Hello from the Phantomhives!
...What the hell am I doing with my life?
Like, seriously?
Anyway, before you read on, I'd like to point out that I'll have to stop updating for a bit when school starts. That's why I'm updating so much. I mean, four chapters in two days; I want a trophy for that.
Like, now.
I'll most likely stop for now, leave you guys with four chapters for maybe two days, even I need a break, then I'll come back to the game.
But, till then, enjoyed yet another chapter of "From Ash to Dust"!
ONWARDS!
The chilly winds from last night grew into a light snowfall in the morning, the air going from just a bit cold to fairly uncomfortable. It was almost as if Christmas felt the need to remind everyone in London that it would be coming around or something. At the moment, the streets remained empty, most likely because no one wanted to brave the cold at the moment.
No one besides Erin, of course.
She walked down the street, heading to her new job; being a maid at the Phantomhive estate. God, just thinking about that made her head hurt. She didn't bother thinking about anything important, like the possibility of freezing to death. Anyone would have thought that she was mad, walking in the bitter cold in nothing but her white shirt and her rolled up baggy black pants.
Anyone would have given her another look, after seeing her perfectly fine jacket wrapped around her waist.
Of course, that would mean that someone equally stupid was out on the streets in this weather.
She sighed, having had finally arrived at the door of the manor, before pushing the gates open, walking right in. She couldn't help but wonder what this job could have in store for her. You'd have to think, to ask someone like her for a simple job like this, it had to be some sort of secret-coded request, or something.
Erin stood there, breaths coming out as puffs of white smoke-like air, "Hello? Anyone in there?" Erin shouted, bringing her fist up to bang against the door, "Would someone like to let me in so I can get this shit over with?"
Silence.
Erin growled, leaning on the door, as she tried to listen for something, "I mean, if you guys plan to just ignore me, I can just come back later with my boys and rob this place-ah!"
She was cut short when the door finally opened, allowing her to fall at the feet of a certain butler, "Good day, miss Erin. You're a bit late."
Erin growled, glaring up at the butler, "I'd be here on time if you had opened the damn door." She muttered under her breath.
"My apologizes," Sebastian said, moving to the side, "Care to repeat yourself? I didn't hear you."
"Oh, I was just saying that to anger me is to demand a painful death." Erin shrugged, saying the first thing that came to mind, "And that, as a God among men, I should be treated in such a manner."
Sebastian laughed behind her, "I doubt it even for a second, miss Erin." He said, closing the door behind them, before leading Erin through the mansion, "Now, allow me to show you to the dressing room, as well as your own personal one. From there, I will properly introduce you to the rest of the help, who will give you the tour. Then, you'll be given your chores, followed by your cash."
"I can leave after, right?"
Sebastian smiled, leading her down the hallway, before opening a door for her, "After work hours, you'll be free to do what you please. Just remember, you're expected on all weekdays from eight to three, unless otherwise specified. You'll also be expected on every other day that you are called."
"Yep, uhuh, got it, thanks." Erin murmured, walking in, only to do a double take at what waited for her in the room, "Wait, I've got to wear this!?"
Sebastian smirked to himself, "The outfit that has been displayed is your required uniform for the time you work here. Is it a problem?"
To his surprise, the door was ripped open to reveal such a cute sight. He watched as a rather angry wisteria-haired girl walk out, eyes narrowed in frustration, "This. THIS is the problem!"
She wore a maid's outfit similar to Mey-Rin's, the blue being substituted out with pink and black. Erin looked down at her outfit with disgusted, her hands wildly gesturing to the dress as if that would explain everything.
"There are no rips in the uniform," Sebastian shrugged, his grin reflecting just how funny he thought this was, "In fact, after inspecting it, I found it to be of the highest quality."
"Then you must be a pervert of the highest quality." Erin growled, tugging at the belt, before easing her gun in. There, at least that was settled.
"I don't believe that having a gun on you will be the most optimal," Sebastian pointed out, "Unless, of course, you plan to fight against maid outfit creators."
"Don't tempt me." Erin warned, voice as serious as possible.
"Follow me now," He continued on, acting oblivious to the fact that Erin had said anything further, "I'll be taking you to your quarters, where you'll be able to spend breaks and over nighters if we call for it."
