Scene IV. A Boat on the River Styx

[Enter SEBASTIAN and CIEL.]

SEBASTIAN
Master, I see you have awoken.

CIEL
Where is this? Where are we?

SEBASTIAN
Dost thou wish to know?

CIEL
For what other reason would I ask? Nay, now that I think on it, perhaps not. I feel as though I had slumber'd quite a while. O how strange this water is! How doth it form familiar images?

SEBASTIAN
'Tis thy cinematic record. It hath come to meet thee.

CIEL
Forsooth. My cinematic record, eh?
This is my life. This is how I have liv'd.
At this moment, though, I s'pose I am dead.

SEBASTIAN
But nay, not as of yet. Though death shall come
To claim ye soon and rob you of yourself,
Your side I'll be, 'til bitterest of ends,
Young master, 'tis my duty, as your butler

CIEL
Elizabeth will be displeas'd, for sure.

SEBASTIAN
Aye, the love of thy betrothed runs deep for thee.

CIEL
In faith. At the death of Madam Red, she had drown'd herself in tears. It'd be natural that she'd begin again.

SEBASTIAN
Some tears she had for you. Thou did not have thine own.

CIEL
'Tis true. What of the servants fates? Have they fallen victim to their strife?

SEBASTIAN
Well, upon my departure they still had breath to them.

CIEL
My, they are a stubborn lot. And Pluto?

SEBASTIAN
His bones I can collect later.

CIEL
Bones? Nay, that'd be a task not necess'ry.
What meaning is contained within
The confines of marrow'd rigging? Everything—

SEBASTIAN
Everything, my lord?

CIEL
Sebastian, prithee, pay no mind to that,
For everything is not important now.
'Tis far too soon for that to matter much.
O pray, though, please explain these lights,
A cloud of gentle stars that rise
Out from the mist to greet us in our boat?

SEBASTIAN
Each point's a warm regard, a thought on thee
From people whom have trickl'd through thy life.

CIEL
Other's feelings? O, in some way, 'tis nice.

SEBASTIAN
Nice?

CIEL
To leave without parting sorrow. 'Tis nice.

SEBASTIAN
It'd seem. Alas, have thou much more to do?

CIEL
I've not a thing at all, observe, that by
Thy hand and by my will, all whom oppos'd
My name and goals have met their dir'st ends.
In troth, perhaps our lines we've rushed through.
What purpose serve we now? I cannot speak
For thee, I've but one mouth, but for my part,
The grip the world hath had upon my heart
Hath seem'd to slip. See now, I hold substance
Less than a spot of shade! My existence
Is marked by not me but an absence.
O look! A flower passes! Body bent,
It loses not its charm. This blossom bears
In form and hue, strong semblance to a ring.

SEBASTIAN
Indeed. It doth suggests a greater worth.
My lord, might I be 'llow'd to grace thee now?

CIEL
This much I shall do by myself. I'd think
It difficult for thee, consid'ring thy
Current limitation. Yea, it so seems
About my finger, 'tis a token's soul.

SEBASTIAN
I'd have thee know my shame. I'd want'd not
More than to be than thy butler, 'though master
How far I am from fine: defeat'd by
Such little things. I've fail'd both me and you.

CIEL
This flower doth define us not, thou know't.

SEBASTIAN
Perhaps. Methinks it suits us well, my lord.

[CIEL stands.]

CIEL
Against a waning moon I hold this jewel,
And to its smirking face, I do proclaim
'Tis I, Ciel Phantomhive, see! Yea, I
Am not more than I could have ever been.

[Exeunt.]