Chapter Text
“ What do you mean, Dad?”
“ It’s not safe for you anymore.”
“ Who are these people?”
“ They’re not people.” My Dad looked to the people standing near him. One was as old as me, but he had red eyes, and one had a weird mark on them. “ This is Earl Ciel Phantomhive, and this is his butler, Sebastian Michaelis.” The tall demon beside the demon boy nodded, and bowed.
“ A pleasure to meet you, Master Nico.” Sebastian said, then looked back at the Earl. He sounded British, so I guessed he and the Earl were from Britain because the Underworld is a vast place, and not much of it is charted. The Underworld expands worldwide, but as Olympus moves, the heart of the Underworld, which is the charted part, moves also.
“ I have assigned them to protect you.” He looked at the two of them. “ Raven-Crow Demons the both of them, but their breed is very clever and sneaky. They’ll sneak right past Chiron’s eyes, and that fool Dionysus.”
“ But Dad!” I said, “ you can’t send monsters into a camp with people who fight monsters!”
“ Demons, Nico.” He corrected angrily, “ there is a large difference between the monsters you fight and these underworld demons. It is done, Nico, and there is nothing more to it!” He leaned back, slightly aggravated. “ Sometimes you are such a difficult boy! Especially after that incident. You need protection, and that incident made that very apparent to me. I may be the best God parent for doing this! I’m actually sending people to protect my son instead of leaving him alone in the world to die.”
“ Lord Hades if I may intrude, this is madness by all means! The boy is right, you cannot send demons into a hoard of people whom FIGHT demons and monsters,“ said Earl Ciel. Finally, some sense in this crazy conversation. And, as I had suspected, he was British too.
“ You will protect him!” My Father sneered. “ You are an Earl of this Underworld! I expect an earl to do a king’s bidding! You will be exalted, hell you already are, for doing this! I’m trusting you two with my son!”
“ What about the girl?” Sebastian mused, “ you leave one of your children behind in the dust?”
“ Hazel is well protected by her friends. They have gone after Nico more than her, and Nico is more isolated.” Hades said to Earl Ciel, “ you and your butler are crafty, clever, you’ve done well with your jobs.”
“ Wait!” I said, “ Earl of the Underworld, what?”
“ A part of the Underworld belongs to demons, reserved for them. It is not like Tartarus, and many souls from the Field of Punishment are put there when it gets too crowded and are eaten by the demons and monsters that dwell there. Why do you think I never let you out of the capital Underworld area? Many demons roam here, Nico, and most follow my orders. Monarchy, Nico, they need their own to help carry out my bidding. They are called Earls of the Underworld and are highly respected. Most were earls and royalty before becoming demons or monsters, hence the name. Demons are smarter than simple monsters like the ones you fight, which was what I was trying to say earlier. They will side more carefully, as well as make better decisions. They are smart enough to do my bidding.”
“ I do not trust kings and queens, even gods like you.” Earl Ciel said bitterly, but my Dad ignored him.
“ They follow my orders regardless and have other demons do the same. They are granted land, places, money and shared property above on the Earth.” Said my Father, “ Ciel is my favored Earl.”
“ I am?” Earl Ciel asked, lowering his glance. It seemed more out of slight anger and disbelief.
“ You were cheated, Ciel, never forget that.” Said my Dad, shooting him a soft glance.
“ How could I?” He said, and then looked at me. “ Very well, if I must do this. I don’t see any other way around it.” His eyes turned to a shade of blue, except for the one eye with the odd marking, which stayed the same in marking. The butler took out an eye patch and tied it, covering the oddly marked eye. “ I still don’t know why you insist on me not wearing my eye patch when I’m in this palace.”
My Dad ignored him again. “ Treat Ciel and Sebastian well.”
“ Fine.” I said, “ I won’t.”
“ And no eating him.” Said my Dad to Sebastian and Earl Ciel.
“ What kind of a demon do you think I am, honestly?” Said Earl Ciel, “ I do not eat every good soul that comes towards me.”
“ I wish to see how this works out.” Said Hades, “ stay here and leave with him.”
“ Yes Lord Hades.” Said Earl Ciel, and my Dad squinted.
