Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed, added to favorites, or alerts so much!*hands out 4th of July celebration leftovers.*Also the "put you in a home" line is from the movie "What's up Doc?". Ring ring, hello? is also from Charlie the Unicorn Now, on with the next chapter of the Gal Pals saga!
Disclaimer: I do not own Black Butler or What's up Doc? Or Charlie the Unicorn.
Chapter 6: The horror of the Gal Pals part II
Sebastian and Rosalind heard a noise and ran to the location of the cacophony. They found Batty, Elizabeth, Tanaka, Bard, Finny, and Maylene, all of whom had been made cute by Lizzie. Looking around the room they found the source of the seemingly endless sounds come from Thyme, who was hyperventilating.
"Uh, is she okay?" Rosalind asked Lizzie and Batty, both of whom were staring at Thyme in shock and confusion. "What happened?"
"I don't know," Lizzie looked at Thyme with concern. "She just started to act like this a few minutes ago. I tried talking to her but she won't tell me what the matter is."
Thyme had managed to control herself a little and managed to choke out ,"Oh. My. God. Get. Ciel. Baby. Here. Now."
Sebastian went and brought Ciel downstairs to see what the problem was. After a hug from Elizabeth, Ciel sighed. "All, right Thyme, what seems to be the problem?"
"Everyone," Thyme announced. "I have an incredible theory that may prove to be correct."
There was a moment's pause as everyone waited with bated breath for Thyme to continue. Taking a deep breath, Thyme stated her theory." Batty Rosemary is really Ciel and Lizzie's daughter from the future!"
There was a very long silence, followed by unanimous facepalms. Seeing the incredulous stares cast in her direction, she insisted," What? Does no one believe me?" When everyone shook their heads she explained," Well, don't you think Batty looks just like the offspring of Ciel and Lizzie? Come on, don't tell me she doesn't look at least a little like them."
"Your stupidity never ceases to amaze me." Ciel muttered under his breath. Although admittedly Batty did look kind of like him and Lizzie, he was certain that the resemblance was entirely coincidental.
"Hey, don't call my sister stupid!" Rosalind had evidently heard his comment and was clearly displeased by it.
"Fine then," Ciel said, turning to Rosalind. "Your sister is not stupid; she is merely an obsessive idiot with super strength."
"Hey, don't call my gal pal an idiot!"Ciel turned in surprise to find that it was Lizzie who had said this.
"Be grateful; idiot is the kindest thing I can call her." Ciel replied.
"Guys, it's no big deal," Thyme interjected much to everyone's surprise. "Ciel Baby is just jealous... I've yet to figure out why, but he is. That I am certain of."
Ciel did a facepalm, muttered something about needing an aspirin, and left the room.
After Ciel evacuated the room, - which was probably a wise decision on his part-, Rosalind turned to Thyme and gazed deeply into her sky blue eyes. "Thyme, you know I love you don't you sis?"
Thyme nodded and stared back into her sister's brown orbs.
"Good." Rosalind continued. "Then you'll understand that I'm saying this because I care about you: Batty and I are going to put you in a home."*
"Another one?" Thyme exclaimed eagerly.
Ciel sat down at his desk and sighed. It seemed he had been doing that a lot as of late. There was a knock on the door and Sebastian entered the room.
"Young Master." He asked." I do not have proof but is it true that you have no dancing instruction?" When Ciel turned his chair away from him, Sebastian took that as a "yes."
He sighed." It's no wonder. It seems that even if you were invited to parties you would be a wallflower."
Ciel scowled. "I haven't got time for games; I've got work to do."
Sebastian frowned. "Young master you cannot just turn down Lady Elizabeth's request. Imagine how it would affect the Phantomhive name if later on in life if you were to refuse to dance with some nobleman's daughter simply because you do not know how. You must attend the ball tonight and learn how to dance properly." There were some arguments tossed back and forth, but with a little ribbing Ciel eventually gave in.
"Very well," he reluctantly gave up." Send for a tutor. Mrs. Bright or Mrs. Rodkins will do."
