Chapter Six:

"Such grandness," Madam Red said as she stepped out of the carriage. "It really is the last day of the social season." Sebastian helped the woman down. Lau and Ciel came down after her, as well.

"It seems tonight will be rather enjoyable," Lau commented, glancing the direction of a few woman who were speaking off to the side.

"If he suspects anything then it is all over, understand?" Ciel said sternly, his arms crossed over his frilly pink and black dress. Madam Red had bought it just for this event and squealed whenever she saw him in it. "We are not here to play, so don't let your guard down."

"Silly Ciel~," Aries giggled, stepping out behind him. "Are we not playing dress-up right now~?" Aries hadn't been changed in a different costume. In fact, she was wearing the same servant outfit she always wore. Sebastian had tried to get her into one of the — many — extra dresses Madam Red had brought over but she had 'somehow' persuaded him into leaving her in the clothes she had.

Madam Red turned to her niece and squealed, again, "So cute~!" She cooed over the boy, pulling him into a hug and squishing the side of his face in her breasts.

"Let go of me!" Ciel demanded, trying to push away from the woman. "Why do I have to be dressed up like this!?"

"What? Do don't like it?" Madam Red asked, bringing a gloved finger to her punctured red lips. "A lot of cloth was used to make that dress in France. The style is in vogue right now," Ciel glared at her, she wasn't getting his point.

"Why would I like it!?" He roared at the woman.

"Oh my, oh my," Sebastian smirked. "A lady should not be shouting loudly." Sebastian had been wearing a different disguise as well, but it is wasn't that far off from his usual uniform. His tailored, butler uniform had been swapped with one that resembled something of a tutor. He also wore oval-shaped thin glasses, which made Aries giggle whenever she looked at him.

Ciel cringed, "Sebastian... You..."

"Right! You have to follow instructions," Madam Red grinned, but her attention seemed to be focused on Sebastian, her gaze full of lust, but after a few seconds, she turned away. "Lau's role is my lover, Ciel is my niece from the countryside, Sebastian is my niece's home tutor, and Grell can be as he is."

Although everyone hadn't looked pleased with the roles forced upon them, Ciel was the first to speak up. "What about Aries?"

"Oh, don't worry about me~," she giggled. "You won't even notice I'm there~!"

"Besides, not many people know about Miss Aries either," Sebastian added. "Nobody would be able to recognize her." Aries nodded, grinned broadly at Ciel, but something else seemed to be disturbing him.

"Wait..." Ciel turned to Madam Red, a blush creeping up on his pale face. "Why is my role as 'your niece'!?"

"Because I've always wanted a daughter!" Madam Red laughed, "A cute daughter who would look lovely in those long, flowing dresses!"

"And for that reason you—" Madam Red pulled the boy close, hiding her mouth with a red fan.

"I was just joking," She chided, speaking much more softly and seriously now. "To have your cover blown as the Earl of Phantomhive would be troublesome, no?" Ciel scowled, pulling away from his aunt and Aries giggled at his reaction. "Firstly!" The woman had regained her loud voice, "Anyone who sees a one-eyed boy with a dashingly handsome butler would know it's 'you'. Is this not the best solution~?"

There was a short pause as he thought over this logic. Aries watched amusedly as Ciel's face got more and more irritated when he realized she was right. "Besides!" Aries grinned at the boy, slinging a arm over his shoulder. "Look at that man right there," she pointed to a large man who was walking behind a few woman. "Rapist," she said in a low tone so only he could hear. "In fact, I believe that hmm... Two-thirds of the men here are like him, and that includes the Viscount, hehe~," Ciel cringed, but the girl hadn't stopped talking. "Dressed like that, you're practically a pig, hog-tied on a silver platter~."

"How is that supposed to help me?" He hissed, and Aries giggled, twirling a lock of his black, long hair in her fingers.

"Silly Ciel~" she teased. "How else do you expect to get close to him~?" Finally, she let him go, and bowed at him — something she had never done before, to him that is. "I'll have to go now, Silly Ciel, but just shout if you need me, hehe~!" Aries walked away from the four and disappeared into the crowd of people entering the bustling mansion.

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Ciel and Sebastian hid behind a table. Ciel was groping the table cloth as if his life depended on it. Sebastian hid a smirk as his Young Master had a — very amusing — meltdown.

"If people find out I'm dressed like this, it'll be the ultimate humiliation for the Phantomhive family!" Ciel screeched, in a loud whisper.

"'Cuse me, sir," a man's voice spoke up and Ciel's face paled at the sound of someone noticing them. They looked up to see a dark-skinned man in a butler's outfit. He held a serving tray, full of small, identical deviled eggs. "Ya pullin' on the table, sir," he pointed to the end of the tablecloth where the oversized cake tittered over the edge. Ciel let go, but did not stand.

