Picture Perfect
Alright, peeps, I'm back. Time for more Black Butler.
...
Dear Alliahnna and Ciel,
How are things in London? Fine, I'm assuming. Seeing as how that's how we left it.
It's been an arduous 10 days on a rickety ship, but we've all returned safely to Paris. Albeit, a stop or two along the way to enjoy the sights we missed on our trip to England.
Ciel, it was an absolute pleasure and honor to meet you. It pleases me to know Alliahnna has someone from her previous life to come home to. I must confess, with how often Alliahnna spoke of your childhood exploits together, it felt as if we were reunited after a lengthy absence. Take care of yourself.
Alliahnna, be sure to take care of your brother just as you've looked after me and all of Paris. Cherish the time fate has allowed you both to regain. And do keep Sebastian out of trouble. Lord knows he enjoys bringing it to your doorstep. Ha-ha.
Take care.
Schneizel
The letter lowered, revealing an offended Sebastian. "Me? Bring trouble to our doorstep?" Sebastian scoffed, sneering at the window. "The very idea is preposterous."
"Sounds accurate to me." Alliahnna giggled at the irked Sebastian's expense, setting the letter down on Ciel's work desk. "I hardly recall an instance where trouble beckoned in spite of me."
"Are we forgetting the riot you ensued because you found real fox fur on a coat?" Sebastian wittily retorted.
A vein popped in her head. He was never going to let her live that down. "They said faux, it was really fox! Sue me for caring!" She pressed her hands to her hips.
"Inspiring riots - sounds like you." Ciel sniggered. He nonchalantly sipped his tea in response to Alliahnna's glare. "Speaking of trouble making, where are Zanosuke and Jasper?"
"They are giving themselves a proper tour of London." Sebastian informed his young master. "They should be back later in the evening. With your permission they'd like to extend their stay." He put a hand to Alliahnna's shoulder. "To help Alliahnna fully grasp her power when they finally awaken."
Ciel set the tea down, staring astonished at his sister. Not long ago he learned his sister took on the contract and became a substitute demon. Courtesy of the contract being complete, she is now a full blooded demon. Only her powers were in temporary hibernation. Gradually blossoming as her body adjusts to the drastic changes.
"Is the power so devastating?" Ciel asked skeptically.
"It can be. Especially if the host lacks the discipline and training necessary to tame it." He arched a teasing brow.
Alliahnna puffed blushing cheeks, shying back with her hands behind her back. "You're never going to let me live it down, are you?"
"It would be irresponsible of me, My Lady." He bowed, slyly kissing her cheek to butter her up.
During Schneizel's stay, Alliahnna treated him and Phoebus to a small tour of London. A chance to catch up, and get a feel for Alliahnna's ancestral home. Claude Faustus - Alois Trancy's head demon butler - launched an attack against Alliahnna, endangering Schneizel, and Phoebus. Alliahnna's pride overruled her judgement because of previous victories. She foolishly challenged him, nearly dying in the process. Zanosuke and Jasper, after saving her, informed Sebastian, who then gave her an earful. He's forgiven her since then, but throws the occasional joke to prode her ego.
"Before this humorous conversation derails my thought," Sebastian removed a silver platter from beneath his arm, "There is work to be done." Ciel and Alliahnna gawked at the butler. Spoonfuls of gooseberry and elderflower gelatin hung in their mouths. Sebastian presented an envelope bearing Queen Victoria's seal. Alliahnna surreptitiously glanced incredulously toward Sebastian. He shook his head, signifying they would speak later.
Inside was a newsletter pertaining to a recent crime wave washing the London Streets. Alliahnna and Ciel skimmed the contents, arriving to the article about burnings and people bursting into flames.
"People being burned alive?" Sebastian remarked, pouring Ciel and Alliahnna cups of green tea. "Oh yes. That's to do with the rash of crimes in London? I am told there was another last night."
Alliahnna sat atop Ciel's desk with her legs crossed, leaning back on her hands to better read the disturbing article. She snorted rancorously. "And here I thought one inferno would put the people off for another decade or so." London being burned once was bad enough. Now people? Sometimes Alliahnna forgot what humans were capable of. Her bruning half of Notre Dame hardly granted her room for derision. "This is a terrible ordeal."
"Her Majesty grieves for her citizens." Ciel informed his sister and butler. "As well as those who live in fear because of this." Ciel paused a moment, catching something odd. Alliahnna aligned the line of sight to the passage at the end of the letter. She raised a brow.
"You see something else wrong, My Lord and Lady?" Sebastian wondered, handing the twins their tea. Alliahnna passed the letter to him.
Sebastian scrolled to the end, ascertaining the cause behind the Phantomhives confusion. "We find these events most unsavory. Our course is quite clear. We shall, again, leave the matter to the dog and the spider." Alliahnna's nails dug in the desk. "That's an odd statement."
"It sounds as if she saying this sort of incident has happened before." Again, Sebastian and Alliahnna mentally conveyed the loop Ciel's lapse in memory prevented him from entering.
