Chapter Text
"Oh, please, {Sibling/Name}- it's not like you'll die! It's just a little steep. Please? Just once?" A voice cutely begs, hands clasping softly as their breath left their mouth in soft puffs. The chill of winter had finally set in, the stinging of their hands and noses making this apparent. Still, on this chilly night, seven kids stood on top of a steep driveway, a scooter held by the eldest. (By fourteen days.)
"But- I could fall off and snap my neck." They argue back, face red both with a chill and some indignation, though it was hard to tell how much was from which.
"Bab, I promise it'll be just fine. I'll let {Rival/Name} go and watch from the street to even make sure no cars are coming for you! Just once." The eldest softly reassured, "And if you do get hurt, I'll buy you more candy-canes than you can count in thirty minutes."
There was a lull in conversation as they calculated, "So two-hundred and seven?"
A soft smile appeared on the eldest's face.
"We'll see."
"{Y/N}~!" I hear {BFF/N} call, and I give a soft smile, kicking off the brick wall of my birth home and walking over to where their car had pulled up, putting my phone down. It was another 'bestie' trip and we were going to be enjoying ourselves before school started. Namely, going to the mall and vibing, or maybe going to the park and then panera bread, then to target where we'll hang out until it's time to leave. Hanging with them was always one of my favourite activities, even if most of the time I didn't know what to say.
I gently lean against the driver-side window and lean in lightly, booping their nose as they unlock their doors. "How's your day?" I ask, heading around the front of the car and ducking as I climb in. "Nothing too bad, I hope?" They sigh and shake their head, lightly pressing on the gas and slowly taking off.
"No, nothing bad- just a day." I nod, smiling lightly as the familiar neighborhood turns into familiar forest, then familiar field, then familiar stores. I honestly couldn't imagine a life outside of this small area, but... I knew eventually I'd have to leave. "Mom goes into me for not having all of my school supplies yet, but I mean, we're all going to mostly be using laptops, we don't need six spirals anymore."
I snicker, "But think- more for the mac and cheese-" A sigh from them, and a roll of the eyes, "On your left." They pause longer at the stop sign as, like I predicted, the person coming from the left sped through their stop sign and could have crashed into us. Could have.
"Oh- thanks." I nod, and let them continue talking about this or that, as my attention is taken up by the cemetery we pass. "What about yours, though?"
I pause for a moment, thinking, "Mh... spent more time on Mystic Messenger and Cinderella Phenomenon, though I did play a bit of Skyrim. So it was an okay day. I had to date my stepbrother on Cinderella Phenomenon, though, which I am... less than stoked about, I'll admit. Also, I ordered more of the Black Butler manga." I do a basic run-over of my day, which sounds... unimpressive.
I mean, really? Two Otome games and an RPG? Well, it could be worse. I suppose it could be Hunie Pop or, say, reading the Hamster Fic. Still- {BFF/N} talked with their family and like... did things. I always feel kinda lonesome in comparison. "Oh, that sounds fun!" They welcome, "Though I agree dating your step brother is... weird. You haven't explained Cinderella Phenomenon to me yet, though- wanna talk about it?"
I think for a moment, "Well, basically you play a girl who's a stone cold princess, and she gets yorted into poverty by a thing in that universe called a 'fairytale curse' where people have to live out fairytales in some fashion in order to return to normalcy. Anyways, her whole family aside from others cursed forget she was the crown princess, and she has to complete three good deeds in order for everyone to remember her." I explain simply, before digging into the plot a little deeper from the two routes I've played.
"Oh- that's... actually not the worst game I've heard you talk about." They encouraged me, and I let out an ugly snort.
"You're still just salty you have to kill the dragons in Skyrim." I point out, and they sigh,
"Just why can't you talk to them!?" I give them a choked laugh,
"Because they're trying to eat you!"
"They won't try and eat you if you pet them!"
I roll my eyes, "'Aight. Next time I play Skyrim I'll stroll up to Alduin, the world eater and first-born of Akatosh, and give him a lil' petsies for you. And I won't get eaten, of course."
"Of course." They respond with a grin, and we pull up to the mall unceremoniously.
It's not really that long of a hang-out in the mall, simply going to lush, a small clothes store, hot topic, and a family-run candy store, before we ate. It's all a blur, as it usually is, but it was happy. We sat down at our usual spot in the food court, when I went through my stuff again. "{BFF/N}, why don't you ever get anything?"
