Hi all! A new chapter has landed and the Blue Cult arc is completed. As I said before, Blue Memory arc (aka Ciel's flashback and trauma) will be skipped as I think I could explore it more on its own, as a one-shot. So next week, we head more into Blue Revenge arc, meaning the ongoing one.
WARNING: You probably know what follows in this chapter, but... grab some tissues, just to be safe!
Also, a huge thank you to bloody-pinprick, Princess of Heart 11, death-becomes-her3, Jessthegeek014, Dreamreader13 and xxmagentaxcamelliaxx for following and favoring this story and my profile! Thank you so much, and I promise I'll do my best to continue delivering high quality content! 😍
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or its characters. I entirely own only my OCs, arcs and ideas/themes not mentioned in any form of the franchise (manga, anime, games, movies or musicals).
Chapter 50: The Tutor, Departure and Return
The next morning, Ciel had to fend off Soma's and Sieglinde's disappointment for ceasing the Phantom Five. He really could not understand why they had to be so childish instead of just accept the fact; it was not like he had promised them these shows would go on for too long. He had more important things to do.
"They are so noisy, I cannot keep up." He sighed managing to slip away, once Sebastian informed him the carriage was ready for their excursion and Selina joined them.
"Master Ciel. Do you have a moment?" Agni said standing right in the middle of the corridor.
"You too? What is going on? Can it wait until I get ba-" Ciel started saying, now truly annoyed for being delayed again.
"It is regarding this." Agni said unfolding one copy of the Penny Illustrated Paper he was holding. "Could it be that the Funtom Music Hall was the cause for this incident?" His voice was stricter than usual.
Ciel and Sebastian looked at him expressionless and Selina tried hard not to show how sorry she was. Damn... that was exactly what she kept saying to Sebastian, not to regard every human as stupid. It was only expected for someone, other than Abberline, to connect the dots and Agni sure was very capable of doing so.
"And what if it was?" Ciel asked with an almost bored look and tone.
"The Prince may not have realised it yet, but it means he has indirectly taken part in a case of murder. I ask you to please refrain from involving the Prince in such dangerous cases like this!" His eyes and voice showed something stronger than simple plea, in a way he demanded from Ciel to leave Soma out of his dark business.
"I understand. I will refrain from using both him and you ever again." Ciel said finally and moved on.
"Please, do not be like that! The Prince sees you as his friend, so he earnestly wishes to be of help-" The Indian butler tried to explain, fearing his intervention could disrupt the boys' friendship... however, he did not expect what Ciel said.
"I have never once thought of him as a friend." The young Earl said coldly, shocking both Agni and Selina. "In the first place, I do not recall ever asking you two to remain in Britain as a favour or anything. Am I wrong? You were the ones who decided to poke your noses into my business. I merely use whatever pieces I have at hand. If you are not happy with that, then start packing your bags and go back to your country. Let us go, Sebastian, Selina!" He finished, having turned his back to Agni and went on with his back straight, no hesitation in his steps.
"Your master's safety and happiness are the number one priority. You really are an exemplar butler, Mr. Agni." Sebastian said to his peer as he passed in front of him; his voice had his usual coldness but a sparkle of appreciation and respect existed in his red-brown eyes.
"Agni, I apologize on behalf of young master. I am sure he did not mean it that way! Please, we'll talk about it when we get back." Selina said, following Sebastian on slightly shaky legs; her eyes were so honest.
In the carriage there was silence. Sebastian, with a satisfied smile on his lips, was staring at Ciel, who had his eyebrows furrowed and lips tight, and in turn was staring at Selina, who also had furrowed brows and evident sadness in her eyes.
"Selina, if you have any objection in all this, know that I do not really care, even if you decide to give me an earful!" The boy suddenly spoke very authoritatively.
Selina lifted her eyes and stared at the child sitting across her. "I had no such intention, my lord; I know it would be in vain. However, you cannot forbid me from feeling bad and sad on your behalf for what you said to Agni. It was cruel to use these boys without having explained exactly what the Sphere Music Hall's mistake would entail." She said seriously.
"So what? You feel guilty on my behalf? I never asked you of this!"
"I know, but someone has to feel a little guilty."