"O–Oh, I didn't notice," Ciel said, feigning a girl's voice by making his own higher and softer.

The man smirked at him, "S'all good," he assured. "Would ya like a deviled egg?"

Ciel shook his head, careful not to let his hat move, so it didn't expose his special eye, or show that it was merely a wig. "No thank you."

The man nodded, "Have a good night, sir." The man did a strange bow, similar... No, identical to what Aries had done last he had seen her. His eyes widened, now realizing that he referred to him as sir, not miss.

He gaped at the man, who was now grinned, a mischievous look gleaming in his, no her, eyes. "A–Aries!?"

She merely nodded once more, exchanging looks with Sebastian, who had also been smiling, also noticing it was his servant. "Have a good night, Silly Ciel~." She winked at him, before walking away and towards the direction of where Elizabeth had been looking for him.

He watched as she began to distract the girl, offering her the tray of deviled eggs. "I believe Miss Aries is providing a distraction," Sebastian said, smirking. "Shall we go?"

Ciel nodded and began to stand, not daring to turn back to Aries.

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After a decent amount effort, Aries managed to distract Elizabeth, and sending her to the other side of the room. Luckily, the music has changed and everyone began to dance once more. She recognized the song as a long one, and knew she'd have at least five minutes to carry out her plan.

Aries smirked, strategically walking behind a rather fancy woman talking with a well tailored man in a black and white suit. Aries carrying her tray of food, then, she slipped, sending it all over the woman. "I'm so sorry, ma'am!" She apologized, pulling a handkerchief out of her pocket and beginning to wipe the woman's dress off. "Ah, I need more napkins," she turned to the man who the woman was talking with, and he looked nothing short of shocked. "Do ya think ya can ask 'im for some?" She jabbed a thumb in the direction of another servant, who as offering champagne to a guest.

The man nodded and rushed over, as she began to unravel the dress easily by using a kitchen knife she had found and cutting a lengthy ribbon that matched the dress off. Then, she slipped it up her sleeve, leaving it unseen.

"Ya hair, oh no, let me fix that for ya, ma'am," she came behind the woman before she could reply. Leaning closer, Aries squeezed her neck, and she let out a short gasp, before letting her head droop to her chest.

"Sleep. You are tired," Aries whispered, moving her hand to act as if she were helping the woman with something on her dress. "Sleep. You need to wash up. Sleep. Go to the bathroom." She snapped her fingers and the woman stood straight.

"Excuse me," she said with a smile and headed straight for the restrooms. Aries followed after her, inconspicuously. Finally, she had made it to the restrooms far down the hall. Three minutes had already passed.

Hurrying, Aries slipped out of her male disguise and into the restroom behind the woman. The woman was by the sink, washing her hands and rubbing her face with her dampened hands. "Hello dear," the woman smiled. "Are you lost?"

"N–No ma'am," Aries replied, with a smile. "I was walking down the hall and I found this." Aries held out the ribbon she had cut from the dress, innocently. "I saw you walk in here and it matched your pretty dress, so I thought it was yours..."

"Oh my, it might be!" She said, grabbing the ribbon.

"Would you like me to put it back on?" Aries offered. "My mum's a seamstress, you see. I know where it should go."

"Why thank you," the woman smiled kindly at her and Aries hurried behind the woman. Then, Aries squeezed her neck again, making her jump.

"Sleep," the woman slumped against Aries and she struggled to regain balance. "You are hot. Sleep. You need to take off your dress. Sleep. Go into one off the stalls and rest." Aries snapped her fingers and the woman did just as she commanded, in a dazed fashion. As soon as she stepped out of the dress, Aries, stepped into it. She already was wearing a corset underneath her uniform, but had stuffed a few rags inside to give her more of a buff stature and to keep herself from looking like a girl.

Aries hurried out of the room, now wearing the woman's elegant blue gown that was a bit big on her, but she secured the ribbon around her waist, keeping it up. She took the woman's heeled shoes, gloves, and small purse, giving her a more height and elegance. Then, she used the powder and make-up woman kept in the hand purse, and applied it to her face as she walked down the hall and back into the ballroom.

The song just finished, and she spotted Ciel speaking with the Viscount Druitt, Aleistor Chamber already. Weaving around the room, she easily snagged two champagne glasses from a waiter and made it to Ciel. "There you are, Cecilia," Aries sighed, and Ciel looked at her, confused, but as didn't allow him to speak. "I was looking all over for you! I got your drink, here," she handed him the glass of champagne, and then looked at the Viscount.

"Oh, hello sir, I do not believe we have had the chance to meet," she smiled warmly at the man. "I am Gwendolyn Ridges, it is a honour to meet you, sir," then, Aries bowed, for the third time that night, and she noticed Ciel's eye widening.

