Author's Note: I'm pleased to announce that William and Ronald's story prior to this series will be posted, it's called Bottle Shock. I also want to thank those of you who have been commenting, I haven't had a chance to respond to all of you, I promise to soon. I'm also glad to announce that my Beta has edited all the back chapters, excluding this one. I will be posting the corrected chapters soon.
Chapter 31: Red & White
Elizabeth was quick to pull into the driveway of the estate only to notice a cab in front of the doors, she stared at it in confusion as Tanaka got out. After a moment she had the car parked and was getting out of it. In moments she was storming across the driveway and making her path to the mansion. "Ah Miss Elizabeth, how wonderful to see you," Tanaka greeted after removing his hat and bowing a little. She sighed and glared at him, "Is Vincent in?" she hissed. Tanaka was quiet for a moment as his smile faded, and he deadpanned, "Yes, however he is unavailable." The blonde woman glared at him, her eyes were filled with anger, she had to see Vincent, now. She wasn't going to settle for later, "Tanka it's important," she stated. The elderly butler was cold and aloof as he replied, "As is his time with his wife, I will take a message," he stated. The young woman hissed with displeasure and crossed her arms, he would make a fool of her, and she knew it. "Tanka, this involves Ciel," she stated.
The butler was even more interested which confused Lizzy, "Oh?" he asked after a moment, "This way, Vincent may not be available, however that doesn't mean you can't speak to anyone," he stated. Lizzy looked at him in confusion and was about to say something when Diedrich pulled into the driveway and stepped out of the car. "Tanka, Elizabeth, is Vincent free?" he asked slowly as he closed the door to his car and looked at the pair. Tanka shook his head, "No, however Elizabeth wishes to speak to Vincent, he's with Rachel," he stated. Diedrich looked at Elizabeth curiously and then to Tanka before sighing and gesturing for them to enter the house, "I suppose we can talk in the parlor, since Vincent is unavailable," he stated. The house was cold and still, which made her shiver. She hadn't seen it like this in years, since Rachel was diagnosed with cancer all of the warmth from the hearths in the house. She rubbed her arms subconsciously as she looked at the portraits which lined the walls. Something was very wrong, all the light had vanished from the house, it was as though winter had set in and frozen the house and it's soul.
Diedrich seemed unfazed by this as he continued to walk through the hallways to the parlor. Lizzy slowly took a seat in the room and watched as Diedrich took the seat across from her and Tanaka stood at attention, his coat and hat now missing. "What did you want to speak to Vincent about?" he asked slowly. Lizzy stared at him for a moment, unsure of whether or not she wanted to tell him. He was Vincent's right hand man, she sighed and looked at him, "What I'm going to say doesn't leave this room," she whispered.
Tanaka and Diedrich looked at one another, "Why would it?" asked Diedrich. Elizabeth sighed and looked at him, she didn't want her reputation ruined. "I saw something I shouldn't have a few last night," she stated hesitantly. Her voice was grim and filled with pain as she attempted to put together the sentence, she had rehearsed it in her head all the way over in the car, and yet now she couldn't say it. "Ciel did something horrible," she whispered, "it was vile." She could feel Diedrich's probing gaze on her face, it was powerful and she shuttered, now she understood why Vincent sent Diedrich to extract information. "I saw him raping Sebastian," her words hung in the still air. She looked up to see the one thing she never expected on the stalwart German Lord's face, shock.
Diedrich's eyes were wide, and he looked as though he were about to be ill. He was pale, nearly ghastly looking as he closed his eyes and winced. Tanaka looked just as disturbed. "We need to talk about this," he whispered, he sounded pained as he did so. "I'll tell Vincent, we need to ensure this doesn't leave this room," he whispered to Tanaka. The pair nodded, he was about to continue when he heard his phone buzz, "I need to go, I'll leave this to you," he stated. His eyes fell on the text message, and he stared at where several creates had come from, France. Now he knew he had to start there.