Ciel noticed their discomfort. Before he could inquire, Alliahnna spoke. "In Paris, a rash of fires broke out. Notre Dame and several people fell in the onslaught. Her Majesty considered it a blow to both her and the people of Paris." Her stomach twisted in knots. She hated lying to Ciel.
Ciel sniggered under his breath. He wafted the tea under his nose. "It would seem whatever was in Paris reared itself to our humble home." He pridefully sipped the tea.
"Yes sir. And who is this spider?" Sebastian wondered aloud. Not that he and Alliahnna weren't already aware.
"A mysterious nickname. Spider." Ciel let the name roll off his tongue. "I can't say I ever heard of such a person."
"And it can't be referring to us." Alliahnna stated confidently. "He's a raven, I'm a bat, and you're Queen's guard dog." She bounced her brow. Ciel so despised the nickname. He admitted it had a certain charm. It rankled Sir Arthur. Sir Randall in Alliahnna's case. "Think someone's been at her beckon call during our absence?"
Ciel put the tea down, sighing with resolve. "There's no use in sitting here debating the issue. Let's see to the Queen's concerns. That must always be our priority."
"Sebastian and I will get a carriage ready." Alliahnna slid off the desk. She hooked Sebastian's wrist, dragging him to the door. "There's two more reports on your desk that need your approval."
"Very well..." Ciel moaned. So close to escaping the tedium of work. Alliahnna's diligence in his work weighed on his patience. He boredly picked up a report, running a dim eye over the tiny scribbles. "I'll join you once I'm finished. Oh and one more thing." Alliahnna and Sebastian peered back in. "Make sure Madam Red doesn't catch wind of this. I don't need her sticking her nose in our business as she always does."
Alliahnna's expression hued bleakly. Sebastian chuckled dryly, masking her dismal features with a palm. "I am certain we will have no cause for worry." He reassured his master. Then he closed the door behind him.
Rounding a corner to distant corridor, Alliahnna sighed crestfallenly. "I do despise it when we're right." She kept her voice down in the event Bardroy or the others were lurking.
"I am afraid you'll need to be more specific. We've been right on numerous occasions." Sebastian's sarcasm earned him a glare. He shrugged, tilting his head smirking.
"A soul that does not recall attaining its revenge." She touched her chest, massaging the seal. "On top of that he doesn't recall much else. You'd think the last nine years never happened."
"In retrospect they haven't." Sebastian elucidated further. "As far as my young master is concerned - other than your testament - the last nine years are, in every literal sense, blurs. He's merely awoken to find himself grown up."
"Which means he doesn't remember Auntie dearest dying. Do you think he'll ever get the memories back?" For what little of them he had before Ash and Claude intervened.
"Only time will tell. For now..." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, bringing her in close, "There are people being burned alive that need our immediate attention." He crooned. Only Sebastian would weave a silver lining amid burning people.
xXx
The coachman jostled the horses with a sharp snap of the reins, and the carriage departed from Phantomhive Manor. Ciel idly watched the trees roll by. Thoughts bombarding him came as swiftly as the passing trees, immersing him in disconcertions years pestered him with. Compared to certain insecurities left unspoken, mountains of paperwork were a godsend. As his twin, Alliahnna understood the bother. The only difference is she takes it with a grain of salt. Whereas Ciel drowns matters beneath it.
"I don't like learning there's a part of our family's history of which I know nothing." Ciel announced curtly, leaning on his knuckles.
"You mean the spider." Alliahnna chimed in. Ciel kept his attention on the scenery. "There's a lot mom and dad didn't tell us. Or rather, they never got the chance." Ciel's body tensed.
"Had they been given the opportunity, do you think they would?"
"Honestly, I don't know. Mom and Dad kept their private lives private and their business lives outside." She crossed her arms and legs, sinking beneath the weight of mysteries resting on her shoulders. "And because fate's aren't changed we were left with the responsibility of their legacy."
"Responsibility." Ciel scoffed. He glanced at his palm. Years of torment and strife, he felt, were engraved in his palms. "Feels more like a burden."
"It's only natural you both feel this way." Ciel and Alliahnna simultaneously glanced to Sebastian. "You were forced to assume the Earldom at an early age, My Lord. And, My Lady, you were literally thrown into the fray moments afterward. Surely there was much your father was unable to pass onto you."
"We couldn't have asked for a better opportunity though." Ciel crassly admitted. "If we can resolve a situation in which our father was embroiled, word will spread throughout the criminal underworld like a wildfire. That should be what I need to draw them out of hiding!" His voice contorted in a venomous hiss.
Ciel underwent horrendous torture after the death of their parents. The absence of his parents and sister summoned them to rear their heads. Like a pack of wolves they came. Fresh blood in the air. A chance to stain the name Phantomhive, and bury it with the corpses of Rachael and Vincent. Alliahnna eluded the interlopers when she retreated to France. But Ciel was forever branded by the wretches who dared to rob him and his family of everything they strived to achieve. Now, with their ties reforged and fate allowing them to finish what their parents started, Ciel will squeeze the truth from the attackers, and then send them to the fiery Hell awaiting them.
"You intend to use yourself as bait, then?" Alliahnna brought him back to reality. Hers and Sebastian's stares demanded a response.
