Hello! Thank you for viewing my story. This is my first, so I hope it's acceptable. Please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Black Butler
1
Stella looked in the mirror, readjusting the white eye patch that resided over her right eye. "Maybe today I won't black out again…" She quietly hoped as she left the bathroom, turning off the light as she left. She walked down the short and narrow hallway to her mother's room. "Mom, I'm leaving now." She gently called to her sleeping mother, who only grunted tiredly in response. Stella carefully closed the door.
Putting on her black jacket, Stella picked up her school bag and house key. As she placed a hand on the doorknob, she looked back, and then left the house.
Stella never liked going to school, but then again, what teenager did? Maybe there were a rare few… Stella had hated going to school, because of her fear. She had a secret, which may be deadly…
As Stella stepped foot on campus, she noticed it was unusually quiet. The quiet scared her. She began to slowly panic as she looked around the school, finding no one, not even the custodian, Mr. Velasquez. "Is there no school today?" She began to wonder aloud, as though she were talking to someone, but who was around to hear? No one. "No. No, that can't be right." She tried to reassure herself. "If…If there was, I would've gotten an e-mail, right? Then why…" She began shivering and feeling dizzy. As she ran to the entrance of the school, Stella's vision began fading. No… She could barely think. Not… here… She could think no more, nor did she notice that she was falling and that the world began slowly fading to black.
Finnian smiled as he looked around the garden once again. He loved being outside. He loved the smell of nature and the brightness of the sky. As the gardener walked through the garden, he noticed something odd. There was a young girl, collapsed by a white rose bush. He gasped in shock and ran over. "Miss!" He called. "Miss! Are you alright?" He carefully shook the girl, trying to rouse her, but to no avail. "Oh no… Sebastian!" He called for the butler, running with the girl in his arms.
Stella felt as though she were jumping, but her legs weren't moving. She finally opened her eyes at the sound of a voice. "So you thought it was acceptable to bring her inside?" The voice was male and sounded slightly irritated.
"Well, I didn't know what else to do…" Another male voice trailed off, sounding closer to Stella. Stella looked up and saw that a young male with strawberry blonde hair was carrying her. He seemed to be embarrassed, and was looking the other way. A man in black frowned, then looked down.
"Put her down, Finny." The man in black said.
"What?" The boy known as Finny looked at the man in black, who simply pointed at Stella. Finny looked down and noticed Stella was awake and blushing. "Sorry…" Finny apologized as he helped Stella stand.
"I-It's okay…" Stella blushed, wobbling a bit until she found her balance.
"What's your name, miss?" The man in black asked, giving a smile that seemed forced.
"Stella." Stella looked away. "Stella Gray."
"Well, then, Miss Gray." The man stood up straight. "Please accompany me to my master, who I'm sure would like to know what you were doing in the garden."
"O-Okay, sir…" Stella frowned. She looked back at the boy, who had found other business as a maid came up to him. Stella looked back at the man. "Excuse me… sir?"
"Yes?" The man looked back.
"Where… Where am I?" Stella asked, slightly intimidated. She was always intimidated.
"The Phantomhive Manor." The man said simply, as though it were obvious.
"Okay…" Stella paused. "Thank you." They soon arrived at a set of two doors. The man opened one for Stella. "Thank you." She walked inside to see a young boy sitting in a large chair at a large desk.
"Sebastian, who is this?" The boy asked. Stella noticed the boy had an eye patch too. His was black.
"Stella Gray, my lord. Finnian found her in the garden." The man, who Stella assumed was Sebastian, explained. "Perhaps you would like to interrogate her."
"I would." The boy said rather quickly. "Please, miss. Have a seat." He gestured to the chair in front of the desk.
"Okay. Thank you." Stella nodded, carefully sitting down.
"Sebastian." The boy spoke.
"Yes, my lord?" Sebastian asked.
"Make us some tea." The boy ordered. Sebastian bowed, then left.
"So," The boy looked intently at Stella. "What were you doing in my garden?"
"Well, to be honest." Stella paused. "I don't really remember being in a garden. I'm sorry."
"Alright, then." The boy paused, as if considering his next question. "What do you remember?"
"Not much. I remember waking up and the boy, Finny, I think his name is, was carrying me. That man, Sebastian, I think, he brought me here." Stella paused again. "To this room, I mean. I don't remember anything before that."
"So, in other words, you have amnesia." The boy closed his eye. There was a long silence, until the boy reopened his eye. "Do you have any talents?"