"It is too late in the day to send for a tutor." Sebastian informed Ciel, who for a moment felt saved before Sebastian continued;" I shall have to be your dancing instructor."
"You idiot!" Ciel snapped, looking horrified." I can't dance with a tall man!"
He was about to protest further when there was a knock on the door and Rosalind entered the room.
"Hello," She stated." Excuse me, but the Gal Pal trio- well, mainly Thyme and Batty- wanted me to ask Sebastian something. "Here she turned to look at Sebastian as she spoke. "They asked me- I swear to God they were actually wondering about this. Note how I say them not me. Anyway, as I was saying, they asked me if it were possible for you to have an Afro. I told them there was no way it was possible without the use of black magic for that to happen. Then they pointed out that you are a demon and that also Bard seems to have fairly straight hair yet he whenever he blows up something he always somehow results in getting an afro. So their question is this: Would it be possible for you to have an afro?"
As Sebastian felt his silkily smooth raven air, he decided," No. I have not tried to give myself that particular hairstyle nor will I ever." This seemed to be a good enough answer for Rosalind, who was about to turn and leave when Sebastian suddenly had an idea.
"Oh, Miss Rosemary." He called out to her and Rosalind stopped. "I am about to give my young master a dancing lesson; would you care to join us?"
"My God, please no!" This was not the answer Sebastian or Ciel had been expecting. Sebastian had hoped Rosalind would stay because Ciel would not put up much of a fight with Sebastian in the presence of a lady being as it would make him appear to be undignified and could sully the Phantomhive name. That and Sebastian would thoroughly enjoy his master's humiliation. Her initial rejection was both disappointing and surprising.
"I am terribly sorry!" Rosalind apologized profusely. "It's just that, to be frank, the thought of dancing absolutely terrifies me. I cannot, never have, and I sincerely doubt ever will, be able to dance. Not even if it would somehow save my life, which is doubtful to the extreme being as my dancing usually endangers others' lives as well as my own. Believe me; we are all much better off if I do not engage in dancing of any form or any other similar physical activities. "
"I take it you have had bad experience, then?" Sebastian questioned.
"Definitely." Rosalind agreed, looking more than slightly horror-stricken at the mere thought.
"What I was inquiring of you earlier, Miss Rosemary," Sebastian explained, noticing that for once Rosalind had not insisted on him addressing her by her first name, a sign that she was truly terrified. "Was simply whether or not you would like to watch my young master learn how to dance? You do not need to partake in the activity yourself if you do not deem it necessary."
"Oh, thank you ever so much!" Rosalind looked very relieved at this." Yes, of course, I'd love to watch!"And with that being said Ciel's new form of torture had only just begun.
Dancing with Sebastian was difficult for Ciel, to say the least. Sebastian was much taller than he was and it felt awkward on Ciel's part to be dancing with another man. "It appears your talent for dancing is nonexistent rather than lacking, my young lord." Sebastian had even had the audacity to say as he smirked at Ciel. Rosalind could not help giggling at some points, but at the same time was much more sympathetic than Sebastian had been.
Every time he sent a glare her way for giggling she would stop, apologize, and give him an encouraging smile and would often say things to him like," Keep trying!" or "Don't give up!" in an attempt to lift his spirits and raise his pride. "I know you can do it!" She would say. "I have faith in you!" Although some people might view these little acts of kindness as endearing, Ciel viewed them as rather annoying. After a while Rosalind could tell she was making it hard for Ciel to focus, she quieted down.
Right when Ciel was thinking he just might be starting to get the hang of this, right when he was thinking he just might be able to pull this thing off, the door burst open and something happened that made him lose his focus entirely.
"AaaaRRRAAgHHH!" A battle cry rang out and a figure dressed up in a French maid 's costume sporting fake cat ears and a tail, with black make up smeared across their face had just burst into the room carrying what at first glance looked like a gun of some sort. Rosalind and Ciel did what any two relatively sane and remotely normal people would do in a situation such as this: They screamed.
