Year 1341 of the Reckoning of the Shire (2941 of the Third Age)

Our story begins with a sunny day in the Shire while an old man dressed in grey is seen on the old road, crossing Hobbiton. This old man is dressed in a long grey robe, and a lightly faded pointed blue hat on his head. In his hands, a staff on which he relies constantly, as if he was slightly crippled, which is not the case at all, and that, everyone knows it. Well, everyone, it's easy to say. Let's say that hobbits know who this person is, and therefore know that he is in no way crippled.

The grey-bearded old man walks towards Bag End Hill, convinced that his plan will work. Arriving at the bottom of the hill, he notices that the smial seems uninhabited. The garden is completely wild and unkempt, the grass is high and the painting on the door is tatty. There is no soul living here! Stupor wins over his face, and he begins to run his hand through his long grey beard.

"Are you looking for Mr Bilbo?" Say an unknown voice behind him.

The magician does not jump, no, it would not be beckoning of an Istari. He then turns around, and carefully observes the young hobbit in front of him. It's a child, just ten years old perhaps.

"Indeed, I'm looking for Bilbo Baggins. Tell me, where can I find him my boy?" The wizard asks in a soft voice.

The young hobbit starts squirming. As he prepares to answer, a loud voice is heard in the distance.

"Stay away from him, Lotho!" Exclaims a woman in a yellow dress, a hat of the same colour that is very ugly, with an umbrella of the same colour in her hands.

This person is none other than Lobelia Sackville-Baggins. She glowered to the wizard, while catching her young son in her arms, moving away as much as possible from the old man.

"What are you doing there, peace-disturber?" She spits.

"Peace-disturber? How dare ... I'm looking for Bilbo Baggins." Recovers the Old Man.

"Bilbo? You are looking for Bilbo? In your place, I'll turn around!"

"And why is that?" Asks the Wizard inquisitively, frowning, sharp eyes on the young woman.

Lobelia watches the old man, then finishes answering.

"Simply because Bilbo is not at all the one you knew. He changed, magician, and this is no longer the hobbit I knew."

Gandalf seems surprised by what Lobelia said, and ends up asking her what happened.

"Ha! You do not know? It's because of the Fell Winter! His parents are dead, killed by white wolves from the north. After their death and burial of their remains, he disappeared for a week! And when he came back ..."She begins to shiver.

"Continue, I'm listening to you." Gandalf enjoins her.

She finally resumed, in an almost frightened tone.

"When he came back, he was not alone! A man was with him. He was tall, dressed completely in black, and had a scary aura around him. As for him, Bilbo was dressed oddly, I cannot describe his clothes too much. He also had a silver cane! I had never seen such a masterpiece before. And he had an eye patch on his right eye."

Gandalf then began to think of the reasons for this change, and especially, who could be this man.

"But that's not the worst" said the trembling woman, "His behaviour has completely changed, old man! He was always polite, respectful, but now, he's much colder than before. I'm sure it's because of the man who accompanies him. I have not heard his name, but I know that it refers to Bilbo as a Lord. He always bows to him, and obeys each of his orders."

"I see. And where is Bilbo right now? He does not live here anymore?" Asks the Wizard.

"No, not at all." She points to Bindbole Wood to the north, "He lives in this forest that he bought. Since then, no one goes there except for business. In addition, he was accompanied by all the Gamgee family, led by master Hobson! They say they are bound to him, some say they went to his service, but this time, not just as gardeners."

"Interesting." Answered Gandalf. He began to think about the situation, wondering if it would still be possible to recruit his burglar. Anyway, he wants to see what happens in this forest, now that his curiosity is piqued. It's decided, he'll go.

"In this case, I will leave you. I will go and see what's happening there." Then he took the direction of the Wood.

"Wait!" Shouted the young woman "Bilbo ... the last time I saw him was last year, but he still looked like he was 34 years old!"

The Wizard turned abruptly, staring at her.

"What do you mean?"

"As I've told you! The same appearance! He does not have a single wrinkle, as if he was frozen in eternal youth. In addition, we see him very rarely. Most of the time, it's the Gamgee who come down to buy everything they need. And on top of that, everything must be delivered to the gate at the entrance of the forest!"

"Gate? What Gate? Since when is there a Gate in this forest?" Asks the Wizard.

"Since they're living there! And I do not know how, but every time someone approaches the gate, the man in black comes, as if he knew we were coming. Beware!" She added, before leaving quickly with her son Lotho in arms towards the market.

