Disclaimer: I own neither Artemis Fowl nor Kuroshitsuji, all the teapots and spoons in the world could never change that fact.
Summary: AU. Imagine if Artemis and Holly never made it back to their own time after N01 sent them back but instead they get sent off to 18th century England in which they come across a certain awful nobleman and his butler.
Artemis shifted awkwardly in his new attire. He wore a he was wearing a navy blue suit with uncomfortably short shorts. He had knee high socks and black boots on and despite what he thought, he looked handsome. This suit is extremely frilly. Why is it so frilly? He screamed in his mind, but Holly looks quite nice in frills. DAMN PUBERTY!
Holly was looking out the window beside him wearing a pink dress with a low neckline and it hugged her slim figure. The dress was layered and covered her feet which were secured into the LEP suits shoes since she had refused to take them off. Her hands were folded neatly on her lap and her face was still but her eyes were filled with worry.
"You should really be honoured to be able to join me on my investigation." Ciel smiled, leaning his head on his open palm. "It is quite interesting."
This perked Artemis' interest but he did his best to look indifferent. After Ciel had left them in the staffroom for his lessons, the butler had come back with clothing for both of them and only a few hours later they had found themselves sitting in a horse-drawn carriage in silence. Artemis spoke, "If you don't mind me asking… what investigation?"
Ciel smiled, "You say you are the head of a criminal empire but if you have not even heard of me, which must mean you are not exactly of this age… Are you?"
The side of Artemis mouth twitched upwards though he wasn't sure it was because he was irritated or amused. This boy is like me of only a few years ago. Calm, calculating and suspicious of everyone around him. What an interesting opponent. Artemis tilted his head back and smiled, "No, not of this age but I am of this world. So," He leaned forward to try and add dramatic effect which was fairly hard due to the uncomfortable clothing, "who are you?"
Ciel let out a laugh that Artemis found oddly girly, "You just let it slip." Artemis closed his eyes and let out a sigh when he realized what that meant. He had forgotten to place on an English accent. "So you are Irish. Not really important but it is fascinating. You had quite the impressive English accent, very posh, fitting of the role you claimed." Ciel swatted the though away with a flick of his wrist, "Anyways, you gave yourself quite the introduction. It's my turn. I am Ciel Phantomhive, my parents were killed in a fire when I was a child and I was the lone survivor. I am the head of the Funtom toy making company which has extended its reaches into the food market where it's curry received the Royal Warrant from the Queen herself. But that is merely my legal business; I am the person who takes care of all the things the queen is concerned with. The queen's orders are my first priority and also, I have encountered thing you would never believe." The final statement felt so cold that one could've imagined that a breeze had gone through the little carriage room.
Artemis furrowed his brows and lay his head rest on his closed fist. Holly was the only other person in the carriage and was the only person who noticed the eerie similarities between the two boys. The only difference was that Ciel was younger and had blue-ish hair, but that was all. Even their posture was similar!
This boy has quite the interesting résumé but what does he mean by things I would never believe. I've met fairies, trolls and centaurs. What haven't I met?
The carriage jolted to a halt and Artemis looked out the window. They were in a small discreet village. They were in front of a grey building with the union flag set up close beside the large oak door at the front of the building was a slab of stone with neatly chiselled letters that read, 'CROW ESTATE.' Sebastian opened the carriage door and helped Ciel out then continued to do the same for Holly and Artemis.
Ciel stretched and yawned while Artemis rotated his shoulders, Holly simply stood there already used to being in cramped shuttles and ships for extended periods of time. Artemis surveyed his surroundings a little better. There were other carriages already there and seemed to be five men huddled in a circle, staring at something Artemis couldn't see. One of the men turned around to look at the new arrivals, he was old and had rimless glasses and grey hair with a stern look on his face. "Master Phantomhive, your assistance is not necessary here. We have it under control." The smile he had on his face was so fake, even Artemis who was never very good at distinguishing the difference, was able to tell.
