A/N: An extra long chapter today!
Disclaimer: I only own Faye.
Phantomhive Manor
Faye's eyes snapped open as her heart raced. She stiffened, but lay very still in bed. Without moving, she looked around the side of the room she could see. It was dark, but the open curtains let in the light of the full moon. All Faye could see were her night dresser and vanity table. She had been dreaming that someone was watching her. The sensation felt so real that it woke her up.
Getting her thoughts in order, Faye closed her eyes and sensed around the room. She found no souls. Expanding her search, she detected the familiar presences of Mey-Rin, Tanaka, Baldroy, Finnian, and Snake. No intruders were within the Phantomhive home. Still, it had felt so real…
Throwing off her blanket, Faye got up and looked out the window. With the house all in order, the window was the only way someone could have been watching Faye, but since her room was on the second floor, that was impossible. Sebastian and Ciel's absence must be getting to Faye. Since returning to Phantomhive Manor, Faye had never once slept without those two present.
Faye told herself she was being ridiculous, but she still gripped the curtains in her hands and slid them tightly shut. She would not sleep with them open until Sebastian returned.
Faye stared listlessly out the hall window the next morning. She kept her curtains shut and knives under her pillow, but she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her at night. Every night. She woke up in a cold sweat, heart pounding and sure that there was someone in her room. A ridiculous thought. Faye's magic didn't lie, and she never sensed any souls in the manor other than those that belonged.
"E-excuse me, my Lady," Finny said, sidling up to Faye nervously.
"Yes, what is it?" Faye asked softly, wondering why Finny seemed anxious.
Closing his eyes and bowing his head, Finny shoved a bouquet of flowers toward Faye. "This is from all of us!" He exclaimed. "All the servants, I mean. We know you miss Ciel and Sebastian, but they're safe and I'm sure they'll be home soon. They'll solve the mystery of the strange behavior of those boys at Weston College in no time!"
Faye smiled and took the flowers. She had been tired and jumpy thanks to her nights. Obviously, the servants had noticed and attributed her behavior to the absence of her brother and head butler. She needed to be more careful not to worry them. Especially since, as far she could tell, there was nothing to worry over. "Thank you, Finny. You and the others always take such good care of Ciel and me. I appreciate it very much."
Finny beamed and gave a short bow before heading back to the gardens. Maybe all of Faye's anxiety was simply because Ciel and Sebastian were gone. She couldn't think of any other explanation. Tonight, she would sleep in Ciel's room. Maybe being surrounded by her brother's scent and possessions would help.
That evening, Faye did just that. She went to bed easily, hopeful of receiving a good night's rest.
An hour past midnight, Faye's eyes shot open. Without thinking, she gripped the knife she'd placed under Ciel's pillow and threw it at the foot of the bed. Only to hear it thunk into the wall. She cursed as she lit the lantern on the night stand. She knew there had been someone there, but the light revealed only an empty room. Insanity was the only option. Faye was going insane.
Flopping back onto the bed, Faye resolved to visit the Midfords the next day. There were only two more days until the cricket tournament, and she was sure Elizabeth would not object to Faye spending those nights with her.
Weston College
Faye twitched her skirt in irritation as she followed Elizabeth inside the grand hall of the college. Of course Aunt Francis had insisted Faye dress up for the occasion. Heaven forbid Faye not make a good impression on all the eligible young men attending the college. Still, Faye could hardly complain for the compensation she had received in return. Since staying at the Midfords, she had not once felt that someone was watching her. It must have truly been anxiety over Sebastian and Ciel. She hadn't realized she was so dependent upon their company.
"I can't believe Ciel is going to play in the cricket tournament," Elizabeth said with clasped hands and a starry look in her eye. "He'll look so good in the uniform."
"Does this mean you won't cheer for Edward?" Faye asked in amusement, sure the news would crush Elizabeth's brother.
Elizabeth flushed. "Well, Ciel is my fiancé. I need to support him, don't I? And mother and father will be there to cheer for Edward. That's enough, isn't it?" She looked at Faye hopefully, as though praying that Faye would agree with her assessment.
