《 Skip a Beat 》

Two steps behind

"It's cold down here," murmured Tina, momentarily abandoning her irritation. The younger auror hugged her arms around herself. She was beginning to regret leaving her coat in Theo's office.

Theseus nodded, his breath making an almost-invisible cloud in the air.

They walked on, their footsteps making soft clacking sounds, before approaching a single ominous door at the end.

Concern was beginning to nibble at Tina- Where was he taking her?

She glanced sidelong at Theseus in question, and to her relief, he finally looked back. Deciphering her anxiety, probably, he hushed his tone to barely above a whisper and muttered, "Travers granted me authorisation to enter."

Before Tina could decode what on earth he meant by that, Theseus had turned the handle and nudged the door open.

The pair slid inside and emerged into an octagonal chamber swathed in shadows. Doors were positioned on every wall, identical to the one they'd walked through. No... not an octagonal room... Tina tried counting the walls, but paused when her eyes landed on Travers, standing cockily in front of one of the doors with his hands in his pockets.

"Sir." Theseus acknowledged his boss in a clipped tone.

Tina didn't bother hiding her distaste- being sent on a mission under his control was enough exposure to the man to last her a lifetime. How Theseus endured him every day- Tina had no idea.

"Theseus. Tina." Travers gave an equally clipped nod. "You two were the ones who found the files, so the Ministry saw it fit that you are the first to see this."

He moved toward the door he was standing in front of, but Tina knit her eyebrows together. "I don't understand. The files were a trap. What is there left to see?"

Travers pressed his lips together until they formed a white line. Tina narrowed her eyes.

"Perhaps you'd like to show her, Theseus?" he probed, gesturing vaguely toward her.

He shifted his weight onto the other foot, then replied with "Of course, sir," before inclining her with a flick of his head.

To his credit, he waited for her this time before striding towards one of the doors. How he could tell which one was the right one- Tina had no idea.

She could still feel Travers' eyes on her back as they passed through the doorway and into the room beyond.

It took Tina a moment to adjust to the room. Not because of the darkness- because of the light.

Yes, there was light in this room, and it wasn't hard to see why- the entire hall they'd walked into was filled with shelves.

Hundreds and hundreds of shelves, all stacked up on each other- and each shelf playing host to a cluster of glowing prophecy orbs.

They reminded Tina of tiny fairy lights- some dark and dusty, others clear and bright. Some big, some small, some intricately patterned, some plain glass balls... their luminous glow lit up the entire room with a silver-blue light.

Tina almost stumbled over her feet as she gazed upward to take it all in.

"This is the hall of prophecies," announced Theseus, enjoying her expression of awe. "This way."

He lead her past numerous rows upon rows of prophecies, into a minuscule room that Tina hadn't noticed earlier.

Theseus held the door open for her. This room, in contrast to the hall of prophecies, was much darker again. Darker, except for the sole, tiny glass ball on a pedestal in the centre of the room.