"Jonathan, do you even know where we are?" Charlotte asked, following her pinheaded partner through a long stretch in the painting. The way it looked, it looked familiar, maybe she'd seen it before?
"Of course I know where were going," Jonathan said. "I have a completed map."
This caught Charlotte's attention. They didn't have a 100% complete map of 13th street. "Um, Jonathan."
"Yes."
"We don't have a full map of 13th Street."
"You're wrong Charlotte," he said back to her in a somewhat mocking voice. He handed her the old piece old paper in his hands.
She looked at it curiously. Jonathan looked proud. "See?"
At first, Charlotte couldn't believe it. They hadn't fully explored this painting so, their map shouldn't be complete. Was it possible that Jonathan found a completed map? She looked around. Then it hit her. This place looked like the City of Haze. The first painting they explored. She looked at the map again. No wonder this place looked familiar.
"Jonathan," she said slowly.
"Yeah," he called from a little ahead; she realized that he had kept going when she stopped.
"This is a map OF CITY OF HAZE," she shouted.
"No," Jonathan said. He walked up to her and looked at the map. "Prove it."
Then Charlotte noticed the writing on the map that read "City of Haze".
"It says right there," Charlotte said pointing to the "City of Haze" printed on the paper, in large print.
"Oh," he said. Charlotte looked at him. "Oh" was all he could say? Charlotte took the book in her hands that read "Tomb of Arms III" on the front and
SMACK!
Jonathan fell to the ground rubbing his head. Charlotte whipped her hair behind her shoulder and took the lead, leaving Jonathan to get up and suspect his head.
"Charlotte," he said. "I think you might have just given me a uh-" he stopped to think of the word. "A concussion."
"Well," she said, irritated. "You must have a concussion, cos you using a word longer than ten letters is a shocker."
With that she turned around and stomped off. Jonathan quickly ignored his pounding head and followed.
They went down the long room when Charlotte stopped at a sound.
"Hey Charlotte why are you-" Jonathan started only to be cut off.
"Shut up. Do you hear that?"
Sure enough, after a moment of silence, Jonathan heard the unmistaken sound off a train.
"Is that a train?" he asked.
Flashing lights filled the room and the duo looked over to see a train. The train was large. It was black. More importantly…
It was heading right towards them…
At full speed.
The skeleton conductor in the front of the train grabbed the whistle and it sounded in the room. The two turned around and started running, in vain. The train went out and both of them were pushed back into the room before them.
The two paced around after trying multiple times to get through, only to be pushed back into the same room every time.
"Maybe we should try attacking the train," Charlotte said.
"Or pushing against it, really hard," Jonathan said.
"No, we're gonna attack it," Charlotte said. "Ok?"
Jonathan grimaced. "Fine."
The two went out into the room and waited for the train. Soon enough, it came, skeleton conductor and all.
When Charlotte started to open her book and Jonathan started to whip at it with Vampire Killer, it didn't stop.
The two were pushed into the same room.
Pacing.
Again.
"We could always try my plan," Jonathan started.
"Shut up Jonathan I'm thinking," Charlotte yelled at him. He shut up. "I know a time stop spell. I could try freezing it."
Jonathan sighed. "Alright."
Jonathan got up from where he was laying and follow Charlotte-again- out of the room and into the next.
Charlotte started the spell and, as predicted, the train stopped. "See?" she said.
The two headed by the train, running. They were almost to the next room when the spell broke and the train marched on, flinging them both back to where they started.
"We could still-"Jonathans started but Charlotte cut him off.
"I know," she said. "Fine! We'll try it because I'm all out of ideas." The two headed into the next room.
When the train started to come, Charlotte sent Jonathan away and when the two crashed, Charlotte called Jonathan and the two push on the train. Hard. It slowly came to a stop right before the two were about to be flung back into the other room.
They both pushed their backs to the train and sank down, sighing with relief.
Neither of them expected the train to disappear into thin air.
"WHAT?" Charlotte shouted. All that work... only for the train to disappear.
"Well, it is Castlevania," Jonathan said.
"I guess," Charlotte said. "Let's get this painting over with. I'm already fed up with it."
R&R. A crappy attempt at humor.