"Good morning, young master" Sebastian said as he opened the curtains and let the sunlight into the room. Ciel sat up carefully, yawning.
"Today for breakfast, we have earl gray tea, a quiche with a side dish of mint leaf salad, and your choice of a scone, waffle or French toast."
"I'll have a scone." Ciel said lazily.
"Please do not forget that you invited Sir James Windsor for dinner tonight to discuss the extent of the funtom corporations to the winter competitions, and that our new maid will be arriving at noon."
"Very well… what's her name again?"
"Erica, my lord"
"If she's even a minute late, she's not setting foot into this manor." Ciel grumbled as he ate his breakfast.
"You were the one who wished to hire her in the first place, young master" Sebastian reminded.
"This is the way I test her if she is worthy of being here." Ciel said. Sebastian smiled.
"As you wish, my lord" Sebastian really didn't agree with the idea of a new maid. He had picked those three lunatics because they could actually fight and defend the manor if Sebastian were suddenly gone away for a little while. If this woman, Erica, didn't know how to fight, then the mansion was certainly going to be in trouble. He would have to find a way to get rid of her.
Ciel told Sebastian not to bother with the cleaning, and to tell the servants to have a day off. He wanted the new maid to clean everything herself, and then Ciel would judge how well she did.
Exactly as soon as the clock struck twelve, there was a knock on the door.
"Well, she's efficient, at least." Ciel said. "Get the door, Sebastian." Now would be the real test. He had never seen this woman in his life, and wondered what she would look like. He opened the door.
A young woman with creamy alabaster pale skin stood at the door. She looked about twenty years old, give or take a year. She already wore a maid's outfit, though it wasn't dark blue and white like Maylene's outfit, but black and white. She wore high heeled white boots.
Her hair was such a strange color. It was pure white at the roots, going from white, fading to black, and fading back to white again. It was in a thick French braid to make it look less strange, but it was still interestingly unfamiliar. He had never seen anyone with hair like that. Her indigo eyes pierced through his. She bowed quickly. Her ears were pierced with tiny black studs.
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Erica Noir. I signed up for the maid position here a few days ago."
"It's wonderful to have you here, Erica. Please do come inside." She picked up her plain brown suitcase and followed Sebastian inside. Maylene was cleaning up a mess. He had left her alone for several minutes at most and she had already broken several china cups. He sighed as she jumped up, and then slipped and fell on the water.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, yes I am…" She got back on her hands and knees and began dabbing at the mess with a cloth.
"Maylene, I'll clean it up myself." Sebastian said. Maylene looked up, her pink pigtails bobbing up and down. "I have a better job for you to do. Please take Miss Erica's things up to her room." Maylene's gaze fell on Erica.
"Right away…" She took Erica's suitcase and jumped up the stairs. Erica bent down and picked up the wet rag.
"Sebastian, I'll clean it up. Please go tell Master Ciel that I'll be there shortly."
Sebastian nodded and walked up the stairs to Ciel's study. Erica stayed and got out a clean new rag for the rest of the mess. She cleaned it up within five minutes. She threw the dirty dishrag into the sink and walked up to where she heard Sebastian going. She caught up to him in a few minutes. He knocked on the study door.
"Come in"
"Young master, the new maid has arrived." He said, gesturing to Erica. She bowed.
"It's nice to see you again, Master Ciel."
"And you, Erica" Ciel said as he folded together a stack of papers. "I have several rooms in this manor for you to clean up. Finish within two hours, and you earn a spot here with the Phantomhive staff." Erica nodded. "Sebastian, please show Erica the rooms she has to clean up."
"Very well, my lord" He motioned for Erica to follow him. They walked down into the kitchen. It was still a mess from Bard's last explosion.
"Did a bomb explode in here or something?" Erica asked. "This doesn't even look like a kitchen anymore…"
"Long story…" He said. She laughed. She had a nice laugh. She washed a rag with water and cleaned up the burn marks with a little baking soda. Unlike the other three, she was actually good at cooking and cleaning. She was cleaning near the door when it burst open.
"Erica, watch out!" Sebastian called, but not in time. Bard tripped over her, not seeing her, and the knife he was carrying fell out of his hands, falling straight towards her head. Faster than he would have thought possible, Erica moved her head to the side, and caught the knife in between two fingers. She breathed out a sigh of relief. Bard was still in the corner rubbing his head where it had hit the counter.
"What do you think you're doing, Bard?" Sebastian asked, with controlled anger in his voice. "Didn't we agree you weren't supposed to come in here while Erica was cleaning this place?" He asked.
"Sorry… I forgot to take back a knife from the table."
"Well you nearly killed our new maid with it." He said. "That would certainly have pleased the young master, having a maid killed by another servant." He said sarcastically.
"I'm sorry…" Bard said, getting up and looking at the maid. Erica got up and stood beside Sebastian, as Bard walked out the door, looking very guilty. Pretty soon, Erica had finished nearly every room in the house, in under an hour.
"Very well done, Erica" Ciel said to her as Sebastian explained that she had done everything perfectly in under two hours, and even did extra cleaning in that time. "Sebastian will give you a tour of what you haven't yet seen in the house."
She followed Sebastian, unsure of what she was going to see in the rest of the house. He led her into a closed off room.
"Forgive me, but I will have to put you through yet another test." He said to her.
"What test?"
"A fighting test, you see, more often than not, the manor is attacked. Every servant in this house knows what to do and how to fight very well. If this manor is attacked and you do not know how to fight, you will be a hindrance, and not a help."
Erica smiled confidently.
"Ok let's go." He gave her a selection of weapons. She chose a sword. She fought with a sword in her right hand, and the scabbard in her left. She used the scabbard to block attacks. She was actually rather good. Her movements were graceful. She looked like she was dancing, and not fighting. They both fought with swords, though Sebastian preferred knives.
He was actually surprised at how well she did. She was able to match every move he did. He wasn't even trying to make it easy for her anymore, and she still did well. She moved like an acrobat. She was able to jump from the wall to the ceiling and back on the floor in less than three seconds.
Everything she did made Sebastian doubt Erica's humanity more and more. No one could fight like that and still be human. Finally, Sebastian dropped his sword.
"That was good enough." He said. She smiled again.
"Thank you, Sebastian."
"For what?" he was taken aback.
"Now I know that you are okay with me staying here. Everyone has to get along if we want a job done, right?"
"Right" Who was this girl? He wondered.
"I'll be up in the gardens." She said, and left. Something fluttered to the ground. He picked it up. It was a feather. It was a beautiful cloud grey color. It seemed to give off a beautiful shine. He picked it up. It was cold as ice. Not a single piece in the feather was ruffled or out of place. He tucked it into the inside of his jacket and walked back upstairs.
He watched as she grabbed a pair of shears and walked out into the garden. They had forgotten about Pluto! He ran into the other side of the house, and dragged Pluto behind a fence, just as she came around the corner. Pluto was whining, as he wanted to go chase her most likely. Was this maid good at everything? He watched as she expertly shaped all the bushes into pretty circular shapes, and pruned all the trees. She walked back inside, only to come back out with several baskets. She picked off several roses, but in a way that no one could see that any had been picked, and arranged them into baskets.
"Hmm… there's one that's dying… but it's such a waste. It's so pretty." As Sebastian watched, she bit her finger until it bled. She let one drop fall on each bouquet. She picked up the baskets. Several patches of sunlight broke through the clouds, one beam landing right where she was standing. The roses lit up, and almost sparkled with the sun. They seemed an even brighter white than before. She stood there for a minute, enjoying the sun, and then walked back inside.
Who and what was Erica Noir?