When Ciel fell into the mob of spiders, he was immediately besieged and all he saw was darkness. Thankfully these spiders were much larger than the ones George and the others encountered, so they were unable to squeeze into his passageways. That didn’t stop them from trying, however and Ciel could only use his hands to cover his nose and mouth. He gritted his teeth and kept his hands firmly in place, enduring the countless bites that he received. All he told himself was that his father would be here soon, that he had to keep the barrier up, that he could not lose consciousness. As this went on, he resisted the pain and the sensation of hairy spider legs on almost every inch of his skin, poking in the sensitive passage of his ears that raised the hairs on the back of his neck.
He suspected that these spiders were poisonous because he was rapidly becoming dizzy and numb. In a last ditch effort to get rid of the spiders surrounding him, he started another spell. This was dangerous because he was already suffering from mana exhaustion on top of being poisoned. But he had no choice. He couldn’t wait for his father anymore and his mother was not aware of what happened to him. Even if Scarlet knew, she was using her magic to keep the spiders within the barrier and he didn’t want his mother to use up her mana too quickly. Since he didn’t really have any strength left, he was not going to kill the spiders but simply stun them. He was planning to set this wide range spell to hit the entire house, hoping that it would paralyze Anansi’s main body as well.
At the same time, even if the spell affected the twins, it would only render them immobile, which was not a problem, since they were unconscious anyway. He berated himself for not thinking about this earlier but it was usually when one was in the direst of straits would one think of creative solutions such as this. It would be a gamble, but he had nothing to lose. He was struggling to stay conscious now, stifled by both the spiders and his own hands; so he let loose the spell and a pale blue light was released from his body.
With the release of the light, Ciel’s surroundings became lighter as the paralyzed spiders obeyed the laws of gravity and started to fall off him. He pushed his way out and gasped a breath of fresh air. He never wanted to go through that ever again. Ciel would rate being buried alive in spiders as one of the top three ways to die a horrible death; it could have been number one but he knew of a more painful, traumatic way to die. In an ironic twist of fate, the spiders had given Ciel a relatively soft landing even though he had fallen halfway down the stairs, onto the landing midway between the ground and first floor. Struggling to stand after he had released himself from the twitching spiders, Ciel felt his mind go blank and his body weightless as the combination of pain, poison and exhaustion finally pushed him to the limit and Ciel closed his eyes, blacking out at last.
* * * * *
When George and the others arrived in Master Gin’s study, they were surprised by the relative calm that surrounded the room. This made them even more alert as the phrase “it’s quiet, too quiet” aptly described the ambience of the room. The almost deafening silence made George jittery as the place felt lifeless, making him unable to anticipate what would happen. Master Gin immediately rushed to the door of the study, throwing it open.
“Scarlet! Children!” he called as he stepped out of the room. George and Yue followed closely behind.
“Here!” a voice called in the room next to the study and Master Gin instantly breathed a sigh of relief. He opened the door and went to seek out his wife. George and Yue were too embarrassed to follow; from their glance at the door it was obviously Master Gin and Scarlet’s bedroom so they loitered at the door, trying to assess the situation. The scar was still throbbing amidst this unearthly quiet and it made George extremely nervous. Master Gin’s words, stating that Ciel was in danger still ringing in his ears. He wasn’t in pain anymore; thankfully his inhuman constitution had alleviated the pain and he could move like normal. He decided to scout the area while waiting for Master Gin to get information from Scarlet. Taking a few steps forward, he happened to look over the banister on his left and was shocked to see a carpet of black covering almost everything on the ground floor.
“Yue, come see.” He called out to the dark haired man still at the door of the master bedroom. Yue came when called and his face darkened when he saw the motionless spiders that blanketed everything in sight.
“I think we’re in someone’s barrier so that’s why there aren’t any spiders. Let’s go down and take a closer look.”
George nodded and the both of them turned towards the stairs. They could tell it was there because of the gap in the straight line of rooms. When they got to the stairs, George thought his heart had stopped; lying partially buried in spiders was Ciel, his skin covered in angry red bites, hair dishevelled and breathing shallow. He stood there, motionless as he heard Yue cry out Ciel’s name and rush down towards him. His mind was still reeling from the shock when he heard Yue call for Master Gin and Scarlet; he heard them come from behind him, felt the wind as they rushed past him and saw them come into view as they crouched down around Ciel, trying to find what was wrong with him.
