The new room was quite small, maybe a few inches wide. In the middle of the room was an unremarkable statue, but it was the object hanging from its neck that got Est's attention. Gleaming in the light was a necklace studded with many green gemstones. Est darted over to the shiny object.
"Wow! So pretty!" she said, admiring the jewelry. She reached out to lift it off the statue...
"Stop, Est!" Palla interrupted, holding out an arm to prevent her from removing the treasure.
"But it looks so pretty..." Est complained.
"It's probably a trap. You can't just take things without thinking!" Palla scolded her younger sister.
"Fine," Est huffed.
"It's certainly a nice necklace, though..." Palla leaned in, peering at the jewels.
"Look at this," Catria called to her sisters. They both joined her at the wall, the woman pointing to an inscription. "The sage could not kill the witch..." Catria read aloud.
"Huh? What could that mean?" Est asked.
"There was a similar one earlier," Palla recalled. "Perhaps this is part of the story of this place."
"I guess..." Catria agreed, still confused.
"Who cares?" Est said, jumping over to the statue. "This necklace is way more interesting."
Palla sighed, joining her younger sister. She also wanted another look, noticing something off with the necklace. One of the jewels seemed to be a different color from the rest. That wasn't right, she realized as she inspected it again, it seemed like it was damaged somehow, a dark mark in the stone.

Palla jumped back when she saw the mark move. It wasn't the stone, there was something in there!
"There's something inside," Palla said, crouching down to get closer to the odd stone. Despite her reduced size, the stone was tiny to her, small enough to fit easily in her palm. Smaller still was whatever was inside, though she had a suspicion she knew what it was. Her hunch was confirmed when she got even closer, spying the tiny shape of a woman.
"Someone's in there!" she announced to her sisters. Without thinking, she lifted the necklace off the statue.
"Palla, don't!" Catria shouted, but too late.

A wall slid down over the entrance, trapping the sisters inside.
"Great..." Catria sighed.
"Hey! How come you're allowed to set off all the traps!" Est protested.
"I'm sorry," Palla said sadly, "I just took it instinctively. There's someone trapped inside this thing!"
"What?" Est said, moving closer for a look.
"Catria, try and find a way out of here," Palla instructed, "Est and I will try and get this person out."
"Sure," Catria said, looking around carefully.
"You're right, there's something in there!" Est said, pointing to the stone.
"Indeed. If I can just remove it somehow..." Palla pulled at the stone. It popped loose from the metal of the necklace.
"For the record, I didn't break it!" Est announced.
Palla smiled at her sister but turned her attention back to the jewel. Handing the rest of the necklace to Est, Palla lifted the jewel into the air, and close to her eye. The image was a bit distorted, but she recognized who was inside.
"Sonya!" Palla said. The tiny mage seemed to be shouting, but the stone seemed to be preventing any of them from hearing her.
"We need to get her out!" Est stated the obvious.
"Indeed we do, but how?" Palla agreed, turning the stone over.
"I bet there's some spell for it, or a special substance it needs to be washed in, or..."
"Or maybe it just opens," Palla interrupted, pulling the halves of the stone apart. Sonya tumbled out, landing in Palla's hand. The shrunken mage stood up, taking in a deep breath.
"Fresh air again!" she squeaked, "being imprisoned in such a stuffy stone was awful. I love jewelry, but not when I'm in it!"
"You're welcome," Palla smiled.

"Now we just need to get out," she said, looking to the statue.
"One exit, coming right up!" Est shouted, putting the necklace back on the statue. The three ladies waited for a moment. Nothing seemed to happen.
"Maybe it's too light now?" Palla suggested, "it is minus a stone and Sonya."
"How did you even get in there, anyway?" Est asked the mage, changing the subject.
"I don't know!" she replied with a huff, crossing her arms, "I woke up to find myself trapped in there."
"A mystery indeed," Palla remarked.
Catria joined them. "I found this on the ground," she said, holding up a necklace-shaped stone.
"Wonderful. Could you try putting it on the statue, please?" Palla asked her sister.
Est quickly removed the necklace, leaving the neck of the statue clear for Catria. A click sounded as she placed the stone, and a wall at the opposite end of the room slid open, revealing a new exit.

"Well done, Catria," Palla said, looking back at the wall. "No going back now, I suppose."
"Let's go!" Est cheered, leading the charge once again.
"Lovely. Now can you grow me back please?" Sonya demanded, stomping in Palla's palm.
"Oh, of course," Palla said, putting the mage down and growing her to an inch tall.
"Thank you," Sonya sighed, following Est out of the room.