Night 45: Sphinx's Chamber

[quickdrawbkiddo]

[from here]The room was very bright. That was the Bride's first thought and then she noticed why. Gold. Everything was gold. Everything, that was, except the Sphinx on a pedestal in the center watching them with eyes far more intelligence than any beast should have

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[purpletaint]

Oh, how Yomi was right. Albedo was depending on it really. Nigredo had said it, at any rate. Physical trauma was supposedly better than the less substantial kinds. The boy didn't respond to her, maintaining a find expression. Her yelling was almost sweet compared to his twin's odes of hate that Rubedo expressed in such passionate tones. And by any matter, Nigredo seemed to have made the correct choice, and was continuing with the night. The white-haired Variant merely shrugged under his burden and followed after his sibling once Nigredo's pet had moved as well. And very nearly ran into both, froze where they were.

Oh goody, a big, shining room! That was clearly worth him almost tripping over the two of them. Albedo made a noise of distaste, shifting to the side to go around the pair. Shining walls, and little else seemed to be the norm, but for a pedestal and a large statue resting there. Except the statue didn't seem so much as a statue as something playing at living. The boy looked it over in an abstract fashion, vaguely curious. His memory prompted a guardian, a word long since forgotten. But the meaning had all but fled, facts shifting. But it remained that playing at life was becoming something familiar, be it himself or the walking dead--whether or not they wrote his rotting face, and this in itself was no different. A dance he hadn't yet stepped to.

He moved forward, tapestry trailing slightly behind him. "Perhaps something to fight, then?" he wondered, amused at the thought. "Another 'test' to be taken." At this, he did laugh, and it deteriorated into giggles. Rubedo's test had been with guns and turrets, surely the giant beast would be his own! It seemed too fitting, perhaps; horrible monsters to fight in overwhelming odds. It wasn't like he could yet die, after all. "Oh, pick me, pick me," he mocked in chorus to no one in particular. "I'm sure I'll like this game.~"

[damned_monsters]

[Jumping in before Yomi since I'm going to be offline most of tomorrow!]

The sphinx seemed impassive, almost unimpressed, until the white-haired kid spoke. Then, the creature's eyes narrowed and flicked immediately towards Albedo.

"If you keep on like that, I will 'pick' you," the beast snarled, sounding quite unlike his usual composed self. Realizing, perhaps, that his trend of unprofessionalism had reached a new low, the sphinx shook his head and muttered something to himself.

Finally, he cleared his throat and continued. "I... apologize. I don't... normally cater to more than one group of humans per night, you understand."

At the word 'humans', the creature smirked slightly, revealing jagged teeth that seemed even more unsettling when juxtaposed against his half-civilized demeanor.

"So," he said lightly, a little dangerously, "I assume you're here to play my game?"

[she_is_ruin]

She’d always thought she’d done well enough under pressure, but having everything unravelling around her was not just pressure, it was something big and terrifying and unknowable; the fact that her brain was still firing neurons with some semblance of coherence seemed like a miracle. Both boys’ behavior was more and more unnerving in the face of that. Apologies weren’t the problem.

‘Going back’ meant going back, not forward through another door that was probably not an exit, but before she knew it, the kids were trying to get past her, anyway. Ugh, for god’s sake! A fuse had been lit inside her--one that had no healthy source, to be sure--and she turned on them, jaw set. She wasn’t being force-fed anymore of this bullshit! With that in mind, she overtook Nigredo, and like a flash, reached out to pinch his cheek between her thumb and forefinger. Not nicely, either. “I said enough!” Yoshiko reprimanded. “Don’t talk in definites.” Because this isn’t an exit, how could it be, you’re just a kid, don’t pretend you know!

No, this was not a way out. She could tell that the moment she’d stepped inside, through glances and impressions. Now that she was standing there, with her attention fixed on the boy, and his attention fixed on something else--something else in the room with them--she couldn’t pretend otherwise. But she didn’t want to look at what could be in that gold-colored room that had everybody so entranced. Then Alan was talking and laughing again, and a renewed chill worked its way through her.

When a fourth, unfamiliar voice boomed at them, Yoshiko jumped. She couldn’t help but look out of reflex.

Silence emanated from her, as well.

[falseblack]

Before Nigredo could properly regain his senses, a finger and a thumb pulled his cheek in one direction, and without properly considering his place, he yelped, surprised. The move hurt more than the boy wanted to admit. "I wasn't!" he protested, hissing in the effort, eyes still edged toward the creature in the middle of the chamber. "I honestly thought... Look, this really isn't the time to argue."

Her fingers were like pins of ice in his skin. Why, of all things, did a girl's abuse hurt the worst?

She eventually seemed to understand the extent of their situation and jumped, leaving a rather sour Nigredo to rub a palm against his face. This emotion increased tenfold when Albedo's laughter caused their host to throw out a threat in return. The youngest practically glared at the middle child, the suppressed headache flaring to awareness. "No, I'm sorry," he told the creature, as though the words were the most natural to offer in this instance. "Please don't mind him."

A pause. "What do you mean by 'game'?"

[rocksthecourt]

Had David not been as utterly petrified as he was, he'd have probably jumped forward and clamped a hand over that bleach-haired moron's mouth before he said anything worse. What the fuck was wrong with these freaking kids?! Why were they just talking to it like there was nothing weird going on here? Did they not see what that thing was up there?! It was a goddamn monster! Scratch that. A talking monster! With bigass teeth!!

A monster that was... apologizing in a really formal fashion. Holy shit, he must have been more messed up than he realized.

He pulled his eyes away from the beast to look at each of the kids in turn, more than a little disturbed at their lack of distress. Maybe that was actually a person there but David was seeing him as a monster? That was the only thing that made sense, even if the vision itself was making it difficult to believe that. Maybe it was the voice and the implications in his tone when he said the word game. Somehow, he got the impression they weren't talking about a round of Monopoly.

A ball of dread welled up in the pit of his stomach as he looked back at the creature, frowning and trying to will himself to stop shaking. He wasn't going to let this beat down his resolve. He could do this. He could beat this. All he had to do was calm down and gain the will to speak again. ...Might take a few more minutes, but he'd do it, dammit!

[purpletaint]

His party's squabbles was noted and brushed off, the only true thing of note was Yomi (Yoshiko's?) minor abuse of Nigredo. The larger part of his being currently found it hilarious, and made a note to tell her so later. A smaller part of his mind, new to form, found the correct response a glare, if nothing else. Should he be keeping his promise? Albedo rolled his eyes in response to himself. Nigredo was fine, and a bit more emotional than the moment before. So even better. The smaller part went to argue, and the boy ignored it by moving forward, long, lazy strides like he was in a play.

He kept laughing eyes on the creature, even as Nigredo apologized for his efforts. Near to the pedestal, Albedo tipped his head, a smile on his lips. His brother had asked the game, and Albedo would await the response. He was ever-so-hopeful now, really. The creature had threatened, and Albedo waited to make good on it. He giggled once, light. "You're interesting.~" he chorused. "Are you the game?"