The little girl from the train had left him a voicemail. Any thought that the other passengers were together and safe died in an instant. They were in the castle, and separated, hurt, or worse.

And it was his fault.

Somehow it was always his fault.

(I've done nothing but waste time! I've wasted so much time!) Soma was sprinting as quickly as he could back to the aqueducts, a solid mass of dread crushing his stomach like lead. The little girl had left him a voicemail, somehow, impossibly. There was no way she should have had his number and he knew there were no bars on the castle grounds. But against all that she had done it, he'd heard it, and he was pretty sure he knew where she must have sent it from.

There had been water dripping in the background and there was always water moving in the aqueduct section of the castle. He'd been so focused on getting topside before the light of his phone died that he hadn't even thought to look for anyone in the slick maze of pipes and canals. (She must be pretty far down if I couldn't hear her crying. If she hasn't moved that narrows the search area a ton. If she has moved…) Then there was nothing but pitch black water and pitch black air with no easy bottom to be found. (She's still there.) He had to think that, couldn't humor the alternative; couldn't let himself humor it. He had never lost anyone to the castle before and his first loss would not be a small child. (No.) He set his jaw against it, swallowed a strange desperate noise back into his throat. (No, move faster, get to her first. She will be there.) Better to try and plan for what would happen after he found her. (I'll need to take her to a safe place, maybe the edge of the grounds near the prayer gate. Or a safe room if I can find them, if they exist. What if they aren't part of the castle this time? Worry about that later. Take her somewhere safe and then…)

"w-w-w-wh-e-e-e-er-ee-a-a-a-a-r-r-e-w-w-w-w-w-w-e-e-e-e-e-g-g-g-g-o-o-o-i-i-i-n-n-g-g-g?!" The tiny fairy was still with him, clinging frantically to the collar of his coat and bouncing with every slam of his shoes against the floor. "s-s-s-s-s-l-l-l-o-o-o-o-w-w-w-d-d-d-o-o-w-w-n!" She gave a muffled shriek as he dropped to his knees and slid under a half lowered gate, the sharp edges of the metal grating passing scant inches above them.

Soma regained his feet and rounded the corner, raced passed the open doors to the chapel and all but flew down the open sprawling hallway to the corridor where he'd emerged after exiting the watery catacombs hours before. He grabbed the handle that led to the descending staircase he'd climbed with soaked shoes and much better spirits. But when he threw open the door all that greeted him was a small parlor room. A room he hadn't seen yet. "No…"

"Master what is going on!?" The fairy had stilled with him, she was tugging at his hair again. "You've gone even paler! That can't be good, what's wrong?"

"No no no…" He backed away from the door, spun around to check if he'd opened the right one. He was sure he had. But it couldn't be without the stairs, what the hell was happening? Soma started opening every door he could see. (I came from here, I know I came from here!) Empty rooms with dusty furniture all, contents shrouded in blackness, no passage to the lower castle to be found. (I know I came from here!) He stepped back into the hallway, twisted about, staring at the open doors that now seemed less vacant and more distantly mocking. (I must have come from here, this is what I remember! This is where I…) Or was it? What had he remembered and what had he lost? The staircase wasn't here now, was that a result of that second head bump? Was he lost? He still hadn't been able to locate a map and the castle could move. Had it moved? Was he in a completely different wing? (This can't happen now, I have to find her! I have to-)

"MASTER!" The fairy was in his face. Her hands gripping two of his bangs, her stomach pressed against his nose. "Listen to me!" For having such small hands her grip was surprisingly strong, resisting his knee jerk reaction of trying to shake her off. "Stop! Just stop! I'll help you if you just tell me what's going on!"

"Help me? How can you help me?!" Soma grabbed her, pulled her away from his face and rounded on her with all the terrified anger in his gut "Can you move the castle? Can you make a door appear from nothing? Can you get a group of innocent people who just wanted to get to an airport out of this floating monster?! Or maybe you can make death give you a straight answer! Or keep messed up demon crap from following me everywhere I go! Can you do that, any of that?" He pulled her closer, felt his lips curl back in a snarl. "Then you can't help me!"

He was surprised at himself the moment he finished; that hadn't sounded like him. He didn't recognize the tone he had used and he felt a sudden kickback of shame. She hadn't done anything to him but offer to help and she wasn't his servant, wasn't his friend, she owed him nothing. He was no master to bark orders but that was exactly what he had sounded like.

And that was how she was responding to him. She had cowered back, a motion that seemed more habit than natural response which further turned his stomach and made the shame all the worse. Her body had bent to protect her vitals but her hands were up, her palms open towards him. It looked placating, appeasing… practiced.

"I can't do any of that, you're right, that was foolish of me to offer." She peaked at him from behind her spread fingers which shivered lightly. "I… I was out of line and I apologize. I'm sorry my lord, I only meant…" Her eyes lowered to avoid his, she seemed to think better of whatever she'd intended to say and changed gears, her tone appeasing "But you can do those things master, you just need to remember how, yes? And maybe… maybe I could help you with that process, with the remembering?"

