Today's April, 30th. "Happy Walpurgis Night", everyone :)
(I have a little bit of Tanaka in this chapter. This bit only makes sense, if you know the anime: Let's just say that sometimes, he can resume his former shape and behave quite normal. However, this state will pass - and he'll shrink to the shape of the tea drinking cartoon character that he has become.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Sebastian, Ciel and/or any other characters of the series. I hold no rights whatsoever to Kuroshitsuji/"Black Butler", and I do not make money from this.
+++ Chapter 3: Demons at Work (or "This isn't any worse than riding out with my aunt.")
Sebastian opted for the short-cut and entered Phantomhive Manor in the stealthy, direct way of the supernatural. Standing in the darkness of Ciel's study, he transformed back into his butler outfit.
It wasn't so much a radical shift in the mindset, he reflected, as he pulled his gloves tight. It was more like a shuffling of priorities and motivations. As a demon, he'd worn all kinds of fashionable costumes, because he was a perfect hunter who blended in with his prey. As a butler, he dressed up immaculately, because that was what a butler did.
One way or the other – you had to straighten your tie and button your cuffs.
He checked his silver watch: four hours till sunrise. And this place was reeking of hog-goblins.
Sebastian could think of about a dozen ways to get rid of these nuisances. But there was one thing about hog-goblins, the demon knew for sure: You had to defeat them all at once. If you let but one escape, there would be more. And more. It was probably best to gather information, first. How many opponents would he be facing, where were they hiding in the house, and what were they up to now? Maybe he could bring them together in one room and close the door...?
As he pondered his possibilities, Sebastian left the study and headed towards Ciel's bedroom. It wasn't a conscious decision, but it seemed natural to start by securing the rooms and places around the estate, which his master cherished most.
The house was silent and dark, so Sebastian heard the voices from the other end of the corridor: At least two people were hiding in his master's bedroom, and now, one of them gave a muffled cry. Quietly, Sebastian opened the door. Two shapes were standing at the end of the bed, facing each other in spite of the dark: A gargoyle and a hog-goblin, both in a fighting stance. Sebastian wasn't really surprised to find Goolie in Ciel's bedroom. It was a special place, his master's most private sanctuary. After all, he, too, had intuitively decided to start his inspection round here.
The hog-goblin, on the other hand, had been led by sinister desires. It seemed to be spitting out jagged pieces of broken teeth.
Goolie confirmed Sebastian's suspicion. 'You are not nice,' the gargoyle said gloomily. 'Biting people is not nice.'
The hog-goblin stabbed the gargoyle with its spear. There was a spark, as flintstone scraped on granite, and a little zinging sound.
With a shrug and a jolt the gargoyle spread its wings. Now, its shape filled the space between the bed and the wall, as it closed in on the retreating hog-goblin. From the depth of its throat came a snarl that sounded like a large rock breaking loose from the top of a mountain and crashing down on the spectator below. The hog-goblin babbled in its own language and pointed its spear, but the flintstone continued to be pitifully uneffective. However, the repeated display of hostile intentions brought a red glow into the angry gargoyle's eyes. The hog-goblin panicked, screaming bloody murder, when it hit the wall and the gargoyle's menacing shadow rose in front of it.
Silently, Sebastian closed the door.
'I am not needed here,' he said to no-one in particular. He sounded surprised. It was a rare and strange feeling, not being needed. But with the prospect of dozens of furry creatures swarming this place, it was preferable to lay low and hide his presence as long as it wasn't necessarily revealed in order to protect his master's property.
Right now, Goolie was doing the protecting rather impressively. Judging by the noise, it was dangling the hog-goblin out of the window.
Sebastian left the gargoyle to its entertainment and the hog-goblin to its fate and went looking for Tanaka.
Ciel found the role of the Hawthorn Lord easier to fulfill than he'd imagined. People were losing interest in watching the show around the dais. There was music now – drums, flutes and string instruments filling the night air with sound. Dark shapes danced in front of the red blaze of the bonfire. Not all of them were entirely human, but by now, Ciel had lost all trepidation. Not only did he look like Sebastian to the crowds – he also had finally understood the rules of this game. They were amazingly simple, actually. It seemed that once you got the hang of mental leaps, you could derange your train of thought and set it back on track pretty nearly everywhere.
