The cigarette fell out of Bard's mouth as he gazed at the scene before him in horror. "He's gone.. bloody hell," he whispered out as he along with you and the other servants stared into the bloody cage. You heard footsteps running toward you from behind and you turned around to see Sebastian and Ciel dash up to you guys, Angela on their tail.
Coming to a halt, Angela stared down into the cage, a look of shock evident on her face. "Where is Lord Barrymore?" She exclaimed out. Your eyes gazed at her worried expression knowing that she was just acting all along, for she was the only one who had probably told Pluto to kill Lord Barrymore. Not that you mind anyway, you thought with a shrug. 'That bastard deserved to die, so she actually did me a favor.'
It was then that you heard pounding on the door from upstairs, causing you all to turn around and glance up the stairs. "I should get that," Angela said as she raced up the stairs, all of you following after her. As soon as you reached the first floor, you watched as she let a guy come in and immediately, he collapsed onto the floor, streaks of water running off his clothes. Hold on! 'That's the same guy who had caught me as a cat earlier!'
"The demon hound," he muttered out, snapping you out of your thoughts and you glanced down at him. He glanced up to look each one of you in the eyes, "The demon hound is here."
Everyone let out a gasp as they stared down at the man. "The demon hound," Mey-Rin whispered out. "But I thought it was nothing but Lord Barrymore in disguise."
"It seems that there was an actual hound to begin with," you whispered underneath your breath to her, Finny and Bard who was nearby leaned into the conversation.
"But there can't be such a thing as a demon hound," Finny whispered to you guys.
"Idiot," Bard harshly whispered out. "If (Y/N) can be a magic-user, then why can't there be a possibility that demon hounds can exist!"
Finny slowly nodded as his eyes glanced over to you. "You're right about that. I wonder if there's a possibility that grim reapers and demons can exist as well," he questioned.
'You're actually right on point Finny,' you sweat dropped at this. 'In fact we practically live with a demon in the manor.'
"You all let's go," you heard Ciel sharply say to the four of you and you followed after him and the man lead you guys to the site you had been earlier where James's dog had been killed. Growing up closer to the site, you heard the howling of dogs and the chanting of the village people.
"Whats happening?" You heard Sebastian said out as you guys came to a stop on the outer ring of the people.
'Looks like they've gone crazy again,' you thought as the chanting of the people caused goosebumps to erupt along your arm. Your gaze drifted forward to see a bloodied body of Lord Barrymore propped against the wall of the structure. His eyes were clearly void of life, and as soon as Finny and Mey-Rin saw the body they let out a startled scream.
You watched as Sebastian and Ciel give each other a look and Sebastian headed up to closer examine the body. You made your way over to Ciel and for a split second your tail brushed against his bare leg and he gave you a perplexed look. You shrugged and gave him a sheepish smile, before your expression hardened as you looked back over to the body.
A sharp gasp was heard at your side and you glanced over to see Angela's body collapse down to the ground. 'Such good acting,' you thought as you watched Finny run over to her and pick up her body in his arms, gazing down at her in worry.
In the next moment, you stood along with Ciel, Sebastian, Mey-Rin, Finny, and Bard in an empty study room. Angela had been brought back to her room to let her rest, however you knew that she was probably up with Pluto this very moment. Ciel sat in the chair before you, lost in thought, probably rethinking over everything that had just happened.
"Well, this is unfortunate master," Sebastian said with a sly and amused tone in his voice. His eyes slid down to look upon Ciel, "To think all this is happening after the case was closed. I'm sure your a bit.. annoyed?"
'Damn Sebastian! You're really trying to rub this in aren't you.'
"Are you quite finished?" Ciel asked him, the tone of his voice clearly stating that he didn't want Sebastian to continue on gloating.
Sebastian then turned over to at the servants. "Where is Angela?"
"We left her in her room that way she can rest up after what happened earlier on today," you told him and you felt your ears twitch underneath your hood. It would be about time that you would tell them about what happened with James and your situation with the ears.
"She seems tired, yes she does," Mey-Rin stated out.
"So painful to watch. Poor bird," Bard agreed with Mey-Rin with a small shake of his head. You could see a worried and saddened expression in Finny's eyes as he downcast his eyes, and you knew that he was probably worried about Angela.
Ciel's eyes were closed showing that he was in a serious mode, showing that he was rethinking what he needed to do. "This village isolated itself completely from the rest of society out of fear of the demon hound's curse... I thought for certain the hound was an illusion created by Lord Barrymore so he could firmly rule the village. But with him dead... I need to rethink things."
"He was covered in bite wounds.. maybe the villagers are right," Bard said.
"I agree with Bard," you told them with a nod. "There's no other explanation for what happened to Lord Barrymore out there. I wouldn't be surprised if there really is a demon hound somewhere out there."
"Maybe he's upset at being blamed for Lord Henry's misdeeds," Mey-Rin suggested out.
"Yes maybe," Sebastian said slowly. "For now, there's only one thing we know: it wasn't human."
"The hound then," Bard came to a conclusion.
'Now that that's all settled I should probably tell them about the ears and the tail.' "Umm Ciel," you said stepping forward. "There's one thing that I should probably tell you.. well show you," you leaned forward that way you were close to his ear and whispered, "I'll tell you the rest later on."
