Last Time: Roxas just arrived in Victorian England with a mission to steal Ciel Phantomhive's heart. He bumps into Elizabeth Midford and is forced to attend a dinner party.
Time seemed to pass fast yet slowly at the same time as Elizabeth pulled Roxas store after store after store, pausing for only seconds at a time before she dragged him out and pulled him into another store only to repeat the process. It was a rather unusual method to get acquainted with the area, and after a number of stores that Roxas lost count of, he couldn't take it anymore.
"I'm sorry, what are we doing?" he asked, trying to sound polite but stern. He was beginning to lose feeling in his hand, which simply will not do if he were to carry out his mission.
Without stopping, she answered, "We're looking for your perfect outfit! Now hurry up, we don't have all day!" With an extra strong tug, she pulled him into the newest store and gasped. "There she is! Finally!" Roxas could actually see mini twinkling of stars around her as he followed her eyes. Before he could catch a sight of whatever it was, a woman appeared in front of him and grabbed his shoulders.
"Lady Midford! Who is your beautiful friend?" She purred, eyes looked up and down as she took in his frame. He shivered, getting a bad feeling about her.
She had a curly ponytail on the left side of her head, somewhat similar to Elizabeth's, and a hat on tilted on the right side of her head. She wore a tight, long-sleeved top, cut low to reveal her breasts, with a vest over top with black lace. Roxas took a peek before blushing and pulled away from her.
She just smiled at him - and he didn't like it.
"L-Lizzy…? W-who is this?" Roxas stammered out, hesitantly.
"Oh! This is my good friend, Nina Hopkins. She's amazing. She designs all of my clothes!"
"Indeed I did. Would you want for me to design an outfit for your… friend?" She smiled wider.
"YES!" She screamed, pushing the blond closer to her.
"Honestly even if she said no I would have done it anyway..." She muttered before clearing her throat. "Very well." She moved her hands from his shoulders to down his arms, removing one hand to take out measuring tape from her back pocket. She grinned. "This is going to be fun."
The terror was back as Roxas was dragged into a dark, fuzzy room. "Oh, Superior, why?"
"There we go, perfect!" The personal designer looked proud of her work. "This outfit brings out this innocent look that I can get from you… so clean and precious… like children should be." Her gaze was far away.
"Trust her, Roxas, you look so cute!" Elizabeth squealed.
He cringed at her as well as his reflection. "W-why in the world am I in a dress?" He stammered out, face nearly crimson.
He had a complete color change as this black cloak was exchange for a collarless long sleeved snow white gown down to the floor intertwined with diamonds, giving it a Cinderella flare to it.
"Hmm… Don't like it?" Nina asked, frowning slightly.
"No!" Roxas' face was all red. "I'm a boy! Dresses are for girls!"
She grinned and muttered, "Very well. I just wanted to see for myself." She cleared her throat. "Back into the room!"
"Ahh! Noooo!" Roxas was dragged against his will, again, to the room of fabric.
Roxas tried to loosen the bow around his neck only to have the tailor tighten it to the point of choking him.
"No touch!" She smacked his hand. "You are perfection, an angel. No touch!" She smacked him again.
The nobody sighed, but at least he was no longer wearing a dress.
Tied like a present, around his neck was deep sky blue ribbon, which were the only dashes of color in his outfit besides white, very light shades of blue, and just spots of gold. He wore an ivory white undershirt with a maya blue vest with gold buttons. Over the vest was a snow white jacket with matching white gloves with pure white shorts high above the knees, barely covering his ass, intertwined with sparkling diamonds that changed color depending on the angle of the light. He blushed as he covered himself, wanting to keep his modesty.
"This is way too much effort for one little apology." He muttered, face a rose color. He wanted to get this mission over with already and this was just a waste of valuable time.
"Can you lower the shorts?" To his surprise, Elizabeth was dissatisfied with his appearance. "It's too short! Not modest enough!" she exclaimed, pushing him to the tailor once more.
Said tailor gasped. "What? This is the fashion of the future!" She sighed again. "Very well. The customer is always right, even when she's wrong." She pulled the blond back into the fabric room to readjust his outfit once more.
"You looked cute before, but this is way better! Perfect! Just marvelous as always, Nina." Elizabeth said as soon as her eyes spotted Roxas' revised outfit, which was the exact same one as before, except the shorts have been lowed to be just slightly above his knee. She smiled at the pair and she took a glance at the clock before gasping.
