This was impossible. No one is able to escape from the Mirror Dimension, ever present but undetected. The real world isn't affected by what happens there. Cordelia had stumbled upon the dimension by accident and has made use of it since then. She used the dimension to train, surveil, but more than often sometimes to contain threats such as the one in front of her. There was only one way in a one way out, she had the only key to that world so how had this happened.
If he was out who else had gotten out?! This wasn't supposed to happen, she had no plans for this, no warnings, no predictions. There was nothing...
"Move!"
The air was knocked out her lungs as the weight slammed into her side knocking her off balance. Ciel maneuvered his body so that he took the brunt of fall as the two tumbled to the right as a firey projectile ended up hitting and scorching the pavement instead of them. There was a pang that shot up like a shock through his spine as his back collided with the earth painfully. Ciel swiftly sat upright with the blonde pressed firmly against his chest. If this hadn't been such a dire situation he would have been a bright shade of crimson at the sight of their position.
The young demon relaxed his tight grip on the smaller blonde's waist and back when he saw the tears streaming down her face. He wanted to ask what was wrong with her, but an intense wave of heat claims his attention and draws his eye towards the sky where he sees the large flame with the likeness of a bird flying down them. He couldn't have reacted in time even if he had tried, it was moving too fast. The Book, in the form a small charm, reacts in place of its mistress, calling forth a large white glyph that served as a barrier. Without Cordelia to channel and control the magic, the glyph shatters upon impact.
Even so, it slows the lethal attack enough for Ciel to pick up Cordelia and avoid it by a mere hair. In the mall parking lot, he takes shelter behind a pickup truck and sets Cordelia on the ground. The girl is still crying for some unknown reason bringing Ciel a great deal of concern. Was she hurt somewhere? He couldn't smell blood anywhere on her and didn't see any bruises or get a whiff of burnt flesh.
Her voice comes out thin and distant, "What, but, no, it didn't, that's... not... right..." She's breathing all wrong, beginning to gasp like there's not enough oxygen in the air. She feels her ribs heaving as if bound by ropes, straining to inflate her lungs. Her head is a carousel of fears spinning out of control, each one pushing her mind into blackness. Her heart is hammering inside her chest like it belongs to a rabbit running for its skin.
Cordelia squat on the ground, trying to make everything slow to something her brain and body can cope with. The panic starts out as thin cellophane, something her fingers can pierce breathing holes in. In another second the panic is a deluge of ice water surrounding every limb, creeping higher until it passes her mouth and nose. That's when the attack becomes absolute, shutting her body down as fast as punching a biochemical reset button. Nothing here was making any sense.
"Hmm... you don't look very good, Humanity's Keeper." The blond man is standing on top the roof of the truck, his blue eyes show no empathy for the girl locked in a panic attack. He raises his arm and creates a large, triangular flame with the resemblance of a bird. The heat was too intense, Cordelia ducks her head down to try and block out the warmth as Ciel stares up at the man with a rigid jaw. He couldn't run from that at this close a range.
Patience was just about to drop his hand and let his flame fly free when a spear embedded itself into his shoulder. He caught sight of a silver-white hair before the momentum carried him backward off the rooftop. The scream tore through him like a shard of glass as the spear carried him back several feet before cutting through the shoulder bone to pierce the cement below. The man curled his fingers around the shaft of the weapon and tugged, with his immense strength freeing himself should have been nothing. It didn't budge an inch.
"Gungnir won't move unless I move it." The cat woman steps up from behind Ciel and Cordelia as if she's been there forever. "We need to leave." Shiina scoops up the panicked Cordelia in one arm and grabs Ciel's hand in the other. She takes the taller demon's hand in such a crushing grip Ciel was sure his bones were going to bruise. He trails behind her, head turning to watch as Patience tries his hardest to free himself. He fails to notice the change in the surroundings until Shiina releases his hand.
"Gungnir!" At the call, the spear pulls itself free from the earth and the shoulder and sails right into the cat woman's free hand. Ciel was distracted by the fact that it appeared as if he had just walked into a House of Mirrors, only instead of reflecting the images within it reflected fractions of the world outside.
"She calls it the Mirror Dimension." Ciel finds his faithful butler standing directly behind him. He doesn't question it as his attention returns to the distorted dimension.
"It's a parallel dimension that the MIss uses to train and fight our enemies without the public's knowledge. We need to move quickly, this place is known for rapidly distorting space and landscape. The Miss can control it with the Book, but I can't do anything other than open and close the dimension." Shiina explains before taking the lead.
The dimension is like a moving maze one Ciel was certain he would have gotten lost in without the two older demons constant supervision. In order quell his rising irritation after the pair paused to make sure he cleared a gap on a moving skyscraper, he decided now was as good as any to get some questions answered.
