That Butler, Mocking


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:

"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!"


"It all began five years ago," Baron Kelvin began.

=Flashback=

"Hello there! You are most welcome, Baron and Baroness Kelvin!" their host at the party greeted them.

"Earl Burton!" Kelvin said. "What a grand and splendid ball this is! I look forward to discussing philanthropy with you later this evening!"

"As do I!" Burton agreed with a smile."Ahh, yes. There is someone to whom I would like to introduce you. Now where did he go?" he said, looking around. "How curious. He was here until just a moment ago… Ah." He spotted him by the window. "There he is!" Burton raised his hand and waved to get his attention. "EarlPhantomhive!" he called, leading Kelvin over to meet the handsome man." Allow me to introduce you. This is Baron Kelvin."

"How do you do?" Vincent Phantomhive said politely, shaking the baron's hand. "Come, you greet him first," he told his son standing on his right.

"Okay," the boy said. "How do you do, Baron Kelvin? I'm Ciel," he greeted the older man brightly with the most beautiful smile that the Baron had ever seen. Kelvin's eyes widened with wonder and admiration as he blushed. But then Vincent's son ducked behind him on his left, hiding.

"I do beg your pardon," Vincent said on behalf of his son. "The child is quite shy. His health is a bit frail, so he does not go outside very often."

"Ah!" Ciel said brightly, perking up when he saw a familiar face in the crowd. "It's Uncle Chlaus!!" The young boy took off running to greet him.

"Ohh! Is that Ciel, I see!?" Chlaus said, lighting up when he saw them too. "Guten tag!!" he greeted Ciel as he scooped him up. "It has been a while. You've grown up!"

"Chlaus!" Vincent said, also happy to see him. He quickly moved to join his son and friend. "Returned, have you?"

"Ah..." Kelvin said, suddenly feeling a great loss at their absence.

"Vincent," Chlaus greeted him with a hug. "We're all together today. What a rare treat!"

"He insisted on coming with me… though he has only just gotten over his illness..." Vincent said, patting his shy son on the head. "—Well? You were away for quite a while this time round."

"German beauties are made of though, virtuous stuff," Chlaus replied meaningfully. "Does it come from their national character, I wonder?"

"Hmm? Then perhaps I ought to try my hand at pecking at their hard shells too?" Vincent mused, holding his chin.

"His years may still be few, but this young man appreciates philanthropy," Burton explained to Kelvin as they watched the exchange from afar. "He has invited the children from my orphanage to his manor for Guy Fawkes' Day and at Christmas time, and… Baron Kelvin?" he asked, wondering what had come over the other man when he continued to stare dreamily at the earl's small group.

"I could not avert my eyes from those three. They were serene and beautiful like the moon rising silently in the blackest sky—In an instant, I realized… That they were 'special.' I tried frantically to glean all I could about the Phantomhives. I wanted to know what made them so special. And then, I came to learn the truth about them."

One day, the baron found himself exiting a carriage to enter a grand building, where he was escorted to the billiards room—a room filled with a wide assortment of people from a grinning undertaker to a tough looking man in with a scarred face, Chlaus, a mysterious lady, and a man in what appeared to be a German uniform.

"And their true identity as 'aristocrats of evil'—Even the loveliest flowers have their thorns… and I could not help but yearn for the darkness behind the rose."

"Why did you go to the trouble of having me called back from Germany?" the man in the uniform asked Vincent over where they were both seated by the fire, stuffing his face with small sandwiches.

"I have a job that requires your assistance. You owe me for the Windsor incident two years ago… So I'll have you hear me out at the very least," Vincent replied slyly. "I say, you eat a lot."

"Tch!" Diedrich clicked his tongue in annoyance, "Fine, I suppose I can do that much." He bit into another sandwich. It was at that moment Baron Kelvin chose to strike.

"E—! Earl Phantomhive!!I-It has been a while!!" he said blushing, shouting a little from the effort it took to get his courage up. Vincent was a little taken aback by the sudden intrusion, but he put on a polite smile.

