Two Steps From Hell | Sebastian Michaelis

Her Butler, Phantom Image

"Come on, Rose," Bard said. "You clearly hate him the most so you must have a great idea on how to get the photo."
Ana laughed nervously. "Yeahhh... Um, I think perhaps we should catch him while he's cleaning. He seems to be the most focused then."
Finny grinned. "That's a perfect idea!"
Mey-Rin clenched her fist. "Let's do this!"
"So, where is he now I wonder..."
"Oh! He was in the dining room," Ana told them. "But he'll be on his way to the library next."

The three of them glanced at her in surprise.

She smiled awkwardly. "Well, I have to know where he is at all times. You know how the saying goes: keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer?"
"Oh, yeah!" Bard chuckled evilly. "Good point. Let's go!"

They arrived at the library before Sebastian did so that they could find a place to hide. They all somehow managed to squeeze behind a book case and moved some of the books. It was an uncomfortable and tight squeeze but they were all able to have a clear view of the room. Bard looked through the top shelf, Mey-Rin through the second, Ana through the third, and Finny from the bottom.

Sebastian entered and Ana couldn't help but smile. She couldn't wait to see what he was like when she or the others weren't around. It was pretty exciting to spy on him. Bard had control of the camera as they watched Sebastian examining the room as if deciding where to begin.

"Okay, Bard," Ana whispered. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah," he said whilst in pure concentration. "He needs to stay still."
Mey-Rin nodded. "For a full ten seconds, yes."
"I hope this works," Finny smiled.

Sebastian tugged on his glove and then suddenly began darting all across the room. First he dusted some books, then he swept the floor, then he polished the globe, then he cleaned the windows, then he straightened the frames. He was way too fast and didn't stay in the same position even for two seconds. Ana smacked her hand over her face.

'He knows we're here...'

He then rearranged the flowers in the vase before standing back and holding his chin. He had finally stopped moving to contemplate the arrangement of the flowers and it was the perfect chance.

"Look!" Mey-Rin gasped. "He's stopped!"
"Great," Bard said. "Let's go!"

But then they watched as Sebastian pulled out a handkerchief from his breast pocket before flicking it to make a red rose appear. They were all in awe at his trick as he placed the red rose amongst the white flowers. And then he left the room, leaving it all sparkling.

Finny clapped, still in awe whilst Mey-Rin smiled bashfully and held her face. Bard leaned back against the wall and sighed.

"I forgot to take the picture..."
"He's so wonderful to watch!" Mey-Rin gushed.
"He's such a loser." Ana rolled her eyes. "Come on, people! He's not that amazing. I can do that for goodness sake!"
"You can make a rose appear from a handkerchief?" Finny asked.
"I don't know," she shrugged. "Maybe. But the point is we need to get moving. Let's go!"

Next, Sebastian was going to straighten up every room and so the gang decided they needed to distract him somehow. When he was refreshing the tablecloth in the lounge, Finny ran in with the pool table.

"WHOOOAAAA!"

Bard tried to take pictures as Sebastian moved aside but he simply used the tablecloth as if he was a bullfighter and Finny was the bull.

"LOOK OOOOOUUUUUUTTTT!!"

However, when Finny came out from under the cloth, he crashed straight into the opposite wall and broke it completely through to outside. The others sighed in defeat.

Ana knew there was only one sure fire way to get the picture and that was for her to act like she needed him. However, that would make their relationship way too obvious. But she knew the next best thing.