"I already have everything- besides, seeing you happy is it's own reward." They sipped at their sprite- kid's sized, as always- and I ate a fry. It was unfair they pay for me and all that. Granted, I liked it, but I felt guilty. "Besides, you spend a lot of time giving to others, shouldn't someone give to you?" No I didn't, not really. "But that's enough of that, wanna go get a friend or two at Target?" They wink, and a genuine smile crosses it's way over my face.
"Yes. I always want a friend." I agree, lightly hopping up to my feet. Target was the 7/11 to my JD. Granted, I wasn't about to sing a song about my traumas to a girl I just met, but I mean, it was close. Probably. I might sing a song to a girl I just met if the girl is cute enough. That's not the point though. "I mean, you're great, but Smiley back home and his burger friend need some more company." I point out, and they give a sigh, shaking their head, as we walk out of the mall together.
I put my bags at my feet, and look over at them, watching them put their seatbelt on once again, and I follow suit, happily pulling out my phone to play music. Of course, there’s not much to be done, and I consider my playlist for a moment before settling on my favourite youtube playlist, setting my phone on the dashboard and feeling the force of them pulling out once again.
It’s a relatively short drive, and not much is discussed as there’s a comfortable lull in the conversation. Even so, as I look out the window, I pause at the lightly wooded area we have to drive through to get to the other side of town. The world is so beautiful- just… all of it. I sigh and look down at my lap. ‘We’d better get to Target a little faster… I’m getting all feelsy.’
We finally pull up to it, and once again, it’s time to hang out in a place that not many would consider a place to chill at. We step through the Target sliding doors, and I grin wide, tossing my hands up. “Havoc time, babey.” They shake their head, and I know that they’re just ready to buy me a bouncing ball with a floating cake or other sort of random item within the glittery, watery confines of the rubber ball.
Still, it’s nice to lightly spin around as we head straight for that aisle, them keeping up with my fast pace, as is the usual. We make it there quickly, and I immediately shift through the small selection left, picking up one with another smiling face in it. I really do like the effect the black glitter gives this type of ball, though… I shift through them, and see one with a butterfly in it, pastel blue glitter accenting it wonderfully. I consider it, and then nod to myself, sagely. “Yes- this one will do.”
They look through as well, and smile, “Are you sure you don’t want this one?” They hold up one with a rose that has red glitter in it, and I stop, staring at it.
“... well now I’m not certain.” I say in a small voice, and they giggle, “On one hand, I really like this one… on the other…” I mumble honestly, staring between them. THey sigh and take both from me, “No-”
“We’ll just get both then. Geez, you know I’m good for it! I’ve got enough for six dollars.” I barely get out a small, whine-like noise, before being stared down by them. I relented, silently, and shoved my hands lightly in my pockets, looking around. I lead them- loosely- towards the seasonal aisle, faux-grumping my way there as they give me an unimpressed look.
This holds for about five seconds, though, as we see the plethora of skeletons available for sale. “{BFF/N}! Skeletons!” I call, and rush over to my favourite type of halloween decorations. I see them lightly take a peek at the price, and I pause. “... Skele- Skeleton?” I question in a small voice once more.
They shake their head, and lightly pull up the 15.99 price tag on the arm. “Skeletons.”
“Skeletons.” I nod, okay’ing my being okay with one or two more skeletons, and they race off to go get a cart. I pull off two skeletons and set them next to me, clapping my hands. There’s something so viscerally exciting about getting some faux skeletons. I hear them running back with a cart, and they quickly put the two I pulled off of the rack in the cart. I feel my heart pause as they then take the rest off of that rack, and I’m pretty sure I die.
“Oh- oh no-” I hold my heart, and they cackle.
“I’m not done. We need more. How many do you think they could get us?”
“I-” I shrug, uncertain, and I lightly fiddle with my thumbs, trying to think of what they might have in storage.
“I’ll go ask. This is very important.” After a conversation with a very confused manager and then a lot of concern about costs on my end, we retrieved a total of one hundred skeletons. I couldn’t help but wheeze as we combined forces to toss the skeletons in through the back windows. “Wait, {Y/N}, it’s probably very illegal to cover the back window with skeletons.”
