Fade

Fade - Chapter 31

The intense light floods everything around the two in a haze of crystalline smoke and angelic hues. Sebastian's body becomes numb and he looses the heavy feeling of Ciel in his arms. He closes his eyes tightly... or so he thinks he does... but the deafening whiteness overtakes everything around him.

"Ciel!"

He begins shouting for his mate, though he knows that no answer will come. The boy is dead. And he is alone.

"Agh-"

He cannot shield his eyes, for it feels as though he is everywhere and nowhere all at once; as if he is expanding and contracting into what is known as the observable universe... as if he is no longer in hell.

And then he hears the singing. And it frightens him at first... but then his tears become relentless... and he knows. He knows that this is the song of angels. He knows that these voices were never meant to be heard by his ears.

"Ciel, where are you?"

He whispers quietly into the haze, his body weightless. And he supposes that he is being punished... or killed. Perhaps the wrath of god knew of his faults all along and is now punishing him for his sins.

But then he feels a familiar hand upon his cheek. And he thinks, perhaps he is being forgiven.

"I'm right here, Sebastian. I'm right here."

Sebastian's mind stills, for he is not to know whether his body does the same. The fingers grazing along his flesh are softer than almost anything he's felt before. And he stifles what he assumes is a gasp. And then the light slowly fades away.

"Ciel!"

"Shh... wait a moment."

The boy leans closer to Sebastian, closing his eyes and planting a kiss upon his lips. Warmth spreads throughout his body, giving way to feeling and expelling the numbness from him. They are still set tight in the abandoned room laden with things from the past. But Ciel is alive. And he is beautiful.

His contracted eye glows a bright, silver white; his blue one glimmering and swimming with glittering shades of midnight; mixing with the colors of the sky above. He is adorned in white, and a spiraling of pearl-colored vines extend from the once-cursed eye and travel down around his neck. The tattoo shimmers and wavers when he steps closer to Sebastian, his bustle nearly dragging the floor behind him as his laced boot clip across the flooring. His wings are outstretched behind him, but they aren't black and burned as before. They are pure white and feathered like a dove's. They suit him quite well. His lips are so soft. And his kiss feels like heaven.

Sebastian himself is clothed in silver and white. And his once-red eyes are now a glimmering pool of the finest, oceanic silk. His massive wings are changed as well, and only their hair remains the same as it has always been; the strands simply now collecting the light the two emit and bouncing it off in waves.

"How..."

Sebastian trails off once they break away, for he must now realize what Ciel already knows: that Ciel has committed an act of sacrifice. That Ciel is a half blood and the only one of his kind whom can turn demons in to what they are now: Angels.

"You knew this would happen?"

Ciel runs his fingers down the length of Sebastian's arm, trailing a similar tattoo from his that stems from a circle of depicted leaves and flowers on the back of Sebastian's right hand.

"If I had, it wouldn't have been a sacrifice, would it?"

Ciel looks from his hand to his eyes, his own achromatic eyes watering with the realization that the two would never be lonesome again. Their bond is still as strong as ever; their contract not gone, but changed.

"No, I suppose not."

Sebastian embraces Ciel tighter than he ever has before, wrapping his arms tightly around him. They rest their foreheads together for a moment, breathing each other in and holding them close. They hold each other so, so close... and when Ciel plants a small, open-mouthed kiss to Sebastian's jaw, he smiles. He smiles genuinely. For the first time in decades, he smiles genuinely.

"Oh, god... Ciel I thought I'd lost you!"

Ciel gives him a watery smile, little biting tears trailing silver rivers across his flawless face.

"As did I. I mean, I- I was so scared. I didn't want to leave you, I-"

And then he begins to sob, and he buried his face in Sebastian's shoulder once more. And just as always, Sebastian is there to dry his tears and pull him ever closer in the faded light of the dusty room.

"Shh... you're okay. You're okay. You're not going anywhere, Ciel. And I'm right here. I always will be."

And slowly, his body stops shaking and his fists unclench from around Sebastian's shoulder.

"I love you."

He murmurs.

"I love you, too."

Is the reply.

"Everything will be alright."

And it felt as though he were speaking the thoughts of the universe... for a sense of contentment washed over the two as they stares deeply into each other's eyes. Until Sebastian speaks again,

"Where is Taurus?"

Ciel replies,

"Look behind you."

Sebastian let him go for a moment to spin around swiftly, worrying over the safety of the boy. But what he sees alarms him no more than if he were to see a kitten in the road: Taurus's intimidating horns are gone, instead replaced by wings of his own that are outstretched and tangled in a mess behind the still-unconscious creature. He, too, is robed in white; garnished with silver jewelry and shoes.

Sebastian releases a relived sigh, turning back to to his lover's shining, forever-impish smile.

"Does that mean the rest of them are safe, as well?"

Ciel shakes his head.

"All I know is that darkness shrivels wherever the light touches. And I do not know how far the light has spread."

And then Ciel realizes how cold the air around them really is, and Sebastian does to, for though they are contented, they are uncomfortable.

"Then I suppose hell is no place for an angel."

"No, it is not."

And so they took each other in hand, worrying not about the faintly angel they knew would awaken soon, and stepped through the dark hallway and out into the forested clearing. And they let their wings unfold into the sun... and began to fly away.

It felt good to fly... and they felt a force stronger than anything pulling them towards a light in the sky. They trusted that light as they followed it. It was exhilarating and heartwarming... if not a bit frightening. But they knew what they were doing was right. And they knew that they would be okay.

Then they saw the white of many angel's wings behind them, and knew that the instinct to fly away must be strong enough for all to feel and know of. Though they also knew that hell could never lay dormant... for as long as there is light, there is darkness.

One cannot exist without the other.

But for now... they were light.

And they never had to worry about darkness again.

Fin.