Changeling
It took an embarrassingly long while to find the library, as per Sebastian's request.
As Blaire expected, the library in Ciel's mansion was more than double the size of her bedroom back home. While she did not particularly appreciate the décor, she did reluctantly concede that the Harry Potter-esque feel to the room was something to behold. Upon the walls was, in Blaire's opinion, some hideous turquoise wallpaper which had intricate designs of birds and other woodland creatures painted on. The floor was wooden and adorned with a small red woollen carpet. In the centre of the wall was an oak fireplace which was kindled and decorated with pottery, the odd ornament and a clock right in the middle. At either side of the mantel place were high oak bookshelves which encompassed the entire room and were all stuffed with leatherbound books. Above the shelves were gold-framed paintings of, who Blaire assumed might have been departed members of the Phantomhive family. Their sightless eyes peered out into the open room and made the brunette feel uneasy. In front of the fire lay two red plush chairs, which Blaire promptly plopped herself down on, resting her legs upon the glass table – which was the perfect height for such a thing.
She sighed in contentment, the relief at having taken the weight off of her legs was enough to brighten her otherwise anxious mood. What on earth did Sebastian wish to discuss with her? Her stomach rolled as though she were on a rollercoaster. She fiddled with the hem of her sleeve as she stressed over her next encounter with the demon. Her heart would simply not slowdown in pace and her palms were becoming increasingly clammy. One thing that she did know for certain was that she was deftly afraid of him.
She sat like that for five minutes, before reaching behind her and pulling a random book from the shelf which was within arm shot. Glancing at the front cover, she pursed her lips. "Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde", she murmured, raising an eyebrow at the title, before opening the book. What surprised her first and foremost, was how new the pages were. She half expected the pages to be yellowed and musty smelling. She ran her fingers over the leather binding, pondering what condition the book would be in by the time the twenty-first century rolled around.
Feeling tears brim in the corners of her eyes, she furiously blinked them away and began to read the book. She didn't even like reading – the last book that she had read was one that she was forced to study in school. However, in an era before the internet, there was little else to do if one was looking for some escapism. Unless of course, one had the money or the fancy for an opera or the theatre.
In hindsight, the second thing that surprised her was how quickly she found herself immersed in the novel. It was set in a Victorian London (as she suspected most books from this era were) and followed Utterson's adventures in investigating a sinister character called Mr Hyde. She hardly noticed when a figure appeared in the doorway, staring with their arms crossed and an inquisitive eyebrow raised. Moments passed, and Blaire still failed to look up from the pages.
Upon hearing someone clear their throat, Blaire's head snapped up. Upon seeing Sebastian's curious face, her heart just about stopped. Her serene mood induced by the book vanished immediately. "Hi." Was all she had to say.
Sebastian's eyes moved onto Blaire's feet where they still rested atop of the table and his eyes narrowed. "Made yourself at home, have we?"
"You said to wait in here, so I did." She took her feet from the table, folding the corner of the last page she read and placing the book down.
Coming over to where she sat, Sebastian peered down at the cover page. "And you decided to pick up a book too. How quant. The illustrations were entertaining, I hope?"
"I can actually read, Sebastian."
Before she could blink, he had grabbed a hold of her face, causing her cheeks to pucker. A scowl was upon his face but his eyes were aglow with sardonic amusement. "The correct form of address, is Sir. Or indeed, Mr Michaelis if you would prefer. Regardless, you work under me now and you will show your superiors the correct level of respect if you wish to remain here. Do I make myself clear?"
Blaire's heart rate had quintupled during the course of the demon's speech, but she managed to hold his gaze. "Yes." She bit out.
He smirked. "Yes what?"
Through her fear, she felt her blood begin to boil. Her hands grasped the material of her skirts in an attempt to control their shaking. That beast was humiliating her, yet again! Wouldn't he ever grow tired of taunting her to the point of tears?
On the other hand, the day that he grew tired of her would surely be her last day.
She knew exactly what he wanted her to say, and the thought made her feel sick to her stomach. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she averted her gaze to the floor and forced herself to whisper; "yes Sir." She cringed internally, now thoroughly hating herself. This wasn't her. The old Blaire would have cursed him out and slapped him for being so vile. This, quivering, fearful mess was what he had reduced her to in a matter of days.
"Good girl." He cooed, releasing her face from his hold. When he gave her cheek a condescending stroke however, it was too much and she recoiled back from his touch with a sneer.
"What did you want to talk about?" She asked through gritted teeth.
The demon stood up to his full height. "Well first of all, in response to your earlier claim that you can in fact read, I am quite dubious. However, if you are indeed literate, that's one less thing I have to school you in I suppose. If you would care to demonstrate." He commanded with a quirked eyebrow.