"We better get going! Just put it on my tab!" She grabbed the nobody's hand and dashed out of the store.
"Come back anytime, my lady. You and your cute friend." Roxas saw her wink before leaving to nearly crash into Elizabeth from suddenly stopping.
"Lady Elizabeth! Where have you been?" A woman of brown hair and eyes approached the pair, gasping and sweaty. She took a deep breath before speaking a slur of words that was quite difficult to understand.
"I have been looking everywhere for you! I've been to various stories, and they say they spotted you for only seconds before disappearing! I was so worried! We're running late! We have to leave now if we're ever going to make it on time!" She pointed out to a carriage on the road before quickly escorting the pair to said carriage, getting inside, and were on the move to… wherever they were going, since the Nobody didn't know.
"So, where are we going?" He asked Elizabeth to watch the eyes of the woman from before move to the Nobody.
"Who's your friend?" She asked.
"Oh dear! I'm terribly sorry, Paula! I got all caught up in all this that I forgot about you!" Elizabeth apologized before pulling Roxas closer to her. "This is Roxas, whom I have invited to our dinner party. Well, not necessarily a dinner party, but we're all going to see Ciel! I even bought him some more cute outfits! Do you think he'll wear them?"
"Perhaps this time, my lady." Paula smiled at her, while Roxas frowned in thought. He caught wind of the name mentioned and turned to the blonde. "Ciel?"
"Oh, yes! I never actually told him about you, did I?" Elizabeth turned to him. "I think I have a picture of him somewhere… Here!" She reached for a small handbag that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and took out an exact copy of the picture that Roxas had in his own pocket.
"This is Ciel, my fiancée!" She pointed to the one in blue, and Roxas noticed a dreamy look in her eyes. "And Sebastian, his butler!" She pointed to the one in black, slightly frowning, dreamy look gone.
"Uh huh." It seemed like this wasn't such a waste of time after all. That dreamy look however… "So, do you care for him?"
She started to blush. "But of course! We are betrothed to be wed! I've actually loved him all my life, we're cousins and childhood friends, you know." The dreamy look was back as she murmured, "I love him."
This caused Roxas to be silent.
He was a Nobody, he didn't know what love was supposed to be like. But it was obvious that Lady Elizabeth Midford was in love with her fiancée, Ciel Phantomhive.
"So, Roxas, tell me about yourself." Elizabeth put away her photo along with her dreamy look and looked at her guest, who froze.
He didn't want to lie to this person. She was very kind to him, buying him clothes and bringing him to his target. Besides, wasn't he going to technically kill her fiancée?
Unable to think of anything to say, he looked down and stammered, "U-uh... w-why don't you tell me about yourself?"
"Little old me?" Elizabeth pointed to herself. "Lady Elizabeth Midford, fiancée of Earl Ciel Phantomhive and lover of all things cute. Which includes you, by the way. You look so cute in your white outfit. It's going to be totally worth it! Honestly I can't wait for you to meet Ciel, I'm sure you'll get along very well!" She beamed at him, causing Roxas to weakly smile.
"I'm not so sure… Why don't you tell me about your fiancée?" Roxas asked, not knowing how to respond to that.
"Ciel?" Elizabeth frowned. "Oh, well, I don't know. It's really his personal business."
Roxas shied back, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to impose."
She grinned at him. "It's okay! Really, Ciel is such a sweet boy! He's so kind and caring, and it's just one of the many aspects of the reasons why I love him so much!" Roxas winced, which she noticed. "Huh, what's wrong?"
Roxas smiled softly at her. "Oh, it's just that I'm not used to being with… people such as yourself."
"What do you mean? You're not with girls often?" She asked, confused.
The Nobody left out a chuckle as he thought of the only girls in the Organization; the complete opposite of her, and the other he couldn't say since he didn't know her that well. "Well, yes, that too. But not often am I with people who are so carefree and happy."
Elizabeth smiled sadly at him. "I have my reasons." And with that last statement, the carriage stopped.
Roxas peered out the carriage window to find the carriage in front of a huge mansion, circled by a beautiful green garden with various varieties of flowers with water fountains. Its stature was held proudly towards the sky, and while it was not a castle, it was quite impressive. Never before has Roxas seen a building such as this.
"Woah..." Roxas was wide-eyed at the scene.
