AN: Look, another drabble. It's Anna again! This hit me a few weeks ago and I've been working on it since. This does not really fit into canon, probably because I had another Black Butler fic on my mind. You know, one of those AUs that's so AU that if it wasn't for the character names you wouldn't realize it was a fanfiction instead of an original piece? Though this has nothing to do with that AU.
Disclaimer: Do not own. I can't draw. Let's leave it at that, shall we?
Please tell me what you think!
The Phantomhive hotel and Museum of the Victorian Era was being opened in the finally rebuilt Phantomhive Manor. Only a few years after the first fire had razed the grand house to the ground, a second had raced through the halls, consuming what was within. Another great tragedy, and worse, one that was unexplainable. The fire had come out of nowhere, seemingly starting out of thin air.
The crowd chattered excitedly, ready for the grand opening. And in the crowd stood a tall black haired man with curiously dark irises. Unlike most, he did not focus on the manor with eyes full of awe. Instead, he watched his fellow visitors. The servants Finnian, Bardroy, Mei-Rin, and Tanaka had escaped the fire's wrath. Their employment gone, they had scattered. If he looked closely, he could see all their descendants among the milling crowd, drawn back to the house as if by a supernatural force. The one face he wished, perhaps, to see again was the only one that would never grace the Earth again. The Earl Phantomhive has only been entering his teens when he'd died. He had sired no children with fiancée Elizabeth Midford. The Phantomhive assets had passed to Marquis Midford's family. The manor had been left standing on the plea of Lady Elizabeth, a tribute to her dead Ciel.
The fire had been sudden and unexpected. It had been Finnian who'd first noticed the flames burning at one end of the manor. Immediately, he'd run inside, warning the other servants. Mei-Rin, Bard, Tanaka and Finny had saved what they could from the lower floors. The butler, Sebastian, had run upstairs to get the Young Master. Neither of the two emerged from the mansion. When the fire had been doused, two bodies had been found in the library-a man curved around a boy. The loyal butler had stayed with his young master to the end. In a rare occurrence, the last Phantomhive butler was buried beside his young master, right outside the family plot. And great honour bestowed, again because of Lady Elizabeth.
The group stared in wonder at the library around them as the guide told the tragic story. In the back, the dark haired man snorted quietly to himself. "Tragic accident" indeed. He knew exactly what had happened.
"Sebastian, I'm ready," the young Earl stated, seated at his desk.
"My Lord?"
"Our contract is complete, yes?" Ciel waited as his butler nodded. "Then I am ready for you to take my soul."
"Young Master-"
"I do have final orders."
In the end, Earl Ciel's final requests were not difficult to carry out. A last dessert before he passed. Certain artifacts to be preserved and protected. Sebastian was to carry the Phantomhive Ring with him for eternity, Elizabeth's replica to be slipped onto Ciel's delicate fingers. For the other four servants to survive his plan.
"My parents died in flames, Sebastian. Perhaps it is childish, but I believe it is fitting for me to go the same way"
Rings switched, treasures protected, a body with a similar height and build to Sebastian's brought in and the fire set. Out of sight of the other servants, Sebastian slowed to a walk. There was no need to rush as he entered the grand library. The air grew hotter around him as he approached his young master. Ciel sat tall and proud in his chair, not a flicker of fear in his dual-coloured eyes. His sweet soul sang in the surrounding air.
"Are you ready... Ciel?"
Ciel shivered at the sound of his name on the demon's lips. "Always."
Sebastian smiled before leaning in for his long anticipated meal.
After that, it was simple to rearrange the bodies in a protective position before slipping away, unnoticed, into the night.
AN: I might extend this eventually. My inspiration ran out...
Though, this story was originally intended as a prologue of sorts for another story of mine. I'm not sure if I'll use it like that (or if the other story will even be written), but if you'd like to see what I was originally planning, look for the story "Siren Song" on my profile. I may end up disconnecting the two stories completely, and I won't be posting them together in any case. But I'd like opinions on if you'd like to see Siren Song (title can easily change) written.
Oh, and... How do you add indents?