The Final Curtain (Kuroshitsuji)

Chapter Thirteen: Developments of a Demon

When his young master had been dressed for bed and safely under the covers, Sebastian made his way down the hall, greatly puzzled. Under normal circumstances he would have teased Ciel about the situation with Lady Elizabeth and the surge of deja vu he must be having, but his mind was preoccupied with troubling thoughts of the events at the theatre. Why had he not been able to discern the details of the floor below the trapdoor? If his power was draining that much as the young earl's power was increasing, he might be in for more trouble than he had originally reckoned.

He was so deep in these thoughts that he bumped into Grell before noticing her. "Oh!" he started. "My apologies, Grell."

But Grell did not seem too bothered. In fact, she seemed rather indifferent. "Not to worry, Bassy. I was just on my way to have one last conversation with Mathilde before I take my leave. Have you seen her?"

"No, not since the gathering in the parlor dispersed," Sebastian replied. "I assume she would be in the servants' quarters with the rest. I am on my way there now, in fact. You might as well join me; I have some questions for you anyhow."

Grell flipped her long red hair and turned on her heel. "Certainly, Bassy," she chirped and fell in step alongside the butler. "I expect you want to know if we reapers know anything about these ballet murders - or rather, attempted murders?"

"That was one thing on my mind, yes," Sebastian placed a gloved hand on his chin.

"Well, you can rest easy," Grell replied. "Miss Redruth is not on the To-Die List. As a matter of fact, nobody who was in any proximity to that ballet is on the List, not for a long time."

"Hm," Sebastian furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, at least that means we can count on your help, and possibly the help of other reapers."

Grell said nothing, but beamed at this.

"Grell, I have another question," Sebastian began tentatively.

"Oh?" Grell tilted her head. "Is something the matter?"

"From one immortal divine being to another," the butler continued. "Have you ever heard of something like this happening before? A situation like the one my young master and I find ourselves in?"

Grell puzzled over this for a moment. "Not that I can think of," she finally replied. "But at the same time, it is exceedingly rare that one of your kind would become so attached to human prey in the first place. The only other incident I can recall of a demon developing emotions for a soul is with that demon you knew as Hannah Annafellows. From all I've ever heard, humans who make deals with demons find their wishes granted quite soon, sometimes instantaneously. Hardly ever does a fulfillment take as long as this did, especially with you at his side the entire time."

"Is it... is it normal for my strengths to fade?" the butler asked, beginning for the first time in ages to feel truly anxious. "If this has not happened before, then perhaps take a guess?"

"There's not much I can conjecture about this, Sebastian," Grell surprised both the butler and herself by using his full name. "You are bound in eternal servitude to that brat, who became a demon through a contract loophole. As he is coming into his strengths, it is entirely possible that yours will grow weaker. But don't be too concerned. You'll always be the way you are, there's no getting around that."

They reached the servants' quarters, and Grell took her leave with a "Bye bye, Bassy," and another hair flip before walking into Matilda's room. Sebastian hesitated, struggling with his mixed reactions to what the reaper had told him, before setting his teeth and knocking on Mei Rin's door.

The maid opened the door, holding a candle with one hand and scratching her head sleepily withe the other. She was not wearing her eyeglasses. She had taken to not wearing them since their talk in the garden. It was almost jarring for Sebastian to see her without them, he had grown so accustomed to seeing them obscuring her face. It reminded him of when he first recruited her to protect the manor, when she had been a mercenary and assassin.

"Mr. Sebastian?" Mei Rin murmured, still not quite awake. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

It was as if all decorum had fled him. "Do you need me?" he blurted out.

Mei Rin's face turned such a dark shade of red it was almost burgundy. "W-what?!" she exclaimed.

Sebastian pushed past her and entered her bedroom, wringing his hands and stammering. "No no no, I mean, does anybody need me in this manor? Will I become obsolete one day?"

He might have gone on forever if Mei Rin hadn't realized what must have been going on in his head and taken control of the situation. "You had better sit down, Mr. Sebastian, yes," she walked to her bed and sat on it, patting the space beside her.

Unsure what else to do, Sebastian sat down beside her, feeling his face flush. "I just want to be a good butler," he whispered.

Mei Rin, after a moment's hesitation, placed a hand on Sebastian's shoulder. "Have you forgotten everything we said to you in the kitchens?"

"But that was before I started losing my abilities," he said quickly, placing his hand on top of hers before he could think about it. "I've started to lose my... my supernatural elements, if you will. Everything I could do extraordinarily because I'm a demon, I can't do those things as well anymore."

"I'm sure you can still do anything better than the rest of us combined could do it," Mei Rin squeezed his shoulder. "Even if you can't do things as well as you used to."

Sebastian shook his head, not even willing himself to look at the maid. "Tonight at the theatre," he explained, practically panting. "I tried to make out small details that normally I could see without any trouble, but I couldn't, not without help from Matilda. I don't think she's entirely human either, though I'm not sure what she is."

"Don't worry about this, Mr. Sebastian," the maid advised. "This whole household will always need you. We servants need you to lead us, demonic powers or no demonic powers. And I'm sure the young master will always need you as well. You two have grown close, even though I know neither of you would ever admit it. You're both too proud." she smiled to herself at this last bit, realizing she was teasing him.

Sebastian seemed to realize this as well and smirked. "I am bound to the young master for eternity," he said solemnly. "I don't want to ever become obsolete."

Mei Rin squeezed his shoulder gently again. "There's no danger in that."

Seemingly satisfied, the butler patted her hand on his shoulder. They stared at one another briefly, Sebastian full of a jumble of emotions he had long forgotten how to feel, before they both looked away in any direction. Mei Rin coughed and awkwardly patted the butler's back. "Try and get some sleep now, Mr. Sebastian. If demons even sleep at all."

Sebastian smiled kindly at her and they stood up simultaneously. He turned to go but abruptly turned back around, coming face to face with Mei Rin a little closer than he had anticipated. "Mei Rin... for the sake of propriety and household position, it is right that you and the other servants should call me Mr. Sebastian. But between the two of us... I mean, when we are alone... that is to say... you may call me Sebastian. Just... Sebastian. If you like."

Mei Rin smiled tiredly. She would enjoy this so much more if she wasn't so sleepy. "I would like that very much, Sebastian, yes." They stood nervously for a moment before she gently gave him a push towards the door. "Now go try and rest."

Once he was in the hall and began shutting the door, he whispered a very hurried "Goodnight" to her before closing the door and leaning his back on it, breathing hard. What on earth was happening to him? Certainly he could never become a full human, not revert back like that, but was he truly gaining human emotions again? Anxiety? Jealousy? Lust?

With a sigh, he pressed his fingers to his temples and groaned quietly. "Perhaps I do need sleep," he muttered to himself. With that, he made his way down the hall to his own rarely-used bedroom.