Chapter Ten:
Opening Act

Warning: This may contain spoilers if you haven't yet read the manga-and I also borrowed some scenes and lines, though mostly modified. Don't sue me, please. Thanks! I'm afraid that this is mostly a necessary filler/dialogue chapter so you have, again, my sincerest apologizes.

Beta'd by: inuluvskags1

As of 7/2/13, it was edited of minor errors that I found and changed some odd sentences. Sorry for any concern I may have caused! Any and all criticisms will be very appreciated!

"Honestly…" Ciel scoffed at the thought of the detective who followed the commissioner like a puppy- his name was Abberline, he believed. Ciel developed a habit of forgetting names of those whom he saw as annoyances. The young earl stepped into the carriage, the ladder creaking with the weight with Sebastian following him in.

"Master Abberline would do a better job than the Commissioner. Quite 'tis pity as he's too much of a coward." The butler hummed out, smiling that devious smile Ciel already grew to hate, "Children…"

Ciel quickly informed the driver to get a move on with the banging of his cane against the ceiling, "Yes, as we were requested to investigate…" He mumbled, eyes scanning through the papers he had ordered Sebastian to successfully copy from the library of the Commissioner's building. The Commissioner's pet was none too pleased with their earlier invasion, in order to have the information they needed for the case they were to take on.

"We may believe that they are missing but in the underworld, they might be…" Ciel sighed, finding himself pulling out an envelope with a familiar red wax stamp. He flipped it open and reread it,

To my darling boy,

Did you have a good Christmas? I made Christmas pudding with Phillip. It turned out superbly, and John and Grey heaped their praises upon it too. I do hope you will join us next time, my dear boy. Now to the matter of the tickets I have enclosed.

Have you heard about the traveling circus making its' way to London in the upcoming days?

They are a traveling troupe that visits various locales. However, the troupe's travels appear to coincide with any number of the children going missing from the towns where they call. The police are doing everything they can to find them, but the whereabouts of the children are still unknown.

It was as if the children suddenly disappear during the dead of the night…

Almost as if…

They have been taken away by the pied piper of Hamelin…

The sorrow of losing the loved one is insufferable.

I pray for the swift and safe return of these children to their families.

-Victoria

Ciel, the young Earl of Phantomhive, let out a sigh, as he folded it closed and placed it back to his coat pocket.

The butler stated out, "I doubt there's enough information we needed… Should we…?" Sebastian looked at him, waiting for his reply.

Ciel's lips turned to a frown, "I'd rather to avoid it."

Nonetheless…

"Hey, driver! Take us to the Undertaker's building! You know which one." The earl banged the ceiling again, announcing the change in destinations. The driver affirmed his orders and shifted the horses; their hooves never ceased their proud marching.

THELOVELESS

They removed themselves from the wooden stagecoach and blinked at the sight of another wagon there, in the same alley. Ciel and Sebastian simply shrugged it off, figuring that it was probably nothing, never once noting the familiarly of it.

Just as the earl was about to put his hand on the knob, he was startled by the loud, memorable shrieking of laughter.

The door opened.

Ciel stared, "You."

It was the same child exorcist, who merely blinked at him. She apparently regained the status of being a mute.

Kagome looked back and the earl followed her gaze. The long haired man was rolling around the dirty, dusty floor, almost appeared as if he was having chest pains. Despite that, he was still shrieking out that hysteric laughter of his and was drooling.

"… I'm not asking." Ciel decided. Lady Higurashi nodded, as if she was satisfied with his answer.

"Ah, pardon me, Mr. Michaelis…" Another familiar voice erupted gently from behind Ciel and he looked back to see that red-haired butler moving in front of Sebastian as the devilish servant moved away, "Excuse me, Earl Phantomhive, I need to see to Lady Kagome...And the Undertaker as well." He sighed, seeing the said person was now smacking his scarred hands on the table as he was heaving in a crazed laughter. He was struggling to get back to his chair behind the desk and failing.

