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The playing fields were finally even.
His brother may have won the battle, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to win the war. Sebastian and Ciel had taken down the last blood bank, and all of the servants were meeting back up in Lau’s hideout to discuss the next part of the plan.
To be honest Ciel really disliked Lau’s hideout.
The rooms smelled strongly of incense, and the smoke made him feel suffocated. All of the women wore very revealing clothes, and it seemed that the building never rest. Not to mention the notion of his debt was always lingering in the back of his mind; every action would have an opposite reaction. Nothing was free to Lau. Every glass of water, every night of sleep, every breath of air, all of it had a price. A price he would eventually have to pay off.
But his future debts weren’t something he liked to dwell about. It was far easier to shove them into the back of his mind and pretend it was all fake. He often found himself thinking of his future issues as temporary labels.
When you have your soul signed to the devil with no future waiting for you, you tend to act more recklessly. It’s not like he would be around to face the consequences of his actions anyway.
By the time Ciel had finished his mission he was starting to feel like one of Undertakers bizzare dolls.
He was grabbing onto Sebastian’s sleeve to keep himself standing upright. His entire body ached with exhaustion. Legs weary, hands shaky, even his head felt too heavy to keep up right.
Sebastian opened the carriage door and Ciel fumbled up the steps and dumped himself onto the red silky cushion seats.
Ciel wasn’t one to praise Sebastian, but thank the devil he had pre-booked the cart for the travel back home.
At this point, Ciel wasn’t sure if he should sleep or celebrate. He was, after all, one step closer to regaining his rightful title as the Earl. But realistically he knew that this wasn’t the time to get cocky yet. There was still a lot more work to do before he could actually relax.
More work.
Somehow, he always had more work
His eyes glanced toward the small gap in the carriage. It connected the separation between where Ciel lay and where Sebastian drove.
“Sebastian, make it quick,” He demanded with a brush of his hand.
Ciel stretched himself out on the back seat, letting out an exhale of all the tension that had built up from that mission.
Sebastian’s eyes peered back to where Ciel was lying. “You choose to lie down, my lord? You aren’t showing much concern for road safety.”
God, it was like Sebastian knew exactly what to say in order to piss him off.
"Unless you have plans to crash us into a nearby ditch, I don’t think that’s our main concern,” he snapped back sarcastically.
Sebastian settled himself on the horse, flashing an innocent look Ciel’s way.
“Perish the thought, my lord. I merely thought I’d give my two cents.”
How irritating
Cel bit his tongue, holding back another insulting comment. He was too tired for the butler’s annoying back and forth.
His body tossed and turned on the seats, trying to find the most comfortable position to rest in. Internally, he noted how these weren’t as comfortable as the ones in his own carriage back at the manor, but still, they would have to suffice. He was one of the very few nobles to have access to a motorized vehicle, but he wasn’t always going to have access to such luxury. So, when on missions, horse-ridden carriages it was.
Ciel felt his eyes begin to drift shut. Even if only for a bit, he wanted to get some rest. The first rest he had in days, it was nice while it lasted.
But all good things end, and his rest was only temporary.
Ciels eye twitched at the sound of horse hooves clicking against the stone road, the feeling of the carriage shaking every time a wheel hit a rocky bump intrupted his sleep. But even those were only minor inconveniences. In reality, something else was keeping him awake.
His thoughts.
He was completly overwhelmed by everything in his life right now. Agni was dead, his brother—who was supposed to be dead, had come back to life and was now seeking vengence, and he had been outcast from his own home.
His home.
HIS HOME. HIS TITLE.
The title of Earl Phantomhive belonged to HIM. Nobody else. Nobody else in the whole world deserved it. Nobody even understood how much shit he went through to get it. He worked his ass off, overcame every struggle, every traumatic memory, saw countless people die, that including his own family—and he still did it. He did it all.
What did his brother even do?
Nothing.
He died, that was it.
Ciel did not sacrifice every relationship he ever had, sacrifice his chances to ever live a normal life, just for some dead asshole to come back and act like he deserved to cash in on all of his suffering.
His nails dug into his palms as he felt rage boiling deep inside him. Just thinking about how he had been robbed made a fire burn inside him. His brother deserved nothing.
To dare frame and slander him. He would get his revenge. It was priority number one. And when he got his revenge, he would make sure to send a clear message, a message on why you never cross the Earl Phantomhi...--
SKKKKKRRrrrrrrtttt!
Ciel was expelled forward off his seat, sending him tumbling to the floorboard.
Sebastian had rudely intrupted his brooding by suddenly halting the carriage with far more force than necessary which sent Ciel flying.
