BLACK BUTLERS - Matter of Perspective (pt. 7)

PART 7 - MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE

Warning: Brief mentions of delicate themes, but nothing worth of mature filter. Consider yourselves warned.

She has heard it in the deepest, darkest corner of her mind. A whisper, distant and soft. She would recognize that voice anywhere, anytime. There was no person in the whole world that whispered her name that way. It was eerie, but seductive. Smooth and soothing.

In that moment, she knew… that the bond was never truly severed, and that he was never too far away. Despite his latest contract. Evelyn Waldram smiled softly as she whispered his name back in return.

- - - - - - - - - - -

“Well, that must have brought back some pretty painful memories,” the Undertaker giggled as he returned from the storage room and after putting Natasha Grey’s body back to safety.

“It didn’t, actually. My painful memories are always with me,” Evelyn sighed, and leaned onto the tall, white-haired man. She hugged him, affectionately and intimately, and he caressed her long, black hair. He got surprisingly serious as he spoke near her ear.

“Good. You will need that once you go after them. You will need all the strength you can get, whether it’s through your pain, or your power. I advise you to recall Robert, and everything about Robert when you get near the castle. It should do it.”

Adrielle gasped. Whenever someone brought Robert’s name up, she felt uneasy. She could only imagine how that must have felt when you were Evelyn. After all, Adrielle knew the whole story, and it made her sick to her stomach whenever she thought of that ville, evil nobleman that once treated Evelyn as an object of his possession, obsession, his sick desires… and mania. Thank God that he was long dead.

“You are that worried about me?” Evelyn laughed, and the Undertaker caressed her cheek.

“I am never worried about you. You can handle yourself.”

Their eyes met in mutual understanding… and he gave her his widest grin.

“And in case that you can’t… I have prepared that special casket for you. Just in case!”

Well… there was that.

- - - - - - - - - - -  

Claude led the way through center of the town. His two mistresses followed - Adrielle was lost in thoughts, and Evelyn was looking around, as if she was looking for something. Or someone.

“What was she talking about… when she mentioned the sacrifice? Anyone?” Adrielle asked, referring to Seer’s prophecy. Evelyn looked at Claude. He responded:

“Realm of demons isn’t designed for mortals. As you must be aware, mistress Roseville… human souls are in a grave danger when exposed to creatures of darkness. Demons… devils… are constantly preying onto human souls. That’s why Mistress Waldram insisted on our… demi-contract. My powers, and my presence will shield you from other… creatures like myself during our journey. Very much like… blinding others by my aroma, sort to say. However, that’s not enough. To remain in realm of demons, and to enter a castle that is guided by a powerful magic, you must offer up a sacrifice for two souls who aren’t from our domain. Mistress Waldram is a witch, so… she has partially covered that already. In her case, it isn’t all that complicated. But in yours…”

“What?” she asked, already displeased. What else will it take to enter that damned place?

“Madame Waldram!” someone shouted, recognizing her in the crowd. Claude stopped talking, leaving Adrielle even more curious than before. A blonde man in long, white suit approached them, and politely bowed down before the ladies.

“I thought it was you, Evelyn,” he took her arm and kissed her hand. “With each passing day, you grow even more beautiful than before. As much as it seems impossible, it’s so true and it’s just… stunning.”

“Aleister. Always the flatterer,” Evelyn bowed down a bit too, just for the sake of following the protocol.

“I am just a humble admirer of beauty and art in general… and you are an epitome of both. Dearest Evelyn, you are a nymph. No, a goddess! An embodiment of Venus that has risen from her sea-shell and who so freely, and so effortlessly roams this unworthy city!” he continued. Evelyn smiled warmly.

“And you are exaggerating, per usual. Why am I not surprised? Now, not that I am complaining, but I am black-haired. Venus is more of a red-head, like our lady Roseville here.”

Viscount kissed Adrielle’s hand too and she felt a slight blush climbing up to her cheeks. Viscount of Druitt was a charming, handsome man, and despite his weird displays, shady activities and those kinds of parties she would rather avoid, he was attractive. In that manner, he was very much like the late Count Waldram, but while Robert was an arrogant, violent tyrant, Viscount Druitt had his way with words, and with people. It was more bearable to stand Aleister Chamber than Robert Waldram… probably a reason why Aleister is still alive, while Robert isn’t.

“She is like Venus indeed! Then you will be Minerva, when you are so wise, my beautiful Evelyn!” he was so excited, like he discovered something beyond human comprehension and was currently trying to process it himself.

“Don't get me wrong! You, Mademoiselle Roseville, look absolutely wonderful too!”

“Thank you, sir…” she said, and pulled her hand out from his grip.

