The room was as dreary as Harry remembered, and the silence of it threatened to swallow his sanity. The last time he was in here was a mixture of moments that defied reality as he knew it.

Time travel was apparently a thing, though very limited in its uses. He stared at the empty cages that once held children, the dried blood holding far more significance than it once did. He could now put faces to it, each cage a portrait of what once was.

But there was only one that really mattered to him. The one that held a little girl named Rose. Harry slowly approached the cage as if in a trance, echoes of her voice taunting him in their lifelikeness.

As he stopped in front of her former confinement, Harry did notice something odd. There was no blood. Every cage that held a child, at least as far as he knew, was coated in the dried remains of life. But hers was empty of such revulsion.

He felt a twinge of something enter his chest. Hope. Was it possible that she was still alive? Could that monster have recognized her right before it claimed her life?

The thought was almost too much to bear, and Harry could only stare at the empty cage, mocking him with an empty promise. A hand on his shoulder made him jump, and snapped him out of his reverie.

"Are you ok?" Six asked, as Harry settled down. He gave her a look, before his gaze traveled back to the cage in front of them.

"Back in the vision, there was a little girl named Rose, trapped in this cage," Harry said, and Six's own eyes went to the aforementioned cage.

"I came out of it before I could see what happened to her, but that monster was going right for her," he continued. Six nodded along, as empathetic as she could be. But it was hard for someone like her, who has already lost so much to this place, to truly feel empathy for another, much less someone she didn't know.

Harry himself had somehow wormed his way into her heart, and she did care about what happened to him. But if she were honest, the girl named Rose didn't mean much to her.

"Hairy, if that's true, then…" she started, but was interrupted by Harry. "I know. The chances of her being alive are slim, but… Look, there's no blood," he pointed out, and Six did indeed look, and took notice of the distinct lack of red that several other cages seemed to have in spades.

"Still, that doesn't mean she survived," Six said, as gently as she could. Harry clenched his fists in anger. Not at Six, but at the situation they were tricked into.

By that accursed Ferryman.

Taking a deep breath, Harry managed to release his anger. His fists unclenched and his shoulders sagged. One hand went up to grasp Six's, thankful she was there.

"I know. But I hope she did."

Six nodded, though part of her didn't necessarily agree. This world was rotten to the core, and if she did survive, she would only experience more pain and agony. Sometimes, death is preferable.

She knew what a hypocrite that made her, considering her own desire for survival, but some kids simply weren't meant for this life. She's seen what happens to those who inevitably snap, who give into the darkness.

It wasn't pretty. And according to Harry, this Rose girl had all but given up even before the incident. After seeing what became of her brother, Six doubted her sanity would remain intact.

She had no way of knowing, of course, but experience was a great teacher and well worth the tuition if you could afford it. But if you couldn't, the debt would slowly consume you.

After giving Harry a few moments to compose himself, they began inspecting the best way to reach the vent. He shone his flashlight, which still worked thankfully, to parts of the room where the light barely reached. He didn't know how much longer the batteries would last, so he was determined to extract as much out of them as he could

They would have to begin by climbing some cages, which Harry found distasteful, but there was nothing to be done about it. They needed to reach the vent, and that was the only way forward.

After climbing several cages, they would then have to hop onto a shelf. Not too terribly difficult, but without knowing how sturdy it was made them just a wee bit nervous. Especially with the room they were in. There was no telling what effect the magic had on these things.

The shelf itself wrapped around the room, going behind the door to the other side. It was a roundabout way, but the cages didn't reach all the way to the vent, at least not directly, so there was little to be done about it.

Next, was to jump onto some more cages, these ones not having the appropriate bars to climb, seeing as they were vertical. After that, as long as the cages remained steady, they would simply have to climb on top of the cages until they reached the vent opening.

After mapping the way forward, it was time to put their plan into action. Six, having more experience, went first. She jumped up and grabbed the top of the first cage, before hauling herself up. Then she used the next cage like a ladder and began to climb.

So far so good. The cages themselves felt sturdy enough, and Six never feared for her footing. After climbing a few more cages, Six was ready to jump onto the shelf. Looking down, she could see Harry making steady progress, making her nod in satisfaction.

Before Harry could reach the cage she was on, Six jumped onto the shelf. Thankfully it wasn't too high up, the edge of the shelf hitting her midsection, and she was easily able to pull herself up.

Afterward, she stood and waited for Harry, who just reached the last cage. Looking up, he saw Six waiting for him, and who was he to keep a lady waiting? That was just bad manners.