~~xXx~~
Wooden creates with various vinyards names across them sat at William's feet as he looked them over, everything was presented which meant less work for him to do in the long run. "Excellent, I want them out of boxes an on the shelves,"he commanded one of his younger understudies. He was about to say something else when his mobile rang. William sighed in exasperation, he felt like all that was happening was that his phone rang. "Spears," he replied as he answered the phone. His eyes widened as he looked at the bottles, "Yes I'm available," he replied. There was a pause, and a grin swept across his lips, this was going to be fun and he knew it. "I'll see you then," he relied before turning on his heel and looking over the racks of wine in the cellar, this client was perhaps one of his most important and William had a feeling he knew just what was going to happen with the eighteen bottles he selected. "Oh this will be fun," he remarked as he slipped his fingers around the neck of a bottle of Chateau Montelana 1971 Chardoney and stroked it affectionately, no limits, no budget, and no restrictions on the paring, which meant he could choose what ever he desired. "Yes, this will be fun," he commented.
~~xXx~~
After an hour drive back to the city, he swiftly returned to his office. It was quiet in the office of the German noble as he attempted to find what he could on assorted databases. "There has to be a link, there's no way this is all coincidence," he muttered as he scoured the pages for just a whisper of an answer. He groaned before noticing someone had sent him an email. He glared at the screen for a moment before realizing he hadn't done the most basic of searches, "Sebastian went to Le Cordon Bleu," he muttered as he opened his browser and swiftly typed in the name of the culinary college into the Google search bar. In moments it returned with the college's official page as the first find. Diedrich opened the page and stared at the logo. If Sebastian was the favorite child of the pastry world he would have a page to himself. Diedrich smiled as he looked over the tabs, once he had found the Patissier department his eyes widened when he noticed the list of alumni, Sebastian's name was a link which made him smile and yet right next to it was the name Claude Fairchild. He hummed as he clicked on Sebastian's name and looked at the biography which had been provided as well as a number of photos of him during his school years.
Diedrich scrolled down the page, the bio was a watered down version of Sebastian's life at the orphanage and schooling, mentioning his father, but claiming he had died in an accident. "Clearly Sebastian edited this," he whispered as he continued reading. He sighed as he looked over several superb shots of the chef working, including one of him decorating a dark chocolate raspberry torte. It gave him very little insight as to just what had occurred during those years. He hummed as he continued reading and froze.
"Michaelis would often give seminars and lecture in the place of professors when they were unavailable and was considered the favorite child of the Pastry world. Chefs from all over the campus were frequently invited to attend his open lectures, there were a number of traditional French Cuisine chefs who frequented his lectures including Claude Fairchild, another promising chef as well as W. T. Spears a promising Sommelier who had recently taken residence in Paris, and Angela Blanc, a sponsor for the college."
Diedrich's eyes widened as he continued reading and looked to the right of the column was a row of photos. The first was of a very familiar man with a pair of rectangular glasses, emerald eyes and a head of raven hair that was combed precisely in place. He was tall, thin and smiling as he chatted with a man who appeared to be another Sommelier. "William?" he asked. There he was standing with pride as he smiled, cradling a red wine glass in his hands. "Spears trained in Paris, but I didn't know it was Le Cordon Bleu," he whispered. After a moment he continued looking at the photos, standing in the second one, intently taking notes was a woman with short white hair and lavender eyes. She was smiling brightly and looked all too menacing, "Angela Blanc," he whispered as he looked at them. Now things were getting even more unusual. He didn't know she was a sponsor and represented a wealthy family. "What the hell?" he asked as he looked at the largest of the three photos.
Sitting up and writing notes furiously was a young golden eyed chef, with black hair, a square jaw, powerful body and long fingers. "Claude?" he muttered in confusion as he looked at the name, "Claude Fairchild?" Nothing was making sense, he knew the man as Faustus, he thought Claude had gone to the CIA, and yet there he was on the Le Cordon Bleu web page. In moments he had the Fairchild page open and stared at the proud smile of Claude as he stood before the camera with his arms crossed and a dish before him. "What is going on?" he asked, bewildered that not only had Claude lied on his application but the fact that the four of them had been attending the college or viewing it in some shape or form, at the same time. He started to read the article and noticed something even more unnerving. Clearly the French knew something no one in England did.
