Sitting in the old library of my university just gave me a kick in writing about how Ciel would react if he would be plunged into the 21st century. I don't own the characters. They belong to Yana Toboso sensei!
The sounds of the birds chirping in the sky reached Ciel's ears as he slowly opened his eyes. He shuddered a little, feeling somewhat colder than normal as he sat up, gasping slightly as his bones creaked. He felt like he was so old but as he looked at his hands, they were the same hands as he saw back… wait, what day was it now? He couldn't quite remember what happened after the Queen had been killed and he had been taken somewhere were Sebastian would devour his soul…
"Good morning, young Master," a cool voice said as a shadow emerged. Sebastian's familiar grin emerged as he bowed to his young Master, who blinked at the style in which he was dressed. "Sebastian, what sort of ridiculous clown's outfit are you wearing? It is unbefitting of a butler to be dressed like that in the service of his Lord," Ciel muttered as the sun rose beyond the window. Then he felt his heart drop.
He wasn't in his usual bed or bedtime clothes. Instead, he was wearing what looked like those mourning suits, a rich dark blue to emit his eyes and a black coat to go with it. He still felt his eyepatch on as he looked around. The room was a small space with white marble enclosing the space in between them. His heart slamming against his rib cage, he tried to get up when he felt himself getting boxed in.
He could barely breath as he tried to make out his current situation, panicking so much he thought he would faint. But he wasn't allowed to do that. He was the Lord of the House of Phantomhive and he would not allow himself to look like a buffoon… "Sebastian, what the hell is going on?" he demanded as his butler looked on. There was a mixture of happiness, sadness and even a little amusement on the demon's face as he spoke. "You have slumbered for more than a hundred years now, my Lord," he said as Ciel's eye widened. As he looked around, he realised where he was. They were in a tomb. His tomb to be exact.
…
"What century are we in now?" he muttered as he sat a table. He felt odd having to eat breakfast in a place where the dead need not do anything but slumber forever. His stomach rolled as he digested his first meal in more than a century and he felt sick thinking about what was going on. How on earth did he managed to sleep for so long… and where was everyone?
"Sebastian," he said as the butler bowed low. "My Lord, I hope you are not too shocked of the current situation," he said as Ciel slammed his cup down. "Of course I'm freaked out! What happened to Elizabeth? My aunt and uncle? Edward? Where is everyone?!" he yelled, his voice ringing as the demon smiled. "Isn't it obvious? They are all dead," he said as Ciel's breath hitched. He knew that was the most logical answer but he didn't want to believe it.
"How… how did this happen?" he whispered as he put his head in his hands. He wanted to throw up, knowing he had been thrown into this situation. He felt so sick… so sick he wished that Sebastian would just take his soul there and then and take him away from this madness.
"So that's why you were dressed like this," he muttered as he pulled himself together. From afar, he could make out the sound of some weird creature making a clunking sort of noise followed by a bang. "What in the world was that?" he asked. "Just a car," Sebastian replied as he quirked an eyebrow. "Nowadays, cars make this sort of noise and they are way faster as to compared with those of your time. And I must say, people hardly ever use horses other than for leisure and sport these days," he said as Ciel felt slightly relieved since he was always horrible at horse riding.
"Where are we?" he asked. "We are at the cemetery of the nobles," he said as Ciel recalled where that was. "My parents are buried here?" he asked as his butler nodded. "Then let me pay my respects to them," he said as he stood up, wobbling as Sebastian caught him in his arms. "Easy my Lord. You have just woken up after a very long time," he said as Ciel batted his arms away. "I am the Earl of Phantomhive and I will not tolerate any sort of weakness," he said as the man smirked.
"My Lord, the House of Phantomhive has long ceased to exist," he said as Ciel's heart sank. After going through the hell of having to summon him and take the name of the Queen's Watchdog, his family had disappeared in the murky waters of time and was lost. Not caring about what he was going to do now, he stood up and walked into the light, the sun smashing into him as he walked out. The air was brisk, hinting it was sometime in October as he walked around. Slowly the scenery became familiar to him as he walked up the hill to where his family lay.
He stood there, taking in the names of people who have been dead for nearly two centuries now. "Mother… father… I am sorry for not being able to protect the name of Phantomhive. I failed Lizzy and so many others… but I promise, in this century, I will bring back the name of Phantomhive and fulfill my role as the Earl of Phantomhive. So you may rest in peace now," he whispered as he bowed slightly. The wind ruffled his hair as he felt something getting draped over him.
"You will catch a cold, my Lord," Sebastian said as Ciel tugged the coat over him. It was very modern and he didn't recognize the style it was. "Where is Lizzy?" he asked as Sebastian pointed to a few graves nearby. As Ciel walked over, he saw the graves of his last remaining family, his heart sinking as he saw the name of the fiancé he never got to marry. "Lizzy," he whispered as he saw her name. "She lived alone a strong woman until the very end," Sebastian said as Ciel tried to stop the tears from flowing. Just how many people had he hurt to get to his goal… was it all for naught? "Sebastian. I command you to show me around the city and reclaim my title as the Earl of Phantomhive!" he said as Sebastian grinned, kneeling on a knee as the sun rose high above them. "Yes, my Lord," he smiled.
…
London was so much more different than he remembered, the streets filled with people of so many nationalities and the buildings were all made of glass and steel. It felt so much more crowded then before but there were still places he could recall from his own time that had withstood the passage of time. But there was one thing he couldn't stand; the modern fashion sense.
