Disclaimer: I only own Faye.

Phantomhive Manor

Ciel scoffed and threw something in the trash.

"What was that?" Faye asked, pausing in her violin playing. Technically speaking, Ciel also should have been practicing, but got to skip for today because of a potential merger for the Phantom company that he had to review.

"An invitation from that fool Trancy to his costume party."

"Earl Trancy invited you to a costume party?" Faye asked with raised eyebrows. "Does he assume you'd be stupid enough to go? Obviously, he just wants to use this as an opportunity to either entice or force you into helping him."

"I have no idea what he thinks," Ciel said irritably. "If his demon isn't good enough to accomplish Trancy's desires on his own, that's their problem, not mine."

"Still, the Earl doesn't seem to be giving up. You may have to take more drastic measures."

"Agreed. I'll let the Earl make the first move, though. There's no need for me to make things more annoying than they already are unless I have to."

Faye nodded at the wisdom of this before returning to her violin. She only played for a few more minutes before the doors to the library were thrown open and giant flash of pink and yellow flew into the room. Faye had to blink a few times before she realized that it was her cousin Elizabeth wearing a pink dress with yellow lace dangling everywhere.

"Allow me to announce Lady Elizabeth," Sebastian said belatedly, walking into the library.

"Ciel, Ciel, are you going?" Elizabeth asked excitedly.

"Going?" Ciel asked, confused. "Going where?"

"To the party, of course!" Elizabeth exclaimed as though that explained everything.

"What party?" Ciel asked, growing annoyed.

"The Earl Trancy's costume ball," Elizabeth said, sounding hurt. "Didn't you get an invitation too?" She turned to glance at Faye. "I was sure that the Phantomhive family would also be invited."

"Why would I want to go to a costume ball?" Ciel asked.

"Because it's for children!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "Well, not exactly for children. We're not children anymore, of course. I just meant that older adults, like my parents, aren't invited. It's just for the younger generation. Don't you think that sounds exciting?" Or dangerous. "It'll be more fun that way! I could dance with you all night instead of having to change partners just to be proper."

"Lizzie, we're not going," Ciel said. "Not me, or Faye, or you."

Elizabeth pouted, her lower lip trembling. "But Ciel, don't you want to dance with me?"

"Not at Earl Trancy's party, I don't. He's a boor, Lizzie. You don't want to go."

"Yes I do!" Elizabeth exclaimed, stamping her foot. "And I'm going whether you go or not." She crossed her arms and stubbornly planted her feet. After a few moments she started whining again. "Why won't you go with me, Ciel? Who cares about the Earl, anyway? If you don't like him, we don't have to talk with him. I want you to go to be with me, not him."

Ciel threw a helpless look at Faye. Once Elizabeth got like this, nothing would change her mind.

"It's not very ladylike to throw tantrums," Faye said mildly as she put her violin away.

Elizabeth flushed. "I'm sorry, but you understand, don't you Faye? I just want to be with Ciel, that's all." Elizabeth came forward and took Faye's hands in her own. "Don't you think that it would be fun? You go out so little these days. You're just like Ciel, always throwing yourself into your work for the Queen. I think it would be good for you two to have a little fun."

Faye sighed and looked at Ciel. They both knew they had to go. Faye was sure this was going to be anything but fun, but they couldn't allow Elizabeth to go by herself. Faye was sure their cousin was likely to be hurt. The fact that Earl Trancy had gone so far as to invite Elizabeth was a threat in and of itself.

Faye's Room

Faye stared in her mirror unhappily. Her costume was far more revealing than she was comfortable with. Ciel had called in Nina Hopkins to design and make their costumes for the Trancy ball. When Faye had described what she wanted, Nina had been ecstatic to realize she wouldn't have to stick to normal modesty conventions. Nina had taken too many liberties with the design.

There was a perfunctory knock at Faye's door before it opened. Faye spun around to see Sebastian. She put her hands on her hips and glared. "You're supposed to wait for a reply before opening the door."

