Hi there. I don't believe it's been three months since I finished my last fanfic. Now, the time for a springtime-story has come. Hope, you enjoy. :)

Once again, I draw on folklore for basic motifs. You'll meet a lot of mythical creatures, which I use rather freely. There are no 'hog-goblins', but once I had come up with them, the word applied so nicely. Also, as far as I know, there is no 'Hawthorn Lord' ritual. Again, I just liked the word. :) Oh, and 'goolie' is supposed to be an Australian word for 'stone'. I don't know, if this is correct or even, if it's common knowledge. But it's only a minor detail, so I decided to just 'go for it' :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Sebastian, Ciel and/or any other characters of the series. I hold no rights whatsoever to Kuroshitsuji/"Black Butler", and I do not make money from this.

+++Chapter 1: The Hawthorn Court (or: 'Do we have a basilisk around here?')+++

Sebastian had formed their contract according to Ciel's wishes. But there was a footnote. It said that on one particular night each springtime, the Phantomhive butler would not be available. No questions were to be asked. No explanations would be offered. Sebastian would serve his young master faithfully all throughout dinner and early evening schedules.

But as soon as the sun set behind the trees, he'd pack in and leave.

Thus it had been on every April, 30th. Thus it would be kept today.

Once again it was the last of April, the sun had begun to sink, and Mey-Rin was beside herself.

She'd bolted into Ciel's study, eager to report that Sebastian was outside and talking to a crow. Only it wasn't a crow. It had landed on the butler's outstretched hand, a big black bird. But then it had transformed into a dark haired woman. A naked dark haired woman, who'd talked to Sebastian, before she put her hands on his shoulders and quickly kissed him on the cheek. It didn't matter that he'd immediately put some distance between them. It didn't matter that Mey-Rin had been too far away to eavesdrop, cleaning her duster on the balcony. The Phantomhive maid had taken off her glasses to make use of her far-sighted eyes, and she knew, what she'd seen.

'And that woman, she was dark haired, and naked, and she kissed him!'

Ciel sat behind his desk, idly toying with miniature soldiers. Now he looked up quizzically. 'Are you jealous? She was just a bird.'

'But he was talking to her,' said Mey-Rin, wondering if she got her point across.

'It′s his night off,' said Ciel, turning back to his toys. 'He can do whatever he likes.'

Slowly, it occurred to Mey-Rin that her news wasn't making the impact she'd hoped for. Her shoulders drooped in defeat. 'Then – then I'll just return to cleaning my duster?'

'Yes, Mey-Rin.' Ciel wasn't even looking at the maid anymore. 'Tell the others I won't be disturbed. I have some serious work to do.'

He expected her to slam the door. But she closed it quietly.

Ciel looked at his toy soldier, then put it on the table with a bang and pushed back his chair. Did Mey-Rin think he wasn't eaten by curiosity? Did she really think, he hadn't investigated, because he honestly felt that Sebastian should be left alone on his 'day off'?

The only problem that Ciel had ever had to face in this matter was that it took Sebastian's abilities to stalk a demon. Ciel had realised that much, when he tried to tail his butler in their first year and almost got himself lost in the nightly woods.

But now, there was another supernatural creature in the household.

As usual, Pluto lay outside, waiting for someone to come and relieve his canine ennui. Hearing Ciel's window being opened, the hell hound sat up expectantly. He yawned, making a whimpering noise in his throat, stretched and wagged his tail.

'Ready for a little walk, are you?' Ciel smiled smugly. 'I'll be with you in a second. Just let me put on my riding gear.'

Fifteen minutes later, Pluto was in his dog-shape and trotting with his nose to the ground through the woods that bordered on Phantomhive Manor. He was supposed to follow Sebastian's scent, and Ciel followed him. The earl had chosen his best stallion for this hunt, a reliable, strong horse that even Ciel's demanding aunt had once found praising words for.

Darkness filled the space between trees, but Pluto's white fur gleamed like a guiding beacon. They had been on their way for about half an hour, when Pluto gave a little yelp and quickened his pace.

'No! Heel!' hissed Ciel.

