The interior of Rock Bottom was quite spacious but the area around the entrance was still very crowded. In the walls and ceiling were crystals of different sizes and colors, which seemed to be the origin of both the flashing lights and the music. They tried to make their way further inwards, pushing themselves past people in various states of inebriation and dancing intensity.

He didn't know exactly how but after a few minutes of trying to get through the crowd Ambigious had completely lost TehLulz and Daron. This wasn't the first time this had happened to him, being as short as he was meant he couldn't get an overview if he didn't do anything short of jumping. Ambigious didn't particularly mind being on his own though, it gave him the opportunity to explore Rock Bottom a bit more.

After he had finally managed to get through the crowd in the entrance area, Ambigious discovered that Rock Bottom had a collection of hallways branching off the entrance area, each one guarded by an imposing looking earth Mencur-Besh bouncer. Ambigious approached one of them, he noticed a sign above the hallway, it read "The Red Zone".

The bouncer spoke in a rumbling voice that was clearly audible even over the music: "This one's full, try that one over there. Some people just left."

The bouncer pointed to another hallway. Ambigious nodded and made his way over there, this hallway was labelled "Green Grotto". The bouncer there stepped out of the way and let Ambigious in.

The hallway was dark apart from the faint rainbow lights that radiated from Ambigious' feet outwards. As he walked inwards, the music faded and was replaced by a different type. It had something of a slow heartbeat over powerful yet calm melodies. The corridor widened into a somewhat circular room that was lit with entirely green crystals, pulsating with the music. The room had an elevated dancefloor on one side, a bar on the other, the rest of the room was filled with low tables and comfortable couches and seats. The room was decently full but nowhere near as crowded as the entrance hall, which was probably why only a limited number of people were allowed at a time.

Ambigious took a quick look around the room, TehLulz and Daron were nowhere to be found, neither was anyone else he recognized. After looking around a bit more someone did catch his eye though, a curly-haired woman with strangely glowing eyes. A few seconds later he recognized her, it was Undira, the enchantress that had accompanied them into the Creeper's Tongue after the ritual. She was sitting alone on one of the couches near the edge of the room, an opaque bottle in front of her. Ambigious decided to approach her.

She noticed him and spoke first: "Oh, hello. Weren't you one of Fire's apprentices?"

He sat down next to her and said: "Ambigious is the name. We didn't talk much in the restaurant."

Undira said: "Nice to meet you, what brings you down here?"

Ambigious chuckled. "Presumably the same thing that brings you down here, drink, food, dancing, various other fun things."

Undira nodded and asked: "First time in Rock Bottom?"

"First time in the lower districts in general, never been to Rockhaven before. I do know my way around parties though."

"Does Fire happen to be here as well?" Undira asked with a slight grin.

Ambigious knowingly grinned as well. "Not here but somewhere, he told us that it's best to experience the lower districts on your own. I'm pretty sure he's not far though."

Undira asked: "Excuse me but… how long has it been since we had that meal? It's easy to lose track of time down here, especially in certain establishments."

Ambigious answered: "It should be almost precisely a day if my own sense of time hasn't completely betrayed me."

"Huh. Time does fly, guess that's what staying-awake-potions do to you. Maybe the glowstone had some part in it too."

Ambigious said: "I'd have to ask my friend Unchosen on the specifics of that interaction, he's the alchemist among us. No idea where he is though, he wandered off on his own."

"You don't suppose you could ask him to brew a few things for me?"

"What kind of things? If it's love potions then no, he told me that those don't exist, which Fire confirmed."

Undira laughed. "No, nothing of the sort. Just a few specialized potions that help with enchanting, I used to have someone who made those for me but she left the town to hunt for rare ingredients. She didn't leave the full recipe so I'm still looking for someone who can recreate that sort of thing."

Ambigious nodded. "I can definitely ask him to try, he's quite good."

Undira leaned forward and emptied the bottle in front of her, from what Ambigious saw the liquid within was infused with more glowstone, which Undira seemed to be quite fond of.

Undira then got up and asked: "So, Ambigious. Ready for the dancefloor?"

Ambigious decided to omit the cheesy lines that his brain cooked up and just followed her. To his surprise she wasn't referring to the dancefloor in the room they were in right now, instead she practically dragged him out of the Green Grove and straight into the Red Zone, which happened to be open again.

