Chapter 8: Subitus Cado

Perhaps the antique phone's incessant ringing earlier had brought Pluto's attention to them quite inconveniently. As soon as Ciel and the mysterious caller had finished their conversation, Pluto had burst into the room and pursued Ciel immediately. But this time, he had Sebastien by his side and judging by the wolf's previous encounter with Pluto, Sebastien did not hesitate to attack. Ciel shouted, "Sebastien!" and the wolf immediately pounced on the pursuer and bit as fiercely as he could. With the commotion going on, the boy ran for the door that Pluto had entered and tried to find a place to hide in the huge area. Judging by the huge flight of stairs he could see, he must've gotten to the entrance hall since there was a huge and wide door just a few steps before the staircase. But enough viewing for a while; he had to hide somewhere.

Pluto's yowls and screams could still be heard from the previous room. But he knew that Sebastien has his limits for keeping him at bay for a while. His eyes surveyed the area and he decided to hide at the darkest corner under the staircase. There were pillars supporting the staircase and that meant there was a hollow area underneath that area. He settled himself into that dark area and made himself unnoticeable by bringing his legs up to his chest to make himself appear as small as possible.

"Oh, where is YOU?!" Pluto shouted while searching for him. Sebastien barked at Pluto in an attempt to grab his attention and lead the man away. The wolf knew that the boy was hiding somewhere and he had to keep the madman away for Ciel to be able to escape.

"Dog…!" Pluto pointed at Sebastien. "Doggy! DOOOOGGYYY!!!" In childish glee, he hopped about a bit and gave chase to Sebastien. "That's it! Chase me like a rat! Come on!" The wolf barked and darted back to the lobby area with Pluto chasing him. To where he went, only the wolf knew where…

Angela prepared the materials and ingredients she needed to cook for the young master's dinner. Though she didn't even think of what the dinner would be, she just picked out random ingredients that she could reach out of the freezer and from the pantry. Well in fact, she never knew any recipe since this was the first time that someone actually needed to eat…

"Angela!" Ash entered the kitchen and immediately grabbed the maid's arm at the sight of her. "Follow me."

The maid didn't even flinch by the harsh way she was tagged to go along. Ash dragged her all the way to a dismantled room with bountiful cobwebs. He grabbed a dusty chair and pushed the maid to make her sit down on it. Angela remained nonchalant.

"Where is the old man, Angela?" Ash paced around the maid seated in the middle of the room. The maid's expression remained unchanged even though he was fuming with impatience and rage.

"WHERE IS HE?!!" He shouted at her and slapped her face. But Angela seemed not to care and continued her stare at nothing. Ash grabbed a fistful of her hair and forced her face to focus on him. "I'm asking you again; WHERE IS ALASTAIR?!!"

The maid did not respond and laughed. Ash, frustrated, resorted to beating the maid's face until it was covered with ugly bruises. But all the while, Angela seemed not to care. Ash finally stopped; he should not be fatigued easily by dealing with this woman.

"He is MINE! Do you hear me, old man?!" He yelled at the door. "I won't let you touch him!"

Ciel was out and running from his hiding place since the 'fireflies' had come for him again. He did his best to dodge them, though there was no point in outrunning them since they floated about so slowly. At least five of them had started appearing all of a sudden. Where they had come from, he didn't know.

He went up the grand staircase and followed the hallway to somewhere. His heart raced as he grew worried for Sebastien's wellbeing; sure the wolf was intelligent enough to look out for his own, but what if he ended up in grave peril just like the way he had found him all choked up with wire? "I hope you're alright, Sebastien…" He prayed.

The fireflies continued to follow him but luckily, one of the fireflies just mysteriously vaporized. "Only four more to lose." He noted as he spotted an approaching door. Quickly, he ran for it and went inside the room that the door had. "Maybe if I close this door, those things would stop following me." So, he did and finally the fireflies weren't able to get him inside the room.

Ciel didn't feel acquainted with the room once again, since the light was red in color, just like the doll-exhibit room. Well on second thought, this room was another doll-exhibit room, though it displayed clothed mannequins rather than dolls. There were dressers, wardrobes, cribs and a toy box present in all four corners of the room, making the place seem like a nursery. A rocking chair with a mannequin was present in the middle of the room and it rocked by itself continually; a life-sized cage, with mannequins and toys imprisoned inside, was on the left of the door he had entered; then at the far end of the room, there were a multitude of mannequins, stuffed toys, toy blocks, pillows and all the playthings all huddled up together. But what stood out the most among the toys was a wooden, bright red, miniature vending machine. Ciel inspected it closely and saw that there was a slot on it; similar to what the golems in the laboratory had. "But it's best not to mess around with things that aren't even mine."

