DISCLAIMER : I do not own Kuroshitsuji.
Chapter 1
How It All Started…
It was the weirdest thing I have ever experienced! It was a regular old Wednesday afternoon. I was walking home from school and as I passed the old abandoned house on the hill, I heard the beating of drums. I knew I should have kept walking. I should have gone straight home. But my curiosity got the better of me. I took a deep breath and retreated to the old abandoned house. It was now or never! I opened the door of the house and walked in.
I gasped as the scene in front of me was not what I had expected. Instead of the interior of the old abandoned house, staring at me was a field with grass so green—unlike the grass these days—that anyone in my circumstance would think that this was the Victorian era.
Wait.
Hold on a second.
I looked down and realised that I was indeed wearing a deep blue gown but not the type from modern time. It was a type of gown from the Victorian era.
I squealed mentally. "Maybe I have been transported to the Victorian era!" But inside my mind, I knew that that was nowhere near possible. But, what if the beating of the drums I heard was actually a medium of my transportation? There was still a 0.0001% chance of this being true! Just thinking of this, I felt elated.
Oops! I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Joanne Herondale. I am 18 years old and I love to watch this particular anime series, 'Black Butler', which is set in the Victorian era. And there is this handsome butler cum demon, who has the loveliest eyes anyone can ever have, the most luscious lips, the most stylish hair and… and…
Okay. I was going off-topic. I should stop there.
I kept walking but stopped in my tracks when I heard distant cries. As I got nearer to the source of the cries, I could hear fragments of the chanting. "A white dog … good dog. A blackdog … bad dog".
Okay, I must have been hallucinating. I thought I heard fragments of the chanting from episode six of 'Black Butler'. I wanted to confirm my suspicions, so I took small steps towards the source of the chanting. "Curiosity killed the cat, Joanne," my inner voice told me. But against my conscience, I ventured towards the source of the chanting.
Aha! Found it! The source of the chanting. It was coming from a small flock of people. They were chanting around five people. Wait! Aren't they Ciel Phantomhive and his servants? If I remember correctly, Earl Ciel Phantomhive should have five servants – Finnian (who is in charge of the garden but always ended up destroying it with herbicides), Bardroy (the cook who destroys dishes by cooking them with a flamethrower – which results in the dishes getting burnt), Mey Rin (the long-sighted clumsy maid), Tanaka (the old butler who seems to only know how to say "ho ho ho") and Sebastian Michaelis (the perfectionist demon acting as perfectionist Ciel's butler – in whichever role, he is still a perfectionist).
But there were only four servants with Ciel at that time. Where is Sebastian? Oh! I remember. In this scene, he was away to investigate the "Demon Hound" case. As I expected, he swooped in to save the five, just in time as the dogs were commanded to bite them.
There he came! Hair as black as coal, eyes as red as rubies and a figure as perfect as… err… Well… you get the idea. He flashed his demonic red eyes at the dogs, dutifully protecting his master.
"This can't be true… This can't be true…" I chanted to myself, it was becoming my own personal mantra. How could I, an 18-year-old undergraduate of New York Academy of Dramatic Arts (NYADA), be in an anime world, watching a scene from one of its episode played out in front of me?! Before I knew it, all the villagers were chanting and carrying Lord Henry Barrymore away, angry because he tricked them into believing the legend of the Demon Hound.
I now turned my attention to Sebastian and Ciel, who were walking towards me with curious looks on their faces, flanked by the other four servants. I stood there dumbly, too shocked from the fact that I was now in an anime world, and characters from my favourite anime were approaching me.
"Oh my, oh my. Who do we have here?"
"Hello? Are you a statue?"
Poke. Poke.
"Hey!" I shouted, swatting the hand of the finger that was about to poke me for the third time away.
"Oh! You're alive," Sebastian's sexy voice came on.
"Oh". I snapped out of my reverie. "Hi…?" I greeted awkwardly, since I still do not know how to act around them. "What is your name? State your business, peasant!" Ciel growled impatiently, tapping his left foot on the ground. Feeling intimidated, I answered quickly, including everything about me.
"Joanne Herondale. 18 years old. Love anime. Undergraduate of New York Academy of Dramatic Arts". I let out a heavy sigh.
Ciel raised his left eyebrow. "You do not seem to be a noble, nor do you act like one. I am Earl Phantomhive. I will not be easily fooled as whatever-Academy and anime does not exist". To Sebastian, he added "We are wasting our time here. Let's go, Sebastian". After he handed out his command, he turned to leave.
Before leaving, he spoke, "I would advise you to return home quickly". With that, he left the scene, leaving me dumbfounded.
I knew I had no other choice.
"Hey! Wait up!"
I ran to catch up with them. But it seemed like every step I took, they – specifically him – walked faster. Finally catching up with them, I grabbed Ciel's arm and panted, trying to catch my breath.
But after a few seconds, I realised that my hand was not on Ciel's arm anymore. Rather, my wrist was being gripped by his butler.
"Young Master is very fragile, so I would appreciated it if you don't touch him," Sebastian warned me. Trying to take my hand back, I apologised. Sebastian seemed contented with the apology and let my wrist—now red—go.
"Why are you still standing near me?! I thought I told you to return home," said Ciel in an icy cold voice.
"That's the problem. I don't have a place to go to," I answered him. "So, if you would be so kind to…" I let my sentence trail off. Of course, both of them would be able to figure it out, since they have an educated mind. Right?
"State your motive. I will not hesitate to kick you out of the compound if I find that you are just fooling with me," Ciel snapped.
I was, at that time, standing at the doorstep of the Barrymore Castle, where Ciel and his servants were staying for the time being. He would not let me in because he was still sceptical of me.
Okay, Joanne. You can do this! Just tell him everything—since he wants to know about it—no matter how ridiculous it may sound.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I found myself being a butler to the Earl of Phantomhive and will be getting free lodging in Phantomhive manor house. Plus, getting close to Sebastian, if not closer.
And no. I am a butler, not a housekeeper. I know that butlers are usually males, but Ci – I mean, my lord – states that he does not like discriminating people by gender.
That's all. The next time we meet, I shall tell you about my experiences and adventures as a Phantomhive butler.
After all, I am one hell of a butler.
