"I'll take the front position, leader, I can do good recon on the rooms ahead." Quill spoke, moving faster down the wooden stairwell while keeping silent.
The food from earlier seemed to change her attitude, now making her more assertive.
"For now, it'd be best for me to take charge first Quill. We still don't know what is ahead."
"As you wish, leader." Quill started moving back in line.
The stairway was cramped forcing them to walk in a straight line as ropes and pulleys were seen hanging above them.
After a minute of walking, the group reached the bottom. In front of them was a closed door, light beamed through the bottom of it, but they couldn't hear any sound.
"Stay close." Calliope slowly crept her way towards the door, the team following behind her.
Her hand slowly grabbed onto the handle to turn it open.
Peeking through for a second, Calliope fully opened it with her sword at the ready.
The group now stood inside a small room, lit up by bright candles with no windows in sight.
On the walls the group could see more of those ropes and pulleys, stuck to the walls. All connected to a single chair on the side with a lever placed on one of its arms.
"Even our own cathedral back home isn't this complex." Oliver remarked, approaching one of the walls, tempted to touch the ropes out of fascination, but stopped himself.
"Ms leader, there's a door that possibly leads further down." While they looked around, Quill found another door at the corner of the room.
"Well there is nothing useful here. Let's move." The team moved towards the door, Calliope leading from the front with Quill standing behind her. Waiting to act as a secondary recon even without Calliope's order.
The door led to yet another stairway, dimly lit by more candles that hung on planks stuck to the walls. Colton could feel his hot breath hit his face while they went down.
They soon reached the next closed door, the light that pierced beneath it was dimmer than the room earlier.
Everyone had their weapons at the ready, although they hoped they wouldn't meet anyone, they had to be ready.
The room ahead was a long hall full of doors, similar to a resting quarters with wooden signs hung above them, starting with one until fifty. The look of it made Colton assume it was a resting quarters.
"From my understanding. The people who reside here are typically out downstairs to maintain the shrine. It's mostly safe to search." Myo explained.
"We do need to clean everything out in this place. Search the rooms quietly. If there is someone inside, ignore it and move on."
The team immediately went to work. Peeking through the slits of the door before entering inside.
Colton went from room to room, staying as cautious as possible. Inside each room was a bed, desk, and small shelf of books or scrolls of the cathedral. He felt relieved he didn't find a room with a sleeping person inside so far.
He collected more and more books with each room he entered, stashing them in the pouch with what gold he had left.
It took minutes of cleaning out the rooms. Afterwards, everyone had books in their hands.
While they handed them to Calliope, Quill noticed another room. A locked one nobody seemed to notice as it nearly blended in with the stone wall. It stood next to a stairway heading down.
"Looks like the leader's one. I'll handle it." Myo walked away from the group, holding a pick lock in his hand. With Quill standing next to him, he began trying to open the door.
It only took a few seconds before a click could be heard and the door swung open.
The room was larger than the others, with a desk in the middle and windows behind them shining light inside. On both sides were more shelves carrying documents and books.
Without a word, they started searching the room, grabbing any books in it. Myo though was busy searching for something else, something he personally wanted.
Soon, everyone had another stack of books in their hands. Calliope stored all of them except for one in particular, she read its contents with a confused look.
"Protection God…" She read through the book further. It talked about the cathedral and the god that oversaw it in great detail among other things, but she suppressed her curiosity, preferring to see for herself if the rest is truthful.
The team left, having cleaned out every room. The stairway felt more spacious than before, and Colton could hear a very faint muffled noise from below.
'What is that?' He thought to himself.
The next room they entered was a library. The mere sight of the books and high shelves made Colton slightly sick, being reminded of the infinite library they had just got out of.
But every shelf was filled with scrolls rather than books. Calliope and Oliver began plucking a few out to read them.
"These are just reports and orders. Nothing useful to us nor the kingdom. Let us keep moving." She started moving faster, heading for the exit.
"This place is really reminding me of the cathedral. I like and don't like it." Oliver rolled up one of the scrolls he read, looking around before Clarissa grabbed his arm to bring him back to the group.
The team descended further down, the muffled sounds Colton heard from earlier became louder as they descended.
Upon arriving at the door, everyone already started hearing the unknown sounds. Calliope slowly opened the door, everyone behind her drew out their weapons, expecting someone from outside to see.
As the door opened, the sounds became clear. The group realized where they were, a long viewing deck to look down below.
The group moved to the edge, just behind a wooden barrier while peering down.
Almost a hundred meters off the ground, they saw the main floor of the cathedral. A crowd of people were praying in front of a shrine of a soldier with a shield and sword. Standing just in front of it though were a small group of people wearing dark blue cloaks.
"So that's where the worshippers are." Myo pointed out, also staring at the blue men that seemed to be speaking. Colton noticed that the man in the middle had a white symbol depicting a shield on the top of his hood.
"It'd be best to use them for disguises madam." Myo advised Calliope.
"Since this is a cathedral, won't it make sense for the twins to take point?" Celestine questioned.
"Why?" Calliope asked, curious.
"Perhaps we may meet a few of them head on. We might not speak like them or act like them. Since the twins are from our cathedral, maybe they can help." Celestine explained. Just like before, Celestine's knowledge on speaking, dressing, and acting had come to play for the cathedral.
"You do have a point. Any objections?" Calliope looked at the twins.
"None ms-" Clarissa nudged at Oliver, dissatisfied with his meek voice and wanted him to speak more clearly for Calliope.
"None Ms Calliope." He sounded more clear than before. Calliope only nodded in response, identifying more hooded men she could use for disguises.
"Very well, once we have reached a low enough floor, Oliver and Clarissa will move ahead of us to help in keeping our disguises, and perhaps in investigating what other things lie in this cathedral." Calliope explained her plan to everyone, they all nodded in response.
But the twins were busy looking down, seeing something was off with the shrine.
"Sis, you think that shrine seems off?" Oliver asked.
"Indeed it does, it looks rather familiar. But we must ignore it for now. Ms Calliope gave us an order and we must follow through with it." Clarissa replied, walking back to the group.
Through another stairway, they descended down. The image of the shrine still stuck to Oliver though.
As they went down further, the feeling he had only became stronger. Until.
"Ms Calliope, you said protection god beforehand right?" He asked while walking a few feet behind her.
"Yes, why?"
"The shrine resembles Foren from our cathedral. Or atleast reminds me of him, and Foren is the god of protection as well." The sudden realization hit Calliope.
Once they arrived near the next door, it took her a few seconds to take in the realization. The cathedral shares their god.
"This…How…" She was confused, but quickly regained composure. The blue clouds soon covered them all.
Their outfits were changed with the outfits of the worshippers, giving them no more reason to hide.
Clarissa and Oliver both stayed near Calliope. Prepared to start walking in front of them once the door opens.
Beyond it Colton could hear footsteps and people talking to one another.
Behind them, Myo was disguised as well, but used his own power.
"Gotta say, i got a little rusty with my own disguises, eh. I should be gone right now. But this mission is getting too interesting to pass up." He spoke, staying at the very back of the group.
Once the sounds had gotten more faint, Calliope opened the door.