I do not own Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji. Thank you for your faves and follows. It makes me giddy when I open my email and see all the notifications. I am humbled by your enthusiasm ^.^ Thank you. I know this fic is generating substantial traffic, and I've noticed that the traffic on Libera Me has jumped drastically. My only request is that you review!
The four of them settled at the kitchen table, a tea service in the center and a snifter of brandy directly in front of Paula-a stately woman in appearance around the age of fifty-two, Ciel figured. She couldn't seem to tear her eyes off him and it was really no wonder, he thought. She had just had the ill fortune of interrupting him intimately entwined with her mistress, and he still looked as though he were a child. He supposed he would have a hard time as well digesting that, had he been in her shoes. Every so often, she would cut her glare toward the butler, but he would smile that provocative smile of his and she would redden to the roots of her now-gray hair and hurriedly deflect her gaze back to the boy demon. After several long moments of silence, Lizzie finally cleared her throat and began to try and explain the situation.
"Paula, I'm not quite sure how to say this... but I intend to leave with Ciel for America tonight-" she glanced at the wall clock above the pie case, "-in about three hours, actually."
Paula's glare was finally off Ciel. Her eyes widened and her hands smacked the tabletop, rattling everything on top. "Absolutely, NOT!"
"Paula! Calm down-you cannot presume to tell me-"
"I'll tell you what the hell I want to tell you, m'lady! Something's unnatural about these two and if you can't see that, well you're blinded by your own fantasy!"
"If you would care to show your mistress some respect-like you did thirty years ago-perhaps she'll tell you what is so unnatural about us," Ciel deadpanned, leveling his glowing red eye at the ladies maid and wondering if she'd lost her mind in the years since he'd last seen her. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but if you were my servant, I'd toss you out on your ear. Elizabeth has been generous and kind to you, but I assure you, a servant is never above a good beating and I will do it myself if you forget your place one more time."
Paula visibly swallowed, her eyes huge and filled with fear. She reached for the snifter of brandy and downed it all in one gulp. "My apologies, my lord."
Ciel nodded curtly and leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs at the knees and rolling his eyes to his butler who smiled with unabashed approval.
"Paula, I know there's something...unnatural ...about them. They're... not of this world, you see. Sebastian here, he's been more than a butler to Ciel-he's been somewhat of a bodyguard."
Ciel and Sebastian both noted that she seemed unable to utter the word 'demon'.
"They're both... well, immortal so to speak... and they have brought a friend with them here. Oh, dear..." Lizzie covered her face in her hands and scrubbed them up and down, gathering her thoughts. There was just no nice way to say it.
"Pour me a glass of brandy will you, Sebastian?"
"My pleasure, Mistress Elizabeth," he smiled as he rose and retrieved the brandy decanter and another snifter. He poured it expertly and sat it before her, then refilled Paula's glass and left the decanter there on the table between them. "I think I shall go check on Menefer," he directed his comment to Ciel and the boy nodded sharply, dismissing him from the drama about to erupt in that kitchen. Sauntering out into the parlor, he called over his shoulder, "I am but a shout away, my young master..."
Paula's eyes followed the butler's retreat, then locked down on Ciel again, who sat there, devoid of emotion, his eye having turned blue again, as he studied to two women before him. She reached for her brandy and sipped it this time, then finally turned her full attention back to Elizabeth.
Lizzie pressed her brandy glass to her lips and took a long draw of the fiery liquid. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Paula, Sebastian is a demon. Wait! Before you have hysterics again! He's not... dangerous to either of us. And thirty years ago, while trying to save Ciel from another ...family... of demons, Ciel was changed into one himself. Since he and Sebastian held a contract, Sebastian is now forced to serve him for all eternity. The only way either of them would be a threat is if we struck a contract with them, as well..."
Paula reached again for her brandy, but to her credit, she hadn't uttered a single word... Yet.
Lizzie pressed on. "They came for a visit this morning. And after they left here, they went to the British Museum. Sebastian is very old, you see... and he happened upon someone he knew... at the museum. In the Egyptian exhibit."
