Stepping out of the carriage, Ciel and Sebastian stand right in front of a large medieval castle. It is in the middle of a large field in the English countryside, its solitude gray stone giving it a cold and ancient appearance. There are not very many people around the castle, only a few tourists and castle caretakers. Ciel gives a mental sigh in relief, for at least they will not have to worry too much about bring unnecessary attention.
"How would you like us to approach this, young master?" Sebastian asks, dragging Ciel out of his thoughts. "Would you like me to search it myself and have you wait out here or would you like to go in with me?"
"I might as well go with you," Ciel answers in a monotone voice. "I want to see the clues myself."
Sebastian blinks.
"Is it because we are looking for something 'holy' that you don't trust me to get the job done?"
Ciel shakes his head.
"No, I just don't want to sit out here bored out of mind while waiting for you. Now, shall we go?"
With Sebastian rolling his eyes, the earl and his butler both make their way into the castle. They get in without much trouble, though a few of the caretakers seem persistent on getting them into a tour group instead of them roaming the castle independently. Sebastian is able to get them off their back, but Ciel still feels greatly annoyed by it.
Can't they just mind their own business?
They wander all through the rooms of the first floor of the castle, but neither Sebastian or Ciel find anything of use. Not that surprises Ciel.
We are getting nowhere at this rate!
They eventually find a staircase and follow it up to the second floor. They search it, and again, find nothing. Ciel growls in frustration.
"This is so pointless... I don't care if the queen wants it or not, this is a waste of my time!"
Sebastian looks down at him.
"Such harsh words, my lord. We've only been searching for fifteen minutes and five seconds. It hasn't been that long."
"And yet I could have been using that fifteen minutes and five seconds doing important things, like finding ways to improve the company!" Ciel snaps. "I'm a busy man, Sebastian. I can't run little earns like this all the time, even if I am the queen's guard dog, and this isn't even a job for a guard dog!"
Sebastian sighs. "Just have some patience. You might even have fun if you just kept a positive attitude."
Ciel's eye twitches but he says nothing else in reply.
They then go up to the third floor, where they arrive in a large hallway. There are a bunch of large windows, each having a beautiful view of the English countryside. Though Ciel hates to admit, he does think the view is nice.
"Hmm...this is strange."
Ciel blinks, realizing that Sebastian is in one of the other rooms. He goes to where Sebastian is, who is standing on the edge of a balcony holding something in his hands. Ciel looks over to realizes that he is holding what looks like to be a coconut.
"Sebastian, where did you get the coconut?" he asks.
"I found it out here on the balcony," Sebastian answers, a puzzled look in his dark brown eyes. "Strangely enough, it was right next to a swallow."
"A swallow? Why would a swallow be with coconut?"
"Been asking myself the same question."
Ciel and Sebastian's eyes widen. They turn around to see a man with long silver hair and a long black robe approach them.
"That swallow and coconut has been there for some time now," the Undertaker says with a crooked grin. "It almost looked like it brought it there or something like that..."
Sebastian raises an eyebrow.
"How could a swallow carry a coconut, it is far too small to carry it. And where would a swallow even find a coconut?"
The Undertaker shrugs his shoulders, smiling from ear to ear.
"Perhaps it found one from when it migrated south. Or maybe some Englishman brought it and the swallow stole it. Oh, the possibilities are endless!"
"Uh...no they are not," Sebastian counters. "It is impossible for a swallow to carry a coconut, a tropical fruit, to this castle, in Great Britain."
"Yes...but it could have been migrated here, just like the swallow."
"Are you suggesting that coconuts migrate?"
"Undertaker, what are you doing here?" Ciel quickly says before they could continue their ridiculous conversation. "Shouldn't you be back in London at your funeral parlor?"
The Undertaker frowns.
"Yes, I should supposedly. I could get really behind on my work if I am gone for too long..."
His creepy grin quickly returns to his face.
"But I haven't had a lot of guests arriving lately, so I thought I would take a little vacation."
He moves closer to Ciel.
"But the real question is, what are you doing here, milord? I wouldn't think a busy earl such as yourself would be visiting an old castle."
Ciel takes a step back from the Undertaker, a disgusted look on his face.
"If you must know, I'm here on business for the queen."
The Undertaker's smile grows, and even though his eyes are covered, Ciel could probably guess that they are glowing with curiosity.
"And what kind of business, if I may ask?"
He giggles, as if expecting a funny answer. Ciel narrows his eyes.
"It is none of your-"
"We are looking for the legendary holy grail," Sebastian says, cutting Ciel off. "The queen is trying to recover the artifact and we have been instructed to find it."
