Chapter 27
"It's Christmas! Time to wake up, my lady.'
"Huh...?" Her eyes opened a wink to the voice. Who the hell was disturbing her this early in the morning?
The face of a purple-haired Indian young man brightened when he saw her eyes open but later fell with a disappointed look when her eyes shut again. "Agni, Estella went back to sleep again!" She could hear the man whine to someone.
Trying to fall back to sleep was not possible with someone yelling over her head but she had to try.
"Miss Blancbaston, please wake up." Someone shook her.
She ignored that, determined to go back to sleep. The shaking stopped after awhile to her delight.
Giving up, huh...
"WAKE UP!" A shout invaded her ears.
"What the hell!" Estella shot up from her pillow. Her eyes were wide with shock. They went over to the grinning purple head. What was his name again?
She, however, was too annoyed to ponder.
"You finally woke up!" He seemed so proud of himself.
Estella shot him an angry look. "Why. Do. You. Need to SHOUT into my ears in the early bloody morning!"
"Yikes!" The purple head ran and hid behind a taller man, "Agni, she's just like Ciel!"
A voice came from the door. "Just like me?"
All heads turned to it to find Ciel leaning by the door in his pajamas. His hair was sticking out in different angles, and he looked annoyed. "It's no surprise. Shouting into people's ears just to wake them up was absolutely evil."
"Morning, Blancbaston."
His eye flickered over to Estella and back to the purple head who grumbled, "Ciel, why are you so mean to your best friend?"
"How many times do I have to tell you that you're not my best friend?"
"Meanie!"
Estella rolled her eyes at them and laid back down on her bed, silently hoping that no one noticed. She was about to drift off to sleep when one of them which sounded like that purple-haired moron, yelled, "She went back to sleep!"
In the end, she gave up trying to go back to sleep. It was definitely not possible with that moron yelling over her head. "I'm up. So will you SHUT THE HELL UP?" She swung herself off bed, grabbed up a maid uniform and stormed into the bathroom.
The bathroom door slammed close with a loud thud.
Prince Soma stared at the door with a horrified look and turned to Ciel. "She's indeed like you, Ciel!"
Ciel glanced away from the door and eyed the prince boredly. "Can't blame her."
…..
The doors of the dining hall slammed open to reveal Prince Soma.
"Ciel! Ciel! What's that square box?! Why are there people inside?!"
The said boy glanced up from his breakfast with annoyance clearly shown on his face. "Oh, shut up! Don't go yelling this early in the morning!"
Estella inwardly agreed with her master, too glared at the prince but she realized he was completely oblivious to their glares. He looked somewhat stupidly fascinated by his mysterious discovery. "There was a man who beat up bad guys! They were-"
"Anyway!" Prince Soma blinked at Ciel's outburst. "When are you two going back home to India?"
The prince looked puzzled."What are you saying? Aren't I staying in England for your sake?"
"Huh?"
"Didn't you say that you didn't believe me when I said I'd become a great man?" Prince Soma beamed proudly at himself, "So I'm staying until I become one so I can show you!"
Ciel had an incredulous look on his face. "Tha-"
"Prince!" Agni's head peeked in with a wide smile. "You were with Master Ciel after all. You weren't in your room so I was wondering where you had gotten to."
One brow rose at the man, Ciel snorted. "What do you mean 'his room'? I don't remember saying you could live here."
Prince Soma shrugged nonchalantly, brushing his comment away. "Besides that, how does that square box work?"
"That's why I'm saying!" The prince flinched. "LISTEN WHEN OTHER PEOPLE TALK!"
Estella sighed.
...
London. Scotland Yard Headquarters.
"It's convenient that Lord Randall is absent, isn't it?"
Fred Aberline blinked at Ciel before panicking when his eyes stopped on Sebastian who was copying the records. He turned back to Ciel. "Please forgive me! If the Commissioner knew about this-"
"It's better if he doesn't."
Estella eyed the officer with a calculated look and leaned towards Ciel. "Are you sure we should do this?" She asked in a low voice.
"Ah."
"In the first place," the two turned to Aberline who was glancing over at the window beside him and to them, "how did you get into the third floor file room?!" He had a look of disbelief.
Estella raised a brow at him. Actually, that was what she had in mind when they just got into the room. That inevitably increased her suspicions she had on Sebastian.
Ciel, however, brushed away that comment and strolled past him. "How does it look, Sebastian?"
"Of the children we've been asked to investigate," Sebastian's eyes never left the papers in his hands to look up at his approaching master, "there appears to have no increase in corpses."
"If you've finished copying the files, we're leaving." Ciel flipped through the pages of the records. "May I borrow these photos?"
Estella sweatdropped at the gaping man beside her. "That'd be troublesome!"
"If you're caught, say that I took them."