"Well," Faye said slowly, as though carefully considering the matter, "I never imagined that you wouldn't cheer for Ciel. You've already been to three of Edward's cricket tournaments and cheered for him then. This is Ciel's first tournament, and he's not as athletic as some other students. How could you not give him your support?"
"That's right," Elizabeth said with a firm nod of her head. "Ciel needs our support, and we'll give it to him with all our might."
"Absolutely," Faye said, trying to contain her laughter. All she wanted was to be present when Edward realized that his precious little sister had chosen Ciel over him.
"Quiet girls," Aunt Francis admonished. "They're going to introduce the teams now."
Faye stood back and watched as the crowd ooed and ahhed over the four teams varied entrances. Elizabeth squealed when Ciel came out dressed like a scholar. It was odd to see Ciel not only participating in a group activity, but for it to be a cricket team of all things. Of course, it was all in the name of being the Queen's Watchdog, but still.
As the last team was introduced, the students dispersed among the crowd. Edward and Ciel approached Faye and the Midfords. "You both look so great!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "I'm so excited to watch you play tomorrow!"
Edward's face, which had been shining a moment before, fell. "But, you're going to cheer for your big brother, right, Elizabeth? Like every year?"
Elizabeth paused awkwardly and Faye smirked. "Well…I'll cheer for Green House as long as they aren't facing Blue House," Elizabeth said with forced cheerfulness.
Edward glared at Ciel who gave him a winning smile in return.
"I'd like to speak with Faye a moment," Ciel said, linking an arm through Faye's. "We'll return soon." Ciel led Faye out into the dark night.
"What have you found out?" Faye asked.
"Only that I need to speak with the principal to find out what happened to Derek and the other four boys," Ciel said with a sigh, staring out at a partially burned dorm house. "The five students were all transferred to Violet House. I set the house on fire to chase out the missing students since I wasn't able to enter Violet House through other means. All the students present came out. Derek and the other four were not among them."
"Why does that mean you need to speak with the principal?" Faye asked.
"Because the principal is the one responsible for transferring the students. I've asked all around the school about Derek and why he was transferred. Everyone says something different about what sort of man Derek was, but they all say the exact same thing when I ask why he was transferred. The principal did it. Five students are missing and no one questions why because the principal ordered it. Apparently, Weston College is all about breeding mindless followers."
"I'm assuming joining Blue House cricket's team is somehow related to you meeting with the principal?"
"Only the prefects and their fags are allowed to meet with the principal, except for one exception. One outstanding player from the cricket game is invited to the midnight ball with the principal. I need to be that player."
Faye smiled. "I'm sure you and Sebastian will manage it without too much trouble. Is there anything I can do to help?" She didn't believe Ciel had asked her outside while the Midfords waited for them just to tell her about his current assignment. That's wasn't her little brother's style.
"Right now, every student and teacher should be in the main hall for the cricket party. Attendance is mandatory, and I doubt any student wishes to miss the opportunity to see their family and party. Do you sense any souls outside of the main hall?"
"Why not ask Sebastian to do this?" Faye asked curiously.
Ciel shrugged. "Sebastian has not been able to find the missing students. I'm curious as to whether your magic will pick up on something that he has not."
"Weston College is a big campus," Faye said, looking out over the grounds. "I'll need to walk around if I'm going to do a true search."
"Then do it," Ciel said with a brisk nod. "I'll return to the party and have Sebastian monitor you from the main hall."
"What excuse will you make for my absence?"
Ciel smirked. "I'll tell Aunt Francis that I introduced you to a senior member of Blue House who insisted on taking up all your time."
Faye flushed and smacked Ciel's arm. "How did you know Aunt Francis wants me to find a suitor?"
Ciel's smirk grew. "Edward told me Aunt Francis wished for him to introduce you to ideal suitors. He's been agonizing over who to sacrifice."
