Author's Game Entries

Task Three: Pandora

    It was cold. Freezing cold in fact, but even then the word freezing could be an understatement. Or possibly Cadmus could just be being a baby. Either statement would be valid, it is in fact cold and Cadmus is in fact mentally cursing the gods for it way too much.

    He'd been stumbling through a chilly corridor for what felt like an hour, he hadn't run into any other living sacrifices along the way nor taken any detours along the way, and it just seemed to keep going straight forever. He has no idea why he wasn't turning down left or right side ways when he came upon them, as he certainly could, there isn't anyone stopping him, but he just felt like he shouldn't.

    It might possibly be because if he just continued going straight he'd be able to find the entrance easily by backtracking, as there wouldn't be any detours or turns to complicate it any. And he also felt like there's a slim possibility of an exit, and that maybe, maybe, if he kept going he just might find it. He just has to keep going, just a little farther. Just a little more...

    "Gah, who am I kidding? There's nothing down here but rocks and death!" Cadmus suddenly exclaims in utter exasperation, his voice cracking on the last syllable. When saying death, he is instantly reminded of earlier when he had literally stumbled upon the body of a slain male tribute, and they had seemed young and small from what he could tell. He hadn't had the heart to try to figure out exactly who it was though.

    Sitting himself down on the cold floor, Cadmus drops his spear and lays back on the hard ground roughly. "I should just die..." He groans, pressing his hands against his face tiredly.
"Oh my great goddess, Pallas Athena, just let me die. There's no way I'll be able to make it through here, be merciful, let me die now and return to my city beside the sweet flow of Cephisus' stream... Let me return home with some honor still left." He prays out loud, his voice starting to waver the longer he spoke.

It is a long moment that he lays there in silence after his desperate prayer, and yet it is only in silence. Nothing happens. After more than a minute has passed Cadmus groans again and sits up slowly. "At least give me some hope..." He whispers, his voice now sounding choked.

No. He can't cry. He isn't going to cry. Cadmus presses his hands against his eyes and lets out a deep sigh. He hates crying, it makes him seem weak and it has always been an ugly sight, now even more than before.

Dropping his hands from his face, he reaches out for where he'd dropped his spear. He ends up floundering around for it for a moment before he finds the wooden rod and grasps it, and with the sharpened end down, he uses it to help him stand up. It isn't until he is about to continue down the corridor though that he realizes he had disoriented himself now; he didn't know which way is back and which is forward.

"GODDAMN IT!" He cries out in anger directed only at himself. The returning echoes cause him to wince at their loudness but as soon as the initial shock wears off, Cadmus freezes. The echoes sounded different than they had further down the passage, they returned more often and didn't fade as quickly as before.
He had neared the end of the corridor.

At first Cadmus is too shocked to move, but then he's all motion, practically bolting down the passageway now. He could feel a warmth against his face, warming him up completely and pushing away the previous chill, and it took him a moment before he figured out that it's torches. He couldn't help but grin now, something has to be down here.

And he almost ran into that something, though thankfully his spear did first. It hit something hard like a rock and Cadmus moves towards it, reaching his hand out to feel that it is in fact a raised stone. It seemed to be on a pedestal, and as he moves his hand around he felt the grooves carved into the surface.

"This pythos is magical. Open and inside you will find whatever you desire; riches beyond your wildest dreams, magical objects of any kind . . ."
Cadmus stopped his hand at the word riches. Riches? You hear that, this plaque promises riches beyond his wildest dreams. Well he's had some pretty wild dreams, and walking out of this labyrinth a rich man sounded pretty wild enough for him.

A grin ignites on his face and his hand goes back to reread the first sentence. This pythos is magical. What pythos? Cadmus swings his spear around low to the ground and it hits against yet another pedestal, this one bigger than the one it's next to.

"Hello magic vase, and thank you Athena~" Cadmus sings, dropping his spear and reaching out to grab the object. His fingers just manage to brush the large pythos, feeling the decorated design on the ornate vase, before he feels the shift in the object's position on the pedestal.

Cadmus' eyes widen and he darts forward to catch the fragile object as it tilts to the side, but not only had his touch pushed it off center, but the pythos is just just too large to be put upright after it had started to tip. The next thing Cadmus knew there is the sickening shattering sound of the pottery hitting the stone floor and he could feel pieces of it fly over his feet.

For a moment Cadmus just stands there, his hands still out as if to catch it. But then he drops his hands to the side and lets out a squeaky whimper of shock. He tries to sit himself down on the ground but he ends up landing on a sharp shard of pythos.

Letting out an abrupt curse, he's on his feet again instantly, rubbing his bum where he'd sat on the piece. At the moment everything seemed to just be getting worse, his luck is practically naught. Cadmus is blaming no one but himself for the destruction of his possible ticket to a good life, and he hits himself in the head harshly for it.

"Goddamn it!! Goddamn it, goddamn it, GODDAMN IT!!! ....Goddamn it." He swore over and over again, smacking his forehead. He stops hitting himself only to clench his fists, his anger so immense at this moment that he probably would have punched anyone who walked near him.

At the moment, he could think of at least six jokes that would make this funny to everyone else, but considering they were his own jokes it only stung more, only managing to infuriate him more. Right at this moment -exactly at this moment- even Cadmus Scamander found blind jokes distasteful.