Why does nobody believe I can read?! Jesus Christ!
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Blaire once again picked up her book with a sigh and began to read aloud from where she had left off. The demon came and stood behind her, no doubt checking to see if she was making it up on the spot.
Taking a deep breath, Blaire began to read out the page, slowly, just in case she stumbled over her words. She had not read aloud since school. "It was two o'clock when she came to herself and called for the police. The murderer was gone long ago; but there lay his victim in the middle of the lane, incredibly mangled. The stick with which the deed had been done, although it was of some rare and very tough and heavy wood, had broken in the middle under the stress of this insensate cruelty; and one splintered half had rolled in the neighbouring gutter—the other, without doubt, had been carried away by the murderer." When she had finished, she turned to look at Sebastian, who had his eyebrows raised.
"Very good…" He uttered, with some reluctance. She clearly had, indeed, had some form of schooling. His brows soon knitted together. The more he found out about this woman, the more of a mystery she appeared to be.
She blinked slowly up at him, arching a brow. "Do you want to test if I can write too?" She drawled, feeling quite ridiculous at even having to ask.
He moved to sit in the chair opposite, and then it occurred to Blaire how odd it was to see the demon sitting down in a normal chair. In fact, when she thought back to the show, she didn't think she had ever seen him sit down unless it was to drive a carriage. Her musing came to an abrupt end when he spoke again.
"As a matter of fact, yes I do. That is the main reason why I asked you to meet me in here. It is of the upmost importance that all the Phantomhive servants have an acceptable degree of education. As I'm sure you are aware, the servants of this household were selected to work here because they have a gift which in some way would benefit the young Lord, beyond that of merely doing the chores. Some tuition may come in handy should you become involved in one of his Lord's investigations."
The young woman blinked.
That was it? That was the reason why he told her to come here? All that time, she had been anxious for nothing!
Well, not entirely nothing. She would still need to prove her gift to him and Ciel regularly, but for now, if it was proving that she knew how to write then that made her life easy. She found herself thanking the gods that Sebastian had such a penchant for aesthetics.
"Well, lucky for both of us you won't need to waste your time on me. I can read and write. And I'm good at maths too. I can add and subtract, divide, multiply, fractions, parabolas, you name it. Did some biology too, and art. But I got kicked from the class for painting a massive…" She glanced up at Sebastian's bland face. "Never mind. But the one thing I despise learning is French." She told him bluntly, fidgeting with the hem of her sleeves.
Despite his inner turmoil, the demon smirked. "We shall be sure to put all of your claims to the test, then."
And that was how the afternoon was spent; Blaire sat across the table from Sebastian Michaelis, writing out random phrases he had opted to read aloud from a book. The two fell into a strange sort of rhythm and Blaire found herself becoming less anxious as they worked. It was as though being teacher made Sebastian into an entirely different person. More patient. Still quick to point out her mistakes, but the chiding lacked its usual cruelty. Perhaps he enjoyed teaching more than serving – it would make sense considering his affinity for being in a position of power.
"Your handwriting could be neater and your spelling of some words is lacking, however, you clearly have a good understanding of the written language." He commended.
Blaire raised an eyebrow, supposing that, when it came to Sebastian complimenting her, that was the best she would get. The pursed her lips, given that, one of the words which she had spelled incorrectly was chiaroscurist. When she asked the demon what it even meant, to her dismay, it wasn't even a strange Victorian word either.
He got her to do some basic sums too, which went by without a hitch.
"These are clearly too easy for you, aren't they?" He asked, frowning at the speed which she worked.
"Well, three added onto seven isn't rocket science. I learned how add when I was five, I think I've got the hang of things now."
Sebastian's frown deepened. "Rocket science?"
"…never mind."
The clock soon struck four in the afternoon, the time which it began to get dark during winter in the United Kingdom. It was then that Sebastian stood up and began tidying away the books and pieces of paper which had begun to clutter the desk.
"It's about time I begin dinner preparations for the Master. Bard will serve dinner for the servants at eight o'clock, after which you will be expected to help Mey-Rin with cleaning the kitchen. I trust you can tidy up after yourself in the meantime?"
And with that, Sebastian took his leave. Sighing, Blaire looked to the doorframe where he had been stood a second before. Now she felt incredibly bored again. She decided to pick up her book and resume reading until it was time for her to move again.
"So, how was everyone's day?" Mey-Rin asked between mouthfuls of jellied eel.
Blaire had taken one look at the dish placed in front of her and desperately tried to keep a straight face. Taking a hesitant bite, the texture caused her to shudder. The taste was just about bearable, however.
"I found my Whig button I thought I had lost!" Finny chimed in, jamming a hand into his trouser pocket and proudly presenting the tiny bronze piece.
