I was nervous, yet excited, clutching my suitcase in my lap. Leaning forward to peer out the carriage's door window, I saw that I was currently passing through a wooded area, sunlight was randomly dappled across the earthen floor and illuminated the area with an emerald leaf glow. Sitting back I inhaled deeply and sighed, thinking to myself about what awaited me on the other side of this forest. The clicking of horse hooves served as a temporary escape from the boring carriage ride and I let myself zone out to the droning hum of hooves. I let myself get lost in the clicks of the wheels over rocks and gallops of hooved beasts, and in no time we had already stopped. Fixing my hair and adjusting the white bow that sat atop my head, I exited the carriage. As soon as I stepped off the carriage departed. Realizing I didn't have my bag, panic flooded through me like rain to dying crops. Stunned, I made a staggering beginning towards chasing after the carriage screaming,
"Hey! Wait! I forgot my bag!" but no matter how much I yelled he seemed to not hear me. Cursing underneath my breath I picked up the pace, years of track training had me conditioned to run long distances, and fast too.
"Wait!" I shrieked. Still nothing, and it was beginning to turn back into the forest. With a determined growl I pressed on, almost able to jump upon it. I clutched the back bar and managed to pull myself up, my hair was a mess and I was panting heavily. He should be able to hear me now!
"Hey, driver!" I shouted. Startled he let out an exclamation, pulling the carriage to a hasty stop. Not prepared for the sudden jolt I fell off the carriage and onto the dusty path, filth and dirt stained my outfit, hands were I braced myself, and my face after I had touched it with my hands. Great! Now I'm an absolute mess, what is the new master going to think of that?
Groaning I stood up and tried to brush off the dust that had settled on my nice white apron, only making it worse since my hands were filthy themselves.
"Driver...driver..." I panted, walking along side the carriage, "I forgot my bag."
"Oh, I am so sorry, my lady, I did not mean to cause you any trouble." he apologized.
"No, no, no it's quite alright." I lied. No, NO, it was NOT quite alright. Opening up the carriage door and pulling out my suitcase the driver asked,
"Would you like me to take you the rest of the way back, you look exhausted." smiling my best fake polite smile I replied,
"Ah, no , thank you. I can walk."
"If you insist, my lady." he replied a bit uncertain before starting up the horses again. He had other servants to escort and it was kind of him to offer to cut out some of his working hours to help me, but I couldn't let the other servants be late arriving to their new manors, that would reflect badly on them.
As I began to walk back I heard a voice from the trees and it startled me,
"My, my, that was quite impressive." they said. Looking around frantically I spotted the source, a pale man with coal black hair leaning on a tree branch.
"I-I suppose so." I answered. Oh no! Someone had spotted me in my current condition, this was embarrassing. I frantically tried to fix my hair and wipe the dirt caked on my skin, but I failed miserably. Laughing nervously I looked back up at him, he seemed amused. Suddenly he dropped from the tree, disappearing from sight for a second or two in the foliage. Surprised and concerned for his safety (it was a rather high branch) I gasped loudly as I lurched forward, running to his aid. I heard him hit the ground, it was a loud thud and there was the swish of flora,
"Sir, are you oka-!" I halted as I saw him emerge unscathed from the plant-life, I backed up a bit. I wasn't sure what to think, but I was definitely relieved.
"I take it you are, Evelyn Avis." he began as he walked towards me, I began to notice how nice looking of a man he was, but the eyes that sat within his skull unsettled me beyond belief.
"Uuh, y-yes, yes that's me." I replied, digging my nails into the handle of my bag.
"We have been anticipating your arrival, however, now quite in this..." he looked me over, set off by my muddled appearance, "...Condition." Grimacing internally I replied,
"Ah, yes, sorry about this. I-I forgot my bag you see and uh..yeah." I held it up in front of me as if it were some sort of protective barrier.
"I know, I saw the whole thing. I heard yelling so I thought I would investigate." he looked me dead in the eyes, causing me to glance away. I'm not really sure I could get used to his glare.
"I'm Sebastian, by the way, Sebastian Michealis, butler of the Phantomhive Manor." The way he looked at me was as if he could tell I was scared of him, and he loved it, breathing in the aura like a sweet perfume.
"O-Oh it's nice to meet you, Sebastian." I bowed nicely. I thought that only my occasional stammering gave away my inner turmoil, but he seemed to read me like a book.
"Like wise," he smiled, "Let's get you back to the manor so you can get cleaned up. Then I will show you around the manor and introduce you to the master and staff."
"Alright." I agreed.
"If I may?" he gestured to my suitcase.
"Hm? Oh, no, no thank you I can carry it myself." I replied clutching it tighter to my chest.
"It is really no trouble to me." he looked me squarely in the eyes, hand still outstretched. I stared at his gloved hand, not wanting to seem like I needed help. However, I glanced up to meet his gaze and was convinced otherwise. I slowly nodded as I handed it to him, Sebastian thanked me and we headed back to the manor.