"Does Sebastian know?" Faye asked, wondering what his reaction would be. According to their deal, Sebastian got to dictate who and how Faye interacted with the opposite sex, but what was Faye supposed to do in a situation like this? She couldn't act overtly rude or chase men off by some other similar means; it might damage the Phantomhive reputation, and Sebastian couldn't support a plan like that.
Ciel's look turned sour as he shook his head. "Sebastian knows nothing of it." He titled his chin up. "I don't see how it's any of his business, regardless of how he may view the situation."
Faye raised her eyebrows. "And how do you view the situation? Are you hoping to marry me off?"
Ciel gave Faye a look. "You're only eighteen and have no interest in being married. Why would I support such an idea? We'll find some way to placate Aunt Francis later. For now, it's an excuse that won't have her questioning where you are."
"Very well," Faye said, turning and walking out into the dark night. Faye paused outside each building and murmured, "Firnai mysta nuk." It was a spell to sense souls. She wasn't as good at detecting souls as Sebastian; it wasn't her specialty, but this spell worked well enough. A small multi-colored wave flowed out from Faye into the building. Nothing. Faye passed empty building after empty building. It appeared no students or teachers chose to skip out on the party, just as Ciel said.
Faye came upon a building on the outskirts of Weston Campus and murmured her spell. This time, the spell hit something, but it didn't feel right. She didn't sense souls, per say, but souls were the only thing this spell should detect. Faye put her hands on her hips and frowned up at the building. "Firnai mysta nuk," Faye repeated, concentrating harder this time. There was something there, and there was more than one of it, though she couldn't tell how many. Could this have something to do with the missing students?
"What are you doing here?" A voice asked sharply.
Faye whirled around, her hands automatically going for her knives. She blinked, confused for a moment to see a young man her age with long dark hair wearing a purple cloak, then she remembered seeing him at the head of one of the cricket teams. He was the prefect for Violet House.
Faye opened her mouth to answer, then closed it and titled her head as she studied the prefect. Was he upset to see her out on the grounds, or upset to see her in front of this particular building? Did he know what strange creatures lay inside?
"I am Countess Faye Phantomhive, the older sister of Earl Phantomhive," Faye explained, her mind quickly thinking up an excuse for her presence here. "At the age of ten my brother inherited the title of Earl as well as control of the Funtom Company, which he quickly turned into a brilliant success. I've had a hard time wondering what Weston College could possibly offer him. My curiosity led me outside to look at the grounds of the college."
Violet studied her with unwavering eyes as he stepped closer to her. "And what do you think of our college after looking around?"
"Excuse me," a familiar authoritative voice said, "I believe everyone should be in the main hall right now." Faye almost laughed at the sight of Sebastian in professor's robes and glasses. Not because he didn't look good, Faye had to admit that it would take a great deal to make Sebastian look anything less than devilishly handsome, but because it was so strange to see him wearing something other than his butler uniform. Of course, after seeing Sebastian, the ploy was obvious. Faye should have guessed Sebastian would make himself a teacher here. How better to help Ciel with his mission?
"Sorry, Professor Michaelis," Violet said, glancing sideways at Faye. "I saw Countess Phantomhive out for a walk and thought she might have gotten turned around."
Faye's eyes narrowed for a second. Violet could not have possibly seen her here from the main hall. How long had he been following her for? Had he seen her perform magic? Surely he'd be acting far differently if he had spotted such a thing.
"Yes, well, back to the main hall, you two," Sebastian said, ushering them towards said building.
"Professor Michaelis," Faye began, wanting to take Violet's attention away from whatever he might have seen, "Ciel speaks so highly of you. I wanted to thank you for all the help you've given him at Weston College. I'm sure that coming here has been a big change for him and you've made it much easier."
"It has been my pleasure," Sebastian said with a sincere and gentle smile. Faye didn't know whether to laugh or runaway, but the look did make Faye greatly desire to see Sebastian acting in his role of teacher for Blue House. What kind of persona had he created for this role?
"Professor Michaelis, might I speak to you a moment before we return?" Faye asked outside the main hall.
"Of course, Lady Phantomhive," Sebastian agreed with a nod, gesturing for Violet to continue inside.
