A/N: As much as I love writing this story and as much as I love the circus arc, I hate writing the circus arc characters. The slang english is really killing me D: Well I hope it's passable enough for your entertainment. I did put effort into it. So enjoy :D

P.s- if you want to see what Tessa's circus costume is here's the link: .com/il_fullxfull.

Chapter Sixteen

One would have thought that the circus would have had to take time crafting each of their performers' costumes separately, but turned out that this wasn't the case. Joker split the new additions by gender, leaving Sebastian and Ciel to follow him and me to go along with Doll so that we would be able to find something suitable out of their plethora of materials for customs.

The tent I followed Doll into was completely overflowing with skirts, dresses, sashes, shoes, laces, and all other sorts of costume parts. I could hardly handle the overflow of colors and materials before me. There was definitely enough in here to sustain the circus performers for years without worrying about wearing the same costume twice.

I fingered the articles of clothing before me, a particular image in mind for my costume. I would not settle for anything other than this and I was set on looking until the end of the world if I had to.

"Jewelry is over there, if you're curious to look," Doll stated, pointing towards the table at the other end of the tent.

I nodded and turned only half my attention to the random articles of costumes laying throughout the tent, while the other half of my attention was left to observing Doll as she tried to aid me in my search.

She was a pretty girl, suiting her nickname fairly well. The skin stretched over her delicate features was creamy white in color, though a layer of powder hide a dash of bronze freckles from immediate notice. The large headdress of white roses she wore accented her light coloring and the bright blue of her eyes, that were framed with false lashes with tiny false crystals at the end. Her white dress drew attention to the slender form of her body and the subtle curves, only in existence with the help of the cut of the dress.

Doll, I observed, was also the type of human to be overly friendly, helpful, and trusting. Once she had got me alone, she could not stop her chattering about how nice it was to have another girl in the circus. She told me how I was the first addition that was close to her age, the others were either years her senior or years her junior. I would nod and add the polite word when necessary, but for the most part I didn't care to listen in on her useless rambling.

My fingers touched something of interest and I turned my full attention to the costume piece before me. My smile broadened at the particular gem I'd unknowingly stumbled upon. The piece wasn't one I had originally drawn up in my head, but it was absolutely delightfully perfect. It was a black and white dress, if that was the correct term for it, with a double corset. The bust of the dress was made with a thin black cotton and had a heart shaped neckline to it before the two lace strap wound around the neck. The corset on the outside of the dress was made of two different patterns and a had plated design in the middle with a woman's face painted onto. Below the corsets the skirts flared out to just above mid-tight. The top layer was made of tiers of black and white stripped satin with black lace at the edges. They were pull to the sides, away from the mid-section in the front of the dress, to reveal a much shorter sheer black lace skirt. Along with the dress were a pair of thigh high black stockings with black garters and elbow length black gloves.

"Whatcha looking at?" Doll asked curiously, as she peered over my shoulder, slowly a smile crossed her face. "Is that the one?"

I smiled and held it up, "May I?"

She nodded and used her pointer finger to direct me towards the curtain separating the open area of the tent from the changing area, "Right back there."

Without a second confirmation, I slipped behind the curtain and stripped off the loose clothing I'd walked into the circus wearing, quickly replacing them with the costume. I wasn't at all surprised to find that the piece fit me like a glove. The only down side I could see of the costume was the double corset. A single one was tricky enough to deal with, but having to also tie the second one on the outside of the dress tight was a task in itself. Frowning to myself, I used the mirror to help me get the ties perfect.

"Blimey, you look like a regular circus performer already," Doll chuckled. "Yer sure you ain't done this before?"

I shook my head, laughing to myself, "Of course not."

"Well, you've got to get somethin' done with that hair of yer's," she stated, pointing to the bronze locks cascading down my back.

I nodded and grabbed a couple of pins from the table with the accessories, carefully using them to pin my hair into a simple twist and purposely leaving a few stray locks fell loose to frame my face.

"You'll need a hair piece," Doll pointed out, as she held up a small version of a black top hat surrounded by tiers of black mess netting and soft black feathers.

"Thank you," I smiled kindly as I accepted the piece and pined it off centered, leaning heavily towards the right side of my head.

I smirked and lifted my chin a little higher in a haughty look, eyeing my appearance in the mirror. Doll watched me for a moment, before rolling her eye and grabbing my arm.

"C'mon," Doll urged. "We ain't got time to waste! Everyone else is probably there already!"

