Ciel bolted upright, eyes roving across the room.
He was surprised by this sudden reaction, but he soon understood why.
It was like his body had reacted before his mind, his muscle memory surpassing his own.
Sure enough, the all too familiar shifting walls once again encompassed his ‘room’.
Ciel blinked a few times before he realized what was wrong
All too familiar?
…Wait.
He still had his memories!
Ciel remembered his previous dream.
He remembered this room, the hallway, and… Fairy!
It was like the memories had always been there, seemingly locked away in a corner that he couldn’t access.
Now they began flooding back in like they had never left.
Ciel slowly scanned the room again, not seeing anything different from what he remembered.
His beating heart almost drowned out the noise of the countless voices echoing around him.
Almost, but not quite.
Those voices were nothing if not incessant.
He attempted to tune them out as he regarded the room again more clinically.
What was I doing last time I was here!?
Looking back on his memories, Ciel wanted to strangle his past self.
He had put far too much trust in this Fairy person.
Gods, he wasn’t even sure if she was a person!
Sure, she had been nothing but helpful, but he still found it odd that he had trusted her so easily.
Even still, this grave mistake paled in comparison to the next one he made.
When Aurore appeared in the doorway, why did he suddenly bolt towards her, without knowing any of the dangers or asking any questions?
This isn’t like me at all…
Ciel sighed inwardly.
At the very least, now he knew why he had been so distressed after hearing Aurore had disappeared.
Although, that Aurore likely wasn’t real, since she never mentioned it again, even after she had saved him from those assassins.
Did she just think it was a regular dream?
No, she still would’ve said something.
She wouldn’t hide this from me, especially since she knows about my own struggles with dreams.
Ciel wanted to ask her once he woke up again, but he remembered that he would forget this dream when he woke up anyways.
Putting these thoughts aside, Ciel moved back to the present.
Regardless of what she really was, Fairy had something Ciel needed: information.
While he wasn’t a fan of being indebted to a mysterious dream apparition, he would much prefer that over the alternative.
Anything was better than nothing, so Ciel had to meet her again.
Unfortunately, he had no clue how to find her.
Last time, he had just gone through the first door, which was another stupid decision looking back at it.
The problem this time was that Ciel couldn’t replicate it due to the constant shifting of doorways and rooms in that hallway.
In fact, even going to that strange long hallway meant he couldn’t return to this room.
In that case, Ciel decided to start searching for something here, in this room.
Fairy had told him she hadn’t explored this room too extensively, meaning he might uncover something she didn’t know.
Ciel could use every advantage he could take.
If he was lucky enough, he could even find a way to wake up and escape having to make shady deals with an unknown entity.
He turned to his nightstand, and was delighted to find his handy clock in the same place as before.
Grabbing hold of it, the soothing ticking overtook the murmuring multitude of voices.
The tension in his head eased up considerably thanks to this blissfully muted noise.
Holding it tightly in his hand, he got out of bed.
He tentatively tiptoed forward, studying and taking in all the different attributes.
It was a difficult maneuver, considering his head continued to spin with every step he took.
Ciel gritted his teeth as he made a full circle around this room touching the walls in specific states.
The walls seemed to change texture naturally, with a smooth transition.
In these transitions, Ciel found something suspicious.
In certain areas, the walls phased into extreme disrepair with holes appearing within.
The holes only appeared for a split moment, but it made Ciel curious.
At one point, a hole opened up near him, and he held his finger up to the wall.
The finger passed through the hole without resistance, and the rest of his hand soon followed.
He moved his fingers around slightly, before he saw the hole begin to shrink Ciel quickly moved his hand back, afraid of what would happen if the wall solidified again.
Pondering for a moment, Ciel looked down and noticed he was wearing the clothes he had slept in.
He quickly took off his shirt, and waited for a new hole to appear.
Once one did, he delicately pushed his sleeve through the hole.
The sleeve simply fell out, going directly downwards.
