Author's Notes: Well greetings my lovely lords and ladies! Here is the story I've been talking about: Sebastian x OC. I know it doesn't sound like much but I hope you like my OC as much as I do! Well without any more delay!
(I do not own Black Butler)
The sky grew dark as the clouds pushed on, the passengers in the carriages worried for rain; the first carriage showed a boy, only shy of thirteen and a man no older than twenty-five. The boy was looking forward without much emotion on his pale face; he was not a boy to play around.
The man driving the carriage was his butler, a young man who smiled a devilish grin, like he knew he was superior to everyone else. The man driving the carriage looked like a proper butler, right down to the pure, white gloves on his hands; the boy behind him looked like a child, but spoke like a grown man.
This boy did not smile and he dressed in dark, expensive clothes in lieu of the trainers and button-downs most others wore in that age. The boy was quite lovely, his skin was a pale color and his hair was the darkest midnight blue, but his eyes, or the one that was shown, were a lovely cerulean.
His butler was no less handsome, but the striking contrast of his black hair and pale skin made him all the more attractive. His most distinguishing feature were the bloody red color of his eyes; they were…haunting and strangely beautiful.
"Young master, it seems that it will rain soon."
"Hmm…how far away are we from the manor?" The child looked up at the sky in disgust and annoyance. He was trying to figure out if it would be worth it to sit in the rain.
"Perhaps…five hours?" the butler smirked at his young master's annoyance, the trip was hard on all of them, "Stop at that manor, perhaps they will house us for tonight," the boy ordered, pointing at the large house sitting on the hill top.
"Yes, my lord."
The heavens opened up as the carriages were under the cover of trees; the red-haired maid took her glasses off and tried rubbing off the rain drops that settled on the lenses, "O-oh my, that was quick, yes."
The butler pulled the braided rope that rang the bell and as the rain pounded on the roof, the door slowly opened with a creaking noise. In the dark gap was a face, a woman's face; she had short, choppy white hair and sad, chocolate eyes; the color of her eyes reminded the butler of his master's company's candy. She looked very young but she looked like she could use a good meal and a good night's rest.
"Y-yes? W-who is it?" she spoke in a whisper and did not meet the butler's eyes as he responded.
"Good evening, Miss, my master, Earl Ciel Phantomhive, a few servants, and myself were traveling home from London and have seemed to stumble into the rain. Is the master home?"
"…o-one moment…"
The girl closed the door and opened it after unlocking it fully; she asked them to wait in the sitting room as she went to find the master. After the girl had left, the group left alone in the sitting room felt that the home was something akin to the mayor's manor house; something was amiss.
"Gentlemen and lady, forgive me for the wait!" A loud man who called himself Andrew Ravennail walked into the sitting room, the girl behind him with her head down and arms down her white dress. After they made introductions, the loud man offered seating to everyone in the room besides the girl, who took her place at his left side.
"Also forgive me, but I am not sure I recognize the name, Ciel Phantomhive."
"…sir?"
The man looked at the servant girl with an annoyed glare which made the girl wilt, "Yes? Speak up!"
"…Earl Ciel Phantomhive is known as the Queen's watchdog; he performs Her Majesty's requests about certain areas that could pose a threat to the Queen…"
"And how do you know this?"
"When I go for business in London, I allow her to visit her…"
"…cousin…"
"…cousin, who works in the palace."
The girl's eyes flashed Ciel's and he could see that she was proud of her cousin. Her eyes were soft and warm at the mention of her cousin and although it didn't show on her face, she was smiling.
"Mara," the girl looked back at the man with fright-covered eyes, "show the guests to their rooms, and bring them whatever they desire."
"Y-yes s-sir."
The man bided the guests a good night and the timid maid asked if they wanted something to eat or drink, to which Tanaka asked for tea. She nodded at the request and asked if anyone was hungry or if they wanted their rooms. Bard and Finnian wished for something to eat while Ciel and Sebastian were happy with tea; Mey-Rin asked Mara for her bed.
"Y-yes, of course; c-can you wait until I place the kettle over the f-fire?"
"Take your time, yes," Mey-Rin said with a happy grin on her face; Mara rushed to the door to the kitchen and disappeared from sight as she rushed around to find any sort of kettle. Finnian tilted his head at this reaction and Ciel pressed a gloved knuckle to his lower lip in concentration.
