I do not own in any form Black Butler or its characters. I do own copyright on the OC Rhazen Leonidas.
This story contains elements from both the manga and anime of Kuroshitsuji.
I in no way make any form of profit from this story.
This story is rated M for general content.
Special Note: As Grell considers himself a woman, I will be using female pronouns when writing from "her" point of view. Other characters will still refer to Grell as male.
Chapter IV
The next morning found everyone back in the dining hall, enjoying a simple breakfast of kippers and porridge. It was certainly below Ciel's normal standards, but with the storm still swirling outside, they had to make the supplies stretch. Despite Ciel's protests, Rhazen had insisted that the staff eat with them as well, just to make sure everyone is fed and all the supplies are kept track of more easily.
"Where's Pluto?" Finny asked, looking out the window into the storm. "Normally he's right against the window, hoping we bring him some scraps."
Sebastian cast a glare at his brother, who merely smirked under his mask before he answered. "Don't worry, lad. I brought him to my room last night so he wouldn't be so cold out there in the snow and the storm."
Finny frowned a bit at that. "But Pluto's never met you before, and he gets awfully violent with strangers. How'd you manage that?"
"I have my ways of soothing savage beasts," Rhazen replied, striding over to where Finny sat and gently pinching the boy's chin with his thumb and forefinger to bring their gazes to meet. "Perhaps later I could show you a few of my more... amusing techniques."
Finny was spared answering and Sebastian a rebuttal of his brother's uncouth behavior by the sudden appearance of a young man striding into the room. Dressed in an immaculate but somber black suit, the red haired stranger moved further into the room, his gaze locked squarely on Rhazen.
The lack of life and humor in the green eyes that stared at him from behind a pair of glasses unnerved the towering demon a touch. When the young man stopped a few feet from him, still silent as all in the room stared at him, Rhazen decided to break the silence. "May I help you?" he asked simply.
Adjusting his glasses unnecessarily, the stranger spoke at last. "My name is Gabriel Bloodrose. I have been sent by William T. Spears to monitor your activities."
"I beg your pardon?" Rhazen growled, his eyes flashing red for a moment.
"Mr. Spears does not feel you are to be left to your own devices while you monitor Mr. Sutcliffe. So I have been sent to insure you behave yourself."
Rhazen had to take several deep breaths in order to calm himself down, moving to stand behind where Grell sat snickering. "And just what exactly do you find so humorous?"
"Just that William finds you as incompetent as he do-"
Grell was unable to finish that snide comment as Rhazen slammed his head into the table. The demon butler looked over at Gabriel and hissed out, "Do I look incapable of doing my job to you?"
"Mr. Spears has no question about your ability to keep Grell on task. It is your nature and habits he is concerned with," Gabriel explained.
"I would dearly enjoy seeing you try and interfere with my habits," the incubus countered.
"I am merely to report on such things, not stop you."
"Um, excuse me," Bouldroy interrupted. "Not that this isn't an interesting chat, but how exactly did this Gabriel bloke get here in the middle of a bleedin' blizzard?"
"I am talented in many fields, that is all you need know as to that answer," Gabriel replied, finally peeling his gaze away from Rhazen to take in the other occupants of the room.
Ciel for the most part had ignored the entire exchange, finding that it was often best to let the nonsense of the various mystical beings in his life just to pass him by. He had enough issues in his life as it was. Dabbing at his mouth with a napkin, he rose from his chair. "Sebastian, I will be retiring to my study for the day. See that I'm not disturbed." Without waiting for an acknowledgement, he turned on his heel and swept out of the room.
Sebastian turned to the other Phantomhive servants. While another Reaper in their collective midst was indeed going to be annoying, there were still standards to be met. "Off to work with you lot. Finnian, as there is little for you to do outside in this weather, go to Rhazen's room and see to Pluto. Something tells me he made be in need of a tender hand at the moment." This last part was added with a glare at Rhazen, who merely shrugged.
"We should probably start looking for those ghosts boss," Ronald said, helping Grell pluck splinters from that flowing red hair.
"You're right," Grell nodded, dabbing at the blood leaking from her nose. She got to her feet and left the room as well.