I couldn't help, but laugh at her rush, but allowed myself to be tugged back into the direction of the main tent. As we got closer I could hear the low chattering of the entire circus company, but only three voices stood out. They were closer to us, on the outside of the tent rather than inside with everyone else, but that wasn't what made them stand out. The loudest of the three belonged to Joker, I'd recognized that voice anywhere at this point, and the other two were Sebastian's and Ciel's voices.

"Yer late, Doll," Joker scolded playfully when he spotted Doll and myself.

She beamed brightly and rubbed the back of her neck, "Ah, well the miss over here took her sweet ol'time getting dressed."

I feigned a look of annoyance and placed my hands on my hips, but didn't let any words pass my lips. Instead I turned to look over Sebastian and Ciel's costumes. Sebastian wasn't at all different from his usual black butler suit, rather it looked as if he'd just exchanged the tie for a black ribbon with a skull pin and painted a sharp line down his right eye. Ciel's was definitely different from his usual refined clothing. A stripped blouse with flowing sleeves was worn under a dark blue vest and a pair of light blue shorts with added tiers of extra cloth. I almost laughed at his appearance, he looked nothing like the earl he was, but kept it hidden behind a large smirk. I didn't need Ciel getting angry at me before everyone.

"Well since yer here now," Joker announced gleefully. "We can get yer introductions done."

I could see Ciel visibly grind his teeth together as we stepped into the tent as a group behind Joker and Doll. The company looked like a sea of different shapes and colors all blending together, faces were almost impossible to tell apart with all the obstructions of hats and headdresses in the way. Joker waved for us to stop before everyone else and the room fell silent except for a soft whisper here or there.

"Everyone," Joker announced with a large smile. "From today on, we have some new friends."

He looked back at us, first waving to Sebastian, "New comers, Black."

Sebastian smiled, "I'm Black, it's a pleasure."

"Blaze," he pointed to me and I gave a polite smile and a wave. "Also this one is, Smile!"

Ciel's face contoured into a grimace at the nickname, "Sm-."

"Let's get along well, everyone," Joker announced, cutting off Ciel unknowingly.

"Come on, Smile," Sebastian teased with a smile. "Greet your elders."

Ciel bristled slightly, but clearly the shock hadn't worn off otherwise he would have normally snapped at Sebastian for teasing him.

"It's," Ciel began softly, before I elbowed him in the back as a silent hint to be louder. "It's nice to meet you."

The performers around us laughed as they came up to greet us more personally, joking that Ciel was too shy. The young earl's classic scowl creep over his features as he heard this, his pervious shock finally coming to an end and leaving the him in the makings of a foul mood. I could only barely contain my laughter as demands for Ciel to smile rang out among the chatter of the crowd trying to talk to each of us.

By the time the crowd cleared away, I could only remember a few faces and names. They all seemed like friendly people, with the exception of the animal tamer from last night who refused to approach any of us and the tall man who seemingly had a permanent scowl on his face. I looked after the dispersing group as I tried to recall anything particularly suspicious, yet nothing stuck out. Everyone was seemingly innocent enough.

"Now I'll take you on a quick tour of the backstage area," Joker stated, upon coming back to us. "Follow me."

We followed the Joker who went from section to section of the circus to show us the inner workings of the circus. The second tier members, us in other words, lived in the tents closest to the main tent. They were cramped quarters with wooden bunk beds in each other, he informed us the two or three people often lived in one of them. I couldn't help my grimace as I remembered the times when I was with the caravan and the large tents everyone got to themselves with piles of silk pillows and blankets. Standards were really different here it seemed. The mess hall were in tents nearby, they were clean enough but cramped as well. Joker also told us the news that we'd be helping with the cooking since we were new. Then came the first aid tent in the direct center of the camp, which none of us planned to be paying a visit to anytime soon. The last grouping of tents looked much nicer then all the others we'd seen earlier and as Joker continued talking I understood why.

They were the first tier tents, only the first tier members got to go in them. I could only imagine what laid inside them, probably something much similar to the tents I'd seen back in the desert except with warmer materials in the place of light silks. The only tent out of them that Joker pointed out was owned by Snake, which we were warned often left poisonous snakes loose. I eyed the tent curiously, the snakes I didn't fear but I wondered about the man behind them. From seeing him last night he had appeared mortal, but never before I encountered a human with the ability to control snakes. I had to admit, it all interested me somewhat.

