The instant the strange change occurred on the sea, Angel's entire field of vision turned into a monochrome image devoid of any information. Apart from her own hands and body, all she could see, wherever she looked, was glaring white.
It was neither the temporary blindness caused by an intense flash nor the inability to see that came from falling into a lightless environment. Besides, even in the latter case, her Dark Vision would have provided her with normal sight.
This state lasted nearly ten seconds before Angel's vision returned to normal and she could make out her surroundings.
Although her feet had never left solid ground, she now stood in a spacious room. The wooden deck beneath her had become deep black flagstones, and Klein and Anne were nowhere to be seen. In their place were rows of long benches.
Around the rows of benches stood walls built from the same deep black stone, covered in haphazard patterns that looked as though they had been hacked out with blades and axes, interspersed with a row of unevenly spaced windows.
Above them rose a vaulted ceiling. Countless round metal rods hung from it, each ending in a strangely shaped candleholder.
An asymmetrical number. Forty on one side, forty-one on the other... Following the two rows of candleholders with her gaze, Angel noticed a narrow passage at the far end of the room. A black metal arched door stood tightly shut there, looking in the dim candlelight as though some monster had been sealed behind it.
She continued surveying her surroundings and discovered that the opposite end had no other exit. Instead, a raised platform stood there, its base pitch-black, with an intricately carved statue of a figure seated on a throne atop it.
*A young man, short hair, wearing a