Erinyes Game

You’re having a citrus craving, so you grab the orange and peel it. Aphrodite offers you some cereal from her own spoon, which you wave away with a giggle.

“Morning, ladies.” Hades’s voice surprises the both of you. “I have a task for both of you to complete before you can finish this game. First, I need the two of you to split up. There will be one last enemy after you: an extra Fury I had stashed away. You can’t both hide together at the start, so one of you go to one end of this building and one to the other. If you can successfully evade your attacker and survive, then I will declare you a winner and allow you to leave. However, if you are caught, then you will not be able to leave. Understand?”

Both of you nod mutely.

“Very good. Now, I’ll give you a ten minute head start before I release the Fury. Use your time well.” He falls silent.

“I can’t believe this.” 

Aphrodite looks determined. “We’re both gonna survive, okay? When time is up, we’ll meet in the judgement room and we’ll both leave the game. Everything will be fine.” She squeezes your hand and you split up.

You head towards the entertainment room but keep walking, not wanting to be trapped in there. You walk down the multiple hallways where you first spoke to Hermes—plenty of hiding spots here. 

You pass multiple rooms, not finding somewhere that you consider suitable, until you come across a large supply closet. It’s filled with junk and cleaning supplies, and the floor is so cluttered it’s hard to walk. You hadn’t ever seen anyone use these supplies, but you guessed that the corpses had to be cleaned up somehow. You slip inside and shut the door, trying to not knock anything over. Slowly moving step by careful step, you make your way through the room. 

The silence is almost eerie, and your thoughts jump to Aphrodite. Hopefully she’s still alive and the Fury hasn’t gotten to her yet. But before you can think of going to find her, you need to evade the Fury yourself.

Out of the corner of your eye, you notice something sparkling. You have to duck around a precarious stack of boxes and step over some old rags, but you reach it and pick it up. It’s a shard of metal, specifically one from a broken metal choker.

“What is this doing here?” You inspect it curiously. On the floor in front of you is the unmistakable shine of more metal pieces, almost making a trail towards the back wall.

Maybe it’s a trap, but maybe not. Following the metal pieces, you kneel down and find a wooden panel on the ground by the wall. You lift it up, discovering that it’s actually a trapdoor.

“Fascinating.” Just as you go to descend into the unknown, you hear a scream from faraway. Aphrodite. The Fury…they have gotten to her, and now they will come for you.

Panic rises in your throat and you nearly drop the panel.