Chapter 27: A Dark and Stormy Night
“Alright,” Simon said finally. “You said that the pit used to be something else before. What was it? How did the pit come to be?” His questions echoed off the cool marble walls, and it was only when it had faded completely that the goddess opened her mouth.
“Now, that is an excellent question.” Helades smile widened, but grew a shade colder as she leaned forward on the throne. “I was expecting something a bit more short-sighted from you. You really are growing a bit, aren’t you. A little more every day.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Simon said, failing to hide how flustered the back handed compliment made him.
“No? The Simon who entered the pit would have said something like…” She cleared her throat, and when she started speaking again it was no longer her melodious voice, but Simon’s voice being played back at him. “Why does this place have such awful level design? Why didn’t you bother to include a tutorial for the magic system at least? What the FUCK was with that zombie level?”
Simon cringed at what she said, not just because it was a pitch perfect imitation of him, but because all of those had been questions that had run through his head before he settled on the one he had actually asked.
“None of those will help me understand how to beat this place,” he mumbled.
“That’s true,” she agreed. “All your life that stubborn competitiveness has held you back, but suddenly it's a strength. Don’t lose it. You’ll need it for what comes next.”
Simon let that veiled threat hang silently in the air for a few seconds, unanswered. He wasn’t going to let her distract him.
“The Pit was a mistake,” she said finally. “My mistake. It was one of many, of course. I’m not perfect. Even the nigh-omnipotent are not infallible.”