"My dear, I do not understand why is there any need for guilt. It is not like you have never been involved in humans' deaths before." Sebastian said with a malevolent smile, obviously mocking the woman's sudden sense of righteousness.
"And that is why I chose to take them out on my own, without involving anyone else, anyone innocent... because that kind of guilt is worse than the one caused by killing criminals and I could not take it, at the moment." Selina was quite upset about all this. She lifted her hand to stop Sebastian from talking, who was also getting quite angry at her for trying to awake his master's conscience. "I am not saying that what we did was an utter mistake, since we had no other choice and course of action, and I am not trying to make young master feel guilty... that is clearly up to him, if he will ever choose to feel that way or not... But, since I cannot change anything, I believe I have the right to feel some things instead of him, take a small part of his burden so that he will be able to go on and complete his goal."
To that the demon could not say anything. He loved the idea of his master wallowing in despair and guilt, but on the other hand if that happened too soon and too much, the boy would be driven to madness and Sebastian hated that! Madness could really spoil the taste if it was added too soon, plus, he really despised having to deal with a deranged master... Therefore, he had to accept what Selina suggested; he had no idea how she could manage to feel guilt on behalf of their master, but guessed it was something human, therefore, not interested in understanding it; he would be satisfied by observing how she would do it.
In the meantime, they reached their destination. A pub where they found Redmond, Greenhill and Bluewer, the three parts of S4. The boys were hiding since the Yard was out hunting everyone that collaborated with the Sphere Music Hall, it was only logical that the establishment's stars were high in the wanted list. However, it soon became evident they honestly had no idea of Blavat's dirty businesses in the background, they got really surprised when Ciel asked them about Elizabeth and Violet, why was he not present; they only knew that he completely disappeared after everything was discovered.
Sebastian reminded them that the melancholic boy had the Sirius blood type, so most probably Blavat took him along to continue draining him. That shook the other three quite a lot and made them complete the puzzle of Violet's sudden anaemia and fainting, the prospect of their friend dying, if that went on for long, scared them.
Ciel banged the end of his walking stick on the floor. "I will ask once more. Do you have any idea of Blavat's whereabouts?" He asked seriously.
"Ah!" Redmond exclaimed as he remembered something. "Did he not say something about building number two? He said he was in the middle of building it somewhere!"
"Bath! It was 'Bath'!" Bluewer cried out after all three struggled for a while to remember the place the fortune-teller had mentioned.
"Bath is Britain's famous spa town, is it not? So, a Music Hall at a health resort where elders and retired military servicemen tend to gather?" Sebastian asked.
"A rather fitting place to slowly slip into hiding. We are leaving, Sebastian." Ciel announced and instantly turned around, ignoring Bluewer calling or trying to talk to him; he obviously did not care for anything else outside his case.
{~}
It was early in the afternoon when they reached Bath and soon after, located the new Mucic Hall under construction at the edge of the town. With a tug, Sebastian broke the chain and padlock that secured the building's doors and they entered the under construction, but now abandoned, building. They wandered inside it for a while, searching for clues, before Sebastian revealed a hidden staircase leading downwards.
The stairs led to some double doors, that Sebastian opened and the trio walked into a big and tall room, with chaise longues lined up on both sides, close to the walls. The pale body of a man, with an expression of pure horror on the face, was strapped on each chaise longue; the straps metallic, tubes attached to the arms of each man and strange machines standing at their sides.
"Well, well, look what we have here... Top brass of the army, leader of the House of Lords, and more. They are all persons that a royal servant like me could not possibly fail to recognise." Ciel said staring at each one's face. "These are all the people on the list Grey gave us. Are they all dead...?"
"It seems quite so..." Selina murmured looking around quite indifferently.
For some reason, she could not feel sorry for these men; on the contrary, she was of the idea they pretty much asked for it. She felt their reason for resorting to a so experimental treatment was not only due to health issues, but arrogance for gaining more life and radiance that would make them greater than the already quite great men they were.
At that moment, something drew Sebastian's attention and turning to his right saw Gregory Violet lying strapped on one chaise longue, the crooks of his elbows filled with old and newer bruises, some were still bleeding. All three ran to his side.