His head was still spinning when he heard was the butler’s antagonizing tone
“Ah, my apologies, My Lord. I did suggest you sit properly.”
Ciel pushed himself back up from the floor he had been rudely expelled on.
His head poked through the gap in the cart. Judging from his expression, he was clearly pissed.
“You did that on purpose bastard demon!”
“Ah well, the roads are quite bumpy in these areas. Besides, I couldn’t let you sleep all day, could I? We have work to be done,” Sebastian explained in a calm, unwavering tone.
Right. They had work to do.
Ciel’s face shifted into something more composed as he peered out the window and realized they had arrived. Though he wanted to argue about the rude way in which he had been awakened, Sebastian did have a point. Sleeping all day wasn’t an option. Not in the face of revenge.
Ciel brushed himself off and grabbed Sebastians hand as he stepped out of the carriage. He brushed his hair back in an attempt to look more put together, he refused to let himself look weak. Especially not after his explosive episode that was prior to the blood bank takedown.
The memory made him shiver in disgust.
That was a vulnerability he swore to never let anyone see again, besides maybe Sebastian that is
The two of them approached the building and a figure standing in front of the door slowly came into view
It was Lau
"Greetings my lord, good to see you in well health as always"
Lau always spoke in a tone in which Ciel couldnt decode it. It made him feel on edge around him. He was aware that Lau wasent necessarily a threat too him, but he also didnt have blind obedience, which was something Ciel was accustom to by the people around him. But if fake words of custom was something Lau wanted then he would endulge.
"Indeed, I take it your mission went smoothly as well, considering your lack of injuries that is."
Lau's hands clapped together in approvement
"True to your preception my lord! There were only a few small..." his eyes narrowed furthered, "hiccups, here and there, but the blood bank was successfully dismantled"
Ciel gave a approving nod, he didnt care for 'hiccups', if the mission was done then it was done. And if there was actually something big or important that happened then he could trust Bard to inform him.
"Are all the servants present? I would like to speak to them." He said, eyes darting for the door.
This meaningless chitchat was time consuming, and time was something they didnt have a lot of.
Undertaker could make a move at any moment and Ciel wanted to be the first attacker
Lau paused for a moment, his smile not dropping, but there was hesitation in his posture
Ciel analyzed the situation, he felt a wave of wrong rush over him. His gut was telling him something was wrong, and if secrets were involved then he would make sure to shut it down.
Ciel was about to speak but Lau cut him off
"Everyone who can be here, is present."
That was extremely ominous, what the hell did that mean? Was Lau trying to play mindgames with him, or was he refering to Tanaka not being present? But that was already a given wasen't it? He already got letters from Baldroy, Finnian, and Mei-rin confirming the completion and departure from their missions.
His thoughts were cut off by Sebastians hand landing on his shoulder.
"Understood, would you mind setting the table while we round up the servants?" The butler replied with a calm voice
Lau seemed too eager to agree, anything he did after all would surely go under Ciel's debt collection for him
Ciel held back an eyeroll as Sebastian opened the door for him
"My lord."
As he took his enterence he was hit with the expected, but unplessant, smell of incense. He glanced back at Sebastian
"You could have easily set up the table, your just creating more debt for me."
Remember mentioning that all good things didn't last? Well Ciel had learned that when those good things do end, Sebastian is most likely the reason behind it.
Sebastian hung up Ciel's jacket on the coat hanger that stood by the door
"Well something is clearly wrong by the way Lau spoke and id like to intrust myself to secure the premise and insure the safety of our staff as well as scout out anything suspious."
Valid enough, he was glad Sebastian picked up on the weird behavior going on
"So you noticed the tone change too?"
"What kind of butler would I be if I didnt."
When Sebastian spoke like that he really got on his nerves, and he knew Sebastian knew that.
"Go get the servants and we'll discuss from there." He ended the conversation quickly
Ciel passed through the halls, some far more crowded than others. He made himself comfortable at the ending chair of a dark oak table, which he thought contrasted the pink tacky wall paper in a odd way. Though he decided to keep his mouth shut about his thoughts on the interior as he didnt want to risk offending the person offering housing to a fugitave.
After around five minutes of waiting Sebastian enters the room, the other servants following behind.
Sebastian suits himself in the corner of the room, as a butler has no room to invite himself to a chair in a private discussion
Ciel does a mental head count as all of the phantomhive servants take their place at the long table
Baldroy....Mey-Rin....Finnian..and...
And..?