“What am I to do with so much beauty that surrounds me? Should I write a sonnet? Compose a song? Make a portrait of you two? How can a simple man such as myself do anything to honor such divinity that involves presence of both of you?”

“Just stop already,” Evelyn suggested.

“I can’t! You are my muses! I am like Dionis, but drunken by beauty instead of wine! Oh, no, no one can understand this agony! This PAIN!”

“There, there, Aleister. You will figure something out,” Lady Waldram sighed.

Only then, Viscount noticed Claude. He took a good look, then made a melodramatic pose, leaned back of his palm on his forehead and shook his head thrice.

“Oh, my! The world is a small place indeed when you are here too, Mr. Faustus!”

“It’s London that is small, Viscount.” The butler bowed down a bit.

“As formidable as ever. As superb as ever! As stoic as ever! Mr. Faustus, you are a divine presence yourself! Have you thought about working for me? I could use a servant as capable as you…”

“He is already in my service,” Evelyn interrupted, with a sly smile.

“To have my cousin’s butler… you really are quite something, aren’t you?” the aristocrat remarked. Evelyn shrugged her shoulders.

“I have always attracted attention of gentleman who have… singular tastes.”

“True. You always did. And Mr. Faustus is no exception, I see.”

Claude was glaring at Viscount. And while the butler remained calm and cold, Evelyn noticed that he wasn’t exactly pleased with sir Aleister Chamber. To be completely honest, neither was she. All close friends of her late husband weren’t really her cup of tea, and she didn’t really like meeting with them… one way or another. Yet, it was what it was. Some of those people could be useful, and Viscount of Druitt had his connections and talents. It was wise to have him around. His obsession with black magic and the occult stuff was intriguing too, especially from her perspective.

“If you don’t mind, Viscount… we should be going.” Evelyn politely noted, and he approached her once more. He hugged her around her waist, and drew her closer to himself.

“So soon? And there I was, prepared to invite you and your lovely friend over for a tea…”

“Maybe some other time,” she smiled, and removed his hand from her corset.

“You became so very busy since Robert died, that you barely have time for old friends. Such a shame,” he said. “If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that you are avoiding me.”

“Nonsense, dear. I am busy, it’s true… but to think that I am avoiding you would be just… too much. Even rude, I’d say. And I really have no reason to avoid you.”

“If that’s true, I am expecting you to come over for a dinner tomorrow. You haven’t visited in ages!”

“I was in mourning for a long time,” she said, but everything about her attitude screamed that she wasn’t mourning in the slightest. “That aside, you have to think about my reputation, Aleister. I am a widow now, and people tend to easily jump to conclusions. If they saw me in company of some young… eligible bachelor such as yourself, they would start talking, and neither of us would want that.”

“Since when are you concerned about people and their gossips? And since when were our reputations clean?” he asked, and smiled provocatively.

“Well… touché. Since never… but it wasn’t very pleasant to be around other nobles back when I was accused of killing my dearest husband, as you know well.”

“It still infuriates me when I hear those foul accusations! I, above all other people, know that you were incapable of doing that! You loved Robert, and even if we disregard that fact for some reason, you were with our Queen when he died. It was practically impossible to kill him from the palace!”

She smiled. He smiled too. Adrielle wondered just how much Aleister knows.

“So, how about dinner tomorrow? Bring your friend. And your over-capable butler too! It should be fun!”

“Fine with me. There will be a lot to talk about tomorrow anyway, so count us all in.”

“OH! I am intrigued now! Can you tell me already?”

“No. It would ruin the surprise. Have a nice day, Aleister.”

She turned on her heel, and Claude and Adrielle followed shortly after, leaving the Viscount in confused, but amused state. He was cheerful as he proceeded down the street on his own business.

- - - - - - - - - - -  

“You were saying?” Adrielle demanded, as Claude was walking next to her and Evelyn looked around for something again. She stopped when a hooded person in dark cloak approached and handed her something. Evelyn nodded, put the object in her inner pocket and joined the two of them. The red-head thief hasn’t really paid attention in that moment, because she had more urgent things to worry about.

“Saying?” Claude repeated, unable to immediately process her question.

“About the realm of demons? About sacrifice?”

“Mistress Roseville…”

Evelyn sighed. She stopped walking and turned to Adrielle.

“There will be an altar, and in that altar, there will be a circle, designed in the shape of Faustian contract’s seal. One of those anyway. I expect that ours will look like Sebastian’s since it was my last contract seal too, so… the passage should be designed that way.”

“An altar you say? What for?” Adrielle had a bad, bad feeling about the answer, and wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear it.

“Mostly for blood.”

“Mostly? What does that even mean? And whose blood? Yours?”

Evelyn and Claude looked at each other, and then faced Adrielle.

“No,” Evelyn said, “mine won’t do. We will need yours.” Evelyn’s face was dead-serious.

