Chapter Twenty-Four
Butler, Careful Tending. Bride, Nursemaid
Joker opened the doors of the mansion, his shadow cast across the floor like a looming wraith.
"Father, I'm home," he called.
He was met with silence, but it didn't unnerve him as he stepped inside. Using a lantern to light the darkness, Joker walked up the shadowed staircase and down a long corridor until he stopped in front of another set of double doors.
"Pardon me, Father." He said as he pushed the doors open. "I'm sorry for calling so late. I'd like to speak with…"
A voice called out to him in the darkness.
"Oh, Joker, welcome home! What a good lad you are, coming back so soon!"
Joker slowly stepped into the room, walking straight towards the owner of the voice.
"Now, where is he? He's with you, isn't he?"
Lightning flashed outside the windows. A man, the Baron Kelvin, sat on a sofa with a little boy sat beside him and a little girl on his knee. Joker shook his head quickly.
"Ah, no, not yet…" he replied.
"Oh, so you're a bad boy."
Joker placed the lantern down on the floor and went down on his knee.
"I'm so sorry!" he cried. "The Yard may have identified us as suspects."
The man stared at him as the little girl lifted a cup to him.
"Tell me."
"A couple of the new recruits apparently snuck into our tents. We're afraid they may have seen your letter, Father. If they're with the Yard, we can't just dispose of them. It would put the circus itself in danger." Joker explained, casting his eyes down. "I always thought that trio was odd, but that child…"
The air stood still.
"Child?"
Joker looked up.
"Father…?"
Kelvin's hand went to rest on top of the boy's head. The boy's eyes were blank, and unseeing, even as his hands smoothed against his lap.
"A child? Not one with an eye patch, surely?"
Joker furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Y-Yes, he did have one…" he answered.
"A trio, you said?"
"Yes. One was a man in black… The other was a pretty young lady with blue eyes…"
"A boy, his butler and governess!"
"They did say they'd been a butler and governess…"
The teacup smashed on the ground.
"It must be him! It must!" shouted Kelvin.
He rose to his feet and staggered forward.
"Huzzah! It's him! Ciel, the Earl Phantomhive!"
Lightning flashed again behind him. Kelvin's head was completely covered in bandages, except one eye staring out manically with a knife grin on his face.
The following morning, Joker stood in front of a mirror. He was singing a nursery rhyme under his breath as he applied his circus make-up. Painting a blue tear down his left cheek, he smiled.
Tom, he was a piper's son
He learnt to play when he was young
And all the tune that he could play
Was 'over the hills and far away'
He tied his yellow bow around his neck.
Over the hills and a great way off
The wind shall blow my top-knot off…
Joker looked down at a photograph of him and Baron Kelvin. It was taken much later in life, because Kelvin was wearing all his bandages. The man sighed heavily.
"'Over the hills and far away,' eh?"
He remembered Kelvin's reaction when he told him the news.
"Huzzah! It's him! Ciel, the Earl Phantomhive!"
Joker was shocked by the reception.
"Smile? He didn't strike me as…"
Kelvin shook his head and grasped the two children by their heads.
"I've been dreaming of this ever since that day!" he cried. "I know he'll come here. Joker! Prepare a capital banquet for him!"
"Father, wait!" Joker shouted. "If he really is the earl, Noah's Ark is in danger! We need to send them instructions right away! And…"
Kelvin interrupted him, staring down at him with one bloodshot eye.
"Joker," he said. "Are you talking back to me?"
Joker gasped. He remembered how they were before. Helpless and dirty, missing limbs and forced to live out on the streets with the vagrants and rats. They were all alone, and no one had been willing to help them, until…
"The world had forsaken you all at birth, but I raised you and gave you bodies that can move freely." Kelvin said. "Yet you'd talk back to me?"
Joker bowed his head.
"No, I'd never."
Kelvin smiled.
"I thought not. You grew into such a good boy."
