Clone Seeker

Having obtained his objective, Ciel did not linger. The walls of the apartment were thin, he was certain that those around him were already made aware of his ruckus. Then regardless of whether they came to investigate it themselves or not, it would not be long before the police were notified.

He swiftly escaped through the same window which he entered, this time with a light bringer in his grasp. With light steps he landed back on the dirt path and quickly retreated into the cacophony of clustered buildings. Immediately, the acquired lamp proved its worth, allowing him to rapidly deduce which paths were worth the effort of further exploration and which were not.

Ciel kept his walk calm and unhurried, as if not bearing a single concern in the world. It was a hard contrast with the sheer bleakness which hung in the depths of the slums, almost like a tangible scent. The slum rats, those which lacked homes that was, were found in every corner which he took.

They spared him, an unfamiliar figure engulfed in a warm orange glow, a distant glance and left him be. Some even took jittery efforts to avoid being touched by the light which he hoisted around, like a creature of shadows allergic to its radiant touch.

Ciel was similarly unbothered by their presence. It was the dead of night so many of the slum rats were preoccupied merely trying to catch some rest in whatever hole they could fit in.

That was only some of them however.

Those which seemed unbothered could barely be called awake, yet they were not asleep either. Ciel’s eyes fell upon one of these rats, his case the worst he had seen so far. Sprawled in the middle of the dirt path, a naked sickly man laid. His body was twitching slightly with his open mouth drowning with sizzling purple foam. Their eyes were bulged, as if about to pop, whilst bearing a slight luminescent glow of the same color. Ciel watched the man which obstructed his way for less than half a dozen seconds, then he calmly continued his way forward.

Mist addicts… How pathetic.

He stepped on top of the man’s stomach, followed by his face, until finally his bare feet touched soil once more. Perhaps a normal man would have already jumped up with murderous vigor and attempted to retaliate for Ciel’s carefree actions, however the man was already too far into his episode to even notice anything had occurred at all.

As he marched forth, Ciel spared the man one last glance. He did not care how a man chose to kill themselves, however seeing that purple foam ignited memories of his past. He had begun his time as a red tiger member by being a lookout for mist powder deals after all.

From there, he was promoted to the carrier of the package until finally he received the privilege of being the dealer himself. That was how he had survived at first, and how he eventually escaped the slums and rose from a rat to a standard street rodent.

Back then, such a thing was quite the promotion indeed.

The Red Tiger Gang…

They were his current goal. Much like his old self, Ciel would once more need to build a connection and become one of their members. Only then could he hope to arm himself properly. Of course, such a task was not easy, taking his old self many years to accomplish.

This time however, he had the gift of experience and a talent for death. He was certain that should he showcase his skills adequately, then it would not be impossible to gain membership within a month or less.

Such a timeline was acceptable.

The only issue which arose was making a first contact. The red tigers weren’t a welcoming group, and they often preferred to implement youngsters which they had been nurturing for years. That was the reason his old self had taken so long to gain their trust. Ciel could not spend too much time with the infiltration, lacking the precious leisure his old self had. They were merely a stepping stone after all, a means but not the end. Still, he could not approach this carelessly as a result of his eagerness.

If possible Ciel wished to keep things under a familiar course of actions. That way he could fully utilize his past memories to reap the most benefits possible. For that he needed to meet one man in particular; Azik Miles.

He was one of the twelve striped tigers, the gang leaders in charge of certain territories. He is a ruthless man with a pension for retaliation whenever anyone dared to hurt his pride. A worthless fiend of society by all accounts.

Just the type of fool I can use as well.

Ciel quickly found his train of thought acceptable, clearing away the haze in regards to his actions once out of the slum’s tight embrace.

However even now he remained unhurried.

It is still night. I need to find somewhere near the edge of the slums and rest for a few hours.

Ciel had a great many things to do, but his body did not seem as eager as his mind. The more he walked, the more fatigue he felt building inside him. Whether that was because he had been a corpse just hours ago Ciel was not sure. In truth he still had no leads as to why he had awoken in such a state. None of the answers which he could think plausible fit the situation. That only left him more at a loss.

Suddenly, his steady steps came to a halt.

A distant noise had caught his attention with his eyes quickly narrowing towards the direction which it came. The orange light of the lamp spread out through almost the entire dirt path, illuminating a good portion of both his front and back.

However, the strange noise came from a diverging pathway just three meters from his current stance.

Hmm.

Sensing a faded emotion, one which he identified as curiosity, Ciel calmly proceeded to walk towards the turn. Once there, the orange glow of the lamp’s electric current rapidly spread forth, revealing a far more narrow path than the one which he currently stood upon. Looking further ahead, a figure was moving just beyond the reach of the warm glow. He had found the source of the strange sound, but chose to approach the distant figure regardless.

Stomp, stomp, stomp.

After a few steps, Ciel’s eyes narrowed, recognizing the noise for what it was at last.

It was the sound of flesh being cut.

No. Not just flesh, he could hear bones being broken and the distinct sound of organs being rearranged. Accompanying them were raspy jittery mumbles. Once the light of the lamp reached the back of the figure they trembled vigorously, then promptly turned around with a panicked expression etched onto their face.

“W-Who’s there?!”

They shouted, however Ciel did not answer.

With the figure now thoroughly bathed by the orange hue, an image of an old frail man with a long gray beard and deep black eyes came into view. He was on his knees, covered in dirt and shirtless. Protruding out of his chest were eight ribs, four on each side, and attached to his flesh was the embrace of blood.