"Come! It's almost time for supper!" Elizabeth, happiness and vigor returning, grabbed Roxas' hand and pulled him out the carriage and to the front mahogany doors, Paula following behind at a safe distance.
Just as their footsteps touched the front porch, the doors opened, and the Key of Destiny immediately stiffened as he caught the image of the one clad in black, the one he was supposed to avoid over the course of this mission, of the one called Sebastian Michaelis in the flesh. His eyes were closed, mouth curled into a tight smile, and he bowed slightly at the visitors of the Phantomhive manor.
"Lady Elizabeth." His voice sounded like red velvet as the Nobody immediately froze in place. The butler rose from his bow, still smiling and eyes were closed as he turned to Roxas. "Whomever is your young friend?" He bent down close to the blond, who flinched under his faux gaze, which shortly turned real as Roxas stared at his blood red eyes almost exactly depicted in the photo.
"Sebastian, this is my cousin from my mother's side of the family, very far who came to visit. His name is Roxas. This is his first time in London, and I decided that he just had to accompany me to meet the rest of the family." Elizabeth smiled sweetly as Roxas looked at her, confused.
"Right, Roxas?" She turned to him, still smiling.
"Oh, uh, yes, um, cousin." Roxas moved behind her to avoid the piecing stare of the butler. He just couldn't get out of the butler's red gaze. He began to think he was visibly shaking at this point, and looked to Elizabeth for support. She was still smiling, but the smile was beginning to wane as the seconds ticked by.
After what seemed to have been an eternity, Sebastian stated, "Where ever are my manners? Please, do come in, Lady and Lord Midford. We have been expecting you." He bowed again.
"Welcome to the Phantomhive manor."
The butler moved out of the way to allow the pair to enter.
If the manor on the outside was impressive, the interior was just as exquisite. Marble floor, marble columns, marble stairs… the carpet reminded the nobody of Sebastian because he was sure that it was made of velvet. The curtains appeared and were silky to the touch, and there were various hanged paintings on the wall. Pictures of people, flowers, the scenery. There were various trinkets all over the place - statues, vases, grandfather clocks - all organized in a neat manner.
All in all, in Axel's terms, the place just oozed money.
"… Wow…" Was the only thing that he could say.
"This is nothing; you should have seen the place when I decorated it. It looked sooo much cuter!" Elizabeth commented. "I'll do it again, and you can come!"
Roxas could have sworn that by the end of the day, he would be blinded by her hyperactive personality. Never before has be met someone like her. It was beginning to scare him, being out of his comfort zone. Before he could get in another word, they were soon greeted an assortment of people.
"Hey, guys, Lady Elizabeth has arrived!" An older man wearing an apron with a cigarette in his mouth said before taking out his cigarette and tossing it in the trash.
"Lady Elizabeth!" A young man with short blond hair with clips with a hat called.
"Who is your guest, my lady?" A young woman dressed in a maid outfit and having large glasses asked.
"Ho, ho, ho!" An old man sitting on his knees on a pillow holding what Roxas believes to be tea - or at least a hot beverage from the steam rising from it - commented.
"Why hello, Bard, Finny, Mey-Rin! Oh, and Tanaka too!" Elizabeth beamed at them. "This is Roxas, my distant cousin coming all the way from… America."
"America?" Finny asked.
"Wow!" Mey-Rin commented.
"I was unaware of the fact that you had family overseas, Elizabeth." A new voice entered the room as everyone else in the room was silenced as a young man dressed in dark green descended down the stairs and into the lobby.
Elizabeth started to pout. "Ciel! I thought I told you to call me Lizzy!"
He approached her and took her hand. "Thank you for coming." He kissed it before dropping it and turned to Roxas. "I am pleased to meet your acquaintance, Roxas Midford. Welcome to the Phantomhive manor."
Roxas spotted the eye patch as the young man continued to speak, "I don't know if you know of me, but I am Earl Ciel Phantomhive, fiancé of your cousin Elizabeth." He bowed slightly to Roxas.
Ciel Phantomhive. His target. Fiancée of Elizabeth Midford and in the possession of a rather strong heart, whose nobody should, in theory, be a rather strong ally in the master plan of the Organization to obtain Kingdom Hearts to obtain their own. Seems simple enough. His target was right in front of him. What's stopping him from fulfilling his mission and RTC'ing?
Well, there was the fact that Elizabeth, the one who was kind to show him around town was there. And to an extent, that strange butler. He wasn't so worried about the other servants but one could never be to he were to strike now, the consequences would be dire.