“ You don't bow like the other ones.” Said my Dad, “ but that is what I like about you. You bow to no one.”
“ Never again.” Said Ciel, and he stood next to me. His butler stood next to him, and Ciel looked me up and down. I looked him up and down the same way. Earl Ciel was short, and rather handsome, almost artistic like a sculpture. He had a black suit on, and was really formal compared to myself. I surveyed my woren avaitor's jacket that was still to big for me, my ripped jeans and disheveled black t-shirt, my dirty black converse sneakers. The only item that he was wearing that wasn’t black was two rings, so in that way, his outfit was similar to mine. I eyed the rings, and looked around the throne room. Persephone had oddly been silent through the entire thing, but knowing her, she was probably happy to see that I was leaving soon.
I walked in Persephone’s garden, Earl Ciel and Sebastian following close behind. We walked in silence for a long time, me just listening to their footsteps close behind, stopping to look around and look back at them. “ So.” I said, then realized I had nothing else lined up to say.
“ So?” Earl Ciel asked, waiting for the rest of the statement. I stayed silent, wondering what to say.
“ H-how much do you know about me?” I really did want to know, I didn’t know what my Dad told them and what he didn’t.
“ Well, I know that you have two sisters, one of which is deceased. I know that you flit from Camp to Camp, wandering mostly when you are above grounds, are skilled in séances, can control ghosts…you can do many things, Nico.” Said Earl Ciel, “ and your Father has told me much about you.” Earl Ciel looked around, first at Sebastian, then at me. “ You are an interesting boy.”
“ Thank you?” I said, I hadn’t been complemented by a demon before.
He nodded. “ When do you expect to leave the Underworld, Nico?” Earl Ciel asked, and I looked at the butler, who was already staring at me with an amused glare in his red, demonic eyes.
“ Soon. And, how are you planning to get Sebastian in the camp?” I said, noticing Sebastian was too old to pass for a camper, unless it was Camp Jupiter, but even then it would be kind of odd. They’d also have to get past Reyna’s greyhounds, which wouldn’t be an easy task.
“ He can hide in the woods in Camp Half-Blood. I believe there are monsters in those woods, correct?” Earl Ciel said and I nodded. “ That is the plan for him. I shall go into the camp, and even though I am not his son, Hades will claim me. I will be placed in your cabin in order to protect you.”
“ Okay.” I said, “ so, I take it I can’t tell anyone that you're really a demon my Dad sent.”
“ No. Your protection is to be as covert and discreet as possible.” Earl Ciel said, “ and no one must know about Sebastian in the woods either.”
“ Alright.” I said, “ so, have you done this before?”
“ Protect a son of Hades? Obviously not.” Said Earl Ciel, “ but I have gone under cover several times in both my human years and my demon years.”
“ You weren’t born a demon,” I asked. Earl Ciel seemed to have a very demonic disposition.
“ No, I wasn’t. Not all monsters are born that way, though you already know that.” Said Ciel, and Sebastian looked downwards, with a slightly discouraged look on his face. It quickly cleared, and he looked up. “ Sebastian, make sure that you do not make too much of a disturbance in the woods. The monsters in it might not be used to a demon like you.”
“ Indeed, Young Master. I will stay well hidden, even from them.” Said Sebastian, “ no one will know I am there except the two of you.”
We continued to walk in silence mostly, but this time Ciel walked along side me.“ So, Earl Ciel-”
“ I hope you realize in the Camps just Ciel will be fine.” Earl Ciel said, “ yes, continue.”
“ When you were a human, you did detective stuff?” I said, that was what it sounded like.
“ I was the Queen of England’s Watchdog.” That explained the British dialects. “ Dealing with underground crimes and crimes that usually involved the arcane were my specialty.” Said Earl Ciel, “ but I was betrayed, and I refuse to tell you about that yet.”
“ Fair enough.” I said, wondering what the mark on his eye was about. Perhaps it was a reminder, like Daedalus was given by Athena after killing his nephew. I wondered how Sebastian came to be his servant, and decided to hold my curiosity in until a later time because I could tell like me, Earl Ciel didn’t enjoy talking about things that happened in the past. “ You're going to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes; the wolf in the pack of sheep.”
