FLASHBACK
As basically usual, the night is cool enough for our breath to show as we breathe out hot air from our lungs. We're back in London of course, and even though the clock tower is ringing out the time, the night is still young and lively. It's a rather beautiful sight, really, the sky above.
"Where is it, Phobia?" Sebastian questions me as I lead the way through the city.
"Not far now, brother," I tell him as I take a sample of the air. What is 'it'? 'It' is Soma's and Agni's curry bread stand that they often set up for those who can't very often afford to buy a hot meal. Ah, there it is.
"Sebastian, Phobia," Agni speaks up first with a surprised look on his face.
"Good evening Agni, Soma," Sebastian speaks up as I nod in greeting. "I have some rather unfortunate news that you should know about. Bocchan has lost his memory; he has amnesia".
Soma seems to be the most surprised out of the two as he walks forwards and accidentally knocks over the curry bread that had already been made. "W-What? Ciel's lost his memory? How?"
"Hard to say to be honest," I tell him with a sigh, "A few months ago we were quite busy; I think he might have fallen and hit his head when neither Sebastian or I were around".
"He's lost his memory of ever meeting either of you," Sebastian goes on, "I thought to come and inform you so that if you were to visit, you would not frighten him. If you were to greet him as though you knew him well, he would become suspicious. On that note, please refrain from visiting him so that he doesn't suffer".
"B-But!-" Soma tries.
"I know it's hard," I sigh out and run a hand through my red hair, "But it's for the best. We've told everyone else the same. Our servants are probably having it the hardest seeing as they spent so much time with or near him at the very least. Lady Elizabeth, his fiancee, was also heart broken".
"...If we have to...We'll put on the best act you guys have ever seen," Soma vows, nodding along with Agni.
FLASHBACK END
"Alois Trancy," Ciel ponders as Sebastian and I sit across from him in the carriage. "You said the late Earl Trancy died three years ago, right?"
"That's right," Sebastian confirms.
"Three years ago...," he ponders for a second, seeming to be remembering something and I have a good idea of just what. "Alois was kidnapped as a child and then returned shortly before his father's death. He came with a strange butler, no?"
"That's also correct," I sigh out. "Sounds rather familiar, no?"
"It's not uncommon," Ciel sighs out. From that point on, things are silent and calm. Upon arrival to the host's home, Sebastian and I get out before Ciel, and then we flank each of his sides as we head on to the door. When Sebastian attempt to knock, the door is opened already and there's a butler at the door. The very same butler that had approached Sebastian and I the other day.
"You must be Earl Phantomhive; we have been expecting you. I am the butler, Claude Faustus. Please, come in". This man smells of spiders and greed. We make our way in, however Sebastian stops to look up at the spider within the doorway on the outside. "Ahh yes, spiders help make up the family crest. So we are careful not to kill them".
"Ah yes, because no matter how much you try to brush them off they just seem to cling on," Sebastian smiles to his fellow demonic butler.
"I hate spiders. They're greedy bastards," I sigh out, "About as trusted as a snake". I can see the glare in Claude's eyes. One point Phobia, zero for Claude.
"I have prepared some tea for you in the drawing room. You can join everyone else there," everyone?
"Can my butler and guardian come with me?" Ciel questions.
"But of course," we move forward to go in the direction of where we assume to be the drawing room. "Ahh, please forgive me but my Master is out on business. He will be back in time for the evening however. Please let me lead you to the drawing room now".
Those who greet us are not strangers in the slightest. "Ciel!" A pink clad girl grins as she glomps her fiancee.
"Elizabeth?" Ciel questions in surprise.
"Ohhh call me Lizzy!" The girl demands.
"So you're finally here, Young Earl? You're late," a cheery voice speaks up. This voice in particular belongs to the ever close eyed Lau.
"What's Madam Red? I figured that this would be her kind of thing," Ciel mutters out as he takes a few steps forward.
"Oh? You didn't know? Madam Red-" luckily or unluckily, Soma himself appears to keep Lau from saying anything about Madam Red.
"Ciel! Ciel!" Soma lunges to Ciel to hug him. However, Ciel doesn't remember the older boy so I have to play the right roll. My eyes narrow and my hand swiftly wraps around the Prince's neck, tears dripping onto my glove.
"Refrain from touching my Master when you are nothing but a stranger," I tell him sternly.
"Prince Soma!" Agni shouts in alarm, and readies to unbind his right hand. However, I meet his gaze meaningfully.
"Your Prince is in no harm. I just want him away from my Master," I tell the white haired man.
