A/N: This is my very first fanfic… To me, it's a whole lot of confusing thoughts lumped into one. But please forgive me. It is my FIRST. Summary: Ciel is the young business-savvy owner of the Phantomhive company which deals in chocolate and toys. Taking over his father's duty to serve as the prideful Queen's Dog in the secret modern-day version of the Victorian social system which work directly for the Queen, he becomes an Earl (the title is believed to be abolished, but is in fact not). The Funtom Café which specializes in chocolate is where most of those aware of the secret Victorian system gather to meet and enjoy chocolate. Ciel isn't happy with this life. He has a secret wish to inflict pain to those who have done so to him and to fulfill his father's wish to solve the mystery of the most perfect chocolate. Sebastian Michallis is his butler but he seems to perfect to be forever destined to meet the needs of a 12 year old master. The question is: Is there something much more to this master-butler relationship?
Warnings: May contain OOCs, may be too confusing, may discuss too much about chocolate (although I hardly mind), may have changed the concept a little…sorry…
Disclaimer: I do not own kuroshitsuji but I absolutely love it… I'm sure everyone does…
Chocolate: The Ultimate Sin
As sweet as heaven, as delightful as sin….Chocolate as it melts in your mouth and your tongue lick your lips…
The string of events were weaved ornately by the conductor of the orchestra called life. At the flash of the moment, a new verse is created in the song of life. These events…this song…was finally combining together in real time…and carved by human being's deceitful nature…into something perfect. Unique.
A chocolate. With the taste of good and bad combine. Brown and far away. His hands would reach it one day. No matter what. He was sure of it.
: Complicated Ramblings
The chocolate broke into pieces. He flinched. He remembered his father's words. He flinched again.
Somehow his signature cockiness had vanished, replaced with a genuinely shocked expression layered with pathetic sympathy the innocent and defenseless fallen chocolate monument.
He remembered his father's words and he closed his eyes tight. Sometimes…sometimes he wished he could get away from it all as easily as running out of a cricket pitch in the middle of the final game…that was hard too but he had done it. With his pride, he could have done anything, even betray his fellow cricket players, except one… boycotting his father's words was the ultimate sin.
Then, he opened them, revealing beautiful storm blue irises, swirling with the colour of undefined emotion.
"Uncle Clause, how could you do this to me? Do you know how much this," he motioned to the ruins of chocolate," means to me?'
You may wonder how this situation could ever be taken seriously. After all, it was just chocolate. And he said those words in such a confident mocking tone that you had think he was just remarking sarcastically.
I don't mean to offend but obviously, you haven't examine the title closely…it was chocolate…Choc-co-late and it was the most important thing to him. But the chocolate the once-innocent boy had been deliberately forced into was not sweet Kit Kat or Carburry… It was Funtom, delightfully sinful all the way, combined with all the wonderful varying flavours of chocolate, for both those innocent little ones and those lustful adults.
What was he? Innocent or lustful? At first glance, his height, his age, his size, you would immediately answer 'innocent'. Then, you hear his voice, the tone of it, the way he says his lines, both mocking and romantizing at the same time. And you see his smile, sometimes just childish mischief, sometimes wretched cunning, but always confident. You may be confused. You may rethink your thoughts. You may answer 'lustful'.
Pride. The epitome of pride is him. His grandfather was pride, his father was pride. Now, it was him. It was the sins of his father that had forced him to indulge in this and there was no turning back. He knew it was chocolate for him forever till the day his soul is taken… but that's another story to be told on another day.
Now, we will hear another story. We will hear a voice as he remembered. As he remembered his father's words….
"Son, do you know the meaning of chocolate to Funtom and Phantomhive?" of course, he didn't. This was the first time he had such a conversation. His father continued, "Chocolate. Chocolate is unique in every way. Chocolate is sometimes like life itself, some good, some bad but all is chocolate."
The boy listened. He enjoyed his time spent with his father but to spend it discussing on how chocolate was similar to life, he didn't understand. His father, Vincent Phantomhive, had spent most of his life with Funtom and the London Victorian Hierarchy, a secret organization of British nobles who work directly with the Queen.
"Ciel, do you like chocolate?"
Ciel, the boy and his son, nodded. He really did. It was after all a family obsession.
"You must know how important chocolate is to me? To Funtom?"
Ciel nodded again. He did.
"To me, chocolate is similar to the human soul. Each bar, each kiss, each unique structure of chocolate is unique in the Funtom way. I hope you remember this when I've finally fallen as head and you take over," Vincent smiled," And next time, don't go around breaking special chocolate sculptures specially made for my lustful customers out there," he softened his voice, afraid someone would hear this, and pointed to the office door, indicating those lustful customers were really outside the office, savoring delicacies in the Funtom café.