Ciel looked up at you with a indifferent expression, "Hmm and what was it that you wanted show." Reaching up, you threw off the hood and took off your cape allowing your ears and tail to be seen the others. You twitched your ears and all the others did was stare at them with wide eyes, causing you to blush and down cast your gaze.
"You have.. ears," Mey-Rin stuttered out, her eyes glued onto the furry mass that adorned the top of your head.
"And a tail," Bard finished off for her his eyes trailing down to the furry tail that lashed behind you.
You glanced over to gauge the reaction that Ciel was having and you let out a loud laugh upon seeing it. His mouth hung open in shock as his eyes were wide as they gazed over at your new body features. Your gaze then drifted up to look at Sebastian, who was giving you an amused expression and you could swear for a second that you saw yearning flash in his eyes.
Ciel quickly composed his figure as he quickly clamped his mouth shut. It was then that you were quickly surrounded by both Mey-Rin and Bard, Finny staying where he was his eyes wide in surprise, before falling back down to a sadden expression probably still thinking of Angela. He made his way over to where you were with Bard and Mey-Rin, coming to a stop to stare up at your ears.
'Oh my little cinnamon bun,' you couldn't help but think. 'I can't bear to see you so gloomy like that.'
"Oh my," Mey-Rin gasped out as she reached her hand out as if she was going to touch them. "Are these really real?"
"You can touch them if you want," you said with a laugh and both she and Bard reached up to touch each of the ears. A shiver went down your spin upon feeling their fingers on your ears. 'I guess their a lot more sensitive than I thought that they were.'
"Wow their a lot softer than I thought they were," Bard said. "I assume this is also one of your spells."
"Well, in a way yes."
"What do you mean sorta?" Ciel asked you and you let out a sheepish grin at this. It was then that you noticed that Ciel was leaning away from you and you let out a smirk, knowing that he was wary being around you due to the fact that he was allergic to cats. You slink over to him and wrapped your arms around him from behind and you rubbed your cheek against his.
"Well.. they just appeared out of nowhere and i have no idea on how to remove them," you told him.
"What are you doing!?" he exclaimed out as he pulled away from your cheek. He raised a hand up to his nose as if he was just waiting for a sneeze, but nothing came out.
You leaned in with a tilt of your head. "Huh your not sneezing, I was expecting that you would."
Ciel gave you a shocked expression at what you had just said. "How do you possibly know that I'm allergic to cats!?" He asked you bewildered and you twitched your ears.
A low chuckle sounded from your side and you looked over to see Sebastian chuckling into his hand, which he had raised up to cover his mouth. "So you were that beautiful cat, i happened to find earlier today." His eyes slid over your figure, lingering longer on your tail and ears and a smirk came onto his face. "This just makes you even more fetching," he whispered underneath his breath, and though the others couldn't hear, you could make it out clearly with the use of your ears.
A light blush came over your features upon hearing him say that and you turned your head away to make sure he doesn't it. "I was wondering why there was a cat here in this town," Ciel continued on saying. "So you were saying how you didn't know how this happened right?"
You nodded your head in agreement. "They popped up when we reached this manor and I don't know how to get rid of them. I've been trying, but they always just end up staying."
Ciel's eyes remained locked onto your ears and tail. "I guess all we need to do is wait to see if they might go away. Sebastian can help you find a way to help you remove them."
"We'll help you as well," Mey-Rin exclaimed out with a determined expression. Both Bard and Finny nodded their heads in agreement to her words.
"I'm going to head to bed," Finny stated out.
Bard glanced at the clock that was on the wall, reading that it now read 1:05. "I'll do the same as well. It's getting pretty late. Staying up won't do any of us any good." He turned to look over at Ciel, "I'll see you in the morning young master," he said before heading toward the door followed by both Finny and Mey-Rin.
Mey-Rin paused and turned back to face you. "Are you coming as well (Y/N)?"
You shook your head. "You go on ahead. I actually need to tell Ciel about something else."
"Well then goodnight," she said.
"Goodnight," you called out to her as she closed the door shut.
"You did say that you had something to tell me earlier," Ciel said with an interested expression. "So then what was so important."
You sat down on the desk, your tail whipping behind you as you looked down at Ciel. "First let me just say. You can drop this whole refined tone with me. You act so diplomatic when your with me, you can just talk.. i don't know normal," you said with a shrug. You poked his nose with a grin, "I mean i do consider us friends you know."
Ciel had a startle expression on his face, before it faded into an amused look. "You may addressed us as however you please," he said.
Letting out a frown, you reached forward and pinched his cheek softly. "What did I say about acting refined." You could hear Sebastian let out a low chuckle upon you messing with Ciel and he did nothing to stop you.
Ciel rubbed the sore spot and let out a deep huff. "So (Y/N), what was this thing that you needed to tell me?" He asked you as he leaned forward curious.
Your ears flicked backward as you rubbed the back of your neck. "How can I say this.. well the guy that Lord Henry killed.. he's actually still alive." you said.
Ciel's expression was one of confusion upon hearing your words. "How can it be possible that he's still alive when we clearly saw his dead body to earlier today?" His eyes flashed up to look into your own," You did something didn't you?" he said with an amused tone.
"Yup! I sure did!" You said with a happy tone and a sharp nod of your head, a large smile on your face. "Lord Henry actually killed a decoy that I created and the real James has left this village and is now safe because of me!"
"My my I wasn't aware that you were also capable of creating clones such as that. So the murdered body was nothing but a clone that you had created," Sebastian stated.
