IC Date: 08/13/2025

The mechanical clanking of the opening bronze door gave way to a strangely musical sound that echoed through the grotto. Scanning the chamber before she entered, Sailor Tempesti could identify no obvious source. A gentle but insistent breeze fluttered through her fuku as her boots made contact with the stone path that led to the tower’s bridge. Casting her gaze about she noticed a series of carefully carved holes she’d overlooked in her eagerness during previous visits. Each seemed meticulously placed to catch currents of air and make the chamber sing with countless echoes.

How long had it been since someone heard this ancient melody?

She wondered if the carvings had always been there or if they were part of Sotiria’s additions to the Primordial and its home. The thought of sharing a love for music with the long dead tyrant unsettled her stomach slightly and she pushed it aside.

The tower’s guardians continued in their duty, the tall humanoid sentries in their silent vigil beside the door of each shrine, the mechanical teruda patrolling the ramp, ready to give any unwanted visitor the same treatment she’d received, and the odd little bees hard at work flying about as they gave each door their specialized attention.

A bit of a smile crossed Tempesti’s face as she passed them unharmed. If experience was any guide she knew that their comrades further up would be unhappy at her intrusion, but that they had the capacity to reset themselves had provided her with more than a small amount of relief. At least she wouldn’t have to fight her way up to whatever traps and guardians waited above.

Passing the shrines of Primordial Earth, Water, and Air, the senshi began to carefully examine the ground and walls as she ascended. The only shrine left before the Wellspring would theoretically be the one dedicated to fire and if previous traps were any indication, getting caught in one here would be a particularly painful experience.

The presence of a tripwire seemed entirely too obvious, incongruous with the well-hidden mechanisms that had characterized the rest of the traps she’d encountered here. Despite her suspicions she stepped carefully over the trigger, only to hear a soft click as her boot met the ground. Panicking, she rushed forward, attempting to outrun the waves of flame that jetted from slits between the stones. The aroma of singed hair and fabric followed her, quickly joined by the smell of blistering skin as she frantically beat the fire out with her bare hands.

“Harrowing Storm!”

She couldn’t quite see the guardians she heard clanking toward her and made a desperate gamble in the hopes of weakening them before they could take advantage of her injured state. A metal club made contact with her stomach, forcing her to double over as her attacker teetered in the wind. Fighting through the pain, she charged forward, her shoulder connecting with the thing’s abdomen and sending it over the edge. Mercifully, it seemed that her attack had been enough to incapacitate the others. While they weren’t entirely disabled, their violent efforts hampered by a visible weakness as they took feeble swings at her with their weaponized limbs. The bees would be by soon enough to get them back on their feet, but for now she had the shrine to herself as the door yielded and opened at her touch.

A claustrophobic wave of heat slammed into Tempesti like a wall of force as she entered the Shrine of Primordial Fire. Jagged obsidian henges ringed a soot covered black altar carved into the form of tongue of flame. Nestled within the stone flames, the senshi saw a large crystal caked with ash. Calling her cleaning supplies from her subspace she began to relieve the shrine of years of neglect, drawing out the brilliant sheen of its black edges with a satisfied smile.

“Harrowing Storm!”

With electric speed the shrine’s crystal erupted with light, momentarily blinding Tempesti as it illuminated the stones around it. She took a deep breath, waiting for the trap that would inevitably make itself known now that she’d touched the shrine. It offered no delays as the ground began to rumble beneath her before a large segment dropped into what appeared to be a pool of molten…something below.

“s**t!”

Uncharacteristic profanity escaped her as the other sections followed suit, creating horrifying gaps in the path as the temperature of the room grew unbearable. Panic rising, she tried to pick out a safe route back to the safety of the door and leapt toward a stone near the center of the room. To her horror, she felt it begin to shift under her feet.

Storm-Swift Flight!

She couldn’t say from where she pulled this name, neither could she place the instinct that drove her, but as the harpies appeared she felt herself buoyed by a current of air. Riding the wind, she managed to carry herself to the indescribable relief of solid ground.