Chapter 12: His Butler, Forlorn

It was meant to be, it seemed, because… no matter how she looked at the image, those eyes who burned with a brilliant blue would always be burnt and become a hellish red.

"Ciel…" He had disappeared after the fire that had took his home and family. It would be a year before he returned and the young blonde girl could run up the steps of the familiar manor, only miles away from the ruins of the old home. It would be a year before she would jump out of the horse pulled carriage in a green dress and bonnet. She had run down the courtyard to the edge that overlooked the destruction, that's where he was…

But the boy with the blue eyes had stopped smiling, his blue eyes weren't as bright and the girl with eyes glowing green had her hopeful heart sink slowly to the depths of her stomach. The boy… the boy of innocence, clean and untainted by thorns was finally pricked and spoiled, forever. So, the girl who loved him, tried to make him smile with no avail. And here she lays with the smile-less boy with eyes no longer blue staring back at her…

Because the blood red came to his eyes.


"You lost your mansion, you lost your parents, and this time will you lose Lady Elizabeth?" The butler asked as the soft white curtains danced with the night breeze. His eyes were dead on his master and his smile, though initially warm, hid a cruel bitterness to them.

"Sebastian!" Ciel called his name, not missing a beat in repramending his demon butler. "Take that back, Sebastian."

The butler tilted his head to the side, just enough that only his bangs were out of place. "Take what back?" He questioned.

"That jeer!" Ciel snapped, not having any of Sebastian's usual air.

"Young Master," Sebastian began his smirk growing wider, "you told me you would be taking care of some trifling business. Was that "business" to dotingly savor your wretched past and wallow in the pleasures of humiliation?" Sebastian finally looked up at Ciel who returned the glance with sneer on his face. "Didn't you say at the frost fair that your body and your ring had already been shattered and reborn?" Sebastian lifted his hand moving it to show the empty significance of Ciel's words. "That you were far past being afraid of shattering?"

"That's right. Don't recite my words back to me." Sebastian let out a soft chuckle at the response.

"Build it up with iron and steel, iron and steel, iron and steel…" A voice sang from the door. It caught both of their attentions and the door burst open the dolls coming through. "Build it up with iron and steel, my fair lady."

"Was Grell defeated?" Ciel wondered.

Sebastian stood from his seat and went over to Ciel. "I see, so he's controlling them with his tone? In that case…" Sebastian lifted his hands and clasped them together before singing at the dolls. "Iron and steel will bend and bow, bend and bow, bend and bow. Iron and steel will bend and bow, my fair lady." He kept singing the song, and broke one of the necks of the dolls in time with the song. All followed suit in the next verse. Once he was done, a ceremonious bow was in order before Ciel.

Ciel grimaced darkly. "Who are you calling a lady?" He said in hushed tones.

Sebastian said nothing further. "Let us depart young master." Before Sebastian could take him, the jester was in the room.

"No, Ciel Phantomhive is my master's possession now."

"'Possession'? I am not—"

"The proof is the ring on your finger." The man snapped. "I can tell. That Hope piece is a present my master sends to those who will be made into dolls."

"Master?" Sebastian question but it was overlooked.

"Ciel Phantomhive will become a doll. A doll made of silver and gold."

Sebastian scoffed with a smirk on his face. "Silver and gold will be stolen away, stolen away, stolen away." He picked up Ciel and dashed out the window.

The puppet man approached the window confused. "He was stolen away." He sank to the ground. "So I thought to myself: Ciel Phantomhive will return."

When Sebastian landed on the bridge that led to the mansion, he set Ciel onto the ground before standing up straight, "Goodness me…" He whispered before the loud crack of the slap echoed around them. Sebastian's cheek stained red and his expression was one of genuine confusion.


"Pneumonia, asthma, hemophilia… There is nothing to be done, he will die in a matter of weeks."

"You are the last piece of the puzzle."

"There is nothing that cane be done, the child cannot be born it must die..."

"Your health has always been weak-"

"No!"

