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—
The sapphire gaze of Ciel's newly discovered twin burned into Sebastian.
He just smiled pleasantly.
"I am afraid that must be true, my lady." Sebastian said cordially, adding quickly. "But your brother lies in bed, close to death. He needs you to-"
"Does he really?" The pink lips pouted as she cut Sebastian off.
This wasn't going at all like Sebastian had envisioned.
He didn't want to have to take her by force, he needed to play on her sympathy.
"Yes, my lady, your brother is quite ill. He needs you desperately, so much so, that he sent the head of his staff all the way from London to petition you." Sebastian reasoned.
The bluenette began to stalk around the room like a caged animal, looking over the decorations as she passed, pausing in the mirror to admire herself, rustling the beads on the drapes just a bit.
"Sebastian, was it?" That low, sultry voice cooed.
Sebastian nodded.
"Apparently, you still have much to learn about my brother. And you certainly have much to learn about me." The bluenette woman said as she sat down on a velvet ottoman across the room from Sebastian.
It was as if she were trying to physically distance herself from the dilemma she was being faced with.
She crossed her arms as she spoke. "Now don't misunderstand me, because I love my brother, I really do. However, he's always either ill, injured, or in distress. The poor thing has never been able to survive on his own. He depends on others for everything. But, I suppose, if he is as needy as you say… I can fund his medical treatment."
Th bluenette reached for a small black book.
As she flipped it open, she picked up a pen.
She was about to write a check.
"Oh no, my lady." Sebastian said quickly. "It is no matter of money. Your brother has sent me here to bring you home!" Sebastian smiled pleasantly.
"Bring me home?!" The bluenette's eyes widened in horror as if Sebastian had just said the most abominable thing to her.
The pen and check book fell to the floor.
She stumbled backwards, raising a hand to physically hold onto the wall of her room in the Palais Garnier.
"This is my home." That low voice said very, very seriously as if she were revealing a dramatic truth to Sebastian.
"My lady…"
The bluenette flipped the train of her fur coat and spun around, beginning to pace in the opposite direction. "I am no fool, he wants something more that just to see me. I am first born. He should have left everything, the responsibilities, to me. Instead, he went about it himself. How has that been going for him, eh? The biggest performance of my life is in three months. If I miss it, I'll be ruined! Why should I abandon my empire to sort his crumbling facade?"
The cynicism, the scowl that marred her elegant features…..
Sebastian recognized the Phantomhive coldness now.
Yes, she was Ciel's sister alright.
Sebastian thought for a moment.
He knew how to deal with Phantomhives.
He could negotiate with this Ciel.
In the far corner of the room, Sebastian spied a photograph.
Lady Rachel, Vincent Phantomhive, Ciel, his sister, and the family dog.
The bluenette saw Sebastian's eyes gazing at the picture.
Instantly, her face changed.
Was that…..sadness?
Remorse?
Guilt?
Ah, Sebastian had her right where he wanted her now, he just needed to push a bit more…
Play on just a bit more of her sympathy…...
"I'm sure Lady Rachel and Lord Vincent would be very happy if you granted your feeble brother his wish." Sebastian said quietly.
The bluenette shifted on her feet.
Sebastian saw her wince when she accidentally put her weight on her sprained ankle.
One more point of weakness…..
One more reason.
"And besides, my lady, you'd have plenty of time to rest." Sebastian added.
"I never have time to rest!" The bluenette snapped.
She was irritated now.
She knew she could not, in good conscience, refuse to see her brother if he lay on his deathbed.
What an inopportune time for this to happen!
Those sapphire eyes burned angrily at Sebastian, but he enjoyed it.
Those eyes held a fire he would enjoy being thrown into…...
"You have twelve weeks to get me back to this spot. Not one day more. Is that understood, Sebastian?" She asked, shrugging her shoulders so the fur that lined the collar on her robe would cover more of her exposed neck.
"Yes my lady, if we can leave right away." Sebastian nodded.
She drove a hard bargain, but Sebastian could do the same.
Sebastian had no idea if twelve weeks would be enough time or not, but he didn't have a lot of options.
He was anxious to return to Ciel, every minute they spent here talking was one less minute he had to tend to his master.
The bluenette slinked backwards, as if she were trying to hide in her fur.
At first, Sebastian thought she might reject that idea, and so, he gave her his most forlorn gaze, matching the intensity and the drama of her own.
