In the hour before the sun rose the next day, Ciel, Sebastian, and Lilliana were making the final preparations before heading off for their mission in London. After she left for work, Lau had handed Ciel a letter from the Queen with three tickets inside for him and his head servants. Apparently "men in white" gave them to him, thinking he was a servant of the house. Sebastian carried the young lord's luggage while Lilliana carried the head servant's small suitcase. Ciel, despite being a young boy, had a lot of things to pack so he will always have an outfit fit for a nobleman, along with lower class clothing in case he had to be disguised. Sebastian rarely needed to pack much since all he ever needed was a new suit in case he somehow tarnished the one he was wearing. Lilliana, on the other hand, needed to bring her Reaper uniform, a maid outfit, and a set of lower class clothing for disguises. The trio walked outside to the carriage, where the other servants waited patiently to send them off. As Sebastian put the luggage above the carriage, he said with a smile, "It is fortunate that the weather turned out so fine. The perfect day to go to the circus, don't you think, master?"
"Circuses are generally held in large tents, aren't they? This rendering the weather quite irrelevant," Ciel said with his usual monotone before entering the carriage.
"Wow, taking out the fun in everything," Lilliana said under her breath as she watched Sebastian follow behind him. "Baldroy, Finny, and Mey-Rin, the master, Sebastian, and I will be staying in town for a while. Please try to behave yourselves, won't you?"
"Have fun! You take care of yourselves, all right?" Baldroy said, almost ignoring her request.
"We'll be seeing you," Finny said with a childlike smile.
"Please travel safe, you three," Mey-Rin said with a worried look. She trusted that the two of them would protect the young master no matter what, but always feared that something could happen.
Lilliana smiled before saying, "Remember why they hired you. Look after the place well." She then entered the carriage and with a whip of the reins, they were off to the circus. Sebastian and Lilliana sat on the same side, as usual, but keeping some distance apart to not give any hints to the young master, who was on the other side.
Ciel read the letter he received again to make sure he didn't miss any important details in this mission. Apparently, there was a traveling circus coming to town and there is a lot of hype for it, but something unusual happens whenever the circus visits a town: a startling number of children go missing with no trace of where they could have gone. The police have done all they could to find these children, but they have run out of options. The only pattern they have is that the children vanish in the middle of the night without a trace, as if they were lured away by the Pied Piper of Hamelin. She hoped that the Phantomhive household will find these children and bring them back to their families safely. After all, losing a family member must be agony for anyone. Once he was done, Ciel put the letter away and began thinking to himself, but Sebastian intervened, "Where will you begin your investigation, my lord?"
"The usual place, naturally," Ciel said. "I'm sure we will find something in the Archives." The servants smiled as they patiently waited for their carriage to arrive at their destination.
In no time, they reached the London Archives, but did not feel the need to go through the front door. In fact, they did not want to be noticed at all. It could have put an unnecessary delay in their investigation. After surveying the building for a bit, they figured a quick entrance through the third-story window into the desired room would serve better for them. However, they were noticed due to some noise and Inspector Abberline walked into their investigation. Of course, he was utterly surprised, but the trio kept investigating as if this was normal. Ciel tried to alleviate the tension by saying, "Very convenient that Sir Arthur is away from the station at the moment, is it not?"
"Please, I'm begging you, can you please stop. If the commissioner were to find out—," he said in a frantic, but was interrupted.
"Best to make sure he doesn't then, eh?"
"How did you even get up to the third floor?! No one asked for your credentials?"
"Sebastian, Lilliana, anything yet?" Ciel asked, completely ignoring his questions.
"No bodies have been found that match the missing persons reports, but I am not certain those reports are complete," Lilliana said as she looked at the recent death records.
"We'll leave when you've finished copying and we might as well borrow the photos of the missing children."
"Wait, you can't do that—?!" Abberline tried to protest, but to no avail.
"If you're found out, just say that I took them and you'll be fine."
"That'd land me in even more trouble!"
"Yes, well . . . So sorry, Underline, isn't it?"
"It's Abberline!"
"Right. You've been very helpful and we thank you. Your cooperation is much appreciated," Ciel said before Sebastian approached Abberline with a suspiciously innocent smile. He placed some coins in his hand as thanks, but Abberline looked at it with offense.
"I am not for sale, my lord! I just want those children safe and I will do whatever it takes to ensure that happens!" Abberline decreed.
"You're willing to do whatever it takes, eh? Very flexible of you. You have a bright future. I hope I'll be hearing of your promotion soon, Abberline," Ciel said as he and the other head servants exited the building, this time, through the front door, luckily not being asked how they got in. As they walked to the carriage, they proceeded to verbalize their next move, hoping to get more helpful clues.
"At least the children are being treated as missing persons rather than murder victims," Lilliana said.
"Yes, as far as respectable society is concerned, but somebody in the underworld may have disposed of them already," Ciel said as Sebastian opened the door and he proceeded to walk in, followed by the servants.
"Given that, am I correct to assume that we will be paying him a call?" Sebastian said, alluding to someone that he felt fairly neutral about, but knew the young lord would rather not interact with.