The hell hound desperately pretended not to hear.

'Pluto!'

Pluto stopped.

'Down, Pluto. Down.'

Ciel got off his horse and moved towards the faint light he could make out in the distance. He could hear voices and strange swishing and flapping sounds. He was creeping slightly uphills now, which gave him a good idea as to his location. There was only one remarkable hill in the woods behind Phantomhive manor. That hill had been razed by a storm last autumn. Most of the trees had been broken, and Ciel had sent a team of woodworkers to fell the damaged rest.

Ciel peeped out from behind the brambles and shubbery that grew at the edge of the forest – and his eyes widened.

The clearing was full of people, men and women, dressed in all kinds of styles and colours. Some of them wore ritual gowns, some looked like servants or dock workers. A handful of dandies seemed to have taken the wrong turn and strolled in directly from Oxford Street. There were costumes from India and China, some ladies wearing crinolines and hair-dos like straight out of a history book on pre-revolutionary France. There even was a delegation of Venetians in heavy brocade coats, rimmed with gold and richly embroidered. Their beaked masks caused Ciel a slight uneasy feeling, but there were even stranger and terribly realistic animal masks and small furry things, probably masked children, flitting between the groups.

It was a carnival, bizarre and imaginative and scary in the way that sometimes a clown will fill the hearts of his audience with terror, in spite of his drolleries.

They had lit camp fires and torches, but there was a great stack of wood prepared for a real bonfire. Somewhat to his right, Ciel spotted a dais with a large chair. It had a high back and broad armrests, but no cushion, so it was probably not very comfortable to sit on.

All this, Ciel took in with a few sweeping glances. Then, his eyes rested on the center of the noise that had led his way. What he saw, was this: Three woman screaming and flogging a poor bugger, who was crouched on the ground, making himself small. As far as Ciel could see, they were using brambles for whips. He also didn't fail to notice the mythical aspect of the three furies: a withered crone, a woman in her thirties and a girl of seventeen, maybe eighteen years. She had ashen coloured hair, much like Ciel's own, and she made a real point of beating the living daylight out of her squirming victim. A dark clad man, whose face was covered with a lace mask, stood by, holding a silver chalice and watching.

The girl's whip hit home: The thorny tendril got entangled in the victim's hair, causing him to clutch at the strands.

Ciel recognised the hand immediately.

What did Sebastian think, he was doing, getting himself flogged like this?

The girl lashed again. This time, the thorns apparently ripped through the demon's skin: The bystanders heaved a collective sigh. 'Blood,' someone said, and the word was passed on in a reverent whisper. The three women broke into shrill laughter and redoubled their efforts. Ciel prepared to call Sebastian through their contract. It might not be the wisest of actions, but it was the only one he could think of. Pluto was only a couple of yards downhill, so maybe, if Sebastian was not too badly wounded, they could -

'Stay your hands, ladies!' That was the masked man speaking. He stepped forward and raised his hand imperiously. The three women backed off. Ciel expected the masked man to grab Sebastian and pull him up, but no such thing happened. The ceremonial master merely watched as the demon feebly got to his hands and knees. Then, he addressed him. He spoke very loud, and the assembled crowds were very quiet, so as not to miss a single word: 'Demon! Beast of Night and Darkness Incarnate! Do you hear my voice and understand what my words mean to convey?'

'I hear your voice. I understand the meaning of your words.' That was Sebastian, speaking just as loud, in spite of his obvious weakness. He still did not raise his head.

'Do you know of the Ritual of May, 1st, the Holding of Court, the Greeting of Light? Do you know the duty of Him, who Welcomes the Sun, as spring is reborn?' The grandeur of the ceremonial master made it easy for Ciel to imagine the capital letters.

'I know my duty. I will honour the ritual, hold the court, greet the light,' promised Sebastian.

'Be our Hawthorn Lord, body and blood?

'Life and soul, I will.'

The master of ceremony bowed and offered Sebastian the chalice. The demon took it and sipped. When he looked up, the master of ceremony shrank back. Sebastian pretended not to notice.