"They began this by hurting my pride. But I am the one that is going to end it." He squeezed the skull cap of his cane, suppressing boiling rage begging to explode. "I'll drag them all out into the open and make them pay. Nothing will stop me."
"And what will you do if it turns out the culprits have already perished?" Sebastian quizzed. Alliahnna's lowered head draped her hair to obscure the nostalgic blades clashing in her reflective eyes. The ashes of the cathedral burying the blasphemous angels.
"Nothing changes." Alliahnna jerked from the daydream, blinking in awe of her brother. "I'll tear the truth from their buried, rotten flesh if I have to. Simple as that."
Sebastian and Alliahnna were brought to smile, enamoured by Ciel's never failing drive. He hadn't forgotten what it means to be a Phantomhive. "That's my master. A true Phantomhive."
xXx
The streets of London flowed with the echoes of bridle gossip and clattering carriage wheels. Clouds blanketed the sky in an overcast shade. The air was pleasantly comfortable, beckoning the people to journey forth to experience it. Couples soaking in the brisk, fresh air of the morning, and enjoying the company of tea and good company.
In one corner of London, however, the stench of burning flesh tainted the air. Thick charring scorched a wall to the cobblestone sidewalk. Roughly the height of a person cowering to fend off the flames. Scotland Yard barred a crowd of curious and frightened onlookers from treading upon a roped off crime scene.
"The people have a theory." Edward Aberline, second in command to Sir Arthur Randall, spoke. "They say the victims took too much to drink and combusted."
"The Yard doesn't go by gossip!" Arthur scolded his foolhardy lieutenant. "GO FIND SOME EVIDENCE!"
"YES SIR!" Aberline saluted. "I'll get on it right away! Let's go!" He summoned the other officers to follow him down the street.
With his babbling underlings absent, Arthur used the peace and quiet to further study the lack thereof crime scene. If it were possible, he was at an even greater loss than when the investigation started.
"Having a little trouble, are we Sir Arthur?" Arthur frozen with dread. It was slightly deeper. But the cynical drawl of that voice was acid in his stomach. When he glanced down the street, Sir Arthur was stunned by amazement, then was overcome by disdain. Threatening to make him vomit was the presence of Ciel Phantomhive and his butler, Sebastian. The only consolation was Alliahnna, who was waving with a warm smile
"Ciel Phantomhive." Arthur growled his name with disgust. "All grown up and still a thorn in my side."
Ciell tauntingly showed Arthur Queen Victoria's letter, granting him instant access to trample upon his investigation. "Nine years have not been kind to you. The same scowl is stuck to your brow."
"Nine years hasn't changed you at all either." Arthur sneered at the younger man. "Still sticking your nose where it isn't wanted simply because the Queen favors you!"
"Would explain why you're still a simply officer." Ciel sniggered. "All the trash go where they aren't wanted."
"Are you not his elder sister?" Arthur ignored Ciel's usual repore for low blow insults. "Can you not train this dog to behave in a civilized manner?"
Alliahnna could not refrain scoffing at the irony of the request. However she did humor him for the sake of an...amicable understanding. "I am many things, Sir Arthur, but miracle worker vacated my repertoire." She moved in close to Arthur, shielding a whisper with a backwards palm, "Besides I've already tried. If the boy hasn't changed by now-GYEH!" Sudden pain shot up her back.
"Are you alright?" Arthur gasped. The butt of Ciel's staff pressed in her spine, twisting slowly. Tears bubbled in the corners of her eyes. The next thing she knew she was on her knees facing the opposite way while Ciel buttered Sir Arthur. Pained squiggles emanated from her back. "Is she allright?"
"Oh I'm sure she'll be fine. She's a tough girl." Ciell said with a smile. Alliahnna was on fire, glaring at his with a clenched fist. Sebastian pet her playfully. "Let's hear about the investigation so far."
"There's no progress to mention as of yet." Arthur informed stiffly with an aggravated whir.
"So how do these differ from the previous incidents?" Arthur was surprised. Though he shouldn't be. Ciel was notorious for weeding information. "Or perhaps everything happened exactly the same? There have been similar crimes before." Ciel confidently educated the inspector. His cheeks were strecthed ear to ear with a grin.
Arthur huffed resignedly. The knowledge of a Phantomhive continues to try him. "So then you DO know!" He snapped.
"Actually not until now. You've confirmed it." Ciel chuckled. Arthur through grit teeth.
"Dirty trick, Ciel." Alliahnna scolded him, supporting her sore back. "Stop giving the man a hard time." She playfully reprimanded. She rolled her eyes, stepping between him and Arthur. "Would you mind showing us the old case file?"
Arthur responded better to her request. "There's nothing left of it." He regretfully informed.
"Nothing?" Ciel repeated confused. Alliahnna was just as baffled.
"Not a page." Arthur rumbled. Alliahnna's attention was strained by something down the street and went to investigate. "Even if there were I couldn't show it to you!" Arthur snarled at Ciel who was busy with a train of thought. There aren't any records left? "Scotland yard will find whoever is responsible for this and their motives! We'll determine how it is connected to the old cases as well! You aren't needed here!" He declared with absolute promise. Especially the part about Ciel not being needed.
