Disclaimer: I only own Faye.
Chapter 3: Welcome to the Circus
Phantomhive Manor
"Sebastian, do we have Jane Eyre?" Faye asked as she looked over the bookshelves in Ciel's office.
"Yes, my Lady. Would you like me to retrieve it for you?"
"That would be why I asked if we had it." Sebastian smiled patiently at Faye's rudeness as he walked straight to the book. It wasn't like Faye to treat servants that way, but sometimes she couldn't help it with Sebastian. It wasn't Sebastian's fault Ciel sold his soul to him. Nor was it Sebastian's fault that William had spelled him to fall in love with Faye. And given those two circumstances, Sebastian bartering Ciel's life for Faye's fidelity was the best she could have hoped for. It still didn't change the fact that Faye preferred to blame Sebastian for everything. His being a demon just made it so easy to make him out to be the villain in all this.
Sebastian held the book out to Faye awkwardly so that she had to brush against his gloved hand to take it from him.
"Might I ask why you would be interested in reading Charlotte Bronte? It's not like you to indulge in fiction reading."
Faye sighed. "Aunt Francis is concerned that in my three years 'away from England' I've developed some untoward characteristics. She's taken it upon herself to fix this by ensuring I attend the most frivolous and ridiculous things London society has to offer. Lady Irene hosts a book club once a month, and this month the book is Jane Eyre. Aunt Francis promised Lady Irene that I would attend. Without consulting me, of course. At least Elizabeth will be there as well."
"Marchioness Midford may have a point."
"You mean you don't think that knife throwing and casting spells is appropriate noble behavior?" Faye asked sweetly. "Perhaps not for most of the mindless fools in high society, but I'm a Phantomhive, Sebastian. We're a bit of a different breed when it comes to nobles."
"Agreed, my Lady, but that's not what I meant. I was more referring to your habit of befriending the help. And of making your poor opinion of a few nobles a bit too clear during this past social season."
"Ah, yes. As the butler of the Phantomhive household you are determined to turn Ciel and me into the best and most remarkable of nobles possible. You are a most diligent butler. However, don't you see some disconnect between your desire to turn me into a proper Countess and your desire to keep me for yourself? A Countess and a butler is hardly proper. And wouldn't it benefit you if I were to look a bit less marriageable? As a young woman and one of two heirs to the Phantomhive fortune I am, in fact, considered quite the match to many noblemen."
Sebastian's eyes flashed. "The one thing need not be connected to the other. Though you do not intend to marry, there is no reason for the impeccable Phantomhive reputation to suffer because of it."
"Right," Faye scoffed, "because the evil nobleman—" She cut herself off as she became aware of a raucous noise coming from downstairs. "What is that?"
Sebastian sighed, putting one hand to his forehead. "The other servants, no doubt. There's no telling what they may be up to this time." Sebastian paused in the doorway. "My Lady, you should go first, of course."
Faye looked at Sebastian in surprise. Not that he would insist Faye go through the door first, but that he would wait until he was in the doorway to say so. She walked to the door and stopped. "You're in the way," she declared.
"Nonsense. You can get by me with very little effort."
Faye frowned, but as Sebastian showed no signs of moving, went through the door, her arm brushing against Sebastian's chest.
When they reached the kitchen they found the stove on fire. Again. "Honestly," Sebastian muttered. "Please stand back, my Lady."
"Uh, I got distracted," Baldroy said awkwardly, holding a letter out to Faye. "It's a letter from the Queen. I was talkin' to the messenger and that's how the fire got started."
"Of course," Sebastian muttered. "It's not as though you regularly set the kitchen on fire."
Ignoring Sebastian, Faye opened the letter and titled her head in confusion. There were three tickets for a circus inside. "We'd better find Ciel," Faye said. "The Queen has a new mission for us."
"It looks like children are being kidnapped everywhere this circus has traveled," Ciel said a few minutes later as he, Faye, and Sebastian sat in Ciel's office. "The police have no leads, of course. Her Majesty wants us to find out if this circus is behind the kidnappings, or if it's merely a coincidence that children are missing from every city the circus has traveled through."
"So I guess we'll be going to the circus to investigate," Faye mused, picking up the tickets. "This will definitely be one of the more entertaining venues we've traveled to as the Queen's Watch Dog."
Noah's Ark Circus
Faye found herself distracted during the circus performance. She kept trying to get a read on the souls of the performers, but there were far too many people around and they were too far away. It was hard to focus on the dazzling acts when the pictures of the missing children kept flashing through Faye's mind. It was always worse when children were involved.
They were nearing the end of the performance when the ringmaster, Joker, spread his arms wide and said, "Observe 'ow the beautiful Beast tames this ferocious tiger. Can we get a brave volunteer from the audience to 'elp with this act?"