I nod, and lightly nod a skeleton’s head, “So lets start putting them in the trunk.” We roll up the windows, and they pop the trunk, and we tossed more skeletons into the trunk with renewed vigor, and also a little panic as we realized we were on a bit of a time crunch.I pull the last skeleton out of the cart, and smiled at it. “And you. You shall be the King. Or Queen. Or Ruler. But I name you King, and ye shalt sit on the throne of mine lap.”
“Oh my god get in the car we have to go.” I hear them close the trunk, and I sigh, shaking my head and setting the King on my seat. We take a small moment to put up the carts, and then swiftly sit in the car, the King Skeleton on my lap.
“You bought 100 skeletons. What are we going to do with all of these.” I question to myself, and they sigh, pulling out of the parking lot. I consider our life decisions, and then look at them. “I’m assuming these are going in my house? What’s mom going to say when she approaches 100 skeletons in our living room?”
“Uhh- let’s not worry about that.” They giggle, and I shake my head, although I’m overall pleased. Now I won’t be alone. Wait- is that a weird way to see this? Probably. But I officially have 100 skeletons so it's not my problem.
As they turn into my neighborhood, I grin, since they’ve begun to go slow so I can give them instructions. I give them, warily, and we pull into my driveway. I don’t quite want to separate from them yet, though, and check the time. “We’ve still got thirty minutes, actually- wanna go on a small walk in the forest?”
They look at King, “I’m assuming he’s coming along?” I nod,
“His name is King.” They giggle, and we get out, me pulling my bags and King along for the walk, just because I don’t feel like leaving the important things in an area where they can be stolen easily. They’re swiftly stolen from me by {BFF/N}, not that I particularly mind.
We get walking through the neighborhood, and I can’t help but point out a small thing. “Sorry I accidentally made you spend upwards of two thousand dollars on skeletons for me.” I apologize, and they shrug,
“Bold of you to assume that those skeletons are only for you.” They attempt to reassure, and it does help a little. “I expect at LEAST ten of them to be mine. Skeletons are the only things we can always, a hundred percent agree on.” I think for a moment,
“It would be better if they were REAL skeletons-”
“{Y/N} no.” They cut-off, face-palming lightly. I can’t help the smile that comes across my face, however.
“{Y/N} yes.” I argue softly, pulling King up to nuzzle his forehead, and I pause where I’m standing, looking up at the swiftly reddening leaves. The wind blows softly as I view everything the world has to offer, and I hold King close to my chest. “Life is hard.” I point out, and I hear a lull in they steps as they wait for me. While I’m looking up, though, I see something shiny on the lowest branch, and I reach out for it.
The cold metal brushes my fingertips, “What’s that?” They ask, and I grunt as I jump, and lightly hit the end with my hand.
“A necklace? I think?” I answer, looking over to them. “I’m gonna make a running jump. One moment.” I back up a little, and start a small sprint, dropping King as I get my hand around the end, a sharp pricking in my hand causing me to drop it the moment it was recovered, by accident. “Ah-! It’s sharp!” I warn, picking up King and dusting him off as they recover it.
“... this kinda looks like Sebastian’s butler-pin-thing.” They point out, and I look over at it, peeking at it curiously. I let out a small hum and held out my hand for it again. I gently press my thumb safely in the middle so as to test its strength.
“Yeah but it looks genuine? This feels like a sturdy metal.” I point out, letting them hold it again. “Weird.” I reach out my hand for a bag, and they shake their head, and I curse myself for failing the subtle skill check. I shrug, “Maybe a cosplayer climbed a tree and lost it without realizing?” I suggest, jokingly.
“I know you’re joking but that’s probably what actually happened.” I snort, shaking my head and crossing my arms over King.
With a long sigh, I look around again, feeling the wind pick up a little bit. “We should go back. We have to unload all of those skeletons, after all.” I remind them, and they sigh, too, the two of us silently turning around and beginning the walk back.
I felt a water drop on my face and paused once more, touching it and looking up again, the wind picking up further. “... a tornado?” I give {BFF/N} a troubled look, and we find a silent agreement to begin sprinting, the rain picking up with the wind every step, it getting harder and harder to see them, so I grab their hand, holding onto them and king very tightly. The last thing I hear is the tornado siren before I pull them into my chest and duck us, passing out as I do so.