Ciel snorted at him. Past circumstances disproved his statement. "I hope you're right, sir. Let's go Sebastian-huh?"
Alliahnna, wearing a not amused expression, pointed toward an awestruck Sebastian who was under the spell of three adorable kittens and their mother. Ciel was utterly dumbstruck his butler chose now to be enthralled by kittens. Arthur was so shocked his glasses slid halfway down his nose.
Sebastian remained ignorant of the stares, too allured by the kittens in their harmless state of play. "Those round eyes so innocent of this world's filth. That tail - childish yet somehow noble. Those paws pale, pink, and perfect." Alliahnna felt a strange twinge of jealousy. Sebastian might actually orgasm any second. Ciel groaned irritably, tilting his hat to hide the embarrassment.
"My lover." Alliahnna groaned. "Replaced me with cats."
"Chief Inspector!" Aberline ran to his superior's side. "We weren't able to find any notable evidence." Sebastian returned to the matter at hand. "We're still tracking down and all-Lady Phantomhive!" He gasped. His cheeks shaded pink.
"Oh? Hello, Mr. Aberline!" Alliahnna waved happily. Aberline squeaked and removed his hat to behind his back. "It's wonderful to see you again." She extended a hand.
"Yes! Um! You-you as well, M-My Lady!" He was shaking as he lightly took her hand. Gently he pecked the top palm. A sharp gleam locked Sebastian's deathly glare on the impertinent man. "You look great-I MEAN WELL! WELL! You look well!" He blushed at his idiocy.
Alliahnna giggled at him. Arthur and Ciel felt sorry for the man. "Thank you. As do you. I don't think I ever expressed my gratitude for your help in Paris."
"There's no need, My Lady! Really!" Aberline fervently waved his hands, working up a sweat. "But...um...this job cannot last forever." He hinted, shyly scratching his cheek. He shifted nervous eyes between her and the ground. "Perhaps...we might...grab a cup of tea? Later?" He asked hopefully.
"I would love to, Mr. Aberline." She curtsied. Aberline had twinkles in his eyes - and around him. Ciel and Arthur cringed noticing Sebastian demonically glowing behind her. "But I'm afraid I must decline." She wrapped her arms to Sebastian and Ciel's arms. "I have enough men in my life." Aberline turned to stone, still elated. "Adding one more would only cause you trouble." Aberline crouched in a corner. He prodded a ball. Dread lines loomed over him like a dark cloud.
Arthur rubbed the side of his head, "That's one way to say no." He grumbled.
"Bid the nice officers farewell, boys." Alliahnna crooned, dragging Ciel and Sebastian into the carriage.
Arthur hung his head with a sigh, feeling that headache of his return with a vengeance. "The Queen's Guard Dog and the saint that leashes him." He massaged his throbbing forehead. "I may be forced into retirement."
xXx
Alliahnna crossly leered at the butler sitting opposite her. He matched her glare with his own. "I'm starting to get the sense I can't have male friends other than Ciel or who's at the manor." Cie shuffled further into a corner. He was going to avoid the crossfire.
"I do not know from where you base these assumptions." Sebastian feigned innocence. "Of course you may have male companions."
"Then why were you prepared to turn Edward into a cheap dart board?" She galred at the silverware still clenched in Sebastian's grip. Alliahnna sank against the seat. She twisted to give Sebastian and his jealousy the cold shoulder. "Absolutely sad how little you trust me."
"I trust you with my life. It is other men I do not trust." Sebastian decreed, crossing his arms.
"Uh-huh. Sure. Keep telling yourself that." Alliahnna derided, not granting him the satisfaction of a glance.
Ciel loudly cleared his throat, ending their lover's spat. "While this melodrama is FASCINATING, there is the matter of Sir Arthur stonewalling us so we don't make him appear the fool he is." Alliahnna and Sebastian groaned bashfully.
"He - ahem - is most unpleasant man." Sebastian recovered his composure. "What shall we do?"
"Well if the yard is no help then there's only one thing to do." Ciel declared. "We need to ask an old friend who frequents scenes of the dead."
Alliahnna cringed, bombarded with dread. "I don't like where this is going." She groaned. "Please don't let him be in London."
xXx
The investigation drew Ciel, Alliahnna, and Sebastian to the Under Taker's shop. All was quiet in the shop. Suddenly, "PAH-HA-HA-HA-HA..." The sign was shaken right off the threshold. Inside, Undertaker himself was rolling on his desk in an uncontrollable fit of laughter.
"Startled the woman dropped her copy of Peak House." Sebastian recited animatedly. "Careful, she cried." Alliahnna and Ciel listened uninterested as Undertaker struggled to breath between laughing. he threw himself to the floor. Miraculously he laughed even harder. "You scared the dickens out of me! Thank you, that's all I have this evening." He ended with a bow.
Undertaker pulled himself up by the desk. He was in stitches. "That was brilliant! Everything from the words down to the delivery! You're truly a comic genius!" He praised, still laughing. "The finest act I've seen in quite some time."
