Chapter Text
A new month has rolled around, and there hasn’t been a lead on the young master and Prince Soma’s whereabouts.
I have kept up my duties as the Phantomhive butler diligently. Keeping the place spotless in case of visitors and in case he returns.
The servants have been acting like everything is normal around me and one another, but I can see that they are starting to lose hope. They are trying their best not to give up on their young master, though.
I haven’t been able to tell how Tanaka is feeling. He hasn’t shown a hint of how he really feels.
Lady Elizabeth had once again come by. But this time with her father. She was a sobbing mess. Her father consoled her as best he could.
Queen Victoria’s bodyguards had also come by to see if we had discovered any new leads. They left empty-handed. That left us the same way, too.
Agni is still devout at searching for Prince Soma. He has not shown any sign of giving up.
The contract seal upon my hand has almost faded away. Only some lines remain.
The string that ties me to the young master has gotten even weaker. A few weeks back, I did feel that he was in pain, but there has been nothing since. That confirms he is at least alive. The same cannot be said for Prince Soma.
Having witnessed the carriages plunging into the River Thames and completely disappearing, it’s safe to say they are no longer in this world. It’s doubtful they would have been taken to another country, and besides, I’ve never heard of carriages kidnapping kids to a different country. Or even to another world, for that matter.
But if my theory turns out to be correct, what would another world want with children? My first thought is that they have some sinister motive, but the young master is still alive, so that can be ruled out for now.
Due to Albert Cross and Louise Stone having never been found, they must have some other-worldly thing that keeps those they take there. They would have been teleported to a different world, so coming back to London seems impossible.
All in all, the probability of finding the young master and Prince Soma is practically zero.
I haven’t told Agni or the servants this, but they will find out soon enough on their own. They would most likely refuse to come to terms with it once they realise.
With nothing but time on my hands, I decided to trace the carriage’s footsteps. I have already noted down Albert and Louise’s carriages’ direction to see if there is any correlation between them.
Having stood at the railing blocking off the River Thames, there is no relation between the carriages. The carriages would simply disappear where no one would see them.
“Can’t believe I’m being forced to seek help from a demon,” an annoyed voice comes from behind.
Sebastian casually turns around to face William. T Spears.
He pushes up his glasses in annoyance.
“What does a reaper want?”
“What do you know about where your master has disappeared to?”
Sebastian raises an eyebrow in surprise.
“Heh. Well, even I’m clueless as to where he’s gone,” Sebastian replies with a smile.
William hmphs.
“What about Soma Asman Kadar?”
“I have no intel on him either,” he responds.
William sighs and throws a thin packet of paper at Sebastian.
He opens it immediately.
In it are two records that have the info of those who will one day be greeted by a reaper.
Sebastian looks over at the photo of Astre Phantomhive and Soma Asman Kadar on their respective files.
He moves on to read the info, but sees that there is no information to begin with.
“It’s all blank,” Sebastian voices aloud.
“Yes,” William begrudgingly agrees.
“So, tell me what you know, demon.”
Sebastian thinks for a moment. He’d rather not be anywhere near a reaper. But he could help find out where his young master has gone.
“Fine, I’ll tell you,” Sebastian eventually agrees.
He begins the lengthy explanation of what happened the day his young master and Prince Soma went missing. The black carriage was taking Ciel away, the white one was taking Soma, giving chase only to see it plunge into the Thames and completely disappear.
William listens in with an annoyed expression.
“This is going to lead to more overtime.”
“It’s safe to say that they are no longer in this world, judging by the records. Maybe not even on the planet,” William comes to a similar realisation as Sebastian.
“I will head back to HQ and see what the higher-ups suggest. I should also inform them that two more have gone missing in the same way,” William mutters to himself and leaves without giving Sebastian a chance to interject.
He watches him go with a straight face. Sebastian then makes his way back to the manor.
With his inhuman speed, it doesn’t even take him 10 minutes.
Tanaka opens the door and greets him after he knocks.
Sebastian goes to see what the servants are up to, but is stopped by a tired voice.
“Sebastian.”
He turns upon hearing his name and sees Agni standing in a doorway. His face screams how little sleep he has gotten as of late.
“Where did you go?”
Sebastian smiles, “I just went to retrace the carriage’s footsteps. You should get some well-needed rest. You’re looking quite pale.”
Agni sighs, “I haven’t been able to sleep for a while.”
Sebastian sighs this time and tells him he’ll get him some sleeping meds. Agni reluctantly agrees. Tanaka guides him to a room where he can sleep.
~ The next day: 8:00 AM ~
Sebastian and the rest of the servants were going about their daily duties.
A few hours after they had finished all their work, Tanaka had approached Sebastian with a worried look on his face.
“Mr. Agni had woken up yelling due to a nightmare. For his sake, I think he should stay far away from this.”