The blood did not belong to him however, as just below him another figure laid there. This one a mutilated corpse. Ciel could make out that it was that of a young man, one who had their entire bowels sliced open and their guts taken out.

His eyes shifted, falling upon the stranger’s right hand. On it was a sharp piece of steel, pieces of flesh still attached to its jagged edges and entirely engulfed by deep crimson blood. The stranger’s left hand was not left without its own task, having its five fingers tightly grasping the corpse’s guts.

Unperturbed by the gruesome sight before him, Ciel parted his lips and asked.

“Were you trying to pull it out?”

The shaken old stranger was startled for a moment, surprised by Ciel’s calm demeanor. Then with a somewhat childish decorum, he nodded.

“Yes! Th-That’s right! This. This bastard tried to take the meat I stole! My meat! My life you know! I had to kill him after that you see, simply had to! Yes. Yes. That’s right, I had to…”

His voice was raspy, his body twitched after every few words he spoke, and his eyes darted around as he exaggerated his body language.

Ciel watched on, still unbothered by the sight.

“I see, then why pull out his guts and not his stomach? If what you want is your stolen meat back then it should still be there. Provided that he stole it just moments ago that is.”

The eyes of the old stranger widened, then a deep smile appeared on his lips. Without any words, he merely began shaking his head with a bit too much vigor.

“Ah yes, yes I know and I will of course! But, but, but. Before that I need space, I need as much space as I can get, I need these pesky organs out so that I may get more blood and complete it! I can’t get my meat back before I complete it. That… I just can’t!”

Ciel did not understand.

“Complete what?”

He asked simply.

The old stranger’s grin grew wider and eerie while his dark eyes stirred slightly within its depths. Then suddenly he shook again, however it was a reaction devoid of fear like before and instead as a result of sudden intense pleasure. His hand trembled, causing his steel weapon to fall from its grasp. He did not care though, since his bloody fingers quickly rose and pointed even further down the narrow path, then with a cheerful voice the man spoke.

“My drawing of course! That takes precedence over everything! Before death I must pay tribute! I must, I must, I must!”

Ciel followed the direction of the stranger’s fingers.

He saw nothing, however unlike before, it was not because the light did not reach it but rather because the darkness was pushing back against it. Sparing the excited old man another glance, Ciel took one step forward, then another, until finally he reached the end of the path. Pushing forth the lamp, its steel frame almost touched the wall when at last its glow overpowered the stubborn force which prevented its warm embrace before.

There he saw it. Blood. A lot of blood.

It was splashed against the wall, still as fresh and carrying a poignant stench. Should that have been all, then Ciel would have quickly retracted his inspection and moved on, his curiosity fulfilled. However, what was before him was far too strange.

There on the dead end wall, a clumsily arranged symbol was formed, one which Ciel did not recognize or was even able to fully comprehend. The image, which used crimson blood as its ink, remained hard to focus upon, even with the light bathing it. That was only for a moment however, soon it fully cleared up, at last blessing Ciel’s sight with total comprehension of its shape. The image was made of twisting lines which combined to forge what appeared like an incomplete spiraled eye.

The eye was eerie and alien.

No.

Ciel’s own eyes narrowed upon seeing it clearly in its entirety, realizing his mistake just a moment too late. Suddenly, the eerie symbol’s presence grew many times more tangible, as if his sight had invited it into the festival of existence. It appeared to stir yet remained entirely motionless at the same time. Meanwhile, the light around him grew dimmer as Ciel’s own mind was suddenly assaulted by insidious incomprehensible whispers.

Ciel did not hesitate to jump back, allowing the heavy darkness to swallow the image whole once more. Once it did, the whispers abruptly halted, as if severed.

Ciel caressed his head, feeling an intense headache for a moment. He could not describe why, but it was almost as if his own brain was protesting for the whispers to return. He felt compelled to walk towards the darkness again, to stare upon that eye again.

Corruption… A powerful one as well.

Of course, he did not comply with such sudden urges. It was not only due to his own reasoning and better judgment but due to the fact that the emotion itself felt faded and weak.

I suppose my current state does have its advantages.

Ciel shook his head, successfully waiting out the painful outburst of his mind, then he shifted and walked back to the stranger’s side. There the stranger had returned to carving out the corpse.

“You drew that?”

Ciel asked simply, his stance showing a hint of caution. The stranger’s body jolted as he shot his head up. Once meeting Ciel’s gaze his eyes widened with panic.

“Wh-Who are you?!”

Ciel merely stared at him, his expression cold.

Yep. Deep rooted corruption.

Seeing his emotionless face, The old man reached out for the corpse and embraced it tightly. Then with exaggerated expressions of utter fear he yelled out.

“It’s mine! The meat was.. I- I Took it. Now this body is mine too! I Kill… He deserved it.. He is mine!”

He stared down at the corpse with passion in his gaze, accompanied by an eerily wide grin.

“I need to complete the drawing! I need to! Then… Then you can take what's left! I’ll only take the stomach okay?! So for now go! Go away! Please, whoever you are, please leave me alone!”

Ciel merely stood still for a moment, honing in on the old stranger’s deep black eyes. The darkness within them, they seemed to be spiraling as well.

He shook his head.

An aberration to be sure, however, if so then I need to distance myself. I can barely handle humans as I am, I do not need the corruption of a being at this level, whatever it may be.

He knew better than to involve himself with this further. For a corruption to affect a mind so deeply, then it meant the source could without a doubt destroy any sense of self which Ciel, or anyone who would attempt to seek it out, held.

I am already broken enough. I have no need for further complications.

Leaving the old man behind, Ciel calmly exited the narrow path and went on his way. Judging it best to ignore this strange encounter.