"He seems to still be alive, but barely." Sebastian said checking the unconscious young man's pulse.
"Hey! Wake up! Snap out of it!" Ciel yelled at him leaning closer with evident concern.
Selina shook him a little and he finally seemed to be waking from a really deep sleep. Once his eyes were open he stared at Ciel and... looked quite terrified, like he saw a truly frightening ghost. But then his eyes cleared more and saw the younger boy's face better. He instantly calmed down. A sound was heard and the metallic strap confining him on the seat was lifted by Sebastian.
"So it appears you were familiar with Blavat's true nature behind-the-scenes, right?" The butler asked in a matter-of-fact tone. "Why would you go so far along with it...?"
"Because of... their smiles. I did not want... to make them sad... ever again,,," Violet said with a trembling voice covering his face with a hand. "I could not figure out what to do. But I thought that if I sent invitations to Cheslock and the others, then it might eventually reach you. I thought that maybe you would be able to put an end to all this... I was probably secretly hoping for that all this time. Because I... just could not... bring myself to do it!" Now he was obviously crying with heavy sobs, finally allowing himself to let out some of the pent up pressure and pain, physical and psychological, he had gone through.
"Where is Blavat?" Ciel asked calmly.
"He has returned... to London..." Violet managed to say right before he fell unconscious again. Ciel kept calling him with agony in his voice, because Violet really seemed like dead; he was so pale and cold.
"Bring him to the hospital immediately!" He ordered Sebastian, who instantly picked up the so thin and weak young man.
A sudden roar was heard and a red chainsaw appeared out of nowhere descending upon them. Thankfully, Sebastian was fast enough to draw back saving his load too and Selina grabbed Ciel and pulled him out of the chainsaw's path. The individual following this lethal tool was of course the scarlet Grim Reaper Grell Sutcliff, who arrived at the scene to start collecting souls, as it was her duty... but that did not mean she would miss the chance for a 'passionate' encounter with 'Sebas, Sebastian darling'; and of course, it is well known that her definition of passionate is under question...
"Sebastian darling, long time no see! This must be fate in the works, allowing us to meet here!" She said in her usual playful manner.
"It is just a coincidence." Sebastian responded in a wooden tone, once again greatly irritated by the appearance of the twisted reaper. "We do not have time for your antics at the moment." He simply announced.
"Oh, my! But you do not have to worry about that one, because he is not on our list." Grell informed the demon, checking her notebook as she leaned on her scythe.
"No, Grell, actually there is the possibility that he survives only because they save him, you know?" A voice was heard, followed by the clacking sound of clogs, as a new face appeared. A reaper with greenish, wild hair, round glasses and a lab coat; Grell identified him as Othello and Selina whispered that finally, a slightly more sane person appeared, triggering Ciel's memory of hearing in the tutor's narration about a reaper called Othello. "So you are the rumoured "Sebas", eh? I see, yes! Definitely Grell's cup of tea!" Othello said quite cheerfully.
"I know, right?!" Grell squealed, totally absorbed at staring at Sebastian, but then her eyes caught Selina standing beside him and that infuriated her. "If only that abomination did not exist, tainting my dear Bassy!"
"That what?" Selina asked with fire in her eyes and a dagger flashing in her hand. She was ready to jump on the scarlet reaper and rip her face off, but Ciel's walking stick blocking her brought her back to reason.
"It would be rather troublesome if you destroyed the area, so be a good girl and behave." Othello said still very cheerfully, as he patted Grell to calm her down, just like she was a doggy.
Grell went on fussing and complaining, but Ciel's voice and appearance seemed to literally enchant the geeky reaper. Othello started going in circles around the child, examining him from every possible angle – he even pushed Selina away to not obstruct his observation – and seemed rather excited for finally meeting a living contractee. He went as far as plucking a hair off his head, something that disgusted the young boy enough to start yelling at the green haired reaper to throw it away. Sebastian, still with Violet in his arms, stepped in front of his master and Selina finally managed to get close again and protectively wrap the child in her arms.
"What business do you have here?" Sebastian asked.
"Why ask questions when you already know the answer. We are here for work! But if you would like to invite me out sometime after five o'clock, now is your chance!" Grell said in her usual whimsical tone winking at Sebastian, who immediately turned around to leave along his master and mate, ignoring Grell's screams behind them.