"I don't like it any more than you do, but when needs must, and all. Let's be off," Ciel said as he used his cane to hit the top of the carriage and alerting the driver to proceed. He then noticed Lilliana's smile at the statement and flared at her for doing so, but she didn't care. She actually liked this strange man since they relate on a level that even a demon could not understand. Plus, anytime a person could annoy Ciel and get away with it was quite the show.
Soon, they reached Undertaker's funeral parlor and proceeded to enter with caution since he was known for scaring them whenever he could. Ciel opened the door as he said, "Undertaker, are you here?" However, the place was a lot darker compared to the many times they visited. Sure, all the windows were covered but thick black curtains, but at least there would be light. Now, the only things lighting the room were numerous wax candles scattered around the parlor. They walked in, letting the light from the door guide them before it had to close, engulfing the room in almost complete darkness.
Soon, they heard Undertaker giggle and say, "Hello, my lord. It's so lovely to see you." However, they heard a low rumbling sound by their feet and quickly moved out of the way, avoiding knocking over any candles. With the dim light, they could see that a skull was rolling down the room and crash into what would have been bowling pins, but knowing him, they could have been bones standing up. "What's it to be, then? Do I finally have the pleasure of fitting you for one of my coffins?"
They all turned around and saw him standing by the door with that sinister grin planted on his face. "Look, you—," Ciel tried to say before he was interrupted.
"Have a seat, my lord. I've got a batch of biscuits still fresh from the oven," Undertaker said with his usual creepy grin that made most people uncomfortable, including Ciel, but not those familiar with death, like Lilliana and Sebastian. The young lord decided to take his offer and sit on one of the many coffins scattered on the floor while his butler stayed standing with the files of the missing children at hand. Lilliana, being friends with the strange mortician, decided to sit on his main counter, where he would talk business with his clients. Undertaker walked behind the counter and offered them bone-shaped biscuits, but only she accepted them. She grew accustomed to them after encountering this man for many years. "So, if it's not for a coffin, what would bring you here?"
"We have some questions to ask you regarding missing children," Ciel stated, trying to not show his slight anxiousness sitting on something meant for the dead. Knowing him, there could be a corpse inside it.
"Missing children, eh?"
"The authorities still consider them missing person and no corpses or anything of the sort have turned up that they know of," Sebastian continued, sensing the young lord's uneasiness.
"Well, tragic as it may be, dead children are part and parcel of life in the old underworld," he said as he bit into one of his biscuits. "A fact I'm sure you're aware of, my lord."
Ciel stood up as he said, "I have their information here. Look through these and tell me if you've 'taken care of' any of these children." Sebastian then placed the files on the counter for Undertaker to see, whose face was so close to the papers that his chin rested on the counter.
"Hmm, have I seen that face before? I don't know. I'd wager my memory would be a right bit sharper if I had myself a good laugh, though. I think you know what I'm after, my lord," he said in a cocky tone, purposely trying to get the young lord and Sebastian angry. "All you've got to do is give it to me. Just give me the gift of true laughter. One joke and all my information is at your disposal." Undertaker started giggling like mad, which made Lilliana hold some laughter back, but Ciel was far from caring to make a visible sign of anger.
"Sebastian, see to it, will you?"
"Certainly," Sebastian said, but was interrupted.
"Oh, relying on him as always and having him do all your dirty work, eh? That's the trouble with you upper-crust blokes; can't do anything without your butlers or maids."
"Aw, but I like Sebastian jokes," Lilliana said as she finished her biscuit and reached to get another one. "They always make me laugh."
"True, but I guess it's all the same for me. I'm only after a laugh. Don't matter who gives it to me," Undertaker said with a tone meant to get a reaction out of the young lord, which it did.
"I'll take care of this," Ciel said with his anger showing in his tone.
"Are you quite certain?" Lilliana said, surprised that this challenge is actually going to play out.
"Sebastian, Lilliana, wait outside. Go! Do not attempt to listen to this! That is an order," Ciel commanded, not wanting to hear another word from them.
However, Lilliana wanted to poke fun for a bit. "Aw, I wanted to watch-,"
"As you wish, my lord," Sebastian said, cutting her off to save her from the young lord's wrath. Lilliana sighed before following Sebastian outside the parlor, leaving Ciel alone with the Undertaker. Even with curiosity filling up inside her, she knew better than to argue with his butler, who would have fought her physically if she really did not want to cooperate, and most likely win. Sebastian made sure to be the last one out to make sure she wouldn't try to sneak a peak, even making sure she was a couple of steps away from the door so she couldn't listen in.
After a very long time waiting outside the door without any cue to come back in, Lilliana grew very bored and had been playing a game with herself. "12 men with hats, 5 women with necklaces, 4 children with Funtom toys. Wait, make that 5 children," she kept saying to herself.
"Having fun?" Sebastian asked sarcastically, knowing the answer.
"Oh, the most fun I've ever had," she repeated with the same sass. "But you know what could have made this a lot more fun: watching the young lord pay the Undertaker."
"We were given explicit orders to not listen to this exchange."
"C'mon, just a quick peek?" she said with puppy dog eyes, but only received a stern glare from him, making her back off. "You're no fun."
"I do admit that I am curious what the young lord will do, but this is a good lesson for him."
"It's not like there will be a time when he won't have you around to pay the Undertaker. Hell, even I could do that."
"And why don't you?"