"Is something the matter, young master?"
"This girl…this girl is…"
"…she's being beaten…" the group stared at Finnian, who was still staring at the door to the kitchen, "…it is almost like Angela…"
Mara came out and asked Mey-Rin if she still wanted to sleep and the two females traveled up the stairs into the darkness with only a candle lighting their way. The rest of the party waited in the sitting room until Mara silently stepped down the wooden stairs. The candlelight made her look tired and older, but it made her chocolate colored eyes sparkle, "Would you please wait in the sitting room until the tea and food are ready?"
Ciel, Finnian, and Bard nodded their heads in agreement while Sebastian remained still; Tanaka offered to make the tea, but Mara refused any help from the elder, "M-master would be insulted if he knew I allowed a guest to do my orders."
Mara excused herself and most of the males had taken a seat; Sebastian was still standing and staring at the door, looking at it as though he could see through it. Sebastian opened the door and found the woman cutting bread for sandwiches, her hands covered in bruises and marks, "Miss Mara?"
Mara jumped and nearly cut herself on the bread knife; she watched the tall butler in fright and slowly placed the knife on the table, "Mr. Michealis, you should relax and wait for…"
She flinched when she noticed him raising his hand, expecting the pain to course through her system when nothing happened. She opened her eyes and found that he was moving a piece of her hair that had fallen in her face. She looked down, feeling her face turn pink with having someone, especially a man, treat her with such…tenderness.
Her hands were shaking and she knew that there was no way in hell that she would be able to do anything. Two gloved hands covered her pale bruised hands and they stopped shaking almost instantly, "Miss Mara, are you alright?"
"F-fine, sir. Please let me finish my duty."
Mara pulled her hands out from under his and checked the kettle to see if it was hot enough; she turned around and Sebastian was standing behind her, scaring her into putting her hands in front of her face in defense. She waited to feel something, anything to gauge how mad he was, but he didn't do anything but wait until she removed her hands.
"P-please, I-I'll get in trouble…"
Sebastian took a couple of steps back and Mara had composed herself enough to finish making the food for Bard and Finnian. Sebastian once again offered to pour the tea, but the poor girl insisted on pouring the hot tea. He grabbed the sandwiches and she took them out of his hands, slapping them in a reflex used by a mother or caregiver.
"Go sit down," her voice was strong and firm, but almost powerless to him since she couldn't meet his eye. She carried the tea tray out to the others and handed the things they wanted to them.
"Where is Sebastian?" The Earl looked at the kitchen door and glanced at the girl pouring his tea.
"In the kitchen, my lord, he wished to help me, but I declined."
She finished serving Bard and Finnian when Sebastian reappeared behind her, causing her to jump and knock Tanaka's tea out of her hands. The hot tea soaked her dress and she shouted in pain; the tea cup fell to the wooden floor and everyone waited for the sound of breaking china. However, Sebastian had reached the cup before it could hit the floor; the butler returned the cup to the girl just as the master of the house and Mey-Rin came rushing down the stairs.
"Oh dear, what happened to you?!" Mey-Rin ran to the woman soaked in tea and pushed her to the kitchen to clean her up from the hot tea.
"Mara…"
The girl stopped as though on a leash and she looked down at the floor when she turned to face her master, "what happened?"
She looked to the butler and took a big sigh, "I-I slipped and spilt the tea. Forgive me sir."
The master sighed and shook his head at her, "Fine, it is too late to worry about it now. Go wash up and show the guests to their rooms."
Mara walked to the kitchen in silence, still watching the floor until she entered the kitchen. Sebastian stared at the door until Finnian cleared his throat; the normally quiet and shy man was glaring at the master from behind his teacup, "Mr. Ravennail, how old is Mara?"
Ravennail rubbed his face and sighed, "She's nineteen and quite shy. She used to live in London with her mother, but she came looking for work when her mother became ill. Now she works to pay for the medical expenses, and she is quite shaky and nervous because of her…talents…"
"Talents?" the Earl repeated, his interest finally captured; the master of the house said nothing, but took the empty teacup and threw it at the floor. It shattered into thousands of little shards and fine dust, but he was not worried, "Mara."
Mara came out of the kitchen with a clean apron over her stained dress which she tried to clean out with water, spotted the mess of a teacup on the floor, and mumbled, "Yes, sir."
