Sebastian sat at the girl's bedside, wondering what to do now. Finally realizing that he wasn't going to get her to calm down, he had simply raised his power level until she passed out again. The red head was much easier to deal with when she slept. He needed a plan.
First thing in the morning, he would call the agency and tell them not to send anymore candidates. At least that problem was worked out. But, did he really want to keep her here until this business was finished? Most demons took their mates to their home as soon as the chains were linked. But, could he leave his master vulnerable for that amount of time? Perhaps he could have another come and watch the human while he tended to his mate?
No. He had been worn down by this contract and couldn't afford to expend the energy. Not mention his current master's propensity to draw fatal notice from others. It would also put him right back into his problem with Lady Elizabeth.
Such a blessing for a demon and she was such a problem right now. It had been centuries since he had waited for a mate. The one soul that was created to compliment and command him.
'Romantic in theory, but rather uncomfortable in reality.'
It had started with the Fallen. No one knew why, but Sebastian had watched as one by one, the proud angels had met men and women that seemed to tame them. Then slowly as if by a trickle, the demons that had once been human started to bring mates back from the human world as well.
He hadn't even considered a mate for himself until his own mentor had returned from a contract, a blond human man in tow.
It wasn't long after that his mentor had decided that Sebastian had grown too powerful to continue to be a member of his "family." When he had gained his own black-feathered wings. Since the beginning, elder demons had taken younger under their wing to train them. In times when religion was more prevalent, demons needed training to protect themselves from demon hunters and the church. They slowly developed into families that banded together for strength and companionship.
Should a member of the family grow to a power level that seemed to threaten the family head, they were pushed out. The younger did have the option to stay and try to fight for the leadership position, but were rarely successful.
The younger demons never stood a chance against the tricks of the Elders. They always kept some technique or power hidden away for just such an occasion.
Sebastian himself had been pushed out of his original family many years before, but stayed in the same area of hell. Thankfully, he had understood that power wasn't everything in battle and had left easily and on good terms with his mentor. The ancient demon was a powerful ally that he was happy to still have if he needed. Wars in hell were rare, but did happen.
'You've grown too powerful, boy. There is nothing more for me to teach you, it's time for you to form your own family.'
He still remembered the alien emotion of fear at the time. Being on his own was a completely new experience and one that he wasn't happy with.
The demon's first destination after leaving his mentor's tower had been the pit fights. Most new demons ended up there looking for a mentor. Next to the area that most humans imagine hell as, the pit was a nightmare, too horrible to describe. Young demons would fight, to prove their strength and skill to the Elders and hoped to be accepted into a family and escape.
Lucien was the first that he had seen. He could see the sin that attracted the fairly new demon, even Lucien didn't recognize it himself. The blonde was drawn to lust, one of dozens of others and physically weaker than those around him. However, he was smart.
He won the fight by using his brain and waiting for a perfect moment to strike. He was beautiful, but that didn't mean much to demons. More importantly, the much younger demon was more than willing to follow orders and give utter loyalty to the being that gave him a way out of the hellish fighting.
It was Lucien that got him thinking about mates again a couple hundred years ago. The blonde had called for him after going to the human world to feed and pointed out the pretty, shy young woman that had caught his attention. The daughter of a farmer, Emily was not what Sebastian had been expecting. Lucien was normally drawn to the elegant and refined for a meal. Instead, he had been in a panic, not sure why he couldn't let the brunette out of his sight.
At least she had been easy to get away from her family. Emily was to be the family's sacrifice to save the rest of them from starvation. A merchant, over twice her age, had made an offer that her father couldn't turn down. Not and keep the rest of his family alive. Emily family had two brothers, three sisters and no means to give them a start. They could keep a roof over the young ones' head but little else.
They had to take whatever came their way.
With his Elder's help, Lucien had easily eclipsed the merchant's offer and taken Emily back to their home.
After that, Sebastian had started to make changes to the tower he and his first family members had built. The changes made Emily more comfortable in what had been a 'bachelor' home, but the true reason had been because he was making his home comfortable for his own mate when he found him or her. As a demon, the question of gender did not matter to him. Demons did not procreate so man or woman didn't mean anything to them. But, all the mates that demons had found had been human. The changes he had enacted made the tower more suitable to a human's presence.
He hoped that Serena would be more agreeable when she woke up again. Emily still wasn't the strongest personality and he would like to keep Lucien. However, a mate's wishes came first. If Emily wasn't comfortable around Serena, Lucien would look for another home.