"Pardon us for a moment, please. My apologies for wait. I do understand your needs to speak with him, but we need a moment still. Again, pardon us." Shippou apologized before shutting the door on Ciel.

The earl grumbled out, wondering on what they wanted with the Undertaker.

"Hey, Sebastian, can you…?" He turned to the older man, who in turn shook his head.

"Many apologizes but I cannot hear a thing."

"Tsk!"

They only had to wait for a short while when the door finally opened, with Kagome hurriedly got out of the building, looking somewhat disgusted.

"Thank you, Mr. Undertaker, for taking your time with us and for the information." Shippou bowed to the salivating man on his desk. He turned to the pair, "And thank you for your patience. I'm sorry for any issues we may have posed for you, Earl Phantomhive. Take care now." He rushed to the carriage, where Kagome was currently residing.

"Bye-hahahaaaa-bye now! Come again! Hehehaaaa!" The Undertaker called out, crackling, "Don't forget! I have a coffin custom-made for Lady Kaggy-Birdy! Hahahaaa! I'd love to have her as my eternal company!" The carriage already took off.

"…" That was strange.

Why did Kagome and her butler, Shippou, need to visit the deranged man?

How did they even know each other?

And exactly how did Kagome manage to make the idiot laugh?

Because he would really like to know, honestly.

Unfortunately, as much as he'd like to ask questions, he needed to get down to business.

It was really too bad that Ciel couldn't get a chance to visit Lady Kagome, no thanks to his duties. Duties took the top priority after all.

He entered, followed by Sebastian.

"Heeheheheaaaa…That lovely girl sure does know how tickle my funny bones, hahahaheee…" The Undertaker drooled as he kept on chuckling. He didn't seem to have noticed the extra presences in his building.

"A-hem." Ciel coughed to get his attention, "Undertaker, we need information regarding missing children." The papers smacked loudly on the dusty desk, "I hope you'll be able to provide us more than what the papers could."

"Heheheeee~! You cannot do anything without your butler, eh?" The Undertaker barely looked up as he pointed accursedly at the devil under disguise, "Hahahaaaaa!"

Just what did Kagome do to him?

"Normallyyyyyy, I would ask my priceeeee, heheheeeee~!" The chair protested loudly as the pale-haired man pushed his back against it.

Ciel swallowed thickly, wondering just what the crazy man has in store for him. Sebastian eyed him warily.

"BBBBbbbbbbutttttttt!" The undertaker looked up with a goofy grin, "I won't! Heheheeh~!"

What?

They blinked, shocked at the change.

"That ultra-ultra adorable gal basically paid me more than she needed to anyhow, heheheeeee~! So count yourselves lucky!"

Wait…

What?

"Hold on, hold on! What?" Ciel spat out, eyes wide.

"Lalalaaaaa! Don't you get it? You get it free! Free! So tell me what is it that you need to know, hah!" The white-grey haired male giggled out, flailing his body about.

Speechless all the boy could do was push the stack of the papers to him. Gingerly, the Undertaker took it and flipped through the pages, concealed eyes scanning each and every word. Giggles and chuckles alike still escaped his lips. The item fell onto the desk with a resounding echo, "So children have been disappearing then?" The nameless man grinned as he innocently poked the papers with his long, black nails.

"Yes, they were classified as missing in the polite society." Ciel affirmed, "Their bodies were never found." He also said.

The Undertaker grinned still as he turned around in his seat to grab his statue of a miniature version of a full sized adult skeleton, "Even then, children die every day, more so in the underworld." He tapped on the skull, his hidden eyes gleamed mischievously. The man then kissed it before chucking it against the floor, and it shattered. Pieces of sharp porcelain were carelessly strewn on the ground, and the head, which was the only thing that was mostly unbroken, rolled by, "Why should this be any different?"

Ciel flinched at this unexpected action, the sound was as if it was never-ending in his ears. He saw the skull pulling to a stop on the side, the voids of the eyes watched the pair, "Because the Queen asked me to look into this, that is why."