"I'll still be scolded!"
Estella glanced over at the flustered man with a sympathetic look. She glanced over to Ciel when he spoke again. "You...Let's see, Underline?"
"It's Aberline."
Ciel read the information Sebastian copied down, waving his hand dismissively at the officer. "Thank you for today."
Aberline jumped, startled by Sebastian who suddenly appeared beside him and grabbed up his hand. "A token of thanks for your cooperation." He felt the butler place something in his hand.
Shooting the butler a questioning look, he gazed down at his hand to see four golden coins. "I don't need this!" He snapped his head up to look at Sebastian with a scowl.
"There's something to be said for flexibility." Ciel strolled past him, "Whatever methods necessary...is it."
"I knew you used whatever methods necessary to solve cases as quickly as possible, but..." Aberline's hands curled up into fists, "...this is-"
"Hurry up and get promoted..." Ciel walked out with Sebastian beside him,"...Mr Aberline."
"Thank you."
Estella bowed her head apologetically at the poor man before leaving with the two in front.
...
"Could this be the work of SIGMA?"
Ciel and Sebastian who was in the midst of their discussion, glanced over at her who was uncharacteristically quiet the whole time, in surprise.
"There's a possibility that they could be involved, but it doesn't seem so."
Ciel eyed her thoughtfully before glancing down to read the letter in his hand.
To my cute little boy,
Did you pass this year's Christmas enjoyably? I made a Christmas pudding with my Philip. It was a grand thing, and even John and Grey praised it. Next time you'll try it too, won't you?
In any case, this time I've enclosed for you a ticket. Did you know a traveling circus has come to London? It seems they are a troupe that has visited various places, but somehow, in each city they have performed in seems there have been incidents where a number of children have simply disappeared. Apparently the children disappear suddenly in the middle of the night...
The government is also searching to the utmost of its ability, but the children's whereabouts are as of yet unknown. Really, it's as though they have been kidnapped by the Pied Piper of Hamelin. The unbearable sadness of being separated from their precious families...
I am asking you to safely return them to their families as quickly as possible.
Your Queen,
Victoria
Ciel sighed heavily and kept the letter. "It's someone else." His eye flickered over to Estella.
"Young Master," Sebastian brought his attention away," If this deals with the underworld, will we be visiting his place once again?"
The thought of the Undertaker had Ciel sighing the second time. "To be honest, I want to avoid it, but..." His eye swept across the two's face with a solemn look,"...whatever it is, we will be visiting a circus."
...
The three exited the Undertaker's shop and piled onto the carriage. One of them was still fuming.
"I can't believe I actually did that..." Ciel sighed at the embarrassing antics he did to make the Undertaker give him information, "And got nothing in return... That stupid Undertaker!" He growled.
Estella blinked at his annoyed face before breaking into laughter. "Pffft...I wish I was there to watch."
"Shut up."
"So, to the circus now?"
Ciel nodded before glancing out of the window to see them speeding down the street. "Yes, to Noah's Ark Circus..."
...
"Is this it?"
Ciel's eye swept across the sea of audience before him.
"Wow, nice-looking circus they have here..." Estella awed, studying the place around her.
The huge tent they were in filled with people of all ages. Chit-chats and childish squeals came from around them. The three chandeliers above the circular stage which was a few steps away from their seats, bathed the whole room in gold, painting the tent with life. From the look of the whole set-up, this circus was obviously only for the rich.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and girls of all ages!" Her gaze was brought back to the stage to see a uniquely dressed handsome man standing in the middle of a spotlight. The crowd around them let out a few murmurs and gasps at his abrupt entrance. "Welcome to the Noah's Ark Circus!" He bowed with balls in between his fingers.
Her eyes widened at his right hand. Skeleton!
There came louder murmurs and gasps from the crowd around them when he started skilfully juggling the balls. Everyone around her was awe-struck except for her master and Sebastian. Her master, she noticed, just watched on boredly as though it was everyday thing to watch.
"My name is Joker. If you'll look here...Whoops!" The flying balls slipped from his fingers and bounced off his head. The man who he introduced himself to be 'Joker' quickly recovered and glanced up with a sheepish smile.
While that happened, more uniquely dressed people appeared around him.
As though their entrance was a cue, a confident look replaced the smile quickly. With a clear of throat, Joker straightened up. "The whole circus is jostling for a chance to give you a fun show!"
"Here we go!" Joker had a smug smile as he announced, "With one shot from the fire-eating man..."
A bald muscular man who stood in one of the people behind him, blew fire from his mouth the moment Joker said that.
The man 'wowed' the audience. Gasps could be heard from everywhere.
The smug smile on Joker's face grew wider. "...The show of the century begins~!"
...
Performances went on, stunning the audience with each and every little antics. All eyes were glued to the stage with awe except for Ciel and Sebastian.