Edwin had been the second demon he gathered close. He had approached him after asking the only demon in the pit that Lucien would want on his side in a fight. The blond had pointed to a brunette not far away. The other was Lucien's exact opposite. Definitely a warrior in his human life, the male was muscled and rugged where Lucien was more lithe and delicate. Edwin had been another that used his brain in battle, but his was born of pure experience. He discovered that in his human life, Edwin had been a battalion commander for a long dead empire and looked at everything in terms of battle strategy. He had been a valuable asset indeed.
Sebastian laughed at the memory of introducing the first members of his house to his former Elder. Haagenti had tried to Edwin to come to his house instead. Surely he wanted a more experienced Elder to train him to survive.
Lucien had dropped back, preparing for a fight. However, Sebastian knew that it was a compliment. As a lifelong soldier, Edwin had known as well and thanked the Elder for his offer before politely declining. His loyalty would always be to the one that pulled him from the pits.
The two of them had stayed with him for centuries, through battles with other houses, through underlings that tried to betray, and through contract after contract. In exchange, the Elder had taught them to survive, had given them shelter from the harsh reality of hell and changing times in the human world.
His musing stopped when the figure on the bed started to move. When Serena saw him she sat up quickly. Too quickly evidently, as she put a hand to her head and squeezed her eyes shut. After a moment, she looked back over.
"So, you're still here. I'm obviously not imagining this." The red head sighed heavily. "Damn."
"I would still like to you explain how you know that I am a demon." Sebastian kept his voice low so as not to repeat their earlier episode.
"I have a feeling that you're going to think my explanation is a little crazy."
"As opposed to your earlier behavior?" He raised an eyebrow at her glare.
"What would you have done, waking up in a strange place, someone telling you that you're not anywhere near the place that you passed out and you know that the being you're talking to isn't human?"
"Point taken."
Serena rubbed her temples and started to speak several times before anything came out.
"When I was run over, it was 2012."
The demon blinked several times, trying to decide if she was lying. There was nothing in her scent or pulse rate that suggested she was speaking falsely. Before he could respond, he heard something coming from the master's bedroom. Looking to the window, he realized that he had spent hours watching his new mate and lost in his thoughts.
"I'm afraid that this conversation will have to wait until later." He pulled the pocket watch from his waistcoat and clicked it open. "It is time to wake the house."
"I will have Mei-Rin, the house maid, bring you some more appropriate clothing and help you prepare for the day." Sebastian stood up easily and moved with the grace of a predator as he crossed the room. "I would appreciate it if you did not say anything about my true nature."
"I'm not stupid. She would probably insist that I be taken to an institution before breakfast."
The demon smirked and nodded at the statement.
*******************************A Demon's Mate**************************************
Mei-Rin knocked timidly on the door with a beautiful green dress in hand that Sebastian had dug out of an unknown dressing room. The corset and other under clothing had been pulled from the same place that the maid had never found. The handsome butler had woken her this morning with orders to tend to their guest. The orders had been explicit, she was not to allow the woman in front of the young master until she was properly attired.
"Come in."
The maid opened the door to see the girl from yesterday standing in front of the windows still dressed in the revealing clothing from yesterday. Mei-Rin curtsied, as Sebastian had reminded her to when he gave her the dress, and stepped into the room.
"I...I've come to help you dress, my lady."
The redhead laughed. "Please, just call me Serena. There's no need to be formal with me."
"But Sebastian said..."
Serena waved that right off. "Well, what he doesn't know won't hurt him."
Mei-Rin gaped at the young woman for a moment. No one dismissed Sebastian. Even the young master listened to Sebastian's advice.
"Why don't we get started? I'm assuming I won't be welcome at the breakfast table in this." She ran a hand down the dress she had intended to go to the theater, not take a trip back in time.
"N...No miss." Mei-Rin laid the garments on the bed in the order that they were to be put on.
Serena came over and ran a hand down the green silk.
"Wow, that is beautiful. I'm kind of excited to put it on." She looked at all the layers that were now covering the bed. "It also looks some kind of heavy."
******************************A Demon's Mate***************************************
Ciel finished his morning cup of tea as Sebastian finished tying his shoes. His butler had been explaining the very little information that he had been able to get from the young woman who had shown up on his property. The lord was not impressed and couldn't ignore the feeling that Sebastian was hiding something about the girl from him.
"I will await you in the dining room, master."
"Sebastian."
"Yes, sir." The demon turned to look at his current master.
