A/N: Hello, human beings! Look who's back with a new chapter of The Demon's Servant. This chapter was really a bitch to write, from trying to explain certain stuff to finding out where it would be appropriate to end it. Anyways, here I am, and I hope this will satisfy you for a while.

To those of you who are wondering if there is really going to be a romance part in this, I say absolutely! The thing is, I want it to be a slow, genuine romance, instead of some quick fuck in the very beginning. Ya feel me? I don't want to spoil too much, so I'll just shut up about it for now.

Yeah yeah, boring chapter, I know, but it has to be there to lead to the stuff that's to come. If there are any mistakes, please tell me. ^^

And again, thank you so much for following, favouriting and reviewing to my story, and just for actually reading it. I hope you know how it all means to me, as I have no chance of even beginning to make you understand. You're fantastic!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or any of the characters in it.

For a single moment, everything stood completely still. Ciel could look around, and his now glowing eyes immediately took in every detail of the room, from the almost invisible crookedness of the throne to the small sprinkles of dust on the floor. He was about to open his mouth and tell Sebastian that he really needed to clean the place to make it fit for a king, when all of sudden it felt as if a boulder had fallen on top of him, and his body collapsed on itself. Luckily, a pair of arms caught him before he had time to hit the floor.

"Well, that certainly went fast." Sebastian chuckled at the small groan escaping the younger demon's lips. "Don't worry, this is your body adjusting to the changes in your blood. Just wait a few minutes, and you'll feel better than ever."

"Se..bastian…" Ciel didn't understand. Mere seconds ago, he had felt strong enough to take on the entire universe by himself, but now he couldn't even move his lips properly. He tried gripping the sleeve of Sebastian's coat, but he only managed a weak tug, before his hand fell back down.

A smirk stretched over the king's face as he looked down at the boy. "Maybe I gave you too much to start with. It makes sense, seeing as you're no regular demon. No matter, just lie still until you feel strong enough to stand on your own."

As the strength started seeping back into his body, Ciel carefully moved away from Sebastian. He grabbed the man's clothing again, however, since he still needed time to recover, and collapsing again would only serve to boost his embarrassment.

Some time went by while neither of them said anything, both just waiting. When the smallest of the two decided that his legs were now definitely strong enough to carry him, he let go of Sebastian.

"Now, Ciel, there is something I'd like you to try," the man said as he straightened up.

As usual, Ciel scowled. "All right, what?"

A smirk spread over the king's face. "I want you to hit me in the face."

"…What?"

"You heard me."

Ciel tilted his head in curiosity "Sure… but why?"

"Oh, no reason." Sebastian shrugged. "I just thought I'd test something. Why so suspicious, though? Surely you wouldn't decline such an offer?"

At his words, Ciel almost wanted to laugh, and not in a happy way. Instead, he scoffed and took hold of the man's collar, bringing his face down so that they could see each other eye to eye. He pushed back the knowledge that the only reason he was able to do this was because Sebastian let him, and clenched his fist.

As he stared into the other demon's eyes, memories of his old life raced through his mind. Naturally, Sebastian was in all of them. The one that stayed in his head even after the wave of memories was over was the one that maddened him the most. At the time, he had done his best not to let it show, but now he knew that this certain memory was one of the things that made him let Sebastian go in the first place. It was one of the things that had made trusting the man impossible.

"Screw you," he growled and raised his hand. He knew that what was happening now wouldn't change anything. It wouldn't give him closure. So why did it feel so damn good to send his old butler flying with his own fist, with the memory of said butler impaling him* flowing through his mind?

Though Ciel's knuckles now hurt like hell, and Sebastian was still on his feet, the fact that he was now standing pretty far away from him due to the impact of his punch was enough to give the boy just a little satisfaction. It faded, however, when he saw the smirk on the demon's face.

"Well, well, what have we here? That almost hurt. It seems you're about as strong as a regular demon now. Huh, I'm a little impressed, actually," Sebastian said and put a hand to his face, smirk widening.

"I can do it again if you want," Ciel replied harshly. He despised that the man was still being smug, even though the boy had just used all of his strength to hit him. Right now, wiping that smirk off seemed like a good thing to do.

"Or…" the king held up his index finger, "I could show you how to fight like a real demon. You might be stronger now, but that doesn't mean that anyone will have a problem taking you down."

