"B-But," Chloe started to protest, but I cut her off.

"No, Chloe," I said as I looked back at her with a serious expression on my face. "This is too dangerous for you. Just stay here and let me handle this."

I didn't wait for a response as I turned back to the door and gripped my gunblade tightly before taking a deep breath and pushing it open slowly. Maybe I could take Grace in here with me, and she might die, and then I wouldn't have to worry about her, but my fucking conscience wouldn't let me do that, Dark Goddess or not. I got us in this mess, so I would bring both the double-crossing goddesses home and then fucking kill Ace!

The room was large and round, but there was nothing in it but a dim light that was in the center of the fifty-foot wide room.

"There is nothing even in here," Chloe said, and I whirled around to see her walk into the room.

"What the hell are you doing?! Get back in there!" I hissed, but she just shook her head.

"No, if you are going to face whatever is down here, then I am too," Chloe said as she stepped closer to me with a look of resolve on her face. "Besides, I have my staff."

"You can't even use magic," Grace said as she stepped into the room behind Chloe before stopping and looking around cautiously, but then the door snapped shut, and the floor started to fall.

The three of us fell down a hidden chute as the room fell apart around us. We were falling for what felt like forever before we finally landed in a small room with a hard thud. I groaned as I pushed myself up, my gunblade still in my hand, just in case, but there was nothing here. The room we had landed in was just a ten-foot square room with stone walls and no door.

"What the hell just happened?" Chloe asked as she pushed herself up while Grace did the same thing beside her, holding her light staff defensively in front of her once again. "Where are we?"

"I don't know, but whatever is down here obviously doesn't want us dead yet," I said grimly as I looked around for any way out, but there wasn't one that I could see. We were trapped down here with whatever ancient evil awaited us. There was no telling what was going to happen now, but I needed to be careful. This place obviously held many secrets and dangers, and we needed to tread carefully.

A deep and mystical voice spoke up that seemed to come from all directions.

"Welcome to my domain," The voice said, and the three of us tensed up in alarm as we looked around for the source, but there was nothing. "I have been waiting for you."

"Who are you?" Chloe asked, and I could see the fear in her eyes now. This place was obviously very dangerous, and we were all in way over our heads.

"I am an ancient spirit that has been sealed away for many years," The voice said, and a figure started to materialize in front of us. It was a woman with long white hair and blue eyes. She wore a flowing white dress that blew softly in an invisible breeze. "I am glad that you have finally arrived."

I stared at the woman, but she was not the source of this evil. That still didn't change the fact that we were stuck under a mountain in a very small box.

"Who are you?" I asked, and the woman just chuckled softly.

"I am the spirit of this place," She said, and I could feel the magic radiating off of her. "This is my tomb."

"Your tomb?" Grace asked as she looked around cautiously while Chloe moved to stand behind me for protection. "What is this place?"

"This place is where I have been sealed away for many years," The woman said, and I could see the sadness in her eyes. "I was once a powerful sorceress, but I was betrayed by those I trusted the most and sealed away down here."

"Why?" Chloe asked, and the woman just chuckled softly.

"That does not matter now," She said as she looked at us all seriously. "What matters is that you are here now, and I can finally be free, but there is a great evil guarding my resting place. If you can release me to crossover-"

"Wait! I know who you are!" Chloe snapped, jumping out from behind me and stabbing a finger at the apparition. "You are the White Sorceress, the most powerful mage of your age. You were betrayed by your apprentice and lover, who you had taken in and raised as your own when he was just a boy."

"You are quite correct," The woman said, looking at Chloe with a raised eyebrow. "But how do you know this?"

"How long have you been here for, Silvy? Tarana is on the verge of getting kicked out, from what I hear. How did you end up in a place like this?" Chloe asked, and the apparition froze; even her dress stopped moving.

"Who are you?" Silvy asked as she stared at Chloe, and she grinned back.

"It is me! Chloe, Goddess of Gambling!" Chloe said dramatically, but Silvy frowned at her.

"Really? That is you, you old hag?" Silvy asked, and Chloe tried to slap her but was sent spinning as her hand passed through the apparition.

"Shut up! You stupid ghost! You are obviously in some kind of shit to get your ass locked up in the bottom of a mountain in this desert shithole of a world! What was it? Or do you want me to start guessing?" Chloe snapped as she picked herself off the ground, but I had heard enough at this point.

"How am I getting out of here?" I asked, and everyone looked at me.

"Who is the hottie? And why is Grimora with you?" Silvy asked, seeming much more casual and relaxed than from her introduction.

"Who?" I asked.

"This is Halberd, and he is a Chaos Trigger. We just lost our target, and now we are stuck down here, so if you can cut with your soliloquy, we have someone to kill," Chloe said, but the word Chaos Trigger made Silvy flinch.