"Sebastian I clearly asked you to bring everyone out here, wheres Snake?" His tone came off more annoyed than it was meant to be, but after his day he didnt really care. Everyone was acting strange and anxiety started to bubble in his chest
When there was no answer from Sebastian he darted his eyes to Finnian, Finny was Snake's mission partner afterall
But the first thing he noticed when he looked at Finny, something he missed during his first mental head count, was that Finny looked...Horrible. Physically he seemed fine, no visible scars or gashes to be seen, but he looked like he was running on a few hours of sleep, noticable eyebags under his eyes. Finny stared straight down at the table, not even making eye contact with the other servants, his gaze was so empty it could drown him in an ocean
Bardroy and Mei-rin both had these pityful expression on their faces, like they were stuck in a hesitation on rather to keep their heads down, or to reach out and attempt to comfort Finny
Even though he knew it was impossible, it was as if Finny was stripped from his own vibrant color, he just seemed..Greyier
Seeing the normally energetic gardener so miserable was a eerie sight that chilled something in Ciel, something was wrong, very wrong. Why was everyone acting so strange, like a secret he was left out of
"Finnian?" Ciel asked in a softer voice, something he didnt do intentionally but considering the situation it seemed appropriate
He watched the gardener choke on his words, already holding back tears, he wasent wearing his hat or uniform, did he even change since the mission?
Finny cried a lot, he cried when he found a bird egg that fell out of a tree, he cried when he pulled up a batch of carrots before they were ready, he even cried when Sebastian patched up a hole in his shirt. Finny cried, that was how he was, but this...this was different
Finny wept
"T-they killed him master...I had to leave, I had to finish the mission. And they- they hurt him..He died..." his voice cracked as tears puddled up on the table, every gasp for air held so much pain in it.
Ciel understood that pain.
Bard and Mey-rin rushed to comfort their friend. They scooted their chair to be closer to him, patting his back gently
"He died because of me...its my fault..I had a choice..that I did...and I choose to abandoned him.."
Ciel straightend up, the tension in the room was thick, he felt a flurry of emotions inside.
He wanted to instictivly look to Sebastian, but he couldnt, Sebastian couldnt always solve everything, he was in charge. Finny and the servants looked up to him, his word, not Sebastians
The room stayed dead silent for a few moments, other than Finnys sobs
He wasent sure if he should stay professional, or offer condolence, if he should be mad a valuble assest was lost, or if he should mourn
No
No mourning, that last one was too vunerable. He took a deep breath and settled on a more logicistical approach
"Understood, we will hold a service for Snake when we get the manor back, thank you for priortizing the misson Finnian, it wont be for nothing"
He analyzed the expressions of the servants, deciding if that was the right decision or not
Finnian looked up with confusion and sadness in his expression
Got it, logic was not the move
Finny was going through a whirlwind of his own emotions, and seeing him act so casual made it worse. Werent they all family? Shouldnt Ciel be just as sad as he was. Snake joined them out of trust, and now that trust was broken and he was gone forever. Didn't Ciel have anymore to say?
"He died for you young master! He died for me and for his own beliefs. He- he died confused and alone! I- im sure im to blame for that too...but we can't...just throw away everything he was"
Finny couldnt stop his emotions from over flowing
He desperately tried to wipe all of the tears from his eyes but they wouldnt stop
This was completely out of character for Finny. He never yelled at the young master, no matter how upset he got
Bard and Mey-Rin were still attempting to comfort their friend, rubbing his back and telling him it would be okay, they both shared a knowing look of worry on their faces, they didnt want Finny to get in trouble for his in the moment out burst
Ciel on the other hand was trying to keep the situation calm
He could sympathize with Finny's grief, he really could. He saw the anger, the confusion, the despair, the disbelief. All things he had felt himself. But now, he didnt know how to fix it. Nothing he said would ever bring Snake back, he couldnt stop the hurt that Finny felt and he couldnt change the past so Snake never had to face manipulation
He tapped his fingers on the desk, using the pattering sound as a small grounding tactic, he was doing all the math in his head, how could he best do damage control?
He wasent even exactly sure on the relationship Snake and Finny had, but he was aware they were very close. Close in a way that was different from the other servants. At the time he just wrote it off as bonding, since they both came from similar backgrounds.
He saw how each of them had positive effects on the other.
How Snake became more social because of Finny. Ciel would be writing a report out for the queen and he would peer out his window and see Finny dragging snake across the front yard, rambling about a bug he found or a new sprout of flowers he grew. Finny always did a good job of bringing Snake out of his shell, which was one of the reasons why they were paired up together for the mission
And on the flip side he saw the positive influence Snake had on Finny.
He was told from Sebastian that he had caught the two of them on their break coddled by the fire during a cold winter night. Finny was talking about something until Snake cut him off, "The silence is nice, you dont always need to fill it with words. We can just lay here quietly together Emily suggests."
