Ciel was not sure what he was going to find inside; that voice, his sister’s voice had knocked reason and fear out of his mind. He had to find out what was going on. The one they had to find was Kou. The one he should see and meet should be a slender white haired man with golden eyes. But that voice…

When his eyes had adjusted to the gloom, he saw her… his sister. She was sitting beside the bed, next to an unconscious Yue. Her deep red hair in the pixie cut that he remembered. She looked at him with her large golden eyes, worry, relief and a little bit of self-deprecation evident in her eyes.

“You’ve come.” Her voice was just as he remembered it. His throat tightened, unable to force a single word out. His eyes stung before being blurred by tears pooling in them. He could only move forward to envelope her in a hug, unable to believe what he was seeing.

“Yes, it’s me.” She soothed and hugged back.

“Dawn…” his grip around is sister tightened. Oh how he had missed his sister. Without realizing, the tears that had pooled fell as he cried on her shoulder. He could feel her patting his back while she let him silently vent his confused, happy emotions. When he was finally able to rein in his tears, he released her with a smile.

“How?”

“I don’t know either. I was like this when I came to.” Her smile faded. “Yue hasn’t woken up though…” Ciel turned to look at the pale man lying still on the bed. He looked up to his uncle, who had been standing to the side with George. When he realized how he had cried uncontrollably in front of these people, he blushed in embarrassment. Dawn saved him the trouble of having to speak.

“Uncle Hong Yang, can you help him?”

At her words, Hong Yang finally moved forward. Crouching next to Yue, he started examining him. After a while, he looked up, a deep frown on his face. Ciel looked at his uncle, worried for his friend and Dawn’s lover.

“His soul is missing.”

“What?!”

Dawn sank back on the chair, whatever colour she had was leeched out of her face. It looked like she was forcing herself not to cry by her lips were trembling. Perhaps she had already known; but was hoping against hope that she had been wrong. Ciel sat down on the bed and hugged her again. This time it was his turn to have his shoulder soaked. He held his sister, patting her soothingly while he waited for the shaking to subside.

“Is there a way to get his soul back?” George finally spoke.

“We should ask the master of this space. There has to be a reason why a cave turned into a different world.”

A different world… Ciel looked at George and could see that he was thinking the same thing. They shared a look and George gave a slight nod before moving towards the ghostly jaguar that was lying in the corner.

“Can we meet the Great Goddess?”

Hong Yang looked at Ciel, his eyes sharp and full of question. In the meantime, the jaguar looked at them, his tail flicking as he seemed to ponder the question.

“If the Goddess does not wish to see us, do you know what we should do to save our friend? This is the underworld, isn’t it?”

Again the tail moved as it thought about their request. Dawn finally looked up at Ciel, her red eyes betraying her otherwise calm demeanour. He stroked her head and thought with a wry smile that their roles had been reversed now, that he was the elder sibling comforting the younger. But it didn’t matter. She was his sister and since she needed support, support he would give.

“I’m better now.”  She whispered, slowly disengaging herself from his embrace. Ciel released her, giving her a small smile.

“We’ll find a way to save him, don’t worry.”

There was a rustle and a pearly grey owl with red eyes appeared at the window. They stared at the bird, who ignored them. It hooted at the jaguar, who growled in return. The jaguar stood and with a look, seemed to instruct them to follow it. Dawn looked reluctant, unwilling to leave Yue but the owl left its perch at the window and landed on the bed. It gave a small hoot before settling down and closing its eyes.

“Looks like it will keep watch. Let’s go.” Ciel persuaded his sister. She gave a nod and followed him out. When Ciel exited the house, his hair stood on end as in every tree surrounding them were pairs of eyes staring at them. Some were golden like the pearly jaguar and some were ruby red like the ghostly owl. Even worse was that if he looked carefully, on the bark of the trees were the hairy spiders that would creep into his nightmares now and then.

“Well, at least we know Yue will be well taken care of.” George had come forward and stood next to Ciel, his presence alone calming his overworked heart. And when he placed his hand on his back, Ciel could finally breathe again, all at once feeling safe. Unconsciously he leaned into George. He knew that the spiders here had no malicious intent, were not going to harm him. But after that traumatic experience, he did not want to see so many of them congregating in one place. Ever. There was a low growl and they turned their attention back to the jaguar, which was looking at them, its tail swaying back and forth in slight impatience.

