Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroshitsuji or its characters, the same goes with ideas that originate from another manga/anime/game/book, etc. I only own my OCs and my own events.

Chapter Seventeen: Foreign

Ariel was awake very early the next morning. She was sitting on top of her bed while looking over several papers. Some had to do with the current assault case, while others dealt with her personal side assignment concerning a certain servant to the queen.

'Ciel was right to want to keep a close eye on his unwanted guests. Even though the prince doesn't seem to have any connection, his servant Agni fits the profile perfectly. From what Ciel told me, Agni matched Sebastian in combat and easily overwhelmed a band of thieves in the East End. No matter how limited he must act in front of other Humans, Sebastian is still a Demon, which no normal Human should be able to fight equally against,' she contemplated. 'Even so, aside from recently returning from India, all of the victims seem to have connections to food and/or trading companies. This suggests that the Indian attacker isn't working alone. He must be working with an Englishman, most likely a nobleman who's rather worried about his competition...'

A knock at the door broke her away from her thoughts, and a moment later, the door opened to reveal a smiling Sebastian in the threshold.

"Pardon me, milady, but breakfast is ready. Prawn curry and French toast with ginger has been prepared this morning, along with a fine blend of Chai tea in consideration for our guests," the butler informed. "My young master has requested your presence at the dining table. Mr. Valentine is already waiting in the dining room."

"He simply doesn't wish to suffer alone," she replied, earning a smirk of amusement from the Demon, as she neatly stacked the papers and locked them away in a drawer. "Will you accompany me to the dining hall, Sebastian?" she inquired as she walked closer to the door.

"Of course, milady," he replied before leading her to the dining room and sitting her to Ciel's right.

"So how long exactly do you intend to stay in my house?" the young Earl questioned.

"We'll leave once our work is done," Soma replied in between bites of his French toast, earning a look of slight disgust from Ariel at his lack of manners.

"And that is!?"

"Aren't you two looking for someone?" Lau inquired, seeming to remember something they had told him the day before.

"So what if they are and why do you need to stay here also?" Ciel was beginning to tire very fast of so many people appearing at his home uninvited.

"What's wrong with me staying here?"the Chinese man laughed lightly.

"Oh yeah. We are looking for a lady," Soma spoke again, pulling out a rather crude, elementary drawing of a woman. "This lady. Her name is Mina She was a maidservant at my palace."

"This is…" Ciel trailed off, having no words to describe the horrendous sketch.

"I drew that. I drew it so good that once you see her in person, you'll recognize her for sure! Isn't she a beauty?"

"Sebastian, Vincent, can either of you find her with this?" the young Earl asked, all of them sharing the same expression of uncertainty.

"Even for me, that's… I'll try my best then," Sebastian replied while Vincent nodded in agreement, though still unsure about the whole thing.

"Why, I've never seen such a beautiful lady~~~" Lau stated graciously, trying his utmost best not to laugh.

"Of course! She is the most beautiful lady at my palace," the prince stated obliviously. "Thanks for the meal," he added as an afterthought, clapping his hands together.

"So why would this woman be here in England?"

"I don't believe they're listening right now, Lord Phantomhive," Ariel spoke up, pointing over to the Indians who were worshipping some statue.

"What the hell is this all of a sudden? Where did they get that statue from!?"

"It seems that they are praying, but it's quite an odd idol, wouldn't you say?" Lau mused.

"It appears to be a statue of a woman carrying the severed head of a man. She's wearing a necklace of severed heads as well, and she's dancing on a man's stomach. That's how I see it," Sebastian stated, looking at the statue with slight interest and confusion.

"This is a statue of the goddess Kali from the Hindu religion we have faith in," Agni supplied. "She is the wife of the god Shiva and is also known as the Goddess of Power. According to our faith, a Demon once recklessly challenged the goddess to fight against him. Naturally, the goddess Kali came out victorious, but her destructive urges had not yet settled. The goddess gave herself to destruction and carnage — continuous massacres, making necklaces from men's heads, drinking blood…!"

"The damage that the goddess caused was worse than the Demon did, eh? That's surprising~"

"Other gods could not stop Kali, so they decided to destroy this world at any cost at that time!" Agni continued passionately. "In order to protect the world, the god Shiva threw himself at his wife's feet. Treading upon her husband brought Kali back to normal, and the world returned to its peaceful state." He turned back to the statue. "The statue shows her story: the goddess Kali walking upon her husband and in her hand, the head of the vile Demon that she slew."

"And there you have it," Ciel told his butler, who had been curious about the story.

"I have never heard of a goddess with such power. If such a strong person truly exists, I should be careful if I ever go back to India," the Demon contemplated, and Agni looked at him in confusion.

'What a bother…' Ariel thought as she saw the prince sling an arm around Ciel's neck.

"Let us go out and about, midget! You shall be my guide!"

"And why should I show you around town!? Besides, I have an actual name! It's Ciel!"

"Then, Ciel, I order you to show me around the town," Soma demanded, but Sebastian soon blocked the way.

"I'm terribly sorry, but my young master's schedule has already filled for today with work and studying," the butler explained.

"As you can see, I am very busy. If you want to look for that person, do it yourself," the young Earl told him as his butler led him away.

"Vincent and I shall return in a few hours then," Ariel announced as she began to leave, pausing to allow her butler to help put on her coat. "We should be back around the time you finish your studies."

"Then you can show me around and about town," Soma decided, only to hesitate at the glare he received.

"You will not be accompanying me. I have no time to coddle and look after you while I work," she retorted coolly. "You may try and order me if you like, but your title holds very little power in this country. This is England, not India." She turned on the ball of her foot to leave again. "Good day, Prince Soma."

