Night 75: Secret Stairs

[his_legacy]

[From here]

Link struggled to force his eyes to adjust to the sudden white light of the moving staircase. As always, they began moving as soon as he stepped up. He turned to face Sora, finally breaking the silence.

"Hopefully the top brings us partially through the journey like it did last night."

Comments

[no_dont_go]

"The sphinx..." Aigis remembered that monster very clearly. She had been so worried they wouldn't succeed in solving its riddle, but they had managed. The creature had been rather upset it had lost another meal but in this case... "So we will be offering it retribution as well."

Landel as sphinx chow had a nice ring to it. A grim smile spread across Aigis' face in the dark.

She followed Sechs and Taura up the stairs quietly, her steps barely making a sound. It was a taller staircase than the others around the institute, but these would go up two floors instead of just one.

"... Perhaps one of the rebels will know how, or another patient." That seemed almost too easy. Would that be possible to do, to reverse the effects on the Head Doctor? As Taura said, supposedly it was possible. Landel was too confident.

[sixth_attack]

"You kidding me? You went back for the Sphinx?" was all Sechs could say before Taura rushed past him up the stairs. With no choice but to follow, he ascended the steps with Aigis close behind him. He allowed himself to go on autopilot while his brain tried to process what Taura had just announced.

The Sphinx?! Really? Had Taura really just released that creature from the basement? Was this some sort of sense of humor he hadn't seen from her yet? The last time Sechs encountered the enigmatic being was when he and Aigis were confronted by a riddle which could have resulted in their deaths if they gave the wrong answer! Even though Sechs promised a battle with the Sphinx the next time they met, now wasn't exactly the time for such a monstrous opponent to get in their way! Was the Sphinx really on their side tonight?

The subject of their unlikely rival was quickly replaced by plans to disable their main target, Landel. Sechs focused his mind back to the task at hand. If Taura was as sure about the Sphinx as she sounded, then all Sechs could do was trust her (and the Sphinx as well, wherever he may be prowling right now...). "Alright..." he muttered between each step, "Whatever you say...!"

This time the stairway's upward spiral took longer to ascend than the others, for it bypassed the second floor and was leading the group to a level which only seemed to exist in rumors amongst the imprisoned population. The stairs then gave way to a door. As Sechs followed Taura across the threshold, he felt a surreal realization dawn on him, as though he had just silently passed through an ethereal sound barrier...

They had reached the third floor, the institute's final domain.

[To here.]