Since my last chapter came out later than I wanted, I decided to post this one with just a 48-ish hour gap. Actually, no, I just really wanted to because I'm bored and also hella excited because I just finished typing everything for it, plus extra, plus Thalia's history, and extra. I CANNOT WAIT TO GET THERE! Hence this impatient post.

I don't own Black Butler, I only own Thalia and any other OC I had to throw in.

Questions To Ask

You know, when I said that I didn't know what Ciel planned to do about the snake problem, I wasn't lying. I mean, I definitely was expecting him to order Sebastian to tie all the snakes into knots to prevent them from moving. I couldn't help frowning at how uncomfortable they seemed when I peered into Snake's tent while searching for Ciel.

This has to be some form of animal cruelty, I walked over to the next tent. It was nearly bare, except for a bed, a luggage box and a chair. On top of the box was a photograph of a man and some children. Are those the first-stringers? Out of the children, only a few were smiling. The younger ones, or the younger-looking ones. The older ones seemed subdued, like they knew something the others didn't, and it wasn't good news.

Even the man in the picture was smiling, with his arms stretched around the children. Who is he? He clearly isn't their father. Is he a philanthropist? I didn't mind philanthropists. They could be very nice people, I supposed. Still, if this man was linked to the disappearance of the children, then he obviously couldn't be that great of a person.

I found Ciel in the next tent. This one was clearly Beast's. I could tell from the red-pink lighting, the clothes and the equipment lying around. The tent smelled like expensive perfume. Ciel was rummaging through her luggage box, which is not really something anyone should do, but this was a special situation.

He jumped when I slipped into the tent, and then he relaxed when he realised that it was just me. "You should have been faster," I whispered, walking over to him. "What if I'd been Beast?"

A snort, and then Ciel went back to what he was doing. "Anyone else would have walked with louder footsteps." True, I nodded in acknowledgement. I had been walking to avoid making a sound. Any other person would have moved normally. Ciel pulled something out of the suitcase and I knelt down beside him to look at it better. "That's the same guy from the other picture."

He didn't ask how I knew that, he just nodded. "You're right. The sign behind them though." We stared at the metal gate behind them. "Workhouse, so it's an orphanage?"

"That man, whoever he is, is probably some sort of philanthropist," I decided. "Maybe he adopted the first stringers when they were younger? They did mention coming from the same place," I recalled Joker's words on our first day.

"He must have meant the workhouse," Ciel said. "But where is this workhouse? This picture only shows a small fraction of it, and it isn't clear."

I was about to say something, when my ears pricked up at the muffled sound of heels clicking against the ground. "Uh, Ciel, I think someone's coming towards the tents," I got to my feet and glanced around hurriedly for somewhere to hide. "Ciel!" I hissed, when I noticed that he wasn't paying attention and had gone back to searching through Beast's things.

"I need to find something!" He snapped back.

"We do not have time for that!" I whisper-yelled. The footsteps got closer, they were nearly to the front of the tent. "Oh for the love of-!"

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a dark shadow suddenly flew into the tent, crammed Ciel into the box and yanked me under Beast's bed, all before I even had time to make a sound or even blink.

My body collided with something warmer and more comfortable than the floor and I instinctively wrapped my arms around it for stability. "What the-?" I looked up and, in the darkness, I could see a pair of rather amused red eyes staring back at me. My eyes narrowed. "Sebastian, what the hell are you doing here?"

His smirk widened. "Hush, darling, unless you want Beast to hear you?"

I quickly clamped my mouth shut and pointedly avoided the smug look in his eyes. Not a second later, the tent opening swung open again and the clicks became sharper. A pair of high-heels appeared in our line of vision. "Ah, this is so irritating," Beast moaned. "I liked this one!" I peered out as much as I could without being seen. She was changing her clothes. Something must have happened to her other clothes so she had come back to change before the encore.

For some reason, I covered Sebastian's eyes. I don't know why I did it, I just did. He had probably seen more breasts than I had, so I don't know what prompted me to act like he was a child. I heard him chuckle quietly at my action.