Before Ciel could mouth a 'sorry', his father continued,"Don't do it ever again, Ciel. A broken chocolate bar, kiss or whatsoever structure, is like a broken human soul to me…A broken soul like me, and like what you are going to become," Vincent paused, thought and stared distantly, maybe regretting his devious past actions as Pride himself, maybe not, "No worries, Ciel, my boy… Stay innocently in love with chocolate for now until its devilish lure finally pulls you into…into… Funtom. You know what, Ciel. You breaking that chocolate sculpture must be a godsent chance for you to start cycling your way toward the family business. Get your apron, Ciel. We're going to get cooking!"
His son's eyes glowed its beautiful storm colour, broadcasting his childish happiness.
"I'm not ruining your plans or anything, right?"
Ciel shook his head. Of course not. For days, he had longed his father's attention be reverted from soulless non-living chocolate to living soul-occupied him. At that moment, that day finally came. Finally, he had his father, Vincent Phantomhive.
"Master Ciel? Young Master?" it, that voice, woke him, like it did without fail at the start of each day. At this moment, it had awoken him from his elaborate daydream centered by his father's enthrallingly nostalgic words.
"Sebastian? Uncle Klaus?" and then, Ciel turned suddenly out of character as a real, sad frown crossed his face. Not the frustrated one he usually had, but one that could have cause potential tears… But Ciel didn't cry. He had never cried ever since 'that' incident and he would never ever cry again.
"Young master, don't distress." Ciel's facial expression held no changes which prompted Sebastian to continue.
" Look. This chocolate sculpture actually was just a big piece of chocolate, molded into an unimaginably intricate monument. But you must remember, remember this well, this sculpture was just chocolate, delicious, sinful chocolate. And now, it has just turned to smaller pieces, that was all that happened. But, however small these pieces are and may become, they are still chocolate. Which came from the same origin, brown and both soft and crunchy in texture," Sebastian said as though soothing a crying child. In a way, Ciel was exactly that although he donated no tears to the floor beneath him. The butler took the pieces of brown swiftly an put them in a moderately-sized bowl. Amazingly, the whole lump fitted perfectly in it.
"Now, look. What do you see?"
"Chocolate?" Ciel replied.
"I told you so," Sebastian gracefully led them to the café's kitchen-Ciel and Clause, that was. He emptied the contents of the bowl into a pot. Turned on the modern state-of-the-art stoveto a fire, not to large not to small, not to hot not to cool. He took the ladle and stirred. The melted chocolate twirled its brown as Sebastian stirred in swift circular movements.
Sebastian smiled smugly as he saw he had truly hypnotized his young master. Uncle Clause' accident had brought excitement and tension to the air. Twirling… Twirling… Twirling…
Now. Time to truly hypnotize my audience with words.
"However broken this chocolate may become, however ruined, or however spoiled, it could still be fixed and mended to its original perfect state. It could regain its taste with the help of a skillful hand."
"Like yours?"
"Like mine."
"So, what you're saying is… that broken chocolate can be salvaged?" Ciel finally caught on to the speech.
The butler took his time answering. He added some extra ingredients to the chocolate mix, slowly stiring it again. All the way maintaining his stapled smile and if you could lean closer to him, you could practically hear humming. Took a taste, licked the ladle with his tongue, and smiled in satisfaction. Poured the mix into the bowl.
Then, he said, "Young Master, what do you think?" while holding out the yellow bowl filled with the smooth melted chocolate. Taking the hint, Ciel tasted.
"Ai caramba, you put caramel in it!" Uncle Clause exclaimed after taking a taste.
"Do you like it?" Ciel asked.
"No. I love it. Sebastian, you are godsent!"
"Godsent? No. I'm just one hell of a butler," Sebastian corrected
Then, looked at his master, "Sometimes a skillful hand could make better the original taste."
"Here is the game you wanted. It wasn't released yet in Italy. It was difficult to obtain. Anyway, thanks my nephew for such an interesting visit. I'll be sure to come again," Uncle Clause bid farewell.
"Uncle, next time, don't go around breaking my chocolate sculptures," a smile almost appeared on Ciel but it was only a smirk.
"Mamma Mia! It was an accident!" Ciel heard Uncle Clause shout in the distance.
"Sebastian?" Ciel said after entering his own ride to his mansion.
"Yes, Young Master."
"A broken chocolate is just like a broken human soul… just like my father, just like what I've become…"
Sebastian smiled as he gracefully placed his gloved palms on the steering wheel, "Young Master, your thoughts are rambling…"
"Those were my father's words." Ciel replied softly, staring out the horizon through the car window, not looking at his butler. "May I ask you a question?"
"You have no need to. I can give you an answer right away."
"Tell me then, my faithful knight."
"Yes, My Lord," the butler lowered his head slightly, eyes still glued to the road, "In many ways, broken chocolate is, as you said, like a broken human soul. However, a broken human soul is also unlike broken chocolate. Is my point taken?"
"Guess so," Ciel answered a usual modern kid's reply non-commitingly.