"AAAAAAHHHH!" Sebastian, the instant he heard the screams, leapt up into the air, reached into his pockets and pulled out his extremely sharp silver ware which he was about to throw at the attacker before recognizing the attacker's identity and put it away.
"BANG!" The attacker shouted, and fired. However, instead of bullets coming out of the gun, various kinds of glitter, sequins, sparkles, perfume and other sweet smelling fragments, ribbons of all color and sizes, sashes, fake flowers, and finally confetti and streamers came out of the gun instead.
"Aw, sweet, it works!" Rosalind would have recognized that voice anywhere.
"THYME?" She said between gasps.
"Oh, hello there." Thyme said casually, as though she had not just fired a bunch of cute accessories from a gun- or rather a water gun, that is.
Meanwhile, Ciel was clutching his hearts, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. "My mansion!" He breathed for the umpteenth time that day.
Even Sebastian was slightly disturbed by this. "Would you please care to explain to me what has just happened, Miss Thyme?"
"I can answer that!" Came Lizzie's voice so suddenly that everyone jumped. Batty, Bard, Finny, Tanaka, and Maylene emerged from behind her as well, looking just as freaked out as everyone else. "My gal pals and I were busy playing fashion show and planning for the ball when Batty here had an absolutely fantastical idea!" Everyone turned to stare at Batty, who in turn blushed and tried to hide behind Maylene.
"Anyway," Elizabeth plowed on enthusiastically." Batty suggested we should find a way to make the mansion and its inhabitants cuter faster! Then Thyme suggested we should use something called a "water gun "to shoot out cutesy stuff!"
Here everyone looked at the water gun in Thyme's hands. "I came up with everything we should load this water gun with and we came in here just now to try it out, and it worked!" Lizzie's brilliant green eyes lit up with glee and her twintails bobbed up and down as her body and voice shook with excitement.
"There's still one question though," Ciel said, staring at Thyme. "What on Earth are you wearing?"
"Oh, this?" Thyme twirled around, showing off her costume. "You like? Isn't it so cute and cool? We were playing dress up earlier and I found this. What do you think, Finny?"
"It's… really cute, Thyme." Finny complimented, staring at the ground blushing.
"Thanks." Thyme thanked Finny, blushing too. Not as cute as you, though! Thyme mentally screamed in her head.
"Oh dear," Sebastian said suddenly so that everyone stopped paying attention to Thyme's outfit. He was standing next to Rosalind, whose body appeared to be completely frozen and her complexion now suddenly seemed unearthly pale. "Girls, I think your sister has gone into shock." He stated, turning calmly to Batty and Thyme. Well, that just threw them over the edge entirely.
"AAAH!" They said, freaking out after a moment's pause.
"OMIGOD, OHMIGOD!" This was coming from Thyme, who at this point was hyperventilating. Meanwhile Batty was practically bawling her eyes out in a corner of the room while Lizzie tried to console her.
"GAH!" Thyme was still freaking out. "IF ROSALIND CAN'T BE THERE FOR US, WHO'S GOING TO PAY THE BILLS AROUND HERE? WHO WILL BE THERE TO CONSTANTLY NAG US INTO DOING OUR CHORES...? Actually," Thyme stopped screaming for a moment and suddenly seemed very thoughtful about this. "That part wouldn't be so bad. I would never have to do any housework again! Whoop!" Before Thyme could continue celebrating, another thought occurred to her.
"Wait a minute," She mused, a terrifying thought occurring to her. "WE WON'T BE ABLE TO EAT IF ROSALIND'S NOT THERE! I CAN'T COOK BECAUSE I'M NOT ALLOWED IN THE KITCHEN OR ELSE IT WILL CATCH ON FIRE OR MY SUPER STRENGTH WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING! BATTY CAN COOK BUT ONLY IF ROSALIND'S WITH HER TO MAKE SURE SHE DOESN'T ACCIDENTALLY KILL HERSELF OR SOMETHING!"