The girl's eyes began to grow large and a glow began to flicker in them, "Watch the cup," the master said proudly which everyone but Ravennail did; the cup, once destroyed and in a powder on the floor was slowly rebuilding itself, the shards were flying out from under the sofa and chairs and slowly forming the cup until finally the cup was in a loose form.
Ciel and Sebastian watched the girl as she closed her extended hand into a fist and squeezed until her knuckles were white. When she relaxed her grip and slowly lowered her hand down, they heard a soft clatter of china on china. The cup was whole and if they had not seen it break, they wouldn't have believed that it broke before.
"Mara can fix anything that is broken and she's so good with animals…however she is a little bit of a softie…" Mara looked down at her hands and began to rub at the bruised skin, "Mara, did you prepare my bag for tomorrow's hunt?"
"Yes, sir."
"And did you fill my gun with bullets?"
"Of course, my master."
"Did you wash and prepare the horse for the hunt?"
"…n-no, sir…"
The silence was deadly as Ravennail stood and walked up the stairs, telling her to wash the horse and show the guests to their rooms. She quickly and quietly showed everyone to their rooms and bid them goodnight before going down the stairs once more and blowing out her candle.
"Sebastian…"
"My lord?"
"Go make sure she is alright and if that brute of a master approaches her…"
"Yes, my lord," the butler bowed and placed his hand over his heart before fading into the darkness.
The butler was quiet down the stairs, moving with the shadows until sneaking out to the stables where a light was shining bright against the dark night. As he approached the stable, he heard someone talking to themselves, "I've right done it now, Sirius, I've gone and gotten myself in trouble again."
Sebastian was at the door of the stables watching the girl wash the white and black horse with careful strokes. She had lit the lantern hanging on one of the rafters and in its light, she looked sick and thin, like she hadn't eaten a proper meal in a long time.
"I've disobeyed Mr. Ravennail and made a fool of myself with the teacup. I wish he didn't show me off like a toy he could play with; I wish mother would get better soon…"
The horse neighed and she scratched his neck with love and a smile on her face, "I know, I know, I love you too."
The horse snorted and whined, "Sirius, you know why I can't leave."
The horse nudged an apple to her and shook its head. Mara smiled and set the apple on the wooden box, "You know I can't, Siri. You know he counts the food and treats for you."
Mara picked up the sponge and started washing the horse when she sighed, "I don't know if you saw, Siri, but that group…they're really…odd…"
She stopped and laughed a mirthless laugh, "That's rich, coming from a freak like me, calling them odd." The horse nuzzled his neck against her head and she patted his mane. The horse shook and shuddered, making noises and snorting like it was actually talking back to her.
"Siri, I can't."
More snorting.
"Siri, what would happen to you if I left? He'd hurt you! I can't leave you with that monster!"
The horse stopped and looked at her with his big brown eyes. Her eyes met his and she sighed with a heavy heart turning in her chest, "Besides, it's not like I want to be here…"
"Then why are you staying?" Sebastian stepped out from the shadows and startled the horse and Mara. The horse stepped in front of her as if to protect her from the strange man when she patted his back. She continued to wash him as though Sebastian wasn't there, but she did not speak to the horse.
"Mara, why are you staying?"
"…because I must…"
"Are you contracted?"
"N-no."
"Did he buy you?"
"No!"
"Then what is holding you here?"
She rinsed off Sirius and began to towel dry him in silence when Sebastian stepped forward. Sirius did not try to push him away from her, but he didn't move from his spot; Sebastian was on the other side of the horse when she looked up again. Her eyes saw his face and she looked down at Sirius' mane.
"…my mother is sick…she…she can't move from her bed…and we need money…everything I make here goes to her, for her living and medical costs…I can't leave…"
Mara began to brush Sirius' mane when a gloved hand lifted her chin up, her eyes instantly growing wide and looking down at the horse, "Please look at me when I speak to you."
Mara mustered up the courage to look into Sebastian's red eyes which were lukewarm and not as hard as they normally were when he was dealing with the others. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears and her bottom lip was shaking. She didn't look away from his gaze, even when Sirius snorted and shook his mane.
"If my master offered you a job, would you take it and leave?"
Her eyes grew and tears began to slide out of her eyes and down her face, "…y-yes…I'd leave…would he really…?"