"Pfft, her again -she's a bit useless, isn't she? And you're a whipped dog, aren't you?" He got off from his seat, "Can you even do anything without either her or that butler of yours?" The Undertaker grinned as he approached Ciel and lowered his head to see that eye.

"Enough!" The earl was getting annoyed. The Undertaker bolted away from him to pick up the broken porcelain skull, "Have you cleaned any of those children up?" Ciel stressed out, glaring.

He smiled eerily, "There aren't any." The mortician turned the cranium to them, "There never were."

"What?" Sebastian and Ciel stared at him in disbelief.

"None of them were among my customers-nor have I heard any rumors of them in the underworld." He replied before turning the skull back to himself, "Isn't that right, my dear?" The Undertaker grinned again, this time to the ceramic item.

"Have we been duped, my master?" The butler glanced down at the increasingly impatient boy. Of course he was ignored.

"What is the meaning of this, Undertaker?!" Ciel scowled, "Have we wasted our time for nothing?"

The oddball of a man hummed, "Of course not- this is terribly useful information, is it not?" He never once looked at them, seemingly too fascinated with the lifeless head in his hands to pay them any attention.

Sebastian nodded, "Indeed it is-p, if you did not know, the fact remains that the children have not been killed in the underworld…"

"If their bodies have not been found in either the outside world or the underworld, the likelihood of the children still being alive is quite high." Ciel finished for him, "In this case we have no other option but to investigate the said circus troupe directly."

He plucked the papers and turned to leave, "Well, that settles it. Come, Sebastian. And Undertaker, contact me if you come across any more information." The butler followed. The door clicked open.

"Milord," The earl glanced back to him, "Take care of your soul, keeheehee~!" Again, the Undertaker never looked once at him.

"I know." With that Ciel was gone, along with his pet.

"Do you really?" He barked out a laugh once as the door slammed closed.

When the laughter slowed, the mortician perched on his cluttered desk, the skull still within his clawed hands, "Keeheehee~You and Lady Kaggy-Birdy would be perfect for my two special coffins~! 'Tis sad you never saw how alike you two are, yet so different~!"

Undertaker mimicked the skull, with a higher pitched voice, "How so, Mr. Undertaker?"

"One is loved and one is not! Yet one was being loveless and other is being loved~! Reversal role! Heeheeeekeee!"

"You are not making any sense, Mr. Undertaker!" The skull bobbed, as if in confusion.

"I never do anyway! Heeheekee~!" He fell onto his back on the small desk and ending up falling off on his head. The cranium fell from his hands and it finally shattered against the floor, "Awww-I've killed Mr. McSkully Skull." He pouted. It was gone quick, replacing it with a curious expression.

"But the funny thing is…They've asked the same things!" With that he burst into a thunderous laughter.

THELOVELESS

"My dear love, I'm so sorry to leave you and our son behind." She held a sorrowful expression as she held her son to her bosom. Lillan peppered fading kisses on her husband's neck, "But my wish is for you both to be happy without me."

Lucas frowned, "But you're my wife! The mother of my son! You were well loved!" He shook his head, "It was very difficult to move on without you here with us." He closed his eyes at the feel of her cold hands. The touches were cold but yet warm at the same time, invoking memories within his head.

She sighed, "I know. That's why the little girl summoned me-to bring you both closure." Lillian smiled brilliantly, "She heard my cries for help. Your cries for help." The man glanced at the girl, who shut her eyes in acknowledgment but said nothing, "And for that we're in debt to the exorcist for saving all of us."

The exorcist's butler immediately shook his head at the ghost's statement, "You hired my lady and she merely did the services in exchange for the payment. That was all." Shippou bowed gratefully, "There is no need for any debt." The girl's lips formed into a thin line as a Cat's ear twitched.

The woman frowned, "Oh but still…" She nodded then, "Very well then. But at least let us treat you as a friend for us." Lillian glanced at her husband, and murmured, "Do you not agree?"

He smiled weakly, "Of course. We'll gladly treat you as a family member from now on." There was no saying no against their agreement and the lady exorcist sighed. She simply resigned to their decision and reminded herself to inform her grandfather of this.