Despite the small blow to his pride, Ciel nodded in understanding. Sadly, he knew a thing or two about demons getting the better of him. It was not something he would like to relive. "Fine, where do I start? This power thing is inside me now, right? How do I use it to my advantage, like you did?"

Sebastian looked him over, probably trying to calculate how much his body would be able to take, or something. "I must warn you; this might prove to be very difficult for you. I regret not doing this with you sooner, as I might not be able to teach you anything important in such a short amount of time. I hope you're all right with pushing your body to, or even beyond, its limits."

"What if I can't move when I'm supposed to leave the castle? That wouldn't be very helpful for either of us, would it?"

The man's lips spread out in a cruel smile. "Oh, you not being able to move will not be a problem at all. I just can't promise that it won't hurt. So then, shall we begin?"

When Ciel nodded, Sebastian's smile only seemed to widen. "Great. Listen closely, now. The trick is to take everything you're feeling and let it explode from within you, manifesting it into whatever shape you can manage. The stronger the emotion, the stronger the Power. Do you understand?"

"Seems easy enough. Does that mean that if I get attacked with this, if the one charging at me isn't really into it, it's not that dangerous?"

"Well, not at dangerous as it would have been had your assailant hated you with every fibre of their being, no. But don't concern yourself with this now, it doesn't really matter. Not many demons have access to this Power, and those who do, will most likely not use it against you. That is, if they value their life." Sebastian looked away, a strange glint in his eyes, that Ciel could only interpret as some twisted sort of humour.

"Did someone ever try to?" the boy asked as he watched the king's face turn to stone, his eyes gazing deep into nothingness as he seemed to recall something that had happened long ago.

"Yes," he finally replied, turning his attention back to Ciel. "She tried, but she was too slow. Fast enough to kill the old king, but not me. Damn that woman, leaving this mess we call 'home' for me to clean up. I ended her, though, just like I will end you should you ever do the same thing."

Ciel stared at him for a while, letting his words sink in, before deciding to speak again. "Who was she?"

"No one important, just some bitch who thought she would look better on the throne than any of us."

And that was that. A silence filled the room, comfortable yet tense. There was more to be said, and they knew it, but the walls that they both had built around themselves prevented them from doing anything other than stand there, listening to each other breathing.

A dark thought filled Ciel's mind, prodding at his brain like some parasite just waiting to be seen. If she was no one important, how come she could use the Power?

Sebastian was definitely hiding something, but it was not in his place to question it. Maybe because he himself had too many secrets to even begin explaining.

The day had passed so quickly that it was first when Ciel sat down by the dinner table that he realized how hungry he actually was. The astonishing pieces of food placed in front of him didn't help either, but each time he tried to reach out to put some on his plate, a servant would step forth and slap his hand away, making it clear that he was not supposed to do anything just yet.

Yet there he sat alone, with only the servants of the castle to judge him. True enough, he could feel their eyes burn into his back with every movement he made. Well, Sebastian had told him they wanted him out, so it would make sense that they didn't want to be in the same room as him. Hah, too bad for them. It wasn't like he was going to talk to them anyway.

Still, as time went by and nothing happened, he grew more and more agitated. Sebastian had told him to go there after he had taken a bath and gotten some new clothes on. Apparently, he hadn't used enough time on that. It might have been the strange substance the king had fed him with still surging through his veins, making his patience grow even thinner than it already was.

"Where are you, Sebastian?" he murmured to himself. The thought of simply leaving the room had crossed his mind, but he was hungry.Frustrated, he slammed his head down on the table, nearly breaking the plate. "Ughhhh."

"I see someone's impatient," a voice cut through the air, making the boy's head snap up.

"Finally! What in the world could have taken you so long? Aren't you supposed to have 'inhuman speed' or something? Oh, whatever. Can I eat now?" Ciel glared at Sebastian. While happy he would finally be able to get some food in himself, he couldn't help but be irritated at the king's tardiness. Well, what he saw as tardiness anyway.

Sebastian merely chuckled as he sat down opposite him, gesturing one of the servants to fill his glass with something that looked mysteriously much like wine. "Forgive me for being late, something came up. Shortening it down a bit, a prisoner managed to escape from the dungeons, and it took some time to get her back and give her the proper punishment. I'm sure you understand. To be honest, I figured you would still be lying in the tub, too exhausted to move." He took a sip of his drink.

