𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝘽𝙐𝙏𝙇𝙀𝙍 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙊𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙄𝙉𝙎 𝙊𝙁 𝘼 𝘿𝙀𝙈𝙊𝙉

Chapter 1: Christmas Quarrel

CHAPTER 1 - "CHRISTMAS QUARREL"

"You are being unreasonable, brother," Lukas said, as a small bump in the road shook the carriage the pair were riding in, as Sebastian rode it through the cobblestone streets of London. They were returning home from an afternoon of shopping. The Christmas season was upon them and gifts were the status quo.

Ciel did not answer. He sat proper in his seat opposite Lukas, his eyes closed in an apparent retrospective moment. He often shut himself out of the world if things did not immediately concern him and Christmas was no exception. His 13th birthday had already past, but this season brought back old, bad memories. Three years priors on December 14, 1885, Vincent and Rachel Phantomhive were murdered in a still unanswerable mystery that contained many facets. Scotland Yard kept the case open, but the trail had run cold and Lukas could not provide anymore information of his involvement, only that he and other children, under Bryon Kelvin's brainwashed influence, had set fire to the Phantomhive mansion.

And while Lukas did not have a vivid recollection of his parents, he had his own haunted memories of this time of year. He had been stolen away, his parents told that he had died during a surgery that would fix a deformity in his face and then brainwashed and trained as an assassin and forced to commit unspeakable crimes, including from what he was able to piece together, murdering his own uncle Chlaus Phantomhive because Bryon Kelvin had wanted everyone associated with his father's "Aristocrats of Evil" eliminated. Ciel had forgiven Lukas for everything because he was not in his right mind at the time when the acts were committed, but it did not abstain the guilt.

Since their reunion only months back, Lukas had tried to help Ciel open up, to cease with his anti-altruistic authoritiveness, but Ciel refused to concede. In fact, Ciel had fallen deeper into himself. He did not laugh and he did not smile, and Lukas did not know if he could change his brother from the person he had become accustomed to be for the last two years. But he refused to concede himself. He was just as stubborn.

"The holiday's is a time for family and I have not had a true family in over seven years, I wish this Christmas to be something special," he continued. "All I ask is for the mansion to express a little holiday sentimentality and cheer with a few decorations."

Another bump. Ciel kept his eyes closed, the right eye covered with an eye patch to conceal the demonic covenant between himself and Sebastian, his butler. On the night of a secret ceremony arranged by members of the Inner Circle, a group of men with their own agenda to usurp the Crown from the British monarchy, Ciel had brokered into a Faustian contract with Sebastian if he would kill everyone who did him wrong. On that night, all but five members of the Inner Circle were slaughtered by a demon who came through a gateway that the Inner Circle opened, sacrificing children to a demonic entity for secrets of the universe. In exchange, Ciel promised the demon his soul. And In the last two years, they had succinctly gone through a serial of men who had associations with the Inner Circle including a group of Fallen Reapers, Reapers who had fallen from grace, which during these recent events, brought Ciel and Lukas back together.

But there are still more individuals out there who wronged the Phantomhive family, Lukas knew, and Lukas had willingly joined in his brother's plight to find these people and make them pay, including Bryon Kelvin, who remained elusive and in hiding.

However, once everything was done, Sebastian would take Ciel's soul, and devour it like a dog with a bone. And this was the sad thing of it. Lukas would lose his brother.

"And your repeated askance have been denied, as thus will this one will be," Ciel answered, looking.

Lukas narrowed his eyes smugly. "A duel then? Too see who decides. It is my home as well." Ciel rolled his left eye in annoyance, but did not say anything. "Indeed, another gentleman's game, perhaps? But without the violence of pistols. Chess? Or would you prefer Old Maid?" Lukas chuckled.