Salutations!

Kohai reporting in with her first ever Kuroshitsuji story! There are a few things I would like to make known before you start reading this story. This story should not be taken super seriously. This story is based of events that have happened in an RP group of mine so there will be OC's and the characters might do things that seem weird but are inside jokes for us. This tagged under humor so take it like it is. I hope everyone enjoys reading it just as much as I enjoy RPing it. To my RP friends, if you are reading this: I love you all and hope you enjoy the story.

We're All Mad Here

Prologue

"We cannot always control everything that happens to us in this life, but we can control how we respond. Many struggles come as problems and pressures that sometimes cause pain. Others come as temptations, trials, and tribulations."

~ L. Lionel Kendrick

Ebony Rose

Red. The color red was everywhere - engulfing and swallowing everything around it. Swirls of orange and yellow mixed in with the red and the smell of scorched wood and paint seemed to be filling the air. There was, however, another sickly sweet aroma that seemed to be almost overwhelming.

It smelled as if someone had put a slab of fatty pork on a frying pan and had forgotten about it. It was sweet and acrid, and in a way it similar to that of charcoal. The aroma was so strong one could almost taste it as it seemed to cling to your tongue.

The smoke and colors seemed to blur in the young girls vision, but it was a blood curdling scream that snapped her back to reality. She looked down at her small hands and watched as the crimson liquid dripped to the ground between her fingers. When she turned her gaze forward the red and orange swirls became a clearer picture. It was a fire.

Everything - everyone - was burning. That sickly sweet smell was the sweet aroma of the burning flesh around her. She watched as one of the smaller bodies crawled towards and reached a hand out as if she could do something for it. She would hardly even call it a body anymore.

As if she suddenly had no more control over her body she started laughing. It was a cold and cruel laugh, devoid of any humor. She tilted her head and stared down at this so called body. All its flesh had been burned off so it was more of a crispy lump of muscle and tissue more than anything - it was unrecognizable. It didn't matter to the girl. In fact the sight of seeing this mass that was once a body crawl towards her and reach out desperately pleased her - it excited her.

With a twisted grin she lifted her foot and brought it down on the mass of tissue and flesh, causing a rather satisfying crunch as her foot sunk into its skull. The so called body didn't even utter a sound as she shoved her foot through it's ugly head, instead it simply fell limp. She yanked her foot up and watched as string of mush and blood came up as she pulled away. It was similar in texture to a sort of mushy noodle dish. Ramen perhaps.

She remembered things were still burning when she felt the heat of the flames get closer to her own flesh. There was no more screaming or any sound at all - everything except the flickering of the fire had stopped making sound. Her body went on autopilot and she found herself running out of the burning building.

She ran and ran and ran, not stopping until she reached an abandoned alleyway where she fell to her knees and started laughing as if she had just heard the best joke of her life. She slowly curled up on the ground as her laughter turned to sobs.

She didn't seem to notice the purple eyes watching her from the distance.

William T. Spears and Ronald Knox

The night was unusually eerie. There were no sounds, not even crickets, and each footstep the two Shinigami's took seemed to echo loudly. Even the moon appeared to be in hiding. The sight before them was horrifying.

The building before the two reapers was just barely standing. It was clear that the small building before them had been long neglected before the fire had ever happened as the wood was clearly rotted and the paint was weathered and chipped. The shutters were broken and the windows were cracked - though it was unclear if they were cracked because of the fire or due to lack of care - and the grass was tall and unkempt.

The taller of the two Shinigami's used his death scythe to adjust his glasses. He didn't care much for human affairs but even he had to admit that this was an absolutely horrid place. The air reeked of burnt flesh still, despite the fact that the fire had been out for hours.

The other Shinigami ran a hand through his blond hair. He was disgusted to think that not only were children forced to live in such awful conditions but they had all died so young. The oldest kid here was no more than ten. Their futures had quite literally been burned away. What could possibly make a person do such a cruel thing as burn down an orphanage? He had little sympathy for the adults, as their files showed they were abusive and often times malicious. As far as he was concerned they got what was coming for them.

The pair wasted no time in reaping the poor souls and watching through each cinematic record as neither of them was fond of overtime. Through watching the various clips it was easy to piece together that some small child was behind these murders, though it wasn't exactly clear on how it had happened. It was the taller Shinigami who had the pleasure of reaping the child with the smashed in skull.