At the mention of that, Ciel's cheeks lit up in embarrassment. "Well I wasn't. I'll have you know that I came here as fast as I could, with no.. dilly-dallying. How did that person even escape anyway? I thought it would be more secure than anything, this place. You know, since it's the King's castle. What the hell is going on with that anyway? I almost feel bad for you, knowing that my security was better than yours. Disappointing, simply disappointing." He shook his head. "I mean, if a prisoner who's been locked up can do it, who's to say I won't be able to, if you ever decide to put me in there."

A small tightening of his eyebrows was the only reaction Sebasian showed him as he took another sip, before putting some food on his plate. "That might be true, but the last time I saw you today, you were lying on the floor, barely even managing to stand up to be taken to the bath. Imagine how you would be after years of torment. To be honest, even after all she's been through, I still believe she would easily take you down in combat. Oh, and just help yourself, by the way. To the food, I mean."

As for that, Ciel could only grit his teeth and swallow it. What the man said about earlier that day was true, but it wasn't his fault! When Sebastian first had shown him the strange Power, with the way he had done it, it had seemed so easy. It had appeared without a problem, and had grown so fast, as if it had its own life. In reality, it was one of the most difficult things Ciel had ever tried to do.

What Sebastian hadn't told him was how much energy it took to create even the smallest things. Trying to make a something as simple as a tiny piece of fabric had his head spinning as if he'd been running for hours without stop. The worst thing was that no matter how much he had tried, agonizing himself, nothing had happened. He had felt the Power rage through his body and end up in his hands, burning them from the inside. If only he had managed to get it to break through, just a little, he might have felt a tiny bit better about himself.

"Fine, I'm not that strong. You always did everything for me, remember? When you weren't there anymore, I had to pick myself up from the beginning," Ciel said quietly, food temporarily forgotten as he stared at the man, taking in his expression. He didn't know what he was going for by saying this, guilt or what. Maybe he just wanted to see if the man had ever cared at all, though he knew that after everything, there was no way he could have. "You left me out there to die, Sebastian. I gave you a choice, to leave me or not, and I wasn't surprised by what you did. Honestly, I would have done the same myself. But did you know that when you turned your back to me, you practically doomed me? Did you ever think about that?"

The sound of the king's cutlery scraping against his plate was cut off abruptly. Ciel could see his face darken, but for a while he didn't say anything. Tension filled the room; even the servants gave off an uncomfortable aura.

Ciel didn't know whether or not to say anything, but looking at Sebastian's face made him seal his lips shut, frowning. He was about to resume his eating in silence, but stopped when he heard the entrance opening. When he glanced back, he saw the servants leave the room, before shutting the door behind them.

"Why don't you have some wine, Ciel? It's quite impressive, if I may say so myself," Sebastian said casually, as if nothing had just happened. He took another sip of his drink himself, raising his eyebrows to the boy as he did so.

"Why don't you answer my question, Sebastian? I don't see any reason not to anymore. And no, I won't drink anything, so don't bother." Ciel glared at him, biting his lip to keep from saying anything more. Why did the servants go?

They glared at each other, or you could call it that. The king looked more tired than anything. After a moment, he sighed, putting his glass back down on the table. "What do you want me to say? I really don't understand you right now. I told you when we were in town, didn't I? I thought, no, hoped you were dead. Honestly, what do you want from me? I won't lie to spare your feelings, so don't expect anything like that."

"I don't want you to lie, just answer my question."

"You want the truth? All right, you'll have it then. Yes, I thought about it in the beginning. On my way here, I was thinking about it. But did you know which words ran through my head? 'It's finally over,' I thought. So I went to the alleyway in town every day to check if you somehow managed to track your ring. Who knows what I would have done if I ever found the wall completely empty. I made it specifically so that only certain people could sense it there, so it wouldn't have been a thief. Only you, and a few other demons who would never do something as lowly as picking things out of walls, could ever find it. Are you satisfied?" Sebastian tilted his head as he spoke.

Ciel studied him. Seeing no remorse whatsoever in his eyes brought a dull pain to his chest, but he waved it away, not wanting to deal with it at the moment. "Yes.. Thank you, I suppose," he said, noting the somewhat emotionless tone he spoke in. His eyes narrowed. "Then why won't you kill me? I don't care about that 'mission' thing, or whatever. If you wanted me to die, you could easily have killed me yourself. Why didn't you?"

The king gave him a disgruntled look, pressing his teeth together as if to keep himself from saying something he shouldn't. "Why exactly do I have to explain myself to you? You're next to nothing now, meaning you have no right to demand anything of me. I've been offering you fame and luxury, yet you're too stupid to grasp it while it's still in your reach. Now, if you're so eager to talk about your feelings, why don't you do it to someone who actually has the capacity to care, like your little friend?"

