The One || Sebastian Michaelis x Reader

Sebastian and Claude met in the room adjacent to the foyer while you stayed in your bedroom on the third floor. They sat across from each other at a long table with candles glittered about and Sebastian realized that Claude had been expecting this interaction the entire time.

"You knew the whole time," Sebastian said.

"Yes, of course," Claude replied, smirking. "I tried seducing your mate multiple times, yet her loyalty resided solely with you even without knowing the vile being you are. That should make you proud."

Sebastian laughed humorlessly. "It does, Claude, it really does because we both know Aurora never wanted you."

Claude's face dropped and he barred his fangs. "You're right; she didn't want me, not because of who I am, but because she wanted you."

"Jealous still? After all these years?" Sebastian teased.

Claude slammed his hands against the table as he lost his temper for a mere moment, but then he remembered what he was planning to do since the beginning and smiled evily once more.

"You know, I am still curious as to why you never took her when you could have. She was beautiful and kind," Claude said.

"Aurora was never my type," Sebastian told him. "She was made for you. You saw her as beautiful and kind, yet I saw her as obnoxious and annoying. She is nothing compared to (Y/N) in the least."

"But you didn't know (Y/N) then."

"I didn't," Sebastian confirmed, "but I knew the type of woman I liked and that my mate was still out there somewhere. I would not play games with fate and risk ruining what I could have just to spite you, Claude. We are both old enough to know childish antics are not in our best interests."

Claude thought about his response. "So, we have been at odds with each other for nearly two hundred years because of human girls?"

"It seems so." Sebastian grinned and shook his head.

The two understood each other and their kind very deeply and knew that their rivalry would be seen as pathetic in their world. Mates were nothing to joke about, but the way their situation was meant that neither were truly at fault.

"Was killing her worth it?" Sebastian asked.

Claude shrugged. "Yes and no. Yes because seeing her despise me was the worst experience of my long life, and no because I loved her more than, well, anything."

"It's a cruel life we have to live."

"Not for you," Claude said defensively. "You get everything, Sebastian. You always have."

"Because I'm not a prick about everything," Sebastian retorted. "Maybe if you lightened up once in a while, the world would be kind to you as well."

"Enough," Claude dismissed. "What do you intend to bargain in exchange for (Y/N)?"

Sebastian took a vow of silence before answering, "Ciel Phantomhive's soul."

Claude tilted his head. "Really?"

"Really," Sebastian confirmed adamantly.

"You are willing to go to such extreme lengths including giving up the purest soul in our books for your mate?"

"Yes," Sebastian said, not missing a beat. "Imagine what you would do for Aurora."

"But the Phantomhive boy's soul?" Claude asked, grinning to himself. "That is so unlike you to give up something that could make you so much more powerful."

"Some things are worth more than power, I've come to realize," Sebastian replied. "(Y/N) is more important than a soul. She is my life now and she will get everything she deserves, and that entails not being connected to scum like you."

Claude leaned back in his chair and had to deliberate with himself on what to do. He wanted to continue to toy with Sebastian and keep you in his grasp, but on the other hand, the Phantomhive boy's soul was nothing to scoff at.

Sebastian didn't know what you would think about his bargaining with Ciel's soul, but he promised to do whatever it took to make you safe in his arms. This was the ultimate offer that he hoped Claude would not be able to refuse, but with past grudges, Sebastian wasn't sure whether he would be so lucky.

✶✶✶

You sat on your bed as you gazed down at the pentagrams on each arm--one being Claude's and the other Sebastian's. You waited nearly an hour in the candlelit room before something happened and you didn't know how to handle it. Slowly, Claude's pentagram on your arm began to fade and disappear until it was as if it was never there in the first place.

"No," you whispered in shock, standing quickly. "No, no, no."

Once you heard the door to your room open, you whipped around to see Sebastian standing there with a straight face. It didn't take a genius like yourself to understand what had happened.

"No!" you repeated, tears pricking your eyes. "Why!? He's just a boy!"

"It was the only way for me to save you," Sebastian answered gently.

"But at what cost?" you cried. "An innocent child is going to lose his life and his soul because of us."

"He made the contract himself," Sebastian defended. "He chose this."

"For good reasons!"

"It was the only way!" Sebastian retorted, suddenly angered. "I can't let you die knowing I could have done something to prevent it. Does that mean anything to you?"

"It does," you said truthfully. "It means the world, but we cannot let Ciel be subjected to this. We have to do something."

"There is nothing that can be done; Claude and I made the transition and it cannot be undone."

You ran a nervous hand through your hair. "We have to try. There has to be something we can do."

"There is only one way to save Ciel, but I am not sure it is entirely possible," Sebastian confessed.

"Tell me," you demanded.

Sebastian looked as if the option was one he rather avoid and simply live out your lives together and forget about Ciel but he knew you would never give up.

"We kill Claude."