Author's note: I don't think 'sorry' will cut it here after leaving y'all hanging for so long since 2013, but... SORRY. I'll try to keep going to the end this time. I know some new twists have been revealed since I first started writing this, but I'll handle that when I get to it.


That Butler, Spectator


I own nothing but my OC.

That Butler, Observing

≤speech in Indian language≥

'thoughts'

"speech"

{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

—^—^—^— change of perspective/area of action within one specific time frame/location


Previously:

THMP.

Sebastian landed gracefully in a crouching position while carrying Ciel. The demon butler promptly straightened up and set his young master down on his feet. The snow on the walkway crunched beneath the heel of Ciel's shoe.

"This is his manor?" Ciel asked, furrowing his brow slightly. It looked dark and empty.

"Yes, Sir." Sebastian replied calmly, knowing full well how deceiving looks could be. He glanced up at the sky when he heard a pigeon cooing and sensed an irritatingly familiar presence up on the roof.

"Well? Do you smell them?" Ciel asked.

"I do indeed." Sebastian said, narrowing his eyes slightly, before turning his attention back on the rest of the manor. "I cannot tell whether they are all hear… but those present are still alive."

CREEEAAAK…

"!?" Ciel said, furrowing his brow, when the front doors suddenly creaked open, seemingly on their own.

"We bid ye welcome to our home." A familiar voice greeted them. "We have been waiting for you…" Joker said as he stepped forth from the deep darkness within and bowed. Gone was the usual smile they had grown accustomed to seeing on the ring leader's face. "… Earl Phantomhive."


"!!" Chêne gasped, alarmed, as she woke with a start in the townhouse. What was that!? Between sleeping and waking, just as the medicine Sebastian gave her had started to wear off, she had caught a glimpse of something so disturbing, her previous dream almost paled in comparison… but not quite. If anything, this new dream had put everything into perspective, the results of which were terribly clear… She jumped out of bed and ran down the hall to Ciel's room. He was gone. Which meant Sebastian was gone. Her dream was coming true…

"No… I can't let it end this way…!!" she said determinedly, clenching her fists. She couldn't just stand by and do nothing, knowing what was about to happen… "I have to stop them, even if it's the last thing I ever do." Chêne jumped up onto her feet and grabbed her coat, pulling it on as she flew through the house towards the door.

"Hey, were are you going, Chêne?" Soma called as she rushed past him and Agni on her way out.

"It isn't safe for a lady to go out this late on her own!" Agni said, concerned.

"I won't be on my own! I'm going to my husband and Ciel!" Chêne said, slamming the door shut behind her before they could stop her.

—^—^—^—

Chêne was halfway down the street when she realized she didn't have a clue where she was going or how she was going to get there. What was she supposed to do? Now that she thought about it, even if she did know where she was going, how was she ever going to catch up with Ciel and Sebastian in time…? Her eyes widened when she realized she could smell blood and sensed a familiar sort of presence in the dark alley behind her. If she was right, then this could be just what she needed! She spun around and saw a blonde man in a suit calmly standing there right next to a corpse, leaning against the handle of a motorized lawnmower. He had his face buried in a book.

"Ah, man. Just when I thought I was finished they send me this!" he exclaimed in dismay. "I can't believe I still have to hit some baron's manor after this… Are they trying to work me to death?" Chêne's eyes widened further. Those phosphorescent green eyes… glasses… that modern gardening tool… Just as she suspected, he was definitely a Reaper!

"Hey, you!" Chêne called out, approaching the Reaper. "Are you talking about Baron Kelvin's manor?"

"What?" the Reaper said, taken aback. He seemed surprised to have been spotted. "You… How…?"

"Are you talking about Baron Kelvin's manor?" she repeated urgently.

"Who are you that I should answer?" the Reaper asked dubiously, crossing his arms, though he did wonder how she knew the it was Kelvin. Chêne clenched her fists and decided to take a gamble.