Now it was Sebastian, Ronald, Gabriel and Rhazen left in the room. Before the former three could leave as well, Rhazen stopped them. "All our little differences aside gentlemen, there is something of importance I wish to discuss with you concerning Grell."
"What about him?" Ronald asked. "If you think you can get him in the sack too..."
The demon butler visibly shuddered at the suggestion. "Only if I were starving and he was the only other being left in creation. No, this concerns his parentage."
Both Ronald and Gabriel looked at each other with unease. There were several rumors running around about that very subject amongst their kind. "No one knows for certain the details surrounding his birth. There's so much death to be handled down here that records concerning our own kind are sometimes a little lax," Ronald explained.
"Why the sudden interest?" Sebastian asked, folding his arms over his chest.
"Oh come now brother, you cannot tell me you haven't wondered about that mouth of his in the time you've known him. No Reaper has fangs like that. Such teeth belong to us Devils. Take myself for example. Mine are so prominent in my mouth I cannot make them resemble human teeth the way you can. My one flaw..."
"So are you suggesting he is the result of a union between the two races?" Gabriel asked, adjusting his glasses again.
"I'm saying it's a possibility. Though of course there's no way of being certain unless we question Grell directly. Even then, I doubt we'd get a straight enough answer. One of life's great unsolved mysteries I suppose," Rhazen shrugged. "Well, now that that's out of the way, I believe we all have work to do."
They all nodded and while three of them headed out of the room after Grell, Sebastian stayed behind to clear the table and fix the dent Grell's face had left in the polished wood.
Ronald, Rhazen, and Gabriel quickly caught up with Grell as she wandered the halls. Pausing, she looked over her shoulder to let them catch up to her, her usual grin on her face. "What kept you boys? Were you talking about me perhaps?"
"There are far more important matters to discuss than you," Rhazen said. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't admission either. "Now let us get down to the business at hand and find the reason you were called out here."
"You're no fun," Grell whined but resumed her walk along the hallway, heading in the direction of the basement.
As the Reapers and the demon butler descended to stairs into the stone basement, they could all feel an increasing pressure, as if something was there that shouldn't be. "I believe we may drawing to the source of the disturbances," Rhazen observed. Things were certainly off with this place, perhaps moreso than even the Reapers had initially thought.
Down in the basement itself, it was too dark for even Rhazen to fully make things out. So he held up his hand, palm towards the ceiling as he conjured a ball of flame to light the area so they could investigate.
The basement was vast, containing several chambers filled with crates and portraits and various other items. This was going to take a while. Fortunately, Rhazen noticed several torches along the walls and cast his fire onto them, at least giving them enough light to work by.
They began looking around, checking out the various rooms, looking through the crates and everything, trying to find the source. Rhazen paused as he came across a portrait of Vincent and Ciel. No doubt the youth had had Sebastian seal this away down here when he became head of the family. His gaze lingered over the image, red eyes narrowing. "Indeed," was all he said to himself before putting the portrait back and resuming his search.
After several hours of careful searching, Ronald found a patch of stone tiles under a crate that looked a touch out of place. "Oi, over here!" he called out, moving the crate fully out of the way as he waited for the others to gather around.
Rhazen knelt down and moved the stones aside. "This soil has been disturbed recently." He gathered a handful of the dirt and brought it to his nose, sniffing. "There are several bodies buried down here. I can't tell how many exactly, but they were buried recently."
Gabriel pulled out his Death list and opened it to the manor's location. "We have no registered deaths in this area."
"He says as if people not scheduled to die ever pass away," Rhazen said with a roll of his eyes. He placed the soil back and stood, dusting off his gloves.
After a few moments of thought, Gabriel came to a conclusion. "Based on the information regarding this case and the presence of these bodies... Their souls are most likely searching for their cinematic records. And if that is indeed the case, then the activity is bound to increase until we can find and sever the records."
With that, the small troupe headed back upstairs, Rhazen extinguishing the torches with a wave of his hand. At the top of the stairs, before they even begin to plan their next move, Finnian came running up to them, looking excited. "Mr. Rhazen! Pluto spoke!"
"Did he now?" Rhazen said, just as surprised as Grell, who had encountered the hell hound before as well.