"Good evening," the earl greeted him.

"Hey," Diedrich said abruptly before Kelvin could say anything else. "I think we might be overheard here, so why don't we go talk somewhere else?" He stood up to leave and strode towards the door without hesitation.

"Diedrich, you're much too impatient," Vincent pouted, also standing up to follow him.

"U-Um..." Kelvin said nervously.

"Do please excuse us," Vincent told him as he passed by,

"Ah—!" Kelvin gasped, realizing this chance was slipping through his fingers.

"Who exactly was that old man anyway?" Diedrich asked Vincent as they exited the room together. "Friend of yours?"

"Nn? He did speak to me after all, so perhaps that is the case?" he answered. He honestly couldn't remember. "Yes, that's probably it."

'Ohh,' Kelvin thought with a pang as he was left behind. 'Now I see.'

"Only the equally 'special' can have contact with those who are 'special'."

Back at his workhouse, Baron Kelvin started pushing the children around in his frustration, shoving younger Dagger and Doll to the floor. Then, he caught sight of himself in the reflection on the window. His wrinkled, hairy face was twisted with pain and anger. He clawed at the ugliness with his hands and hid his face while he cried.

"For one as hideous as I, even touching them is unforgivable. My desire to be enveloped in their world of night, beautiful as velvet, shall never be granted."

The baron stood outside in his garden, breathing in the night air. He reached out to touch one of the crimsonroses and pricked his finger. Equally red blood welled to the surface of the small cut. Kelvin held his hand up, gazing at it with the night sky in the background as a bead of blood traveled down his finger. He thought of Ciel, of the beautiful child he had met at the party.

'Will he too become a beautiful flower of darkness, wrapped in thorns?' he wondered with feelings of melancholy. He looked past his hand to the shining full moon behind it. 'Will he become the lone cold moon that shines in the world of night? Someone I can never reach… NOOOO—!!!'

"I want… to touch him… I want…"

"I can't do everything straightaway… but please leave it to me," the doctor told the baron as he lay on his operating table. "You can become your ideal self."

"… To become someone special—porcelain-white skin like that of a bisque doll. Beautiful hair. Large eyes like jewels. A young body. They shall all be mine."

His wife looked at him in disgust.

"I do not care if my ugly wife leaves me—I will become still more beautiful by living a beautiful life. I will become someone worthy of him."

He built up his circus. He surrounded himself with beautiful children.

"—However..."

"I bring you a report," Joker said, addressing his heavily bandaged 'father' in bed.. "It appears someone attacked the Phantomhive manor last night. Both the earl and his family were killed—" the baron's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it.

"The moon vanished far too abruptly from my night. Why in the world had I done all this…? I lost my reason to live and was merely passing the days as though I had already bitten the dust."

Joker did his best to nurse him and keep him going.

"And then, one day—"

"What!?" Kelvin exclaimed in surprise. "Is that really true!?"

"Shh! You're too loud, Baron!!" his visitor shushed him, holding a finger to his lips. "He is Phantomhive's child in the flesh!" the cult member continued excitedly with a devious grin. "It seems the fellow who 'went to market' just the other day came across him… Who would ever have guessedthat we would have the son of thatPhantomhive family as our 'lamb'…? It's making everyone terribly restless!" He noticed Kelvin was shaking. "Baron?"

"I too will go!!!"the baron yelled with tears streaming down his face.

"The moon that had been taken from me came back to my night. Moreover, it was now within my reach."

"But..." his fellow cult member said hesitantly, looking at all of his bandages..

"You must not!" Joker said anxiously. "You've just gone under the knife. You're to stay in bed for a whole month..."

"Please! Take me with you!!"the baron screamed and cried desperately. He grabbed the man in front of him by his lapels. "Please, I beg you!"

"Come, come. No need to get so excited," the other man said, removing the baron's hands as he pulled away, putting distance between them. "Just think of it as a spot of bad luck this time." He headed for the door. "My comrades and I, as your kindred souls, will love him plenty in your stead."

