"So I got all the obsidian out." Shelby said between bites of pie. "Soul took it, then sent me here. She's probably fixing the wiring now." She added, waving a fork in the tavern's general direction. "Seemed kind of... off. Did you notice that? Plus how did that stuff even get there? It doesn't-"

"Shelby. Shut up." Zap snapped. "We don't know any more the you do." She shoved a piece of her own pie in her mouth as violently as she could without injuring herself, muttering.

"You're so grumpy today." She huffed in return. Before Zap could respond, Willow interrupted.

"I swear, if I have to send you two to separate sides of the building I will." She growled, threatening both of them with a wooden spoon. Luckily, now that everyone had pie, and either coffee or some type of alcohol from the tavern, she could make sure they didn't start a fight in the lounge. Something she had achieved by setting them both next to where she had to work. Willow could only hope Soul would get back before things got too out of hand.

"We're not five." Zap snorted, rolling her eyes. Shelby nodded in agreement, her mouth full.

"Then both of you act like it." Willow snapped in response. "I feel like a baby sitter."

"Well maybe if you- ow!" Shelby cut off as Zap elbowed her, motioning to the door. Soul had arrived. The two of them returned to eating their respective slices of pie as Soul made her way through the lounge towards them.

"Of course." Willow snorted as Soul sat down between the two. "Lighting fixed?" She turned her attention away from the two girls.

Soul nodded, resting her arms on the counter.

"Any idea how all that obsidian got up there?" Shelby piped up then, mouth still half full of pie.

"You don't think there's a griefer in Solaron do you?"

"Shelby's the only new person in town. It had been ages since someone new came before her." Zap spoke now.

"I didn't do it!" The accused protested threatening Zap with her fork.

"Shelby was with us when it happened. It couldn't have been her." Willow reminded her. "Sou-" She was cut off by a notebook sliding across the counter to her. "You do have a point." Willow noted after quickly reading what was written. "But that still leaves us with no idea how it got there."

"Why are you the only one who gets to read what she wrote?" Shelby protested, reaching for the notebook. Both Soul and Willow rolled their eyes as she stared blankly at the page. "How can you even read that? It's all... loopy. Like loopier than most. And it's so small."

"You're overreacting." Zap snorted, reaching in front of Soul to snag the notebook from Shelby. "... Jesus. Why do you write that small?"

"It's not that hard to read." Willow sighed as the notebook returned to Soul's possession. "And all she wrote was that few people in town have access to normal obsidian, let alone whatever kind that was."

"I don't get it. What was so different about it?" Zap asked. "I never got to see the stuff, remember?"

"It-"

"There was water coming out of it." Shelby interrupted Willow.

"Isn't obsidian made by water?" Zap responded, dropping her fork onto her now empty plate.

"It's made when water hits lava." Willow answered, glaring at Shelby. "But it's usually completely solid. I've never heard of water seeping out from it before." She added quickly, grabbing both Zap's and Shelby's plates. "Have you, Soul?"

All three turned to her, only to see her shake her head. Willow sighed. "I should have expected that answer." She shook her head. "Well, there's really no point in dwelling on it right now." She added as she pushed a plate towards Soul. "We can always try to figure it out later."

"I want it on record that I knew this was a terrible idea and tried to stop you." Zap muttered, crouching next to Shelby in a corner of the now silent and dark tavern. The only sources of light were the lamps outside.

"But you still came." Shelby pointed out, peeking over a table towards the stairs. "Do you know how to get down to the cellar?"

"There's a hatch under the stairs. Why are we doing this again?" Zap sighed, shifting slightly.

"We're going to find out about that obsidian." Shelby grinned mischievously.

"Shelby... Wasn't the obsidian in the attic? With the wiring?" She snorted softly.

"Well, yeah. But do you want to sneak past Soul's room? So we're gonna check out the cellar." She stated as she started to sneak towards the stairs. After a short pause, Zap trailed behind her mumbling under her breath. Together they reached the entrance to the tavern's cellar with little problem beyond one of them almost knocking over a chair, both insisting it was the other.

Petty squabbles were forgotten, however, as they crouched next to the hatch. It was locked.

"Great, now what." Shelby sighed, about ready to call it quits right then.

Zap only rolled her eyes, pressing a palm against the padlock that was standing in their way. Seconds later the lock was reduced to a half melted mess, and Zap was flicking molten metal off her hand as if it was simply water. "We'll have to replace the lock but at least we're in?"

"That's new."

"No, it really isn't." Zap replied, trying to get what metal she could into a bucket Shelby had produced from somewhere before they opened the hatch.

The cellar was nothing special, in all honesty. It was where Soul stored, and in most cases brewed, most of the drinks she served in the tavern. Zap had been down there before, having helped Soul at the tavern on occasions. Shelby, on the other hand, had never been anywhere beyond the tables where she ate.

"So, you've done that before?"

"If you're asking whether I've broken into someplace by melting the lock before, we aren't going there." Zap commented, looking around. "Now what are we doing here?"

"Just look for anything weird." Shelby answered, crossing her arms over her chest. As annoyed as she was about not getting an interesting answer, she could bother Zap about it later. They had a mission to complete.

"Define 'weird'."

"You know, out of place. Odd looking. Things like that." She responded.

"This is really- Did you hear that?" Zap asked, breaking off as she heard a distant and muffled growl-like noise.

"... Yeah. I think so. What was it?" Shelby answered, tilting her head slightly in the direction it had come from.

"Follow me." Zap muttered, grabbing Shelby by the wrist and half pulling her to the opposite wall. Once they reached it, she pressed an ear to the wall. "Something's here." She said finally

"How do you know?" Shelby whispered back.

"Because there's something on the other side growling." She snorted in response. "How else?"

"Alright, how do we get there then?" Shelby asked.

"You're joking right? There's something growling, possibly something that wants to kill you, and you still want to find a way to it?" Zap stared at her incredulously.

"Yeah why not? We've gotten this far."

"This is going a bit far. If whatever that thing is that growling doesn't kill us, Soul will." Zap moved to leave the cellar.

"No! Come on aren't you even a bit curious?" Shelby moved so she was blocking Zap's path. "I mean, I'm fairly sure Soul doesn't own a dog or any pet."

"Which means it's a wild animal." Zap stated. "Which is even worse." There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. "Well? Let's get this over with." She sighed.

"Yes!" Shelby grinned. Nothing more was said as the two searched the wall, searching for anything suspicious.

"Here." Zap called softly. There was a lever, covered in cobwebs, hidden behind a shelf nearby. The growl had turned into a small whine while they were searching.

"Pull it!" Shelby called from across the room.

"Yeah, yeah." She did. A section of the wall slid away, and before Zap could react she was tackled by a large black form.