That Butler, New Face

That Butler, On The Hunt

He was falling. Ciel could feel himself falling, and he struggled to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt heavy and leaden... Then he heard a soft and sweet voice speak.

[Once upon a dreary eve...
at midnight when all hopes and dreams had been lost...]

'That voice... I know that voice... It's Chêne...' Ciel thought as he finally managed to open his eyes. '!?' He thought, surprised to find that he was falling through a dark, inky, pitch-black void.

[I, who had been possessed by an apparition, spied a stately Raven overhead...]

Ciel could hear Chêne, but he couldn't see her... it almost sounded like her voice was coming from everywhere and nowhere all at the same time. It was unnerving. He tried to look around to see if he could see anything, but he realized that, except for his eyes, he couldn't move at all—he was paralyzed. Ciel was paralyzed, and helpless as he fell further into the crushing darkness of the abyss.

[And with dreaming eyes quoth the Raven...
'That which is lost shall never return.']

Ciel felt something soft brush against his face as he listened to Chêne's voice fade away to barely even a whisper... a feather? Yes... it was a feather, black as coal, just like everything else in this chasm.

['NEVER MORE.'] Sebastian whispered darkly as the demon held finger to his lips, grinning. His black nails had become sharp, like talons, and his teeth had elongated into fangs. Crimson eyes glowed maliciously as the Raven swooped down upon his prey.

=†=†=†=†=

{December 12, 1888—The Phantomhive manor}

"—ster."

Ciel blinked slowly. Was someone calling him...?

"—Young Master," Sebastian called out as he approached the bed. Chen was caressing Ciel's cheek, trying to tickle him awake, since he wasn't waking up, even after she threw the curtains open to let the sunlight  in. Ciel's brow was furrowed as he struggled to open his eyes, and there was a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead.

"Sebastian, I think he's having a nightmare..." Chêne said, frowning slightly in concern.

"Then should we not wake him up?" Sebastian asked as he leaned over to shake Ciel awake. Ciel finally managed to open his eyes, but he was still  feeling disorientated "Young Master." Ciel flinched in shock and alarm when he realized two figures were looming over him.

"...!!" Ciel yelled as he suddenly reached under his pillow and pulled his pistol out, aiming it at one of the ominous figures.

CHAK.

The pistol's hammer made a clicking sound as Ciel pulled it back with his thumb, cocking the pistol with his finger on the trigger, ready to fire. Sebastian and Chêne stared at Ciel, stunned. Chêne had gone blue with shock. Ciel was holding the gun to Sebastian's forehead. The young earl was breathing heavily.

"Do not—! Touch me—!" Ciel yelled at Sebastian, shaking. He didn't even seem to have noticed Chêne.

"..." Sebastian said as he slowly straightened up, and took a step back, so as to not startle the frightened boy. He would not die if Ciel shot him, but there was a particularly valuable vase behind him, and if Ciel missed... Well, we couldn't have that break, now could we? Chêne stayed perfectly still. Since Ciel wasn't paying attention to her, it would be better not to surprise him by making any sudden movements. Her dad warned her before that, when he was in Iraq, he had learned that when a shaky and nervous kid is pointing a gun at you—you do exactly as they say—because if you upset them, a kid is more likely to panic and pull the trigger if something goes wrong. All Chêne knew was that she was really glad that she had insisted on getting Ciel a single-action pistol, or Sebastian would've probably been shot by now... Sebastian glanced at Chêne and grinned. At least she was being a good girl and staying out of the way, that would make things much easier.

"For today's morning tea, I have prepared Assam with plenty of milk," Sebastian said calmly. Ciel watched as Sebastian poured the tea, panting and shaking like a leaf. "The milk will serve to relax you. It will calm you down." Sebastian informed him.

"..." Ciel said as he stared at Sebastian, his eyes cast in shadow.

"Especially... after a bad dream..." Sebastian said, smiling warmly, just as he had seen Chêne do before whenever she comforted someone, and slowly approached Ciel, holding the cup of tea out to him.

"..." Ciel said as he stared at Sebastian, still clutching his gun. The warm and sweet, calming aroma of the tea wafted through the air, and Ciel relaxed slightly at the familiar and comforting scent. Ciel exhaled as he finally relaxed and lowed his gun. Ciel put the gun aside, and accepted  the tea from Sebastian. Chêne sighed in relief as she finally stood up from where she had been kneeling beside his bed, and picked up the gun so she could disarm it.

"Are you all right, Ciel? Do you want to talk about the nightmare?" Chêne asked him, concerned. It wasn't like this was the first time Ciel had woken up a little shaky from a nightmare, but he had never actually pulled a gun on either of them before.

"... It's nothing," Ciel said as he sipped his tea. Sebastian noticed there was a book still lying on the bed that Ciel had obviously fallen asleep reading.

"Heh," Sebastian said as he picked it up and read the title. It was a book of a collection of the works of Edgar Allen Poe. "It is all because you read Poe before going to bed," Sebastian said, smirking wryly. All that trouble over something so trivial...

"Wait, isn't that my book...? I put it back in my room after I read some of it to you yesterday—Did you go in my room!?" Chêne asked Ciel indignantly. "You can't just break into a girl's room like that, Ciel! What are you going to do next—read my diary?" she huffed indignantly. She had been reading some of the poems aloud to Ciel yesterday, since he had been interested in why she liked Poe's  work so much. She told Ciel that she loved the way the words just flowed and had a rhythm that seemed to bring them alive, but Ciel had claimed he didn't think that way, since the rhythm seemed off whenever a British person read it, and Chene explained that it was probably because they were British, since Poe was American, and the words are pronounced differently. Ciel had to admit that Chene had been right after hearing her recite the poetry... when pronounced 'correctly,' listening to the eerie poems had been like hearing a siren's called.

"I do as please," Ciel said moodily as he sipped his tea. Not only had he had a rather nasty nightmare, but he had gotten caught by Chêne... not a very pleasant start to any day. "Besides, you do not have a diary." Chêne gaped at him, shocked. Sebastian smirked in amusement. So Ciel had looked for it... "What of today's schedule?" Ciel asked, as though he hadn't just stepped on a landmine.

"Today you must review the documents sent from headquarters. And in the afternoon, the Marchioness of Midford and Lady Elizabeth will be visiting," Sebastian stated. Chêne gave him a strange look, and Ciel almost spit out his tea. "And Young Master's—"

"Damn!!" Ciel yelled in alarm, shoving the tea into Sebastian's hand and shooting out of bed. "Begin preparations right away!" he ordered Chêne, not even waiting until Chêne had completely left the room before he began frantically trying to unbutton his shirt.

"?" Sebastian said, puzzled by their behavior. "You do not need to hurry so. The Marchioness will be here this afternoon—" he said, smiling a bright shit-eating grin at Sebastian.

"Fool!! We're talking about Aunt Francis here!!" Ciel yelled anxiously.