Sup bruh. Pardon my late updating, but life's a bitch. However, she's my bitch. Lol.
Ciel Phantomhive
"Out of all the places in London, you choose a graveyard?" I asked perturbed. Grell, Sebastian, Elizabeth, and I were standing in a underground crypt. Elizabeth had stopped her complaining after Sebastian returned with her. I wonder what was said...Anyways, it's lucky they returned when they did. I was close to hurting the red-headed buffoon, which wouldn't be good considering that he was our only guide.
"What better place to summon the dead than a graveyard? Or this crypt?" Grell cackled. I was anxious to get out of here since the small structure looked ready to collapse. The foundation was cracked, and some of the tombs had already fallen in.
"Let's make this quick then." I replied.
"What's this? Ciel Phantomhive afraid of the dead rotting corpses?!" Grell grinned, then started laughing.
"No. It's this crypt, it-"
"You're afraid of underground places?!" Grell doubled over, roaring with laughter. I grit my teeth in annoyance.
"Shut up dammit!" Elizabeth snapped, interrupting our argument.
I looked over towards where she stood by the exit, as far as possible from the tombs. She was hugging herself and her complexion was pale as the white marble walls.
"Are you afraid?" Grell asked raising his eyebrows.
"Slightly. Just do what you have to do, and let's leave. Please."
"You didn't say please-"
"Please hurry the hell up, you ugly wretch." Elizabeth snarled. Grell raised his hands in a I-give-up gesture and proceeded to the center of the crypt, where there was a singular marble tomb. Upon a white marble pedestal, it stood taller than the ones on it's left and right. The name above it read, 'Lady Manners'. The left one said, 'Lord Manners.' The last one read, 'Duchess of Suffolk, Katherine'
Next to me, I sensed Sebastian's tension.
"What is it?" I whispered, as Grell began to pull out a cinematic record.
"Nothing of importance my lord." Sebastian whispered back.
Suddenly, the record began to play. It cast a strange glow over the tombs, and made Elizabeth look even more pale than already. I caught flashes of a young girl playing with a ball, a woman in a white dress kissing a man, then the woman and the man standing in a street with a little girl next to them. In the background were two men dressed in black suits.
"Manners, Eleanor, I call thee back from The Beyond for questioning which concerns Other matters!" Grell called in a loud and commanding voice.
The record died down, and the darkness of the tomb descended once more. It was dark for merely seconds before a wispy figure rose from the middle tomb.
It was the woman I saw in the record. Only this time she was dressed in black velvet and lace rather than the bright colors from the record. Coming from her ears, looked like dried blood. She was pretty, but the look of despair upon her face said otherwise. Her eyes had no life, and were completely empty as she spoke.
"I am Eleanor Manners, wife to Thomas Manners, daughter of William Paston and Bridget Heydon, lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, and Catherine Howard, mother of-" Eleanor stopped.
"You- How!?" She cried, and raised a pale wispy hand towards Sebastian.
"Miss Manners." Sebastian bowed deeply. "It has been many years."
Eleanor, who seemed so regal before, suddenly was slack-jawed before the demon butler.
"Do they understand what you are?!" She yelled gesturing to Elizabeth, Grell, and myself.
"Of course I know what he is!" Grell said with a grin. His eyes turned to hearts as he suddenly appeared at Sebastian's right.
"He's the most dreamy man I've ever-!"
Boom!
Grell was against the opposite wall, blood dripping from his mouth and nose.
"I apologize, but I do not like to be grabbed at like some sort of mutt." He said frowning slightly, and brushed off his shoulder.
"Do they know you?" Eleanor asked pointing to Elizabeth and me.
"The man is my master, and the girl is-"
"I'm Elizabeth Midford." She interrupted Sebastian, and bravely stepped forward towards the ghostly woman.
"You have a male as your master?" Eleanor inquired, completely ignoring Elizabeth. Elizabeth huffed, then stepped back to the wall near the exit.
Sebastian nodded. "But you told me that-" Eleanor began.
"I told you what you wanted to hear." He replied smoothly.
"But- you-" She sputtered, then stopped.
"How are you alive?" She asked in a voice of forced calm.
"I believe you already know the answer to that."
Eleanor was silent. I saw my chance, and turned to Sebastian.
"Do you tell me what I want to know as well Sebastian?" I said. He looked at me with a serious expression.
"No, I do not My Lord. You want the truth, whereas Miss Manners desired the lies. I give whatever is asked of me. Everything I have told to you is the truth." I narrowed my eyes, then decided that what he said was true.
"Sebastian is your name is it?" Eleanor piped up randomly.
"It was the name given to me by my current master.
"So the name Edward is not-"
"It is not my name any longer." Sebastian interrupted.
"So then you-"
"Don't we have a demon to be catching?" Elizabeth snapped. I chuckled in spite of myself, sensing Elizabeth's rage at being ignored by Eleanor.
