"Have a nice trip Master!" Meirin smiles as we ready to board the train. Currently- obviously- we're standing in a train station, a place neither I nor Finny have been in before. The trains are much larger, length wise, than my wolven form, and almost as tall. It is red and made of metal and runs on coal, a foul smelling rock that makes foul smelling smoke.
"Trains are so cool!" Finny trounces around, arms wide and flailing as he goes. "I hope to go on one, one day!"
"Finny, stop fooling around!" Bard grunts out as he and Meirin handle some of Ciel's luggage. However, the boy doesn't heed the man's warning, and bumps into one of the station workers that's handling the end of a large wooden box. Finny falls, and in an attempt to stay up grabs the man's shoulder but ultimately pulls him down as well. The poor man's hand is pinched under the box as it falls. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" Finny exclaims, moving forward to help the man.
"Are you alright?" Meirin also steps forward.
"Don't touch that!" Another man in blue, from within the train, stops the duo. "Do you know how valuable that thing is?"
"Please forgive them, lord," a priest who has apparently been here this whole time, draws a cross in prayer over his chest.
What we see is a, "Mummy?" Ciel intones.
"Yes, it seems that collecting ancient Egyptian artifacts is a new fad amongst the wealthy," Sebastian explains simply.
"Pick that up! And be careful!" The bossy man in blue demands. My eyes fall on the one who dropped the box and got his hand beaten up, wondering just how much shit he has to deal with.
Later on, once we're on the train and in our own private room area, Sebastian pours tea for our Master, sitting across from him. I on the other hand am in a laying down position- like a canine- despite my human form. Apparently, I'm not good with trains as they're so odd to my body; I'm not used to them.
"I hope the tea is to your liking, Bocchan," the black haired demon tells the Master as he pours said tea. "The Williamson & Magor Dairjeeling aroma comes from its freshly picked green leaves," however, Ciel isn't interested, his gaze fixed on the land that we pass by. "Bocchan, is it so painful to at least pretend that this journey is a fun one? The criminals will know. Make a more joyous face".
"I know," the boy sighs out blandly.
"Is the issue with the House of Trancy bothering you that much?" I ask him from my downed position.
"No. They definitely are hard to catch, but that's all that remains for now," the boy answers. "Right now Her Majesty takes precedence," he leans around me and ever so slightly moves the door's curtain to the side so that he can look into the hallway. "So that's Lord Ackroyd. His only son was kidnapped".
"Yes. 'If you tell them I have him as a hostage, I will kill him. You will board the train holding the ransom'. Those were the instructions from the culprit," Sebastian informs.
"The ransom is five thousand pounds, no?" I confirm.
"Five thousand pounds, or...," Ciel trails off.
"The price of his soul, is what you want to say," Sebastian finishes his words.
"The culprit should be aboard this train. I shall safely save the hostages an capture the kidnappers. That is the only way to qualm Her Majesty's sorrow," Ciel tells us calmly.
"Understood," I intone with my Tamer.
Not long after, we exit our private room with me right behind Ciel and Sebastian bringing up the rear. The people we come to see aren't what I would call 'commoners'. However, they're no where near a wealthy as my Master is.
"I was the one to discover the body of King of Sumenkukara," a man dressed in tan proudly declares to the woman at his side and the people across from him. Asleep in the Valley of Kings!" He laughs.
"Pride in grave robbing? Disgusting," Ciel mutters to himself.
"I have met that king when he was alive," Sebastian admits from behind me, "He was not of a very gentle virtue. Even if the corpse has been rotting for a long while, the face really does seem different".
"A fake? Could he be the criminal that...," Ciel mutters.
"I wouldn't go that far," I tell him.
"Oho!" A wide eyed man speaks loudly, his gray eyes wide and bloodshot, "The train left at 9:00 sharp from St. Pancreas Station. En route for Cambridge, it comes to a Bedford Crossing at 6:10 exactly! Oh! This thrill! I missed this!" He scrambles around in his seat whilst looking at a book the wrong way. That man...Is weird. "Train arrives at Derby Station at 5:01! Oho! This time lag has been fixed! At the railway station weather will be bad.
"Is he really just reading the time table?" Ciel raises a brow.
"It would seem he has a fixation on the railway," Sebastian informs. And we walk on. However, Ciel walks into a bag that had been in the walkway of all things.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" A Japanese older man growls out. He's wearing...A purple suit of all things. Not his color. I hold back the urge to growl back .
"You're Japanese aren't you?" Sebastian bows with a hand on his chest and a kind smile, "Furoshiki arabesque wrapping really is amazing," he goes to pick up the package but the old man stops him telling him not to touch it and that it's a family heirloom. However, Ciel seems to think that the man is hiding something.