Scarlett opened her eyes again, tears pouring down her face. She could hear each breath that she took in was heavy and not from the crying alone. Her lungs… were full of water. She saw Tanaka on a chair sleeping and silently thanked God as she pressed her palms against her eyes trying to will the tears to stop. She thought that this illness would overtake herlike it did those people in her dreams. Those people that she knew so well.

She sat up and took the cup of lukewarm tea and began to sip it. She set it down back onto the saucer before she began coughing. She wanted a hot towel to be placed on her throat, sooth the tightened muscles because she could not swallow without there being pain. She decided against another attempt. Instead of sinking back into the covers though, she decided to open the single drawer in the nightstand beside her bed. She sank into the bed with the bible in her hands, with small handwritten notes adorning the sides of the pages in black ink.

As she drifted off again reading the words of the page she was met with the image, hand in hand with the butler clad in black in a room of corpses. Scarlett again sat up with another gasp.


There was a fierce look in Ciel's piercing blue eyes. "What about Lizzie?! You still haven't saved her?! I thought I ordered you to solve the kidnappings?!" He chided his butler, his butler the child and he the adult. "Saving Lizzie, who fell victim to the kidnappings is the first-!"

Sebastian had to cut off, partial in order to save himself the pointless noise made by Ciel's mouth. "An order is not the same as a contract." He reminded the young master before him. "Just as you give your priority to the orders from the Queen, I prioritize your life." There was a momentary icy silence from the boy. "I have devoted myself to your service and protection at all times." With glowing red eyes, the speech continued, "I couldn't stand for you to be stolen away from me now."

All air from the butler came to and end when Ciel removed the second Hope Piece from his pocket and placed it onto his finger.

"Young Master?" Sebastian question, feeling odd about the gesture.

"It would seem that the right is the mark of his next victim," A smirk played onto Ciel's lips as he lifted his hand to show the butler, "and I have two of them. Protecting me now will no doubt require some effort."

This was nothing more than Ciel reminding Sebastian of who was in charge, who was the alpha and master of the duo. It was a power play and one well executed enough to cause the demon before him to smirk and kneel before his master, "Nevertheless, I shall. Young master."

After Sebastian's and Ciel's spat, they focused their attention back to the problem at hand. Sebastian guided Ciel to the sealed tower, where Pluto's cries came from and the only area that was now left unchecked in the region. As they approached the tower they were greeted by the sight of Grell trying to restrain the beast from going at the door. "Hey, now! What's the matter with you?!" He shouted at the white haired man.

"You two are alive?!" Ciel shouted as he run forward to approach them. Grell immediately reacted to Sebastian's prescence but the one that beat him to the butler was Pluto, the white haired man latching onto the stoic butler.

The grim reaper however did not take this lightly, "Excuse me!" he snapped before calming down enough to realize the truth about the predicament they were in and the condition of Pluto. "Wait could that be… a demon hound?" He asked.

"You just noticed?" Ciel's minimal commentary was enough to spark excited hypersexual rage into the Reaper that was only followed by the second minimal commentary from Sebastian, "You're so wanton." The murmers of the two individuals meant little to the red headed Death Reaper.

Finally, Sebastian turned his gaze and attention to the white haired demon hound. "Pluto, I've been waiting for you." The demon hound tilted his head in confusion, still latched onto the demon butler. The extra weight of an entire man meant little to the butler as he actually walked towards the bridge of the tower with all of Pluto's weight still support on his body. "Once the seal of the underworld has been placed on a door, only a hellhound can open it."

Once the pair was close enough to the door, Pluto's collar began to glow a vibrant white and Pluto withered in pain falling to the ground as it forced him to transform into his normal form. The dog Pluto stood up straight and proud and howled triggering the door before them to open wide, breaking the seal that Sebastian spoke about.

The four men and teen began their ascension up the stairs allowing Pluto to lead the way. Only Ciel was the one out of breathe as the relentlessly climbed the stairs. They ended on the top floor lead to a single door. Sebastian grasped the handle to open it but hesitated, looking back at Ciel for conformation. There was a feeling in the butler's core; once this door is open it can never be undone. Not truly. But the nod of Ciel was clear, open the door, so Sebastian did as ordered.