"So he brought a friend from the museum. What, a curator, or something?"
A burst of laughter escaped Ciel at that moment, startling both Paula and Lizzie. "Or something, indeed," he said, recovering but still with a grin plastered on his face that Lizzie found a little too tempting. She averted her eyes quickly and carried on.
"She was a friend of his... from Egypt. She was the exhibit, Paula."
Paula downed her brandy and slammed the empty glass down on the table. "Okay. I can handle this. No more outbursts," she promised, and taking the whole decanter in her hands, she held it in her lap and waited for Elizabeth to continue.
A warm smile spread over Lizzie's lovely face and she knew that Paula would indeed hear them out. She had found Paula was always a tad too protective of her, but as they both aged, Paula had become less like a ladies maid and more like an overprotective mother hen. She knew it was out of love for her, so Elizabeth treated her with more indulgence than most servants had ever known. But Paula had steadily become more and more over the top, and Lizzie feared she'd began to have bouts of dementia-especially when the expletives became more and more frequent. She hadn't figured out how to have Paula examined by her physician without raising Paula's own suspicions, and using the pretext that she was sick was impossible, because the woman simply never did get sick. Lizzie reached out and took Paula's hand in her own. She didn't want to leave her behind, but she didn't know if Paula would accept her invitation, either.
"Menefer, Sebastian's friend, seemed to come back to life while he was next to her display case. She broke the case from the inside and they had no choice but to flee the museum with her. As such, the authorities are looking for them because they think they've stolen a mummy. And ...while she was a mummy, she's not quite so mummified now. She's living, breathing, and unbelievably beautiful, Paula. They cannot let the police find them. If they take her, who knows what will happen? She's lost and but for us, completely alone. She cannot speak English, I have no clothes that will fit her, and they are leaving tonight because of the danger. Now, Ciel wants me to come with him. And we'll have a home where we are going. And I'll need you there, as much as I've ever needed you here, Paula. Will you come with me?"
Paula turned the decanter in her hands, watching the liquid move about for several minutes. Finally she raised her head and nodded. Then, un-stopping the decanter, took several stout gulps from the brandy and sat it back on the table with a loud crack. "Where are we going?"
"New Orleans, Louisiana, my lady," Sebastian's voice drifted from the doorway. Paula turned to face him and Lizzie's eyes were wide with adoration. Menefer stood there, grasping tightly to the sleeve of Sebastian's shirt, her eyes bright with expectation and the tiniest bit of fear. He'd apparently picked a dress for her while he was out and found some strappy little shoes as well.
Much to Ciel's distaste, it was what Sebastian had called a "Flapper" style ensemble-what all the women on the street that morning had been wearing. He couldn't put his finger on precisely why he hated the style so much... But he had to admit, she wore it well. Of course, she would probably be gorgeous in a potato sack...
"Go on, my Dear. Introduce yourself to your friends."
Confusion crossed Lizzie's and Ciel's faces in unison-Menefer had only spoken in that ancient language and had only spoken it to Sebastian. But their mouths hung agape as the beautiful priestess walked into the kitchen and said in a raspy, sultry voice with a perfect British accent, "It is good to meet you. Thank you for caring for me."
Sebastian was grinning ear to ear behind her and she turned and smiled at him, like a child proud of an enormous accomplishment; Ciel nearly found himself applauding. "How?" he asked, his attention still riveted to the Egyptian woman.
"Her mind seems to regenerate-and learn-as quickly as her body has. I still do not know the why of it, but I believe it has something to do with my presence and the pendant she wears around her neck."
"The one you gave her?"
"Yes, my lord. You see, there's a bit of a story to that, as well. Suffice it to say, the pendant is made with enchantments designed to harness the power of her 'gods'. And as I am a Fallen-what the populace believed to be gods in her society-it appears to be absorbing my powers and making her ...well, what you see before you now."
