Hidden deep beneath the Temple of the Sun, in cavernous expanses of what was once a tremendous magma chamber, is the other half of the temple's power. Large amounts of water flow through this place, above which is suspended a copy of the Light temple above, cast in serenely glimmering mother of pearl tones.

---

Rocks. Some large. Also, a twisting, writhing snake with a waist twice as big around as hers, which has released her in its panic. Anna's partners in plummeting do not have her best interests in mind. Directly beneath them is large, slowly flowing expanse of water. From this height, its embrace is going to be far less pleasant than the serpent's.

Anna can't get her senses together. A rock strikes her, another, but the snake has let her loose. She grinds her teeth against the pain of the spire wound and pours her strength into the surface of the water below, trying to cushion her fall with rising air and spray. Her rattan sticks tumble down below, towards the water.

A waterspout obediently obeys her beckoning, shooting up to catch the distressed caster. The snake hit the water with a loud slap, and lies still.

Anna lies on the spout, just trying to get her breath back. This has gone so wrong, so wrong.

She sits up, and sets to patching her wound with the spell her mom taught her. Meanwhile, Anna gazes into the silhouette.

"What are you?" she asks, of course not expecting an answer as she examines it.

There is none, of course. However, there do seem to be figures milling on the edge of it...one watching her, then another. Someone plummeting through the ceiling with a giant snake in tow is pretty interesting.

Finished with her leg, Anna breathes out. She slowly begins pushing herself that way on the spout, letting the water back down so that she can just ride the air.

"I see peoples! Or something. Hellooo?"

The figures are both dressed in plain, blackish purple robes. Look to one another. Look back to the odd flying big-eared thing. One waves a bit. "Er...hello."

"Well, at least she isn't skeletal," the other observes.

The first makes some quieter remark. And gets his foot stepped on.

Anna rights herself, so she looks like a proper lady. She examines her new friends, or foes, with a careful, alert eye. "Okay... are you good guys or does Anna need to smack?"

"Well...in fairness, it's likely a subjective question. I don't think we're bad, though."

"Damn skippy. I mean...er...indeed not." He gets swatted in teh back of the head, and smirks a bit at the other monk. Looks to Anna. "You look rather beaten down, though. We can offer you a place to clean up and perhaps eat and rest, and then maybe you can tell us how you happened to come crashing through the ceiling?"

Anna tilts her head over, and the other way, Mara-ish. "I am. But... okay. I don't have time my brother is up there with that skelechick and Anna reserves the right to smack if you are scary!"

"Ahh..." one of the fellows cringes, pretty sure her brother's already gone. A look passes between them, a nod,and they look back to Anna. "We're not scary. Come on, Miss...we should head inside. You should understand what's happened up there." The monks are undeniably sympathetic as they turn and head back towards their own, unassaulted version of the temple.

Anna cringes, too. She felt that, just a little. "Stupid Anna," she mutters just below her breath. "I'm coming. Is this... a whole city, down here...?"

"Oh, no, just the temple." He nods a bit. "This is the other half of the temple above. It takes both of them to function...though, of course, the upper one has been taken down."

The other folds his hands behind his neck. "Our seer, Devan, knows more of what's been going on up there than anyone. We haven't been able to do much, but...he can explain why in a minute. I'm sure he'll be more than interested in speaking with you. It's amazing that you're alive, if you met the lich herself."

"Stupid Anna should be where Huo is," she answers. "But I'm here. So I wanna know how to bop that bitch on the head." Anna follows the monkishes, just so distracted right now that she can't think. She barely notices her feet on the floor, and then realizes she's still floating. Drops, and sighs. "Is Devan like Beran?"

One of them looks around quickly, surprised, as he heads through the open doors of the courtyard. There are no snakes in this one. "Why, yes. They're identical twins. You spoke to him?"

Anna looks for them anyway. She checks the corners, and the passages until she's satisfied, and then returns to the group. "Yus. He was bony. But talked to me and helped me. He said he was a seer too!"

The other fellow nods. "Yeah...for two seers to be siblings, they're usually twins." Having parents the like of Felina and Mara seems to negate this rule. "It's a relief to hear that he's all right...still intact, and still with free will. Damnit...I wish there were something we could do for them. Just...God damn it!"

A pause. A cocked eyebrow from the other.

He sighs. hand to the forehead. "Excuse me, time to go pray forgiveness. Stay safe, Miss...enough people have been hurt by this already. It's cold, but your brother's probably already gone, living things can't stand up to such a monster. Don't throw yourself away too." He turns and walks off in another direction, shaking his head.

The other fellow's cringe. "Um..." No. No, "sorry for him" doesn't cut it. "Devan's this way." Holds the door for her.

Anna covers her mouth with both hands. Just nods. Nods. Shakes her head. "No! No and No and No! I want my Huo. I'm gonna bop that bitsh on the face!"

"You should find out what you're dealing with to bop properly," the monk observes. Sets a hand gently on her shoulder without thinking. Goddamn indeed.