"Still, in any case, it is unbelievable how advanced their technology was to be able to create these machines." Othello said while examining one of the machines, and that seemed to pique Ciel's interest, as he turned back and asked for more information.
Othello went on explaining how these men were suffering from a currently incurable disease, but by replacing their 'dirty' blood with 'clean' they seemed to cure it. That seemed to utterly shock Ciel and Othello showed him the dates of the men's deaths that had been overwritten as they managed to elongate their lives quite drastically; something that happens rarely to one or two people, much less to a larger group as the one currently in their hands.
"Are there ever any cases where the list has been revised?" Sebastian asked.
"Here and there." Othello said and explained what he meant.
Something like that could happen only if there was an external influence, like in the case of a being with knowledge still unknown to humans, appearing and starting to mess things up; inevitably the lives of the ones involved with that being will change. A demon could fit that role, but usually the contracts they made were quite simple and once fulfilled, everything was over... but then again... there had been times when someone came along and did a truly groundbreaking invention.
That was all Ciel needed to hear. "Sebastian! Blavat is in London! We must head back immediately!" He ordered, ignoring Othello's and Grell's arguing for whether they would simply carry one of the machines in their headquarters' laboratory for further examination or dismantle it on spot.
"Ah, wait! This was the perfect chance to get cosy and wet in the spa town with Sebastian darling!" Grell cried out, seeing the small group hastily leaving the place.
"Grell! Get going on the retrieval work! Or else you will get chewed out by Will!" Othello warned her in an effort to make her move on with work.
"That does not sound too bad either, but still..." Then she sighed deeply disappointed with hands on hips. "Oh well, whatever. We will be seeing each other again real soon, you can count on it. Is not that right?" She finally said with a mischievous smirk waving goodbye to the demon's back and picking up her scythe.
{~}
After leaving Gregory Violet to the care of the local hospital, the Earl Phantomhive and his two servants took the train back to London.
Ciel was deep in thought for quite a while. "Sebastian, would you not have sensed it if there was another demon involved in this case?" He finally asked staring at his butler in a quite hostile manner.
"Logically." The butler responded casually.
"You would not keep it from me, right? You are ordered to never lie or keep anything secret!"
"Of course, my lord. I do not lie!"
"My lord, if there was a demon somewhere in all this... logically I could sense them too, but I sensed nothing of the sort." Selina added seriously.
"Then what kind of being could possess knowledge yet unknown to humans? Unless we are talking about a human genius, as in Sieglinde's case, but... even Sieglinde needed time to decipher the riddle of bloods!" The boy said and, even if he did not realise it, his voice showed admiration towards the girl, since she was the smartest person he had met.
"Yes... that could be the case. Unless..." Sebastian said lightly rubbing his chin while in thought.
"Yes?" Ciel said after a few moments that the demon was still silent. Both boy and woman were staring at him, waiting.
"Well... it is not exactly that demons possess knowledge that humans do not, we merely see the potentials of evolution in humans and their inventions, therefore a demon could be involved only if he or she was in contract with a genius, the level Lady Sullivan is. Since obviously that is not the case, the only option is the Grim Reapers themselves... They are in possession of knowledge that humans have not reached yet. And I am certain our beloved Selina knows this, correct?" Sebastian stared at Selina quite darkly; he seemed a little displeased at her for not sharing her knowledge with him, at least.
Ciel also stared at her disapprovingly, and the woman honestly could not understand the reason why. "Wow... Hold on! My lord, you both heard me mentioning strange machines I saw in the Reapers' headquarters; machines I had no idea what they could be."
"Yes, but we are talking about an era more than a hundred years after this one here... I found it very logical for new machines to exist, so I did not deem it important to inquire further... Anyway, back to what Sebastian said. Reapers are more evolved than humans?" The boy asked in a totally serious manner.
Selina seemed to have difficulty in explaining. "Well... I cannot fully explain it either. It is more like having knowledge of a more evolved version of what already exists. I mean Grell's chainsaw, William's garden clippers, Ronald's lawn mower and wrist watch... All these already exist... but not in the form they have them, which are a little further in the future."