"What's wrong with her?" One black cat ear rotates itself to catch his words without Shiina bothering to look at him.
"Cordelia's world functions on sound logic and careful strategizing. Ever since obtaining the Book of Prophecy she has abandoned the laws and guidelines humans follow and now follows the laws and rules of magic. When said law or rule is broken and her mind is unable to give her a stable reason as to why or how it was broken she tends to fall into fits of panic. To her its as if the world is falling apart, she needs something stable and reliable to keep her grounded." Shiina answered while shifting the sleeping blonde's dead weight in her arms. "She'll be fine in time." She reassured him.
"How are you getting the spear to do that?"
The question had Shiina pausing for a second to look over her shoulder at the spear hovering behind her.
"Gungnir is a Relic although some might call it a magical artifact too. It's is sort of like the Book, magical but not sentient. A relic is basically an object imbued with magic because they have more power than most people can possibly manage on their own. Relics pick their wielders, over the last hundreds of years I've obtained several relics that have chosen to fight with me. Gungnir is one of the oldest."
"Who was that man? She called him Patience."
"I am not sure what you'd call him in this day and age. To us, he is one of the Seven Heavenly Virtues, Patience. You would call him an...angel I believe."
"I've heard of the Seven Virtues but have never met one. How are you two acquaintance with him?" Sebastian voiced with curiosity.
"For whatever reason, Patience fell from God's grace along with his six siblings, Diligence, Temperance, Charity, Chasity, Kindness, and Humility. One by one they started causing a great deal of trouble for humanity. The Book of Prophecy said they threatened the delicate balance of the world. So one by one, the Miss and I contained them by locking them in the Mirror Dimension. It took us a little over seven years to capture them all but it was done. Yet now they've gotten out or rather someone let them out."
As much as the two wanted to know who that was, Shiina calling forth the spear to cut a glyph into the palm of her hand distracted them. Pressing her bleeding palm against the walls of the dimension had the parallel dimension opening itself back to the natural dimension.
Ciel's eyes go wide and round when he realizes where they are. Vast expanses of land, outlined by a lot of bushes and trees, contain the gargantuan building of the manor. There was a long stairway that led to the entrance, where a huge fountain sat nearby. When Ciel throws a particular harsh glare in Sebastian's direction, the blind feline is quick to interject.
"You wanted to know more about us, you can't expect me to not want to know more about you. Just as the Miss told you a little about us, Sebastian told me a little more about you, little lord." The yokai's voice takes on a more teasing tone at the end. "Come now, where can I place the Miss?" She questioned while walking up the stairs and into the manor.
"I want to go." There was no change in tone nor any vocal sign that Cordelia was in any way displeased. However, the fact that she was ignoring the breakfast on her plate said otherwise. Her unwavering jaded orbs were locked on the sharp sapphire one across the long table from her.
It had been a week since Ciel's return to the Phantomhive Manor with the two new additions. Even though their agreement was three days, Ciel had been drawn in far too deeply and now that knew about the existence of magic it wasn't exactly something he was willing to toss away. Cordelia was thoroughly enjoying her time in the manor and has made plans on leaving it just yet. However, this little disagreement might be putting a halt on those plans.
"No." It is cold and with a note of finality to it. Ciel was done arguing about this. Three days after their return a letter with the Royal Family's Seal came to the manor. Somehow, Queen Elizabeth II, already knew of his return to the manor and the state, marking the end of his extended vacation. She had required the Watchdog's presences while at the same requesting Earl Phantomhive's attendance at the Winter Ball. Refusing the Queen was simply not something anyone did, but Ciel wasn't one to mix "polite society" and the "underworld business", still it could not be helped this time.
Since hearing of the ball, Cordelia has been requesting to go with him none stop. Considering he wasn't certain how she would handle herself in public and the fact that this was a business trip, he didn't see the point in allowing her to come along. Still, she persisted and refused to take no for an answer. Today was the day of the ball and he had hoped to be finished with this by now.
The two continue to stare at each other from across the tables for a few more seconds and than Cordelia gently slides her chair out from behind her and rises to stand.
"I am not hungry anymore." She announces softly, dipping into a mocking curtsy and dismissing herself from the table. There is a loud and audible sigh coming from the woman who had been standing behind her. She was dressed in a rather form-fitting maid's attire, a dark black dress with a white apron. She had a thick black band with a bit of white frilly as a headdress. Her sleeves were puffed and her hands were gloved, she had on long black stockings, which are held up by a garter belt although had decided against putting on shoes or any type of footwear due to needing the ground to help her find her way around the massive manor.