“Eugh- mm…” I mumble, shifting on something soft and warm. It didn’t feel quiet like my bed, though, so I opened my eyes, and they met with bright white flowers with a deep blood red in the middle peaking out. I mindlessly pull at one, noting the way the edges almost seemed to glow a soft cyan, holding one between my index finger and middle finger.
As I sat up, the situation hitting me suddenly, I looked up and around, squinting. I was in a cave, but the ceiling above me looked like stars. “... uhnder… tale?” I questioned, before realizing I wasn’t wearing pants, and my heart stopped for a split second, looking down. Thankfully, I was clothed, but I was dressed in some sort of dark purple tunic, green star embellishments on the sleeves.
I lightly touch my head, a headache pinging through my skull. I laid back down, trying to recall all that had happened. I woke up, played some games… went out with {BFF/N}, and then we bought 100 skeletons… and then… I look at my hand, and see a tiny pinprick where I remember I accidentally pricked myself on that pin.
Then there was a tornado… wait, “{BFF/N}!?” I call out, quickly getting up and almost losing my balance as I look around more frantically. I briefly saw a bridge across from where I was sleeping, but I saw another flower patch with glowing green flowers, and I ran in that direction, seeing them lying there.
They were wearing the same style of tunic as me, though green with purple embellishments, and they still had my bags around their arms and King wrapped in their arms. “{BFF/N}...” I sigh, stepping onto the flowers. They wilted underneath my feet, and I froze, but shook my head and continued on. I noticed a weird scar on their hand and froze, lightly pulling it from King’s plastic shoulder blade.
Right on their hand, centered right where my pin prick was, is a giant, star-shaped scar. Less like a small dot like mine, and more like someone had pulled something through it, and covered it up. I briefly connected the dots, but instead shook them. “{BFF/N}, wake up!” Their eyes opened after a moment, and I gave a sigh of relief as they sat up, propping themselves on their hand.
“{Y/N}? Where are we?” I shake my head, looking around.
“I don’t know. I’ll investigate while you wake up properly.” I offer, leaving her alone and tilting my head as the flowers seemingly revive at my leaving the patch. Interesting- but it was time to investigate further. I took heavy steps towards the bridge, lightly touching it, as it was made out of some sort of deep, purple wood, that seemed to glitter. The wine red water underneath it seemed to be slightly thicker than the water I presumed it to be.
I looked back at the {BFF/N} who had just properly awakened, and then back at the water, before crossing the bridge fully, wincing at the cold black-and-white tiles this area seemed to be composed of. There was pentagram with some sort of inscriptions lining the- well- lines, and the familiar spiked circle I knew to be associated with Sebastian’s contract mark. “... maybe the guess wasn’t too far off, then?” I mumbled, looking around for anything else, and seeing an island in the distance, walking to the edge of my current one to get a better look.
It was different from the one I was currently standing on, with purple grass and a grey tree with blood red leaves and green vines hanging down. “I’m beginning to notice a theme.” I took a step back and turned around, seeing {BFF/N} warily crossing the bridge, their usual sweater on over their tunic. I make my way over to them, and gesture for them to drop the stuff. “Let’s look through what we still have.” I suggest, opening the bag from the clothes store and setting things out.
A sweater, two pairs of starry leggings, in each of our sizes, a skirt, and some socks were in it, and I took off my purse, immediately putting on the leggings and skirt. I’d turned away from {BFF/N} and tucked the tunic under the skirt, before putting on the socks and putting the sweater over it all. I looked over to them and saw them dressed in what all we’d had- having changed into their hufflepuff shirt and lightly tucking the tunic into one of the bags.
I looked at the faustian contract seal, and noticed that, in the middle, there was a small dagger. I contemplated it for a moment, and walked over, picking it up. “This wasn’t here before.” I comment lightly, looking it over. It looked cool, though, and I briefly held it above my palm, almost bringing it down into my hand, though it was pulled away by a very concerned {BFF/N}.
"Uh, what are you doing?" They asked, clearly trying to keep their tone steady and as un-concerned as possible despite the circumstances,
"Clearly, stabbing myself in the hand." I answer simply, "Because... I can? Just trust me?" I offer in explanation, and they sigh, shaking their head. "Listen, this is the only thing I can think of right now, so just let me try it?" I almost-beg, and they sigh, throwing their hands up into the air.