Sebastian merely stayed at the door and stared. Faye flushed and covered her chest with her arms, though that did nothing to improve the modesty of the outfit. Faye's one requirement to Nina had been the outfit of an assassin with lots of weapons. Given that Earl Trancy was bent on receiving Ciel's help and had a demon of his own, Faye wanted her weapons out and easily accessible. Faye's outfit consisted of a black low-cut, sleeveless shirt with unattached sleeves that started below her shoulders and continued nearly to her wrists. The sleeves contained a series of sheaths to hold her knives. On her legs Faye wore skin-tight black pants and knee high boots. At the top of the pants was a small skirt that was a vain attempt at modesty. She had a whip curled at her hip (where Nina had gotten a real whip, Faye truly did not wish to know), and just below the skirt were more knives. Rather than her usual elaborate braids and buns, her hair was simply held in a high pony tail.

"My Lady," Sebastian said with a slow smile, "you look dressed to kill."

"I feel dressed to walk the streets as a harlot," Faye complained, turning to look into the mirror again. Who had ever heard of a woman wearing pants? She also didn't appreciate having her shoulders and the top of her back and chest completely bare.

Sebastian came up behind Faye to look into the mirror with her. He lightly rested his hands on her shoulders before running them down until he reached the knife handles. Faye shivered at the touch and he leaned down to brush his mouth against her neck. "I'm sure you'd attract men's attention," Sebastian agreed, "but they'd be much too afraid to approach you. You look more dangerous than I've ever seen before."

Faye closed her eyes as Sebastian ran his lips up her neck. She was surprised when he pulled away, his hands slowly leaving her arms.

"Your brother is ready to go," Sebastian announced. "He wishes to arrive at the Earl's before Lady Elizabeth."

"Of course," Faye agreed, following Sebastian out her door.

Trancy Manor

"Your weapons look so real!" Soma exclaimed.

"Why bother doing a costume if you're only going to put half your effort into it?" Faye said lightly. She was both relieved and fearful to find Soma and Agni also at Earl Trancy's costume party. Relieved because they had allies there if things went wrong, and fearful because Earl Trancy had obviously done extensive investigation into the Phantomhive family to learn who was important to them.

Ciel leaned toward Sebastian and murmured, "Investigate the house for clues during the party. See if you can find out what it is they want from us and what Alois' contract is about."

"Yes, my Lord." Sebastian carefully faded into the background, seamlessly making his way through the guests.

"Dance with me, sister," Soma said, holding his hand out to Faye.

"All right," Faye agreed with a smile, still amused that Soma referred to her as his older sister and Ciel as his younger brother.

"Ciel's outfit is quite clever," Soma commented. "Being a pirate to incorporate his eye patch. It works very well."

"It does," Faye agreed. "Yours and Agnes are clever as well, attending as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. Were you aware that Ciel is quite fond of Doyle's writing?"

"Really?" Soma asked, pleased. "He must like our costumes then!"

To the side, Faye noticed Alois dancing with Elizabeth and throwing smug looks at Ciel, who was fuming against the wall. Faye's eyes darkened. Soma turned to look and laughed. "Ah poor, Ciel, being visited by the jealousy monster. He has no reason to worry though. Elizabeth's heart belongs to him alone."

Faye was sure that jealousy was neither Ciel's nor Alois' concern. Their dear cousin was being threatened.

Meanwhile

Sebastian swiftly rifled through the documents at the desk, barely glancing at each one. This pile contained nothing but business documents. Useless. In the bottom door he found one file on Phantomhive family. It listed their relatives and servants and detailed their work as the Queen's watchdog. Nothing about why the interest in Ciel though. Sebastian tossed the file back into the drawer.

Sebastian stood up just as Claude walked into the room, closing the door behind him. "Is there something I can help you with?" Claude asked.

"I'm doing quite fine on my own, thank you," Sebastian said with a smile. The two demons stared at each other over the desk.

"You know why you and your master are here tonight," Claude said.