*** about four hours later ***

"That was completely useless," she decided upon their return to the townhouse. "No more victims have appeared recently, and the pause happened with Soma's and Agni's appearances. This only raises suspicions about that servant even higher."

"While that may be, what will be your course of action now, milady?"

"As of now, nothing," she replied. "My options at the moment are very limited, seeing as I only have theories and no supporting evidence. Also, as much as I hate to admit, Agni could very well best me in combat unless I use my abilities to catch him off guard. There's also the mysterious accomplice to consider; Agni couldn't be choosing these targets on his own, and this accomplice must be holding something over Agni's head in order to force compliance and secrecy."

"The targets would point to an insecure nobleman whose business is foreign trade and food, but there are many of those kinds here," Vincent said, Ariel nodding in agreement.

"For now, keep an eye on Agni's movements, and give Ciel a copy of the progress we've made so far," she ordered as her butler opened the door where they were certain Ciel and the others would be.

The sound of breaking metal could be heard and, on instinct alone, the Countess quickly moved her head to the side. The end of a broken sabre was stuck in the where her head been only a moment ago. A piece of her stark-white hair rested lightly on top of the broken metal.

"Lady Vega! Are you injured?" Vincent asked in concern as he approached his mistress, who had yet to move as she stared in shock at the broken swords in the Demon's and Human's hands.

"...I'm all right," she replied, her visible eye narrowing at the broken swords. "Just a little surprised, that's all."

"I must say, those were some rather impressive reflexes, milady," Sebastian complimented, earning a brief glare much to his amusement. "If it wouldn't trouble you, may I borrow Mr. Valentine to assist me with dinner preparations?"

"Very well then," she agreed before lowering her voice to just above a whisper. "Is Agni a normal Human?"

"Deadly though he is, Agni is most certainly a Human," Sebastian confirmed. "I believe that his strength originates from something that neither I nor my young master could understand."

"Faith and utter dedication," she supposed. "A Demon such as yourself truly wouldn't understand then."

*** later at dinner ***

Once dinner was prepared, they all sat down in the same spots as earlier that morning. Sebastian, Vincent, and Agni set down the mackerel and cottage pie down in front of their respective master/mistress.

"So, who is this woman you're looking for?" Ciel asked while moving some of the fish around with his fork.

"She was my servant ever since I was born. You can say that she's like my nanny. We have been together for as long as I can remember," Soma replied as he began to eat. "My father has no interest in me, and my mother only strives to attract my father's attention, paying me no heed. I'm always left on my own in the castle, but Meena was always at my side. She's cheerful and pretty, and taught me about a lot of things, just like an older sister would. I don't feel lonely when Meena's around. I love Meena, and Meena loves me as well.

"However, that fellow…" The prince's hand tightened into a fist as he suddenly banged it on the table. "After the arrival of the English nobles, they took Meena away with them!"

"What exactly happened?" Lau asked him.

"The ruler of India, Queen Victoria recognizes that Bengal enjoys political autonomy. But, in actual fact, more than half of the political matters are managed by political consultants sent by England. In reality, we are just like any British-ruled colony," Soma informed bitterly before stabbing the mackerel with his fork. "Around three months ago, that fellow went to pay a visit to a political consultant! That person showed interest in my Meena after seeing her at the castle… He took advantage of my absence while I was outside the castle on an observation! And shipped Meena off to England!" he ranted.

"In other words, he brought that woman back to England with him?"

"Correct," Soma affirmed before taking another bite of his dinner. "I'm definitely bringing her back to my country with me."

"It sounds to me as if she went with him willingly," Ariel spoke up for the first time since she sat down at the table. "You're upset because you've come to see her as a mother-figure, but if she was so dear to castle as you imply, would the Englishman really have been able to smuggle her out of the country so easily? I'm certain that if this woman was so invaluable, then the Indian royal family would've sent notice to Her Majesty by now."

"I agree," Ciel stated. "You're just kicking up a big fuss over some female servant."

"This is no minor matter!" Soma protested angrily, slamming his hands down on the table. "This castle is like an empty box without Meena around!" He stormed over to Ciel's side of the table and gripped the boy's shoulders. "You cannot comprehend the despair I felt at being separated from her! You do not understand—!"

"No, I don't," Ciel cut in coolly. "The meager feelings that arise from that degree of a matter… You're right: I don't understand it, and I don't care to." He slapped the prince's hand away from him, walking over to the door. "There are some things you can never get back, no matter how hard you struggle, and there are some feelings of despair that you can never shake off. However, maybe you're still too young to comprehend that," the young Earl stated before leaving the room.

Ariel silently got up from her seat, placing her folded napkin next to her plate. "I shall be retiring to my room. See that no one disturbs me unless it's absolutely necessary," she instructed her butler quietly.

"Yes, milady," he replied faithfully as the young Countess left the room as well.

*** later ***

Agni quietly shut the door to his prince's room after making certain that he was asleep. Tightening the cloak around him, he silently ventured through the halls of the townhouse. However, he paused when he saw a door open and a light inside the room.

Glancing inside, he was surprised to see the young Countess still awake and working. He wasted no time in moving on, knowing that he couldn't linger for very long. He was on a tight schedule, and raising Lady Vega's suspicions even more wouldn't be wise.

As he left the estate, he was unaware of the two pairs of eyes that watched his departure.

"2:45 A.M." Sebastian read from his pocket watch.

"It's about time he made a move," Ariel noted as her gaze trailed after the former Brahmin.

Two chapters in one day~ I'm finally being able to mix the manga and anime together. After the curry competition, it's onto the circus ^_^