Instead of shoes she simply made sure the length of the dress touched the floor hiding the fact that she walked around barefoot. Her eyes are concealed by a black ribbon that is usually tied around her neck like a chocker. For reasons she refuses to discuss, her eyes have been causing her a great deal of pain due to the lighting and the sun.
As Cordelia calls for her newly titled maid, Shiina turns and leaves the dining room without a word. Ciel watches this all with this weight on his chest. It takes him a few to recognize the feeling, guilt. After all this time it still cuts just as deep, he's not even sure why he felt so guilty he hadn't done anything wrong, Bloody Hell! That girl was infuriating. Ciel pushed his chair away from the table and stomped his way out of the room leaving the mess for the butler to clean.
It would be another hour of sitting in his room and moping before his guilt finally got the best of him. With an agonizing groan of pure frustration, the Phantomhive left his room behind to go and search the manor for the cause of his distress. It did not take long to find her, she went to the same place he often finds himself going to when troubled. His mother's garden. Outside his boots crunched through the powdered snow. The world around him was imprisoned in a glair-white silence. Nothing sounded, nothing stirred, nothing sang. Winters slavering fangs had come and gone. Its lacerating winds had stripped the last leaves from the trees, leaving them naked and brooding in a harsh world.
They were wrapped in their surgical coats now, groaning under the weight of the snow. Occasionally, a great limb would creak, crack and collapse. It sounded like an explosion going on. Other than that, an alien serenity garbed the enormous garden. There was no dawn chorus, no symphony of sound, no avian orchestra. The world was entombed in a dome of silence. Winter's deadly clutch had strangled and stifled all life from the land.
Here and there he was able to catch smaller bits and pieces of color from the flowers that bloomed in this winter wonderland. Beyond the plain shade of white that cloaked the garden, he found a set of footprints that brought him to the base of an elder tree. He didn't need to look up to know she was there, her heartbeat resonated loudly in a strong and steady rhythm. It had taken him some time to get used to the fact that he could hear heartbeats, sense souls, and so on in this new body of his. The one thing he could not accept was this hollow feeling inside like he was missing something he could never replace.
"Cordelia."
The scowl on Ciel's face grew in size when he got no response from the girl. It wasn't as if she could not hear him it was dead silence out here and no wind to carry away his words. Several feet up he could see the hem of the dark dress and a pale leg that hung over a branch. She had to be at least ten feet high. Against his better judgment, Ciel reaches up to take hold of the lowest branch and pulls himself up before searching for the next branch. The demon climbed the tree with an unnatural amount of ease and grace in only a handful of seconds.
He could feel the eyes on him and could practically imagine the light green emeralds watching him. He stopped on the branch right below the blonde's and tipped his head back to peer up at her. She had turned her eyes away from him the second he craned his head back and was now gazing out across the garden. She clearly had no intention of speaking to him if the tension in her jaw was anything to go by. His eyes were stuck on her current attire for sitting in a tree in winter.
"Where is your coat?" He broke the tense silence that had sat like a weight on his shoulder.
"Why do you care?" The reply came in a short tone with the sound chattering teeth following directly after. The dress she wore did little to nothing block the chill in the air even though the sun was out and gazing down at them with a warm glow. Ciel fought the urge to roll his eyes and leave her out here knowing that he'd be right back out here. Instead of giving her a sharp retore he decided to focus on the way her body quiver and shook on the tree limb.
He glances down at the branch he was crouching on, placing a palm against the frosted truck, he raises to stand slowly. He makes sure the branch can fully support his weight before standing at his full height. At five feet and eleven inches, he wasn't overly tall just the right size to close the distance between the branch overhead the one he stood on. He took a firm hold of the branch Cordelia was sitting on to keep his balance while shrugging off the coat he was wearing. He ignored the way her eyebrows remained pitched together as he dropped the coat in her lap.
It was still chilly but his body wasn't affected to a certain degree the same way hers was. The blue-black haired demon took a seat on the lower branch, feeling his guilt ebb just a tad bit as he watched the girl slip her arms in through the sleeve and her shivers slowly die away. The silence consumed them again, although, this one wasn't as strained, more curious as they searched their minds to find the corrected words that express their emotions.
"Why?" It was Cordelia's turn to start them off.
"Why what?"
"Why can't I go to the ball with you?"
"..."
"Do you hate me?"
"No." The abrupt answer startled both of them, causing Cordelia to lean over her branch to give him a look that he couldn't read seeing as he was too busy looking elsewhere and hiding the flush that crept along the bridge of his nose and stained his cheeks cherry red. "Why do you think that?" He was quick to change the subject.