Erin growled, fuming as she followed him. She was sure that he could feel the holes she was burning into the back of his skull, "Here we are."
He opened the door, taking a step back in order to let Erin walk in. Erin walked in, eyes growing wide. This looked like a pretty rich room, with a fireplace, a huge bed, a nice desk and matching wooden chair, along with a personal bathroom.
"Nice place." Erin couldn't help but mutter. It was the same size as her shared room back at the base, all this space for her and her only.
"But of course," Sebastian said, "Even if you're now hired help, the young master still has you under the 'guest' label. Thus, you get a few perks that others won't."
"Nice." Erin murmured, looking over the green painted walls and the matching carpet, "I mean, I expect nothing when it comes to my treatment and whatnot."
Sebastian nodded, "I'll go and fetch the other three, please stay here while I do so."
She nodded, watching as he closed the door, before turning to the bed with a grin. She wasted no time, jumping up in order to flop onto the nice soft bed. It felt so nice, like she was slowly sinking into a mass of clouds. But, as nice as it was, there was this foreign feeling crawling down her spine.
Loneliness.
While the silence was nice, it was also kinda...boring. No annoyed Zig to rant about how irritatingly loud all the boys are, no one downstairs shouting, sharing stories and cursing happily. It was just quiet.
It was so quiet that Erin's head perked up, the sound of footsteps in the hallway almost deafening. She couldn't help it, the innate instinct to make herself known as a threat taking over, as she whipped her gun out to point at the door. An unfamiliar face poked his head into the room, cigar nearly dropping out of his mouth as he caught side of the gun, instinctively throwing his hands up, "My God, girl! Put that thing away!"
"My bad, I heard footsteps and freaked." She sighed, rubbing the back of her head, before grinning, "So, who are ya?" She asked, putting her gun down, but not away.
"Balroy, the chef." The man muttered, keeping a wary eye on her gun as he walked in, pushing the door open for the other two, "Just Bard is fine."
"Noted." Erin murmured, taking in his appearance, "Sorry about earlier, I promise not to shoot you if you don't shoot me."
"I'll have to keep you to it." Bard muttered under his breath, before quickly stepping to the side, giving the other two space, "Go on then, introduce yourselves."
"Ah, right! If you forgot me, I'm Finny!" Finny said, "I'm the gardener of the estate!"
"I remember you." Erin said, feeling a smile growing across her face. This guy's happiness was infectious.
"I'm Mey-Rin, yes I am!" Mey-Rin said, her glasses taking up about half of her face.
"You mind if I just call you Mey or Rin?" Erin asked, "Or is your name the whole 'two for the price of one' idea?"
"Oh, I don't mind much either way, miss." Mey-Rin said.
"I'll remember that." Erin said, before getting up, "So, you guys are going to be showing me around?"
"Right, we are!" Bard said, before walking out, "Come on then, let's go!"
Erin followed behind, making a map in her head, while the three pointed out many different places that were important, before ending in the main room, "And that's it!"
Erin nodded, before asking, "So, what's the job for today?"
Mey-Rin looked up thoughtfully, "Well, since we're both maids, we just clean and do what Sebastian tells us to do."
"Well then, that sounds like fun." Erin murmured, giving the other two a look, "I'm going to guess that you two answer to butler boy too?"
"What gave it away?" Bard huffed.
"It's not like we do much else besides help around and whatnot." Finny shrugged, a sheepish smile on his face, "
"We have a lot of work to get done, yes we do!" Mey-Rin muttered.
"That damned Sebastian," Bard scoffed, seemingly still on the Sebastian topic, "If we had half the amount of free time, maybe we could do our own thing! Why, if he were here right now, I would-."
"You'd do what, exactly?"
A shiver went up their backs, as they finally noticed the dark figure behind them, the dark glowing eyes narrowed with irritation, "Well? I'm waiting. Or no, I take that back. You've wasted enough time as is, yes? No more fooling around." Sebastian glared at them, "Why are you all still standing there? GO."
The three scrambled over each other as they tried to get away. Erin grinned, catching Sebastian's attention, "What's so funny?"
"I find them funny is all." Erin murmured, before flashing Sebastian a smirk, "So, what's my job for today?"
"Well, since you've had a lot of experience," Sebastian said, leading Erin down a hallway, "I have a task of utmost importance waiting for you."