After that story he saw how Finny actually thought before he spoke, he started to break out of the habit of just talking to fill space, but rather be aware of the moment
This wasent something Ciel could just brush off, this was more than just a worker, and he didnt want to lose the admiration Finny held towards him
He took a deep breath, relaxing his shoulders, trying to appear more human. He was going to have to sympathize
"No your right Finny, I apologize. Snake was a honorable soul, and he is more than just another worker. His value is more than any ceromony. What happened was a tragedy, and I promise when everything is settled down we will retrieve the body if possible and hold a day of rememberance."
He wasent necessarily sure if there was a body but if there was he could just order sebastian to retrieve it
He didnt need Undertaker tampering with it either...
Ciel reached his hand out and rubbed Finny's hand, a physical act of kindness that was extremely rare for him
"Thank you Finny, Snake will never be forgotten."
Finny started wailing loudly "Oh young master it was horrible! So horrible!"
Ciel started to tune out all of Finny's wails, this was far to emotional for him
He flashed a look towards Sebastian who quickly walked over and put a arm around Finny's back
"Lets get you some water Finny."
He watched as Finny was guided out of the room by Sebastian. Well fuck, he was hoping that they could all have a conversation about their next move. But they couldnt do that with Finny hystical
"Ill have a chat will Finnian later, for now can any of you guys tell me any imporant information you may have learned?"
Baldroy was the first one to speak up, sitting up in his chair and taking the cigarette out of his mouth
"Well first of all, I ain't trust that Lau guy, he tried to pull a damn gun on me!"
Ciel raised a eyebrow, "Can I have some context?" He didnt want to jump straight to accusations
"Well I had a talk with the woman who was in charge, and she told me that everything going on, it didnt start off intentionally bad. They offered her funding to be able to run the orginazation, with the only catch being she had to get small amounts of blood donations from the patrions, but the demand for bllod skyrocketed up and she was left in a hard spot, 'nd as a veteran I sympathized with her goals ya know? I didnt wanna just kill her, so I offered a chance to let her go if she dropped out of the organazation and helped me out a bit. I thought that was all reasonable!"
Bard rubbed his temples, his teeth clenching, he wasent exactly known for having the best of tempers
"Until that bastard pulled a damn gun on me! All cause I had a bit of empathy! I don't trust him an' Im telling you that he aint to be trusted!"
Hm, a difficult situation. Baldroy did in the end come out successful so Ciel wasent gonna hold him to his moment of weakness, and Lau's reaction did warrent suspicion, but at the moment this wasent a current threat to him
"I understand, we arent in a place right now to take action against him. He is an ally but hes also not one to be blindfully trusted. I'll keep an eye out. If you remember any more details you left out come to me immediately."
He turned his attention to Mei-rin who shot up in her seat and fixed her posture
"Have any important discoverys?" He asked, leaning forward on his hands
"Ah! Well uhm let me see!" Her raspy voice broke the tension in the room "Well I aint sure about what Bard said about Lau- but Ran Mao was a charm! Super strong one too! She had me worried for a bit when she vanished! That she did."
Ciel raised his hand to stop the rambling
"She vanished? Can you tell me about that"
Mei-Rin stuttered over her words, nodding her head
"Yea of course! They was this old guy right? Rich one he was. And he was inviting these girls to his room, he had this weird mourning thing going on with his dead lover. And one night Ran Mao was invited! And the night after I aint seen her, the women told me she must have left but I knew that aint true! I worried for her I did. But I ended up stumbling in on her after some exploration, all of these naked women were laying on rows of bed and were all being used for blood!"
Hers hands flailed around as she explained her story
"They was this other blond woman, right? And she was suspicious she was. When we confronted her though, she backed down right away, she tried to get me to betray you, but id never do that! Then we freed all the women right away!"
Ciel nodded along, he was trying to connect the dots between the stories, he noted to himself to make sure to get Finnian's story aswell later
"Got it, good job Mei-Rin. If you don't have anymore to say you can be excused. If your looking for Finny hes upstairs in the guest room, I assume you two are gonna check in on him."
Mei-rin gave a sharing expression to Baldroy. The four- three of them were all a family together. They stuck together, and always provided comfort. And after Tanka's betrayal there was no better time than to be there for each other than now.
The two of them exited the room and went to what Ciel assumed was upstairs. As the two servants left Sebastian slipped in the room
"My lord." He introduced
"Finnian gave me a..concept of a story. He was sobbing so much it was hard to get the full picture but I gained the main idea. And while I was at it I listened to Bard and Mei-Rins story and I wrote down all of the comparisons for you."