Bard stared at a sobbing Batty in surprise. "You can cook?"
The little girl nodded as her shoulders shook.
"But you're only-what? - 5 years old at most?"
Thyme took a pause from freaking out and explained." Oh yeah, Batty's amazing when it comes to cooking. Actually, she's so good she's way better than Rosalind. Anyway, as I was saying earlier: OMIGOD!"
"All right, all right, will both of you please calm down?" It was Rosalind, who apparently had either not gone into shock or had but had been broken out of it by her sisters' screaming.
"YOU'RE ALIVE!"Rosalind soon found herself in a very tight group hug with both her sisters, who were both nearly sucking the life out of her.
"Of course I'm alive!" Rosalind choked out between gasps. "But I won't be much longer if you keep suffocating me like this!"
After they stopped, Thyme said," Sorry for scaring you earlier Rosy."
"It's fine," Rosalind, muttered, massaging her neck from where her sister's had nearly strangled her in their group hug. "Look, how about we just make an agreement to not give me any more heart attacks in the future? Okay?"
"Okay," her sisters chorused in unison and then everybody left the room.
"I think blue will definitely suit Ciel! When I saw the clothes I bought for Ciel in London I fell in love instantly!" It was now time for the ball Lizzie had planned, and she was very eager for it to start. All of the servants and Gal Pals had gathered in the ball room, waiting for the ball to start. Rosalind was there too, but was sitting on a chair nearby reading a book. She and the gal pals had decorated the ball room together, dressed up the servants, and Lizzie had even picked out the clothes Ciel would wear to the ball. She smiled at the thought of it. She had worked hard on making everything cute all afternoon and truly hoped Ciel would enjoy the ball with her.
Maybe he'll even be able to smile again. Lizzie thought to herself, silently praying for this to happen. I haven't seen him smile since that day… For a moment an unmistakable feeling of sadness overcame Elizabeth, the kind of feeling that could not be covered up with jewels, hair ribbons, or muslin gowns. Please, she silently prayed. Have Ciel smile tonight. Please. Let him be happy, he deserves that.
Finny, Bard, and Tanaka were all staring at themselves in the mirror, wondering how they had gotten into this situation. Bard was a wearing a typical Japanese high school girl uniform with a long curly blonde wig, Tanaka was wearing a pink, flowery kimono with a long raven wig, and Finny was wearing an outfit almost identical to Thyme's. He, like Thyme, was wearing a French maid's outfit with cat ears and a cat tail. Although Finny didn't mind what he was wearing as much as the other servants did. While Bard and Tanaka had been "persuaded" (a.k.a forced) into their costumes, Finny had not.
What had happened was that Thyme had enjoyed playing dress up so much she had asked Finny to join her. She said he didn't have to if he didn't want to, but when Finny had seen how happy she looked at the thought, there was no possible way he could turn her down. Also, it didn't hurt that three certain girls kept fawning over Finny, hugging him, and gushing about how cute he looked. Finny liked making other people happy, and besides: he actually kind of liked the costume a little. He liked the way the skirts felt on him and that he could feel a breeze. He was also very thankful that Thyme had persuaded Elizabeth not to put a corset on him and that they let him dress himself. From what Thyme had told him about corsets, it sounded like a very dangerous idea to wear one.
"Ring, ring."
"Hello?"
Batty and Thyme were both currently playing a game while they waited for Ciel to attend the party. Thyme would make the sounds of a telephone and Batty would pretend to answer it.
"Ring ring."
"Hello?"
"Ring ring."
"Ring ring."
"H-Hello?"
"Ring ring-"
"You have a bad connection!"
Ciel had just appeared at the top of the staircase, ready for the party.
"CIEL!" Elizabeth squealed, and eagerly ran over towards her fiancée, happy he could attend.
"You're so cuuuute!" Elizabeth at this point was twirling Ciel around in circles from excitement.
"My eyes weren't wrong! Look, everybody else is cute too, see!"Lizzie pointed towards the servants as she spoke."I've invited them to come to the party, too! But out of all these people here Ciel, you are the absolute- huh?"