Sebastian was kind enough to spare me any more embarrassment by letting me wash up and change before he introduced me to anyone. Standing in the mirror I straightened my posture, turning and craning my neck to make sure I looked just fine. I felt so nice now that I was clean. It was a rather long walk back to the manor, I didn't even realize that I had ran that far or quickly. About thirty minutes was spent feeling like a sweaty and filthy mess. I glanced at my suitcase laying on my new bed, in my new room, empty and unshared. Claire and Daisy crossed my mind, but I pushed them out, I had to move on. It was actually quite bothering me how the suitcase was cracked open and had stray garments sticking out. I decided to just fully unpack and put them away into the dresser.
Just as I was about done unpacking there was a knocking at the door,
"Miss Avis, are you ready yet?" it was Sebastian.
"Yes, sir!" I called back, rising from my kneeling position and sliding the drawer back in. I went to go answer the door. As I opened it, Sebastian was standing there with his pocket watch out.
"I'm ready, sir." I said calmly. I had gotten more used to his presence in the short while that I had been here, but he still gave me the chills.
"Yes, good." he replied, setting the watch back into his pocket, "We have to get this over with quick though, I have to prepare the young master's dinner soon."
"Yes, of course." I replied, "I would hate to be a delay to you, sir." He acknowledged your response with a simple nod,
"Follow me, please."
My feet began to tire as I was nearing the end of my tour of the manor, listening to Sebastian go on and on about certain cleaning procedures in different rooms. I did not mind though, I really liked his voice, and I asked questions on purpose just to hear it. He seemed to know just about everything, and he was rather polite too. A little too perfect though, it was intimidating.
"And that concludes your tour." he bowed as he stopped in front of a door,
"The Master would like to see you now. Now if you'll excuse me I have dinner to tend to." and with that he left me alone in the middle of the hallway.
"Uuuuuhhh..." I looked around helplessly, was this the door or did he just stop here on random?
"That is indeed the correct door, Miss Avis." I nearly jumped out of my skin as I heard Sebastian's voice behind me. He found my reaction funny and thought to himself, 'having this new maid could be more fun than I thought.'.
"Oh, okay,uh, t-thank you, Sebastian." I stammered
"It was no trouble to me." he smiled at me as he left once more. For as nice as he was, he was still pretty damn creepy.
As I knocked on the door, I heard the new master for the first time, a young boy's voice called in response,
"Come in." it was not the kind of voice I would expect to be owned by a kid, it was monotonous and serious, too adult like. Clicking the doorknob I stepped inside the Phantomhive's office. I was taken back by Ciel's appearance, for a thirteen year old he looked like he had stared into the pits of hell and wore a grim expression, but I guessed he would have to be that way if he expected anyone to take him seriously in the business world.
"So, you are the new maid?" Ciel asked with curiosity.
"Yes, sir." I bowed for him, a lot less nervous in his presence than in Sebastian's.
"Take a seat, please." he motioned to an empty chair that he had positioned in front of his desk, "I have some questions for you to answer." Nodding in obedience I sat down placing my hands in my lap.
"First of all, welcome to my manor, I hope everything is to your liking." he began, I nodded to say,
"Yes, indeed, it is very lovely here."
"Good, how has Sebastian been so far?" he asked. My heart twitched a little at the mention of his name.
"He has been nothing but kind to me, Sir." I replied.
"As expected." Ciel smirked to himself, "So, in the letter it stated that you were the 'best of the best', would you care to elaborate on that for me?"
"Oh, is that what it really said?" I blushed a bit, I wasn't really used to being complimented to my face, "Well, I can assure you that I am very modest about my work, but I come from a very long line of skilled and talented servants, it is in my blood to serve you see. We are trained in more than just cleaning, but also combat so we are able to protect our masters as well. I spent a lot of my childhood mastering the art of all kinds of weaponry and physical endurance, as well as typical maid duties. You'll see that I am pretty much capable of anything, my Lord."
"Is that so? How interesting." he leaned forward so that his elbows rested on his desk, "I'll have to see these skills in action myself before I can believe that. Seeing as your last master was murdered, it seems you were unable to save him." My eyes widened, was this kid seriously bringing that up?! It just made me feel worse about the whole situation.
"I'd prefer not to reflect on my failed duties as a maid, my Lord." I lowered my head a bit. Ciel lost his almost smile,
"Well forgetting about it isn't going to be very productive. What if you fail in protecting me?" His single eye burned holes in me skin, it was a deathly stare.
"I can assure you that won't happen, sir." I replied almost too quickly with a hint of anger.
"...Let's hope not." he leaned back in his chair.
That wasn't at all what I had expected, Ciel had maturity in him beyond his years. Telling from his eye patch, it seems that it was forced upon him by misfortune. Perhaps that it why I could not find any pictures of his parents anywhere. How tragic.
"That will be all, Miss Avis." Ciel dismissed me, "The Servant's eat in the Servant's hall. I trust you'll be able to find your way, after all, you did just have a tour." This kid was trying to test and push me, I could just tell. And of course I knew where the Servant's dinning room was at! I wasn't just gawking at Sebastian the entire time. Well maybe I was, but I was also paying attention, it's called multitasking, which I excel at.