He had a feeling that this was going to be harder than he thought.
"The pleasure is all mine, Earl Phantomhive." Roxas bowed back, even lower, and moved back to give the target and his fiancée personal room, which caused him to back up into Sebastian.
"Roxas, you can just call him Ciel. Right, Ciel?" She turned to her betrothed. He just smiled sweetly at her, "But of course." but Roxas could see in his eyes said otherwise.
"Young Master, dinner is ready." The voice curled into Roxas' ear as he jumped and moved back to Elizabeth.
"I need not ask for I assume that you have set up a place for Elizabeth's cousin as well?" Ciel called, escorting his fiancée to the dining room, Roxas following at a safe distance.
"But of course. What kind of butler would I be if I did not do such a thing?" Sebastian bowed before following them at a distance that Roxas didn't deem safe enough. The only sounds that could be heard besides the footsteps were Elizabeth's ramblings about cute things she bought for him, which were left unanswered by Ciel.
When they entered the huge dining room, as it was there were three sets of silverware for the three nobles to dine, with the servants from earlier out of sight. Ciel took a seat at the head of the table. Elizabeth was smiling when she took a seat next to her lover before she turned back to her 'cousin'. "Roxas? You okay? You seem so stiff." Roxas didn't know where to sit, but when Elizabeth signaled that he was to sit across from her, he cleared his throat and made his way there. "Stiff? I'm not stiff, why ever would you say such a thing?" He answered a bit too fast.
"Is my butler bothering you?" Ciel asked, sounding polite and annoyed at the same time. "Sebastian, leave us and keep out of Lord Midford's sight."
"Yes, my lord." The butler bowed once more before leaving the room. "I shall return to serve you all." As Sebastian left the room, Roxas let out a sigh of relief, which was followed by a giggle from Elizabeth and a smirk from Ciel.
"Oh, don't worry, you get used to him! Really, Sebastian is amazing! Just wait until you try his cooking!" Elizabeth beamed.
"Ah ha…" Roxas looked down at his gloved hands and removed the white gloves, ignoring the gazes and stares he was getting from his company. Elizabeth was just too peppy for Roxas' liking. It was beginning to become annoying.
"So, Roxas, tell me about yourself." Ciel said in what Roxas feels to be a commanding tone.
"Me?" He squeaked before taking a glance at Elizabeth, who smiled before turning to the Earl. She whispered, not knowing that Roxas could hear, "Roxas and I aren't really related; he's just a friend of mine. However, he's unconscious of talking about himself, so…"
Said friend cleared his throat. "I can talk about myself!" He wasn't going to be introduced to his target, by a girl no less. Not to be sexist or anything, but only now does Roxas realize what little girls there are in the Organization. "Roxas… I, uh, don't really have a last name-"
"Just use mine!" Elizabeth interrupted.
"Roxas Midford then." He became silent. "Uh, I don't know what else to say."
"How about you tell me about you and Elizabeth met?" Ciel tried, ignoring the "Lizzy!" that Elizabeth insisted she be called.
"Oh, okay. Well, actually, we just met today." He said quietly. "I'm, uh, new to town and I accidentally crashed into her."
"Family?" Ciel asked, not really caring. Which Roxas thinks is rude, because he's the one who asked him about this information, but that question he didn't understand.
"Family? What's that?" Roxas asked, confused.
This snapped Ciel to attention as Elizabeth helped, "Family. You know, your parents?"
"I… don't think I have those…" Not much does Roxas remember of his birth. Then again, he was a Nobody, so he's pretty sure that his birth is very different from Somebodies. Was the parent his Somebody? He should ask Axel later.
"Oh my gosh, Roxas!"Elizabeth stood up from the table, ran across and pulled Roxas into a hug. "It's okay! I'll make my family adopt you! You look like a nobleman, are shy like one, and sound like one. We can do this!"
Roxas and Ciel stayed silent as Elizabeth started to ramble on how to make Roxas a true Midford when the doors opened quietly and Sebastian arrived, balancing two trays and pushing a small cart. Ciel's gaze rose to his butler's, a sly smirk creeping on his face. Roxas turned to follow his gaze and was surprised to see no black butler there.
"Elizabeth, get back to your seat." Ciel said, sounding annoyed as a middle sized bowl filled with an orange colored substance suddenly appeared in front of the three.
