The Demons Bride (Black Butler)

chapter 49

This type of text is normal.

This is thoughts and cinematic records.

This is demonic speech.

This is thoughts and demonic speech.

[This is functions for the start and end of cinematic records.]

                                                              Crossroads Butler. Vivisecting Bride

"I'll fall off! I'll do it!"

At the sound of those words, Ciel opened his eyes. His right eye was unmarred by his contract seal. Dressed in the borrowed nightshirt, he glanced around the black dreamscape.

"What is this?!" he cried out. "I... How did I come to be here, and why?"

He concentrated, and found himself watching everything through Alois's eyes. They zoomed in on Sebastian and Marianne as they stood beside Claude and Hannah.

"Father? Mother?"

Sebastian turned to Hannah.

"I must find some way to convince you to return My Young Master to us as himself," he said. "Fortunately, I can be quite persuasive..."

"I wouldn't advice killing me." Hannah retorted. "If you do that..."

"I'll have to fall!" Alois/Ciel laughed.

Sebastian glared at the boy, and Marianne kept her eyes focused on her child. She wouldn't put it past Alois to make him jump, just for his own amusement. Hannah continued to speak.

"If you hadn't noticed, Ciel Phantomhive's body now belongs to my Master. Alois Trancy's soul was taken into Ciel Phantomhive, absorbed by him. It waited ever so quietly, for the proper time to reawaken," she explained. "The soul took advantage of a weakness in Ciel Phantomhive's heart. It used this weakness to steal Phantomhive's body, using his own eye."

"So, that's why you ate it." Marianne said suddenly.

The three demons turned to her, but she didn't look at them.

"You wanted Ciel to see that eye, to send him into hysterics, and make it possible for Alois to slip through the cracks and take over for however long he could."

Claude scowled.

"The Young Master's body is now Alois's hostage. So, our hands are tied."

"I'm going to fall!" the boy yelled. "I'm going to fall right off, Sebastian!"

"There's more to the situation than that." Hannah said. "Your hands may be tied, but your hearts aren't, are they?"

The butlers' eyes widened.

"Prepare yourselves. I'm sending you on a journey."

Sebastian arched a brow.

"Indeed."

The maid's lips twisted up into a grotesque lavender smirk.

"All of you are eager to retrieve Ciel Phantomhive. To do so, you must journey through the Labyrinth of Alois Trancy's heart. Following the painful twists and turns that comprise it."

It wasn't long before the two butlers stood at the entrance holding a pair of purple books.

"We're being sent to collect stamps throughout the garden." Claude said. "Why, this is beneath our dignity."

From the ledge at the top of the clock tower, Hannah and Marianne stood at the top with Alois/Ciel.

"Come to me, and you had best be quick about it!" he called out. "Unless you fancy the bitter taste of defeat."