"What building were we in front of a few moments ago?" Faye asked quietly.
"It's an administrative building," Sebastian answered, tilting his head to the side curiously. "It holds the office to the Principal and Vice Principal. Why do you ask?"
"The principal?" Faye asked, more to herself than to Sebastian. That certainly provided evidence that Ciel was correct in his belief that he needed to question the Principal about the five young men. "There's something unnatural in that building," Faye declared. "I don't know what or if it has anything to do with Ciel's current mission, but you might want to keep an eye on it."
"Unnatural?" Sebastian asked, raising his eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?"
"I'm not sure," Faye said with a slight shake of her head. "My magic found something in there, but I don't know what. I've never felt anything like it before."
"Very well," Sebastian said. "I will keep that in mind." He paused before raising Faye's face towards his with a gentle hand on her chin. "How have you been while I've been away? You haven't had any trouble from Lord Trancy, have you?"
"No," Faye said, briefly considering telling him about her phantom stalker. She ultimately decided against it. If it turned out to be nothing, which Faye was fairly sure it would, the last thing she wanted Sebastian to know was that she was starting to depend upon his company.
"And what of my first question?" Sebastian asked, leaning closer to Faye. Faye flushed and tried to pull away, but Sebastian's other hand came up to cup the back of her head.
"Fine," Faye said in as bored a tone as she could manage. "I suppose things are less lively without you and Ciel around. And the food's not as good. Bard is now able to make somewhat edible food, but either I or Tanaka end up helping him more often than not."
Sebastian tsked, slipping back into his butler persona for a moment. "The Lady of the house should not help in cooking meals," he admonished. "I thought we had moved past this."
"Only when you're around to stop me," Faye said, giving Sebastian a pleasant smile.
Sebastian's eyes darkened for a moment before he leaned down next to Faye's ear. "Are you being entirely truthful about your feelings, my Lady?" He breathed. "I've missed you terribly being away for so long." Sebastian's hand on her chin slipped around and he slowly ran it down her back, making Faye shiver. "It's agonizing to be away from you for more than a day. Don't you at least have compassion for that?"
Before Faye could respond, the door to the main hall opened. In an instant, Sebastian was a respectable distance from Faye. "Ah there you are," an unfamiliar student said, looking Faye over. After a moment, Faye realized it was Redmond, the prefect for Red House. "Gregory said that Ciel's sister was here. Would you mind if I stole her away, Professor?"
"Of course not," Sebastian said. "What are the celebrations surrounding the cricket tournament for if not making new friends?"
"Exactly," Redmond agreed, sweeping an arm around Faye's waist and leading her back into the hall. Faye felt off balance with the situation. Had Violet sent Redmond to question Faye? Did they think Redmond could seduce Faye into telling him why she was wondering the grounds?
"We've been most impressed with your little brother," Redmond said. "He's a young man of sterling character and is quite accomplished for his young age. I would have been happy to have him in my own house with his heritage."
"Thank you for taking such good care of him," Faye replied cautiously. "I'm sure the influence of the prefects of Weston College has been a great help to Ciel."
"It is an honor to have a student such as him at Weston College," Redmond countered. "It is also an honor," he began, grabbing Faye's hand with his free hand and bringing it to his lips, "to meet Ciel's beautiful older sister." Faye blinked in surprise. Was it possible Redmond genuinely wished to meet Ciel's sister and wasn't planning on questioning her?
"That's very kind of you," Faye said, gently extracting her hand from his. "Though I'm sure there are plenty of other young ladies here tonight simply waiting for your attention with bated breath." The statement was true enough. Faye could practically feel the glares of the women watching Faye with Redmond.
"Duty calls, I'm afraid," Redmond said, stepping away from Faye. "Though I do hope I will see you tomorrow at the tournament."
"Of course I plan to attend to support my younger brother," Faye said, "but I imagine you'll be too surrounded by your adoring admirers to notice whether I'm there or not."
"You wound me," Redmond said, placing a hand over his heart as he backed away. "I assure you, I would notice your absence immediately."
