When Sequoia took a peek at the final picture it freaked her out. The detail was so well done that she could practically smell the gore. This entire hallway was gross and she really didn't want to explore the tunnels anymore. "Are there any dead bodies in the tunnels? Because if we find one, I'm going to freak the fuck out."
Aniña cracked a smile, “No, there aren’t any bodies. Trust me. This hallway is just a tribute to Othylia and The Faryo so Yes, it’s oretty fucking creepy.”
Sequoia took a deep sigh of relief. No dead bodies. She wasn't about to take a step and plant a foot through some poor dead guy's ribcage. At least she understood Aniña's fear of the punishment gods now. They were creepy as hell. The Destroyer was bad, but they were bad in a completely abstract way. There were no images of them. No face to pin to their terrifying name. "They're terrifying. These things walk the earth?"
“Yup. Collecting the sinners.” Aniña checked her fingers for any black marks and when she found none she let out a breath, “Come on, let’s keep moving.” She said before beginning the walk again.
Sequoia noticed Aniña checking her fingers so she looked at her hands as well. Same tawny brown as always. Hopefully, that meant she was safe from the creepy masked men and their leader. She jogged forward so she could walk beside Aniña instead of behind her and grasped at her wife's hand. "How dark are these tunnels?"
“Don’t that dark, there is lights down there.” Aniña said, shrugging a show,dear as she rounded a corner to a dead end. She let go of Sequoia’s hand and reached out to the stone wall and pressed on a stone with some strange white marking. The wall shuddered and it soon disappeared, revealing a tunnel with torches on either side.
Sequoia sighed in relief, tentatively peeking into the creepy corridor. It was already 100 times better than the creepy cobweb filled sewer she was imagining. "Coool. Are there any weird rooms or creepy altars or anything down here?"
Aniña shrugged, “I only found a few cells last time I was here. I think that’s an alter or tourture chamber or something along those lines though.” She said, picking up a torch.
"Sounds freaky. Let's go!" Sequoia grabbed Aniña's hand and pulled her inside with a slightly crazed grin. The best way to face fear was head one, right? The only way to get anywhere was to plunge forward without thinking about it at all.
Aniña chuckled and let herself be pulled along, “Alright, calm down there, Liran. I’m coming.” She smiled a little as at her as they walked down the hall.
Sequoia took in the halls, trying to ignore the creeping sensation that she was being watched. That was utterly ridiculous. There was nobody in here but Aniña and her. And the millions of ghosts that could be haunting the house, especially the maybe torture chamber. "I'm just a little nervous. Show me the cool torture room thingy!"
Aniña rolled her eyes a little with a mischievous smile, “If that’s what you want.” She mes them though the winding dark halls, a few cobwebs litttered in the corners here and there until finally, the tunnel opened up into a large room. In the center, was a large metal table, metal chains bound to the ends of them and dark patches wrre scattered about the table. On the far wall, more chains hung from the roof and the floor, and more of the dark patches were littered round there.
Sequoia took in the room with wide eyes. This place was DEFINITELY haunted, and she could half feel the ghosts of the damned swirling around her in an angry cloud. The chains were probably bloodstained. Everything is this creepy ass room was probably bloodstained. "On a scale of one to ten, how likely is it that this room is haunted?"
“Zero. There’s no such thing as ghosts.” Aniña said calmly, walking over to the table and rubbing her hand over the metal, “Do you want to know what this room was supposedly used for?”
"Are you kidding me? Ghosts are totally real. And yes, even though I'm probably going to flip my shit." Aniña was good at telling stories! Sequoia was going to be so freaked out by the time they were finished poking around these tunnels.
Aniña grinned and sat on the table, crossing her legs and facing Sequoia, “Well, Othylia has places like this all over my country. Places where he can punish the sinners before they are sent away. Once the Faryo have retrieved them, they are brought to the nearest chamber. Otheylia will then begin a serious of questions, followed by a punishment. When not being punished, people are stung up on the wall behind me,” She waved a hand idly in that direction, “Once the sinners are dead, their bodies are taken away and burnt before being placed somewhere on these tunnels.”
Sequoia shuddered and snatched up Aniña's arm for protection. She needed to hug something. and Aniña was right there and also very strong, so she was the best choice. "You said there wouldn't be any corpses! You're a dirty liar!" What if she opened a closet and a bunch of dead bodies spilled out?
“There’s not any corpses! Just Ash. And you won’t see them, the urns they’re in and in a locked room which I haven’t been able to open.” Aniña said, her voice laced with laughter as she hugged Sequoia. She didn’t think it was that bad of a creepy story.
Sequoia pouted, squeezing Aniña a little closer. "This is freaky, Aniña. What if you open it and we get covered in dead person dust?" Sequoia had a mind that never shut up and always supplied gross hypotheticals, so scary stories got her really keyed up.
"Didn't you hear the part about them being in urns? You'll only get covered in dust if you break one and the room has like, three or so locks on it. I'm not gettin' in any time soon." Aniña stroking Sequoia's hair to calm her down.
"It's still creepy,' Sequoia had quieted down a little, soothed by Aniña's actions. They weren't going to find a body and they weren't going to get covered in dead people, so she didn't need to freak out. Or wonder if the god would burst in and rain fury upon them for exploring his torture room. Shit. What if he tried to bring a body down here and found them and killed them?
“That’s the point, it’s supposed to scare people off. We can leave if you want.” Aniña placed a small kiss to the top of Sequoia’s head. She didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable down here so if Sequoia wanted to leave then so be it. Aniña could come back and explore by herself if she wanted.
While Sequoia was mildly freaked out by this room, she still wanted to see some other cool rooms. Just because one pace was spooky didn't mean every room would be. "No, I'm fine. A little spooked, but I'll get over it soon. Can we move on?"
Aniña nodded and hopped off the table, wiping some dried blood on her pants as she did so, "Your wish will be granted, come on then." She took Sequoia's hand in hers and led them both out the room and down the hall, away from the torture chamber.
Sequoia looked around the new room, acutely glad that this place was far less creepy. There were no bloodstains, no creepy rusted manacles, and no possible jars of dead person dust. At least, there didn't seem to be. Appearances could be deceiving. "What's this place?"
Aniña frowned a little, “I… I don’t know.” It wasn’t like her to be uneducated in the stories and places that belonged to the gods, but this room. This room she had no clue what it was about, what it was used for and why it was here.
The walls were covered in paintings of a sunrise and sunset rendered in beautiful detail. Around the floor were strange symbols, a few of which Sequoia actually recognized from her books about sigil making. She pointed them out to Aniña, explaining their uses. "This is for birth, this one's for fertility, and this one is for family. Was this… a nursery or something?"
Aniña’s frown deepened, “Why would there be a nursery in a place designed and made for Othylia of all people? The god and his followers literally kill and torture people and I haven’t heard stories of him having a child or… or anything.” She crouched down next to the sigils, getting a closer look at then.
A crease worked its way between Sequoia's eyebrows as she squatted down and ran her fingers over the sigils. They were carved into the floor and painted over in some kind of thick black paint. A bit of black residue peeled off on her fingers and it smelled weird. "Maybe this is where they raised the child followers? Or it was for kids whose parents were sinners?""
“That seems the most likely answer that it’s for children who’s parents are sinners. Othylia didn’t take young children as followers. It’s considered a sin - and a long story - for children to follow his practices…” Aniña rubbed at her face and stood, “Something’s wrong here…”