Round 179

Jeane stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the figure at the far end of the chamber, her crimson eyes narrowing with suspicion. "Who goes there?" she called out, her voice echoing in the vast space. "Show yourself!" But even as she spoke, the box pulsed faster now, its humming almost deafening as it synced with the pulsing runes on the shelves and walls around them. Seraphine stared at the figure at the end of the chamber, her heart pounding against her ribs like a trapped bird. The air crackled with ancient power, and she could feel it seeping into her bones, making her skin tingle unpleasantly. Her mind raced, trying to process the situation. They were in a place that shouldn't exist, surrounded by magic that no mortal should wield. And now this—someone waiting for them in the...

Jeane's fingers tightened around the ornate box as she studied the ethereal woman before them, her eyes calculating. "Mistress of the Chamber," she repeated slowly, her voice cool but laced with suspicion. "That explains the decor." She gestured at the dusty shelves with a sweep of her free hand, careful not to loosen her grip on Seraphine's arm. "What manner of archive is this? And what do you want with us?"

Seraphine watched the exchange between Jeane and this ethereal woman with a mixture of fascination and growing unease. The air crackled with an ancient power that made her skin crawl, and she could feel the weight of their words hanging heavy in the room. The box pulsed again, its humming now almost deafeningly loud in the sudden silence after Jeane's questions. It's responding to something here, she thought frantically. But what? And why is this... Mistress... just standing there?