"I wasn't-"

"Good. Now shut up and eat."

Grumbling to himself, Ciel did as he was told. With his current mood, however, he refused to admit even to himself that the food was absolutely scrumptious. Taking his mind off that, he let his thoughts wander to his friend. He hadn't seen him since earlier that day, in the throne room. Knowing him, though, he was probably walking around, studying the castle while he could. Or he could be sleeping, if Sebastian had told him true, that he really was being trained by the servants while he had by the king.

"Are you finished?" a voice asked him, and he looked up to find Sebastian looking at him expectantly.

"What about dessert?" As soon as the words left his mouth, Ciel wished they hadn't. He could see it in the way Sebastian raised his eyebrow at him as if he was a small fly, eager to be swatted away. The mocking look that always made him feel like such a child.

"Do you want sweets now too? And here I thought you'd outgrown those things," the man chuckled.

You can't outgrow cake, Ciel thought grumpily to himself, but kept his mouth tightly shut.

Shaking his head, Sebastian arose and headed for the door, gesturing for the boy to follow him. And he did. When the king opened the doors for him, he didn't say anything. Just stared, just like the servants outside were.

"Where are we going?" Ciel asked as they passed the them and continued down the now almost familiar hallways.

"Where do you think? I figured you must be exhausted after today's training, so I'm escorting you back to our room."

Our room.

"All right..." He looked down for a second, before a thought crossed his mind, and his eyes immediately found Sebastian's again. "And Lance? Where is he now? Is he okay?"

"Why, he should be in his room right now. Would you like to go see him?" Sebastian glanced down on him with a strange look in his eyes, and Ciel realised how mental he must have seemed, suddenly freaking out like that. Well, it didn't matter anyway. It was just Sebastian.

He frowned at his own thoughts. Just Sebastian? Really? His eyes fell to the floor again, but not before scowling at the man he just realised would never mean anything to him again, after he left.

Then he remembered being asked a question. "Yes..." he replied, and even though his voice was low, he knew Sebastian could hear him. Being a demon let you do stuff like that.

"Let's just continue walking then. Fortunately we need to pass his room to get to ours anyway, so we can just stop there," Sebastian hummed, ignoring the younger demon's odd behaviour. "Not for long, though, as I am a very busy man."

At that, Ciel looked up at him in mild interest. "Do you ever sleep?"

"Why should I? There's always so much to be done, so it would be a complete waste of time. You, however, need it."

"I slept earlier today, though..." Ciel murmured, mostly to himself. A surge of anger bloomed within him as he once again was reminded how much weaker he was, even now with his newfound Power.

Sebastian didn't seem fazed by his growing displeasure. It was almost as if he didn't notice, but that was impossible. Ignoring it was probably just easier for now. "Merely a nap. There's no way that could have done much for you, also considering where you were sleeping. This time, I need you to be well rested," he said. "Tomorrow will be long and full of training. You have to be prepared."

Ciel nodded, and they continued the rest of the walk in silence until they finally stood in front of a pair of familiar doors. For a few minutes, all they did was stand there, listening if there was anyone in the room. When no sound was heard, Sebastian took the initiative and opened the doors.

Inside was Lance, sitting quietly on the bed while keeping his eyes locked on the dark sky outside the window. He didn't as much as glance at the two demons entering, showing no signs of acknowledging their presence.

The two shared an awkward look, before Ciel decided that if anyone should say anything, it was him.

Clearing his throat, he took a step forward. Then another one, until he was right beside his friend. "Lance?"

Slowly, the man turned to look at him. His eyes were hard as he studied the boy, as if he was looking for something in particular.

"Lance," Ciel said again. "What's wrong?"

"I was just remembering," Lance replied quietly and put his head against the wall. His eyes fell shut, and just when Ciel was about to say something more, a hand landed on his, pulling him closer. "We're never going back to those times, are we? Even if we do manage to leave this place, we've changed too much, both of us."

The boy threw a look back at Sebastian, who was watching them intently. With the way his eyes seemed drilled into their heads, it was clear that the man was not going to give them any privacy.

