That Butler; Secrets

IV| That Butler; Revealed

Ciel was sitting curled up in a ball. He was in the corner of his room, confused, crying. He didn't know what to do, think, or say about the news he'd learned. Sebastian, on the other hand, had decided to go back to his butler duties. He had to do something to keep his mind off the young earl. Otherwise, he would just attempt to comfort him. That was certainly not allowed. The idiot butler still felt the need to be hated. He would rather die than to right this misunderstanding. Unfortunately for Sebastian, that's not the way things work. Ciel would have to come to some sort of terms with this news and go to Sebastian for answers. There were so many questions bubbling up inside that were beginning to push away the feelings of betrayal, ever so slightly.

Ciel lifted his head and stared at the giant portrait of Vincent Phantomhive that hung in his room. The manor had been burned down, but by some strange means, Sebastian was able to rebuild it making it almost identical to how it was before. Ciel never understood how Sebastian had done it, he'd assumed by some demonic power that it was possible. Perhaps it was because he'd been here before that Sebastian was able to make it so realistic. The world will never know.

Ciel's room was actually his father's. When he'd started on his mission for revenge, he threw away any childish notions and became Earl Phantomhive. To remind himself of that, he slept in his father's room. Thus, there was a giant portrait of Vincent Phantomhive. Ciel remembered the argument his mother and father had over this painting. His father didn't understand why the painting was necessary. Ciel didn't understand either, but somehow his mother convinced the earl. Vincent Phantomhive must have seemed very vain to have such a painting hung in his room. Ciel had always thought he hung it up to treasure it, since it was a gift from his wife after all. The longer Ciel looked at the picture, the more memories came back of his family. Looking at it only made him want to cry more. Why did Sebastian kill his father?

"Sebastian didn't kill me..." the painting spoke.

"H-how is that possible?! You're dead! You can't be talking!" Ciel gasped. He blinked a few times in order to give himself a reality check. 

"You and Michael have no faith in the mystical, do you?" the painting spoke again.

"Are you a ghost? Who is 'Michael'?" Ciel asked. He'd given up on trying to understand this situation. He decided to just roll with it. Besides, maybe this painting could tell him something that Sebastian wouldn't. 

"I guess you could call me a ghost, if that's easier for you. Michael is, well, you call him 'Sebastian' now."

"So, is it true? Did Sebastian kill you?! How did you two even know each other?!"

"My darling boy, you ask so many questions." Ciel scooted closer to his father's portrait and waited eagerly for the answers. 

"Firstly, I am very disappointed in you for not trusting your butler more. Look at you! Crying in a corner because of some misleading information from a misleading source! Is that the way of a Phantomhive earl?" Vincent was trying very hard to be a stern fatherly figure, but he was finding it difficult. He was the spoiling type...not the strict type...

Ciel looked at the floor. His father was right. It really wasn't a very mature thing to do. "I came here to tell you," Vincent began to speak once more, "since Sebastian clearly won't, that he didn't kill me."

Ciel snapped his head up again and looked to the picture, "Why would he say that he did?"

"He is probably feeling guilty for not being able to save me, but it wasn't his fault that I died. In the last few moments of my life, he ate my soul, but that's a minor detail," if Vincent had the ability to move his arms and swat that little bit of information away, he would have, however, paintings are rather limited in movement. Vincnet hoped Ciel wouldn't cling to the small fact that Sebastian ate his soul, that wasn't the information he was trying to convey.

"So he did kill you!" 

"No! He didn't kill me! We were close friends. He was just being sentimental," Vincent said. Ciel frowned. His father wasn't making any sense. The young earl decided to trust him. He would believe, for now, that it wasn't Sebastian's fault. 

"So how did you two know each other?" Ciel asked. 

"I met him in an alleyway and he became a friend of mine. When I was engaged to your mother, I'd asked him to leave. It just wouldn't sit right with me having a demon in the house while I was going to start a family. It wasn't that I didn't want him to stay, I just knew that Rachel would find out the true nature of his being eventually if he'd stayed, and she would react poorly, so I'd asked him to leave. What a stupid decision I made. If I hadn't wanted him to leave, a lot of this probably would have been avoided." Vincent let out a long sigh before continuing. He smiled and said, "Now go! You have someone to apologize to! You must not love him that much if this is enough to make you upset!" Ciel blushed. He'd always thought that his father would be disappointed if he was alive to know of his feelings for Sebastian. It was relieving to know that he wasn't.

"So, you know about..." Ciel began. Vincent just gave him a look of 'I'm your father, do you really think you could hide it from me?' Ciel laughed and stood up to exit the room. He had to find his butler quickly. Vincent smiled as he watched his son leave.  

Sebastian was dusting in one of the hallways. It was the most secluded place that he could find. Lucky for him, Leic hadn't been around to bother him. Hopefully it would stay like that. As much as he thought this place was secluded, it wasn't, because Ciel walked up to the demon and slapped his cheek hard enough to leave a red hand print. Sebastian didn't respond. 

"You idiot! Leading me to believe the worst about you! Don't you trust me?" Ciel's voice cracked due to his frustration with the demon.

"That's quite hypocritical, Young Master, considering you didn't trust me enough to believe it wasn't true," Sebastian replied. His voice was cold. 

Ciel looked to the ground. Why hadn't he been more trusting? He got too carried away and now two people had told him how childish he was. Why would Sebastian choose him over Leic? What did he have to keep Sebastian to himself? The young earl grabbed his butler's tie and forced Sebastian closer to his face. He'd decided that he would give it his all to fight for Sebastian. Until there was absolutely no hope left, and so, Ciel placed a small kiss on Sebastian's lips.

"I love you," Ciel said, avoiding eye contact at all costs, "I'm sorry." The boy scurried off before Sebastian could reply. 

Meanwhile, a certain 'ghost' was watching the whole thing and was quite annoyed that he wasn't getting his way. There must be something he could do to keep these two apart, right? Left to his own devices, he was having difficulty coming up with a plan. Perhaps, there his hope for the master-butler duo yet.