"How further? Does this knowledge expands beyond technology?" Ciel asked.
"Not more than a century, my lord, and no, I don't think it does. Otherwise, Grell would have recognized... this abomination!" She said pointing at herself and eyes turning to blue fires, surprising the boy and pleasing the demon beside her. "Either way, their laws forbid them to intervene to humans' life, including revealing this further knowledge to humans, much less using it." She added, while trying to calm down and failing.
Ciel nodded. "But it seems someone defies these laws... more than once." He said meaningfully and the other two agreed. "If Undertaker is behind all this, he will make an appearance sooner or later... even though this does not seem similar to the 'bizarre dolls' case." Then the boy fell deep in thought again.
However, he could not pretend not seeing his tutor sitting across him and fidgeting all the time, as she still fumed with anger over something. The demon next to her seemed really amused, with an annoyingly smug smile on his lips; he discreetly tried to calm the woman down by brushing his fingers over the side of her thigh and arm or teasing some stray curls of hers with his breath, but did not seem to succeed greatly, even though the woman had blushed quite a bit. In the end, the boy could not take any more of this nonsense.
"Oh for goodness' sake! What now, Selina?" The boy finally said, fed up.
"Nothing important, my lord. I just... Sometimes, I really want to skin Grell alive!" She exclaimed, finally revealing her anger.
"We are together in that, my dear!" Sebastian said cheerfully.
"Selina, I consider you a smart woman... Do you really give credit to what Grell says? We have more important issues." The boy Earl said with a tired look in his eye.
"I know, my lord, you are right, and I do not give credit to what Grell says, but... It's just that... I have been listening to her calling me abomination so many times in the three years of my training with her, that I simply can't take it anymore! She usually was indifferent to most women; she pretty much ignored them unless they had red hair, but hated me so much and I had no idea why... until recently that is! The thing is that you heard how cruel she was to me during training..." The boy nodded. "That was not all; even outside training whenever got the chance she was bullying me in some way!" She exhaled frustrated.
"He must have liked you when you turned violent towards him." Sebastian said, trying to contain his mirth. A sudden terrified shiver shook the young boy at the thought of receiving pleasure through violence... exactly what Grell did.
Selina agreed to that and sighed. "I honestly tried to be understanding, because I know how it is to be rejected by the person you desire... I even took her out with Miranda for a girls' night and allowed her to cry on my shoulder over... 'Sebas'..." At that she glared at the demon who responded with a look of innocence. "Her sadness touched me... Now I really wish I had died her hair blond instead!" She said angrily.
And that seemed to be the last straw for Sebastian. He was fast enough to cover his mouth before his entire body started shaking from uncontrollable laughter. Oh... how he wished for being alone with Selina in the train carriage right at that moment, so he could freely show her how much of an 'abomination' she truly was. But he had to limit himself in only squeezing the woman's hand lovingly, until the fit of laughter was gone. Selina was not helping at all, since she kicked his shin a couple of times while calling him a bastard, because it was all his fault. Even Ciel seemed to take a break from brooding over the complex case at hand and smirked, obviously picturing the scarlet reaper raging while pulling her blond locks.
However, when the train reached the rainy London, any sign of amusement was gone from all three, since things concerning the case had to be done immediately. Ciel gave directions to Sebastian on contacting Abberline and inform him for the facility in Bath and Violet's whereabouts and condition. Double Charles should also be notified and in turn they would tell the Queen, and figure out how to deal with the chaos that would break out in the Parliament, after the death of so many bureaucrats.
"Nevertheless, I wonder why Blavat decided to return to London? Even though at one point he had left to escape the maelstrom..." Sebastian said at some point.
"That has been bothering me as well. It means that he returned for a reason of such importance that he would even risk endangering himself for it. At this point, all we have left is to capture him and wring the truth out of him." Ciel sighed deeply troubled. "In any case, Lizzie is being quite a pain... even with this whole mess going, she has not come home at all. What could she be thinking at a time like this? The S4 has been dissolved, and Blavat's fortune telling was proven to be nothing more than a blood experiment combined with cold reading and leading questions."