Lillian sighed, "I don't have long. I only came because of the little lady's request, to sooth your wounded hearts." She cupped her son's face, "My boy, be happy and love life for me. That's all I want from you." She kissed his damp forehead. Lillian then moved on to her living husband, "I ask the same for you too, my love."

Lance's lips were wobbling, "But I don't want you to go…" He couldn't grab her, as his hands simply swept through her. He was too dry of water to cry, but his face pitched of sorrow. The boy choked out sounds of sobbing. His misery was too familiar with Ciel, as he remembered the feeling of loss himself. Ciel remained stoic to all, even when he was wrenching inside.

"I'm so sorry, my love, but I must. But I want you to remember-I will always love you and I will always watch over you." She cooed over the small boy, her husband smiled at him. The ghost looked directly in the man's eyes, "I have always loved you both and I always will." She kissed him.

It was too brief for him but it was enough.

"I should go." Lillian's shoulders sagged at that knowledge before straightening up and turned to look at the group that watched all, "And thank you all for everything." She smiled and with that, she was gone. Faded away into nothingness.

Silence died too quickly, from interruptions of Lance's resumed crying. Lucas frowned but he simply kissed him on his forehead, "We'll be okay. Your mother said so." He encouraged with a sad smile. Lance nodded, "I'm pretty tired, father."

"Then sleep, my boy." Mr. Noel sighed. It wasn't long for him to fall asleep.

Kagome picked up her skirt and curtsied before the man, "I believe that culminated this exorcism." She murmured, "We'll be leaving now…I do however have two things to say to you." Lucas blinked and nodded, waited to listen to what she had to say, "Firstly, the Ouija board itself…it did not appear out of the blue. There is a reason why it came to be in your home."

He frowned, remembering the man and the boy, "I did have the guests…"

This time it was Shippou who spoke for Kagome. He shook his head, "Again, they didn't come to you without a reason. Beware of the man who you have faith in. Be on your guard; keep a sharp eye out of his behavior."

"My steward?" He frowned.

They nodded and Kagome offered a piece of advice, "Your steward...I believe he is not what he seems to be-do not trust him. Look into his records one more time. That is all I can tell you."

With that done, the pair bowed to him, "That'll be all. Now you just needed to send rest of payment through mail." The little lady briskly declared, before she turned away with a quick movement of her skirt.

Ciel followed, saying not a word. He was awed.

"Master?" The voice stole him from the past of his memories and Ciel blinked away from the scrolling scene through a window. He glanced at the curious butler, a thumb twirled over the design of the handle of his cane.

"What?" The young master was slightly annoyed, eying the detestable man.

Sebastian almost glared at his rude attitude toward him but told him, "We're at the circus, young master." He clicked open the door of carriage and was ready to let Ciel off. The boy nodded and stood away from his seat and stepped out. In front of him was a huge gate with a large banner exclaiming "Noah's Ark Circus". All around him was mass of chattering, happy-faced people.

Ciel felt disgusted at that expression and found himself wanting to erase them all. He then wondered where that feeling came from before shook it off, "Come on, Sebastian." The inhuman man followed. They entered the largest, boldest tent they saw, after flashing their tickets to a gentleman in a gate vendor.

Ciel nearly sneered at the number of people inside but held it in. Once as they both found a seat, a man with a hair of glaring red and dressed into a very mismatched outfit stepped on a standing altar. His odd shoes clanged loudly against the metal platform to catch attention. His painted dark eyes shone brightly in the light.

The hair color reminded Sebastian and Ciel of two certain men who had that similar color. One who was a fox faced butler, another was a man with a gender crisis identity. Sebastian barely held in the shudder of that memory of almost being molested by the latter. Ciel on the other hand shut his eye at the thought of the butler's employer; the curiosity slithering in his mind was strong.

"It seems like a regular circus…" Sebastian mused out aloud and Ciel nodded.

"Seems and is are two different things. We must look into this more." The boy stated carefully, intended to watch everything to make sure. The butler tipped his head in an agreement.