"Yup!! And let me tell you it was hard to hold that form for most of the day."
"Then that would mean that you knew that Lord Henry had planned on killing James," Ciel thought out loud.
You couldn't possibly tell them that you knew this from watching the anime, so you just shrugged your shoulders and said. "It's my secret."
"Well I guess that it doesn't matter. We still managed to catch a 'murderer' not to mention you managed to save a possible victim," Ciel said with a approved nod. "Now all I just have to do is uncover this whole demon hound mystery and then we'll be on our way." He paused for a second and leaned in closer to you. "You don't happen to know anything about the demon hound do you?"
You averted your eyes away from his. "Nope I don't know anything," you said as you sweat dropped. 'I shouldn't tell him that much. Who knows what it could trigger or stop.'
"Well then I guess that's all you have to tell me," he said as he looked at you for a justification and you nodded. "You should probably head to your room. Like Bard said it's late so you should get some rest."
"The same goes for you as well Ciel. Just because your a Lord and probably have a lot of work, you still need your rest."
Ciel let out a small smile. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll be sure to get my rest."
Something rested on the top of your head, making you squint one eye closed as you looked up to see Sebastian behind you. He had placed a hand on top of your head and was lightly rubbing your ears. He gave you a grin as he stroked your hair, causing your fur to stand in end.
"Sebastian leave her alone," Ciel replied and gave Sebastian a look.
Sebastian gave Ciel a sly grin as he took his hand off of your head. Taking that as your cue to leave, you hopped off of the desk and made your way over to the door. "Goodnight (Y/N)," Sebastian called out to you.
Waving them goodbye you wish them both a good night before closing the door shut behind you. Your tail swished behind you as you made your way down the hall, heading back towards your room. The house was eerily quiet as you made your way through it, probably because Lord Henry was gone and the dilemma with the demon hound was still going on. 'I guess the others are probably planning on getting some sleep or they may also be getting their baths,' you thought as you ventured further into the manor.
After a quick bath yourself, you felt refreshed in your silk pajamas and you could sense that all the stress that had been in your body had been washed away in the bath. You padded with socks on down through the halls, your tail and ears still out. It had been a pain trying to dry them and you were for sure that it had taken at least 20 minutes just to get them completely dried.
Your ears suddenly perked up upon hearing whispers further down in the hall and you were sure that they sounded a whole lot like Finny and Mey-Rin. You followed down after the sound and peered around the corner to see the two of them both in a whispered discussion.
"Mey-Rin. Finny," you called out to them causing them to let out a startle screeched and Mey-Rin jumped onto Finny's back. You let out a laugh as you made your way over to where the two of them were cowering against the wall. "Relax you two, it's just me. What's wrong its like you all saw a ghost."
Realizing who it was, Mey-Rin then slid off of Finny's back coming to land in front of you. "Sorry (Y/N), we heard strange noises coming from further down the hall and we're pretty sure that it may be a ghost."
"Are you sure it was a ghost?" You asked them with an amused smile and you glanced down the hall to see nothing further down it; well it wasn't like you were expecting to see anything.
"What else could it be then," Finny whispered out as his eyes darted back and forth from the hall.
"Maybe it's the late Lord Barrymore..." Mey-Rin cried out as her face went pale, however she still let out an excited cackle. "What if he's back for revenge?"
They both let out screams in unison, Finny's sounding of one in horror and Mey-Rin's in enthrallment. You only let out a small laugh underneath your breath as you watched the two of them freak out.
Both you and Finny gazed at Mey-Rin if she had gone crazy and you only shook your head at her words. "Uh.. why are you happy?" Finny questioned her upon seeing her in her excited state. Mey-Rin let out a grin as she turned around to face both you and Finny.
"Oh, I simply adore a good scary story, yes I do!" She said as heated steam came out from her nose and she gave an thrilled smile to the two of you. "I'm so excited, I'm shivering! C'mon you two, let's go investigate!" She said as she dragged both you and Finny by the wrist further down into the hall.
"B-B-But why...?" Finny stuttered out as he glanced over at Mey-Rin with a confused look as if he was wondering why Mey-Rin would want to head further into the direction the noise had come from.
"For the thrill of course," she cried out as she released both of your arms from her tight grip. She then turned to face you with a grin etched onto her face. "You got my back right (Y/N)?"
"Of course I do," you exclaimed out to her with a energetic smile on your face. "Shall we head off into the dark unknown," you cried out as you pointed down into the dark hallway.
"Of course I am!" she exclaimed out. "Let's go!" She began to head into the hallway with you on her tail, however that was when you noticed that your party was lacking a third member. "Finny, don't be a chicken," Mey-Rin said to the gardener who then let out a sigh as he catched up to the two of you.
"Fine. I'm coming," he said and soon the three of you began to make your way into the dark abyss.
"It's all so horribly frightening," Mey-Rin squealed out.
Finny looked worried as he walked alongside with the rest of you. "This isn't a good idea," he said and you could tell that he was sorta worried.
Finny held the candle out in front of you, to create a light that way you guys were able to see your surroundings. 'Wait this is where we see Angela with Pluto,' you thought to yourself as you could just make out the orangish glow of a light coming out from a cracked door that was further the hall. Your gaze then slid over to gaze upon Finny. 'He shouldn't see this.'
