Noah's Ark Circus

Linnea arrived at London, Scotland Yard's File Room in order to find information about the missing children.

'No disappearances in London since they've arrived but it can happen anytime now.' Linnea spoke over the phone. 'I will begin my infiltration immediately as soon as they arrive to town.' and she returned home.

'Nothing yet eh?' Ciel mused as she returned home. 'Perhaps we rushed too quick as they'll be here in a week, plenty of time to prepare but every two days starting now, check the File Room again.' he instructed. 'Sebastian and I will visit 'that one'.' he told her with a grimace.

'That one', is Undertaker, also a member of the Aristocrats of Evil.

Well, he's not a nobleman. But rather, he is also a source of information as bodies come to him from two worlds as he IS Undertaker, and its his job to get rid of the bodies. In legal society or the underworld where all things illegal occur. He has been working for the family for three generations now and somehow still looks young, yet nobody asks him because he unnerves them and he's too much of a weirdo who sometimes makes no sense and just discombobulates everyone who asks, so they never tried ever again, and is strictly on pure business with him.

Linnea and the others has never met him.

Yet.

Its always the Earl and Sebastian who deals with him. They only hear of him.

'So until then, assist Agni in teaching Soma how to grow up.' Ciel instructed her. 'Since its you who found that all out.'

'Yes sir.' and Linnea turned to leave.

As Ciel has no patience with 'mushy-mushy topics' despite his talented tongue, he leaves the empathy part to her.

The reason Prince Soma who is four years older than them has the mentality of a child, is because Meena spoiled him as she raised him. As one of twenty-six children, Soma was very lonely; his mother was more concerned about getting the attention and favor of his father, who was not interested in Soma due to being one of the youngest of his children. He was entrusted to his servant Meena's care, and he was with her for a long time and spoiled him to the point his mentality is 'crippled' while fulfilling her role until she 'sought out greener pastures'.

The result of her upbringing is that while Soma grew up very kind and considerate, he is also self-absorbed, naive and too childish for his age, and prone to bouts of temper tantrums when things don't go his way, and is very ignorant of matters of real life, such as paying Agni 50 Pounds every two months, a very obscene amount of money that she taught the also-clueless Agni the value of money. Agni also has no idea as before he became Soma's butler, he was once a Brahmin who led a very hedonistic life out of emptiness and no sense of purpose in his privileged life as he did 'everything' out of itch to the point his actions got him nearly executed, and Soma saved him, cut his hair and renamed him Agni. It was then that 'he found it'.

The only redeemable factor about Soma is that he too, tried to get his parents' attention by perfecting his studies as a Royal Prince and hoped word gets to them.

Not that it worked though but at least, he is very educated that even his English has little indian accent left to it and very skilled in Cricket.

'This is the severity of damage Meena has caused.' said Linnea grimly as she told the two Indians. 'By now, Prince Soma should have been raised to be a mature, sophisticated and refined prince yet just to keep her position in the palace, his upbringing is deliberately crippled unknown to everyone else.' she said. 'He has a lot of things he should have become as Prince. As a result, your reputation in the palace must be...quite interesting and its not even your fault how things turned out that way.' she said with a grimace as the two men shared the paper she gave them.

'That is what is required of you to learn and master, as well as understand. For now, as some resources for that education are available in India only, I advise that you two must return home until you have mastered them all. By the time you do, you must decide what to do with your lives to become something in this world while capable of financially supporting yourselves, as there may come a time when the Raja suddenly decides to cut off resources to princes and princesses he deems 'of not use' to him. The Princes are more in danger of getting left destitute while the Princesses can still get by through getting married off to some Kshatriya or something who may or may not give a damn other than being trophy wives themselves because they are once princesses.' she said grimly. 'You must do what it takes to remain afloat on the water, and not sink.'

'F-father won't do that, wouldn't he?' Soma stammered out nervously, horrified at the mere idea of her words actually happening after seventeen years of parental and familial neglect.