"Because I like a good laugh too," she said with a chuckle before noticing another man with a hat. "13 men with hats."
"I'm pretty sure you missed his wife with the sapphire necklace," he said as he kept watch of the door, still waiting for a cue.
"Shit, you're right. 13 men with hats, 6 women with necklaces . . . I just had a thought," she said in the middle of her sentence.
"And that is?"
"You're asking a man who is surrounded with death to tell you if the children are deceased. However, there was an easier way: why didn't you ask the Grim Reaper whose job is to collect souls if the children were dead?" Sebastian just stared at her for a bit at the realization, but then they both grinned and held back chuckles, knowing that Ciel was doing all this for no reason.
In between chuckles, he asked, "So, are they dead?"
"I wouldn't know since you two didn't ask me to look at collected files, but I'm sure our young lord will find out soon."
It was nightfall when they finally heard a chuckle from the Undertaker inside, meaning that it was finally time for the two head servants to reenter the shop. "Aw, did he have to finally do it now? We were only a few short from 100 men. Final count, 96 men with hats, 67 women with necklaces, and 45 children with Funtom toys," Lilliana said as Sebastian opened the door for her and she entered. However, Sebastian was the most relieved since he admittedly was getting impatient, especially when it would have taken him only a few minutes to make the Undertaker laugh. For a young lord who believed in getting things done quickly, he really didn't want to give up.
"Who would've thought the Earl Phantomhive would have that up his sleeve? That kills me," Undertaker said with his usual mischievous grin. Ciel was visibly out of breath with his hair and clothes, which was now missing his coat, disheveled.
Sebastian walked up to Ciel to straighten his hair and clothes and asked, "What on earth did you do?"
"Don't ask," Ciel said, still trying to keep his dignity despite his appearance.
"Well it's a shame we missed a good show," Lilliana said as she went to the front counter to get some biscuits from the Undertaker. She didn't care if they were out for hours; she was hungry. Undertaker only giggled as he watched her eat multiple biscuits in one bite.
"Performing tricks on command like that for the Queen's sake, my lord. You truly are a dog, aren't you?" Sebastian said with a dignified, yet cocky tone.
"That's rich coming from the person who waited outside the door like a good dog waiting for their master," Lilliana said with a mouthful of biscuits. Sebastian glared at her; there was nothing that he hated more than being compared to a dog.
"Shut it. That's enough," Ciel said, changing the conversation while Sebastian put on his coat. "There, I've paid your ridiculous fee. Now, what do you know about the missing children?"
"Well, nothing," Undertaker said matter-of-factly.
"What?" the three asked in unison, but only Ciel was genuine. Sebastian and Lilliana made sure to be behind Ciel so he wouldn't see their smiles. Undertaker saw this and grinned, knowing exactly what they were thinking.
"None of these poor unfortunate little souls have been my customers. Nor have I heard any rumors that match their descriptions."
"So you're saying you don't know a thing about this, and I came here for nothing," Ciel said with frustration building up inside him.
"That's not how I would put it. You see, what I know is that I don't know."
"That's a good point. If he hasn't heard anything about them, that suggests that no one in the underworld killed them. Would you not agree?" Sebastian said with a genuine tone that masked the laughter he wanted to release.
"Yes, if bodies haven't been found in either social circles, then that suggests they're still living. In which case, I suppose our only option is to personally investigate that traveling circus," Ciel concluded.
However, Undertaker couldn't let them leave without one more good laugh. "Pardon me for intruding, my lord, but I believe you have neglected something very important," he said in a mischievous and playful tone.
Ciel was not in the mood for more games with the mortician, but had to know. "And that would be?"
"I'm afraid you aren't utilizing your resources fully," he said as he looked at Lilliana. She and Sebastian kept quiet, hoping the Undertaker would not blow their cover.
Ciel looked at her and then back at him. "I know, but I wanted to pay the fee myself—,"
"That isn't quite what I meant, my lord," he said with a grin as he watched the two head servants holding back their laughter, making him giggle as well. "Although I do enjoy our time together, you didn't need to stop by to get this information. You might have received even more accurate information."
Ciel looked at him with a confused look. "What do you—," he said before having a thought and looking at Lilliana again, who had her hand over her smile and Sebastian did the same. "Are you bloody kidding me?!" he yelled, his frustration finally boiling over. Lilliana and the Undertaker started laughing hysterically while Sebastian miraculously kept his laughter to only a covered chuckle. He couldn't laugh at his young lord; it wouldn't be allowed with his aesthetic. "So I really did do all of this for nothing?!"
"Not necessarily," Sebastian said, watching Lilliana and Undertaker practically fall on the floor, laughing their asses off. "I asked her outside while we waited for you and even she did not know any information. However, if we asked her earlier in our investigation, she could have researched while she was performing her Reaper duties."
"And you failed to inform me of this because . . . ?"
"Because you never asked, my lord," Sebastian said, letting one little chuckle escape from his lips. Eventually, Lilliana regained herself and stood up so she could be in the direct wrathful gaze of her master, but she didn't care.
"This was better than anything the young lord could ever come up with," she said, wiping some happy tears from her eyes. "I haven't laughed that hard in a long time."
"Neither have I," Undertaker said as he too caught his breath.