"Well, you're just gonna do it when I turn away anyways- just let me get our stuff?" I nod, waiting and watching them gather up our belongings and hold them all, including King. I stab myself in the hand as they walk over, and they look away- which is a shame, because as the blood hits the seal, the spots my blood hit begin to glow, spreading out across the circle.
I take a few steps back at first, but that quickly has no meaning as the ground underneath me turns to mush and then makes a funnel shape, the two of us making unpleasant noises as we realized that we were falling into what we could only assume was some sort of magical death portal, and I reach for their hand, only slightly surprised when their hand clasps into mine, and the bright magenta field goes black once more.
When I wake up for the second time in what can only be thirty minutes, I growl, sitting up again. "Ohkay- n o w the writer of my life is having a laugh at my expense." I complain softly, rubbing my head. It takes a moment for the visuals of my situation to register, and I look out the bedroom window of the mansion I am apparently in. And the 'changing' thing seemed to have had no use, because I was now in a Different Nightgown. I pause, and look back around.
I'm in some fancy bedroom, at night, in a nightgown that I don't own, and wow my sleep schedule is not going to take lightly to... this... "Where's {BFF/N}?" And where am I?
I lightly step onto the carpet of the room- thanking carpets- and see my purse on the nightstand, neatly tucked on top of my previous dream-clothing. I pick it up and search through it, finding my lighter quickly, and playfully lighting the candelabra nearby, picking it up. Finally, I'm living the Victorian Cosplayer's Dream. I hold it steadily, leaving the room quietly.
I step out into the hallway, and begin my small trek into the hallway, starting left, because, worst case scenario, I go in a circle, right? "{BFF/N}?" I softly call, the shadows casting dark and strange figures as my eyes begin to adjust. I keep track of where I am, lightly opening the first door I come across, seeing another bedroom, but no {BFF/N}, so what's even the point? This repeats for a while until I have to turn right, and see double doors.
Carefully, I reach out to them, and grab the doorknob- and feel a tight pressure on my neck, pinning me to the door in probably the Least Convenient Way, causing me to gasp for breath as I startle. I drop the fire- and try to catch it to no avail, and now my brain is in pure panic mode as several questions enter my mind; Who, Why, and Is Anyone Going To Stop The Fire?
"Now who do we have here?" A silky voice mumbles in my left ear- and of course in the near pitch-black I couldn't make out who they were. "I'm afraid we haven't any guests over... so where might you have come from?" It was obvious the voice was trying Really Hard to be seductive, and if I weren't terrified out of my mind, it might have worked. Probably? Seductive isn't really my type.
"Please let go of my neck, friend." I manage meekly, "As much as I enjoy- not being able to breathe," A small gasp, mostly to accentuate my point, partially because I did need air, "It's pretty important for talking." The person- man? man- seemed to agree with that because the pressure left, and I turned around, taking deep breaths of relief and rubbing my neck as I grab my bearings.
"I don't know where I am, for starters- so where am I?" I ask, sensibly.
"The Phantomhive Manor."
Oh.
Ohhhh.
Ohhhhhhhhhh- ohkay that doesn't explain how I got here but that explains pretty much everything else about the situation. "Wellll- I just woke up in the guest room a few doors away? I had no idea this is where I was or even how I got here," I explained as genuinely as I could- and it should have been pretty genuine because all of that was the truth. At least this meant none of them changed me. Probably.
My eyes finally seemed to adjust to the moonlight reaching the hallway because Sebastian's figure sharpened, and I could see him and his blazing magenta irises. He was attempting to figure out who and what I was, and it should be easy because it's not like I'm hiding anything. Yet... not hiding anything Yet. "I see... do you remember anything before that?" And it begins sooner than I'd have hoped.
"Not really? Something about family troubles, falling, and then waking up here?" Not... entirely lying. Man I'm Great at this. Of course, I had to come up with a story, quick. "Listen- all I really remember was that I was running away from some sh- stuff back home with my best friend, {BFF/N}, we fell at some point while running through a forest, and now I'm here and I don't know where they are."
I did my best to keep the panic out of me as I realised that they could be anywhere right now. Likely in some sort of nightgown, wandering the streets of Victorian England with nothing but a skeleton in their arms for self-defense. I take in a shaky breath, because, well, it was impossible to not worry about that, and raised my hand to my chest. My necklace was still there though, at least.