"Yes, Master." I bowed as I stood up, exiting the room. I began walking towards the servant's hall when I heard foot steps behind me,
"Do you need any help with getting where you are going, Miss Avis?" Sebastian called. I didn't stop walking but I did tilt my head back and reply,
"No, thank you, Sebastian. I know exactly where I am going."
"Is that so?" his voice was considerably closer.
"Yes, I have a decent memory. And didn't you have dinner to tend to?" I asked.
"I have already finished all my tasks for today and dinner is currently cooling in the kitchen. In the meanwhile I have nothing to do." he replied.
"Done already?" I stopped in my tracks and turned around, shocked, "I was barely in there for 15 minutes!" that was really quite impressive.
"Well you see, I am simply one Hell of a butler." he walked by me with a smirk. A smirk that was to die for, why did he have to do that to me? Without realizing it my heart was beating faster and I tried to keep up with his long strides.
"Where are you going now?" I asked, trailing behind.
"Wherever you're going, the servant's hall if I'm correct?" he replied, glancing back at me.
"Yeah, I'm not really that hungry though to be honest." I answered, playing absent mindedly with the tassels on my apron.
"Still, it would be an opportune moment to introduce yourself don't you think?"
"Ehm, yeah, sure." I replied, but then a question entered my mind, "Sebastian? If you don't mind me asking but...are your eyes naturally that color?"
"Why yes, there are indeed all mine and natural." he replied cooly, "I wondered the same about your's since they are quite a striking shade of brown...no...gold." Blushing furiously I covered my face with my hands, was he trying to me flustered or did he just play on everyone's heart strings? The answer was not the latter, he was deliberately flattering me to get a reaction, he found it rather entertaining to watch me struggle to keep myself together. I did not know this at the time, however. The only reason he didn't try this on the other maid, Mey-rin I think he called her, was because she broke to pieces way too easily. She was far too easy to manipulate, I however, was stronger than her and it intrigued him. He wanted to test my limits of self control. Very devious if you ask me.
"Oh, uh, thank you." I managed to keep my voice intact this time. He only smile back at me. Most of the trip was spent walking in silent reflection, giving me some time to think about some things.
"Is Ciel always like that?" I asked flatly, just thinking out loud.
"Like what?" Sebastian replied.
"Antagonizing." I kind of spat the word.
"I'm afraid so, Evelyn." he answered, "Has been ever since his parent's incident."
"Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear that. It must have been terrible for him." I said, so I guess my theory was right.
"I wouldn't go pitying him though, it might not fare so well for you if you did." I saw him glance at me, but only for a second.
"Here we are." Sebastian stopped in front of a pair of doors and opened them to reveal a typical Servant's hall. A long wooden table down the center with a large window letting light in at the end. However, the window was not enough since the sun was currently setting, so they had turned on the gaslights. Sebastian escorted me to the table and sat down with me while the other servants were just arriving.
Even though the food was the most amazing food I had ever eaten, I just couldn't eat that much of it. I suppose I was a little homesick, or, manor sick really. I missed my old Master and his Lady already. Especially my friends. The company was nice though, everyone was lovely, and I had great conversations. Sebastian was strangely quiet though, barely making any remarks and not eating at all. I could sense Meyrin staring at me for most of the time, and staring at the dashing butler seated next to me. What was that look in her eyes? Jealousy? Jealous of what? I was just sitting next to him, unless he was so detached from everyone else that this was considered very close. The effect of me feeling that Meyrin was that I couldn't help but feel threatened by her. Sure she was a nice girl, very zany, erratic, and well intentioned, but we all have irrational feelings of protectiveness and infatuation, just how could we be human if we didn't?
Soon it was time to clean up our scarce mess and prepare for bed, Sebastian insisted on cleaning up mine for me and leaned over me numerous times to do so, just lightly brushing against me. He helped me up from my seat, and I could still feel Meyrin's eyes glancing over to us. We parted ways once out the door and I headed for my room.
Meanwhile in Ciel's Office:
"So, Sebastian, is Evelyn proving useful yet?" Ciel asked, looking up at his butler.
"I'm afraid not, sir." Sebastian began, "However, I will take blame for that since I did not assign her any tasks to complete so far. I figured since she just arrived today that I should not be so hard on her, but I will make sure to give her plenty of tasks tomorrow." Ciel replied with interest,
"Well from what she had told me she is perfectly capable of handling almost anything, so I'm sure a few tasks on the first day wouldn't have done her any harm." he stopped for a second before he continued, "I was hoping for her to prove herself."
Sebastian looked down at him with curiosity,
"And why is that, my Lord?" Ciel's eye widened as he sought after an answer,
"D-Don't question my motives." he folded his arms, "I have my reasons." he murmured as he glanced down at his desk. Sebastian smiled and sighed,
"Very well, Master." walking over to Ciel's side he continued, "It is time for bed, my Lord, you have a rather busy day tomorrow with all your paper work and such." Ciel groaned as he stood up,
"I suppose so, I'll probably be stuck in the study all day tomorrow.".
