Night 60: The Sphinx's Chamber

[requitedfate]

[from here]Another door that closed and locked behind them. This time there were no other doors to draw the eye. Instead, the one thing Shiina had never wanted and never believed she would see was now in front of them. This time, she didn't hesitate to reach out and take Shou's arm

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[oneman_onekill]

The instant he entered the room, Niikura's eyes were drawn to the thing that even he had been skeptical about: the sphinx. It was real. The source on the board hadn't lied. There actually was a sphinx down here. His heart was racing; his mind was exploding with a thousand emotions. Was this what fear really felt like? Not the kind that made his eyes widen, the kind that rose up out of a certain protectiveness, no, could this be real fear? The kind that only emerged when faced with something far more powerful than oneself...

If it was, it certainly felt good. His lips curved into a sharp grin as Niikura took a step forward, mesmerized. He felt like laughing, it was that ridiculously amazing.

"No," he said softly, yet in a firm enough voice that said that they were going to be here to stay--or, at least, that he would be there to stay. "I didn't come all this way--we didn't come all this way just to turn around. 'Sides, the other door's got to have somethin' behind it just as challengin' as what we've got on our hands here; we might as well just suck it up and stick it out." He looked down at Shiina and then at Mike. "Think of it this way: we just gotta answer a riddle. Don't think about...y'know...other stuff." Like if they messed up. Nope, not thinking about that.

[damned_monsters]

Don't wake it up would prove to be faulty advice. The sphinx was fully conscious from before the trio strode in, and in all honesty, it was doubtful if it did actually ever rest. And yet, as still as the statue it was at times, it froze, waited until all three had crossed the threshold before exhaling a wave of heat and annoyance, eyes whisking over them, and apparently, coming away unimpressed. At least in these, there existed fear. There had been little enough of that lately.

And yet. Here was another who already knew the game. If it wasn't bound to the rules, it would start bypassing them altogether. "You still have a chance to leave," it said blandly, the tone of pure boredom. "As you've guessed, however, my challenge is a riddle."

It was starting to wish it had come to take on a different aspect.

"You have the option of being asked a riddle for a very worthy prize. Once you are given the question, you will have five minutes to think and one chance to answer correctly; should you address me with a wrong answer or should you find yourselves unable to respond within five minutes' time, you will be forced to best me in a wholly different way." This last seemed to be pointed at the one who had wished to flee--the sphinx's lips curled briefly in a parody of a smile.

"Should you turn down my challenge, you will be free to return the way you came. Should you choose to stay, the doors behind you will shut and only a correct response will get you out with the prize." And that, as humans would say, was that. "What is your choice?"

[requitedfate]

Leave it to Shou to step up to the plate like a boss and never show the least bit of regret. He was actually smiling about having run into a honest-to-God man-eater. Even a veteran fighter like Mike wasn't stupid enough to try dueling with a beast like this. Shou could be such an idiot sometimes!

But Shou was Shiina's idiot, damn it! She wasn't going to let him walk into danger on his own. She had promised him that and she wasn't one to back down on her word.

She shuddered at how the Sphinx glared at them, feeling sickly and cold even after the rush of heat. Still, she stood her ground just a half-step behind Niikura. "I won't turn back either."

[hiddenbadass]

Damned kids these days, thinking they were invincible. Still, Mike wasn't just going to let them get eaten alive by themselves. He shook his head at them. It was less fear and more not wanting to be eaten alive.

... And maybe a bit of fear, but really only a bit.

Mike already knew Niikura's answer before he gave it, so he decided that he'd speak for him as well, "If these crazy kids are stayin', then I'm stayin'. We're a team."

At least it wasn't going to be boring. Mike just hoped that Turtle Luck wasn't going to play a factor into this. Donny was the one good at riddles, not him. If he was lucky, maybe it would be about ninjutsu. Or comic book heroes--he hadn't read one in forever, but he was pretty sure he could remember small details from reading them a dozen times each.

... Yeah, right.

[oneman_onekill]

Yup, damned kids. Or damned him, maybe. He never had been very good at backing down from challenges, even if they required risking his life. Sticking his life on the line...that was him alright. All the time, every time. And riddles! It couldn't be too hard, could it--eh, he'd just deal with it as it came.

And he had backup.

"Hah! Ya heard 'em," Niikura said proudly, punching Mike lightly on the arm. He'd expected Shiina to stay because she understood him; knowing that the older man wasn't going to try to play the role of the voice of reason just made him that much more sure that he'd picked the right guy to trust. "Let's hear that riddle."

[damned_monsters]

One, two, three. Only one needed to agree, but here all were firm in their beliefs--frightened, perhaps, and correct of them to be so, but willing to take that risk. Behind the trio, the heavy doors slammed shut, locking with a sturdy click. "Charming," the sphinx gave in a low drone. "At least you're slightly different than the usual crowd. But let's begin."

It stretched out the long claws nestled against the thick pads of its feet, then retracted them, kneading the cement stab it laid on once before sighing. "Here is your riddle:

"Only one color, but not one size, stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies; present in sun, but not in rain, doing no harm, and feeling no pain. What am I?"

