With a jolt, Alois woke up where he last remembered himself to be, but he was not thrilled about it. After his beau suddenly collapsed in the hallway, he had contacted H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. immediately before being permitted to use one of the hospital rooms to use while he waited for them to come. He had placed his beau on the bed and sat in the chair next to it, worrying his head off. No matter what he did, nothing seemed to wake the Watchdog. Not slapping, not papping, not calling his names… Even the legendary waking up with true love's kiss failed, leaving Alois to wait for the other professionals to arrive and take them both to headquarters to get to the bottom of this.

That is, until he himself started feeling drowsy. When he awoke, he was laying his head on the side of Ciel's bed, but much to his immediate alarm, Ciel was not in it. Sitting up, he scanned the room, noticing nothing out of the ordinary other than the fact that the lights were off, save for a lamp on the nightstand.

"Ciel?" he called out. "Ciel?!"

On his feet, he walked toward the door and put his hand on the handle before giving it a turn. "Ciel? Excuse me, can anyone help me find my husband—"

Suddenly, the man froze dead in his tracks. This was not right. This was not right at all! He was at the hospital, so how was he here?! A hospital room should not connect to a London street, especially one like this.

The city was vacant. Barren. There was no life in sight, and not a single light was on in any of the buildings. That wasn't the only thing that was off, however. Alois saw parts of the city that were familiar, but distinctly did not go together. Scotland Yard was certainly not across the street from this hospital, and the Getty was not supposed to be visible at the end of the block. It was as though his memory of the city had been garbled together into a nonsensical map. What on earth was this?

"I fell asleep…" the menace thought aloud. "Those people who died… They must have been sent here, too and couldn't get out…"

Alois came to the conclusion that staying here for too long would result in death. That was one answer to the hundreds of questions that were swirling around in his head. He felt his breath escape him as he peered up at the desolate and mashed together city, unsure of what to make of it. No though went through his mind as he stepped outside and onto the pavement in such sublime disbelief that he could not process it all at once.

What happened to London? If it was all a dream, then why was he dreaming of this? He knew that he needed to find a way out, somehow, so knowing that none of this was real, then where on earth would one look in a nonsensical world? The only sound he could hear was the sound of his feet hitting the concrete as he walked, aimlessly wandering while looking for something—anything at all.

The FUNTOM store was now next to the Library, and next to that was some shady shop that he recognised, but never wanted to even look at as he passed by in reality. The arrangements were random, and even minor details were swapped. In places where road should be concrete, it was cobblestone, and in places where streetlamps should be electric, they were lit by candlelight. Everything was so bizarre. It was such a clash of everything, that Alois nearly forgot what he was doing. Then, however, he saw something that made him remember.

"Hey!" he called out, waving his hand over his head as he spotted a figure just a little ways off in front of him. In retrospect, it probably wasn't a very good idea to wave the being over, but Alois had little else to go on.

Squinting, Alois could see that the person was wearing a hospital gown. It was one of the patients that succumbed to the mysterious sleep spirit that plagued the hospital! Alois was sure of it.

As soon as the stranger heard him, however, they tried to stumble off after looking over their shoulder at him. Something was wrong. The menace could feel it in his gut. With that, the blonde took off after them, keeping his hand in his husband's coat grasping the handle of his gun as he did. With a furrowed brow, Alois was in pursuit, stopping at the door of the building they had hobbled into. Upon reaching the door, he paused, and rightfully so.

"What?" he mouthed, seeing blood on the door handle. Looking down at the stoop in front of the building, droplets speckled the concrete as well. Sucking in a breath, he placed his hand on the handle and turned it, half expecting to be somewhere entirely different. It wasn't to be, however, as he merely came upon a bookstore.

Alois vaguely remembered this place as well. Perhaps it was from another case? Who knows? Maybe the memory wasn't his in the first place. Regardless, he drew his gun and tiptoed into the store, being wary of anything hiding behind shelves. Whoever he was chasing was injured, and he had no idea if they had somehow armed themselves in this mess. People, when injured, are typically not the most rational of sorts. Give them a weapon, and who knows what could happen?

Silently, the Lion crept through the store, holding his breath as he examined every nook and cranny. Then, he felt it. It was the presence of another living being. It was coming from the bathroom in at the back of the store. Tightening his grip on his weapon, the menace stood to the side of the door, gripping the knob. Abruptly he swung it open, hearing a startled gasp from within it. Revealing himself, Alois prepared himself to fire at what was inside, only to wrinkle his nose at what he found.