He exited the room via the other door and came to a museum-like area. The area in front of him displayed a number of chariots driven by skeletal horses. Also, the walls around him displayed all kinds of weapons and armor; maces, swords, spears, plates and shields. Looking around, he saw a plaque displayed in front of the chariot exhibit; the plaque read, "The Mars Exhibit".

"Mars?" Ciel read. "The Roman god of war and bravery… Just who decided to set up an exhibit like this in the castle?"

He wandered around some more. Then he came to a railed area and looked down to what the floor under him had to show. He saw another exhibit below; but it doesn't seem like an exhibit since it displayed a set of tables and chairs for fine-dining. Curious to what the exhibit's label might be, he went around the rails and went down by the stairs. Upon having a closer view, he realized that the dining set was completely made of ice; though he wondered why the ice wasn't melting. Perhaps it's a unique kind of ice?

As he pondered on, he suddenly heard a nearby howl. "Sebastien?" He said. He looked around the area to search for his wolf. But he couldn't see him…

"Oof!" He suddenly felt the floor slam to his face and a heavy pressure on his back. Sebastien had pounced on his back in surprise and sat on him. "You're kind of pathetic aren't you?" The wolf barked and wagged his tail.

"Sebastien, get off!" Ciel laughed and lifted his face off the floor. "You silly wolf! Let me up!"

Sebastien hopped off the boy's back and received another rub on the head. "Shouldn't you give me something worthy as a reward for leading that madman away from you?" The wolf looked up at the boy expectantly. The affectionate rub on the head he received from the boy didn't satisfy him enough.

"Sorry Sebastien." Ciel said to him in an apologetic manner. "If only I have something to give you to compensate for your trouble. But…" He pecked a kiss on the wolf's nose. "That's all I can give right now."

If wolves could blush, Sebastien could've done it. "WHY ARE YOU KISSING ANIMALS?!!" He silently protested.

"Anyways, let's go find Sir Ash." Ciel said. "Let's tell him that we've found Pluto."

"Grr…" Sebastien inwardly growled. "Ash again. If he sneaks in another flirting session, I'll… Wait… why do I care if Ash flirts with you?!"

But they weren't able to find Ash. Instead, they found Pluto searching in the creepy nursery and managed to get him to chase after their heels (paws in Sebastien's case). The group ran around the castle until they had tired each other out. Ciel took in air as if he had rose up from underwater after swimming under it for 24/7 and Sebastien panted with the most of his tongue out; though he looked ungracious and silly, he couldn't help it. Both had hidden under the bed in the guestroom which was located nearby the ice-sculpture exhibit. Ridiculously, they had chased each other in a complete circle around the castle.

"Where is Sir Ash, I wonder?" Ciel thought. "We just need him more than ever!"

Ciel and Sebastien waited under the bed until they had both calmed down. But there was still tension in the air that Pluto might come for them any minute. Sebastien trusted his instincts to get out from under the bed and lead Pluto away from Ciel again.

"Sebastien, stay!" Ciel pleaded. Sebastien grew confused to what he should do.

"Go find Ash." Ciel said to him. "Look for a scent similar to this." He brought out the handkerchief the servant had provided and held it close to the hound's nose. "Then come back to me. I'll try to stall Pluto in one place while I wait for you."

Sebastien sniffed the scented handkerchief and commemorated to mind what the scent was. Now all he needed was Ciel's command for him to go.

"You know my scent do you, boy?" Ciel asked him. "Now go! I'll do my best to distract Pluto. Go!" He said as he gave the wolf another rub on the head and crawled out of his hiding place. Sebastien locked his eyes on the boy's retreating form before he started to sniff for the same lavender scent that the boy requested.

The wolf formed some thoughts as he sniffed around the floor. What exactly caused him to be involved in this cat-and-mouse chase mess? Why didn't he drag the boy to the castle's main gate when they have had already ventured to it so close? His only intention was to repay the kindness the boy had done to him by getting him out of this dangerous castle as quickly as possible. And yet, he was still stuck with the boy like he was some sort of pet.

"Okay. After this Pluto assignment, I'll lead Ciel to the castle gate. And that's all for sure!" Said the wolf to himself as he followed Ash's there was this instinct that the boy was putting himself in danger. "But what matters most? Obey the command or aid him to ensure his safety? Which option should I choose?"

Sebastien chose the former and started looking for the annoying lavender scent. "Ciel's scent is better than his! Grr…!"

Ciel bravely appeared to Pluto who was just outside the room they were hiding in. The boy led the chase around the castle once more with one objective in mind: Keep Pluto in one place as long as possible. He wondered about the wolf's intellect; the wolf could understand him perfectly, and the wolf wasn't being as stubborn as before anymore…

"CIII-EELL!!!"