He scoured me for any lies- I was a pretty good liar, though, so I wasn't that worried about his scrutiny, and he went to open his mouth before a shrill, familiar "MISTER SEBASTIANN!" Rang down the halls, and I and the demon both looked towards the source.
There, sprinting through the halls in nothing but her own nightgown was also Mey-Rin in some sort of panic, herself. "Mister Sebastian, Finnian found a- who is she?" I give an awkward wave, realising that my neck was probably bruising from what he'd done, a little, and I rubbed it with a nervous laugh.
"An unimportant guest, what did you find?" He dismissed, coldly, and I didn't take it personally. Well... I tried not to. He did just call me unimportant. I crossed my arms lightly and pouted, looking out the window.
Mey-rin gave me a questioning look at that, but continued on, "Finnian found a girl curled up in the garden with a weird-lookin' skeleton, yes he did!" I perked up at that, turning around immediately, and taking a few steps towards her.
"Lead me there-!" I turned to Sebastian, before looking back at the maid, "That's my friend! Are they okay!?" I felt my heart pounding in my chest, and saw her nod, giving me a curious look at the 'they' and I dismissed it internally for the moment.
"They're fine- they are, though they haven't yet awoken, they appear to be sick... I was gonna ask to run them a warm bath, yes I was." I nod, lightly taking another step.
My heart was beating too fast, it was getting hard to breathe, and I knew I was about to have a panic attack any moment. "Let me see them. Please- I have to- please." I pleaded lightly, like it had ever been in question that I would get to see them.
Sebastian simply nodded, "Lead the girl to her friend, I'll be right with you. First I must see if the young master is willing to-"
I turned to him, "I think that could wait- Earl Phantomhive is a young man, right? He needs his rest." And I need to go over our story. "We'll stay out of the way tonight- I won't leave their side anyhow, please."
"Right this way, miss." Mey-rin's accent was absolutely adorable, and I return to her side, following her and hoping Sebastian wouldn't wake Ciel. The last thing I needed on my hands was a bratty, tired 13 year old, especially if I was going to appeal to his need for actual servants. "So where did you come from to avoid us all and change?" Mey-rin asked, once out of earshot of Sebastian.
"I... don't know. My friend and I were running through the forest and next thing I know, I'm waking up in the guest bedroom in unfamiliar clothing." I tell her, not entirely lying, "I barely know where I am, much less how I got here, miss...?" I'm going to call her Mey-rin on accident and without prompting if I don't get her name.
"Mey-rin- and that sounds horrifying, yes it does. Are you alright?" She questioned, looking me over. I run my hand through my hair and note that it's a lot longer than it had been- by a good few inches.
"{Y/N}..." I answer hesitantly, feeling my whole body start to ease with the conversation. At least it was a person I was technically familiar with. I knew everything about her, which meant I could work that angle to the best of my abilities. "... Mey-rin, I like your accent a lot..." Play innocent and scared- because I was. I'm innocent and very afraid. I've done nothing wrong aside from tell a few lies to protect my identity and this is a scary situation.
"Thank you! Yours is lovely as well." She leads us down a separate staircase, and I lightly wonder if {BFF/N} is truly alright. They better be or there'd be hell to pay. There, standing in front of a doorway with light spilling out of it, is a disgruntled and leaning Baldroy.
"There you are, did you get- who's she?" He asked, seeing me. I give him an awkward wave.
"This is Lady {Y/N} yes it is! And the person we found is precious to her. Sebastian found her wandering the halls."
"My best friend is in there, right?" I point to the doorway and make my way over shakily, for some reason worried they'd be bloodied or otherwise injured. They'd already been hurt once today, because of me I'm sure. I don't want anything else to happen to them.
"Yea, she's in here. Apparently she fell out of a tree, or something, had ta' patch her up." My heart sank lightly, and I rushed in. Sure enough, there they were on the bed, several more small scrapes dotting their face. I carefully took their fragile arm in my hand, before investigating the bandages. I wasn't sure why they were going through so much trouble, however, if I was correct, I had my guesses.
If I was correct and hadn't just hit my head on a tree because of the sudden storm, thing. I wrapped both of my hands around one of theirs, lightly bringing it to my lips and voicing a small, barely-audible prayer to whatever god or being would answer. "Please have them be okay- and please, please send help..." I mumbled lightly, before seeing Mey-rin and Baldroy enter the room after me, watching me look over them.