Sebastian won.
She relaxed. "Very well. I have a silver carriage in the stables on the ground floor, at the bottom of the dormitories. Go there and I will meet you in a moment. I must pack my things."
"Of course, my lady." Sebastian nodded, giving her a polite bow as he turned and exited the room.
As he found his way to Dame Chancé's silver carriage, he couldn't help but smirk.
Yes, Sebastian was quite skilled at negotiating with Phantomhives, indeed.
—-
While Sebastian's negotiation skills were superb, apparently Dame Chancé's packing skills were not.
The Phantomhive butler had been waiting for over an hour when a parade of people came storming down the dormitory stairs to the stables.
Carried by the crowd, Dame Chancé sat on a black velvet throne, clad now in an elegant, silk, absinthe green riding dress, her brown wig fixed firmly in place.
There wasn't a dry eye among those who accompanied her as they sat her down gently.
Several crowd members held large suitcases that they began to load into the back of the carriage.
Sebastian watched in awe and amusement as the men in the crowd laid face down in the dirt and allowed Dame Chancé to walk in her soft black leather boots across their very backs until she made it to the carriage steps.
"Do you really have to leave?!" One crowd member almost screamed.
"Are you going to retire?!" Another asked, nearly frantic with worry.
The blond that had taken her to her room and bandaged her ankle stepped out of the crowd and walked up.
Sebastian watched as the two women embraced.
"Chancé, please don't go." Emilié, the blonde whispered.
"It is not forever, cherié, only a few weeks. I will return." Dame Chancé whispered back.
Emilié didn't let go.
"Rumors of retirement are as ridiculous as thinking I can possibly stay here to train for the next performance! I must inspire myself, push myself to the limit! Only then can true art be created! Do not worry, mi amours! I will return before the first spring morning! You have my word as La Reine du Ballet!"
Sebastian chuckled as the crowd cheered and Emilié reluctantly let go with tears in her eyes.
Dame Chancé, or, Ciel's sister, really loved it here.
And it seemed she was quite loved in return.
"Now, who has my darling boy? The love of my life! Where is he?!" Dame Chancé asked the crowd.
Sebastian's eyes narrowed.
For a strange reason, he felt instantly jealous and a bit angry.
Did Dame Chancé really think she was going to bring a lover while Ciel lay suffering?
"Here, majesté." A young girl called from deep in the crowd.
Sebastian was about to speak but…...he found himself dumbstruck as he watched the girl emerge from the crowd.
No….
In the girl's arms lay the biggest, the fattest, the fluffiest, grey Persian cat Sebastian had ever seen.
"Toulouse! Mi amour!" Dame Chancé cried as the girl handed the scowling animal over.
"Now our journey can begin." Dame Chancé sighed happily as she boarded the carriage and closed the door, with her fat cat in her arms.
The true Ciel was a very beautiful female.
The true Ciel had a very beautiful cat.
Sebastian was almost drooling.
"M-my master doesn't allow cats." Sebastian frowned as the cat meowed in Dame Chancé's arms.
"Toulouse is the best ratter in all of Paris. Country houses are as ripe with rats as this place. Toulouse comes or I stay." Ciel's twin hissed, giving Sebastian that intense stare again.
The cat meowed again, melting Sebastian's heart and judgement.
A cat….!
She could always keep it outside…
He snapped out of it when he saw the crowd began to rush at the carriage, still trying to keep Dame Chancé with them.
Sebastian recovered his wit in time to have the carriage well on its way before their journey was halted.
Dame Chancé waved goodbye as the silver carriage drove down the cobblestone street, with Sebastian at the reins.
—
Dame Chancé and her cat, Toulouse, slept the entire time that they crossed from France to England.
Sebastian dozed on and off.
Since they were on Dame Chancé's private yacht, it was her employee that steered the ship and that left Sebastian without much to do for the moment
Although, he did spend a large amount of time staring in admiration at the scowling cat.
Sebastian would have happily pet the creature, but every time he got close, Toulouse arched his back and hissed, standing protectively on Ciel's lap.
Sebastian liked the cat but it seemed the feline did not return his feelings.
When morning came and they arrived on British shores, Dame Chancé's face was disfigured by a terrible scowl.
Sebastian noticed and he found it rather odd.
Shouldn't she be happy to see her brother again, to be back in England?
She was British after all.
