I own nothing but my OC.
That Butler, Performs 5
≤speech in Indian language≥
'thoughts'
"speech"
{setting/stage directions?}
SOUND EFFECTS
An entire sentence like this, without quotes, is narration for dreams or stuff like written letters.
=†=†=†=†= scene shift/time shift
—^—^—^— change of perspective/area of action within one specific time frame/location
Previously:
"I can't believe I have to work together with a noxious beast… Really." Suit muttered moodily as he readjusted his glasses again. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew Sebastian was right. If he explained why he had a legitimate reason for not wanting to work with the demon, then both their covers would be blown… how tedious.
Sebastian sighed again. He was glad the Reaper had decided not to kick up a fuss, but he had a feeling this was going to be a long night… The chain on his pocket watch jingled as he took it out to check the time once more.
"7:30." The demon read before snapping it shut again.
"There's nothing much in this tent." Ciel remarked as he and Chêne entered a rather bare tent that had only a bed, a suitcase, a lantern, and a framed picture, which Chêne immediately started inspecting.
"Hey, Ciel, check this out." Chêne said, holding up the photo for him to see.
"Nn? A photograph of children?" Ciel asked, furrowing his brow slightly. There was something extremely familiar about all of them… "They must be members of the First String."
"I thought so. Joker mentioned before that all the members of the First String grew up in the same town…" Chêne said thoughtfully.
"Nn?" Ciel said, furrowing his brow slightly.
"Something wrong?" Chêne asked.
"Who is this man…?" He asked curiously. All of the children were wearing old, worn out clothes and looked like they might even have been street urchins, but the man they were all gathered around was dressed like a member of the upper class.
=†=†=†=†=
{Meanwhile…}
"What are you doing?" Sebastian demanded calmly, frowning slightly, as he stared at the stubborn reaper.
"I refuse to touch a fiend like you." Suit stated bluntly, completely serious. He didn't even bother to hide his distaste for the whole affair.
"But that will not make for much of a show!" Sebastian snapped angrily as a vein throbbed on his head, and the two of them continued to zoom back and forth on their flying trapeze swings while hanging upside down. He wanted to finish this up as quickly as possible so he could return to Chêne and Ciel.
The reaper didn't seem to care, because he just continued to snub the demon.
—^—^—^—
"What are they doing?" Beast asked, sweat dropping, while she and Doll stared up at them. She moved to take a step forward, not realizing the lacing on the back of her corset had gotten snagged on a nail until it was too late.
SNAP.
"Ah! My lace." Beast said, a little surprised. She frowned ever so slightly in annoyance. Great. It figured something like this would happen with the way her luck had been going lately…
"Waaah! You guys don't look." Dagger shouted, blushing furiously, as he stepped in front of Beast, waving his arms like a loon.
He seemed to be more upset than the woman herself. In his eyes, the whole incident had looked a lot more risqué and 'dangerous', and those who already knew about the enamored knife thrower's over-active imagination weren't the least bit surprised when his nose started to bleed.
"Sis, there's still time till the encore, so please change!" Dagger pleaded with Beast as he held up a blanket for her to cover herself with in the meantime.
—^—^—^—
"!?" Sebastian said, alarmed when his superhuman hearing picked up on their conversation.
"C'mon!" Joker chided her. It might be a pain to have to change costumes again, but they couldn't very well have her go out like that, and it would be a shame if she had to miss the encore just because of a little costume snafu.
"Oh, fine." Beast finally agreed. She could never say no to Joker.
"Oh no!" Sebastian exclaimed, sweat dropping, as he whipped his head around in time to see Beast exiting the Big Top with the blanket wrapped around her.
=†=†=†=†=
{Inside Beast's tent…}
Chêne had to admit, the woman had style. The interior decorating actually reminded her of Lacey's bedroom… Only Beast didn't seem to share her best friend's fetish for skulls and snakes.
"He's here too." Ciel said as he pulled a framed photograph of a Beast and the same smiling older man out of her trunk.
"Yeah, you're right… It's the same guy from the other photo with the kids." Chêne said thoughtfully as she squatted down beside him to have a look. "I wonder who he is? He doesn't look like he's related to any of them by blood, but they all know him well enough for him to have posed with them for a group portrait…" Photography was still a relatively knew technology in this era, and a camera was not something that your average Joe Schmoe could afford.
=†=†=†=†=
Meanwhile, Beast drew ever closer as she stalked through the rows of tents, holding the blanket close, to protect herself from the chill of the night…
No wonder Snake had wanted to remain fully clothed this evening!
=†=†=†=†=
"Just give me your hands quick!" Sebastian yelled as he held his own out to the stubborn reaper. This was utterly ridiculous—He needed to get to Chêne and Ciel now!
