Let no one weep for me,
Or celebrate my funeral with mourning;
For I still live, as I pass to and
Fro through the mouths of men
"She has departed from us now, as all mankind must in the end, as someday we all must," a preacher droned on in the large church. It was a rather somber mood, for today was a funeral. The funeral of Madame Red to be exact.
And there at the side of her coffin was a young girl who looked to be the age of twelve with blonde hair that was put into two curly ponytails, fair skin, and green eyes. The girl was dressed in all black, tears streaming down her face as she looked at Madame Red. She was Ciel's fiancée, Elizabeth Middleford.
"Her flesh will turn to ashes, but her spirit will remain with the Lord…"
"Goodbye, Auntie Ann…" the girl said softly, a broken look on her face.
Suddenly the door opened, bringing light into the darken church. Elizabeth's head snapped up and she let out a light gasp. She then turned her head around, along with everyone else and let out another gasp of surprise.
There standing in the middle of the doorway was Ciel dressed in all black a red rose resting on his chest, part of his hair pushed back to expose more of his face; and his hands he held a searing bright scarlet red dress. Standing at the right side of the door was Sebastian cladded in black and on the left was Aria, wearing a pure white vintage lace dress that hugged her body like a second skin, a lacey white shrug, with a matching white lace headband, pure white sheer stockings, fingerless white lace gloves and black mary-janes. Her hair was in soft curls and she wore soft makeup, holding a white lace parasol in her hands.
"You're here!" Elizabeth said in shock and happiness as Ciel began to walk down the aisle, his shoes creating a haunting sound throughout the church. People stared and whispered behind their hands as they all stared at him.
Is that the Phantomhive boy?
With a scarlet dress?!
How innapropriate!
Not so, think of how she loved the color red.
Ciel walked to Elizabeth and then jumped into the air, sitting next to the coffin as he covered Madame Red's body in the scarlet dress. He looked down at her, a bittersweet smile on his face. "White flowers and plain dresses didn't suit you in life and they don't now."
He took off the red rose from his chest and put it behind her ear. "You belong in red; the color of passion, the color of spiderlilies…" He leaned closer to her face, his head bowed, his eye closed. "Farewell Aunt Ann…"
Suddenly a rose petal flew into the room. Elizabeth's eyes widened and she looked towards the door as more began to flutter into the room, filling the once dark church with red. People looked on in awe, at the simple beauty that the rose petals could create.
Aria smiled softly as she stood next the carriage filled with rose petals as they flew around her. She felt a soft strand caress her face and she looked up to see Sebastian giving her an odd look, his face blank. He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and nodded to her.
She smiled at him gently and looked forward, opening her mouth as the words began to flow out of her like a river.
London bridge is falling down
My fair lady…
London bridge is falling down
Falling down, falling down
London bridge is falling down
My fair lady
London bridge is falling down
Falling down, falling down
London bridge is falling down
My fair lady
Ciel closed his eyes as he felt Aria's voice sooth the ache in his heart, replacing it with something oddly joyous. A faint smile appeared on his lips, his eyes fluttering close once more as he envisioned his memories he had of his dear Aunt Ann.
London bridge is falling down
Falling down, falling down
London bridge is falling down
My fair Madame….~
Ciel looked down at his Aunt, his face expressionless. He then softly said, "Rest in peace…Madame Red."
"You are not going to report the true identity of Jack the Ripper to the Queen?" Lau asked Ciel as he leaned against the window, a cheshire cat smile on his lips. "No I don't think it's necessary," Ciel calmly replied, holding his top hat at his side, while Aria and Sebastian stood near him. "She simply instructed me to stop the incidents and now I have seen to that."
Lau smirked, crossing his arms. "Your world is full of quick sand, and you keep letting yourself sink further and further in. But even if you reach the point of no return, and all looks lost, you still won't call out for help. No, none of that, none of us will hear lord Phantomhive's pathetic screams."
"The Queen's dog is too proud for that."
Aria narrowed her eyes at Lau, hearing the undertone of a threat in his voice.
"Which makes you a formidable opponent, I'll have to be careful around you~" "Now that you mention it, opium dens are beginning to become a problem. If you want to get out, now is the time," Ciel replied with a straight face.