"We're leaving right now. Come, Sebastian, Lilliana," Ciel practically yelled as he tried to rush to the door and leave this humiliating place, but took a deep breath before continuing in a calmer tone, "Undertaker, contact me if you learn anything further."
"Don't forget, my lord: each of us is only given one soul. Take good care of yours," Undertaker said in a cryptic tone. Lilliana looked at him with a suspicious face, but couldn't ask him what he meant in front of a human.
"I hardly require such advice," Ciel said as he put on his hat and grabbed his walking cane.
"Are you sure about that?" Undertaker said with a giggle before they left his shop and closed the door.
With the long time they spent at the funeral parlor, they had little extra time to reach the circus before the show started. Though, they did manage to get there on time, they did not have time to explore the grounds beforehand, which would have been swift with two deities. Lilliana separated from the group for a bit as she changed into her Reaper uniform in the carriage when the two left since she most likely had little time between this investigation and her Reaper duties. Besides, she preferred wearing this than her maid dress any day. They observed the people, performers and guests alike, games, rides, various tents, food, and much more at first glance. It seemed like a normal circus; nothing out of the ordinary compared to others. They walked into the main show tent and luckily found three seats next to each other so they wouldn't be separated, although that wouldn't be a bad thing in order to get different perspectives. As they observed the stage, they noticed the multiple chandeliers that hung right above the stage, which was unusual for entertainment that could be as cheap as a traveling circus. "Quite elaborate, isn't it?" Lilliana said as she took her seat. She made sure that the deities kept Ciel in the center seat for protective reasons, as if they were his parents. In all honestly, they did act like it sometimes, the only main difference was that the child controlled them.
"Yes, but no more than any other circus if they received generous donations from patrons," Ciel said before removing his hat as he sat in his seat and Sebastian took his hat so he didn't have to hold it the entire show.
In no time, the lights dimmed until the room was completely dark minus the lights coming from the chandeliers. After a moment of silence, a spotlight lit up the center stage, where a ginger man in a colorful costume and makeup greeted the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls of all ages! On this fine day, welcome to the incredible, stupendous, unparalleled Noah's Ark Circus," the ringleader said with a cockney accent as he started to juggle many little colorful balls in his hands. "I'm Joker, this evening's ringleader. A pleasure to meet yeh, it is," he said as he bowed, letting the balls fall onto his head, which made the crowd laugh, but not for the trio that observed carefully. He caught one of the balls and squeezed it in his hand which they soon started to realize that it looked like a skeleton hand, but the ball disappeared.
"A prosthesis?" Ciel asked the two deities, who had better vision than he did. They nodded, still keeping close attention to the show.
"Tonight, you're sure to see performances that'll stun and amaze yeh and leave yeh breathless," Joker said before the lights behind him turned on, revealing silhouettes of the other performers. "And now, with a great blast from our very own fire-breathing Jumbo, the greatest show of the century begins!" Almost interrupting Joker and causing the other performers to run away, a giant man yelled before blowing on the torch he held in his hand, causing a huge gust of fire to warm up the stage. The audience watched in amazement as they witnessed one act after another perform, including two young-looking trapeze artists named Peter and Wendy, a knife-thrower named Dagger, a serpent-man named Snake, and a tight-roper named Doll.
However, Ciel, who at his age should be very entertained, was not. "Their acts all seem like standard fare to me. There's nothing particularly special about the program."
"Yes, And if there are children being forced to perform, there is no evidence of it that I can see," Sebastian said before looking at Lilliana, who seemed to be just as easily entertained as the audience, except for any death-defying acts, which was no fun for a person who always knew when people died. Still, her eyes were full of wonder, which was unusual for her. Even Ciel noticed this when he noticed Sebastian looking at her for a while.
She looked at them and said, "What? It's my first ever circus. Sue me."
Ciel sighed before continuing to observe the show, "What would a circus want with children if they didn't intend to use them as performers? Could it be just a coincidence that all the disappearances happened on the same route as the circus?"
"Last, but not least, the brightest star of our troupe! Feast your eyes on the famous gamer of wild cats: Beast!" Joker announced as a woman in revealing clothing showed off her taming skills against a tiger by making it jump through a ring of fire and lay obediently in front of her. "This very special act calls for some audience participation. Are there any volunteers, then?"
"It doesn't seem as if there are any children in the final act, either," Lilliana observed, keeping the closest eye on the show than the others.
"Well, this was a complete waste of my time," Ciel said in defeat.
"For you, maybe," she said before they both noticed Sebastian standing up for no apparent reason.
"Hohoho! The gent in the tailcoat there sure looks the most eager, eh? Please come up on the stage! Step right on up, sir," Joker announced as the crowd cheered. Ciel looked surprised, but Lilliana felt a bit jealous since she would have liked to be the one who got picked.
"I see what you're up to. An opportunity for a closer inspection. Go on, then," Ciel said, giving Sebastian the cue to go. "We must simply find a clue to those disappearances," he said to Lilliana.
"And it seems our best chance of doing so is by learning all we can about this circus," she said as they watched Sebastian walk onto the stage and walk closer to Beast and Joker. "But I don't know what he's planning with all these people watching him."
"I suppose we must wait and see. His methods may be unorthodox, but he always gets the information we need," Ciel said as he kept a close eye on his servant.