Gandalf immediately left towards the forest. As he walked, he noticed a long road, leading directly from Hobbiton to the forest. The road was completely paved, suitable for carriages and horses, probably to facilitate the food delivery.

It was upon his arrival at the entrance of the forest that he noticed a large wrought iron gate, surrounded by large white marble walls. Splendid was his only thought at the sight of this. The details were very interesting. The gate was completely black, and each part of the gate formed an immense B, probably for Baggins. As he watched the portal, he saw a man in the distance appear, walking with a determined step towards him. The closer the man approached, the more he could detail him.

The man in question had a young, angular face, a charming smile on his lips. His eyes were a ruby or carmine. Red eyes like he had never seen before. His hair was combed back, with a slight bangs in front of his forehead. Gandalf then observed more carefully the man. He was dressed in a beautiful black and white jacket embroidered with gold, with a gold brooch set with an opal, on the right front of his jacket, attached to his shoulder by a thin gold chain. Around his neck, a silver silk ribbon, also set with a small opal as a clasp. One could easily notice a black shirt with a collar under his jacket. He also wore black pants, probably silk, held by a black belt, with a silver buckle. Finally, his shoes were unique. Instead of boots, he had splendid shining leather shoes (moccasins).

( . .600. )

Gandalf had to admit that the man in front of him was magnificent! But he could also feel around this man a dark and captivating aura.

"Good morning, master Wizard. How may I help you?" The strange man asked in a grave, clear voice.

"I wish to see Bilbo Baggins." Exclaimed the old wizard.

The man watched him, arching an eyebrow, then answered.

"My master is not currently available. If you wish, you can wait in the east wing parlour."

The east wing parlour? Thought the magician, but where is Bilbo living?

"It will not be necessary. I cannot afford to wait. I'll come back tonight if it's possible."

"Of course, you can come back later. In this case, I will welcome you, and I will let my master know."

"Thank you. With that, I'm going, and I will return tonight. I might be accompanied" Added the old man with a glint in his eyes.

"That's not a problem, sir. The Baggins Manor is large enough to accommodate many guests. And his staff is more than qualified to take care of the needs of the most demanding guests."

"Perfect. See you later then."

The man could only bow, while the magician went away. The butler then took the direction of the manor he knew in the centre of the forest. All along the paved road, he watched the vast garden composed of flowers pavement, trimmed shrubs and fruit trees. It was quite complicated to set up a garden, and the butler had to uproot many trees, that were used in the construction of the mansion or were sold to merchants. You could hear the birds singing, and butterflies flying all around. The garden was maintained by Master Hobson Gamgee, one of the Butlers of the House of Baggins. His sons, Hamfast, Andwise, and Alfred Gamgee helped him from time to time, but were mainly involved in the upkeep of the manor, with their sister, May Gamgee. The man was named Sebastian Michaelis, and he was the chief steward of the house of Baggins, and he was responsible of the training of the young hobbits so they could be impeccable servants and worthy to serve the young master. He also gave classes in politics, economics, fencing and music to his young master, Bilbo Baggins. To do this, he had to visit the four corners of Middle-earth to learn spoken languages and obtain books. The only race he could not approach were the dwarves, who are completely reclusive in their mountains.

It's halfway that he saw the Manor. The place was built entirely by Sebastian, and the manor allied the traditional beauty of Victorian mansions to the beauty of a city named Grey-Havens, in a country called Lindon. The manor was composed entirely of white and grey stones with a royal blue roof. It had several windows, and more than twenty bedrooms, two main salons, one in each wing, a ballroom, a banquet hall, a huge kitchen, a stable, not to mention the quarters of the servants. This mansion could easily accommodate the entire population of the Shire if necessary, and its walls were strong enough to support a siege. But, who would dare besiege such a masterpiece ?

( /2a4d0e9 )

Sebastian knew that such a Manor was unique in this world in which he had arrived by mistake. He still remembers his former master, Ciel Phantomhive, a sharp-faced thirteen-year-old who wanted to avenge his family above all else. Ah, he regrets that he has never been able to devour his soul. Well, in fact, he is glad to be no longer related to this young boy.