"I'm afraid so. I mean, we could stay together for a while, seeing as we have eternity, but with the way things are I don't think that would be very smart." A twinge of pain reached his chest, and he had to bite down on his lower lip to keep from letting it reach his eyes. "I know that when you look at me, I'm not the only one you see. And I accept that, but in the long run, it will hurt you more than anything."

"But we can find her, and then it will be the three of us again. It will be okay, I know it will."

"No, we can't!" The shout startled all the beings in the room, even Ciel, who was the one who had made it. He didn't even know why he had done it, only that his words made more sense to him than any of Lance's. He just felt that it was impossible, but apparently, his friend didn't.

"Ciel..."

A heat filled his chest, burning up to his head and turning his whole body stiff. He wanted to scream, tear thing to pieces, anything to get all of this pent-up frustration out of his system. "We didn't even know her that long, so stop acting like we're all best friends, because we're not! Did it ever occur to you that maybe she was tired of being around us, and that's why she disappeared?" The words wouldn't stop tumbling out of his mouth, but at the moment, he couldn't care less. "We obviously meant nothing to her, so why should we give a shit about us? Why can't you see it?"

For a long time they both just glared at one another, trying to sort out their emotions before they said something they'd regret. Or rather, something more they'd regret.

"So..." Lance let out a ragged breath. "That's why you left?"

"Yes." No.

"Because you thought I was too attached to someone I didn't know? Because I trusted her too much?"

"Yes." NO.

The man grit his teeth, his face turning completely blank. "I think it's best if you leave now. Both of you."

It was almost funny, how Sebastian didn't say a word about being ordered around by a prisoner before turning around to walk away. Maybe he knew how much things would escalate if they didn't listen to him, or maybe he was just tired of standing there listening to their drama.

"Come on, let's get you to bed," he said as if nothing had happened.

When Ciel looked up at him, he didn't know what to believe. Did Sebastian resent him now that he had witnessed something like that? Did it matter? Maybe not. "I can take care of myself, you know," he mumbled halfheartedly. To that, Sebastian just chuckled.

It was first when they reached the great room that Ciel took note of how much of a toll the last day had taken on him. He was overcome by a sudden sense of exhaustion, and all he wanted to do now was to go to sleep.

Practically falling onto the bed, he let out a satisfied groan as his body hit the soft mattress. For some reason, it was as if the air in the room eased him of all his worries, and thoughts of Lance and how much he had ruined everything disappeared at once.

"Now, now, Ciel, aren't you forgetting something?" he could hear Sebastian's voice say in an amused tone.

Sighing, he simply replied: "I don't care."

Before he knew it, he was flipped over and forced to sit up. With his body protesting that it needed its rest, the only thing keeping him up was Sebastian's hand on his shoulder. When he looked down at himself he was exactly what the man was doing, and as much as it disturbed him, it gave him a small feeling of comfort, as if everything was going to be all right.

He let Sebastian undress him, simply because he knew that there was no meaning behind it. Nothing sexual, or mean, just something they used to do, back when everything was so incredibly plain. Well, for him at least.

"Why isn't some servant doing this?" he asked tiredly as he let the man pull a pure white, oversized shirt over his head that was strangely alike the one he wore when he was human. How strange, he thought. I didn't notice that before.

Sebastian didn't seem to concern himself with that. "For the same reason I made them leave during dinner. I don't trust them around you while you're living here as my prisoner. Ever since I heard how hard they're trying to get you out, or get you killed, I knew I would have to be more careful."

"Oh," was all he could say to that. Happy that he was finally ready to go to sleep, he climbed further back into the bed and laid his head on the wonderfully soft pillow.

The lights that previously illuminated the room went out with a small flicker, and it was completely dark, save for the tiny opening in the door where it seemed almost all white because of the brightness.

"I bid you goodnight, and I will see you tomorrow. Until then..." Sebastian sent him his trademark smirk from the doorway, and just as he was about to leave, the comfortable air surrounding Ciel seemed to follow him out of the room.

"Sebastian!" He swallowed. "Stay here.. until I fall asleep."

The man, the king, looked at him for a second, before closing the door behind him and moving to stand by the bedside. "Of course."

Then, everything was all right. Lance and he, even he and Sebastian. There were no problems anymore.

It was odd; he didn't even remember when he had stopped having to call his former butler 'Your Majesty'.

* For those of you who don't remember, in the end of season 2, when Sebastian found out that Hannah had made Ciel into a demon, one of the the first things he did was to jump after him into the water and impale him through his chest with his (arm?)

^u^

Also, Ciel has anger issues. Review please~