*whispers* No one has taken down any of my stories, but I won't touch Fear Sebastian, The Crow Pirate. *shh* Don't tell anyone that this chapter is here. *whisper* *whisper*

Chapter 13

Claude put Ciel down. Even though Ciel wanted to go home, he knew that he didn't have a choice but to stay close to the demon. After all, he had no idea how to return. "Why did you bring me here?" Ciel asked quietly.

"I'm going to make you live with me," Claude said, but before Ciel could retort, he picked him up again. "We have to go before Sebastian comes after us."

Ciel remained quiet and wrapped his arm around Claude's neck so he wouldn't fall. Without the demon noticing, Ciel reached into his pocket and let a coin fall to the dirt ground. Perhaps Sebastian could know where Claude would take him.

Soon, they arrived to the town. Everyone looked their way. People with animal heads twitched their noses in Ciel's direction. As it seemed, the more human they looked, the more powerful they were, since some people had animal paws, feet, and heads.

It frightened Ciel, but not so much while he was in Claude's arms. He knew that if Claude liked him, he wouldn't let anyone hurt him. But with the demon having hidden his true identity, Ciel wasn't sure what to believe anymore.

Claude stopped in front of a house with a black roof and red walls. While he held Ciel up with one arm, he reached into his pocket with his free hand and unlocked the door. He then carried the young man inside and closed the door with his foot.

Ciel was put down on the brown carpet. He looked around. The house looked completely normal on the inside. A hallway with several doors on each side led to an open space at the end, most likely the living room.

"Now, I have a guest who would like to see you," Claude said as he walked further into the house. He took his cloak off on the way and hanged it on a coat hanger that already had a few more of different colors.

Without much thought, Ciel followed him. On his way, even though the walls were white and there were a couple of vases with plants, the paintings on the walls were rather sinister. They had dark landscapes or odd creatures. It was almost as if the people of this world enjoyed darkness in any way.

"Hello," a man said to Ciel and stood from the couch. "Oh, so this is Ciel Phantomhive, the young man you told me so much about." He approached Ciel slowly and rested his hand on his shoulder. "Yes, yes, I can work with this."

Ciel frowned in worry. "What do you mean?"

Claude cleared his throat. "He's going to turn you into one of us," he answered calmly.

But Ciel was far from calm. He gulped and took a step back. "How so?" He walked back until he bumped into someone. When he looked over his shoulder, he noticed a young woman with large breasts. She looked down at him, but didn't utter a single word.

"Ah, I forgot the introductions," the man said. "My name is Lau, and this Ranmao. We are not from this world, but what we can do is very requested here. Besides healing, we can return the powers of someone from this world."

Ciel was confused. He shook his head. "I don't follow," he mumbled, and regarded Lau. "I'm a human. I don't have any powers to be returned."

Lau chuckled oddly. "Oh, yes, you do," he told Ciel. As he approached the young man, Ranmao wrapped her arms around Ciel's torso, stopping him from moving. "I can sense that you have it in you. It seems that someone took you to the human world so you could live a normal life—I'd say that your parents, or at least one of them, took you to the human world before your powers could be revealed."

"What powers? I don't feel anything," Ciel retorted, anger boiling. He'd always lived a normal life. He went to school and then got a job, and lived in his own apartment.

Ciel quickly stopped to think. There had been a time in his childhood that he didn't remember. He always thought that something bad had happened and his brain had made him forget it, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't remember. Specifically, it had been a time when he'd turned ten years old. Before that, his memories were a complete blur.

"You look like a human now, but I'm sure that you'll become something else as soon as I reveal your other side," Lau said with a wide grin. "That barrier will break. Since you had no idea of your powers, I'm sure that your animal side is weak and most of you is in that form."

Claude took a deep breath. "We'll just have to see, then."

For some reason, Ciel was curious. Could he remember that time before he'd turned ten years old? However, he was also scared. What if his animal form was gruesome? What if he couldn't turn back into a human? He wouldn't be able to walk the streets of his world.

"I'll take down the barrier that was built around you," Lau said as he raised his hand toward Ciel, his eyes closed.

Ciel shook in fear. He didn't know if it would hurt or what could happen to him. He shut his eyes tightly and turned his head down. Ciel trembled even more at the silence that had settled in the room. He needed Sebastian here to protect him.

"Done," Lau uttered, and Ranmao released Ciel.

His eyes shot open. "Already?" he asked and the other man nodded. But Ciel didn't feel any different.

"Come to the mirror," Claude said as he led Ciel to the bathroom. "I never expected you to be like this, though."

Ciel's heart pounded in his chest. What did he mean by he never expected this? Shaking himself, Ciel entered the room with Claude. The lights were turned on and a large mirror revealed Ciel's true form.

"You're a puppy," Claude said, a smile of amusement on his lips.

He stared at his form in the mirror. Ciel had a snout and dog ears that went up and the tips tilted down. His hands weren't completely paws; they were more like hand-paws. A long, fluffy tail was between his legs, obviously from him being afraid, and he couldn't see his feet, even though they fit in his shoes.

His fur was a night-blue, and his eyes were bright-blue. Not waiting to believe what he was seeing, Ciel lifted his dog lips and stared at the sharp white teeth. He couldn't move his mouth as much as before; his lips didn't keep his mouth completely closed any longer.

"W-Why?" Ciel uttered, surprised that he could still speak. He lifted his shirt and saw that his body was filled with soft, night-blue fur, even though his torso, arms, and legs had a human form. A diamond-shaped patch of fur in the center of his chest was white and stuck out slightly in the middle. "This is not me. This must be a nightmare."

Claude shook his head. "You've been living a lie. Do you really think Sebastian and I would go after a human? You might not be in the demon rank, but you're still from this world called Yami. You can't deny who you truly are."

Ciel quickly looked at Claude through the mirror. "Sebastian knew all along?"

The demon nodded. "Your scent is different from every other human. How do you think Sebastian found you in the first place? He haunted you in attempt to make your remember your true self without shocking you. But in the end, he decided to keep you like a human."

A sudden kick to the front door of the house startled Ciel. The whole house moved. With his dog ears he could listen to it clearer than before. It had been so sudden that Ciel ran to a corner and crouched to the ground, his arms around his bent legs.

A faint thought came to his mind. Ciel had always thought that cats didn't like him and he didn't like them in return. Had they sensed that Ciel was a dog?

Feet stomped along the hallway until they reached the bathroom, and Sebastian came into sight. He stared down at young man who'd turned into part dog. "Ciel," he said quietly.

"You knew," Ciel muttered with a broken voice. "How am I going to face Alois now? He's going to think that I'm capable of evil like the both of you."

Sebastian rushed over to Ciel and rested his knees on the black tile flooring. "That's why I didn't tell you anything. I knew that you wouldn't like your real form. Claude did this so he could put you against me and keep you all to himself."

Ciel looked away. He had a point. But for some reason, he'd rather know the truth than to live in a lie. "There's nothing I can do now. Like Claude said, this is who I am."

"The barrier that showed your human self only works once," Lau said from the exit. "If you want to look like a human being again, you have to become stronger. You'll have to stay in Yami until then. If you'd like, we can bring your friend here to see you."

What a mess. Ciel scratched his neck through the long fur. What should he do now?