"When a chocolate bar, kiss or whatever breaks into small, useless pieces and when a human soul breaks, snaps until he loses morality, sometimes even their sanity and they depend solely on instinct and survival. That is when people lose hope on that piece of chocolate or that poor poor human soul. They'll run to the nearest twenty-four-hour convenience store to grab a new chocolate bar. They'll hardly try on that broken soul and instead start their search for a new being to seal their void in the heart, caused by the said broken soul. When broken, the usual consequence for anything would be replacement."
"But both can be mended too, even though it will be the last resort. That was your question answered, right, Young Master?"
"Elaborate," Ciel ordered brittly.
"Like the chocolate your Uncle Clause broke. I mended it, right?"
"Do you really want me to answer that?"
"Young Master, let me elaborate then," Sebastian responded playfully despite Ciel's fuming, "Chocolate. A human soul. Only a person like you would force me to compare such different things. Fortunately, with a hell of a butler like me, it could be done. Whether a chocolate is mended or not, its fate depends on the one who picks it up. You seemed about to lose hope on it just now and the same goes for your uncle. Fortunately, I regained hope for you both. Mending the chocolate with my skillful hand."
"However, your broken soul is not chocolate. Probably as delicate and as exposed. And I am unable to fix you, however adept I am. Actually, my job is to do otherwise. For I am the demon you're contracted to and as long as I serve you, the more destroyed your soul becomes. Your fate depends on yourself, not me, definitely not me. Whether you want to repair your shattered heart, regain yourself with tender love or to continue to smash your heart into billions of smithereens, entering a quest for revenge, lurking into both a prideful and scandalous journey, in the end joining me to you…"
"I've already made a choice, haven't i?"
"You have, haven't you?"
"Sometimes I wonder when it will end, Sebastian."
"Someday it will. This is only the beginning, My Lord. There are no real promises. None at all. But I'll give you one. When I devour you, and you and I become one, I'll promise to make you as tasteful as chocolate, sweet as heaven, delightful as sin. How about that?"
Ciel stayed silent, focusing his gaze through the window although not really admiring the outside scenery too. His thoughts were all over the place, as he stared and wondered.
"Only you would make a shattered soul like me sound that delicious," he finally said.
"Well, that is a strange response after such a long silence," commented the black butler in the driver's seat.
Ciel's blue eyes met the towering mansion that was Phantomhive. His home. He smiled his usual impassive smile, "You know me. I'm full of surprises. Anyways, Sebastian, don't dwell on my taste so much. You will ample of time to fill your mind with it later. but now, concentrate on your promise to me. Our contract. The one which had marked my eye and gloved your hands."
Sebastian's response was: "Yes, My Lord…"
The scene darkened and the tendrils of darkness reached for his soul although unable to fully suffocate it. Sebastian's voice rang in the car. Or was it still a car? It felt more like an empty space. A dark empty abyss with zero dimensions which broke all current laws of Physics. Somehow, Ciel could feel the intense pressure of Sebastian's hungry aura, so closed to him, although his human butler form was not in sight. The aura of lust with its voice so near the ear yet so far, echoing in the distance.
Lust spoke as Sebastian said," I will fulfill your contract to the end. As you voyage to the deep ends of the earth among all the filthy 'dirt'. As you smile falsely to your lustful clients and customers. As your hand reaches the goal you and your father had shared. As you smile in satisfaction at the people who had made you fall in that deep gorge. You smirk as you do the same. As you lie emotionless after indulging in the ultimate sin. As you take a last bite at the milk cream of the most perfect chocolate. I will follow you to all the depths of the world till the end."
"Only if you slip and I am unable to catch you. That is when it all ends before everything is fulfilled. And we both declare 'Game Over'."
'Game Over', 'Game Over', 'Game Over'…
All too much to digest for him. Too much that he simultaneously closed his eyes. As the two words 'Game Over' echoed around his ears, Ciel grudgingly admitted that what his butler said was all true. But he would not slip. Never. He must trust no one. No one at all, not even his loved ones (Are there still any?), not even the one he had entrusted his soul too. He would not slip. Never. Even if he must die alone. Die alone like his father…
"Young Master…" the same voice said but with less intensity.
Ciel opened his eyes, the grinning face of Sebastian appearing in his sight. Behind the butler was his home, Phantomhive. Three servants were running to the car, shouting to get their master's attention.
"Young Master! What's wro-," the red-headed gardener, Finnian managed to ay before he was cut off by his master's signature scowl.
Ciel turned to Sebastian and said harshly, ignoring poor Finnian," Remember your duty, Sebastian," and they shared a knowing look," And do as you are told."
"Till I hear the words 'checkmate!~'. but now what is your order, Young master?"
"Cake. And make it chocolate."
"As tasteful as the ultimate sin?"
"Nope. Make it better."
"Yes, My Lord," Sebastian smiled as they all- the master, the butler, the three servants- head to the manor, ready for chocolate cake.
"Sebastian?"
"Yes, Young Master."
"This is not the end."
"I know."
~Chocolate~
-Thanx for reading-Plz review-*Does 'Peace' or 'V' sign*