"Never would have taken you as the political sort, Finny." Came from Bard. "Should've knew you would be a Whig though." The blonde chef took a swig of ale.
Finny raised his eyebrows. "You're a Tory?"
Bard shrugged. "Don't really matter does it? Working men like you and I Finny, we'll never get the vote."
Blaire glanced between the two quizzically as they went on. Oh, if only they knew. Blaire thought, taking another hesitant bite of eel before washing it down with some unsweetened tea. She shuddered.
"That's not what the Chartists are saying!"
The two females glanced at each other in bewilderment, Mey-Rin leaning in to whisper; "They bore me half to death sometimes. You aren't into any of that are you?"
"Maybe. But I think Finny might be onto something. Who knows, maybe women will get the vote someday."
Mey-Rin shook her head with a chuckle. "I doubt it. Politics is the sphere of men."
"Quite right." Agreed Bard.
Blaire opened her mouth to ague, then thought better of it. She was too tired to argue. And considering how closed minded everyone here seemed to be, it would have been pointless. They were firmly set in their ways.
Maybe I could be a suffragette. She mused.
"Servants." Sebastian announced his presence and the table quickly fell silent. "I would like all of you to pack your bags."
The four servants exchanged nervous glances.
"Wh…why? Have we done something wrong mister Sebastian?" Came from Finny, who looked fit to burst into tears.
Sebastian's eyebrows raised. "There is no need to seem so concerned. We are to depart with the Master to the townhouse in London tomorrow. In the morning we will leave after breakfast, so its business as usual until then. Blaire, you will find a bag suitable for travel atop of your bed when you retire for the evening. The carriages depart tomorrow at eleven. Don't be late."
Bard, Finny and Mey-Rin breathed a sigh of relief. Blaire however, was suddenly overcome with a feeling of terrible foreboding. She had quickly discovered that she hated being part of Ciel and Sebastian's adventures. While arguably more entertaining that doing chores all day, at least in the house she was safe. When going out with Ciel or Sebastian, one never knew what peril their life would be in. And with them believe she knew everything that was going to happen, the reliance that created on her was a sort of stress she wasn't prepared to deal with.
Sebastian took note of the anxiety plainly written across Blaire's face. He caught her much later as she was on her way to bed, falling into step with her as she hobbled towards her room.
"Does coming to London trouble you?" He asked vaguely, wondering if she knew about anything about future events. Was something bad going to happen that he should prepare for?
"I suppose. That's only because I've had nothing but bad experiences in London." She murmured, her eyes hooded and her body craving some much-needed rest.
"So, you don't know why we are going?" He asked in surprise.
Oh.
He was testing her. And she really was not in the mood to be tested, it had been a long day and she still had yet to pack.
"Well, I suppose it's because of Ciel's work. An investigation or something."
Truth be told, she couldn't remember what happened next. No doubt, when things familiar began to remind her of the show she would hopefully remember. As for now, all she wanted was to be left alone.
"With such vagueness, you sound like every other charlatan." He sneered.
They had come to a stop outside of Blaire's door. She peered up at his unforgiving red eyes. "But you know I'm not. How many times do I have to prove myself?" He looked as though he were about to retort, when she suddenly asked; "Will Tanaka be joining us?"
Any snide remark the demon may have been about to make died away in his throat. There was an uncomfortable pause between the two, and Blaire began to wonder if she had said something wrong.
She was just about to tell him to forget about it and head into her room when he spoke again.
"Tanaka is long dead. He was the previous butler however, he died in the fire trying to get the young lord to safety. I would advise against bringing him up around the young Lord."
She gazed at him moon-eyed. He regarded her strangely, pondering how on earth her powers worked. She had the name correct, but the thought that he was still alive was miles off. It was Sebastian who broke the silence, gathering that Blaire had been rendered speechless.
"If that is all, I bid you goodnight." He turned and left, quickly blending into the shadows cast by the moon. It was only when he was gone that she replied.
"Goodnight, Mister Michaelis."
I came and I saw; I saw the end of the world we know
You came and you saw; You'll disappear before the next star rises
NOTE: I have recently uploaded a self-insert story pondering what might happen if I, the author fell into Black Butler. It was just some fun but some of you may be interested.
Whig and Tories – the two main political parties in the UK at the time
Chartists – a working class movement which campaigned for working class votes
I didn't bring up the Suffragists or the Suffragettes because they weren't formed until 1897 and 1903 – a few years after Black Butler was set. I could definitely see Blaire being a Suffragette though
Meat was quite expensive in Victorian England, so was considered a luxury and would probably not have been eaten every day in the way it is in most cultures today. When choosing to eat meat, poorer people tended to eat sheep's head, fish and seafood if they could afford it.