The sky had become even darker once he came out on the other side of the door. Luckily, the night was cool and serene, though hauntingly desolate because of the absence of crickets and other nightly critters. By this time, Ciel was growing very tired very fast. His steps were sluggish and he was still unsure about which direction he should be going. For a moment, he forgot what he was looking for in the first place.
He had lost sight of Sebastian back in the forest before attending that insane revel they called a tea party. He had been shocked at the table's unsanitary conditions (though if the Hatter was really the Undertaker, then it made sense, since the Undertaker's shop wasn't very kempt either) the host's dumb riddles, and their stupid ritual of dragging him every which way up and down the table.
His mind swayed back onto Sebastian and his possible whereabouts. The man kept disappearing again and again, and Ciel was becoming so weary chasing him down.
He had abandoned the flowerbeds and fountains quite some time ago− when the sky was still aglow with the tints of dusk. The sky wasn't completely black, yet it was too dark to even see stars. The lack of light made everything seem more lonely, empty, and dismal, and the feeling tugged at his chest. After having been with Sebastian for so long, he couldn't help but feel an unknown emptiness. His trust had been slipping away steadily all day. He hadn't gotten hurt, but in the pit of his stomach there was a feeling of fear that something might happen to him.
He had jumped down the rabbit's hole believing that Sebastian would save him no matter what happened. He wasn't doubting his demon's promise, but he was still slightly worried.
Suddenly, he felt a blanket of light hit his face; up ahead was some sort of light. He was quite relieved, as the sun was no longer on his side and it was getting darker and darker as the last vestiges of light meandered away.
Walking towards the welcomed lustre, a large striped tent came into view. The light spooled out of it like river water, covering the trees and shrubs in a nice, soft glow as he heard a loud chattering coming from the inside.
He took a precariously small step closer, trying to peer in through the tent flap without being seen or seeming like he was rudely poking about. His efforts turned out to be in vain, for a presence abruptly exited the tent, almost ramming right into him, before he had a chance to run and hide in a refuge of nearby shrubs.
"Whoops, sorry 'bout that. Almost didn't see you there."
His stomach plunged pathetically, and he almost felt his knees abandon him altogether out of his terrible luck. Right in front of him was the familiar face of Freckles from the Circus. Even if he didn't have Sebastian's protection, he would have felt more confident if he had had even just a gun to protect himself. But seeing as how mostly everyone (aside from Grell) didn't seem to know him in W o n d e r l a n d, he wasn't worried about Freckles. Lucky for him, he had nothing to worry about, because she didn't even seem to recognize him.
Gasping loudly, she pointed at him exclaiming,
"You're that Alice every one's been talkin' 'bout! Fancy meetin' ya here of all places!" With refulgent blue eyes squeezed shut, she rent the air with laughter. Though Ciel made small attempts to shush her, these too also proved fruitless, for Dagger exited the tent, asking, "What's all the noise?"
He then caught sight of Ciel and donned his own look of excitement. "Hey! It's Alice! Hey, Big Sis, look!" Sooner than he had wished for, the rest of the Circus had joined them outside in the nighttime air. The more talkative ones (Freckles and Dagger) were gabbing excitedly, while Ciel was busy trying to comprehend why they were all alive, let alone come up with a way to escape.
"'Something doesn't seem right here', is what Emily said," Snake murmured, also exiting the tent. He gave Ciel a suspicious once-over, though his eyes didn't move in the slightest. Taking a step closer, he glanced towards one of reptiles that necklaced him, listening to what it had to say as it hissed viciously in Ciel's direction.
"'This person's name isn't Alice', says Wordsworth," the male replied, taking another step closer to Ciel. He then leaned down, their proximity choking, and let the snake wrap itself slowly around Ciel's own neck. He stopped dead, his breath growing stilled and his heart racing like tornado winds.
The reptile looked into his eyes, causing his entire body to stop. Adrenaline rushed through his body and his thoughts were steadily plagued with all that could happen if the snake found out who he really was. He was at a blistering disadvantage; not only because it was seven-against-one, but also because he had nothing to protect himself with anyway. Not even an excuse. However, he held fast to his pride, and refused to cower to them. He was an earl while the rest of them were just orphans performing for a twisted baron.
Baron Kelvin! Ciel instantly remembered the name and the face that came attached to it. If the Circus was still alive and operating in this world, did that mean Baron Kelvin was alive, too, he wondered.
The snake laced itself around Ciel's neck, lifting its own neck and peering again into his blue eye. It dipped its head low, flickering out its forked tongue and inched closer to his face. His chest tightened as he felt the snake's body tighten ever-so-slightly around his neck. His brain shot bullets of dreaded thoughts through his mind, wondering when the reptile would just begin strangling him.
Again, the reptile flexed, tightening its lithe body against Ciel's neck faintly. It guided its trained tongue against his cheek, collecting his scent before it slipped back inside the snake's jaws. The scent went straight through the Jacobson's organ, and Ciel could have sworn (with rising panic) that the snake's eyes widened in malice.