"Wait!"the baron cried, reaching out to him.

"Well, if you'll excuse me..." He tipped his hat to him.

"Wait!!" the baron yelled. "Please, take me too—! Ah!"He slipped and fell from the bed.

THUD!

"Father!" Joker exclaimed with concern.

"I will go!!"

"Father, you are in no shape to go!" Joker pleaded.

"Let me… GO WITH YOOOU!"the baron screamed in anguish, squirming around on the floor as he reached out towards the door. If only he hadn't given up his legs!!

=End Flashback=

"I still cannot forget the pain I felt then," Kelvin said, hurt just thinking about it. "I, who had thrown away everything for you, was the one who could not see you. And then that day… the lot of them disappeared. Not a one was left. It was you, wasn't it? Hm, Earl? You did them a favor and killed them all. Aah," he sighed, trembling with excitement. "How I envy them! One couldn't ask for a more beauteous final moment, bidding farewell to life with the cold moon attending one's deathbed." He turned around to face Ciel and spread his arms wide. "Please! Let me join their ranks!" Joker was horrified by the request. "This is all as it was that day! Look! I've got everything ready—The venue for the ritual. The Lambs. And last, but not least… you, my dear Earl!" The dead bodies of the slaughtered cult members littering the amphitheater. Ciel in the cage. Ciel bloody on the altar. The young earl could see it all. "To be honest, I wanted to come and get you myself—"

BANG!

A burst of blood dyed the baron's shirt red with splatter the instant the earl pulled the trigger of his gun and shot him in the gut.

"Hff…! Hffffff… Hffffff…." Ciel was breathing hard through gritted teeth, trembling with rage and trauma. Sebastian wondered if maybe he should have brought Chêne along after all.

"Fatherrr!" Joke yelled, horrified. He immediately ducked low and ran from Sebastian and his knife with all his might, abandoning the prosthetic hand the butler still held in his grip. It had popped right off. Joker dashed forth and drew another hidden blade from within the rest of his prosthetic arm.

SHNNG.

"UWOOOOOOHHH!!" he cried, preparing to avenge and protect the man he called 'father'. If he could get him to the doctor, then maybe—

SHNK.

Joker's outstretched arm suddenly disappeared, sword and all.

"Eh?" he said, shocked. His gaze moved from in front of him to behind him, where Sebastian stood holding a bloody knife and his severed arm.

"Might you be so kind as to not interfere with my master?" Sebastian requested in a polite tone that clashed terribly with the sadistic smirk on his face. Perhaps it was better his Chêne wasn't there.

"GWAAAH! AAAH!" Joker screamed in agony as he hit the floor and the extreme pain kicked in.

"I-It hurts, Earrrl," Kelvin moaned with tears streaming down his face and blood dribbling from his mouth, falling out of his chair. "Haah! I'm in agonyyyyy!" Even so, he still managed to crawl his way closer to Ciel. "I b… I beg you," he pleaded through labored breaths, clinging to the young earl's leg. "I-If you're going to kill me, kill me just like you did them—!"

"Like I did them?" Ciel said contemptuously. He kicked Kelvin in the head, grinding his face into the floor.

"GYAH!" the baron cried in pain.

"Then get on your knees like a worm… and plead with the devil," Ciel said coldly, keeping his foot on the cretin's head and his gun aimed on him. Sebastian smirked slightly as he watched, holding his chin, darkly amused by the scene before him. Yes, it was good Chêne wasn't there.

"Please, don't kill 'im!" Joker pleaded desperately, struggling to get back up. "Be he as he may, we still owe him our lives. We, who were abandoned by our parents, by this nation—he saved us from the terror of starving to death, which plagued us day in and day out. We've many little brothers and sisters still in the workhouse." He made it onto his knees. "They can't make it if he's not 'round."

"So… That's why you kidnapped all the children?" Ciel said. "You obeyed this man's orders… and made sacrifices of others in order to save yourselves?" Joker looked stricken, but then he closed his eyes and bowed his head in acceptance.

