Disclaimer: Ma ei ise midagi

A/N: Hey, ya'll! Thanks for sticking around for this so far. I feel like I could somehow make this story better, but I can't just think of what to add right now. Maybe one day. But for now, we have this. On we go!

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Sebastian stared at him for a long moment before answering. "Young master, that's a rather odd request," he said. "Why the sudden interest in such a trifle of a thing?"

"It simply makes me curious," he replied. "That should be a good enough reason. Do have the means to unlock it?"

"Yes, I do," the butler answered a bit hesitantly. "But maybe the young master should wait until later?"

"Why?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "I think now is a perfect time. Or is it that...there's something you don't want me to see?"

"Of course not!" Sebastian replied a bit too quickly. "As I said, it's almost teatime-"

"Don't lie to me!" he demanded. "You're obviously trying to hide something from me. What sort of butler lies to his master? So tell me, what's in that room that you don't want me to see?"

To his surprise, Sebastian started to chuckle softly. "How very perceptive you are, my lord," he said. "That's one thing that hasn't changed after all this time. You are correct, though. A butler should never keep things from his master. Of course I will show you that room. Please follow me."

He raised his eyes at the spirit's mood swing. Was the man bipolar when he was alive? But he shrugged the thought off and followed the butler into the house. They stayed in silence until they reached the door. Sebastian pulled out a set of keys and quickly located the one he needed. He put it in the lock but stopped before he opened the door.

"I had wanted to wait until the young master had been here longer before showing him this," Sebastian informed him. "But since you insist, I will do it."

With that, he opened the door and took a few steps to the side so that Ciel could see better. The boy tried to suppress his eagerness as he walked into the dimly lit room. Although he was very curious, he didn't want to appear childish. But he was shocked when he observed the interior of the room.

There was a giant portrait of himself on the back wall! He walked closer to examine it better. The boy in the portrait looked just like him, except he wore an extravagant old-fashioned suit that was navy blue in color. He also had an eye patch covering his right eye. There was a sharp look in his eye and a slight frown on his face.

"I see that you're observing the portrait of my previous master," Sebastian said as he came to stand by the boy's side. "You look very much like him. You often act like him, too. Though you have a more cheerier disposition than he had. I might say it's an improvement."

He noticed that there was a date at the bottom of picture. After looking closely, he made out: August 14, 1889.

"This was made over a hundred years ago," he observed.

"A hundred and twenty four, to be precise," Sebastian added. The butler fondly traced the painted face with a finger. "This was made four months before the fire. He died exactly a month before his fourteenth birthday."

"His birthday was December fourteenth?" he asked quietly. When the butler nodded in response, he said "That's my birthday, too."

Sebastian gave him a small smile. "Is that so?" he asked softly.

He turned to see what else was in the room. In one corner, there was some table sized object that was covered by a tarp. There was an old wardrobe against one wall. Across from that was a bookshelf that was filled with deteriorated books and papers. By the door, there was an antique chessboard.

"Oh, these are mementos of my master that survived the fire," the spirit explained. "I brought them here to keep them safe."

He went over to examine the contents of the bookcase. He carefully handled and looked over old documents that looked like paperwork. The yellowed pages held information about toy and candy manufacturing, employee salaries, and building factories in other countries. They were all signed with his name.

"It looks like you've a built a shrine of him in here," he commented as he looked over the room once more.

"Hm, I've never quite thought about it like that," Sebastian said, sounding half amused and half annoyed. "I suppose you could look at it that way."

"Do you come in here often?" he couldn't resist asking.

"I do from time to time," the butler replied.

This is starting to get very creepy, he thought.

That thought made him realize how comfortable he was with Sebastian. The man was a bloody ghost, and yet Ciel treated him as a regular person. Anyone else would have ran away or, as Soma said, call Ghostbusters. But he actually welcomed Sebastian's company. In fact, he could tell that there were some rather friendly feelings between them.

How can I feel this way after what happened to Alois?, he thought.

To distract himself, he turned his attention to the tarp. He gently brushed some of the dirt of it. He could tell that whatever laid beneath it was made of wood.

"What's under here?" he asked the butler. If it was covered up, it must be precious.

"That's something the young master may not want to see," Sebastian replied nervously. "Of course, you can if you want to. But I do not believe it's wise."

Ignoring the spirit's warning, he pulled the tarp off, revealing an old and somewhat rotted coffin. He took a few steps back and a feeling of dread came over him. A slight scent of decay rose from the coffin and caused him to gag.

"What is this?" he whispered, trying to maintain his composure.

Sebastian came forward and put his hands on the boy's shoulders in an attempt to comfort him. Ciel felt himself lean back into the man's touch.

"Relax, young master," the man soothed. "Nothing is going to hurt you."

"Why is there a coffin in here?" he quietly demanded.

Sebastian sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "After this manor caught fire and burned down, they scavenged for the body's of everyone who resided here. And they found the bodies of the servants - including mine – but...not the body of my young master."

The butler stiffened and held the boy tighter. "Apparently, the flames had trapped my young lord in his bedchamber. Not knowing what else to do, he hid in a secret compartment in the wall. The smoke from the flames came in through the cracks and suffocated him. Since nobody except him and I knew about the compartment, they never located his body and he never received a proper burial. After everyone was gone, I used some wood that was still in good condition to make him a coffin and put him in here. It is not much, but I like to think that he would appreciate my efforts."

They stood in silence for a few moments before Sebastian let go of him. "Forgive me, my lord," he said. "I should not have been so forward. If you are done here, I shall prepare you some tea."

"Alright," he said and then quickly turned to leave.

"Oh!" Sebastian exclaimed. "If you wait just a moment, my lord, there is one more thing."

The butler went back to the coffin and started to open the lid.

"What are you doing?" Ciel asked, incredulous. Surely the spirit wasn't going to show him the corpse!

"Not to worry, young master," was all Sebastian said.

He reached into the old coffin and pulled out a piece of folded cloth. He then shut the lid and pulled the tarp back over it. Seemingly out of nowhere, he produced a rag, and two bottles.

"Please come here, young master," Sebastian requested softly.

He hesitantly walked toward the butler. Upon closer inspection, he saw that one bottle was silver polish and the other was some generic cleaning liquid. Sebastian carefully opened the cloth to reveal an old ring. Even though it was somewhat rusted, he could tell that it was made out of silver. What really caught his attention was the large blue gem attached to it.

"This ring has been in your family for generations," Sebastian informed him as he cleaned the ring. "naturally, I thought it would remain in the coffin with my previous master for the rest of time, but since there is a new Phantomhive here, it should be given to you."

He held up the now polished ring for his master to see. Ciel stared at the ring admirably. The silver band shown like new, and the stone was a beautiful shade of blue. Sebastian gently took hold of his hand and held it to the ring.

"W-wait-" he stammered. Even though the ring was clean, it was just touching a corpse.

Sebastian ignored him and quickly slipped the ring onto his thumb. As soon as it was on, a sense of calm calm came over him. He felt like he had had the ring his entire life.

"It suits you quite well, young master," Sebastian commented.

He smiled slightly at the butler. He didn't know why, but something about him just felt...different. But he didn't care. "Thank you, Sebastian," he said. "Now, how about that tea?"

"Yes, my lord."

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A/N: I didn't think I was going to like this chapter, but I did. I hope you guys do, too.

Review!