"Please forgive him," Agni bows, falling into the game of pretend like he should. "The boy that your guard here has is the 26th prince of Belgium, Prince Soma. He's a rather large fan of yours as you are the head of Funtom, whose toys are rather rare where we came from".
"Ciel! Ciel! Please, don't tell me that you-" Soma whimpers out. Shut up you idiot.
"Please don't mind him. It's just that he's reminded of a very good friend at the moment," it's at this point that I release the tan young man in favor of letting him be handled by Agni. "And of when...," why is Agni getting all teary? Ugh. "Oh Prince Soma!" And cue the sob fest.
"Why don't we get Master ready for the ball?" I question with a tilt of my head, and Sebastian agrees.
"Shall we then, Bocchan?"
From then on, we're lead to Ciel's room by triplet males, each with purple hair and the same outfit. Even their strides are all the perfectly same length. It's like they're clones of one another. I watch as Ciel seems to be distracted by something, and his scent seems to change for a moment or two. However, it goes back to normal moments later, leaving it to seem like nothing happened. My eyes narrow as they look over my young Master and I sigh. Looks like I won't be joining in on the fun. Not really at least.
As the ball comes along, Ciel's decided to dress as an English sailor, fluffy feathered hat and all. Sebastian is off investigating the building, missing out on all the 'fun' that'll be going down within due time. Lady Elizabeth is dressed like a Native American from North America. Me? I'm Vlad Treps also known as Count Dracula. My body is dressed in black full body armor while my hair is long and wavy. I have a goatee and mustache combo while a black cape with a red underside is attached to my shoulders. At my hip is a sword, and on my hands are claw light gauntlets. Dressing like this allows me to more freely show my fangs off. The armor is on the heavier side, but that's fine as it's real armor and it's not really a real issue for me.
"Oh, excuse me," a blonde girl in a maid's outfit speaks up as she accidentally bumps into Ciel. My eyes narrow. This 'maid' smells male for one thing, and two he smells slightly of spiders and greed and trickery.
"It's fine," Ciel assures.
"No no, if I don't get that out now, it'll stain," the boy smiles out, "Come with me," and so she leads Ciel away from me. I can't follow him directly as that would be weird. So, with a quick glance around to make sure that no one is looking, I sink into my own shadow and then after making my way to him, latch not Ciel's. Now I am part of his shadow and all I have to do is go along for the ride. The 'maid' hums a gentle song as 'she' dabs at the coat of the costume for a good amount of time. "There, all done," 'she' stands up and shows him the now ruined coat as Ciel stands to his feet and looks it over.
"Who are you really?" Ciel demands with narrowed eyes.
"Such a beautiful blue ring," 'she' coos as she randomly takes a hold of Ciel's hand and takes a look at the Phantomhive ring. 'She' then looks to the boy's eyes. "They're the same blue. How beautiful," 'she' giggles.
"What do you want?"
"If I can become one with you, then could my soul become as blue as yours?" 'Her' hands come to Ciel's face and trail to the back of his head up until she has his eye patch.
From there, she takes off. Ciel of course gives chase, but he looses her. However, he begins to stumble around like some sort of drunk, apparently seeing something, "Sebastian? Phobia?" Just why is he seeing myself and Sebastian make our way to the basement. He was a sleep at that time; I don't understand how he's seeing whatever he's seeing. I can't hear anything he's hearing, nor can I see what he sees. However, whatever he does see, messes with him enough to cause him to double over and throw up a bit after knocking some boxes over in an attempt to stay standing. After that, he wipes his mouth and scrambles to his feet before darting down hallway after hallway until he's out a pair of doors and to the woods.
"What happened?" The 'maid' questions, "Are you hurt? I can lick your wounds and take the pain away," The 'maid' licks 'her' lips.
"Cut the crap...Alois Trancy!" Ciel pants out glaringly at the blonde.
"Oh?" The boy mocks, "You figured it out huh? How annoying," he rips off his wig and throws it to the ground.
"I figured you'd come to me if I was alone," Ciel smirks out.
"So you followed me on your own on purpose? But...," Alois looks to his right, and from behind the tree next to him Claude comes to his side. He looks to his left and the triplets come along from the trees.
"Don't underestimate me," Ciel smirks out. From behind the tree behind him, a figure in black comes out.
"Bocchan is right," Sebastian smiles out.
"It's best not to underestimate him," I sigh out, pulling myself out of Ciel's shadow as though it were a pool of water. However, I'm not dripping wet or anything. I send the lot a smirk.