Go with the flow, Ciel thought, as he sentenced a fortune teller from the lower East End to hence be a mis-fortune teller for every third customer.
'But mylord,' stammered the poor clairvoyant, who had been framed by a less philanthropic competitor, 'how can I lie to them? If their fate is going to be a good one...'
'In that case, I'll have the means to match reality to your forecast,' Ciel cut in, deliberately checking his nails. Looking normal, looking fine – but only to his eyes. 'Trust me.'
The fortune teller hung his head.
'I don't trust you,' said a voice in the back of Ciel's head.
Ciel saw the familiar cloud form of the bogeyman hover over the edge of the dais. Why an immaterial creature should only move upward where there were stairs, he'd never understand. Maybe, the bogeyman was just trying to act civilized. Or he'd been corporeal in the past and was just a slow learner.
Ciel realized that he no longer felt scared and tempted to hide under a blanket. The constriction in his chest that came with the presence of the ghostly entity was a nuisance and no cause for anxiety.
The bogeyman, however, buzzed with excitement and triumph.
'I've thought about it, and I've penetrated your secret,' hummed the phantom voice. 'There's only one way you could know what happened in that bedroom. You are the butler! The butler to the boy - Earl Ciel Phantomhive!'
Ciel smiled. Sebastian must've done a great job with the effects, because everyone backed off.
'Well, go and think some more, fogbrain,' he said. 'Because, no! I am not the butler to Earl Ciel Phantomhive.'
Silence followed his statement. The bogeyman was a hovering whiff of confusion.
Of course, Ciel wasn't going to give him the time to heed his own advice and truly think this over. He looked around. 'Alright. Someone around here knows how to make a nice, bright light?'
'Yes. We do,' said a greenish flame. It flickered and separated into a circle of smaller flames that quickly spread out and surrounded the unhappy bogeyman. 'Willow the Wisp at your service, mylord.'
Ciel nodded in approval, 'Make the day break somewhat earlier for him. Take him.'
He had no idea, how one could ‚take' a wisp of smoke. But Willow, being a wisp it- or himself, obviously knew how to pull the trick. Greenish flames and blackish shape disappeared.
Ciel drew a deep breath and looked around to see, if anyone questioned his action.
He met the gleaming green eyes of the shinigami on duty. Grell's tongue showed between his teeth, as he raised his hand, presenting Ciel his forefinger and pinkie. Seeing the wicked smile and the gesture, Ciel suddenly knew that, just like before, Grell wasn't fooled one bit by Sebastian's bluff. Now, that didn't really come as a surprise. It was probably important for a shinigami to be able to identify a soul, using other means than just the eyes.
But Grell's attitude reminded Ciel only too vividly that a shinigami was just another side of the supernatural coin. Not so very different from the darkness of a soul-hungry demon. There definitely was something lurking in Grell's toothy grin that made Ciel shiver and wish for Sebastian to return.
The hog-goblin, who had been thrown out of the window by the angry gargoyle, hadn't remained on its own for long. A maltreated hog-goblin was certain to be found by at least one of its brothers. Dozens might follow; they had the mindset of infuriated ants, when it came to tackling an outnumbered opponent. But so far, one comrade was enough to help its crashed pal sort out its limbs and stand up. It was rubbing its head and cursing the strange child with the hard skin, when it became aware of some great shadow blocking the moonlight. A huge, white muzzle revealed very large white teeth. The latest adventure had set up the hog-goblin with an uncharacteristically nimble mind and a new determination to stay out of trouble's way. It grabbed its brother's arm, pulling him in front of the monster, and made a run for it. Pluto howled and took up the chase.
None of the creatures running, hunting, chasing and howling under the blue moonlight noticed the demon, who stood behind one of the windows, observing.
Impassively, Sebastian watched the hell hound breathe flames at the fleeing hog-goblin, thereby grilling the one that was already in his mouth. The demon could hear the creatures squeal even through the closed windows. He wasn't smiling. There was a rather hard expression in his eyes.
'I'm not needed here,' he told himself. He turned away, drawing the curtains and continued his search. This house was just too big. Intruders could conveniently hide anywhere.
For hog-goblins, only one place would appear convenient enough.
Sebastian headed for the kitchen.