"I've already told you—Not in a million years." Suit refused sternly as he pointed his scythe at the demon, willing the pruning shears to shoot forward like a speeding bullet.
CHAK—!
A bead of sweat rolled down Sebastian's face when he had to dodge the reaper's sudden attack. Evasive maneuvers weren't nearly as easy to perform while one was hanging upside down from a flying trapeze and trying to act human in front of a large audience that was starting to grow bored with watching the two performers merely swing back and forth over and over again…
"My hands will rot away if I touch you." Suit told the demon, adding insult to attempted injury.
"I understand." Sebastian said, chagrined. Now he was just being nasty. "If you do not want to touch me…" The demon said, furrowing his brow in irritation, as the ghost of a shit-eating grin began to snake its way across his face. "… Then this…"
GRAB.
"… Should do!" Sebastian shouted as he took hold of the extended Death Scythe and pulled, swinging the obstinate reaper off his perch. The demon butler had to admit; he found Suit's stunned expression quite amusing.
"KYAAAAAH!" The members of the audience gasped and screamed collectively in shock and surprise when they saw him fall towards the ground.
=†=†=†=†=
Beast paused for a moment when she heard the roar of the crowd.
"The audience sure is enjoying the show." She thought out loud, wondering what they were doing to make them cheer so loudly that she could hear them all the way in the back.
She was only a few steps away from the beaded rope surrounding the First String tents, now.
=†=†=†=†=
"Hm?" Chêne said when she noticed something in the background of the photo. "This sign behind them… Is it a workhouse?" That would certainly explain the state of the children's clothing, since most of the people running workhouses weren't exactly Oprah. In most workhouse of the Victorian era, the conditions were intentionally made to be on the harsh side in order to discourage the poor from trying to get a free ride, like how some of the people had started taking advantage of the welfare system in the modern America of her world. (Not to say that all people who needed welfare are lazy charlatans, but you know what I mean, right?) They weren't the most children-friendly places either, since some of them were occasionally 'hired out' (more like sold) to work in factories or mines… but the smile of the man in the pictures seemed genuine enough. Maybe they had been lucky?
She hoped so.
=†=†=†=†=
"That was close!!" Dagger exclaimed, sweating nervously as he watched. Suit had just barely managed to catch hold of that strange stick of his again before he could fall to his doom.
Theses guys were crazy! What the heck did they think they were doing—were they trying to get themselves killed!?
—^—^—^—
"Let go of the Death Scythe!" Suit demanded, frowning in irritation, while he started to contract the scythe so that his feet wouldn't scrape against the ground and scuff his shiny black shoes. Perhaps he had over extended it just a tad when he tried to hit the demon before…
"I cannot do that." Sebastian refused, tightening his grip on it, even as the stubborn reaper grew ever closer. He waited, watching as the scythe continued to contract. If he timed it right, then everything could be settled with his next move.
KASHA–KASHA–KASHA–
—This was it, the moment the demonic butler had been waiting for!
"Hup!!" Sebastian shouted, furrowing his brow, as he concentrated on swinging the scythe and its owner up, throwing them away, towards the opposite platform.
SWING.
The audience below watched in stunned amazement as Sebastian launched himself from his perch on the swing, and both reaper and demon performed several successive flips through the air before landing on the opposing platforms for the great trapeze. They both landed safely and expertly stuck their landings.
Sebastian smirked slightly as the audience broke out into a roar of cheers and applause for them. Mission accomplished.
He gave them all a quick smile and a wave, while the disgruntled grim reaper behind him finished fully contracting his scythe, before rushing off to attend to more urgent matters.
=†=†=†=†=
Beast was only a yard away from her tent now.
—^—^—^—
"So, it looks like they aren't just from the same town, they're also from the same workhouse, too?" Chêne mused, furrowing her brow slightly as the gears started turning in her mind, trying to calculate all the possible meanings and significance this could have for their investigation. She and Ciel were blissfully unaware of the approaching danger.
"But which workhouse is it?" He asked. It was dark in the tent since Beast hadn't left a light on, and they didn't want to light her lantern in case someone saw it and got suspicious.
"I don't know. The kids are blocking my view, and it's kind of hard to make out such small details in the dark, even for me… but I think the first three letters are 'R', 'E', and then part of what could be either an 'N', 'D', 'M', or 'B'… It's hard to tell since his head is blocking part of it as well as second half oh the name, but judging by the size and spacing of the letters on the sign, I'd say the name has about eight letters total, so there's a rather large number of possibilities for what the hidden letters could be…" Chêne said, smiling apologetically at him. Ciel frowned slightly. It was a start, but he didn't want to waste valuable time on guessing games.
'Are there better photos in here—?' Ciel wondered as he started digging through Beast's big trunk again.