Back to the man, the ringleader they found, started juggling colorful balls in his (one of his hands was skeletal? Fake?) hands, "Ladddieessss andddd gentlemennnn! Boysss andddd girllsssss! On this fine day we welcome ye all to Noah's Ark Circus!" The colorful leader cheerfully called out, as he kept on juggling, "Ah am Joker and we hope ye'll all take a gande-d'ow!" He mistimed his juggling and the balls fell on Joker's head, earning laughter of the watching audiences.

Ciel found himself rolling his eyes at the man's antics. He then scanned all around the center of the performance and saw all sorts of people.

Joker sheepishly rubbed his head before grinning, "This circus, 'tis packed full of acts to entertain and astound ye!" Joker waved around his hands, to introduce the performers. With his voice exciting the audience he went on show off all of the performers, making a signal to someone nearby.

With a blast of fire, the show finally began.

Firstly, there was a fire-eating man; he was bald with snake-like flame tattoo sliding throughout his body. He was very muscular thus was much larger than all of the other performers combined. The fire-eater was certainly someone to avoid, as his strength could easily crush a strong worker flat. He blew the fire before swallowing to reignite the flame with ease. The eater repeated the progress, the inferno growing bigger each time.

Next were a pair of small children, garb into bubble-shaped wears. There was an elegant-faced, wide-eyed girl, with not a strand of hair out of place from her up-do. With her was a boy with arrogance very obvious on his snobbish face. They both achieved their flying trapeze act in a perfect union, spinning throughout the air and never once fell.

Then there was a grinning blond man with a very youthful face and dots under his shining eyes. He was a knife-thrower, never once missed his target and never once accidentally harmed a smiling woman on a vertical spinning wheel. He wore a glove on one hand, for whatever reason.

"There was nothing interesting or special about this performance." Ciel decided, not seeing any changes or any uniqueness of this certain circus.

His butler input his notices, "I do not see missing children being made perform either."

"Hmm." The next show was a small woman (or girl?) covered in white roses and wore a white dress, and was walking on a death-defying tightrope, without a single struggle, "If their goal wasn't to put the missing children on the display, then perhaps the route of traveling circus overlapping with the missing children was nothing more than a coincidence?" Ciel suggested, as he watched the woman briskly made it to the end of the tightrope successfully.

There then was a calm scaly man with gold platinum-hued hair, blissfully entwining with many hissing reptiles. Never once had he been bitten for being with the angry creatures. Joker claimed he was half human, half snake or what not.

If that was the case, Ciel thought, he'd be wonderful to catch mice that were in his manor.

"And last, but certainly not 'he least! Here's 'he star of our circus! Feast ye starving eyes on our animal tamer!" Joker announced, with much pride, as the tamer cracked her whip with a seductive smile. The woman was rather improper; her form was tightened with black leather, showing all of her curves and most of her flawless white skin. Her dark hair was curled carefully and tightly above her chin and was decorated with a single red flower. Near her was a cage and within it was a confused-looking tiger.

The animal tamer then set it free and set down a chain around the neck. The tiger tugged against it, chuffing uncomfortably, but did nothing else. The tail were tucked in between the legs. She pulled it with next to the ringleader. With a nod from her he hollered out, "Now…Ah would dearly love to have ye, the audience, to participate in this act…"

"There are no children in this either." Ciel shook his head, unaware that his servant had stood up at Joker's request, "It looked as if coming here was a waste of time…Sebastian?" He noticed the man's position and looked up, "What is it? Did you find some-?" The boy was interrupted by the redhead's voice and only then did he realize why his butler had stood up.

"Oh, the gentleman in black tailcoat! Ah see ye most eager!" Joker pointed at Sebastian, with a light laugh, "Good sir, hie ye at the stage then!" He gestured to a direction, "Right 'his way, my good man!"

This is an opportunity to get up close! Ciel thought, as he gave a silent permission for Sebastian to go on ahead. As the audience applauded him for his bravery, Sebastian then briskly climbed down the steps, leaving the boy master to his thought, This is a mysterious case of children disappearing right after another and this place is our hope to find the answers. Though you managed to get up close with people watching, just exactly how are you going to get answers by doing this, Sebastian?