He tugged at the pants he was wearing, the material very unbefitting of someone of his status and he felt like his legs were getting crushed. He was wearing what Sebastian called a leather coat and he despised it, seemingly making him look like a farmer but it has turned into a great fashion sense in these days. The women were no longer dressed in dresses but some walk about in pants so short it showed their butts. He wondered how they had lost their dignity in all of this.
"Why are they wearing such revolting clothing?" he asked as they walked down the river Thames. The Tower of London was teeming with tourists, all of them were clicking away using some sort of flat thing in their hands. "Sebastian, what is that?" he asked as he pointed at a person using a selfie stick. It seemed ridiculous to use that when they could take their picture by asking for help. Seems like now every class had access to this sort of thing.
"Oh, that is a selfie stick," he said as Ciel quirked his eyebrow. Sighing, Sebastian was about to explain when the sound of music came from his pants. Ciel jumped, looking around for the band that would be playing but he could make out no musicians in sight. And what sort of instrument was the person playing? He couldn't recall an instrument sounding like that…
Sebastian removed the phone from his pants and slide his thumb on it to kill the song Monochrome no Kiss in midsong, bringing it to his ear. As he spoke, Ciel wondered just how much technology had advanced to the extent they no longer had any restrictions on how to communicate and such. "Its almost time for lunch. Shall we go for a meal?" Sebastian asked as Ciel nodded. His stomach growled when he remembered something.
"How are we going to pay for it now?" he asked, wondering what had happened to his money when he was sleeping. "I invested it in share markets under a fake name but it would be now transferred to you," he said as Ciel wondered what in the world he meant. "Do not fret, my Lord. Let's go in peace and enjoy a nice meal," he said as he walked the young boy to Kensington Garden.
The place was beautiful as always and Ciel was glad that this was at least familiar to him. Sebastian brought him around in what they call a Roll Royce and people stared as the car drove through the city. At least in modern context, people could still make him out as someone of importance.
Lunch was nice, reminding Ciel of his time as he sipped tea. The only difference was how vast the way people dressed and there no longer seemed to be any sort of limit to social class as people of all sorts moved about. The way they spoke was different too and Ciel could make out a few words Lau used to say in Mandarin as a group of women passed by.
"What happened to my company while I was gone?" Ciel asked. "Tanaka took care of it until the time of his death before it was passed to me. The toy company is still going on despite your absence and I have managed to make it into a successful international company," Sebastian smiled. He still found it odd to have a meal with his butler but he guessed they hardly existed in today's modern world… it would be odd for Sebastian to stand whilst he ate as well.
After their meal, Sebastian brought Ciel to one of the Funtom Toy shops and he stared at how huge the building was with the amount of people teeming about. Since Sebastian had managed to pull some strings and become the head of the company, some of the people stared as they walked through, some of the staff shaking his hand as he passed. Ciel felt a little angry that his butler was getting all the attention now.
"Who may this little gentleman be, Mr Sebastian?" the manager asked as he came to great Sebastian, who smiled wildly. "Oh, just a nephew of mine," he smiled as Ciel boiled. "What might your name be, young man?" the older man beamed as Ciel sighed. "Ciel Phantomhive," he said as he blinked. "Phantomhive. Sounds rather familiar, doesn't it?" he wondered as Ciel started to talk back.
Before he could say anything however, Sebastian launched into a conversation with the older man which left no room for Ciel to voice his thoughts and instead he focused his eyes on the room. Toys of all sorts littered the scene and there were even some that moved on their own or soared through the sky. He didn't want to give credit to Sebastian for making his dream company become a booming business but he didn't feel like complimenting him at the moment.
"Now my Lord, shall we take a break?" Sebastian asked as they had tea in a small shop called a café. There were many dotting the city and Ciel found it relaxing to just sit among the common folk and do what they do for a change. He watched as vehicles moved past and people chatted to each other using their phones, which he still couldn't get a grasp on how they work. " I would just like to go home," Ciel muttered as he set down his cup. After Sebastian paid, they walked to the car and Sebastian started to drive. Now that they used it, it was so much quicker to move about provided there were not too many cars.
"Home it is, my Lord," he said as they sped down the road. As they drove, Ciel caught sight of some familiar sights, sending his stomach rolling as he thought of how things had changed. "Sebastian, just where are you going?" he asked as the man smirked. "Home of course," he said as he passed by the village Ciel often visited as a child. The old houses still remained except for the modern assets people used now. People now sat in large machines spitting smoke that plowed through the field and Ciel made a point to learn more about how they had advanced.
"Welcome home, young Master," Sebastian said as the car pulled into familiar ground. Ciel stared as he looked at the house that had been burnt and rebuilt overnight and was still standing here. As he got down, he stared as the double doors opened and he was shown the familiar place he had grown up in.
"I had a lot of time to spare so I managed to keep the place the way it should be. There have been cases of people wanting to buy it, but I batted them away," Sebastian smiled as Ciel looked around. He was glad that despite how much the world had changed, he still had a piece of his old life with him. As he took in the revelation of his new life, he threw out a hand as he pulled off his eyepatch.
"Inform the Queen that the Earl of Phantomhive has returned and I have come to restore my place as her faithful watchdog. From this moment on, you, Sebastian Michaelis shall be my one trusted servant until the day you decide to partake on my soul!" he commanded as the demon smiled, glad that his master's wish and will would never be swept away in the passage of time. "Yes, my Lord," he said as they began their new life in the 21st century.
Hope you guys like it and hope to hear from you guys soon!
All comments are welcomed!