“Let’s go.” Hong Yang called at them, the look on his face mirroring the jaguar’s. They nodded and followed the jaguar through the undergrowth again. Before long, they reached the base of the step pyramid that they had seen in the distance. Unlike the steep, triangular pyramids of Egypt, this pyramid was as if a smaller stage had been built atop a larger stage, the layers stacking on top of each other, moving up towards the roof of the cave, the steep steps leading towards the sun in real life. But to Ciel’s surprise, their destination was a small hut beside the pyramid.

“You don’t have to look so surprised. The pyramid is usually used for rituals, not for living in.” Hong Yang looked at Ciel’s dumfounded expression with a ‘what has your father been teaching you’ look. Ciel felt embarrassed by his mistake; he knew of course, that what his uncle said was true but perhaps because he had seen the jaguar lead them to the pyramid that he had jumped to his own conclusions. Flushing at his mistake, he quietly followed his uncle in, wondering why he was so grumpy.

In the gloomy darkness, they saw a figure sitting on a chair, their back facing them as that person stared out the window. At once Hong Yang came forward, bowing to the figure who had yet to pay them any attention. Seeing his uncle lead the charge, Ciel, Dawn and George also came forward to bow and pay their respects. While they could be considered equal in terms of strength, she was still a goddess and a very ancient one too.

Still she did not respond. She sat in her chair, silently facing the window, not speaking a single word. Ciel was resisting the urge to fidget; the silence was making him so uncomfortable that he did not want to stay in the room any longer. But for Dawn and Yue’s sake, he endured. Then, the jaguar entered. It went straight to the figure on the chair and rubbed its head against the person’s legs. A wrinkled, bony hand appeared and it stroked the jaguar’s head. The ghostly beast closed its eyes in enjoyment before it curled itself at its master’s feet. Finally, a raspy voice spoke.

“You’ve come.”

This was followed by more silence. Ciel bit his lower lip. Patience was a virtue… Respect the elderly… All in good time… She has been weakened… She’s toying with us… Ciel couldn’t help that last thought. He would admit that he was rather patient one of the most patient amongst his siblings, in fact; but there was something about the atmosphere that grated, made him feel restless. But if Dawn, his impulsive sister could curb herself and wait silently, he could too.

“Great Goddess, we have come to seek your help.” Apparently his uncle couldn’t stand it either and had broken the silence. A little bit like mother… Ciel gave a small smile at that thought. He schooled his features back to the calm, poker face that he hoped would not give away his emotions. There was more silence after Hong Yang's question and they were reduced to more waiting. It was all he could do not to run out of the room screaming. Instead, he looked at his pale faced sister and reached out to grab her hands. Her clammy palm grasped his tightly, betraying her own agitated emotions.

"It is almost time for the feast." The raspy voice of the Great Goddess spoke again. "The shadows are waiting for the sun to be eaten... that will be when their powers will be at their peak. They want to stop it... The natives have decided to offer the most powerful soul they can find to stop the sun feast..."

Ciel closed his eyes as he endured the pain of his fingers being crushed. It wasn't as if he didn't understand what the Great Goddess was saying. An eclipse was about to take place and the natives have decided to appease the gods by offering a sacrifice. This was common in their tribes after all. It was also common to offer the blood of their enemies than to offer one of their own. Judging by what the Great Goddess has said, it was likely that the sacrifice was Yue. Before they could say anything else though, a great gong sounded amidst the silence. And then... the voices of ghostly people appeared. Like a crowd that had appeared out of nowhere, chanting and screaming could be heard before silence reigned again.

"It has begun..." The Great Goddess spoke again. Was it Ciel's imagination or did her voice sound weaker?

"I cannot hold the shadows at bay any longer. They have hurt me through my children. The sun eating feast will start and your friend will be offered to the shadows to stop the feast." At those words, Dawn released her grip on Ciel's hand and ran out of the hut.

"Dawn!" All three of the other men were too late to stop the impetuous Dawn and Hong Yang had already run out to chase after her. Ciel was about to do the same but he remembered to stop and bow to the figure in the chair.

"Thank you for your kindness, Goddess. Once we have saved Yue, we will return for you. Lord Tlaloc and the other gods have been most worried about you." There was no response but Ciel had said what he wanted to say. He quickly walked out of the room, grabbing George's arm as they both left to chase after Dawn, who could not be bothered about her own safety while she worried over the safety of the man she loved.

A/N: I hate having to keep apologizing after every chapter... But real life has been a little busy so I haven't been able to find the time or motivation to write. I hope I'll be able to be consistent soon!