Reincarnation

Chapter 5:

Undertaker placed himself on top of one of his coffins which was lying on the floor of the shop and made himself comfortable. Sebastian however, remained standing.

"Tell me, Sebastian, what do you know about reincarnation?" Undertaker enquired as he fished around the same jar as he had always used, for a bone shaped biscuit.

"According to the Collins English Dictionary, it is the belief that on the death of the body the soul is born again. I take it that Grim Reapers have some control over it," Sebastian answered.

"We do, but it isn't perfect. The person isn't always quite the same, some details may be different, the ones caused by environmental factors, genetics however remain the same," he said significantly before taking a bite of his biscuit.

Sebastian felt as if he was being given subtle hints by the Grim Reaper, then again he could just be talking nonsense, Undertaker had always been one to talk around the point.

"Is it legal for a soul to be reborn into this world?"

"Hehe, good question. It is actually illegal as it involves tampering with the person's Cinematic Record which can be dangerous as you know from the incident on the ship. It is only permitted in special circumstances."

It was beginning to sound increasingly likely that the Phantomhive family has not been reincarnated and were simply ancestors with uncanny resemblances to their previous counterparts. Then he remembered the suspicious presence of the Grim Reapers, no, there was definitely something strange about the entire situation.

"Can I ask for any more hints?" he asked after a moment of thought.

"Hmmm.. only if you answer a question first?"

The former butler paused in suspicion before granting his consent. "You may."

Undertaker regarded Sebastian carefully, his eyes partially showing under his heavy fringe. "Why are you "Sebastian"? You are free to take any form that you like." He said as he looked at the man standing in front of him looking exactly as the same as he had over 100 years ago, the long black hair with the fringe parted in the middle. The only thing had changed was the clothes.

Sebastian was puzzled for a moment before he realised the significance of the question. He had taken the form and the name at his former master's request for him to become his butler. After the demon Ciel's death he had been free to take a new form and a name, but he hadn't.

Why hadn't he?

An attachment to the boy perhaps? An attachment to the soul that he had never been able to taste? The latter option was the more likely one, he decided. His feelings towards the human Earl Ciel Phantomhive were fond, a little like his feelings for cats.

He had enjoyed watching the boy fail at simple physical tasks like tying his own shoelaces and eye patch, but he had also enjoyed watching the devious smirk for on his face whenever the boy had worked something out or had outwitted his current nemesis.

Then it came to him suddenly, as if he had been targeted by an electric shock.

He had liked the human Ciel Phantomhive. He had kept the form because he had still wanted to have an attachment to the human boy that he had been fond of. He was not really fond of any of his other contractees.

That was why he was stalking the descendent of his former master now, to try to reclaim the human master that he had liked.

As he was finally connecting the dots together Undertaker cackled merrily.

"For that, Sebastian, I will give an extra hint in addition to the one I was going to give you."

Sebastian immediately switched his attention back to the grey haired Grim Reaper. "Yes?"

Undertaker held up one bony finger. "First, I would suggest checking on current issues in your demon realm- I think you have some catching up to do." He held up another finger. "Secondly, are you sure that you know everything about your own kind. I think that you are missing the solution to this entire mystery due to your ignorance of this little fact."

The enlightened former butler nodded. "Thank you for your help."

He turned to leave, then he paused. "Why are you still "Undertaker"?"

The undertaker in question let out a cackle. "That, is not for you to know."

"I suspected as much."

Sebastian let himself out of the shop. In the fresh air outside he pondered the hints that he had been given. The only clear one was that he needed to visit the demon realm. He hadn't returned since the demon Ciel's death.

***

2 days later, the current Ciel Phantomhive awoke to the smell of a cooked breakfast wafting up the stairs. He sniffed confusedly, before remembering that it was the weekend and he didn't have to go to school. Ciel stretched and yawned, put his feet into his slippers and slipped on his dressing gown. On schooldays he often ate a rushed breakfast-sometimes involving cake, but when it was the weekend he was able to enjoy a full English Breakfast.