"Do you know what a Code 42 is?"

=†=†=†=†=

{Baron Kelvin's Manor}

"We have been waiting for you... Earl Phantomhive," Joker greeted the young earl and his butler grimly.

"Joker…" Ciel said, furrowing his brow. He might have known… It was clear by the dark and sober look on the young man's face that all pretense of innocence and friendship was gone.

"Please, come in," Joker said politely, bowing, as he stepped aside to admit them into the manor, as he had been instructed to. Once the earl and his butler were inside, and Sebastian had shut the door behind them, Joker snapped his fingers.

FWSH, FWSH, FWSH.

Suddenly all of the candles in the room, including the ones on the chandelier above them flickered to life, illuminating the previously black room.

"!!" Ciel gasped in alarm, shocked by what he saw. "This is…!!" The room was filled with life-sized, ball-jointed dolls, many of whom were incomplete or purposefully broken and arranged in perverse and macabre art displays on every wall of the room, including the ceiling. There was even one hanging from the chandelier… For a brief moment, when his eyes were still adjusting to the sudden change in light, Ciel could have sworn he had seen actual humans in their place…

"This way," Joker said, getting their attention, so he could continue guiding them up the stairs.

"How should you like to proceed?" Sebastian asked, leaning in close to whisper in Ciel's ear as they climbed the stairs. "Would you have me kill him now and extricate the children?"

"Wait," Ciel replied with a whisper of his own. "If the children are still alive, we should apprehend Kelvin first. I cannot report to Her Majesty, the Queen, if I do not understand his objectives and the actual facts of the case."

"Very well, Sir," Sebastian replied dutifully.

"Pfft! Hee hee…" Joker laughed abruptly, having overheard their conversation despite the care they took not to be. "Looks like there's a touch o' truth in the saying that folks aren't always as they seem. Ye've got such a little body… yet your stage names are 'the Queen's Watchdog' and 'the Aristocrat of Evil'," he said as he turned to glance back at the young earl over his shoulder. "Must've 'ad a rough go of it, eh, Smile?" he asked with genuine sympathy, understanding full well what kind of suffering the small boy before him must have been through. What he must still be going through.

"That's Earl Ciel Phantomhive to you. A mere servant is in no position to speak to me in such a familiar manner," Ciel told him coldly, determined not to be swayed but such sentiment.

"Heh!" Joker laughed a bit sardonically, shrugging off the young earl's icy glare. "… Ye are indeed… a noble aristocrat," he said. And by no means was that a compliment. He stopped and turned to face them completely when they reached their destination. "Dinner is served," he said solemnly, getting back to business, as he opened the grand doors to the dinning hall with a creak. Inside was a long table set with all the finery expected for a formal dinner party. "This way, please." He escorted them into the large room and pulled out a chair for the young earl. Ciel took the seat.

KII. KII. KII.

The sound of something creaking was heard, and Joke moved to open the dinning hall doors again.

"I believe he has arrived," Sebastian guessed correctly. Through the doors emerged a heavily bandaged, portly man in an ornate but creaky wheelchair, pushed by two beautiful children.

"Y-You've come at last… Earl Phantomhive!" the man, Baron Kelvin, said, his voice shaking with excitement. His cheeks glowed with blush beneath his bandages. "Aah… It's like a dream! To have you so close to me." He fidgeted nervously and lowered his head shyly as they wheeled him over to join Ciel at the table. "Though I am most ashamed to see you as I am..."

"Are you Baron Kelvin, sir?" Ciel asked, furrowing his brow, thoroughly unimpressed.

"I am," the grown man answered bashfully. "I must say your formality is making me feel most self-conscious! I have prepared a feast for you," he said, growing in confidence as he gestured toward the open doors, where Joker was steering a cart holding a bottle of wine in a bucket of ice towards them. He was leading a procession of young girls dressed up as maids, who were pushing carts holding silver cloches, followed by three girls carrying a massive culinary sculpture of red lobsters, molded seafood, and clamshells. "The wine is an 1875 vintage, from the year of your birth," the baron explained while Joker poured some of it into a glass. "I wonder… am I'm being too pretentious?"