As he continued to speak, Joker's skeletal hand clenched.
"You want the children you left behind in the workhouse to grow up fine and strong too, don't you? You'll obey your father like a good boy, won't you, Joker?"
Joker gulped quietly.
"Yes, Father."
Kelvin released the children who stood at his sides and sat back down on the sofa.
"I'm happy I have such a dutiful son." He extended a hand towards Joker. "Come here."
Joker retrieved the lantern and stood up from the floor. He stepped closer, going as slow as he could without seeming reluctant.
"Let's take a photo together. It's been so long since our last." Kelvin said as he took the man's human hand in his. "The dutiful son and his happy father."
Joker sat down on the sofa beside him. The little girl stood behind a camera to take the photo.
"Smile," said Kelvin.
The camera flash went off.
Joker closed the book he tucked the photo inside. He couldn't bear to look upon it. His body shuddered as though in pain.
"I…"
Back at the circus, Beast was looking at her photograph; it was with all of them when they were still young. She held it tenderly in her hands when she heard someone call out to her.
"Beast!"
She looked over her shoulder and saw Wendy standing at the entrance of her tent.
"Aren't you done packing?" asked Wendy.
Beast shook her head.
"No, I'm sorry."
"Did Doll's slowness rub off on you? Tonight we…"
The woman got to her feet.
"Wendy." She said, bringing her companion to silence. "Let's wait for Joker after all. There's… something I need to tell you."
Wendy walked towards her.
"You can tell me when this job's done. If the coppers get us because we waited for Joker, we lose everything." Shaking Beast by the shoulders, she continued. "You've been acting funny since yesterday. What's wrong?"
Beast bowed her head in silence. Wendy gave her a reassuring smile.
"It's all right. You can see him tomorrow."
Outside, Snake was with the other male first-stringers.
"You're going out again? …says Emily."
Dagger shrugged his shoulders with a smile.
"Miss and I have our private lives, y'know," he laughed. "I take her on dates and things!"
Jumbo put an end to his fantasy.
"We're only going to look over our next town."
"Hey! A bloke can dream, can't he?!" Dagger snapped.
Peter then rose from his sitting position on top of a barrel.
"So we won't be in tonight's show, but if you fudge it up, I'll kill you."
Snake nodded his head.
"I'm worried, but I'll do my best. …says Emily."
As Dagger walked away, he called back to Snake.
"Well, we'll be back by morning, all right?"
"I'll miss you! Come back soon! I'll keep the bed warm for you! …says Emily." Snake responded.
Dagger was shocked. Peter only laughed.
"Well, Dagger, ain't you popular! Good on ya!"
"Huh?! I don't want to be popular with snakes!" Dagger cried. "And that thing's cold-blooded! How's it meant to warm up my bed?!"
Jumbo only observed it all with a slight smile.
At the mansion, Sebastian, Marianne, and Agni were watching over the sleeping Ciel as he rested in his bed. Soma had fallen asleep in a chair at the boy's bedside.
"His fever seems to have gone down," the demon commented. "His breathing sounds normal, too, and his colour is much better than yesterday."
He should be alright." Agni agreed. "They do say sleep is man's best medicine.
Marianne smiled.
"We won't wake him, then."
Sebastian and Marianne then left the room.
As they walked down the corridor, Agni called after them.
"Excuse me, Sebastian…"
They turned around and saw him with Soma on his back.
"I apologise for getting carried away yesterday and raising my voice."
Sebastian smiled.
"Nonsense. It was very illuminating advice."
"I couldn't presume to give you advice!" Agni protested. "You're a more perfect khan-sama than I am."
"But not kind enough." Soma muttered grumpily. "I don't know what Miss Marianne sees in you."
Agni gasped.
"Your Highness! I thought you were asleep after tending him all night…"
Soma tightened his grip on his butler.
"I am! You're the one talking now! Move your lips!"
Marianne sweatdropped.
