Janaxia slowly stirred, the pounding of her veins deafeningly loud, as though she were being struck in the head with a small hammer, again and again and again. She was on a cold, hard surface – old, gritty stone, by the feel of things? There had been the party, although that had only just started when she had decamped to investigate the pillar, and then… Ancient tunnels of some form? She could remember Semari, in her usual doltish fashion, charging ahead in an excessively foolhardy fashion, lost treasure and an old complex, probably beneath Belazaan, or in some comparatively-adjacent demi-plane.

She slowly sat up, blinking grit from her eyes. Where was she now? And where was Semari? Having someone with more martial skills and a proclivity for charging ahead might be helpful, if there were either monsters or traps – a distraction, especially one as loud and annoying and distracting as Semari was useful, and definitely better than risking becoming a target herself.

There was a strange moment of darkness, true darkness, until she blinked and could see again. Did that mean the place was dark and only her powers let her see? Well, if Semari were present, that would be inconvenient for her. There had been a book… She shook her head, hand moving instinctively to her hip, where her own book was still secured. It ruined the lines of her silhouette, but it felt important to have it close by, the thing giving her something of a feeling of security. As she touched it, she felt calmer, and stood up – she was at least uninjured.

This place was in grander style than the previous passages – rather than seemingly being carved from rock, instead this seemed like something closer to an actual building, with grand pillars stretching up above her, the vague suggestion of a roof somewhere far above her. The aesthetics were all decidedly dark and heavy though – she could see heavy and rusted iron chains holding chandeliers suspended between the pillars, the metal looking old and pitted. It wasn’t an entirely open space, with stone barriers in the way to bar her vision, cut with niches and nooks.

Something gleamed in one and she reflexively attacked, a bolt of energy streaking through the air, streaking at thing. The usual darkness of her bolt was different – she threw another, and it was somehow brighter, the darkness looking oily, a momentary gleam of prismatic colours before it impacted into the rock and caused a dry shattering of stone.

She went to investigate, keeping a careful distance in case something were to leap out from the niche. Inside, she could see broken fragments of stone, a small and warped face of stone staring back at her, the eyes gemstones. It looked vaguely canine with an extended nose, and sharp fangs, although the entire head was barely the size of her first. The stone wall extended to just above her head height, with regular niches, each roughly the size to hold a head. A somewhat unnerving unit of size! A few held twisted and demon bodies, caught in various states of injury, most malformed and warped, looking like taxidermy specimens. Was it a tomb or mausoleum, with each crevice intended to hold a body or memorial? Well, there seemed to be nothing living or undead here now.

Semari? She attempted to broadcast, wondering if Semari had somehow been drawn through with her to wherever this place was. The walls blocked her vision, so she would have to explore – fortunately, the crevices were large enough that it was easy to use them to climb up, and the top of the stone walls were two paces wide, with little danger of falling off.

This extended her view, showing the place to be a large hall, with hallways made up of the stone walls, all bearing their niches, built on an impressively grand scale. To one side was a complete wall, corner-columns carved into the shape of fearsome-looking guardians, all fangs and tusks and claws, with spiked clubs at the ready. That seemed decidedly uninviting, especially if the things should animate and attack – they were at least four times her height, and enchanted stone was notoriously hard to damage.

She turned the other way, where the darkness gave some suggestion of opening up, of something other than more oppressive stone. And was that a hint of movement? Yes, something was flashing between iron chains, the sound of metal-on-metal scraping seeming almost blasphemous in a place so swathed in silence.

If you approach, I shall be forced to destroy you! She drew her hand back, readying herself to attack, but the thing was moving fast, a blur of motion. It flashed towards her, suddenly dropping through the air as Janaxia tried to ready herself to fight, wishing that she had a weapon, even if only a club she could enchant.

Semari landed with agile lightness, dropping into a crouch and sweeping Janaxia’s legs out from beneath her. She fell over, jarring her wrists on the ground as she tried to brace herself, before the breath was forced from her lungs as Semari slammed a fist into her stomach.

Semari! It’s me! She couldn’t speak properly as Semari raised a fist again. Janaxia flinched, trying to protect herself, raising a hand to protect her head. Then she felt a hand on her face, running around her jaw, before touching her hair, then her horns. She slowly opened her eyes, to see Semari standing back and looking down at her. Can you hear me?

Semari rolled her eyes then nodded, as Janaxia stood up and dusted herself down. ‘Well, you could have, perhaps, not, attacked me?’

As she spoke, the sounds echoed strangely, gathering volume somehow, ringing and crashing together into a cacophony, stone grit falling down from above until the sounds silenced themselves. Semari clamped her hands to her ears, her eyes tightly shut as though in pain, before she pushed herself against Janaxia, grabbing hold of her belt, eyes still shut.

‘What is the matter? You appear to be behaving most strangely.’ Although she tried to whisper, the sound still ended up as a thunderous echo, before slowly fading away. Can you talk? This place appears enchanted in some strange fashion.

Semari’s lips moved, but no sound came out, her eyes still shut.

You cannot see?

That got an emphatic nod.

Well, I suppose you shall have to rely on me. Did you find anything on your investigations?

A shake of the head.

Let us investigate, then. Do stay close. If something did attack, then Semari could be thrown at it – if she was close enough, then she could probably manage to fight it.

