What I wake up to is not the familiar scent of Sebastian, nor the familiar sound of his footsteps. But instead the new scent and sound of Agni. I don't like that he's come into my Master's room without his his say so, so I sit up and glare at the human. I know that this human thinks I'm just an odd person; I can see it in his eyes. But he still thinks I'm human in the first place so I can't completely act like my instincts tell me to- growl and snap at him that is.
"What you think you doing?" I demand with a glare.
"O-oh! Phobia, I'm just walking up Master Ciel," the man states.
"Sebastian only wake," I tell him, standing protectively over Ciel's body, my hands gripping the edge of the bed.
"Mmmmmnnn," Ciel stirrs and I look down at him with alert eyes. "Phobia, what are you doing?"
"Agni try to wake. Only Sebastian wake," I tell him simply and watch as Ciel's only open eye widens at the sight of the tanned man.
"What do you think you're doing here?" He demands.
"Simply getting you ready for the day is all," Agni insists, and I huff. Yea, okay.
"Come on Little One! We it's time to go; as our host you should show us around," Soma pops up and begins to carry Ciel to his bedroom door. Said door opens out of no where, without Soma's doing.
"O-oi! Put me down this instant! And my name isn't 'Little One' it's Ciel, get it right!" The young Master protests.
"I'm very sorry, but Bocchan has studies and work to do today," Sebastian speaks up, taking our Master from Soma's arms and holding him in his own. "Please excuse us. Phobia, please help the gentlemen out of the room".
"Aye. Come," I tell the two, grabbing each of their arms and leading them out of Ciel's room. That done, I re-enter the room and sit down on the foot of the bed as Sebastian dresses the boy. After that, we have breakfast, me still working on my table manors and the others keeping an eye on me to make sure I don't just stuff my face in the bowl before me. Which, honestly, it's hard not to. After that, Sebastian, Ciel and I are found in a wide open room. Ciel has a weird metal thing in front of him with paper on it, and in his hands are two weird wooden things- one thin and the other fat. Sebastian also has one of the long sticks in his hand. And then, pretty music begins to play through out the room. It takes me a moment, but by the looks of things, it's coming from Ciel's fat wooden thing. "That?" I ask, pointing to the thing.
"That's a violin, Phobia," Sebastian states, "It makes music if played properly".
"Vi-lin?" I sound out, and make him sigh.
"Vi-o-lin," he states again.
"Violin," I state, apparently saying it right. I beam and listen to the pretty music, only for my head to tilt as a sudden sound that doesn't fit enters the air. "What?"
"What are you doing?" Ciel demands, looking to Soma and Agni as they rub their hands and bow continuously in front of a weird...Statue I think it's called. He's ignored until the humming stops.
"There, now that our praying is done, we can go about today with no issues," Soma smiles out, not bothering to answer Ciel.
"Prayers?" I ask. What are those?
"Yup! Prayers. This here is the Goddess of our home, Kali, wife of Shiva and hunter of demons. It's said that at one point, she was filled with so much power that she went on a rampage, and she'd kill demon after demon. After a while, this rampage became too much, and in order humble her, Shiva let her over take him. Realizing that she placed her dirty foot on her beloved husband, she calmed down completely," Agni explains. Didn't answer my question, but no matter I guess. I'll find out what prayers are on my own.
"Anyways, let's go out now, Little One!" Soma presses again with a smile.
"No, I have things to do," my Master turns down. "And I told you, my name's not 'Little One'!"
Next thing I know, I'm watching as Ciel and Sebastian do something with metal sticks that I was told is called fencing. It's a game. Two opponents spar one another in an attempt to poke one another with different types of jabs. Each part of the body means a point, and if one person gets a certain amount of points, they win the match.
"Ugggghhhh. Are you done yet?" Soma whines as he lays on his stomach on the floor.
"Shut up, we're trying to concentrate," Ciel bluntly states.
"But this is so boring!" Soma whines.