He took a running start and jumped. While the distance wasn't too far and the height not very steep, that point was rendered moot when the shelf itself decides to break. The sudden shift nearly sent Six tumbling down, but she was able to maintain her footing, but the jerking motion of the shelf tilting so suddenly caused Harry's already tenuous grip to falter.

"Six!" he called out for help. His friend rushed to him, bending down and grabbing hold of his arms. WIth her help, he managed to make it onto the shelf, which thankfully didn't shift position anymore.

"Thanks," Harry said, taking deep, panicked breaths. That was way too close. Although, with the cages right below him it likely wouldn't have been fatal, it still would have hurt, and they couldn't risk a broken limb at this point either.

"No problem," she said. They took another few moments to catch their breath and calm down, though that was mostly for Harry's benefit, before setting off again. With the slanting of the shelf, they had to be extra careful not to miss their step. Especially Harry, who was less sure footed than Six.

They shimmied across the shelf, before reaching the first corner, where they would need to make another jump. Although wary of another mishap, there was little they could do about it. Worrying that the shelf might break wouldn't help them.

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Six made the jump, and thankfully, the shelf remained level. Or mostly level, at any rate. Nothing was totally straight in this place. Seeing his friend make it safely, Harry too made the jump, and to the relief of both of them, nothing happened.

Carefully making their way across the second shelf, they reached the end without any serious issues. Although the wood itself was rough and sticky, that wasn't really a problem. Annoying, yes, but not a problem.

It did make Harry wish for shoes once more though.

The last jump also went off without a hitch, and they released a sigh of relief. Now all they had to worry about was the cages. Reaching the end of the shelf, Harry used his flashlight to get a better view. There was enough light coming through the door to see fairly well, but a little extra light never hurt.

Seeing as everything looked fine, and no cage was placed at an awkward angle, Six felt it safe enough to make the jump. Or as safe as it could be at any rate, and made it to the other side without any difficulty.

The cages underneath her barely even wobbled, so that was good. Harry turned off his light and also made the jump, once Six was clear of the landing zone.

Looks like the world wasn't trying to kill him for once, nice. After that, it was easy for the two of them to make their way over to the vent. This one lacked a cover, so all they needed to do now was crawl inside and see where it leads.

Using her lighter, Six began her trek through the new vent, with Harry following quickly behind. With her little light to guide her way, Six navigated the darkness. Thankfully, this vent only had one path, so it was relatively easy to traverse.

There also wasn't any weird goop to avoid, so that was nice.

But all good things must come to an end, and as nice as the stroll through a dark and cramped vent was, they had things they needed to do.

Six reached the end of the vent, and shut off her lighter. There was no need, as the light coming through the other side of the vent provided ample illumination. Staring out from the safety of the vent, the first thing she noticed was the wooden structure beneath her.

That was good. She was slightly worried that there wouldn't be any way for them to reach the bottom. Gingerly placing her foot on the wood, she slowly added more of her weight, making sure it could hold them until she was standing fully on top of it.

Behind her, Harry exited the vents as well, releasing a sigh of relief, "Man, am I glad to be out of that room."

Six silently agreed with that statement. The room's atmosphere made her feel restless. Well, more restless than normal. Taking a few cautious steps towards the edge of the wooden platform, Six carefully leaned over the side to look down. Much to her relief, it seems like they were on top of a book shelf.

"Looks like we can climb down this easily enough," she stated, and Harry made his way over to her, confirming her statement for himself.

"Looks like it," he said simply, before his gaze shifted to the rest of the room. The decor was the same as the previous hallway, which made sense, considering they were supposed to be connected.

At the end of the hall was a left turn, and there was a right turn directly in the middle, likely leading to a big pile of debris. There was one big difference between this hall and the last, and that was the condition.

It was in far worse shape than its counterpart. The rug was crumpled up in spots and utterly filthy. It was more brown than yellow, and you could barely see the picture of an eye that was so clear on the other rugs.

Wallpaper was peeling off the walls, and several picture frames lie broken on the floor. Large holes were punched into the wall as well, and Harry half expected something would reach out and drag them into the darkness.

It didn't make much sense to Harry, seeing as the two hallways were connected. Perhaps it was just the general disuse of one? Who can say, but it felt like they were on a completely different floor.

"Ready to go?" asked Six, who, like Harry, had been inspecting the room as well. But she was far less concerned about the state of it than her companion. She was used to the mansion's excentricities.

Harry didn't answer, at least not verbally. But he did give her a thumbs up and a big, cheery grin. Six rolled her eyes, but she had a small, amused smile force its way onto her face.

