The Forest Guardians

2. Black Butler Chapter 1

The moon hung low among the ominous clouds as a lone figure stood on the top of the tall, looming clock tower.

The Big Ben.

Clad in black, the only visible things that could be seen were her orange catlike eyes and her ocean blue hair that flew around her as the wind howled. She crouched over the edge, surveying the place underneath her with her irises that widened and narrowed into slits like a binoculars before finally spotting a drunken man spilling out the contents of his dinner into the gutter.

His clothes were in a disarray, a lipstick mark was apparent on his cheek as it glistened under the moonlight. In one of his hands, he held onto a wine bottle which he proceeded to took a swig and then bellowed out whatever song that came to his head.

As she winced at his rather pleasing performance, a pail of cold water was unceremoniously dropped on the drunken man before he could finished his song.

He spluttered and yelled at the sudden coldness and sent up a string of colourful words at the culprit who shot back threats at him. She chuckled at the heated exchange.

Grumbling at the unpleasant experience he encountered, he tried to wipe away the water that stubbornly clung to his silk clothes until he gave up. He rummaged through his pockets until he pulled out a silver watch with a symbol on it. Identifying the symbol would have been impossible from afar had it not been for her cat eyes enhanced by eagle vision.

The symbol on the watch was a circle with an eye with a cross on it. And the iris of the eye was purple.

The girl, upon realising that the symbol matched to what she was paid to find and eliminated off, did a small victory punch.

"Finally!" She sang in glee. "And it's show time!"

The girl launched herself off the tower, doing a few perfectly executed somersaults before landing on the ground silently on all fours. Her eyes blazed against the darkness like an undying fire as she rose to her feet. In her right hand, she summoned out her sword. Moonlight reflected off the blade and a distant wind whispered words of death to the man.

The dark glare of the girl made the man looked past his shoulder, spotting her with a killer intent so strong that it made him stood rooted on the spot in horror. Like a predator prowling around its prey, the girl slowly walked up towards the man until she was a few feet from him. She raised her sword and sliced her prey down.

All that was ever heard was a scream.

-----

A carriage stopped at the side of the road. As the horses nickered, one raven haired butler came out before he assisted the young Phantomhive Earl down the carriage and gave him his walking stick. Women in frilly sun hats and dresses stood at the side and stole a few furtive glances at the butler. Upon realising them, he winked at them, earning squeals of joy before he walked to the front to pay the driver. His master mentally rolled his eyes at his butler's actions.

Ciel Phantomhive surveyed his surroundings before spotting a crowd nearby. Without waiting for his butler, he walked straight to the heart of the crowd.

"Police is under investigation. Please remain calm." A police officer hollered out before he realised Ciel was walking into the crime scene. "Hey! Whose child is that? Children are not supposed to go in there!"

Ciel gave him a death glare, earning a squeak of fright from the officer before he sighed in irritation. "Sebastian, give this police officer the Queen's authorisation note."

"The...The Queen! Then....you must be....."

"The Queen's Guard Dog, Lord Ciel Phantomhive. Please excuse my master for giving such a short notice of his arrival." Sebastian Michealis replied smoothly to the horror stricken officer.

He waved the Queen's letter of approval in front of the officer's face in a mocking way before hurrying off to his master. The officer, however, turned as white as a sheet before fainting into the arms of his colleague who worriedly called out his name.

"What do you think, Sebastian?" Ciel asked, gazing with boredom at the scene as he leaned on his walking stick.

Sebastian moved forward, observing the crime scene and lifted the white covers that concealed the dead body.

"It was a rather brutal kill. The face has been marred beyond recognition. The killing wound was right into the heart. And it seems, the killer has intentionally left an important evidence behind."

"What is it?"

A tiny white letter was handed over to the Earl whose interest had slightly piqued by the finding. The front of the letter had been neatly written in cursive, addressing to the Phantomhive Earl.

"Curious," he mused. "No one knew that I will come to this place."

"Unless this murder has been specially set up for you." Suggested his butler.

Ciel sniffed at it, faintly detecting the scent of decaying roses. He opened it with a mobile letter opener he carried around with him and read the contents.

Dreams are Nightmares.

And Nightmares are Dreams.

Look closer, and all you see is just an illusion.

Death, is merely just the beginning.

"It can't possibly be Grell right?" He stared dumbfounded at how absurd the message is.

"I hope not, young master. Besides, his style is usually a crime scene covered in red." Sebastian gave an involuntary shudder at the thought of the red haired death reaper.

Ciel hummed in agreement. "Then, what does this letter even mean? An illusion? Does this mean all of this is a hoax?"

Sebastian was about to answer him when his eyes wandered upwards. He stopped and stared at the crowd.

"What's wrong Sebastian? Why did you stop?" Annoyed by his butler's unresponsive actions, he crooked his head to the side and stared in surprise.

The crowd and officers were gone. Instead, they were replaced with the daily bustling of activities where Londoners were walking around in their posh clothes and sun umbrellas. As he looked back at the ground where the corpse was supposed to be, it was gone too. A few dusty boxes were in his sight with a crow sitting on a battered looking barrel. It croaked at him before taking off, as though being offended by his starring.

"How... How is this possible?"

"I do not know, young master. But I believe this might be the work of some other being." Sebastian pointed at the end of the letter which the words appeared.

Surprise? I will meet you if you decide to hold a ball in your mansion.

Ciel's face was unreadable as he issued an order for Sebastian to find the perpetrator and how it had happened.

"What about you, young master?"

"I will head back to the manor and send out the invites. Now go and get some concrete evidence about this phenomenon."

Sebastian didn't need to be told twice and took off despite the impossibility of the task at hand. Many would have found it impossible without a lead of sorts.

But not this butler.

If I cannot find what my master wants, then I am not one hell of a butler. Sebastian thought as his eyes gave off a very eerie purple glow as he disappeared to find clues.

Ciel watched his butler took off before walking off to his destination.

Unbeknownst to the two, a hooded woman clad in deep blue Victorian clothes walked out of her hiding place which was behind a bakery. She sauntered away, munching happily on some freshly baked chocolate croissant.