The Aurora Society
~O~
"Nothing is impossible to kill. It's just that sometimes after you kill something you have to keep shooting it until it stops moving"
-Mira Grant, Feed-
~O~
The day of the party dawns and Charlotte was practically effervescent. She and Elizabeth walled themselves up within the younger girl's bedroom for almost the entire day, only coming out to eat and giggle at one another like vapid birds. For Ciel whose patience for such things was incredibly short, it was only the Marchioness's eagle-eyed stare that kept him from screaming with frustration and pushing Charlotte off the edge of the ship.
He wondered if she would float. She probably would. Witches floated, didn't they?
The evening came and the two finally emerged. Elizabeth was dressed in a grey-blue dress that matched Ciel's suit, with silk gloves that went all the way up her arms and over her elbows and left a sliver of skin between the ends and the puffed sleeves. Her blonde hair was still tied up in pigtails – Ciel had no idea why she persisted in maintaining that juvenile style – and decorated with a black headband. She looked nice.
Charlotte's outfit was an eye-turning shade of amaranth pink. The skirt flared out, just long enough to touch the floor but not long enough to hide the glimpse of the black heels she wore. It was decorated with black ribbons and bows. With it she wore a pair of jet-black evening gloves. The top had an illusion neckline of dark, almost opaque black lace and around her neck was a bright yellow ribbon.
"I couldn't get her to take it off," Elizabeth whispered mournfully to Ciel as though that was the biggest tragedy imaginable. "It doesn't even match her outfit!"
Ciel could only muster up a disinterested grunt. Then he decided to be kinder and nodded awkwardly at Elizabeth. "You look nice," he mumbled inelegantly. Still with the way that Elizabeth beamed at him you would have thought that he had asked for her hand in marriage.
The ballroom, already a luxurious affair, had been done up for the party. People in silk and chiffon milled around the floor, the typical English sedateness giving way to excited squeals of recognition and joy at being on this grand high-seas adventure. There are circular tabled piled high with hors d'oeuvres and desserts on dainty dishes and waiters in immaculate black suits slip between the crowds, offering delicate glasses of shimmering champagne from silver trays.
Elizabeth let out an excited squeal of happiness. "That cake is so cute! Stay right here Ciel, I'm going to get some food for us!"
She took off and was soon lost between the shifting skirts of the other partygoers. Charlotte watched her go with an amused smirk. "What a darling girl," she mused aloud glancing slyly at Ciel, "but she doesn't seem at all like your type Phantomhive."
"Shut up and go look for something suspicious," he growled at her.
Charlotte pouted and put a hand on her collar. "Aw, it's almost like you want to get rid of me."
"Whatever gave you that idea?" Ciel scowled at her and then turned his glare upon the shifting masses. "Ugh, nobles really don't do anything but gather and talk about irrelevant things."
"It's a party Phantomhive. That's what everyone does at parties," Charlotte gracefully accepted a glass from a passing waiter and sipped it. "Oh Snake, did you get something to eat?"
Snake held up a plate stacked high with bites of salmon and beef on bread and fruit. Charlotte was sure the snakes were going to have a wonderful dinner since they usually just got rats and mice.
There was a flutter of black and Sebastian appeared beside them, holding out an expertly arranged platter of food to Ciel. "The signal appears to be the waiters," he inclined his head in the direction of a waiter holding a tray of champagne glasses, one of which was empty. He moved slowly around the guests until someone stopped him and plucked the empty glass from his tray, exchanged a few words with him, and then walked off. With the thrum of the orchestra and the distracting nature of the party, no one else seemed to have noticed or cared about this odd occurrence.
A quick glance around the room showed that most if not all of the waiters seemed to be carrying at least one empty champagne glass. After a moment Ciel looked away and took a bite of an éclair. "Keep the signal in sight," he ordered.
Charlotte hung by a table, watching the dancing couples with a wistful smile. She was not a wallflower by any means but it was quite hard to dance and keep watch of a constantly shifting target. Of course she could always leave that up to Sebastian who apparently enjoyed being a one-man-team and then rubbing his competence in everyone's face, however that still didn't solve her problem of having no dance partner.
She sighed softly, recalling the days from Before; when her father allowed her to get dolled up and dressed in silks and chiffon so she could waltz and twirl across the floor, flitting from partner to partner. Of course she knew now that he was only ever concerned with marrying her off to one of those partners but they had been the happiest nights of her life back then.
As though sensing her thoughts, Snake held out his hand to her. The question was clear and she beamed linked their fingers together. There were whispers of contempt and shock but Charlotte blocked them out easily. When she saw Snake beginning to look flushed and awkward she snapped him out of it.