"I don't think so, other than…" Stella trailed off, shivering at the thought.
"Other than?" The boy urged her to continue.
"N-Nevermind." Stella shook her head. "It's nothing too important…"
"Alright." The boy looked at Stella's right eye. "If you don't mind me asking, where did you get that eye patch?"
"Oh, I…" Stella paused. Should I really tell him? "I… bought it."
"So it's just an accessory?" The boy asked, as if for clarification.
"Well, no." Stella paused. "Can you keep a secret for me?"
"That depends what kind of secret it is." The boy gave a small, amused smirked.
"It's…" Stella paused, then carefully lifted her eye patch to reveal a pink-colored eye, a complete contrast to her other eye, which was blue. "This."
"Different colored eyes?" The boy asked. "That's not too bad of a secret is it? Where did you get it?"
"I was born with it." Stella explained, slowly putting down her eye patch. "I didn't think it was anything bad until a year ago."
"C'mon, Stella!" Stella's friend, Rachel, called. "It's okay. You'll be fine." The sixteen-year-old giggled, then ran around a corner.
"I'm coming!" Stella called, wary of an individual across the street, who began crossing the road. They walked up to Stella, and grabbed her arm. "Hey, wha- Stella was cut off as the person placed their hand over her mouth.
"If you want to live, you'll co-operate." The assailant was male. Stella struggled as much as she could. She stopped dead as the man put a gun to her head. "That's right." The man grinned as he began dragging Stella away. Stella shut her eyes, hoping this was just a dream. She felt something pulsing in her right eye. She opened her eyes, and her vision exploded with a black void.
When Stella next awoke, she saw the man, a stab wound in his chest. She screamed in horror as she realized what happened.
"That's when I started researching everything I could about people with different colored eyes." Stella continued. Sebastian now stood next to the boy. "I couldn't find anything about random blackout, or not knowing you killed someone, or anything." She looked at her lap, where she noticed her fists were clenched. "I still don't know why my parents abandoned me…"
"Abandoned you?" The boy asked.
"I'm adopted." Stella said bluntly. "I guess my birth parents couldn't handle a psycho killer in their family." Stella clenched her teeth. She finally noticed she was crying. The boy stood.
"Stella." He said. Stella looked up. "My name is Ciel Phantomhive. I am the Queen's Guard dog. You are allowed to stay here as my guest, until we learn why you are how you are."
"R-Really?" Stella asked, as if in disbelief. This boy, Ciel, didn't seem like the type to say something like that.
"A gentleman always keeps his word." Ciel smirked, then looked to Sebastian. "Sebastian, prepare a room for her and call Tanaka to show her around the manor." Sebastian bowed.
"Yes, my lord." He said, then left.
"Stella." Ciel smirked. "I will offer you the Phantomhive hospitality." Stella smiled her first real smile in months.
"Thank you, Ciel." She said. "I will accept it." She grinned as an elderly man walked into the room.
"Miss Gray." The man smiled. "I am Tanaka. Allow me to escort you around the manor."
"Thank you, Mr. Tanaka." Stella smiled. "Bye, Ciel." She waved as Ciel sat back down.
"Here is the kitchen." Tanaka said, explaining as they arrived at the kitchen. "Bardroy? Are you in here?"
"Huh?" A man with light blonde hair turned the corner. "Tanaka? Who's this?"
"This is Miss Stella Gray." Tanaka explained. "She will be the young master's guest for an undetermined amount of time."
"Hello, Miss Gray." Bardroy smiled at Stella. Stella smiled back. "Call me Bard. I'm the cook 'round here."
"Hi, Bard." Stella smiled. "Just call me Stella."
"Alright." Bard smirked. "Don't tell Sebastian I'm cooking with dynamite, okay?"
"I'll do my best." Stella giggled. As she and Tanaka started for the garden, Stella spoke up. "Y'know, Mr. Tanaka. I think I'm starting to get comfortable here."
"I'm glad." Tanaka smiled at the teenager. He opened the door to the garden. "Do you remember this place, Stella?"
"Not really." Stella looked down. "But this is where Finny found me, right?" Tanaka nodded.
"He's most likely here." Tanaka led Stella out into the garden. Finnian showed himself almost immediately.
"Hi, Tanaka." Finnian smiled. "Oh, are you alright now, miss?"
"Yeah." Stella nodded, shying away.