“ That is what I plan.” Said Ciel, “ only I am a wolf protecting a sheep.”
“ I still think they’re going to find out what you are, Earl Ciel.” I said, and he looked off to the side.
“ Humans are gullible sometimes. They will believe that I am a demigod, another son of Hades. That is unless you tell them.” Said Ciel, “ I am talented at hiding my true aura. Even Chiron and the satyrs will believe this, and if they don’t, then you must have told them. You know what happens when the sheep turns on the wolf that protects it, don’t you?”
“ The sheep stomp the wolf to death?”
“ No. The wolf tears apart all of the sheep in the pasture and is gone without a trace.”
“ My Father will turn on you.”
“ The gods and goddesses will shame him for thinking the idea of using demons to protect you would work. There would be war and disgrace on Hades. I don’t want that as much as you do, for Hades will kill Sebastian and I.”
“ So, if I tell, why don’t you simply leave?”
“ It sounds like your planning on it. I would not leave because then Hades will merely send someone else to do the task I was assigned. They might even be worse and more controlling than I. It will end the way I predicted, everyone in the camp will die if you tell, including yourself, even if another demon was given my assignment. It would be better to end such thought before you are tempted to carry it out.” Said Earl Ciel glancing at his butler, “ I think Hades is trying to kill us, Sebastian." He looked back at me. " If you don't tell them, no one will have to die, it’s as simple as that.”
“ I understand.” I said, “ you think my Dad is trying to kill me too?”
“ Nico, he’s sending you off with demons, probably thinking you’ll tell. Then, he’ll kill us because we didn't follow his orders. I never trust kings and queens, not after that day.” Said Earl Ciel, “ let’s go along with this plan, though. As long as you do not tell you will be fine, and I will protect you from serious danger as Hades told me too. I refuse to be the royal that fails this assignment.”
“ Indeed.” Said Sebastian, “ the shame that will bring you, Master…” Ciel nodded, and looked back at me.
“ So, this entire thing all depends on me not telling the people at camp you’re a demon?” I said and Ciel nodded.
“ Or that I’m not the son of Hades, or that I’m protecting you.” Said Ciel, “ even the slightest hint of this should not be said.”
“ I understand.” I said with a nod, and sat down on a bench. Ciel sat next to me on the bench, looking around. I stared at him, and when he stared back at me, we locked eyes. I could tell he was older than he seemed, but still young as far as demons went. I could see that he’d eaten many souls in that time, I could see that he had been through pain, lots and lots of pain, just like me. “ You know what, Ciel, you and Sebastian are the only demons that haven’t tried to kill me within 20 minutes.”
“ If you asked me, Nico, the whole monster half-blood half-blood monster dilemma is trivial. In the end, your kind won. No matter how many battles we fight, win, and lose now your people will have always truly won. We can never rise again if we die because of the foolishness of the monsters and giants. They should have never believed the titan’s empty promises.” Earl Ciel said, “ not all of us are on their side, you know. It’s getting harder to be on anyone’s side with all of the tension that has built up.”
“ Then why do you serve my Dad?” I asked, and Ciel scoffed slightly.
“ Serve? I do not 'serve' your Father, even if I am an Earl here. I do and say what I feel needs to be done, and I can do it because I am an Earl here. I use the power I have been bestowed and complete the assignments I have been given to their full extent. All demons must follow Hades’s orders, or else they’ll be exorcised and sent to Tartarus. And if we are, we cannot rise back from Tartarus. I plan on living.” Earl Ciel said, “ everyone’s watching their steps carefully, however, I have been doing so for decades.”
“ You never have to watch your step, Young Master, for I am here to protect you.” Said Sebastian, “ for all of eternity.”
“ Let’s see how long our lives last for now, Sebastian.” Said Ciel, “ protecting Nico might be the one assignment we die at doing.”
“ Now, now Young Master, I say you are getting a little too paranoid for your own good. Remember, at the camps you must act more relaxed, or they’ll suspect something.” Said Sebastian, “ and then our cover will be blown out of the water!”