"For a costumed ball?" Sebastian suggested. "Yes, it was quite kind of your master to invite the Phantomhives and all their closest friends. I'm sure they appreciate the gesture."

Claude's eyes darkened and he took a few steps towards the desk. "My master and I are in need of your aid in taking care of a certain demon."

"Why, whatever for?" Sebastian asked.

"Because my master desires vengeance," Claude explained. "He feels this demon has wronged him and wants the demon eradicated. That is what my contract with Alois entails."

"I'm afraid your contract is of no concern to me or my master. If you are unable to fulfill it by yourself, you will simply have to stay a servant of Earl Trancy until you figure out another way to accomplish it."

"If you and your master will not help us, we will make it your concern. I would not advise going against us."

Sebastian studied Claude silently for a moment. All of Claude's words were exactly what Sebastian would expect them to be, but there was something simply off about Claude. He had noticed it when he and the young Lord had come to Trancy Manor before, but it seemed worse now. There was an odd lilt to Claude's voice, and it seemed as though his whole attention was not focused on the task at hand. Was he that bothered by having to ask for Sebastian's help, or could it be something else?

Trancy Ballroom

Faye had switched Elizabeth as Alois' partner. A situation Ciel was hardly happy with, but at least Faye knew she could defend herself. Without his demon, this Earl was nothing but an obnoxious little boy. She had been watching him all evening and had noticed something about him. She leaned down to his hear to whisper, "You're quite obviously not the same as the rest of us nobles. You have no class and very poor breeding. You really should try harder to fit in."

The Earl jerked back, an angry and embarrassed look on his face. Faye gave him a cold stare before saying, "Thank you ever so much for inviting the Phantomhives to your humble home." She turned and walked away.

Ciel grabbed her arm when she passed him and asked, "What did you say to the Earl?"

Instead of answering, Faye said, "We've been here long enough for politeness' sake. Let's grab Elizabeth and Sebastian and leave."

"Leave?" Elizabeth cried, coming up behind Faye. "But we've not even been here two hours yet!"

Faye adopted an exhausted look. "I'm terribly sorry, Elizabeth, but I've developed on awful headache. The bright lights and all the noise, it's just too much."

"Oh no!" Elizabeth laid a gentle hand on Faye's arm. "Then we must go. Don't feel bad, Faye. There will be plenty of other balls." Faye could see that Elizabeth was still sad to go, but her concern for her cousin outweighed her desire to stay. Now the only problem would be finding—that butler truly did have uncanny timing. Ciel caught Sebastian's eye and gestured that they were leaving. Sebastian nodded and waiting for them at the door. Behind Sebastian, another man in a butler's suit entered and walked towards the Earl. That must be Earl Trancy's demon, Claude Faustus.

Claude froze on his way towards Alois as he spotted a figure in black approaching Sebastian. Her. Every fiber of his being cried out for her. He wanted to capture her and lock her away where only he could see her. Where only he could touch her. She was the cause of this insatiable desire he'd been feeling. This strange craving that he couldn't satisfy. She must be what he had smelled at the circus, the Earl Phantomhive's sister, Faye. He had to possess her at any cost.

"Claude!" Alois exclaimed in an irritated voice. "I've made up my mind. We'll target Elizabeth to ensure the Earl's cooperation. Ciel was far more upset when I danced with his fiancé than when I danced with his sister."

"No," Claude argued. "His sister is the one we should target."

"What?" Alois demanded. "Are you contradicting me, Claude?"

"Earl Phantomhive's reaction to you dancing with his fiancé would have been jealousy as much as concern. You are an attractive and wealthy man around the same age, after all. A sister is a safer bet than a woman Ciel is not married to. We know how close the Phantomhive siblings are from our reports. After already losing his sister once, I'm sure the Earl is desperate not to lose her again."

"Very well," Alois agreed reluctantly. "I'll follow your lead on this. You'd better not be wrong."

A/N: So now Claude finally knows. What will he do now?