"I thought I warned you, Mr. Claude," Sebastian now frowns at our fellow demon.
"Well, I just wanted to talk in a quiet place," Alois lies.
"You threw a costume ball and dressed like that just for me. What do you want?" Ciel demands.
"I want you".
"What exactly does that mean?" Ciel demands a second time.
"I want you," Alois smiles, "That's all there is to it. If you refuse, I'll kill everyone in that building. I've set up some entertainment, and then they'll be dead. Including your precious friends. What will you do?"
"Do as you please," Ciel smirks out. This obviously shocks the blonde. "I also have a question for you".
"Go ahead, I can tell you anything," Alois assures. "If you prostrate yourself before me and wag your tail," the boy pops his ass at us as though prostrating as mentioned.
"I wonder who will be wagging their tail when this is over?" Ciel mocks.
"I like your boldness. But don't be so cocky because your butler is a little skilled," am I chopped liver or something? "My Claude here is much better!" He shows us his tongue, which has a Faustasian contract on it.
"So you have one too. Sebastian you know what to do. As per the contract, you will work for me. You will not kill me, and you will protect me until my ambition is completed," Ciel speaks to his contract giver.
"Yes. Ever since that day I have been your loyal slave. If you order it, I will grant all your wishes. I will until the contract is over, and it is time for me to take your soul," Sebastian smiles out.
"Claude, catch Ciel," Alois demands.
"This is an order: Sebastian, protect me at all costs". Ciel gives his own command.
"Yes, your Highness," Claude practically hisses out.
"Yes, my Lord," Sebastian states his own thing. "Phobia, you will be taking on the triplets".
"As you wish, Tamer," I grin and crouch down into a fighting stance. I pull the gloves off- my armor long since replaced by my usual attire- and allow my claws to extend to their full length.
"What? Two demons?" Alois' eyes are wide. "That's not possible".
"My loyalty is to my Tamer," I tell the boy. "If your butler is so great, why hasn't he tamed a Syn Hell Hound like Ciel's butler has?"
"Hell Hound?" Claude sighs out. "I have no need for wolves".
"You're interesting," Alois grins out, "Vicious looking. When Claude beats that butler, he'll tame you next".
"My loyalty is to my Tamer; I'll only ever have one," I snarl, bearing my fangs.
"Attack Combination! Gathering of Hell's Leaves!" The spider butler demands of the triplets, and I ready myself.
"Sorry," I smirk to their determined faces, "I don't plan on letting you try to hurt me in the slightest; you're going down right away. They circle me a few times until the one with the ladder leaps into the air to try and come down upon me with said supposed weapon. As he does that, his brothers rush at me with their own respective weapons. And while the ladder lands as it should, the brothers stand no chance. A hand reaches up and clashes with the blade, stopping it in its tracks as my hard skin easily holds its own. Eyes widen in surprise as I then wrap my claw covered hands around the weapon and toss it swiftly over my shoulder before striking out with a slash in the direction of the one who tried to cut me. At the same time, the other hand easily breaks the ladder and a foot lashes out at the third brother. The end result is one brother with a set of scratches along his chest, and two brothers knocked out. "Too easy," I chuckle out.
"That Hell Hound is so cool!" Alois coos. "I want him as my guardian instead of Ciel's! Claude, after you're doing taking care of Sebastian, tame Phobia!".
It is at this point that Sebastian and I make our escape to a place a little bit away from our enemies. However, when we're stopped an odd sound rings through the air.
"Hmmm, I haven't heard this sound in at least a century," Sebastian mutters.
"What is it?" Ciel demands as Sebastian covers the boy's ears for him.
I sigh and clean out one of my ears. "It's not very harsh against a demon's ears, is it?" And from there, we head out. However, the running seems a bit harsh for Ciel. "Shall I take him while you go ahead?"
"You'll be able to hold yourself against Claude if he comes for Bocchan?" Sebastian questions as for a second time we stop.
"You know he's not coming. Besides, I can easily take that guy on. You know that," I grin to him.
"Protect Ciel with your life," Sebastian demands.
"As you wish, Tamer," I casually bow before taking the boy into my arms and letting Sebastian jump off at a much faster pace while I take it nice and easy. "How are you feeling, Master," I look down to him.
"The sound really hurts my ears. What is it coming from?" Ciel clings onto my shoulders as he fights the headache I'm sure the music is giving him.