He paused at the bottom of the stairs as a thought struck him suddenly. He normally cooked his own breakfast as his parents were awful cooks and always burnt toast. He could smell normal, unburnt toast...

He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Ciel flattened his hair to cover his right eye and walked into the kitchen, ready for the worst.

The worst was watching a black clad man with raven black hair and red glittering eyes, turn away from the stove where fried eggs were fizzing and say,

"Good morning, Young Master."

"...What is going on?" Ciel demanded. He had expected the demon to stalk him, lurk behind bushes and check his school record, but he had never expected his own home to be invaded.

His parents who were sitting at the kitchen table with plates of perfectly browned toast, sausages, rashers of bacon, fried eggs and tomato, looked up in surprise.

"Ah Ciel, I forgot to tell you about this last night," his father said after swallowing a mouthful of toast. "This is Sebastian Michaelis. He is our new butler."

His father's words were the worst that Ciel could have heard. It was going to be harder to act as the original Ciel Phantomhive and keep everything a secret. If he wasn't careful that fact that his eyes were normal and he didn't need to wear an eye patch would be unearthed quickly. He had worn an eye patch for his first meeting with Sebastian to make the recognition clearer and to plant the idea that he was the original Earl Ciel Phantomhive.

He sat down at the table, feeling very dejected. The demon butler placed a full plate in front of him and handed him a knife and fork.

"What would you like to drink?" Sebastian asked as he loomed over Ciel.

"Water, please," he answered. Tea didn't really match an English breakfast.

"Dad, why do we suddenly have a butler. We don't need one."

His father regarded him sternly. "Remember that I am an Earl and we are an influential family. The best owner of Funtom had a butler called Sebastian who looked a little like Sebastian here, you've seen the painting in the study."

"Besides, we do need an extra hand with everything," his mother explained. "I can't really cook very well and I have never been able to keep up with all of the cleaning- your room is a pig sty, Ciel. I've told Sebastian to make it his first priority."

Ciel's heart began to race. His ancestor's journals were hidden in his room. They were hidden well, but it would not be enough to fool a sharp eyed demon like Sebastian. He had to move them quickly.

He took a sip of water to calm himself and poked the yolk of the fried egg with his fork. Alois always liked doing that with his yolk. Alois... that gave him an idea.

"Alois invited me to come to his house this weekend so we can finish our Geography project. He said I could stay the night. May I?" Ciel asked his parents, aware that Sebastian was listening as he washed the dishes. "It would give the butler a chance to clean my room unhindered."

"That's a good idea," his mother answered immediately, pleased that he was agreeing to the idea of having a butler.

"Thanks, I'll start packing now."

Once he was in his room Ciel pulled out his smallest suitcase from under his bed and threw in a change of clothes, some random pieces of homework and his toothbrush. Then he made sure his door was locked before he reopened his wardrobe and slipped a thin nail file borrowed from Alois into a small gap between the slats of wood that separated the upper part of his wardrobe from the bottom and pulled one of the slats up to reveal a stack of leather bound journals. Ciel picked them up, replaced the slats and concealed them in his suitcase.

On his way out he said good bye to his parents and didn't see any sign of the demon butler until he got to the front door. Sebastian popped up in front of him and held out an umbrella.

"It's going to rain today. I think you might need it," Sebastian suggested. "Would you like a little help with your suitcase, young master. It looks a little heavy..." His crimson eyes glinted.

Ciel walked straight past him and ignored the offer of an umbrella. "I'm fine thank you, Sebastian. Alois only lives a few streets away."

He hightailed it out of his house and only relaxed until he got to the end of his road. Living with a demon was definitely going to be his idea of hell, although his ancestor has described it a little differently.

At this rate the whole plan would be ruined and the Grim Reapers would take back the family that they had given him and he would fail what his ancestor had requested of him.

***

A Full English Breakfast consists of bacon , poached or fried eggs, fried or grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, fried bread or toast with butter, sausages and baked beans.