Treading through what felt like miles upon miles of hallway was taking way too much energy out of the earl. He took lefts, rights, opened doors - but they all run in a circle, like a maze. Calling Sebastian seemed to be a lost cause, because only Ciel was taken through to this “other side”. The last time he saw his butler, they were walking through one of the museum hallways, then suddenly Ciel’s world went black. When the light shone again, he was in a darker place. It was still the museum, but there was no longer any humans in sight. The boy felt content when he first ended up there, but he recognized that his butler didn’t cross with him and he was alone.
Footsteps came to a halt when he found a painting he made a marker for his travels. It was the fourth time he passed it, and to no luck at all. A cobalt eye scanned the area, taking steps toward the painting of a sun. The sun looked warped, evil. It didn’t bother Ciel much, because he’s seen much more offensive and gruesome art, but the fact that it was in such an innocent place was peculiar. Or was it? Could it be that the paintings changed as he crossed worlds? Did these paintings mean something?
For further inspection, Ciel lifted a gloved hand toward the sun. It was made very humanistic. It had eyes, a nose, a mouth that was making a crooked smile. It’s rays were being presented as hair, and under it was a burning man. As soon as Ciel’s hand touched the painting, the still, wild eyes came to life. They widened at his touched and hissed like an angry cat. The bluenette’s eye widened and he snatched his hand back before anything else happened to the painting. The sun was still hissing, and moving about in the painting like it wanted to escape. Ciel took steps back as fear began to wash over him. He only stopped moving when he felt his back being pressed against a cold cement wall. The light was dimmer the farther away he got to the now living piece of art. The hissing was still running right through him, and it ran up and down the hallways, echoing as if this place was more hollow and empty than it showed.
Pushing himself off of the wall, he made a run for it away from the painting. It suddenly felt like he was being taunted, and the hissing was all in his head. No matter how far he got, it was there just as close. Was it following him? Was he going mad?
His entire body halted at seeing a child come into his sights. The hissing, that felt so close, was quieter - sounding like white noise on the radio. He took a few steps forward, toward the child. She looked horrified, and it made him wonder if she was one of the children on the Queen’s list. The actual letter was in Sebastian’s pocket, and relying on his memory wasn’t the best idea at the moment. If this was what the Queen wanted him to get rid of, he’d have to find an exit - or an entrance. As much as he hated to admit it, there was little he could do here without Sebastian.
“Who are you?” he asked as he took more steps toward the girl. She looked normal and human enough, though her deep red eyes were slightly strange. The girl couldn’t have been older than ten, and being all alone like that wasn’t good for anyone. His guard was up, and when he was a yard away from the girl, he stopped moving. “How did you get here?”