'If aristocrats here in England do that to sons and daughters who aren't useful after five years in adulthood, what more in India, a colony of Britain, if he ever gets the idea to? And while I don't know the age of maturity in India, here is 18. In short, you have little time left either way.' Linnea deadpanned. 'Study hard and become gentlemen, but very capable gentlemen who can fend for themselves for life, you two.'

With that, the two Indians left with a shudder in their cores.

In the future a couple months later, they would return to England, favoring English Life more as 'People in England gave a damn about them when nobody did back home.'

xxx

'Somehow peace and quiet returned here after you did that.' said Ciel as in his office, he took note of what Linnea has done.

'Its a necessity and what I taught them is also based on real life if people in my era wrote books about it and made it look like fiction but its horrifyingly real, hidden by being exaggerated in literature that readers, while entertained, would scoff at the ideas within and therefore not believe it.' said Linnea wryly, while sitting on a couch and reading Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens that she purchased with her money. 'Well, here's hoping that those two would make something out of their lives after a hard lesson.'

'Do you think they can do it, considering Soma has the mentality of a nine-year-old?'

'That depends on them so I cannot guarantee that at all. All I can do is advise and its up to them to make use of it. Otherwise its no more than hot air.'

xxx

Thus, a week later...after learning Undertaker never got any children's bodies so far...the Circus has arrived.

Linnea immediately left the mansion on orders, and joined the Circus. Then she saw William T. Spears.

"I knew it..." she facepalmed.

'Oho? The Little Witch of Phantomhive.' William raised an eyebrow. 'Why are you here?'

'Same reason as you are. The children. And I had to be here alone because we anticipated one of your kind's presence and therefore if Sebastian had been here, progress will be difficult.' Linnea deadpanned. 'But give me a little hint. How many in your book? Those lives could possibly still be saved.'

'I'm afraid in the past few days, 200 have died, death by having flesh removed and bones taken.' said William as he saw no harm anyway as it already happened. 'As for the flesh, fed to a lion.' Linnea looked very ill from horror. 'And currently...nine more to go.'

'Then at least I have to save those nine or die trying.' Linnea growled. 'Thanks for the cake, William.' and she stormed off.

'...not that it'd do you any good.' he muttered as he checked his list. His opinion of the witch is debatable based on her actions while he deemed her master a lost cause, having sold his soul to a demon thus has no respect for him unless its business. He met her last year, protecting the boy and the woman who Grell teamed up with to kill and illegally take souls not in their lists. She only used her magic to protect, subdue, modify the woman's memory and...repair the monster's clothes.

xxx

The Phantomhive manor...

Ciel and Sebastian stared at Linnea who looked sick.

'That's what he told you out of generosity?' Sebastian mused thoughtfully. 'That explains why Undertaker got no bodies.'

'With that hint, my mission now is to find out why are the bones taken.' Linnea choked out. 'And according to William, nine more will die so I have to find them too. He's been sticking around the tent until its collecting time so I'll have to do copious cheating.'

'Then before London's children are taken, end this case.' Ciel ordered her. 'Under our name, make sure no child of London will meet this grisly fate.'

'Sir.' and she's gone again.

'Shit...this will be interesting.' Ciel swore. 'Such as how the hell do I tell the Queen without giving way that our sources are supernatural in origin?'

'That depends on how fast she acts, my lord.' said Sebastian. 'Then we can spin a tale.'

xxx

At the Circus...

Linnea blatantly abused her powers. Telepathy and Psychometry...causing an update in William's list, in her bid to at least, save nine lives and delete them off his list.

So he followed her into sneaking around at the dead of night. She stole a few items. Copied letters, photos, and in the medical tent...prosthetic parts?

'It seems you have all you need.' William commented. 'Just to let you know, my list has been edited.'

'So the children are saved?' Linnea gasped in relief.

'Yes. You're different from your master and his pet demon at least.' and William left after snorting. He's still debating whether or not to respect the witch-girl.

xxx

The Mansion...

Linnea presented her boss and colleague the proof taken from the Circus.

'We will look over this.' Ciel informed her. 'Leave the rest to us.' he said. 'But what's this?' he asked, showing her a ball-jointed prosthetic leg.