"If they don't intend to make a show of the children, perhaps the circus's movements and the children's disappearances are merely a coincidence?" Estella heard her master talk to Sebastian in a low voice.
"Or like I said, the children's disappearance could be because of SIGMA." The two glanced over at her in surprise.
"SIGMA can-"
"And finally! The star of the show, our wild animal tamer!" All three heads turned back to the stage to see a woman dressed in a very seductive black mini dress step beside Joker with a whip. Estella gaped at the woman's breasts. The dress looked like it was going burst from their size!
As if on cue, a tiger strolled out of its cage and greeted the audience with its cold yellow eyes which stunned them with fear and awe.
"For this act, we'd like a volunteer from the audience!" Joker and the woman stood, unaffected by the fact that they were right beside the gigantic beast, completely exposed to the danger.
Ciel sighed. "No matter how you look at it, this theatre going was a waste of time. It appears the final show also has no connection to the children."
"Kind of agree..." Estella nodded at this.
Abruptly, Sebastian shot up from his seat, alarming the two. He, however, looked too mesmerized by something to care that he was attracting them unwanted attention.
Estella blinked in confusion at him. "What the hell are you doing, Sebastian?"
Ciel frowned at his butler before looking to the direction Sebastian was looking. "What is it? Did you find something-"
"That really distinguished-looking man in the tailcoat!" Ciel glanced over to the stage to see Joker pointing at the butler. "Please step onto the stage!"
Ciel and Estella gasped in unison at that.
"Now, come on down!" Joker urged.
Ciel's eye widened in realization at Sebastian. Is that it? This is our chance to contact them.
"Sir." Sebastian waited for Ciel's permission.
"Go."
With that, Sebastian strolled forward.
The mystery case where children disappear one by one.
"Eh?!" Estella had an incredulous scowl at Ciel who had his eye fixed on his retreating butler's back.
The only clue to the truth of the situation is this circus.
Ciel didn't respond to the girl but continued watching in anticipation.
Making contact with them is a success but...Sebastian, how in the world does he intend to investigate?
Ciel's eye narrowed. His hopes growing as he watched on. With those spectators...
"Now, sir, could you lie down over there?" Joker gestured at a table with a smile when Sebastian stepped onto the stage, but his smile quickly fell when he realised that the butler wasn't walking towards it. "Ah?" A confused look was plastered on Joker's face as he watched Sebastian walk past him.
Silence hung heavily in the air as all eyes watched Sebastian strolled across the stage.
"Ahhh..."
Gasps erupted from everyone when Sebastian suddenly stopped in front of the tiger and knelled on a knee in front of it.
"Such round eyes..." His gloved hands caressed the tiger's face stimulating uproar of horror from the audience.
Estella panicked, staring at the butler as though he has gone mad. "Sebastian!"
Ciel, however, was too busy gaping in horror. "Crap! Tigers are cats!"
...
"Who say you can go that far?!" Ciel sneered at the butler as they three made their way out of the tent.
Estella stared at Sebastian as though he has two heads. "Yeah, yeah! Are you crazy?! The freaking tiger bit your crazy head! I'm surprise your head is still intact!"
"My apologies." Sebastian didn't look sorry at all. He in fact had a satisfied look on his face. "I've lived for such a long time, but it's only cats whose fickle emotions I cannot read." He said dreamily.
Estella blinked at the butler. She has never seen this side of Sebastian before.
Ciel looked annoyed. "What were you thinking? Being far more conspicuous than necessary...ACHOO!" He rubbed his nose with a scowl. "Walk further back! You know I'm allergic to cats!"
Sebastian merely bowed to that, watching his master strolled forward.
Estella was about to follow when a voice stopped her.
"Ah! There you are! Hold on a sec!" She and Ciel whipped around to the voice to see Joker from earlier show running towards them. His eyes were on Sebastian. "In the tailcoat!"
"I was surprised 'cause you suddenly got so close to the tiger." Joker said to Sebastian, "You okay from the bite? Anyway, we've got us a special doctor here, and I was thinkin' he should check you out. C'mon round to the back." Joker drew out his hand, his skeleton one to gesture at a certain direction.
Estella's eyes darted from Joker to Sebastian, anticipating for the butler to give his answer.
A polite smile suddenly broke across Sebastian's face. "In that case, I will."
...
The door of the carriage swung open, having Estella and Ciel snapping their heads over to watch Sebastian climbing on board.
"We've got an entrance test."
Estella raised an eyebrow. "Huh? What for?"
Ciel scowled. "Why did it end up this way?"
"Part of the circus. Perfect for this investigation, isn't it, Young Master?" Sebastian said calmly.
Ciel had a deep frown on his face. "Can't believe this." He huffed."It can't be helped. We'll do it."