For a second, Ciel noticed that the hole had moved slightly, far faster than before.
Perplexed, he moved to another hole, before completely letting go of his shirt.
It fell normally, but a part of it stayed inside the hole, which had moved alongside it.
Seeing this, he began to understand how the wall functioned.
Upon spotting the next hole, he stuck his arm in again, this time moving it downward.
Like before the hole moved with his arm again.
Next, Ciel used his other arm to move in the opposite direction.
The hole expanded easily, his arms widening it.
Ciel’s mind was boggled by this motion.
It felt like he was moving his arms through water
No, there’s even less resistance than water.
Yet when I touch the wall itself, it’s completely solid.
Inside the hole there was… nothing.
Not darkness, nor an enclosed space.
It looked like a hole outside of reality.
Ciel held his breath.
Why am I even trying to find the logic behind this wall?
Remember, none of this is real.
Shaking his head derisively, he looked at the hole he had made for a few moments longer, confirming it remained even as the rest of the wall continued its shifting.
He inhaled sharply before slightly poking his head through the open hole.
The wall seemed to vanish on the outside.
Even as he held onto it, he could not see the wall from the other side.
His hands told him he was still holding the wall, but his vision no longer registered it.
Puzzled, he moved further inside.
It was like a switch had been flicked on. Find the original chapter at g.com.
A chill immediately made its way down Ciel’s spine, almost scratching at bone.
Ciel’s skin began to crawl intensely.
Without warning, he recalled Fairy’s question, Do you ever get the feeling you’re being watched in here?
Shuddering, he pushed that thought away, as he quickly exited the hole.
He stared at it with a blank expression, allowing it to close fully and shift away before becoming flush with the rest of the wall.
Ciel considered stopping and heading to the hallway, but he couldn’t take his mind off that space outside.
It intrigued him in a way he couldn’t quite describe.
Well, I can hardly describe any of it.
There’s clearly certain rules, but they are… different.
He looked at the door again, its gloomy gray borders practically beckoning him over.
He should’ve obliged, since he would be somewhere familiar.
Instead, he sighed softly.
Always bad decisions in here.
Ciel once again opened a hole.
Trying to suppress the heart rending sensation, he entered the space outside again.
This time, he went a step further as he attempted to put his whole body through the hole.
His entire arm went through, and he moved it around for a while, feeling nothing at all.
No difference in temperature, no breeze, no walls or surfaces at all.
There was nowhere to stand, but Ciel didn’t feel himself falling, so he put one leg through.
That’s all he managed to put in when he finally spotted something in the infinite nothingness.
Far above, something shone in the vast black void.
It’s size was difficult to discern, considering there was nothing to compare it to, out in that black abyss.
It could’ve been extremely large but far away, or vice versa.
However one of its features was extremely visible.
It boasted large majestic green wings in full extension, much larger than its body.
These wings were vibrant, as if full of energy, with a dark green color and look resembling vines.
These wings didn’t move, but the figure did, seeming to float alongside, parallel to the supposed room Ciel was in.
Of course, on this side, he could no longer see the room despite still having half of his body inside of it.
Ciel froze, his gaze warily locked on this figure.
He cursed his luck silently.
This was exactly what I didn’t want to happen.
Now there’s a second entity!
He didn’t know what it was, but he didn’t want to find out either.
He tried to move backwards slowly, trying not to reveal himself.
As he tried to lift his lag back within the hole, the creature stopped abruptly, immediately turning to Ciel.
It’s face… well it had no face.
Ciel wasn’t even sure if it could see, but he didn’t want to take chances.
He unceremoniously stumbled backwards, through the hole and back in the room.
In front of him, the hole quickly closed again, covering the figure and the void it inhabited.
Ciel looked at the wall for another second, before getting up and walking purposefully to the other side, where the open door lay waiting for him.
It didn’t look as inviting anymore.
Ciel walked through the door, the rush of voices quickly overtaking his mind.
One single thought persisted:
Always bad decisions.