"Very good sir," Joker said to Sebastian as he approached them. "Now, if yeh'll please lie down—," However, Sebastian walked past Joker and Beast, completely ignoring what he was saying. Instead, he walked straight up to the tiger and put his hands on its cheeks.
"Ah! Those big, round eyes positively glow! Your ears are so soft!" he started to compliment with genuine adoration in his eyes.
However, the crowd was shocked, including Ciel, but he then realized something that was both pretty important and obvious. "Tigers are bloody cats!" Ciel yelled, making Lilliana lose it and practically fall on the ground, laughing. She didn't know if she could handle another laugh attack, but she had to whether she wanted to or not.
"I've never seen such vivid black stripes before. Breathtaking!" Sebastian continued, leaving both Joker and Beast speechless. They had never seen a volunteer do this before. "Oh dear, your claws have gotten a bit too big, haven't they? We shall have them groomed them, then. Attractively plump paw pads! I hope you'll pardon my saying so." However, without warning, the tiger opened its mouth and practically wrapped its mouth around his head, leaving the crowd in a panic.
"Release that man immediately, Betty!" Beast yelled as she raised her whip to hit the tiger, but Sebastian managed to catch it before it could touch her and possibly him, leaving Beast in shock.
"She has done nothing to warrant punishment. The fault lies with me. I was so overcome by her beauty, I behaved rudely. Furthermore, I doubt that one can train animals by just blindly swinging one's whip," Sebastian explained, making Beast blush in embarrassment and anger. She did not like being humiliated, especially in front of an audience, and especially Joker. However, Betty pounced on Sebastian and bit his head again, making the crowd panic once more. "Goodness, you're a feisty one, aren't you? I admire that."
"Betty! Spit him out this instant," Beast said before cracking her whip, this time, towards the ground to avoid another lecture, but still making the loud sound. Eventually, Betty let go of Sebastian and the show ended, much to his dismay since he wanted to spend more time with Betty. Joker said his closing speech while the performers took a final bow and the crowd cheered loudly. Ciel clapped quietly while Lilliana was just barely catching her breath. She could have sworn she was about to pass out; her body ached from the laughter. After a while, when all the performers retreated backstage, the audience slowly exited the tent. Some walked up to Sebastian to make sure he was all right and to tell him what a thrilling performance he gave, thinking he was secretly an actor. Sebastian played along, but when Ciel and Lilliana approached him, he knew it was time to leave.
The trio walked out the tent and Ciel said with a bit of frustration in his tone, "I didn't intend for you to take it that far."
"My apologizes, my lord. I've lived in this world for many years, but cats are such fickle creatures. I still can't quite read their moods. I simply adore that about them," Sebastian said, looking like a child who met his idol in cat form.
"He did provide a good show," Lilliana said, finding humor in Sebastian's change in his mood. It's rare he saw him genuinely smile, especially about something he enjoyed.
"What were you thinking? You attracted unnecessary attention—," Ciel said before he sneezed suddenly, alarming the two servants. However, he looked angrily at Sebastian as he said, "Dammit! You know perfectly well that I'm allergic to cats, you idiot."
"Huh, I didn't realize tigers counted," Lilliana said in a slight joking manner, making Ciel even angrier. Today just wasn't his day.
"Stay away from me," Ciel ordered rather harshly, but for a valid reason, as he walked away from him.
"Yes, sir," Sebastian said with a bow, unable to fight the order. Plus, he knew it was best for the young lord's health that he stayed away. He just didn't know how long this would last, especially since they had to be in a compact space inside the carriage. "Lilliana, can you care for the young lord in the meantime?"
"I guess I have no choice," she said as she was about to catch up with Ciel, but they were interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Oh, Eris! I found yeh," Joker said from the distance. Although he wasn't calling for them, they turned to his general direction. He kept calling out the name Eris and they figured it was someone close by, but when he got closer and closer to the duo, they realized he was talking to them, or specifically, Lilliana. "Yer usually with the other performers after a show. What are yeh doing with this bloke in the fancy tailcoat?" They looked at him very confused, but he insisted, "Eris, what's wrong with yeh? Can't recognize me?"
"Um, I'm not this Eris you speak of," she finally said.
Joker's eyes widened in surprise, but put a hand behind his head in embarrassment. "Oh, sorry lass. Yeh aren't who I thought yeh were. I can tell by your voice, but you do look awfully a lot like our fortune teller here."
"Her name is Eris, by chance?" Sebastian asked.
"Oh ho, someone has a sharp wit in yer head," Joker said with a smile.
"Or it's because you said her name multiple times," Lilliana said under her breath.
"Might as well learn yer real name then, miss, so we don't have this flub happen again."
"It's Lilliana," she said, extending her hand for a handshake, but instead, he gently grabbed her hand and kissed it, making her blush since she didn't expect that to happen.
"Nice to meet yeh, Lilliana," he said with a mischievous grin. "Anyway, I'm glad I mistook yeh. I'm so sorry for what happened earlier, sir," Joker said, now addressing Sebastian.
"No, please, it is I who should be apologizing for my behavior," he responded.
"Frightened me out of my skin, the way you walked on up to that tiger like she was a kitten. Sure yer all right, then? Not hurt anywhere?"
"Yes, I'm quite all right," he said with a fake smile.