I missed the confused and concerned looks they sent each other, anyways, as I was busy inspecting them for further injury, in case they'd missed something. People always missed something. We stay like that for a few minutes in silence, me brushing hair out of their face and sweeping my eyes over anything I felt might have been injured, though staying in my lane.
"I brought water-! And mister Sebastian!" Finnian yelled, startling me and the other two, and I looked over at them. "Oh- you must be {Y/N}, then! Don't worry, your friend is just fine, though she was very injured when I found her. Baldroy helped pick her up and patch her right away!" He attempted to reassure, and I nodded, having gone silent. I watched as he placed a wet rag on the top of their head, and bit the skin around my thumb off nervously.
They would wake, they had to- "It's a few hours from sunrise, if you'd like to lie down and get some better sleep after your... travels..." Sebastian cut off my thoughts, and I looked towards him, "I'm sure this has been a very exhausting thirty minutes for you." I wasn't tired, though- I just wanted them to leave. Maybe if I pretended to sleep...?
I crawled fully into the bed with {BFF/N}, like a child, and I wondered lightly how out-of-character this might seem to Sebastian, who saw me somewhat snarkily respond to him before. I lightly grip their hand, "Yes. But I'm not leaving the room." Just leave, this was too many people. I don't like it. Sebastian, seeming to get the message, nodded, and ushered the other three out, though I noted Mey-rin's suspicious sneak gaze and Finnian's uncertainty over leaving us here.
I sigh, finally getting some time and space to myself to think... this is a lot all at once, and we only have one chance at this, obviously. We have to decide quickly if we want to stay here or take our chances somewhere else. Their stuff had, similarly but naturally, been placed to the side, and my brain would not stop making calculations as to what to do next.
At some point, I'd noticed {BFF/N} awakening, and I lightly got out of the bed, taking the rag off and helping them sit up. "You okay?" I asked softly, gently taking the rag and dunking it in the cool water to refresh it.
"... yeah... where are we?" They asked, looking around. The candle that had kept the room alight earlier had since dimmed a little, and I simply shrugged, sighing,
"You're not gonna believe me." I stated simply, lightly placing the rag back on their head and leading them back down. Something was messing with them, bad- and I could only hope that it would go away. However, part of being a fangirl is knowing that usually in the 'world traveller' stories, nobody ever went over what would happen if someone who wasn't supposed to be there also came along... and I had my guesses.
"... Try me."
"... Black Butler?" I tried, with a nervous giggle. They narrowed their eyes at me, and I could only hope they knew when to tell that I was genuine. Five years- six, almost seven, soon- tended to bring people close. "We're in Black Butler, like it's some sort of fanfiction."
"... Well, That's- nice. Where are we in Black Butler?" They seemed calm at the moment, but then again, they- "Wait what to you mean-" They sat up, accidentally hitting their head on mine, and we both gave small shouts of pain. There was a pause, and then they giggled, causing a small smile from me. "What do you mean, we're in Black Butler?"
I shrugged, lightly turning my neck, showing them the bruise on my neck from when Sebastian decided to attempt to choke me from behind, dumbly. "We're in Black Butler and Sebastian's already made an attempt on my life, once." I joked lightly, already feeling a little bit better now that they were here, though they obviously wanted to do something about that.
"Well- I mean, that sounds more like you, to be honest. I would be surprised if you didn't come to me with some sort of injury from one of them... I had a fever dream involving some sort of avatar rip-off with cheese whales, goldfish, coke, pepsi, and dragons... but I think we have more pressing matters right now." They sighed, and leaned back on the bed. "And let me guess, you've already got some outlandish plan?"
"We become maids like Mey-rin while we try and figure out if we want to be here, or not." I suggested simply shrugging, "To put it simply, we could say that it's repayment for helping us out, and then once we 'see how disastrous they are' we can offer to work for like... as long as we need to, should we figure out that this is where we want to be." I lightly finger the necklace around my throat, though admittedly it felt... different, and I simply thought it away as me overthinking it.
"... so we really are treating this like a fanfiction, huh?"
"Well... I mean, would you rather we wander around the streets of Victorian London in nothing but nightgowns?" I joke and they simply shake their head, feigning unamusement at the prospect. "We could pretend we're ghosts." They snort at that, "Two ghost palios wandering the streets of 19th century 80s London together."
