Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Kurositsuji.
The Last Words.
Chapter I.
The Wakening.
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"Yes, my lord."
Those were the last words Ciel heard as he shut his eyes. The darkness greeted him, as his senses seemed to register one last take of his being. He could feel the hard stone bench beneath him, smell the damp, suffocating air, and hear the slight whisper of a dying wind...
Sebastian's side of the contract had been completed to the fullest, and now it was the young boy's turn to keep his end of the deal. He had nothing left in life that was desperate enough to keep his soul here. The soul that now belonged to his demon butler, Sebastian. His butler who had served him to the best of his ability until the very end. The very end being now, as Ciel sat, waiting for the raven to take his soul. To rip it from his being and ravish it for all the worth he held to it.
Yet as a few seconds passed, nothing happened. Those few seconds must have been well over a minute by now. Ciel still didn't open his eyes. Was his butler toying with him? It was the reality of seeing Sebastian in a demon's raw nature that kept Ciel from opening his eyes. Still, as a few more minutes passed, the dark haired boy found he could no longer sit idle. How much time had passed? He slowly opened his eyes to take in the sight before him.
A bedroom greeted his eyes. His bedroom, at home, back in the mansion. Ciel sat half laying, half sitting up in his plush, oversized bed. The curtains were drawn back, allowing in the light of morning to spill into the room. He looked down to find himself in a nightshirt and night pants. Everything was in its proper place; nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Confusion quickly set in as Ciel climbed out of his bed timidly. How did he get home? He should be dead by now right? Where was Sebastian?
"Sebastian?" Ciel called out. He waited for a moment before he called out once more. "Sebastian!"
After a few seconds he heard a quick paced tapping in the hallway outside his doorway. It grew louder as the steps approached his room. They were uneven and far too quick to be someone walking. A large dog rounded the corner and ran straight to Ciel, tail wagging.
"Se-Sebastian?" He asked in alarm. His dog, the family dog he had since he was little, who perished in the fire that took his parents and home, was standing right in front of him. Ciel timidly reached a hand out to rub the dog's head. He let of a sigh of relief as it came into contact with the fur of the animal. He wasn't seeing things. Still, what was going on? This had to be some sort of sick dream. No one survived the fire, except himself and Tanaka, but not the dog, nor his parents...his parents.
He rubbed his eyes once more, factoring in there was no way he was sleeping. Suddenly, he took off out of his room and down the hall, running on light feet, he went down the main stairway and off towards the living room, were he spent most the time with his parents before...
He barged in the doorway and froze in his tracks. His mother sat in a high backed chair near the large fireplace with a book in hand. She was reading calmly it seemed until Ciel flew in. She looked up from her book with warm eyes.
"Ciel darling, you're awake. I was starting to think you were going to sleep the whole day." She gave him a loving smile.
His father sat at the small oak desk on the other side of the room, thumbing through some documents it seemed. He looked up briefly to give his son a nod. Ciel couldn't believe what he was seeing, his parents! Right in front of his eyes!
Ciel let out a small gasp, and flung a hand up over his right eye to cover the demonic mark that was displayed there. His mother stood from her seat, hurrying over to him.
"Ciel is there something wrong with your eye?" She asked extending a hand out to take a look. Ciel side stepped her and removing his hand, looked into the long mirror hanging on the wall. Another shock hit him like a tidal wave.
Sebastian's mark was gone. Only two perfectly blue eyes stared back at him. He stood deathly still as his mother walked up behind him to wrap her arms around him.
"There, everything is alright," she soothed her son.
This seemed surreal, his parents were actually here. Was it all a bad dream? A crazy, long, horrible dream? This couldn't be registering right in Ceil's mind. But the feel of his mother's arms, the smell of her perfume and her presence standing right next to him felt very real.
"Mother," Ciel let out an anguished gasp as he turned and threw his arms around his mother's neck. He felt like it had been ages since he hugged his mother. His inner child seemed to resurface as he buried his face against her shoulders. She gave him a tight hug, cradling him slightly.
