The barren halls in this corner of the palace were a stark contrast to the discoveries in the more used rooms such as the library and grand entry. It was as if someone had either wanted to hide something in a place people would ignore or the interior decorator had simply got bored and gave up. Phact had returned to the moon a month after discovering this hallway and made a point to spend most her time exploring it; after she checked on her plants and restocked her jars of course.

“Guess someone has a sense of humor.” The senshi sighed as she found the end of the third side hall she had taken. The first two were like this one: a dead end. No windows. No Doors. Just straight, barren stone walls and came to a flat end. “Or used this as a prison.”

Turning around to head back in the way she had come yet again, Phact was beginning to alter her questions for this place. Instead of what importance did it have, she was wondering if it was even worth her time! Sure some places get ignored over time but this? This was a bit much.

Crossing the main corridor, Phact slipped down the fourth hallway. This was even had a bend in it! But, after walking the length at a steady pace, she once again came face to face with a barren stone wall. “Oh come on!” Phact groaned to no one as she rolled her body around and huffed back to the main hall. In the grand scheme of things, was this area really important? Most likely not. So why did she keep going?

She kept going because Sailor Phact was stubborn.

So stubborn in fact that she refused to believe that there was absolutely nothing in this wing. No one would waste their time painstakingly building such a thing and not have a purpose for it. She couldn’t accept that! It was that lack of answers and frustration that was beginning to take a toll on Phact.

The fifth and sixth hall, Phact didn’t even bother with. She could see down them and as soon as she saw the blank wall on the end, she kept moving to the next. Seven, eight and even nine proved to be just as boring. All that was left then was the end of the corridor. And end that was growing closer and closer. It was almost building anticipation for what was at the end. Nine empty halls. SOMETHING had to be there.

Oh something was there: a bare, white stone wall.

“You have got to be ******** kidding me.” Phact snapped as her fist bannged into the wall. “What the hell kind of joke is this? Empty halls and an stupid dead end? Dammit Queen Serenity. Just what the heck are you hiding?”

Be it the Castle itself, Queen Serenity’s spirit, or just the irony of the world, Phact got her answer. Leaning back against the wall she had just hit, Phact realized two seconds too late that she wasn’t leaning. She was falling. The wall was gone.

Arms and legs flailing as trying to find anything to stop her decent to the ground, Phact realized that the dead end she had hit was no longer there. Instead she dropped smack onto her a** and into something else that sent dust flying up and into her eyes.

It was all she could do to try and clear her eyes while she coughed. The air was thick and heavy. It felt as if she was in an area that hadn’t been used or seen daylight in ages. The latter was quickly confirmed as she brushed her eyes once more only to realize that she could no longer see the way out. Somewhere between her ungraceful landing and trying to see more than stairs, whatever had opened for her had shut again leaving the woman in a nearly pitch back...hole?

No, it was more than a hole in the wall. Far more.

Turning her body to see where she was gave Phact more than she ever expected. In the darkness, broken only by light that was coming from cracked stones across the floor from her, lay bottles, jars, urns, books, and was that a cauldron? Yes...yes it was!

“Ho...ly….s**t.” Phact whispered while scanning the room. Clearly it was sealed and hidden away. For some reason, whoever used this in the past did not want to be found. Rolling onto her hands and knees to stand up, ignoring the wince that came from her tail bone, the senshi of doves tried to process what she was seeing. This...this room looked like a “Lab?” the word escaped her throat while her hand reached out to touch one of the jars. Inside was something that had long since...died. The black substance left might have had more to it but without more light she couldn’t make out much. “Interesting.”

Putting the jar down to free her hand, Phact moved slowly through the room. It was clearly filled with items but most had turned to dust or broken based on the sound of breaking glass under her feet. The cauldron over what had to once have been a hearth though really made her wonder if witches lived on the moon.

“Oh that would have been ironic. A moon queen and a witch. How they really got their powers.” The nervous chuckle was less comforting that she had hoped. Thankfully there didn’t appear to be anything in the cauldron so the images of body parts could just stay in her mind and disappear.

Deciding it was better to not touch that just for safety reasons and her health in general, Phact stepped back slowly but felt her butt hit something else. “Ow.” She winced hitting the bruise that was forming. A quick look over her shoulder told her what she had hit was a stand. A second look with the beam of light landing on it showed that there was a book laying open on said stand. A book that had drawings of “Oh my God.”

One quick spin on her heel and a forced delicate reach out to grab it revealed just what it was. The two pages she could see were covered in notes, drawings, symbols. Most of the notes were written in the language of the moon but the symbols that she could see in the light beam. The drawing itself on the center of the page. “It can’t be.” Turning the page said it was.

Phact was holding a detailed book of moon plants.

The realization washed over her like a wave. She felt weak in the knees and was completely ignoring everything else as she searched for a stronger source of light. Spent candles were her only answer. For once she wished she had Sabine’s bag of things. There was bound to be a flashlight in there.

Or six.

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