The sphinx waited a solitary beat, then blinked its eyes. "Four minutes fifty-five seconds remaining."

[and feel free to skip him until you have your answer!]

[requitedfate]

It was unnerving, knowing they were about to face what may be the cause of their last moments on this earth. Shiina wasn't afraid of dying, per se. Being eaten by a monster was still a pretty gruesome way to go, though. Shou had faced more terrors than this, but it still sent a shiver down Shiina's spine to imagine.

The riddle was just what she expected it to be; impossibly hard. She blinked a few times, then squeezed Shou's arm in panic. "H-hey, any ideas? If it's something that flies but is stuck..."

Shiina wasn't unintelligent, but she wasn't a riddle master. Someone else might need to put the pieces together on this one. Time was ticking away and she could only grasp at straws.

[hiddenbadass]

Mike blinked slowly three times. Then, he promptly looked between Shiina and Niikura. Shiina had no clue at all, and--

"Did I ever mention I suck at riddles?"

Oh, he'd try to figure it out. He just had to say that first. Mike just had to let Niikura know that the was probably a death trap.

[oneman_onekill]

Niikura frowned as he repeated the riddle under his breath. "...'and feeling no pain'..." The trick to riddles was finding a key, some line or phrase that suggested a particular answer. Then, all you had to do was check it with the rest of the lines and make sure that it logically matched up. But which one to choose?

It really didn't help that neither Shiina or Mike seemed to have a clue, but that was where he came in with the power of the Shou Conclave in his head. There had never been a Shou whose skill had been riddles specifically, but many of the fields he'd ventured into required the sort of thought required of a good riddle-solver. "Good practice, then," Niikura said shortly to Mike before going back to his analysis.

Okay, maybe going phrase by phrase would help, and he would start in the middle just because he could: present in sun, but not in rain. The answer was dependent on the amount of light present? So what disappeared when the sun disappeared...not the sun because that was part of the clue. The sky? But that wasn't on the bottom. What about...

Oh.

He had his answer. Now it was time to check. "Heh, Nagasawa, just 'cause it's stuck to the bottom doesn't mean it's gotta stay in one place, y'know. It can fly around on the bottom all it wants." He smiled down at her. "So what sticks around on the ground all the time? Somethin' that moves but ain't alive?"

I am so sorry this is so late ;;

[requitedfate]

Well, that was one of their group already throwing his weapons down. But Shiina couldn't really blame him. She was just as lost as ever.

Shou was working his brain. She could practically hear the cogs in there working like the insides of a Swissmade watch. Her head just seemed to be full of fluff. How useless she was tonight.

His question threw her for a moment, and Shiina, desperate to please, set her mind to the task. Something that sticks to the ground all the time and moves but isn't alive. Pavement? That couldn't move. Bugs weren't it, either, since they were alive. Flowers too. Dammit, this was too hard!

"Um... pass?" God, she must look like an idiot, but it just didn't make any sense.

;A; IT'S OKAY.

[hiddenbadass]

Mike just smirked a bit despite the situation at Shiina, then glanced to Niikura. "If we all die, I'm blamin' you." He tilted his head, considering Niikura's words. "But you've got some idea, huh?"

Really, riddles were Donny's thing. Not his. They were annoying and he hated trying to think through them. It had been bad enough trying to deconstruct Master Splinter's sayings when he was younger. Riddles like this were impossible. Every now and then, Don used to give him a riddle and tell him to solve it before bugging him. It only really worked for about five minutes before Mike started bugging him for the answer instead, but it had been a noble effort all the same.

[oneman_onekill]

"Blamin' me? S'your own damn fault ya can't come up with the answer," Niikura said, punching Mike lightly on the arm (or more like his shoulder, seeing as the man was much shorter than him).

But anyway, enough playing around. It looked like he really had to do all the work here, but that was okay now that he had his answer.

"Should've asked that one about somethin' walkin' on four legs in the morning," he quipped cheerfully to the sphinx as he turned away from Mike and Shiina. "Make it a little more authentic, y'know?" Not that he was on his way to go marry his mom; that part they could skip.

"But still, ya lived up to your nature. Thanks for the riddle, sphinx-san. The answer's a shadow--and that's really my answer, before ya ask me about it." Yup, he was pretty confident about it. It matched up to the all the clues, and unless the sphinx was going to pull some dinky, technical thing like him not saying it was his shadow specifically, they'd just gotten past one of the challenges down here.

Fun.

[damned_monsters]

...What a surprise.

The sphinx rolled its eyes drolly. "Forty seconds remaining," it said, in a tone that sounded like, too bad. "Authentic," it went on, voice as dry and rough as a sandstorm. "I've never heard that one before. Really." Only a few nights ago, actually, by an obnoxious girl who couldn't tell the difference between a male and female. It would forever be in the shadow of the obnoxious creature that got itself killed in legend.

By any regard- "Correct," it gave, tone touching annoyance. It reached around behind itself, claws scraping the dais, then straightened itself, tossing the shield down at the feet of the one who answered. "Continue along on your path." Please. Leave it be. This was becoming far too tedious.

There was the sound of a door opening, and in front of them, the sphinx again became stone.