It stayed silent, studying the scent it had just received, then it glanced at Ciel, who flinched, sending the snake into a loud, threatening hiss.
"What do you mean her name's not Alice?" Dagger frowned, planting his hands on his hips and glancing from one to the other. "She looks just like 'er." At that moment, the last member of the Circus exited the tent, glancing around.
"What's going on here?" the self-proclaimed "hired shop manager" glanced around, surveying the large crowd of people with a small face of concern. His purple eyes instantly fell on Ciel, and after a look of surprise passed his face, it melted just as instantly into a cheerful smile.
"Alice! We didn't think you'd be coming to this area of W o n d e r l a n d. How 'bout a welcoming show?"
"Actually, I'm in a hurry," Ciel attempted. Snake had allowed Goethe to be returned to him, and his breathing was now regular. But the circus member hadn't said anything more about Snake's deepening suspicions.
"It'll only take a moment! Besides, you have to see Big Sis's show! We've been practin' all day."
Freckles nodded in agreement, as did the other members, before rushing off to change into her Doll attire. He was rushed into the tent as Joker held the flap open for all of them. "You'll be our guest of honor, Alice."
Ciel was only slightly disturbed as he sat on the leveled spectator benches, looking down at his lap and waiting for the show to start. He was relieved to be sitting down again, but inside he was feeling uneasy. Joker had welcomed him inside the tent without any sort of suspicious feelings, but Ciel remembered clearly the look of surprise he had had before his smile.
Not only that, but if Ciel recalled correctly, his information was still in Joker's tent, disclosed in some kind of envelope labeled, 'Tom, the Piper's Son'. Joker should be able to recognize him immediately; some striped stockings and blue nail polish shouldn't have been enough of a disguise to disarrange Joker's knowledge of his appearance.
Even so, Ciel felt compelled to find out if Kelvin was still alive and still using the limbs of children for his partner's disgusting hobby. But he hadn't seen Kelvin, nor had he seen the Doctor around at all. Aside from that, he had settled the problem with Sebastian the last time around; it would be much harder to do it alone this time.
Why are you so dependent on him...? Live and act using your own strength! All he is is a pawn.
All of a sudden, the lights dimmed and the familiar drumming of the show's onset began.
Dagger stood in the middle of the ring, glinting knives sheathed between eight fingers. Spinning targets lurched up from the ground, circling him at a nauseating speed. Dagger turned this way and that, pretending to decide which target to hit first. On closer inspection, one could see that his eyes were blindfolded with a red cloth.
With swift hands, he released all of the knives like bullets. As expected, each one met its target with a barely audible thud. But what wasn't expected, was that after each knife made contact with its mark, they each began to deflate into small, but equally dangerous explosions.
Faster than the eye could see, Wendy and Peter swooped down from their flying trapeze, whisked Dagger up and carried him away from the death trap. They dropped him safely onto the ground, marking the end of his act in the show.
Like shooting stars, the duo provided a deathly exciting show for their audience of one, leaving their act to overlap into Beast's. She sauntered into the ring, leading her tiger Betty slowly. Though daunting, she didn't flick the whip clutched tightly in her fist in the slightest, and she routinely began to pet the tiger slowly and gently. Leading the beast over towards a low platform covered in a wine-red cloth, she directed it to sit, then held up what looked like a large slice of filet mignon.
The tiger's eyes immediately latched onto it, and she swayed the meat around for a bit, allowing the tiger's head to follow her movements. Little by little, it took small steps off of the platform, creeping over to Beast whom was watching her intently, gripping the rod a bit tighter.
Beast slowly lifted her "weapon", motioning the tiger to stand on its back two legs, almost as if it were a dog. Once it did so, somewhat hesitating, she handed over the meat, allowing the tiger to eat. When the beast was finished eating, the two walked out of the ring, clearing the stage for Ciel to look up and see the Princess of the Circus traversing across the tightrope.
In her right hand she held an umbrella, and her left hand was held out to keep her balance. She silently treaded across the paper-thin rope, never faltering. With only a small turn of her head, she glanced towards Ciel, gazing at him with a longing, but unreadable expression.
Once she was halfway across the rope, her umbrella fell from her hands, plummeting through the air and landed daintily next to Jumbo. It seemed as if she had dropped it on accident, but she had made no attempt to get it back. The man turned, picking up the snow white bauble, he removed what looked like a match after unscrewing the tip cup and sliding it out from the crook handle.
With it, he flicked the match against his chest, lighting it, and tossed it into the air, blowing the flames into a circle before catching the match. The phantom flames lingered, midair, before the man took them and placed the flames in his mouth. He repeated the process with sixteen other matches, finally extinguishing them on his palm.
He walked out of the ring, and Joker then took his place, smiling brightly as usual. Jokingly, he loudly announced, "Now we'll need a volunteer from the audience!"
His eyes drifted towards their audience of one, and with a minacious smirk he held out his skeleton hand. "Step right up, Alice."