"And what a vision, indeed!" Lizzie exclaimed, standing and scuffling to the transformed woman. She took Menefer's hands and twirled her in a happy little pirouette. The lace dress draped her curves beautifully, the ivory and gold accents the perfect colors to display on her flawless caramel skin. Sebastian had removed all her jewelry but for that pendant, and having been cleaned, Lizzie could see it was a rich carnelian obelisk in a gold filigree hanger. She touched it with the tip of her finger and smiled.
"Carnelian represents the blood of life, and immortality," Sebastian explained as Lizzie admired the obelisk at Menefer's throat. "In retrospect, I suppose those attributes could have something to do with our current juncture..." he trailed off, pressing his forefinger to his chin thoughtfully. "This may require some research."
Lizzie pulled back from the priestess, but still held her hands in her grasp. "It has been wonderful meeting you, Dearest," she said, her face bright with genuine happiness. "And I simply cannot wait to hear the tales you must surely weave for us on our crossing."
Menefer did not reply, but the smile she returned to Elizabeth seemed to say that she understood every word the blonde had spoken.
Ciel stood from the table circumvented it, coming to a stop directly in front of Sebastian. "I'm exhausted. I'm going to catch a nap on the chaise until we leave."
"Very good, sir. I will wake you when we are prepared to depart."
Lizzie decided that was a superb plan and patting Menefer's hand, she went upstairs to throw a few belongings in a small traveling trunk. Paula rose as well, and with nothing but an apologetic look thrown in Sebastian's general direction, marched to the back staircase behind the kitchen and up to the servant's quarters above where she would presumably follow Elizabeth's example and pack a light trunk for their trip.
Sebastian took Menefer by the hand and guided her back to the guest room next to Elizabeth's. "Stay and rest for a while. I'll come get you when we are ready to leave."
It surprised even him, that she looked up at him with those huge chocolate eyes and said, "Do you promise? You'll not leave me again?" Her throaty voice was thick with what he suspected was tears and he placed a gloved hand atop her curls and smiled his most honest smile.
"I do promise, Menefer. I will not leave you again."
The light of dawn found them miles from London. The sea was choppy and to Ciel's chagrin, he found he didn't enjoy ships as much as he had as a child. Sebastian and Paula had seen to the scant luggage the ladies had packed and now Paula was locked in a cabin with Elizabeth, seemingly determined to keep Ciel away from her. Menefer was asleep in Sebastian's and Ciel's cabin, and the two demons were standing at the deck railing, gazing out across the gray waters as the explosion of orange and pink and yellow crested the horizon. Ciel's stomach lurched with every heave of the ship beneath him, and he wondered if throwing up would make him feel better. It was a shame he couldn't eat, or that wouldn't have even been a question. Sebastian looked at him with amusement. "You will get used to it, my master."
"That's easy for you to say," Ciel grumbled, turning from the rail and making his way toward their cabin. "I'm going to try and lie down. Don't wake me till we're on land."
That earned a hearty chuckle from the demon butler-now-banker. "Of course, my master."
Ciel found his way to their cabin with little enough effort. There weren't many passengers up and about at this time of the morning, so he didn't have to endure the strange gazes of humans wondering why a young boy was wandering around in Victorian garb and an eye patch. He opened the door quietly, so as not to disturb the sleeping priestess, and kicked off his shoes at the foot of the second bed in the room. He wondered briefly if he should take off his clothes, but seeing as he was rumpled enough to begin with and he didn't have anything to sleep in, he shrugged it off and climbed into the bed on top of the coverlets.
His sleep as a demon was gradually growing more and more fitful, filled with nightmares of horrors past and visions of hellfire licking up the bodies of his loved ones. More than once, he'd dreamed of Lizzie in the midst of that hellfire and awoken in a cold sweat. Sebastian assured him that as he matured as a demon, his requirement for sleep would eventually diminish completely. Sebastian described it as more of a meditation-he himself having only really slept one night in over forty years that he could remember. Ciel tossed atop the sheets and woke briefly a few times, turning his eyes over to the other bed and seeing Menefer there, peaceful and still, and resolved himself to go back to sleep over and over again. He dreamed of Lizzie; thankfully not being devoured by flames, but in other... circumstances... that he probably shouldn't focus on when he finally awoke.
