The Tales of a Fox (Black Butler! Various x F!OC! Reader)

Chapter 4

A/N: If you haven't read this part of the manga (where they really go into detail about what happened between the kidnapping and Sebastian's summoning) then this will probably be disturbing. I also did my best to lessen Ciel's trauma a tiny bit.

I'm putting a trigger warning here just in case, but I'll try my best not to go too into the more traumatizing details.

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You woke up to quiet sobs and the feeling of a metal collar against your neck, shackles chaining down your ankles. Below you was cold metal, stinging your skin. The fabric over your chest was soaked with what you assumed were Ciel's tears.

"What is this? Why's tha lil' runt not in a separate cage?"

"We couldn't get 'im away without damaging the goods; the bitch held on too tightly. We'll have ta sell 'em together."

"Tch, useless!"

It seems like we got handed off to traffickers, you deduced. So it was the second, untrained group that had gotten you in the end. The irony almost made you laugh.

The voices faded as they walked away and your eyes cracked open a bit as you lightly rubbed Ciel's back in an attempt to soothe him. His head snapped up at the touch, and you nearly growled at the price tag you saw piercing his ear. Before you had a chance to lose your head though, you were tackled in a hug.

"(Y/n)!" Ciel croaked, arms shaking as he tightened his embrace. "I-I thought you were dead," he sobbed. "You were bleeding so much a-and I thought you left me alone too."

You slowly shifted into a sitting position, wincing as you felt your bullet wound burn. The only thing you were grateful for was the fact that there was an exit wound. Well, it's not bleeding anymore at least. My body must have subconsciously done that on its own. With a click of your tongue, you tried to heal it the rest of the way, your exhaustion from the earlier events still not completely gone yet. You felt blood building up in the back of your throat, waiting to be coughed out, but you swallowed the urge and the metallic tang that came with it. There wasn't a need to panic the boy in your arms any further.

"It'll be okay, Ciel, I'm alive now, aren't I?" you said as calmly as possible. You stroked his hair in comfort. "I won't leave yet. They'll have to pry my dead body away to get me to leave you alone."

His tears fell faster, and you realized you probably shouldn't have worded it the way you did.

"Come here," you murmured, pulling him into another hug, and letting him cry until he couldn't anymore. "I'm not going anywhere."

"...(Y/n)," he whispered, looking down.

"What is it?" Your fingers brushed away the last of his tears as you looked at him. The boy held up his hand, palm up, and your breath hitched once you recognized the jewel sitting there.

"I-I took it, from father, earlier..." he mumbled. "What should I do with it?" His eyes were wide and glassy. You slowly took the ring from his hand.

"We're going to get you out of here," you said, letting him curl against your side. "And when we do, we're going to establish your position as Lord Phantomhive, and you'll make Uncle Vincent and Auntie Rachel proud."

"But what if they find it? They'll take it away!"

"I'll make sure they can't find it," you murmured. You could alter the way everyone perceived the ring. It would be a bit strenuous, but not taxing enough to kill you. "Remember my 'magic'?"

Ciel nodded, curling up against you more as he stared up at your face.

"I can use it to make the ring look invisible. They can't take what they can't see, right? So let's keep it a secret."