"Yes, it IS certainly concerning." Samuel agreed.

"Can you make anything of it?" he asked her.

"And regardless as to whether you can or not, do you think we should continue?" he asked further.

But then he shone the light further down the corridor... and the light seemed to refract off something.

"Madison!" he exclaimed in a whisper.

"Something IS down there." he told her.

"And whatever it is, refracts light." he added.

Samuel and Madison continued to walk, until the light made it clear what it was.

It seemed to be a gem... a ruby. And it looked as fine and clear as anything Madison had ever seen.

"By Jove..." Samuel mumbled.

"Such a gem is most certainly of the finest quality." he commented.

"But what is it doing out in the middle of this..." he then wondered, before seeing a door near it that was slightly ajar.

"Madison, do you think that that might be some kind of treasure room?" he asked Madison.

"....hm?" he mumbled.

"What was...?" he started to ask, before there was another 'click'.

"Madison, perhaps you shouldn't-" he started to say, before the floor started to shake and rumble.

"Madison!" he called to her.

"Get back here!" he said, as the tiles started to shake and rattle.

"...I think the floor is going to give way!"

"MADISON!" Samuel called down to her.

"MADI-" he yelled again, but to Madison, his words were muddied and echoed... as though she were in deep water, even though she was falling.

However, she wasn't falling for much longer, before she landed on a hard surface... and not very gracefully, either.

She felt a shooting pain through her leg, but before she had a chance to focus on it, she saw a rune start to glow on a wall in the darkness. And another beside it. And another. And another, one after another, until she found herself in a room with no doors.

Like a pit... a pitch-black pit, barely illuminated by the strange and ominous runes.

Just as she finished the last thought, she felt the lock inside her.

It hurt. A lot.

It felt like something was tugging at it, trying to break it open... and then she felt like her mana was literally trying to burst out of her... trying to forcibly break the lock from the inside.

And then it happened.

She felt her mana start to immediately leave her... quickly.

It felt just like the time she'd been kidnapped for her mana to be syphoned off, but she could tell that her mana wasn't strong enough to fight THIS off. It was leaving her. Rapidly.

A few seconds later... she felt fine.

Absolutely fine. Relieved, actually.

And the runes were glowing more brightly than ever... illuminating the entire room more than adequately now.

However, she also knew what had happened... and she saw her body on the floor.

"...hello, again." a voice greeted her.

"Though I wish it could have been under better circumstances." they added with a heavy sigh.

Gregory just sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry as well." he told her.

"But... yes." he said.

"If you wish to just go... we'll go." he told her, raising his scythe.

"I'll make it quick, so it'll be instant." he then assured her.

With that, Madison closed her eyes tightly, and could almost feel the blade cutting through the air... seconds before she heard a loud 'clanging' sound.

She opened her eyes to reveal that she was still there... there was something that looked like a yellow and blue shepherd's crook coming from out of nowhere blocking Gregory's blade...

...and Gregory looked VERY nervous, suddenly.

The one that was there was... oddly shadowed, despite the glowing of the runes. It was as though their presence was draining the area of light... or the runes of their power, at least.

But she saw two glowing eyes in the darkness as well.

The figure seemed to ignore Madison at first, before moving Gregory's scythe back towards him.

"....leave." they said in a commanding tone. "I will deal with this matter personally." they went on.

"Y-y-yes. R-right away." Gregory stammered.

"Bye, Madison." he said to Madison, before disappearing.

And then the one that remained sighed, before the darkness started to disappear, revealing the body of a toned, tanned man in what looked like traditional Ancient Egyptian garb... but with a black head of a jackal.

"...most people think that." he told her, addressing her first statement.

"And something has happened that shouldn't have happened." he then added.

"....." he was silent, before sighing.

"Firstly, I appreciate being called Inpu." he told her. "Been a while since THAT'S happened." he admitted, his tone FAR more casual now... almost jarringly so.

"Secondly, did you not hear me before?" he asked.

"Something has happened here that shouldn't have happened." he told her.

"What happened here? You died." he went on.

"I'm here to correct this little error of fate." he added.

"That is what I said." he responded.

"You died here." he told her.

"You were not the one meant to die here." he went on.

"The one you were with was meant to." he continued.

"People die. Sometimes unexpectedly. This is fate, this is life, this is death, it happens." he went on.

"But when someone dies in place of another... especially when it is unforeseen... that becomes a problem." he told her further.

"So I am here to correct that."