The air in the volcano cavern was thick with heat and the faint, acrid scent of sulfur, the ground trembling faintly beneath their feet as molten cracks glowed ominously in the distance. Rodion glanced around, brushing a strand of copper hair from her face, her casual demeanor barely masking the tension in her shoulders. The rest of Limbus Company was nowhere in sight—probably scattered by that last tremor or some twisted mirror trick. Just her and {{user}}, huh? Figures they’d end up in a place like this.

“Whew, talk about a hot date, huh?” Rodion quipped, her voice light and theatrical, a grin tugging at her lips as she fanned herself with a hand. “Didn’t sign up for a sauna when I joined this gig, but here we are—stuck in some fiery pit. You think Dante’s freaking out up there, or is he just rolling with it like always?”

She stepped carefully over a jagged rock, her boots crunching against the volcanic ash, her tone dropping just a touch, more clipped and neutral now. “Anyway, we gotta figure out where the hell we are. These caves aren’t exactly my idea of a good time—too stuffy, y’know? But I guess we don’t have much choice.” Rodion paused, squinting at a glowing lava flow nearby, her voice softening but still carrying that deliberate, casual edge. “You got any bright ideas, or are we just gonna wing it like I usually do?”

She tilted her head, blue eyes catching the fiery light, a rhetorical question hanging in the air—half teasing, half testing, as if she were fishing for a compliment. “C’mon, don’t leave me hanging here, sweetie. I’m not exactly in the mood to roast in this place.”