Playing the life-sized puppet now…? That's just creepy…
"He's scary to talk to!" Soma hissed.
Agni sighed heavily.
"Right…"
Soma/Agni began to explain.
"You're nowhere near as kind to your master as I am."
Sebastian pouted.
"I'm not kind?"
"That's right. Ciel is still a boy. He should get to lie about all day being spoilt by his parents when he's sick. But he doesn't have parents." Soma/Agni said.
Soma then climbed off Agni's back.
"Not that I really had them, either… So my elderly servant and Mina were kind and spoilt me rotten in their place."
Soma spoke directly to Sebastian.
"So, you should be as kind as you can and coddle Ciel!" he shouted. "Be kind, got that?!"
He dashed off not long after he said those words. Soma peeked around the corner for a moment.
"Make sure you do it!"
Agni cried tears of joy.
"My prince! What a kind heart you have!" he wept.
Sebastian rolled his eyes. Marianne sweatdropped and patted the demon lightly on the back.
Later, as Sebastian knelt in front of a fireplace to sweep out the ashes, he pondered over Soma's words.
"Be kind and spoil him?" he asked.
Marianne, who was dusting the ornaments in the parlour, spoke up.
"I don't think you should take that too far; spoiling a child can make them feel entitled to everything they want. Ciel wouldn't particularly appreciate you coddling him either."
The demon arched a brow as he looked at his mate.
"He lets you coddle him without complaining."
"That's because he sees me as a mother and sister figure, and there's a certain… respect to be had with that sort of relationship. You, on the other hand, have assumed an almost… fatherly figure in the household, not that he will ever admit that, of course. And he knows you will be eating his soul at the end of your contract, so coddling from you would be very strange to him." Marianne explained, smiling softly.
Sebastian thought over her words and got to his feet. When the phone began to ring, he smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead. The demon went off and answered the phone.
"Hello? Tanaka?"
He wrote down some notes in a small black book.
"Yes."
His pen quickly traced the words.
"Yes, I understand. I'll tell him."
It was dark outside when Ciel awakened. Upon realising this, he bolted upright in his bed.
"What time is it?!" he cried.
"Just past seven in the evening." Sebastian replied.
He stood with Marianne at his side, with a silver covered tray on a trolley in front of them alit with a candelabra. Marianne was dressed in her butler's uniform again, her breasts bound and her wig in place.
"Why didn't you wake me?!" Ciel snapped.
Marianne shook her head.
"Sebastian judged that as your butler, he ought to put your health first," she explained as she wheeled the trolley closer to the bed. "As our charge, your well-being is our main concern."
Ciel blinked.
"What?"
Sebastian wrapped a blanket around the boy's shoulders.
"Tonight's dinner is a creamy three-mushroom risotto and a pork and wine pot-au-feu. For pudding, we have a warm apple compote with yogurt," said the demon.
Marianne smiled.
"Now, Ciel…"
She picked up the bowl of mushroom risotto, and offered him the spoon.
"Say 'ah'."
Ciel pouted, a bright red blush spread across his cheeks.
"Do you have to do that when he's in the room?" he groaned.
"I am surprised you let her do it at all, Young Master." Sebastian commented with a smile.
"Shut up, you!"
The girl shook her head at their banter, and quietly blew on the spoon of risotto. She offered it to Ciel again, and he complied without another complaint. Sebastian smirked at the scene.
"Goodness gracious, what a spoilt child you are," he teased.
Ciel glared at him.
"You're being annoying when I am trying to eat, and I order you to stop it this instant!"
The demon shrugged his shoulders while Marianne continued to feed Ciel his risotto.
"Prince Soma told me that the ill should be coddled and lavished with kindness. His method was domineering, so Marianne suggested taking a subtler approach, hence why she is feeding you and not I." Sebastian explained.
Ciel shuddered at the image he described.
"The idea makes my skin crawl… At least you weren't obvious about it."