"Ah well," Beast finally seemed to be leaving, dressed in a top that was almost identical to her last one. "This one will do as well." I waited for the curtain entrance of the tent to fall shut, before I released Sebastian and crawled out from underneath the bed.

Sebastian stood up. "It's a good thing I returned ahead of schedule," he said, and then he glanced at me. "Thalia?"

"No," I cut him off quickly and went to help Ciel out of the luggage box. I suppose he must have had to open the box and pass Beast her clothes, so he had seen some...things. Poor kid. His face was bright red and he was avoiding my eyes. "Are you okay?"

He nodded quickly and tried to force his face to regain its proper colour. "Anyway," he coughed. "Since we're all here now, I suppose we should share what we've found." The photographs had answered only a few of our questions, but had brought forth a lot more. "Do you see anything important?" He held the picture up.

Sebastian leaned down to study the image better. "Ah, yes," he said almost immediately. "I have seen the imprint from this signet ring quite recently."

Signet ring? I studied the man in Beast's photograph and spotted a signet ring on his little finger. It was such a small detail, and how could Sebastian even see what was on the ring anyway? Oh, wait, never mind. "You can even make out details that small?" Ciel bent his head closer to the picture.

But where would he have seen an imprint from this ring anyway? Signet rings were used to mark property and important documents. I hadn't seen anything around that was something that would merit being stamped with such a mark. However, Sebastian nodded. "Yes, if my memory serves me right, this matches the seal at the joint of Beast's prosthetic leg."

Joint? But, Beast's prosthetic leg is joined to her hip. I blinked, blinked again, and then it finally clicked in my mind. No, more like it slapped me in the face with the force of a carriage going at full pelt. SEBASTIAN YOU PERVERT!

No wonder Beast was always snarling at him, and glaring at me! She was probably wondering what sort of freak looks between a woman's legs, and then goes on to flirt with someone else. I was wondering about that too.

Well, Sebastian, obviously. I was seething internally, but I managed to keep a nearly neutral face on save for the occasional twitch of my eyebrow. "The seal and the workhouse," Ciel said. "We need to find out more about this man."

Sebastian flipped open a pocket-watch. You idiot. You womanizing pervert! How dare you touch another woman like it doesn't matter? "It's almost time," he informed us. "Let's stop here for now. I must free the snakes before the encore."

I stopped my angry inner rant, and stared at him. "You must do whatnow?" Well, obviously he couldn't leave the snakes tied up. Everyone would get suspicious, and we'd upset Snake. That snake dancer was the most interesting and non-supernatural person in this circus. I still had yet to ascertain whether or not his skin had actual scales.

Ciel shook his head. "I still have Joker's tent left," he told us. But that would be cutting it a bit close, wouldn't it? "I should be fine if I work through the encore. Both of you go back so that they don't suspect us. When it's over, you get back here before they do and free the snakes. Got it?"

Those poor snakes have been through a lot tonight. Ciel didn't wait for Sebastian to reply before running out of the tent. The butler still bowed anyway. "Yes, my lord." Great, now where was I? Oh yes. You philanderer! You creep! You womanizer! Wait, I've already said that haven't I? "Thalia." I was running out of insults for him. "Thalia?"

I didn't answer him. I just flicked the curtain aside and walked out of the tent. And to think I was allowing myself to have a bit of a soft spot for him, I huffed internally. What else would I expect from a demon?

"Thalia!"

I stopped walking and glared back at him. "What?" I snapped coldly. There were a lot of things I could handle, but a man that kept flitting from one woman to the next was something I really loathed. Okay, maybe he hadn't really flirted with Beast, and I really didn't know everything about how his head had ended up between her legs, but it couldn't be good. I mean, how many instances could cause someone's head to end up between someone else's legs?

When I looked up to meet his eyes, I froze. Why? Because the man was using puppy dog eyes on me. And guess what? He actually managed to look cute, like a puppy that had just been does that even work? He has read eyes! He should look creepy not adorable! "Thalia?"

