The Phantomhive manor was quiet today. The young master and Sebastian were off on an errand and they hadn't left any orders. Without any tasks to do, Bardroy was off dozing, Tanaka was calmly drinking his tea, and Mey-Rin was off doing what Mey-Rin does. Finny, however, was in the garden, panicking.
"What do I do?! What do I do?!"
Finny ran around the garden, trying to water the dead trees, but to no avail. The garden was broken-as in, every petal and leaf laid pitifully on the ground. It wasn't all bad, though. At least the grass was still somewhat visible, right?
Finny sulked. He was going to be fired. Or killed. Whichever came first.
~~Thirty minutes before~~
Finny was on a mission. The young master and Sebastian had left the manor to finish some business and the young gardener wanted to surprise them.
He had left the mansion to go into town, where he browsed for something to make the garden sparkle. He was currently debating between two types of fertilizer.
"C'mon kid, this'll help your garden bloom! For a small price, it'll make your garden prettier than ever!" said a booming voice.
The man offering this was extremely bright-looking, that's for sure. He grinned brilliantly at anyone who walked passed his cart. In contrast, the figure next to him was hooded and spoke in a mysterious tone. Finny couldn't really make out his face, but was interested in what he had to say.
"Take this, young one. This mixture will produce the greenest grass, the sturdiest trees, and the most beautiful flowers the world has ever seen."
In his hands, he held a large burlap sack. Finny looked thoughtfully at it, considering the offer.
Looking between the shrouded man and the blond gardener, the sunshine-filled man sneered, "Alright kid, how about this? I'll give this to you for the low price of-"
"Nothing."
Confused, the other two males looked at the hooded one.
"What?" Finny and the other merchant asked simultaneously. The hidden man chuckled.
"I shall give this fertilizer to you for the price of nothing. After all, your satisfaction is payment enough," he stated softly. The brighter man just stared at his competitor for a moment before heartily laughing.
"Okay kid, who do you trust more? Me or him?" He boomed, knowing that he had won this little contest.
And so, with the choices of low-priced fertilizer sold by a outgoing vendor and free fertilizer offered by a strange hidden one, Finny had no problem deciding.
As the young gardener strolled away with a bag over his shoulder, one man looked at the other in utter disbelief.
"What in the world do you do in your spare time?" asked the bright man, in attempt to figure out how the suspicious man stole a customer from him.
"I eat the souls of small children," he replied, walking away. Under his hood, the other merchant could make out a pair of glinting glasses and a smirk.
"He didn't have to be sarcastic," muttered the once jubilant vendor.
When Finny returned to the manor, he immediately went to work. He poured the fertilizer on every square inch of the garden, overjoyed. Why wouldn't he be? He had just gotten fertilizer without pulling out any money!
~~Now, we continue into the present~~
Finny shook his head. He shouldn't give up. How would that attitude help the young master? Instead, he ran into the manor to search for everyone else.
First, he picked up Bardroy, who awoke at the sudden action. Tanaka was next, peacefully drinking his tea as he sat on Finny's shoulder. Reaching Mey-Rin's room, he barged in.
"E-eh?! Finny, what are you-" Finny ignored her and grabbed her by the waist. He rushed everyone outside and placed them down.
"Guys, I need your help..." he trailed off and explained his situation.
When he finished, the other three stared at him blankly. They all looked around the garden. Taking in the damage, all the servants inhaled sharply.
"Why in the world did you get this fertilizer?" questioned Bard, "If he didn't show his face, it means that guy was obviously bad!"
"B-but it was free!" Finny protested.
"Ho ho ho," said Tanaka, taking a sip from his cup
"You're screwed," stated Bardroy unhelpfully.
"We'll help anyway we can, yes we will!" Mey-Rin piped up.
Finny teared up and smiled gratefully. Then, he frowned a little, "But I don't know how to fix this at all!"
Thus, the four servants huddled together and discussed a plan. After a torturous five minutes, Finny thought of something. It wasn't a guaranteed win, but it was worth a try.
"Do we have any hot wax?"
~~We shall now travel an hour or so into the future.~~
Finally, they were finished. The four sat back, looking over their work. Most of the leaves were back on the trees. Almost every petal was arranged delicately on grass. The garden was somewhat...presentable.
If only the wax didn't make such a mess. Finny's plan was to stick everything back into place. The leaves were hard, but the petals were a different story. The bushes that the flowers were originally on were gone. Instead, the servants decided to place them in a design on the now yellowish grass.
"It looked better in my mind." said Finny dejectedly. Mey-Rin patted his back, trying to cheer the boy up.
"Maybe they won't, ya know, notice it?" Bardroy suggested. Now it was his turn to be stared blankly at.
Sebastian? Not noticing anything? As if.
The chef realized how idiotic it sounded and sighed. The sound of carriage wheels rolling over the road was heard. The four servants looked at each other.
"You guys had better get inside," said Finny, "Sebastian will probably scold me again."Or even fire me, he thought.
"What are you talking about?" asked Mey-Rin, "We all caused this mess, we did. Except for Tanaka. He's good, yes he is."
"That's right!" exclaimed Bard suddenly, "I waxed some of the leaves onto those trees, too!"
"You did what?"
At the sound of that voice, their backs straightened. When they turned around, the young master was standing there with an agitated expression. Next to him, Sebastian stood calmly. Actually with a closer look, his left eye was slightly twitching.
"You know what? Never mind, Sebastian take care of this," Ciel said, heading into the manor, "I have a terrible headache."
"Yes, my Lord," said Sebastian, bowing after him. After the young master had disappeared into the mansion, he turned back to look at the four servants.
"Tanaka," he started, "you may head inside. I need to talk to these three."
The old man just smiled, took a sip of his tea, and stayed where he was.
Sebastian glanced at him.
"I see," he stated, "Now Finny, since you are appointed as the Phantomhive gardener, may you explain why the garden is in such a state?"
Said gardener gulped. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. Looking down, he quickly started explaining his story again.
"Since I didn't know what to do, I asked for help. This was my idea!" Finny spoke, "It's all my fault, so please don't fire them!"
Sebastian smirked, "Who ever mentioned anything about firing? You are all Phantomhive servants because of your skills. The skills that are needed to protect the young master and his manor."
At this, Finny sighed.
"Of course," the demon butler continued, "there will be a punishment."
And at this, they paled.
~~Over at the Trancy manor~~
"MWAHAHAHA! I WILL MAKE ALL OF THEM SUFFER!" shrieked a familiar voice, "Did you make them suffer, Claude?"
"Yes, your Highness," came the reply as the spider demon triumphantly pushed up his glasses.