Mey-Rin spoke up before you could say anything. "Do you all hear that," she cried out as her eyes swiveled over to the door, which the sounds were coming from.
You instantly knew what she was talking about, for you could hear the soft moaning like sounds coming from the door when you were further away from it. Your ears twitched when you caught the words, " That tickles. No, not so rough... Careful... That's it... Good boy." From the sound of the voice, you instantly recognized it to belong to Angela and Mey-Rin pulled you down to peer through the crack of the door with her, Finny just below you.
The sight in front of you was clearly seen as erotic although you knew from the true intentions that it wasn't suppose to. A naked man - who you obviously knew as Pluto - was draped across Angela's body on top of her bed. It was obvious that she was enjoying the slow licks that he was giving her, enough to let out a small 'ahh' upon one of his licks.
Mey-Rin lost it upon seeing and hearing this gesture, as she stumbled back away from the door, circles spinning in her glasses. You were surprised that Angela didn't hear her and you instantly rushed over to Mey-Rin's side, shushing her. Blood spurted up out of her nose and you handed her a handkerchief and she held it up to her nose as she once again peered into the crack. "This is scandalous, yes it is! Angela must be a very hard woman to behave like this," She adjusted her glasses as she peered in. "There she is only hours after her master died a horrible death! Maybe that's what made her so passionate..."
"Mey-Rin," you began to say as your gaze remained focused on Finny who was shivering further away from where you were at. Mey-Rin quieted down as glanced over to look at where he was at. "Finny?" She questioned out, wondering what was wrong with him.
He suddenly dashed off and away from you and both you and Mey-Rin gave each other worried looks before following after him. "Finny, what's wrong?" Mey-Rin called out to him as you and her raced through the halls after him.
"Finny! Slow down so we can talk about this," You yelled to him and you watched as he darted out of the house and dashed into the woods, uprooting every tree in his path and a loud cry sounded after him. Mey-Rin stopped at the entrance of the door, peering out into the woods as she tried to get a visible of him through the rain.
"I can't see him," she said as you came to a stop besides her. Looking into the dark, rainy night you made up your mind that you were going to head after him and you asked Mey-Rin if you could borrow her coat. "Your really going after him?" She questioned and you nodded your head.
"I can't just let him stay out there, for the entire night in the rain. Someone should go after him." You told Mey-Rin not to worry for you would be back soon and you dispersed into the rainy night following after the pushed over tree's knowing that they would lead you to where Finny was.
"Finny!" You shouted out into the dark forest and you looked around for the blonde gardener. The trial still headed on forward, so you followed after it hoping that you would come across the young boy sometime soon. A drop of rain water splashed down onto your ear making you twitch it in surprise. As much as you wanted to get out of this pouring rain you knew that you had to find Finny. 'I hope he's alright,' you thought.
It was then that your ears picked up the sound of sniffling coming from the further along path and you quickened your pace just knowing that it had to be Finny. A fluff of blonde hair caught your attention and you hurried toward it coming to find Finny sitting on the muddy ground, his legs pulled up to his chest as he rested his head on top of it.
"Finny," you softly said as you crept your way over toward him, coming to a stop beside his sullen figure. His head shifted to your direction upon hearing you whisper his name, but he then placed it back against his knee's, huddling tighter against the tree.
"I'm okay (Y/N)," he choked out. "You should go back inside that way you don't get sick."
"But what about you," you exclaimed out to him and you sat down beside the boy, not caring that the muddy ground was ruining your pajamas. "We don't need you getting sick as well. Why don't we go back to the manor and talk everything out."
"I rather stay out here than go back inside," he mumbled out. "Just leave me out here and go back in yourself."
"Finny I can tell that you're not okay," you told him and a sniffle was soon heard as in reply. You could see through the cracks of his knees, that his checks were streaked with tears. "I care about you and I can't bare to see you like this. You shouldn't let what Angela does get to you."
"You don't know Angela like I do," he seethed as he turned his head toward you, his eyes narrowed. "Angela would never do something like that.. she just.."
"Finny we barely even know anything about her. What we just saw clearly shows that Angela is not who we think she is. Someone's who's suppose to be so angelic wouldn't be acting like that. We don't even know if we can even trust her."
"Don't say that about her!" he exclaimed out as he glared at you. "Angela's a kind and considerate person, like I know she is. If you can't understand this then just go back to the manor and leave me alone." He twisted himself away from you, burrowing his head back into his lap, leaving the place in silence.
You knew that whatever else you said wouldn't have any effect on Finny, for you knew that he probably wasn't going to listen to whatever you were going to say. "Fine," you said as you got up from the muddied ground and you slicked your wet bangs back. "I'll go to back to the manor then." You gave him a worried look and you took off the coat that you were wearing and draped it over Finny's shoulders. "Just try not to stay out here that long."
You got up and began to head back down the path. Glancing back, all you could see was Finny's huddling figure on the ground, your cape over his shoulders as you walked back to the manor. The rain trickled down, some splashing onto your face and ears, running down your neck and down your body. By now, your pajamas was soaking wet and you were shivering to the bone.
'What to do now.'
"Good mornin' everyone," Bard said as he entered the kitchen yawing, and you gave him a tired smile from where you sat at the table.
"Good morning, Bard," you told him and watched as Mey-Rin came following in after him a perky smile etched on her face as she came in and greeted you with a good morning as well. It was then that you watched as Finny came in behind last a miserable expression on his face. Large bags rested underneath his eyes, clearly showing that he didn't get any rest as all last night.