Sebastian dropped down from a low colorful protective barrier that was elected between the audience and the performers. He approached Joker and the beast tamer. Ciel watched him eagerly, waiting for any answer he may get.

"May ye lie down there, good sir?" Joker pointed to the small, decorated furniture and blinked as the man walked past him, "Eh?"

Sebastian dropped down to his knees and Ciel felt the foreboding crawling over him, He is just doing this to get close to that bloody cat! What the hell, you bastard?! He roared at Sebastian in his mind.

Everyone was stunned at the unexpected act of the butler as he cooed over the large cat.

Sebastian smirked as he placed his hands on either side of the tiger. Said creature snarled its distaste. He instead ignored the warning. The butler continued to fawn over the creature—taking its paws into his hands and rubbing his fingers over the fur gently.

With a minute twitch, the beast suddenly roared angrily and swiped at him with one of his paws. The action took him by surprise. He was briefly knocked to the ground. Taking advantage of the new position, the tiger locked its massive jaws around his neck. Over sized fangs pierced the soft skin ever so slightly. Blood began to stain the black coat and dripped on the floor in small splotches. Well, this was quite the predicament. The man thought, amused.

Everyone started shrieking in horror. The tamer reacted, a whip soaring through the air, "Betty, let go of him!"

Sebastian caught the whip, having gotten up in time, and was about to say something.

Emerald eyes landed in a short distance, momentarily. As if recognizing whatever that was there, it released the male in favor of releasing a growl. Blood fell from its fangs onto the concrete ground. Claws extended as the creature lunged in the air. It bounded over the barrier, and hastily climbed the stair, causing people nearby to scatter away in fear.

A fierce roar filled the spectators' ears and they saw a young girl staring at the closing tiger with an odd expression. They gasped in shock as the tiger threw itself at the girl. Many closed their eyes in fear of what may come next.

The tamer screamed in fright and she then started to run, with Joker behind her, "Betty!" I am going to kill you, you fucking cat!

However there were no screams of pain or terror. Instead there were pleased purrs reverberated in the little tent. The tiger nuzzled the girl affectionately and licked her face. It then whined out loud, the tail was tucked in again.

"Oh, this is where you had been, Kirara." The girl muttered out as she gingerly pushed the beast away from her head. She patted away the invisible dust from her skirt, as she stood up from the ground. The small lady was completely unaware of anything that occurred around her.

It was not a good day for the tamer, as she whipped out the thin line of danger at the tiger. The enraged woman didn't hear nor saw the show of affection by the tiger. The tamer only to have the whip caught, again. "Um, miss, I'm afraid this is milady's cat." The familiar butler, as he seemingly materialized from thin air, stated. He dropped the whip away from him.

The tiger cowered behind the girl, still confused at how she managed to get herself into this situation.

Mr. Reynard? Lady Higurashi? Why are they here? Ciel wondered, as he found himself alone as an audience. All of other people had fled, in fear of being attacked and he was the only one who stayed behind. Ciel knew the performers would be too distracted to notice his presence and crept on closer to listen in.

"What the hell are you talking about?" The tamer woman hissed out.

Mr. Reynard sighed, "Look closer- does she looked like your Betty?" He gestured to the rumbling beast, which was snuggling her giant head against the girl happily and was whining out apologizes. The girl was scratching behind the beast's curved ears, again not paying much attention to her surroundings.

The woman, looking quite insulted, glanced closer before blinked, "That is not my cat. But how the hell-?"

The butler shrugged, "I assumed that you must be in quite a hurry and thought her yours. Your Betty escaped and I only brought her back in just recently." He then helped the lady up.

The tamer winced by the raised eyebrow of the leader, "She did…and I thought I caught her…" She remembered the offish behavior and palmed her face.