"Please forgive that man," an elderly woman approaches us, "He's always being stubborn about something. Please, accept these," the woman offers us something with fruit and rice.
"No, that's quite alright," Sebastian turns down for us. The woman continues to try and share like the kind person she seems to be, however people keep on turning her down. Apparently cholera is running rampent in Asia at the moment. A wealthy man shoos her away like some street cat or dog.
"You take that back!" The old man stands up for his saddened wife.
"Please stop that. Don't you think it's quite rude to travelers that have come from far away," the Father we had seen from before speaks up.
"Shut up!" Another man tells him. And a small scuffle begins to occur. What's interesting, is the fact that during the scuffle the Father's one sleeve was pulled down just enough for the three of us to see something rather interesting. The man has a tattoo. Something I've never heard of in the first place.
"Everyone calm down!" A voice suddenly demands as the door on the other end of the car slams open. The voice belongs to a russet haired man whom is wearing a tan colored hat and trench coat, and if I look at his bowed head he has a mustache- your typical French person style. "Cool down! And sit down!" He dramatically walks his way closer to us, spinning his way to stand in front of us ant take off his hat. "It's no wonder you're all so excited. Certainly, to ride a train when there is a murderer in the convoy. However, under the watchful eyes of the police that guard him, he can't move a single muscle". He doesn't get to finish his flashy entrance as the people before him begin to panic. Pushing him over and trampling him in an attempt to get as far away from the murderer as possible. I pick up Ciel and move into an empty spot as the people rush by, protecting him casually until everyone but the four of us are left. "Huh? Oh!" The man beams to us as I put Ciel down. "There you are Earl Phantomhive!" Like the klutz he appears to be , he falls on his face. However, once he's up, we head on to the eating car that I don't bother to call by its actual name. "The eel pie makes you feel nostalgic, doesn't it?" The man questions. "It brings the taste of traditional homemade British cuisine. It was pretty wild back there, huh?"
"And who's fault is that?" Ciel sighs out. "Besides, I think Chief Randall will fuss at you for having dinner with me".
"No no, I'm deepening my friendship with you," the man tells the boy. "I've heard so many stories about you from my twin brother".
"Twin eh?" I tilt my head his way curiously.
"Yea...I wish I could have eaten these with him," the man sighs out casually.
"We should get going, Bocchan," Sebastian speaks up as he finishes eying the man I had long since sniffed out.
"Wait! Ciel if you don't eat enough, your stomach will-" the man begins to choke. He had after all been talking with a full mouth. Idiot.
"There sure as hell are a lot of suspicious people here," I casually state as I bring up the rear of Ciel, Sebastian and then finally myself. "A gruff Japanese man, a Priest with a tattoo, a fake archeologist, and that weird guy with the time table.
"Suspicious indeed," Sebastian agrees.
"Excuse me," a man dressed in brown passes us. However, it turns out that he's the man that had dropped the fake mummy, and indeed he trns out to be the kidnapper. Why wouldn't he be with how odd he's acting? We give chase. However, the last car is separated from the train by the blonde at the last moment.
"Don't let him get away you two! Go!" Ciel demands of his butler, and I stay at my Master's side. "Let's go, Phobia," he demands with a turn of his body and a dash of his feet.
"Right behind you Master," I grin out and run after him after he has enough of a lead. We end up passing the nameless russet haired man's form, and for some odd reason he follows after us.
"Ciel, where are you going off to in such a rush?" He questions from behind me.
"The end car has been detached from the rest of the train," Ciel states, "A kidnapper is there demanding a ransom".
"Wh-What? The last car was detached?" The officer falls on his face not long after we've made it into a car with people- people that had been in that argument from before.
"It's just as my Master has said," I tell him. "The kidnapper is back with Sebastian, and Master and I are off to find the hostage which is most likely in something disguised".
"Something just big enough to hold a single child. Such as that mummy case," Ciel states, upsetting the archeologist. However, that doesn't last long as the russet haired man begins to cry about his stomach hurting. Apparently, it could be cholera- the Asian woman has it as well it seems. We have no time to waste however as Ciel and I leave the others to fret over such nonsense.
We come to a car that's walls are filled with masks of all sorts, and has no lights. However, the lack of light doesn't bother me at all. We come to the box we know to hold the 'mummy', and with a simple pull from Ciel the lid comes off. The lid of the mummy's casing is then opened to show a small blonde boy. A mumbled 'help me' comes from him.
However, things are halted for a second as I turn around and let my palm meet the point of a knife. This point crumples under the touch of my hard skin, and I smirk. "And who might you be?"
"What does that matter?" The man grunts, and lunges at me again. However, I don't plan on letting him harm myself- not that he could- nor my Master. I swing around his form, grabbing his striking arm and twisting it painfully behind his back.
