Hey everyone! I proudly present to you my very first fan fiction. Ever. I'm not really how sure how fast it'll be updated, but for now I'll just take it at my pace. Hopefully you read it and enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Kuroshitsuji or D Gray Man. All rights belong to the authors.
Warning: This story will contain boy/boy later on. If that's not your thing, I highly suggest not reading this.
Soul Ties
Chapter 1
In a quiet countryside located just outside of London is a house so grand, it could only belong to a nobleman. The owner of the mansion was not just any nobleman though. The man in question was actually Earl Vincent Phantomhive, head of Funtom Toys and loyal dog to the Queen.
Vincent normally kept a very gentle, but firm rule over the individuals living in the house (both family and workers). He liked things orderly and normal (or as normal as it can get for the Phantomhive).
So it was with bewilderment that he watched as his head butler, Tanaka, explained to him that he could not find his son, Ciel.
"So let me get this right. You took Ciel for a walk in the garden, when a gardener asked you to take a look at one of the plants." Vincent reiterated.
"Yes, master Vincent." By now Tanaka was beginning to noticeably sweat from nerves. He pulled out a handkerchief to wipe it away.
"And by the time you got back, he was gone."
"That is right, master."
Vincent was in disbelief. "How hard is it to keep track of single child?" he thought to himself. Standing up from his desk, he turned to Tanaka and addressed him, "Have all the staff begin a sweep of the grounds. Start in the gardens and work your way to the house. Find him before his mother gets home. We absolutely cannot let her know about this. I will join you momentarily."
"As you wish." Tanaka bowed and scurried out the door leaving Vincent standing in silence. He ran a hand through his midnight blue hair and turned to look out the window with a view of the garden with his dark brown eyes. His gaze skimmed the tree line pausing at a particularly wide tree. A tree he distinctly remembered having a child sized hole in it. Turning away from the window, he strode towards the door like a man on a mission.
Ciel sat in the trunk of a tree with a hole in it, playing with the butterfly he had chased through the garden. "It's so pretty!" he thought watching it flutter its bright red wings speckled with brown, "I'll take it to show Papa!". Ciel slowly crawled out from the tree making sure not to crush the butterfly he worked so hard to catch. Standing up, he turned his small, fragile body to begin the trot back to the mansion, only to run into something that is soft, warm, and smelled like new leather and ink.
"It smells like Papa." Ciel thought. He felt large warm hands wrap around his shoulders and looked up.
"I found you! I didn't actually think you would be here." Vincent murmured more to himself than Ciel. Shaking the trivial thoughts from his head, he fixated an admonishing stare on his son, "Ciel Phantomhive! You know better than to run off from Tanaka like this. Everybody in the mansion is in a state of panic looking for you. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I didn't run off on purpose." Ciel's voice raised an octave trying to defend himself, tears beginning to form in the corners of his cobalt blue eyes, "I saw a pretty butterfly and wanted to catch it and show you." He lowered his head to stare at the ground, his midnight blue hair sliding over his eyes.
Vincent's eyes softened, taking in the trembling form of his son. How could he be mad at his son when he acted like a kicked puppy? "Hey now. There's no need to cry. Just don't do it again. Come on, let's go back to the mansion before your mother gets home."
"I don't want to. She'll be mad at me." Ciel squeaked.
"Trust me. It's not you she'll be mad at." Vincent visibly flinched remembering the last time an accident like this happened. His ears are ringing just thinking about it.
While the situation at the Phantomhive manor was occurring, straight in the heart of London a pair of newly arrived foreigners were bickering about where they should go next.
"Master! We do not have the kind of money to be going into a bar. I still haven't paid off your last debt, or the 54 before it!" exclaimed a boy of about twelve with shoulder length snow white hair and a mysterious pentacle scar carved along the left side of his face from the tip of his brow, all the way to his chin.