Alliahnna was lost in a daze. Baffled swirls loomed over her head. Ciel, on the other hand, was irritated. "That just might have been the worst joke I've heard in my life."
"Which in itself is something special." Undertaker hung to Ciel's shoulders. "And speaking of special..." He squashed Alliahnna's cheeks together, lovingly cooing over how tough yet soft her skin felt. Alliahnna grunted, pulling at his hands. He had a strong grip. "My, my, I absolutely love it! You wear demon better than clothing! One might think you were born for it."
"You can tell she's a full blooded demon?" Ciel marveled.
"But of course." Undertaker pulled her hair to his nose. He inhaled her scent, moaning ecstatically. "She smells ripe! And is fermenting this delectable aroma of blood and fear. It's enough to make me salivate, it is!" A trail of drool dripped to his chin.
"Why aren't you Paris again?" Alliahnna muffled impatiently. Undertaker playfully squished her cheeks. It lost its charm after initial contact.
"Because, dear, I am taken where death is in abundance." He leans to her height. Alliahnna felt a chill being able to almost see the eyes hiding behind his hair. "And death follows you like a shadow. You're a regular cash flow for me." He cupped her chin, tapping her nose.
"Well don't I just feel warm and fuzzy." She pushed his chest, shoving him into his desk. "We came here to get information on burn victims! Not so you can harass me like you did in Paris!"
"He was in Paris?" Ciel hummed.
"He and a few others." Sebastian answered.
Alliahnna's stomach tied in knots. Ugh! If he's here, Grell and Will can't be far behind. She wasn't sure which one was the lesser of two evils. "Do you have something for us or not?" She cringed when Undertaker pointed to her eyes.
"Let me see your new eyes. Then we talk."
Alliahnna furrowed her brow. She was losing patience with this man. "This better be Hell of good news, Undertaker." She forewarned. Undertaker out his hands to his knees, leaning in so close he wouldn't miss a second. Alliahnna breathed in, closed her eyes, and reopened them.
Glazed, rippling pink orbs made Undertaker giddy. He drooled ravenously. "So pretty. So vibrant..." He cupped her face tenderly this time, caressing his thumbs over her cheeks, tracing below the glowing eyes. Alliahnna's body went cold. She fought the shivers scaling her spine. Undertaker's grin was made more unnerving by his incessant cackling. "The blood you've spilled to acquire these eyes is enough to fill my shelves with novels."
Ciel had sweat clinging to the side of his head. An eerie aura like mist emitted like smoke from a fire from every pore on her body. He glanced out of the corner of his eye he glanced back at Sebastian. The butler was focused solely on how intimate Undertaker was acting towards her. Sebastian, what have you done to her? Ciel's mind trembled.
Undertaker moved closer. Alliahnna felt hot breath brushed her mouth. "Yes, last year was certainly a hell of Tale. I eagerly await the sequel." Sebastian roughly tore Alliahnna from Undertaker, wrapping his arms possessively around her. His deadset glare prompted Undertaker to raise his hands in surrender. "Pardon my intrusion, Sebastian. I hope this will earn your good graces." He shuffled inside his sleeve and set a glass vial of ashes onto a coffin.
"What are you playing at?" Ciel demanded, appalled by the blatant joke. "I asked for a corpse from the arson case." An anime vein pulsated fiercely on Alliahnna's brow.
"Indeed you did, and here it is." Undertaker shook the bottle. "In this little vial is everything I could scrape up." Alliahnna and Ciel blinked, trapped in absolute awe. "Once the fire finished the victim there literally nothing left. Amazing what it all amount to in the end, in'it?" Undertaker tossed the bottle.
Ciel caught it. He found it difficult to fathom how a full grown woman's body left no trace behind. Just half a bottle of her glittering ashes in the palm of his hand.
"The woman to whom these ashes belong," Alliahnna started, inspecting the bottle herself, "She was the wife of the man?"
"Newly weds. Dearly departed after a short term of matrimony." Undertaker habitually chuckled. "Almost poetic."
"He's holding a funeral for her in a couple of hours in Victoria Memorial." Alliahnna informed Ciel.
"Then let us go give our condolences." Ciel proposed.
Undertaker's smile grew wider once The Phantomhive's and Sebastian exited his store. He tapped the vial left behind, stroking the cork lovingly. Ciel Phantomhive might very well have been in his store ready to be buried were it not for the intrusion of demons.
"A sister that is a full blooded demon. A brother that enslaves demons, and bends others to his will." Undertaker ran his tongue over the vial, lovingly savoring the anticipation of the pendulum falling on their necks. "This little arrangement cannot run smoothly forever, now can it my friends?" Zanosuke and Jasper emerged from the back room. Dower expression pierced the atmospheric darkness draping the shop. "What do you think?"
"The reality is staggering for the boy." Jasper remarked, folding his arms. "An instance may very well come where it becomes too much. When he realizes the girl beside him is no longer his sister."
"Maybe. Maybe not." Zanosuke held doubts. "Thus far the boy is handling the transformation well. As for whether or not Alliahnna is the same or not," Zanosuke smirked, arching a brow, "You and I do not possess the right to judge."