The three came in and sat down at the table along with you and Tanaka, each of them letting out a yawn, Finny the most out of all. You caught eyes with Finny and a guilty expression crossed his face and he cast his gaze down to the ground.
He got up from where he sat at and made his way over to where you sat at, causing you to widen your eyes at this. Based on what had happened last night, you had guessed that he probably wouldn't wanted to talk to you for a while, considering that to him you had been talking ill of Angela.
He stopped in front of you, his eyes still cast down before they slowly slid up and locked gazes with your own. "(Y/N)." he began to say his voice quiet. He then pushed something into your hands and you glanced down to find that it was the jacket that you had given him last night. "Thanks for the jacket," he said curtly.
"No problem," you trailed off saying as he walked away.
"Ah, good morning," a silky voice called out and you looked over to see Angela entering the kitchen with a sweet smile on her face. She beamed down at you all as she came to a stop besides the table. In her hands was a tray that carried a pitcher of water most likely as well as several cups.
"Angela, are you sure you should be out of bed?" Bard questioned out to her with a worried tone in his voice and Angela gave him a soft smile at this.
"I'm fine," she said as she placed down the tray on the table and you could now see that it also carried several loafs of bread. Glancing around between the others, you slowly reached out and grasped onto one of them, planning on eating it for your breakfast. This place hardly had anything good to eat and you were so hungry that you almost decided to eat the dog biscuits that they had in the cupboards.
It was clear that Bard had saw you as he let out a chuckle before returning his attention back to Angela.
"I'm sorry for all the trouble," she said and her face soon then collapsed into one of sorrow. " My master would be most disappointed in my weak behavior in front of guests... He always insisted on courtesy first... " It was then that she noticed Finny standing next to her who had turned his face away from her, a saddened expression on his face. "Oh, are you all right? You look so pale..." she asked him.
She reached out to touch him, but Finny darted backward, flailing his arms as his back just the wall behind him. "Ah! Uh, I'm sick! It's a tiny little touch of the cold, nothing more! But you shouldn't get too close, or you might catch it! Sorry, bye!" Finny exclaimed out as he dashed out of the door, sending a trail of dust behind him as he ran.
"For a sick bloke he can sure run quickly, don't you think?" Bard questioned out as you all stared after Finny. You hugged the jacket closer to you as you watched the dust cleared into the air.
After returning the jacket back to Mey-Rin's room, you headed your way to the well furnished room which you assumed to be the dining room to find Ciel and Sebastian there as well as Bard and Tanaka. Ciel was seated at the table and you made your way over to where they were at. "Good morning Ciel. Sebastian," you said to them as you came to a stop at their side. You nodded your head to Bard and Tanaka.
"Morning (Y/N)," Ciel said causally to you, his eyes trained on the sweet that was in Sebastian's hands. Sebastian gave you a smile and told you good morning as he placed the sweet down onto the table in front of Ciel.
"For today's tea we have a cabinet pudding. It was made using local blackberries," the butler told Ciel.
"You're certainly relaxed," Ciel stated out to Sebastian as he began to dig into the pudding like cake in front of him.
Sebastian let out a low chuckle, "Because we're in no hurry, sir," He replied out. His eyes flickered over to where your ears where hidden at underneath the hood of the cape and he let out a sigh. "It's a shame that you have to his those lovely ears of yours."
You let out a shrug along with a laugh. "Well I don't want any other people to catch me with them out."
The door suddenly slammed open followed by Mey-Rin screaming out "Sebastian, hurry!" She darted over to where he was at, followed by Finny on her tail.
"What's the matter this time? Do calm down, please." Sebastian stated out annoyed, the tray at his side in one arm.
"We've looked all over, but we can't find Angela!" Finny exclaimed out.
"Oh, is that all?" Bard said. "Yeah, don't worry about it. She said there were some medicinal herbs growing by the fen. She went there to pick some up, that's all."
"Right now? Why wyould she?" Finny exclaimed out.
"She went all alone when there might be a demon hound out there?" Mey-Rin said.
Bard instantly realized the degree of the situation as his eyes widened and his mouth opened. "Oh, hell..."
"What was she thinking going out there all by herself," Finny trailed off.
'Pluto would never harm her so she's perfectly fine,' you thought to yourself as your gaze drifted between everyone.
"She said she was worried, you know, about you being kind of sick and all," Bard addressed to Finny.
Finny's eyes widened and his mouth gaped open upon hearing Bard say that. "For me? She went for me?" He suddenly turned around, dashing back out of the door.
"C'mon, Sebastian! Let's go help him!" Bard called out as he dashed off to go and help Finny. He stopped when he realized that Sebastian wasn't coming. "Hurry! Are you a red-blooded man or aren't you! Fine, then." He turned to face Mey-Rin. "Let's go, Mey-Rin."
"Sir, yes sir!"
"Wait for me," you called out to them.
"You actually plan on going after them?" Sebastian questioned you and you nodded your head in reply.
"I'm going to see if I can help," you told him and you ran up to Bard and Mey-Rin.
"Alright then, glad to see you coming along (Y/N)," Bard said. "With you helping us, we'll probably find her faster." He glanced around the room. "Where's Tanaka," he questioned out. His gaze glanced down to see Tanaka marching in place with a gun propped on his shoulder.