Well, I suppose it was good in a way, I found myself attempting to calm down. It did help us out when we were looking at the pictures. "I hate you," I told him pointedly, but my voice held less ice than before. "Now hurry up, or we'll miss the encore."

oOo

"We did not need to leave the encore so quickly," I scowled at him. "Did you see the look Flair threw me? I don't even want to know what she thought we were going to do," I shuddered and wrapped my arms around his neck even tighter. "That aside, why couldn't you have left me behind?" I rested my chin on the top of his head. "Then I wouldn't be in this position!"

I was currently riding on his back with my arms around his shoulders and my legs wrapped tightly around his waist. The reason for this was the snakes. I like snakes, but they are poisonous and rather unfriendly. Therefore, I was also a bit wary of them. I don't know why Sebastian couldn't have just left me behind while he went to release the snakes, but he hadn't.

Hence my current predicament. The man chuckled. "Maybe I simply enjoy having your body pressed so deliciously against me," he suggested. I went bright red, and then I went redder when I felt warm, gloved hands cupping the skin of my thighs and running just a bit higher than I was comfortable with.

I yelped and kicked at him the best I could, which wasn't very hard considering our current position. "Would you stop that?" I hissed. I pinched him through his suit, which I knew didn't really hurt him. He stopped, at any rate. "Just take me back to my tent and let me sleep!" I buried the bottom half of my face in his hair. He smelled nice, and I would probably never get this chance again.

"Yes, my lady," he didn't ask why I didn't throw a fuss and force him to put me down, and I was grateful for that because then it meant that I didn't have to lie, and then throw a fuss and force him to put me down. I hadn't had a piggy-back ride in forever, and it felt nice to be carried this way. It made me feel like a child again.

"I wonder if Ciel got out alright," I murmured thoughtfully as we walked towards the tents. "We should look for him, shouldn't we?"

"He'll come find us when he's ready," Sebastian told me. I couldn't help feeling just a tiny bit worried, but I decided not to say anything more. I could see a few people staring at us curiously. A few had knowing expressions on their faces. I blushed and shut my eyes so it would look like I was asleep. When I opened them again, however, I was in front of Sebastian's tent.

I blinked, and then dug my chin into his head in a way that would have been painful for any normal human. "In case you weren't aware of this, Sebastian," I injected a hint of sarcasm into my tone. "This isn't my tent. It's yours." Yours and Suit's, I amended as said Reaper skirted past us and shoved the curtain aside to enter.

He glanced back at us and grimaced when his eyes landed on me. "Poor woman," he commented, although he didn't seem too upset. "Have you already Marked her?"

Mark? What did he mean by that? "What does that mean?" I asked aloud. Suit entered the tent, and Sebastian followed with me on his back.

"To Mark," Sebastian smirked at Suit, even though his words were directed at me. "It means to mate."

To...mate? My eyes widened and I leaned as far away from him as I could without falling. "That's it, put me down!" I unhooked my legs from around him and jumped down from his back, and then I took several steps backwards. "That is just..." I grimaced at Suit. "Why would you even ask that? I'm going to go find my tent before you corrupt me even more."

Before I could leave, however, the entrance of the tent opened to reveal Ciel. He was breathing hard, and his face was red and flushed. "You bastard!" He growled while taking deep breaths. "You knew I was still there when you freed the snakes, didn't you?" He suddenly started coughing. I frowned and spared Sebastian an annoyed scowl, before I moved over to Ciel.

He didn't even deny it. "Yes," Sebastian placed a hand to his chest. "You did order me to return before the first-stringers did and free them. Is there a problem, young master?" Ciel pulled away from me to snarl at his butler. "What are you glaring for?" Sebastian asked, still smiling. "Rest assured that I won't let you die while our contract holds."

Yeah well, it's beginning to look like you don't care one way or another. I didn't say anything, but I focused on Ciel. The red hadn't faded from his face, and I didn't like the way his skin seemed a bit clammy. Was he coming down with something after all?