Inside they found a workshop, a workshop for dolls. They scanned the area and Ciel spotted Elizabeth, seated perfectly in a wooden chair. "Lizzie!" Ciel called out and ran to her. He stopped in front of her, she didn't seem right; she seemed off so Ciel called for her again, "Lizzie?" He whispered and she wouldn't respond. Ciel's frustration got a hold of him, he wouldn't allow his most precious person be turned into a doll. "Lizzie!" He said, grasping his shoulder and giving her a single shake trying to snap it out of her.

He was frightened her green eyes would not open. "It seems we are too late." The Reaper said.

"No…" Ciel whispered, refusing to accept this fate. "Lizzie! Lizzie! Lizzie!" He called out and kept shaking her, trying to coax some response and it happened, her eyes finally opened. Ciel however still winced, there was no light in her eyes.

She finally seemed in charge of her own movement, and she looked up at Ciel. "Hmm…?"

Ciel let a fraction of relief wash through. "Lizzie, thank goodness." He said.

Her eyes fell on the blue gem on his finger. "The ring…" She whispered and a smile formed on her face. "So you were pleased… Ciel…" Sebastian and Ciel then both understood, the ring that had led Elizabeth to this tower was the same right that was in that box, meant to be Ciel's birthday gift.

"But it's foolish, why would you give it to me?" Ciel asked softly.

Suddenly, her arm was pulled up into the air, "Why, indeed?" The familiar voice of Drossel asked before the entirety of Elizabeth's body was pulled up into the air. "Why does her body move independently of her will?" Sebastian and Grell both began moving, rotating in their places, looking around the room at everything but the girl. "And…" an axe flew into Elizabeth's hands, "why does she hurt the ones she loves?" She began swinging the axe at Ciel.

Sebastian caught the earl and moved away, dodging the blows that Elizabeth was dealing. "Grell, do you see this too?"

"I suppose, but I might chip my blade so…" The Reaper said as an excuse to sit aside and not fight the threat in front of them.

Elizabeth went to bring the axe down onto Sebastian and Ciel, to which Sebastian responded by grabbing the handle of the axe and holding the blow back. Over his arm he looked at Grell with a pleasant expression and said, "Please."

Clearly, Grell's 'fire-up meter' was rising as he jumped out of his seat and looked over at Sebastian like a high school girl with a crush that screamed desperation. Grell's following words did not help his cause in proving himself otherwise, "In that case, during the kiss can there be… tongue?" He asked, prepared to squeal at the prospect of this happening.

"I haven't the faintest idea what you mean but in fact I can tie a cherry stem into a knot with my tongue." Sebastian said nonchalant but causing massively devastating affects on the flamboyant reaper but enough to get him into action.

"It's unforgivable for a little girl like you to have a better blade than me." Grell remarked as he worked to cut the strings holding Elizabeth.

Elizabeth fell to the ground and Ciel to his knees after her, fearing for her life, seeing that from Grell once before and lost his aunt. However, this time it was not the case. "Puppet strings." Sebastian revealed were what the scissor "sickles" cut from Elizabeth. "This sharp cut only comes with a death scythe. Well, Sebas-chan? Aren't I amazing? Compliment me, compliment me!"

Sebastian stood straight from Elizabeth, "Good for you. Not anyone would run with scissors." He deadpanned just to agitate the annoying Grell. However the insult… went unnoticed. As Sebastian looked up to see where the strings came from, it tied up all three men in the room.

"So I thought to myself: what shall I use to make my new dolls?" He asked the trio below him.

Sebastian looked up at the puppet and asked, "Then let me ask you this: what are you made of?"

"Eh?" Drossel asked, "What am I… made of?"

"Yes. You don't seem to be made from really high-quality materials." Sebastian kept up his taunting, seeing the effect it had.

