damned_institute | Night 61: The Sphinx's Chamber

Rita had to wonder, too, about the man on the radio. How was it that he and Landel had shared close quarters, and both had come out alive? That was one reason to be suspicious. It was also difficult to be too happy that he apparently had more allies working with him now. While it was true that there was strength in numbers, it also left more opportunities for betrayal.

But they were entering the room now, and Rita knew she needed to focus entirely on the trial, so she pushed those thoughts aside for the time being. Maybe she could catch and question Claude or someone acquainted with him during the day.

The chamber they entered then was nothing like Rita expected. It was a simple room, elegantly designed as if to house a grand treasure, with nothing but a single pedestal with a statue of a human-faced beast on it. "I take it that's a Sphinx," Rita guessed, answering her own question from earlier.

But as she stared up at the creature, Goku didn't waste time in approaching it, and even talking about riding it. Rita walked up behind him and gave him a firm swat on the head. It wasn't hard enough to seriously injure, though she doubted there was much inside his hollow skull to injure in the first place. If anything, maybe the jolt would knock some unused brain matter into action. "Idiot."

The room they entered took the opulence of the ballroom and made it look like a warehouse. Every surface glittered, and Taura would have loved to just drink in the ambiance. Except that their mission objective was sitting in front of them on a dias, looking distinctly unimpressed.

"It is."

Goku was about to do something stupid, as usual. Rita got there first, but Taura decided that might not be enough. She'd stick with doing something less violent and more effective, though; she picked him up with one hand, and set him on her right shoulder; the one that didn't have a throwing star attached to it. That would put him about at eye-level with the thing; it had the downside of removing her ability to see if he was making faces at it, but they couldn't have everything.

"And I'm guessing it would prefer us to address it, rather than each other. Hello. I'm Taura, and this is Rita and Goku."

"Owwah," Goku groused. He bit his tongue with that smack! Nursing his tongue and rubbing the back of his head, he couldn't multi-tasking well enough to keep marching forward and so it didn't take much for Taura to catch up with him.

Hoisted into the air, the monkey boy let out a wheeze as the air was pulled out of him from the sudden lift. He accepted it gracefully, but mainly because he couldn't hold too many ideas in his head at once. There was a new distraction now that he was pulled high and set on Taura's shoulder. It had been a good choice as his friendly exuberance came out once the woman greeted the big beast.

"Hi, I'm Goku!" he repeated, just in case he couldn't figure out which one he was. "Are you really strong?" It should have been an obvious answer, but who knew! Maybe the thing just smelled really bad and had nothing to do with its strength.

Address it...? Rita looked back to the creature's unmoving face, studying it. Taura had said it could tell riddles, but it was hard to believe at a glance that it was alive. It was fortunate that Rita had enough experience with Entelexia not to be surprised at unusual beasts talking, at least. There weren't a lot of things that could surprise her at this point.

"So this thing's supposed to talk?" Rita crossed her arms, hoping a definitive answer to that would come sooner rather than later. Not that there'd be any skin off her back if it didn't; it was her companions who would look ridiculous for talking to an inanimate object.

But the creature did move then, its eyelids slowly parting to reveal a pair of green eyes, gleaming with a sort of awareness much unlike that of a common beast. Its head moved too, tilting downward to better observe the three who had entered its chamber.

"Yes, this thing talks, and it would appreciate being shown a little more respect within its own chamber," the Sphinx began in a dry tone, looking distinctly unimpressed. It then turned its passive gaze to the small boy - the loud one. "As for my strength, you may find out for yourselves, should you fail my trial."

There was one thing the Sphinx could grant regarding this group, and that was that they appeared to have entered with some idea of what they were about to face. That would allow them all to get this over with quickly.

"It seems that some of you know of what I am, so we might as well get on with business." It looked to the tallest of the group as he began to recite the terms of the trial, as she appeared to be the most aware of the situation. "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." The loud one looked promising. Perhaps this would be the night the Sphinx would at last have a proper meal.

"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." The Sphinx's dry, continuous tone implied that this was a speech it had given word for word countless times in the past. "We may begin once you agree to these terms."

Once you agree to these terms. It never actually said it wouldn't attack, though it promised the doors would be open. That seemed like an important loophole.

"It's not a thing," Taura muttered, though why she was defending it when it had just threatened them, she wasn't quite sure. Well, all right, she knew exactly why, but being oversensitive was something she was only allowed to do when not on a mission. So focus, eh? "And we didn't come down here to give up, did we?" The question she directed at Rita; Goku's response would probably involve skipping straight to the fighting, which, while she was sure he'd be a great help if it came to that, wasn't what she needed to hear.

