A/N: Huh, the Bondage Ending is surprsingly popular, followed by the Doki-Doki Ending as a distant second
It was, in fact, a large storage area. Old, mostly decorative armor and attached decorative weapons were piled to one side, while shelves filled with books as well as random odds and ends covered the walls. Light streamed in from the windows on both sides, making the place almost cheerfully bright, even as a wave of heat washed over them as the door opened. Small piles of junk and clutter were scattered all around, such as planetary models of the abyssal cosmos, old chairs, piles of green bottles of beer from the town of Estus near the academy, that sort of thing. Maria looked in bemusement at one such bottle that someone seemed to have pieced together from shattered shards. Why would someone do something like that?
"Ah! Hot!" Lady Claes yelped in surprise.
"Don't worry Lady Katarina! I've got this!" Lady Hunt said. To Maria's bemusement, water appeared in her hands before it seemed to condense into eyes, and she pressed her hands on either side of Lady Claes' face.
"Ah, that feels so good…" Lady Claes moaned almost disgracefully, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the cool after that initial burst of heat. Unseen in front of her, Lady Hunt wore a smug, euphoric expression as the Third Prince's eyebrow twitched.
Maria sighed, pressing forward into the room and glanced around. Truth be told, it wasn't THAT hot, and it was a dry heat without humidity. She looked about, tilting her head in bemusement at a pile of what appeared to be various hats. She picked up one at random, a black, cocked hat with a white plume, its profile like a sleek arrow. A wistful smile came over her face, before she sighed. There was still work to be done.
Small wisps of smoke like footprints left a trail on the ground, heading towards the back, at the far end from the building's entrance. Lady Claes, having finished with her dramatics, began to move deeper into the building, weaving past the various piles and going in the general direction of the trail as if she actually knew where she was going. Her harem followed after her, the men spread as a wing to either side, and the women at the rear. Lady Ascart was focused ahead at her mistress, but Lady Hunt had turned back, watching Maria. Maria nodded at the implied rebuke of her tardiness and, on impulse, donned the hat in her hands.
It was strange. It was just a random hat, but as it settled on her head, she sensed, as if from deep within, a feeling of completion, as if coming home after a long journey. How passing strange...
She followed after the group as Lady Claes came to a stop before a large, heavy shelf. It was far too big for any one person to move. Even a hunter would have struggled, for it was wide and unwieldy. Lady Claes felt along one side, then the other, and a look of satisfaction came over her face before she pushed at a spot that depressed slightly. Almost immediately, the shelf slid to one side as if on freshly oiled rails, revealing a set of stairs leading downward.
"There really is a hidden room…" Lord Claes said, sounding surprised.
The princes exchanged glances and drew their swords, taking the lead. The Third Prince placed his hand on his blade, sliding upwards along the steel. Fire trailed in his hands wake, and Maria's eyebrows rose at the rare show of power. It lit the way as the prince began to descend, his brother and the Lady Claes right behind him. The other crowded behind, obviously excited by this development.
As Maria was about to descended, something in a nearby pile caught her eye…
There had been black door down below at the end of the stairs. Maria heard the crash as the Third Prince kicked it open, but the room beyond had been empty. It was the size of one of the school dormitories for higher-ranked nobles, and contained a bed and a lamp. Disturbingly, rings had been set into the walls, and a chain and manacle could be seen peeking under the bed.
The Third Prince had lit the lamp by the time Maria had descended, augmenting the little light that came from a single tiny window that was basically a glorified air vent in the ceiling, and she could only breathe a sigh of relief it had not been a trap set with explosives. Her fellow hunter Otto had been fond of those, the madman. Maria had used to expect constables from a distant land to show up one day with a warrant for his arrest for arson, or hear that the fool had set the workshop on fire. He never had explained why he had left his home of Dresden…
On the other side of the room was another door. The prince kicked it again with little fanfare, revealing another stairway leading downwards. Taking the lead once more, he descended and they followed after, Maria trailing behind. At the bottom of the stairs radiated an eldritch purple glow. they came from strange candles on either side of a short hallway that lead to a set of double doors.
Maria frowned and looked back the way they had come. "This is deep below ground. How could anyone have believed this was meant to be a storage room, given the amount of earth constructing this would have displaced and stone needed to be brought in to set in place for the walls?"
