Thank you for all the reviews~ Looks like a *few* people are actually reading this. And for that, thank you too. It's really a boost to morale.

Ok...I know that the story is reaaaaally slow. Trust me, it happens for a reason.

I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint anyone. Do keep in mind that I still lack some freedom since I am following the anime's events...but do remember that I'm not completely following everything.

Chapter 5: A Harsh Tomorrow

"Young master," Ciel Phantomhive's butler said in his mellifluous, captivating voice, "We received an invitation to a ball just yesterday. It is-"

Ciel Phantomhive interrupted him, in a voice that showed that he felt like throwing up and laughing at the same time. "Do you really think I would go to a ball, Sebastian?" His trademark sardonic grin was stuck on his face like glue. The next moment, he sighed, releasing all his emotions, and straightened his back.

"It is from Earl Trancy, young master." The towering butler felt his stomach slightly turn over and his heart drop slightly. He was once again unable to condone his own carelessness. "Young master, I'm really sorry...and now it's my fault that you can understand nothing and I am capable of telling you nothing."

The frail, small-framed entrepreneur needed to read no mental telegram. It was Sebastian's fault that his emotions easily made their way into his face.
"Is this still about the amnesia, Sebastian? Is this...Trancy... someone I've met before? Is this something I know about?"

The butler gulped, his face utterly overflowing with remorse and regret. "No," he decided to lie for now. Having his master know the truth now will cost him nothing, but Sebastian knew he could use this to his advantage much later. "Earl Trancy is the queen's Guard Spider."

Ciel pondered for awhile. "...Guard Spider, huh?"

The same unbending, imposing voice, from a soul that was tainted, yet pure. Confident and bold, as if there was no amnesia that occurred - no unawareness to bring him down and make his life tortuous and twisted. As there was nothing that his small hand could not grasp, nothing that his power could not subjugate. How Sebastian wished his master knew how wrong he was. The unpleasant feelings were tied in knots in his previously inhumane heart, where no such feelings could find their way in. But now, things have changed, errors have softened him and according to his recent introspection his composure is (already) shaking.

abababaababa

Sebastian is a demon. Running and sprinting a thousand miles from another demon and his master was no challenge to him. Yet he was panting, beads of sweat forming on his cream-white sculptured face. But they were not pants of exhaustion, they were pants of confusion and specter. They were not beads of sweat from fatigue either..they were from fear and anxiousness. His deep, wax-red eyes showed nothing but worry and uneasiness. Try as he might, he could not regain his composure.

His shaking fingers found their way to the suitcase's locks. Sebastian opened it, revealing the small-framed body curled up tight inside it. As Sebastian took hold of it and leaned it against the tree, he realized that not only was it listless and unconscious in body...but also in mind and heart.

The crow butler clenched his fist in a tightness that would have made a human's break. His rage and his anger and his hatred materialized into the black feathers that were soon darkening the immaculate, pure forest. His eyes glowed red with such an untamable fire that might have as well burned the whole planet.

"How dare they...Alois Trancy...Claude Faustus...HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU ROB ME OF MY YOUNG MASTER!"

The screaming was intense, and if Ciel Phantomhive were awake, his eardrums would have already shattered. Finally calming down, Sebastian regained his composure and soon the forest was back to its previous pureness and reticence. His young master opened his should-be-heterochromic eyes, removing his eye patch to rub his sleepy orbs.

Something was surely amiss.

One eye was as dark-ocean-blue as the other. In that eye, the seal was gone. Sebastian knew that even with the seal, Ciel's eyes were still blue, but the intricate pattern and the undeniable glow that was scarred on the young boy's eye made it look like a neon blue-green. To a human's eye, the contract seal would be less conspicuous, and therefore they must only see a natural forest-green, albeit a few parts of the seal.

But now, that contract seal was gone.

"...Se..Sebastian?" the young boy called out to him, his voice still groggy. "What...just happened?"

The butler gulped, and did his best to will his face reveal nothing of his misfortune. "It is time to wake up, young master," he says for starters, deeply worried and his voice ringing with defeat. "You've been in a very deep slumber." If Ciel was fully awake, he would've sensed that something was wrong with his butler.

Sebastian took his master's heirloom ring from the tea box, courtesy of his inhumane quickness that allowed him to steal from Alois Trancy's cunning fingers. He placed it in on Ciel's thumb finger (the only one where it would actually fit) with only one intention: to help his master regain his "lost memories".

And how he cursed the names of Alois Trancy and Claude Faustus that day, when he discovered that the ring was fake. It was fake, yet it was an excellent replica of the original. The blue had the same deepness - it was the same rich, captivating, blue. The cool-colored jewel had a glint that rivalled the brightest star. Everything, exactly like the original.

