Kiara felt she walked for hours through endless halls and chambers without ever finding a way out or even finding a room she had visited before. She leaned against a pillar, catching her breath, when her ears detected something besides herself breaking the stillness. She held her breath.
Organ music. Further ahead.
She took a few more gulps of air before following the sound. It became more clear, louder through several more halls and up several more short stairs. One set of doors opened into a great circular chamber, with many more doors spanning outwards from it along the wall. Gothic chandeliers hung from thick chains on the ceiling, a strange blue light burning from them, crowding each other. In the center of the room was a raised dais, where an enormous black organ with bronze pipes stood alone, the pipes rising high and disappearing into the forest of chandeliers.
A man sat at the organ, a long black cape draped from his shoulders, to the floor, in a black river down the steps to pool at the bottom. He had short black hair, his head nodding along with the music as he played, expert fingers dancing along the keys.
"Hey!" Kiara raised her voice. "Who are you, what is this place? Tell me right now!"
The man continued playing for another minute before lifting his fingers from the keys. He deliberately moved his legs around the bench while keeping his torso twisted away from her. He stood all at once with a flourish, shoulders back and a smile on his face. An all-too familiar smile in an all-too familiar face that made Kiara's heart freeze.
"Hello, sweetheart," said Kiara's father, brown eyes gentle behind his glasses. "You've had quite the adventure, haven't you? Why don't you sit beside me up here and tell me all about it?" He held his arms open for her.
Kiara took several steps back. "No. No, you are not my father. This is impossible."
Her dad paused, face falling as he considered. His features warped and twisted, grew light brown hair all over and large round ears, and now it was Basil looking back at her. "Would you prefer your godfather?" He laughed at the expression on her face, and his appearance changed again to Ratigan. "Or your other, more wily godfather?" He grew a blue carapace and diminished a little, becoming Flik. "How about the almost-godfather?"
He nearly doubled over in laughter, becoming shrill and unpleasant, even as he changed back to her father's face. But when he opened his eyes again, they were piercing amber instead of brown, and his voice had dropped several octaves. "Of course, not even the one you call father is your true father." He turned back to the organ, sitting once again.
"What are you talking about?" Kiara asked, and tried to steady her voice. "You didn't answer my questions! Who are you, what is this place, and what is happening right now?"
He chuckled as he resumed play. "So many questions. But we have endless time."