"In front of you, you have a slightly chilled pumpkin soup with a vegetable medley puree. Enjoy." Sebastian's voice called before the doors closed, leaving the children to their own devices.
The rest of the meal's menu consisted of a braised lamb short rib with a red-wine based sauce, and a desert with a name that Roxas didn't understand the swirl of the letters that came from the butler's mouth, but was basically chocolate cake.
Both of the men were quiet throughout the whole dinner, with Roxas meekly keeping his face down and Ciel just nodding as Elizabeth continued with her plan to adopt Roxas.
Throughout the whole dinner, never once did Sebastian appear in Roxas' line of vision. Not even when he served the food to the assassin or the company.
After the dinner, Ciel guided his guests to the parlor room, and there was only a flash of lightning before the curtains closed by themselves, as if by magic.
"Sebastian." Elizabeth muttered under her breath for Roxas to hear.
They all took a seat near the fireplace, which was already lit, and the pouring rain from the outside became a dull noise in the background. Elizabeth began to hum, before Paula suddenly entered the room, giving Elizabeth a look. The Lady gasped before excusing herself from the room, stating she would be right back.
Leaving the two children by themselves. Which Roxas was painfully aware of, staring into the fire. Vaguely, he wondered how Axel was doing.
"She's not coming back." Ciel commented, eye lazily following his cousin leave the room before turning back to the Nobody, eye frowning as he couldn't meet with his gaze.
The Key of Destiny planned in his head. Now's the time, now's the moment. He could RTC, which will hopefully work, since he had been practicing. Not that anyone would believe him, his element being light and all. He could summon his new blade right now and there would be no witnesses. Elizabeth was gone, she wouldn't see anything.
But what about Sebastian?
"Does my butler bother you?" Roxas was brought back from his internal scheming to find the young master addressing him, expression unreadable.
Roxas decided that Sebastian was really a great butler, following his master order down to the wire. Internally thanking the divine powers that he wasn't a butler of the Organization, he answered, "I'm fine now, thank you for taking my opinions in the matter, Earl Phantomhive."
The lord flinched slightly. "Just call me Ciel. Elizabeth requested it, and who am I to deny her?
"She was right, you really are a kind person. I suppose this is what they mean when they say not to judge a book by its cover." Roxas commented out loud.
"I beg your pardon?" Ciel sounded confused, which caused Roxas to smile.
"Appearance wise, you look like a harsh person, very critical of the world." Ciel smirked at the description, which slightly fell when Roxas continued, "But on the inside, you really are a kind person who cares about others."
Ciel was silent at this comment, watching Roxas' gentle, sincere smile.
"… I see…" The Earl choked out, coughing a little. He cleared his throat. "Tell me, Roxas, how old are you? I would throw out an age, but I do not wish to insult you."
"Oh, it's fine. Uh… I suppose I look like I'm fourteen, fifteen-ish. Around there." He figured saying that he was less than a year old would be quite suspicious.
"So you look. How old are you exacty?" Ciel pressed.
"Uhh… fifteen, I suppose." Roxas coughed at the topic. It was not often does he speak of age. "How old are you? Fourteen?"
"Actually, I am thirteen years of age."
"… Really? I pegged you for older. You look so, so…" Roxas struggled to find a word to express what he meant.
Broken, scarred, damaged, corrupted, sinner…
"Mature?" Ciel supplied.
"…That could work."
"You wouldn't mind if Sebastian was in the room, would you?" Roxas snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head, and Ciel clapped his hands. Sebastian appeared in seconds right next to the lord, which slightly frightened the Nobody. "You called, young master?"
"Yes, it's getting late. Please set up a room for Lord Midford. I am pretty sure that Elizabeth has already retired for the night." Ciel ordered dully.
Sebastian smiled. "It has already been done, my lord."
"Very well. I will escort myself to my room." He turned to his guest. "Good night, Lord Roxas. I will see you in the morning."
"Just Roxas is fine. Thank you, Ciel." He bowed to the young Earl, who just waved him away.
"This way, Lord Roxas. It will take about three minutes." Holding a candelabra, Sebastian led him to the room, an awkward silence between them.
While he would have wished to plan ahead, somehow he couldn't think of anything while under Sebastian full attention. As they approached the door, the Nobody thought he could get more Intel himself. And why not from the butler himself?
"Uh, Sebastian?" Roxas asked hesitantly. At the sound of his master's guest's voice, the butler halted before turning around. "Yes, Lord Midford?"