"Look at me. Don't look at them. They don't matter," she spun him around so his back was to the chattering women and, with a perfectly straight face, made a rude finger gesture at them behind his back. "I know crowds make you nervous but thank you for dancing with me."
Blushing, Snake lowered his head. Charlotte noticed a tiny snake coiled around his ear and hidden by his hair. Charlotte had met all of his snakes but not this one. "What if I embarrass you? Says Dan. I'm not like you."
Charlotte smiled and shook her head. "Snake, if anyone should be feeling like a freak here, it's me." She pulled down the ribbon around her neck to reveal a ring of red, painfully healed scars. "I don't care what people say about me, and neither should you. You're kind and lovely and the opinions of screeching harpies mean nothing in the face of who you are. So chin up and introduce me to Dan! Is he new?"
Before he could though, a woman in a velvet-green dress picked the empty glass from a tray and began making her way to the curved staircase. With a parting flutter of fingers, Charlotte quickly followed her.
The noise of the party fell away as Charlotte trailed the woman up the carpeted stairs to one of the upper levels. The corridor was empty save for two men standing outside a large door that led to the smoking room for first class passengers. The first man was holding a crystal jug and he smiled beatifically at the woman. "Would you like a glass of 'completely purified water?'" He asked her. "It costs £30."
Who on earth would spend £30 on something so stupid? Charlotte wondered to herself 6 minutes later as she crawled through the vents. Her dress was going to end up completely ruined from the dust but at least she had a fairly excellent view of the room's proceedings. As it turned out, there were a lot of people willing to pay a lot of money for what essentially amounted to tap water with glitter in it.
She caught sight of what appeared to be a sort of greeting and had to choke back her laughter. Luckily the person beside her had no qualms about that. "An interesting hiding spot, Lottie~."
"Papa?" Charlotte bumped her head against the top of the vent in her surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"My job~," he knelt down and, under the cover of his voluminous cloak, pulled Lottie into the room. "Someone is claiming to be able to reanimate dead people. Did you expect me to not be interested~?" He asked, plucking spiderwebs from her hair.
"Fair enough," Charlotte agreed. She did her best to dust herself clean, cursing herself for picking such a light coloured outfit, and then threw herself into his arms. "I'm so happy to see you!"
"You! What are you doing here?" Ciel marched over to them; Ciel in a blond wig and bandage. He looked terrible as a blond Charlotte decided as she eyed the stark black suit he was wearing. Clearly he had no idea how to dress for his new colouring.
"That does seem to be a recurring question," Undertaker hummed as he put Charlotte down and began rifling through his cloak. "But before I forget, I have something for you dearest~!"
Charlotte lit up like a Christmas tree, almost bouncing on the balls of her feet. "A present? What is it? What's it for? Tell me! Wait," she frowned up at him, "what is it for? My birthday isn't until next week."
"That's true, but can't a father give his daughter an early present?" He pulled out a long rectangular box wrapped in bright pink and blue paper and tied with yellow ribbon: all three of Charlotte's favourite colours. When she shook it, the box rattled faintly. "Who knows what will happen next week~?"
Charlotte's frown grew more intense. "That was an ominous thing to say."
"You didn't answer my question!" Ciel interrupted hotly. "What are you doing here? We're investigating some illegal experimentation and something about the reanimation of the dead. Do you know anything about that?"
The Undertaker chuckled. "If I'm going to tell you then I want my compensation~." He pretended to think deeply for a second. "How about...you do that pose one more time~!"
"Who the hell would even-!"
"THE PHOENIX! Sorry I decided to pose in my own style."
The man standing in the doorway was familiar to everyone present, from the long blond hair down to the expensive wine-red suit. "The Viscount Druitt? What is he doing here?"
"It seems there are a lot of surprising faces aboard this liner," Sebastian commented. They watched the Viscount shake hands with several people though scandalous whispers followed in his wake.
"I thought he was in jail," Charlotte wondered as she hefted the box higher to hide her face. "Also he's coming over here."
"Shit." Ciel barely had time to duck behind Sebastian before the man walked over.
"Oh, are you newcomers?" He inquired, tapping his glass against Sebastian's in greeting. "Was it the newspaper article? Ugh, Madam Samuel is such a lovely woman but she certainly enjoys her gossip. To think that she would release our secrets so easily. Oh?"
Apparently the Viscount's radar for beauty was more finely tuned than any of them had predicted. He zeroed in on Ciel and Charlotte with a smouldering grin. "Siblings? How darling! Tell me, have we met before? I certainly would remember faces like yours."