"Chef Fairchild graduated top of his class out of both the exchange students from the American Culinary Institute but also Le Cordon Bleu. After graduating he moved to London and changed his name to Faustus, he is currently working at the restaurant Ciel under Ciel Phantomhive's management."
How the French knew that Fairchild was really Faustus confused him, "Now they are all back in London," he mused as he opened Angela Blanc's page. There was a paragraph stating that she was simply the representative of a wealthy family, yet, there was an air about the piece that told him what ever had occurred everyone knew about it. Diedrich quickly typed her name into Google search and continued to dig, there was far more to this than even he realized. "Shit," he stammered as he looked at the articles, they ranged in sources, however they were all reputable. "Old French Noble Family Goes Bankrupt", "Blanc Family Swindled", and finally "Mass Suicide of the Blanc Family." His eyes widened, this was dark, pitch black as he began to piece it together. Each shard of Sebastian's life was slowly being glued back together.
He opened several articles and began reading, this was going to take him hours, however if he could get through all of it he would be able to finally figure out why Sebastian was trapped in the middle.
~~xXx~~
Days had slowly gone by after Sebastian had been admitted to the hospital, he could remember Ciel's shock when he had told the young man that no matter his feelings he would obey, just as long as Claude was safe. The rain was back, it was always raining when his heart hurt. Ciel was going to destroy Claude and bind him, yet all Sebastian wanted was to see the chef happy. Somehow as things had begun to unfold he was starting to realize it was more than admiration he felt for Claude, it was something far more important and fundamental. A feeling which he didn't think he was worthy of, he the man who had been raped and sold over and over again, dirty in every sense of the word. His crimson eyes gazed down at his hand he looked at his palm, which he had jabbed with the knife. His eyes were on the scar which now covered it from the stitches. It was long and painful, yet the pain seemed to make everything else fade, all his misery simply fell into the shadows. Sebastian drew a deep breath as he traced the scar with his fingers, "Another scar," he whispered helplessly. He was covered in scars, all of them reminders of who and what he was.
The Patissier shook his head to clear it, he had to focus, he was going to be repeating the challenge, except Landers would be pulling the knife. Oddly he found it relieving for the other man to pull it, he didn't need people seeing his scar. He sighed as he slipped into his coat and looked at the now vacant bed, Claude was at work, Ciel had forced the Head Chef to return, which meant Sebastian was alone. Yet before then he never had been, he felt safe for that scent of rosemary and thyme was never far. Those broad warm hands which had held his were near and his voice which was like chocolate, smooth, lush and slightly bitter, had filled the room as he told a story. He smiled, they were near the end of the book and he had left off with Severus giving Harry his memories, he was dying to know what was in the vile, yet Claude had insisted on taking a break after his throat had become tired.
"Perhaps there is a happy ending," he whispered, even if Snape didn't have one, he was dying on the floor of the Shrieking Shack. He slipped his knife bag over his shoulder and left the room, it was time to discharge himself and face a new demon. He flexed his fingers, silently thanking the gods in the heavens above that he could still move them. Before he even realized it, he was signing release forms and walking out into the streets. He had an hour to get to the studio, yet he was consumed by the events which had occurred, Claude had stayed with him and Ciel had threatened to destroy Claude, all of it confused him. Sebastian sighed as he continued to walk, the world passing him by as he did so. His mind kept wandering back to all of his scars, there were so many, and each had a reminder. The ones on his back were a reminder of being simply alive, those on his legs of being disobedient, his chest of being worthless and now his hand for being skilless. He sighed as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his pants, before he began his march to the studio.
People continued to pass him by as he walked down the street, everyone was praying he would be able to school Ash, yet he didn't know if he even could. It was difficult and nearly impossible to put the man in his place. He would need a miracle to do it, one which would never come for someone as injured as him. Sebastian paused, somehow he had made it to the studio, the reporters had been pushed back, he slowly pushed open the door and looked at the bustling hallways, he was several feet in when he heard a roar of applause. Sebastian froze and looked over the group, the atmosphere was warm, bright and seemed to give him a sense of confidence. "Welcome back, ready to play?" asked Joker confidently there was a head set around his shoulders and a bright blue cap with the show logo on it. "We took the liberty of getting you a new jacket, well when I see I mean Claude," he stated as he guided Sebastian across the foyer, oddly Sebastian felt as though he were a gladiator heading to the arena. He could hear the cheers and votes of confidence humming in his ears, it startled him, people believed in his ability.