For George, his whole being was focused on the pale man lying amidst the spiders, the black providing a stark contrast to his white hair and fair skin. The bites all over him made his heart ache; besides the pain he knew Ciel had to endure, they had ruined his previously smooth, unblemished skin. The shallow breathing and sheen of sweat on his face told him that Ciel was poisoned. He felt a surge of emotion he hadn’t felt in decades; anger, despair, fear, madness. The peace he had received from being in Sanctuary, the calm and quiet, if he were to lose it all and return to the days before he came, he would sooner find a way to kill himself.
He stood motionless, his hand gripping the banister so hard his knuckles were white. He watched as Scarlet mutter a spell and Ciel was enveloped in a gentle white light; the bite marks disappeared and the creased, pained expression on Ciel’s face was erased and he fell into a natural sleep. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and the previously tense atmosphere eased.
Master Gin stood up and took charge naturally. “Scarlet, go back to the room and keep an eye on the children, George, help me carry Ciel back to the room. You, come with me.” He then waved his hands and the spiders they were standing in turned to dust instantly; turning to go downstairs, he asked in a dangerous voice “what are you waiting for?”
“My name is Yue, not you.” Yue called out as he followed Gin down the stairs.
“Sorry, they sound the same to me.” Master Gin really knew how to hold a grudge.
George snapped out of his daze as he watched the two men go and he gently picked Ciel up. “Lead the way.” He said to Scarlet, who nodded and headed back upstairs.
As he followed Scarlet back up the stairs towards the master bedroom, he couldn’t resist resting the sleeping man’s face against his neck and pressing his lips against that white forehead. The pain he felt at the club earlier didn’t feel this bad; not as bad as when he saw Ciel lying motionless on the ground like that; it felt as if he had been gutted and someone had grabbed and crushed his still beating heart. Somehow, even with minimal contact with each other, even through all the self-blame and guilt that was hanging over his head, Ciel had found a place of importance in his heart. As he clutched the man tighter against him, he had to wonder when Ciel became so precious to him and why.
* * * * *
Gin was in a terrible mood. Not only had his home been invaded, three of his children were injured and unconscious and Scarlet was not looking any better, having kept a barrier up while tending to the children. He vowed to find Anansi and torture the spider, ripping his legs out one by one before re-growing them and doing it all over again. He had not felt so violent in a long time. The last time he felt this way was when that whelp behind him showed up with only Dawn’s soul nearly a hundred years ago. So he lashed out at him.
“Anansi should be hiding somewhere on the ground floor. Find him but don’t kill him. I want to put him through some pain first.” He ordered brusquely.
Yue frowned. “I want to find Kou first.”
“He’s outside. Scarlet didn’t let him through the barrier. Anansi is the bigger threat now. If you can’t obey instructions, get the hell out of here.” Gin waved his hand irritably and swatches of spiders were wiped out, leaving no trace of them at all.
“Stop ordering me around. So what if I want to look for Kou to see if he’s all right?” Yue imitated Gin’s movements and spiders behind him were eliminated.
“And this is why I don’t like you!” Gin yelled at the man beside him, his anger unleashing a wave that cleared all the spiders in sight. “You’re brash, arrogant and you never stop to think about the greater good! All you did when you lost Dawn was brood in the club! How do you expect me to trust you with my first born child if all you do is follow your feelings without ever considering the consequences?! Dawn has already lost her body once. If you continue to behave as you do, I’d rather seal away her memories to keep her alive than to lose her again!”
Yue was shocked. He thought that he had calmed down, that the hundred year punishment he had endured would remind him not to be so impetuous. But it turns out that Gin was right. He had only been wallowing in his misery without ever thinking about how to improve himself, to get stronger so that he could be ready to protect his lover when she came back. If he were Gin, perhaps he would do the same as well… seal away Dawn’s memories and keep her safe than to allow her to risk her life with a firebrand such as himself.
He took a deep breath and looked at the angrily panting man in front of him. “You’re right. Let’s look for Anansi and talk about this later.”
They came to a temporary truce and continued to search for Anansi as they cleared away the spiders. But after combing the whole house inch by inch, not a trace of Anansi’s main body could be found.