Ciel sat on his throne, listening to the music and the noise of the partying crowds. Grell stood beside his armrest, scanning the gathering for attractive men and ladies alike. He never tired, announcing the results and describing in sordid detail the things, he yearned to do to - or with - them.
Ciel had managed to let the shinigami's voice blend with the overall noise. But he sat up, slapping Grell's hand, when the shinigami touched his shoulder. 'Don't touch me!'
Grell was unfazed. 'Look. Your court has decided to sound the bell for the next stage.'
'The next stage?' Ciel saw a small procession come towards him. He thought, he indeed heard bells sounding. Four men in dark clothes pushed something that looked like a wheeled stretcher laden with flowers. Lidia was leading the way and from the celebrating crowd people joined the procession as it passed them by.
'Grell? What is that?' asked Ciel, when the stretcher was brought to a halt before the dais.
'Something, everyone has been waiting for.' The shinigami licked his lips.
Since it was obviously expected of him, Ciel set out to step down from the dais. However, standing up and taking a step forward, he realized that there was more to the glamour than just facial appearances. He felt wobbly on his feet, as if he were walking on six inch spike heels.
'Easy, mylord.' Grinning, Grell offered his elbow to lend support.
You miserable hypocrite, thought Ciel, gritting his teeth. All you want to do is touch something that looks like Sebastian! Even though you know it's me.
'It′s okay,' he snarled. 'I can walk!'
But he couldn′t. Ciel grit his teeth even harder and bit his lip, wishing that he′d played with stilts more often as a child. But he′d hated stilts and he hated Sebastian for making the illusion so damned real, and most of all he hated himself for reaching out and accepting Grell′s support.
Then it occurred to him that no one saw Ciel Phantomhive stumble and totter and make a drunken fool of himself. Grinning viciously, he leaned even heavier on Grell's arm.
His smile faded, however, when he reached the flower-covered stretcher that had been brought before him. 'What is this?'
'Your sacrifice, mylord,' said Lidia. 'You indicated that you had an interest in her.'
'What, in May-Rin?' Ciel stared at the maid, who was bound and draped with flowers. A bride. Or a lamb. A goner, at any rate.
'Young master?' May-Rin's voice sounded thin and confused. She tried to focus her far-sighted eyes, blinking and squinting. 'Sebastian?'
'Mylord.' Lidia curtseyed and proffered Ciel a small knife. Ciel flinched and realised at the same instant that he had to be careful. People were starting to look confused. He wasn′t acting the demon they expected to see.
He clutched the knife. Lidia bowed and retreated.
Now, what? Ciel asked himself. Memories returned to him unbidden. A table, made to look like an altar, and himself on it, weak, helpless, full of hatred. Faces, candles, the murmur of the incantation. The knife, the pain – the smile of the beast, his new ally.
In his mind's eye Ciel could see that smile now.
I'll kill you, Sebastian, Ciel promised under his breath, as he approached the maid. If I don′t find a way out of this – or if you′re not back in time, I′ll order you to gorge yourself on dog biscuits and crawl into in Pluto′s mouth.
'May-Rin, please understand that I – I don′t want to do this.'
'But – what are you doing?' asked May-Rin, apparently mystified.
Ciel hadn't made up his mind himself. He only knew one thing: He was not going to put that blade into her. She was not going to be anyone's sacrifice. She was -
Her garments. That might be a good place to start with. Bargain for time. Try to delay until Sebastian gets back. He'll know, what to do.
Slowly, Ciel cut the apron and carefully folded it back. Maybe, if he took his time, they would believe that he was enjoying this. Smile, he told himself. He noticed that May-Rins hands were in the way, so he ordered Lidia to get a bigger knife and cut the ties. She produced a creature that looked like a rat with abnormally large teeth and set in down on May-Rin's stomach. It started to nibble through the ties, thus buying Ciel another precious minute.
Still, Sebastian was nowhere in sight.
Lidia collected her creature. Ciel put down his knife and started to unbutton May-Rin's shirt.
'But, but - ,' she stammered softly, blushing.
Ciel wished, he could have whispered reassuringly to her. But with Lidia standing so close, he didn't dare, and he couldn't think of any pretext to send the thirteenth fairy away, either.
Tiny, little buttons, all the way down from May-Rin's throat to her breastbone, to her...