'...that's bone china.' Linnea looked green after speaking in utter deadpan. 'That's where the children went.' Sebastian looked at the leg and to him, it smelled of young blood and death. 'With medical autopsy, it can be proven.'

Ciel let go of the prosthetic as if its a heated poker and threw up behind his desk.

'William says his list has been edited. With quick action, we can still save the children. Nine more from their latest heists from the previous locations.' she informed them. 'I will go back to the circus to keep them in there and keep them from kidnapping children.' and she's gone again.

'Nine lives eh?' Ciel muttered as they began reading the papers. 'And can you put that leg elsewhere? I don't want to feel sick again.' he ordered Sebastian who brought tea over.

'Of course. I shall hide it under the couch for now.'

He did so.

xxx

At the Circus...

Linnea posed as a girl named Nina who rose fast in rank, being an Acrobat and also, a Snake Charmer as she could understand snakes like Snake could much to their shock, and apparently, Snake is usually very shy unless its the First-Tier members who are the first to show him kindness. But since she could get along with snakes and command them like he could, he treated her like goddess personified and even if he's a criminal, she appealed to Joker, freaked out by Snake's worship of her and stalking of her as if she's a famous celebrity.

'Give im' time give im' time!' Joker said sheepishly, patting her shoulder with his bony hand. 'He's never met anyone like im'! He really could understand and give orders to snakes and he thought he's the only one so he feels isolated and lonely even though we treat im' well.' he sighed. 'Just be kind to him OK? He's kinda desperate for like-like, yah?' he kindly advised and Linnea wondered how he could be this person in front of her when he knows full well he's wearing a bunch of dead children as his arm. His only redeeming factor, like the others, is that they have helplessly no choice in the matter.

'I guess so...'

'Anyway what's fer dinner? You're our first decent cook since like, forever?'

'I CAN make something if those responsible for shopping did their damn job!' she cried in annoyance. 'I got big mouths with big appetites to deal with and they'll get cranky if today's shoppers are damn late! Where ARE they?!' she fumed angrily, looking very cross. 'They have better be here on time or everyone's gonna go hungry!'

'I was pretty sure they left an hour ago...I'll go see.' and Joker ran off in a panic.

It turns out that they're veeeeery late by two hours, due to traffic in the streets due to a carriage accident about ten carriages in front of the wagons so yes, dinner will be veeeeeerrryyyy late.

'We're so sorry everyone!' the shoppers apologized as the irritated looks vanished since its clearly not their fault. Just that they'll have to go hungry for a couple more damn hours.

At least their cook is considerate with the portions of tomato-based Beef Stew with loads of chunks of beef, potatoes, carrots, onions and fluffy white rice.

But she has rules.

'LINE UP PROPERLY OR ELSE!' she hollered with a megaphone, causing many ears to ring. 'Darn it there's plenty for everybody! This is NOT a competition, OK?! Now line up, dammit!'

xxx

On the other hand...Ciel and Sebastian mobilized. But considering their situation, they need Scotland Yard because who's going to take the children home? And are they even OK?!

Sir Randall was apoplectic with rage but there was nothing they could do as news came to the Watchdog came too late. 200 children already dead before he received his next task about the Circus. Even more shocking, a noble family is behind it and the Queen wasn't too happy about it and the only consolation was, they acted as soon as the circus arrived in London and acted before a child from London can be taken.

But the catch is, there's preferential treatment.

Children with 'beauty' are treated like living dolls and toys, dressed in cute clothes while the ugly children or plain-looking ones suffer a grisly fate. What they all have in common, is the brainwashing, capable of only obeying the Baron as slaves to his will.

Such is the morbid scene when they stormed the manor of the clearly-insane Baron Kelvin and there are about 70 children in his mansion, clearly not right in the head anymore and doctors and families are called about the situation.

Next was storming the Circus on a raid, timing it on a no-show day.

It so happens that Linnea is cooking with her stalker, insisting on helping out if even peeling potatoes.

He stalks her and behaves in a way she could never understand, but she does know what being shy is as she used to be one due to her abusive past.