How he cursed his own carelessness.

How he cursed the angel that made his nightmare a reality. Ash. Trancy. Faustus. How he cursed their names.

"Young master, the ball is a costume party, and Lady Elizabeth seems to have been invited as well. A telegram, she sent to us earlier today," the butler continued.

"Lizzy is going?" Ciel repeated, and in a nanosecond there emerged an honest, interested glint in his deep-blue eyes. He lowered his voice to a deep darkness once again, and his face turned grave. "This...Earl Trancy...it seems that his ball is an ostensible one. I cannot let Lizzy alone in the mansion of a person I feel I cannot trust. Sebastian, I am going. Begin with the preparations at once."

"Dead-accurate, young master," Sebastian thought to himself. "You made the right choice." Even with a perilous unawareness that threatens his own life, the boy seems to have been blessed with an intelligence and a superb gut feeling. A smile graced the butler's chiseled face. A mysterious smile that harbored both relief and uncertainty.

The boy rose from his seat soundlessly and made his way out of his "office". His butler followed him, with an expression so ambiguous.

Lunch had been served in the usual grand table, Ciel dining with flawless table manners that could only be seen on true nobles. Not a spot was on the immaculate table cloth. The silverware glistened like stars, just as they always should.

"But if it's a costume party, Sebastian," the boy began as he put down his fork, "then we would surely have a difficult time knowing who is who. But never mind. As long as everyone takes it easy."

Mind that rivaled even that of the sharpest politician. Instinct so valuable and priceless. A logical way of thinking that saved him from any disaster, trivial or serious, that could spell his own doom. This young, frail boy of thirteen that previously had heterochromia (courtesy of the contract mark) and pale, snow-soft skin. Yes, this was Ciel Phantomhive, the soul that Sebastian so hungered for and lusted after.

Ciel, clad in a dark, inconspicuous-looking pirate costume, sat on the plush velvet couch of his spotless, jet-black carriage with Sebastian (who wore no costume). Sebastian had succeeded on persuading his young master not to wear his azure ring (Ciel still doesn't know it's a fake), which, even in the company of the richest noblemen, would still attract attention. To Sebastian's unusual "request", the young boy cocked an eyebrow at him, but nevertheless obliged.

Now his elbow leaned against the spotless glass window, as his eyes followed the rapidly-moving scenery he could see from it. Fathoms deep in his own thoughts, the frail, vulnerable-looking youth fell asleep, the rough, violent rocking of the wheels lulling him to sleep.

Alois stood there like a statue, one that was sculpted with the utmost grace, passion, and skill. A gloved hand on his hips, his tall body clad in a purple vampire costume not very different from his everyday wear. Jet-black wings extended from his back and fake fangs hung from his teeth. With his well-brushed, platinum-blonde locks, perfect skin, pale complexion, and stunning sapphire eyes, it was no wonder he couldn't be mistaken for a vampire. It was truly a superb choice. The deep purple coat was trimmed with jet-black fur. It was short, and showed off the boy's stunningly long legs.

"Claude." The voice that screamed "don't mess with me".

"They have confirmed, master," Claude curtly replied, seemingly immune to Alois' venomous voice.

The same malicious, insane smirk. "...Perfect"

"My deepest apologies if they trouble you. But I'm afraid that it's a tradition that is strictly held here in the mansion. We do not kill spiders nor bother the webs they weave," Claude informed Ciel and his butler, who were well-received, now seated at the parlor.

"Not really a hustle," Sebastian assured him.

"My master will be here shortly. He's still busy with his preparations. Quite the fashionista he is."

Giving us clues? Something's wrong here.. Sebastian picked up his master's mental telegram.
Sensing that Ciel was too deep in his thoughts to continue the conversation, he politely cut in. "Ho, I'm afraid that my master is the opposite."

Anyone could pick that up from the boy's ...mediocre costume.

Claude excused himself to serve them tea. When he was out of hearing distance (or so Ciel thought) the young boy issued an injunction. "Sebastian, investigate this mansion. Thouroughly."

The vulnerable, frail youth was already drowning in a sea of anxiety and discomfort. His head felt light yet everything was so crystal-clear to him that it was blinding. It appeared that everything else was normal - Sebastian with his usual stoical and pensive outlook and the Trancy mansion in flawless shape. Nothing unusual seemed to be happening around him.

He just knew it. He just knew that something is eerily wrong with this mansion, something that he knew capable of harming him.

Everything in sight became fuzzier each passing second. Ciel was attacked with a wave of confusion and...nostalgia?