<em>Cellar<br/>Danae, Margaret, Michelle, Zoe</em><br/><br/>From the bottom of the kitchen stairs into a damp and drafty subterrane, the only illumination was that which Danae graced with her lantern. Zoe and Michelle did not stray far at all, and kept hands on Danae's shoulders moving down the pantry steps, into the wide avenues slashed by muddy wagon tracks.<br/><br/>It was cold, below, in addition to lightless. Wet rainy breeze blew vicious from the corridor south and caused the lantern's flame to sputter, necessitating a warm body shield it from the cold. But from the east there was a wind too, a howling from deep well, a salty air, the crawing of gulls. To the west, there was a long corridor away from the asylum, to the outbuildings of the yard- the stables, no doubt, and workshops for turning lunatic hands productive.<br/><br/>Between pantry and the ocean's howl, corridors within corridors branched into darkness and stillness where the condemned were sealed away. Eight cells in all, shuttered and locked with the same large brass mechanism. To peek inside revealed a spacious coffin, upholstered in stained white cushion. Each was inhabited by a woman in porcelain mask and drab dress, her battered hands shackled.<br/><br/>One prisoner was made to wear a tightly-laced leather brace the length of her leg, and another was corseted in sanguine bandage, faint from loss of blood.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Locks</div><div class="spoiler_body">The cell doors can be opened with Doctor Noire's key, but the manacles binding the prisoners' wrists are locked with smaller keys.</div></div><br/><br/><hr/><br/><em>The Parlor<br/>Aloisa, Doctor Blanche</em><br/><br/>"You may call me Doctor Blanche," the violinist answered Aloisa. "If you called me by my given name, all would know I gave it to you, and you cannot trust anyone who does not stand before the fire."<br/><br/>"No apology is needed, darling. Your passions get the better of you, when the music takes hold and the fire is burning hot. Stay in the light with me, since you have the wisdom to appreciate it. I will play again, and this time you will dance, and leave those ghastly things put away where they belong."<br/><br/>Doctor Blanche did not play just yet. She tracked the progress of Danae and the surviving passengers down into the cellar with a side eye, all to aware that once the lantern's light had vanished, Aloisa was alone with her.<br/><br/>"Or do you stay because you fear I'll put out the fire once you leave, and trap you with the imposters? Certainly I would not. Ease your heart in knowing the fire will burn, so long as I approve."<br/><br/>"Now you will dance, won't you? You will help me escape this evil, with your quick knives. Because I have a plan for you, if your temperament is willing."