ACT II:


Struck a Deal With a Spider


~O~

What I love most about this crazy life is the adventure of it

-Juliette Binoche-

~O~


It had been approximately three weeks since what most of the inhabitants of the Phantomhive Manor had termed 'the Circus Situation', and though the awful memories had yet to fade for the young master they seemed quite far away now, almost as if they'd been some awful and grotesque nightmare.

At least it was over now, he thought to himself that morning over a cup of tea and the day's newspaper. There was something about the queen, half a page on some medical miracle, and a piece on the burned out manor found in the countryside, which he quickly glossed over in favour of the business section. Sebastian moved around the room quietly, tidying away the breakfast materials and generally being the perfectly dutiful butler he pretended to be.

He heard it first, of course – the rapid thudding of horse-hooves on hard-packed earth, and the creaking rattle of the carriage being drawn behind them. They seemed to be coming closer, and must have been just a few feet away when Ciel heard it as well. He lowered his newspaper and frowned. He hadn't invited anyone over, had he? And no one had informed him that they would be visiting. It could be Lizzy, but the girl had just left only a few days ago. Besides, it was too early in the day for guests anyway.

Rude, he frowned to himself, placing his newspaper flat on the table and resting a hand on it. The clattering grew louder once the rider broke through the border of trees, and then stopped outside the manor. Sebastian readied himself to greet the uninvited guest, and then politely send them away. Likely with a lesson on what was generally considered good manners amongst the English gentry. He heard a quieter thump as someone wearing hard-soled boots disembarked, and the sharp, rhythmic sound of footsteps making their way down the stone path towards the door. The person gave the wooden door six rhythmic taps with their knuckles, and he pulled it open immediately, a polite smile in place. "Excuse me, but could I ask-"

He stopped, because standing in front of him was the same marionette from the circus, but…different. Instead of the frilly bright costume she'd worn, she was dressed in a fashionably cheery blue dress with black frills and lace, and a matching ribbon around her neck where the joint of her neck was. Rather than a bun, her hair now hung down her back in a sleek wave. Completing the outfit were a pair of black silk gloves which covered the skin of her arms past her elbows.

To the unknowing eye, she looked like a perfectly normal girl. Like nobility even. The complete 180 was rather shocking.

The marionette grinned widely; her smile was still disconcertingly large and familiar, and her eyes didn't reflect the movement of her lips and cheeks. "Hello there Black! Remember me?"

"…unfortunately," he replied slowly, blinking down at her thoughtfully. "I take it you've come to take me up on our deal?"

"Smart and pretty; well done," she strode past him into the house, and Sebastian was so taken aback by her brazenness that he didn't try to stop her. "Nice house! I like the little Edwardian touches. Very tasteful."

At that moment Ciel, who had been hearing the noise coming from the front room and was annoyed with Sebastian for not getting rid of their guest quickly, stormed into the room. "Sebastian what is with this racket! Who is h-You!"

"I see you haven't taken my advice on not frowning so much," she smirked at him. "I'm glad you haven't forgotten me. How could you though? I doubt anyone can do what I do!" With that she rotated her upper body at the waist and winked at Sebastian. The demon slowly arched an eyebrow at her, and she shrugged but did not stop smiling. "You're no fun Black. Quite boring in fact. But, like you said; you still owe me something!"

"You what?" Ciel turned on his butler who turned simply blinked placidly at him. "You made a deal? With her?"

"It was fairly minor, I assure you."

"I'm the one who told him who the baron was!" She snickered, still slowly rotating her body while keeping her head utterly still. "Saved you a lot of trouble, didn't I? You never even got to know about the doctor!"

"The doctor?" Ciel's sharp gaze snapped to her. "What about the doctor?"

"Nothing interesting," she stopped and her body snapped right back to a more natural position. "Now, what should I ask you for?"

Ciel snorted derisively. "This is ridiculous. Sebastian, get rid of her. Whatever deal you made with her is cancelled."