"Would you happen to know where, uh, my cousin and her betrothed are staying?"
"My master will be staying in his master bedroom, which is a left hallway from your room, the last door on the right. Lady Elizabeth will be on the other side of the manor, on the right wing. I strongly suggest you don't go to see her, as there is a high possibility that you will get lost and no one will be there to help guide you, as the other servants are retired for the evening." Sebastian opened the pacific cherry door to reveal a rather large room color schemed various shades of red with a large canopy bed, accompanied with a closet, various lamps, a desk, another door which Roxas assumes to be a personal bathroom.
"…I see. Thank you." Roxas stepped inside and turned to find Sebastian bowing slightly. "I wish you pleasant dreams, Lord Midford." He closed the doors and Roxas couldn't hear his footsteps, but knew that he was leaving to attend to his own master.
After waiting a few moments, Roxas quietly and slowly opened the door and peeked outside. Finding no one there, he quietly exited the room and followed Sebastian's directions to the Ciel's room.
As he approached, he heard voices, so he hid behind a vase and eavesdropped on the young Earl Phantomhive and his butler. He peaked around for a small opening near the area of the master bedroom so that he was able to spy on the conversation.
"What do you think about Elizabeth's 'cousin'?" The butler's smooth voice made the Nobody shiver.
"A highly suspicious character." The sound of Ciel's tone was completely different from earlier. It was hard, harsh, calculating.
"Oh?" The butler sounded amused.
"Well, of course he's not Elizabeth's cousin. That much was obvious from the moment he stepped foot on the doorstep. I slightly wished they wouldn't have admitted it to me; I would have been able to toss them out. However, I'm glad now." Roxas made a small gasp before coving his mouth as Ciel paused, as if in thought. "Under questioning… it became even more suspicious. He didn't have a last name, gave his age according to appearance, and..."
"Yes, young master?"
"He..." Ciel shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Anyway, pass me the letter."
Sebastian removed a letter from his pocket, and handed the young Earl an envelope.
"There are mysterious creatures, a blend of silver, white, and black, that have been attacking our citizens in the dead of the night, causing them to disappear without explanation. Please investigate this matter to maintain the safety of our people."
"Mysterious creatures, huh?" Ciel asked, giving a look to his butler. Sebastian returned the gaze. "I have not heard of such creatures. Perhaps when I see them, I will recognize them."
"That's what the Queen says." He put away the letter. "Suspicious, isn't it? This man appears out of nowhere. Perhaps they are related? Although the chances are quite slim… Meh." He shrugged before tossing the letter to his bedside. "What is your opinion of Roxas? Were you able to get any information on him?"
"He is a most curious one, I would say. Never before have I come across a creature such as he."
Ciel's eyes narrowed. "Creature?"
Sebastian's lips curled. "As sharp as ever, young master. Yes. He is not a human, or at least not a human in the sense of the word."
"Explain."
"My lord, I do not sense a soul from him."
There was a silence as both of the Victorian men contemplated on the statement, while Roxas started to breathe harshly. Oh shit. He was caught. Wait, he said 'heart', right?
He jumped when he heard Ciel harshly laugh. "Don't be ridiculous, Sebastian. How is that even possible? Perhaps it has just been a long day. We can visit the Undertaker tomorrow to see the bodies, if any. Leave me."
Sebastian bowed. "Yes, my lord. Good night."
"Get out." Ciel waved him away, gaze on the letter.
Sebastian turned from his master, who sighed before looking out the window, deep in thought. The Nobody held his breath as he sneaked back to his room, being extra careful to make no noise. After arriving back in his room, he exhaled and took a deep breath.
Tonight. He will do the deed tonight, when everyone was asleep. It would be painless - the Earl of Phantomhive wouldn't feel a thing. He will see his sweet dreams before becoming a heartless/nobody. As soon as the Nobody was formed, they would RTC immediately.
He hadn't been able to test out the blade… would it still work? He took a glance at the grandfather clock. It was three to eleven.
Deciding that he needed to test it out, he opened a window and sneaked away, heading towards the city to find someone to be his guinea pig. He hoped that he could catch someone doing wrong; he really didn't want to hurt any innocent people.
He jumped out the window, landed safely on his feet, then quickly dashed off to the dirt road. Strange, he could have sworn it was raining before. Before he could get very far, however, he heard a noise.