"..." Ciel watched Joker set the glass down in front of him but made no move to take it. Sebastian picked the glass up instead and took a sip.

"There is no poison in it," the butler declared, placing it back on the table for his master.

"Hmph. I have no intention of eating something that a rat has served. Tasting it for poison is pointless," Ciel told him, not bothering to hide his contempt for the creature at the other end of the table. "—Anyhow…" he said, changing the subject, as his eyes slid over to the three girls carrying the large seafood platter. "Those children..." None of them had been in the Yard's files for this case. "It would seem there are more victims beyond those indicated by police records. But the way they look..."

"Ah, yes," Kelvin exclaimed suddenly. "The Earl must also find a lone meal boring. Joker! Bring that out for him."

"Eh!" Joker gasped, flinching a little and sweating nervously. "B-But..."

"Just do it!" the baron commanded darkly with a frightening look in his eye, ripping the meat of a lobster tail out with his teeth.

"… Yes, Sir..." Joker answered with regret.

"?" Ciel wondered why the hesitant ringmaster and wore such a pained expression, but it was gone in a flash as he assumed his familiar persona as a performer, replaced with something darker. He watched as Joker twirled his cane and tapped the floor with it to signal the start of the show.

SWOOSH.

The curtains over the stage were drawn back, exposing a line of children in colorful costumes and masks.

"Welcome, Earl Phantomhive. This evening we shall 'specially convey ye to a world of dazzling delights," Joker announced, as if they were back under the bigtop at the circus. "First, we go to the tightrope!" he said, gesturing for them to look up at the high platform, where a little girl was standing there holding a balancing bar. "You will find nary a tether!" he continued as the girl took her first step onto the rope. "This is as authentic as it gets!"

SPLAT!

As soon as she moved to take the second step, she fell and slammed into the unforgiving stage floor with a sickening crack of the skull.

"Wha..." Ciel exclaimed, appalled by the disturbing display. Even Sebastian furrowed his brow a little and frowned slightly. He was glad Chêne wasn't there to see it. She would have been horrified. Leaving her behind had been the right choice. Joker gritted his teeth and trembled with guilt, but he had to do it, because…

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

Ciel turned his head to look down the table and saw that Baron Kelvin was applauding.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the baron laughed like a madman with amusement. Two children came out onto the stage to collect the balancing bar and drag the girl's body out of the way of the next act.

"Next, our beast tamer!" Joker announced as more children wheeled out a large lion in a cage. One of them stood in front of the lion holding a whip, and they opened the cage. "Watch with bated breath as the ferocious lion is expertly—"

CHOMP.

Before Joker could even finish his sentence, the lion pounced and began to devour the poor child in front of him.

"Akyah!" the child cried as it sank its teeth in for that first lethal bite. It seemed the children could still feel pain to some extent.

"AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" the baron laughed even harder while he applauded the gruesome death. Joker gritted his teeth and steeled himself to go on.

"Now!" the ringmaster said with forced joviality, his face cast half in shadow and he turned to present the next part of the show. "We next have knife-throwing!" A little girl tied to a board, just like Dagger's assistant, was wheeled out, followed by a boy holding several knives. The boy raised the first dagger, preparing to throw. "What will be the fate of the crucified lass!?" The boy threw the knife.

"Put an end to it, Sebastian!!" Ciel ordered as the blade hurtled towards the little girl's face. The knife stopped just a hair away from her mask. Sebastian had caught the blade between two fingers, leaping across the room in a single bound, just in the nick of time. Sebastian straightened up and tucked the dangerous object inside his coat. Then, he reached out and removed the girl's mask.