Menefer's movement next to him in the room was what brought him back to reality. He lay there for several moments, his eyes still closed, his back turned to her, and listened. She was making the most curious mewling sound and he immediately remembered finding Elizabeth in the bath earlier that previous evening. He wondered if he should say something or not, and curiosity finally got the better of him and he turned slowly, relieved to find her decent and sitting up in bed. "Whatever are you doing, making that sound?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep.
He didn't really expect an answer, but to his surprise, she provided one in perfect English. "Practicing, my lord. Your... language is difficult for my tongue. I must make sounds to learn."
"Oh." Ciel sat up and reached for his eye patch on the pillow next to him. Tying it around his head with practiced efficiency, he felt the sudden urge to encourage her. "You are doing very well."
"Thank you, my lord. I am trying. Marcus says I must master this and he will teach me... other things. More words. How to read. About this place-" she gestured around herself. "Not just ship, but the world. I have known only Egypt and darkness."
"I suppose you have. Do you know what time it is, Menefer?"
She glanced at her lap and then around the room. "Marcus left for us his watch..." spotting it on the small table in the cabin, she hopped up and retrieved it. Staring at it for a moment, she discovered how to open the latch and the lid popped open and she studied the two little arms on the face of the watch. "It is seven thirty, I think," she declared and shuffling to the bed where Ciel was perched, she sat on the edge of the coverlet and handed him the watch.
He took it from her, checked it, and discovered she was correct. He'd slept an entire day. But his stomach wasn't roiling about in his body any longer and he thought perhaps he should at least join Lizzie for supper. But he didn't have a change of clothes, he remembered and wondered if it would cause a scene if he appeared in the dining hall with his rumpled knee breeches and creased shirt. His eyes wondered around the cabin, looking for anything to make do, when he saw with bemused surprise, an outfit laid out for him on the bench at the foot of his bed. "Oh, Sebastian. Will you ever cease to amaze me?"
To be completely honest, the Earl Phantomhive couldn't remember a time when he'd dressed himself. It wasn't as if he couldn't he supposed, he'd just always had Sebastian for that little chore. Menefer, still garbed in the sleeping gown that Lizzie had provided her, threw a robe over herself and announced she would get ready with the other women. She made quick work of her massive mane and snatched up her ivory and gold 'flapper' dress and marched out of their cabin, leaving Ciel alone to dress himself. He could call Sebastian, he mused, but he wanted to see the look on the butler's face when he appeared fully dressed without the older demon's help.
He was struggling with the tie when there was a light knock on his cabin door. "It's open," he called, fully expecting it to be Sebastian that appeared to defeat the silk obstacle around his neck. It wasn't however; Elizabeth's head popped in the crack of the door and found him standing in front of the mirror in the corner of the room, decidedly irritated with this scrap of fabric. She smiled and let herself in, closing the door gently behind her and motioning for him to turn so she could tie the thing herself.
Ciel felt the color returning to his cheeks as she sat on the edge of his bed and pulled him to her with firm fingers grasping his sleeves. He averted his gaze for some time while she untangled the mess he'd made with the tie, then started over. Her hair smelled of vanilla and lavender again, and her breath was decidedly sweet with peppermint. And he couldn't help but remember that her mouth had tasted like chamomile and mint when he'd kissed her the other night...
"Stop fidgeting, Dearest," she scolded.
"I don't seem to be able to stop myself," Ciel grumbled, finally making eye contact with the woman inches from his face. Her shining green eyes were smiling and she teasingly leaned closer and pecked him on the nose. The color rushed to his face then and she laughed artlessly and tugged at the silk tie. She seemed to enjoy teasing him, he thought, and it was an absolute pity that he couldn't do anything to punish her for it at that moment. "Finished?" he asked, instead of protesting her provocations, and she nodded.
"Done. Would you care to escort a lady to dinner?"
Ciel grinned despite himself. "Most certainly."