'Now then,' he said quietly, handing back the chalice. 'A servant should not keep secrets in front of his master. What's your name, human?'

'But that's not part of the ritual.'

'Your name,' said the demon. 'And your face. Get a move on and get that mask off.'

The ceremonial master's mask began to slip as the string undid itself. Reluctant, the man revealed his face.

Ciel gasped. He couldn't suppress it. The Viscount Druitt!

'I'm the Viscou-'

'Your title is of no import, human.'

'My name's Aleister,' muttered the Viscount Druitt. He looked scared and very far from his usual florid style.

Ciel could not see Sebastian's smile, but he just knew it was there. When the demon got up, it became clear that he had dropped every pretense of being a butler – or human, at that. His black suit was shiny and tight, his heels high, and his bearing casual in an offensive way. The playful poise of standing leg and free leg suggested that gravity was a practical joke, nature dared play on other people only. The viscount's reaction gave reason to expect sparkling red eyes and maybe fangs, even if Ciel couldn't see them from the distance.

The three women seemed more at ease with their strange master than his own lackey. Reverently, they guided Sebastian up the dais. The crone handed him a staff with a ram′s skull, and the matron put a wreath of bramble on his head.

'Behold,' called the Viscount Druitt, trying hard to control his wobbly voice. 'Your Hawthorn Lord.'

'Your lord?' breathed Ciel, as the crowd cheered. 'My butler!'

On his night off. And back to demon shape.

'Gosh, Viscount, what did you do?' asked Ciel, addressing the moss under his hands. 'Do you wish for death so badly?'

'Beats me,' said Sebastian in Ciel's back. 'Do you, young master? One might almost think so...'

Ciel looked up: The viscount and the women were alone on the dais and looking quite confused.

Ciel whipped round.

Sebastian winked at him with a gleaming red eye and smiled a toothy smile.

Ciel had meant to tell him a lot of things, none of them very friendly and all of them culminating in one order: 'I don't care about footnotes! Get your tailsuit back on and your hide back to Phantomhive! Now!'

All that came out was, 'Look forward, you moron!'

Sebastian was standing between the earl and a group of six creatures with grey furred faces, big noses and wide mouths. Tusks grew from their lower jaws. They wore ragged clothes, walked on two legs and held spears that were crudely designed from sticks and stone.

It was clear that they had planned to ambush Ciel, and equally plain they had almost succeeded.

'I will have no hog-goblins on this assembly,' Sebastian told them now.

'Beg your pardon, we wasn′t going to join the gathering,' said one of the creatures. 'We′s on the hunt for meat.'

'Meat,' the others echoed, closing in and casting hungry glances at Ciel.

'Maybe I haven't made myself clear enough.' Sebastian's sneer resounded dangerously in his voice as he moved a little to block their view. 'You ′was′ supposed to leave. Go and find a compost heap. Enough grub for all of you.'

'You wants us to eat grubs?'

'I don't care what you eat, as long as it's not this human.' Sebastian sidestepped gracefully, just as Ciel felt something large and heavy break through the shrubbery above his head and ducked. The monster appeared like the demon's thoughts turned into blazing eyes and muscle and murderous teeth. It grabbed the frontmost creature on touching down and already leapt again, dragging it off into the dark.

'That,' said Sebastian, speaking up to be heard above the sounds of breaking bones and squealing and fleeing hog-goblins, 'was a werewolf. One of them anyway.' He bent down, seized Ciel's shoulders and put the earl to his feet. 'If I may say so, young master, your defenseless presence has already attracted a lot of attention.'

'Werewolves?' Ciel craned his neck, as three more wolf-shaped hunters streaked past. Sebastian regarded his young master thoughtfully and oblivious to the drama in the background. He put his hand to his chin, thinking some more. Then, he removed Ciel′s eye patch and shook it with a quick, jerky movement. It turned into a ritual mask, which he pulled over Ciel′s head. Now, the better part of the earl′s face was covered, with only his eyes – both of them - showing from behind the black lace.

'There,' said Sebastian, looking satisfied. 'No one will recognise you now.'

