I own nothing but my OC.
That Butler, Commendable 3
'thoughts'
"speech"
[speech heard over telephone]
{setting/stage directions?}
SOUND EFFECTS
An entire sentence like this, without quotes, is narration for dreams or stuff like written letters.
=†=†=†=†= scene shift/time shift
Previously:
"Stop flirting and get back to work!" Ciel grumbled, vein mark throbbing on his forehead.
"We're not flirting!" Chêne said defensively, blushing out of embarrassment.
"We're not?" Sebastian asked, smiling 'innocently.'
"!" Chêne said, blushing an even deeper shade of red. "—Shut up!" She yelled, too caught off guard to manage anything better. Correction—she hadn't improved at all! Sebastian snickered softly as he went back to work.
{That evening...}
FLASH! RUMBLE.
Chêne jumped slightly at the bright flash of lighting and the loud boom of thunder. The lightning and thunder were pretty close together now, so the storm was almost right on top of them.
"The population of London alone is 4.5 million, and that swells further during the Season. By simply relaxing the conditions, the number of suspects increases." Ciel said, lightly slapping the papers he had been reading. Since it was getting late, Ciel had changed into his pajamas and a robe. Sebastian was standing in front of the window, and he was taking notes and organizing the material they had gotten for their new suspect list, narrowing down the suspects according to Ciel's requirements.
"What are you writ—!?" Chêne started to ask Sebastian when a blindly bright flash of lightning struck again, causing her to yelp and jump in fright. To her embarrassment, Chêne had unconsciously clung to Sebastian in her fright. "Sorry!!" Chêne yelped, jumping away from the demon butler as she quickly released him, blushing.
"Oh, dear. Could it be you are afraid of the storm brewing outside?" Sebastian asked patronizingly as he gave Chêne a brilliant shit-eating grin. 'Come to think of it... Chêne always did seem rather nervous whenever there was a lightning storm, but it usually wasn't this bad.' Sebastian thought.
"How Childish." Ciel said, smirking at her.
"Hmph! You'd be nervous too if you had been struck by lightning before!" Chêne huffed indignantly, crossing her arms.
"... Wait, say that again?" Ciel said, stunned. Did Chêne really just say she had been struck by lightning!?
"You heard me! Obviously it didn't hit me directly, or I'd have been fried to a crisp, but it hit the ground right next to me. I somehow managed to survive without any major injuries, but I still had to go to the hospital so they could pump me full of electrolytes. The doctor told me it was a miracle I wasn't paralyzed by all the electricity that had gone through my body!" Chêne explained.
"I see... that might explain a few things." Ciel said, sweat dropping. He wasn't sure if Chêne was cursed or extremely lucky, since strange things seemed to happen to her, but at the same time, she was never seriously hurt by them.
"Yes, it explains quite a few things." Sebastian said, smirking.
"Did you just imply that I was drain bamaged—I mean brain damaged!?" Chêne demanded incredulously.
"I rest my case." Ciel deadpanned.
"Hey! I've always been dyslexic! I was born this way!" Chêne snapped defensively. That was why she always had someone double check her math and spelling, to make sure she hadn't accidentally flipped the numbers or letters around in her head, or on paper.
"So, in other words, you've been abnormal since birth?" Sebastian said, smiling radiantly.
"That's not what I meant!!" Chêne yelled, her face flushing out of frustration. "—!?" She yelped as she actually hid behind Sebastian. "A-Anyway, I think it might help us if we focused more on what the prostitutes had in common, and then work from there. They didn't have any consistent traits among them, like a common hair or eye color, so the killer isn't choosing them for their looks, which is usually the main reason why a killer would chose victims that are complete strangers... People don't usually kill strangers for no reason, so I think 'Jack' must've met them all at least once before." Chêne said, sweat dropping, and blushing out of embarrassment as she avoided their gazes.
"Still at it, are you?" Madam Red asked as she entered the room. Like Ciel, she had dressed for bed, and she was wearing a nightgown with a robe that had butterflies embroidered on it.
"Madam Red." Ciel greeted her.
"All work and no play makes Ciel a dull boy! What say you take a break for a round of this?" Madam Red said cheerfully, holding up a chess set.