Anyways, he had to concentrate to his objective for now…

He ran back to the nursery as fast as he could and grabbed a doll from one of the playthings displayed in the room and stuffed it inside his vest. Afterwards, he ran outside to the exhibits but Pluto had caught up with him and waited outside the door in open arms; ready to capture him any second. But Ciel ducked and dodged his grab just in time and took off running. He led the man around the railed area but he skidded to a stop when he encountered a dead-end walkway. But all was not for worry when he saw that there was an area that wasn't protected by any railings. The height of the walkway down to the floor below wasn't that high to kill Pluto from a fall; but the height was enough to probably knock him out if he was to be successful to push him to the edge…

Pluto was fast approaching him and he looked terribly mad. "Dolly! Go…to… BED!" He panted and darted towards him for another grab, and Ciel dodged it well. But in doing so, the boy got cornered on the walls and Pluto was closing in. Ciel sidled to his left to lead Pluto around to the unprotected ledge; luckily, the man wasn't able to decipher the boy's plan. Ciel kicked at his heels from the wall and quickly charged at the man to make him fall off the ledge. But unfortunately, he wasn't able to push Pluto off the ledge because his impact wasn't enough; Pluto just staggered a bit backwards and wasn't even a few steps closer to the ledge. Ciel made a quick back-step and charged at him again, but it only made Pluto to grab him finally. "DOLLY!!! BED!!!" The man snarled at him. Ciel struggled and kicked; Pluto continued to squeeze him like a simple stuffed doll and it seemed to be he was to be snapped into half. The boy pulled himself away even it was for naught.

"Let go of me before I…!" Ciel's temper immediately went off the fuse and kicked the man's groin. Since his heel's impact was doubled because of his rage and the boot's material, the pain was enough for the man to double up and release him. Pluto yowled in pain and the distraction was enough for Ciel to run a safe distance away. "Sebastien, please hurry up!"

After an excruciating moment, Pluto had slightly recovered from his injury. Seeing Ciel continuously running away from him angered him more and chased after the boy. Once again, they had chased all around the castle until Ciel was completely exhausted. The boy couldn't stop thinking about Sebastien. "Did he really understand what I want for him to do?" He thought desperately. "Please hurry up! I can't hold on here much longer…"

Ciel led Pluto to a huge, balcony area which was located in the door past the Mars exhibit. The area was out in the open and it gave a glimpse of the time of the day; it was a wet evening and the dark sky was scattered with stars twinkling like tiny diamonds. The balcony had gargoyles resting on the ledges, probably to ward off evil magic as to medieval belief. "No… more… running…" Ciel decided that this area is the right place to stall Pluto and wait for Sebastien and Ash. But still, he remained worried about Sebastien's progress and the possibility of him to get captured by Pluto… and get killed…

Pluto came running and panted hard. "Dolly! Running… no more…!" He grunted in fatigue and kicked the door shut. What aggravated Ciel more was the fact that Pluto had thought of locking the door with the multitude of keys he had. Now that the door was locked, Ciel had to think of a way to open that door again for Ash and Sebastien to enter.

Ciel back-stepped up to the corner of the ledge and crouched a bit to build up his stamina and momentum; he had to knock down Pluto for a good measure and while he's down, he must be quick enough to snatch his keys and open the door. But the problem was, which one of those keys is the correct one to open the door?

He dismissed the latter problem and focused on the first part of his plan. Pluto was approaching him…

And then he heard a low cracking sound. It was coming underneath him… What could it be?

His question was answered when he felt himself tilting over. He looked at his feet and the stone floor he was standing on began to split. The low cracking sound began to sound over and over and became a deafening blast when the portion of the balcony he was standing on instantly collapsed, with him along. The incident happened so fast that he had no time to scream; his feet touched nothing and he felt himself falling. He felt his body touch the ground painfully and the crushing pile of rubble from the balcony pile over him.

"CIEL!!!"

A/n: I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACKKKK!!! (:P)

Replies:

LovelyWickedDescet – Nope, it's not Undertaker; keep on guessing. Thanks a lot! Now have a tart! …And more seduction scenes to follow (:D)

Yana5 – (o_O) Nice guess. But wrong. Have a tart and keep on guessing!

chu chu banato! – Thanks a lot! Now have a tart!

Lunarkitty15 – I know who you're guessing (the Baron guy? ^^). While I was conceptualizing, he was one of my candidates as Lorenzo's equivalent but 2 weeks later, I scratched him out because I have a better role for him in another fanfic (which is related to this fic). Sorry, but he isn't Lorenzo.