"Master," I call to Ciel, who looks over his shoulder to look at me. He sighs.
"What?"
"Can I kill him?" I grin out, fangs gleaming.
"...He's a criminal...Go ahead," Ciel states. "Just not while I'm looking or around. Do it somewhere else".
"As you wish," I tell him, and drag the man with me to the back of the car.
"Let me go damn it!" The criminal fights back ever so harshly.
"Sorry, Master said I could kill you; so I will," I grin out over my shoulder. I'm not really sorry, of course.
"What's he paying you? I can double- no, quadruple it in no time!" The man tells me.
"He's not paying me anything. I'm doing all this nonsense of my own accord," I tell him and throw him towards the wall of the train. His body thuds against the metal with a dull thunk and he looks from side to side to see if there's anywhere for him to go to get away from me. "No where to go," I taunt as I had picked a closed off space thanks to multiple boxes and luggage.
"Stay away!" He lashes out with a foot.
"How fun it is to see a supposedly hardened criminal can turn into something low as a common victim within moments. Is there another way you'd like to try to come at me from?" The man whimpers as I come close enough to him to touches noses. He's a bit shorter than I, so I have to bend down a bit. "I've never had a human soul before- well, I have, just not in a long time- but I wanna kill you and I can't leave behind any evidence. So," I trail off for a moment before placing my hands on each side of his face. As it looks like I'm about to kiss him, I jerk his head up and to the side, my jaws clamping onto his neck but not making an imprint nor even placing spit there. I take in a deep breath and close my eyes, searching for the man's soul. I can't really say what a soul feels like, because it doesn't have a feeling. Just a taste and a smell. It doesn't have a sound either. Still just a taste and a smell. However, I'll say that souls are extremely easy to find the more appealing to you they are. This man's is very appealing to me; I've always had a thing for eating tainted souls so to speak. I've only had a couple handfuls of souls in my long life but no matter. A minute or two later, and I let the body slump to the floor and return to Ciel. I smell Sebastian near by. "What're you doing here?"
"I came looking for you two. Phobia. I need your help," the demon tells me.
"With what exactly?" I tilt my head like the innocent pup I am.
"According to the kidnapper that I've taken care of, there are bombs on this train that will go off should it stop. When I got here from that place, I had saw that this train would be stopping soon, so I managed to change the direction. However, I had accidentally changed it to one that will ultimately kill everyone on this train via broken bridge if we do not stop the train. However the bombs are still a factor. What I need you to do, is on my signal stop the train after I take care of the bombs. Do you think you can do that?"
"What am I, a joke to you?" I sigh and lick the lips of soul off said lips. "I'll be able to stop this train no problem," I assure.
"Good. Bocchan, Phobia, please follow me," Sebastian smiles out before turning and exiting the car. However he doesn't move to another one. Instead, he leads the way to the roof and leads the way along the top of the train until we stop a few cars away from the front. He crouches and gets a good grip onto the roof of the car before slowly yet surely ripping it off like some sort of can lid. He shifts the metal around in his hands until finally with a throw the roof is gone with an explosion.
"The guests would have noticed that," Ciel sighs out.
"Worry not. That was the catering car," Sebastian assures the boy.
"My turn," I grin out and jump my way off the train and rush forward. Once a good distance in front of it, I place my hands into my pockets and lift up a single foot. Said foot smashes into the front of the train, and my body is sent in a sliding direction through the wood of the rail. However, after more of digging my heel in, I manage to stop it with pleanty of room to spare.
"Well done Phobia, Sebastian," Ciel announces from next to the latter demon on top of the train.
"I try," I grin and playfully salute.
It's after this that the people begin to get off the train in fits of glee and splendor. Some people hug, others dance in place, and there are those who just simply smile at the feeling of not being dead. After all, it's not everyday that your life is threatened by the possibility of a train crashing over a broken bridge and falling into a small canyon. Ciel is off doing something, however I know that he's not that far away.
"This table cloth was stained during your little 'savior montage'," a dull voice speaks up from behind us. Sebastian and I turn as one to look and see just who is talking. He also looks to be a butler of a wealthy family, his coat and pants neatly pressed as should be. His golden orbs are cold and uncaring. His hair is about as long as Sebastian's but it has a bit more of a wild appearance to it. He's also wearing glasses. On his head is a top hat. He holds to us an envelope that's sealed.
"What's that?" I ask him.
"I will give you information about my Master; you want to complete Ciel's failed revenge, don't you?" The stranger states, handing Sebastian the paper. Sebastian doesn't say anything in return however, as he obviously feels threatened. Still there's a nod of thanks from him before we turn and go on our way.