May-Rin turned a deep purple, and Ciel realised he had touched more than just her shirt.
'Gwkk,' he said, his hands twitching back.
May-Rin kept stammering incoherent, one-syllable words. Ciel had troubled understanding her - his blood was throbbing so loud in his ears - but somehow, he sensed that she seemed not entirely unhappy with the situation. Now, it was her corset. Ciel hadn′t known May-Rin wore one, but it was the last bastion. If it fell, there would be only her skin and her heart beating beneath it, and then he would have to use the -
But even worse, he didn′t want to touch the -
'Argh,' said Ciel, throwing the knife on the table, exasperated. 'Couldn't you have called this gathering, when I was a little older? I mean - in the mood for... stuff like that?'
Lidia seemed at a loss. 'Then what are you in the mood for, mylord?'
Ciel reached out for the very first available thread promising a way out of his predicament: He produced a set of cards from his pocket. He was determined to refuse any debate as to where Sebastian would′ve kept them in his tight suit, and no one asked.
'Old Maid,' he said.
May-Rin made a sobbing sound that seemed to come deep from her soul. Lidia looked shocked. Grell screamed with laughter.
Ciel felt like he had said something very stupid and he stood with his cards in his hand, staring. Then he noticed that the croaking sound in his ears was not due to the shinigami's guffawing. He was being scolded by a frog. He didn't understand the Viscount Druitt's words, but something told him that he was being challenged to a duel for being rude to a girl. Or for the stupidity of missing an occasion. Or both. Since a frog could not wield a foil, the Viscount Druitt would obviously settle for a good bite in Ciel's nose. He didn't have teeth, either. But he would pinch. Pinch!
Blushing, Ciel stuffed the protesting Viscount Druitt into his pocket, and marched back to his throne.
Approaching the kitchen, Sebastian smelled fire even before he heard Bard's voice. He hastened his stride, knitting his eyebrows. He had left Bard with the ceremonial gathering. What on earth was the chef doing here now?
The answer was as simple as obvious, once Sebastian had opened the kitchen door: The chef was using a flame thrower to chase a hog-goblin around and around the big table. Both were screaming wildly, the hog-goblin from fear and Bard yelling for the purpose of self-motivation.
Sebastian saw immediately that the kitchen once more was beyond the point, where his quick and determined intervention might yet make a difference. This time, at least, he was being noticed.
'Sebastian!' called Bard. 'There you are! Don't panic! Relax! Everything's under control.'
'Panic?' Sebastian sidestepped as the hog-goblin escaped into the corridor. Bard followed, wielding the flame thrower in one hand, a fork in the other. Since Sebastian relieved him of the flame thrower as he passed by, he proceeded with only the fork, but with no less determination.
Sebastian closed the door slowly. Looking almost dazed, he recommenced walking down the corridor, as if he'd never intended to stop at the kitchen. The feeling of being unneeded was starting to get on his nerves. He'd get rid of the flame thrower, then try and think up some reasonable course of action. For now, he mechanically directed his steps towards the basement. Since Bard seemed to be replacing flame throwers quicker than Sebastian could confiscate them, the demon stored them in an unused vault. Every now and then, he would dispatch them and start the collection all over again.
As he descended the stairs now, he could see the light of candles in the dark. He turned a corner and found that the basement had been turned into a layer and makeshift dungeon: The hog-goblins had brought blankets, table cloths, curtains and pillows from all over the house to prepare beds. They had compiled food from the kitchen, tools from the shacks and things, that could be used as or turned into weapons. They had also taken their first prisoner. Tanaka sat on one end of a wooden bench, while a hog-goblin occupied the other end. The surface of the bench served as a table for Tanaka's tea set.
He's getting along, too, thought Sebastian, seeing the steam rise from the tea pot, and then, Ah, the wonders of Walpurgis Night.
Because Tanaka was in his old shape and greeting him in a perfectly sensible and eloquent way. 'My friend. Come in. I was just enlightening this gentleman about the pleasures of high quality Assam blend. Can I convince you to share a cup of this divine drink with me?'
'Yes, you's my prisoner - ' said the hog-goblin eagerly, just before it was carelessly pushed off the bench by a white gloved hand and hit its tailbone on the stone floor.
