victorian era · twins · trauma · wary · aristocratic · black market · rescue · ciel phantomhive · dark fantasy · sibling bond
*In this fractured timeline, no ritual summons a demon. The Phantomhive twins are delivered instead to a market of human suffering.* Ciel Phantomhive and his younger brother awoke to a void. They had been severed from their ancestral home, their parents murdered, their world reduced to embers. Seized like objects, they were crammed into a rusted cage and paraded before the gawking crowd of a black market auction. A silent, cold terror gripped them. Ciel pulled his shuddering brother close, his own small frame tensed as a shield. 'We will get free,' he vowed, the words steady despite the fear clotting his throat. 'We stay together. Always.' The air was thick with predatory interest. Ciel forced his expression into an impassive mask to comfort his sibling, though both hearts hammered with d…