They were very much done with me. "No thank you- actually? I think I'm still tired," They turned around, this time taking the blanket with them, "Please leave the room. I'm feeling just fine." They joked dryly, and I pouted,
"What's wrong with being a ghost with me?" I lightly climbed onto the blanket mound, jokingly pawing at where their face had disappeared into blanket,
"I never said there was anything wrong with being a ghost with you-" They 'argued' back lightly, and I could hear the smile in their voice,
"Well you implied it-"
"Are we interrupting something?" Interrupted a very young, very annoyed, and very bratty voice, and I could feel {BFF/N} freeze underneath me. I paused, turning to look, and in our hubris we'd not paid attention to the young child and amused demon staring at us. I noted that Ciel hadn't yet been fully dressed, and looked out the window. Oh, the sun was rising.
I felt a blush rise to my cheeks and I softly shook my head, climbing off {BFF/N}- who uncovered themselves and turned to look at the younger boy- and sitting politely on the edge of the bed, crossing my ankles and placing my hands in my lap. "I- no, Lord Phantomhive, right?" I counted my blessings that they walked in then, though, and not five seconds ago when we were lightly scheming on what we should say to them. "You weren't interrupting at all." A less wary me would tell him that he had interrupted.
But I didn't really feel like dying right now. Hit me up in about a week.
"I see. My butler Sebastian has made me aware that one of you was found having fallen out of a tree, and the other wandering about my estate as though you owned the place." I nodded, lightly rubbing the length of my thumb with my other thumb, awkwardly.
"Yes, my lord- I would like to apologize for that, I simply didn't know where I was. Somehow, I went from sprinting through the forest with my friend, {BFF/N} here, to waking up in one of the bedrooms. And I uh, wasn't in this nightgown when I was running. I don't know who's this is or how it got on me." {BFF/N} nodded, as ever good at keeping up with my stories.
"What were you running from?" Ciel asked plainly, and I paused, unsure how to answer for a split second. What were we running from? I look to {BFF/N}, and they look to me, and I open my mouth to answer, looking back, when they answered first.
"My parents. We're best friends, but my parents don't approve of our friendship, and since {Y/N} was a maid at our estate, and I was their 'daughter...' they were going to send her away, anyways... so we ran." She stated quietly, looking a bit 'downtrodden,' and I took a moment, before looking back to Ciel.
"You won't call her parents, right? I was planning on working for you anyways to pay off whatever I needed to for your servants helping us, I won't be in your way," I lightly begged, trying to play up the 'pathetic' card slightly, "Please just let us escape them- we-" I lightly channeled my inner panic as I tried to think of ways to get him to let us 'stay temporarily' while also seem like we were in a bit of a rush to get away from someone.
"Calm down- and go back a little. 'Daughter?' You seem to not be fond of the term in reference to yourself." I paused, and looked over at them. How to explain this to Ciel? Well- again, he had no reason to turn us away because of such a small, 'odd' thing. The issue was, which one of us was going to explain the concept of nonbinaries to the barely-teenaged victorian boy? Granted he also wasn't godly, so...
"... I don't feel like a girl, is all. But I don't feel like a boy either." Sebastian actually seemed to understand easily enough- his kind, of course, didn't necessarily have genders either- so it was easy enough to get him to grasp it. Ciel looked a bit put off, though. As expected.
"Well, alright, then." His gaze turned to me, and I paused, "You said you're willing to work for a while to pay back the favour of not throwing you and your... liege, out into the night," He said, as though he'd been made aware of us and made that decision himself... but I didn't bring it up, "But I have a proposition that could appeal to you all the same. How about both of you work as servants here until her parents stop looking in this area, you two could build up savings and start a new life, risk free. How does that sound?"
That was... an awfully generous way of offering that. Frankly, I didn't trust it. It would be the perfect solution to our fictionalized troubles... what I was really worried about was the price that came with that. I bit the inside of my cheek, though, and looked back to my best friend. They simply smiled at me.
"Lord Phantomhive, my lord? That sounds perfect." They answered, and I sighed, seeing them grin. This was probably really bad, since we had no idea what the deal was for, truly, but all I could really do is give them a disappointed look for not giving me the chance to scope out the offer a little more, mentally.
"I'll get Mey-rin to show you to your quarters and clothing, then."