—^—^—^—
Beast was standing right outside her tent now. The buxom beauty thought she heard something moving around inside… She reached a delicate but strong hand out, gripping the tent flap. She drew it open swiftly and without warning.
SHA!
Beast stared calmly into the quiet and unoccupied tent for a moment. She couldn't see any signs of an intruder, so she decided it must have been her imagination or something.
Putting that aside, she strutted confidently into her tent. She didn't seem to have noticed it when something twitched inside her trunk when she started heading towards it. She just let out a sigh as she dropping the blanket wrapped around her so she could remove her damaged corset.
FLAP~
Luckily, she had her back turned, so she didn't notice the suspicious activity taking place behind her. Another corset that matched with her miniskirt was slowing sliding out from under the closed lid of her trunk. Topless, she turned around to look in her trunk. She stared at the corset for a few moments. Was that there a moment ago? She shrugged and yanked it out the rest of the way so she could put it on.
Whatever, it just saved her the trouble of having to look for it. She didn't have much time left before the encore started.
—^—^—^—
CREAK…
Once they were certain Beast had left for good, Sebastian slowly lifted the lid of the trunk. The hinges clicked once it was full open again, revealing a stoic Sebastian and a somewhat flustered and chagrined Ciel.
"Phew… I barely made it in time." Sebastian stated calmly. Unlike Ciel, he was completely unfazed by the brief glimpse that they had caught of the topless beauty through the crack when she leaned over to retrieve her spare corset.
"Yeah, that was a close one!" Chêne said, sighing in relief as she dropped down from her hiding place and rolled out from underneath the bed. Since the trunk was already a tight enough squeeze for two, she had elected to conceal herself by clinging to the underside of the bedframe, so that she would be completely invisible from whatever angle Beast approached the bed, just in case.
"…..." Ciel said while a vein mark popped on his forehead. Why couldn't he have been the one to hide under the bed!? Not only did he have to suffer the indignity of being stuffed inside such an awkwardly cramped space with his demon butler, but he was feeling more than just a little embarrassed after what he had just seen.
Then again, he probably couldn't have held himself up for as long as Chêne had…
=†=†=†=†=
{One quick explanation later…}
I see, so then you two believe there is something more to that photo." Sebastian concluded thoughtfully as Ciel picked up the very photograph in question.
"Yes." Ciel said definitively. This workhouse was probably where they had all met, so it might hold some clue about their past and the reason for this circus's existence.
"Can you take a look at it, Sebastian?" Chêne asked. "Your eyes are better than mine."
"Let me see." The butler said, holding a hand to his chin as he leaned down to take a closer look. "I recently happened to see the device on this signet ring as a hallmark."
"So you can even see something this small?" Ciel asked while Chêne let out a whistle in appreciation. Sebastian's eyes were amazing—like magnifying lenses.
"Yes. I believe this hallmark…" Sebastian started, focusing as his eyes zoomed in on the tiny ring. "… is the same as the one that was at the base of Miss Beast's prosthetic leg."
"Really? What a coincidence…" Chêne remarked a little sarcastically. There was definitely a connection between the two.
Sebastian sweat dropped. He hoped her sarcasm wasn't partly aimed at him as well. Even though Chêne had already said she forgave him, he knew it would be a while before she got around to the 'forgetting' part…
"Young Master, Chêne." He said, pulling out his pocket watch to check the time. He and Chêne were due back at the big top in just a few minutes. "It is nearly time. Let us call it a day."
"Oh, right! We still need to release the snakes and get back in time for the encore." Chêne said, smiling wryly as she sweat dropped. She had gotten so into playing spy with Ciel, that she had almost forgotten about that…
"…" Ciel said, turning his back to them for a moment while he considered their options. He turned back, taking his butler's pocket watch so he could have a look at it for himself.
Sebastian and Chêne exchanged a glance. The young earl sure was being grabby tonight… That made the second time he had snatched the pocket watch from the demon butler…
"I still need to investigate Joker's tent. Time is short, but I still have eight minutes." Ciel said, snapping the watch shut again. He was going to take as much advantage of the First String's absence as possible. The sooner they solved this case, the sooner they could finally return to the comfort of his manor. "So we don't arouse any suspicions, you two go back first. I'll finish everything today. After the encore, beat the First String back here and release the snakes. Got it!?" Ciel ordered Chêne and Sebastian, tossing the watch back to the butler, as he dashed off.
"Got it." Chêne said, grinning, as she flashed him an 'OK' sign with her fingers.
"Yes, my lord." Sebastian replied dutifully, bowing slightly as he placed a hand over his heart, smirking ever so slightly.
=†=†=†=†=
{Inside Joker's tent…}
'From his attire, he's well-to-do or a noble. Is he a philanthropist, since he's in these photos with children from a workhouse?' Ciel wondered while he continued his search for clues.
