August 7th 1891
It was eight in the morning. The crisp, cold winds pricked at Elena and Ciel's skin furiously while Sebastian stayed content with the weather. Elena was keeping an even closer eye on him now that she knew he wasn't human, this fact not only made her curious of his existence and why such a creature would listen to a fifteen–soon to be sixteen–year old, but agitated her because she knew she would no longer be able to completely concentrate on the case of her missing father. Not to mention she now knew why Sherlock never trusted their our old Nanny. Relative unconditional help is usually very suspicious, not to mention their comings and goings appear most…sinister.
"Are you sure you wouldn't like to wear my coat, my Lady?" Sebastian offered Elena for the fifth time that morning, his obnoxious expression playing on Elena's patience. "That outfit you have on doesn't seem to be insulated very well."
Elena shot him a glare, "I said it before, though it seems I shall have to say it again. I'm not at all that cold and need not your concern nor your clothes," she spat, lying. Elena was indeed freezing, but she refused to wear anything that had touched that thing. "Besides, if you gave me your coat, wouldn't you indeed be the one to catch a cold? Or worse, pneumonia? We can't have you out sick, pardon me, Cielcan't have you out sick. He might have to lift a finger if you fell ill, and we certainly can't have that!" Elena said in a sickly sweet tone, smiling up at him knowing she had perhaps caught him out this time.
"I have two coats on. Nevertheless, your health is much more important than a servant, such as myself."
Elena shook her head; she knew his eyes were an even darker shade of red as he spoke in that smug tone. But in spite of that, she couldn't believe anyone could just dispose of the life they were given so easily, be that even if he weren't of this world.
"You should have more self-worth," Elena stated, facing forward, "death is easy to come by. It threatens us humans everyday. I'm sure there must be someonein this godforsaken place that would shed a tear for someone like… you, wouldn't you agree?"
There was a brief silence, one that almost had Elena feeling as if she'd left won one of the banters they shared. Almost.
Curiously, a little surprised at the sudden change in Elena's tone, Sebastian asked, "Would you?"
Sighing, she ignored the butler entirely and tried focusing completely on the case of her missing father. Ciel had mentioned that they would be visiting a friend of his, someone who knows a lot of the underground and what happens there. Ciel mentioned he could give Elena closure about whether Sherlock was still alive–or not.
The three stopped out the front of a dreary looking building. It wasn't a very large structure, but it looked run down and possibly out of business. The windows were boarded up and the sign out the front read "Undertaker".
"Your friend works here?" Elena couldn't hold back the utter annoyance in her voice, raising her eyebrow.
Elena could feel her blood boiling at the very thought that Ciel would think to bring her to see the Undertaker for closure, albeit it was a good idea, but it scared her to think that if he were to say yes and have proof of Sherlock's body, Elena wouldn't know what she would do.
"Trust me, he knows everything about the dead," Ciel answered carelessly, only annoying Elena more, eliciting a twitch of her eyelid and a subtle glare.
"What the young Master means," Sebastian leant down to Elena's level, a hand on her shoulder for comfort, "is that, if the Undertaker knows nothing of Master Holmes, then there's a good chance he is still alive."
"As much as I'd like to 'thank you' for that comforting reassurance," Elena diverted her eyes to the side, meeting Sebastian's gaze, "please remove your hand from my shoulder and nevertouch me again."
Sebastian smiled, slowly taking his hand off her shoulder; Elena returned her attention to the entrance. Although the butler had a contract with Ciel and had to, ultimately, listen to his every command, he did not in fact have to listen to Elena,making his next notion seem all the more entertaining.
The three proceeded to enter the Undertaker's domain, Sebastian purposely walking into Elena's back, forcing her to loose her footing and rely on Sebastian's quick reflexes to stop her from falling, catching her in a tight embrace against his chest. Her expression was not amused, instantaneously, roughly pushing off from the demonic butler, she straightened out her clothes–almost identical to her father's–and Ciel's, it would seem.
"I'm terribly sorry, Milady," Sebastian bowed, "please forgive my clumsiness."
"I won't forgive you, because you're not sorry!" Elena spun to face him, readying to slap him.