"Are we agreed?"

"Uhhhh..." Goku hadn't really been paying attention to most of it. His mind was focused on the strangeness of the animal-person that lounged before them. Even if he had been staring at its face, no noise was actually being received through his big ears.

So Taura's question didn't really have much context, but that never stopped him before! He agreed with exuberance, assuming this was going to lead to the fight of his life! Three against one, they would wipe the floor with this flying kitty.

Rita's eyes widened when the creature spoke, but once the initial surprise wore off, she watched it with a mostly indifferent look, more interested in its words than its appearance. So what if she offended it? 'Thing' was a perfectly fine word to use for something that sat around all day like an inanimate object.

Fortunately, the conditions of the trial were laid out neatly before them, and what was even more surprising was that they had the option to leave. That was unusually generous, considering where this was. While Rita had some reservations about the challenge, she wasn't about to let their efforts go to waste by quitting here. Besides, she was confident in her reasoning ability. Surely she could figure out any puzzle the lion-thing could come up with.

"All right, let's do this," she agreed casually, then looked to Goku with a warning glare. "And you, just stay quiet and let me and Taura solve this." Any contribution of his was sure to lead to a messy, unnecessary battle.

As expected, all three were quick to agree to the terms of the trial. It was a bit refreshing not to have to wait for a group of challengers to consult and convince one another, as many other groups had done. "Very well. Let us begin. Here is your riddle." The Sphinx lifted its chin as it prepared to recite one of the countless riddles stored in its memory.

"Walk on the living, they don't even mumble. Walk on the dead, they mutter and grumble. What are they?"

Lowering its gaze to address the group once more, the Sphinx added, "Your five minutes have begun."

"Walk on the living, walk on the dead, not a who but a what." Taura was doing some mumbling of her own, and her eyebrows had joined forces to put up a united front of confusion. "Damn."

"There are too many things that come back to life, here." She was still speaking under her breath, though it was loud enough for everyone to hear. "And everyone walks all over us."

Enough backchat, Taura. Five minutes wasn't much, and that Sphinx wasn't getting any smaller as it waited.

"Alright, alright, I won't say nothin'," Goku agreed easily, still remembering how she had landed some sneaky attack on his head while his back was turned. He couldn't afford to give her a reason to cheat like that again. Instead, the monkey boy sat still on Taura with his long brown tail swaying back and forth behind her back; he played the role of a helper monkey perfectly and that, unfortunately, went for his memory retention as well.

As soon as Taura began talking, Goku forgot his promise. His big black eyes glazed over and his bored expression took on one of slight horror. "... What're you talkin' about? What's happening?!" What happened to the plan to fight stuff?

Living, dead... and as Taura said, not a who but a what. "Right... riddles tend to rely on metaphors or wordplay. It's easy to start picturing people when you think about the living or the dead, but..." It could easily be something entirely different. Maybe even something that was never alive in the first place, but could be thought of as such...

When Goku chimed in, sounding confused, Rita shot a glare at him. "I said be quiet. Do you want to screw this up?" It didn't even matter if he knew what was going on or not, just so long as he could shut up long enough for the rest of them to work out the puzzle.

... Damn it, now she lost her train of thought.

Well, this was off to a promising start. One of the challengers didn't even appear to understand what he'd agreed to.

Which, of course, was no trouble for the Sphinx, whose chances of victory were only increased by the boy's ignorance. Perhaps he would even be so foolish as to give a false answer. The Sphinx folded its paws before itself, its tail flicking back and forth behind it, eager to finally see a group fail. However, none of that showed on its face, and the only words to come out of its mouth were a reminder of the time limit the group was facing.

"Four minutes remaining."

"Damn," Taura hissed, again. "Things that can die, Goku. Not people. Name as many as you can."

She started rattling them off herself. "Animals. Plants. Hopes. Dreams. Power packs. Shields." This was getting them nowhere except more hopelessly confused. She looked at Goku again. The least she could do was keep him occupied while Rita thought, and she bet he could do more than that. Stupid ideas were only stupid if you left them at that or tried them out without thinking. And Goku was a great source of, er, non-traditional thinking.

"Or things you walk on. "Gravel. Sand. Snow?" Snow made a lot of different noises, depending on temperature, but it didn't die.

"Uh, 'kay! Uhmm, uh... Dinosaurs, wolfs, trees, fishes--" When she switched to the ground, so did Goku unconsciously. "Dirt, rocks, grass..." His lists continued on like a stock ticker, constantly spitting out information without even truly processing anything.