"Yes, of course." Sebastian said. He turned away from the ghost and towards Elizabeth and me.
"I apologize for the delay, My Lord, Lady Elizabeth." He stepped back to stand next to the entrance, forcing Elizabeth to move forward.
"But Edward-"
"He is no longer your's to command." I said coldly. We had wasted enough time with this idle chatter. The demon came closer to finding Elizabeth every second we wasted.
"Now, we called you back to ask you some questions." I said staring directly at Eleanor. "Do you understand?" She nodded.
"You will answer each question honestly and truthfully as you can. And you will not leave until I am satisfied with your answers. Do you understand?" She nodded once again.
"Now..." I paused, unsure of what to ask.
"How did you die?" Elizabeth took charge, and stepped in front of me.
Eleanor's ghost flickered, and I noticed the strange grey color in her eyes. Were those tears?
"I was killed by a demon. A prince." She replied, the strange grey color dripped down her eyes.
"But you just said you were killed by a demon." Elizabeth said, confusion etched upon her face.
"I was. He was also a prince."
... This ghost was extremely confusing ...
"How about you tell us from the beginning?" Elizabeth asked.
Eleanor laughed.
"Why would I ever want to recount my death? Especially if I died from betrayal. A bitter betrayal it was..." At those words, she cast a glance in Sebastian's direction.
"Betrayal by whom?" Elizabeth pressed.
"My supposedly faithful lover, Edward."
"Who is Edward?"
"That demon that you call Sebastian."
Elizabeth and I turned to look at Sebastian, who's face remained expressionless.
"Could you please tell us the whole story? This is very confusing." Elizabeth said.
Eleanor sighed, then floated down to sit upon her husband tomb.
"Well, it was a long time ago. At least I think so anyway. Time in The Beyond is different than time in The Living. However, I did not die in the peaceful way that most assumed. I, along with my butler Edward, was attending a dinner party of King Henry VIII and his current wife, Anne Boleyn. It had ended, and I had set off to my home in the country for a few days. Along the way, my carriage broke down in a dodgy area of the city. Edward had set to fix the wheel a few days before, but unfortunately he told me that he was unable to fix it on time for the party."
I looked at Sebastian. Since when had he never completed an order on time?
"Sensing nothing amiss, I sat in the carriage awaiting Edward to come and alert me that we could carry on. However, I heard not a sound for hours upon hours. Wondering what could be taking so long, I stepped outside to see what Edward was up to."
"Immediately, I regretted that decision because I saw something that no mortal being should ever see. It was a indescribable, horrid, disgusting abomination." Eleanor shuddered, and wrapped her arms around herself.
"Could you try to describe what you saw? Or at least what you remember?" Elizabeth asked gently.
Eleanor took a shaky breath. "It had the build of a man, yet was nothing like a human. It had a strange scaly body, with wings that were shredded beyond repair. The wings were at the ends of it's hands, which resembled large claws of some sort of lizard. It's feet were the same as the claw-like hands, only larger. It had six tails that were whipping around haphazardly. It's head was round like a human, but again, it looked nothing of the sort. The face had a brutish look to it, like it previously had it's face mashed in. It's mouth was filled to the brink with sharp teeth, which were dripping a strange red liquid. It's eyes were sharp and defined like a hawk's, however they had no pupils and were the same red as the liquid dripping from it's mouth. On top of it's scaly head were two large horns. It was almost like someone had combined a lizard, a human, and a demon to create this monster."
"I stood there for only a second before I noticed that the creature was standing in next to my butler Edward. The two seemed to be in some sort of strange non-vocal conversation. I gasped in shock, seeing that my butler's eyes were a strange pink color. Again, this was a grave mistake, for the two turned to look at me. i nearly died when the monster looked at me. I could feel the hatred and evil coming off of it in waves. Even from where I was standing, I could smell the scent of rotting corpses and death itself."
"I asked, 'Edward, what is the meaning of this?!' He didn't answer. He just smiled, then disappeared. I thought he had abandoned me, but he was suddenly kneeling at my feet. 'I have decided to revoke our contract My Lady.' He said, standing up. 'I bid thee farewell. Good night Miss Manners.' Then disappeared once more."
"I waited for him to reappear again, however he did not. I was alone in the street with a broken carriage and that hellish creature. I finally looked back to where the creature stood silently. For a moment, I though that it would leave me alone...Oh, how deluded I was to think such wishful thoughts!"
"It took a hesitant step towards me, as if observing how I would react. Of course, I screamed and ran and got back into the carriage. Thinking I would be safe, I closed the door and crouched in the corner, awaiting a obvious and gruesome fate. That was when the banging started."
"The monster was scratching and beat against the carriage at an attempt to get to me. I began to cry, thinking that this was my punishment from the Lord for all of the sins that I had done. Suddenly, just as it seemed that it would get in, it stopped. I was about to get up, but then a horrible wailing screech sound reached my ears. I began to scream. This cry was unearthly, something not meant for mortal ears. At the time I did not notice, however, my ears began to bleed from the sound."