"Fine, why don't we have a little match?" Ciel offers with a smirk, tossing his foil- as apparently that's what it's called- to Soma.
"Now this is something to do!"
"Good luck!" Agni calls out as he pours Soma some tea.
As Sebastian stands between the two to start the match, the tan man- apparently he's from a place called 'India' and therefore he's an 'Indian'- shows that he oddly enough has some good speed for a human. But when he tries to slash at Ciel, the foil bends. "What?"
"There's no point in hitting somewhere you know won't work," Ciel taunts.
"I don't know the rules!" Soma continues.
"Then you shouldn't of accepted," the boy replies, going in for the 'kill'.
"Master, look out!" Agni suddenly speaks up from where he is, and rushes forward. I don't think stepping in is part of the rules, but if he can do it, then so can I. I rush forward from my own spot and scoop up my own Master before he can become harmed.
"Huh?" Had he expected one of us to let him get hurt?
"Is Master okay?" I ask him as he put him down on two feet.
"...Yes...Thank you Phobia," he pats my head, and I grin, letting out a light bark.
"F-Forgive me Master Ciel! When I saw that Prince Soma was going to get hurt, my body acted on its own!" Agni insists.
"Oh? Looks like one of the guardians is going to have to take revenge~," Lau suddenly speaks up, casually flinging one of the foils in Sebastian's direction.
"Very well," Sebastian sighs out, "Let's get this over with. We're already over ten minutes behind schedule".
"You're just upset about that, aren't you?" Ceil taunts from my side.
"No matter...," Sebastian falls into a stance, "Let's get this started". I'm not even going to try to tell you everything that happens during the spar, as already you can tell that it'd be epic. However, I will tell you that when they went for the killing blows, it was the same attack, and the tips of the foils met perfectly. The foils then bent and then snapped, leaving the dual at a draw. While Sebastian catches his broken foil tip, I catch Agni's as it was headed for Ciel's head. It wouldn't of been harmful, but no matter.
Later that night, after Agni had been so kind as to help make dinner and after Soma had fallen asleep, Sebastian and I find ourselves on the roof of the building. We watch as Agni leaves the mansion as though in a hurry. My crimson eyes narrow and a light growl comes from my chest as I crouch next to my favorite person whilst ignoring the cold. Demons don't get bothered by the cold.
"No like Agni stalking alone," I state.
"Follow him, Phobia, once we've told Ciel about this," Sebastian tells me. "Go in your demon form; we'll follow your paw prints".
"Aye," I nod out, and we move to sit over the roof of the Master's room window- a window that's open despite the cold outside.
Side by side to Sebastian with gravity working its magic on our hair, I speak first, "Master".
"He's on the move, my Lord," Sebastian states.
"Very well. Let's follow him," Ciel answers.
"Cold out," I tell him.
"Take your time, Phobia will be following him in his demon form while we follow his paw prints once you are dressed," the black haired demon states.
"Let me go too!" A voice, which turns out to Soma's, speaks up as he opens up Ciel's door with a slam. I'm still not too good with my manors, but I'm pretty sure that you're supposed to knock before entering. "I know that Agni has been leaving when I fall asleep. I want to see where he's been going to".
"Go now Phobia," Ciel tells me.
"Aye," I tell him, and let myself fall from the roof and land in the snow on all fours before heading out of sight and then shifting. I let the scent of food, a different place, and blood come to me and follow it. Where I end up is a place that I feel I must wait to enter until the others come to me. It doesn't take them much time at all.
"Where are they Phobia?" Ciel demands.
"House," I point in the direction of the wall, knowing that they'd get the idea.
"He's in there?" Soma asks, "Who's place is that?"
"Harold West's. He owns a corporation that's large on food goods such as restaurants, grocery stores and the like," Ciel tells him. "And he has an excellent reason as to why he would kill those reported. They all were his competition- though he still has a few left- and with them gone his business can expand massively".
"What do you want us to do then?" Sebastian asks of our Master.