The patient was severely disfigured. Boils and tumour-like growths covered the skin. Blood dripped from their mouth and coated their fingernails as it appeared that the poor woman had tried to scratch the blemishes away, tearing the skin. Her eyes were foggy and she sucked in each breath with a painful wheeze as she sat on the toilet, peering out of the small room directly at the blonde.

"Help me…" coughed the patient, her voice damp and croaky. "Make… Make it stop…"

"What happened to you?" asked the menace, keeping his gun trained and senses sharp. "Why are you like this?"

"Too long… This world… Been too long…" the poor victim forced out. "Not… Not alone… They got him…"

"Who got who?"

"My… friend… another one trapped… got him… monster…" croaked the other. Pausing, she hacked up more blood, causing it to speckle the floor at Alois' feet.

"Who is your friend? Are there more people here?" asked the menace. "Did you see a man with blueish hair? Wearing an eyepatch?" His tone was much more urgent while worrying about the Watchdog, wondering if he was here as well.

"No…" croaked the other. "No one else… Just monsters…"

"What kind of 'monsters'? What did they look like?"

With that question, the woman turned her head, facing the mirror. Wordlessly, the blonde followed their eyes with confusion on his face. It was only when the victim spoke that he understood.

"Me…" she said, tears collecting in her eyes before falling down her coarse cheeks. "Kill… me… hurry!"

"Are you saying that the people who stay here for too long become something else?" demanded the menace. "Is what's killing people?!"

"Kill… kill me… kill… kill…" mumbled the woman. Her head flopped around limply as she tried to direct her gaze to Alois, but it seemed like the woman's strength was failing. "Kill me…"

Foggy eyes stared at icy blue, begging the menace to use the gun in his hand. They were sad. She knew this was the end. She had seen too much and had been pushed too far. There was no going back now.

Alois' lips pressed together and formed a thin line. Reaching over, he grabbed the door handle and slowly pulled the door shut with a soft click of the lock. Then, placing the barrel against its surface and heard a yelp on the other side. Alois did not look through the hole he had made. There was no reason. He knew the patient was dead, and she deserved the dignity of not dying with her body turned into a display.

"Fuck…" he huffed, sucking in a deep breath. This was certainly more than either he or the bluenette had bargained for. Mercy-killing wasn't part of the plan. It didn't matter now, though. Right now, his biggest priority is moving forward rather than looking back at what could have been.

This world was strange. The next step could be hiding behind any door, so Alois decided that it was best to start looking. This shop was as good of a place to start as any. With the bathroom crossed off his list, however, there were few places in the building to look. The manager's office was empty, and so what the storage room.

"If it's in the basement, I swear to God…" the menace grimaced as he approached the door. As he tried to turn the handle, he found that it wouldn't budge. "Locked… Fortunately, my hands are the best lockpick."

Seeing as though this was a world of little consequence, the menace simply ripped the door off the hinges and tossed it to the side with a loud crash. Peering down, he rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Always the bloody basement…" he lamented, moving one foot in front of the other as he made his descent downward into seeming oblivion. The only thing visible was the staircase, being well-lit while everything else was shrouded in darkness that not even the demon could see into.

Alois gripped the handle of his gun tighter as his body tensed. He couldn't see. He had no idea what was out there, but it could see him, he was certain. For once, his demonic eyes were betraying him. He had forgotten how frightening darkness could be. The unknown was always more frightening than the known. No longer could he see the door that led him here behind him, the further downward he traveled on the seemingly endless staircase. It was too late to turn back. He had to keep moving forward, despite the fear.

Soon, as the man looked downward into the distance, there was a light. The orange glow was certainly inviting in comparison to the infernal staircase. Alois wanted to run toward it, but could only see so far ahead, so he could only continue to descend with caution, causing the staircase to complain with each step. Each sound made the blonde cringe and caused his worry of it collapsing altogether grow.

As he approached the room, the light flickered, indicating that it was lit by candles. Once he was at the end of the staircase, he could only look back to see a blackened void. He almost preferred it to what he found in the room. It was a stone chamber with more stairs to climb. The round shape made it seem like some sort of senate met here, but with the altar in the center, that observation wasn't even funny as a joke. The two cages on either side were irksome as well, but the thing that made Alois' eyes widen with terror was the symbol etched into the floor.

"No…" he uttered, his voice cracking. Slowly, he brought a hand to his mouth, covering it as he used the other to hug his own torso. It was almost instinctual, the way he moved forward, walking to that symbol at the room's center.

"It can't be… It's… This… This memory… It's not mine."

That was the symbol that made his love feel shame and anger. The one that marks him, and will stay with him for the rest of his days. This room was exactly how the Watchdog described it to him. This room—it was this room where Ciel became the demon master he is today, and where he began his descent into hell.