Walking while holding Semari in front of her was somewhat complicated, but far safer for herself than letting Semari fall behind. They continued to walk along the raised stone, finding several junctions and turns. Was the place like a catacomb, but erected above the surface, or in some impossibly vast cavern? Or in some specifically-crafted artificial plane of reality? But there seemed to be little signs of even past life, beyond the unnerving statues (or whatever they were) of demons – other than that, a few of the niches had piles of dust in, as though something had once been there, but no sign of what it could have been. How long did bone take to decay? Even without enchantment, it could withstand centuries, could it not? Perhaps mercifully, Semari didn’t go off to poke them, and possibly awaken or activate them.

There was little sense of time here, and probably no light, judging by Semari’s behaviour. Although Semari was keeping her eyes tightly scrunched shut. Can you see anything? Semari shook her off and turned around, then opened her eyes. She immediately shuddered, looking around while swaying slightly, as though drunk, wincing in pain before closing her eyes. Her posture immediately improved, although she was still shuddering slightly.

Your vision functions, but it hurts or is confusing? That got a nod. Well, let us try and find a way out. Although this place appears rather large. Quite how we got here as well, I am somewhat vague on.

Semari somehow managed to convey through surprisingly pointed bodily gestures that such a thing was hardly atypical, and that the issue really was Janaxia’s own fault.

There’s no need to be rude! While it is indeed somewhat unfortunate that we have ended up here, I cannot be held entirely responsible for the functionality of strange magical items. Now, shall we go? The sooner we get out of here, the better, I think. I would rather not face whatever strange guardians such a place as this may have.

Although the place seemed entirely dead and still, beyond the few warped bodies of demons in their niches, without any of the usual guardian spirits or monsters. Beyond the strange property of magnifying her voice into that strange, booming echo that thundered through the halls, there seemed to be nothing here, although the place was so vast that she couldn’t currently see the walls, just misty vagueness. Was this perhaps one of the more boring hells? Most had sounded rather more intriguing, but this was just dull. Although being stuck alone with Semari for a protracted period of time would likely be hellish indeed!

Somewhere ahead, there was a vague suggestion of difference, the air seeming, perhaps, a little less dull and empty. Janaxia steered Semari towards it, time and distance fading in a vague suggestion of progress.

When she reached it, she found that it was a raised dais of stone, a semi-circular platform cut in half by a wall that stretched up and out of sight, the platform some ten paces in diameter, curves and whorls cut into the surface, and filled with some black… powder, maybe, or dried paint? There was a stone doorway, currently sealed and shut, the stone gouged with slashes and impact-marks, the first sign of deliberate damage she had seen since coming here. Janaxia took Semari’s hand and tried to guide it forward and down to touch it, Semari resisting and throwing her off, although still keeping one hand gripped tightly onto Janaxia’s skirt so as not to lose her.

It’s only some old markings. And, be honest, if you could see, then you would probably touch them anyway.

Semari relaxed slightly, letting Janaxia guide her now-extended finger. It touched the black stuff, a little coming off and staining her fingertip, the faintest flash of lightning coiling around Semari’s finger before sparking away to nothing. Feeling more confident that it wouldn’t immediately kill her, Janaxia tried touching it herself. The fragmented tatters of darkness twisted and writhed, drawing together into blobs and streaming into lines, before flowing onto Janaxia’s arm. She tried to step away and shook her arm to get the stuff off, but it clung. When she brushed her other hand against it, the stuff feeling like nothing more than slightly chill air, it flowed over both arms, before fading and vanishing.

Semari was turning her head nervously, able to sense that something was going on, but without being able to see, she couldn’t help.

As the darkness faded away, the feeling in the air changed, the place seeming less dead and still. Semari must have been able to feel it as well, as she slowly and gingerly opened one eye, then the other, without immediately shutting them. She looked at Janaxia.

‘Why are you all evil and spiky again?’ Her voice was normal, without being magnified into a booming roar.

‘Is this…’ Janaxia’s words were magnified and blasted around the space, echoing back and forth. Is this really the time to critique my fashion style?

‘Yeah, but you’re, like, full evil queen again. Stathis would probably like it, but it’s going to snag and get in the way if we have to run.’

My attire is scarcely that “evil”, nor that impractical. She looked down at herself and found that her outfit was different to what she had been wearing. The sleek dress she had been wearing was now an even tighter thing of black mesh and darkly gleaming gems, a cutout running from her neck to her navel but otherwise her skin was hidden from view, in admittedly fetching layers of gauze and lace. Heavy bracelets on her wrists were edged with cruel-looking barbs, while fabric rustled on her arms whenever she moved, drawing tight to show glimpses of flesh, before going fuzzy again when she moved. When had that happened? She focused, trying to will it to shift to something somewhat more practical. The clothing stubbornly refused to change, the material staying where it was, rather than melting away and reforming.

I think it happens to look rather stylish. And this place appears so open, that snagging on something seems only a slight risk. She wriggled her toes – strappy high-heels were, admittedly not what she would have chosen, but it would scarcely be the first time she had manage to run in such attire. Her tattoo swirled into sight, moving into the open and bare channel between her breasts. She tried to will it to move, but it stayed in place, the central circle twisting in place, looking like a hole through her body into a void. She smiled at Semari, trying to appear in command. This place seems to have strange effects on magical powers. Nevertheless, we should press on?

She stepped onto the dais, still trying to assert her will on her clothing, without success. She shifted her shoulders, her tattoo feeling itchy and warm. It wouldn’t do to show any weakness in front of Semari, so she strode onwards, her heels clicking against the stone, doing something to make the place seem less unearthly. The stone door grated open as she approached, a pushing breeze of air flowing out, heavy with old, dry dust.