TW: Mentions of crying blood and Sebastian being an asshole (but that's nothing new)
"Fo-forget the Prince, this might be two of the enemy's spies! Agni!" West trembled as he shouted for Agni to defend him.
"Nothing of the sort. We are merely humble anim-"
"Kill them!!"
"Kill-I cannot do such a thing!" Y/N didn't know whether Agni was saying that because he recognized them, or because he was an angel, but she was thankful either way. She really didn't want to go toe-to-toe with her new friend.
"Shut up!" West was enraged that Agni wouldn't do as he commanded. To Agni, West wasn't his Prince or his God. Agni was merely doing all of this for his Prince's happiness. "Do you want me to renege on that promise!? I'm ordering you!" Agni began to shake, pure turmoil in his steel grey eyes. "Do it!"
"I..." Agni's fists clenched and shook, nails digging into his palms. "I..." Y/n felt sick as she watched blood trickle down Agni's face. It dripped down from his tear ducts, staining his skin red. The sound of Agni's blood dripping onto the floor made Y/N want to hold him. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and tell him it was all going to be okay. "My God..." Agni fell to his knees, "My master... is but one and no other..." His voice shook and cracked. "And for he alone would I use my right hand... so had I vowed." The blood was pouring down Agni's face like tears. It was killing him slowly to defy his master. "Now I shall commit a sin by betraying that God..."
"Agni, no!" Soma pleaded one last time.
"Please forgive me!" Agni ripped the bandages that he had wrapped over his right hand. As he tore through the white fabric, he screamed in rage and pain. Y/N and Sebastian both grabbed the Prince's arms. They yanked Soma out of the way just before Agni could land a painful blow. The wall and furniture Agni did hit crumbled like dust. West screamed about Agni breaking his things but Agni didn't care. Agni raced after Y/N and her company, Sebastian now having placed Soma over his shoulder. The Indian man threw another punch, missing again. More furniture was destroyed in their wake.
"People will start taking note of this commotion!" Ciel shouted as Lau hoisted him up and began to carry him off. "Once you've grabbed the Prince, you'd better run for it too!"
"As you wish." Sebastian and Y/N took one last look at Agni before they leapt out the window. Agni didn't follow them. Either the shame was too much, or he couldn't bring himself to look at Soma's shocked face.
As they walked back to the manor, Soma was completely and uncharacteristically silent. Y/N was yet to see the man at a loss for words. She had long discarded the leopard head. Sebastian carried both of the heads. Everyone, even Lau, was almost afraid of using words. About halfway back to the town house, the demon pulled Y/N back. "What?" Y/N whispered, the first word said since they fled West's manor.
"I would just like to ask you a few questions, Lady Y/N. If it wouldn't trouble you too much."
"Go ahead," Y/N whispered back.
"You seem to be a great deal attached to Mister Agni, yet you've just met him. Why is that?" It wasn't jealousy, it was pure curiosity. Sebastian had emotions, but they were a much more twisted version of a human's. He couldn't feel attachment as quickly or the same way that Y/N could, so he was genuinely intrigued with Y/N's emotions.
"I uh," Y/N racked her brain for a decent explanation behind her emotions. "I just talked with him some when they first showed up at the house. He just reminds me a lot of someone's mother. He's just so sweet and caring, and he doesn't deserve this. No one does..." Y/N's eyes swelled with tears knowing that Agni would only ever forgive himself for this before he died.
"Hm, I see. So you sympathize with him because of how kind he seems."
"Because of how kind he is," Y/N corrected him, "The way that man was crying... Sebastian, you don't just start crying blood because you're upset. His whole world was just shattered. His whole life just exploded in his face. He just betrayed everything he ever cared about, and I'm betting he did it to protect Soma from something. I don't think he would betray him without probable cause."
"What could possibly be dangerous enough to warrant that type of protection?"
"Mina," Y/N sighed. She was technically right. "She could be dead or murdered. Maybe she fell in love with West, or at least his money. Agni loved Soma in a way I don't think anyone other than a parent could understand, but I have a gut feeling Mina didn't share that love for him." Y/N made sure to drop her voice even lower so Soma couldn't hear her. If he caught even a small bit of disrespect towards Mina, he might try to strangle her.
"Oh?" Sebastian seemed a little impressed with her deductions.
"I know it seems awful, but..." Y/N sighed. She didn't want to out Mina but she had walked herself into a trap. "But if West offered Mina money... More money than she would've ever gotten as Soma's nanny... she might take that and run. If most people had to choose between being a rich man's wife or being the nanny of a spoiled brat, it's an obvious choice."
"Yes, I suppose it is," the demon muttered. A small silence filled the space between them. It wasn't uncomfortable, but the question lurking the back of Y/N's head was. "Does he hate me? Am I just a fool for thinking we could be friends?"