"The chess set, eh...? That takes me back." Ciel said.
"Doesn't it just? I got it out of the storeroom because Ciel was coming." Madam Red said, smiling, as she sat down at one the tables they had piled up with paperwork. "Now, break time, break time~!" She said brightly as she shoved all of the papers off the table, and onto the floor so she could set up the chessboard.
"Ah! My papers..." Ciel said, sweat dropping.
'I just organized those too...' Chêne thought, smiling wryly and sweat dropping.
"Grell, see to the tea!" Madam Red ordered cheerfully.
"Y-Yes, Ma'am!" Grell said nervously as ran out the room to prepare the tea.
'Oh boy... Ciel thought, sighing. Madam Red was obviously not going to give up until he played with her.
=†=†=†=†=
"As it is evening... I have prepared an herbal tea of rosehips." Grell said nervously as he served the tea in a china set that had a wild strawberry pattern. Chêne wondered why he was always so nervous... but she just couldn't find him as annoying as the others did, since he reminded her of a nervous, but quiet little Chihuahua. Chêne had a soft spot for the cute, small, and furry.
"!" Ciel and Madam Red said, sharing a glance when they tasted it.
"Bleeeeech!!" Madam Red cried in disgust. "How can herbal tea be salty!?" She yelled, vein mark throbbing on her forehead.
'Salt...?' Ciel thought, sweat dropping, as he stared at the awful tea.
"..." Sebastian and Chêne said, remembering the last time something like this had happened, and Sebastian had fallen victim to Tanaka's special lemonade.
'It's all coming back to him...' Sebastian thought.
"Fix it!!" Madam Red ordered Grell.
"Eeeee—Yes'm! Even so, I am still a butler for suuure!" Grell cried, flinching from shack at Madam Red's extreme reaction. "Pardon meee!" He cried as he ran from the room.
"Really...!" Madam Red said, sighing in exasperation as she sat back down. She glanced over at Sebastian and Chêne, who were still standing by the window, working on the case. It helped that there hadn't been any lightning in a while. "By contrast, your butler is really rather competent, or should I say a hard worker, or...?"
"Not particularly? Certainly not to that extent." Ciel said, making his next move in the game with one of his black chess pieces.
"If Sebastian is that able, you may as well even leave the investigation of the viscount's residence and all to him. Chêne is quite intelligent as well, so she could assist him, if need be." Madam Red said, moving one of her white pawns. Ciel narrowed his eyes slightly. He picked up his black knight piece.
"He is both my 'might' and my 'hands and feet.' Sebastian is but a 'chessman.'" Ciel said coolly. "And only I, the 'horseman,' can move the 'horse.'" Ciel placed his knight down and captured one of Madam Red's pawns. "If I were to defeat my opponent with an 'automaton of a chessman,' the achievement could not be considered 'my own.'"
'Hrm... He's taken it...' Madam Red thought, sweat dropping as she frowned slightly. Ciel always had been good at games.
"I always give the orders... and without them, he has been disciplined to move not so much as a muscle." Ciel said, smirking slightly. "However, you might say the sole difference between Sebastian and this 'knight' is... that he is a 'knight' who can move to any square in one fell swoop." Ciel picked up his knight chess piece, and knocked Madam Red's king over with it. "Like this."
"Ah! My king is—!" Madam Red said, flinching in surprise. "But that's against the rules! Really!" Madam Red protested, obviously miffed.
"Indeed. That is, if we are playing a 'game' of chess." Ciel said, smirking. "But this world is no chess game, where one cannot win if not playing by the rules. Without fail, players will break the rules... and chessmen will betray the players." Ciel said solemnly. "And if I'm to play games with their like on equal footing, I'd have no chance at victory if I didn't break the rules myself, right? On this chessboard of Great Britain that we call home, letting one's guard down immediately amounts to... Checkmate." Ciel said as he placed his knight back down on the board, returning it to its proper place.
"... Surely there must've been... another way for you to live, one that didn't involve you becoming the underworld's watchdog. I'm certain my elder sister—your mother—would've wished for it too." Madam Red said a little sadly. "Despite that, here you are... have you returned, after all, to the underworld... because you wish to avenge my sister and her husband?" Ciel twitched.