"Just to be safe, it's best to look you over. Happens we have a doctor on staff. He'll be glad to take a look at yeh, I reckon. Please, come on back," Joker insisted, not letting them go for both a fear of his health and to not get sued if he didn't intervene.
Sebastian and Lilliana both knew this was a good opportunity to investigate the circus further and nodded to his request. "Thank you, I don't mind if you do. Lilliana, would you mind waiting with—," Sebastian was about to say before he was interrupted.
"Actually, I would like it if she joined us. After all, I'd like to her to meet her doppelgänger," Joker said. Despite meaning they would have to leave the young lord alone, she decided to tag along in case they kept Sebastian distracted from their investigation. Besides, Ciel wanted Sebastian to stay away and that's exactly what they were doing.
"I guess I see no harm in that," she said with an innocent smile that was far from genuine.
"All righty then. Follow me," Joker said as he led the way behind the front tents and into the tents that belonged to the performers. Many performers were still practicing their acts despite tonight's show being over for the night and a lot of people were rushing back and forth between tents for various reasons, whether resting, smoking, eating, etc. The animals were locked in their cages with hardly anyone around to guard them. "Right this way. It's just back this way a tad," Joker said to break the silence between the three of them. "The 'ole place is a bit of a mess, I'm afraid." Soon, they approached one of the performers they saw at the show, Snake, along with his many snakes wrapped around his body. "Well, good evening there, Snake! Do you know if Doc's back in the medical tent?" However, he received no response from him and only hisses from his snakes. "Oh, maybe making rounds, then."
However, Lilliana seemed to hiss back at one of the snakes and one of them seemed to hiss back to her, which surprised Snake, but Joker didn't seem to notice. Sebastian did, though, and was about to ask her what she did or said, but she only said, "I'll tell you when we're done checking your wounds," she said with a bit of sarcasm at the end of her sentence.
Soon, after looking through a number of tents, they finally entered one with Dagger and another man, who seemed to be looking at Dagger's right leg, on a wheelchair inside. "Good, there he is. Oi Doc," Joker said, getting his attention.
The man supposedly named Doc looked in their direction and said in a helpful tone, "Joker, what can I do for you tonight? Is your hand acting up again?"
"Ha, no, not for me today. I brought a different patient, see?" He gestured his hand toward the duo, mostly at Sebastian.
"Wait, him? He's the bloke from tonight's tiger act! He's the one that got bitten by Betty!" Dagger exclaimed.
"Hold on. What?! How terrible," Doc said with a worried tone. "We need to get you to the infirmary!" Before the two could protest, Doc and the performers escorted them to another tent not too far from the one they were just at. However, before they entered the tent, Doc get pretty close to Lilliana and even tried to hold her hand, but she shook him away and shot him a death glare. "What's wrong, love? You're usually very affectionate to me."
"Oh, Doc, she isn't Eris. I already made that mistake earlier," Joker said with an embarrassed smile. He should have told him earlier.
Both Doc and Dagger had to take a closer look at her, almost convinced he was playing a joke on them. Doc then asked him, "A-Are you sure?" Joker nodded. "Well, this is very embarrassing. I'm so sorry, but you look a lot like our fortune teller here."
"So I've been told," Lilliana said, curious about what this Eris girl looked like if multiple people confused them.
However, questions were about to be answered as they entered the tent and saw a familiar face sitting by Doc's desk. In fact, the face was too familiar. "Oh, bonjour docteur. I hope you're not going to be busy with—," she said with a French accent, but stopped when she saw the strangers enter, especially Lilliana. "Well, this is interesting." She looked exactly like Lilliana minus her purple eyes. It would have been understandable if they had similar hair and figure, but her figure was practically identical to hers and facial features resembled hers to the tiniest detail. However, her clothing was very different than Lilliana's since she wore a slim purple dress that hugged her curves and showed a lot of her cleavage.
"A-Are you sure you two aren't long lost twins or something?" Dagger asked.
"I don't have a sister," Lilliana and Eris said simultaneously on accident, making Eris laugh, but Lilliana very uncomfortable.
"My love, is there any particular reason you came here at this time?" Doc said as he rolled toward her and Eris wrapped her arms around him.
"I just had a strong feeling to come here. Besides, do I need a reason to see you?" she asked as she gave him a kiss on the cheek, making him smile. She looked at the perplexed strangers and said, "I might as well introduce myself. My name is Eris Melania, the fortune teller of Noah's Ark Circus. And you two must be Sebastian Michaelis and Lilliana Kiliamo."
They were shocked, but Sebastian said, "Y-Yes, that's correct. You have quite a gift, Ms. Melania."
"Well she isn't our fortune teller for nothing," Joker said with a chuckle. "Though, she must have predicted Lilliana's arrival looking like that."
"Nope, that was totally accidental," she teased. Lilliana couldn't stop staring at Eris since it was just like looking at a mirror. It was impossible to meet a twin, especially in human form. Something felt off about Eris, but she couldn't pinpoint what.
"I'm glad we got this little confusion settled, but I do have a patient to look at," Doc said as he gestured for Sebastian to kneel before him so he could examine his head for wounds. Sebastian decided not to protest and obliged. However, as Doc looked over him, he was confused. "Are you certain you've been bitten by a tiger? I don't see any gashes or broken skin."