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Gwendolyn," the man gently took her gloved hand in his, kissing the backside of it. "Might I say, that is a lovely dress you are wearing."

"Why thank you, sir," she replied. "This is a extraordinary ball your are hosting. The music is amazing, but..." Aries trailed off, and the man rose a thin, manicured eyebrow.

"But?"

"Oh, I cannot help but feel unsatisfied," she sighed. "I don't suppose you might have something else more excitable that my sister and I may partake in...?"

"I do suppose I may have something," the man smirked, and Aries' eyes widened in delight. Then, Aries and Ciel heard Elizabeth stalking behind them. Ciel stiffened, but Aries hadn't reacted.

Then, Sebastian jumped up, and placed a large cabinet on the floor, blocking the Elizabeth's view. He was dressed up fancily and wore a masquerade mask on his face as a disguise. Posing as a magician, he called Lau out, to assist him in a magic trick.

"I do not remember having arranged this performance..." Aleistor muttered, but Aries smiled her dashingly.

"Is that so? This magician has been the talk of the night, sir! I personally take no interest in magic, but maybe you have forgotten scheduling it," Aries let out a delicate sigh. "You must feel stressed, maybe we may be able to help assist your nerves?" Aries purring tone was so delicate and soothing, that it even sent chills down Ciel's spine. This was so uncharacteristic from her usual perky and peculiar attitude. Had he not been in the middle of a investigation he would have felt the need to throw up his intestines.

"What a great idea," the man agreed, tugging at the bottom of Aries' chin, and again he earned a flutter of her lashes. "Come along, my beautiful robins~," he went to the curtains, pulling away at them and showing a hidden door.

Ciel and Aries began up the steps, due to everyone's attention at Sebastian and Lau's surprise magician act, nobody noticed the trio slipping in.

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The walk down the hall was brief, yet had a eerie atmosphere to it. "This hall seems to be quite lively," Ciel commented which completely contradicted it's cracked stone and dimly lit corners.

"I agree," Aries perked, smiling at the boy and he noticed something was certainly off about the girl. She was stiff in her movements and sweat was increasing on her brow. Her hands shook, but her face hadn't changed from its strange smile.

"The place well be going to will be even happier than that," Aleistor said, and Ciel tried not to seem suspicious. Luckily, the man's back was facing him, so he couldn't tell.

Finally they made it to a door and Aleistor held it open for them. Ciel immediately noticed how heavily fragranced the room was and said, "How fragrant." Ciel stumbled, the scent making his body feel weak and his head fell dazed.

"That's right," Aleistor agreed, a dangerous smile dancing his lips. The door closed behind the two, as Aries scrambled to get to it. She tugged on the handle, but it was locked, and they had nowhere to go.

"It reminds me... Of... Roses," Aries murmured before she fell to her knees, slumping beside the door, and Ciel soon followed suit.

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Aries was the first to wake up. She was tied up in a bird-like, human-sized cage, her hands bound in front of her and her feet under her. Beside her was a identical cage she could only assume was Ciel's because it had been covered in a heavy dark cloth, keeping her from seeing what was inside. In front of her were rows and rows of nobles, all dress fancily and eying her with greed.

"Our next item is a pure-blood African from deep within the forests of Uganda," she heard Alestior say, and she couldn't help but scoff at his assumption. "She is definitely a beauty, and one of the rarest items I'll be selling tonight! The bidding for this one will start at 800!"

Aries stood up straighter, and grinned at the crowd. It was a grin only a madman would be able to display, making the group of wealthy aristocrats seem rather disheveled. Nobody raised their hands to offer a bid and she saw sweat begin to bead on Aleistor's forehead.

"Please, do not be discomforted by her. She is has yet to be touched and—" then, Aries began to giggle, leaning against the door of the cage.

"Too easy~," she said and a second later, the bonds on her hands and feet became undone and the door opened. Aries heard a gasp as she stepped out of the cage and grinned at the people. "Hello everyone! I am your host for this evening! You may call me Aries, but, I'm not an Aries, though. I'm a Gemini. Anyways~," she began to stride across the stage, staring down at the shocked nobles. "I'm thinking of a name... Who wants to take a guess?" Nobody raised their hand. "No? Okay, here's a hint: Goodridge? The therapist a few years back? Things went wrong in his lab and he 'died'," a few of the crowd members looked surprised and she grinned. "Yeah, that Goodridge! Now we're on the same page, hehe~."

Aries jumped off the stage and the people and the front row moved their chairs back in a weak attempt to get away from the girl. "Goodridge was a strange man, I admit, definitely nothing short of crazy, but when he died he left a message. What was this message? I don't know, but I'm sure one of you do." She began to walk through the crowd. People made a desperate attempt to move their chairs away from her, creating a rather strange aisle.