Sebastian bowed with a slight smile touching his lips.
"I am glad you are pleased, My Lord."
After dinner, Sebastian dressed Ciel in his clothes for the evening. Marianne's back was deliberately turned as usual.
"By the way, Tanaka rang around four 'o' clock." Sebastian mentioned. "He says Lady Elizabeth is visiting the manor."
Ciel gasped, thinking of the frilly pink horror Lizzie would unleash upon his mansion and staff.
Meanwhile, back at the mansion…
"No! No! No!" MeyRin screamed as she ran away from Elizabeth, clutching her glasses to her face. "You mustn't take my glasses, no!"
Lizzie chased the maid with determination.
"Don't worry, I promise I'll make them adorable!"
Bard, Finny and Tanaka hadn't been as lucky to escape her quest of cuteness. Bard was dressed in a Marie Antoinette costume, complete with towering hair. Finny was stuck in a frilly dress with a large pink bow in his hair. And Tanaka was content in a little bunny costume.
"How long do you think I'll have to wear this?" Finny asked Bard.
"Probably 'til the Master comes home." Bard answered.
Elizabeth held a purple dress with numerous petticoats.
"Once we're finished dressing up, we'll have a party!" she laughed.
Ciel sighed heavily.
"She plans to wait there for your return." Sebastian said.
He helped the boy slip on his overcoat.
"Tanaka requests that you return soon."
"Good grief… You better have located Kelvin's estate." Ciel muttered irritably.
The demon smirked.
"Yes. I had plenty of time, after all."
He slipped the Hope Diamond ring onto Ciel's thumb.
"It's just about a day's travel from London, first by rail and then by carriage."
Ciel's eye narrowed.
"You can get us there in under an hour, correct?" he asked.
Sebastian placed a top hat upon the boy's head.
"If you ordered it."
Marianne offered Ciel his cane.
"Let's get this over with and go back to the manor." Ciel ordered.
Sebastian bowed.
"Yes, My Lord."
Marianne followed suit.
"As you wish, Ciel."
As they were moving to leave, Soma stopped them at the foot of the stairs.
"Ciel! You're trying to leave again, aren't you?!" he bellowed.
Ciel groaned.
"Great, the noisy one…"
"You'll ruin your health at this rate!" Soma shouted.
The boy shook his head and continued down the stairs.
"I hear you stayed up all night nursing me?" he asked.
"Huh? Yes…"
Ciel gave Soma the sparkling smile he had used on the circus troupe. The prince was utterly spellbound.
"Thank you. I'm fit as a fiddle now, thanks to you."
Soma blushed under the weight of his gratitude.
"Oh? Thanks to me?!" he cheered. "I guess skilled nursing really speeds recovery!"
The trio hurried past him as he basked in the praise.
"Right, so I'm fine, and I'm leaving. Goodbye."
The front door clicked shut behind them as they went. Soma turned around when he realised what they had done.
"You tricked me! You'll pay for that when you get back!"
Doll stroked the horse's mane as they rested by a river, letting the horse take a long drink before they continued on their journey.
"Good girl," she said. "Hang in there, we're almost done."
She sat down on a log with a smile.
"Maybe I'll take a break, too."
Reaching into her satchel, Doll found a Phantomhive candy. She remembered the night when she and Smile shared a tent for the first time, how she had given him one of the candies and he awkwardly accepted.
"I can't make myself believe that Smile's with the Yard," she pondered aloud. "He's such a weakling, and he doesn't seem like he could lie."
Her brow furrowed.
"But neither do we, and…"
She thought back to when she had been unable to kill that policeman, and how Joker was the one to finish the job…
The horse brought her out of her melancholy thoughts by nuzzling her cheek. Doll smiled up at the large creature.
"You're right. Right now, I gotta focus on getting to Joker!"
She climbed back onto the horse and continued to ride through the night.
William remained on top of the pillar as he waited. He adjusted his glasses again.
