I stumbled upon the ground and found that I was back at the beginning, although now something was different. There were 4 doors instead of 8 now. I decided to take note of the symbols that were here, the serpent which I had just come out of, a sun to my right, a moon to my left, and a clock on the one in front of me. I started towards the clock but got bounced back by some invisible barrier I could not see.
"Fredrick, my dear friend! You cannot enter that one, it's the one that's saved for last! Feel free to take a gander at your right!" Aion's voice crawled into my ear. What he said confirmed something I figured out earlier, but it will come into play later.
As I thought, the sun room would be next. I started over to the door and slowly crept my way through. The ceiling started to get lower, making me have to crouch, and I could feel the ground starting to descend as well, taking me somewhere even further underground.
Once I emerged from the darkness, I stumbled into a large room. The room was extremely large, likely leading back up to where I had just come from. The ceiling was blinding, likely replicating the light of the sun, which is the symbol of the room. I looked around and saw traces of sanding on the ground and on the wall. There was even some sand on a couple of statues I saw around the room. Some of them were big, too, so how did sand get there?
The room was circular and reminded me of a Roman Colosseum, with walls that had depictions of suns and different pictures of Roman gods. I recognized Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and Sol Indiges, the god of the sun.
"Well, Fredrick! I have some new information for you! I've given this to the 6 other people who have made it to the second room. The time you have is yours. In this room, you'll get another 10 minutes to do the challenge, which I'll explain to you later, but there's something else. Your total time is important for the final room, and for this room, the 10 extra seconds you had at the end of the previous room will be added onto your current time, giving you 10:10 total to complete this room's challenge," Aion's voice was serious for once, and everything he said made sense, I had a feeling it would all end up this way. "Now, if you recall, I said 'Your time is yours' which means that you can do what you want. This means that you are allowed to rest if you think you can escape this room in less than 10:10. I will not intervene at all, but word of the wise, some people would've appreciated those 10 seconds. Now, onto the challenge. In the center of the room, you should see an hourglass. This will represent your remaining time, and don't worry, I've factored in the 10 extra seconds. Unless you can calculate your time by looking at the sand, you will not know your exact number. As the sand drips from the glass, it will slowly pour into this room, but once it enters this room from the glass, it will greatly increase in volume. You will have to make your way through the room on an obstacle course that will appear once the glass turns. Good luck!"
By the end of what Aion had said, he had returned to his normal self, but hardly before I processed everything I felt sand already starting to form at my feet. I looked and saw that the hourglass had already turned and started to pour. In front of me, a small platform had risen. I looked up and saw a giant death course awaiting me. There were giant walls of spikes I had jumped around, fire being blasted on and off that'd I have to time perfectly to avoid being burnt to a fucking crisp. My eyes showed plenty more that I didn't want to see, but now I need to focus up and just go for it, especially since time was draining and fast. I jumped and quickly saw the next jump. It was a rotating blade platform. There was a small square platformer with blades surrounding it, I would have to be fast and time it with the blade constantly retracting and extending. I took the jump and barely jumped off when I heard the blades extending again. When my feet made contact with the next platform, I saw that my foot had got caught by one of the blades, and a huge cut had appeared. I ripped off a bit of my jacket and tied it around the cut to serve as a temporary bandage.
I had realized there was a pattern in the course so far. It would throw something in front of me and another platform. So far, rather simple. Looking ahead, I saw this pattern would not continue for long.
There were balls of fire leaping out of the round in front of me, meaning I would have to time these right again. Looking at the flaming balls, they gave no room for error. One after another in less than a second.
Behind them was a bridge that appeared to be made out of light. The bridge had sloped upward steeply, and was slightly translucent. I could see through it, and honestly didn't know if I could even stand on it without falling through. Unfortunately, I had no way of knowing, and I started to feel sand starting to pile up on my shoes, meaning I had even less time for the rest of the course. I glanced back at the hourglass and saw ~8:28 remaining in terms of sand. There was still a lot of time, but it also meant I had a lot further to go.
I continued on through the obstacle course. Dodging flaming balls that would appear out of the ground or the wall without warning, across several light bridges that barely held my weight, hopped across spikes as they fell beneath me. I had to climb a wall that would occasionally have spikes pop out at random, I would have to dodge. One of them grazed my side, if I had been a split second slower, it would've led to me being cut open.
Eventually, I found myself near the end. I could the final platform which would stop the sand. I looked down and saw the sand closing in, about 3 feet below me. The hourglass looked like it had about 2 minutes 33 seconds left, meaning if I did this properly I would start racking loads of time, which I knew would be important. I stared down the remaining obstacles. There were two platforms connected by a very narrow beam, and they were rotating around the center of the beam. Additionally, it looked like it would start wobbling once I stood on it. After it lay a giant Pillar that would constantly move up and down, I would have to time my jumps on and also off of it. After that it looked like a tunnel of light, I would have to jump through without hitting any light.
I had spent so much time thinking the sand had almost caught up to me, so I had to get a move on. I jumped onto the platform and immediately felt my body fall, but I was able to quickly adjust my balance and started dragging my exhausted legs along the tight beam. After almost losing my balance multiple times, I heaved myself onto the pillar while it was down. I lay there for a few seconds, nearly drifting to sleep, until I remembered that would lead to my death. I wondered how many people have died this way? Aion said 6 other people have attempted this and not made it. Who were those 6 other people? Could they have been the people in the Helix Project before me? Other organizations? Plenty of explanations that I can think of later.
I peeled my body off the ground as I felt sand graze my back. The sand was extremely hot, making me howl as I stood up. Looking at the back of my arms where I was laying I saw they were already burnt, luckily the pillar just started a going up cycle, so I escaped that time. This shock brought me back to my senses and allowed me to summon all the strength I have left in my body as I threw myself through the tunnel of light. Finally, I saw the door. It had a moon on it, and I knew exactly how this would go. I had traversed time.
I found myself back in the main room, but this time it was different. There were 8 doors again instead of 4, but I knew Aion's tricks. In fact, I already predicted this would happen.
"Very well, Fredrick! With your remain-"
I've played his game long enough. Now, it's time for Aion to play mine. I cut Aion off by swiftly walking towards the clock room and swung the door open.
"I have 2:36 left, which is more than enough for you."
The door swung open, leaving a stunned Aion looking at me.
"Very well then."