"What's the matter?" asked Joker with a hint of concern his eyes were wide as he placed a hand on Sebastian's shoulder. The raven haired patissier paused and looked at him, "Even after slicing my hand all of you believe in me," he whispered. Joker smiled crookedly and nodded, "Of course, you're still the chef we hope will win," he stated. Sebastian slowly entered the room and noticed the familiar sight of Claude standing in jeans and a tight navy blue sweater. His molten gold eyes were filled with confidence and joy, his hands cradled a black garment bag, "I noticed your jacket wasn't the right size, so I go you something," he said simply. Sebastian was quiet as the Head Chef pulled the zipper on the bag revealing a jet black jacket with red accents and black buttons. His eyes wandered over the jacket, after a moment they fell on his name which had been embroidered with a bird in gold under it. S. Michaelis, flowed across it and he stared at the arm which had the name of the show and finally the logo of Le Cordon Bleu, it was stunning. "Why a bird?" asked Sebastian curiously as he touched the light and sturdy fabric, he could tell it was made of even finer material than the first jacket, it was lightweight and clearly could breath. "You'll see," he replied with a knowing grin. Claude held the jacket open for Sebastian, it was as though he were slipping into battle armor, Sebastian slipped it on and moved with ease, it was a perfect fit.
"I have to go and check on Spears, he's attending tonight," he stated before disappearing and leaving Beast to touch up Sebastian's make up. Crimson orbs followed the man out before turning his attention to Joker, "What's going on?" he asked. Joker smiled and looked at him, "What would you do if I told you this went international and right now people all over the globe are logging on to see what you will craft next?" he asked. Sebastian's eyes widened, he knew France was watching and England but he didn't expect this. Joker took a seat and looked Sebastian in the eye, "Sebastian, you were the top of your class, your name has been whispered with promise in not only France but England, the States, Germany, Italy and most recently schools in Japan and China, you are their dream. You are proof that it doesn't matter the name or blood, it's all about skill, taste and imagination," he stated simply. Sebastian was quiet as he looked at his reflection in the mirror, his eyes didn't seem to leave it, he couldn't imagine being famous for simply being the top of his class and competing with another chef.
"There's a twist tonight, something that I know will throw Ash through a loop. I'm not allowed to tell you, all I can say is that I hope you can do this," he stated. Sebastian was about to ask a question as Joker disappeared, leaving him with far more questions than answers.
~~xXx~~
William was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, he didn't expect to get roped into this issue this way, then again he had promised Vincent he would do all he could to help him. He hummed as he thought about seeing Sebastian in the new jacket, he was shocked to see Claude sketching the design. Ciel's logo was no where to be scene, it was a silent proclamation of rebellion, this was going to be an interesting challenge and he knew it. After all what they were going to do would require more than just pastry skills, all he could hope for was that it wouldn't throw them through too much of a loop. His lips were curved into a smooth smile as he waited for them to appear, Claude had taken his place near Joker with his arms crossed, William didn't tell the man he was there, he knew it would be a little too obvious if he did. William adjusted his tie and slid his rimless glasses into place, he was wearing a slim cut three piece suit with a green and silver tie, his hair was combed back and he was wearing his wrist watch. A smile curved his lips as Doll and Dagger started the count, he nodded in acknowledgement and watched as the chefs walked out of the hallway.
The pair were standing before the box and Vincent was smiling deviously. "Welcome chefs, it's nice to see you both," Vincent said warmly, his voice was dripping with excitement, the aristocrat was going to have far too much fun with this. "As you know after Sebastian's incident the challenge was considered null and void by myself and the judges, however it wouldn't be fair to Ash if he drew the knife without earning it," he paused and studied their faces, "There for each of you will draw a knife." Ash stood there shell shocked for a moment as Sebastian glanced sideways at Vincent as though the slate haired Lord had lost his mind. "I would like to introduce you to our guest," said Vincent as he gestured to the doors which were on the other side of the room.