"If I did that I would have to think of another business to run, and that sounds like more trouble than it's worth."
Ciel closed his eyes and calmly put on his hat before saying, "Well you could always go back to your home country." Lau grinned and his eyes widened a fraction, revealing pools of brown. They looked slightly crazed but also amused. He looked at Aria up and down and smirked. "Oh…I haven't exhausted my interest in this country just yet…"
He then leaned down over to Ciel and said in his ear, "Or for that matter, you my Lord." He then grinned and turned on his heel, walking away. He gave them all a wave and said, "I do expect more interesting challenges from you and your little feline."
Aria scowled a little once Lau disappeared around the corner and said, "If that Chinese man wasn't so damn sexy, I would have slit his throat."
Sebastian and Ciel gave her an are-you-serious look. Ciel shook his head and turned on his heel, beginning to walk away. "Come, there is somewhere I must be." Aria and Sebastian looked at one another and followed their Master.
They all stood in front of a grave marked: Mary Jane Kelley 1853-1888.
"This is her?" Sebastian asked. "Yes," the Undertaker replied, holding a boquet of flowers in his hand. He had met them at the entrance of the cemetery, still having that same crazed smile plastered on his face. "Indeed it is, my last customer from Jack the Ripper."
"Apparently she was an immigrant; she had no family in the country to claim her body." "So our kind Earl hired me to pretty 'er up," the Undertaker said with a teasing smiling, poking Ciel's cheek playfully. "A truly noble act on his part eh?"
Ciel scowled and slapped the Undertaker's hands away. "This isn't noble at all, the noble thing to do would have been to save her, and I could have. If I put her life first. But no, I had to catch them. I had to apprehend them. Getting Jack the Ripper was more important. I knew they intended to kill her. I knew…and I let her die, along with my Aunt."
Aria frowned softly, hearing the underlying tone of guilt and regret in her Master's voice. She felt sympathy for him.
"You regret what you did my Lord?" Undertaker asked, bending down slightly as he looked at Ciel amused. "No, I don't. Jack the Ripper is gone forever. And I have done exactly what her majesty has asked of me."
"Queen Victoria eh? I don't much like 'er. She just 'its back and watches as yew do all 'er dirty work for 'er. Doesn't seem fair to me."[STP2.0: -squeals- I love his fucking accent!]
Ciel scowled and retorted back, "That's what the Phantomhive's do, it's our duty, past down through generations, along with this ring." "That ring reminds me of a colla' a Master puts on a dog. You're forever tied to the Queen by the leash of duty!" The Undertaker made a move to grab Ciel but Ciel snatched his body away from the Undertaker, anger written on his face.
"I chose this life, stop!" Undertaker then roughly grabbed Ciel by his tie, holding him up so Ciel can look at him, his expression looking a bit serious. Aria growled and stepped forward and the Undertaker snapped his head in her direction. "Be calm Kitten, I won't hurt yewr dog, I just have a piece of advice for 'em."
Aria narrowed her eyes, still tense but she didn't move forward.
"Now, Lord Phantomhive, you should be wary of the path that which duty will take yew that colla' will choke yew yet!" he said darkly and then roughly pushed Ciel into Sebastian's arms. "We wouldn't want dat now would we?" He then smiled and gave Aria the flowers.
He then turned on his heel and began to walk away. "Do come by if you need my assistance again my Lord, and if yew do, bring that feisty feline of yours. I still haven't measured her for a coffin yet! Ha ha ha!" The Undertaker continued to laugh until he was heard no more.
A few minutes later Ciel turned and walked over to Mary's grave and put the flowers on it. When he stood Aria placed his jacket on him and said softly, "It was noble."
"Don't make me repeat myself, what I did wasn't noble." "I thought it was," Sebastian said with a smirk. He then leaned down, looking at Ciel with those scarlet red eyes of his. "Well if you think not…then maybe…it was weakness."
Ciel turned around, shock on his face. "What?"
