title: covenant
summary: covenant n. [kuhv-uh-nuh nt] - an agreement, usually formal, between two or more people to do or not do something specified (synonyms: a treaty; pact; contract)
disclaimer: Yana Toboso my goddess for creating this beautiful fandom but i'm obviously not her because my art skills are very much to be desired.
a/n: dedicated to my wonderful neonclan kitties because everyone needs a bit of Black Butler in their lives! go watch Kuroshitsuji now, kay? c:
aaanyways, god damn my inability to write fluff but enjoy the read either way! but there's a hint of SebaCiel if you squint (likkee, reallly hard cx)
edit: after lots of algebra, some quick edits, lots of AMVs, and a few panic attacks, here's what i ended up with c: and yeah, ignore my unusually long rambles since they aren't part of the word count so yeah, skip over it XD
***note that this fic will contain a bit of gore later on, depending if you consider my sorry attempts in descriptions gory, just a small warning c;
***and you can skip the first part if you've read/watched the manga/anime. it's really just an overview of it c;
››covenant‹‹
[theme—promise]
i.
"I am your butler...for all enтernιтy."
~Sebastian Michaelis; Kuroshitsuji II, Episode 12
x
If you visit London, England in the Victorian Era years after Queen Victoria's long prosperous years of rule you might be lucky- or unlucky enough to come across a certain manor. It was beautiful mansion known as the Phantomhive Manor.
Although, it wasn't always as beautiful as it would seem like now. It was built centuries ago, when the first Phantomhives became to be. As the years passed, each generation of Phantomhives made sure it was tended and keep in a well enough- oh, who am I kidding? It was made sure it was kept in tip top condition.
Then, about a century ago, the manor caught on fire. No, it was deliberately set on fire. By who? You would ask. Well, that's a story for another time.
Now, during that fire, it was to believed that the Phantomhives had all perished. But, a month later, Ciel Phantomhive- the son of Vincent and Rachel Phantomhive found his way home, with a black-clad butler in tow. During that one night, the manor was restored to it's former glory in few hours. An impossible feat- for a human that is.
During the years of his short human lifetime, Ciel had various adventures that really wasn't suited for a child his age. On the other hand, during the month he had disappeared, he had suffered. The adventures he had wouldn't even compare to the hell he went through. For going on these quests was was his job too- as a Phantomhive.
After all, the Phantomhives did serve England- the Queen for generations and why should Ciel be any different? He gradually earned the respect of Queen Victoria and became known as The Queen's Watchdog.
ii.
Now, if you walk through the front door of the manor, you'll notice how empty it was. How a scent of sadness lingered through the halls, even with the large, cheerful frames with various photographs that hung from the walls. It was like a anchor, pulling you down- deep deep down to a endless pit of sorrow.
x
A soft knock was heard in the empty manor, its faint tap echoing. Glancing up, the only occupant in the study, a young demon earl let out an exasperated sigh, muttering fiercely, he sat down his tea.
He then turned around, facing the familiar face of his butler, "What is it, Sebastian?" he questioned briskly, shuffling his documents in an attempt to seem like he was working the whole morning.
"Intruders." the demon answered, "What should I do?"
"This is the 8th time this week alone." the raven haired boy noted crossly, sighing once again.
Sebastian smirked, "Why of course. Everyone wants to see for themselves on whether long dead Earl Ciel Phantomhive has really come back to claim his manor. Rumors spread quite fast." he mused.
Glaring intensity, Ciel's normal royal blue eye to flickered to a bloody red hue, "Fifty years since I last came to London. You would have thought they forgotten about me already." he muttered crossly, clearly not expecting- or welcoming a response.
Chucking slightly, the older demon replied, ignoring the Earl's tone, "You knew this would happen." he accused gently, "The Phantomhives did run the Underworld. Now that you've come back those idiots would probably want to get rid of you. After all, they've been doing fine without a Phantomhive's guidance for about half a century."
"Fine?" Ciel scoffed, "They're barely concealing their doings. I'm sure half the country has been affected already. London can- and will fall down any minute. Just because of those idiots. When the Phantomhives ran it, there was no chance of the city knowing or collapsing for that manner. You call that fine?"
Sebastian shrugged, "After the business with that angel and the queen, I thought you weren't planning to involve yourself with England anymore- at least not with the queen." he said, changing the subject tactfully.
Glancing down, Ciel didn't bother answering. Instead, he took a sip of his tea. Setting the cup down, he motioned for the butler to refill it.
"Why bother coming back to London? Especially during Lady Elizabeth's lifetime. You're quite lucky she hasn't heard the rumors." Sebastian prodded on, hiding his face.
But, if you looked in the right angle, you could see his crimson eyes had a flicker of hurt that was masked quickly by his usual monotone look as he refilled the earl's cup.
"Shut up." Ciel hissed, "Teach them a lesson." he said as a reply to Sebastian's original question.
"Yes, my lord." the butler said, bowing.
The 'lord' rolled his visible eye, "Fifty years and still the same line."
Nodding, the butler showed no sign of being bothered other than a small irritated twitch, "You never order me to change it. Why bring it up now?"