"I can't believe they still won't give me extra staff at this hour…" he sighed.
He pulled a carrier pigeon out of his jacket, and attached a note to its leg.
"Take this document to Personnel."
A sound broke the silence surrounding him.
"Already?"
He released the bird.
"Quick as you can, please."
He leapt gracefully down from the pillar.
Sebastian arrived at the Kelvin estate with Ciel on his back and Marianne in his arms. Ciel climbed off his butler's back, the grass bent in submission under his feet.
"So, this is their estate," he said. "Well? Does it smell?"
As the demon lowered his mate to her feet, he scented the air.
"Yes. I don't know if they're all here, but those who are seem well," he answered.
They walked to the stairs leading up to the front door. Ciel was the first to ascend. He paused when he heard the sound of the door clicking open. Joker stood in the shadows on the other side of the door as he opened it.
"Welcome to the manor. We've been expecting you, Lord Phantomhive."
He gave a slight bow in greeting.
"Joker." Ciel acknowledged.
Sebastian and Marianne joined Ciel on the front step.
"Please, come in." Joker gestured them inside.
The three of them stepped inside the manor, Sebastian closed the doors behind them, and shrouded them in darkness. Joker clicked his fingers. Marianne looked into the shadows and saw what looked like strange dolls moving around. A doll lit a candle, and spread along wires connected to it to light many others around the room. Marianne gasped at the sight.
All around the room were twisted body parts and mannequins, put on display like paintings and contorted into grotesque manners of torture. They were strewn over couches and furniture, tied up with black bondage ropes on the walls, with minimal clothing to cover their genderless forms. Bile gurgled in the back of her throat, but she painfully swallowed it down as she placed her hands on Ciel's shoulders.
"What is this…?!" Ciel gasped.
Joker didn't answer. He turned around and gestured to the staircase behind him.
"This way, please."
He started the journey up the stairs, with Ciel, Sebastian and Marianne following behind. They walked past a pile of more mannequin parts. Marianne hurried past them, and huddled herself closer to the demon. Sebastian leant forward and whispered into Ciel's ear.
"Well, Young Master? Shall we kill him now and rescue the children?"
"No," responded Ciel. "If they're still alive, it's probably best to capture Kelvin first."
They stepped into a corridor at the top of the stairs, and stared back at the paintings of beautiful boys and girls as they gazed down upon them.
"We can't report to Her Majesty without knowing the situation or his motives." Ciel went on to explain.
Marianne nodded her head hesitantly.
"As you wish, Ciel."
Just then, they heard Joker chuckling to himself.
"It's really true, 'ee can't judge people by appearances. A little tacker like 'ee has the stage names 'Queen's Guard Dog' and 'villainous noble'?" he said to Ciel. "I reckon that's hard, Smile."
Ciel's eyelid drooped coldly.
"I am Ciel, Earl Phantomhive. I don't tolerate servants speaking to me so familiarly."
Joker shrugged his shoulders with a sad smile.
"'Ee be a noble, all right."
He glanced at Marianne, seeing her dressed in male's clothing was a surprise, but he was acquainted with the uncommon necessity. Joker considered saying something to her, but the mournful look on her face as she gazed all around her rendered him silent. Instead, he chose to bow to Ciel.
"Dinner is ready."
He led them into a dining room, where a long table sat and a table setting made up in readiness. Joker pulled out a chair for Ciel, and the boy sat down. Sebastian and Marianne stood on either side of him. They heard on the other side of a door on the other side of the room.
"Here he is." Sebastian said.
Joker moved to the doors and opened them.
Kelvin sat in a wheelchair as he surveyed the scene before him with his uncovered eye.
"L-Lord Phantomhive, you came!" he cried with joy.
He wore a red dinner jacket over a white shirt with a white corsage in his breast pocket. Two children were pushing his chair from behind, both of them staring at nothing, with such blank eyes, Marianne wondered if they were truly seeing anything at all.