"Ho ho ho."
"That's the spirit! Okay, let's move out, men!" Bard shouted out.
"Sir, yes sir!" Both you and Mey-Rin shouted.
"Ho ho ho."
The three of you dashed out of the manor, following after the direction that Finny had took.
"Angela!" You shouted out along with the others as the five of you ventured through the back hills of the manor, trying to find the familiar silver hair maid. A scream coming from Mey-Rin instantly made you guys run over toward her, to find her staring at something ahead of her. She raised a shaking finger in front of her, and you looked to see a a sort of graveyard in front of you. The limbs of human beings decorated the land in front of you and you curled your lip in disgust.
"What are those?" Bard asked out loud.
"Uwah, I don't think I can take anymore surprises," Mey-Rin exclaimed out.
Your gaze was then drew to one of the hands that was buried in the dirt, a ring on the middle ring. "Hey, look at that ring," Finny said.
"It's Lord Henry," you guys said in unison.
It was then that you saw something lying on the ground before you and you went over curious as to what it was. You reached down and picked up the object coming to find that it was the hilt to some knife. 'What is this doing here,' you thought as you flipped the hilt over coming to find a series of words etched onto it. "What is this? A person who lives in disguise, who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.." you read off. It was clear that it wasn't finished and you tucked it into your pocket planning on looking over it later.
A howl was heard in the distance, causing you all to dash over to a large rock and hid together behind it. You all peeked out to see a naked white haired man standing before you which you instantly knew was Pluto. A blush came onto your features due to the fact that he was nude and you willed yourself to keep your gaze just on his face, although you couldn't help but peek downward once in a while.
"My, who is he," Mey-Rin whispered out as you guys watched as Pluto went up to one of the corpses, sniffed it and twisted it around to another direction.
"A trophy... So it really wasn't the demon hound that killed Lord Henry." Bard quietly said with narrowed eyes. "It was a human being after all."
"Quite the specimen of humanity, he is..." Mey-Rin said, and she covered her nose as a trickle of blood ran out of it. You let out a silent chuckle as you covered her glasses with your hands causing her to protest and push your hands away.
"But why? Did he have some sort of grudge against Lord Henry?" Bard asked.
Mey-Rin let out a gasp. "I wonder... Could Angela have asked him to do it?"
"Mey-Rin has a point," you said. "Angela could have been the one to set it up."
"Say what? Why would Angela do that?" Bard said.
"Yea, he's right," Finny exclaimed out.
"Easy boy," Bard warned Finny.
"Angela has nothing to do with this! Don't just go around accusing people!" Finny exclaimed out.
"Shh," the three of you shushed him when he began to get loud.
You turned your attention to Pluto, to find that he was looking in your direction, his nose sniffing the air and he licked his lips. Finny instantly recognized this motion to have belonged to the same guy who had been with Angela in her room that night. A shocked looked came across his face, when suddenly a rumbling noise was heard causing you all to turn around to see a horde of people running your way.
You all were surprised of see the villagers dressed in bathing suits, a couple of their dogs running alongside them. It felt weird seeing them like this, not their usual angry self.
"What're you doin'? Why're you dressed like that?" Bard exclaimed out to them.
"We're all going to bathe in the waterfall to ease the wrath of the demon hound," one of the villagers said. The old lady that was on his back said, "He's back. His terrible voice echoed throughout the village all last night!"
"Yeah, for hours and hours! The demon's angry is still among us!"
"A howl eh.." you said as you thought back to last night, clearly remembering how Finny had let out that 'howl' and you let out a quiet giggle.
It was then that Finny remembered about Pluto and he turned around only to find the place vacant of any white haired man. He then dashed off, causing us all to stare after him. "Oi, Finny,' Bard called after him and you all dashed off after him.
Walking on ahead, you all came upon several broken buildings when the howls started up again. You all glanced around trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. A figure appeared in the mist before you, the shapes coming into focus when a giant wind whipped the mist away from the figure. A towering white wolf dog stood before you with gleaming red eyes, flame emitting from its jaws.
"Uh-oh, so he is real," Bard whispered out.
The wind coming from the flickering tail, knocked the hood from your cape off of your head and your ears twitched upon being thrown into the cold air.
"It's the demon hound," the others screamed out of fear, however you were overjoyed upon seeing this. 'Yes! It's Plu-Plu!'
The demon hound roared out before beginning to charge at you head on, throwing the others into a state of panic. As the hound leap at you, you as well as Finny caught sight of a piece of fabric instantly realizing that it belonged to Angela. Seeing that it was hers, Finny dashed straight toward the charging beast, a determined expression on his face despite the protest of Bard and Mey-Rin.
Finny clung onto one of Pluto's forelegs, clinging on for dear life. "Oh hell," you heard Bard said and he reached down and tool the gun that Tanaka was holding. "Here, gimme that! Time to show you what I can do." He fired the gun, but to his dismay only party streamers popped out of it. "Bloody hell! Why would you bring a toy gun with you?!" He exclaimed out to Tanaka.
Pluto managed to throw Finny off of him and he reared back a paw, swiping it downward toward the poor boy. It was then that you decided to take action and you darted forward to stand in front of the gardener. "PLUTO NO!!" You yelled to the canine, causing his eyes to widen and to make him step back and away from you.