"I want to know what Agni and that guy are talking about," Soma states.
"Looks like we're going in then. Sebastian, let's go," Ciel states. "Phobia, you take Lau and Soma".
"Aye Master," I state and scoops the two humans up, throwing them both over my shoulders like potato sacks. I follow after Sebastian, ignoring the whining both are doing about my nakedness. When we land, I put them down right away and we head into the mansion by way of tip toeing. I lead the way to where I smell Agni to be, and then from our hiding place we listen.
"Would you like some scotch, Agni? It's some of the finest through out the world," a voice speaks up. I don't like it already. We see a hand offer Agni a glass, but he doesn't take it. "Still, I'm very proud of you. With so little competition to deal with, my company will end up on top for sure! Keep it up, and you'll get your reward".
"Meena. Is she-" Agni tries, only to be interrupted by Soma himself.
"What about Meena?! Where is she?!"
"That idiot! We have to-," Ciel's mout is covered by Sebastian's hand.
"Both your face and mine are well known around here. Let's just watch for a while," he suggests.
"I too?" I point to myself with a tilt of my head.
"No, you're our ace in the hole. Be read if needed," Sebastian orders.
"Aye," I nodd out.
"Prince Soma!" Agni cries out in surprise.
"Who is this idiot?" Harold demands.
"Agni! Put this man in his place! Let's go find Meena together!" Soma states with a wave of his hand. However, Agni obviously struggles. I can smell the sorrow rolling off of him.
"Agni, get rid of this brat, or the deal is off," Agni's body jolts again.
"A-Agni...? You wouldn't hurt me would you?" Soma steps back, surprised. I smell blood, and then see tears made of the red stuff. I didn't know that was possible. But apparently it is.
"P-please...Forgive me!" Agni's right hand glows blue as he unwraps it and begins to attack.
"We can't just let him get harmed," Ciel wiggles in Sebastian's hold.
"I know. Phobia, go save Soma," Sebastian demands. "But don't hurt Agni".
"Aye," I nod out, and rush my way through the door, pulling Soma out of the way and tossing him over my shoulder.
"Mother of God! Why are you naked?!" The blonde man that turned out to be Harold shields his eyes.
"You?!" Agni states. Why doesn't he just use my name? I don't mind.
"Agni no hurt Soma," I tell him with a growl.
"I'm sorry, but I've been given an order!" Agni states and attacks once more.
"Bad dog!" I tell him as I dodge. "Good dogs no bite hand feeds them! Agni bad dog!" I ignore the shrill screams of Harold as each time I dodge, another expensive thing is broken. Why fill one room with such nonsense anyways?
"Get out of there already! Stop playing," I hear Ciel state before Sebastian drags him away. Where did Lau go- when did he leave?
"Aye," I state lowly, and break my way through the window, the glass not even nearly scratching my skin. As I land in a crouch, I take off at my current full speed towards home, and then set down Soma once we're inside. "Soma safe now," I tell him. But it seems he's too shocked to answer.
As Sebastian leads Soma to where Ciel is, I'm ordered to go put a new suit on. Which I'm not too happy about; putting on clothing is still something I'm getting used to. Still, I put on one of my many black and white suits and track down the others by smell. I knock before entering as I've been trained to do by Sebastian. What I come in to find though, is something that's not all that good. Soma just knocked over a perfectly fine tea set. Now, I'm not one much for tea, but the glass was pretty. The boy shoulder checks me in his rush to get passed me, and my upper lip raises a little bit.
"Rude," I snap out as the boy leave. "Why Soma angry?"
"He isn't happy that 'everyone is leaving him'," Ciel states.
"It seems that he needs to be re-disciplined," Sebastian states with narrowed eyes.
And re-disciplined he was, Sebastian drilling into his head that he never had anything of his own in the first place. Everything he ever had was only given to him through his parents and his status- which was also given to him by whom he is related to. In the end, Sebastian drove the boy into realizing just how unimportant he really is within the world.