'Wait! You′re not going to carry me into this circle of lunatics?' Ciel struggled, as he was picked up. Sebastian's smile vanished. 'I don't see I have a choice. Your indignant breathing has already alerted half of my court.'

Ciel's temper flared at the rebuke. 'Your court? You preside over a court? By whose authority?'

'By the authority of being a demon. The seat of the Hawthorn Lord is always taken by one of my kind. It′s tradition as much as it′s an honour and a responsibility.' Sebastian prepared to leap. 'By the way, let's not have them our names, young master. This assembly will dissolve after daybreak. People will be on their way back to their realms, or stories, or everyday lives. We wouldn't want them to stop over at Phantomhive, hunting for souvenirs.'

Before Ciel could answer, Sebastian leaped, easily covering the height of the hedge. All eyes turned their direction. Some of them didn't have to turn very far, since they'd apparently known all along, where to look. Aleister rushed to meet them. 'Mylord, I apologise! Please, allow me to - '

He stopped, seeing the pentagram in Ciel's eye. There was a rustle of surprise and some gasping. Sebastian put Ciel down, then raised his hand, showing the assembly the corresponding sign.

'He belongs to me,' he stated, just in case someone missed to make the connection. Ciel felt like an important statement had been made. If someone had secretly harboured the idea of questioning the demon's authority, this was the moment. It was probably easy to cause trouble, pointing out that this assembly would not accept a ruler, who protected a human.

The moment passed. No one spoke up.

Sebastian walked to the dais and ascended the steps. Ciel followed closely.

'I hate being introduced as someone's property,' he muttered.

'Yet, you're mine,' the demon simply said. 'And I wouldn't recommend any of them to put it to the test.' Sebastian stood on the dais and overlooked the audience. 'Now, let's see who's haunting this place tonight? We've got humans, no doubt.'

The humans cheered.

'Spirits of nature?'

The noise changed. It sounded like water on pebbles, like ice cracking, wood creaking, wind blowing. Ciel looked up to see a branch overheard, shaking and rustling its young leaves.

'I've already seen the werewolves.'

Howling. More howling.

One howling voice rising above the chorus, plaintive, urging.

Sebastian rolled his eyes. 'Yes. And one hell hound.'

Pluto was beside himself with joy at being talked to.

Sebastian reached out and placed a hand on Ciel's shoulder. 'Message for the canine section: Stay away from my ward. - The Kelpie?'

No response.

Sebastian turned to the Viscount Druitt, who hurriedly flipped through a handwritten list. 'Gone to ... meet a black stallion that's been seen in the woods, it says here.'

'That's my horse,' said Ciel, worried. 'What's a kelpie? What does it do to horses?'

'Nothing the stallion won't be extremely fond of,' Sebastian said, shrugging. 'But I am not pleased with the lady's behaviour, so - do we have a basilisk around here?'

They had two, in fact. They were iguana-like creatures, each of the size of a full grown alligator. Their heads were beaked and feathered, their eyes blindfolded. Ciel remembered having heard about the petrifying gaze of these creatures.

'Go, find the Kelpie,' Sebastian told them.

The basilisks made excited, clucking sounds, and huddled as if they were conferring. One of them spoke up. 'My lord, the Kelpie cannot be detected by our magical senses.'

'Then use your eyes,' said Sebastian wickedly.

I wasn't possible for basilisks to grin, but these two actually looked like they did. They moved like alligators, swinging their bodies in an S-shape as their short, scaly legs pushed forward. The crowd parted to let them pass. Ciel still failed to remember what a kelpie was, but he almost felt sorry for her.

Sebastian continued to call up the creatures present in the audience: pixies and brownies, gnomes and boggarts and half a dozen other species, Ciel had only ever heard about in folklore. Finally, he asked in general, 'Is there any creature, mythical, magical or out-of-this-world in any other way, that hasn't as yet been formally addressed?'

A small bundle hobbled up to the dais. It looked like a bulk of weathered and grey stone. It had very short, crooked legs, bat wings and a horned monster's face.

'And what would you be?' asked Sebastian, even though the answer was quite obvious.