In any case, he never understood why and how he arrived in this world. One day he was fleeing Grell Sutcliff once more, then a kind of a black hole opened up before him and sucked him in before Grell could follow him. Result, he woke up in a snowy forest. He had to face some very big wolves, and even horrible creatures that people call orcs. Finally, he found a young human being with big hairy feet, whose soul shone with a thousand lights. Never before had he seen such a pure soul. And he followed him. Gradually, as he followed him, hidden from the eyes of all, he noticed other people, the same as him, all with souls as pure and enticing, but only the one that he followed seemed to attract his eye. He learned his name, Bilbo Baggins, and discovered that he had become an orphan. It was then that he decided to offer his services as a butler. He had to explain to the young hobbit what it meant, and offered him a bargain.

"Let me be your butler, and I will serve you forever. I will protect you, and you will never be alone. In exchange, let me claim the souls of all those who want to harm you."

The hobbit agreed, having nothing to lose. This is how Bilbo got his butler, and his life changed drastically. For a week, the hobbit disappeared with the demon, who put his mark on the right eye of the young hobbit. He hurried off towards Bag End to leave the young hobbit, and promised to return after exploring Middle-earth. In just three months he explored all of Middle-earth, and learned easily, being a demon, the languages spoken. He learned Sindarin, Quenya, Westron, Rohirric, and even Black Speech. He took the opportunity to retrieve hundreds of books, dealing with history, fairy tales, also some ancient treaties between dwarves, elves and humans. He even discovered volumes in a language called Telerin, and one or two in Adûnaic recovered from the ruins of the kingdom of Arnor, that were translated by an elf of Imladris named Erestor. It was while exploring Middle-earth that he discovered the beauty of Elven souls, as such, he did not hesitate to kill an elf or two to devour their souls, something he appreciated. Never had he been able to revel in this way, and he secretly hoped that some of his master's enemies would be elves. In rethinking, the dwarf souls were just as tasty. He had even devoured the soul of an orc, and as amazing as it may be, the soul was a delight, black and twisted, it had a unique and spicy flavour. The fact that he was the only demon in this strange world made it all the better. An infinite feast for a single demon, that's enough to make Satan himself jealous.

Sebastian returned to the present moment, arriving at the entrance of the Manor, the windows of which were lustred by Hamfast and May. He went upstairs to find his young master reading a book telling the story of Beren and Luthien in the Library. He took the opportunity to detail his young master once more. The latter had long golden hair, reaching his neck, with curly ends. His face had not changed in sixteen years, and he had kept his beauty as a young adult. His right eye was not under a blindfold, since there were no guests, and the servants of the house knew perfectly well for his mark. The eye in question was completely amethyst, with a pentagram at its centre, while the left eye was midnight blue. The young master was dressed in a silk outfit, consisting of an indigo blue shirt with silver buttons, engraved with the initials of Bilbo Baggins (B.B.). He had black pants, with a golden belt, obviously without shoes. On his chair, a long, dark blue jacket with golden seams and gold buttons. Each garment was cut and sewn by Sebastian. Except the silver cane, with a mithril pommel, which was forged in the Iron Mountains, after Sebastian had supplied the necessary metal, which he had not hesitated to mine in the Moria. He obviously had to face some orcs, but that was not a problem. He took advantage of it to recover some artefacts and relics belonging to the dwarves. From now on, these objects serve as decoration in the mansion, and the recovered books are in the library. Some of the weapons he recovered are displayed on the walls, and armours are displayed. The cane of the young master was rather peculiar, for the trunk of the cane was actually a scabbard, and the pommel was actually used as a guard, for inside the cane hid a splendid mithril sword, very light, and easy to handle. Sebastian also had a Mithril sword that he ordered so he can train his master, but also to defend him, because unfortunately, silver cutlery were not very effective against armoured orcs and villains.

The butler approached his master, and told him.

"Young master, it looks like we will be receiving guests tonight. An old man dressed in grey came to warn us. I think it is Gandalf the Grey, which you told me about."

Bilbo turned his eyes to Sebastian, then smiled.

"It's perfect. I have not seen my mother's friend for a long time. When will he come? And with whom?" Asked the young hobbit, radiant.

"He did not tell me with whom, but I know they will arrive in the evening." Replied the butler.

"Tonight? Oh, Sebastian! I'm counting on you to prepare everything, and enough to eat for at least twenty people! I want a feast worthy of a King!" Ordered the young hobbit.

"Yes my Lord! I will take care of it." Then, the butler bowed.

The butler left the room and could not help but say.

"Everything will be done according to your wishes. After all, I am simply one Hell of a Butler. "