"I could be wrong, but I don't think he can do that," Muffet replied calmly. "He's a demon, isn't he? His sort can't lie. They can spin awfully pretty tales and twist words, but against something direct and straightforward well…" she shrugged and began examining her painted on nails.

"How did you know he was a demon?" Ciel asked, genuine curiousity leaking into his tone.

"I know my supernatural creatures, kid," Muffet replied with a loose-limbed shrug. "I've seen a few of them. You could throw me out, but he'd still owe me something. I guess you could also kill me before I could ask it, but then you'd never get to know that all I wanted was to be a maid in this manor."

That last part was said so quickly that neither of them caught it at first, and then they weren't quite sure how to react at first. That…had not been what they'd been anticipating. Actually, nothing about her could really be anticipated, but this least of all.

Ciel recovered last and spoke first. "You…what?"

"I," she drawled the syllable out exaggeratedly like she was talking to a much younger child. "Want to work as a maid in this manor. You both seem like you go in fairly interesting adventures, and I love interesting adventures."

"You can't be serious," Ciel scowled at her. "You want to stay here because you think it'll be fun?"

She cocked her head at him curiously like the question didn't make sense to her. "Yes? That is typically why I do most things. Life's boring without the thrills and gambles, don't you think? A lady's gotta take risks! Are you telling me you'd rather bunk with Mephistopheles over there than a walking, talking, fully autonomous puppet-girl? Bo-ring~."

He narrowed his eyes at the sing-song tone of her voice. Where had he heard that sound before? "At least I know where his interests lie and his loyalties are. What if one day you think it'll be fun and risky to betray me?"

"Then I guess you'll have to take that risk! Besides," she smiled an unconcerned smile and gestured to Sebastian. "You have your demon guard dog over there. Technically, you hold most of the cards. I just want to be along for the ride. So!" She clapped her hands together, and the sound was louder and sharper than it would have been if it was skin underneath the cotton gloves. Ciel wondered if there would be hairline fractures in the surface. "Do we have a deal?"

Ciel and Sebastian exchanged looks, and finally the young lord sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "Fine. I'll keep you on as a maid. However the first sign of dissent and I will throw you out! Sebastian, find her a uniform."

"Yes, my lord. Come along then."

"Oooh, uniforms! I hope they're cute! I've seen some really ugly servant uniforms in my lifetime," she skipped after Sebastian, taking in the manor's interior with admiring eyes as he led her to the spare room where they kept a few spare uniforms. Muffet held up the plain blue dress and apron critically, and then shrugged. "Meh. This'll do."

"Quite," Sebastian replied dryly. "I will leave you to it then, Miss…?"

"Charlotte," she replied, smiling at him through the half-shut door. "You can call me Charlotte. I look forward to working with you, mon ange tombé." Then she shut the door.


oOo


It was clear that the other servants weren't sure what to make of their new workmate.

It was hard to know what she was thinking; Muffet had been smiling at them silently throughout Sebastian's introduction, and over the course of the minute he had been talking it had gone from looking happy and natural, to unnerving them entirely. There was something cold in her eyes, and they weren't sure why it was there.

"I hope you all treat her well," Sebastian finished, and if he could see how alarmed the others were, he didn't let on. He simply nodded at Mey-Rin. "Mey-Rin, you will be taking Charlotte under your wing for the time being. Please show her where the cleaning supplies are kept."

"Eh? M-Me?" The redhead squeaked and found herself stepping back when Charlotte made her way over to her and stood at her side. Sebastian, finished with his instructions, turned and exited the kitchen, leaving them with her. Mey-Rin turned to Charlotte nervously, who was still smiling sweetly. "Uh…hello…?"

She didn't say a word, and then her head creaked and rotated before their horrified eyes, until they were staring at a less pleasant expression. "Boo!"

Their screams could be heard throughout the grounds.