"That one bird I hit, uhh centipedes, they make a crunchy noise when you step on them!" The image made the young boy laugh and almost teeter off Taura. "There's... dirt--Oh I already said that. Uhh... dirt? No!" Man, this was really hard!

Things that could die, and things they could walk on... Those were trails worth pursuing. Taura did Rita a favor by listing some of the more metaphorical interpretations, as well as some items she may not have thought of right away. Machines could be considered 'dead' when they no longer functioned... but there weren't many that could be walked on, and most were far noisier while functioning.

Now which of those things made noise when walked on...?

Goku's rambling was becoming distracting again, though, and Rita had to stop to mutter, "Idiot," at him before returning to her thoughts. But those had already been disrupted by the brat's inane prattling. In her mind, she was picturing a 'crunchy noise', sort of like what she'd hear walking in the woods in the fall...

... Wait. Could that be...?

"What about leaves?" Rita asked suddenly. "They crunch under your feet once they've dried up, but fresh ones don't make any noise."

The Sphinx gave no reaction as the three tossed out words and ideas, not even when one seemed to reach a conclusion.

Instead, he merely announced, "Two minutes, ten seconds remaining." Humans were more likely to make mistakes when pressured by a time limit. It was yet possible for this group to lose sight of victory in their haste.

"Sounds better than anything I've come up with. Go with it. We'll be ready if it's not."

She unstrapped the throwing star, and grinned at Goku. She didn't want to fight the Sphinx -- it was beautiful, and intelligent, and didn't seem to belong here at all. Was it trapped? There was nothing that seemed able to hold it here -- but the room was gilded more like a cage -- a brothel, almost -- than like a throne room.

Would it be disappointed if they were right? A fight seemed to be the only thing it had been looking forward to, if even that.

When they found a way out, she'd come back. There. Promise made, and she'd tell it. Once they'd given their answer, that was.

"Ready?" Goku asked, not exactly on the same page with everyone else, but he knew what that smile meant. The monkey boy made it all the time, so while Taura grabbed for one of her weapons, so did he. Unsheathing his stick from its holster, his wide black eyes kept its critical gaze on the big beast in front of them. After all this walking and talking, he was really looking forward to a fight.

"Ready!"

It looked like the others were willing to trust Rita's answer (well, Taura was. It was still uncertain whether Goku even knew what was going on), and so there was no time to waste.

Straightening her shoulders, Rita addressed the creature in a firm voice. "We've decided. The answer is leaves."

As an intellectual, it was going to hurt her ego a lot if she turned out to be wrong. Fortunately, Rita was pretty confident in her reasoning. This wasn't going to end in a fight.

The Sphinx was silent for a moment, then let out a deep sigh. "Your answer is correct," it conceded with some hesitation. "You have earned your prize."

It lifted one paw, reached around behind itself, and retrieved a small, ornate shield. This, it presented to the challengers.

"This is the Coliseum Shield," it said, tone somber. "I have handed out many versions of it in my long days, but I have yet to hear of a man, woman, or child for whom it has brought anything but misery.

"In the ballroom, you might have noticed a door to the south--one of such intricacy that it either repulses or entices all who see it. That is the door to the Coliseum, and should you also carry the partner to this artifact, you will find yourself able to enter so long as you are willing to make a sacrifice. Should you survive the trials within, from which many venture but few return... You will be able to proceed further into the bowels of this heinous Institute."

These words, too, were recited in a dull tone that implied that they had been repeated many times before. When the shield was taken from its paw, the Sphinx's business was complete.

"That is all I can tell you. If there is nothing else, then I will return to my rest." Without waiting for an answer, the Sphinx raised its head, closed its eyes, and went still once again.

Taura let out the breath she'd been holding, and stepped back to an at-ease posture before walking up and taking the shield.

Then she leaned closer, her lips only inches away from the now-still Sphinx's ear. "You're trapped here, aren't you?" Her voice was a low whisper, though she didn't care if Rita and Goku could hear her. "You, um, don't have to try to answer that. I just wanted you to know that, if there is a way out -- I know, I know, you can't tell us...I just wanted you to know I'll be back. Or..." she trailed off, delicately. "Someone will." There, that covered death, dismemberment, and pint-sized one-way wormholes. Taura didn't make promises she couldn't keep. "I'll make sure. If that's what you want."

Then she held the shield out for Rita's inspection. Such a tiny thing, but they had both keys now, and Taura had a feeling she knew what the sacrifice might be. So many deaths, of late. She was living on borrowed time, in a borrowed body; would it even count? Only one way to find out.

Night 61: The Sphinx's Chamber

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