"My body is ready." Erin insisted, the two of them stopping in front of a door, "What do you need my skill for?"
Sebastian smiled, before whipping a cart out from behind him, knocking on the door, "I need you to give the young master his breakfast."
Erin didn't have time to let this sudden turn sink in, Sebastian taking advantage of the moment as he pushed her in front of the door, knocking lightly on it, "Young master, Erin has arrived with your breakfast."
Erin made a note to curse him out later on, glaring Sebastian down as he opened the door for her, before walking in, "Good morning, little earl." She greeted, voice filled with as much sweet malice as possible.
Ciel seemed to growl from behind the paper he was reading, "Do not call me that."
Erin snickered lightly, "If you say so, Seal."
Ciel put down his papers, glaring at her with anger, "If you could please serve me my breakfast."
Erin nodded, grabbing the plate, "For breakfast we have...Whatever the hell Sebastian made." Erin murmured, placing a plate of eggs, bacon toast and sausage onto his table, "You also have some sort of tea."
"Earl grey." Ciel said, slightly annoyed, before taking a sip, "So, Erin, have you been told of the housework yet?"
Erin shook her head, smirking as she took a seat on the side of the table, "Nope!'
"Get off of my table."
"Nope!"
Ciel sighed, "You do understand that I can fire you, correct?"
"Of course I do! I'm not that stupid." Erin grinned, getting up into his face, "But I also know that you went through a lot for me to work here, and I doubt that you'd be willing to give up that easily."
Ciel smirked, "Then I'll make your job harder and longer."
Erin smirked right back, two could play at this game, "Then I'll quit."
Ciel opted to look through his papers instead of responding, either growing bored of the back and worth, or unwilling to admit that he didn't have a comeback of any sort at the time, "Whatever. Like you'd be willing to let go of so much money."
Erin shrugged, "Stealing, bribing, blackmailing and threatening is much easier than cleaning."
"Then I'll have to turn you into the officials."
"I seriously doubt that, young earl." Erin grinned, before striking a pose, "You see, I'm just too likeable for anyone to do that to me!"
Just as the game reached a new level, a knock came to the door. "Come in." Ciel said, Sebastian opening the door.
"There you are, Erin." Sebastian said, "Apologies, young master, but Erin has yet to begin her work."
"Alright then, butler boy." Erin murmured, earning a small snicker from Ciel, as she got up, following the butler out, "What do we need to get done?"
"Well, I need you to clean the-." Sebastian started, only to stop suddenly, eyes widening, before his head turned to the side, looking out the window.
Erin gave him a look, "Umm, earth to Sebs, come in Sebs? Come on now, buddy, don't leave me hanging-."
She was quickly pushed back by the butler, quickly falling on her butt, "Hey, Sebs! What the actual fu-l!"
Just then, the glass of the window shattered, a bullet whizzing right past the spot she once was. Glass sprayed everywhere, before her battle sense kicked in. She rolled to the side, coming up in a kneeling position, her gun whipped out. She didn't even aim, before shooting, watching as a man fell out of a tree.
Erin smirked, "Got him." She said, twirling the gun around her finger.
Sebastian tilted his head to the side, nodding, before looking off into the broken window, "There are more out there, and who knows how many on their way."
Erin went over to stand next to him, eyes narrowing as she tried her best to see someone, only to spot nothing but trees and greenery, "…I wasn't aware that the trees were a lie…The trees are a spy-!"
"This is serious," Sebastian said, not sounding like he cared much, before checking the time, "I'll need to tell the others that we've reached code red."
"Code red?" Erin questioned, still confused, "Why do we have a code red? What is code red supposed to mean? Sebastian, what the hell is going on!?"
"This is the 'fun' part of your job." Sebastian said, his dead tone making him sound bored almost, before gesturing out the window, "Your assignment of today are simple, don't let the gunmen into the manor, and keep the young master alive."
Erin turned back around, "Umm, there's still no one out there…" She murmured, before leaning back, jerking herself back down to avoid the onslaught of bullets, "Wow…Why the hell do they want Ciel!?" She asked, turning around, only to sighed, "Seriously? Now you decide to leave me, Sebs!?"
She groaned, reloading in annoyance, before jumping out the broken window, "Just another Friday, I guess."
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