Sebastian thinks for a moment.
“I don’t think that will be possible, Tanaka. You know how determined he is to find Prince Soma.”
Little did they know that Agni had been eavesdropping on their conversation.
He understands their concern for him and knows that continuing to investigate will only make him feel worse, but he cannot give up on his prince.
Agni decides that he will take a few days’ break from searching. He goes into his bedroom to sleep.
~ 2 days later ~
“Do you know anyone who would want to kidnap your master?” William asks Sebastian. They’re currently standing where they were last time.
Sebastian’s response is immediate.
“Yes. I know several.”
“But I find it hard to believe that they would shove him in a coffin and drag him off to another world.”
“Even if someone from our world did orchestrate this to kidnap the Young Master, why would they take Prince Soma, too?”
“That’s the million-dollar question,” William pushes up his glasses with his death scythe.
“Anyway, HQ said that the two boys were never found and their records were shredded.”
“The reapers that inspected the area did sense that something was amiss. But they couldn’t figure out what. HQ guessed that there must be something that connects our world to theirs.”
“So, find it and enter their world,” Sebastian surmises.
“Yes. It seems like they are able to create portals with a click of their fingers. I will have numerous reapers keep an eye out for carriages with coffins.”
William tells Sebastian that if he finds out any new info, he’ll let him know. He returns to the manor soon after.
He opens the door himself and sees that Agni is sitting on the stairs.
Sebastian notices the hopeless look on his face and decides to share what William told him.
Safe to say, Agni was not expecting that.
“I suppose that makes sense. We haven’t been able to find them anywhere,” he eventually gets out.
“So we just need a carriage to attempt to kidnap another kid, then follow after the carriage and jump through?”
Sebastian nods his head.
Agni doesn’t seem fully convinced that this will work. He’s thinking that they could just take a kid from a different country. But judging by how four kids have been taken from London, he could be wrong.
“Do you think it’s worth going back to the Undertaker to see if he’s heard anything new?” Agni questions.
“I’ve got matters to deal with at the manor, so we will need to reschedule that.”
Agni gives a small nod of his head.
Instead of following Sebastian back to the manor, he says he’s going to buy something.
Agni knows it’s an obvious excuse, but he doesn’t feel like waiting.
He follows the route to the Undertaker’s establishment. He finds himself standing outside the funeral parlour soon enough.
Agni is nervous to go in at first, but decides to be brave. He pushes the door open rather roughly to the point where it slams against the wall.
Agni apologies for almost causing property damage and closes the door quietly.
He turns back around and realises he just apologised to no one because the Undertaker is nowhere in sight.
“Undertaker, are you here?”
He waits a few seconds, and is met not with a human voice responding, but with a banging emitting from one of the coffins.
Agni homes in on the shaking coffin and approaches cautiously. He rips off the lid.
“BOO!”
Agni steps back from the figure that just blasted out of the coffin.
“Hehe, did I scare you?” The Undertaker asks with a grin.
Agni takes a deep breath.
“Haha, yes,” he laughs nervously, “I’m here to—,”
“Ask me where your beloved prince is?” Undertaker finishes his sentence with a smirk.
“Well, you are in luck, Mr. Indian butler!”
“What?” Agni asks in disbelief.
The Undertaker casually walks over to a coffin.
Agni watches in surprise as his hand glows. With a clicking noise, the coffin opens slightly. It emits a white light.
He watches in amazement and with a bit of terror as it shows what looks to be a mirror. He can’t see much, just the blue sky with some clouds.
Agni approaches slowly with some caution. The Undertaker patiently waits until he’s close enough to start talking.
Agni looks down and realises that it isn’t a mirror but instead more like a picture. All he can see is green.
“This is where your dear prince is.”
“Is this the world Sebastian was talking about?” Agni mutters to himself.
The Undertaker smirks and grips onto Agni’s arm. He was too stunned to move it away.
He pushes Agni’s hand into the coffin.
“W-what is this?” Agni exclaims. He isn’t quite sure how to comprehend seeing his hand going through the picture. He believed Sebastian about the other world thing, but didn’t think he’d experience it so soon.
“Do you want to find him?” The Undertaker whispers into Agni’s ear.
He pauses for a brief moment, but then looks at him with a suspicious look.
“How can I be so sure he’s really here?” The Undertaker throws his head back and laughs.
“Allow me to show you,” he beckons, and the scene in the coffin changes.
Agni’s mouth drops open upon seeing his prince sitting at a table. He’s focusing really hard on a book in front of him.
“Is that really him?” Agni asks, choked up.
“This is no trick. He is alive and well,” The Undertaker responds.
Against Agni’s will, he starts to shed tears. He desperately wants to believe that it’s really him.
A part of him worries that this is an illusion. A way to lure him in with false images. He doesn’t trust the Undertaker and has a feeling he has something to do with their kidnapping.