'If you don't mind,' Sebastian said politely, taking the guard's place on the bench, 'I'll just sit and wait till I'm needed. Don't worry. It won't be long.'
Something, Ciel would never have expected or even believed possible was happening: He was beginning to enjoy the party.
Following the Hawthorn Lord's order, the greater part of the attendants had settled down at the campfires and employed whatever deck of cards could be found for a game of Old Maid or Snap.
Inevitably, Ciel was at the center of the action and just as inevitably, he was winning. Neither Grell, nor Finny, the lycanthrope scholar, Hesrabe's nameless antagonist or the revived vampire dandy were a match for his combined skill and luck.
He was shuffling the deck, when he heard the sound of hooves on the wooden floor. Looking up, he found a beautiful white horse standing before him. In the silvery moonlight, the mare looked like chiselled from marble, with tiny crystals sparkling in her mane.
'The Kelpie,' muttered Willow the Wisp, who was lending his light to the makeshift card table on the back of a huge tortoise.
Ciel climbed to his feet. He wondered, what kind of face Sebastian would put on to encounter this particular spirit. After all, he'd not been very nice to her – and the mare expressed her displeasure with her very first words: 'You sent me the basilisks.'
She had a sweet voice, a human voice. She would need to sound alluring: By now, Ciel remembered that the Kelpie was known for dragging children, especially boys, into a watery grave at the bottom of a pond or lake.
'I was lucky they are so dull creatures,' she went on, sounding reproachful. 'They were deceived by my reflection in the water, thinking that they looked at the real me. But you cannot petrify a reflection, mylord.' The Kelpie shook her mane and stomped her hooves. She was an exceptionally beautiful horse. Only the feeling of being precariously balanced alerted Ciel to the fact that he was actually walking. Approaching her – and now, he even saw his hand reach out to touch her mane.
The Kelpie moved her head with a jolt. Ciel stumbled, but instead of backing off, he found that he'd actually mounted her back. As soon as he didn't see her beautiful eyes anymore, the enthralling spell was lifted. But now, he could not have gotten off: He seemed stuck to the Kelpie's back like he was sitting on flypaper. She was an experienced hunter, who made sure that the victim didn't change his mind on feeling the first rippling waves of cold water lap around his legs.
The horse spirit set off at a gallop.
'Now I have you!' The Kelpie triumphed.
'No,' said Ciel levelly. 'I have you.'
The Kelpie felt her rider's legs clamp around her ribcage. She tried to gallop to the left. She couldn't. Not without getting a rib or two broken – or so it felt. She tried to break to the right. An unpleasant experience.
'This is not possible,' she gasped, running this way and that to escape the pressure of Ciel's legs. 'No one trapped by me can defy me!'
'No one of the poor blokes you trapped so far was a trained horseman,' said Ciel. 'I understand you usually go for farm boys, who come near your realm in order to water their herds.'
The Kelpie performed a series of wild leaps. 'I will drag you to the nearest pond! I will drown you in dark water!,' she threatened.
'Demons don't drown,' argued Ciel, remembering the bluff and holding on even harder. This isn't any worse than riding out with my aunt, he thought.
'Then I draw upon the wood to assist in my plight,' snorted the Kelpie.
Too late, Ciel noticed the low branch that was hanging in his way. The Kelpie had taken excellent measure and Sebastian would've hit it full force. The Kelpie had no clear idea of the outcome. Maybe, the branch would snap. Maybe, the demon would be thrown off. Maybe – if not likely – he'd even be hurt. In any case, there would be some kind of effect.
But there wasn't.
Since his demon size was just an illusion for the eyes of the unsuspecting onlookers, Ciel slid under the trap easily. The Kelpie found his weight still on its back, while the branch remained still intact. 'How did you do that?,' she asked, flabbergasted.
'Amazing, isn't it?' Ciel grinned evilly. Then he remembered, how that kind of grin would look on Sebastian and he quickly controlled himself. He didn't want a passing owl to drop dead from shock.
'Get off!' The Kelpie was losing her nerves. She now sounded like a woman crying and pleading, as she jumped and hopped, all four hooves in the air. 'Get off, get off!'
'No.'
'Get off. Please. Why don't you get off my back?'
Because I'm stuck to your back just like any other mortal boy.