'I'm a gargoyle, mylord.' The creature's voice sounded like sunken tombstones grating against each other in the midnight hour. Grating timidly, so as not to disturb anyone's slumber.

'Please understand that I don't mean to be offensive,' said Sebastian. 'But aren't you supposed to be attached to some old and venerable building, growing moss and gurgling rain water?'

'I was, mylord. But there was that thunder storm, only a fortnight ago, and lightening struck my tower. Next thing I know, I'm tumbling down in an avalanche of debris. I was lucky I didn't break, when I hit the ground.'

Ciel remembered the stormy night of two weeks ago. His butler had closed all shutters, gathered his master and the servants in Ciel's study and made them kneel around a burning candle. Sebastian had made a point that no one take their eyes off the little flame, as he stood by the door, warily scanning the gloom beyond the flickering circle of light.

'There's something lurking in the heart of every darkness,' Sebastian had simply said, when Ciel asked what he was on the look-out for.

At that time, Ciel had thought that his butler was a trifle overdoing his precautions. Now, he was not sure anymore. The storm had obviously brought about strange effects. One of them was squatted in front of Ciel, looking forlorn and miserable, as if the incident had been its fault.

Ciel beckoned Sebastian to bow his head, and whispered in the demon's ear, 'You know, he looks like his proper name was Goolie. Get it? Ghoul-ee.'

Sebastian's eyes flared. 'No! Don't name it!'

But the unhappy gargoyle's grey face had already lit up. 'Thank you!' Moving surprisingly quick, it jumped on to the dais and wrapped its cold, stony arms around Ciel's knees. 'Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou!'

'Hey! Don't touch me so easily! Hey!' Ciel turned to Sebastian for help. 'What got into him? Get him off!'

'Too late. Remember: If a human gives a name to one of the supernatural...'

'The bond is sealed. But I thought this only worked with demons!'

'I'm sort of glad to hear you're only ignorant. Otherwise, I might have suspected you of planning to start a collection of us.' Sebastian turned to the audience. 'With even the last young gargoyle properly named and claimed, I declare tonight's court to be opened.'

More torches lit up. Sebastian returned to his seat of honour.

'Let me go!' Ciel hopped and pried and shoved. 'Ouch! Can't you – find – a roof to attach yourself and – ouch! – wait for rain?'

'Oh yes!' The gargoyle unwrapped its limbs. 'I'd love to do that, master.'

'Yeah, well, don't let me keep you.'

Goolie whispered, 'It's just that...could you toss me in the air?'

'What?'

'Oh, I'll be all right,' assured Goolie. 'My wings work fine, once I'm airborne. I just have problems taking off...'

'Allow me,' said a giant man, who was just passing by. He had a wild beard and arms that reached down to his knees. He grabbed Goolie and tossed him in the air like a tennis ball. The gargoyle tumbled and flapped, then he caught himself and waved. 'Thank you!'

'You're welcome,' said the giant, but he spoke to Ciel. When he smiled, he revealed teeth the size of battle axes.

'Excuse me,' said the Viscount Druitt. 'Mylord asks you to join him on the dais.'

Ciel hadn't noticed the youth approaching, but now he was happy for the intervention. He looked up and met Sebastian's eyes. The demon raised his finger in a 'tut-tut' gesture. Ciel frowned, then he realised that it was aimed at the giant, who was already pushing back into the crowd. Mustering his aristocratic dignity, Ciel ascended the steps, wondering if this was the opportune moment to ask for a chair of his own. He decided that it wasn't and sat on the armrest of Sebastian's makeshift throne.

'Is it just me?' he asked, trying to sound casual. 'Or is half of your court out to get me?'

'They are,' said Sebastian. 'I really wish you hadn't come to this place. I will have such a hard time, fulfilling my role and protecting you.'

'Then help me protect myself. Tell me about your role,' said Ciel, indicating Sebastian to pass him the chalice for inspection. 'How long are you going to play the Sun King? And if this is a game, how do you play?'

Sebastian held the chalice up. 'The ceremony will last till daybreak. I'll pass verdicts, host the celebration and at sunrise, I′ll welcome the day that marks the beginning of a new year.'