"Indeed. It seems that even though he is a natural born witch, either his powers are not strong enough to make him a proper fortune-teller or he has no idea how to use them. However, no matter how childish and airheaded lady Elizabeth seems to be, I don't think things like that would fanaticise her that much, to the point of turning the back to her... obsessive affection for you, my lord. Something really strong must have taken a hold of her heart." Selina suggested, obviously worried about the always cheerful girl.
Sebastian nodded. "I agree. Miss Elizabeth stated that she, "for one, cannot return to that side.""
"What?" Ciel asked and paused.
"When she pointed her sword at me, back at the Music Hall, that is what she stated. At first, I thought it nothing more than your typical mental state of those who idolise a religion, but..." The butler said, hesitating to continue, perhaps because even he did not know what to think of it.
"So? What of it?" Ciel asked a little impatiently.
"...No, well, even if I were to argue the subject here, I doubt we would reach a conclusion. I apologise for bringing up a superfluous discussion." Sebastian said, evading the boy's question and passed the umbrella to Selina, so that both woman and child would continue to be protected by the rain. "Everything will be made clear once Miss Elizabeth is brought home. Let us return to the townhouse for now. While you rest, young master, I shall send out the reports and do some investigation." He added and left to arrange for a carriage to pick them up.
"I, for one?" Ciel asked trying to decipher his cousin's words. "Selina, as a woman, what do you think Lizzie could have meant and what is holding her?" He turned upwards to his tutor.
"I cannot tell for sure what Lady Elizabeth could have meant, but I can only hypothesize that what holds her there must be something... or maybe someone extremely important to her and her life." The tutor responded, and smiled at the boy's dissatisfied grimace.
After a while, the trio reached the townhouse, to young master's relief.
"Riding in the hansom cab always makes me sore. And it is raining too! I am freezing!" The grumpy boy complaint, his whole body shivering as the rain's humidity pierced through his bones, despite Selina's attempts to warm him up by gently rubbing his back.
"I will prepare some hot tea right this instant. You have been working hard." The butler said with a smile... that disappeared immediately from his face, his eyes opened wide and turned to red, as he almost gasped surprised and alarmed. He stepped in front of boy and woman, not allowing his master to enter the house first.
"Is something the matter, Sebastian?" Ciel asked, recognising the look on his butler's face.
Selina could see the demon's nostrils flexing as he breathed deep, something he did when he spotted strong odours... Blood was among these odours and the one that instantly hit the woman's nose as soon as the door creaked open. Their eyes met an awful sight. Splashes of blood and a small pool was on the chequerboard floor, the wooden rail of the staircase was broken at some point, like something or someone had been thrown on it, and more blood created a trail leading further in the house.
"What on Earth is this?!" Ciel asked, quite shocked and even terrified. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, hands and back. "There is so much blood... What in blazes happened here?!"
Neither Sebastian or Selina could answer. The demon proceeded, keeping the boy behind him and the witch followed with one hand locked on his shoulder protectively, a dagger flashed in the other. They followed the blood, that seemed to become more and more as it went on, to the basement, where an even more horrible sight awaited them.
Agni was leaning with his face on the pantry door at the end of the corridor, and knives protruded from his back, while his hands where still lodged on the door's handle. Blood was spattered everywhere as his attacker had obviously stabbed him repeatedly, until...
"Is he alive?" Ciel asked feeling his stomach turning and his throat and mouth dry.
Sebastian leaned closer and then shook his head looking at his master with furrowed eyebrows and a look in his eyes... that actually could be called sad. Ciel's heart started thumbing loudly in his chest, as his body started trembling. A muffled female cry was heard behind him, followed by a deep sob and the hand on his shoulder started also trembling. Sebastian tried to remove Agni's hands from the handle but... even in death he was so strong and determined to not let go, that the only way was to literally rip the entire lock from the door, in order to remove the man and manage to open the door. He held him with one arm and pushed the door until it stopped again.
"Well, well." The demon said surprised to see that Prince Soma was what hindered the door from opening further.
The teenage boy was seated on the floor, his back on the door. He was bloodied all over, but still alive and crying so heavily, like his heart was being broken inside his chest.