"It was just an affectionate nip," Sebastian said with his previous good nature returning to him.
"Affectionate nip, eh?" Lilliana said with a slight sarcastic tone and a smile. Joker and Dagger were shocked since they were certain Betty did some serious harm to him.
"Well, I'm just glad you're all right. That could have been a serious injury indeed," Eris said as she nonchalantly sat in Doc's lap and continued to wrap her arms around him. He didn't seem to mind the attention.
"Imagine, letting an audience member get injured! If I did that, the troupe leader would kill me," Joker said with relief.
"We were under the impression that you were the troupe leader," Lilliana said and Sebastian nodded.
"No, not me," he said modestly. Afraid I'm only the hired help. The real leader's downright scary, not someone you want to cross."
"Brave of you to say so," Dagger chimed in. "That kinda talk could get you in trouble. Better be careful."
Suddenly, they heard a familiar cockney female voice outside the tent say, "Hey Doc? Do you got a minute to look at my leg?"
"Hello Beast!" Dagger said affectionately, but sadly, it wasn't returned.
"Why are you here?!"
"Same as you. I came to have Doc take a look at my leg, too! It's just further proves that we're destined to be toge—,"
"You're that dandy from earlier!" Beast said as she walked passed Dagger, who only just realized he was ignored, breaking his heart. "What do you think you're doing? After the way you ruined my act, you ought to be—,"
"That's enough, Beast!" Doc said rather forcefully.
"Speaking that way to a guest is just plain unacceptable," Eris continued. "It wasn't his fault, was it? It was yours for not being able to control Betty properly."
"How do you know—but he just walked up and started touching her!" Beast yelled in frustration.
"No excuses. You are a professional, madam," Doc scolded.
"Let's take it easy there, Doc. What are our guests going to think of us, yelling and screaming like this?" Joker said, trying to alleviate the tension in the room.
"He's right! Beast's leg is what's really important, so let's focus on that instead of fighting, shall we?" Dagger said, trying to get noticed by Beast, only to be ignored again.
Doc sighed. "You'll need to spend some time retraining Betty before the next performance. Understood?"
"Yeah," Beast said, finally calming down.
"All right, then. Show me your prosthesis," Doc said as he gently pushed Eris off of him so he could get a good look at Beast's leg. She walked to the exam table and hopped on it while he rolled closer to her and began to remove her boot and fishnet stockings.
Joker noticed Sebastian and Lilliana's curiosity at her prosthesis and he chimed in. "You'll find us Noah's Ark performers are a bit of an irregular bunch. Sort of a gathering of people with different problems, you might say. Jus' look at me; missing an arm, but the Doc here gave me a right fine replacement for it." He began to clench his skeleton fist to show it off. "Pretty nice, don't you think?"
"That one needs constant adjusting, though," Doc said as he began to adjust Beast's joint with a screwdriver. "I should never have let you choose the design. Coming in every day, asking me to look at it. You should give more consideration to the person who has to maintain it."
"You craft prostheses for the performers?" Sebastian asked as he got closer to Doc to take a closer look. Lilliana decided to stay back a bit to see what he would do.
"Essentially, And quite a task it is! I do everything, from carving the parts to the final fitting."
"He's quite the genius," Eris said as she walked away from Doc and stood closer to Lilliana, who stepped away, still feeling uncomfortable by her presence.
"What materials do you use?" Lilliana asked. "You said you carved them. Are they wooden, then?"
"No, ceramic, actually. I know what you're thinking, but I use special materials so they're always light and sturdy," Doc said before moving Beast's leg closer to him to inspect. "Feel this and you'll see what I mean."
He touched her leg delicately and said, "Indeed, I do. Quite smooth to the touch, as well."
"Of course. And you'll notice that I use spherical parts for the joints to ensure fluidity of movement," Doc explained, unaware that Sebastian was making his way further up her leg, making Beast blush.
"This is truly fine work. I'm impressed . . . What's this? A seal of some sort?" he said as he looked at her thigh, which looked very indecent if anyone else walked in. Beast was flustered and everyone looked in shock, but Dagger was angry.
"My my, he's quite bold, isn't he?" Eris said with a perverse grin.
"What do you think you're doing, pervert?!" she yelled as she tried to kick Sebastian in the head, but he dodged in time.
"Oh, I most humbly beg your pardon. It seems I have read you incorrectly. I had not assumed you were so chaste as to be bashful at something like that," he said in a tone that suggested he wanted to make her mad, which worked since she grabbed her whip and started to strike toward him, but kept missing. Instead, she kept hitting the cloth screen dividers and shredding them.
"Stop that! Beast, stop at once!" Doc yelled since his work station was being destroyed. "Someone stop her quick-!"
"Never a dull moment around here," Eris said with a laugh before turning to Lilliana. "Why don't you stop your man, Lily?" Lilliana blushed by both the accusation and the nickname. Only a couple of people call her Lily and Sebastian wasn't even one of them.
"First of all, he's not my man. Second, I'm not going to bother. In fact, he deserves it," she said, hiding the fact that she got a tiny bit jealous.
"Oh, don't lie to me, mon cher. I know you got jealous seeing how close he was to her pu—," Eris tried to say, but Dagger blew up in anger and interrupted her, much to Lilliana's relief.