Our last stop was a lively tent, just a size or two smaller than the big tent. It was the practice tent. Everything was set up similar to the big tent, except this one wasn't cleared of any equipment for training. Practice wasn't something Sebastian and I needed, but to keep up appearances we'd have to do so.

"Work on the basics first. Warm up carefully and," Joker warned, before he was cut off by his name being called.

"Joker! It's your turn!"

I looked over to the open tent flap were the silhouette of a woman stood, when she took a step forward into the light I instantly recognized her. Beast, I believe was the woman's nickname at least and now I was starting to see how the name suit her in many ways. Her gaze was openly hostile as she looked from Joker and towards us, but those eyes focused more on Sebastian than Ciel or myself.

I silently wondered what he'd done to upset the woman to this extent.

"Go ahead an' go all out, you three," Joker said leaving us there by ourselves.

Once he was gone, Ciel eyed the tent once over before mumbling, "The poisonous snake tent is the entrance to the first tier members' tent, huh? So instead of a guard dog, it's guard snakes is it?"

I smirked and bent over backwards, placing the palms of my hands flat on the ground, "It would appear that is so."

I rolled my head to the side so that I could see Sebastian and Ciel. Ciel was sitting on the ground, his legs spread out to each side as he leaned forward. Behind him, Sebastian kneeled on the ground, his hands resting on Ciel's shoulders as he tried to get the boy to relax his tense stance. Ciel ground his teeth and grimaced visibly as I caught something mumbled about being too stiff from Sebastian.

"To enter the private tent, we have to become first tier members?" Ciel asked, obviously annoyed with the idea.

"That could take months, even years to do," I commented, slowly kicking one leg over and letting my body follow after it till I stood on my feet once more. "And the circus will surely have moved to another city or country by then."

"Tch'," Ciel grumbled and looked to Sebastian. "If it's you, poisonous snakes shouldn't be an issue, right? You can see if the children are there or not."

Sebastian looked up, his face serious, "Their not."

Ciel froze, "Huh?"

"I couldn't feel any sign of the children's presence either last night or during today's tour," Sebastian explained and I nodded my agreement.

"To back Sebastian up, I haven't sensed anything either," I stated, sitting down on the ground and spreading my legs out till one lay straight out in front of me and the other behind. "If they were one the grounds and scared I would've felt some form of tug to be pulled into their memories."

Ciel sighed, as he and Sebastian lined up back to back, "Even so we have no evidence there's no relation to the children's disappearances. You two haven't throughly checked every nook and cranny."

Sebastian leaned forward, causing Ciel to end up bent over his back, "That's right. There's always the possibility their current condition is such that I'm unable to sense their presence."

"You mean dead in other words," I muttered softly, as I leaned forward over my leg allowing my nose to brush my knee, just as Sebastian and Ciel switched so that Ciel was the one hunched over.

"Don't say such unlucky things," Ciel snapped. "She wishes for the children's safe return."

"Understood," Sebastian stated. "By the way, instead of sensing the children's presence, I-."

"Hey! Don't stretch so sluggishly, you guys," Dagger called out, approaching us.

I smirked and leaned backwards, before sliding back into a standing position, "We were just finishing up."

Dagger laughed and nodded, "Well, first you gotta decide your program. What're hoping for?"

Ciel's face fell, "A program that doesn't involve using my body for something like tightrope walking would be good...in all seriousness."

"Yeah, you seem weak," Dagger laughed. "Then I'll be earnestly teaching Smile knife throwing. What about you, Blaze?"

I smiled, "Oh, I believe you know what I plan on doing."

Dagger thought back for a moment and I had the urge to shake my head, how could he have forgotten the trails so fast? It wasn't as if they'd been days ago, we'd only been released maybe an hour or two at most. I watched his thoughtful face melt for a moment, before realization dawned on it.

He snapped his fingers together and smiled at me, "Then you best be practicing. What about you, Black?

"I don't have any particular preferences," Sebastian stated simply.

"You've got good reflexes, don't you?" Dagger inquired.

Dagger began to babble again, but was cut off when Sebastian ran off to begin a relentless display of his abilities. I rolled my eyes and folded my arms across my chest as I watched the rather ostentatious show. In less than a minute he'd gone from being a flying blanco to juggler, to climbing poles and jumping through fire. The list kept getting longer and longer, while Ciel stood beside me getting more agitated by the passing moment. This time it was fear of being exposed that had the young earl on edge and I understood it very well, the abilities were becoming almost inhuman as he continued.

