So the Trancy boy had died. It wasn't a significant event, barely publicized considering that he was the last in that line of nobles. But he was dead and life went on. Cruel but true, life went on. And though it would have been so much easier on everyone if they could forget, they couldn't. Why not? Because he wouldn't let them. No. Because Alois Trancy was not one to be easily forgotten.

Ciel Phantomhive sat solemnly working at his desk, much the way he had almost every day for the last few years. Well it goes to show that some things never change. But for a fact Ciel had been working for nearly a week straight and he had rarely paused to eat or sleep. It was best to keep his hands busy because idle hands lead to a wandering mind. And a wandering mind was not what he needed right now.

Claude Faustus sat at what had previously been the desk of Alois Trancy, seeing as Fate would have it that HE had been the one left in charge of the Trancy affairs. The golden-eyed demon chuckled to himself: it had been so easy to dispose of that pathetic boy. He had been weak, after all, both in body and mind. Perhaps it had been too easy for a demon like him, a little below the belt, but it was worth it. And it had needed to be done, hadn't it?

Ciel sat at his desk, drifting in and out of sleep. He didn't want to sleep, though. Well, that wasn't quite it. He didn't want to dream. He didn't want to dream of him. He forced his attention back to the papers stacked before him, 'In the case of the aforementioned calamity, the contract shall be deemed null and….but, in the unlikely coincidence of….therefore, we shall be happy to enter a partnership with Funtom….Signed….' The Earl couldn't focus on the page; it was all just formalities anyway, some wealthy folk trying to make nice-nice so they could become even richer. Ciel turned to the next page and found it was a letter, slightly more interesting, and leaned on his hand as he began to read it.

"Ciel~! Stop working all the time! You're so boring, come play with me!" The boy's voice echoed through the halls, causing Ciel to bolt upright. No, it couldn't be. He was dead. Gone. But…it had to be, that voice was unmistakable.

"Alois…Trancy?"

Claude pushed away the last of the papers. He had settled everything neatly: the money, the estate, everything. He had, of course, kept some of the money for himself and, until a suitable buyer came along, he owned the mansion. It was a luxury, of course, as a demon he really had no use for such human trifles. But it was a luxury he enjoyed, and intended to enjoy to the fullest. After, of course, dragging the Trancy name in the mud a little more than it already had been. The former butler stood up from the desk and left the papers to the silent triplets who immediately trooped out of the rooms, arms full of the weighty stacks. Claude himself was ready to leave the room when he heard the voice.

"Claude…Claude, why? Wh-why did you kill me…? Claude…." No, it couldn't be. He'd killed him. Thoroughly. But there was no denying what he'd just heard.

"Your highness?"

It was horrible. Ciel had never thought of himself as a person with much of an imagination, but he believed himself to be proven wrong. Because, what seemed to be all the time now, he heard the voice of Alois Trancy. Or maybe it wasn't an overactive imagination, maybe he was just crazy. Yes, it had to be. Heck, let them just chuck him straight into the loony bin if it would help. But it wasn't just his voice; it was as if the Trancy boy was talking to him. If he ever worked too long into the night or refused to break his adult disposition he would hear that incessant whine. He wondered if it was just him or if Sebastian could hear it too, but he would never bring himself to ask; because if Sebastian said no he didn't know what he'd do. But then again, the same would go if Sebastian said yes. There was only one thing that was clear to him now: there was no way he was going to be able to push Alois Trancy out of his mind.

Claude Faustus disregarded the voice of his former master. He heard him all the time, to the point where it was aggravating, but he didn't care. He could only assume the boy had been going around to anyone who he had felt cared about him and was trying to whine his way back into their hearts. Maybe he could crack open somebody, if he didn't scare them out of their skins first, but that somebody wouldn't be him. No. Because Claude had never truly cared for Alois, and the boy's blindness to that aspect had been one of the things that had truly annoyed the demon. But the voice was there and it was undeniable. And he doubted it would be going away anytime soon.

Ciel tried to tune the Trancy boy out of his mind, but he just couldn't do it. He had come to terms with the fact that the voice was real and logically figured out that it was now the ghost of Alois Trancy that he was dealing with. But the boy seemed so at ease, it wasn't as if he was a poltergeist who was wreaking havoc throughout the manor. Nonetheless the boy was wreaking havoc with Ciel. Emotional havoc. The Earl Phantomhive listened as the ghost rambled on about nothing in particular before opening his mouth, "Alois, why are you here?"

The room was silent and Ciel had the imminent feeling that Alois had left.

"Claude, why? Why did you kill me? I loved you Claude. Why?" That's all he would ask, over and over. Why, why, why? Claude thought he could ignore him, thought he could put up with the nonstop querying, but he couldn't. And then again, why not give the kid what he wanted? Why not give the pitiful ghost of that pitiful child what he wanted: an answer?

"Alright, your highness," he said the last part with a sneer, "You want to know why I killed you? Because honestly, I had no need of you. You were worthless to me and in the long run, you were only in my way. Not to mention you were a fool, believing you actually loved me."

The room was silent for a moment before all hell broke loose. The bookcases that lined the room all came crashing forwards, pages tearing apart and spilling onto the floor. The windows shattered and the lamp smashed to the ground, the floor getting covered in a million shards of broken glass. Finally the door flew off its hinges, slamming Claude Faustus to the ground.

A small sob echoed through the room before the ghost was truly gone.

The Phantomhive manor was a mess. Things fell and shattered, smashed into walls, or were simply torn into pieces in midair. Ciel watched as his possessions were destroyed, wondering why. He knew it was Trancy, it had to be, but he couldn't figure out why. The boy didn't think he'd done anything to anger the ghost, at least not anything that would normally be considered taboo. He watched as a drawer went whizzing across the room. "ALOIS, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? YOU NEED TO STOP THIS!" the Earl shouted, surprised when the chaos came to a halt.

There was a lull in the room before the ghost boy spoke, his voice faltering a little as he did, "Why…n-nobody loved me anyway…so w-why should I do something that you want me to? Y-You probably wouldn't give a damn if I just up and left, so I…I'm not going to let you f-forget me. I-I mean…Claude didn't love me…he h-hated me…he killed me. And you hated me to…I was nothing but a burden to you, Ciel. I…I still am, aren't I? See…so nobody loved me…but I…I need to leave my mark with you, anyway…if you didn't c-care then, you'll have to care now…"

Ciel looked up into the air, not quite sure how to address the other boy, "But I did care about you, Alois. I always did…"