Hy-Jinx experiences a strange feeling of nervous anticipation which she washes away with another swig of wine. “Needs must,” she repeats to herself, slowly walking over to the steps in the floor and peering down into the darkness - a darkness full of rosy light, beckoning. She glances at Masqued Madeleine, her eyes locking with her gaze, and returns the smile. Raising the bottle in her direction as if saying ‘cheers’, before turning back to the steps leading down and hopping from the floor onto the third step, turning and descending further, letting her free hand brace against the ceiling to stay herself.

Hy-Jinx descends into a small chamber located directly beneath the fireplace, three straight walls and a fourth that is curved somewhat, which she surmises must be part of an outer chimney structure which would allow the room to go unnoticed from elsewhere in the manse. There seems at first to be little there except dust, which is so thick that it is clear that this room has not been used for a long long time, but, as she brushes away thick cobwebs with the back of the hand holding the bottle, she begins to make out rosy outlines. A stack of something or other against one of the walls. She steps forward slowly, her foot standing on something soft. Bending, she feels out with her free hand, her fingers curling around what feels like an old ball of cloth or something. She raises it up and shakes off the dust, coughing and giggling in the process, finding humour in her own stupidity for raising clouds of dust. As her coughing fit ends, she looks at what she holds in front of her and the whole room lights up in a rosy golden light as she finds herself staring at what must have been a child’s teddy bear, or at least what remains of it. She bangs it gently against the side of her leg in an attempt to shake off a bit more dust and then takes another swig, blinking several times over as she feels dust particles entering her eyes.

“You may be the first celestial teddy bear that I have ever encountered.” she says, holding the bear in front of her again, marvelling at the beaming glow that emanates from it as if it hides some sort of divinity. And staring into its one remaining eye, an unravelled thread for another, loose stitching bleeding stuffing out from its side, Hy-Jinx knows that she has found a friend.

Hy-Jinx turns her attention back to the rest of the chamber and the stack of stuff against the curved wall. Taking another swig she moves the teddy into her hand with the bottle, dextrously holding them both in one hand and then wanders over to the stack. Brushing away dust with her free hand, there seems to be little of interest: a small table stacked on top of what looks like a tiny crib, dust filled and empty except for what looks like the last vestiges of a pillow. Hy-Jinx sneezes once, twice, and turns to leave, her curiosity satiated, but in doing so a faint rosy glimmer ripples along the curved wall. Intriguing, Hy-Jinx thinks to herself, pausing for a moment, then stepping up to the wall and gently brushing her hand across it, cobwebs and dust in equal measure falling to the floor. She peers closer, smiling, a feeling of warmth permeating her body - a feeling she attributes to the wine. Another ripple of rosy light shimmers the wall, and then she sees it, a mural, faint to her vision but visible none-the-less. Her heart’s rhythm increases to the point where she feels somewhat breathless - a strange feeling, almost like panic - but it passes as quickly as it arrives, as her mind observes the picture before her: a field of stars, arranged in a stylised pattern of overlapping arcs, larger in the centre, the stars growing smaller to little pin pricks the further they are towards the edge of the wall. And in the centre, growing up from the bottom of the wall, a large blue petalled flower, which as Hy-Jinx’s mind manages to ascertain just what is being depicted, explodes into light, rainbow hues bursting from the edges of the petals. Hy-Jinx is gobsmacked. “Wha..” Her mouth dropping open at the light show which slowly reduces in intensity. She reaches up a finger, tracing the outlines of the petals and feels a strange urge to cry, and in so doing, the chamber dims to darkness. “Great,” says Hy-Jinx to herself, taking another swig from the bottle, the teddy bear falling against her face as she does so, the faint smell of lavender effusing the air. She waits for a few moments, trying to smile internally, but she can’t seem to shake the feeling of sadness, and impatience and frustration begins to build atop of this. Finally she gives up and reaching out into the darkness, pats the walls and, eventually, finding the stairs again, gingerly climbs back into the room above.

Feeling her way to the sofa, Hy-Jinx lies down, the soft tinkle of bells near her head causing her to smile and returning her sight somewhat to the faintest of rosy glows. The teddy sits on her chest, staring down at her. Hy-Jinx returns the stare, thoughtfully. “Do we know one another?” she asks, “or is this just damn good wine?”