"You've been very distant with me. You won't converse with me. You're usually locked in your studies. The only meal you've taken with me is the one this morning and even then that did not end well. You avoid tell me anything about your home or your life even though I have shared mine with you more than once. You seem lonely but won't let me in! I am trying to understand you but you're not making it easy. Even though your―" Her words flow out in one long breath before she bites off the last bit. They sound angry and distressed.
There was a nagging urge to make her finish speaking, but he was getting the feeling that it would start another argument that he didn't want to get into. The fact that she had chosen to put even a bit of emotion into what she was saying told him that this was obviously something that had been bothering her for a while. Why was it so important that she understand him? This partnership that they had didn't require him to tell her his whole life story, he did not need her to relate to him at all.
Yes, he had asked to know more about her and she had willingly given him that information. But that had been apart of their deal...sort of. None of that mattered right now. His past was irrelevant to the here and now so she should not be bothered with it. Or at least that is what he told himself since it was simpler than facing the truth.
"You're blunt, overly so since you don't think twice about lying no matter what the question. You're too trustful if anyone was to mention my name you'd simply assume that everything that came out of their mouth was the truth and you'd happily follow them to who-knows-where. You're far too innocent, despite the fact that you have such a brilliant mind you don't know what moves to make without having someone to properly guide you."
Ciel explained and would have sounded rather rude if anyone but Cordelia had been the one listening to him. She took no offense at anything that was said, she was flawed she knew that. In her defense, no one was perfect in this world. If everyone was perfect she and Shiina would not need to be Keepers. She has halted the rebirth of this world so many times, because of humanities imperfects. She'd constantly continued halting these coming disasters for the selfish reason of wanting to live and survive. Death was not something even her mind could comprehend.
"So if I don't talk too much, don't follow strangers, and stay close to you I can go the ball?"
People think of laughing as a noise that comes from the mouth, but when Ciel laughed it was nothing like that. The laugh was in his eye, in the way his face changed into that vision of relaxed joy and unrestrained mirth. Cordelia felt her muscles jump underneath her skin at the laughter. She couldn't fathom why he was laughing nor what she had said to earn such a rare reaction. Ciel Phantomhive did not smile so she was uncertain if having him laugh was a good thing or a bad one.
She found that she liked the sound he made when he laughed, it was pleasant. Cordelia couldn't tell, however, if he was laughing at her or not. She was not at all trying to be funny, she had trouble understanding humor and how to use it. She really did want to go to this ball. The idea of wearing a finer dress and dancing was very nice compared to her usual life. She had missed out on a lot while keeping to the shadows and protecting Humanity from the End.
She and Shiina were always stuck on the fringe society, looking in from the outside. Just for once she wanted to see why women, no matter the era or the place, fussed about balls, festivals, parties, and so on. Cordelia just wants to see what normal was like if just for a little bit.
"You have no clue how unhinged you make me." His words were so soft and low that only those with the ears of a demon could have picked them up. He really did just want to leave her here. He did not have anything to worry about if she remained at the Manor. The thought of her being the one to withdraw herself from him over something as stupid as a ball concerned him more then he liked. The control she had over him was astonishing, what was worse was the fact that she had not an inkling of a clue that she had anything on him.
Ciel couldn't begin to think of the words that described the emotions she's invoked within him. It wasn't loved. That wasn't even in his realm of possibilities. If plausible it was something far beyond something as simple as love. He was protective of her and steadily concerned about her safety, that was about the only thing he could surmise. It felt as if he'd be losing something important should he let her walk out of his life right this second.
When she was upset in any way, it hurt him physically and he had to make her happy. Everything else was far too complicated and too much for him to follow so early in this...relationship.
One day he'd solve this mystery that tied the two of them together so tightly, right now he had to figure how he was going to watch over Cordelia while dealing with his business with the Queen and the public's attention that was going be on them the minute they saw Cordelia. This was going to be a headache. Why pleasing her suddenly became a main priority in his life made no sense to him.
"Fine, you may come along." He was still reeling from the fact that he had actually just said that. Four days of nos and now it was suddenly alright. He needed her out of his life and at the same time yearned for her companionship. It was complicated. In the end, he supposed it was worth it see her eyes light up and resemble a meadow on a summer day. He'd repent ever saying he'd take her later.
Changing the rating of the story since I'm thinking this is going to go rather dark in the next few chapters. Sorry for such a long time to update, I had to change a few things and actually figure out where I wanted to go with this story, now I have a pretty go idea on the plot. Thanks for any reviews, favorites or follows. I appreciate them. I apologize in advance for any errors I might have made, don't have a beta and I am a flawed human.