"..." Ciel said, gazing stoically back at his aunt.
"Neither my sister and brother-in-law... nor Lizzie and I would want that." Madam Red said sadly.
"I... have never once thought to avenge my parents or anything of the sort." Ciel stated bluntly. "Were I to avenge them, the dead would still not comeback to life... much less be able to enjoy the sweet taste of revenge. Calling it 'vengeance' or a 'battle of revenge' is just glossing over the truth. Such utterances amount to nothing more than the selfishness of the survivors, after all... a luxury of the living, wouldn't you say?"
Chêne's eyes widened slightly in surprise as she subtly glanced at Ciel out the corner of her eyes. Sebastian raised an eyebrow. That had been very similar to what he had overheard Chêne tell Ciel that night the three of them met two years ago.
"I did not return to Phantomhive for the sake of the previous head. I returned for myself." Ciel said strongly, staring Madam Red straight in the eye. "All I want is to give those who betrayed and defiled the name of Phantomhive... a taste of the humiliation... and pain... that I suffered." The corners of Sebastian's mouth twitched slightly, like he was suppressing a smirk.
TNK!
"Checkmate." Ciel said as he moved his night again, and captured another one of Madam Red's pieces, putting her king in check.
"Aw, gosh! That makes forty-six losses in a row for me." Madam Red said, chagrined, sweat dropping as she rubbed the back of her neck. "You've always been good at this kind of thing, and I've been losing since way back when... Fufu!" She laughed suddenly, getting Ciel's attention. "I still remember the day you were born as if it were yesterday. I'd just started out as a nurse... and I didn't know what to do during the delivery. As a newborn, you were tiny and precious... and I felt I had to protect you. Though, in the end, I couldn't bear any children of my own... to me, you're like my real son." Madam Red said, smiling softly as she gently placed her hand Ciel's head, stroking his hair. "And as a mother to her son, I want you to wash your hands of the underworld." She said, concerned.
"I'm here because I wished for it. I made the choice." Ciel said as he gently removed Madam Red's hand from his head. "So... I have no regrets, and... I do not wish to depend... on anyone." Ciel said resolutely.
Chêne smiled a little sadly. Even though he said that, she still planned on doing her best to spoil Ciel and make sure that she was there if he ever changed his mind, and needed a shoulder to lean on. Sebastian straightened up the papers he and Chêne had been reading, tapping them on a nearby table to make sure all the edges were even. He new the young master would be ready to turn in soon.
"Now, if you'll excuse me." Ciel said, giving Madam Red a goodnight kiss on the cheek, as he stood up to leave. "It's been fun, Madam."
"I won't lose next time... Ciel." Madam Red said, winking at him.
"Heh..." Ciel said, amused. "Good night." He exited the room just as Grell came dashing back in.
"I made some more tea—Awah!?" Grell cried, narrowly avoiding colliding with Ciel, who just calmly continued on his way. Chêne sweat dropped. Had it seriously taken Grell that long just to make tea...?
"Why does he... why must that small child... shoulder something so heart breaking and painful?" Madam Red asked, sighing.
"Madam Red... Thank you, for worrying about our young master." Chêne said, smiling gratefully at the older woman. "I glad to know you are looking out for him, but... please don't forget that humans have the ability to choose both happiness... and unhappiness... that is our privilege as beings born with freewill. Although, I too would rather see Ciel being able to smile and laugh like a normal boy his age... It is his life, and in the end... only he is the one who has a say over what he will do with it, no matter how we may try to shape his path for him. Since that is the case, I feel we must respect his choice. All we can do for him now, is to stay by his side and aid him in anyway we can, so that even if his path is dark, he will not be alone... If his light goes out, then I'll share mine." Chêne said, smiling softly.
"It is just as Chêne says. My master always carries out his word... even if the path he must walk as a result is long, dark... and cold... That is why... I have vowed to serve by the young master's side." Sebastian stated calmly.