"Your master's safety and happiness are indeed your top priority. Mr. Agni, you truly are... an exemplar butler!" Sebastian said, slowly lowering himself to the floor, still holding the dead man in his arms. His voice was soft, filled with respect for his peer; Selina would swear there was sympathy drawn on the demon's face, but she could not see clearly... her eyes were filled with tears for the so unexpected, unjustifiable and violent loss of such a "gentle giant"!
As soon as Sebastian managed to move Agni's body from the door and place it gently against the wall, Ciel ran to the door, with agony in his eye, calling for the Prince, who was still crying so heartbreakingly.
"Are you still alive? Are you hur-" That was all Ciel managed to say before Soma, clearly in a delirious state, launched a punch on his 'brother's' face.
Sebastian's quick reflexes were what stopped him from doing any further damage; the butler hit the Prince at the back of his neck with enough strength to make him faint for some time. Selina ran beside her master, who was sitting on the floor quite shaken and with the unconscious Prince sprawled in his lap; thankfully the punch was not strong enough to cause anything more than just a bruise. Soma's palm was pierced by a bullet and drenched in blood.
"It appears master Soma is in terribly confused state... Though it is quite understandable, given the situation." Sebastian said and again, he looked quite sad in Selina's eyes.
Young master was staring at the Prince. "This is why I told you... not to... get involved with me!" He said through clenched teeth and a deep wrath was simmering in his trembling voice. He covered his face with his hand for a few moments, as he kept shaking in a mixture of grief and fury. That scene brought new tears to Selina, and this time they were the tears her master was not allowed to shed.
However, as expected, he quickly collected himself and by clenching his fist, showed how determined he was to get to the bottom of this. He gently laid Soma on the floor as he ordered Sebastian to investigate and find if this was a revenge attack from Blavat or a robbery.
"I find it highly improbable that mere five or ten humans would be able to take down Agni, even if they all ganged up. Something strange or unexpected must have happened. The body is still warm. The attack must have happened not too long ago." Sebastian said, his mind already analysing the facts they had in hand.
"Let us take a look around the house." Ciel ordered and butler and tutor followed, Selina had already both daggers in hand, in case they were needed.
They found some scattered coals in the living room's fireplace, indicating Agni was in the middle of preparing the fire, but other than that nothing was disturbed, no signs of trespassing or robbery. That was until they reached young master's bedroom. As soon as they entered, utter surprise and even fear – at least for Selina and Ciel – took over them as they faced the vandalized state the room was in, but above all the letters carved on the wall. "Who stole the candy from my tummy?" was written and, even though Sebastian could not think of how that could be connected to Blavat, this strange phrase seemed to shake and terrify the young Earl more than anything... he actually looked like a great ghost was coming out of thin air right in front of him.
"No... it cannot be..." He whispered to himself mostly, feeling sanity slipping away from him once more. His demon's voice brought him back. "It... it appears that the perpetrators have already fled the building. Let us first focus on bringing the wounded over to Sullivan." He said, trying to control his trembling body.
Without throwing a glance back, he returned to Soma, leaving the couple quite confused about what happened to him a moment ago. They exchanged a look; Sebastian wiped away a tear from his mate's cheek and they followed the child. When Sebastian lifted the still unconscious Prince in his arms, Ciel saw two burned pieces of paper dropping from his hand, he picked them up and a new terror appeared in his eye. He was fast to close his fist around the pieces before Selina leaned closer to take a look.
"Sebas... tian... you... you are not lying to me, are you?" He asked, with fury and dread evident in his so pale face.
The demon looked at him coldly and then shook his head. "No, unfortunately, I am not. I do not tell lies." He finished, and his eyes showed like, at the moment, he honestly wished he could lie. But his words were enough to terrify the boy even more.
{~}
"Huh... it sure rains a lot in England... I cannot even pull out the motivation to work on my research." Sieglinde sighed for the umpteenth time that day, as she was sitting by the window in her laboratory and stared at the rain falling. If the magic she knew before was to be real, she would swear that either a really moody witch or the wolfman himself had made a spell and cursed England with constant rain as soon as autumn arrived.
"Beer up, my lady." Wolfram said while tidying up.
"It is 'cheer' up." The girl said and sighed once again.
At that moment, impatient knocks full with urgency were heard on the door downstairs and Wolfram ran to see who was it.