"...Allen. What are you to me?" The man spoke to Allen in a voice promising many sadistic punishments depending on his answer. His long red layered hair, short goatee, and the right half of his hidden bespectacled face only served to enforce his demeanor.
"A slave." Allen muttered under his breath.
"What was that?" General Marian Cross's eyes narrowed.
"An apprentice," Allen tried to cover up, "I said an apprentice."
"That's right. You are an apprentice. That means if I say we're going to a bar, we are going to a bar. But… we don't have any money, so we will be going to a gambling house." With that straightened, Cross pivoted on his foot in the opposite direction of the bar and began his trek to the gambling house.
Allen watched his master saunter off with a sweatdrop. Knowing he'll get left behind if he doesn't catch up, he sprinted after his master, hoping for a lucky night at the tables.
Vincent had just got back to the mansion with Ciel and called off the search, when two women burst through the door. The first woman had vibrant red hair shaped into a bob and matching eyes. Her ensemble consisted of only bright red items. A red hat, a red dress, red shoes, red everything. It is not surprising that her name also happens to be Madame Red.
The second woman strode in behind Madame Red with an air of natural grace. Her cobalt blue eyes held only kindness and her strawberry blonde hair put in a long ponytail, the ends slightly curling. Rachel Phantomhive swirled to her husband. "We're home dear." she told her husband sweetly, "I hope nothing happened while we were away."
"Honey, I'm so glad you're home. I missed you so dearly," Vincent spoke a little too fast, "And Angelina. It's so good to see you. Come to visit your sister and nephew I suppose?"
"Of course. I met Rachel in the city and couldn't resist coming and seeing the little angel," the suspicion in her voice did not go unnoticed, " I do believe you're avoiding the subject though, Vincent."
Vincent flinched when he saw the kindness in his wife's eyes slowly freeze over.
"Did something happen while I was gone, Vincent?" Rachel's sweet voice gained an icey undertone.
"Oh no," Vincent panicked inside, "This isn't good. She's already calling me by my name. I cannot let her find out we lost Ciel."
"What are you talking about, sweety? I would never let anything happen to Ciel." he placated.
Her all knowing eyes stared straight through him, "I never mentioned Ciel."
Vincent began turning a pallid color. "My poor, poor ears." he thought.
Vincent was in his study sitting in dead silence. It seemed to be the only thing that could stop the ringing in his ears. He was almost asleep, when Tanaka walked in with his afternoon tea and scones.
"Drink this tea, Master Vincent. It might help soothe you." Tanaka said hoping for redemption from today's incident.
"You know what would really help me, Tanaka. You not talking," Vincent sent a pitiful glare in his direction, " This is all your fault anyway."
Tanaka sweat dropped at his master's pitiful state before he remembered the main reason for coming. "A letter has arrived for you, Master Vincent. It is signed by the Queen"
Any previous sign of pain or irritation disappeared in Vincent's face. A letter from the Queen was important. A letter meant a mission. He took the vanilla colored envelope from Tanaka's outstretched hand. In thin loopy cursive on the front was "Queen Elizabeth".
Vincent took the envelope opener off his desk and sliced the paper. Inside was the details for his next mission.
Dear Earl Phantomhive,
I call upon you to help me on a truly disturbing matter. Recently, there have been a series of murders happening in the alleys of central London. These murders have not been released to the press due to their… oddity in nature. There are no bodies. Only piles of clothes and ash. Those are the only clues we have.
Please help solve these murders before my precious London is terrorized any further.
Sincerely,
Queen Elizabeth
The letter now lay limp in Vincent's hands, his eyes pensive and brows narrowed in deep thought. "No bodies. Only ash." he turned over in his head, "That is definitely unusual. I don't have enough information to make any conclusions either." He swiveled his head to look at the towering grandfather clock in the room. He had just enough time before supper. "Tanaka," the older butler was shaken from his silence, "Prepare a carriage. We are going to visit our friend, the Undertaker."
Hopefully I didn't butcher the story to much. Just a bit of warning, this is going to be a very slow moving story.