A warning glance from Ciel had her regain some cool momentarily. Elena's raised arm went limp, but the rest of her remained tense. This butler made her exasperated at the slightest of things. Sebastian looked up, feigning a hurt and regretful expression.
Elena pinched the bridge of her nose, knowing she shouldn't get on the bad side of her second-cousin, let alone an entity from the underworld. Sighing, she added, "That, and you aren't clumsy, not in the slightest. If you plan to lie, at least make it plausible."
With that, Elena left Sebastian bowing in the thick snow, his pants now wet and clinging to his pale, ashen skin.
He smiled even wider, "A human who tortures themselves by resisting my charm, or who could see past the true intentions of a Demon," he thought, "is truly impressive."
It was dark inside the Undertaker's building, only few slits of sunlight passed through between the wooden boards nailed against the windows. Elena inspected the place as best as she could in the placid room. Coffins and wooden crosses decorated the walls, there was quite a bit of dust smothering the air too–nothing out of the ordinary…as of yet.
"Ah, Earl Phantomhive," Undertaker exclaimed, creeping from behind the shadows and into what little light there was.
"Undertaker," Ciel nodded.
"Are you finally here to get measured for your very own coffin?"
It was then that Undertaker had noticed Elena leaning effortlessly against a coffin. She was indeed rather intrigued by this man, but she couldn't trust him, not yet. "Be cautious of everyone, you never know what their intentions may be," Sherlock told Elena when she was four. "Also, never leave your drink unattended at a party; people are prone to poisoning them."He'd added just as Ms. Hudson, the Landlady, had come in and served tea–he never trusted her, he only ever trusted Watson and Elena and the one who must not be named–seeing as no insult or cuss was bad enough to describe her.
"And who might this delectable soul be?" Undertaker scampered over to Elena's side, "Are you perhaps here for yourmeasurements?"
"Undertaker," Ciel bellowed, "who on earth would come here for that? Anyway, we came for information on the whereabouts of Sherlock Holmes."
"Holmes, huh?" Undertaker crept back to his usual place behind his desk, smiling sadistically. "How much is this information worth to you, dear Ciel?"
The Earl sighed; he knew he'd have to smile for Undertaker one day, if he wanted to continue to use him for information, that is. He was about to request that Elena and Sebastian leave but was cut off by Elena chuckling. She caught everyone's attention.
"Ciel, there's no need to be here any longer if gathering information about Sherlock is your only purpose," Elena smiled. "He knows nothing of Sherlock's current status and according to your butler," Elena quickly flit her eyes between the three males, "that means there's a good chance he's still alive."
Elena intrigued Undertaker; he crept back over to her side and leant against the coffin she was resting on. His hands were linked and sitting under his chin. He smiled up at her and asked: "And what makes you so sure I know nothing of him?"
"I never said you knew 'nothing of him', I said you knew nothing of his 'current status'."
"I suppose you did," Undertaker slid closer, his arm now grazing Elena's side, "then, how do you know, I know nothing of his current status?"
"Your tone of voice when you spoke of him, if you'd have seen him around your neck of the woods, you'd have sounded slightly more curious as to why Ciel would be asking about him, would you not?"
"Ahaha," Undertaker voiced his trademark laugh. "This soul is even more mouth-watering than I'd first thought! But are you sure I don't know anything about Mr. Holmes' current predicament?"
"Positive," Elena smiled. "Because the way you're going about this topic isn't at all in a manner someone would suggest they knew something more than what the local paper would have read. You're using such loose terms in an attempt to suggest you know something when in fact you have no idea. You gain information-when you know nothing, yourself–by the reactions and responses by the questions you give. Also, the way you jumped right to the price of your nonexistent information, rather than asking something along the lines of 'what would you like to know?', gave away the fact that you knew nothing.
"Does that about sum up your way of swindling someone out of the form of payment you require for an answer or would you prefer to be compared to one of the many fortune-tellers off the streets? I don't mean to insult or offend you, but, if that's your best–from that display earlier–then you've really got no business being an informer–moreover, one of the watchful eyes of the underbelly of London."