"Oi!"
The thirteen member of Organization XIII halted, frozen in his tracks, as he turned around.
"It's you!" "So true!"
"Crap." Roxas muttered. It was those kids he met when he first arrived. They started to giggle before narrowing their eyes and approached the blond, their smiles giving him the chills.
"Where'd ya go, shadowman, we weren't able to play! Where in the world is the money at, you promised you would pay!" The girl sang, her sharp voice scratching Roxas' ears.
"How long have you been doing that? Swindling people from their money? Did you even know any information?"
The children laughed, taking out hidden knives from underneath their clothes. "Obviously you aren't from around here." The boy commented, his grey eyes piercing Roxas. "Life's hard for us, we can't do nuthin'! So give us our money!" He held the knife threatening, as if he has done it before.
Roxas went wide-eyed for a second before sighing. "You… threaten people? Have you killed?"
They sneered at him. "You gutta do whatcha gutta do. If you ain't gunna pay…" They moved to him, and the boy lunged at him, knife raised high into the air.
Roxas quickly moved out of the way, summoned his new keyblade, and stabbed the child in the heart. There was an explosion of light as the heart escaped the body, and the child disappeared into a sparkle of light. Quickly, Roxas did the same action with the girl, who dropped her bunny in the process. She was gone before the stuffed toy touched the ground, knives clanging on the dirt.
"It's moments like these that I'm glad I'm not a Somebody." Roxas commented as he stashed the blade away. It seemed painless, neither child screamed in agony as their heart left their body. It wouldn't hurt the young Earl one bit.
Satisfied with his test run, he made his way back to the manor, shivering. He looked back, but saw nothing. "Man, I'm getting paranoid. I can't wait till I get home." He continued on his way, not noticing the pair of blood red eyes watching his form as he sneaked back into his room.
As soon as the Nobody got back into the room, he glanced at the clock. "Oh, that didn't take too long." It was only eight past eleven. "I'm not quite sure if anyone's awake…" He said out loud in over to overcome the somewhat strange silence.
While he was used to silence, welcoming it even, it was slightly unnerving to be in silence while on an assassination mission.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Roxas froze, climbed into bed before calling, "Who is it?"
There was no answer as Elizabeth, dressed in a very silky, lacy outfit that was rather revealing for a fourteen year old, burst into the room, followed by her maid Paula, carrying various packages in various sizes.
"I said I was going to be right back, and when I come back, Sebastian tells me you two already retired for bed! How could you do this to me?" She cried as Paula closed the door after her, running up to Roxas for a hug, who got out of bed to greet her. He stood awkwardly as she squeezed him tightly, and after several minutes she let him go while Paula placed the packages near his bed.
"Anyway, I got you some more clothes! I figure that you wouldn't want to wear the same clothes to bed." She grabbed a package and uncovered it, revealing a pair of black silk pajamas with various stitching of silver within the fabric. Which reminded Roxas of a rather important factor.
"Umm, Lizzy? Where's my cloak?"
"Cloak? What cloak?" There was a silence as Elizabeth recalled what he was talking about. "Oh! That cloak! Hmm, I'm assuming that it's with Nina, since we forgot to pick it up… Or maybe it's in a bunch of the clothes I got you! That's why I was gone for so long, you know? I went back to see Nina for some more clothes! She was rather upset that I couldn't bring you, but don't worry! I'm sure that it's here, somewhere… Do you think she made it into a cute outfit?" She trailed off as Paula returned with several more boxes and leaving to fetch some more. "But who cares about that! Put these on!" She threw him the sleep garments and shoved him into the private washroom to change.
He only had three seconds of silence before Elizabeth banged on the door. "Hurry!"
"Okay! Give me a second!" He called before muttering, "Geez, it was just like the Organization orientation." He threw off his clothes carefully to make sure it didn't get damaged, and put on the pjs. Under his touch, it had the same texture as his cloak, with a silky velvet feel to it. Just as he finished buttoning the last silver button, Elizabeth burst into the room.
"Oh my gosh! I knew you would look so cute!" She squealed as she grabbed the keyblade bearer's hand and led him out of the room. "Look, Paula!"
"Excellent choice as always, my lady." Paula curtsied.
"I am always right, aren't I?" The Lady beamed. She pushed Roxas to the bed, and was about to follow after him when a voice entered.
"So you are the cause of all this racket. Do you have any idea as to what time it is?"