As they boarded a carriage bound for Phantomhive manor, Sebastian waited for the right moment to ask her about that scowl…...
In fact he wanted to ask her many, many things.
Once the carriage left London and they were no longer in the public eye, Ciel emerged again, as Dame Chancé put a hand up and slipped off her wig.
Her bluenette waves came tumbling down over her shoulders in the most beguiling way.
It was a dreary afternoon and rain began to pat down softly against the carriage's windows as they rode along.
Toulouse sat on Ciel's lap, purring as her elegant hand gently brushed his fur, but scowling at Sebastian.
The bluenette woman looked out the window and drew a deep breath in.
Now.
Now was the right time to begin a conversation.
"Is something not to your liking, my lady?" Sebastian asked, watching the bluenette closely.
She looked over at Sebastian.
She made a noise, just a quiet chuckle at first.
A quiet chuckle that came seductively from the bottom of her throat, before it grew louder and louder, ending as a laugh.
She laughed out loud as if Sebastian had just told her a great joke.
"Something not to my liking? Oh Sebastian…" the bluenette sighed dramatically, Sebastian's heart speeding up as she said the last two words slowly, languidly. "I could talk forever about what's not to my liking."
Sebastian frowned.
That was a vague answer.
He had been curious since they met and he was becoming more curious by the minute.
Right now, his master was much too ill to go over the details with him, and besides, he wanted to hear this new Ciel's side of the story.
"May I ask you another question, my lady?"
That seemed to surprise the bluenette.
She blinked at Sebastian, her sapphire eyes roamed over him from head to toe, as if she were trying to decipher his motive. "I suppose so."
"Why did you not return?" Sebastian asked.
It was a simple question to which she already knew the complex answer.
A moment of silence passed.
A reflective moment.
Dame Chancé turned to look out the rainy window again. "When my brother and I were quite young, Mother and Father took us to see the ballet. And I loved it so much they agreed to let me take lessons. But the ballet is no place for a noble woman. One day when Father found me practicing in my room, my lessons were tragically cancelled."
Sebastian listened silently.
Dame Chancé turned to look at Sebastian as she continued. "You see, you can't win when you're nobility. My brother's life and my life were already decided the moment we were born. My brother would assume the Earlship after my father's death and I would be sold like livestock to another aristocrat in a marriage that would prove a 'good match' for my family. My life was destined to be a series of balls, tedious dressings, births, and knitting from the moment it began."
Sebastian blinked.
Dame Chancé sighed as she looked out the window once more. "But one day, that dark day, when Mother and Father…...God rest their souls…..My brother and I were captured. I was bought by….a kind person, kind people, like fathers to me, who gave me a new life. My brother somehow escaped and assumed the duties of Earl, but no one knew I was alive."
Dame Chancé looked over at Sebastian and gave him a wide, bright smile that illuminated her fair features. "No one knew I was alive! And it was in that supposed death that I was truly born. Free from the bondage of societal expectations and obligations, I escaped!" Ciel gasped with joy. "I was granted a mercy those of my sex and class never receive. My life became my own!"
Sebastian was now listening with a soft smile.
What an intriguing, bold, little creature she was.
"So, then, Sebastian, you tell me why I would chose bondage over freedom? Eh? They've tried to put chains on me since I was born. But they'll never bind me." Ciel smirked as she looked out the window again.
Sebastian listened closely, thinking to himself in the silence that followed.
The Phantomhive twins certainly held different outlooks in life, but that arrogance, that determination, the regal beauty….
It seemed that both male and female Ciel shared many traits.
As the carriage finally arrived, Sebastian found himself eager to find out more.
Hmm….
The new Ciel was right.
Sebastian still had much to learn.
—
The Phantomhive butler stepped out of the carriage first to help his new charge out.
The cool breeze blew past as Sebastian extended his hand.
He waited….
He waited…...
The new Ciel snaked a hand out, pointing an elegantly manicured finger at the house. "What is that?" She asked, almost angrily.
Sebastian blinked. "It's Phantomhive manor, my lady. Your birthplace? We really must hurry, your brother lies inside and—"
"Oh…...you see….. I thought dear brother would have…...maybe he lived…..I'll just wait here for him." The new Ciel stammered before she quickly pulled the carriage door shut.
Sebastian looked confused.
One of his first orders from Ciel was to rebuild his beloved Phantomhive manor.
