Hey everybody! How are you? I decided to upload this a bit faster than last time, since I was just lazy (I know, I'm bad at that), so hopefully you guys enjoy it! Thank you for all the likes, favs, and reviews! even if you just read this story, it means a lot to me. Nothing much happening in this chapter though, just plot development most of the time. Anyway, thanks for reading and enjoy!

Ciel woke up. But it wasn't where his bed was supposed to be or in a home. It was somewhere far away from that. It was pitch-black; nothing else. Not a glimpse of light, not a piece of grass to step on. It was black below and above, side to side. He couldn't even see his own limbs, seeing nothing.

Until a light came. An orange glow.

Ciel stared at it curiously, taking small steps over to it. He looked at his hands, seeing that he wasn't in the past; the contract wasn't to be seen. The ground began to crunch as he still walked on the black pit of ground, nearly arms length to the glow.

The glow burst aflame.

The flames soared, engulfing his surroundings. The landscape lit up as green trees and soft grass cringed, turning into the bland grey and falling into ashes before hitting the ground. Flames. Flames everywhere. Every speck was covered, inching toward Ciels feet. He couldn't breathe. Wait, demons have no need to breathe.

But this is your nightmare, Ciel.

His head flinched around, looking for the deep voice. He tried to run, but there wasn't a way out. He looked left to right, and his eyes widened. His mother was trying to open a door; the door was in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but landscape around it. She would die! Stop it already!

But you already know her fate, Ciel.

He stumbled, the flames around him retreating to fit around his body. He pulled himself up skittishly, fingernails digging into the ground as he pushed himself up. His feet sinked into the dirt as he flew across the everlasting forest. The everlasting fiery forest. Running and running and running.

Break down, Ciel.

He shook his head, clawing the sides of his face as he heard the familiar deep voice slither inside him. Shaking his head, Finny, Bard, and Mey Rin are all together, smiling and waving at him. His eyes are covered by the smoke before he can see them slowly crumple into the ground, molding with the other ash.

They all have died, Ciel.

His father sat before him, flames burst aflame in front of him. The flames circled and looped around his father, just as he had seen them when he was a child. He lay there, completely motionless; the ring on his finger wasn't there, and he just barely moved. He looked over at Ciel, making eye-contact with him, and gave a brief smile. But nothing else. He then closed his eyes, laying in the exact same position as when he died.

No one is here anymore, Ciel.

The flames stopped.

New surroundings set in.

But he didn't want to look at the face that was in front of him, for he knew who it was. Who was talking to him. The warnings that had been given.

He'd use them correctly now.

"CIEL!" Alois screamed, making Ciel fling up in his bed, panting. Sweat dripped down his back as the lump in his throat made him feel nauseous. Fucking hangovers.

"Alois, what the fuck." Ciel groaned, looking up at Alois. Wait. How'd he get home?

"Finally, you woke up. I thought Sebastian might've been to rough on you."

Ciel nearly hacked, leaving a bad taste in his mouth as the words were said. "Sebastian might've what?

"You know, banged a bit too hard. He did take you home, and Soul-Eaters like rewards in return..."

"We didn't have sex, Alois." Ciel muttered angrily, shaking his head in frustration. He fluffed his hair as he sat up in the queen bed, trying to pull over the sheets that Alois was sitting on. "Who the fuck gave you that idea, Claude?" He said jokingly.

Alois stood up straight at the question, like a bolt of lightning went through him. Ciels eyes widened, staring at Alois in an awkward silence. "... Did you really..." Ciel started slowly, staring at him like he was at idiot.

"Hey, don't start making random conclusions!" Alois exclaimed, waving his hands in assurance. Alois sighed, clutching the bed sheets and looking down. "... Okay, we did do the do, but it was just once! I was completely satisfied." He smirked, crossing his arms and putting his chin up in confidence. Ciel just gave him the look. You know, that look when your friend has just said something so dumb you have no words to say about it. That look.

"I rarely ever hear you say you were 'satisfied'. It's either too rough, too slow-"

"Okay, I get it Ciel!" Alois yelled blushing slightly. He rubbed the back of his neck, nearly stuttering, "Yes, it was different. It was..." Alois tried to find the right words for his situation.

"Magical?" Ciel joked, getting out from under his covers. He was dressed in his pajamas, which made him question what happened last night. Would he regret getting drunk later?

"Haha, no." Alois replied immediately, Ciel astonished by the look of truth in his eyes. "It was satisfying, yes, but it hurt in my chest where my heart used to be, for some reason..." Alois grumbled, confused. "After it was done was when it happened. It fucking stung like a bitchy bee, if you know what I mean."

"That's a human emotion called 'love', dumbass."

"No, it's 'lust', I am sure of it." Alois noted. "I just feel sad since I can't do it again."

"Well, to tell you the truth, I don't give a shit." Ciel groaned, slamming himself in his bathroom. He slid down the door, wiping the hair out of his face. He took a few deep breaths as he heard Alois yell "You're such a dick!"

He stumbled to the shower, forcing the handle down. His body was shaking furiously enough to make Ciels hands knock down a plastic cup. Why? Why have such a dream? He had thought that they would stop, since he hadn't had it in decades...

Maybe it was because of him. That voice in his head decided to come back up and warn him of his visions when he was '16'. He didn't want to believe it, his heart ached like a bullet that had been shot through a humans body. His vision felt like it was going to fail, like a hacked computer wanting to shut down and reveal all it's information. He stepped inside of the shower, pressing his hands firmly against the glass.