"Eventually the girl's blood will set. She will need to consume souls." Jasper narrowed his glare to his son. "Do you think he will stand by her then?"
Zanosuke fell silent. Throughout the course of last year, he's witnessed amazing feats from Alliahnna. Inspiring feats most would have let slip due to madness. Perhaps the faith he holds in her is blinding him. Alliahnna has accomplished a great deal since demon blood was introduced into her body. Schneizel and Phoebus, her guardians, were able to watch her command the powers within her. Ciel was only just brought in. Not of his volition. And already he's seen subtle changes. His reactions...bode ill.
Undertaker chuckled to himself, admiring the vial. In the reflection he saw Alliahnna and Ciel back to back. Fires of their past surrounding them. "In the end…" He reiterated, "What will the Phantomhive's become?" He shook the ash filled vial.
xXx
The funeral procession proceeded on as planned. Family, friends, the widowed, and the deceased woman's husband were gathered to the six foot deep resting place. The husband set his beloved's shoe inside the coffin. His bandaged hands shook as he struggled to let her go. Lavender cushion and lilies accompanied the only remnant of his once living lover. Beautiful arrangements for the most beautiful woman in his life.
The coffin was slowly lowered to the floor of the place. The lid carefully laid so not the disturb the soul tied to the shoe. Alliahnna removed her white blazer, donning her black vest out of respect for the scene. Ciel, following suit, held his hat to his chest to appear mourning the woman.
"Look, My Lord." Sebastian turned his head. Ciel and Alliahnna followed his gaze.
A portly man and woman entered the precession. The man's square rimmed glasses magnified the sorrow he conveyed walking onto the funeral. He held a square object wrapped in a black cloth. The woman carried a black umbrella, shielding half her face with a black vale. She seemed more serious and distant to the scene.
"Pardon me. I'm Turner, the photographer." The crowd parted. The husband managed to share attention with the newly arrived couple. "Excuse the intrusion. I'm so sorry for your loss." Turner and his wife bowed. He handed Mrs. Turner his cap and the cloth concealing a picture frame. "I've brought the last picture that was taken of your dear wife. Here you are sir."
"She seemed like such a nice woman." Mrs. Turner complimented sincerely. The widowed man gazed upon the pristine memory. Tears flooded down his cheeks. The glow in her smile touched his heart so fiercely it ached. "Our condolences, sir."
The husband carefully wrapped his bandaged fingers to the frame. In an attempt to save his wife from her fiery demise, nearly lost his hands to the very fire. Mr. Turner released the frame. It slipped from the husband's weak grasp. A hand caught the photo inches before it hit the ground. The husband gasped. Alliahnna dusted the picture off, then returned it to him.
"Here. You have my sympathies, sir."
"Th-Thank you...thank you..." He wrapped his arms to the photo - envisioning her in his arms - so tightly, the frame threatened to break.
"She was truly beautiful. Such a great loss." Mrs. Turner voiced. Alliahnna's ear shuddered at her tone.
The Turner's gave the grieving husband one last word of apology, then proceeded to take their leave. Ciel, Alliahnna, and Sebastian watched them approach. The two bowed in respect of their position, receiving shallow bows back. A gentle breeze freed Mrs. Turner's sleeves of familiar glittering dust. Ciel and Alliahnna gaped at the dust. Sebastian took note of the dust as well.
A much needed lead in the arson case literally fell right into their laps. Now came the tricky part. Proving a connection.
xXx
Undertaker's shop door flew open. He stopped hugging a new coffin he had delivered in order to greet Alliahnna with a smile. "I need those ashes you kept."
"These ones." Undertaker tauntingly presented the glittering ash.
"That would be them." Undertaker tossed her the bottle. Alliahnna inspected them once more, assuring herself it was the same vial.
"This case promises to reignite London." Undertaker crooned, circling a nail on his desk top. "I wonder if it'll do the same for the Young Lord's missing memories."
"So you did notice that." Alliahnna snarled.
"There is very little that enters my shop that I neglect. The Young Lord's Demeanor is completely opposite of that from nine years past. The only similarity if the jaded front he portrays..." He trailed off, leaning on an elbow and knuckle with a teasing grin, "And how greatly he admires big sister." Alliahnna glanced to the floor, releasing a bothered groan. "I hope for your sake that admiration holds." Undertaker was inches in front of her. A slender finger was erect in her face, beckoning her undivided attention. "The wrath of Phantomhive, I've witnessed, is enough to make Hell itself cringe."
xXx
At a certain point of the day - in the blink of an eye had faded into the late evening - Alliahnna returned home and gave the ashes to Sebastian. He in turn set out to have the substance mixed in, as well as the substance found Mr. and Mrs. Turner, identified.
Alliahnna lost track of the time waiting for him. An indentation in the window seat set. The sun had already vanished below the horizon. The orange glow hued a part of the sky. Dark clouds crept across the sky. Her mind was lost in the haze of Undertaker's warning. At the very least that's what it sounded like.
The wrath of a Phantomhive. She repeated. By the way he made it sound, one might think Ciel would betray her. What reason would he have for doing so? She denied Undertaker's warning. Ciel and she love each other. Were allowed to be reunited against harrowing odds. Why would Ciel jeopardize a blessing?