No one responded vocally. Ciel was speechless, had he known she was so good at reading people he'd have contacted her back when he had first formed the contract with Sebastian. She was a good ally to have; perhaps having her around was going to be better than he thought. Sebastian wasn't entirely surprised with her wits, but he was a little taken aback that she'd been able to decipher the ways of a Death God. Undertaker was more than amused, he was excited. His smile was frozen on his face, he stared at Elena–a line of drool slowly formed from his mouth to the edge of his chin–she was smiling back, in return.
"Earl," Undertaker spoke, "what a charming young Lady you've brought along."
"Thank you," Elena and Ciel answered in perfect unison, the only difference was of the tone–Ciel was still in a shocked daze whereas Elena had retained her smug attitude.
"Evidently, her impeccable intelligence has entertained me! Consider that payment for the information."
"Yes, yes," Ciel sighed and waited for an answer to his question, "can you just tell us what you know?"
"It seems she was correct on all counts," Undertaker laughed, "I know nothing." Ciel's palm flew directly to his forehead in annoyance. "Might I ask your name?" Undertaker requested politely, returning his veiled eyes to Elena's. "Your Magic Play would be an intriguing read!" Ciel and Sebastian looked at one another and frowned.
"Why is he so careless at keeping the depths of the underworld a secret?"Ciel thought to himself, and as if Sebastian had read his mind, Sebastian stepped in, changing the subject.
"It appears, Undertaker has nothing more to say. Young Master, Lady Elena," Sebastian mentioned–inattentively dropping her name–Sebastian's eyes never leaving the back of Undertaker's head, "shall we continue to our next stop?"
Ciel nodded, and then Sebastian and he proceeded to leave. Elena pushed up from the empty coffin, subtly giving a quick wink at Undertaker and followed them to the exit. As she was nearing the front door, she overheard Undertaker speaking.
"'Elena', was it?" she stopped. "You know, for someone so young and deeply disturbed, you sure are a lot like him, Miss Holmes."
"Thank you," Elena replied in monotonous voice and left the building, catching up with Ciel and the inhuman butler.
As the trio continued walking through the streets, Elena couldn't help but replay what Undertaker had said to her over and over in her mind. Elena wondered if, because he had known who she was, whether or not he knew of her past. Deep in thought, Elena was no longer concentrating and walked into Sebastian's back. She nearly fell backwards from his solid body, but grabbed hold of his coat just in the nick of time, managing to pull herself from her imbalance and land against his back, still holding on for support.
"Are you alright, Lady Elena?" Sebastian asked with a small smirk now playing on his lips, Elena couldn't help but blush from the slight embarrassment she felt. She didn't let go right away though, in fear he'd see her flushed face.
"O-of course I am," Elena said, trying desperately to hide her face as she let go and stood on her own again. "Where are we?" Elena asked, looking down the streets, the familiarity of their whereabouts slowly dawning on her.
"Baker Street, Milady," Sebastian answered.
Elena bit her lip, nervously. Baker Street. The street she and her father used to live on. It made her a little nervous being here; it brought back so many memories of her mother and that day when Elena was taken. As they continued to stroll down the street, the particular place where she was abducted was getting closer. They passed another two blocks and Elena's breath began to race faster, her heart was pounding in her chest. Slowly following her cousin and his butler, Elena eventually stopped, staring to her right at the exact location where she had been abducted by a cloaked group.
"We have another place to visit, a crime scene that was similar to yours, is that alright, Elena?" Ciel asked, not bothering to look back while speaking to her. When he got no response he repeated her name. "Elena, I asked if that was alright." He still got no response, so he turned back and noticed Elena was staring absentmindedly down the street they'd previously crossed. He looked up to Sebastian who, in turn, returned the silent gaze. Ciel and Sebastian walked back towards Elena.
"Elena?" Ciel asked, "Elena, are you okay?"
He reached out to touch her arm, when she realised this, Elena blocked his touch. Ciel jumped back at the sudden reflex of his cousin, Sebastian holding him steady. Elena took a moment to regain composure before she apologised and took another look down the street. Shaking her head, she continued forward. Unwanted memories playing over and over in her mind.
"You said we had somewhere else to visit?"