The Last Coffee Shop

Chapter 26: Folie à Deux

CW/TW: This chapter contains some fairly graphic horror-style violence. Nothing worse than you'd see in a PG13 movie, but consider yourself warned💀

Resolutions were well and good, but Mads was relieved when they finally opened the door. She'd wound the ropes back around her wrists, though she could free herself in moments. But she hated sitting alone in the dark with just the stinging pain from her hand to keep her alert.

Two more women had come to retrieve her. She recognized neither of them, but all of these women were starting to look the same anyhow. They didn't speak to her; they just grabbed her arm and shoved her ahead of them.

The corridor seemed incredibly bright after the dark room, and Mads found herself blinking away tears as her eyes tried to adjust. Her robe's hem was covered in red dirt, and there were bloody handprints on her side. Apparently, this wasn't a problem, as the women herded her into a cavernous room without even taking her somewhere to wash the dried blood off of her hands.

The first thing that hit her was the extreme heat. Mads winced, squinting against the warmth and the blazing lights. The floor around them was cut from living rock, not a floor at all, and great chasms lined the sides of the narrow path that her captor-guides were pulling her down.

Mads could see the red of magma, far below them, which explained the heat. Some sort of melty tar or pitch oozed over and alongside the path as well, dripping into the cracks. The walls were hung with tapestries, and there were bronze trenches filled with fire, which was the source of all the light, and another reason the huge space felt like an open oven.

At the end of the room was a large stone dais, with a gigantic throne in the center. An equally enormous white stone statue stood in front of the throne: Andhera. The statue's arms were held out, as if it were meant to be holding something large.

Five more figures in white robes lined the walkway in front of Mads. Five human women, all young, some barely in their teens, by the look of them. Ahead of them all, on the steps to the dais, were a dozen guards in the bone armor, their faces pointed at the ground, and behind these men, stood a line of twelve women in red robes. And finally, seated on the throne, was a long-limbed woman. The High Priestess, Mads supposed. The woman wore a crown made from the skull of some ancient overland animal, its antlers stretching far beyond her head and making her seem both otherworldly and massively tall.

Mads' escorts stepped back, retreating to the sides of the room, and Mads noticed that the sides of the room held many other women, too many to count. They were all watching the dais with wide, fixed eyes.

The woman on the throne raised a pale arm, jangling her metal and bone bangles. A single red-robed woman began herding the white-robed girls up the dais, with Mads in the last position. The red-robed woman arranged them in a line, three on each side of the Andhera icon.

"Greetings, my children." The High Priestess used no visible amplifying or broadcasting devices, but her powerful, low, musical voice carried well enough across the large space. "We gather yet again to beseech the goddess, to do penance for losing her favor. Six is the number of perfection, and behold, we have six offerings. Perhaps this is a sign of favor? Perhaps our years of mourning are finally ending."

There was no response, but the room was heavy, as if everyone were holding their breath. Everyone was watching the woman with expectant faces, their eyes wide and attentive.

"We have observed the six days of shame, to mourn what was stolen from us." The High Priestess' voice trembled a little, but she sounded angry rather than nervous. However, her face was smooth and expressionless.

Stolen, Mads registered the word a moment later, and she recalled that Jupiter Jive was the one who had stolen their, icon, was it? Some sort of icon. That's what Luc had said. And Mads also realized that Jive could be here right now. It was Jive's fault she was in this mess. Mads glared at nothing in particular, and found one of the bone-clad guards was looking at her from across the room. Mads quickly averted her eyes, not wanting to make them suspicious.