"Oh, it's like a dream, having you so close to me!" Kelvin proclaimed. He then became bashful. "I'm embarrassed to meet you looking like this…"
Ciel made no expression when he spoke.
"You're Lord Kelvin?" he asked.
"That's right! Ah, that formality makes me feel a bit shy." Kelvin responded. He was wheeled up to his place at the head of the table. "I've prepared a feast for you!"
Kelvin rang a silver bell. Entering the room were numerous children carrying various rich foods, dressing in servant uniforms and with the same blank stares as the other two children. Joker poured a pitcher of wine.
"This is an 1875 vintage. Wine from the year you were born!" said Kelvin. "Too overblown, do you think?"
Joker poured the wine from the pitcher into a wine glass at Ciel's side. Sebastian picked up the glass without preamble and took a sip.
"Evidently it isn't poisoned," he said with a shit-eating smile.
Ciel snorted.
"I don't need a taster. I've no interest in eating a meal put on by rats."
Marianne shuddered.
"Usually, I would chastise you for such behaviour, but in this situation, I actually agree with you…" she muttered.
They all then turned their gaze to three of the children as they placed a tall lobster platter onto the table.
"Now, those children…"
The girl nodded her head.
"It seems there are more victims than the police knew."
"But they look…" Ciel muttered.
Kelvin shouted over their ponderings.
"Oh, I know!" he said. "A meal without entertainment will bore you, won't it, My Lord?"
He turned to Joker.
"Joker! Put on your show."
"What? But…" Joker gasped, but he was rendered silent by the half-mad stare Kelvin looked up at him with.
"Just do it."
He bit clean through the lobster tail with a toothy smile too big for his face. Joker shuddered, but bowed low.
"Of course."
Joker turned his eyes to the party of three for a moment, before he walked away to take the stage.
Upon the stage, Joker twirled his cane and smirked at his captive audience.
"Welcome, Lord Phantomhive! Tonight, we'll take thee to a world of thrilling enchantment!"
The curtain behind him rose, and revealed a long row of children, dressed up as masked performers, staring back at them. Kelvin was the only one clapping.
"First, our tightrope walker!"
He gestured up to a tightrope, where a young girl proceeded to take the first step onto the rope.
"No safety net tonight, me lovelies! It's a bona fide…"
The girl took a second step, and fell from the rope. She crashed on the floor in an explosion of blood and gore…
Marianne turned away as quickly as she could, burying her face in Sebastian's chest. Ciel watched with a wide eye, his mouth hanging slightly open in disgust. Sebastian stroked his mate's head as he watched with an impassive expression on his face, although even he found the whole spectacle to be distasteful.
Kelvin was laughing loudly. Joker was struggling to keep himself calm and detached. One of the other children dragged the dead body off the stage, leaving a trail of blood behind them.
"Next, our lion tamer!"
A cage was pulled onto the stage, with one child standing inside, along with an enormous lion.
"Watch as he masters the savage beast!"
The barricade between the two of them was removed, and the lion pounced onto the child, tearing into them viciously. Kelvin continued to laugh and clap.
"And now, our knife-thrower!"
A girl was strapped to a board, while a boy held some throwing knives in his hand.
"What will become of this maiden on the cross?!"
The boy threw one of the knives.
Ciel's eye widened and he shouted out an order to Sebastian.
"Stop him!"
Sebastian stopped the knife when it was only an inch from the girl's masked face.
Joker removed his hand from his face and saw the girl was still alive. Sebastian removed the girl's mask, and compared her to one of the missing persons reports in his coat.
"Elary Nixon, who went missing in Cornwall," he said. "That settles it. Right as always, Young Master."
Marianne breathed a sigh as she finally opened her eyes; she placed her hands on Ciel's shoulders.
"Forcing children you abduct to perform… Yes, I suppose this is one way to enjoy the circus." Sebastian added.
