The wind howled as the rain drove down in sheets and lightning split the sky, briefly illuminating thunderclouds black as pitch. In the Phantomhive manor, Ciel sat in his study, poring over various documents in search of clues related to his latest assignment from the Queen. He sighed in frustration, still not having found anything useful after several hours of searching. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and Sebastian entered the room.
"Young master, I've brought you some tea," the butler said. He set down the tea tray, poured a cup, and set it in front of Ciel. "If I may ask, how is the search going?"
"Terribly. I've been looking for hours, and not a single thing has turned up." Frowning, he sipped his tea. As always, it was perfect, not too weak or too strong. "This is becoming more difficult than I thought."
Ciel looked up at the sound of something tapping at his window. "What…?" he began, looking over to see a large black bird sitting outside the window, water dripping off its feathers.
"A raven," Sebastian remarked. "Interesting that one would show up here, on a night like this. It reminds me of a poem by Edgar Allen Poe… Are you familiar with it, my lord?"
Ciel was familiar with the poem, but chose not to respond to the question. "Shoo it away, before it gives me a headache with its tapping. I've got work to do."
"My lord, perhaps you should get some rest." He opened the window, and the bird flew away with a croak. He shut it again promptly, before the rain blew in. "We wouldn't want you to fall ill, now would we?"
"Fine," Ciel muttered. As much as he hated to admit it, Sebastian was probably right, and he needed a break from researching anyway. He hadn't found anything; the rest of the work could wait until tomorrow.
[][][][]
It was the dead of night, and, despite the storm still raging outside, the Phantomhive household slept peacefully. Inside the manor, all was quiet.
Suddenly, there was a sharp rapping at Ciel's door, and he awoke with a start. "Sebastian?" he called out groggily, rubbing his eyes. The sound came again, a series of taps, but there was no reply to the young earl's call. Annoyed, Ciel threw off the covers, walking over to the door. Damn it, what does he want at this hour? And why didn't he respond? Reaching the source of his irritation, Ciel grabbed the knob and flung the door open. "Sebastian, what—"
There was no one there.
Ciel stood for a moment, staring into the darkness, listening for any hint of sound. After a few seconds, he shut the door again and turned back to his bed. I must have dreamt it, he reasoned.
Just as he was about to climb back into bed and go to sleep, the tapping started again, this time seeming to come from his window. He stalked over to it, flinging it open. Immediately, a bird hopped into the room, shaking the rain from its wings.
"It's the raven from before," Ciel thought aloud. "But why is it still hanging around here? I thought Sebastian would have scared it off for good." He examined the bird closer and realized that it was not the raven, but in fact a large crow. It gazed up at him curiously, its black eyes glittering.
"Well, it doesn't matter what type of bird you are, you still shouldn't be in here," Ciel said to it. "Now get out."
The bird stared at him, uncomprehending.
"Go on, shoo. I need to get back to sleep."
The crow fluttered up to perch on the headboard. It watched him intently for a moment. "Nevermore," it cawed.
Ciel was taken aback. "What…? You can talk?" he asked it.
The bird was silent.
"What's that supposed to mean. 'Nevermore'? That doesn't make any sense…" He paused. "Wait a minute. What am I thinking? I'm talking to a bird. You don't even know what you're saying; you're just repeating something you've heard. It doesn't mean anything." With that solved, he glared at the crow once more.
"Now, if you're done bothering me, you can kindly get out," he said. "I don't need you here."
Ciel moved toward the crow, intending to shoo it out the window. The crow hopped towards him, seemingly unafraid. Suddenly, lightning struck outside the manor, lighting up the room. Ciel shut his eyes, temporarily blinded. When he opened them again, the crow was gone. In its place was Sebastian, with an evil smile on his face and his eyes slitted.
"Se-Sebastian?" Ciel stammered, suddenly afraid.
Sebastian reached out to firmly grab Ciel's shoulder, leaning towards him, his mouth opening slightly. He began to whisper:
"And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above his chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And his soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted—nevermore!"
[][][][]
"Young master?" A hand was shaking his shoulder gently. "Young master, please wake up."
Ciel opened his eyes. Sebastian was standing over him, his usual composed expression upon his face. For a moment, he was filled with fear, then got a hold of himself, glancing around the room confusedly. "Sebastian? What…?"
"Really, my lord, I would think you would have learned your lesson the last time you fell asleep at your desk. But it appears that you've overexerted yourself again." The butler sighed, a faint hint of a smile on his face.
"I…fell asleep?" Ciel murmured, glancing at the window. The storm had let up quite a bit, and now the rain fell quietly against the window. "Then it was all a dream…"
"My lord?" Sebastian questioned.
"Nothing. Just…go get me some tea."
"As you wish, my lord." Sebastian bowed and exited the room, leaving Ciel staring out the window. A shiver ran down his spine as he recalled the final words of the Edgar Allen Poe poem:
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted—nevermore!
A.N.I know, I know, I should be working on "Black Tsubasa". I'm sorry, you guys! But I really wanted to write this, before I forgot about it, and so I did.
I promise I'll try to work on BT soon!