BLACK BUTLERS, RETURN

Warning: This chapter mentions a ritual sacrifice of a reptile. Proceed with precaution, and read on your own responsibility. But hey, this is KUROSHITSUJI, you are used to some pretty weird stuff if you are reading this! ^^

CHAPTER 1 - FIRST BUTLER, IN RITUAL

It was raining heavily outside.

Adrielle was lucky to be inside of a spacious house when the storm hit… and she was now sitting on a comfortable, beige colored leather armchair, holding a white ceramic teacup in her lap. The pattern on the cup was floral, done in a very stylish manner. These kinds of things were very popular with the aristocrats, though all the flowers were similar to Adrielle and she couldn’t care less for the design. Those colorful plants appeared everywhere – on dresses, on tapestry, on furniture… it was all so boring. Adrielle added a teaspoon of honey into the first-grade jasmine tea she was slowly drinking, and mixed through the liquid a few times. And while she didn’t particularly care about the cup,  she cared about the handle and the spoon – both seemed to be made of gold. Of the real gold. And knowing the financial state of the lady who owned these, her assumption was probably right.

Adrielle just loved shiny and valuable things. Those could bring money, and keep her from starvation. However… those things also made her go into different kinds of troubles. Some of them were pretty bad, but nothing she couldn’t get out of. Or so she thought before invading the Trancy household, and before she tried to escape from it with a golden medallion in the pocket of her dress.

She is wearing the same dress now, in fact. The blue/black one, to fit her mood. Was it just a coincidence, or a subconscious message from her own mind? She shook her head in disapproval, removing the red locks of her hair from her face. It wasn’t the time for desperation, she had her fare share of that when the young master Alois died… along with his butler, Claude Faustus, and the maid, Hannah Anafeloz.

Well, it was never Adrielle’s intention to stay with such a sadistic, whiny little boy, or his masochistic and mistreated maid, and certainly not with obviously dangerous, and over-capable butler, but… she had to, in order to pay back for that damned medallion. Mr. Claude practically forced her, in a passive-aggressive way. There was a threat somewhere in there too, so Adrielle didn’t really have a choice. Besides, she was intrigued. They seemed like an interesting group of people. She grew fond of all of them after the time she’s spent in the Trancy service, where she worked as a maid, and occasionally as a cook. There wasn’t a speck of dust while she was cleaning, that was for sure… and there were no better sweets and cakes in the whole London. Well, if we disregard the Phantomhive manor, that is.

“Miss Roseville?”

She turned around. The dull-looking maid offered her rose-petal drop scones, but she refused, and just took another sip of the tea.

“Lady Waldram is ready for you. I’ll escort you to her cabinet,” the servant announced.  It was high time. Adrielle put the teacup on the small, wooden table in front of her, and corrected her gown while standing up. She followed the gloomy man through a long corridor, until he stopped in front of a wide black-oak door, and opened them for her.

Adrielle went in, and approached the broad, wooden desk. The girl… no, the woman was sitting behind it, leaned onto the rest of a comfortable armchair with a crimson-rose pattern on it. Her black hair was longer than Adrielle remembered, but she still had that single, white lock inside of it. She wasn’t ordinary female by any means, and you could tell just by looking at her. Yet again, Adrielle wasn’t either.

The brown darkness of Countesses’ eyes met the blue of Adrielle’s own, and the young noblewoman smiled broadly to her, and offered her the seat in front. Cards were covering the surface of the desk. She already did the reading, huh?

“It’s good to see you, master-thief. Did you obtain it?” her voice was soft, but somehow eerie. If Death had a voice, Adrielle was sure that it was similar to lady Waldram’s. She went straight to the point, and that’s what Adrielle loved about her.

“Why don’t you tell me, Countess? You are the one who can read Tarot, after all,” she smiled pleasantly to her. The Countess just collected the cards and put them in the deck.

“There’s no pleasure in knowing everything. I like to be surprised from time to time.”

“Are you saying that you doubt me then, Evelyn? I might get offended,” Adrielle addressed her by her first name, reaching for the inside of the long pocket, and pulling the sharp, silver blade, decorated with ominous, complicated signs. She handed it to the Countess, who thoroughly examined the object before saying…

“My, my… it appears to be genuine. Well done, Adrielle. I knew I could rely on you.”

“Well now, I need to rely on you, Evelyn. It’s a very serious matter so I need to know… can you do it or not?” she asked, the worry written in all those words.

“Oh, dear… if you doubt my skills… it’s probably better you find another deviant soul to do this job for you,” the Countess teased.