"My dear boy, what has gotten into you? You act like you haven't seen me in years!" His mother teased him. She knelt down and pulled her son back to look at him. "Now then, we are going into town today for some shopping. So head upstairs and get dressed, we'll be ready to go soon." She scooted him towards the stairs leading back to his room.
"Alright..." Ciel answered wearily. He slowly turned out of the room after taking in one last look at his mother and father. He climbed the stairs looking at the paints and decors that covered the halls. It was exactly the same as it was before the fire, nothing was out of place. He made it back to his room where Sebastian, the family dog, was laying on the floor rug chewing on a toy of some kind. He gave a slight whimper as Ciel walked back into the room.
He opened his closet to find neatly hung clothes. He pulled out an outfit of a light blue and worked at getting himself dressed. Crooked buttons and twisted clothes was his reward. He never dressed himself before, correct? Sebastian had always...wait no. Didn't his butler always help him dress in the morning? Surely if Ciel was dressing himself in the mornings alone he wouldn't be having such a hard time now right?
"Oh bother..." He huffed, finally fixing himself to look half way decent. These clothes made him feel younger somehow, they were much more plain than what he was used to wearing, he thought. The war over his mental state was wearing thin. Ciel tried to shake his head clear as he headed downstairs with his coat to meet his parents. He was the young son of the Phantomhive's; he lived here in the mansion with his mother, father and dog. He wasn't enslaved in a contract with a demon, a demon that became a faithful butler. Right?
This was too good to be true, but Ciel wasn't going to let his parents slip away from him again. This must be real, or he must be sick or something. His former life with Sebastian, his butler, seemed to fading away from his mind, as if it never had happened.
"I'm ready," Ciel called leaving the last step of the staircase, pulling his coat on. His parents stood waiting at the door. His father opened the door for them.
"After you," he nodded to his wife. She headed out as Ciel followed close behind in tow. His father gave his hair a light scruff as Ciel walked out. They were loaded into the carriage by Tanaka, the family butler and with a tap on the window from his father, the cart started forward into town. Tanaka seemed to be acting the footman as well. The old man seemed to pay no special attention to Ciel, and with his parents around, he wasn't going to push it further yet.
His parents chatted happily the whole way, while Ciel just listened, looking out the window on occasion. Memories of Sebastian came flooding into his mind. So many things Ciel could recall, but what proof did he have for himself any of it was real? The seal on his eye wasn't there, and nothing else seemed out of place...
The cart came to a stop as the footman opened the door. One by one they exited the carriage and headed into the shops. The cane shop was the first stop for his father, but hadn't Ciel been here before? His mother next led them into a furniture store, spending a generous amount of time there. Ciel looked out the front of the store to see the town's mortician was just across the street. Ciel looked at his parents who seemed busy.
"Do you mind if I step outside for a few minutes?" He asked them both. His father agreed, telling him not to wander far.
Ciel headed out of the shop and darted across the street. He knocked on the door to building. No one answered. After a fast look around Ciel opened the door and slipped inside. It was dark, with only one small window letting in light. A few candles burned around the room, coffins of all shapes and sizes stocked everywhere.
"Hello?" Ciel called out, stepping further into the room. There was a shift from a doorway and a man in a long black outfit stepped out.
"My, my, look who we have here! The Phantomhive boy," the Undertaker, owner of the establishment walked into the room, greeting him with a smile a little too big.
"Undertaker! I knew you would know who I am! Tell me, have you seen Sebastian?" Ciel hid the desperation in his voice. It was nice to see someone he knew from his former life.
"Well, of course I know who you are. Everyone does. You are the only son of the Phantomhive's', and the wealthiest family around here, thanks to the Queen," the Undertaker answered, running his hand over a coffin with a thin layer of dust on it. A dark, detailed coffin too small for an adult.
"No, I mean..." Ciel examined the coffin closer. "You know me! And Sebastian too! You're a Grim Reaper..." Ciel's confidence was waning a bit. He walked over the coffin the Undertaker had just touched.
"Well, I'm sure some people in this town may call me a 'Grim Reaper', but someone's got to do the job," he snickered to himself.
