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The sky had a very large crack that split the sun. It caused a large shadow to be cast over the campus, as if a peculiarly shaped cloud remained unmoved by the wind. Behind the crack was darkness, or more specifically, Nothing. It is the space that is found between the worlds, as well as the space that He summons me to whenever he has a task for me. This large obstruction meant bad news to the state of the world but on the bright side, my dimensional powers were much stronger now.
"What is the meaning of this, Carter?" Clayton demanded as he approached me. "First you disappoint us all, and now you defile the Swan Gazebo?!"
"Please be patient with me. You will understand the purpose of all this quite shortly." I responded with a smile as I stepped down from the gazebo.
Behind me, all the phonograph bells were tied to the gazebo, each with a string connected to it that led to the art room Ciel was in. With a slight extension of my hand, I smiled at Redmond and gestured toward the seat in the middle of the ring of phonographs.
"I insist that you take a seat, Redmond. The show is about to begin."
"Do you think this is a game?" He retorted calmly, though his gaze towards me was much darker than his usual gentle eyes. "As a prefect, I demand that you take this down at once!"
Before anybody else could speak, however, a voice sounded from the phonographs.
"So, what do you want?"
It was without a doubt Maurice's voice that was coming from the bells, and this without a doubt startled those before me. I held a finger up to my lips to tell them not to make a sound. Once again, I met eyes with Redmond and gestured towards the seat. This time, he complied.
From there on, things progressed smoothly. At a steady pace, Ciel made his accusations one by one as everybody listened. When the cards were mentioned, I pulled one out of my jacket and handed it to Redmond silently. There was no visible attempt to hide the shock and betrayal in his eyes when he read the request that was printed on the card.
A few more words were exchanged until finally, things got interesting.
"The fuck. No way I will!" The angered voice of Maurice Cole rang from the bells. At this point, I gave the others a look that silently asked what they would do now.
The doors being thrown open could be heard and within seconds, more disgraceful words could be heard coming from Maurice. The sound of cloth being torn was followed by a gasp and a cough, which had been partially muted by Ciel being kicked in the chest.
Greenhill and Edward had already sprinted off to Ciel's aid, with Violet and Bluer following close behind. I leaned against one of the posts of the Swan Gazebo and looked over towards Redmond. His expression was sullen and neutral, but his eyes told me otherwise. He was awfully good at keeping his cool, though I suppose that's to be expected of such a young gentleman.
Only moments later did we hear the door being kicked open, signaling Greenhill and Edward's entrances. Finally, once Ciel had been saved and Maurice was beyond shock, everything was revealed to him.
"After hearing that the skilled and brilliant Maurice Cole was about to commit an act of violence…anyone would come running." Edward stated, giving me the cue that I wanted.
"To fail twice at the same thing, I suppose you can't be skilled at everything." I commented with a smile in my voice as I stepped onto the gazebo. "Perhaps violence just isn't suited for your seemingly-pure hands."
Maurice's panicked response was immediate and I must say, it was incredibly amusing to hear. "W-What do you mean?! Where is your voice coming from?!"
With an eerie innocent tone in his voice, Ciel revealed the strings that were attached to the backs of each painting. I couldn't help but smile to myself, though I made sure to keep it hidden since I had to look lawful, not sinister.
"You've committed far more wrong than just deceiving, Maurice." I started again while gesturing towards Redmond to stand. "As I mentioned before, this isn't your first act of violence. Since you seem highly incapable of telling the truth, I will take upon my shoulders to explain it all in your place."
He began to shout back through the phonographs immediately after, but I tugged at a string and after the sound of all the strings snapping, the noise ceased. I had recreated the similar trick that was used to cut the chandelier.
Once again, I turned to Redmond and the remaining fags with a look of concern. "If you would all be so kind as to follow me, I would like to show you something of great importance."
I saw that the others had already relocated to the Purple House's dining hall by the time we arrived. Maurice was being held by Edward and glared at me the moment I walked in.
"W-What is the meaning of this?!"