"Ciel?" He heard Alois call, yet it sounded distant. "Ciel?!" He asked again, barely coming as a whisper to Ciels ears. His mind was blurry, being mixed with confusion and fury. His toes curled, becoming whiter than snow with the force.

"SHUT UP ALOIS!" He screamed, his eyes wide and panting heavily as his back was twisted when he faced the door. No response came, and so Ciel was content. He wanted to be alone. He wanted...

"Damn it, not again..." Alois snarled to himself as he starting walking out the door in a hurry.

Claude had left the hotel at 9:00 on the dot, promptly walking down the street. His paced was well stroked, not wanting to be late for a good, real-life talk with Sebastian, since all they talked about last night was trash about how the other had changed and how there contractors had. His contractor. Alois.

The boy had really changed. He wasn't the bitchy little boy who whined when something wasn't his way; when he wanted something, he told it. He was demanding, and to tell you the truth, a wildcat. Alois had left before Claude had awaken, so Claude had to pay for the room as he left. It was quite a pain.

"Claude, there you are." Sebastian said in front of him, startling Claude out of his trance. "You look like you've been a deer in the headlights."

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." He confessed, checking his watch for the time he had arrived. Nine o' two. Fuck.

"That's not often." Sebastian smirked, walking down the street past other demons who were busy with ordinary duties. Believe it or not, they had jobs to become one of the higher-ranked demons, if they wanted to be. "What's bothering you?"

"... I think I had a drink too many."

"You didn't have a drink, Claude."

Claude mentally rolled his eyes, sighing in frustration. "Okay, stop investigating me. I just took Alois out."

Sebastian would've spit out liquid if he had a drink. "... Well, I didn't take you for that kind of person, Claude..." He chuckled, going into one of the well-built shops on the north side of the town.

"I'm not, trust me. You do it sometimes to, I would bet." Claude argued, sitting down in a wooden oak chair that was painted black. The interior decor was mainly themed on medival times, as expected.

"I don't." Sebastian immediately replied. "I don't like the complexity of an affair."

"So, you'd never do it with Ciel?"

"If I wanted to, I would've done it while he was looking death in the eyes. He was piss-drunk, and I had to take him to his apartment."

Claude gave him a mellow astonished look. He sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head slightly. "And I didn't think you where that kind of person either, Sebastian."

Before Sebastian could reply to the question, a man burst through the door so loud that everyone in the store turned to see who it was. And, to the twos dismay, it was Alois. He immediately passed the two, not even bothering to look at who they were. Sebastian was quite shocked, but Claude had never seen this emotion on his face when he actually meant it.

Fear. That's what it was.

"Alois, what's wrong?" A male called from afar, both turning their heads to see which person the voice came from. They recognized him as the man that Ciel called Yuta. He sounded frantic, since he to knew Alois was not the one to show an emotion like that.

"... It's Ciel..." At this, Sebastian's chest flew. What was wrong with the young master? Sick? Not fed well? ... Hold up. Stop getting ahead of yourself, Sebastian. He knew that he no longer served Ciel; why even bother? "... It's happened."

Yuta eyes widened, clenching his palms tight enough that his fingernails started to make his palms bleed. "You don't mean..."

"I should've noticed it before, Yuta. He had the nightmare. I was so, so stupid..." Alois murmured to himself, shaking his head back and forth. "He's going to go insane. I should've helped him, but the doors locked. Break it down for me, Yuta." He pleaded, Yuta immediately bursting out of the store. Alois was right behind him, but before he left, he turned to Sebastian. He glared at him; only a glare given when there was a sign of deep sorrow about something to him. It was intense enough that even Claude felt the aura given off by him.

"Sebastian, I'm not dumb." Alois said politely as possible. "Do not follow us. It will make things worse. "

Sebastian chuckled a little, not understanding. "What does that mean?"

Alois's eyebrows furrowed, twisting the door knob.

"He usually hears you in his nightmares."

And with that, the door slammed shut, and the whole store turned back to being the same except the angry manager talking to the other employees about the worker who had left a few minutes ago. It was completely normal.

Claude was the first to talk. "... Do you want to go?"

"Cars starting already."

Two demons burst out of that store faster than lightning.

Yuta and Alois's footsteps were like giants by the time up they got to Ciels apartment. They burst open the door, only to see Ciel on his bed.

Completely fine.

He was reading a book on his bed, legs flopped and spread out while his wet hair was drying off from the recent shower.

"Yes?" He asked them as he turned to look at them.

"Oh thank Satan, Ciel..." Yuta said, sighing in relief. "I thought you might... You know..."

Ciel huffed. "Of course not, I'm not a child anymore. I can handle such dreams nowadays. I just need some time to myself." He noted, flipping to the next page in his book.

Alois nodded, smiling. "I'm so happy!" He squealed, jumping onto his bed, and snuggling Ciel.

Ciel shivered in disgust as Yuta laughed. "Get off of me, you pedophile!"

"Please, tell your boyfriend that."

"Bullshit. Sebastian will be keeping his distance now, especially since I have been warned."

"Oh yeah, sure." Alois stated, rolling his eyes. "I told him not to come here for a while, so trust me.

Ring.

Alois and Yuta stared at the door like it was a serial killer.

"It's Sebastian." He said as he entered the door with Claude, making eye content with Ciel.

Yuta sighed. "Won't you fucking listen for once?"

"Nope."