"Enough, enough," Dagger cried, halting Sebastian's actions.

A crowd gathered around him as soon as he stopped, everyone congratulating him on his talents. I couldn't believe no one seemed to suspect anything, it was unnatural, unless the average human was more of an imbecile than I thought.

"You're getting too carried away," Ciel hissed as we approached Sebastian. "Act a little more like a new-."

"C'mon, honestly another super newcomer's appeared?" Dagger laughed, though there was a detectable edge in his voice. "I won't lose, y'know."

"See he already has his eye on y...," the words died on Ciel's tongue as Dagger's words truly sank in. "Another?"

I bit back a frown. If this other new comer could compare to Sebastian then there were two obvious facts about him. The first one, he wasn't human. The second, he had to be either a demon, angel, or a...reaper.

My hands balled into fists at my sides as I clenched and unclenched my jaw. If it was a damn reaper, he'd better hope and pray that he wasn't one of the ones who'd reaped me so many years ago or else there would quite literally be hell to pay.

"There's this amazing guy who just joined," Dagger explained, before pointing to the tightrope above our heads. "Look, over there."

My expression melted into an open display of my disgust. A reaper. He stood on the tightrope high above our heads, not even wobbling the slightest as he held out what I knew to be his death scathe. Dagger, of course, didn't know any of this as he babbled on about who he thought the black haired reaper to be. All the while I couldn't help but notice both Ciel and Sebastian expressions had also shifted. Ciel looked up in slight horror, while Sebastian's face had become dark.

"Heeeey! Come down here for a sec," Dagger called up. "Suit!"

Ciel's eyes widened, "Th-that's..."

He never got the chance to finish that sentence.

The reaper glanced down upon hearing Dagger, before looking forward again and sighing. I watched as his lips muttered a few soft words, before the death scathe was extending towards where we stood faster than a bullet coming out of the barrel of a gun. I jumped aside, just as it landed into the ground, buried deeply into the soil.

"I did not think we would meet again, but...honestly," his green eyes narrowed in on us. "What did you come to fish around for this time?"

Sebastian held out an arm to shield Ciel behind him as we watched the movement of the reaper as he jumped from the tight rope and grabbed his scathe. In what would have been the blink of an eye for a human, the scathe was pointed directly at Sebastian's neck as the reaper openly glare him down. Everyone gasped, with the exception of Sebastian, the reaper, and myself. Even Ciel took a step back and gaped in shock.

"You devilish fiend," he accused, rather correctly.

"Devil...," Dagger mumbled softly.

Ciel eyes widened and my own grew in suppressed shock. It was a known fact that reapers were rather...socially awkward among humans. They didn't know how to keep their mouths shut and often spewed out the secrets humans weren't supposed to know about. That was only one of the reasons I hated them, and it was one of the reasons many of the other immortals found them rather distasteful.

As if trying to give substance to my line of thought the reaper went into a rant about demons and something about a reaper shortage. I almost chuckled at that. If anything I found there were too many reapers, the world could do with a few less of them.

To my surprise, Dagger had stepped forward and planted a smack on the the reaper's forehead, laughing the entire time.

"Give it up, Forehead," he chuckled. "You said it with such a straight face, I couldn't tell you were joking!"

I rolled my eyes, humans were idiots.

"Since the first day he came, this guy's been telling jokes," Dagger laughed. "Stuff like 'how about this soul'. He's a real hardcore occult fan."

'Suit' fixed his sleeked back hair and adjusted his glasses, "Though they're not actually jokes."

Naive to the tension, Dagger continued, "I'll introduce you. These guys just joined today. The small one over here is Smile, the big one is Black, and the girl is Blaze."

The reaper's eyes remained glued to Sebastian's face, not once looking at either Ciel or myself. My own eyes, though, were carefully searching his face for any familiarity that stuck out to me, but after a few minutes of searching his stern face I found none. I didn't know whether I was relieved about that or not.

"Well, bond over your hopes and get along well," Dagger grinned largely.

"Sorry, but there's no way I'll get along with a savage beast," the reaper spat, turning around and walking off.

"Ah," Dagger cried, turning after him. "No way! The circus is about teamwork!"

"Why is a grim reaper in a place like this?" Ciel asked.

Sebastian sighed, "A grim reaper personally infiltrating a place is rare...Now we know one thing for sure."

"There's something in this circus after all," I mumbled, folding my arms across my chest.