We moved down the dawn stairwell for over a hundred and fifty steps before I stopped counting. It was a bit frustrating going down since I hoped that going this way might get us to the surface, but that didn't seem to be the case.

I had a lot going through my mind at the moment, but the main thing was Ace.

This really fucked up my plans, but I was almost positive that that little bitch would be going back to the city to go and hide in his room, crying himself to sleep. I had to hope that the little bastard didn't off himself, or Grace would get the win. There was also the chance of something bad happening to him on the way home.

"Stop sticking that stupid light rod in my face, you little gremlin!" Grace snapped, and Chloe giggled.

"I am sorry, your fat cow head is getting too close to me, it seems," Chloe said nonchalantly from behind me, and I just groaned. 

Then there were these two. One a so-called good goddess, the other a dark one. Both wanted to use me for different reasons, and they both hated each other. 

And I was stuck in this old dusty stairway that seemed to go on forever with them!

"Quit bickering, or I am going to push you both back up these stairs and leave you there," I said as I continued my descent deeper into the darkness. "And Grace, we can't use torches, so Chloe is doing us a favor."

"Well, sorry, your highness," Grace said with a heavy dose of sarcasm while Chloe just giggled in amusement.

" tsk, you can be so mean sometimes," Chloe said.

We continued down the stairs in silence for what felt like forever until we reached a small landing that had another door. This one looked even more ancient than the last and was made of wood with metal accents around it. I placed my hand on the door and pushed it open cautiously as Grace held up her staff defensively in front of her that she had pulled out. There wasn't anything waiting for us on the other side, though, just a long hall that ended with another door about fifty feet away from where we stood now.

"Well, this place just keeps getting better and better," Chloe muttered as she followed behind me while Grace brought up the rear once again. The three of us moved down the long hallway slowly, looking around carefully for any traps or creatures that might be lurking in wait for us behind one of these doors. Luckily there wasn't anything lurking around to jump out at us, but I could feel something watching us from somewhere deeper in this place. Something ancient and evil was waiting down here for us, but I didn't know what it was yet. I just needed to be careful and not let my guard down if we wanted to make it out alive.

"Stop," Grace said softly as we reached the door at the end of the hallway. "This door is different. I can feel magic radiating from it."

"Can you tell what kind?" I asked cautiously as I looked at the door. There were strange symbols carved into it that looked ancient and arcane.

"No, but it is very powerful," Grace said as she stepped forward and placed her hand on the door gently before closing her eyes in concentration. A few seconds later, she took a step back with a look of alarm on her face which made my heart rate spike in alarm. "We need to leave now!"

We all turned, but the stairs were gone. The stairway we had come down had disappeared, and there was just a solid wall in its place. We were trapped down here now with whatever was behind this door, and I didn't like those odds one bit.

"What did you do?" Chloe asked as she looked at Grace in shock while I moved to stand in front of them both defensively. "How could you be so stupid?"

"I-I'm sorry," Grace said as she shook her head, looking just as shocked as Chloe. "I don't know what happened."

"Whatever is behind this door is obviously very powerful," I said as I looked at the door cautiously, not liking where this was going one bit. "We need to be careful. What is on the other side of the door that makes you want to run?"

"I-I don't know," Grace said as she shook her head, and I could see the fear in her eyes now. "But I can feel something. Something ancient and evil."

"Can you tell what it is?" Chloe asked as she moved closer to Grace for protection while I kept my gunblade at the ready, just in case.

"No, but it feels like death," Grace said softly, and my heart rate spiked even higher now. This was obviously something very powerful and very dangerous down here, but we were trapped with no way out. It was time to face whatever was on the other side of that door head-on because there was no other choice now.

We all stood there for a few minutes, not knowing what to do or say, as we looked at the door that had sealed us in this place with whatever ancient evil waited on the other side of it. I could feel my heart racing in my chest as fear started to creep into my mind, but I quickly pushed it away coldly. Now wasn't the time to be afraid; now was the time to be brave and face whatever challenges lay before us head-on like I had done so before.

"We aren't getting out of here without a fight, but Chloe had no experience, and I have never worked with you in combat besides our last fight. I need you both to stay here," I said as I looked at them both seriously before moving to stand in front of the door, my gunblade at the ready. "No matter what happens, you stay here, got it?"