𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝘽𝙐𝙏𝙇𝙀𝙍 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙊𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙄𝙉𝙎 𝙊𝙁 𝘼 𝘿𝙀𝙈𝙊𝙉

Chapter 42: Novelette: Brotherhood Part 2

BROTHERHOOD: PART 2

The duel with his brother would be held at dawn. It was the typical time for such confrontations to be held. So Lukas had time to prepare. He didn't wish to fight Ciel, and yet he didn't intend to lose to his brother machinations, either.

In his room, under the bay window overlooking the back grounds of the Manor in a large wooden chest he used for bed comforters and the like, Lukas removed a large handcrafted rectangle wooden box. Inside was the Tanto he had purchased from a skilled craftsman in town.

Lukas had explained to the craftsman exactly what he had wanted. The weapon was to look like what he imagined in his dreams, what he could recall, withholding the fact that he had used such a weapon when he was an assassin for Bryon Kelvin. It had been his most utilized weapon to murder his enemies.

The craftsman, an elderly Englishman, wondered why Lukas wanted such a weapon stylized like ancient Samurai weapon used in feudal Japan. But he never answered the question. Sebastian had been with him and with one look from the demon butler the man never asked again. The weapon was completed weeks later and handed over. The cost was a tiny sum, but it was worth it. The Tanto was exactly like the one from his past. And shockingly, it triggered some terrible memories from his past. Namely, some of the faces and names of people he had killed in the name of "Father", Bryon Kelvin.

"Why would you wish to own such a terrible reminder from your past, sir?" Sebastian had said to Lukas when they were walking out of the store after picking it up from the craftsman.

Lukas remembered stopping in front of the horse and carriage they had come in, parked on the street. He looked at the wooden case that held the Tanto inside thinking of that exact same question. "Because it is who I am," he recalled saying.

Sebastian said no more about it.

Lukas had disliked how he had been used and abused by Bryon Kelvin. But his teachers, as he recalled, were nice to him. It was one of his teachers, in particular, his trainer, in fact, that had suggested Lukas begin to use a lighter weapon on his missions, and presented him with a Tanto. From that day on, it had been his favorite weapon. And it was light weight and easy to wield.

With the threat of possible enemies attacking the Phantomhive's he thought it best to arm himself, and what better weapon that one he knew all too well to use. It was also a formable weapon; one he knew how to use masterfully. And that did not bode well for Ciel and their duel.

Lukas removed the Tanto from its case and looked at it, but he found himself frowning. So many memories flooded back of all the people he had killed, maimed and slaughtered under the influence of Bryon Kelvin. But he did not feel sad or depressed about it, for he knew it was not his fault. He was programmed by a power more sinister that his will could control.

The blade gleamed as it was exposed to light. The handle was a light wood and polished. It was a single-blade edge weapon; its total length was just under 12 inches long - one shaku, in Japanese measurement. Even though it was a copy of the original, its look still haunted him. He remembered he had wanted to throw it away when he first brought it home, but told himself at the time it would do no good. The memories would remain.

But this had been the first time he had taken it out since he bought it. Ciel had said such weapons were deemed to showcase and that it was a waste to buy the weapon and then store it away unseen. But Ciel didn't understand, and they got into one of their stupid arguments about it.