Sebastian walked over placed a pile of papers on the table
He ran his fingers over the papers, his eyes skimming over them. He nodded in approval
"Sebastian. Your aware of the location of theThe playing fields were finally even. His brother may have won the battle but he sure as hell wasent going to win the war. Sebastian and Ciel had taken down the last blood bank and all of the servants were meeting back up in Lau's hideout to discuss their next plan
Ciel really disliked Lau's dwelling. The rooms smelled strongly of incents and the smoke made him feel sufficated. All of the women wore very revealing clothes and it seemed that the building never had rest. The notion of his debt was always lingering in the back of his mind, every action would have a opposite reaction. Nothing was free to Lau, every water glass, every night of sleep, every breath of air, all of it had a price. A price he would eventually have to pay off
But his future debts werent something he liked to think about. It was far easier to just shove them off into the back of his mind, pretend it was all fake. He tended to think of future issues as temporary labels. When you have your soul signed to the devil and no future waiting for you, you tend to act more recklessly, Its not like he would be around to face the consequences of his actions anyways
He felt like one of Undertakers bizzare dolls by time he finished the mission. He clung onto Sebastians sleeve to keep himself standing up. His entire body ached with exaustion, he fumbled up the car steps as he dumped himself into the carriage sebastian had booked. He wasent sure if he should if he should sleep or celebrate, he was after all one step closer to regaining his rightful title as the earl. But it wasent time to get cocky yet, he was sure he had a lot more work to do before he actually got to relax
He exhaled, staring out the window, more work. He somehow always had more work. His eyes glanced towards the small gap in the carriage that connected the seperation between where Ciel laid and Sebastian drove
"Sebastian, make it quick." Ciel demanded with a brush of his hand, he was stretching out in the back seat, laying down and making himself comfortable
The demons eyes peered back to where Ciel was laying. "You choose to lay down my lord? You arent showing much concern for road safety."
God it was like Sebastian knew exactly what to say in order to piss Ciel off. He gave the butler a harsh glare
"Unless you have plans to crash us I dont think thats our main concern" He snapped back in a sarcastic voice
Sebastian settled himself on the horse, flashing a innocent look Ciel's way
"Vanquish the thought my lord, I just thought id give my two cents."
How irritating. Ciel bit his tongue, holding back a another insulting comment. He was too tired for the butlers bickering back and forth
He rested his body on the seats, they werent as comfy as the ones he had in his carriage, but it would suffice. He was one of the very few nobles to have access to a motorized vehicle, but he wasent always going to have access to such luxary, so horse driven carriages it was. He felt his eyes start to drift off, even if only for a bit he wanted some peaceful rest
However that rest was only temporary. His eye twitched at the sound of horse hooves hitting the stond ground, the shaking of the carriage everytime one of the wheels hit a rocky bump, but those were only minor inconviences, in reality something else was keeping him awake
His thoughts
Life was very overwelming right now. Angi was dead, his brother who was supposed to be dead was now back and evil, and he was outcasted from his own home. His home. HIS HOME. HIS TITLE.
The name of Earl Phantomhive belonged to HIM. Nobody else, nobody else deserved it! Nobody even understood how much shit he went through to get it! He worked his ass off, overcame every single struggle, every traumatic memory of his past, saw countless people die, even his own family, he did it all
What did his brother even do? Nothing! He died, that was it! Ciel did not sacrifice every relationship he ever had, sacrifice his chance to live a normal life, just for some dead asshole to come back and act like he deserved to cash in on all of his suffering!
His nails dug into his palms as he felt rage boiling deep inside of him just thinking about how he was robbed. His brother deserved nothing. To dare frame and slander him. He would get his revenge, it was priorty number one
However his brooding was rudely intrupted by the carriage suddenly haulting with much more force than needed, sending Ciel tumbling forward off his seat, hitting the floor with a groan
The next thing he heard was the butlers antagonizing teasing tone, "Ah, my apologize my lord, I did suggest you sit properly."