The girl shook her head.
"Not particularly," she muttered under her breath. "This kind of entertainment is foul."
Kelvin turned towards Ciel in surprise.
"S-Sorry! You didn't like this, either?" he apologised. "Joker, clean this up at once!"
Ciel abruptly rose to his feet.
"I'm done here," he said. "I'm not in the habit of sharing a table with riffraff lower than farm animals."
His movement knocked over the glass of wine before him. He slowly began to walk towards Kelvin, the brim of his top hat concealing his face in shadow.
"W-What? What's wrong?!" Kelvin cried.
"This will do for my report to the Queen: 'I found the foul, vulgar, unsightly, perverted brute…" Ciel dropped his cane to the ground. "…and I disposed of him.'"
It happened so quickly. Ciel pulled his gun from his coat and aimed it at Kelvin's left temple. Joker had removed the casing of his cane to reveal a sword, and aimed the tip at Ciel's throat. Marianne had pulled her dagger and intercepted the sword. Sebastian used the throwing knife and held it against Joker's neck.
"M-My Lord?" Kelvin asked. He looked at Joker. "Joker! Don't point that dangerous thing at the Earl!"
"But…!" Joker protested, but Sebastian dug the edge of the knife closer to his Adam's apple.
"You disobey me?"
The demon smirked at him. Marianne glared at Joker, her arm shaking against the weight of his blade. Joker removed the sword from Ciel's neck. The girl slid her dagger back into its holster. Ciel kept his gun aimed at Kelvin.
"Lord Kelvin, where are the children you kidnapped?" he demanded.
Sebastian took the sword from Joker while Kelvin answered.
"Hmm? Oh! You wanted to meet them? They're in the cellar, I'll take you there right now." A crazed look glimmered in his bloodshot eye. "There's something down there I want to show you anyhow."
Sebastian continued to hold the knife against Joker's throat.
They stood together in a lift, chains rattling loudly as they moved down to the cellar.
"It's like a dream, getting to chat with you like this!" exclaimed Kelvin.
Ciel barely managed to hold back a growl as he spoke, still holding the gun to the man's head.
"Save your breath and take me to the children."
"R-Right, sorry."
The two children rolled Kelvin forward in his wheelchair. As they drew closer to their destination, he smiled.
"But I'm just so happy… I've been filled with regret ever since that day. I keep thinking, 'Why I couldn't be there by your side then?'"
Marianne watched with narrowed eyes as Ciel responded.
"'That day'? 'By my side'? What are you on about?"
Stopping in front of a large set of double doors, Kelvin didn't turn away as he continued as though he hadn't heard the question.
"No amount of regret can turn back time. But I realised something: If we can't go back, then we'll just do it again!"
Sebastian's eyes narrowed into slits. The children pushed the doors open.
"Here, look!"
Marianne clapped her hands over her mouth to hold back a hoarse cry. Ciel gasped and stared into the room before him.
It was an exact replica of the warehouse he had resided in for that month. Children were locked in three cages, which stood in perfect view of the altar they would be sacrificed upon. Their eyes were all blank and unseeing, even though they still breathed.
"I'm afraid it took me over two years to get it ready." Kelvin explained.
Ciel's hand shuddered against his cane. Marianne reached down and held it tightly.
They both remembered the blood that splattered over the top of the altar, and all the cultists who relished in the children's anguish…
She remembered his screams, and the red fountain that exploded from his mouth when the knife sank into his abdomen…
"Now, Lord Phantomhive, let's repeat that day two years ago!" Kelvin proclaimed.
I found this chapter interesting because it seemed like the perfect opportunity to further cement into Sebastian's head that they have become a family, whether he wants it or not.
As to answer why Marianne is dressed as a boy when seeing Kelvin, it is to fit with the fact that he doesn't know her as anyone else, so it was felt necessary for her to keep up the persona. At least, that's how it made sense to me.
Should you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
Please read and review!