Undertaker sees that he still isn’t convinced.
“How about we both take a dive into this world?”
Agni looks shocked for a moment, but begins to consider it.
“L-let me see Lord Phantomhive first,” Agni orders with a sniffle in between.
The Undertaker obliges and orders the coffin to show what Agni wants.
Agni leans closer and sees that Ciel is focused on drawing something. There is scattered paper around the desk. He raises his head for a moment.
Agni blinks in surprise at seeing him not wearing his signature eyepatch. He thought that his eye would be marred by an injury, but he’s rather surprised to see nothing of the sort. Agni wasn’t expecting the colour to be purple.
Putting his surprise aside, he is glad to see that Ciel is ok. He just hopes what he’s seeing is real.
“Ready now?” The Undertaker asks.
Even after seeing what he wanted to, Agni still feels hesitant.
The Undertaker gets tired of waiting and takes a running leap headfirst into what Agni believes is the unknown.
Agni stands there frozen, unsure if he should follow or go back to Sebastian and tell him what he found.
He decides to dive. If the Undertaker has gone first, it should be safe. And if he does go back to tell Sebastian, he might miss his chance at seeing his prince.
Agni slowly lowers his hand of his own free will and shivers at the cold water’s feel. He didn’t even notice the ripples before.
On the other side of the mirror, he can feel the blowing of the wind on his hand.
Agni decides to get it over with and throws both his legs over the coffin. The wind has gotten stronger against his legs.
He glances back at his surroundings before he gulps. Agni lets go of the sides of the coffin and throws himself from where he was sitting.
He immediately feels the sensation of falling and sees that the coffin that he fell through is still there.
Agni lets out a scream of terror since he believes his life is about to come to an end.
Although that’s halted when a hand grabs his leg. He’s left dangling upside down. He can’t see much from where he is due to being high up, but his surroundings are swaying. Agni can feel the blood rushing to his head.
A familiar voice laughs from above.
“Oh dear, you’re going a bit pale. Hehe. Let me fix that.”
The hand that was holding Agni’s leg lets go, causing him to start falling again. He lets out his second scream of terror.
This time, his hand is seized and returned to his upright position. It did give Agni some whiplash, but the blood isn’t rushing to his head anymore.
Once the dizziness has faded, Agni looks up and sees the Undertaker laughing his ass off. He’s literally standing on nothing and laughing like there’s no tomorrow.
“Haha! Your expression was priceless, butler!”
“Where are we?!”
The Undertaker laughs some more before responding.
“You are in Twisted Wonderland. The world where I had the Little Earl kidnapped to. Your Prince is here too.”
Agni grits his teeth. He did have a feeling that the Undertaker was behind this since he literally has a portal in his funeral parlour that leads to where kidnapped children are currently.
“What do you want with my Prince?” Agni demands.
The Undertaker chuckles.
“I want nothing from your Prince. I don’t even know why he was taken along for the ride,” he reveals with a clueless expression.
“It was only supposed to be Phantomhive.”
“Why would you kidnap a child?”
“To protect him from that demon butler who is always by his side,” The Undertaker smirks.
“Sebastian?” Agni mutters.
“Once his wish has been fulfilled, he will take the Little Earl’s soul.”
“Sebastian wouldn’t do that! He cares for Lord Phantomhive!” Agni defends, determined.
That causes the Undertaker to keel over with laughter.
“What a naive butler!”
Agni waits for him to stop laughing.
“What now, then? Am I going to be kept here, too?”
“Hm, well. I told you all that info with the intent of you never leaving this place, but I’ve changed my mind.”
“I’d like to see how this will play out. Go on back to that demon and tell him what you found out.”
Agni stares at the Undertaker. His stare screams he doesn’t trust him.
“Before you fret, the portal to this world will always be open. You’re free to stay with that demon, never seeing your Prince again, or venture into Twisted Wonderland to find him. Fair warning, you might want to prepare for a long stay.”
“The choice is yours,” The Undertaker finalises, and his hand starts glowing.
A coffin appears above his head and floats him and Agni back into the funeral parlour.
Once Agni’s legs touch the familiar ground, he lowers himself onto the ground.
“Hop to it then, Indian Butler,” The Undertaker urges, desperate to see what he thinks will be a drama worthy confrontation.
Agni gets his bearings for a few more seconds and abruptly stands. He dashes out of the Undertaker’s establishment.
The Undertaker watched him go with a smile.
Once Agni is gone, he drops it. He walks over to a coffin and roughly throws himself down.
He tilts his head back. His hair touches the floor and hangs limply.
The Undertaker looks down and takes the mourning lockets off around his waist.
He carefully opens one of them and rubs one of his fingers over a lock of hair.
“I won’t lose another Phantomhive, Claudia.”