Ciel's pushed back up from the seat he was rudely expelled from, his head poking out of the gap in the cart, from his facial expressions he clearly was upset
"You did that on purpose!" He snapped at Sebastian
"The roads are quite bumpy in these parts, plus I couldnt let you sleep all day could I? We have work to be done." Sebastian explained in a normal unwavering tone
Ciels face changed to something more composed, peering out the window to see they arrived. Though he wanted to argue about the rudeness in which he was awaken, Sebastian did have a point, he had work to do
Ciel brushed himself off and grabbed Sebastians hand as he stepped out of the carriage. He brushed his hair with his fingers in a attempt to look more put together, he refused to let himself look weak. He wanted to look as mature and serious looking as he could, especially after his breakdown prior to the blood drive takedown. That was a vulnerability he swore to never let anyone see again, besides maybe Sebastian that is
The two of them approached the building and a figure standing in front of the door slowly came into view
It was Lau
"Greetings my lord, good to see you in well health as always"
Lau always spoke in a tone in which Ciel couldnt decode it. It made him feel on edge around Lau. He was aware that he wasent necessarily a threat too him, but he also didnt have blind obedience towards him, something Ciel was accustom to by the people around him. But if fake words of custom was something Lau wanted then Ciel would endulge
"Indeed, I take it your mission went smoothly as well, considering your lack of injuries that is."
Lau's hands clapped together softly
"A few..." his eyes narrowed furthered, "hiccups here and there, but the blood bank was successfully dismantled"
Ciel gave a approving nod, he didnt care for 'hiccups', if the mission was done then it was done. If it really was something big then he could trust Bard to tell him
"Are all the servants present? I would like to speak to them." He said, eyes darting for the door. The back and forth was time consuming and time was something they didnt have a lot of, Undertaker could make a move at any moment and Ciel wanted to be the first attacker
Lau paused for a moment, his smile not dropping, but there was hesitation in his posture
Ciel analized the situtation, he felt a wave of wrong rush over him. His gut feeling was telling him something was up, and if secrets were involved then he would shut it down, Ciel was about to speak but Lau cut him off
"Everyone who can be here, is present."
That was extremely ominous, what the hell did that mean? Was Lau trying to play mindgames with him, or was he refering to Tanaka not being present? But that was already a given wasent it? He already got letters from Baldroy, Finnian, and Mei-rin confirming the completion and departure from their missions
His thoughts were cut off by Sebastians hand landing on his shoulder
"Understood, would you mind setting the table while we round up the servants?" The butler replied with a calm voice
Lau seemed too eager to agree, anything he did after all would surely go under Ciel's debt collection for him
Ciel held back an eyeroll as Sebastian opened the door for him
"My lord."
As he took his enterence he was hit with the expected, but unplessant, smell of incense. He glanced back at Sebastian
"You could have easily set up the table, your just creating more debt for me."
Ciel said as he hung up his jacket on the coat hanger that laid by the door
"Well something is clearly wrong by the way Lau spoke and id like to trust myself to secure the premise to insure the safety of our staff and scoot out anything suspious."
Ciel nodded, glad Sebastian picked up on it "So you noticed the tone change too?"
"What kind of butler would I be if I didnt."
When Sebastian spoke like that he really got on Ciel's nerves, and he knew Sebastian knew that. I "Go get the servants and well discuss from there." He ended the conversation quickly with a dismissive flick of the hand
Ciel passed through the halls, some far more crowded than others. He made himself comfortable at the ending chair of a dark oak brown table, which he thought contrasted the pink tacky wall paper in a odd way. Though he decided to keep his mouth shut about the interior, he didnt want to risk offending the person offering him housing as a fugitave.
After around five minutes of waiting Sebastian enters the room, the other servants following behind.
Sebastian suits himself in a far back corner of the room, as a butler he has no room to invite himself to a chair in a private discussion
Ciel does a mental head count as all of the phantomhive servants take their place at the table
Baldroy....Mey-Rin....Finnian..and...?
..And?
"Sebastian I clearly ordered you to bring everyone out here, wheres Snake?" His tone came off more annoyed than it was meant to be, but after his day he didn't really care.
Everyone was acting so strange and it made his anxiety start to bubble in his chest.
When there was no answer from Sebastian he darted his eyes to Finnian, Finny was Snake's mission partner afterall
But the first thing he noticed when he looked at Finny, something he missed during his first mental head count, was that Finny looked...Horrible.
Physically he seemed fine, no visible scars or gashes to be seen, but he looked like he was running on a few hours of sleep, with noticable bags under his eyes.
Finny stared straight down at the table, not even making eye contact with the other servants, his gaze was so empty it could drown him in an ocean.
Bardroy and Mei-rin both had these pityful expression on their faces, like they were stuck in a hesitation on rather to keep their heads down, or to reach out and attempt to comfort Finny.
Even though he knew it was impossible, it was as if Finny was stripped from his own vibrant color, he just seemed..Greyier
Seeing the normally energetic gardener so miserable was a eerie sight that chilled something in Ciel, something was wrong, very wrong.
Why was everyone acting so strange, like a secret he was left out of.
"Finnian?" Ciel asked in a softer voice, something he didn't do intentionally but considering the situation it seemed appropriate.