Joker coughed, "Ah will talk to ye later." He cast an eye on her and she winced again, "But right now, ah will need to take this gentleman to a doctor." The red haired performer then insisted that Sebastian to go with him and only because of his insistence did the he give in (with a nod of permission from Ciel farther away).

Ciel stayed behind briefly, to listen in the remaining group. So far no one noticed his presence, it appeared.

"How the hell did she stay so calm?" The woman squawked, "No tiger will resist attacking any little girl! And she bit a man! And exactly why did you have one?!"

Shippou coughed, "Kirara was very well loved and cared for by milady, which was why she remained so well-behaved. That gentleman was too bold and Kirara doesn't take that too lightly." He coughed again, sheepishly, "She escaped from home and somehow followed the carriage all the way to here. We didn't know until our driver confirmed what he witnessed."

The tamer eyed him. A stink eye.

Mr. Reynard glanced at the tiger and scanned around the now-empty circus, "Our sincerest apologizes for all of the inconvenience we caused." He bowed and turned away with the lady and the tiger.

Ciel blinked, He doesn't sound very sorry. He deadpanned in his mind before he glanced at the familiar pair curiously, They seemed like they know Lady Higurashi and Mr. Reynard…Interesting. He crept away from the tent, planning on catching them and asking questions he needed to have answered. And that woman is not a lady. The boy master remarked to himself as he heard the tamer being very colorful.

He flapped away the entrance outside, ignoring the sound it produced. Ciel knew Sebastian would answer his discovery to him at some point so Ciel might as well do his own part. Nonetheless, he wasn't happy with Sebastian. That devil bastard would do anything for those forsaken cats!

Ciel sneezed loudly as he wandered around the area. And he sneezed again. Ah, he must be pretty close..."Bless you." the lady's butler mused out loud, as they emerged from a clear path between clustering tents, "We didn't think we'd see you here, young master."

The young earl glanced at the pair, unsurprised by their appearance, and weakly asked, "Please keep the cat away from me. I'm allergic to them."

Shippou shooed away the tiger to behind Kagome, "Better?"

Ciel sniffled, "A little bit." The head of the Phantomhive manor straightened up, "Why are you two here? Enjoyment?"

The butler nearly scoffed at that though, "Goodness, no! Milady was hired to perform exorcism here, at the Noah's Ark Circus."

He blinked at that, "But how so? It's a moving troupe." Ciel across his arms, Spirits of missing children maybe…? Still he knew better than to jumping to conclusions.

"Spirits can travel, if they have grown attracted to some form of material," Kagome surprised him by actually talking on her own, "or a person." She added, before the girl quieted once more.

It looks as if Lady Higurashi only speaks if she feels a need to. "So am I wrong to believe that you're investigating a case of missing children?" Ciel hummed, eying the little lady.

"They didn't say. We were just looking into the disturbances they claimed they had." Mr. Reynard shook his head, "As of now, we were just gathering in the puzzle pieces so to say." He tipped his head to his little heiress, "Not that she will tell you anymore than that." The man grew a grin slowly.

"You refuse to offer your assistance?" Ciel grumbled, his nails sinking in his arms out of frustration, "May I ask why?"

Shippou hummed quietly before chuckling, "You may not know it but Lady Higurashi foresaw a thread of fate from you to here. The answers you are seeking will only lead you to more questions and we are not obligated to answer. Should we answer, danger will occur sooner than later." He smiled gently, "And I refuse to let her do so." There was a glint of threat through his friendly eyes.

Ciel nearly stepped back in fear. Was he protecting her from whatever that has to do with me? "Are you saying that something's here that is related to my…past?"

"We are not obligated to answer." The lanky gentleman repeated, "Now…We should be going now, to do some more investigating of our own. But we'll be seeing you very soon~" He bowed to the young master and left, taking the lady and her pet with him.

Why do I never get a direct answer these days…? Ciel attempted to shake away the cold of fear that crept up on him, no thanks to the gentleman's threat. Soon…? He groaned at that thought, is he talking about us making another visitation to this damned place?