'Because you're still trying to play your petty little game with me. I won't be played with.' Ciel hesitated, wondering if he was pushing his luck, then hazarded, 'You know that!'
If there was a magic word, he had obviously found it. The horse shape dissolved and Ciel slid from the back of a naked woman. She was tall and slender, her soft brown eyes too big for her face and her nose just a little to long. Ciel had not seen a lot of undressed women, but he was quite certain their legs were not usually long and muscled like that. They didn't habitually stand and walk on tip-toe, either. Her silver hair was full enough to be used as a cape, and she did, as she shivered in the cold air.
'You win,' she breathed, avoiding his gaze. 'Again.'
'This was just another game, after all.' Ciel wondered, what had taken place between Sebastian and this creature. He was distracted by a faint croaking sound somewhere in his pocket. He had forgotten about the Viscount Druitt. Now, he found the frog holding on to the rim of his pocket and staring bewitchedly at the naked female.
'You don't want to kiss her,' hissed Ciel. 'Someone like her got you in this trouble in the first place!'
'Oh,' said the Kelpie. 'What a cute little froggie!'
She reached out her hand, and the frog quickly climbed on to her palm. She lifted him to her lips and kissed him. The entire action had taken less than three seconds.
Nothing happened.
'Er...,' said Ciel, who had involontarily reached out his hand.
'Oh. I'm sorry, mylord.' The Kelpie handed him the Viscount Druitt back. 'I guess, everyone has their favorite animal, which they cannot resist.'
'He's not an animal. Well, not a frog,' said Ciel weakly. 'He's human. A maiden's kiss was supposed to break the spell.'
'They usually do,' said the Kelpie.
'Well – it didn't work,' Ciel pointed out.
The Kelpie stared at him. Then she broke into soft laughter that sounded partly like little silver bells ringing and partly like the distant echo of a neighing horse.
'But mylord,' she said, frowning a little. 'You're not seriously telling me, you forgot?'
'Forgot what?'
She sobered up. 'Mylord,' she said earnestly. 'I am not a maiden.'
'Oh. Er... of course. I. Didn't forget.' Ciel felt his cheeks burn and hoped that Sebastian's magic veiled his reaction. In order to cover his embarrassment, he turned around on his heel. 'I desire to return to the court. Resume your horse shape.'
The Kelpie hurried to obey. 'Of course. Mylord should not be seen walking.'
Indeed, Ciel thought as he gladly hauled his weight on to the spirit's back. With those heels he'd rather not.
Tanaka had been a butler for all his life, and he prided himself on his intuition. He knew, when to talk, and he knew, when silence was preferred. In the dark basement, guarded by a strange creature that had entered Phantomhive Manor along with its comrades, Tanaka drank his tea and left Sebastian to his own thoughts. Until the time of being his old self was over, and he deflated like a balloon, scaring the hog-goblin that had remained moping on the floor.
Sebastian raised his head, watching the creature jump to its feet. However, before it became a threat for Tanaka, voices sounded on the stairs. A whole gang of hog-goblins entered, babbling and chattering.
'The old man has shrinked,' said the hog-goblin on guard, hoping against all evidence to find a sympathetic ear.
'There's fire-man in the kitchen,' screamed another hog-goblin, whose back was all scorched.
'Child is made of stone. Can't eat stone-child,' complained a hog-goblin, whose teeth appeared jagged and broken.
'Demon dog is in the garden. Eat hog-goblins,' wailed a hog-goblin, who was missing an arm.
'There's only butler left,' said the one hog-goblin, who was obviously still intact and therefore capable of devising a clever plan. 'Leave butler to monsters.'
'Leave butler to monsters?,' asked the others, almost uni-sono.
The leader elaborated, 'To fire-man, stone-child, demon-dog, shrink-man. They kill butler. We kill them.'
Silently, the door behind them closed.
They looked up and saw that the eyes of their prisoner had begun to gleam. Then, his lips parted into a sneer. He didn't have very long or very sharp teeth. But he certainly looked like he knew how to make the best use of them and was about to demonstrate.
'Ho, ho, ho. Ready,' said Tanaka, stopping to refill his cup and putting the tea pot back on the bench. His fellow butler nodded curtly, grinning.
The candles went out.
+++End of Chapter 3+++