The boy hit the water hard, the tremendous impact nearly knocking him unconscious.
He forced himself to endure the pain in his back, flailing through the water with both hands and feet. Then a hand hauled him out of the pool. Once he calmed down and caught his breath, he discovered Bayonetta already standing on the shore. Looking around, he realized he and the Witch were inside a strange structure. Countless deep, dark arches surrounded the pool he had fallen into, elegant vaults were supported by numerous Ancient Greek Ionic Columns, and reliefs covered the walls. He and the Witch had fallen through a distant breach high above the dome. Yet the boy had not noticed how abnormal that height was, nor had he considered why hitting the water had not turned him into a slab of meat.
But he did notice that his previous injuries—the abrasions on his arms and back—had almost completely healed.
"This trip really hasn't been easy, has it?" The boy still had the mood to joke. "Where are we?"
"I'm certain this is farther away than where we started." Bayonetta put her hands on her hips and looked up.
Although Salomon and the Sisterhood had held back a great many angels, quite a few had still caught up during her and the boy's fall. She had barely managed to kill several before falling into this place. She recalled what Salomon had said: this place had indeed once been ruled by the Umbra Witches and the Sage Clan. Ionic Columns were slender and graceful, widely used in the temples of female deities in Ancient Greece for their elegant, noble character. The architectural style here felt exceedingly familiar. If she was right, this place was very likely connected to the Umbra Witches, for their former settlements had