He watched the gardener choke on his words, already holding back tears, he wasen't wearing his hat or uniform, did he even change out of his clothes since the mission?
To be fair, Finny cried a lot.
He cried when Ciel was sick, he cried when he found a bird egg that fell out of a tree, he cried when he pulled up a batch of carrots before they were ready, he even cried when Sebastian patched up a hole in his shirt.
Finny cried, that was apart of who he was, but this...this was different.
Finny wept.
"T-they killed him master...I had to leave, I had to finish the mission. And they- they hurt him..He died..." Finny's voice cracked, tears puddled up on the table, every gasp for air inbetween sobs held so much pain in it.
Ciel understood that pain.
Bard and Mey-rin rushed to comfort their friend.
They scooted their chair to be closer to him, rubbing his back gently.
"He died because of me...its my fault..I had a choice..that I did...and I choose to abandon him.."
Ciel straightend up, the tension in the room was thick, he felt a flurry of emotions and discomfort.
He wanted to instictivly look to Sebastian for help, but he couldnt, Sebastian couldn't always solve everything. He was in charge.
Finny and the servants looked up to him, his word, not Sebastians.
The room stayed dead silent for a few moments, the only noise being Finnys sobs.
Ciel wasen't sure if he should stay professional, or offer condolence, if he should be mad a valuble assest was lost, or if he should mourn.
No.
No mourning.
That last option was too vunerable. So instead he took a deep breath and settled on a more logicistical approach
"Understood, we will hold a service for Snake when we get the manor back, thank you for priortizing the misson Finnian, it won't be in vain."
Ciel analyzed the expressions of the servants, determining if that was the right move or not.
Finnian looked up with confusion and sadness in his eyes.
Got it, logic was not the move.
Finny was going through a whirlwind of his own emotions, and seeing you act so casual made it worse. Weren't they all family? Shouldn't Ciel be just as sad as he was?
Snake joined them out of trust, and now that trust was broken and he was gone forever. Didn't Ciel have anymore to say?
"He died for you young master! He died for me and for his own beliefs. He- he died confused and alone! I- im sure im to blame for that too...but we can't...just throw away everything he was"
He couldn't stop his emotions from over flowing
Finny desperately tried to wipe all of the tears from his eyes but they wouldn't stop.
This was completely out of character for Finny. He never yelled at the young master, no matter how upset he got.
Bard and Mey-Rin were still attempting to comfort their friend, rubbing his back and telling him it would be okay, they both shared a knowing look of worry on their faces, they didnt want Finny to get in trouble for this in the heat of the moment out burst.
Ciel on the other hand was trying to keep the situation calm.
He could sympathize with Finny's grief, he really could. He saw the anger, the confusion, the despair, the disbelief. All things he had felt himself. But now, he didn't know how to fix it.
Nothing he said would ever bring Snake back, he couldnt stop the hurt that Finny felt and he couldn't change the past so Snake never had to face manipulation.
He tapped his fingers on the desk, using the pattering sound as a small grounding tactic, he was doing all the math in his head, how could he best do damage control?
He wasen't even exactly sure on the relationship Snake and Finny had, but he was aware they were very close. Close in a way that was different from the other servants. At the time he just wrote it off as bonding, since they both came from similar backgrounds.
They were both locked up in a cage and rejected as freaks. Yet despite that pain, He saw how each of them had grown and passed on positive traits to each other.
He saw how Snake became more social because of Finny.
Ciel remembered how he would be writing a report out for the queen and he would peer out his window and see Finny dragging Snake across the front yard, rambling about a bug he found or a new sprout of flowers he grew.
Finny always did a good job of bringing Snake out of his shell, which was one of the reasons why they were paired up together for the mission.
And on the flip side he saw the positive influence Snake had on Finny.
He had been told the story from Sebastian about how he had caught the two of them on their break sat by the fire during a cold winter night. Finny was talking about something until Snake cut him off, "The silence is nice, you don't always need to fill it with words. We can just lay here quietly together Emily suggests, I do agree with Emily."
After that, Ciel saw how Finny started to think before he spoke, he started to break out of the habit of just talking to fill space, and rather be aware of the moment.
This relationship wasen't something Ciel could just brush off, this was more than just a worker to Finny, and he didn't want to lose the admiration that hd held towards Ciel by being cold about the loss of Snake.
He took a deep breath, relaxing his shoulders, trying to appear more human. He was going to have to sympathize.
"No your right Finny, I apologize. Snake was a honorable soul, and he is more than just another servant. His value is more than any ceromony can bring justice to. What happened was a tragedy, and I promise when everything is settled down, we will retrieve the body if possible and hold a day of rememberance."