"I highly doubt you're in any position to be making demands," I started calmly while making my way towards the piano, "especially since I'm about to reveal a rather astonishing truth."
The prefects and their fags turned their attention towards me, and I could see that Ciel was curious as well. I never told him anything regarding this part of the plan, after all.
"I'm sure you all remember the chandelier incident from the other day." I reminded them, now making my way to the table where the prefects were seated. "If you don't mind, please take the same seats as you did that morning."
As the prefects each sat in a chair, I began to make my way up to a bookshelf that was on the balcony. I rested my hand on one of the books as I glanced down at them with a smile. "Now…observe."
With a tug, I pulled out the book and immediately afterwards, something whizzed through the air. Before anybody had time to blink, there was a snap and the chandelier fell three or four feet before coming to an abrupt stop. While the jingling of the glass and the swinging of the chandelier gradually stopped, I returned to the first floor to many stunned expressions.
"This isn't the time for games, Carter!" Greenhill shouted, though I gestured for him to settle down.
"I was simply revealing that the accident was no accident at all. The chandelier falling was quite intentional, and it was prepared by none other than you, Maurice Cole." As I said his name, I turned to face him with disdain in my voice but amusement in my eyes. "Allow me to explain."
"The night before the incident, I heard some strange noises coming from the dining hall. At first I thought it was the wind, but now I know that it was Cole's entourage sneaking inside in order to set up the trap. A simple yet very precise trip wire system was installed, and the starting point would be the book."
As I spoke, I revealed the book that I had removed from the bookshelf and pointed at the top of its spine.
"An invisible wire was attached to the back of this book and once pulled, it would cause a small bade, perhaps a sculpting blade taken from one of the art rooms, to be launched down at the wire that suspends the chandelier. For the sake of my demonstration, I only cut the wire that I attached myself."
Using a pulley system and hiding the original sagging wire accomplished that. After my demonstration, the chandelier was returned to its normal distance from the ground, but I didn't bother explaining all of this to them. These details weren't the ones that mattered, after all.
"Now, the proof." As I spoke, I pulled out another book from my jacket. "This is the original book that was used for the trick, with the string attached as the spine as it should be. It's a little tarnished now, as the cards were not the only things you dispose of, Cole. I spent much time trying to locate this as well." I added with a bit of an exhausted shake of the head. I returned to my disdained look soon enough as I continued. "However, this does not prove that there was, in fact, a blade."
I now walked over to Violet and after excusing myself, lifted the slack of his robe to reveal two cuts hidden in the creases of his hood and his shoulder. "Please observe the direction of these small tears in relation to the chandelier and the bookshelf."
Eyes trailed the invisible path in the sky until Bluer made the connection.
"So the blade sliced Violet's robe as well." He deduced with a slight narrow of his eyes. "However, it could be a very convenient coincidence. Do you have the blade, Carter?"
"I never come unprepared." I answered and revealed the small blade as if it appeared from thing air, though technically it really did. I had used my powers to materialize it that time. " This blade was, in fact, tucked within the pages of the books. There is still a visible imprint of it in the pages."
I flipped the book open and matched the blade to the imprint that it left. I then gestured towards the tears on Violet's robe once more. "The first slice was created from the first incident, and the second was created just now by the demonstration. I noticed the first tear when I accidentally encountered Violet in the 3rd art room yesterday."
Of course, I apologized to the prefect for ruining his robe and offered to fix it myself later on.
"Now, the final piece is how I know Cole is responsible for all of this." My voice was calm as I made my way over to the prefects' table. "Perhaps you, Redmond, will remember Cole excusing himself to look through the books. This, of course, is when he left to move the book. However, what he never learned was the last-minute change in schedule that was made."
"Oh, that's right. Cheslock ended up playing instead of Carter." Edward voiced, and the small sparks of realizations began to go off.
I gave them a slight nod before continuing. "I remember quite clearly that when you came to see what had happened, Cole, you immediately asked if I was alright." He saw where I was going with this and gritted his teeth. "Now, why would you immediately ask about my state if Cheslock was the one who was nearly crushed by the chandelier? Normally you would ask if the victim is all right, or at least ask if both persons were all right. Isn't that right?"