"Every game needs its thrill," Sebastian kept talking while I studied Ciel. "You're such an avid player, I assumed you shared my opinion."

"Ha," Ciel smirked, and I detected a raspy tone to his voice. "Your game is in sickeningly bad taste, demon." That was the first time I'd ever heard Ciel refer to Sebastian as what he actually was.

Sebastian just smiled. "You flatter me." I looked from one to the other. Was this how they related? It would have been funny, if Ciel hadn't almost died. And, although it wasn't technically his fault, I was also going to blame Sebastian if he did get really sick.

Ciel shook his head and sighed. "Never mind this. I found a letter in Joker's tent that mentioned my name," he moved to lean against the wood of the bunk bed and coughed again. I really didn't like the way it sounded. "It had my rank, the location of my estate, and even a biographical sketch. It even-!"

"You there!" Suit suddenly poked Ciel's foot with his...whatever, causing the boy to hop back in shock. "You're three centimetres into my territory. If the master can't abide by our agreed-upon boundaries, then he's as bad as his dog."

I gazed at Suit curiously. "You really need to learn how to relax," I commented. Ciel coughed again, and my attention immediately flew back to him.

"Let's go outside." Outside, we found a shadowed place to talk. Since it was so cold outside, I had rushed to my tent to find my coat to wear. My anger at Sebastian had been renewed, and there was no way I was going to ask to wear his coat, or even let him offer. Ciel leaned against the wooden crates for support. "The sender used the name Tom, the piper's son," he informed us first.

"The Mother Goose character?" Sebastian asked. Ciel nodded. It was so cold outside that our breaths made icy crystals in the air.

"I don't know why though," he muttered. He had started shivering, and his cough was becoming worse. "The sealing wax showed a crest with a horse and the initial K."

"Then it's the same as the one I saw," Sebastian confirmed. "Signet rings generally engraved with a motif and an initial that represent the bearer or his family. This means that Tom the piper's son has a coat of arms featuring a horse."

I decided to say something, since neither of them seemed ready to actually acknowledge what was going on. "Ciel, you're shaking," I spoke up. "And you're coughing really badly. Can't we find somewhere else warmer to talk?"

He shot me an annoyed look and shook his head. "I'm fine, Thalia," he snapped. No you aren't, I turned to Sebastian for help, but he also seemed determined to ignore Ciel's fragile state. Dammit, are you both blind?!

"Would a horse mean someone awarded with a knighthood?" The butler suggested. "Or perhaps a soldier?"

Ciel hacked again. "Not necessarily," he said. "But philanthropy is probably impossible without a bit of status," his cough was getting worse. "The heraldic authorities all have coats of arms in their registries. We have enough criteria to narrow it down so that however many they have..." he was interrupted by a particularly bad cough. "You should be able to find out who it is."

I couldn't stand it. I don't know how Sebastian could just stand there and not bat a single eyelash. Ciel looked like he was about to collapse any second! "Ciel, please, let's go to the medical tent," I pleaded with him. "You sound really bad!"

He ignored me. His breaths were becoming faster and shallower. "The missing children, the circus, Tom the piper's son, and me..." his words dissolved into hacking coughs that racked his whole frame. He doubled over at the waist, a hand over his mouth and his eyes squeezed shut.

"Ciel!" I crouched beside him. "Goddammit Ciel! Quick," I yelled to Sebastian. "We have to get him to the medical tent, right now! Don't just stand there!" I pulled Ciel closer to myself and rubbed his back.

I felt him wrap an arm around my shoulders for support and he seemed to be struggling to pull himself upright again. "We'll go back...to the town house..." his eyes suddenly flew open and he threw up something that looked like mucus. My knowledge of medicine (like my knowledge of many things) was somewhat shallow, but very wide, and I immediately knew what was wrong with him. Goddammit, why didn't he tell us he had asthma?

"Ciel!" I pulled him away from the mess and into my arms. "Oh my god!"

"Young master!" Sebastian was suddenly by my side.