With that, the pair began their descent into the unknown once more. Thankfully, the bookshelf, while somewhat decrepit, wasn't in such poor shape that the shelves couldn't handle two small children. They made it down without issue until they were safely on the floor.

And once again, Harry lamented the lack of shoes. The rug they stood on was simply disgusting, and he did not like the feeling on his poor, abused feet.

"They should fire the cleaning staff," Harry grumbled as they walked further into the new hall. He could practically feel the bacteria climbing all over his bare feet, like a million frenzied ants. Made his skin crawl.

"Perhaps you should lodge an official complaint," Six said, making Harry grumble at her. Sure, joke around, but when they get some weird disease from this unhygienic hellhole, he would be the first one to say, "I told you so."

"Maybe I will," he finally said, making Six laugh to herself. It wasn't like she enjoyed traipsing around in the filth of this world, but she had little choice. Whining about it wouldn't help anybody.

As they reached the center of the hall, they took a gander down the path to the right, and sure enough, there was a massive pile of garbage blocking their way. That verifies their location at the very least.

Perhaps he could use his magic to clear it out? That would be far better than having to go back through that room again.

However, seeing as there was no reason to even try going that way, they continued straight ahead, until they reached the curve. Looking down this new corridor, it was much the same as the one they just walked down, with a few noticeable exceptions.

And that was the tables, spread out along the wall. Two on the right, and one on the left. There were no doors that they could see, so their only way forward was as linear as it could get.

Besides that, there were curious piles of dirt scattered about the corridor. Like someone decided to sweep it into a pile and just leave it there. Honestly, was there no quality control in the cleaning staff?

The pair started walking down the only path laid before them, dancing to fate's fickle tune. Everything was going smoothly, so why did Six feel so anxious? Or was that the reason? Because things never went perfect for long.

A feeling crept up from her spine and settled on the back of her neck. Something was wrong, but what? It felt like she was being watched. Stopping to look around her environment some more, Six tried to locate the source of her anxiety.

"Six, you alright?" Harry asked, having stopped a little ways ahead of her once he noticed she was no longer right beside him. She was looking every which way for something. Harry had no idea what it could be, but it did set him on edge.

"I don't know. Something doesn't feel right…" she said. Her eyes kept lingering on the piles of dirt, as warning bells rang in her mind. They were familiar to her, but she could place them.

Her nervousness was affecting Harry, and he too began to search for anything amiss. Twisting in a circle to look all around him, Harry took a step further down the hall.

And that was all it took.

Six heard it before she saw it. A mechanical, whirring noise, one that was vaguely familiar to her. It seemed to be coming from somewhere near the ceiling. Looking up, her face paled in dread as she finally managed to see what had made her so paranoid.

It was an eye, big shocker, but not just any eye. It was a security eye. One meant to keep kids like her from entering certain areas. Or leaving them, in some cases. They were mostly on the bottom floors, so what was one doing here?

She watched in slow motion as the eye opened, revealing a dark pupil. However, it didn't stay dark for long. Soon enough, a bright light started shining from the pupil, and Six knew exactly what that meant.

Memories dredged themselves up from the recesses of her mind. Ones of children, just like her, frozen forever in a mocking caricature of life. Their bodies turned to stone, petrified faces forever locked in an expression of pain and fear.

Unless the statues were destroyed, of course. Rendered as nothing more than a pile of dust. So that's why the dirt piles seemed so familiar to her. They were the remains of children turned into statues.

Children whose only mistake had been walking in the light. The same light the eye above her was emitting. They may not have known what would happen, but she did, and she needed to do something before it was too late. Before she lost someone else.

Six wasn't the only one to hear the noise, but she was the only one who knew what it meant. Harry looked up to see the eye opening as well, which put him on edge. He stared at it, waiting for something to happen.

"Lookout!" she yelled, much to Harry's surprise. Six hated making loud noises of any kind. Not that he didn't understand her reasons. Loud noises brought trouble. So hearing her shout was just about the last thing Harry expected.

Wondering what could make his friend emit such a loud noise, Harry was greeted to the sight of a bright light shining down on him. Or at least, part of him anyway. And of course, that was what Six was trying to warn him about.

Harry's arm, which was the part most exposed to the light, did something that Harry didn't see coming. It started to turn to stone. And it wasn't just his arm either. His leg, which was also exposed to the light, also began to transform.

The petrification slowly began to encroach the rest of his body, traveling up his leg and arm. He wanted to run, but with his leg frozen as it was, he wasn't able to. All he could do was give Six a look of fear, stretching his arm toward her as he was slowly turned into stone.

The last thing he felt was a hand grabbing his own, before he surrendered to the darkness.