"What is this place?"
Ezera and Ilya were once again together. Yet this time, Ezera was leading. They were walking through poorly lighted tunnels that they had entered from under the inventory tower, thanks to Ezera's guidance. Ilya had had the presence of mind to light up their way with the spell Lum Ezera had looked up a couple weeks ago.
He had then made Ilya promise to explain how it worked to the poor teacher that was absolutely overwhelmed by this new magical culture. To which Ilya had agreed reluctantly.
"Do you want the part I know or the part I guess?" Ezera replied to Ilya's inquiry through another question
"Both, if possible."
"Alright. Starting with what I know. This place, as you put it, is currently about seven feet undergrouds the surface, about sixty feet from the courtyard of the outer palace."
Ilya glared.
"You asked," Ezera defended his very flat humor. "As for why it is that we can be here... I would say these passages must be some kind of secret escape network designed for the royal family in case the castle was under assault. It must also have been used by the knights on such occasions."
He hummed.
"There's a graveyard down here somewhere too. I could show you on our way back."
"No need," came the dry answer, Ezera almost laughed.
"At any rate, I think that thing even connect to the town. It goes really far and it's intricate, we could lose ourselves."
"Will we?"
Ezera appreciated the humor.
"Lose ourselves? Of course not! Who do you take me for? I did my research. If I'd failed to obtain results, I'd at least be lost on my own."
Ilya didn't find the joke amusing, or so it seemed. Ezera wondered why. It was very fine mad scientist humor, he worked hard on it!
"How did you discover these passages?" Ilya moved on.
"Earlier this month. I came across it as a hiding spot during my previous investigations. I'm leading you all the way to the inner palace so you can see for yourselves."
Ilya nodded.
"We should map them," he said.
"Good idea! I'm glad you volunteered, eoing this all alone would have taken too much time for me. Take this."
He slipped something out of his boot and handed it to Ilya. It was a large piece of paper, on which he had already drawn all the ways he had used during his previous experiments after dark. He grinned; he had already planned to have Ilya work on it with him. Was he shamelessly abusing their newfound partnership? Yes!
But instead of being annoyed, Ilya examined the map sketch and hummed something that sounded quite approving.
"Good."
It seemed Ezera wasn't the only one who was a bit workaholic in there, huh. Noted.
The both of them walked quickly but gingerly, aware that they could very well meet other people in these underways. They kept their steps quiet. They didn't speak much, at least not until they had reached their destination.
Ezera stopped in front of the ropes, the old fashioned ladder as he checked on Ilya, putting a finger in front of his lips. Ilya nodded and waited. Ezera did the same, listening attentively to any noise coming from above.
There was none.
They waited an entire two minutes to be certain, then Ezera pulled on the lever as he did the last time he was there. They heard a sound above, and they were could progressively distinguish an opening.
Ezera signaled for Ilya to follow him and climbed to the top. A quick look around confirmed there was no other presence in the chapel. He sighed silently and pushed himself up, Ilya quick after him.
"This is the place I wanted to show you," he said as Ilya took in their surroundings. "I found the amulets here, after the high priest put them here. He was accompanied by someone else, but I don't know who yet. It sounded like someone fairly important."
Ilya frowned.
"What exactly happened?" he asked as he inspected the bookshelves, careful with his touches.
"They brought the amulet and left them on a bench. Five in total. The high priest played some music on the organ over there."
Ilya followed the direction he was pointing at, right toward the majestuous black organ behind of which they had crawled out from.
"Music?"
"Yes. An entire melody, but based on only about four main chords. He seemed to think that it summoned the will of his god, and he said that it would make the amulets useful even though they were considered incomplete. Judging by its state after an entire night in this place, I'd say..."
"Yes," Ilya completed his thoughts. "The music was charged in dark matter. I was enclined to believe it, seeing as the entire place is oozing with it."
"Oh," Ezera winced. "This... Sounds like a bad thing, for a sacred place."
Ilya walked all around the room, touching its walls as he went, thoughtful. After he made it back to where he started, he murmured something. Ezera bet on another spell. When the magic diluted in the air, Ilya turned to Ezera.
"I have insonorized the space," he said. "Do you happen to remember the chords you mentioned he was playing?"
"Uh... I think? I have a very good memory for things like that. Why?"
Ilya didn't need to answer. Ezera only had to follow his gaze to catch on the meaning in his request.
"You... No. I can't play it."
Ilya looked back confused.
"It will not have any true effect, it will induce movements in the energetic flux in the..."
"You don't understand!" Ezera couldn't stress it enough, it cut him. "I am no musician!"
Ilya didn't seem to understand the issue.
"So?" this single word was surprisingly eloquent.
"What if I'm totally wrong? What if I nick it by accident- what if I break it?!"
They were now looking at each other. Ezera's features were frantic. Ilya's eyebrows were drawn together, as though he was attempting to solve a puzzle.
"Professor," he enunciated slowly, "you won't break the organ."
"How do you know! I h- instruments are fragile!" Ezera was fidgeting, even though he was an adult who never fidgeted and not an anxious teenager.
He'd like to pretend it was the way Ilya was now looking at hil that made him nervous. To be fair, the way Ilya was staring at him was definitely making him nervous.
"Professor," Ilya reiterated.
"No."
"Are you..."
"Whatever you're thinking about, it's not that."
"...Afraid of musical instruments?"
"..."
Ilya sounded neutrally incredulous.
Ezera was pretty sure that he himself looked very incredulous at the moment.
The nerve.
"Absolutely not!"