As Lizzie took hold of Ciel's hand she noticed something; Ciel was not wearing the ring she had picked out for him. Instead he was wearing another ring, a different ring.
"Ciel!" Elizabeth's cute, cheerful face personality had suddenly taken on a darker, angrier demeanor. "Where is the ring I had chosen for you? There was a ring I had bought that had matched your clothing, wasn't there?"
Personally, Ciel was quite frightened for his life; he had never seen his fiancée quite this angry before. Oh, sure, when they were younger she would throw the occasional temper tantrum when she was mad or when things didn't go her way, but he had never seen her in such a rage as was this.
However, he decided to act cool, calm, and in control."This ring is fine."
Elizabeth seemed to briefly consider this for a moment, then completely lost it. "NO!" She shrieked. "I went to a lot of trouble to make everything adorable for you, but that ring is totally not cute!"Then she suddenly stopped shouting and started crying. "Are you saying you don't want the things I brought back for you, Ciel?" She sobbed.
Ciel sighed; he hated seeing his fiancée cry. "No, that's not it; that ring is…"
"….Mine now!" Evidently Elizabeth's tears had been crocodile tears. She had pretended to cry in order to distract Ciel and in doing so snatched the ring off his finger, away from him.
Ciel was horrified. "Li—! "
Lizzie, however, was not listening." I took it! This ring is super old! The size of the one I chose is better, too-"
"GIVE IT BACK!" Everyone froze, even Lizzie. Ciel was looking positively furious. "Give that back, Elizabeth."
"Why… Why are you mad like that?" Elizabeth asked, voice trembling. She had never seen Ciel like this before. The old Ciel had always been laughing, always smiling. They had gotten along so well. This new Ciel was definitely different and had a terrible look of fury in his eyes- well, technically eye being as the other was covered by his eye patch- that she had never seen before.
"I worked so hard," Elizabeth went on, tears building up in her eyes now."I just made you cute! So why are you mad like that?" Anger took over fear, and emotions took over practicality and common sense. Didn't he realize how hard she had worked? "You're terrible! I hate this ring! Take it!" And with that being said Elizabeth threw Ciel's ring on the floor without thinking.
A horrible silence followed and there was no side apart from the breaking of glass as Ciel's ring smashed and scattered into pieces across the floor.
Then what Ciel did next was even worse than the terrible silence that had followed. Seething with rage, he swung his hand forward in an attempt to strike Elizabeth. Elizabeth flinched and involuntarily stepped back in terror, tears streaming down her face as she braced herself for the dreaded blow to land. Except that it never did.
"Young Master." It was Sebastian who had stopped Ciel from hitting his fiancée. "You've forgotten your long awaited new cane." Sebastian said, handing Ciel the new cane they had bought recently in an attempt to control the situation at hand.
"Ciel!" Rosalind yelled, walking over towards him. "Although I understand your anger, nothing, and I mean nothing excuses you for hitting people! Regardless of who it is, how mad you are, or what they've done to you, violence is not the answer. Ever. There are other, more civilized ways to settle matters such as this. Even though you did not actually physically hit her, attempting to do so is just as bad as actually doing so being as in either case your actions would be the same. How could you? "
Ciel stared at the ground, unsure of what to do. Meanwhile Elizabeth continued to cry, shocked and scared at what Ciel almost had done.
"You have my deepest apologies, Lady Elizabeth." Sebastian said, bowing deeply to a still sobbing and hiccupping Lizzie." That ring is very important to my master. It has been passed down from generation to generation in the Phantomhive family for years. There was only one in the world."
"I- It was that precious to him," Lizzie whispered, horrified as she realized what she had just done." It was that special to him, and I… I broke it! Ciel… that ring… I didn't know!-"Elizabeth was at a loss for words, almost unable to believe the monstrous deed she had just done.
"Ciel- I- I'm so sorry Ciel! If I had known I never would have… Oh, I am so sorry!"