"Ciel! Ahh!" Elizabeth screeched before dashing out of the room, clutching her chest, Paula dashing after her, exclaiming, "My lady!"
Ciel and Roxas watched them go before the Earl gave a sigh. Roxas nodded, still watching where Elizabeth just was. "T-thanks..." He thanked as Ciel said, "…I wish to apologize from the behavior of my cousin. She can be quite annoying at times." Roxas shook his head. "It's fine, I'm just not used to it."
"I was just passing by, and I couldn't help but ratify the noise." Ciel stood near the door, eyes calculating, dressed in a long shirt, with a frilly lace on the collar.
"Of course." Roxas picked himself up from the bed and followed Ciel as he walked down the hallway. Roxas' hand twitched as moved closer to the Earl, who was beginning to speak. "You're not from around here, aren't you?"
Roxas gave some space, looking around for any sign of Sebastian. "No, I would suppose not."
"Where are you from?"
"… I'm not quite sure." Roxas answered honestly. He was never actually told where he came from, the first week of his existence was quite fuzzy. All he really remembered about that week was that he acted like a zombie.
"… I see." Ciel closed his eyes as he halted right in front of his room. "Thank you for your time, I'm sorry to lead you out here. I know it's late and all." He opened the door slightly. "Good night, Roxas."
"Oh, good night, Ciel." He smiled as Ciel began to make his way inside. "It was a pleasure to meet you." He whispered as he summoned the keyblade and raised it high into the air.
Ciel turned at the flash of light and eye went wide at the sight of the sword about to fall on him.
At the sight of Ciel's visible eye, Roxas saw fear and terror. He was about to feint the hit before the target gasped, "Sebastian!"
Roxas felt a dull throb on the back of his neck, losing focus and strength in his grip. He fell down like a ton of bricks, sword disappearing in a flash of light as he hit the floor. The only sound of Ciel panting could be heard as Sebastian appeared by his side, slightly frowning.
"That was a close one, young master." The butler commented. "Are you alright?"
Ciel took deep breaths to calm himself before answering his demon butler, "Yes, fine." He narrowed his eyes at the assassin.
"What should I do with him?" Sebastian asked as he picked up the blond.
"Just… just put him in his room. Don't tell anyone of this. Clearly something strange is afoot, and he is a part of it. It's too soon to make connections between this and the queen's request. Not enough information. However…" He eyed the unconscious Nobody. "Perhaps he could provide some."
"Are you alright, young master?"
Ciel's voice was even as he answered, "I'm fine. Now shut up and put him in his room, that's an order."
"Yes, my lord." Sebastian bowed as he carried Roxas to his room. Ciel sighed as he watched them walk away and entered his room as the darkness enveloped them. He rubbed the cursed ring on his thumb before taking it off and placing it on his bedside table, and tucked himself into bed.
"Has no memory of his family, or family at all, isn't from England, can summon swords from light… probably a sword master..." Ciel mumbled to himself out loud while taking off his eye patch, revealing the contract symbol on his eye. "Sebastian also said he doesn't have a soul… How is that even possible?" He faced the window and watched the moonlight creep into his room before he closed his eyes.
"Young master, I have done as you have ordered." Sebastian's voice entered the room as a slight door click was heard.
"Sebastian, how is it possible that he doesn't have a soul? Isn't he human?" Ciel asked.
"I do not believe that he is a true human. All humans have souls, and he does not have one. He is also able to summon swords from nothing."
Summon swords of nothing? Now he was even more confused. "How is that even possible… does he know?"
"Young master, do you perhaps pity him?" Sebastian's tone was strange.
Ciel shot up out of bed and narrowed his eyes where Sebastian stood. "Of course I don't. I'm just concerned as to how this to do with the queen's request…" He lowered himself back on his bed, hand on his left eye and sighed.
"Young master, it's quite late. Why don't you go to bed?" Sebastian suggested, suddenly at his bed, fixing the sheets and helping his master get comfortable under the covers.
Ciel was silent as Sebastian performed his butler duties and closed his eyes once more, fallen asleep.
Sebastian smiled sweetly at his meal and left him to his rest. He closed the bedroom doors before frowning. "Those children lost their souls with that strange blade… That was very close. If he had not called my name…" He sighed to himself. "Why does my young master always get into situations like these?"
A/N: Lol, there ya go :) I have no idea how long this is going to take... We'll see. ;)