympathetic red eyes. His grin was still just as devilish as always, but a softer look adorned that handsome face, the face of his father. Sebastian was all he had wanted to see, without even realizing it. Ciel hardly dared to blink as the once horrid claws of the demon, now resembling soft human hands clad in white gloves, stroked his back in comfort. The small gesture resounded more deeply in the boy than the pain the claws had inflicted ever had. It was so deep and peaceful, it somehow spurred more tears from Ciel, and he had to fight back the childish sobs he wanted to let out without restraint.

Sebastian nodded slightly, the sympathy never leaving his eyes. "Yes, My Lord."

Ciel breathed hard for a moment as the sobs filtered out of his body, before the words finally punctured him, and the boy, having lost everything else, felt no disadvantage to smiling. A smile, small, timid, and childlike, came across his face, his eyes reflecting the happiness he had been robbed of so many years ago, as he allowed the love his butler showed him to be accepted into his tarnished, stripped soul.

The hands that held the young earl so carefully disappeared, then reappeared on either side of the child's head. Ciel closed his eyes and waited patiently for the pain to strike one last time.

"No, don't close your eyes, Young Master. They need to stay open so I can gain my prize."

Slowly, the lovely blue eyes opened again, and just as quickly as the lids had lifted, Ciel couldn't see anymore. He could hear the snap, and that was it.

The demon, still within the camoflauge of a butler named Sebastian Michaelis, stood with the last piece of his prize in his hands, the severed head of his master, Ciel Phantomhive. The deformed torso dropped to his feet, saved as a snack for later. The beautiful face was cradled in his fingers, the eyes still open, radiating blue and evil violet, that small smile still adorning the pale complexion. The boy was as lovely as always, beautiful in every sense that a young child could be. Sebastian could never get over it; Ciel was one of a kind, both in soul and body. He couldn't even begin to measure how fortunate he was for having come across such a lovely being, such a unique and spirited person. The empassioned and disturbed Ciel Phantomhive was his and always his. No one else would have him, just Sebastian. And vice versa. The demon would never again walk amongst the mortals, for the only mortal he ever needed would now reside safely in his stomach.

Sebastian kissed the eye that held the pentragram, and slowly drew the last vestiges of the boy's soul from him, devouring all that was left. The glow of the curse mark gently faded, then altogether, the curse was gone. The deal was officially done. Ciel's revenge was complete, and the demon's appetite was sated. The journey to get there had been long, painful, and unyielding, but this was the finish line, and it couldn't have been more satisfying, even with the loss of his beloved master.

"Here lies Ciel Phantomhive," Sebastian whispered sweetly as he cradled the head in his hands, much like a Shakespearean actor. "Here lies my Young Master, the creature that tamed a beast, the human that bewitched a demon. Here lies the sullen, lovely mortal that defied the odds and sullied his hands with hatred and revenge, that asked for the help of Hell itself and sought out the justification he so rightfully deserved. My Young Master, my eternal Lord, my own, my forever... Here lies Ciel Phantomhive, the one to own a monster."

The demon consumed the last pieces of Ciel, finishing off the torso and the head, leaving nothing behind but a wonderful aftertaste on his tongue.

"My Young Master now sleeps in me forever. Goodnight, Ciel Phantomhive. May you have pleasant dreams from now on."

Goodnight, Ciel Phatomhive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ze end.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AN: HA! DONE! I got writer's block about halfway through, then I realized I was making the story too long... Problems problems problems. It's done, and that's what matters. I'm sorry it came out so gruesome, I really didn't mean for it to, but it makes the story all the more special to me, as I'm a gore fan, so good for me. And good for you as well, hopefully.

Goodnight, reviewers.