“ I know, Sebastian, that’s all pending on-”
“ Me.” I said, “ I get that.”
“ Good, at least I know I’ve gotten something across.” Said Earl Ciel, “ when do you plan on going above ground again?”
“ Why? Have you not been there since you were human?” I said, “ you seem a bit antsy.”
“ No, in fact the last time I was above ground was last week.” Said Earl Ciel, “ and further more, I am not too anxious to go back up there.”
“ What were you doing above ground?” I said, and suspected it was nothing good.
“ What do you think I was doing above ground?” Earl Ciel said, and I reasoned it was for the best I didn't know.
“ It must be hard, not getting a break and all. A week long break and then you have to protect me for years until I die.” I said, and Sebastian snickered.
“ Your life will seem like a blink of an eye.” Said Sebastian, and I guessed that if you did live forever, a person’s life which only lasted roughly 100 years or less didn’t seem very long.
“ I still have a feeling even if you do die of old age Hades is going to blame us for something.” Said Earl Ciel with a hint of a sigh, “ but all factors in life are liable to change. However, once they have, you can never get them back to the way they originally were ever again.”
“ Yes, I couldn’t agree more.” I said, “ people will expect you to have the personality which you do at camp. For a son of Hades, it’s normal.”
“ I suppose.” Said Earl Ciel, “ you do seem like me in some ways.”
“ And body wise I’m year older than you.”
“ How did you know I was thirteen?”
“ I-I didn’t…I guessed. You are kind of short for a thirteen year old though.”
“ A year isn’t a long time.”
“ Why would it matter?”
“ I suppose it doesn’t.”
I looked above us at the stalactites, my curiosity getting to me now. “ How did Sebastian become your servant? Is he paid?” I looked back to them, and Ciel nodded at Sebastian, whom I could tell wanted some input to the conversation.
“ Payment, no. I shall never be paid. When the Earl was still a human, he had a delicious looking soul-”
“ You eat souls?”
“ Yes, I thought Lord Hades made that rather evident.”
“ Okay, continue.”
“ And, very bored, I made a contract with him to grant his wish. At the end of the contract, he would be my meal.”
“ So, that translates to you’d eat his soul.”
“ Yes.”
“ Okay, I won’t stop you again.”
“ A demon named Claude Faustus also wanted my Master’s soul. He attempted to steal it, which failed. You see, contracts only end either at the death of the contract's recipient or the eating of the recipient's soul by the contracted demon. Claude killed his Master, and put his Master's soul in with my Master's. His Master’s soul, which was stuck in my Master’s body, made a contract with a demoness named Hannah Anafeloz. His wish, which was to be completed by the contract, was to make neither demon happy. Claude was killed and never got my Master’s soul therefore making him unhappy, and Hannah made my Master into a demon, forcing me to serve him forever. Because the contract states that I must protect my Master until death and or eat his soul at the terms' completion, he is a demon, he shall not die, and I cannot eat his soul because he no longer has one. Our contract will remain for all of eternity.” Sebastian tilted his head slightly at the completion of the story. “ You don’t seemed disturbed by any of this.”
“ That’s because I’m not.” I said, and he smiled. It didn't take you long to figure out just how charismatic Sebastian was; much like a demon to have that quality.
“ That’ll be good for you in the long run.” Said Sebastian, “ most humans would have been scared off by the mere thought of a demon in their presence. However, I do suppose you are not a normal human, or else demons not under contract would have eaten you already. A son of Hades…anything involved with you brings prestige to and Earl such as my Young Master. Some acts on you bring more prestige than others however. For example, courting you would bring more prestige than merely protecting you. The soul or thing that does this is lucky and exalted.” When Sebastian said this, Earl Ciel’s eyes opened wide and he blushed.
“ Sebastian!” Said Earl Ciel, “ do not embarrass me!”
“ I was just giving examples, My Lord, they are nothing of embarrassment unless you take them in improperly.”
“ I didn’t see anything wrong with them.” I admitted, “ and, what prestige would dating an Earl of the Underworld bring upon a son of Hades, Sebastian?”