"Really?" Lady Hunt said. "That's what you're wondering about?"
"No, she's right," Prince Alan said. "Look at this place. Even with Earth Magic, they'd have needed to move or compress a lot of dirt. How come no one knew about it? Something's fishy about all this."
"Lady Claes knows about this place," Maria said. "And are she and her brother not graced with Earth Magic?"
Lady Hunt stepped forward with a snarl. "I have just about HAD IT with–"
"No Mary, she's right," Lady Claes intervened. "I suppose if you look at it that way, this looks very suspicious Maria. Honestly, I can't blame you for thinking that way. I do look like a villainess, after all. It's to be expected you'd suspect me."
"Lady Katarina!" Lady Hunt said, sounding aghast. "Don't say such things!"
Lady Claes ignored her, possibly used to her toadying. She looked at Maria, her eyes filled with all their usual lust, but something else as well. "So let's find out the truth together. Let's get to the end of this secret route, and find out how this story ends! Will you see it with us, Maria?"
Maria thought of a hunter. A stranger clad in strange garb, but a hunter nonetheless. Perhaps a hunter because of their strange garb. She thought of a chair in an empty clocktower, a chair with the sea at her back, sitting in a pool of blood. The feeling of the sword in her hand. Of her death, and her death again…
Yes, she of all people knew very well the sweet beckoning of secrets. Their sweetness and their shame. Never one without the other.
"Only an honest death will cure you now." Had those not been her very words, made much ironic in hindsight?
The girl who was once Lady Maria, formerly of Cainhurst, formerly of Byrgenwerth, formerly of the Research Hall, and in her heart still a hunter, didn't want to die just yet. Wherever this path lead, whether in lies or conspiracy, or a truth most dark, she had to know. She had to know if he…
She took a deep breath and resolved herself. How ironic, that once more she could not leave a corpse well enough alone, compelled to wlk in darkness to find out what secrets it hid. And no there was no Master Willem to force her hand. Truly, one need not seek eldritch truths to resort to a madman's choices. Would atrocity once more be found at the end of this path?
She should have gone straight to class.
"I prefer 'Miss Campbell', Lady Claes," she said.
Lady Hunt scowled at her, as did Lady Ascart.
Lady Claes, however, blinked and smiled. "Will you see it with us, Miss Campbell?" she said, and try as she might, Maria could detect no insincerity.
"After you, my lords and ladies," she said, bowing with one hand behind her back.
The Third Prince, his brother and Lord Claes lead the way, swords out as they regarded the double doors. Dark smoke seemed to billow from every crack, from it's very essence, and for the first time, Maria realize it did not look right. It seemed to curve and flicker like flaming, having a life of its own . there was a… a weight to the darkness, beyond the darkness, as if it swelled from the depths of a bottomless ocean. It was like a… a…
+1 Insight
Maria realized she could feel an incredible power beyond those doors.
Unconsciously, her grip tightened on the sword she held behind her back with one hand.
The princes looked at each other and nodded. The Third Prince stepped forward and pushed the doors open.
Beyond lay a dark, billowing fog,
Maria's heart seized. She knew that fog.
Lady Ascart screamed.
The princes gasped, taking a step back lest they violate its threshold.
It was a thing of legend and story and horror and fear most primal. The fog, behind which would lie a force of great evil against which no mere mortal could stand.
They should go. They should turn around, bar the doors and summon every soldier and wielder of Fire, Water, Earth and Air the princes could call upon, every thug and sellsword and mercenary, call cannons (Maria suddenly wondered, did Sorcier have cannon? Try as she might, she could not recall anyone having ever mentioned pistols), ballistae, and urns of oil, and then, only then, should they brave this mist of nightmares before them.
Lady Claes blinked, and looked at the princes before her with furrowed brow. Then she shrugged.
Before anyone could stop her, she stepped into the fog.
Alone.
Achievement Unlocked: Welcome to Fashion Souls– Finally, Maria has a hat!
Black Tricorned Hat
A randomly chosen black hat. It is old and dusty but still in good repair.
Not many people in Sorcier wear hats, a curious practice given the constant sun and the high likelihood of heatstroke from it.
Heatstroke can cause damage to the brain due to swelling, possibly resulting in permanent damage. Magic is controlled by the brain, and sufferers of heatstroke often forget they possess it.