For someone like Linnea who grew up knowing only pain, she never knew of and was never taught about Love. She cannot comprehend love and moves based on logic and her own set of morals on what she believes is right and wrong. Thus it never occurred to her that Snake has a crush on her when they heard screams of panic.

'W-what's that?' Snake asked nervously and gunshots followed. 'Nina, we should hide!' he cried as he held her protectively.

An action that stunned her.

She was hugged once by Tanaka, when she told him how she grew up and he educated her on what she has rights to as a person and human being. After that, never again but he was always there for everyone.

The second hug came from Snake.

'...those guns are not for two of us at least. Just keep going with the potatoes.' she smiled at him kindly. 'You have nothing to fear Snake. Just ignore it.'

'E-ehhh but its still scary but I'll protect you with my life!' he declared in resolution. 'You're all I have! I can't lose you!'

'Uhm, I'm afraid I have no clue what you're getting at...I mean, aren't the First Tiers very kind to you?' she asked him, confused.

'Y-yes, they are...but its still not the same...they are not my kind. I still feel alone.' said Snake sadly. 'I desperately wanted to meet someone like me so I'm not alone anymore. Its my whole life's meaning to find such a person. A person who can understand snakes like I could whether or not they're scaly like me.' he said. 'Tanya, my old snake since I was a child told me I should find a mate and make a happy nest together with that mate, someone like me.' he said with a dreamy, hopeful expression and it dawned on Linnea what Snake truly wanted with her. That's assuming she's OK with it of course!

Where's Tanaka when you need him?

'Linnea. Good work.' Sebastian came out of the shadows. 'Its time for you to go home now.'

'Linnea? Isn't your name Nina?' Snake asked her, confused.

'Snake, I came here under that fake name under a mission in the name of my master, as well as in the name of Queen Victoria. I am a State Agent like Sebastian here and my real name is Linnea.' Linnea told him. 'Out of all people in this circus, only the Third Tier and Second Tiers are innocent as well as you, the only innocent First Tier member. The rest are arrested for their crimes.'

'C-crimes? Joker and the others?' Snake choked. 'But why? They were so kind to even me! I can't imagine them committing a crime!' he stammered out in shock.

'That is a discussion not for public hearing I'm afraid.' said Sebastian, making a 'shhh' gesture. 'Shall we go?'

'I'm coming with you!' Snake choked out. 'Linnea's all I have! Please! Let me stay with her!' he begged. Sebastian gave an inquisitive look to Linnea who sighed.

At the Phantomhive Mansion...

'So let me get this straight...you wish to stay with Linnea because of her newfound ability to communicate with snakes?' Ciel wanted to be of age to drink brandy so badly in some occasions but sadly, he is underage so he settled for tea. 'And its because your childhood snake told you to find a mate who is just like you and,' he choked, '-make a happy nest together?' Snake nodded vigorously. 'Linnea, in human language, he wants to marry you and have a family together.' Ciel deadpanned as Linnea did a double-take. 'He's effectively your suitor now.'

'But...what's marriage? What's a happy family?' Linnea asked him cluelessly. 'I have no idea what that is.'

'Tanaka.' Ciel sighed in a long-suffering to his steward who nodded.

'Right this way for counseling...' he said, gently leading them out of the office and Ciel sighed.

'This is a new can of worms.' Ciel groaned, banging his head on his desk.

'She fails to comprehend something she never had in the first place, my lord.' said Sebastian. 'No matter how we explain, she may never understand.'

'I'm afraid so.' Ciel swore. 'I wish I'm old enough to drink.' he scowled. 'I'm old enough to work yet not old enough to drink. How is that fair?' he complained. 'But since Snake intends on staying, he should at least be of some use. We can have poisonous guard snakes and our servants won't lose sleep for a change. But let's see the scope of this ability. Linnea hasn't a clue until she found out when she started there and discovered she has the same ability, hence his fixation on her as his ideal mate. We really need to do something on how he sees life. His point of view is that of an animal's for crying out loud.'

'So he's now our new employee?'

'Assuming he doesn't piss her off, make him disappear and make the others forget him.'

Tanaka separated both into individual counseling. Snake went first as Linnea resumed her duties and Tanaka would talk to her tonight.