“ Well, if the relationship was mutual, it would bestow quite a lot. However, you and the Seven closed Tartarus. It took many Earls to smooth that over. Your reputation is badly marred, but you are still respected as you are the son of the Hades, one of our numerous Kings. If you were to court an Earl of the Underworld, you would restore a prestige that would be envied by other sons of Hades.” Sebastian smiled at me. “ That is mainly because no son of Hades has ever courted an Earl of the Underworld or vice-versa. Yes, our only way of ever coming back to this world would be closed forever because of you, but doing such an act would be a good enough sign of remorse.”
“ What if I do not rem-”
“ It doesn’t matter. Anything to keep us from killing you.” Sebastian’s smile never dulled during the conversation. “ Yes, many Earls of the Underworld kill children of Hades and many children of Hades kill Earls of the Underworld. They don’t often get along. However, if the courting were to happen, it would be an odd turnabout. It might set off other generations, and they might reopen Tartarus for demons exclusively if they learned to get along.” Earl Ciel did not speak a word, even though he was staring at me. His stare was soft, though, not harsh. It gave me butterflies, and not only ones out of nervousness. This made me grimace because he was a demon, and I didn't feel right developing feelings for him no matter how small they were.
“ Well, anyways.” I said, “ I told Percy I was going to meet him at 6 by Half-Blood Hill.”
“ It’s 6:30 now.” Said Sebastian, looking at his pocket-watch. “ Tsk, tsk. It’s rather rude to keep someone waiting unless they made you wait for them.”
“ He’ll understand, Percy usually understands.” I said, shadow-traveling into a wall with Earl Ciel and Sebastian behind me.
“ Percy, you’ll never believe what just happened!” I said, looking quickly behind me. There was Ciel, looking confused. His eyes were blue, and he looked human. His suit was now a pair of crumpled and ripped jeans and accompanied by a not-so-meticulous white t-shirt. Peleus the dragon sniffed the air, took a look at Ciel, and then laid back down for his nap. I looked back from Peleus to Ciel as the sign of Hades glowed above his head. “ I, uh, I have a brother!”
Ciel was the buzz around Camp, which I didn’t think he was expecting. After he was old news (which took a few hours,) Ciel finally got to the Hades table at the middle of dinner and sat rather close to me. “ Is it always like this?” Ciel asked, and I shook my head.
“ Your just a son of Hades. Wait till Clarisse gets to you.” I snickered at the thought of Ciel trying to ward Clarisse off with British insults that she didn't understand.
“ She already has.” Ciel looked down at his meal and continued to eat. I’d gladly lost track of him and ditched him within a few minutes of our arrival, which was easy due to the fact that a person kept talking to him. However, now he had found me. I sort of felt bad for leaving him to get dunked by Clarisse, but then again he was a demon.
“ And?” I said, yet he didn’t say anything. “ Don’t take it personally, Ciel. She’s a jerk to everyone except Chris and that's her idea of a welcoming to camp.”
“ I’m not taking it personally.” He scoffed. “ I have vengeance planned for later.”
“ Ciel, that’s a really bad idea.” I said, “ you don’t want to mess with Clarisse-she'll get you back 10 times harder.”
“ Oh please, Nico. I’ve already taken many risks today.” Said Ciel, “ I’m not afraid to take a few more.” As long as they don’t blow your own cover. Because what you're saying isn’t risky, really, even if this whole thing wasn’t a plot I’d still understand that. You really are a tricky demon. I looked around and saw everyone sitting at their tables and discussing the day. They had no idea what Ciel was, only he and I did. They had no idea he was what we were trained and training to fight. I didn’t know exactly how I felt about that.
After dinner it was time to play the weekly game of Capture the Flag. I told Ciel how to play it as we walked to our flag. “ We always lose.” I informed him as I hid the flag in a new place-this week, like almost every other week, my cabin was the last one to be chosen in the decision of teams. “ But maybe we won’t. You guard the flag, okay?” Ciel nodded.
“ Don’t bloody yourself up too badly, alright?” His eyes flickered to red and back for a moment as though he was trying to remind me of the whole assignment that had gone down between him and my Dad.
“ Okay.” I said with a hint of my hatred for the plan, and the game begun.