03: a stairway to nowhere

The last of the flames in the fireplace died down. Mori delicately twisted the doorknob, opening the door to the midsection just the slightest amount. She tapped one foot on the nearest stair, right outside the door.

A dull echo, continuing for a few steps, and then dead silence following after. No response.

Mistress must be asleep, then.

She turned back to the room and gathered up her books in her arms. Taking a deep breath, she scanned over the room, committing every last detail of the room to her memory. A still image, painting in her mind.

Is today the day, then?

There’s only one way to find out, I suppose.

She turned and stepped out onto the stairway-

Something giant and dark swept over her, under her, scooping her up, propelling her down the staircase. She opened her mouth to scream- something jagged and yet smooth curled around her face, squeezing her jaw shut. Mute, but unharmed, not hard enough to make her teeth smash together and cut her tongue in half.

“Keep quiet,” the mass hissed at her as they descended further and further, the individual bricks of the walls blurring into one brown mass. “I don’t want to have to kill you, especially since I’ve gone to all this trouble to make sure there was enough space for the both of us, but if I have to choose between us both being dead and only you being dead, I’ll pick the less dead of the two.”

Mori squeezed her books tighter to her chest with one arm, sucking her breath to hollow her chest and make more room, and felt her other hand to the thick cord around her face. Scales passed under her fingers.

A… snake?

They reached the bottom of the staircase. The mass flitted into the closest open door and let go of Mori. The girl tumbled to the ground, gray hair blowing everywhere, tangling. She rolled over to her knees and spat out a few strands, brushing them out of her face, and reached for her scattered books.

The mass reared its head. The dark aura around it dispelled.

A… woman?

The woman shook out her hair. Six snakes hung from within, raising their heads to stare at Mori as their host stretched her arms and then squatted down under the sink and threw open the little doors underneath.

“Follow me,” the woman hissed.

“Wait-” Mori pulled herself up. “What’s your name?”

“Not relevant.”

And, to Mori’s surprise, the woman squeezed in under the sink and disappeared.

What in the…

Mori stooped over to the undercabinet of the sink. Beside the looping white pipes, there was a little stairway descending into the earth, far below the actual confines of the tower. Light poured in, but only so far- five steps down, and it was total darkness.

Something boomed far ahead.

Oh, gods, she’s going to kill me-

Mori took a deep breath and clutched the books close to her chest and threw herself down the narrow stairway.

She rolled to a stop at the end. One way, straight down, hard ground to meet her body.

The world spun around her as she opened her eyes. Her stomach lurched. Bile rose in her throat. She swallowed it down with a grimace and pulled herself to her feet, steadying herself on the stairway handrail.

She was in some kind of massive chamber. A cave, maybe- clusters of purple and black crystals hung from the ceiling- but they were far too… angular and precisely cut to have formed naturally. Before her, the chamber branched out in seven tunnels.

Footsteps in front of her. Mori tightened her grasp on the books, trembling limbs threatening to let them all fall to the floor again. The snake lady was nowhere to be seen.

Out of the darkness, a girl about her age. Choppy red hair fell to her shoulders. Her clothes were plain and simple, patched in a few spots, little decoration except for a flower pin near her right shoulder.

“H-hello,” Mori whispered. “I promise I’m not a trespasser. I- I’m just…”

The girl shook her head. “You pass the eye test.” She turned back to where she’d came- the tunnel was lit now, much shorter than expected. A much grander cavern from the little she could see. Something resembling civilization, almost.

A smile flickered on the girl’s face. “Welcome to Rennica.”