"You bastard! How dare you even think about touching my lady's skin?! Even I haven't touched it yet," he said as he began to throw knives at Sebastian, but he dodged them effortlessly by jumping onto one of the support pipes that kept the tent up, causing even more damage to the tent.
"To be fair, I didn't actually touch her skin. It seems I did touch a nerve, though. Terribly sorry about that," Sebastian said.
"Oh you cocky bastard," Lilliana said as she watched the show.
"Put the knives away! You'll shred the tent at this rate!" Doc warned.
"I'm protecting Beast's honor. That's more important than some bloody tent," Dagger said as he started to throw his knives at Sebastian once again, but Sebastian caught each one of them, preventing them from shredding the tent for Doc's sake.
"Blimey!" Dagger said in disbelief while Joker whistled.
"Honestly, not that impressive," Lilliana commented, making Joker and Eris curious.
Still, the fight wasn't over as Beast cracked her whip. "Don't push your luck! I'm gonna take you down a peg!" However, Joker jumped in the air and managed to wrap her whip against his staff before it could hit Sebastian. Once he landed, he pressed a button on it, revealing a tiny bouquet of flowers that magically came out of the staff.
"Ta-da! All right, that's enough fun for now," he said with a reassuring smile. Doc was beyond relieved to have the fighting stop, but wished he had done this sooner so nothing would have been damaged.
"What?! That's not fair!" Dagger said, not ready to give up.
"Come on, Beast. Aren't you being a bit touchy?" Eris teased, wanting to see more of the show as she watched Sebastian land on the ground below.
"Touchy?! But he's the one who—," she tried to protest.
"Now, now," Joker said before putting a hand on her outer thigh. "It's such a beautiful leg. I can hardly blame the fellow for wanting to feel it. Go on, dear, take the flowers and give us a little smile." However, Beast stormed off, away from him, without another word. "Well, that was quite a feat of acrobatics there, sir. Ye have quite the terrific reflexes. I reckon I would hire yeh, I would. Right quick."
"Is your offer sincere?" Sebastian asked as he got up close to his face, making Joker uncomfortable. He sighed as he continued, "Honestly, I might not mind a change of occupation. My current master is so spoiled, I would be happy to be done with him. Wouldn't you feel the same, Lilliana?"
She was confused why he was saying that, but soon caught on to the hint. "Oh yes, very much so. He's become such a little shit lately and it's becoming unbearable."
"Oh 'master' is it? Ye are servants then, are ye? That's a bit of a surprise. I thought for sure you two were of the gentry, dressed up all fine and dandy as you are," Joker said with shock in his voice.
"Us, part of the gentry? Assuredly not," Lilliana said with a small laugh.
"Oh no, you see, I am simply one hell of a butler and she is a special maid," Sebastian finished.
"Her, a maid?" Dagger asked as he looked at her clothing. "Don't you wear dresses?"
"When I'm working, yes," Lilliana said with a smile. "I just don't like wearing one when I don't have to."
"Getting back to your offer, was it a sincere one? If so, I would very much like to take you up on it," Sebastian said, changing the subject and getting back on track with his plan.
"Not having a jest at me, are yeh?" Joker asked.
"I'm not one for jests."
Joker laughed as he said, "Funny ol' fellow, aren't yeh? All right, join us if yeh'd like. We'd be happy to have yeh."
"What are you doing? You can't just make a decision like that!" Beast protested.
"Hey, easy now. You saw him. He's got real talent."
"If I may be so bold, there's someone else I would very much like to introduce you to," Sebastian said. They all looked at Lilliana, who they believe he was referring to, but she shook her head.
"No, not me, someone else," she corrected.
"If this person is anything like you, I'm sure they'll work out well. I reckon we'll be wanting to give them an audition all the same, though. Same goes for your lady companion if she wants to join them." Lilliana was surprised she was getting an offer, but smiled.
"I'd be happy to," she said.
"We shall return tomorrow, then and bring him with us so you can see if he suits. Thank you for an excellent day," Sebastian said with a bow as they started exiting the tent. "There's no need to see us out. We'll be fine."
As soon as they were sure they were alone, they proceeded to continue with their investigation. Though, Lilliana seemed to panic a bit as she asked, "Shit, what time is it?"
He took out his pocket watch and reported, "Half past ten."
"Shit, I'm late for work," she said, but her mood seemed to change as she continued, "Oh well. I'm usually late anyway. Let's continue looking around for a bit and then I'll head to work."
He smiled as they looked around the fairgrounds a bit. They noticed rows of the same looking tents, but after a while, they noticed a section that had a small amount of higher quality tents secluded from the rest. They couldn't let this place alone and decided to check it out. Still, something was bothering Sebastian. "I don't sense the children at all."
"Are you sure? This place is huge and we haven't checked out the entire area."
"True, but in our general area, I do not sense them. However, I do sense something a bit . . . off. What is it?"
"Could it be Eris—," Lilliana tried to say before they heard a snake hiss and almost attack them in the face, but stopped itself before it could bite them.
"I'm afraid this area is off-limits, my friend," Snake said in a husky voice, stopping them in their tracks.
Will the trio find the missing children? Why does Eris Melania look almost exactly like Lilliana? What will Snake do to these trespassers? Reviews are appreciated.