The Red Zone was fundamentally different to the previous room, the lighting was red, which was expected. Almost the entire crystal studded room consisted of an erratically flashing dancefloor with no tables or chairs anywhere. There were two bars on opposite sides. The music was also a lot louder and more energetic than in the other parts of Rock Bottom. The dancefloor itself was packed, there was just enough room for everyone. There were spots where people stood aside to give a more skilled dancer room while they watched. Ambigious even spotted some dancing Mencur-Besh, he quickly recognized some of the moves from the close combat training he had observed in the Guard, just without the impacts.

Undira kept dragging him further, when they had reached a spot that she seemed to like, they started dancing. Ambigious had always estimated his dancing skills to be above average but nothing special, it turned out that Undira was on about the same level, which worked out well.

Ambigious wasn't sure for how long they had been dancing, though after some time Undira leaned in and said: "I'll need to get going, been awake for more than two days and the potion's starting to wear off."

Ambigious replied with jokingly exaggerated disappointment: "Aww, it was just starting to be fun."

Undira laughed, then said: "See you around Ambigious. Don't forget about those potions."

After those words she pushed herself through the crowd and out of Ambigious' sight. He kept dancing for a bit longer but eventually left the Red Zone to have a look at some of the other areas of Rock Bottom. The one he tried next was called "Blue River", its theme was even calmer than that of the Green Grove, the melodies there were slow and had traits of classical music. The room's layout was similar though, just with even fancier seats.

He decided to just sit down for a while and observe the room. The people on the tables had conversations on various topics, the dancers danced slow dances, overall it was quite relaxing.

As he watched the dancers, he spotted Shadow among them, dancing with an unknown man. A few moments later, he spotted her again, dancing with another man, then again, dancing with a woman. Ambigious managed to count five different Shadows on the dancefloor, obviously they were projections, he knew that much. Though, something was missing, Ambigious scanned the room and after a few more seconds he found what he was looking for: The real Shadow, sitting at the bar with a blue and faintly glowing drink.

He got up, walked over to her and sat down on the vacant stool next to her.

Without looking aside, Shadow said: "Hello Ambigious."

Ambigious replied: "Shadow, what brings you down here?"

She smiled. "Oh, everyone ends up in Rock Bottom eventually. As far as I am aware only Fire isn't here, he had some things to do."

As Shadow talked, Ambigious noticed that the music had suddenly become quieter and then was drowned out completely by the colossal silence that now filled the room. Everybody was still dancing and moving their mouths just as if nothing happened. At first he wasn't sure what was happening, but then he felt it, or he believed to feel something.

He asked: "What spell is that?"

Shadow said: "I just wanted to talk to you in private. Nobody can hear us and we can't hear anything that happens outside."

Ambigious was confused. "Talk to me about what?"

Shadow replied: "You said it yourself. You recognized me as the caster of the spell and I'm pretty sure that it was more than simple reasoning that lead you to that conclusion."

"Don't know how but I just knew."

Shadow said: "When I found out that freeZe was a mage I wondered if you were one as well, it's usually a trait found in all siblings instead of just one."

Ambigious said: "Hmm… I never really thought about that. To me magic was always this strange force that did things that are difficult to understand. I once talked to freeZe about it and she explained it to me, wasn't too hard if you know what's actually going on."

"While we were at the Creeper's Tongue I got curious and scanned you for your life force, which is quite difficult if it's not awakened. I found out that you have about the same amount as your sister but you completely lack affinities towards elements."

Ambigious asked: "So, I would be a mage if I had those?"

Shadow nodded. "What I just now noticed is that you also have your sister's sensitivity for magic. In short, you're able to detect and examine spells but you can't cast them."

Ambigious scratched his chin. "Huh. Might be useful."

Shadow said: "That's why I told you just now, we need any edge we can get for this mission."

"Right. I assume that Fire's getting ready for tomorrow?"

"Yes, he's preparing a short speech. Tradition and all that."

Ambigious asked: "So, our plan for tomorrow is to attend the banquet, get the Axe and then get out?"

"If everything goes according to plan, yes."

Ambigious said: "Which we can't guarantee, as usual."

Shadow smiled. "It will probably go according to plan, or according to a plan at least."

After Shadow had said those words, Ambigious could feel her spell fading and the other sounds returning, sounding unnaturally loud after the complete silence.

They just sat there for a few minutes, Shadow slowly finishing her drink.

When she was done, Ambigious said in an overly refined voice: "Care for a dance m'lady?" He tipped an imaginary hat.

Shadow couldn't help but chuckle, took his hand and said: "Why not?"

They walked over to the dancefloor, Ambigious nodded in the direction of the Shadow doppelgangers and said: "And as opposed to those people, I know that I'm not dancing with a projection."

Shadow smiled. "That you do."