To the side of Ciel, Sebastian stood up. Ciel and Faye gave each other significant looks. Sebastian must have noticed something they had missed.
"Excellent!" Joker called. "Come on down, sir!"
Sebastian steadily made his way to the stage. There he bypassed Beast and Joker to kneel before the tiger, lifting its paw and—spouting praises. Of course.
Faye dropped her head in her hands, "Idiot," she hissed, not sure if she was referring to Sebastian or to herself and Ciel. Of course Sebastian would be enthralled with the tiger. It was a giant cat. Cats always eclipsed everything else that was going on for Sebastian.
Faye heard gasps from the crowd, but kept her face in her hands.
"The tiger's attempting to eat Sebastian," Ciel said dryly, though Faye still didn't look up. It wasn't like the creature could do Sebastian any permanent damage, after all.
"Well, this evening has been a waste so far," Faye complained as the crowd gasped again. "Maybe we'll get a chance to look around after."
"Assuming Sebastian doesn't decide to go looking for the tiger instead of the missing children," Ciel quipped.
"You'll have to give him a direct order, just to be sure," Faye said, feeling equal parts amused and frustrated. She thought she had shared Sebastian's same love of cats, but to go so far to be near one…Still, this was one of Sebastian's more charming sides. At least, when they weren't in the middle of a case it was.
Sebastian rejoined them, followed by the eyes of the astounded crowd the whole way. No doubt they were wondering how Sebastian survived having his face chomped on by a tiger. Twice.
Faye was plotting how they could unobtrusively scout out the circus when Joker came running up to them. "Excuse me! Sir! Sir! I'm sorry about what 'appened with Betty. Though, we didn't expect you to jus' walk up to her like that. Still, we 'ave a doctor 'ere. Please, come to our medical tent so 'e can check you."
"If Sebastian got hurt it was his own fault," Faye said matter-of-factly. Joker sent her a shocked look before Ciel gave her a warning one.
"That's very kind of you," Sebastian said. "I'll come along and get myself checked out. My Lady, my Lord, please go wait in the carriage. I shall catch up to you as soon as I am able."
Ciel gave Sebastian a curt nod before turning and walking away with Faye trailing along behind. Ciel had been right to give her a look. This was the perfect opportunity for Sebastian to get a look at what was going on behind the scenes at the circus. Still, it was hardly the circus's fault if some fool walked right up to the tiger.
Ciel and Faye clambered into the carriage, Faye struggling to manage her long skirts without anyone to help hand her in. "So, what do you think?" Faye asked once she was settled. "Did you notice anything suspicious?"
"No," Ciel admitted. "If they have kidnapped the children, they're not putting them in the show. We'll have to dig deeper. Hopefully, Sebastian will discover something."
When Sebastian returned, he only had bad news. "There are no children being kept here," he informed them. "And I found no clues to their whereabouts in my brief time among the circus performers. I'm afraid if we wish to find more information, we're going to have to join the circus."
Faye and Ciel gave Sebastian disbelieving looks. In return he gave them a brilliant smile. "Thankfully, I've already been offered a position. You two will have to try out tomorrow morning." The disbelieving looks turned to ones of horror. Sebastian was serious.
"Join the circus?" Ciel sputtered. "We're nobles. How do you expect us to fit in with this low crowd?"
"Now, my Lord, do you want to find the lost children or not? And I'm well aware that the two of have more than capable acting skills. I'm sure you'll do fine. It's only until we find the information we need."
"We'd better work quickly," Ciel muttered, crossing his arms and staring out the window as the carriage rattled along.
"And what, exactly, do you believe my brother and I will be doing as members of the circus?" Faye demanded. "I'm sure you were easily able to impress them, but Ciel and I have not, in fact, been training to be performers for years."
"You have your knife throwing, my Lady," Sebastian supplied easily. "I'm sure you're good enough to pass their tests. And I'll think of something for my Lord. I can fake that he's good enough to make it if need be." Ciel muttered something incomprehensible to Faye as he continued to stare out the window.
Faye had a feeling this case was going to be one of her least favorites.
Phantomhive Manor
Faye stared at the mirror in trepidation. She liked to believe she wasn't one of those arrogant nobles who thought themselves better than everyone else. More important than all those below their station, but she had to admit that seeing herself wearing peasant clothing was an odd sight. Even as an associate of the Grim Reaper Dispatch Society, she still wore proper and quality clothing. The white smock and brown skirt she wore made her look like…a commoner. Not that there was anything wrong with that. It was just a strange sight to see.
Sebastian had purchased the clothing early this morning and Mey-Rin had rolled the cloths in dirt to make them look more well-worn. The effect was completed by the messy braids Faye had put into her hair. She was certain there were many Lords and Ladies who wouldn't recognize her in her current state.
