As the corridor would narrow in and lead them down a singular path, it felt like a long trek before they would finally appear at another door - a set of doors that appeared as if they might lead into an elevator shaft. However, there was no obvious button. There was, however, a camera that seemed to be functioning in the left corner above the doors.
"That's not creepy," Prompto muttered sarcastically. Ignis located a panel on the left wall, which seemed to demonstrate another puzzle that, if solved correctly, would allow them to progress.
"This professor guy really likes his puzzles," Nyxia stated, watching as Ignis would push arrow buttons on the left and top of the panel. Then, suddenly, a ding! sounded, and the doors parted to let them inside.
"A security measure, no doubt," Ignis said as they stepped in. The only direction to go was up, and so as he pushed the up-arrow button, they waited as the box would ascend. "How are you feeling, Prompto?"
"I'm okay," he said. "The guy said it took some of my essence? Do you think maybe that's why I might feel a little tired?"
"Prompto, you're always tired," Nyxia murmured.
"Yeah."
The elevator came to a stop, and as the doors opened, the group found themselves in what appeared to be an office. As soon as she stepped onto the carpet, Nyxia felt that unsettling shiver in her body again. While the room seemed to be completely ordinary, save for the chair being toppled over, she was willing to bet one of those Ixupi was hiding somewhere.
"I bet we'll find some information in here," Gladio said, observing the desk that was cluttered in papers, some of which were tucked beneath a tape recorder. He pressed a button, and the device erupted with a familiar voice belonging to Professor Windlenot. "There's our guy."
As the recording described that the professor had returned to find his study was invaded by someone, and that he found the furniture toppled over, Ignis was examining a strange map on the wall with a note pinned to it, and specific coordinates were marked upon it, labeled as "must explore" in a red marker. The professor also explained the Egyptian hieroglyphs book was on the floor with a page ripped out of it, indicating it was not as he had left it. "1980? Did I hear that right?"
"Thirty-seven years ago." Gladio said, though his voice was quiet so as not to talk over the recording. He had discovered the Ixupi escaped their jars somehow - whoever broke into the museum must have let them out, and a name Merrick had been mentioned, found on some paper as possible evidence. However, uneasiness filled the office as the professor's screams of terror emitted from the box, followed by demonic growls of his attacker.
"I wish I'd never brought you here!" appeared to have been his final words.
"Sucks to be that guy," Prompto said as the tape fell into silence.
"Professor Windlenot brought these dangerous creatures to his museum," Ignis said. "No doubt, they were intended to be an exhibit. This would explain why the museum never opened. But if he died in 1980, how is it the corpse isn't fully decomposed?"
"Beats me. Looks like he had a son, though," Gladio shrugged, flipping through a scrapbook on the desk. "And according to some of these notes, he might not have been totally sane, so his wife wanted to cut him off because he was spinning stories about myths. Looks like he chose the museum over his own family." As he opened another drawer, he pulled out what appeared to be a ceramic, bull head, though it seemed to be missing a part to it, as if it were a lid...
"The fireplace..." Nyxia finally murmured. "There's something in there." She was staring at the ash-filled hearth as she clearly made an effort to keep away from it.
"You think it's another one of those things?" Prompto asked, his voice shaking a bit.
"I wouldn't doubt it. Come on, let's get out of here." Nyxia ushered them through a door on the left, and they entered what appeared to be a giant hall - likely designed to be the main hall of the museum.
"I bet this place would have been really neat, if it did open." Prompto looked around, spotting an array of five, bird heads on the wall that appeared to be made of wood. It only took him a moment to realize they actually opened up, and inside one of them was a hidden jar with a peculiar symbol on it.
"The exhibits are still intact. It may be worth taking a look at," Ignis said.
"Hey, I think I found one of those pots!"
Gladio looked at Prompto's jar, then at the talisman that he had found in the desk. "There might be something somewhere that tells us which ones pair up. He did specify on the tape that he needed to match the right ones."
"Anyone wondering how they got scattered throughout the museum in the first place?" Prompto asked.
"I'd be willing to bet the Ixupi did it. They probably know the vessels can be used to trap them, so they make it hard."
"So, where do we start looking?"
Ignis, who was few for words, was observing a panel on a large set of doors. It looked like another puzzle - one that was very intricate. "Prompto, you can start by helping me with this," he said, holding up the book he had been carrying around. "I think I may know how to solve this, but it will take some time."