'Faugh! What's that?' Ciel sniffed and refused the strange-smelling drink.

'I don't know. It kills the pain, so I drink it.' Sebastian looked in the chalice. 'However, I've been told that it makes humans believe, they could fly on broomsticks. Maybe you should have Aleister get you something else.'

Ciel nodded. 'So, I know about your duties. What am I supposed to do?'

'Worship me.'

'Ha. Ha,' Ciel stated drily. 'But seriously?'

'I am being serious,' said Sebastian and at this moment, Ciel could actually see his butler shining through the demon's concerned expression. 'Ciel, I simply ask you to accept my status and my role in this ceremony. Or, to put it in other words: Don't act the earl around here!'

'So you can pull off this lord-thing?'

'No. So you avoid getting in trouble.' The moment was past, the red eyes lit up expectantly. 'Look! Our lackey is introducing the first trial.'

'Trial?' wondered Ciel, as the Viscount Druitt approached the throne.

'Mylord? The noble dame Hesrabe has come from far to bring her issue before you. What is your faithful squire to tell her?'

Sebastian replied without hestitating. 'Tell her that she has not come in vain. The Hawthorn Lord will hear her case.'

First note, thought Ciel. This is all about ritual. Question and answer, address and reply. The pace is set. Now, I wonder, what this ′dame′ has to try. And why, for heaven′s sake, is she invoking a demon for a judge and not appealing to Her Majesty's jurisdiction ?

The ′dame′ Hesrabe didn′t look noble at all. She was a rather ragged hag, crooked with age and with a yellow, wrinkled face. She hobbled before Sebastian′s throne and presented the pelt of an apparently long-dead sheep.

'Mylord, I ask for justice,' she said. 'This sheep was mine. I raised it, I fed it, I sheltered it in order to obtain its wool. But she - ' Hesrabe pointed at a red-haired woman among the spectators, who stood with her arms crossed and a sardonical smirk on her lips, 'she stole it and killed it. All I found was the wool, wet and dirty and useless. I spent a long, cold winter. Now I appeal to your justice, mylord.'

'Your sheep was white, as I can see?' asked Sebastian.

'Yes, mylord, and woolly and warm...'

'I don′t like white sheep,' Sebastian said. 'Breed a black one, and if that is killed, too, you may bring your case before me again.'

Hesrabe repeated her accusation, pointing at the sneering woman in the first row, 'But she killed it!'

'That's minus one white sheep in this whole wide world,' said Sebastian. 'I don′t like white sheep. And I extremely dislike having to repeat myself.'

Hesrabe looked as if she still wanted to object, but Aleister gently seized her arm and led her away. The shrill laughter of her adversary accompanied her to the back of the crowd.

Ciel straigthened up. Sebastian inclined his head so that his young master could whisper in his ear.

'How could you hand down such a verdict?' asked Ciel. 'You didn′t even ask one decent question!'

Sebastian sipped his drink. 'Like what?'

'Well, the other woman′s name, for a start. And details, concerning the theft. If theft it was! For all we know, this sheep could′ve broken a leg and perished and got eaten by foxes and badgers. But those two women surely bear a grudge for each other.'

'Yes,' said Sebastian, sipping some more. 'But the defendant was more attractive, don't you think?'

'What kind of argument is that?' hissed Ciel.

Sebastian simply smiled, as if there were things, he knew. There probably were. But Ciel just hated being patronised by someone who clinked his teeth against the rim of his chalice, every time he drank.

If he starts shaking his head, I'll strangle him, Ciel thought. If he sips that terrible concoction again, while I talk to him, I'll strangle him.

I believe, I'll end up trying to strangle him, whatever this night is going to bring. Might as well start right away.

But in spite of this train of murderous thought, Ciel jumped, when Sebastian sat up straight and gripped his staff. Ciel followed his gaze and gasped.

Aleister had brought the next trial before them. It was not a witch, nor a stone-skinned, tusked or beaked mythical creature. It rather looked like a confused, tousled and scared maid with large round glasses askew on her nose.

+++End of Chapter 1+++