A Box Of Kittens

Chapter 42

"Should we go after him?" (your name) asked uncertainly. 

"No, we're going to be waiting for him to come back," Ciel replied sarcastically. "Of course we're going to go after him!"

"Alright, alright, keep your fur on," (your name) raised her hands in surrender, a wide smile slowly breaking out across her lips. "But allow me to say this: I'm currently stuck in a different time period of an alternate universe of sorts, I've got a corset on- which is very painful, might I add- you lot are nothing but little kittens and Ash is far more powerful than I ever could be."

"But we have this lot," Alois stated, gesturing towards Claude, Sebastian and Undertaker. "Three against one? I'm sure it'll be fine!"

(your name) didn't pay attention. Instead, she pulled out a piece of gum and placed it in her mouth. Ciel looked at her confusedly. "Where on Earth did you pull that out of?"

(your name) looked to him, a serious expression on her face. "Do you really want to know?"

"Actually... no, I'd rather not ask."

"So," Nina spoke up, glancing at (your name) and Undertaker, Sebastian and Claude, then back to (your name) again. "What's the plan? Surely we're not just allowing him to escape?"

"Plan!" Undertaker cried out suddenly, fiddling with long strands of his silvery grey hair. "Right, yes, plan! I don't have one. But I do have coffins, many of them! Would you like me to fit you for one of me coffins should you die?"

"That's not very reassuring," Elizabeth mumbled. In the background, (your name) busied herself with inspecting the bottles of wine lining the walls, pulling gently on each of the bottles, coughing as clouds of smoke flew into the air. 

"What are you doing, now?" Sebastian sighed, shaking his head slightly in disbelief. 

"Checking for any secret passages," (your name) replied nonchalantly, continuing with her attempts. Cobwebs snapped as she continued tugging at the bottles. "You know, like in those shows I showed you guys. Like Scooby Doo, remember?"

"Yes, but aren't those works of fiction?" Ciel (why must you autocorrect to 'Ceiling'?) asked, the fur covering his face furrowing as he frowned. The others simply stood there, confusion evident on their furry faces. 

(your name) laughed- coughed after taking in another lungful of dust- and turned back to face the others. "Well, yes. Obviously. Though, it couldn't hurt to try, can it?" Just as she said that, her hand landed on a candelabra set into the wall and gently yanked it down. The wall groaned as it shook, falling backwards. A stone staircase fell into place as the stone walls fell away, a strong gust of wind that blew through (your name)'s hair and rustled her dress. She jumped back in slight shock and laughed as she stared into the gaping black hole that she had just created.

"Well," (your name) turned back to face the others, a triumphant smile slowly forming on her lips. "I didn't entirely expect that!"

"You know, at this point, I think it would be safe to assume that anything could happen with you," Sebastian sighed once more, smiling in spite of himself. 

(your name) smiled, giving him the thumbs up. Finny ran up to the gaping entrance in the wall. "Do you think he went down there?"

"We would've heard it, wouldn't we?" Edward stated. "Though it's not a bad place to find."

"'It couldn't hurt to explore it!' exclaimed Emily."

"Well, technically, it can hurt," Sieglinde interjected. "We don't know what's down there."

"In this story, it's not like I can get seriously hurt, can I?" (your name) asked the confused group around her. In the back of her mind, it almost sounded like there was a faint voice, a voice that was yelling along the lines of 'Don't break the fourth wall, you idiot!'. Ignoring the nagging voice, (your name) strode over to the candlestick that she had previously left on a nearby table and shone its flickering light into the hole. Damp stone walls lined the sides and in the middle, nothing but darkness. 

"Well, come on then!" (your name) called over her shoulder as she hitched up her dress and made her way steadily through the darkness. The others raced to catch up with her.

"Hey, lady," Bard interrupted the silence. "Do you even know where we're going?"

"Not a clue!" (your name) chirped back happily, a little bounce in her step as she led the way. "As I've mentioned before, I'm in a completely different environment than what I'm used to. It's the same country and city, I suppose, but it's still entirely different! I find it rather riveting, to be honest."

Elizabeth looked confused. "What did you mean when you said 'A different time period of an alternate universe'?"

"We don't have time for that, Elizabeth," Ciel replied irritably. "We'll explain later."

Elizabeth poured but said nothing. They continued on in silence, their footsteps echoing in the empty tunnel. They turned a corner, finding two different ways to go. (your name) shine the candlelight down both tunnels, seeing nothing but ebony darkness on all sides. "Which way do we go, d'you reckon?"

Sebastian narrowed his eyes, staring down both tunnels. He pointed down the left-hand one. "Claude and I shall go down there," he then pointed to the right-hand one. "And you and Undertaker shall go down there with the others."

"Michaelis," Claude interrupted. "Are you sure we can trust our masters with them?"

"Come now, Claude, don't tell me you don't trust (your name) after all the trouble she has gone through in helping us?"

"No, it's not that," his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Undertaker is, after all, a wanted man. Is it entirely wise to give him such responsibility?"

"Oh, don't worry 'bout me," Undertaker smiled, throwing an arm around (your name)'s shoulders. "I promise I won't do anything to this lot."

"Your word doesn't really mean that much," (your name) laughed, shrugging his arm off of her. "But all the same, we'll be fine, no need to worry about us!"

Claude nodded hesitantly, turning to Sebastian abruptly. Sebastian bowed his head respectfully before he and Claude set off at a run down the left tunnel, the darkness almost immediately engulfing them in its grasp. "Well, let's be off," Undertaker announced as he and (your name) led the group further down the tunnel, flickering flames their only source of light.

Yo, guys. I'm so, so sorry for the wait, life just hates me. Canada, who is probably reading this, already knows this, but we've got exams coming up next week and we've got this week's break to revise before we have three days of nothing but exams. Like, there's no lessons in between a bunch of them: just one exam after the other. Life also likes to mess with me in the form of my schedule, which is always busy, I rarely give myself breaks. Not entirely healthy, but oh well. Apart from slight health problems, I'm okay.

Anyway, like I said, I deeply apologise for the late (VERY late) chapter, and i hope you can forgive me. *bows*.

Word count: 1166