You blinked your eyes opened, coming to find that Pluto was now standing before you perplexed at what had just happened and you were pleased to find that neither you or Finny had been injured. You spun around to face the gardener that was sprawled out on the ground beneath you. "Finny that was dangerous!" you cried out to him and you could see that his eyes were glassy with tears.
"My my, I was not expecting that you would go to stop him," Sebastian said from behind you, surprising you in the moment and you turned to gawk at him.
"(Y/N) are you trying to get yourself killed," a voice cut in and your gaze trailed over to see Ciel who was standing beside the servants.
"Young master," they all exclaimed out and Finny made his way up from the ground and toward the group.
"I know you can use magic and all, but that was still a dangerous thing to do," Ciel continued on saying as he watched the scene before him.
It was then that the demon hound began to growl at you, its fangs bared in your direction. 'Oh crap i didn't think of what I was going to do next. I wonder if he likes cats,' you suddenly thought.
A shaking sound was heard from besides you and you looked to your side to see Sebastian holding a box of dog treats in his hand. This immediately caught the attention of Pluto, who sniffed the air in the direction of Sebastian. "Don't worry," Sebastian told you. "I got this handled," he said as he turned his attention back to the canine. "It smells irresistible, doesn't it, dog? This is what you want, right? Inukko, the treat no dog can refuse."
"Dog treats," the servants questioned out. Your grim expression lifted into a grin as you watched as Pluto began to salivate and a joyful expression crossed his canine face. He let out a happy howl as he launched himself at Sebastian and seeing this happen you darted to the left as the large demon hound headed its way straight toward where you once stood.
"There is only one way to properly train a bad dog. You must teach the creature to obey your every command. Using rewards and punishments!" He said as his eyes gleamed a glowing pinkish red. "Firstly, reward!" He exclaimed out a he opened his arms wide as if he were to hug the overgrown canine.
He jumped up into the air and after doing a flip, he landed onto Pluto's face and soon began to chew on his nose which only made you look on in startlement. 'That's a really weird way to reward somebody, even if it's a dog.'
"And now... punish!" He said as he kicked Pluto in the side of the face causing him to land heavily to the side. He continued to repeat this process. "Reward. Punish! Reward. Punish! Puuuunish!"
"Well, I suppose I did ask him to put on a good show," Ciel said as he watched the scene.
"And finally.. a hug!" Sebastian said as he ran at Pluto with opened arms as if he would hug him, and just as he did he jumped high up into the air and sent Pluto spiraling down to the ground. Pluto hit the ground hard, sending debris flying everywhere and a giant hole to be created in the ground.
You all ran over to the hole, peering down to see if you could by some chance see them in it. Even though you had a cat's vision, you could barely see anything in there for it was just to dark to see.
"I don't see him down there!" Finny exclaimed out.
Ciel looked annoyed as he ordered out, "Quit dawdling down in that hole! Get back here right now!"
"Yes sir."
A shaking feeling was felt underneath your feet as well as the sound of something further down the hole. You took several steps back already knowing what would happen and you watched as a jet of water erupted out of the hole, streaming up in the sky.
"Where is Sebastian," you heard one of the servants asked and you pointed up to the top of the geyser. "He's up there," you said to them and they all looked up tin the direction you were pointing to see Sebastian hovering at the top of the water with Pluto as a human in his hands.
"This village is intended to be a resort for the Queen. It needs a central attraction. A luxury, a way for visitors to relax and forget their cares. That's what we have here: a natural hot spring."
"Wow that's amazing!" The servants cried out.
Sebastian elegantly hopped off of the geyser to come and land at the ground below, Pluto still in his hands. "If I couldn't find a hot spring or two for my master, well, then what kind of butler would I be? The idea is simply unthinkable." Pluto leaned over to lick Sebastian's cheek and you heard Mey-Rin squeal, "I don't know how much more scenes I can take!"
You glanced over to see Angela come running up with a worried expression on her face, stopping when she noticed Pluto in Sebastian's arms. "Pluto!" She yelled out and the silver haired man ran his way over to her and jumped into her arms, licking her face.
By now, the sun was beginning to set, casting the ground into a orange completion and the pool being you was just halfway filled with water. The geyser still continued to gush water out of it, but you knew that in due time it would stop.
Angela was seated on the ground with Pluto's head on her lap as she petted his hair.
"I'm sorry for the confusion. This is Pluto, I found him last month. I've always been a big dog lover. And he was so adorable, I absolutely had to take him in."
"Adorable?" Mey-Rin and Finny said questionably.
"I would have done the same thing as well," you told Angela with a smile. "You just can't say no to this pup." You glanced down at the sleeping male with a soft smile on your face.
"I'm glad someone understands," Angela said. "He does have a bad habit of turning human when he gets excited."
"A "habit"! You call it a "habit"?!" Bard exclaimed out with an upset expression on his face.
"So you sheltered and fed him for a month without telling anybody else?" Sebastian said.
"That's right. Lord Barrymore used the legend of the demon hound to control the villagers, but in truth he feared the hound more than anyone else," Angela said. "I didn't know what would happen to Pluto if he found out... I see now I was too indulgent. I never thought this sweet boy would hurt Lord Barrymore... I beg you, sir! Please take him with you! I know it's an imposition, but would you bring him to live at the Phantomhive manor?"
A shocked look appeared on Sebastian's face upon hearing this words. "You want us to keep that monster?!" Bard exclaimed out.