"But this coffin..." Ciel reached a hand out to touch it, then changed his mind. It registered in his head this was the coffin the Undertaker had made for him. The details; the satin lining, the gold trim running thinly on the edges. He had been here and seen this coffin before, he was sure of it.
"Yes?" The Undertaker asked, his eyes peering slightly though his hair.
After contemplating for a moment, Ceil asked, "Who was this made for? It's carved amazingly, and has gold in it. Not many people would be able to afford a coffin quite like this, and it's far too small for a full grown adult."
The smile on the Undertaker's face faded slightly, but didn't completely go away.
"Let's just say it was a special order, and I put a lot of work into this one," he answered petting the hard box lovingly. "Morbidly curious for such a young boy," he lightly teased.
Ciel was just about to answer when the door to the shop opened, flooding it with light. Ciel's father stood in the doorway.
"Son, what are you doing in here?" He waved at him towards the door. "This is no place for children, come along." Vincent eyed the Undertaker questionably. "I hope he wasn't too much trouble."
"None at all, Mr. Phantomhive," the Undertaker dipped his head. "It seems you have a clever young boy on your hands." He closed the elegant coffin with a hard thud, producing a puff of dust.
Ciel's father bid the man farewell leading his son out of the store and back into the streets were his mother was waiting in the carriage along with the footman, Tanaka. Ciel recognized the old man from before, since he was the family butler, before the fire, that is.
"Ciel, what on earth were you doing in there?" Vincent asked him directly.
"I-," Ciel started before another familiar face stepped into view. From a window two stories up, Ciel caught a glimpse of dark red hair and piercing eyes. Only then did he notice the slender barrel extending a few inches out of the window. "Mey-rin!" Ciel called right as his father knocked them both into the carriage. "Wha-?" Ciel started as he heard the gunshot ring out before people started screaming.
"Drive!" Vincent commanded as he slammed the door to the cart and it jerked forward. Ciel caught one last glimpse of Mey-rin as she retreated from the window, a confused look on her face.
The horses pulled the cart faster, heading back to the Mansion.
"Is everyone alright?" Ciel's father asked, looking his wife and son over. She nodded, as did Ciel.
"What was that? Why did Mey-rin shoot at us!" Ciel asked out loud. Mey-rin was his maid!
"Who?" Vincent asked confused. "Look, Ciel, this is why I don't want you to be alone while we are out. We are a noble family and some people will do anything to destroy us," his father sighed "Son, what has gotten into you? You've been out of sorts all day."
"Maybe you'll ill?" Rachel placed a hand on his forehead. Ciel shook her off gently.
"No, I'm not sick, but...I knew that woman who shot at us. She's-" Ciel didn't want to explain. How could he explain that Mey-rin was his maid? His parents would think he had gone mad. And Sebastian, where was Sebastian? He thought to himself.
"Sebastian? Dearest, he's at home, you know we never bring him to the market with us," Rachel answered in a soothing voice. (
Ciel realized that he must have said that out loud. "No not the dog! Just, ahh!" He clutched both hands to the sides of his head in frustration. What was real anymore?
After they got home, Rachael and Vincent put their son to bed, and called for a doctor to come in the morning to see if there was something wrong. Worried expressions were the last thing he saw on his parent's faces before the candle was blown out and darkness swept into the room. Ciel lay awake though, staring into the ceiling. Moonlight set a soft glow about the room. Was all this for real, or not? He was so confused.
Finally, sleep overtook the young boy. A restless sleep filled with dreams of fire and death. Dreams of everyone he knew and loved dearly, dead at his feet, while he sat up top of it all looking down from a throne. Standing next to him was none other then his black butler, with a small smile and piercing red eyes.
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"I'm sorry, sir. I don't know how I missed," lied Mey-rin as she took a verbal scolding from her employer. He threatened her pay if she missed a second time. She had the shot, she really did, but that little boy...Didn't he call out her name? They had never met, how did he know who she was?
"I will not miss again," she confirmed leaving the room.
Yet...he did call her name out, didn't he?
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Thanks so much to my AWESOME Beta =]