"Yes," he replied solemnly. "You've got it right. For those born like us, Great Britain is nothing short of hell. We had not money to buy bread or the skills to protect each other. We had nothing. But Father rescued us up from the rubbish heap… and gave us limbs that could protect the ones dear to us. That's why we decided to go on living… even if another hell was waiting for us with open arms. I knew we were in the wrong from the very beginning. But I—"

"You did the right thing," Ciel told him.

"Eh?" Joker said, stunned. What did he just…?

"I'm sure Chêne, 'Cat', would disagree if she were here… But she wouldn't fault you for protecting people you love. You fought to protect your own world. There's nothing wrong with that. After all, justice in this world is a sham created by those in power for themselves. Even she recognizes that to some degree. No one gives a damn about anyone else. If you're careless, you're sure to lose. To begin with, only two kinds of humans have ever existed in this world. Those who rob, and those who are robbed. And today… I shall rob you and your allies of your futures. That's all there is to it."

"Ha… Haha! Ahahahaha!" Joker laughed as he let himself fall on his back. "Ye said it! But, see… Ye'll also lose something precious this night."

"?" Sebastian wondered what he was taking about.

"The circus troupe's heading to your manor," Joker told them. Ciel was startled for a moment as his mind instantly produced an image of a precious thing he could lose.

'Elizabeth,' he thought, picturing her smiling face.

"Haah. Why d'ye think we've been able to kidnap children without anyone catching onto us?" Joker said, enjoying the slightly shocked look on the earl's face. "It's 'cos all the witnesses cease to exist."

=†=†=†=†=

{Phantomhive Manor}

At that moment, outside the manor house, stood Beast, Jumbo, Dagger, Peter, and Wendy.

"So this's the place… It's 'uge," Peter remarked.

"I get the feelin' it'd be a right mess just findin' the room the target's in," Dagger agreed.

"Let us split up," Jumbo suggested. They could cover more ground more quickly that way.

"Righty, we'll give a go from the top," Peter said as he and Wendy ran off in one direction.

" 'Kay, Sis and me'll start over there..." Dagger said as he and Beast headed in another. Jumbo picked a third direction and got started too.

'This truly is a massive manor house,' Jumbo thought as he ran towards the house. 'We must depart before the sun rises.'

"Ohh?" another voice said, startling him. It was a young man with blonde hair dressed like a gardener. "We have a guest at thiiis hour?" he asked sleepily. Jumbo stopped and stared at his opponent. He seemed harmless and completely off his guard. "Excuse meee!" Finni said, wiping the sleep from his eyes. "I've been told not to let strangers in while Young Master is away. Won't you call again another time—" He was cut off when Jumbo reached for him with his powerful hand to silence him.

WHAM!

=†=†=†=†=

"Those of us in the troupe, we're professionals," Joker continued to taunt Ciel. "We dispose of everyone we come into contact with during our missions, no matter what the reason. I wonder how many people'll get killed off as they go sniffing 'round for a target that's not there in that great big house?"

"Get killed off?" Ciel said.

"Indeed. Right down to the last of the servants," Joker answered.

"The servants you say?"

"Heh. Heh," Sebastian began to laugh. "Heh. Heh. Heh."

"What is so funny…!?" Joker demanded.

TOK!

Ciel slammed the tip of his cane against the floor.

"What do you take them for?" he asked sternly. "They are servants of the Phantomhive family."

=†=†=†=†=

Meanwhile, back at the mansion, poor Finni was lying on the ground with blood all around his wounded head.

"…" Jummbo stared down at his violent handiwork. "I had no choice. Please, forgive me." He turned to leave but was stopped when something pulled on his cloak. "!?"

"Pleeease!" Finni said from behind him. "I'll get a right scolding 'cos of yooou!" Slowly, Jumbo turned his head to see that Finni was standing up again, clutching the back of his cloak with one hand. "Young Master told me to do this… and Mister Sebastian put me under strict orders… never to let anybody in here," he finished with wide eyes cast in shadow.

SPLAT!