Shaking that thought off, Faye left her room to join Sebastian and Ciel downstairs. They would take the carriage almost to the circus and then walk the rest the way. Servants seeking employment shouldn't be able to afford their own carriage, after all.
Sebastian was waiting for Faye at the front door when she came downstairs. He was standing so that he was in her way. Again. Faye stopped and stared at Sebastian, crossing her arms. He raised his eyebrows in question, acting as though he didn't understand why she wasn't walking past him. She raised her eyebrows in return.
"Is something wrong, my Lady? We must be on our way or we'll be late for the circus tryouts."
"You tell me if there's something wrong, Sebastian. This is the second time this week that you've stood in my way."
"Nonsense. As I said before, you're perfectly capable of getting past me."
"Not without touching you, I'm not."
"Is touching me so abhorrent to you?"
"Faye! Sebastian!" Ciel called from outside. "What is taking you so long?"
Faye dropped her arms and brushed past Sebastian, though stopped halfway through and turned towards him. "There are easier ways of initiating physical contact than by being in my way," she said, assuming that a desire for physical closeness was the reason behind Sebastian's abnormal behavior.
"Indeed, and for more pleasurable ones as well," Sebastian said, smiling down at Faye. His arm swept around as though he were about to curl it around her waist, but he stopped at the last minute, freezing his arms a few inches away from her. Faye gave him an odd look, but walked towards the carriage. They had to leave now or they'd be late. Faye would ask Sebastian what that was about later.
Noah's Ark Circus
"All right," Joker said, clapping his hands together. "If you're goin' to be a knife thrower in our circus, you 'ave to be able to consistently 'it a target from this distance. 'Ave a go at it, Missy."
Faye judged the distance between her and the target as she got a feel for the knife in her hand. It wasn't as heavy as her knives, which made sense since it was meant for a performance, and not for maiming people. She was confident she could throw far enough, her only concern was compensating for the lighter knife.
Without warning, she threw the three knives in her hand in quick succession. They were slightly off from the center of the target, but each was embedded nearly to the hilt.
"That's…quite th' arm you 'ave there," Joker said slowly, blinking in surprise.
"Pent up aggression," Faye said by way of explanation.
"Ah, right." Joker shook himself to bring his attention back to the matter at hand. "Well, you 'ave potential. You're not as good as your friend, but you'll do. A bit of tutoring from Dagger and you should be in the shows in no time. Now, let's see 'ow the little one does."
Faye backed off, sure Ciel was steaming at being referred to as 'the little one.' With help from Sebastian, Ciel passed the tryouts as well. Somehow, Faye was unable to drum up any enthusiasm for their success.
"Now we need names!" Joker exclaimed enthusiastically, clapping his hands together. "Whatever names you 'ad before, forget 'em. All that matters now is 'o you are 'ere at the circus. You," he pointed to Sebastian, "will be black." He pointed at Faye next. "Danger."
"Danger?" Faye asked, skeptically. "Why Danger?"
"Because, a nice lady like you throwin' knives is a surprise. An' I 'ope to make you a duo with Dagger somewhere down the line. Danger and Dagger," Joker spread his fingers wide and moved his hands apart. "Like the sound of 'at, Danger?"
"Naturally," Faye said as enthusiastically as she could manage.
"And you," Joker continued, looking at Ciel. "You gotta smile kid, we're in the business of makin' people 'appy."
Ciel shot an annoyed look at Sebastian before turning back to Joker and giving a beatific smile. Faye was surprised at her reaction to the smile. Maybe it was because she knew it was fake, but it creeped her out. It reminded Faye of how Ciel used to smile, but he never smiled like that now. It felt more like a mockery than a smile, but Joker seemed pleased. "Excellent, kid! We'll call you Smile! Now, you three follow me to the practice tent. Impressive as you all are, you've got a lotta 'ard practice ahead."
They walked into a tent full of bustling performers practicing all kinds of tricks. "Oye, Dagger!" Joker called. "Come see what I've got for ya! We've got some impressive new recruits, an' one of 'em's for you."
"What, impressive? Not as impressive as Suit," Dagger argued, coming towards them, but stopping and glaring when he spotted Sebastian. "Him?!" He demanded, but Joker ignored them.
"Yeah, as impressive as Suit. These guys are jus' comin' outta the woodwork, I tell ya. 'Ey, Suit! Come meet the other newcomers. You an' Black will get along great, I'm sure."
Sebastian and Ciel froze when they spotted Suit. Faye could empathize with their shock. It wasn't everyday one ran into William T. Spears. At least they'd learned one thing today. If a Grim Reaper was here, something dark was definitely going on behind the scenes at Noah's Ark Circus.