"At least it sounded like he was talking. Usually he just makes dog sounds no matter what body he has. But he sounded like he'd said your name."
"Well, I must have left quite the impression," the demon butler said with a grin.
"Do you think you could teach me how to make him say more words?" Finny asked, his eyes alight with admiration.
Oh this was just too easy. Rhazen smiled sweetly behind his mask and leaned down a bit so his gaze was level with the young gardener's. "I'd be glad to give you a few private lessons. I'm certain you're an... enthusiastic learner."
The innuendo was lost on the young human, though the Reapers all looked as though they wished to rip the Devil apart right there for openly trying to claim a victim right in front of them. Finnian thanked Rhazen with a grin and dashed off back down the hall.
"Well that was nice and diverting. I do believe I'll go call on young Phantomhive," Rhazen mused, starting to stride away, ignoring the Reapers. But he paused in midstride as he felt Gabriel following him. "Don't you have a form to fill out somewhere?" he asked without looking back.
"It is my duty to monitor your activities," came the emotionless reply.
"In that case maybe you should try and figure out how to remove that cactus you've somehow lodged up your backside," Rhazen said sarcastically. "I've no intention of seducing or harming the boy. I may be a Devil, but we have rules about cutting into another's contract. My intentions with the boy are... tame I suppose is the best word I can find for them."
Before Gabriel could lodge another protest, Rhazen vanished from sight.
Ciel was in the chair at his desk, looking out at the increasing storm when he heard a knock at his study door. Though he'd ordered not to be bothered, he knew Sebastian would bring his afternoon tea regardless. "Come in Sebastian," he said swinging the chair back around to face the door. His eye widened and then narrowed as the demon butler who entered was not his own, but rather Rhazen.
"What are you doing here?" the boy asked in an icy tone.
"Bringing you tea," Rhazen said holding up the tea tray and sweet buns he'd made for the boy.
"I thought you heard me say I did not wish to be disturbed."
"I did indeed. But this is a rather important matter which I feel cannot wait."
Something in Rhazen's tone kept Ciel quiet and made him nod in permission. Looking at Ciel, Rhazen set the tea down on the desk and came around to the boy's side, lowering himself down on one knee. He reached out a gloved hand and placed it on Ciel's shoulder. The youth tensed but allowed the touch. "I've been aware of your situation since the night you made the contract with my brother."
"How?" Ciel asked.
"Your cry for a contract was very strong. And your thirst for revenge powerful enough to keep the gaze of several Devils on you even after Sebastian was bound to you." He paused, seeming to search himself for the right words. "You've been through so much since that night. I want you to know this, Ciel... Your father is very proud of you. You've done so much good for this world... He's proud of you."
Ciel was speechless for long moments. Then, against all the barriers he'd raised in himself, he broke down into tears, clinging to Rhazen who held him tight in an embrace. With all he'd been through recently, the events that had led to this little holiday... To hear such words simply broke the camel's back. They were by far the kindest things he'd ever heard in his short life.
"I miss them..." was all he managed to say between his tears.
"I know," Rhazen said stroking those raven locks.
Neither of them noticed Sebastian standing in the open doorway.
Author's Note: Finally got this chapter up and running. So sorry for the delay folks. But this one needed to be just right to me. Brought tears to my eyes there at the end.
Ciel: How dare you make me seem like some emotional weakling!
Author: Everyone needs to look a little human sometime you little robot.
Ciel: Why you-
Author: Anyway folks. I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. As always, I look forward to reading your reviews.
Oh, and for those of you, like Ciel, who feel his reaction is considerably OOC, please note that I am simply taking into account that while Ciel is indeed a hardass and a bad ass in his daily life, he is still a thirteen year old child. And with the events mentioned at the start of this story, both of which took a heavy toll on him for those familiar with both anime and manga, even his walls will crumble a bit, even if for but a moment. So if you'd gone through all he has and someone actually says something nice and meaningful to you, a little slip up like this might just happen.
But worry not, he'll be back to his old self at the beginning of the next chapter and this is the only time I plan on showing this side of the boy. While a little humanity from him can be fun, it's not worth the effort to try and make him look completely human.