"Finnian," Tanaka began. "This is Miss Stella Gray."
"That's a pretty name." Finnian smiled.
"Thanks." Stella blushed. "I like your name too. It kind of reminds me of a shark."
"A shark?" Finnian asked. "How so?"
"Well, y'know. Shark fins and such." Stella tried her best to explain.
"Oh, I get it!" Finnian smiled. "Well, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, too." Stella smiled as Tanaka led her back inside.
"Now, there should be one more servant." Tanaka looked around until a red-haired maid walked by. "Mey-Rin." The maid stopped.
"Oh, hello, Tanaka." The maid looked at Stella. "Hello. You were with Sebastian earlier, right?"
"Yeah." Stella nodded. "I'm Stella."
"Hello, Stella." The maid smiled. "I'm Mey-Rin."
"Nice name." Stella gave a small smile. As Mey-Rin walked away, Stella turned to Tanaka. "Is that everyone?"
"More or less." Tanaka smiled. "There is still the young master's aunt, and other acquaintances. However, I am unaware of when they will be next visiting."
"Okay." Stella shrugged. "I think they'd be nice to meet."
"Shall I lead you to your room now?" Tanaka asked.
"Sure." Stella shrugged. "I'm a little excited to see it."
"Then follow me." Tanaka led Stella up the stairs to a room down the hall. "Here you are." Tanaka opened the door to a large room.
"Wow." Stella gawked, looking around. "It's really nice." She smiled. "Thank you, Tanaka." Tanaka put a hand on his chest and bowed.
"I'm glad it's to your liking." He smiled. "If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask."
"Okay. Thank you." Stella nodded as Tanaka left, closing the door behind him.
A knock on the door jolted Stella awake. "Yeah?" She called tiredly.
"Miss Gray." The voice of Sebastian rang out. "May I enter?"
"Yeah." Stella sat up, rubbing her eyes. Sebastian opened the door and entered the room.
"How was your rest, Miss Gray?" He asked.
"It was alright." Stella smiled. "Anyways, what's the matter?"
"I would like to inform you that the young master's fiancée, Lady Elizabeth, has arrived." Sebastian said.
"Okay." Stella nodded. "Let me guess, I have to go and at least say 'hi'?"
"Something to that degree." Sebastian said an amused smirk across his face.
"Alright." Stella stood. "I can do that."
"Allow me to escort you, Miss Gray." Sebastian smiled.
"Sure thing." Stella smiled, following Sebastian out of the room and down the stairs, where a blonde girl about Ciel's age, maybe a bit younger, was squealing about how she hadn't seen Ciel in ages.
"Young master." Sebastian called, getting the attention of the two. "I've brought Miss Gray."
"Excellent." Ciel smirked.
"Who's that, Ciel?" The girl, who Stella assumed was Elizabeth, asked.
"She is my guest for the time being." Ciel explained.
"Hi." Stella smiled, waving at Elizabeth. "I'm Stella."
"I'm Elizabeth!" Elizabeth cried, running over to Stella. "But, please, call me Lizzy, dear."
"Okay." Stella blinked as Elizabeth observed her. "What's wrong, Lizzy?"
"Your eye." Elizabeth looked a little sad. "What happened to it?" Stella stiffened.
"It's… a secret." Stella smiled at the partial lie. "So I can't tell you."
"Aw…" Elizabeth looked a little disappointed. "But your outfit is to die for- She gasped, seeing Stella's legs. "So much leg!"
"Huh?" Stella looked down. She moved her leg a bit, tapping the floor with her toes. "Yeah, I guess they're a little big, aren't they?"
"But that's indecent!" Elizabeth cried.
"How so?" Stella asked. "They're just legs. Everyone has them."
"A lady must be as discreet as possible." Elizabeth frowned. "Those clothes are much to revealing, dear." She grabbed Stella's hands. "You come with me. We'll find you new clothes that are much better than that!"
"Huh?" Stella blinked in confusion. "My clothes are fine." Elizabeth began dragging a stumbling Stella to the entrance.
"Ciel!" She called. "You should join us!"
"I think you two will be fine." Ciel smirked in amusement. "Go find Stella some new clothes."
"Alrighty then!" Elizabeth grinned.
"Keep me in one piece, please?" Stella begged as the doors closed behind them.
Thank you all for reading the first chapter of "Brave Heart"! Please leave a review telling me what you liked, what you didn't like, and/or what I can improve on. See you all next time!