Nyxia walked over to another door - one that appeared to be unlocked. As she opened it, it revealed a library. This was probably the best place to find something useful on the vessels. Disappearing into the room, she kept the door ajar behind her. The first thing she noticed was a book stand on the far side of the room, with the words of a familiar, book title engraved into the wood. This was where the hieroglyphs book was meant to be kept. There were many other shelves with numerous books, as well as a sliding ladder to reach the higher shelves. She scanned the spines of the books, hoping to find something that might stand out to her.
She spotted a book that was laying down on the shelf - and she had been about to set it upright until she saw a curious symbol on the front cover. It was the same one etched into the ground by the professor's dead body. Curious, she opened it up, skimming briefly through what appeared to be the myth behind the Ixupi and how they were released onto the world. They were also described as the Snake God's children, and each Ixupi was designated an element - water, fire, tar, wood, and so on. Each jar consisted of this element, and the correct combination would lock the Ixupi away in the jar. They were hidden deep within the earth, lest they be released onto the world again, but it seemed a particular professor had gotten in the way of that during one of his expeditions.
Next to the book she found was a bright, yellow book that also seemed to stand out: South American Pictographs. Within it were pictures of the different symbols used on the jars, and which elements they represented. Nyxia felt inclined to take this with her, though before she could close the book, she felt a tickle of breath against her neck.
She must have jumped ten feet in the air, but as she quickly realized it had been Gladio sneaking up on her, she slapped his buff arm with the book. "Don't do that!" she scowled.
"I couldn't resist," he teased somewhat huskily.
"This is important business, Gladio. No time to mess around."
"Not just a little bit?" he offered, and as he backed her up into the side of the table in the middle of the room, Nyxia felt her resolve weaken a bit. She hadn't really been alone with Gladio for a few days now. They had been so occupied running errands in Eos, and now this... She smiled, letting him have his moment in teasing her.
"Maybe just a little bit," she succumbed, sinking back slightly as he would kiss her eagerly. Momentarily forgetting their mission here, she felt her body being pulled up onto the table. It always seemed hard for the two of them to keep their hands off of each other, at least when they were alone.
Yet, there came a shudder. As she paused, she realized it wasn't the good kind, either. Her eyes shifted towards the left, where a tall candelabra felt like it was emanating another evil spirit. "Maybe now's not a good time," she muttered. Gladio followed her uneasy gaze, though he seemed reluctant to remove himself from against her. As he turned around, Nyxia's eyes caught something behind him that she was surprised she hadn't noticed before. There was a small gap in the bookshelves - something that appeared to be a secret passageway. "What's that?"
She followed him inside, and they found themselves in what appeared to be a rounded hallway. For some reason, she felt like they shouldn't be here, but as she looked down, she saw something that appeared to be a card on the floor. It appeared to be photo identification of a Beth Nelson, dated between 1980 and 1981, and it had her high school name on it. It didn't seem important, though it's peculiar location on the floor had her curious. Further down the hallway, she picked up a handwritten note - something else that didn't look critical. Around the bend was a short set of descending stairs, and at the bottom, a lone, black purse.
As she examined its contents, primarily just an address book, she heard Gladio's footsteps behind her. "This has been here for a long time," she said, wiping dust from the leather covering of the sack before she would throw the strap around her shoulder.
"Whoever's it is, I think they're long gone."
"Might be Beth's," Nyxia concluded. She wondered if maybe Beth was one of those who broke into the museum. "We'll put it back in the library for now."
"What's down there?" Gladio asked, gesturing to the stairs that continued down. Nyxia wasn't exactly feeling inclined to keep going, but with her Shield close, she supposed it couldn't be so bad. It was just...creepy.
As they explored the tunnel, they eventually reached a door - one labeled as the power plant. It didn't seem particularly necessary to check it out, as the power was already on in the museum, and so they turned back. On the way, however, Gladiolus had noticed an elevator past the entrance they had come through, and it seemed to be guarded by yet another puzzle.
"How the hell did Ignis figure this thing out?" he grumbled, taking literally only three seconds to fumble with the panel before he gave up.
"I don't know. We could go back and let them know what we found."
"Sounds like a plan. Let's go."