"May I ask you one last question, Lady Y/N?"
"Of course. I told you before that I wouldn't hide anything."
"Then, did you mean what you said, back in the manor? Do you consider me a friend?" Y/N felt guilt crawl up her spine. It seemed to leak out of every pore of her skin. "Agni was supposed to be his first friend, and I ruined that..."
"I do," Y/N eventually answered. She had thought about it for a while, and she really did care about Sebastian. She knew he might never bat an eye if she was harmed or even killed, and they were arguing constantly. Not to mention the bickering and banter, along with the fact that they hardly ever saw eye-to-eye. However, she really did find herself caring for him. "I care for you and I consider you a friend. Whether you think of me that way I have no-"
"I would like to think I could," Sebastian interrupted her. The demon hardly ever spoke out of turn or interjected himself, so when he broke off Y/N's sentence she was taken aback. And he did it by saying he wanted to be her friend. Y/N's mouth gaped open. She was in pure shock. "You and I both know I do not feel the same way humans do, but I would like to think I could have a friend."
Silence. Y/N didn't know what to say. What would you say in this situation? A demon who crawled out of the depths of Hell, summoned by the sacrifice of a child who was murdered, made a contract with a child in exchange for his soul, and he wanted to be her friend...
"Sebastian... I..." Y/N sighed, not knowing what to say. "Is this because I'm not human?" It would make sense if it was because of that: Y/N might never die. Sebastian had been around for thousands of years without making a single attachment because he knew he would outlive it all. If Y/N was possibly immortal like he was she might never leave him, in a sense. She could be his friend until the end of time, someone for him to look forward to when he was summoned to Earth. When the butler didn't answer her, Y/N assumed she was right. "Even demons get lonely. You can't get attached because you'll outlive every Master you have. As far as we know I can't die, so it would be a safe bet... wouldn't it?"
"I think it would be. You have aggravated me to no end, and some days I wish I could bash your head in, but cleaning that up would be a waste." Y/N rolled her eyes. Sebastian's understanding of emotions was painfully inept.
"Because I would just grow my head back?"
"Because it wouldn't solve the problem and because your regeneration appears to be quite the painful experience. The curses that flew from your mouth when you lost your arm were something fierce." Y/N looked at the demon. His eyes looked as if he was fondly looking back on the moment. She remembered he had thought something similar when Ciel summoned him. "And while I find your pathetic whining to be more than inconvenient, it's tolerable. On occasion you might even say something close to a fragment humorous."
"You're an asshole," Y/N laughed under her breath, "But I can deal with it. That's what friends are for." Y/N patted him on the arm before suggesting they rejoin the other three.
"Amazing, wasn't he?" Lau asked as Sebastian poured him and Ciel tea. "That fellow from before. It was beyond anything that could be defined as human." If Lau knew that the human to nonhuman ratio in that room was dangerously close, he might have chosen different phrasing.
"He was in the state of 'Samadhi'," Soma muttered. To say he was miserable was an understatement. He was a ticking time-bomb of rage, and he was going to explode in mere moments. "No one can lay a hand on him when he gets like that."
"Samadhi?" Ciel repeated. Sebastian had a similar state he could go into. Only Ciel had seen it and lived to tell the tale.
"It is to do with religion, yes?" Sebastian asked. "A kind of trance state. Human beings are rare creatures that can produce tremendous power derived from intense belief that gives way to a kind of blind faith. The Norse Vikings of Yore became berserkers in the name of their war god Odin... The Paladins of the Crusades fought in the name of Yahweh by invading foreign lands time and time again..." Y/N had a gut feeling that Sebastian might've been present for both of those events. "He too numbers among them." He was referring to Agni and his belief in Soma as a part of his God. "Because of his absolute devotion to his 'God' and 'Master', Prince Soma... He can invoke power that is beyond human. It is power that our like cannot boast... That which is born of belief and love for another... A power known as 'Faith'." The demon butler was not only referring to his own people who knew nothing of faith, but to the other humans in the room as well. Neither Ciel nor Lau would ever possess such a power, and Soma was far too selfish. Y/N might've been able to access a version of this 'Faith' powered ability, but she herself was skeptical. The demon smirked to his young master and watched Y/N as she pieced it all together.
"Then why..." Soma grumbled, "Did he betray me?" Y/N snapped out of her trance and ducked. She was sitting right next to the Prince and he was a second away from snapping. "Why did he willfully abandon me!?" Not a second before Y/N leaned back in her seat did Soma throw his tea cup and plate.
"Why you-" Ciel stood up in shock. Everyone knew the Prince would snap but they didn't think he would thrash about. Every piece of glass and silverware on the table was tossed into the air during the Prince's fit.