The Undertaker stares at Sebastian for a second. Suddenly, he bursts into a fit of laughter. Ciel clutches his fists, glaring up at Sebastian. Sebastian smiles.
"He would have kept asking until we answered him. Besides, he could be useful."
"How can he be useful?" Ciel questions angrily. "There are no corpses involved, so I doubt he would know anything about the holy grail!"
"Actually, I do."
Both Ciel and Sebastian turn to the Undertaker, who is slowly trying to get in control over his laughter.
"Hee hee, I do know a thing or two about the holy grail!" he says with a large smile. "One can learn a lot from reading into the lives of others..."
He pauses, most likely to add dramatic effect to the moment, as both Ciel and Sebastian are staring at him with wide eyes.
"However, if you want to know, you are going to have to pay the price... You know what I mean, milord."
Ciel sighs.
"Damn you, Undertaker! Sebastian, can you take care of this?"
There is no reply.
"...Sebastian?"
He turns to see that Sebastian is gone.
Ciel blinks and looks down from the balcony to see that their carriage is being stolen. Sebastian, apparently. has jumped off from the balcony and is trying to catch up to it. Ciel's eyes widen, his jaw hanging open, while the Undertaker stands beside him laughing his head off. Ciel curses in frustration and quickly runs out of the castle as fast as he can. By the time he gets outside, Sebastian is nowhere in sight, and neither is the carriage. Ciel's eye twitches.
"Sebastian, get back here!" he cries out.
"I'm right here, young master."
Sebastian walks up to Ciel, his black uniform covered with dirt. Ciel narrows his eyes.
"Were you able to catch the carriage?"
Sebastian sighs.
"It happened so fast that I was barely able to catch them. Whoever stole our carriage, I can say I'm impressed on how well they work."
"...So were you able to get it back?" Ciel asks, pressing on the question.
It takes awhile for Sebastian to reply.
"...I got a wheel back."
He lifts up a half scorched wooden carriage wheel. Ciel's eyes widen.
"...H-how..."
"I was able to catch up to the carriage without any problem, and take down the thieves," Sebastian explains. "But then while I was questioning them, the carriage exploded..."
There is a short silence.
"How did it explode?" Ciel questions. "Carriages don't just randomly explode!"
"They must have put dynamite in it before they made off with it. Why they would do that, I have no idea."
Ciel growls.
"Well, now what? We still have no idea where the grail is and now we have no carriage to travel in! Can things get any worse and more irritating?"
"Now that you said it, probably."
Undertaker slowly approaches them, chuckling softly to himself.
"I wouldn't say those things out loud, milord," he advises. "You might jinx yourself for it to come true."
Ciel rolls his eyes, making the Undertaker look even more amused.
"But, now that you paid the price," he continues, "I can tell you where to find the grail."
Sebastian raises an eyebrow, an unconvinced look in his eyes.
"You know exactly where the holy grail is?"
The Undertaker smiles.
"I do."
"...How?"
"Well, being a retired shinigami, you have to know these things."
The Undertaker then puts his attention on Ciel.
"The holy grail has been lost for centuries upon centuries in a long forgotten castle that was supposedly destroyed. The castle is hidden deep within the earth, and to get to it you must enter a cave that is guarded by a dangerous monster, one that would even challenge the strength of your demon butler!"
"I will be the judge of that," Sebastian says. "And how did you know I am a demon?"
The Undertaker grins.
"But even before you can get to the monster and the cave, you need to go through..."
He stops in mid sentence. There is a short silence, both Ciel and Sebastian waiting for him to continue.
"...Go through what, Undertaker?" Ciel finally asks. "You need to finish your sentence."
The Undertaker tips his head to the side, completely ignoring the earl.
"Hmm...seems I have forgotten. Sorry, milord."
There is a long silence.
Ciel feels an overwhelming amount of rage build up inside of him, wanting nothing more than anything to see the Undertaker strangled to death. The Undertaker gives a large smile.
"At least I gave you a start! Now it is best you get on your way."
He then turns to face Sebastian.
"Oh, and you best take this."
Taking his hands out of his long sleeves, the Undertaker gives Sebastian the coconut from earlier. Sebastian blinks.
"Why would I need this?"
Undertaker snickers.
"You lost your carriage and horses, so you need to improvise for the earl."
Sebastian looks down at the coconut and then back to the Undertaker.
"You are not suggesting..."
The Undertaker laughs softly.
"I wish you both good luck on your journey! Hee hee hee..."