“Well… okay… but… I am not magical or anything. I mean… if we scratch the fact that I am in demi-contract, I am just an ordinary person.”

“Maybe, but out of us three, you are the only one who is pure,” Evelyn pointed out.

“Pure how? You mean, spiritually?” Adrielle offered.

“No, dear… what I meant was… you are the only one who is a virgin.”

“EVELYN! WHAT THE HELL!”

“You were asking for it. So… there you go. We need a sacrifice. Like in all cliched stories, a darkness requires the pure body in some kind of an unholy deed. It requires a virgin to be sacrificed. In this case, it will have to be you. I lost that battle a long time ago,” Evelyn mocked herself in the process of explaining.  

“Sacrifice as in… killing me?” Adrielle was utterly shocked. “Or something worse?”

“Killing would be… one way,” Evelyn admitted. “But a simple copulation will do too. I think.”

“Copu… YOU THINK???” the redhead now emitted a large amount of rage, aimed towards her friend.

“Virgin-blood is one of the components that open dark portals and dimensions,” Claude added, like it was nothing. “The way they open is up to the power of the demon, or in our case, power of the demon and the witch involved. The ways are… well. Numerous. It depends.”

“I AM NOT SACRIFICING MY VIRGINITY!” Adrielle protested, and covered her lips as soon as she spoke. A few heads turned in their direction, but one sharp gaze from Claude made them turn away. Evelyn continued to talk like she was talking about something casual, such as weather.

“The altar requires a ritual. A sacrifice. It requires a virgin, a demon, and it’s desirable that a virgin is a witch too, but we will have to do with what we have,” she said. Adrielle was now on the verge of boiling from embarrassment, and didn’t want to face Claude.

“I am out. You fools will have to find some other twisted way to do this! I AM OUT!”

“Is your resolve that weak?” Evelyn raised her eyebrows. “Come on. Don’t back down now. Claude is pretty handsome, so it shouldn’t be that hard…”

“TO HELL WITH THE BOTH OF YOU!” Adrielle shouted. The crimson witch smiled.

“This is really a wrong place to have this conversation. Claude?” Evelyn called. He pulled Adrielle and in a swift motion, dragged her behind a building’s corner where people couldn’t see them, and where their carriage was parked. Evelyn was right next to them.

“Keep her close, servant. She can’t run away now,” she sounded tired and was now acting like Adrielle behaved like a spoiled little child. “Is anyone watching?” she asked, and the black butler sharpened all of his senses. After a brief pause, he answered:

“No, Mistress Waldram. It’s clear.”

“All right… here we go.” Evelyn reached for her pocket, and pulled out a bottle of dark-blue liquid. Claude dragged Adrielle in the carriage, while Evelyn used a piece of a white chalk to surround the carriage and started chanting in Latin. When she finished making a wide, large circle, she climbed the carriage too. Claude closed the door behind her, and opened the window.

“Come, wind, come storm, come, rain. I summon you…” she mumbled. Just like that, the clouds gathered, and drops of rain started falling. The storm was coming, and it threatened to be a raging one.

Just what Evelyn needed. She threw the dark blue potion, and it crushed into the ground. The fume started to rise and fill the circle.

“Let me go!” Adrielle protested as Claude was holding her too tightly, and too hard. She wasn’t able to move - or escape, for that matter.

“Please, Mistress Roseville. Remain calm.”

“Release me! I ORDER YOU!” Adrielle shouted. He twitched, and was conflicted whose orders he should obey. Whose orders? He desired the Undevourable soul, there was no doubt about it. She promised the soul of an equal quality in fulfillment of demi-contract, and he knew that she will deliver it. But again, something about Adrielle Roseville made him intrigued, and her soul had that special appeal that attracted him in another way. A way that he wasn’t able to explain. A way that was… almost magnetic, and to a certain point, destructible. On top of that… she wasn’t willing to give up her soul. She wasn’t willingly in this contract.

He took a long, deep look onto her. She was small in his arms. Surely, she was tough for a girl, and under some other circumstances, she might have even been able to beat him. To fight her way out. But not as long as she is just a human, and he… the creature of darkness. He could crush her, make all her bones break, like some fragile branch or porcelain set. Even if she was something… less fragile, even if she was made of steel, or iron, Claude was able to bend her, and break her… break her beyond repair.

Claude licked his lips, and his golden eyes changed into demon-version, and started glowing purple.

Her hair was soft. Red, like flame. Her blue eyes looked at him with hatred that he has seen so many times before – it was an anger of the defeated, of the weaker. Human’s look.

“You can release her now, Claude,” Evelyn was leaned onto the carriage seat, and was watching what she has done. Claude backed down, and Adrielle grabbed the handle of carriage’s door. Evelyn smiled.

