The Hunt Begins (Dark Data)

[Celestia]

It was done. The judge was bested, and the fight was over. In the ensuing quiet, as the dust settled, Celestia took a moment to collect her thoughts.

Now that she had a moment to examine, however, she realized that perhaps the battle wasn't as over as she first thought. Celestia couldn't be sure how much her allies could sense, and it was a question that would be best saved for a later time regardless, she could tell that the judge's defeat had changed little. Though she was no expert in these in particular, the ambient, swirling energies which permeated this plane continued on as they always had, as far as we could tell. In the aftermath of the fight there was a moment of stillness in the library, but it was limited to that.

They'd defeated the only obvious enemy, however, which left Celestia at least feeling a little uncertain. If the judge had not been the source, what was? She couldn't tell. Having learned of the the threat of Nebula only recently, she had no idea how it was organized, or what its weaknesses might be. Fortunately, their latest battle happened to to place in a room full of knowledge, that was largely intact. Strictly speaking, it might not contain the information they need, which might be inherently understood by their foe and thus have no need to be recorded, but it was a place to start.

Celestia didn't find what she was looking for per se, but she did uncover something important all the same. One of the books, rather than coming out of the shelf as it properly, remained attached while sliding forward with a loud click. Moments later, the bookshelf itself slid open, revealing a dark, winding staircase beyond. As if to answer the unspoken question, the liberator aides flashed a message describing their task.

It didn't take long for the group to agree what their next course of action would be. “We don't need to spend any more time here, then,” Celestia said. She conjured a small, floating ball of warm light, and walked toward the entrance to the tunnel. The tunnel turned out to be just wide enough for two people walking side by side, which proved fortunate when Yu Kanda pushed ahead of her. It meant that the light her magic produced could still illuminate the area in front of him, allowing the group to see forward.

It took some time to make it through the winding, meandering staircase, the group remaining tensely silent for most of the journey. None of them were sure what to expect from the tunnel, and thus were anxiously observing for any sort of trap or ambush.

Eventually, they reached what seemed to be the bottom. The staircase leveled off, and the tunnel widened out into a larger room, which was still unlit as of yet. Celestia sent her conjured light outwards, to get a better look at the room they now found themselves in.

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