“That’s a wrong way to reassure your partner, lady Waldram,” Adrielle crossed her arms, waiting for Evelyn to stop messing around and get the job done. The Countess just chuckled.

“As I’ve already explained… I can only bring one. As young Mr. Trancy was devoured by that female demon, there’s no point in trying. Too much strength is required for that, and I would have to do some very… ugly things in the process. The demonessa doesn’t inspire me either. Besides… out of them three… I suspect that Mr. Faustus was… your favorite.”

Adrielle glared at lady Waldram, and sighted shortly after. Now, now… it wasn’t the good time to argue.

“Just… bring him back if you can.” Adrielle knew – the thing she was asking of the Countess was close to impossible. However, there was a tiny chance that Madame Waldram could help with bringing the spider-demon back. She was extremely good at witchcraft and flirted with dark side too many times… so, if Evelyn can’t bring him back… no one will be able to. It’s Adrielle’s duty to at least try to persuade her.

“Are you sure that you really want that, Adrielle? There are enough demons in this ugly world. Maybe it’s for the best if you…”

“Evelyn. We’ve agreed to do this, there’s no turning back now.” Adrielle reminded her bitterly. “Unless, you have changed your mind?”

The Countess just shook her head, and gave her one wicked smile.

- - - - - -

“The results should appear as soon as I finish. You don’t have to stay here anymore, since you’ve obtained the last item I required. You can go now. I’ve prepared the carriage to drive you home…”

“No. I want to be here. I want to witness it.” Adrielle was determined. She wanted to see all of it, no matter how scary or gruesome it might be. The noblewoman looked like she might argue, but she let it go. They were running out of time.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Lady Waldram added, once again, but the young thief remained stubborn. Therefore, the Countess began her necromancy-based ritual.

First, she pulled out four black candles, and lit them. Then, she took the chalk from her desk, and drew the circle between candles, onto the table surface. She started drawing small objects, similar to runes, then multiplied them, and filled the lines within… ultimately decorating the complicated shape which was similar to pentagram, but varied a bit from the original design. Adrielle recognized it as one of the contract seals.

Evelyn placed the pair of glasses in the center, and the thief-girl knew too well to whom they belonged… because she was the one to fetch the object for lady Waldram in the first place. The Countess also added the medallion next to them… the same medallion Adrielle once tried to steal from Alois. It was a token, memento which reminded her of Claude. Evelyn also needed gold for this ritual. She said it was for the darkness. The darkness was corruptible.

“Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur… Siste, viator. Siste, Pandemonium.”

Evelyn’s voice changed, as she spoke those words. She was chanting in Latin, placing her hands upon the objects. The small lights of candles trembled, like they were dancing on tops. The medallion started melting, and the golden liquid spread over the lines of the demonic symbol.

“Mors tua certa, hora incerta est.”

Her voice got stronger, and deeper, her eyes turned into radiant, bright yellow. She was staring in the center of the circle with those eyes, as if something might appear in it. Adrielle almost screamed when she saw the giant, black snake, crawling onto the table.

“Mors tua, vita suus est. Revocatio obscurum tua…”

Evelyn grabbed the snake, squeezed its head, and stared into its eyes. The creature was hissing, and hissing, and hissing… its tongue was flicking. It was scared. Scared of this woman. With right. The Countess took the silver knife she prepared for this… the edge was sharp, and shiny… and Adrielle turned her eyes away as Evelyn chopped snake’s head off. The circle started burning as the lifeless body of that reptile curved around the center of the symbol.

“A tenebris ad ego vocandum tibi, Claude Faustus!” her voice echoed like a thousand voices in unison - it was both powerful, and terrifying at the same time.

Adrielle shuddered, but this was noting comparing to snake-mutilation. The fire got down again.

The Countess then sliced her own palm with a demon-dagger Adrielle obtained for her, and let the blood flow over the circle. The cut was deep; the blood was thick, and dark crimson. It started filling the grey chalk marks.

“A mors ego liberatem te!” she practically screamed, and the strong wind had risen from the contract seal, emitting a large force. The blood was flowing. The smoke and ashes formed Claude’s face, but it dispersed through the same way it appeared.

“ARISE, I COMMAND THE! ARISE FROM THE NOTHINGNESS!” Evelyn’s voice reached the ultimate crescendo. After her performance… the spider appeared. Just like that… out of the circle, out of nothing. Claude’s glasses weren’t there anymore, though. Nor was a medallion. Not to mention the black snake, or those candles. Just a spider.

