Checkmate, it's over, I win.

Tell me, after you read the fic, what should it be rated? I'm not sure "K+" or "T".

Please review, it's my first attempt at angst!

And glide-over beta-ed by elepaio.

It's over. Checkmate. He had won.

But who was "he"? The pawn had moved to the other side of the board, and had turned from a loyal pawn to a vicious, disobedient knight… Or was it a queen, powerful and dangerous? So who had won – The king or the pawn? Who came out on top?

"Kill them all." Ciel's voice was quiet, triumphant. He never was, and never will be, a person quite for great shows of victory.

"Yes, my lord."

It was not quick, the deaths of the men who had burned down the mansion. If you could call the demons Sebastian had wailing and sobbing underfoot 'men', that is.

Ciel stared, unblinking, as cold as ever. At fifteen, he was able to do such without the childlike displays his younger years had brought on. But Sebastian could sense the fury in his eyes; feel the fear in his stance.

"Let's go. Let them burn."

The last orders of a soul-stolen boy. Sebastian could taste the soul on his master's lips, black and heavy with anger and tragedy.

Gently as ever, always gently, Sebastian took his master up. With no words to comfort or soothe his distant master, his master who had long been used to bloodshed and death, Sebastian left the mansion, walking among glowing embers as the place burned to the ground.

They came to a place no one could see. Along the way, Ciel never said a word.

As though his snappy master were a doll, a gentle porcelain doll, Sebastian lowered Ciel to the ground. Sebastian moved Ciel's limbs until his faraway master was sitting, leaning against the lone tree in the midst of nowhere. The fetal position.

The only reminder to Sebastian that his master still held a soul, other than the black light only demon eyes could see, was the shining blue eye that never left his own.

Sebastian removed his glove, emptying his heart of human thought. He was a demon. He had done his duty. And now he would get the soul promised.

Gently, always gently, always and forever, Sebastian removed the eye patch with his bare hand. The violet eye that stared and yet not stared at him, decorated by the demon's ring, was inviting. Behind hit, bound to the mark, was Ciel's soul, strong and resilient.

"I am finished, my lord." Sebastian said, kneeling now, the self-satisfying smirk on his face utterly triumphant.

"So what are you waiting for?" Ciel almost snapped, his voice soft but laced with the edge. His blue eye narrowed in anger, while the violet was unable to move at all. "Take it already!"

His master, Sebastian thought, was always so proud. But he could smell the fear.

"Yes, my lord."

Sebastian pulled his hand away from Ciel's face. With it came the mark on Ciel's eye – And his master's soul. It was black, a pulsating orb of fire and light.

Without it, Ciel slumped against the oak – A living shell. Sebastian had to smirk at his proud master. Even with no soul, a broken toy, a hollow shell, he still managed to look high and disdainful.

"Such an interesting master." Sebastian remarked, cradling the soul close to him. His prey. His.

He raised the black fire to his lips, ready to consume, but stopped.

Something was staining his shirt. Something warm and something… wet?

"So what are you waiting for?" He could hear his master snapping in his head, just as he had done so not that long ago.

Again, Sebastian tried. A wrenching pain pulled at his belly, his heart and his own demonic soul. He could not consume his master.

Those wet things were back. What are they?

He raised a bare hand to feel the drops of wet trailing down his face.

No.

It can't be.

The wet things were human. Bare, blatant shows of human emotion he never feels.

Tears.

Why? Why?! For once, Sebastian felt truly lost.

"Do not betray me."

Now he was imagining things. His master's voice rang in the air, in his ears.

Pain. A wrenching pain permeated his very being, changing his heart.

"Never leave my side."

"I didn't!" Sebastian said, whirling around. Then he paused, straightening up and looking back at the shell of a master.

Foolish master. Young master. Cruel master. Hollow master. Deep master. Interesting master.

Interesting. Yes. That's it. Sebastian told himself, nodding, eyes closing against the image of the broken boy. He was disappointed he had lost such an interesting master. There was no other reason he could not consider eating the soul. He was disappointed such an interesting adventure was over.

"Do not betray me."

Anger flashed over Sebastian's face for the smallest of seconds. This is stupid. Stupid and foolish.

"How?" He demanded. He did not – No, he could not – look at the young master's body, choosing to instead address the straining black and red energy in his hand. "How is it that of all the masters I have had, you hold my interest? How can you wrench at my chest like this? You are a CHILD. Just a young, foolish master."

Yes, he told himself, just a young and foolish master.

Unable to take it any more, he opened his jaws and almost inhaled the soul.

Yes, it tasted wonderful. It was everything and more he had imagined.

Why did his heart hurt so much? He is a demon. Demons do not hold human emotions.

His eyes returned to the body leaning against the tree, eyes both blue and blank. The demon lowered himself to the ground, closing the boy's eyes.

"Foolish boy."

He couldn't leave. Not yet.

"Foolish master."

He bared his teeth, leaning down at the boy. So vulnerable. He could kill the master now. No one would know.

Still, the pain persisted.

"Damn you."

And he leaned down to steal the lifeless body's lips.

It was nothing. It wasn't the answer to anything. It was meaningless.

So Sebastian told himself, straightening up and leaving the shell. He won't bother with his boy any more.

He had what he wanted.

So why- he dismissed the question from his conscious, but his mind still asked it. So why do I feel like I just lost something special?

Reviews make the world go around. Can I have some? Pretty please?

And I do admit, spell-check changed the spelling the first time. Autocheck changed "Ciel" to "Cecil". Fortunatly, some pointed it out to me... So it's fixed now!~