Ciel smirked, "Just bored~"
Frowning warily, Sebastian edged toward the door. Spending nearly half a century with the earl taught him that having the word 'bored' uttered from his mouth wouldn't end nicely-at least not for him.
Glancing down, the earl smirked devilishly, confirming his suspicions, "Sebastian."
"Yes?" the butler asked, eyes flickering to the earl's face, wincing internally as he saw a glimmer of amusement on his visible eye.
Motioning the demon closer, Ciel opened his mouth, lips curved into a smirk.
iii.
Sebastian walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Muttering crossly, he wheeled his cart out, heading to the kitchen. As he moved though, his ears perked up as he heard a rustle outside the manor.
'Ahh, the intruders are here. Just as expected,' he thought, 'I should probably give them a proper welcome.' he smirked, crimson eyes glimmering with malice.
'After all, that is what the Master ordered.'
Thinking about the brat-uh, master made the butler's mood turn sour. Then, remembering what he did, his frown turned into a smug smile, and he let out a low chuckle.
'I guess it was worth it to ask around about Lady Elizabeth.' he thought.
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a few dozen kitchen utensils and strolled out of the manor.
It's time for some fun.
x
On the other side the door, the only occupant was smirking slightly.
Then, frowning lightly, Ciel shook his head, feeling a breeze near the nape of his neck. Turning around to investigate it, the earl's sapphire eye met a pair of emerald green ones.
Cursing at Sebastian's foolishness at forgetting to close the window, he growled. As you can see, Ciel doesn't take trespassers nicely- or strangers at all for that matter. He opened his mouth to tell the intruder to leave when his frown deepened.
Those pair of eyes were familiar- a bit too familiar for his liking. It was a piece of his past that he'll rather leave behind.
It was the doe-like eyes of enchanting emerald sat on a pale face of a golden halo. The eyes that beamed wherever spotting Ciel's face. The excited squeal whenever seeing Ciel's 'cute' outfit. The puppy eyes when begging for a favor.
It was also the eyes for a warrior, a fighter. The eyes of the girl who risked her life to protect him of all people. The fencing genius. The eyes of the girl who proudly declared herself as; the wife of The Queen's Watchdog.
It was the eyes of Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Midford.
vi.
"Lizzie?" the shell shocked demon whispered.
After not seeing his fiancée for so long seeing that pair of eyes was quite a shock. Not to mention the face was exactly the same- well, perhaps very similar.
The girl frowned, "I am not Granny Lizzie!" she cried indignantly as she clung on the windowsill and boosted herself in.
Ciel jumped and moved out of his chair, eyeing the Lizzie look alike warily.
'Granny Lizzie?' he thought, 'Then if we're talking about the same person, Lizzie must've married someone and created her own family.' he mused, thoughts racing frantically.
"Granny Lizzie?" he asked the girl, "Are you talking about Lady Elizabeth Milford?" he questioned.
"Yep!" the girl nodded, and plopped down on the floor, slightly winded.
She then took in the demon's appearance. Strangely, instead of being confused or scared, she didn't blink twice as she asked, "You're Earl Ciel Phantomhive, right? The man who was suppose to marry Granny Lizzie?"
Nodding warily, the earl gave her a small grunt of approval, "Yes, and you are?"
The girl jumped up and gave an awkward curtsy, "Cecilia Baskerville at your service." she answered, shooting Ciel a lopsided grin.
"Baskerville?" Ciel mused.
Nodding, Cecila answered, "Yep! It was Grandpa's last name."
Hearing this, Ciel smiled. A genuine happy smile, 'So, Lizzie actually settled down without me, huh? I guess Elizabeth Baskerville neé Milford does sound better than Elizabeth Phantomhive.' he thought ruefully.
"So, what are you doing here, Cecilia?" he asked, glancing down at the girl.
"I-"
BANG!
A gunshot interrupted Cecilia's explanation. Jumping slightly, the girl paled and started to make her way out the door. But, before she could open it, Ciel pulled her back.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, eyes narrowed.
"To see what happened!" she seethed, her previous weariness apparently gone.
She wrenched Ciel's hand away and ran out of the door of the office. Half cursing Sebastian for being so loud, Ciel sighed and walked after the blonde. But, if you looked closer, you could see the half-smile in his face.
'Looks like your granddaughter inherited your stubbornness Lizzie.' he thought fondly.
x
Glancing to both sides, Cecilia let out an unladylike growl, "Why is manor so big?" she muttered, eyes darting around frantically for the source of the gunshot.
'Aha! It came from outside!' she figured out, mentally facepalming.
A few loops and turns later...
Pushing opening the double doors, Cecilia rushed out of the manor, panting. Then stopped short at the sight her eyes saw. The previously lush and green garden was soaked with blood. The hedges had blood dripping from them with various bodies and body parts hanging. Cecilia squinted and moved closer, were those knifes and forks she saw in the bodies? Glancing around she gagged, feeling repulsed at the sight.
'Who in the hell did this?' she thought, shuddering.