Estella groaned at this.
...
The huge 'Noah's Ark Circus' sign before them gave her the dread. It was the day of the entrance test Sebastian got them into, no thanks to him.
Ciel, beside her, was dressed very un-Ciel like. Dressed in commoner's top and pants, he definitely could pass off as an ordinary pageboy called 'Finnian'. Though it makes her wonder why he had to use Finny's name.
Sebastian was dressed like usual. She was supposed to be maid who quit her job. Now, she was standing before the gate of circus with the other two in an attire of top and pants for the test, getting more and more nervous by the minute.
"Alright, let's go in." Ciel ushered as he strolled forward.
They were immediately greeted by the circus crew the moment they stepped past the gate. Some of them were who she recognized to be the performers she saw last night.
"Whoa, you brought two with you, huh." Joker emerged from the tiny crowd with an 'O'. His golden eyes flickered over to Ciel. "Are you a boy?"
"Pfft." Estella who nearly choked on her saliva upon hearing that question, raised an amused eyebrow at Ciel.
Ciel ignored her. "Yes. I was a pageboy at the manor. Um...My name is Finnian."
Joker stepped forward with a look of disbelief. "Are you really a boy? What a grand name."
An eyebrow twitching at that, Ciel nodded.
Joker then abruptly turned to Estella, giving a small bow to her with an endearing smile. "How about you? What's your name?"
She blushed slightly at how he was smiling at her. "M-My name's Estella. I-I used to work at the same manor as Finnian as a maid."
"Why did someone with a pretty face like you, work as a maid?" He gently raised her chin.
This time, it was Ciel's turn to nearly choke on his saliva.
Wha-What? Ciel raised an eyebrow.
Estella's eyes quickly flickered away from his golden ones when she realized she was staring right into them. Her face grew redder. This man...
She didn't know what to say so she merely shrugged.
The man before her chuckled and turned his attention away. "If you two join, we'll have to give you a stage name. But..." There was a heavy silence before Joker continued, "...The appearances aren't enough to join the circus. If you can't perform, that is."
Ciel and Estella nodded nervously in unison at that.
"In that case, let's do knife-throwing first." Joker turned away with a challenging smile. "Dagger, pass them the daggers."
...
Joker, Dagger and the other on-lookers gaped at the two target boards while Ciel and Estella held proud smirks. Each of their target boards had all eight daggers stuck to them. These were signs of success for their first test, thanks to Sebastian who secretly helped from the sides.
Joker blinked a few times at the boards before turning to them. "Impressive! Now to tight-rope walking!"
...
Her heart skipped a beat for Ciel when she saw that he was nearly going to fall from the rope.
"Careful..." Estella gasped under her breath.
"Ohh. He recovered, he recovered." Joker commented like an emcee when Ciel regained his balance, once again thanks to Sebastian.
She sighed in relief as she watched him made his way unsteadily over to the other side.
"Very good!" Joker cried out the moment he finished.
...
Her heart was beating like crazy and she was sweating like a pig right now. The rope was cutting painfully into her feet as she moved. Estella didn't dare to breath too much as she took unsteady steps across the narrow rope.
She noticed while she was on this rope that her balance has improved a lot thanks to her training though she still needed some help from Sebastian for this.
Another slow step forward, the muscles in her left leg clenched in preparation to move forward.
Estella nearly let out a shriek when she felt herself falling towards the side. Fortunately, another hit from a pebble at her side stopped her fall, just like what Sebastian did for the previous test. She silently cursed at the throbbing pain she got from it and continued her progress.
"Nearly there~" Joker cheered from below.
She peered up at the platform ahead and cheered inwardly. Four steps left.
One.
Another step brought her closer to the platform.
Two.
Her arms flailed when she felt herself falling to the side once again. Taking another hit at her side from Sebastian, she recovered, gulping nervously and carefully moved forward.
Three. One more to go.
She summoned a tiny more bit of energy and took her last step before landing onto the platform. Relief bloomed at her chest as she stood on her feet unsteadily, taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart.
Panting, Estella glanced over the edge of the platform with an accomplished smirk.
Joker gave her a thumb-up. "Amazing!"
...
"Everyoooone~ From today on, we have some new friends." Joker announced to the crew, gesturing at the three people standing beside him. "Newcomers. Black..."
Sebastian still had his usual butler attire but with an addition of a mark across his right eye. "I'm Black. It's a pleasure." He smiled widely at the crew.
"This cute one is..."
Ciel in a fancy pirate costume, had a strain smile on his face. "S-Sm..." He forced out.
"Smile!"
Ciel blew out a relief sigh, glad that he didn't need to finish saying his embarrassing stage.
"And finally..."
A fake smile broke across Estella's face. The small purple star on her right cheekbone was stretched slightly as the smile held on.
"...Star!"