I DO NOT OWN BLACK BUTLER/KUROSHITSUJI...please forgive any mistakes.
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The smoke was blinding as it was nauseating. Nauseating? Was it really just the smoke? But the young boy running through the gray corridors was in such a panic that he couldn't feel anything anymore. Nor hear, nor see, nor even think. He just ran through the heat of the raging fire. Trying to find something…help? No. There was still his little sister he needed to find and protect; this was the only thought clear in his mind.
"C-ciel-nii~ onii—!" he heard her coughed call.
"Esper! Esper! Where are you?" He rampaged through every room, trying to find where the tiny voice came from. He needs to find her fast, before the whole manor is devoured in fire. Mother, Father…Please help us. We're still here.
"I—I'm he—*cough*—here! Ciel-nii!"
He followed the frail voice and faced a crippling drawer after a minute of wandering. "Esper?" he called as he cracked the wooden box open. Dirty blond locks peeked through the space and Ciel once again saw the same exact navy blue of his eyes mirrored by the girl's own huge pair. They embraced each other in equal affection with no words exchanged. At that moment they felt the safest, like they were just two innocent little kids in the end of a hide-and-seek game, as if there was no more fire, no more danger. And they wanted to just stay there as if they'd be spared from death if they did. But then again, they still needed to find their parents.
They strode through the ashes and the heat with their small limbs, hand in hand. Avoiding the falling debris and luckily making it through each room they passed. When they finally arrived at that final room, there was only blinding fire. But at the middle of the bright red waves, a silhouette caught Ciel's gaze.
"Mother? Father?" his voice trembled in an uncanny whisper. Esper clung to his arm while they tiptoed a bit into the room.
And it was indeed their father and mother. But this sight of them haunted these two kids forever. It wasn't a spectacle meant for ten year olds, not even for a grown-up. One thing was clear: their dear parents are dead. And by a horrible, horrible death. They were murdered, not by the fire, no, because their bodies were sewn together to form a mirage of only one person. That triggered something in them, something that could crash their innocence.
Ciel heard a screeching scream and only realized that it was from his sister when he looked at her. They stared at each other dumbfounded, eyes stricken with tears and wide in horror. They were both on their knees when they felt somebody by their back forcing them back to reality by shaking their delicate bodies.
"—you need to go! Go! While you still have time! Come on!" Tanaka yelled almost directly at their ears.
Hands still entwined, they jumped to their feet, unthinking, and fled. But it was only a matter of time when someone grabbed them again. This time it hasn't a single sign of gentleness. Tanaka was on the floor, and there was nothing more than blur and hushed perception for both Ciel and Esper when they were dragged and soon lost the little bit of consciousness and energy left in them. They blacked out.
"These two are worth more than a battalion—"
"Yes. Yes, this is a rare pair. Twins, especially."
"Twin nobles…"
"Well then, what are you waiting for? Brand them!"
Ciel woke up on a stone table, hearing hushed voices and seeing the sorry sight of his sister beside him, nude and dirty, as he was. His chest pained with anger and grief. And it was enough to make his eyes swell with tears. Where is help when you need one?
"Ciel-nii?" it was almost no more than a squeak. He held her hand and stared at the same navy blue eyes he loved. At his age, Ciel already felt a sense of protectiveness for this half of him. And it was normal, considering that they are twins. And the next thing he saw triggered that protectiveness more than it's supposed to be.
"No! No! Don't!" he cried. "Please! Don't hurt her!" he used every single bit of his energy left and yelled, yanking his feet and arms.
"Oh~hoho. The little brat wants to go first." The masked man laughed. "Well, that could be arranged!"
The crowd around them suddenly shifted their attention to him with wicked smiles on their faces. The burning rod which were inches from his sister's skin before was now pointed at him. There was no more helping it. He succumbed to the numbing pain when it came, while getting images of his sister flailing where she lay. And he could only read her lips shouting his name. He screamed, but heard nothing of his voice.
He lay on nothingness. He saw only feathers…and a crow. A demon.
"What was sacrificed shall never return. And once one has rejected faith, it is impossible for him to pass through the gates of heaven." A husky voice said.
"Would someone who believed in God summon you?"
"Then I will ask thee but once: Is it thy wish to form a contract?"
"Enough! Just form the contract and grant my wish!"
The demon grinned.
"And you, young miss?" He hissed and eyed a certain direction. Ciel turned his gaze to the same direction and gasped.
"Esper?" He wheezed.
"Yes, please," the little girl said.
The feathers turned to a darker shade of black. The demon's grin now showed his fangs.
They walked on the fallen debris. The wet rubble and ash coated their shoes. Ciel picked up the ring lying on the mud. It was his father's signet ring. He held it on his palms for a while before putting it on his sister's thumb where it fit the best. They turned their gazes again on the wrecked building which was once their home and dissolved the sadness and the memory of what it beholds.
Gone were the cheerful Phantomhive twins. What were left were the noble heirs to the Phantomhive name. They held hands and sighed.
They returned to the side of the man clad in black who was waiting for them. And they fled.
Ciel woke up on the smooth silk of his bed, the blinding morning light hurting his eyes. He still held his sister's hands. Esper woke up when Ciel broke free of her hold and they both sat on the bed, letting a yawn escape from their mouths.
"Good morning Ojou-sama, Bocchan. I have prepared your morning tea." Sebastian poured the hot liquid in two stylish china cups.
The two rubbed their eyes out of sleep and then stared at each other. Ciel wore a cold look on his face while Esper smiled an all-teeth smile at him like she always did when they woke up each morning. "Good morning nii!" she greeted. He nodded in acknowledgement and stared at her right eye as half of the faustian contract glowed on it indicating her share of the contract. It was on the left side of her once-navy blue orb as his was on the right. She abruptly covered her eye with her dirty blond locks as her smile faded.
She turned her attention to the butler standing by the side of their bed. "Good morning, Sebastian," she beamed. The butler bowed slightly.
"Today's is Earl Grey tea. Just the way you like it."
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Sorry for any wrong grammar, spelling, punctuation or info.. -.-''