"Penny for your thoughts?" Ciel commented, assembling a small colt on his desk.
"You'd need three banks for that." Alliahnna responded. She lied back on the seat, gazing blankly to the ceiling.
"I own five. Speak." He impishly commanded.
She put Undertaker's words out of her mind. He knew nothing of their relationship. She wasn't going to feed it. "That Turner woman." She mumbled.
"What about her?"
"Her behavior at the funeral baffled me." Alliahnna recalled her expression clearly, in contrast to the faces of the crowd. "It was not like her husband's, or the attendants of the funeral. She seemed...pleased. That smile..." The Turner woman was smiling, "That smile was not a mournful one. But contemptuous."
"You think so?" Ciel cleaned the inside of the barrel.
"I know so." Alliahnna pushed up on her hands. She pouted at her brother's distant acknowledgement. "And as usual you're holding doubts until Sebastian returns with evidence."
"Have your ducks in a row before you shoot them - that's what father always said." He polished the bullets.
"I prefer the ducks scrambling." She debated, sauntering to Ciel with folded arms. "Because the one I seek is the one who flies off first."
"I do not recall Mrs. Turner attempting to take flight." He ignored his sister sitting on his desk.
"Perhaps not, but her wings were definitely feeling the breeze." She leaned in on a hand, bringing her scowl inches within Ciel's busy frown. "Meaning she'll take to the skies when we close in."
"Or someone is using her as a cover." Ciel met her scowl with his own indifference. "For someone who is able to think outside the box, you're being very close minded." He prodded her forehead. Alliahnna opened her mouth to protest. Sebastian's entrance halted the insults.
"Pardon me. Shall I come back at a later time?" He jokingly shied in the doorway. Ciel and Alliahnna, brows furrowed, motioned fingers for him to enter. Sebastian chuckled adoringly. He couldn't get enough of their childish antics. "I've identified the substance in the ashes and matched them to what we collected from the photographer and his wife." He displayed a tall vial of silver flecks. "These are flecks of magnesium oxide - a byproduct of photography. It's made from the flash powder photographers use to capture the images."
"Photography?" Ciel scoffed. "How strange."
"But not impossible." Alliahnna input, touching her chin. "I remember, in Paris, a photographer's assistant used too much flash powder and burned three children alive." She borrowed the vial, studying it closely. "The explosion was enough to take him and the photographer himself with them."
"Photography as a weapon. Now I've seen everything." Ciel slumped in his chair. "But with all the deaths, would that not require a sufficient amount of powder."
"Quite a bit of it, actually." Sebastian confirmed the suspicion. "I made an inquiry to Mr. Lao who provided me with useful information." Lao informed Sebastian that a whole ship's worth of magnesium arrived at the docks and was sent to a portrait studio in London. "In addition to the odd purchase, our victims had one element in common." Sebastian unfolded a surprisingly lengthy list of names, dates, and their status. "All of the woman recently had their wedding photos taken."
"At Turner's Studio?" Alliahnna questioned. Sebastian's silence answered her.
"Then our course is set." Ciel loaded the gun, the tucked it in his coat. "This is no coincidence. That couple is involved. We must prevent another travesty."
Alliahnna nodded in agreement, then was taken aback by a bright orange glow in the distance. "Ciel, I think we're running late." She pointed to a stack of black smoke breaking the horizon. Ciel and Sebastian were aghast. "I think our Turner family found their breeze!"
"Then let's clip their wings before they surpass the grass!"
xXx
"FIRE!"
"SOMEONE CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT!"
"SOMEOBODY HELP!"
"RUN! GET AWAY FROM THE FLAMES!"
The entire city was alive with terrified screams. Coats and umbrella flew over retreating heads, barely repelling the raining embers. A monstrous fire erupted in the heart of the Turner Photography Studio. Flaring embers sprinkled to the buildings on either side and across the street. Ribbons of fire spread in a frenzy. Crowds watched in a daze as the fire spread, just as they ran for their lives. It was horrific repeat of London's history. Another fire threatened to consume their livelihoods.
Amongst the screams, by far the most unnerving of all, was the howling laughter and gleeful singing come from inside the studio. Mrs. Turner snag in complete happiness, sprinkling pounds of the magnesium powder all throughout the studio and onto her husband. He lied bleeding on the ground, cowering under the growing flames. Yet, there dancing in the fire, was his wife.
"What are you doing?" He whimpered.
"You ogre! Useless, hideous man!" She hissed hatefully. Years of misery and discontent wore a once gorgeous woman down to what is a mentally depraved monster starved for the ultimate happiness. "Ever since I made the mistake of marrying you, I've WAITED! Never a moment of BURNING PASSION!" She took up the camera, placing the lens on her husband. "I'M DONE TAKING PORTRAITS OF HAPPY WOMEN!" She squeezed the trigger. Her husband let out a blood curdling scream then burst into flames. Mrs. Turner fell into a manic fit of laughter, savoring her husband crumbling to ashes. "There! THERE IT IS! BURNING FIRE! It's my turn for happiness!" She ran out of the studio, laughing to herself, skipping down the street tossing magnesium powder across the town. Her senses had left her.
