Anna approached the basin, overrun by vegetation. At the bottom, she could make out several skeletons with clean bones. As she observed them, she wondered whether they had been sacrifices or cultists whose remains had been brought here.
Behind the pillars, she discovered hidden shelves. Some of them still held amphorae that had withstood the passage of time. One of them, a large jar with double handles, was drawing Aether toward it. The concentration of energy made the object blinding. Anna wondered if she could squint with her spiritual sight, and after a few adjustments, she managed to see the contents.
Inside was a strange pendant on a chain. The necklace closely resembled the one worn by the statue. As she ran her fingers over it, the young woman recognized a metal, though she couldn't tell which one. She slipped the necklace around her neck, and the horizontal crescent moon settled against her chest.
A little farther on, she found another object. The small knife appeared to be made of the same material and in the same style. It looked more like a ritual kris than a weapon, and Anna doubted she could use it effectively to defend herself. But she kept it anyway. Who knew what awaited her in the rest of the temple or outside of it.
In the solemn silence of the ritual hall, she cast one last spiritual glance at the statue of Kalypso, inclined her head, and stepped through the large, low-arched main entrance.
Even before leaving the room, she already knew she would find a wide corridor connected to a dozen other chambers. Most of the doorways had lost their doors. Time must have worn away the wood. Only stone remained, and plants were climbing everywhere, which made the blind woman think daylight must reach inside the temple. She even found roots from several trees. Water was also trickling from one of the walls, forming a small stream that she had to jump over.
Most of the passageways hadn't withstood the ages. Only three rooms remained intact.
The first opened with a very large archway. Inside, rows of stone bunk beds embedded in the walls hinted at an old dormitory. The troglodytic furniture was still there, except for the cupboard doors, which had rotted away and vanished.
Strangely, some of the shelves still held clothes in perfect condition. As she examined them, she noticed they had special properties, like the knife and the medallion. She wondered if energy was drawn to these objects because they were magical. Could they be enchanted? Was that why they had survived the ravages of time?
Anna quickly put on one of the tunics and a pair of pants she found. The round-neck tunic fell to her knees and opened with a slit at the chest, both top and bottom. The straight-legged pants reached halfway down her calves.
Once dressed, she moved on to the second room, which resembled an archive. Most of the scrolls and tomes were already crumbled to dust on the floor. Some of them had partially fused with the stone shelves. However, a few books had been spared in a more secluded section of the archives. Some were carefully wrapped in special cases. But when Anna opened a box and tried to handle one, it collapsed under her fingers. She regretted having damaged the old book and gently closed the case again. Maybe one day, an archaeologist or some new worshippers would be glad to decipher these ancient documents.
This experience confirmed something for Anna: she couldn't read. It was the disadvantage of writing for the blind. Even with her powers, she couldn't distinguish what remained fundamentally two-dimensional. The writing was indistinguishable from its surface. In some places, she could make out a few letters that had been pressed harder than others, but that was all.
As she continued her search, she eventually found a scroll unlike the others. In an alcove that must once have been hidden behind a frame stood a chest with a precious appearance. Moss had grown all over the wall, but not on the chest, stopping in a perfect circle around it.
Like the medallion, the container was drawing energy toward it. As she opened it, she had the impression of seeing a tangle of Aether wrapped around a scroll. The parchment inside was different from the rest. It wasn't bare: it bore glowing symbols. The pictograms undoubtedly belonged to an Asurian language.
'I'm really in another world,' Anna thought, smiling.
The woman curiously unrolled the parchment and found more symbols and diagrams she didn't understand. She decided to take it with her. She also found goblets and candles whose scent reminded her of Kalypso.
After looting the archives, she headed for the last room, which seemed to be an office. Her steps slowed, hesitant, because she already sensed that something strange awaited her there.
A large stone desk stood at the center, directly facing the doorway. A grand metal chair stood behind it, on which sat a skeleton.
The skeleton wore a large robe, likely enchanted as well. The closer Anna got, the more the explorer sensed that this person must have had a story of their own. She stepped forward respectfully, until she stood beside whoever she imagined had once been an important figure in the temple.
She thought back to the dead in the basin, and now to this man or woman seated at the desk. Observing the figure, she compared them to a captain who had stayed aboard a sinking ship. Or perhaps a king waiting for judgment.
The stranger examined the room and the dead with deep solemnity. At the figure's feet lay a satchel. After a moment of consideration, she spoke to the skeleton:
— Really sorry, Sir or Madam, she said. But I'm going to need this. I promise I'll take good care of it.
The young woman then took the satchel and the cloak, taking great care not to damage the deceased. After examining the contents of the bag, she packed all the other items she had gathered.
As she reached the door, she paused to commit the strange scene to memory, the skeleton, sitting in its eternal wait.
'I never thought a skeleton could look so sad,' she thought.
It was time to go. The Mist guided her toward the entrance, whose presence she could sense even without the Sight. A breeze carried the scent of humus and pine toward her.
Anna was finally about to discover Asura.