Without hesitation he stuck his death scythe in the burnt child's body, causing it to basically cave in. He watched the memories as they passed him. They seemed to be the same as the all the other children's - nothing extremely special or interesting. The child was given up at age three and lived in the poor conditions of the orphanage. It appeared he, just as the other children, had picked on one of the smaller girls at the orphanage. Kids could be cruel and it wouldn't be the first time a bullied child murdered their peers he supposed, though this was much more horrific than what he had usually seen. It was the last few seconds of this child memories that got to him, however.

In the last few seconds he was looking up at the small girl he had bullied and appeared to be reaching out to her.

Her eyes. They were full of a cruel humor and devoid of any sympathy - almost as if she felt nothing anymore. However, there was something else hidden amongst the coldness and it seemed to be a look of pain and longing. The emotion was so intense it surprised him and caused him to take step back. He felt something deep inside that he hadn't felt before but he wasn't sure exactly what it was. He shook his head and spun his death scythe. It didn't matter. Their job was done and it was time to go.

Four Years Later

Ciel Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaelis

Four years had passed since the burning of the orphanage and not much had happened since, other than the burning down of the Phantomhive manor but that's a story for another time.

The air was thick and each breath the young earl took felt like there was a weight on his chest. The ground was wet and he was sweating a bit. He wanted nothing more than to go back to his manor and eat some cake but his blasted butler - Sebastian - had insisted that it would be good for his public image if he went to the grand opening of the new orphanage. What did he care if a bunch of snotty street rats had another place to call "home?" He had much more important business he could be doing for the queen. Not to mention it was absolutely awful outside.

Sebastian managed to silence the earls grumbling with the promise of cake once they got home, however.

The entire affair was over rather swiftly. The young earl cut the red ribbon for the new orphanage, people cheered, pictures were taken, and then everyone went about their daily lives. Off in the shadows there was a young girl watching the whole ordeal with a sense of interest. No one noticed her, which was nothing new to the girl. She didn't seem to notice the red eyes staring at her as she was more focused on the young earl, Ciel.

As the people began to clear out Sebastian seemed to say something to Ciel but it was so soft the young girl couldn't hear what was being said. Ciel appeared rather annoyed and began walking, Sebastian following close behind him. The girl followed behind the duo at a distance, keeping her steps silent.

She appeared to be waiting for an opening of some sort but couldn't seem to get one thanks to the butler getting in her way. Just as she was about to call it quits and leave she realized that she had followed them into a dead end alleyway. Not good. She began to back up when the young earl turned around and looked her dead in the eye.

"Trying to steal from a Phantomhive is quite a bold move," the young boy said, seemingly unamused.

"Bocchan, that's no way to be speaking to a lady," Sebastian chuckled lightly.

Ciel opened his mouth to speak but the girl cut him off.

"I ain't a lady," spat the young girl as she narrowed her eyes.

Ciel simply rolled his eyes at the girl. "How do you intend to atone for your actions exactly? In fact, why don't I just have you thrown in jail? Sebastian, I o-"

"I think she could be of use to us, bocchan." Sebastian smiled, cutting off the young earl.

"And how do you purpose we use a thief like her?" Ciel scoffed.

"I'm right here, ya know!" the girl growled, annoyed that they were talking about her as if she wasn't there.

Sebastian turned his attention to the young girl. "What might your name be, miss?"

The girl shrugged. "I dunno... I don't have a name." she mumbled, somewhat embarrassed.

"How about you give yourself a name?" Sebastian said with a slight head tilt. He was as charming as ever.

The girl was silent as she thought. "Ebony. Ebony Rose is my name."

Sebastian found the name rather fitting for the young girl as black roses were often used to symbolize witchcraft. It was only natural the girl would pick such a name.

"Well, Ebony Rose, I would like to propose an arrangement. I think both you and Ciel will find it beneficial in the long run." Sebastian said with an almost devious grin.

And so the story begins...

Salutations!

That concludes the prologue of We're All Mad Here. It was a bit short but I already have the first chapter typed up and am working on the second one. Leave a review and tell me what you thought.