A carriage roaring down the streets screeched to a halt. Ciel, Sebastian, and Alliahnn darted into the streets, trailing close to the looney throwing powder to five story high windows.
"Is that who I think it is?!" Ciel huffed.
"It's Mrs. Turner from the photography studio!" Sebastian stated.
"Since it's in poor taste, I'll neglect mentioning I was right!" Alliahnna inwardly sniggered.
"Thank you!" Ciel growled.
Mrs. Turner pirouetted, tossing the powder from one side of the street to the next. "OH YES! I'll find my happiness now!" She locked on to the center floors of a complex. With one squeeze the powder started to sparkle, and exploded half the building.
Powder sparkled above Ciel's head. "MASTER!" Sebastian tackled him to the ground. The powder exploded, adding to the inferno beginning to consume the city. Alliahnna leapt from the smoke, landing on sign bar. She coughed on ash her mouth. Shaking off some debris, she spied Mrs. Turner skipping her way further into the city. "THAT CAMERA IS HER IGNITION DEVICE!" Ciel howled, collapsed under Sebastian. "Alliahnna! We must capture her!"
"RIGHT!" Alliahnna pushed off the sign, landing a few feet ahead of Mrs. Turner. "Hold it, lady!"
"Why hello there, dearie! Come to join the happiness?" Mrs. Turner shrilly cackled. Happiness? Alliahnna spat. She knew the woman looked miserable, but didn't imagine she'd find happiness in this sort of Hell. "Yes! Do you see it? The pure happiness of my soul - HA-HA-HA!" She tossed more powder into the air. The wind blew it to the buildings behind her. Ciel and Sebastian were running up on her.
"GET DOWN!" Alliahnna screamed. Mrs. Turner squeezed the trigger. The powder sparkled. Sebastian pulled Ciel by the collar, ducking into an alleyway just as the explosion consumed the street. "CIEL!" She shrieked. Rubble barred the street. Complexes on both sides were collapsed onto one another. Alliahnna stood there, gaping in horror.
"OH YES! THIS IS IT!" Mrs. Turner laughed. She danced before the flames like some sort of devil. "I love it! This feeling...I NEVER WANT IT TO END!"
"Stop this now, Mrs. Turner! Don't make others suffer because of what happened to you!"
"You don't understand! No one understands!" She shook. Her laugh was that of a woman broken. "Never have I had a moment to be happy! Relish in a marriage to a man I was supposed to have loved!" Alliahnna was taken aback. "Never did he ignite the fires of passion. Instead he allowed others to be happy in place of me. FED OFF MY MISERY TO MAKE THOSE WOMEN HAPPY!"
"So you killed them?" Alliahnna screeched. "If you were so unhappy why didn't you just tell him?"
"Men don't care if you're happy! All they care about is shoving it in you and claiming you as private property." Alliahnna's eyes widened. 'You are mine, My Lady.' 'Never allow other men to touch you.' She heard Sebastian's whispers in her head. 'I'm starting to get the feeling I can't have male friends.' "You understand, don't you?" Mrs. Turner brought her to reality. "You do. You understand." Mrs. Turner approached her, sensing some form of kindred spirit. "You understand what it's like to be treated as a thing rather than a person." She reached out.
Alliahnna grit her teeth. "BLOW IT OUT YOUR ASS!" She barked abruptly, appalling the Turner woman. Sebastian isn't like that. He's never treated me as a thing! "Do not compare me to you, you miserable cow! I fought to get the happiness I longed for! You gave up the second you believed it fell into your lap!"
"How...HOW DARE YOU!" Mrs. Turner's face contorted psychotically.
"Happiness is something you have to strive for! Not expect!" She touched the mark that symbolized the very misery she felt long ago. A warm filled her, thinking of all she achieved and accomplished to be at this point. "If happiness is taken beyond my reach, then I'll just keep climbing until it is mine again. But what does someone who's weighed down by misery know of that?"
"I'm not miserable! This is the happiest I've been in years!" Mrs. Turner's smile was twisted. "AND NO ONE WILL TAKE IT FROM ME!" She thrust her small barrel forward, tossing magnesium powder on Alliahnna. She coughed and spit out the powder, fiercely trying to dust it off.
Sebastian pushed past the rubble, pulling Ciel free of the burned debris. Ciel dusted himself off, choking for fresh air. He and Sebastian gaped in dismay. Alliahnna was drenched in the photographer powder. The Turner woman had her in her sights. "RUN, ALLIAHNNA!" Ciel pleaded.
The powder got in Alliahnna's eyes. Her vision was blurred. "This burning passion...I'll never lose it…" Mrs. Turner aimed the camera. Her hand curled to the trigger. "You won't take it from me. NO ONE WILL TAKE MY HAPPINESS!" She crushed the trigger. Alliahnna poked an eye open too late. The powder sparkled.
"NO! ALLIE!" Ciel was restrained by Sebastian. An explosion swallowed Alliahnna. "AALLIIEEE…"
TO BE CONTINUED! HAHAHAHAHA!