"Ellery Nixon, who had gone missing in the Cornwall area..." Sebastian said, pulling out their copy of the police file with Chêne's sketch of her paper-clipped to it. A perfect likeness. There could be no doubt about her identity. The butler smirked. "There is no mistake. It is she. Just as expected of you, Young Master."

"Phew..." Joker sighed in relief, glad that little girl had been spared, at least. The boy playing the knife-thrower still stood there in a daze.

"Throwing abducted children into the ring as they are. I see. This is another way of enjoying the circus," the butler said sardonically.

"I'm sorry. Did this not please you either!?" Baron Kelvin asked Ciel, confused but still extremely eager to please. Ciel stood up.

"I've had enough," the earl said darkly. "I do not wish to share a table with rubbish that is inferior even to domestic beasts."

"Eh!? Eh!? Is something wrong?" the baron asked, taken aback.

"I need only report this much to Her Majesty, the Queen," Ciel continued, his heels clicking on the polished floor as he began moving towards him. "That this vulgar… odious… perverted… and vilest of all boors… was disposed of by me, the watchdog!" he finished with great contempt for the villain before him, reaching for his gun. Joker saw this and gritted his teeth as he immediately began to draw the hidden blade in his cane. Sebastian gripped the confiscated knife in his hand and launched himself from the stage.

SWSH.

Ciel aimed his gun at Kelvin's head, with Joker holding his blade a hair from Ciel's neck, while Sebastian held the dagger pressed against Joker's. It was a draw.

"E—Earl?" the baron asked, confused by what had just happened. Then he noticed it, the blade threatening Ciel's neck. "!!" he gasped in alarm. "Joker!! Stop pointing such a dangerous thing at the earl!!" he yelled sternly, making his protector flinch in shock.

"But—" Joker tried to protest as Sebastian pressed the knife closer to his throat.

"Can't you just listen to me!?" Kelvin shouted angrily, making the demon butler smirk.

"Kuh..." Joker gritted his teeth and did as he was told, despite the dangerous disadvantage it gave them. He sheathed his blade, and Sebastian made sure to keep him properly restrained while his young master settled his business with the baron. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Joker's face.

"Baron Kelvin," Ciel said gravely, making sure he had the creep's attention. "Where are the kidnapped children?"

"What's this!?" the baron asked excitedly, suddenly brightening as he whipped his head around to look at the earl again.

"!?" Ciel was startled by the sudden change.

"You wanted to see them, did you? They're in the basement, so I'll show you the way just now!" Kelvin said cheerfully. "And there's something else downstairs that I want to show you besides!"

"?" Ciel furrowed his brow, wondering what it could be.

=†=†=†=†=

"To be strolling along beside you like this is really like a dream!" the baron gushed as he led the way to the basement, his chair pushed by the same two children who had wheeled him into the dining room.

"Enough of your idle chatter. Take me to those children at once," Ciel commanded with steel in his voice.

" 'K-Kay. Sorry," the baron apologized timidly. "But I'm so very happy," he said, blushing and smiling again. "I've been full of regret ever since that day. I wondered over and over why I couldn't have been there by your side… on that day, at that place."

"That day? By my… side?" Ciel asked, furrowing his brow deeper, while he kept the gun trained on Kelvin. "What the hell are you going on about, man!?" The two children pushing his chair left the baron's side to start opening the large, sturdy doors they had reached.

"I can't turn back time no matter how great my regret," Kelvin said. "But then I realized it! That I can just do it over even if I can't turn back time!" Sebastian furrowed his brow and narrowed his eyes slightly at what he saw through the widening gap between the doors.

"There!" the baron said grandly as they finished opening. "Feast your eyes!" There, inside the room was and eerily familiar scene. A round amphitheater with an altar in the middle of the floor, surrounded by a demonic summoning circle. Off to the side were three cages containing children. "It took me three whole years to prepare this." Ciel's eyes were wide with shock. "Now let us recreate it anew, Earl Phantomhive! That fateful day which came to pass three years ago!!"