He felt monstrous, stressed and monstrous, and like he should apologize to a tiny monster. He had no idea what to do next. "I…" He had no idea what to say. He had to say something. He couldn't stand being looked at that way. "There's a girl somewhere in the castle, a kid, and she's hurt. I have to find her before something happens to her." He watched her uncurl, her expression hesitantly curious. "I have to get her out of here. That's why I'm… ("Savage," his brain supplied, "Acting like an ass.") I'm taking it out on you, that's my fault. But I have to find her, nothing matters more than that right now. Please..." He took a breath, "Please if you can help me get to the aqueducts I can manage from there."

"Master…" The fairy perched on a candle holder jutting from the wall so that she was level with his face. "Is that all? Just a child in the castle? Why are you so worried for that? You had me thinking…" She waved it off. "Well it doesn't matter, but you were in such a hurry I thought it was an emergency!" She started to laugh, but Soma wasn't laughing, and it quickly became very uncomfortable. The mirth ran off her face and she coughed to break the sound. "I… Um… Well! Alright! So it's a fetch quest is it? Not a problem!" Her hands propped on her hips in a clear get it done pose "That sounds like a job for the wolves! Just send the pack after her!"

Soma shook his head. "I have no wolves."

The tiny demoness blinked. "Or the hounds would also work…"

"No hounds." Soma stated.

"Well… huh, what about the ghosts? They can't bring her back but they're great at getting into-"

"There are no ghosts."

"I mean in an emergency the bats—"

"No bats."

"No bats!? Well, the fleamen-"

"Not here."

"The skeleton maids-"

"No."

"Medusa heads?"

"None."

"Magical books?"

"Haven't seen any."

"Rodents of unusual size?!" She was practically shrieking

"Have those ever been here?" Soma asked.

"Why are you looking for a girl!?" The fairy flew forward and grabbed his collar, shook its white trim. "The Belmont's already killed the whole castle! We need to get the hell out of here!"

… … … …

It took some explaining to calm the tiny monster down again; to explain that Julius wasn't here to the best of Soma's knowledge, that everyone wasn't dead to the best of his knowledge, just oddly absent, and to explain what a cell phone was which somehow in the course of explaining the other two matters became necessary. The conversation helped the both of them. Soma was all the more aware how important his companions had been in his other encounters with the demon castle. They had done more than provide information and weapons, they had kept him grounded. He couldn't help anyone in a panicked rush. The castle had made that very clear. He would need help to get to the passengers and now he had help, of a sort anyway. Help in the form of a tiny fairy familiar named Flintstick.

Hammer had wanted him to buy things, Yoko had wanted him to find things, Arikado had just wanted him to leave, but Flintstick apparently wanted a comfortable place to sit. She was oddly attached to his coat. Soma didn't mind it once the oddity wore off, and in the castle that was a very minor oddity. Her hovering around him was honestly stranger. Those tiny wings made an odd sound because of how fast she flapped them to stay aloft. It was something like a bee buzz combined with a ceiling fan. Thoroughly bizarre.

But he was becoming familiar with that too as they retraced his steps and proved the disturbing theory she proposed when he explained his anger with the doors. The castle was moving.

"It's defensive," She volunteered. "If we're lost than anyone invading must be ever more lost, right?" They had to stop as they had come to another dead end, one that looked a great deal like a wall to the clock tower. "It's not a defense without drawbacks though."

"This is a nightmare." Soma bit out from between his teeth. "When will it stop? This is making finding anything impossible!"

"Honestly I'd like the lights to come on first." Flintstick fluttered up and poked a barren wall scone with the tip of her foot. "My night vision isn't the strongest and this area doesn't have enough windows."

Soma groaned and pressed his fingers against his face. He'd forgotten about the lights. Getting out of the aqueducts had been almost impossible with only his phones light, and he didn't have the battery to navigate them that way again even if they found a way down. "Death said something about lighting furnaces but I've never seen one and he didn't stay around long enough to explain it."

"Oh the furnaces are out?" She made it sound sensible when she said it, funny trick that. "That explains… well, a lot honestly. And it's good news!" She buzzed back onto his shoulder and took a steadying grip of fur. "The furnace chambers are one of the few stationary aspects of the castle, they connect to too much to be shuffled, just like the heart chamber and the transfer tower. So we should be able to get to them pretty easily!"

(This really is too strange. Even for this place.) He eyed her a moment. (I've fought a demonic mole that could only be beaten by stopping time. I've been chased by horses with no back legs. I've interrupted a bath session with two Sucubbi who I think had more than bubbles on the brain. I've seen things. Strange things. But magical furnaces that are apparently more important than the master's chambers somehow beat everything.) He did not have the time for this. "You know the way?"

"I know a general idea of the way." She chirped. "And right now that means going left!"

(Well, at least it's a direction) Soma thought, (that's the start of a plan and better than nothing.) He turned left, trusting the tiny demon on his shoulder to steer him through a castle gone mad. He had people in the castle to rescue and people outside the castle he needed to contact, and somewhere in this maze the personification of death was lying in wait for him, wanting something he could not give, but he had a companion and they had a plan. First the lights, then the rest.

And if his reflection seemed strange to him somehow when he passed a mirror he had no time to worry about it now. Even when it passed by without him. Even when he walked on and it lingered behind. Even when it wasn't his own.

He had no time.