It seemed the real Ciel wanted nothing to do with the estate.
The twins certainly processed their past trauma differently.
A scowl crossed over Sebastian's face.
His master was inside, suffering and waiting.
And Sebastian did not go to Paris and back to fail at this point.
He put his face close to the glass carriage window and said in a low, soothing tone, "My lady, your brother is too weak to come out. He may be drawing his final breaths as we speak. I promise I will let no harm come to you."
Sebastian heard a rusting and he stepped back.
Slowly, the carriage door eased open.
Leaving Toulouse inside, the real Ciel very carefully, very warily poked her head out, as if something may fall from the sky and crush her flat.
Sebastian offered his gloved hand again and this time, it was accepted.
The new Ciel was so petite, Sebastian barely felt the soft touch of her hand, even though she gripped his tightly.
One step at a time, as if her foot may accidentally cause a land mine to go off, they approached the door.
When they made it, Sebastian opened the door graciously, "Welcome back to Phantomhive manor, my lady!" He chirped, turning to see the real Ciel hunched over, cowering with her body clenched and her eyes shut as if she were great pain.
"My lady?" Sebastian frowned.
The real Ciel sucked in a tight breath and cracked an eye open.
She clenched her teeth as if she were expecting a great impact, her sapphire eyes darting from Sebastian to the open door.
One step at a time, she gradually made her way inside the house.
Sebastian closed the door behind her and she jumped as if she had been shot.
One hand clasped over her neck as she turned, looking this way and that.
Sebastian noticed how hard she was breathing.
"Are you alright, my lady?" Sebastian asked with a frown.
The real Ciel's eyes were wide in horror as she took in every detail of the grand foyer. "Oh dear….it looks just like I remember."
Sebastian took that as a compliment. "The house was rebuilt down to the smallest detail, my lady." The butler said as he bowed proudly.
"The smallest detail?" The real Ciel asked as she finished looking over the foyer. "We shall see about that."
Sebastian frowned in confusion as she slowly began to approach the stairs and make her way up to Ciel's room.
For some reason, he had almost been expecting to show her the way.
He had almost forgotten she already knew.
Sebastian followed behind her as they walked and she kept her shoulders scrunched, cowering along as if some horrible creature was about to burst through the walls and attack.
Sebastian's frown remained.
It was his duty as house butler to make guests feel welcome, but it was especially important to make other members of the Phantomhive family feel welcome in their own home.
They passed Ciel's study, the room where the murdered Phantomhives had been discovered ten years ago and the real Ciel put a hand up over her face so she wouldn't see.
To make this Phantomhive feel welcome here…..
Sebastian wondered if he had finally been faced with a task he could not perform.
—-
After what seemed like eternity to the real Ciel, they finally approached her brother's door.
The petite bluenette entered the room quietly, Sebastian moving stealthily behind her.
Her anxiety about the house disappeared when she heard her brother's wheezy breathing.
Sebastian stayed dutifully behind as the twin approached his master's bed.
The bluenette man rolled his head over and blinked, his eyes hazy, and his cheeks pink from fever, "You're…..you're here."
The real Ciel's face softened, "Yes brother, I'm here."
"Said you'd….never….come back….need…..you….to..." Ciel wheezed, his chest rising and falling as he struggled to get a hand out of the covers.
His twin grasped it as soon as he did, holding it tightly. "Only for you, brother. What can I do? How can I help you?"
"Sebastian…..Sebastian knows." Ciel said, nearly slurring his words as sleep began to overcome him once more.
No, not yet.
That wasn't a very clear answer.
"Sebastian knows what?" The twin pressed.
"Sebas…...knows…..what…" Ciel murmured, shifting in his bed as he called out to his butler. "Sebas…."
"Yes, my lord?" Sebastian asked.
The twin took notice of the look of deep, sincere concern on the butler's face.
"Watch….over…..over…...her." Ciel sighed, his eyes almost rolling back into his head as the drowsiness took hold.
Sebastian understood.
Ciel had brought his twin here not only to say goodbye, but to finish carrying out his quest for revenge.
Sebastian was intrigued.
He glanced over at the twin.
The female bluenette was still in the dark.
"What does that mean?" She asked Sebastian.
"It means that for the moment, your brother wishes you and I to partner together, my lady." Sebastian replied.
The twin's eyes widened.
Sebastian smirked.
This was going to be interesting.