"Why does everybody leave my side!? Why!?" Soma shouted at them all, not waiting a moment for an answer. "How come..." The Prince didn't even finish his sentence before storming off to his room. It was like a small child's temper tantrum but on a much larger scale. Glass was broken everywhere and tea was beginning to seep into the carpet.
"Are you three alright?" Sebastian hadn't been close enough to get splashed by any of the spilled tea but Y/N had gotten it all over her torso.
"We ducked, so we're fine," Lau assured him.
"I just need a clean shirt," Y/N muttered as the tea soaked her skin. "I'll ask Mey-Rin to get me a towel while I get changed." Y/N sped off to find her maid friend before she dripped tea all over the place.
Mey-Rin had wasted no time in getting Y/N a towel while she explained to the maid what had happened. "And then he started throwing everything around and splashed me with tea." The white shirt now had a notably large tea stain on it. "Maybe Sebastian knows a trick to get this out."
"I bet he does, yes I do!" Mey-Rin took the towel from Y/N and handed her a replacement shirt.
"Thanks," Y/N sighed as she buttoned it up. She was going to say something else when she heard footsteps down the hall. It had to be Sebastian because no one else would be going to the Prince's room to talk to him about his tantrum. If she hadn't gotten a faceful of tea she would've let Sebastian talk to the Prince himself, but now she wanted to get in a few words of her own. "Be right back, Mey-Rin." The maid tried to say something but Y/N was already storming out of her door and was hot on the demon's heels. She found that Sebastian had just opened the Prince's door and was going to give him a lecture.
"You knave!" Soma was still furious. "Who gave you permission to enter this-" He didn't get to finish his demand because the demon pulled the sheets right out from under the bratty prince. Y/n leaned on the doorway as she watched the scene unfold with great satisfaction. Soma had helplessly tumbled off the bed onto the floor. "You insolent foo-"
"Which one of us is being insolent?" The Prince stood up to argue back but Sebastian turned his back to him and began to replace the sheets. "Doing as you please and leaving a mess in your wake... You have made a fine pest of yourself."
"Wha-" Sputtered Soma, even more rage spilling over his face.
"You are in England, at the residence of Earl Phantomhive. This is neither your country, nor your castle." The demon turned to face the young man, a look of pure disgust on his face. "Here, in this place, you have absolutely no right to order anything of me. Here, you are nothing more than a welp. A powerless child who cannot do anything unless Mister Agni is with you." Soma didn't back down, though that would've been the smartest course of action, seeing as Sebastian was just getting started. "And now you have also been betrayed by him, your last ray of light."
"Yes... I haven't anything left," Soma agreed with the demon. He looked more than broken, but this wasn't even close to finished. "I've lost it all..."
"Lost? What amazing persecutory delusions you have there." Sebastian chuckled darkly and both he and Y/N smirked, almost evilly in sync. "You haven't lost anything... As you had nothing to lose to begin with."
"Eh?" All the rage the Prince once had melted away and was replaced with pure terror.
"Your parents gave you your status. Your parents gave you your palace. Your parents gave you your servants. From the very beginning, none of it was ever your own. Do I not speak the truth? Even when it came to Mister Agni, you had an inkling of something being amiss there, yes? But you had not the courage to ascertain the matter yourself."
"Y-" Soma couldn't even look either of them in the eyes. "You're wrong!" The bratty prince dashed to the doorway where Y/N stood. She moved out of the way, but not for Soma to leave the room. A gloved hand slammed the door closed with terrifying force.
"Ah, but I am not wrong, am I?" Soma was cornered. Sebastian holding the door closed in front of him and Y/N leaning on the wall behind him.
"Nowhere to run to now," Y/N whispered.
"I see. So now that reality is being thrust in your face, you have decided to affect the role of the tragic hero this time? You truly are a pathetic, hopeless brat." Y/N let out a hum of agreement as the Prince looked to her for help. She was Agni's friend. She was Sebastian's friend. She was Ciel's friend. She was not his friend.
"But... But... Everyone said they would always stay by my side!" Soma cried, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.
"Lip service, of course. No one serves another without a reward. Even a three year old from the slums knows that much." The demon's expression turned from a mocking smirk to a stone cold leer as he looked down at the Prince. "Not a one of them ever loved you."
"Let's leave it at that." Ciel's voice tore through the tension-filled air. He had opened the door from the outside. When he walked into the room, Y/N backed away from Soma. He wasn't going to try to run.
"Young Master."
"I might've ended up just like him..." Ciel admitted, "If not for... that one long month..."
"We all go through Hell at some point," Y/N muttered as Ciel absentmindedly reached for his eye patch. "This might be that time for you, Prince. It's proof you're nothing special compared to the likes of us."