Never mind that… Danger that will occur…? Is he saying that I should be ready for whatever that is to come? Ciel frowned, Why am I taking them so seriously? They're just exorcists, not some damn witches. He paused then sighed, What am I saying? I just saw them getting rid of a demon of all things. If they can do that then they might as well be able to predict the future too!

"…Sebastian? What is taking you?"

The dark eyed man appeared from shadows, "My apologies." He bowed.

Ciel grunted, "Tell me everything that you found."

"As you wish." Sebastian then launched into listing what he knew and found from attending the doctor's tent, as he led the young boy back to their carriage to return their home, "This Joker…He's not the troupe leader at all, just someone a little more than a ringleader."

"So there is a chance that this leader may be elsewhere and be responsible for the disappearances of the children?" The Phantomhive's earl mused.

"'tis so. I also noticed that most of the main performers had a prosthesis limb and all claimed they banded together for the circus to improve from their disability. The doctor was the one responsible that fitted them the said artificial limbs-all made of ceramic it seemed." He paused briefly before shaking his head, "Actually, in his words,"

"I say ceramic but I used special materials to make it light and durable."

Ciel eyed him, after Sebastian had told him the rest of the events that transpired, "And I also noticed there was a hallmark…"

"Hallmark?" He wondered, as the man let him in the carriage. Ciel then signaled the driver to pull them home, "What sort?"

The devilish servant stated, "I didn't have a chance to notice it closer." He sighed. The master nearly rolled his eyes. Sebastian remembered, "Ah, I remembered something else."

"…?" Please tell me it was nothing more than cold air.

"I entered the troupe as a performer and I also asked for you to try out as well." The man stated out coolly and he received a hit of the cane on his head. Interestingly enough, there was a sound as if it only hit hollow metal instead.

"Why did that had to come out that way?" Ciel blanched, an eyebrow twitched uncontrollably. "I never order you do so!" He removed the cane from his butler, unhappily.

Sebastian's lips tipped down somewhat, "I don't see any harm in it."

He ignored his statement, "How did it turn into me joining the damned circus? You just need to infiltrate that place." The boy sneered, "I wouldn't want to live in a tent." Ciel's eye watched out of the window, seeing the life outside to roll by.

"No one is making you to do anything-you would simply be asked to join," Sebastian suppressed a chuckle, "And is it not your wish of me to act of free will, instead of your command?"

Ciel growled under his breath, "Fine, point taken." He did place his trust in his summon. If Sebastian felt his choices were much more appropriate than his then the boy master had to put his faith in him. Ciel didn't have much choice, especially if he needed to have a best absolute outcome.

"Fine, I'll join the circus. But I do not have any ability to do tricks that would be essential to being a performer." Ciel pointed out, frowning, "I cannot do anything like the sort."

Ciel didn't want to see him smile so he hurried to glance out of the window again just as Sebastian smirked deviously, "Indeed. Well, please do your best at the tryout tomorrow and…I'll be cheering you from the bottom of my heart."

You are lying, Sebastian. Ciel knew, even when you promised you'd never lie to me… He said nothing of it and waited to get back home. Home…

Is it wrong to feel that this is nothing more than an opening act of to what to come?

A/N:…*weak chuckle* Life? Sorry for the delay. D: I wasn't very motivated to write much lately either. But hey, I updated! And made it a wee bit longer than the last chapter too!

I hate to have to borrow a few things from the manga, but I felt it to be essential for this story-that arc had to do with Ciel's past so I wanted to use it to push a rock down a hill so to say. Please be noted that that Noah's Ark arc will be and should be the only arc I will feel a need to borrow. If I ever introduce/use another arc from Kuroshitsuji manga, most likely they will be implied. Of course I cannot guarantee anything.

Next chapter…should have little more actions (like all of the fun ghost stuffs! Ya'll liked that, right?) but we'll see. I cannot promise any sooner chapter though, but I'd appreciate some help/beta'ing, criticism, encouragements, or feedbacks if you can offer them! :)

Okay, enough rambling from me! And thank you for reading this far and I hope you will all stick with me for the ride (however slow it was)!