"Tell me, why didn't you kill her?" Aria's voice said, cutting through the tension building between the two. They both looked at her in shock as she looked at Ciel and Sebastian with an odd look, the warmth in her eyes gone, instead coldness lay there.
Ciel's eyes widened. "Your own Aunt was threatening you, it seemed like she was going to take your life. You could of stopped her. You could have defended yourself if you wanted to, but you wavered. Even then, you refused to draw your gun. Why Master?" she asked, looking at Ciel blankly, a slow smirk creeping onto her face, giving her a slightly evil look.
Ciel only looked at her in shock as did Sebastian. Maybe this is the Aria from so long ago. Back when she was in Egypt. So cold…and her aura so delectably tainted. There is more to Aria than she even knows…Sebastian thought, amused.
"Were you afraid of killing Madame Red, with your own hands?" she asked softly. She didn't know what the hell she was saying. But the words continued to flow out of her like a gushing river. Ciel glared at her, for once actually having a feeling of dislike for the feline demon. "Would it have been easier for you if it had been a stranger than your own flesh and blood?"
Ciel was quiet for a moment and then he said simply, "I held back because it was both yours and Sebastian's job. I knew either you or him would protect me at the cost of your lives. That's why I didn't draw my gun on her. Is that a good enough answer for you Aria?" His voice was calm, but you could hear then venom in his voice.
Aria flinched at his words. It seemed to have snapped her back to "herself". She looked guilty as the coldness ebbed away from her eyes and the warmth of her eyes reappeared once more, now laced with guilt. "Y-Yes Master…"
"I imagine you demons no nothing of principles or loyalty, but you do know about deals." Aria flinched once more. Ciel saying deals, bringing up the thought of Gabriel once more.
"And because of the deal I have made with Sebastian he will protect me no matter the circumstances, and because we have took you in and saved you, you will protect me also no matter the circumstances Aria."
"Am I wrong?"
Aria didn't reply, she kept her head bowed, a small frown on her face. So Sebastian instead replied, "Of course not but you stopped me from killing her as well." "When she moved to kill me there was hesitation in her eyes. I didn't think she'd be able to do it. Not to me, her kin, her sister's son."
"One wrong move can cost you your life, just like chess. She hesitated and lost sight of her next move, that's all there is to it." Ciel then turned on his heel, walking past Aria and Sebastian. "That's why I don't hesitate."
Aria's head snapped up and her eyes widened along with Sebastian's. Sebastian then turned his head around to look at Ciel and then smirked. "Now that's what I expect to hear. Always skillfully manipulate your pieces. That's how you survive. You used me, Aria and Madame Red."
Aria chuckled lightly, the dark look once again coming onto her face. "Because if the king falls, his game is over."
"I won't hesitate, I won't regret the moves I've made. Sebastian…Aria…" he said softly. Ciel then whipped around and said, "You two are the only ones who cannot betray me, and you will never leave my side. And that's an order!"
Aria's eyes flashed their fuschia color at Ciel's order, feeling her heart beat rapidly.
Promise to never leave my side! And that's an order! Gabe's voice rang out through her head. Aria smirked a little at the irony of it all, because in the end Sebastian would devour Ciel's soul just like how she devoured Gabe's soul.
In the end the King's most trusted and valuable Knight would betray him in the end. Leaving nothing but a ruined kingdom. And who will be there to pick up the pieces? Why, the Pawn on course. Andit will be the Pawn who will say:
"Checkmate."
END
STP: Doods! This chapter was intense especially the ending X3
Sebastian: Then what about the Knight? He has devoured the King and is still around…*is sitting at the table with a tattered/ruined chessboard in front of him, only a Pawn, Queen and Knight left on it*
STP: *nods* Mm, true true. Then what will the Knight do with the Pawn?
Seabastian: *grins darkly and plucks the Pawn off the chessboard* The Knight will turn that small insignificant Pawn into a Queen~
STP: Woah...*nosebleeds* You look hawt when your all evil
Sebastian: I know my dear. It's all a part of the game :D
Aria and Ciel: *walks into room*
STP and Sebastian: *quiets down*
Aria: What are you two speaking about?
Ciel: Yeah…what were you talking about?
STP and Sebastian: Nothing! ^^;;