"It's called an armonica, an instrument that was popular in the 18th century and compared to the voice of an angel's," I tell him. "But it became better known as a 'devil's instrument because it confused the hearts of those charmed by the music it made". Though a grin spreads across my face as soon, the music becomes much more soothing, calming and even beautiful. "And now Sebastian is turning that song into something much more gentle. There are no words to the song he's turning it into, however it's beautiful no?"
"Can you play any instruments like him?" Ciel questions as we make our way into his room via window and I look around for a new jacket seeing as I'm not one for cleaning out stains.
"I can't play as any as he, no. However I can sing, and play a decent number of instruments," I tell him.
"Sing?" Ciel raises a brow as I help him put the replacement coat on.
"Yes. It's natural for a Hell Hound to be able to sing- at least in my pack, the Syn. Unlike most Hell Hounds that have dog like demon forms and personalities, we Syns are wolven through and through. Singing in our human forms is like howling in our demon ones," I explain to him simply as I easily make it through the hallways and back to the ball. By the time we make it there, the song is over.
"Heh," Ciel sighs out, "That was overly flamboyant".
With my control over darkness having created my costume again, I casually stand at Ciel' side, and look to Sebastian, "An armonica, right?"
"You are correct," Sebastian nods once.
"So what was that chaos in the first place?" Soma demands.
"Mere entertainment," Alois speaks up from one side of the room. He is dressed in an all purple suit with black fur on the shoulders almost as a second collar. There's a small lopsided hat on his head and a graceful smile spread across his pale face. "Forgive me for being late everyone; I am Alois Trancy. It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance".
"Oh? So that's him," one random voice speaks up.
"He's still so young," another notes.
Alois and Claude come to greet us, and we they, as nothing ever happened, "That was a wonderful performance; you have some great musical talent," Alois compliments Sebastian with a smile.
"I have no right to be praised; I am a hell of a butler after all," Sebastian smiles out.
"You have a wonderful butler, Earl Phantomhive," damn, this boy is good at playing 'goodie goodie' so to speak.
"He's just a butler," Ciel mutters.
"Oh? And who is this man, dressed as the infamous Vlad Trepes?" The blonde's attention comes to me.
Playing the part just as my Tamer does, I smile and place a closed glauntleted fist over my heart, "I am nothing but a guardian of my Master's," I tell him. "It's an honor to meet you, Earl Trancy".
"A guardian as well? You're a lucky person, Earl," Alois coos.
"He's just a guardian," Ciel mutters in the same tone from before.
"Bocchan, Phobia and I would like to talk to Mr. Claude alone for a little bit. Is that okay?" Sebastian speaks up with a smile to our Master.
"Why don't you go, Claude?" However, in a lower voice he tells his butler, "You have ten minutes. If you can't get the job done by then I'll punish you".
"Yes, your Highness," Claude tells his Master with calculating eyes.
"Hurry up and get this over with," Ciel demands, "Both of you".
"Yes, my Lord," Sebastian tells the boy.
"As you wish, Master," I state with a smirk. The three of us turn to leave the room, and as soon as we're out of sight the darkness takes my armor away from me again, changing my hair back to normal and giving me back my usual attire. We walk until we're outside, and then we walk some more in silence. Where we arrive is a large pond with a narrow dock. Sebastian and I stand next to one another while Claude stands at the edge of the dock. Above us is a welcoming full moon that begs for me to sing to it.
"You're quite persistant on taking our Master," Sebastian sneers out.
"It's my Master's orders. 'Steal Ciel Phantomhive from Sebastian Michaelis'," Claude defends himself.
"He's our Bocchan," I growl out, hands balled into loose fists.
"The way it felt," Claude mutters just loud enough for us to hear, "It's rare to come upon such fine materials".
"The thought that someone other than myself or my Tamed has touched our Bocchan makes me sick," Sebastian states seriously, eyes narrowed. "You sullied it with your disgusting white spider threads. Boccha's soul".
That's what exactly happened. Just as Sebastian was about to be rewarded for all his damn hard work, a bell had tolled, and my howling had stopped on that night. Our Master became hollow, his soul stolen right from under both our noses by a fucking spider of all things. This pissed off Sebastian to no end, as he had let his power lash out as pleased. I protected Ciel's body even as Sebastian was carrying it off his island. And when Sebastian was off the island, I let my own power go. At that moment on par with Sebastian's own, darkness had whipped around me like a massive tornado, and created destruction in its wake. That is until I settled down. It was then that I vowed to never hide how strong I am ever again. I'm as strong as my Tamer- the only reason he tamed me is because I held back and didn't know what was going on; it was the weirdest taming I'd ever seen/felt. Or perhaps it is that I am stronger and bored? Wouldn't you like to know? None the less I was pissed as he. From that day on, we set out to fix our Master.