"Lord Randall, it is a pleasure to see you too but if you had this under control, the queen wouldn't have found it necessary for me to look into it. Would she?" Lord Randall looked disgusted but looked down in defeat. "So then, may I see the body?"
"Yes, but who are your to friends? We are not accepting visitors." Lord Randall answered, annoyed.
"Oh please old man, do you think I would let complete strangers in on an investigation in which the name of the queen is on the line?" Artemis answered the question in his head, yes.
"Don't act like that is something that you wouldn't do. I know full well that you are capable of it."
"Capable, I am, but I am not doing it. Show me the body."
Artemis Fowl, as much as he was a genius and as many fairies he had seen, was not prepared for what was before him. A body, it's figure so disgustingly torn apart that he couldn't tell the gender, was mostly centered at his feet but other pieces were strewn about the land. The only part of it that was left on the body was that head but it was covered in scratches and blood.
"John Adam Crow junior, the song of Lord Crow who is currently out in the town and we are unable of contacting him." Randall said as he stared at the body. Ciel was unfazed by the body but covered his nose with a handkerchief due to it's horrible smell. Sebastian looked at Artemis and Holly. Holly had seen wars and battlewounds, her friends and her commanders were killed before her eyes but tose experiences were nothing compared to the horror she felt as she stared at the mauled body. It's arm was limp and grey beside her foot and she wanted to kick it away but knew she shouldn't. Her mind switched into soldier form, what she was looking at was a body that was torn apart and now all she wanted to do was find that person or thing that did it and put him to justice. Artemis on the other hand had a look of cold disgust on his face. How can something do this? Even trolls don't make this much of a mess. But he was standing still, and he felt a shadow begin to reform over his heart.
A young man wearing black who was kneeling beside the body began to speak, "Young master Crow was only 22 and it seems that there can be various causes for death, but I can assure you. He was alive when he was torn apart." The sentence hung in the air and even Ciel let out a little shiver as they all realized how indescribably painful it must have been.
"Do you have any suspects." Ciel said as he looked at the body.
"None so far but the human must have had monstrous strength to be able to do this… if it is a human." Ciel and Artemis' eyebrow tweaked upwards simultaneously and Ciel shared a glance with Sebastian and Artemis the same with Holly.
"Is there any fairy that would be able to do this?" Artemis asked in a hurried whisper to Holly was they were being led into the dining room by a young maid girl.
"Maybe a troll, but there are no reports of any trolls in this area." Holly said.
Artemis stopped and pulled her into a darkened corner of the room, "Holly, it seems you've forgotten, you won't be receiving any reports because this is 300 years ago."
Holly realized her mistake, "You're right, but when I saw the body… I just felt that a troll hadn't done that."
Artemis sighed and began to walk back with the group. "Yes,but Holly I don't want to ask you to do anything dangerous but I know that soldier inside you is itching to find out what did this. I'll find an excuse; you go check out the scene a little closer." Holly knew that he meant that she should shimmer so as not to be caught. She nodded and began to make her way to the exit, happy to find that her LEP shoes were far more comfortable than the shoes that the Butler had offered her.
"Could this be the work of a demon?" Ciel asked Sebastian, being careful to whisper as to not arouse any suspicion from his new companions.
"Possibly, but it doesn't have any traces of demon nor god." Sebastian asked straight forwardly. "It appears out friends are brainstorming ideas on their end as well."
"Interesting. Well, I order you investigate and find out what caused this."
"Yes, my lord."
Artemis passed Sebastian and was wondering why the butler had begun to head towards the exit of the building. "Where is your butler going off to?" Artemis asked, trying to sound harmless.
"I should ask the same about your friend." Ciel replied. They both knew what was going on and decided to stop talking about it and spent the last minutes of the walk to the dining room in silence.
A/N: I AM SUCH A HYPOCRITE! I hate it when people don't update, yet here I was doing the eact same thing. Nvm, I started watching doctor who though. 9th doctor is my first and favourite! Any doctor who fans reading this?