It started running, fast, over the edge of the desk. Evelyn let him go, pulling the handkerchief out of her sleeve, and wrapped it around her bleeding palm.

“You owe me, Spider…” she said, and her eyes finally stopped glowing. They got back to dark-brown, “… and I just love when demons owe me.”

There were no marks on the table, no proof left about what happened only a few moments ago. Adrielle could have dreamed the whole thing just the same.

- - - - - - - -

“I knew you were good… but not demon-necromancy-resurrection-thing good. I think I am afraid of you after all,” Adrielle said, coming to her senses after the ritual was completed.

“I might believe you. I am sometimes afraid of myself,” Evelyn admitted, and pressed the handkerchief harder against her palm. The blood was still flowing, she cut in too deep.

“So, that was… that was Mr. Claude?” the thief-girl wanted to confirm.

“Indeed. He just appeared in one of his demon-forms, as he was too weak to regain his human appearance. He was wounded by the demon-sword before he perished. He still feels the pain of dying. Naturally, his wound will fade, since I reverted his death… but, it will take some time to heal,” Evelyn explained.

“Where do you think he went?” Adrielle was curious. She had too many questions.

“Who knows. It’s better to leave him be,” the Countess responded grimly. “But worry not, my dear. He shall return to me. He knows the way these things work. My blood indebted him, and creatures such as Claude Faustus… hate to be in debt.”

Adrielle could tell only by knowing his personality.

“What now?” she asked the noblewoman. “What are we to do now?”

Evelyn was thinking for a while, and then gave another response.

“Now, we wait. The Spider is very upset at this point and his mind is in chaos. He can’t tell who he is, nor what he is, and I imagine his conscious must be clouded by the pain. But, it will all pass in a few days and he will remember. When he does, he shall come to me. And, since one butler’s returned - I will have him locate the other.”

“Oh… so that’s why you risked to revive Mr. Claude. You intended… to look for Sebastian Michaelis, and the Phantomhive Lord.” Adrielle was wondering why would Evelyn just grant her the almost-impossible wish without asking much in return.

“Those two need to be fixed. Immediately. But I don’t know where they are, nor can I go to demon realm without a help of a demon… so… I will use Trancy’s butler to find them for me.”

“How can you be so sure that he'll obey you?” Adrielle asked about the most troublesome thing. You have to be careful when making a deal with the devil, even when you dwell in the occult as deep and as much as the Countess did.

“Rest assured, my dear. Dark creatures are my specialty, after all. Besides… I will have you to tame him in my place.” She will… what?

“Wh… how?”  

Evelyn pressed her forefinger against her lips.

“Patience. You shall see.”

“You became a very cunning woman, Evelyn Waldram,” Adrielle smiled, and the Countess did the same.

“I’ve always been cunning; it’s just that I’ve decided to be honest about it with you.”

“Well, I shall keep in my mind not to cross you. Ever.”

“I am deeply humbled.” Evelyn noted. “And I shall not forget things you do for me.”

That was the truth. Evelyn highly appreciated Adrielle’s special ability - to collect things from others in a way they wouldn’t notice until it was too late, and until she was too far for them to get those back. Also, Evelyn had quite the collection of items she wouldn’t want stolen by this girl… AND Adrielle also knew some of the Countess’s dirtiest little secrets. Therefore, the Countess kept in her own mind not to cross Adrielle Roseville either.

Both of these girls knew better than to go against one another. But, ever since they’ve met, Adrielle was extremely loyal to the Countess, who protected her and helped her when in need so there was no bad blood between the two, and they worked quite well together.

There was nothing in this world the Countess appreciated more than loyalty… and despised more than betrayal. Those who betrayed her didn’t get to live to brag about it.

“I shall go, then. Please… when Mr. Claude appears, write to me. I’d like to know that he’s well,” Adrielle put her black cloak around her shoulders, and put her leather gloves on.

“I will. But, you should stay here tonight. That storm is quite strong.” Evelyn warned her friend.

“I will be fine. Besides… someone is waiting for me.”

“As you wish, Adrielle. Oh, and, before I forget… you can keep it.” Evelyn Waldram smirked.

“I can… what?” Adrielle blinked innocently. Twice.

“Keep that golden tea-spoon you snatched from my parlor, earlier. You are welcome.”

Adrielle wasn’t even embarrassed by these statements.

“Oh, I know. You've always hated those.”

“That, I did. Take care.”

“You too.”

Adrielle waved at her, and abandoned the dark mansion followed by the thunderstorm. You could say it was one Hell of a night, and it has only… just begun.