Faye shook her head, vaguely amused despite hating his type. If a man was going to pursue a woman, he should pursue her and her alone, but she couldn't deny that Redmond did have a certain charm about him.
Faye turned to look for her family and stopped short when she nearly ran into Edward and Greenhill, yet another prefect. Edward's face looked pinched as he said, "Faye, this is the prefect of Green House, Herman Greenhill. Herman, this is my cousin and Ciel's older sister, Countess Faye Phantomhive." Faye wondered how much bullying Aunt Francis had done to force Edward to make this introduction. Or maybe Edward feared his mother as much as Faye did and complied with her demands without question.
"It's great to meet you," Greenhill said, holding out a hand in greeting.
"You as well," Faye said with a smile, though internally she was cringing. This was almost turning out to be worse than a ball. Faye wanted to kick Edward when he abruptly excused himself to go separate Elizabeth from Ciel.
"Your brother is a credit to our college and to your family," Greenhill said.
"That's very kind of you," Faye said, wondering just what Ciel had done to make such an impression on the prefects of Weston College. Or more like what Sebastian and Ciel had done.
"From what I hear, your team is favored to win the cricket tournament," Faye said as the two of them walked towards the buffet table.
"Green House is the most athletic house," Greenhill said with a self-conscious chuckle, blushing as he scratched the back of his head. "All the houses have their specialties though. Blue House gets the best grades. Purple House produces outstanding musicians and artists. And Red House is very good at things like poetry."
"Are you concerned about your chances of winning?"
"Having the most athletically inclined students doesn't guarantee a win," Greenhill argued. "The other houses have trained hard for this event too. It will be a great battle to determine the winner."
Faye almost laughed at the enraptured look in Greenhill's eye as he talked about the cricket game. It was a childlike sort of glee. They reached the buffet table and both grabbed plates. Faye had only gone a little ways when the first table buckled, one of the legs giving way. Quickly, Faye lifted her plate high with one hand as her opposite knee came up to brace under the table, preventing the food from sliding down and covering her dress.
"Nice reflexes!" Greenhill complimented, kneeling down to fix the table leg. "And you must be quite strong to be able to support the table like that."
"Oh, it's nothing," Faye demurred, lowering her leg to the floor as the table regained its support from the fixed leg.
"Nothing?" Greenhill repeated. "You could have simply jumped back to save yourself, but instead you chose to support the table and save all this food for the rest of the guests. Clearly, Ciel is not the only Phantomhive with outstanding character."
"It's only food," Faye said. "Nothing so great as you're making it out to be."
Prefect Four Gazebo
"Ciel's sister is made of the same stock as he is," Greenhill said admiringly as the four prefects sat with their fags that night. Tomorrow would be the tournament and they felt they should spend some time in camaraderie before they became enemies for a day. "I was very impressed with her. And not only that, her athletic skills seem to be quite developed as well."
"Her lineage and looks are impeccable," Redmond added.
"She seems to have advanced skills in the occult," Violet murmured absently, his focus on his sketch pad.
"What are you all saying?" Edward stuttered. "I don't know who you all think you met, but only Redmond's description fits. Faye's talents lie with musical instruments and other ladylike pursuits. She's not any more athletically skilled than Ciel and she's certainly not into anything occult."
"Are you sure it's not you who doesn't know Lady Phantomhive?" Violet asked. Edward protested and started making arguments, but Sebastian had heard enough. He'd eavesdropped on the P4 hoping to hear more about the principal. He had no desire to listen to young human males go on about what belonged to him. Balls he had to tolerate; Faye had to keep up appearances as the Countess Phantomhive, but this was another story. He would not have her at the cricket tournament for those foolish young men to show off to, or at the after party for them to dance with. Not that he thought she would care in the least about their cricket performance or dancing with them, but he certainly did.
A/N: No, Faye has not suddenly become a Mary Sue, I just wanted to harass Sebastian And orchestrate a reason for Faye being entirely alone and vulnerable in the next chapter…