"So I thought to myself: I know I must be human and yet lately I find termites crawling out of my ears…" The puppet placed his pinky finger into his ear to pick at the nonexistent termites absentmindedly.

While Drossel was distracted he propelled the axe that Elizabeth was using up at Drossel to distract him further and loosen the puppet strings around them. Sebastian used Grell's face to catapult himself up into the air into Drossel's area. "I sense none of the way or style of a butler in you." He made quick work of him before letting him land onto of saddened Grell and then let the scythe fall on top of them. "I can never lose to a man without style."

They all looked at the puppet, straw had fallen out of his head were it cracked and the contents spilling out. "So he was a doll too?" Ciel questioned.

"Drossel Keinz. His soul was collected five years ago but, for some reason, we detected signs of revival." Grell said, his job tonight to find out the reason for this anomaly after all.

"It seems that some fitted him with a makeshift soul." There was silence as Ciel took in the information Sebastian and Grell presented to him. Makeshift souls, puppets, none of this were a good sign.

"Ciel…" A meek voice called out into the silence.

Ciel looked down at Elizabeth, "Elizabeth, let's go home." He whispered, gently to her as he held her.

"I wanted to… give you a birthday party…"

Ciel was shocked at the declaration. His eyes shone as he forced himself to say, "Yes, please do." He whispered to her. The pale discoloration of her skin quickly fades and was replaced with her normal tone. "You can rest easy now. It's all-"

He was cut off by Sebastian, "It's not over it appears." He said as the puppet butler crawled and moved towards a nearby door.

"So I thought to myself:" he stood perfectly straight, despite his injury, "I will report to my master." He moved mechanically, the makeshift soul barely keeping its grip on the body.

"What's wrong with him?" Grell said in revulsion, "He's all torn up and he still wants to serve his master?"

"I can understand," Sebastian said, "You see, he is merely one Hell of a butler."

"M-Master…" Drossel finally got to the door put once it was pushed open he fell to the ground lifeless once more. The trio left Elizabeth behind in the other room and rushed in to finally meet the master of this estate, the person behind this entire ordeal. They found a single chair looking out the moonlit window, Pluto curled around the chair like a guard dog defending his master.

"Pluto!" Ciel called his name, the demon hound looked up at him and then at the person in the seat. There was a soft lick to the stranger's hand and the hellhound seemed content, happy even being in the presence of this person. "Why is he being so friendly?" Ciel questioned.

"I am very sorry, my butler is incompetent and I am incapable of offering you hospitality." The man on the seat said. Pluto shifted and sat up straight beside the chair looking down at the person that the other three could not see.

"So you're behind this. Why would you turn those girls into dolls?"

"Flowers, eras and also people are only beautiful for finite moments. Doll making is a noble work, preserving in this world the most beautiful and perfect of people."

"You've got awful taste!" Interrupted the former red butler. "What's so perfect about immature little-"

And he was promptly interrupted back by Ciel, "Why are you after me?" he questioned. He touched the Hope Pieces displayed on his hand. "I won't be made into a doll and lovingly displayed somewhere!" He shouted, and threw the second Hope Piece against the back of the chair the man sat on.

There was silence until the Hope Piece landed onto the ground, the blue stone facing Ciel. "Know your place, boy."

"What?" Ciel hissed back.

"My butler's head is made of straw, I imagine he couldn't understand why I wanted you. Ciel Phantomhive, you were fated to die from your very birth. Your body is already unclean."

Ciel physically cringed the sensation and images of all that happened rushing into his mind. "Why do you know that?" He questioned.

"I cannot allow someone like you to exist in this world." Ciel felt hate and anger starting its course through him. "Unclean, unnecessary, unfruitful… and therefore I tried to snuff you out."

"What?!" Ciel ground out.

"Snuff out the unclean, the unnecessary, the unfruitful…" The chair started to vibrate as the man shook in his seat. "Snuff him out! Snuff him out! Snuff him out! Snuff him out!" The voice started to change from elegance to a high-pitched squeal, like a pig.

