A Demons Mate

And it begins

When Lizzy finally made it to Ciel's office, she was surprised to find the door open and the room empty. She was coming back to the central staircase when she spotted her fiancé and his butler leaving the Earl's rooms. The girl opened her mouth to yell for him when Serena's face popped up in her mind. Straightening her shoulders, Lizzy walked down the hall and met them.

"Ciel."

"Oh, Lizzy. Was there something that you needed?" The Earl tugged on the cuffs of his outfit.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." She finally noticed that he was wearing fencing whites. "Are you practicing today?"

"Yes. I haven't been able to practice as I normally would recently."

"That's great." Everyone turned to Serena coming up the stairs. "Lizzy, why don't you be Ciel's partner?"

"You fence?" Ciel asked in amazement.

"Of course. Mother taught me." She said with her nose in the air.

"It's good to have a different partner every once in a while. Mix it up a little." The red head smiled.

"Perhaps you're right. Do you have your things with you, Lizzy?"

"I...I do." 'Is he really going to let me fence with him?'

Ciel looked to Serena and got a nod. "Alright. We normally use the ballroom for the space."

"I'll change and meet you there." She smiled while spinning for the door to her own rooms.

Serena watched her go before noticing that Ciel was staring at her.

"What? You said that you would feel better knowing that Lizzy could take care of herself. Here's your chance to test her."

The Earl just shook his head and strode down the hall. Sebastian leaned down and sniffed the air around his mate.

"Have you been smoking?" He asked.

"Let it go."

"Smoking is a disgusting habit." The demon leaned down to look her in the eye.

"I know and I quit a while ago."

"Then why do you smell like it now?"

"Because I was stressed and stole one from Bardroy."

"I will inform him that he is not to share his filthy cigarettes with you again." Sebastian straightened.

"I threatened him for it. It's not like he offered."

"You are using a crutch, just like the alcohol."

"Really, I didn't notice." Sarcasm rolled off her in waves as she crossed her arms. "Lizzy stressed me out. I had one cigarette and I'm better now. I already told Bard that one was it. You don't have to go around behind me and tell others what I can and cannot do. I know what I did was wrong."

"You are angry." The demon cocked his head to the side.

"Very perceptive. Could it be that you're trying the whole controlling thing again?" Serena whipped her skirts behind her and went down the stairs to the ballroom. Sebastian watched her go, rubbing his forehead.

Alright, here's what we're going to do." Serena picked up Lizzy's mask and tugged it over the younger girl's head. "Ciel needs to see that you are capable of defending yourself. He's not a normal man, but you still can't pummel him into the ground. All men have that pride thing that, when stomped on, rules out any better judgment. So, defeat him. Don't annihilate him."

"Right." The blonde straightened her plastron. "I'm afraid that I will hurt his pride if a girl is better than him."

"Ciel is not a fighter, and he knows it. He's the brains of the operation." She could see that this was getting them nowhere but Lizzy more stressed.

"I'll walk around the outside of the room. If you see me go like this," she gave a thumbs up. "You're doing good. If you see me do this," She waved her hands like she was tamping something down. "It means, take it easy. That you're pushing too hard."

Lizzy nodded and picked up her tipped foil. It had been a gift from her mother when the child had started to surpass her teacher. The metal was perfectly weighted, the weapon exactly suited to her size, height and grip. She swung it a few times, readying herself, before walking forward. Ciel met her in the center of the room. There was something different about facing him now. No matter what she said, no matter what she did, this was the test of whether their engagement would fail or survive. He knew it too. The lady found herself facing a different being than her childhood love. There was a coldness in his stance, weapon in hand with his fearsome butler just over his shoulder.

'Yes, I always tried to hide it, tried to rationalize it away, but Sebastian has always frightened me a little. It never mattered that much because I knew that he would protect Ciel and I outranked him. But here, my standing against his master, even in a mock battle, there is something terrifying that radiates from him. A warning, if this match becomes real.' A shiver ran down her spine. 'He really would do it. If I hurt Ciel, he'd...Sebastian would kill me. Good. That's how a butler of the Queen's Guard Dog should be.'

Both raised their swords in a salute. When the blades lowered, the threat of Sebastian faded from her mind. As they circled round each other, there was only her opponent. That she happened to love.

Ciel had felt uneasy about this from the moment that Serena suggested it. This whole thing went against every courtly rule that he had ever learned, from tutors and from Sebastian. A man didn't fight a lady. A man definitely did not engage their fiancé in combat. However, Serena's words had echoed in his mind. Could Lizzy really defend herself? Could she actually beat him?

'Why do I listen to her so much? This is wrong. Even with the protective whites, it's possible to injure your opponent If I hurt Lizzy...I'll never forgive myself.' As he walked to the center, the Earl looked to the red head that started all this. 'Why does she have to get involved? Why do I listen to her? Why does a part of me hope that she is wrong and that this will push Lizzy further away? Why do I want the manor back to just us? Why do I feel like Lizzy is an intruder, a foreign being not welcome in our little world?'

He raised his own sword as Lizzy raised hers. Ciel admitted that her form was excellent. There was a possibility that Serena had been right, that she had seen his fiancé's talent when he hadn't. But, it didn't matter. It didn't change what he wanted in his life.

'I know what I want. I want to find the people who tried to destroy the Phantomhives. Who tried to destroy me. I know that Sebastian will bring me that. I want to show the world that we're not dead. That the Earl of Phantomhive has risen from the ashes of his own death and created an empire that would never had happened if we had been left alone. I want the family, my family, to endure.' His thoughts shifted in an instant from the past to the future. 'I want Serena to stay. I want her to feel that this is her home. I want to watch that demon give in to his emotions, give in to the humanity that she represents. I want to show her all of my home, our home. Serena can look into the depths of the darkness that surrounds the Phantomhive family. I don't want Lizzy to ever have to. I don't want her to see what I've done. What I've become. What I will be. I don't want her to know what Sebastian is. If I let her get close...I won't.'

Ciel darted into her space with the first thrust. Elizabeth blocked and leapt back to put some space between them. He feinted to the left before attacking the dominate right side.

'I don't want her to know how far I've fallen.'