He wasen't necessarily sure if there was a body but if there was he would just order Sebastian to retrieve it.
Bringing back the body would also prove to be benifical as he didn't need Undertaker tampering with it...
Ciel reached his hand out besides him and rubbed Finny's hand, a physical act of kindness that was extremely rare for him.
"Thank you Finny, Snake will never be forgotten."
Finny started wailing loudly "Oh young master it was horrible! So horrible!"
Ciel started to tune out all of Finny's wails, this was far to emotional for him.
He flashed a look towards Sebastian who quickly walked over and put a arm around Finny's back.
"Lets get you some water Finny."
He watched as Finny was guided out of the room by Sebastian.
Well fuck.
He was hoping that they could all have a conversation about their next move. But they couldn't do that with Finny being hystical.
"I'll have a chat will Finnian later, for now can either one of you tell me any important information you may have learned?"
Baldroy was the first one to speak up, sitting up in his chair and taking the cigarette out of his mouth
"Well first of all, I ain't trust that Lau guy, he tried to pull a damn gun on me!"
Ciel raised a eyebrow, "Can I have some context?"
He didnt want to jump straight to accusations.
"Well I had a talk with the woman who was in charge, and she told me that everything going on, it aint start off intentionally bad. They offered her funding to be able to run the orginazation, with the only catch being she had to get small amounts of blood donations from the patrions, but the demand for blood skyrocketed up and she was left in a hard spot, 'nd as a veteran I sympathized with her goals ya know? I didn't wanna just kill her, so I offered 'er chance, said id let her go if she dropped out of the organazation and helped me out a bit. I though'd it was a reasonable exchange!"
Bard rubbed his temples, his teeth clenching, he wasen't exactly known for having the best tempers, or manners for that matter.
"Until that bastard appeared outta nowhere and pulled a damn gun on me! All cause I had a bit of empathy! I'm tellin you master, he's bad news an' he aint to be trusted!"
Hm, a difficult situation. Baldroy did in the end come out successful so Ciel wasen't going to hold him to his moment of weakness, and Lau's reaction did warrent suspicion....But on the flipside, at the current moment Lau wasen't a threat to him, if anything he was being a useful ally.
"I understand, but we aren't in a place right now to take action against him. He is an useful ally but he's also not one to be blindfully trusted. I'll keep an eye out. If you remember any more details you left out come to me immediately."
He turned his attention to Mei-rin who shot up in her seat and fixed her posture.
"Have any important discoverys?" He asked, leaning forward on his hands.
"Ah! Well uhm let me see!" Her raspy voice broke the tension in the room "Well I ain't exactly sure about what Bard said about Lau- but Ran Mao was a charm! Super strong one too! She had me worried for a bit when she vanished! That she did."
Ciel raised his hand to stop the rambling.
"She vanished? Can you tell me about that"
Mei-Rin stuttered over her words, nodding her head.
"Yea of course! They was this old guy right? Rich one he was. And he was inviting these girls to his room, he had this weird mourning thing going on with his dead lover. And one night Ran Mao was invited! And the night after I ain't seen her, the women told me she must have left but I knew that aint true! I worried for her I did. I checked everywhere but I jus' couldn't find 'er! Until i ended up stumbling in on her after some snoopin around. And they'r was all these naked women, all were laying on rows of bed and were all being used for blood! Completly knocked out they was."
Her hands flailed around as she explained her story.
"They was this other blond woman, right? And she was suspicious of me. When we confronted her though, she backed down right away, then she tried to get me to betray you! But id never do that to ye'r young master! After that we did frer all the women right away!"
Ciel nodded along, he was trying to connect the dots between the stories, he noted to himself to make sure to get Finnian's story later aswell.
"Got it, good job Mei-Rin. If you don't have anymore to say you can be excused. If your looking for Finny he's upstairs in the guest room, I assume you two are gonna check in on him."
Mei-rin gave a sharing expression to Baldroy. The four- three of them were all a family. They stuck together, and always provided comfort to one another.
And after Tanka's betrayal, their bond had grown even closer.
The two servants left the room and went to what Ciel assumed was upstairs. As the two of them left Sebastian slipped back in the dinning room
"My lord." He introduced
"Finnian gave me a...concept of a story. He was sobbing so much it was hard to get the full picture but I gained the main idea. And while I was at it I listened to Bard's and Mei-Rins story and I wrote down all of the comparisons for you."
Sebastian walked over and placed a pile of papers on the table.
He ran his fingers over the papers, his eyes skimming over them. He nodded in approval
"Sebastian. Your aware of the location of the orphange right? I order you to go retrieve the body if there is one."
He paused.
"And the snakes if you can."