"Don't play games with me!" Ciel screamed enraged once more. When he ran forward to face the man the other two followed. They found nothing but a dummy waiting there for them and a small puppet sitting in his lap. There was silence even as the puppet sat it self up to its feet.

Silence and then the laughter of insanity before the small object ran away. "Sebastian, catch it!"

"The person manipulating it is not here, my lord." Grell was behind Sebastian trembling in fear despite the threat leaving the room. "I now notice that there were invisible string all over the room. Not a very nice thing, I must say."


Scarlett sat down on the bed, her hands shaking and trembling trying to clean out the blood on the sheets below her, staining her hands a deep red. "I can't…. I can't clean it. It's so unclean! I can't- I can't!" She tried hard to breath. Outside it was snowing…

"Mother?" She looked up to find bright blue eyes on the smallest child in the raggy clothes but with the brightest smile and a patch of red hair on his head. "Mother, my unfruitful mother, can you sing for me?"

Scarlett shook her head. "You're not my son…" She whispered, tears pouring down her face, refusing the accept this cruel dream she was enduring.

"Then-then!" He jumped up and down, his hair become darker into a fine dark brown but the same blue eyes. "Sister, sing for me."

"Christian…" She begged, a sob escaping her.

"Come on, sister!" The scene began to shift as the boy twirled and then fell to the ground. Scarlett gasped and raised her hands to her face, smearing it with blood. The young boy looked at her with black hair adorning his head, his body bare, save for a red cloth lain on top of him. "Please… Scarlett, just one song… I am going to die. Can at least my journey to hell be a pleasant one?"

Another sob escaped her lips. "Young master… please," She tried to calm her sobs. "If god has forsaken me… then I shall forsake God, too." She took a deep breath. "Only the oppresses may possess a black key, I close all doors, Thus I seal away all prayers…"

"Scarlett, time to wake up."

"However." The boy looked at her, her son with red hair. Snuff out the unfruitful.

"Scarlett?"

"Who protects me," the boy was now her brother with blonde hair. Snuff out the unnecessary.

"Scarlett?"

"From me who is…" Ciel… snuff out the unclean!

"… most terrible?" She muttered in her half awakened state. Her green eyes fell onto Sebastian and a new sob escaped her lips. She placed her hands to her mouth suppress it but could not hold back the tears the poured freely from her face.

"What is most terrible, Scarlett?"

She smiled brightly despite the tears. "Your medicine and tea." She said and sat up to simply throw herself onto the black clad butler. "Oh, I've missed you." She sobbed onto his shoulder.

Sebastian seemed confused by the gesture. He saw the bible that lay on her bed. "You seem as if you have healed." He said, blankly. He knew of what had happened, the nightmares but could not yet pry to the specifics but this newfound openness in touch, was most alarming to the butler.


"Happy birthday, Ciel!" Everyone was in the dinning room with the many sweets prepared by Sebastian and all decorated with festive colors in celebration of the young Earl's thirteenth birthday. All were happy, singing, laughing. Ciel won the ring in the pudding and there was happiness in the air and Ciel trying to confront the uplifting emotions.

However as the merriment continued the maid with green eyes had to excuse herself, unable to take the rehearsed words in her head. Snuff out the unclean! Snuff out the unnecessary! Snuff out the unfruitful!

And she was not alone… the small puppet run across the bridge until gentle grey gloves caught it in a gentle hold, "Snuff out the unclean!" The thing kept repeating, a broken record, "Unnecessary, unfruitful," and then again, "unclean."

Scarlett stopped to look out a window into the snowy winter night. Despite the gentleness of the snowfall, Scarlett felt nothing but bitter cold and the silver haired maid in the center of London, felt nothing but radiating warmth for the purpose. "Snuff out the unclean, snuff out the unnecessary, snuff out the unfruitful." And the grip around the puppet tightened until the wood snapped.

Plop, something had fallen into the water, ice water cut up her skin. Scarlett shivered from head to toe. Snuff him out. Scarlett's green eyes fell back onto the door she left through. Ciel…