“You may relax, Adrielle. There won’t be any copulation, I was joking. I’ve got this. I wouldn’t let him kill you, or rape you, you really should know better than that. But also, know one thing. With or without your blood - I will get in, and get them out.”

“You… you WILE WITCH!” Adrielle shouted, in embarrassment and anger. “Why did you tease me, then? Huh? WHY?”

“Because I wanted to see your reaction. Yours and his. And frankly, I must say - I am quite satisfied with the outcome.”

The dark fume and the coming storm… covered them completely. The carriage started moving, and the mist swallowed them whole.

REALM OF DARKNESS

“Sebastian,” the boy called, and his servant appeared a few moments later. He bowed down.

“Yes, my Lord?” he asked in pretty monotonic voice.

“Have you felt it? She is coming, and she is not alone.” Ciel exclaimed. He seemed bored when he made this statement. Sebastian didn’t reply, there was nothing useful to add to this remark anyway.
“Are you excited?” his master wanted to know, but there was no enthusiasm in his tone. “Does it make you feel thrilled?”

Sebastian was silent still. Ciel crossed his legs on his chair and stared at his black butler.

“Well?”

“Thrilled, my Lord?” Sebastian repeated, a small smirk escaping the corner of his lips. Thrilled was somewhat of a wrong word. What he felt at that moment, was a whole mixture of different feelings. One could even say – a storm. There was curiosity, for one… there was some excitement too, sure… there was also a burning anticipation, with a small whiff of desire… and just a hint of fear.

“She is probably the only person in this world… who can set you free. Isn’t she?”

Sebastian was thinking about it.

“Don’t lie. You mustn’t lie to your master, it’s the contract condition,” Ciel reminded him.

“She might be. But again… who knows. I have never been in a similar situation before. I can’t recall.”

“Stop playing dumb. It's considered lying too.”

Ciel’s eye was fixed at Sebastian. “I have told you once before… that I had no interest in your previous masters, unless they were somehow connected to my family or held any meaning to my cause. Honestly, I didn’t care about who owned you before me, but she is certainly… a very interesting woman. She has come so far, and made it where no other human or demi-human could set a single foot. If that’s not worth of my attention, I don’t know what else is. So, Sebastian, before she comes… I want to know more about Evelyn Waldram. I want you to tell me all that you know about her.”

“Master… you know Mistress Waldram well enough on your own. Do you really need to hear this now?” Sebastian felt obliged to asked.

“My knowledge about Evelyn Waldram is vague, clouded and narrow. I know her form a certain perspective, and in rough drafts. For example, I know that she used to know my parents. She used to visit us a lot with her husband, Count Waldram. She used to play with me when I was younger, and spent some time with me and Lizzy. She was good with children. She was guarding us and reading to us. She wasn’t able to use her powers back then, and I am not even sure that she knew that she was a witch. But that was a long time ago, and I barely remember.”

“For someone who barely remembers, what you described is pretty much accurate, my Lord.”

“Isn’t it? Well, to complete my point of view regarding Evelyn, I will need details. More details from your experience and interactions with her, and more about your previous service. I am aware that you don’t speak about, or don’t remember your previous masters in realm of humans, but I am also aware that you remember them all while you are in here, and I am going to use that to my advantage. Tell me, Sebastian. Why is she so special? Because she was a witch? What makes her so unique? Apart from being able to end this torturous circle for you, that is.”

His servant sighed.

“The thing with that soul… is never an easy matter to explain, young master. Our story is a very long, and a very complicated one. I am not sure it’s even… suitable for children of your age to hear it, for it’s full of terrors, and themes that are… well, reserved for adults. No offense.”

“I don’t care. I have nothing but time here, Sebastian. So, stop fooling around and start talking. Why did she make a contract with you in the first place? What was her objective?”

Sebastian smiled softly as he posed an unusual question.

“Are you referring to the last time we had made a contract, or you want me to go back… even further?”

Ciel was now visibly shocked. He lifted his head up and his expression was full of surprise. He hasn’t heard about Faustian contract that occurred more than once, except when Ciel had forgotten his previous contract and promised his soul to Sebastian over again. Maybe Evelyn had similar experience with him too?

“Are you saying that… she was your master twice? Like I was?” he asked.

Sebastian grinned, his demon teeth were now showing and there was something deeply threatening in that. “To say “twice”… would be an understatement, my Lord. But since you asked me to tell you about her, I shall tell you about our last Faustian contract. It’s the most fresh one, and it will serve well to help you form a solid opinion about Evelyn as she is right now. Shall I begin?”

Ciel leaned back. For the first time since he became Master for Eternity, he was drawn from his apathetic state… and deeply intrigued to learn about whatever his servant was about to tell him.

He listened carefully.