Night 57: Grand Ballroom

[ninelivesonce]

Taura jogged down the stairs, and looked around. The room seemed far too large to belong down here. More benefits of being at the bottom of a gravity well -- space was cheap, and air was free. The fountains wouldn't be out of place in a fancy hotel lobby, though the rest of the decor was a little macabre

Comments

[affictitious]

As amusing as it was that the youngest kid looked like he was on the verge of suffering some sort of fit, Gabriel felt along the lines of Erika at this point. Landel had a devious mind, he'd give him that. No obstacle courses or three-legged races, but a sphinx, leaving their (read: his) only feeling of accomplishment in the shape of a dinky shield. He, of course, had no idea it even had a point. Unless he became Captain America, it wasn't going to be the least bit handy.

He was sure there was a purpose there somewhere, sure. He just wanted to get there already. The least Landel could've thrown in was canned laughter. He deserved it.

Whatever. If he got through this, at least he'd have bragging rights. Or a night wasted. It was already looking safer than upstairs, which was alternatively boring as well as appreciated. Teenagers weren't usually willing meat shields, even if none of them had exactly earned a spot in his memory.

Especially these two. Laurel and Hardy without the secondhand embarrassment. "Swell, brilliant, excellent, et cetera. What comes next? Do we find the Master Sword and save Hyrule?"

[falseblack]

Pointless endeavors aside, the thoroughly unwanted and unplanned trip had compensated him threefold with that incident; there existed nothing like humiliation when it came to justice. While he had an inkling that the girl was going to murder him at the next available opportunity, he continued to snicker all the way back to the ballroom. Nigredo tried to be thoughtful (kind of) and hid his wide grins behind a well-placed fist, but when she kicked the door hard enough to result in a slight limp, he lost his polite facade and openly giggled.

The group reunited with the other problematic figure of the group, and the boy sobered considerably. Part was due to curiosity: there was still time left to their night, and it seemed they were at the last segment. At the conclusion of the second visit, the Sphinx had mentioned "yet another obstacle" beyond the southern doors. There was no question where they were walking toward now.

The rest came from a small pique in concern. It wasn't that he had any care for what lay ahead. He just didn't know how this figured into the "staying alive and well" agreement. Best, then, that Nigredo didn't try anything out of the ordinary. Let the one expert handle the upcoming matter.

[witchdetective]

Erika's murderous glances were doing little to stifle everyone else's mockery of her, so it was clear that the only solution aside from dismissing everyone for the night (which was highly counterproductive) was to keep going. Perhaps whatever was waiting for them up ahead would shut everyone up for the night. Erika, at the very least, was hoping that it would kill a few people. She never heard anything about the four entering through the door having to stay alive yet.

"No, now we're going through the final door," She snapped at Noah - what was he talking about anyway? - and she turned to Sync, again waving the shield in his face. This time, she wanted him to take it, evident in how she outstretched it to the point where it literally was up against his nose. "And you take this, since you have the other one." Despite herself, being able to boss people around seemed to actually improve her mood, just a little.

The door they had to go through stood out, in more ways then one. She noticed how the carvings in it were of angelic figures, seemingly celebrating. It made sense, if this door really was the final one; it was a celebration of those who passed those two trials. Of course, this being the place it was, it only made Erika even more suspicious of what was lying behind it.

"Alright, you open the door, and I'll go in." She turned to Sync, nodding towards the two slots in the door. Although Erika acknowledged that being the first one through the door was a great risk, she also wanted to be the one who would see their prize firsthand if that's all there was through that door. She thought she deserved it after what happened back with the Sphinx, after all.

[ran_on_empty]

Sync was about to answer the latter's question when Erika cut in, the tone of her voice almost as sharp as her death glare. He raised an eyebrow when she began waving the shield in front of his face, quickly snatching it from her grasp before glancing over at the door in question. Erika had always seemed like the type who wanted to finish every puzzle by herself, though he supposed her current mood could contribute to this sudden lethargy.

"You might want to turn on your light before you go in, then." As entertaining as his last visit in the next room had been, he'd rather actually know what stepping into this time around. The contrast of his visit then and now was astonishing, and because of the fact that there was no real reason to rush he moved about as casually as he wanted.

Even if it were someone else this puzzle was almost pathetically easy. With the shield already in his hand, Sync carefully placed it into the proper indentation. Only after he was certain the item was secure did he reach into his coat to pull out the sword, pressing it into the other space. Once through, the God-General stepped back, giving Erika the 'privilege' of opening the door herself.

[witchdetective]

[ moving them here, will update link ]