Charlotte snickered to herself at how panicked Ciel seemed to be. She didn't know the whole sordid tale but she had pieced together enough from newspaper articles. She looked to her side to share her amusement with the Undertaker but he had vanished.
No matter, the show was starting. From the front corner of the room four men bearing a coffin walked sedately into the room, the voices of the gathered attendees growing silent as they placed their burden down on a table in the centre of the room. They stepped back to make way for the next man to come in and the Viscount leaned closer to whisper, "that man is the founder of our illustrious society! His name is Ryan Stoker."
Ryan Stoker looked exactly like what a mad scientist would not. He was of medium build with short plain brown hair and a plain face with a genial smile. The one thing about him that made him stand out was his suit; it was stark white and gave him an air of gravitas.
Then he performed the Aurora Society salute and all of that was lost.
"I swear if you laugh and get us kicked out I will throw you overboard," Ciel hissed at Charlotte who could only nod and bite her lip to keep a straight face.
Ryan Stoker continued to address the gathered. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming to today's research presentation of the Aurora Society's Complete Salvation of Mankind Through Medicine! Picture it my friends; a healthy spirit housed within a healthy body! And finally," he punched the air in an overdramatic display of his own vitality. "A healthy mood!"
He continued with this spiel for a quite a while, sounding less and less like a medical professional and more and more like a snake oil peddler with every word. Charlotte distracted herself with her present, trying to guess what was in the brightly coloured box.
"...however there is one health issue that, no matter how hard we try, we cannot seem to overcome!" Ryan slammed his hand down on the coffin, causing everyone to jump. "Death! It is the great disease that comes for us all in the end, but not anymore! Not with the invention of the Aurora Society's new cure!"
I can't believe people are buying this, Charlotte rolled her eyes as the four men for earlier lifted the lid of the coffin and the crowd surged forward. It's going to be so funny when this whole charade fails.
Within the coffin was the body of a young woman. Her brown hair fell gently around her face and her eyes had been blindfolded. Her face and collar were stitched together in several places. A couple near the front began weeping and it could be easily surmised that they were the young lady's parents.
"Margaret Connor lost her life at the tender age of 17 in an unfortunate accident," Stoker informed the crowd in a sombre voice. "To think that our children could leave us so easily and so permanently; isn't that horrifying?"
Ciel leaned over to Sebastian. "Is the body real?"
"Most likely," the demon's nose twitched. "The smell of death is intense. It's either real or a very good fake."
The audience watched as a machine was wheeled in. It was over 6ft tall, and covered in an array of buttons, switches and dials. Wires from it were unwound and attached to the young woman, some on her scalp and stomach but the majority of them were attached to her chest and neck. Charlotte felt her own neck itch.
Margaret Connor? Where have I heard that before...?
When the last wire had been attached Stoker grabbed the largest switch and faced the gathering with a wide grin. "Behold, the complete salvation!" He shouted, and then he forced it down. The machine roared and sparked into action. Bright blue-white lightning arced along the wires and lit up the coffin like a storm. The lights of the room blinked and flickered and a few of them popped, showering whatever unfortunate souls happened to be below them in glass shards.
After a few seconds of the lightshow, the machine powered down. An expectant hush fell over the room as every eye was fixed on the body. Charlotte blinked to dispel the afterimages and then gaped in shock as the corpse proceeded to sit up.
The room erupted into cheers and applause. The sobbing couple embraced their daughter. "Sebastian, what the hell is going on?!" Ciel yelled above the cheering. "Did he really revive a corpse?!"
Apparently not. In view of everyone, the mouth of the corpse opened wide enough to break the stitches on its face, and tore out the neck of the mother. Arterial blood and gore sprayed those closest to the spectacle, drenching them. In a second the applause turned to screams of terror as people scrambled and ran for the doors.
The demon pulled out several knives and threw them at the monster doing its best to clamber out of its coffin. It fell off the table, twitching violently. "Did you get it?" Ciel pulled off his wig and took a hesitant step forward.
"Stay back!" Sebastian ordered. Just then the monster arced up. It moved in sharp, jerky motions like its body wasn't quite its own. The bones cracked into place as it got to its feet and hen it let out a high-pitched screech. "I'm sure I stabbed her in the heart. This is something I do not understand. It's almost like-"
"It's almost like me," Charlotte realised with dawning horror.
What do u guys think is in Charlotte's present? Actually nvm it's a weapon but what kind of weapon? If you guess right I'll...idk I'll give u a cameo in one of the upcoming chapters? Is that what kids want these days?