Today was a very fast paced day in the very least. You see, after Soma finally realized just how spoiled he was, we inadvertently decided to help him with things. Not because Ciel is a kind person by way of helping strangers. But by way of wanting to win a certain prize that would be rewarded to the winner of the Curry cooking contest that Agni had entered for Harold. It was a fast paced thing with both Sebastian and Agni being the two most noticeable chefs amongst the group. And it wasn't until the Queen's choice of who won the competition that we got the prize that would allow Master's company to expand into the world of food.
Though out the week, I have been keeping to myself for the most part. Why, you ask? Because I've been working on my speaking ability. I've been getting better as of late, and I figure that I'm almost to where I can talk like anyone else. I can't wait, so I've been working through the night and day while Sebastian worked to make the correct curry for the competition. I just hope that when the time comes, I can show not only Ciel, but also Sebastian that I am a good dog. And that there is nothing that I can't learn when I put my mind to it. I'm a Hell Hound after all; there's rarely anything we can't learn to do.
There was a down side that no one saw coming. Someone had used curryma, a forbidden spice known to feed on the darkness of one's heart. Meena, whom turned out to be a complete bitch and was being bribed into acting the same way when she saw Soma again if Agni kept to his side of the deal. It wasn't until the curryma caused certain people to go crazy. This in turn caused chaos that was only solved by the kind taste of Sebastian's Curry Bread that he made for the competition. This turned everyone back to normal, including Meena.
"I have a message from her Highness," the white haired demon I learned from my Master to be Ash- demon butler to the Queen- approaches us to speak. He actually is like a white themed version of Sebastian, having the same tone and way of speech. They're even the same height. But while Sebastian has red eyes, Ash has purple. Sebastian has black hair, and Ash white. Sebastian dresses in all black, but Ash dresses in all white. Talk about your differences. "The Queen is the light and you are the shadow; please continue your excellent work," he finishes up. His eyes turn to me, and he tilts his head. "Oh? Who might this be?"
"Him? This is Phobia, a hell hound that I brought into my manor to work under my care in order to keep both himself safe and humans all around," Ciel states. "Be polite Phobia and say hello".
Let's see if my speech lessons as of late have been worth it. I look from my Master to Sebastian and smile lightly before bowing. "A pleasure to meet you, Ash," I state, and rise my torso to offer a hand to shake. The demon takes it firmly. "It truly is. Thank you for praising my Master; it means the world to me".
"You're quite well spoken. Mr. Phantomhive seemed to have thought you couldn't do such a thing," Ash smiles and releases my hand.
"It's a shame he would have such little faith in me, no?" I chuckle out.
"Indeed. It was a pleasure to meet you, Phobia. But please forgive me as I must take my leave," Ash announces.
"Do not let me keep you from Her Highness. It was an honor to meet you as well," I tell him with a smile. It is when Ash is gone that my attention goes to the others. Their faces are full of surprise and slightly blanched. "What?"
"Since when could you talk like that ?" My Master asks me with honest surprise.
"Since just now acutally. I had spent most of my time studying- never doing that again by the way- and this is the result. If you want, I can always go back to how I was," I tell him.
"If you do, I'll call you a bad dog for the rest of your days," Sebastian states lowly.
"You're so cruel!" I whimper out. "I worked so hard to impress you in front of the Queen herself and that's the thanks I get? Please treat me more kindly; you're the most important person in my life after all".
"And why is that? Ciel is your Master," Sebastian sighs out.
"But you're the one that tamed me in the first place," I add with another whimper. "I follow his orders to make you and you alone happy. Master Ciel is a wonderful person, but I like you more".
"Yes well, like him more than me. Either that or continue what you're doing. Do I make myself clear? If you keep obeying Ciel like you have been, then I'll be very happy with you," Sebastian assures
"Yay!" I grin, and glomp the man before licking his face. "I won't let you down".
Sebastian's face is one that is unhappy with the spit on it, "You'd do well not to".