Cecilia was not a weak girl by any means. Oh no, she was used to the sight of blood. After all, she was part of the Midford family. And in the past, the Midfords were the family of knights that served the queen. Their legacy goes all the way back- probably even farther than the Phantomhives.
She learned to fence and defend herself starting at a young age. Lady Elizabeth was her role model. Even at age 63, she could give much a younger man- or woman quite a beating. Her tales of adventures and duels showed Cecilia a world a 'proper' lady could never explore.
Maybe her tales was the reason Cecilia wasn't startled at the sight of the long assumed dead Earl alive. Lizzie had mentioned that Ciel seemed weird when they spent their last day together. Almost inhuman strange.
Shuddering again, the blonde scanned the area for the person who could have done this. Her eyes met a pair of crimson ones. Before she could open her mouth to ask him the question, a hand grabbed her wrist.
Turning around, she scowled, "What do you want?" she spat to the Earl.
"What do you think you're doing?" he questioned calmly.
She breathed rapidly,"Him...he...did this!" she sputtered, waving frantically to the black clad man and then to the various bodies.
To her surprise, instead of looking horrified, Ciel smirked, "And...?"
"And?" she repeated numbly, "He killed them. He's a murderer!" she screeched, attempting to wrench her hand out of his grasp.
But, unlike the last time however, this time the demon held on tighter, proving the girl's efforts to be in vain.
"Would you let go?" she scolded darkly, "I need to notify the Scotland Yard!"
"No," the Earl replied firmly, "You will not."
Maybe it was the way he said it. Or it was because of the way his grip tightened. Or maybe it was the definite change in his tone that made the emerald eyed girl look up.
And she saw the earl's visible royal blue eye turn into a bloody scarlet shade.
v.
Flinching back, the girl shivered, having finally tugged herself out of the demon's grip,"W-who..w-what...how...?" she stuttered, eyes unmoving from the Phantomhive's expressionless face.
Smirking sightly, Ciel allowed his eyes to go back to his normal shade, bowing slightly, he nodded Cecilia, "Is something wrong?" he asked, containing his smirk as the girl blinked.
'I must have imagined that.' the blonde thought, shaking her head to get rid of her doubts.
Even with the tales she heard from her grandmother, this couldn't be possible. After all, there were no such things as angels- much less demons in this world, right? That was one of the various thoughts running through the girl mind.
Forcing a smile, she shook her head, "No, of course not..."
Then, remembering the whole reason she was here, she bit her lip, "We need to notify the Yard on this!" she said, indicating to their bloody surrounding, "Especially since the murderer is..." she turned around, expecting to see the guilty suspect a distance away.
Instead, she let out a shriek as her eyes met a pair of bloody red ones (not unlike the Earl's) that were a bit too close for her liking. Especially since they were the eyes of a killer.
x
Ignoring the lady's shriek, Sebastian stepped in front of her and bowed to the young demon who wore a self-satisfied smirk.
"Is there anything else, young master?" he questioned, feeling a pang of annoyance as the smirk turned angry.
Scowling, Ciel spat out, "I told you to keep the gardens clean, and look what you did!" he waved to the various greenery which more were filled with blood and torn bodies than not.
Bowing again, Sebastian nodded, "Of course my lord, I apologize. I might have gotten too into it. I will clean this mess up as soon as possible."
"Um...Ciel?"
Sebastian turned around curiously, eyeing the speaker. His facial expression turned amused for he recognized the blonde.
"What is it, Cecilia?" the Earl asked, exasperated.
"Do you know this man?" she asked, tense.
Chucking, the earl nodded, "Yes. And he is not the 'murderer' you pegged him to be. I ordered him to killed these men."
Stepping back, Cecilia bit her lip, scarcely believing the words she heard, "You...ordered him?" she repeated numbly.
Nodding in confirmation, Ciel opened his mouth to explain,"You see, he's my butler..."
Tuning his Master's explanation out, Sebastian frowned. He felt more than two presence that were coming from Ciel and Cecilia. Scanning his surroundings, he turned back to Ciel and his eyes widened in realization.
'Aha. That's where you've been hiding.' he thought.
The shadow. There was a shadow behind his young master. Growling slightly, the demon leaped over the dark haired boy and threw a knife at the shadow.
It landed right on mark- the person's heart. Letting out a strangled scream, the man gurgled and spat out blood and stilled before beginning to falling on Ciel. Before he could though, Sebastian kicked the body with inhuman strength and it flipped back down. An impossible feat for a human- but whoever said he was?
A small gasp was heard from behind him as Sebastian brushed invisible lint off his suit. Turning around, he shot the blonde a closed-eye smile.
Cecilia had a hand over her mouth, blinking in shock at what she just witnessed. In contrast, the Earl just looked bored- having seen something like this quite a few times before.
"Who- no, what exactly are you?" Cecilia whispered, her emerald orbs wide.
Smiling, Sebastian answered, "Why, I'm just one hell of a butler."
a/n: heheheh. yup. i just had to end it with that line; me and my cliffies cx
okai dokie, you could probably tell that Cecilia is an OC for she doesn't appear in the anime or manga- at least to my knowledge. other than that i don't think there's anything noteworthy c:
thanks for reading and have a nice day~!