“Ciel, do you even know the way!?” June finally pulled back, forcing Ciel to a stop. He’d been dragging her around for like 15 minutes, zooming through cereal aisles and clothing racks.

“Huh? Uh...” Ciel realized he did not in fact know where he was going.

“Come on, let’s just... agh, shit!” June sighed frustratedly. They were surrounded by shelves upon shelves full of weird, dusty old books. All of the aisles, usually clotted with other customers, were devoid of life. The floor itself seemed like it’d been untouched for ages. “Where... are we? I don’t recognize this part of the store at all...”

Ciel was silent, staring at the books with his eyebrows furrowed.

“Ciel?” June tapped him.

Ciel shook his head. “What is this... I know this...”

June looked around again. The books didn’t look like any books she knew... but before she knew it, something was tugging at her. What could be in them? This thought would not leave her head now that it appeared. She shook her head, and still it persisted.

Something is wrong. She stepped forward, her eyes locking onto a particular book in front of her. It was tattered and old, but she could tell the cover used to be a shimmering gold. The letters on the spine were either so faded she couldn’t read them, or they were in a different language entirely.

What am I doing? This unshakeable feeling of “off-ness” filled her entire being, but still she stepped forward. Ciel faded to the background, as did all the other books. It was as though the golden book was glowing, she could almost imagine what it looked like before years of wear and tear. Begging for her attention, pleading for the touch of her fingers, desperately craving her eyes to scan its contents, this book needed her, and perhaps she needed it too.

She knew now, she definitely needed it. Reaching out, the tips of her fingers brushed the spine; fear and anticipation and curiosity all rolled into one rushed beneath her skin. She HAD to know, she just had to, or else she feared she would die right then and there. Her heart was pounding; it felt like she was dying anyway, so why hesitate any longer to read the book? If she couldn’t stop dying either way, why delay...

A horrible, almost-human scream shocked her out of her fugue, and she whipped around. It was only then she realized Ciel was squeezing her other hand, shouting at her with... were those tears in his eyes?

But she couldn’t focus on that; the thing that had let out the scream currently laid out on the ground with a sword through its neck, pinning it down. It was like a child made of shadow; she could see straight through it. Its eyes were a glowing white however, and its mouth was open unnaturally wide, filled with teeth. The mouth reminded June of an anglerfish.

And the person holding the sword... At first, June thought it was Simon, as they also wore a billowing cloak, but it wasn’t him. It was a young woman. Her irises were a shining white, and she had black box braids with silver, curly ends, all tied back into a single ponytail. Her skin was dark, but all over her she had white freckles. Her face was soft, yet stoic.

“Who... what-” was all June could stammer out, looking between this strange new person and Ciel. She was still reeling from that strange fugue, and she was having difficulty focusing.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Ciel pulled her into a hug suddenly. “Thank the empress, you’re alive...” Feeling his body warmth helped her refocus a bit.

“What’s... going on... what is that?”

The stranger looked at the creature coldly. “An Imperskepsi... a spirit of forbidden knowledge.” She twisted the sword, eliciting more horrid screeches. Taking out a small bottle, she pressed it to the forehead of the creature. She whispered something, and the shadow was sucked through into the bottle, which she quickly corked.

“It crafts pocket dimensions out of its illusions in order to tempt others to read its books. If you had read that book there, you would have lost your mind. Or have a brain aneurysm. Or a seizure. Either way, the Imperskepsi would have used that lapse in defenses to take a piece of your soul.”

She examined the now bottled Imperskepsi in her hand. “You’re lucky... It doesn’t seem to have taken many victims before you, so its illusion was weaker. Otherwise, you may have bolted like a rabid animal to open a book.”

“O-oh.” June was shaking in Ciel’s arms. “Why would it... how did it get here...”

“Why don’t you ask your friend there?”

Ciel pulled away from June. She wanted to protest, she still felt so shaky and cold for some reason, but she didn’t. She turned to look Ciel in the eye. He looked distant and... scared? “Ciel, what does she mean...?”

Ciel just shook his head, avoiding her gaze.

“I would like to know why exactly too,” the stranger said. She took a step closer. “Why did you release those spirits and curses, anyway?” Her voice hard enough to break teeth.

This prompt jostled June’s memory, and she recalled from before... when Ciel first explained his situation... Didn’t he mention releasing cursed artifacts and spirits or something?

Ciel still refused to look. “I-I just... It was...”

“You just what? Accidentally dropped a few dozen bottles containing a few of the most dangerous spirits held within Solis’ Aerary? Do you know how many mortal lives you have harmed by this? How much of your mess I’ve had to clean up?”

“I didn’t really... I...” Ciel seemed to be shutting down, unable to form solid sentences. The tears in his eyes had not left since June came to.

June stepped in front of him. “I’m sorry, but who are you? I appreciate you saving my life and all, but that doesn’t mean I’m just going to stand by and watch you rip into my friend like this.”

The stranger looked at June, face completely wiped of all fury. “My apologies, I’ve gotten carried away...”

The stranger made a sheathing motion with her sword. It sparkled, miraculously disappearing into thin air. “I... am Celsia,” she said, bowing her head slightly and holding her hand across her chest. “Lord Fengari’s right-hand-man and a secondary aide for Lord Solis. My domain is over the stars. I have been tasked with cleaning up Lord Solis’ son’s little... accident... ”

This sudden shift in demeanor threw June off a little. “O-okay...”

It seemed introducing herself refocused her attention, and she tucked away the bottled spirit back underneath her cloak. “It would be my utmost pleasure to continue this interrogation with Lord Ciel, however I really must deliver this spirit. It must be properly subdued by Lord Solis. Adieu, Lord Ciel and mortal.”

With that, she performed a strange hand gesture before disappearing in a burst of starlight. The illusion surrounding them began to crack and shift, as if made of shards of glass, before dissipating completely.

The two found themselves back again in Doormart, the (mostly) normal retail store. Other customers milled about, ignoring the two random shaky, teary teenagers who suddenly appeared.