"This man was the only man who knew the last words he said. That rules out any women," she waved a hand in the air, as if to swat at a fly. Really, she was deducting in her head, narrowing down the search by slowly picking off all these nobles one by one. "He also needed to be a fellow therapist, or someone who worked in the field of psychology." That was about twenty people taken away, leaving only fifteen.

"Someone intelligent. He wouldn't leave information with a imbecilic human." Everyone was gone, and she blinked, backtracking, "No, wait. That's what he would want me to think. A human who's completely and utterly stupid. So stupid and so weak-minded that they wouldn't think twice about these words and write them off as babbles from a dying madman!"

This statement left two people. A man in the crowd and Aleistor Chambers himself. "Chambers wouldn't do, too unruly and might disclose the information to someone and thus make it useless. So," she turned to the man. He was a few rows away from her. He was very fat and had been staring at her wide-eyed when she met eye contact with him.

Aries raced over, slipping past chairs and over legs to the man, who had the crumbs of a cake all over his shirt. "What did he tell you!?" Aries demanded, and the man tried to move away.

"Wha–What did who tell me?" He demanded, sounding properly terrified. "I don't know! I–I'm innocent, I swear."

"Jonas Goodridge," Aries growled, raising the oversized man with her arm. "Therapist for asylum patients, ring a bell, Patrick?"

"H–How do you know my name?" He asked quietly, and Aries groaned.

"Stupid human," she grumbled underneath her breath. Grabbing the front of the man's shirt, she glared at him. "The question: what were the last words he said to you!?"

"Uh.... Uh... It was 'p–pigs don't fly'." Aries froze. Her face went stoic and her hands dropped to sides.

The entire room stared at the unresponsive girl, until finally Aleistor called someone to drag her away. A strong man lifted her off the ground like she weighed no more than a sheet of paper would. He brought her into the back and out of sight.

"I–I apologize for the disturbance," Aliestor said, as he continued with inhumane auction.  "But, do not be alarmed! We'll continue with our auction, and our next item is from Asia..."

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Aries gasped when she woke up, sitting up straight. She was back at the townhouse in a big bed. She turned to see Sebastian standing beside her, pouring a glass of tea. "Aren't you quite the narcoleptic," he mused, handing her a glass. Aries took it numbly, staring at the substance. "'Pigs don't fly'? What an odd statement."

"... I'm an idiot," she murmured. "Of course he would do that. That bastard. Making my only clue a trap," Aries clenched the cup in her hands. "Such an elaborate trap too. I didn't think getting eaten alive was that painful..."

"Jonas Goodridge was a doctor, yes?" Sebastian continued. "He worked with asylum patients, but that doesn't explain how you knew of him. He died eleven years ago, so—"

"Stupid." Aries jumped up, spilling the tea all over the covers of the bed. "Pigs don't fly!? What was he trying to say!? He reinforced it with a trap, but it still has to mean something!" Her eyes began to dart back and forth, a her mind whirled with information.

She was running in her Mind Garden, darting through the elaborate maze, knowing the way like the back of her hand. She'd occasionally stop, and reach in the tall bushes that divided each area like a wall. She'd pull out a book full of information that she needed, but roughly put it back when it wasn't what she was looking for.

"Pigs. Pigs. Pigs. Pi—" she stopped and gasped, "A pub! That's what it was!" She snapped her eyes open to see Sebastian staring at her. "It's not nice to stare, Sebastian~," she teased, now bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"What are you going on about?" He demanded, "Why did you need to know about a dead man?"

"Dead man?" She giggled, "Dead is only a adjective, Sebastian, and a rather odd one at that. I'd describe him as... Insane." Aries grinned at him, and began to go to the door, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"I do believe that you should be the last one to claim someone to be insane, Miss Aries," Sebastian mused. "For you are hardly sane yourself."

"Of course I'm not sane, silly~," she giggled. "Why would I be? In fact, who is sane anymore? Sane is such a boring word. Sane. Ugh, I hate it. It makes my tongue sticky," she stuck out her tongue to him, and Sebastian rolled his eyes. "You know what's better? Annie Shepherman. But, I guess you can't be sane or insane when you're dead, hehe~!"

"You didn't answer my question," Sebastian said. "Why would you need to know Jonas Goodridge?"

"Who else do you think I get my insanity from?" Aries laughed, in front of the office Ciel sat in. "He's my father. But isn't doing the best job at it~," Aries giggled, but there was a bit of bitterness in her tone. "Never mind that, I wanna see a dead prostitute~!"

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God, I love writing for Aries, omg, she's so funny~...

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Edited: 3/17/17