Chapter 1: The Shadow in the Dorm

Ibuki stares boggle eyed at skeletons in cells completely losing her usual composure "Huhhh? What the fuck were they doing down here and why did they build a dormitory above it!?"

Ibuki promptly realises what she just said and turns red embarrassed by her outburst "... apologies for the usage of vulgarity I...... im just going to go crawl in a hole now" Ibuki will then crouch in a corner of the room and evaluate all the choices in her life that brought her here

"What was the duck doing down there indeed?" Hibana asks, expression a little too innocent. "If there is a hole one needs to crawl into, I can help!"

The corner Ibuki is crouching in somehow seems less gloomy thanks to hibana

"I doubt they knew about this when they constructed the dormitory. I'd wager these underground chambers are much, much older than Yokai Academy."

She feels a sense of sadness when she looks at the skeletons. Of course, she doesn't know what crimes these prisoners committed, if any, but she believed no one deserved to be left to rot like this. Nevertheless, she turns her focus to the remnants of the large golem. "Why did this place exist, though? Who would want to unseal it after so long?"

She looks to Lin Jing. "Could you unlock these cells for me? I want to get a closer look at the skeletons. You can tell a lot from them if you know what to look for. Gender, age, ancestry, and such."

"These skeletons... Was this place used as a prison before?" Upon entering the room, Luna felt a sense of unease, as well as sadness. The underground level of the dorms was clearly used as a prison in the past. The people in the cells seemed to have met their end while imprisoned. Imprisoned for what, Luna didn't know, but she said a quick prayer for them under her breath. She felt a bit sad that they never got a proper burial.

"I hope that golem doesn't activate either..." Luna also eyed the large golem in the room a bit nervously, still a bit wary from their recent battle.

"Uh, unlock? That would be tricky. But the bones can fit through the bars now that they have no meat on them, so I can bring them to you," she reaches with her hand towards the cells, telekinetically picks up the bones of a hand, pulls them closer, and waves them in front of Hanami for examination.

The dragon girl isn't bothered by Hanami hanging onto her. Externally, at least. Internally, she is calculating how much laboratory space Doctor Magic Princess will need to be happy with her chambers in the castle.

"This is a dungeon," she states the obvious, having surveyed the room. "Guarded by golems. There are probably treasures as well as mysteries and danger hidden down here."

Standing in front of the cell adjacent to Hanami and Lin, she really doesn't want to get her hands dirty, so she heats the air just above her palm with supernatural fire, hot enough to vaporize the rust on the bars. She then grabs and yanks those bars free with a casual display of superhuman might, the metal softened from the heat and her own strength surely prodigious enough to pull them out of the stone even without that.

She opens every other cell on the way to Ibuki's corner this way, leaving the remaining cells for Lin to work on.

Upon finally reaching Ibuki and Hibana, she crouches down, getting closer to the former's eye level, and attempts to reassure Ibuki: "You're allowed to curse. Saying something crude now and then, especially when you're surprised like this, is totally appropriate."

She puts her hand on Ibuki's shoulder, just offering presence and morale support rather than a demand that Ibuki get it together.

Ibuki will sigh and stand up straight "thank you for the kind words but it is less the usage of such words and more that I let my emptions be affected by the circumstances... again. It shows that my practice and discipline is still lacking, I Ibuki am still far too green..."

"And still far too similar I'm nature to the demons whom I share cursed blood" Ibuki keeps that last thought to herself as she rejoins the group

Hibana illuminates the walls with her natural glow. The last note disturbs her.

"Experiments…?"

And though she had been taking her situation in stride (no doubt, thanks to the giant girls being so polite and welcoming), she finally asks the obvious question. "Who summoned me… and why?" and her concern isn’t limited to herself: "And what about that container? I mean, I’m fire. And a candle brought me here. What if there’s a…" She contemplates the shards. "A water-person? A plant-person? I dunno, but.. innocent? Summoned against her will? Was someone gonna experiment on me, and is there another who we can save from… from…??"

Hibana points to the yokai skeletons. She is obviously bewildered. Her fiery hair flickers with uncertainty and urgency!

"Thanks." As she receives the bones through the bars, she arranges them properly on the floor. For the cells that Sumeryu casually rips open, Hanami produces some gloves from her bag and carefully moves the skeletons in those on her own. While doing so, she catches the writing that Hibana helpfully illuminated. So this was a bunker where people were being... experimented on. Damn it, that's awful.

"No one's going to experiment on you. I doubt anyone's still alive down here, but if we do come across someone, we'll save them." She smiles at Hibana, feeling it safe to do so since no one else is looking.

Once Hanami is done setting the bones outside the cells, she has many skeletons laid out for examination, which she conducts with a careful eye and steely focus despite how she feels. These people have been gone for a long time.

"These skeletons are at least a hundred years old, possibly up to five hundred... Some of them were obviously yokai." She holds up a skull with horns. "Perhaps most of them were, but I can't be completely sure. There are plenty of yokai that don't have notably different skeletal structures from humans. Witches are one such type."

She gently sets the skull back down with a certain respect. "If we're moving on, we need to be careful about the chamber to the southeast. Some writing on the wall said there's a trap there. 'Don't err the enigma,' it said. I'm not quite sure what that means, but I suppose it's worth keeping in mind."

"What an ominous warning... We should probably save that chamber for last." Luna didn't think playing it safe was that bad. There were still two other chambers the group could explore after all, hopefully without traps. "Or maybe we should split up and search them all...?"

Sumeryu has played this game and read this manga before, or so she thinks. There is an equal chance she is wrong.

"If the people who summoned you are also responsible for the experiments, then they've been down here a really long time and they have no moral qualms. Maybe not even any sanity."

"I don't think it's a good idea to split up, but if we do, we should make sure the groups are chosen appropriately based on abilities. If we do, I believe that Ibuki, Jing-san, and Luna should be one group, and Dr. Matsuyama, Hibana-chan, and myself the other group. I would, however, advise that we stay together and explore the leftmost path first."

She points to the north.

"If we always turn left -or right- then it will be easier to find our way out if we get lost."

Lín Jìng seemed a bit puzzled. "By abilities? Could you elaborate your plan, Sumeryu-kun?"

"You have shown yourself to be a good scout and ranged support. Luna is observant and can make protective barriers, and Ibuki is a strong and resilient fighter. I am a strong fighter and resistant to heat, Dr. Matsuyama is versatile ranged support and can make protective barriers, and Hibana is made of fire and good melee support. So, the two teams would then have the most versatile spread of abilities for dealing with whatever situations may arise."

She seems both sure and proud of her assessment. She didn't assign people based on RPG party roles. That was someone else.

Lín Jìng nods confidently. And then is immediately uncertain behind that façade, because now someone has to lead each group.

Ibuki would prefer to not split up in a place such as this, from her research into yokai while she was on the outside (i.e reading monster stories and watching horror movies) splitting up tends to be a bad idea

Hanami takes off her gloves and puts them in her blazer's pocket. "I'd much rather stick together. Yes, the teams Sumeryu proposed are fairly balanced in their capabilities, but if we split up and someone on the other team gets badly hurt, I might not be able to reach them before it's too late. I don't want to let anyone out of my sight when there's so many unknowns. D-Don't get me wrong though, it just makes sense to keep the group together."