He wasn't finding anything particularly useful in the trunk, but the young earl perked up a bit when he spied what seemed to be a paper envelope peeking out from underneath Joker's pillow.
"A letter?" He thought aloud to himself as he removed the already opened envelope from its hiding place and turned it over in his hand. A crest with a horse and an ornate 'K' had been pressed into the wax seal, and 'From Tom, the piper's son' was the only thing written upon it.
"The piper's son? As in the nursery rhymes of Mother Goose?" Ciel mused, furrowing his brow slightly, as he removed the letter inside the envelope.
The young earl's eyes widened in shock when he saw its contents. A bead of cold, nervous sweat rolled down his neck.
"Why…? This…" Ciel stuttered nervously as his hands started to tremble. There it was, typed in bold print at the very top of the page:
Ciel Phantomhive
Birth: 14th. December. 1875.
'… is my name!!' He finished yelling in his mind. This wasn't just any letter—someone had sent Joker detailed background information on him!!
What was the meaning of this—!?
=†=†=†=†=
"Well done, everyone!" Joker said brightly once the show was over. The show had been a big hit with the audience! "Oh, where's Black?" He asked curiously when he noticed the ex-butler was missing. Cat was just exiting the costume tent after retrieving her coat, but Black wasn't with her. Joker found that a bit unusual, since they seemed like such a close couple.
"Uh…" Chêne said, smiling wryly, as she rubbed the back of her neck, trying to think of an excuse that wouldn't sound too stupid. She knew exactly where her husband was, and she was starting to wish he had waited for her instead of taking off on his own... This was kinda of awkward...
" 'E went off runnin' after the encore." Dagger chimed in carelessly. "Musta been dyin' to piss or summat?" He added, smiling wryly, as he glanced at Chêne for confirmation. Pretty much everyone was ready to get back to their tents and hit the sack after working so hard for the show.
"Yeah, sure…" Chêne said, sweat dropping, as she let out a nervous little laugh. She was glad for Dagger's assistance, but… Well, at least it was better than nothing… right?
"Ahhh…" Joker said, smiling wryly with comprehension. "Yeah, that does happen…" He understood now why Cat had hesitated to reply. She had struck him as being more on the delicate and ladylike side than most of the other girls in their troupe, so of course she wouldn't want to just blurt out that her husband had run off to relieve his blader...
"…" Suit said, frowning slightly, as he watched the seen with his eyes narrowed a bit in suspicion. What was that noxious beast up to now…?
=†=†=†=†=
{Meanwhile…}
The liberated snakes hissed as they slithered across the ground, keeping at Sebastian's heels. They were pissed, but they didn't bite him since he smelled of danger.
The demon smirked as he stepped out of the tent. His eyes seemed to give of an eerie glow in the light of the full moon.
=†=†=†=†=
'Why!? Why is my name here!?' Ciel wondered, alarmed. 'Do they know who I am!?' He gasped, flinching in surprise when he realized he could hear the sound of people chattering growing closer and closer. 'Damn!! The First String is back!' He shouted internally, shoving the letter back under Joker's pillow. He needed to get out of there, now. Ciel sweated nervously as he snuck out of the tent and ducked behind some crates in between two neighboring tents to hide from the approaching troupe members.
"…" Ciel said, trying to remain perfectly still, so they wouldn't sense his presence as they passed by. Lucky for him, they were all too absorbed with their conversation about how hungry they were to notice anything that might have been out of place at the moment. '… Dammit. I came in too far.' He realized a little too late while he remained crouched down in his hiding place. 'I have to get back before they find me.'
"Hey." A commanding voice said as Ciel suddenly found himself being illuminated by a light from above. It was the tightrope walker, Doll. The lantern she was holding cast an eerie glow upon her pretty face as she stared down at the surprised boy she had just discovered hiding behind the crates. "What're you doing here?"
Author's Note: Sorry everyone, but it has recently been brought to my attention that there may be a copy-cat plagiarizing this story out there... It seems that from the way it was written, it was pretty much just copied and pasted with the some of the names changed. Chene's name was changed to 'Alice' and in some parts, she left the original name in accidentally, and in the part when they meet her family, pompom's name is there but is mostly replaced with 'NumNum'... Ugh (=_=;;)
Unfortunately, my source for this info couldn't remember the story's title or its author. I'm not going to throw a hussy fit or flame them or anything, but I really want to know who did this so I can check it out for myself, because I work really hard on all my stories, but this one is my baby! (D:) Depending on how bad it is, I might need to have a talk with this other author, and I won't try to harass them to take it down if they will at least include a disclaimer in it somewhere that gives me credit for being their inspiration.
So please let me know if you come across this fic or remember seeing it for yourself. I'm trying to find it as well, but there's a lot of stuff to sift through...! (^_^;)
Thanks in advance.