His expression was priceless and I have to refrain from smiling victoriously.
"The end result of all this was intended to harm me." I finalized while giving Maurice a condescending look "I hope you realize, Cole, that if I hadn't pulled Cheslock out of the way, he would have suffered much more than a mere scratch on is arm. The chandelier had fallen almost directly onto the seat. A second later and he would have been crushed!"
The expression Maurice wore was one of a deer caught in headlights. His eyes were wide and his body trembled. Finally, Redmond broke the silence.
"I'm ashamed of my inability to judge people." His voice was sullen and the darkened look in his eyes made it hard to believe they were usually quite gentle. "You disappointed me, Cole. I cancel our brotherly relationship!"
Maurice immediately collapsed onto the ground and let out a strangled wail. As he sobbed, Ciel approached him carefully and knelt before him. Once again, the gentle, innocent smiled played on his lips.
"Cole. If you start behaving honestly, I'm sure that you'll be able to regain everyone's trust." He spoke gently while holding out a handkerchief to the boy. "So I thought…I'd start by showing everybody your real face."
As he revealed the photo hidden within the cloth, I glanced towards the window and saw the hundreds of photos that rained down to the puzzled students outside.
"Ciel…Carter." Edward spoke, catching out attentions. The moment he was a couple of feet away from us, he bowed deeply as expected. "I'm sorry for blaming you unjustly! Please forgive me!"
"No matter the reason, we were still late." Ciel responded with a meek smile and a have of his hands.
"Indeed. There's no need for you to apologize, Midford." I added with a similar expression. Admittedly, I felt a little uncomfortable having somebody bow to me. It just isn't something that happens on such a personal level in Reality, after all.
One by one, the prefects and fags approached us with their own share of words. With each sentence, I felt the pulse course through my body. With each word after that, the sensation grew stronger and more prominent.
"You follow tradition, you don't lie, and you are pure and noble." Greenhill spoke, directing his words to me and Ciel. "The two of you are model students of this school."
"I am truly convinced that there is no false judgment this time." Redmond stated with a warm smile. He approached the two of us and gently placed a hand on each of our shoulders. "You both have my complete and absolute trust from now on."
His words were immediately followed by a bright glow that appeared from his chest, but it would only be visible to me and Ciel. For now, at least.
My knees buckled and I immediately slammed my hand on the table in order to keep my balance. The pulses and ripples became stronger and much more violent. I could hear voices around me, but they sounded although they were miles away. Somebody grabbed me by the shoulder and I could feel myself being lifted. Finally, I regained my composure and looked up to see the others giving me incredibly concerned looks.
"Are you alright?!" Clayton immediately asked. As it turns out, he was the one who had been supporting me. "Can you stand, Carter?"
"Yes, I'm more than all right. Thank you." I responded before turning to the prefects. "Everybody, please brace yourselves. This world is about to collapse."
I received a number of puzzled expressions and one of extreme confusion and shock from Ciel, but the ground had already started to shake before anybody could say a word.
"What is the meaning of this, Carter?!" Ciel demanded while holding onto the table next to us. "That glow just now was the Key, wasn't it?"
"But of course. What else could it have been?" I answered with a smile as I stood calmly amidst all the growing chaos. "I can now safely restore this breaking world of yours."
The young Earl stumbled momentarily before glaring back up me once more. "Then get to it already!"
As the trembling became more violent, I held out my hands and watched as the small glowing orb floated into my palms. It felt although I was holding a ball of sunlight. The nature of the Key tends to affect its appearance, so I suppose the warm feelings that come with trust were in play here.
With feigned innocence, I tilted my head just slightly as I looked back at Ciel with a smile.
"Oh, did I forget to mention?" I asked rhetorically as I regained my original appearance. "In order to restore the worlds, I must first let them collapse."
Author's note: The next sequence will be the final one. Thanks for reading [: