A letter came in from the Queen requesting that Ciel handle the issue of dog- baiting in a village called Houndsworth where the Queen planned on building a resort. The next morning, Ciel, Melody and Sebastian along with the other servants, headed to Houndsworth. For the entire trip, Mey-Rin, Finnie, and Bard chanted "We're going on a holiday!" in one of the carriages. In the other carriage, Melody and Ciel were rather quiet for most of the trip.
Melody's POV
"Do you hear how happy they are?" Sebastian asked. "They're very grateful, such a kind young master."
"I didn't want to leave them in the manor alone and come home to find it in shambles." Ciel said, bored. Sebastian stopped the horses
"It seems we have arrived at the village everyone." Sebastian said,
"Oh, I forgot to mention something." Ciel told the servants "The resort the Queen has planned has not yet been constructed."
By the time we got into the village itself, we saw a man training one of his six dogs. "He manipulates the creature with rewards and punishments, he commands its obiedence ." Sebastian commented "But the dog isn't blameless either. It fawns on its human and welcomes the chain around its neck. I can't really understand it."
"If you're trying to get at something deeper, just say it." Ciel told Sebastian.
"No, its nothing of importance, my Lord." Sebastian replied "Simply that I love cats, I'm not espically fond of dogs. To be completely frank, I hate them."
"Woof." Ciel said.
An entire village devoted to dogs? It seemed rather weird to me and to be honest, I didn't like it. Like Sebastian, I was fond of cats and didn't like dogs. When we arrived at Lord Barrymore's manor, we were greeted by his maid. The moment I saw her, I began to panic, that couldn't be her could it?
Ciel's POV
The maid, Angela led me, Melody and Sebastian to Lord Henry's study. When we arrived, Lord Henry had started whipping Angela. "Who the hell is this Chihuahua?!" Lord Henry shouted. "I told you to bring the Queen's guard dog when he arrived!" Chihuahua? "Can't you do anything right?!"
"Move, Sebastian" I ordered. Sebastian grabbed Lord Henry's wrist.
"What are you doing, you filthy Doberman!" Lord Henry shouted "Somebody should have trained you better!"
"He's acting on my orders." I told Lord Henry.
"Who are you?!" Lord Henry asked.
"From the sound of it, you have already received the letter I sent. My name is Ciel, the Earl of Phantomhive" I said, then gestured to Melody. "and this is Lady Melody."
"Do you mean to tell me that a little toy poodle like you is the Queen's guard dog?!" Lord Henry shouted.
"You don't like small breeds, Lord Henry?" I asked " Well, that's hardly fair."
"There is nothing to discuss." Lord Henry said after reading the Queen's letter. "Under no circumstances will I sell Barrymore castle to anyone."
"Why is that?" I asked.
"Because of the curse." Lord Henry said.
"What curse?" Melody asked.
"This village and it dogs have existed for centuries," Lord Henry explained. "Anyone who interferes with us will become cursed in a most horrible way." Lord Henry stood up from his chair "Not even the Queen can lift this curse. Your mission is pointless! Anyone who acts against the wishes of the Barrymore family is destined to meet an unimaginably horrible end!" Melody and I looked at each then back at Lord Henry.
"Interesting." Melody said.
"What?" Lord Henry said.
"You've peaked my curiosity, I would like to see this dreadful curse of yours, Lord Henry." Melody said. Lord Henry growled at us.
Melody's POV
Later that night, Ciel and I were reading books by the fire when Angela came in. "I apologize for calling so late." Angela said.
"What is it that you need?" Sebastian asked. "My young master and Lady Melody were about to retire for the evening."
"I have a request to make, leave the castle, leave the village completely." Angela said. "You mustn't stay here."
"Why is that?" I asked Angela. Suddenly, a piercing howl sounded from outside.
"No!" Angela said, trembling "The demon hound, its coming!"
"The what?" Ciel and I said at the same time. A shadow of a large dog appeared on the curtains. "Sebastian!"Ciel shouted. When Sebastian pulled the curtains back, whatever made the shadow was gone. I looked outside the window.
"Ciel, you should see this." I said. Outside the window was a glowing hound, making its way into the village. When we went outside, the hound had left behind a trail of glowing dust.
"The demon hound is here." Angela said "It brings great catastrophe to the village. Anyone who dares defy my master will be punished by the demon hound. That is the law here, there is no way to stop it." A large group of the villagers came to Barrymore castle.
"Angela!" one of the villagers called "Please find Lord Barrymore at once, the demon hound has come once again."
"Who was the punished one?" Angela asked.
When we got into the village, we saw the body. It was the man we saw first coming into town. His body was covered in bite marks, defiantly from a dog. "So that's it then." Ciel muttered.
"Stand Back!" Lord Barrymore commanded "Don't touch! I see it was James then, he was the bad dog.
"Yes," one of the other villagers said "He broke the legal restriction on dog ownership. He kept a sixth dog when the limit was five."
"A sixth dog." Lord Barrymore said.
"Then this was inevitable."That is all you can say!" Bard demanded.
"This village is under my rule and no other!" Lord Barrymore said "The demon hound protects that rule. As the guardian of the Barrymore family, it punishes anyone and everyone who dares defy me!" The villagers than began to chant something about a good white dog and a black bad dog. The villager then carried James's body away, still chanting. "I was sure you outsiders were going to be its next prey." Lord Barrymore said "You are lucky to have escaped." Lord Barrymore and Angela then followed the crowd of villagers. Something is defiantly off.
Ciel's POV
The next day, Mey-Rin, Finnie, and Bard were swimming in the village's lake. Melody and I were on the beach, reading. "Seems like they're having fun," Melody commented "Why don't we join them?" I looked up from my book.
"I don't understand why they were making a big deal about it. Just because you can bathe doesn't make it a resort." I said. Melody seemed a bit disappointed
"Fine, forget I asked" she said, then went back to her book. I then asked for Sebastian to do something for me. Sebastian understood and went off to do what I had asked him to do. All of a sudden, the villagers started to shout that they caught the "bad dog" and that the "punishment" was about to begin.
By the time they got to where the "punishment" would take place, the "bad dog" was tied to a stone wall and was surrounded by angry dogs, ready to attack. A villager than started to beat the " bad dog" because it had something in its mouth, a piece of fabric by the look of it. When the man cleared out, the hostile dogs were released and attacked the "bad dog".
"I can't stand to watch this." Melody said. Finnie couldn't either and charged into the crowd to save the "bad dog". Finnie then picked up a wooden stake so big it would have taken three men to carry and swatted the angry dogs away from the "bad dog". We than ran up to Finnie and tried to protect him from the angry mob. The villagers then proceeded to chain me and Ciel to the stone wall and tied Mey-Rin, Finnie, Tanaka, and Bard to a post nearby.
"Leave this village immediately and advise Her Majesty never to send her minons here again." Lord Barrymore said.
"You're so pathetic." I said "Relying on lowly tricks to keep your meager power."
"If there is a stubborn dog here," Melody continued "I'd say I'm looking at it."
"If that's your final choice," Lord Barrymore said. "You will learn what happens to a dog who challenges me! Get them!" The dogs were released and ran straight for Melody and me. Sebastian was about to hit them back when. . .For a split second, I thought I saw Melody's eyes change color . . . .
"Heel!" Melody commanded. The dogs stopped immediately and lain down on their stomachs. The crowd gasped.
"What the hell?!" Lord Barrymore shouted. "What did you do?!"
"Your pitiful farce ends here, Barrymore!" Melody said. "Listen, there is no bloody demon hound! It's all a lie!"
"There is just him, an old man obsessed with power!" I told the village. "Determined to keep it, no matter what!"
"What evidence do you have?" Lord Barrymore asked.
"There's this," Sebastian said, pulling out a skull from Lord Barrymore's manor "The teeth marks in James match the ones on this skull." The crowd gasped again. Sebastian the explained how Lord Barrymore was able to pull it off; from the shadow projection to the scrap of cloth from Lord Barrymore's trousers that James's dog held between its teeth. The village turned on Lord Barrymore.
"Give up Barrymore!" I said "It's over!" The villagers then carried Lord Barrymore away, chanting "Punish James's Killer!". Sebastian unlocked the chains that bound me and Melody and released the others.