As Elizabeth continued to apologize deeply, Ciel did something that made everyone gasp: He gathered up the remains of the ring from the floor and threw them out the window.
"C-Ciel, what are you doing?" Elizabeth gasped as she ran over to the window in a failed attempt to stop him. At least when the ring was on the floor there had been a possibility of fixing it, but now with it scattered who knows where, all hope was lost at the prospect of fixing it.
"It doesn't matter," Ciel muttered, not looking her in the eye." It's just an old ring. I can buy another one."
"Well, yes but," Elizabeth hiccupped."It won't be the same. It won't be anywhere near as precious to you-"The rest of Elizabeth's sentence was drowned out by a series of uncontrollable wails and sobs.
"It doesn't matter," Ciel declared, in a firm and strong voice."Either way it won't change who I am; I am still Ciel Phantomhive, head of the Phantomhive house."
Meanwhile Elizabeth was still crying, unable to forgive herself for the horrendous deed she had done. Thyme walked over to her.
"Hey," She said, looking Elizabeth straight in the eye. "We make lots of stupid mistakes, we fall down- a lot- in some cases more than others…, and we get more worked up and freak out over boys more than we probably should, but if there are three things us teenage girls are good at, it's this: 1. staying strong. 2. Lifting ourselves off the floor, and 3. Moving on. So in other words, we came here to have a good time, so let's enjoy ourselves. And who knows; maybe ten years from now we will look back on this, laugh nervously and quickly change the subject."
Elizabeth nodded, wiping her eyes on her sleeve, and took deep shuddering breaths to control her sobs.
"What's with that face?" Ciel had overheard their conversation and had decided to join them."It's a terrible face for a lady."Here he took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped Lizzie's face and let her blow her nose into it. Meanwhile Rosalind and Thyme were sending him death glares- did he really think insulting her appearance would make her feel any better?- but decided not to do anything yet in case he somehow redeemed himself.
"I wouldn't want to invite a girl like that to dance, now would I?"
"You mean…" Elizabeth's voice trailed off as she stopped crying and stared at Ciel in wonder.
"Let's forget those bad things and dance the night away until dawn with evening party etiquette, shall we?" Ciel held out his hand and then did something he had not done in years; he smiled."My lady?"
"Yes..." Elizabeth's eyes lit up, for once at a loss for words to describe her happiness. That one word was all she could say.
The rest of the party was like a dream and passed in a blur. Finny and Thyme happily danced together, managing to knock over quite a few objects in the process due to their clumsiness. Lizzie made a decision about her opinion on Ciel's smile; although it was somehow different from when they were younger, it was real and she liked it all the same. Actually, she might even like his current smile better now than the one he wore a few years ago. The young couple danced the night way until it was eventually time for Elizabeth to go. Happy and sincere farewells were exchanged, and as Elizabeth went away Rosalind pulled thyme over to the side to talk to her.
"I am so proud of you," Rosalind said quietly."You were such a wonderful, amazing, friend to Elizabeth. I am sure she appreciated it very much. Thank you. And those words you said were so wise and true… You have no idea how much I love and am proud of you." Rosalind and Thyme then embraced. "You do know that although sometimes we don't get along and that sometimes we tease each other that you are my sister and I always do and always will love and be proud of you. You do know that, right?"
"Of course I do," Thyme replied, looking Rosalind in the eye. "And I can say the same about you, too."
Rosalind laughed and tousled Thyme's hair affectionately. "Now, we really should get home; it's far past you and Batty's bed time."
And thus ends the gal Pal saga… for now. Although I have a feeling we will be seeing more of them sometime in the future… be afraid; be very afraid…Anyway ,here's a preview for the next chapter: What will happen when Thyme discovers YouTube? Who is really behind all the mysterious Jack the Ripper murders? ( If you've watched episode 6 or read volume 3 of the manga than you already know.)And how does time travel come in to all of this? All these questions and more may or may not be answered over the next couple of chapters. Please review if you want to know what will happen next. Please review!