The blinding light only lasted for a second before dissipating into nothingness.
The deafening sound of the gunshot echoed throughout the empty room before it too was suffocated.
Simon rested his head onto the cold floor, feeling a sense of serenity washing away the adrenaline from his body.
He clutched his newfound weapon as if his life depended on it, which wasn't that far off the truth.
"I need to go, Cheshire is probably waiting for me," Simon mumbled, feeling weird after referring to the Cheshire Cat in such a friendly manner, he didn't like to consider him a friend and much less an ally.
Groggily, he arose from the ground, the stickiness of his clothes making his every moment an obstacle to overcome.
Now Simon wasn't particularly afraid to get his hands dirty, especially when it came to life-threatening situations, and yet the contact of the sticky ooze with his skin made his whole body recoil.
He decided to bring his new gun with him, mostly because he was certain that he had no ammo left for his old one.
Simon stepped outside and into the light that seeped through the broken mosaic floor, he looked at the hole from which he fell and saw a tin rope ladder hanging down from it.
Without asking too many questions, Simon got a hold of the ladder and climbed up.
Once he reached the top of the hole Simon found the Cheshire Cat standing in front of him with his iconic grin plastered onto his face.
"Your endeavors are attracting rather undesirable elements" the large feline tilted his to the side to take a better look at the weapon in Simon's hand.
"But I can see that such escapades have revealed a forgot relic of the past."
Simon looked down at large weapon clutched in his grip, a blunderbuss, something that he had only seen in books.
The weapon appeared very worn and covered in rust, with an extremely crooked barrel and deformed muzzle fan.
Simon secured it on his back using a leather strap that hangs from underneath.
"It's a miracle this death trap didn't blow up the first time I fired it," Simon though.
"A blunderbuss in the hands of a blockhead is a catastrophe waiting to happen. You are not a dunderhead, much, but exercise great care."
The Cheshire Cat recited these words like something he was used to before heading towards the other end of the hall.
A Row of cylindrical elevators awaited the man and the animal, all made out of glass and complex clockwork mechanisms.
The Cheshire Cat stepped into the middle one with Simon following closely behind him.
The capsule closed shut without any input from the inside and ascended upwards leaving both man and cat in the dim light of its interior.
As the elevator ascended into darkness Cheshire locked eyes with Simon and asked:
"Do you like tea?"
Taken off guard by such a question Simon stood in complete silence for a few seconds, not really knowing what to say.
"No, not really, in fact, I quite dislike tea," He answered with still a bit of confusion in his voice.
The cat's usual smug expression suddenly turned into a frown, traced with hints of contempt followed by disgust and then disappointment.
"A pity, I guess you'll just have to put up a façade to impress the Duchess," His every word was drenched in malice.
With a sense of guilt pooling inside his stomach, Simon stayed quiet for most of the ride before a rather important question greeted his mind.
"Wait who is the Duchess?"
As the capsule finally reached its destination and both of them stepped outside into the wilderness, the Cheshire Cat flashed a big grin with a newfound glee in his eyes.
"Oh you'll see, you'll see very soon," the cat chuckles lightly before teleporting away once again.
Quick update to let you all know that I am still alive and working on this story.