What Would You Do?

Cling! Cling!

Sebastian looked up from a bit of paperwork he had on his desk in his office. The little silver bells on the wall in front of him were the only thing to call him away from his task; straightening out records and lists he needed in order to do his job.

Hm, Ciel must want something. I should go and see . . . I swear, Ciel, if this is another request for dessert, I'm going to kill you!

Sebastian got up from his desk and hurried to Ciel study; a short walk, since the study was on the second floor just above his office. He knocked on the door and waited.

"Come in," Ciel called from the room within.

Sebastian obeyed and closed the door behind them, "Did you need something, sir?"

It was then that he noticed . . . how awful Ciel looked. His grayish blue hair, normally tame and lying flat with just his bangs in his face, was now messy; almost as if he'd been in a fight. There were prominent wrinkles in his clothes, and he'd obviously been tugging at his blue bow tie, as the loops he remembered pulling tight that morning were uneven and tangled somewhat.

It was needless to say that Sebastian was slightly put off by his master's disheveled appearance.

"Forgive me for asking, sir, but is something the matter?"

Ciel twiddled his fingers, "I – it's nothing, Sebastian. It's just . . . I have a question I want to ask you."

"Alright, go ahead."

Somehow Sebastian knew the question Ciel was about to ask would be bad, but he could've never imagine just how bad it would be.

"Sebastian . . ." Ciel said quietly, "What would you do if I ordered you to kill me?"

Sebastian felt the shock shoot through him, "Master?"

The silence that followed was agonizing as Sebastian thought over his answer carefully.

"Before I answer your question, master," Sebastian finally said, "Might I ask how this particular subject came about?"

Ciel sat down at his desk, "I don't know, exactly. When I think back on the past couple of years, I've come to realize how alone I've been. I don't know how to have fun or to be happy, or . . . Anyways, it doesn't matter. Just answer the question so we can both get back to work."

Sebastian let out a heavy sigh, "I never have understood the suicidal thoughts of humans."

Ciel shot him a questioning glance as he listened to the butler continue.

"I've had plenty of masters before you who thought life simply didn't suit them. Only a handful of them ever ordered me to kill them. To answer your question, young master, if you were to order me to kill you, I'd have no other choice but to obey it . . . But it would mean condemning myself to death."

Ciel raised a curious brow, "What do you mean? Will you be punished, or something?"

"I guess you could say that. There's no demon in Hell that cares if another demon kills its master or not . . . No one but me, that is. You see, I've always been rather obsessed with this thing you humans called "loyalty". It was something that, up until about a century ago, I knew nothing about. Out of curiosity, I sought to understand this "loyalty" and master it. I wanted any method of serving under a contract to be different than the others."

"That still doesn't explain why killing me would condemn you to death," Ciel pointed out, "If it's okay for demons to kill their masters, how would my death affect you?"

"It would in a number of ways. Firstly, you have to understand that I'm very hungry. I haven't consumed a soul since . . . the Black Death, I believe. I ate enough low-quality souls to hold me over an enormous span of time. It was only a decade ago that I started to hunger again. While I can go a long time without a soul to consume, it's still possible for me to starve to death."

Ciel's eyes widened surprise.

"And while killing you might ensure that I get my meal quicker, it actually does the opposite. Demons that resort to killing their masters for their soul wind up with a soul that's much lower in quality than it was before. It would be like if you were about to gorge on the buffet when your stomach was empty, and then suddenly all you were allowed to eat from this buffet was a slice of bread. It does this because, in some cases, the soul gives up on life or they lose their value when the person dies."

"But you would have other masters . . . wouldn't you?" Ciel asked.

"That's not always certain. These days there are more Christians than anything. Not many people would summon a demon to get out of the situation. I suppose I could resort to stealing souls, but then I run into trouble with Grim Reapers and sometimes angels. So, in the end, if you were to order me to kill you, it would be an action that would inevitably lead to my death."

Ciel's gaze shifted to the floor, "I never realized . . ."

"So master." Sebastian finally said, slightly hesitant in tone, though, "Did you have in order for me?"

Ciel looked back up at him and straightened his spine, "Yes, actually."

Ciel Sebastian frowned slightly.

The young earl took off the eyepatch covering his contract seal and Sebastian braced himself for the order.

"This is an order," Ciel spoke clearly and a smirk crossed his face, "Get back to work and forget this conversation between us ever happened."

Sebastian could only smile as he gave a curt bow.

"Yes, my lord."