"Who dares to knock during a storm like this?!" He yelled pulling the door open, but froze at the sight. Young master Ciel, Sebastian and Selina were standing there drenched in rain, but the most horrible was that Sebastian was holding Prince Soma in his arms; a very unconscious, bloodied and wounded Prince Soma.
"Please, treat this man, if you would." Sebastian said, passing the teenager to the blond butler's arms.
"What happened? These wounds look awful!" Wolfram said, taking in the obvious damage in the Prince's temporarily bandaged right palm.
"Wolf? What is all the fuss..." Sieglinde was heard coming down the stairs leaning on her crutches.
"Until I give further notice, do not open the door for anyone, no matter the circumstances. Not even... for me." Ciel said and his stare was cold and empty.
"What?" Sieglinde asked, not believing her ears.
"And... if you would be so kind... sent someone to collect Agni's body from the townhouse... I'm sure the Prince will want to honor him according to their country's customs." Selina added and now Sieglinde noticed how red from tears were the woman's eyes. "But only if it is safe for you too..."
"Good gracious! What has happened?!" The girl asked worried.
No one answered, just stared at her and her butler. For the moment, it would be safer for them not to know. The so enigmatic trio just turned around and left in the rain.
"Will you be returning home to the main estate?" Sebastian asked as his master hurriedly moved away from Sieglinde's house.
"Yes. There is something I need to confirm. Let us hurry on, Sebastian." The boy responded without a pause.
A few minutes later, Sebastian landed outside the manor under the bright lights of thunder and lightning. He lowered enough for Selina and Ciel to stand on their feet, and without further delay they climbed up the stairs and reached the door. Sebastian got ready to open and did so, as soon as his master collected himself and gave the signal. The Earl Ciel Phantomhive took a determined step and entered his manor.
Instantly, the worried voices of his servants welcomed him, asking what happened, why was he drenched like that and why did he get back out in the rain... again. Mey-Rin was fussing over preparing him a hot bath or he would catch a cold, when the boy froze in his tracks.
"'Again'...?" He asked as he just then realised what Bard had said just a moment ago.
"Oho, I see now. I thought it was getting a little noisy out here..." A voice came from the stairs... a voice identical to his. "Now, now, you should know better... gallivanting around in drenched clothing in this cold weather... You are just asking for another rough bout of coughing, you know?"
The voice was coming closer and everyone froze in a surprised terror as they saw the owner coming down the stairs slowly and authoritatively. Even Sebastian seemed at a loss and Selina had grabbed his sleeve as if scared of what her eyes were seeing; she actually could not trust them at the moment and hoped that Sebastian would tell her they deceive her.
"But not to worry, everything is going to be alright now. For I will never leave you on your own ever again. I am home." The voice said that belonged to a thirteen year old boy... identical to the Earl Phantomhive.
"This must be a lie." Young master whispered, feeling the floor slipping under his feet but he was so frozen on spot that he could not even lose his balance. His eye was wide and horrified, like the ghost his mind was seeing earlier became solid.
"Th-There are... two young masters?!" Finny was heard hesitantly.
"How could this possibly be a lie? I assure you... this is very real." The new Ciel said, responding to his mirror image... because they truly were each other's mirror image, the only difference the eyepatch, since the new one had none.
"So, I was right... I knew something was off about him the moment he arrived! That person is not young master Ciel! He is an imposter!" Finny cried out now, pointing an accusing finger to this stranger that invaded their house and obviously wanted to overthrow their master and saviour.
"An imposter?" The boy smirked. "What a funny thing to say. The head of the house of Phantomhive... is none other than me, Ciel Phantomhive."
*glaring at RCiel* You little piece of s*%#! Honestly, what makes me really dislike RCiel is not that he came back from the dead, but his attitude! It's infuriating! He is like "Oh dear brother, I am here to protect you... please, let me first set you up and let you rot in prison, so that you get well in your head I am the REAL Earl!" Well... I say, take your title and shove it up where not even sun shines!
Anyway... we still have time until he gets what he deserves, in my version... hopefully in the manga too, at some point! Next week, I start at the point right after the end of OCiel's flashback and continue from there on.
Till next time! Bye! 😊