"You're hiding something about the girl, Serena. I order you to tell me what it is." Ciel stared at the demon, unwilling to back down when Sebastian narrowed his eyes.
"Very well. It seems that Lady Elizabeth's complaint will solve itself very soon. I believe that Serena is my mate."
"Wonderful." Ciel dismissed the butler as he thought about what this would mean for his contract. He would need to re-evaluate his chess board and it's players with this woman's appearance.
******************************A Demon's Mate**********************************
Ciel had just sat down at the table when the doors to the dining room opened. Finny, Bardroy, Snake and Tanaka were already there, awaiting their morning orders. All six of the men stared, open mouthed, at the vision that sailed through the door. The ever present cigarette in Bard's mouth fell to the floor as Finny blushed and Ciel stood slowly from his chair. Even Sebastian stared and quickly realized that he had over filled the master's teacup while doing so.
The lady who walked through the dining room's double doors was a far cry from the girl in far too revealing clothing yesterday. Green silk fell to the floor and highlighted the red hair that had been pulled up in a loose bun with stray strands dancing around her face. The way she held herself gave the essence of untouchable that any true lady would covet.
"Good morning." Serena spoke softly as she copied Mei-Rin's curtsy.
"Good morning." Ciel recovered quickly, waving to the chair and table setting next to him. "Please, join me my lady."
"Thank you, Lord Phantomhive."
Snake held Serena's chair out for her. She smiled at the footman in thanks. As she placed her napkin in her lap, the girl thanked her love of Pride and Prejudice and period dramas that gave her an idea of how to behave.
'I can fake this for a bit while I try to find a way home.'
She waited for the Earl to start eating first. This protocol gave her the opportunity to see which pieces of silverware he used. Serena was trying to find something to say when the sound of the front door bursting open echoed through the manor.
The servants ran to position themselves in front of the doors, preparing for an attack. Ciel and Serena stood and were quickly pushed behind Sebastian.
"Cciiiieeellll!"
The Earl sighed as the servant's stood back. The doors burst open to show a whirlwind of blond hair and pink fabric. Sebastian grabbed Serena to pull her out of harm's way. Ciel cried out as he was grabbed and spun around.
"I'm so happy to see you Ciel. Mother is busy with one of her circles so I was able to come visit again. Isn't that wonderful?!"
Ciel sighed, "yes, Elizabeth. It is good to see you doing well."
The young lady noticed the red head behind Sebastian. "Oh, hello. Are you visiting the manor?"
Sebastian stepped out of the way as Serena came forward to curtsy to the younger girl. "Yes, my lady. I am here to go to school, but seemed to have arrived a little early. The Earl had graciously allowed me to stay until the school season starts."
Ciel looked over at her confused while Serena threw her hands up.
"Yes, Serena is the daughter of one the men I have in charge of setting up the factory in New York. She knows no one else here in London."
Elizabeth squealed at having another girl around.
"This is absolutely wonderful! We'll have so much fun together while you're here." She looked over the girl's dress. "This is beautiful, I can't wait to see what other dresses you have. Come, we'll go try them on. It will be a perfect day!"
"Unfortunately, my lady, my luggage was lost in transit. This is all that I have left." Serena fingered the green silk. "Until I can get to London of course."
"Even more perfect. We'll go to London together!" Lizzy turned to Ciel. "You don't mind if I take your guest for the day, do you?"
"Of course not." Ciel smiled, that fake expression that made Serena shiver a bit. "You two have fun and just have the bills sent to the house."
Serena sent the earl a look of panic when Lizzy squealed again and drug her from the dining room.
"Master, are you sure that this is a good idea? If Serena is to be believed, then she is from another time period. Judging by her clothing, that time could be very different than our own. Although she did well thinking on her feet here, leaving her for an entire day with Lady Elizabeth will give her ample opportunity to trip herself." Sebastian refilled the earl's tea while Ciel sat back down and attempted to finish his breakfast. There was also the small bolt of panic at having the girl out of his sight.
"Saying she was from America was good. Lizzy will just think that her rough edges are from not living in London society. Besides, it gives us a chance to investigate more. Bard and Finny, I want you to go back to the area that you found Serena and make sure there was nothing else with her. Mei-Rin, look through her belongings while she's gone. Report anything suspicious."
"Yes, young master." The three saluted and ran from the room.
"That's normally my job, master."
"You and I need to discuss what Serena's appearance means. You said that you could not attack her, that your own power protected her. I want to know what other limitations you may have with her here."
"As I have said before, you learn faster every day." Sebastian picked up the Earl's finished plate.