Anna doesn't pull back. Wants to, though.

She follows.

"How far is it to Devan?" she meekly asks, ears down.

"He's down in the shrine. He's down there usually, these days, trying to find a way to fix things." The fellow takes the hint, and quiets.

The walk doward this time isn't punctuated by any nastiness...in fact, the shrine is quite pretty, with no tricks and traps, and the decoration is equally subtle and pleasing. Many water features run through this one, unlike the other.

The monk looks down to the dais when they reach this shrine's copy of that same landing she'd first seen Huo from. He gestures down to the cylindrical platform, this time etched in silver rather than gold, on which there's a man kneeling before a beautifully carved, enormous statue of a woman. "That's who you're seeking, Mis. Perhaps he can help," the monk notes, more hushed.

Anna nods to him. She gathers herself, and smiles her patented Anna smile.

"thank you! I'm sure good things will happen to you. Luff." She then looks down to the dais, eyes soft and tired again. "Helloooo Devan! Let's chat, you and Anna!"

The seer raises a "just a moment" finger. Finishes whatever his prayers are, touches his forehead to the ground, and then stands up in an "I'm getting too old for this" sort of way, although he can't be much more than forty-five. "I had to ask her to grant me better endowment! And I do mean that exactly as it sounds, yes. Wait there, youngling, I'll come to you, I'm headed up anyway.

A minute or so later, he's at the landing with her. "Hello, then. You must be Anna."

"I must, or else I'm confused on things." Anna watches him, scrutinizing him quite carefully. She keeps her distance, knees slightly bent for running if it's necessary. "Nice to meet you? Gots no time, though."

"Quite right. Your brother, yes? I should begin by explaining the dynamics of how the temples function. It's more relevant than it sounds, I promise! Walk with me?" Of course, he doesn't leave much choice despite the question mark, hading back up the stairs.

Anna follows him. She's quite used to these 'walk while I lecture you' sessions from Dewei and her father, and occasionally Huo.

"I have time, I guess," she mewls. "It's a pretty place, anyway."

"It is!" Devan smiles as they ascend the stairs bit by bit. "The light temple above used to be the same way. Did you notice, Miss Anna, that the temple above seemed oddly...quiet?"

"I couldn't hear things echo. I was confused." Anna walks next to him, demure, head down. She doesn't have time for cryptic lessons, but... Huo is gone. She has time. She just wishes she didn't. "Why is that...?"

"Well..." this as they finally reach the upper hallways again. "Our two temples work together, and always have. They are halves of whole. They are, or rather, the Sun Temple is, known primarily for their chanting music, which is amplified and projected by the crater above for many miles around. But it's more than entertainment. That music is the source of the temples' impressive power and widely known defensive capability."

Devan settles his black and purple, silver-embroidered robes with a hand as they walk. "Seers get cool clothes. Anyway, the temple is virtually impervious to attack with the music active. However, that...thing, that woman, found a way to silence the temple...and so cripple its defenses. The monks were counting on the defense and were caught unprepared, easily overcome."

He looks to Anna. "There is a way. If you were to disengage a series of crystals beneath the shrine, her muting spells will be disabled. We would be able to do the rest."

Anna tilts her kitty-mutt head. "Why me? Why not you guys? I don't wanna sound standoffish, but deals like this usually involve smacks for Anna."

He shakes his head little. "You have every right to be wary. It's dangerous. In fairness, it would be in your better interests to stay away. We have tried to help our brothers." His brother. "Those who attempted it are amongst the skeletons defending it, now. I mention it to you because your brother is still alive and, selfishly, because mine is, in a way. You have an unusual sort of power none of us can match without the active temple to back us, perhaps you could succeed where we've failed. But it's your choice."

"Huo's alive?" Anna brightens up in a flash, gazing at him as though she could pounce him into a puddle. "How'dja know that?"

Devan grins a bit. Winks, pointing to the other eye. "Seer. I find time before my goddess for other things thn just asking for better endowments."

"See, that's why you rock." Anna beams at him. "Okay. I will smack whatever's in the way! Um... how do I disengage a crystal?"

"Anna smash." He nods.

"Is that s'posed to get me hot? 'cause it does." The kitty-mutt just beams. "Okay! Which way do I go? Um... thataway!" She points towards the dais.

Devan looks, and nods. "Yes. There is stairway behind the statue. It leads downward. That room can take you straight to the corresponding room in the Sun Temple. Once there, you need to follow the tunnels...right, and then up. The crystals are near the top of the temple.

"Okee! I'll just mosey that way and bop some zombie bitshes. Ta, cutie!" Anna beams at him one more time, strikes a hand-on-hip-wink Mara pose, and scrambles towards the stairwell. Huo's alive! Or that guy's lying. Either way, Anna smash.

The musician takes the stairs as fast as she can without tripping, dashing past the dais and down, and down into the stone and wavering light.

Sure enough, a few moments after, she shimmers back off to the Temple of the Sun.

Devan closes his eyes. He hopes she'll succeed. For her sake. And for Beran's.