"Finally, the wailing stopped. I waited, hands still covering my ears. Finally, I decided that the creature was gone. With shaking hands, I reached for the handle of the carriage. Opening the door, I stepped out onto the paved street. I sighed in relief that the monster was gone..."
"...I was wrong." Eleanor paused. In that moment I took that as an opportunity to look to Elizabeth to see how she was handling this. In the dim glow given off from Eleanor's apparition, she seemed pale and wan.
"I heard heavy breathing behind me, and caught the smell of rotting and death at the same time. Turning slowly, I realized that the creature was sitting and waiting silently on top of the destroyed carriage. I fell on my behind, and scooted backward away from it. It smiled, revealing rows of sharp teeth lining it's entire mouth. Then it jumped down before me. That grin never left it's face as it slowly pried me apart, limb by limb, blood spewing endlessly, all while I was awake and conscious-"
"That's enough Eleanor." I interrupted at the look on Elizabeth's face. She looked ready to faint.
"Well..."She huffed, annoyed at being interrupted. "You understand what happened."
Everyone was silent as we took in her words. Her butler, abandoned her. Her butler was the one who cut the contract, not her. I cast an appraising look at Sebastian. He was watching Eleanor closely, and did not notice. Sebastian would never break a contract. Not now, not ever. It was unusual of him to behave as he did.
"I- I think I need to sit down..."Elizabeth muttered, then suddenly pitched forward. I caught her easily. She weighed virtually nothing to me.
I picked her up, and held her bridal style. If she passed out just from stories...
"Well, I think we've heard all that we need to know Eleanor, so we will not need your-"
"I am not going back to that place." She said. Her voice was no longer womanly sounding, but more similar to a demonic sounding creature.
"Hell?" I laughed lightly. "Don't tell me you're afraid of that place!"
Eleanor's eyes turned a strange pinkish color. "You are a demon. You wouldn't understand the pain and agony of the eternal pit!"
"Wouldn't I?" I whispered. I let my eyes turn pink as well. "To gain their immortal form, a demon must spend one human day in Hell, observing all of it's horror."
Eleanor opened her mouth to speak, but I continued before she could.
"One human day is 666,666 years. I saw everything. You only saw part of the terror. You humans receive the watered-down version of Hell, while I receive the entire experience. You act as if you have seen so much, and know everything, but you know nothing." I snarled.
Eleanor recoiled slightly, then suddenly the small crypt began to shake as if in an earthquake.
"I refuse." Her voice no longer contained any feminine cords. It sounded exactly like a demon.
"Manners, Eleanor I order you to go back to the pit from once you came!" Grell suddenly was awake and commanded Eleanor to leave.
"No!" She screamed. Slowly, she was sucked downwards back into her tomb. Grell still had a thin trail of blood coming from his nose.
The moment she disappeared, the shaking stopped.
"Well then," Grell said. "That was fun!"
Silence.
"Okay, well, where to next?" He asked clapping his hands together. Sebastian was still standing perfectly still by the exit, and I was still in the same place holding the fainted Elizabeth.
Suddenly, Grell looked over at Elizabeth and I then gasped.
"Bassy, why don't you hold me in your strong arms like that?!" He whined, and grabbed Sebastian's left bicep.
Sebastian sighed. "Let's just leave." Suddenly, Sebastian and I were standing outside of the crypt. Elizabeth was still passed out in my arms.
"Bassy!" Grell came out of the crypt. "Why did you leave me alone in there?!"
"Where do you suggest we go to next my lord?" Sebastian asked me, completely ignoring Grell's complaints.
I looked down at Elizabeth. She looked much younger and innocent while unconscious. Obviously, she needed rest. She was human, unlike me, Sebastian, or Grell. However, there was no where that she could rest easily. Unless...
"My Lord?" Sebastian asked. He was holding back Grell who was trying to wrap him in a hug.
"We are going home Sebastian." I replied, not looking away from Elizabeth. He raised an eyebrow. I knew that he was wondering why I wasn't looking at him while I spoke.
"Home my lord?"
"Back to the Phantomhive manor." Elizabeth was so beautiful, yet broken. It was my fault. I was the one who pushed her to become how she is.
Watching her peaceful expression, I vowed to fix her. I knew that she thought that I was the one who needed help, but it wasn't me who couldn't love.
It was her.
Plot twist! LOL. The fluff at the end doe! I had fun writing this chapter. I got to describe a demon. YAY! Ahem, anywho...
The love between Ciel and Lizzy will grow slowly, not fast in case you're wondering. Also too, late update again...oops. XD (THIS CHAPTER HAS ALMOST 3,000 WORDS! OMG!)
Until next time, see ya later!