APPLE WITCH (girlxgirlxgirl)

27. Secrets of hate

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⚠️ PG-13, mentions of death or dying ⚠️

"Are you okay? That was a pretty bad fall Astra"

Serian's worried voice echoes through the dark temple hallway. Melora startles in her place as a bat flies past her, squeaking as it goes. Singular droplets of water fall from the roof, as it somehow manages to be damp inside despite being drier than a desert outside. Carefully they step closer to the edge of the hole in the floor, while Astra shuffles up from her laid down position below them all.

"Nothing I can't handle. But you three need to get down here, this is crazy"

Melora realises that her thoughts from before must've been right. There is no way the summer witch who last lived here would've gone down without a fight. She must've hidden all of the most important things, like books and artefacts and jewellery, down in hidden catacombs. Otherwise the vampires would've gotten their hands on everything, and they might've used the information from the books against the witches, which is definitely something that the long previous summer witch wanted to avoid when facing such a dark time. All information about witch and seasonal witch magic has to be down there. It's a goldmine. Melora's eyes shine.

Melora sits down at the edge of the hole in the floor, and lets her feet dangle in the air. Seiran reaches out to stop her, but by that time she has already made the leap. Astra hurt herself because she fell, but Melora won't if she jumps. She flies through the air for a good second, the wall and floor flashing by her eyes. Her feet bend down as she lands against the cold stone floor of the basement level, her hands catching her as she stumbles forwards. Several gasps echo around her.

"Are you crazy?! Astra, did she make it?"

The red haired vampire is quickly by the spring witch's side, hosting her up from the floor with a tight grip around her upper arm. Melora drags her hand out of the vampire's hold immediately when her feet are stable enough, and lets her eyes wander across the space that she has come to. Her ears ring with Astra's acknowledging words to her girlfriend, and it's not long until two other thumps are heard through the catacombs. Seiran and Saint land with much more grace than she did, but also with a louder sound. At that point Melora is too busy adoring the view to care.

"God, what is this place?"

It's a huge underground catacomb, with open rooms connecting to each other as far as the eye can see in such darkness. Where the wall meets the ceiling, the stones are rounded, and overall beautifully made despite only being an underground part of a temple. What it was used for is hard to say, but the structure of it is quite unique. They've landed in a pretty empty room-like area, but the next one is much bigger and filled with different things. There is a big pool in the middle of the hall, filled with crystal clear blue water. The pool is built into the floor and doesn't have any higher edges, but in the middle of it there is a huge statue of a woman carrying a round ball in her arms, seemingly symbolising the sun. Along the stone walls there are rows and rows of things, some in wooden crates, others wrapped in expensive red carpets, and some just hanging around loosely.

Everything from books, small objects of a wide variety, pieces of fabric and scrolls can be seen from their point of view. It continues on to the next room, the walls covered with piles of things, layers of dust on top. It's been hundreds of years since anybody was last here, but because of the chilly air in the underground chamber, everything must've been preserved quite well. It's just warm enough for the water not to freeze over, but cold enough for the surface to stay as still as a mirror. Melora takes a step forwards into the catacombs, and sees just how many things there are. Books, pens, clothes, loose papers. It's like everything was thrown in here in a haste. They even put some of their furniture, chairs with thick velvet covers, pillows, bedspreads, tables and all kinds of household tools. All things that once had a place upstairs have been moved here, and the entrance was probably shut off. All of this to make sure that the vampires wouldn't get their hands on it. On their work, on their information, and on their lives.