Reaching the lowest level on par with the cage and the altar, Alois stared forward at it for what seemed like hours, just marveling at it in a state of shock. It was a painful place. Even the air around it was suffocating. Fear, despair, and hatred poisoned it as it radiated from the altar, pulsing and coiling around the blonde's neck. Viciously, Alois tore his eyes away in order to look around.

"Ciel!" he called out. "CIEL! Where are you?! Please! Come out! Ciel!"

Nothing. Only silence whispered back to him, filling his head with doubt. "Ciel…"

A yip called out to him from behind, and his head whipped around to face the cages. He couldn't see what was making the noise at first, but then he looked down and saw a rather strange sight. A puppy was staring at him from the floor of the cage. The poor thing... It was scrawny to the point where one could see its ribcage, and obviously couldn't see out of its left eye. Tufts of fur where missing, yet it looked hopeful while looking to the blonde. Against his better judgment, Alois stepped closer, and stuck his hands through the bars.

"It's alright, little one…" he said in a soothing voice. "I'll get ya out, now…"

The menace was able to squeeze the pup between the bars, and held it close to him in order to calm it. When he did, however, it was his turn to yelp, as the dog had turned into a black mass, swirling and churning in his grip. Abruptly, he dropped it, taking a few steps back and reaching for his gun. He kept it trained on its constantly changing shape as it grew larger. Eventually, it took the form of something more familiar. Another dog.

This dog was older than the puppy, but was definitely the same kind. It was a Doberman Pincher, muscular, healthy, and strong. Looking over to the menace again, the man could see that the hound was still missing an eye, although it looked better. Regardless, Alois wasn't going to put down his gun without a good reason.

"Oh, Get oFf it." Called a voice—or rather, a conglomerate of voices. "I'm not GoiNg to hurt YOu. In fAct, I suppOSe I oUghT to tHANk you for lettinG mE out of tHat cage."

"What the fuck?" the menace spoke aloud. "Who are you? Wait, are you coming from the fucking dog?!"

"InDeed." Answered the voices. Listening closer, Alois could tell that he recognised some of them if he listened closely. From what he could pick out, one of them sounded like Integra, while another sounded like Detective Bailey Seniour, Elizabeth was there as well, and so was Sebastian. The voice that was at the forefront, however, was his spouses. "TrUst me, I dIDn't chooSe the fORm I'm IN, But I'm just gOIng to hAVE to woRk with it."

"Your mouth isn't even moving…"

"Are YoU REAlly hopiNg for SENSE anD reason At this point?"

"I can hope, can't I?"

"TrUe." The dog replied before wandering off. Its claws clicked against the stone floor. "EitheR waY, yoU must comE aLong. THere's so mUCh to do, And noT mucH time to Do it."

"Why the fuck should I follow you?" asked Alois, watching as the canine made its way back up the steps and to the door. It looked back to the menace once there. "How do I know you're not some thing that's gonna try to eat me?"

"YoU TruST me." Answered the canine before hopping up and swiping at the handle with its paw. Once it was open, the dog trotted out into the pitch blackness outside before it swung shut behind it.

"Wait!" demanded the menace, chasing after it. He ran up the stairs and away from the altar, away from the cages, and away from that terrible symbol. "You can't just leave me—"

Grabbing the handle, Alois yanked open the door and stepped outside, unable to think due to the sight before his eyes. Once more, he was outside, but with a sunny sky over head.

Birds chirped and the sound of running water hit Alois' ears as he stood dumbfounded by the stream. The door closed behind him, forcing him to turn around and face the structure that he had just exited. It was a small, run-down mill with the wheel rotted and broken as he barely hung on just above the water. Alois knew this place well. He used to live here ages ago with his little brother, Luka. This is where no one would come to bother them. There were the bluebells next to the shack that they used to play with, putting them in their hair while pretending to be "girls". It even smelled like fresh water and pollen, just as he remembered. A sense of nostalgia washed over the menace, but it was accompanied by the feeling of being sick to his stomach.

"…Alone…" he finally concluded, furrowing his brow as he found himself yearning to the disjointed pseudo-London again.

He knew that there was a village nearby, and he knew that whatever that dog-creature was, it wanted him here. However, the menace did not want to go to that village. It was gone, surely. Last time he saw it, it certainly was, but in this world, he somehow doubted it. It was the village of Arachnophobia, and the Lion wanted absolutely no part of it. The torment he endured there set him down a diabolical path that he could not stray from no matter how hard he tries.

"There's only one direction to move, though, and that's forward…" he murmured. "But this… This feels like I'm just going backwards…"