A large smile was etched across your face. "We'll take him!" You said out, but it seemed that no one had heard you.
"He needs a firm hand. I think if Sebastian were there to train him, he would become a good dog," Angela said.
"No thank you. I'm a butler, not one hell of a dog trainer," Sebastian said with an annoyed expression as he glanced away with narrowed eyes.
"Why not!" You exclaimed out to him, louder this time. "It's just a little puppy, there's no harm in bringing him with us," you cried out. You gave him a pouty expression as you gaze saddenly up into his eyes and twitched one of your ears underneath the hood. Sebastian glanced away from you without any word.
"I agree with (Y/N). Why not," Ciel said with an amused expression on his face and you could see a small smile on his face as he glanced over in your direction.
"Master," Sebastian said as he glared down at Ciel. "Is this an order."
"It is. I'll think I'll find it amusing, in several ways," he said as he glanced up at Sebastian.
You heard a familiar rumbling sound and you glanced behind you to see the villagers in bathing suits run up to the geyser and kneel before it as if they were praying.
"What is all this about?" Ciel questioned.
"My lord, " Angela began to say "There is a legend in this village. When the sins of our ancestors against dogs have been fully atoned for, the land will weep tears of forgiveness."
"Don't they realize the hot spring has been there under the ground all along?" Sebastian said as you guys watched the villagers.
"Likely not. At any rate, our work here is done."
"I seem to recall you were forced to eat your words earlier. Would you like to say it again now that it's true?"
"Why don't you do it?" Ciel said with an irk mark on his face.
"This case is now officially closed!" Sebastian said in a grande finale.
"Umm (Y/N)," you heard a quiet voice from around you say and you turned around to face Finny who shyly standing behind you. You closed the suitcase that you had been packing and placed it on the floor besides you. You were through with gathering all of your items and was ready to be leaving for the day.
"I'm sorry that I yelled at you that night in the forest," he told you as he made his way into the room.
"Don't be sorry Finny," you said as you went up to him. "I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn't have said those things about Angela when I already knew how you felt about her. I just didn't want you to get hurt because of her."
"You were just trying to help and now I see that," Finny said with a bashful expression on his face. "Not to mention you risked your life to save me earlier on today and I just wanted to say thank you for that as well and to ask if you could forgive me."
"It was nothing Finny," you told him. "I care about you as well as the others and would do anything to help or protect you. And you just had to apologize once, we were both in the wrong. Let's make things up and let's go back to the way things were before."
"That's sounds great. I would like that," Finny said with a hint of relief in his voice.
"Come on you two hurry it up," you heard Bard's voice call from the hallway. "I don't want to stay in this village any longer."
Both you and Finny gave each other glanced before letting out a laugh. "We're coming Bard," you called out as you and Finny headed your way out of the room.
By now the construction on the queen's resort was just beginning and you could say that the village was getting a lot better than it had been in the last days you had been hear. You stood sitting on the back of one of the carriages you had arrived in for you guys were now heading back off to the Phantomhive Manor now that the job was over with.
"Nice and snug, don't you ever forget me Pluto," Angela said as she strapped a collar around his neck. She gave him a kiss on the cheek causing him to let out a smile.
"And put some bloody clothes on, alright!?" Bard shouted out. "Don't just let it all hang out there! C'mon," you could tell that Bard wasn't to happy about letting Pluto come.
"Ah well, it was fun, Angela.." Finny told her.
"I'm sure we'll meet again someday, my sweet boy," she said as she leaned forward ot give him a kiss on the cheek causing him to go red.
"Bye Angela, nice meeting you," you called out to her.
She turned to face you with a smile on her face. "Same goes for you, please take care of Pluto for me."
"Don't worry I will!" You said as Pluto went over to lay down next to you. He sniffed you, probably smelling that cat ears and tail, before resting his head onto your lap. 'Yes! A dog that actually sorta likes cats or maybe its just me.'
"If you're finished, shall we go?" Sebastian asked Angela. You happened to hear and you glanced over the edge of the carriage to listen into the conversation.
"Certainly. Maybe someday I'll come to visit Pluto at the estate," Angela said.
"I don't know if that would be a good idea," Sebastian said causing Angela to stop smiling. "You were able to tame a demon hound. That's a task not many people could do. You seem to have a talent for wrapping lesser beings around your finger," he said with narrowed eyes.
Angela narrowed her eyes back at him as she was silent when Ciel said, "Let's go, Sebastian." Sebastian bowed as he then headed back to go and coach the carriage. As the carriage rode off down the road Finny shouted goodbye back to Angela. Angela waved after you guys and you watched as she vanished into the distance.
You stroked Pluto's hair as the carriage rolled along the path.
"Hey (Y/N) quick question," Bard said causing you to turn your attention onto him.
"What's up Bard," you said.
"How did you happen to know Pluto's name back there when he was about to attack Finny?"
"That's what I've been wondering as well," Finny said as he scratched at his head.
You gave them a sly smile as you raised a finger to your lips. "Its a secret," you said with a wink.
"Oh come on!"
"We must practice everyday if you wish to get better at fighting (Y/N). Besides, the young master has already ordered for you to cooperate with me. First a high kick.. no no don't go and mess with that disgusting creature, I need you to yield your body over to me if you wish to improve. Next time on Black Butler: Her Acquaintance, Combat. You see I am simply one hell of a mentor."