"I will ask," Sebastian removed his hand from her chin, but she didn't look down when he dropped his hand; although there was a chance that she would have to stay here with that man, although there was a chance that she would be beaten before they could leave, hope was shining in her eyes.
The look would have made him frown or annoyed, but Sebastian felt himself smile a little too; normally he wouldn't have cared if someone stayed in a dangerous place or not because he had nothing to gain from it, but there was something…different about this girl. She seemed so weak and tired, and yet, a fierce power seemed to pulse from her soul.
Even though she was just a human and it was against his nature as a soul eating demon, he wanted, no, needed to protect her. As Sebastian left the stables, he heard the girl calling him back to the stables, "Mr. Michaelis!"
"Yes, Miss Mara?"
"My name's not Mara, sir," Sebastian raised a midnight black eyebrow in confusion, "my name's Alice, Alice Morrow."
"Why does your master call you Mara?"
"That's the name I gave him when he found me. I didn't want him to know my real name."
"What did you need?"
"I just wanted to tell you my name, that's all," she smiled and looked down at the horse as Sebastian walked back into the stable, still a little confused.
"Why did you want to do that?"
Alice stopped brushing and pressed her finger against her cheek. She looked up at Sebastian, and slowly a smile crawled up her face, "I'm not sure."
She laughed with a little more joy in it and Sebastian chuckled lightly, "You are a strange child, Alice."
She gave him a mock glare and tried to keep a straight face, but couldn't keep the smile from climbing onto her face, "I'm strange?"
"Very."
"Good, I like it like that. I like what makes me strange."
"I thought you hated your powers?" Sebastian took a couple of steps back into the stable and patted Sirius' neck in a sort of truce. Sirius nudged an apple as acceptance to the truce.
"I do…when someone's showing me off. I use them every day and love them, but everyone wants me to put a show on for them. I hate that, it makes me feel like a freak."
Sebastian smiled and went to go back to the house when Alice called after him, "Mr. Michaelis! I have an answer to your question!"
He waited as she ran to him, "I know why I wanted to tell you my name."
"Why?"
"Because of all the people that I met in the last four years, you seem like the most…" she stopped and began to think once more, "…the most…trustworthy and responsible and…strange man I have ever met…and you treat me like a person and not a lowly servant girl or…"
"A freak."
"Yeah…"
Sebastian lifted her chin and saw that she had tears in her eyes, and they were threatening to spill down her face; she began to try and wipe her eyes with her sleeves, but Sebastian was quicker wiping her eyes with his hands.
"I'm sorry…"
"Don't be sorry…"
She grasped his hands and he noted the red marks around her wrists, her hands pulled his hands off her face and she smiled a gentle smile at the butler. He did not smile back because a sick twisting was in his stomach; the thought of this girl being bound and tortured was making him sick.
"Good night, Mr. Michaelis."
"Sebastian," her eyebrow lifted in confusion and he chuckled a little, "My name is Sebastian."
She smiled and looked down at the ground before chuckling with him, "I like it. It fits you."
Alice watched Sebastian as he walked back into the manor with a smile on her face and the faintest spark of hope in her mind. She didn't care if she did go to work for Ciel Phantomhive or if she found work after she left at all, the hope was lifting her soul higher and higher. She began to remember a time when she was free from fear and Ravennail, when she could walk around town alone and wouldn't get hurt at the end of the day.
Alice smiled and walked back to Sirius, who was unsettled by the butler's presence.
"Alice, I don't like that man. He's trouble."
"Ravennail's worse, Sirius, and if he is willing to take me away from here, how bad can he be?"
"But Alice…"
"Sirius, I promise you that I'll be fine. Besides, it's not like I'm leaving you here. I'm taking you with me!"
"Really?"
"Of course! You're my saving grace from madness Sirius! Without you…well you know where I would be."
"That's right…how's the arm?"
"Fine, a little sore."
"Good, I thought I really hurt you last week."
Alice said nothing, finished preparing Sirius for tomorrow, and blew out the lantern for the night. She started walking back to the manor when two large hands grabbed her hands and covered her mouth.
"Thought you could just leave like that, Alice?"
Ravennail.
Author's notes: Ravennail! You sneaky bastard! LOL.
Review and favorite if you like the story already and if you want, check out the other stories I have in my profile, I think you'll really like them!
Until next time, my lovely little ladies and lords!
