Chapter Three

Sebastian frowned inwardly as he took in the slender profile of Naoe Nobutsuna.

The man in question was nearly as tall his own 6'7, with short blond hair and narrow amber eyes. He was lithely built, with tightly packed muscle and smooth lightly tanned skin. He honestly couldn't see anything about him that could've sparked such an…interesting reaction from his young master.

Then again, appearances were often deceiving as his master himself had proven. So he vowed to observe the man closer to see about him had his master so spooked. In the meantime, a welcoming smile crossed his lips and he held his hand out.

"Hello, I am Sebastian Michaelis, Head butler of the Phantomhive household and I would like to formally welcome you to our home."

The man shook his hand firmly and smiled at him. "I am Naoe Nobutsuna. It is nice to finally have a face to put to one of the names in Lady Elizabeth's stories."

Sebastian chuckled while Lizzy pouted, looking around worriedly for her fiancée.

"Is Ciel okay?"

"He's fine, Milady. I believe he is resting at the moment. You know how he feels about parties."

She giggled and nodded, then gasped, her gaze focusing over Sebastian's shoulder.

"Ciel!"

Naoe glanced up, eager to see the boy that had his young mistress so riled up.

Standing at a slim 5'7, the young earl didn't seem too intimidating. Shoulder length slate grey hair fell in gentle wisps to frame his soft, almost feminine face, porcelain skin stretched taut over a lithe figure, more for agility then strength, and one wide, innocent blue eye, the other hidden under a silk eye patch.

The teen wore a dark blue suit, a pale ribbon tied elegantly around his neck and a sword at his hip. A very familiar sword.

Hamon.

His master's sword.

"Where did you get that sword?" He asked, cutting the boy off before he could speak.

The earl frowned at his rudeness, one hand resting possessively on the sword's hilt.

"And you are?"

He blushed at the stern reprimand in the child's voice. "My apologies, Lord Phantomhive. I am Naoe Nobutsuna, Lady Elizabeth's tutor."

Ciel nodded. "Ciel is fine. Welcome to Phantomhive Manor, Mr. Nobutsuna. Lizzy has spoken very highly of you."

He smiled at his charge. "Yes, you as well." His gaze hesitantly moved back to Hamon where it rested at the boy's hip.

"If I may," He began hesitantly and the boy gestured for him to continue, "where did you get that sword?"

That single blue eye glanced down at the blade in question and the Earl's lips twitched.

"It was a gift from Her Majesty. Apparently, it reminded her of myself."

Naoe twitched minutely. "I have heard many things about it."

'I have felt its wrath, it's fury as he cut into my skin. I have dreamed that it was lost and that its cursed existence died with our past. Why has it chosen you Little Earl? Why? You aren't Kagetora-sama. No, he wouldn't have so little energy. So who- no what are you, boy?'

Ciel smirked inwardly as he watched Naoe try to discreetly scrutinize him, almost able to hear the gears turning in the man's mind.

He was prepared for the game this time. This time, he held all the cards and Naoe would be the one left to flounder

This time he would be the victor in their game.

For now, he would play the child Earl too obsessed with vengeance to pay any attention to the outside world. He would dance along the strings set by the Queen and Sebastian and even, Undertaker, but when all was said and done, he would have the last laugh.

Just a little longer.

Despite the initial tension between Ciel and Nobutsuna, the ball Elizabeth threw in honor of the young Earl's birthday went flawlessly. His master moved through the crowds seamlessly, so unlike the little standoffish child he had been so long ago, charming each of his guests perfectly.

Every guest but Naoe Nobutsuna.

The entire night, the man had watched his master with a startling intensity, topaz eyes scrutinizing every move the teen made, while Sebastian himself observed the tutor.

There was something dangerous lurking in Naoe's thoughts and he knew without a doubt that it revolved around his young master.

The demon butler narrowed his eyes at the human man. If any harm came to his master, Naoe Nobutsuna would be the first to suffer.

There was something familiar about Ciel Phantomhive.

It wasn't anything obvious like his hair color or some other such nonsense, no it was little things. Little mannerisms that set his heart racing like only his beloved could.

The way the Earl would say certain words and the way his slender fingers could never stay still, the little half-smirk he got during an argument when he knew he'd won, Hamon.

As long as they'd lived the sword had never strayed from his lord, not even after the man's death. The sword refused to serve anyone that wasn't Kagetora and he'd had to struggle to get it to where he could burn it with his master's original body.

So why now?

What was he missing?

Undertaker cackled softly as he stared down at the bodies laying before him. When he'd taken Saboro's soul from the time stream following the death of his last incarnation and used it to fill the empty body of Ciel Phantomhive, he'd never imagined the chaos it would spark in this one. He had only stolen the sould on account of his friend Vincent, in order to spare the man's wife the heartbreak of a stillborn child. The soul had been wondering aimlessly in the nether realm, trying to resist the reincarnation cycle and its strength had awed him.

Now, as it stood, the misplaced soul was providing him with more entertainment than he'd ever expected to see from him.

And, he caressed the still face of the woman in front of him, her expression twisted in fear even in her eternal sleep.

"Sleep well, Lady Midford. Lord Midford."

He giggled and closed the coffins.

"I'm sure your daughter is in good hands."

TBC…