Antigone's sleep was broken by the announcement that the train had arrived at Wenceslas train station, and would all passengers leaving the train remember to take all valuables with them. She & Osiris sleepily carried their bags out onto the platform. Osiris swug his huge bag over one shoulder, taking care to conceal the club that was strapped to the inside of his long coat. He looked down at Antigone, who was blinking myopically at the ornate ceiling of the brightly lit station.
He took her hand in his, and they exited the station and emerged at the north end of Wenceslas Square, which was almost ghostly under it's pale dusting of snow. Prague was more beautiful than Antigone had imagined, although it was only lit by yellow streetlights & the buzzing neon glow of the signs above shops & restaurants.
They strolled aimlessly to the southermost point of the Square, when Antigone grabbed Osiris' arm & pulled him towards a narrow alleyway.
"It's this way."
Antigone strode down the alley, followed by a rather bewildered Osiris, and she proceeded to lead him into a seemingly endless & repetitive Labyrinth of alleys & suburban streets. She knew exactly where she was going, as if led by an invisible hand.
They eventually stopped at the front of a huge, grandiose building that Osiris wasn't sure was a theatre or a castle, it's walls blackened (by age or fire, he couldn't tell).
As they ascended the steps to the huge front doors, the building seems to loom over them, it's jagged spires seeming to curve forward like huge black jaws, with hundreds of leering gargoyles scrutinising the pair from every angle.
Osiris knocked on the doors, but as one would expect, there was no reply.
"We should look for another entrance, this is definitely the right place," said Antigone, peering into the darkness, as this place was only lit by a distant flickering lamp.
They walked around the perimiter of this sinister edifice, and although they found four different doors, none were answered and all were locked.
They sat down on the front steps in silence, both separately racking their brains for an answer or an idea.
Just then, they spotted a small man shuffling towards them. He looked like he was from the Far East, by Antigone's reckoning, and when he came nearer, she could see he had a round, friendly face, and he smiled at them as he reached the bottom step.
"Are you lost?"
Antigone stood up and descended the steps to meet him.
"Not quite, we're trying to get in here," she said, gesturing towards the building behind her.
The man looked puzzled.
"What's your business in there, if you don't mind me asking?"
Osiris disliked this stranger's tone, he prowled down to join Antigone at the foot of the steps, his hand reaching for the hilt of his club, but Antigone held up her hand to stop him, and he sat down again at her feet, glaring.
Antigone turned back to the stranger.
"This may sound extremely odd, sir, please sit and I will explain."
The three of them sat on the steps, Antigone in the middle, and she recounted her vision of the woman and the city and the building they were in the shadow of.
Their new acquaintance stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"Well, I can help you, a little, I can take you into Chatrani, that's this place, but I cannot guarantee that my companions will be as accepting of your story as I am, as I'm sure you understand, it is pretty far-fetched."
Antigone nodded, "We just have to take that chance".
The man jumped to his feet suddenly.
"Where in the world are my manners!? I haven't even introduced myself properly, my name is Vesper."
He extended a hand to each of them in turn as they gave their own names.
They heard footsteps approaching from an adjacent alleyway, and all three looked round.
They saw a figure, deathly pale, with hair almost as white as the snow. Vesper grinned, "So there you are then! Osiris, Antigone, this is Ghost".
As the etherial, almost other-wordly person reached them at the foot of the steps, they saw it was a young woman with a gaunt, but not unfriendly face, who smiled apprehensively at them.
Vesper spoke to the woman, "Ghost, this is Antigone & Osiris, they've asked for help to get into Chatrani."
Ghost looked from Vesper to Antigone, to Osiris, and back to Vesper.
"No offence, but why?"
Antigone was the first to speak, "It is a rather long story, it is a small wonder that your friend Vesper here managed to listen so patiently to it all, but if you see fit, would happily explain everything within the walls of this...Chatrani."
She smiled earnestly at Ghost, and after a time, Ghost smiled back.
"Ok, sure, that seems fair to me."
Osiris put an arm around Antigone's shoulders as Ghost led them to the back of the Chatrani.
Ghost knelt down in the snow & grasped at an iron ring that had eluded Antigone & Osiris' eyes when they had circled the building earlier.
She pulled it hard, and a trap door swung open from the ground, and they all descended a long flight of rickety stairs and filed along an even longer corridor.
At the end of the corridor, Antigone & Osiris both stood, agape at the sight they beheld. it was a city, underneath Prague, and seemingly the same size, because although underground, it was lit as though it was midday, and they could see a vast expanse of people & buildings & bridges & stairways.
The four of them walked along a bridge that crossed a vast chasm, people bustling around on a street hundreds of feet below them, the sound of thousands of hidden citizens filling their ears.
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