However, he won't ever be our beloved Master again. Not until his soul is completed and not until he's had is revenge. As the battle wages, with little water twisters being kicked up this way and that by the two demons, I lay in my Hell Hound form without a care, my tails either waving around lazily or lightly dipped into the water. Why? Because there's nothing else for me to do. That's why.
"I see," Claude speaks up as the two stand from the water once it's been settled down, "You want a soul that's had revenge. You have a profound will. And yet I sense a connection to that soul; from both you and your Tamed over there".
"Of course, we are demons after all. You have a Master as well, don't you?" Sebastian throws back despite the fact that he's got a hand around his neck. Claude's fingers dance over Sebastian's chest and my upper lip raises to show deadly teeth. Don't touch my Master like that you fucker.
"Raising a soul so that we may devour them; that's how we demons thrive," Claude mutters. Well, he's almost right. I don't have to raise a soul to eat it...Probably because of my past. "But to want to give a soul a who has lost its memories a second revenge, humans don't have such an urge. My Master is also one of the rare souls that this is worth doing this for".
"Our Master is different from any human you've seen thus far," Sebastian tells him before flipping out of the hold and behind him, holding three knives to Claude's throat. "As for the second revenge, yes I do plan on helping him attain such a revenge for a second time. My Tamed will be at my side as well". His eyes flash to my own crimson ones and I flick an ear in acknowledgment. "However, we're missing a crucial piece. Someone to take revenge on. You said earlier that your Master ordered you to steal back our Bocchan".
"He said that I should, 'give you a pain far worse than death'," Claude states, "A Ciel Phantomhive who does not recall revenge is useless," it is here that Sebastian lets Claude move as he pleases, pulling the knives away from his throat. "I must steal a fully realized Ciel Phantomhive to complete my mission".
"Shall we make a deal?" Sebastian offers as the other demon puts on and fixes his glasses. His eyes turn to me, "Phobia, come".
I tilt my head before darkness that dances like fire washes over me before my normally black and red clad form easily walks on the water- if someone were to see they'd think I were some fucked up Jesus. Still, once I'm close enough I step into the water so that I'm standing in the water like the other two. "A deal huh?" I tilt my head. "I'm for it if you are, brother".
"Brother?" Claude raises an interested brow.
"That's what our bond between Tamer and Tamed has made us feel as to one another. Brothers. He the older and I the younger," I tell him with a smirk.
"I see," it is from there that we leave, all of us completely dry. Within seconds we are in a small room, Sebastian sitting directly to my right and Claude across from us. In front of my Tamer and I is a white rose, the same goes with Claude. While those two pull off their gloves, mine simply sinks into the shadow made by the jacket of my suit. While their hands show black nails and their Faustasian contracts, my hand shows nothing but my bone claws that run over the bones of my hands over the skin and sprouting from the back of my wrist in all their black and red glory. I only let one claw extend, and I curl a finger to deeply prick my wrist as needed. Sebastian bites his own wrist, and with a knife Claude cuts his. Those two are the first to drip their blood onto the single white roses in front of us. And then I drip my blood onto the same rose that Sebastian did. This turns our rose a deeper red but nothing else. Like any other demon's eyes, ours glow a vibrant ever moving around and glowing magenta.
"You will become targets of our Master's revenge," Sebastian and I intone as one.
"I will take Ciel Phantomhive once his revenge has been completed," Claude counters, picking up his normal red blood drenched rose to us, while Sebastian throws our darker red rose to him. He drips his blood onto our rose, and we do the same to his. "The deal...,"
"Is sealed," I intone with my brother. While those two lick their wounds closed, my own as well as the unused blood of mine makes its way back into my body, the wound closing of its own accord and not leaving a mark of course. After that, we return to our masters' sides.
"What does this mean?" Ciel demands as he sees the dark purple-black rose in the pocket of Sebastian's jacket. Claude is wearing the other rose the same way.
"As per your order, We've finished it quickly," Sebastian states, offering the boy a small bundle of papers.
"What is this?" Ciel looks over the packet, flipping paper over after paper. "They were investigating me...? Even my father...So they really are," yes Ciel, they really are your enemy. I glare in the direction of our enemy. I won't let them take Ciel from my Tamer, who had worked so hard to raise the soul that he so wished to devour. I'll die before Claude gets Ciel. I like the boy, and he's already agreed to give Sebastian his soul. There's no change ups; that's not how it works.