"Come to my study when you finish here. That should give you ample time to decide what pieces you wish to tell me." Ciel stood and left the dining room without looking at the demon again. His mind was spinning with the possibilities of things that could go wrong. As he had gotten older, he realized that Sebastian would phrase his answers so he didn't go against orders, but still didn't tell Ciel everything. Irritating yes, but it was something the young lord had learned to live with. This time would give him the opportunity to work on his own phrasing.
****************************A Demon's Mate*****************************************
Ciel was looking through some of the papers from the Vienna factory when Sebastian knocked and let himself into the study. The earl put down the papers and leaned back in his chair while questions rushed to the forefront of his mind.
"Now then, what does Serena's appearance mean to our contract?"
"In a normal circumstance, a mate would make no matter to a demon's contract with a human as the mate almost never meets the subject of the contract."
"But she has met me."
"Yes, master." The demon stopped talking, clearly he was not going to volunteer anything. Ciel would have to pull information out of his butler piece by piece. One question kept running through his mind.
"Who's direction would you take first, hers or mine?"
Swirling eyes flashed with a sharp smirk. "That's the right question. Unfortunately, you are not going to like the answer. For a demon, their mate's wishes always supersede anything else."
Ciel leaned forward as he digested this information. "And if I were to order her to leave?"
"I would have to leave as well. Mates of demons seem to draw trouble like a moth to a flame. That is why they are kept safely within the demon's home. Until she is in my home, I cannot leave her alone."
Running footsteps coming down the hall saved him from having to reply.
"Come in." Sebastian already had the door open when the two men came sliding in.
Bard and Finny ran into the room, the chef holding a small black bag up high. Both were a little out of breath and smiling.
"We found this, young master. It was in the tree close to where she fell." Bard laid the bag triumphantly on the Earl's desk.
"Was there anything else?"
"No sir. We followed her footprints in the snow and searched the entire area. Nothing else was out of place."
"Good, you're dismissed to your other chores."
"Yes, sir!"
Ciel shook his head as they marched out of the room. Grabbing the bag, he opened the latch and looked over at Sebastian. The demon cocked his head to the side.
"Yes, master?"
"I was expecting some form of complaint for going through your mate's things."
"Perhaps I should, but as I wish to know about her as well..." Sebastian waved him on.
The earl dumped the bag onto his desk and spread it's contents across the top. Both looked at the small pile confused. Neither recognized much of what was in there. There was a small lipstick tube, that Ciel pushed to the side in favor of a long, thin, folder type thing. There was a button on one of the long sides that opened the piece. Rectangular pieces of plastic fell out. There were several that they could read the names on.
"Visa, American Express, Walmart."
"Look at this one sir." Sebastian held up another of the rectangles. "Driver License."
There were three other cards that Ciel couldn't read. "They are written in Japanese, sir. This one says student Visa. Tokyo University Student Identification Card. Subway Pass?"
"Why does she have things written in Japanese?" The earl pulled out several pieces of paper. All were the same size and shape but different colored and with different things written on them.
"I believe these are bank notes, sir."
"More reason to suspect that she isn't a servant. There's quite a bit here." He put the money down and moved to the next piece that had fallen from the bag. A thin pink wrapped object, through the paper it felt cylindrical. Ciel opened the wrapper and pulled out a thin, white cylinder. He was looking it over confused when Sebastian quickly grabbed it from his hands and put it in his jacket.
"Sebastian, give it back."
"Young master, please. If it is what I suspect, it is not something for a young gentleman to know about."
"Okay," he shook his head and decided to move on. The demon was obviously not going to budge on that.
Sebastian internally sighed in relief. 'If this is some kind of sex toy that women in 2012 use, I'll definitely have to prepare her for me.' *
The next thing was another rectangle, heavy, that fit easily in his hand. There seemed to be a case around it. Ciel noticed what looked like a button and pushed it. The thing lit up. He touched a colored square and the front of the object changed. He dropped it back on the desk in surprise.
"Master. If I may." The butler reached forward and turned the object over. On the back was a picture...of a cute version of them. Ciel sat in a throne against a backdrop of night time windows with Sebastian right beside him. Skulls lay on the ground around the throne. Across the top were the same strange symbols Ciel had seen on other things in her bag.
"What does it say?" The young man ran his fingers over the picture, wondering where she could have gotten such a thing.
"I believe it says Kuroshitsuji. It's Japanese as well, master."
"What does that mean?"
"Black Butler."