"I suppose he'll keep on going even if I try to stop him..." Madam Red said, closing her eyes. "I couldn't be there for him when he was suffering most. Sebastian, Chêne." She said, making sure she had their full attention. "I know I shouldn't ask this of you when we barely know each other... but please don't ever leave his side... so he doesn't stray off his path and wonder alone." Chêne's eyebrow twitched slightly. How ironic... Madam Red had just asked a demon to keep Ciel from 'straying from the path' when normally a demon's specialty is to be the one that tempts a person to leave the 'path of righteousness.'
"Yes... I... shall stand by him and protect him until the very end." Sebastian said, smirking slightly as he placed a hand over his chest and kneeled before Madam Red.
"There was really no need to ask, Madam. I will not abandon him either." Chêne promised, gracefully curtsying. Kneeling the way Sebastian had was kind of awkward to do while wearing a skirt... Sebastian stood, and the two Phantomhive servants departed to attend to their young master.
"Madam...?" Grell said nervously as he approached Madam Red, still holding the tray of tea.
FLASH!
The bright lightning illuminated Madam Red's cold, expressionless face in an eerie way.
"... Madam..." Grell said nervously, taking a step back as the thunder rumbled through the night.
=†=†=†=†=
"What a frightful night." Lau said as he stared out of the window of his room, and into the dark, stormy night. "It would seem a storm is brewing..." The Chinese man said ominously as he opened his eyes.
=†=†=†=†=
KNOCK. KNOCK.
"... Well? How about it? Ciel asked Sebastian and Chêne as they entered his bedroom. Ciel was lounging on his bed, waiting to be tucked in.
"No matter how many times I simulate the events, only the viscount could have been involved in this string of murders." Sebastian stated calmly as he glanced at the papers in his hand.
"But that's based on the criteria we establish earlier. It's possible there really is more than one murderer... if there is, they'd most likely be partners, in my opinion. That's why it seems like there's only one, because they're working so closely together." Chêne said. Ciel sighed as he ran his hand through his hair.
"So we have to alter our search conditions? The viscount couldn't have been involved in yesterday's killing!" Ciel said, annoyed. They were back to square one... again.
"Yes, true. It would have been impossible for any of the humans who where at the viscount's residence." Sebastian said calmly. Chêne glanced at him, eyes widening slightly. What did he just say...!?
"Anyway, tomorrow, we'll—" Ciel said, freezing when Sebastian's odd choice of words hit him.
"... Sebastian..." Chêne said, stunned, as she at Sebastian. She didn't think Sebastian would do something like that without a reason, or unless he had been ordered to, but... just how many supernatural creatures did they have roaming the streets of merry old London!? Ciel stared at him in shock, as thought he had just realized he was trapped in the room with a killer. Sebastian smiled calmly at them, as though he could see what they were thinking.
"You don't mean..." Ciel said, sweating nervously.
"You didn't do it, right...?" Chêne asked. She spoke with conviction, but her voice was still a little shaky. After all, she knew first hand what Sebastian was capable of... when necessary. Sebastian smirked deviously.
"I have told you many times... that I do not lie." Sebastian told them. "I, your 'chessman,' am your 'might,' your 'hands and feet'... You alone will decide... you yourself will choose... and for that, I shall become your 'might.' You said as much... 'that day.'" Sebastian told Ciel. "I am merely a 'butler.' I will not cross that line. I only faithfully execute what the master orders, and answer what the master asks me." He said, bowing. Chêne exhaled a breath she didn't even know she was holding. Thank God it really wasn't Sebastian, or they'd all be screwed...!
"So, it was impossible for a person who was there?" Ciel asked.
"Yes. Exactly." Sebastian said, smirking slightly. Chêne sweat dropped. Was he trying to piss Ciel off? ... Probably.
"Now I see... you bastard..." Ciel muttered darkly, gritting his teeth in irritation.
"Heh!" Sebastian said, smirking, as he stood and tossed the useless list of suspects into the air. "By your order... I, your 'chessman'... shall become your 'sword.' Now then..." Sebastian said as the papers fluttered down around them, and Ciel slowly removed his eye patch. "... Let us move into check... Master." Sebastian said, his crimson eyes glowing demonically.
