Gallagher could sense traces of dark magic in this place. He glanced down, stepping back. There was a trail of dried blood, leading to a wall.

He walked over to the wall, feeling around it. Sure enough, there was a door here. He spotted a candle on the wall, and pulled it. The door slowly slid open, and the trail of blood continued down a dark stairway.

(Aye it happens. I'll be here till I die anyway. which honestly might be soon...;-;)

(what no
You're not allowed to die, Ruby. pls
Sleeping is fine, but no death)

Lowell Brichalles
Well.. He can't say he was expecting to see that. He followed behind Gallagher and the blood trail, trying to keep his imagination off the potential sources of the dark magic strewn here.

(i think starvation will get me before corona)

He descended down the staircase, ignoring the sound of the door closing behind the duo. The dark magic grew stronger as they went down into the darkness, soon reaching the bottom.

Gallaghers eyes were already trained to darkness, and he followed the blood trail to a cell. Several cells, actually. With live people in them. Well, barely alive. It was clear that by the black splotches on their skin, they were suffering from the effects of being inflicted with dark magic. The same thing that happened to his fellow children slaves.

(i will throw food at you pls)

Lowell Brichalles
Lowell took pause at this, holding his breath for just a moment to not draw too much of the scent of blood in. He felt his sword pulse strongly in reaction to it and the residual dark magic, but he managed to keep his mind steady and clear.
"Gallagher.. Are those..?" He didn't want to say it, but his mind filled in the blank for him. They were slaves, of course.
Drawn into this and imprisoned for some unspoken purpose. He felt the need to break them out, but he wasn't sure of the logistics of trying to get them all covertly free, let alone trying to carry them if they couldn't walk. He looked to Gallagher for some sort of guidance on what to do with them.

(i won't drop dead yet. My sis bought me tuna in a package thingy and I'm getting allowance from my siblings checks xD)

Gallagher hadn't responded. He was staring into one of the cages, particularly one with a young boy that the sickness hadn't infected. Yet. He was just as thin as the others, with dark souless eyes like his own. It reminded him a lot of his past self.

But he couldn't do anything for them. Not at the moment. With a heavy heart, he turned away from the cages, continuing down the corridor in which more cages were aligned along the wall, with an ominous door at the end of it.

(no seriously, if you need food I will send you some through like Amazon or something, don't be afraid to ask. Literally the least I can do.)

Lowell Brichalles
He rested a hand briefly on Gallagher's shoulder, continuing to follow him down the hall until they reached the door.
"I'm sorry." He muttered as he dropped his hand and looked over the door with some apprehension before stepping forward to open it.

(but iM nOt An AdUlT yEt although my parents do have amazon prime)

He just shook his head, staring at the door. This was where the most black magic was leaking from, giving off that ominous feel to it. He wasn't necessarily afraid of what they find inside, but rather who.

(Then I'll send your parents the food and scold them to feed you properly. ez)

Lowell Brichalles
"Let's not waste any more time."
He said as he stepped inside, keeping the hilt of his half-drawn sword in hand.

(They just don't go to the store as much anymore, and when we do eat its...not a lot T-T)

He followed him inside.

Inside of the room was an enormous magic circle. Gallagher knew what it was. He had seen it so many times during the period a normal person would call childhood. This magic circle was used particularly for dark magic, usually inflicting or giving it to the person in the center. There were splotches of blood all over the place, along with several books about dark magic that were banned in the empire. Maybe even the whole continent.

(Yeah, that's how I've been, though I'm not at too risk when I do have to go out since my state's cases are pretty low and my lungs are good, but I've just been trying to conserve food where I can.
I was already really frugal by habit since my ability to work full time right now is pretty shot due to health issues, but between the dietary restrictions I need to be on and sheer laziness, I've really just not been eating too much myself.
Survived a year before eating once a day (don't recommend this btw) because I couldn't handle solid food at all like a year and a half ago so it's not a major issue to me to eat less if it means I have less trips to make outside and less cooking to do.
I've gotten around eating normal-sized meals by keeping a lot of snacky fruits and vegetables, eggs, canned beans, and rice when I can find them, of course. Salad goes a long way too. Something to consider. My rice cooker's been putting in work lately since I can just make a big thing of rice and vegetables and save the leftovers. Any peels from fruit get dried and saved for tea and the peels from veggies get bagged and put in the freezer to make stock and broth along with bones from chicken, etc.)

Lowell Brichalles
Lowell was careful to avoid stepping near or on the circle, but investigated it briefly before turning his attention on the contraband books.
"Do you recognize those?"