I whirled on him, panicked and angry. "Oh now you care?!" I felt the pressure of a hand gripping my upper arm, and I looked back at Ciel. He looked like he wanted to say something, but exhaustion won out and he collapsed against me. Oh god, oh god. Ciel, please be alright! I cupped his face and winced at the abnormal temperature of his skin. Oh god, he's burning up!

"Smile!" Sebastian and I turned around and spotted Ciel's roommate, the one he referred to as Freckles. "What happened?"

"Questions later," I snapped. "Help us get him to the medical tent first!" Sebastian took Ciel from me and the three of us hurried to the medical tent. The doctor was surprised to see us, but he sobered up the second he spotted the state Ciel was in.

In a few moments, Ciel was in one of the beds with a cool compress on his forehead. His face was pale and flushed, and he was sweating in spite of the chill of the night. I watched the unsteady, shallow way his chest rose and fell with every breath. "Is he going to be alright?"

The doctor pulled the blanket higher up Ciel's chest. "I believe so," he nodded. "It's asthma."

"Asthma?" Sebastian looked confused. "I've lived with him for three years and I've never seen him have a fit like this." I took the doctor's place by the side of the bed while he picked up a chart and studied it.

"If he hasn't had an attack in three years," he said. "Then he may essentially be cured. However, multiple factors may trigger a relapse. If he's been exposed to any stress or sudden chill, or if he's caught a cold…"

I reached out and cupped Ciel's cheek carefully. His skin was burning hot. "He's caught colds before, hasn't he?" I looked at Sebastian and then the doctor. But he hasn't been drenched in freezing cold water in the middle of winter, has he? I turned my gaze back to the sick boy.

"There were probably multiple triggers this time," the doctor said. "And I hear he took a bath outside with our weight-lifting addicts." Freckles winced and looked away. "It's no wonder he caught a cold."

No wonder indeed. My eyes widened when Ciel's eyes fluttered open slowly. "Water…" his voice was rough and croaky. Sebastian was at his side in an instant with some water, which Ciel gulped down gratefully before dissolving into painful-sounding coughs. I ran my fingers through his hair comfortingly.

"Smile," the doctor asked. "Did you have a bad case of asthma as a boy?"

Ciel's pupils looked wide and dilated, and I got the feeling he wasn't actually seeing us. His eyes fixed on me. "Aunt An…" he murmured, and then his lids fell shut as though he had used up all his strength keeping them open.

He's hallucinating, I sighed. "This is no good," the doctor said. "His mind is muddled. We'll have to keep a sharp watch until the fever and the coughing stop." Freckles left to get some ice, but I barely noticed him go. "What about you two?"

"We'd like to stay and help," Sebastian answered for both of us. There was no way I was leaving Ciel in this condition. Besides, I was still angry with Sebastian. If he had paid attention earlier, we could have gotten Ciel to the medical tent before he collapsed. All of this was partially his fault.

Therefore, I didn't speak to him beyond the necessary while we watched over Ciel. I bit my lip as I wet another towel with cold water and bathed Ciel's face and neck. His fever didn't seem to be coming down at all, and his breathing was noisier and shallower than it should have been. Please be alright, I rested the cool towel on his forehead.

Sebastian came up behind me. "Shouldn't you be asleep?" He asked. I suddenly became aware of my own exhaustion. I had been fighting the urge to sink down and close my eyes, but it suddenly seemed to come upon me in an instant.

I shook my head to dispel the feeling and glared up at the demon. "I'm not going to sleep while Ciel's like this," I snapped. "Besides, I don't trust you to look after him right now."

The man clicked his tongue and touched my cheek. I winced. "You're exhausted, aren't you?" He murmured. "There's a bed on the other side that you can sleep in. Just rest…"

I don't know if it was just my own sleepiness, or the tone in his voice, but I felt myself slipping into the dark fog of sleep. My body slumped slightly, and I felt arms come around me and heft me up into strong arms. I felt something soft underneath me, and then a warm sensation against my forehead, and then I was gone.