Vampire Greek: The Burning King

Roman walked out of the tunnel triumphantly, the pain in his arm quickly forgotten. Janus eyed him curiously, wondering what had increased the pep in his step.

“What has you so happy? Did you mate with one of the daughters?”

“What? No! Get your mind out of the gutter. I helped them with my weird, undead blood and now they are on my side, simple. I covered the cracks so the tub wouldn’t leak anymore, and now they can wash off their sins.”

“You just might be smarter than I give you credit for.” said the younger head of Janus.

“Obviously. Who’s next?”

“The first prisoner that is not human. Now you will meet Tityos, a giant.”

Roman blinked in confusion. “I’m sorry, titty what?”

“Tityos.” the old head of Janus repeated.

“Sounds like a bootleg pornstar cereal.” Roman commented, chuckling.

“Go ahead, make fun of his name in front of him,” Janus replied smugly as the tunnel collapsed and another opened a few feet away. “I’m sure he’ll like that.”

“I wouldn’t do it in front of him,” Roman replied as he walked towards the tunnel. “It’s just kinda ridiculous, that’s all.”

Roman exited the cave and was greeted with a wide open landmass with plants, boulders, and an almost natural looking night sky. It was still a tad too dark, there was no moon or stars twinkling in the sky. Roman felt his way through the darkness by the boulders until he tripped over something just as large, presumably another rock. After he face planted he took a good look at the grass, waiting for his eyes to adjust. He wasn’t completely sure, but the grass appeared to be black as well, and it felt dead, dry and withered like leaves in the fall. Whatever he tripped on began to move beside him, and he when he squinted he could finally tell what it was. He was staring at a humongous hand twice, no maybe three times the size of his body. It closed into a fist and Roman followed the source of it. The wrist was chained to the rock with the arm outstretched. The links of the chain were huge and rusty, like it had been there a hundred years, but Roman doubted this dimension had weather that could even make it like that. Suddenly, a dull white light began to illuminate the area. He glanced up and noticed the moon was slowly moving to the center of the sky.

How did the moon just appear out of nowhere? He thought. Is daytime completely dark in this dimension?

Now he could see the giants body in full light, a huge bearded and naked man with dried blood on his sides. Walking around in plain view so Tityos could see him, Roman cleared his throat and the giant turned his head.

“Hello, Mr. Tityos, sir-”

“Why am I being greeted by a revenant?”

Tityos’ booming cold voice made Roman’s hair stand on edge. There was something distinctly wrong with the words he said and the way his mouth moved, he couldn’t have been speaking english. Roman thought back a bit and realized that none of the people he met down here should have been speaking english. This must have been the work of Janus, allowing him to communicate with centuries old people.

“I’m just going to cut to the chase, I’ve done this quite a lot already. Basically, I’m asking the prisoners of Tartarus to back me in my fight with Zeus. Once I leave here, I’ll fight him, win, and bargain for the freedom of everyone that sided with me in Tartarus. Capiche?”

“You can’t escape the Underworld to fight Zeus.” Tityos replied groggily.

“I’ve killed one god before, I’m pretty sure-”

“No.” Tityos cut him off. “Do you know what you are? You aren’t human anymore. You aren’t mortal. You’re less than dead. You can’t walk past the gates of the underworld because whatever you were when you were alive is completely gone. If you fought Zeus, or any Olympian once before, it’s clear that they blasted you to pieces. Your mortal body is no longer intact, you’d go up there exactly as you are, an undead, black blooded spectre, too weak to interact with anyone. You’d probably turn to ash in the sunlight. Did you think about that?

Roman was at a loss for words. “No. I guess I didn’t.”

“And what would you do differently in your fight against the gods? Zeus’ bolt has struck down beings you couldn’t hope to compare yourself to.”

“Well...what would you suggest?”

“Seek out the fates. Persuade them, bargain with them. convince them not to snip your life, or to trick the gods somehow. You would never win otherwise.”

“Thank you. Every other prisoner has only told me escaping their punishment is impossible.”

“Because it is.” said Tityos bluntly.

“What is your punishment? I’m pretty sure you could break those chains, they’re very rusty.”

“I never have the strength to do it.” Tityos replied grimly. “Because of them.”

Shadows began to fly overhead and Roman looked up. Two massive ringed creatures flew high overhead in a circular formation.

“They fly down and attack my liver every day, and it grows back every night. This has happened for as long as I can remember. It’s almost my only memory now. I’ve forgotten most of my life.”

“That’s kinda like Prometheus.” Roman noted.

“He was attacked by one eagle. I am attacked by two vultures. He was also freed by Hercules.”

“I guess I’ll be the one to free you then.”

“Don’t waste your time. You should leave before you become an appetizer.”

“No. I got this. Just wait.” Roman picked up a hefty stone and started slamming it against the chains vigorously.”

“You won’t get these chains off before they come down.” Tityos told him.

“Watch me.” Roman replied, out of breath. He kept striking the chains with all his might until he finally saw a crack.

“I did it, I cracked it a little! Try to break it.”

Tityos strained against his chains as the vultures began to fly lower.

“I can’t do it.” he replied grimly.

“Keep trying, I’ll keep hitting it.” Roman went back to work bashing at the chains.

At least I don’t have to get hurt this time. He thought as the chain snapped. Tityos yanked his arm free, accidentally whipping Roman across the chest as his hand reached out into the air, grabbing one of the vultures by its throat. He smacked the vulture into its brother, knocked them both down and shaking the ground. Moving his hand up to its head, he pinched its beak closed with his gigantic fingers and slammed it into the head of its brother, bashing its skull clean open mercilessly. Roman, who had been knocked off his feet by the chains, stood up clenching his bleeding chest and watched the brutality.

“For Christ’s sake.” Roman groaned, struggling to breathe. “I think they’re dead already.”

“FINALLY!” Tityos shouted in victory. “DAMN THESE BIRDS!”

“Uh...Uh… Good for you.” Roman succumbed to his wounds and collapsed.

Tityos noticed his wounded savior and smashed he chains on his other arm in one fell swoop. He gathered up mounds of dirt in his hands and spit into it, molding it into a certain shape. When he was finished, he blew off the excess dirt in his hands and revealed a picture perfect dirt statue of Roman. He laid it next to Roman’s fallen body and picked it up instead, placing him directly on top of the statue. Gently, he laid his hand on top of them and slowly pressed down. Once he lifted his hand, Roman’s black bloodied body and the dirt statue were gone, replaced by a naked Roman with no scars, wounds or typical imperfections. Tityos pressed his index finger on Roman’s chest and Roman burst back to life, breathing heavily and looking extremely scared.

“What the hell just happened?!” he asked, looking up at the giant.

“I revived you by putting your fractured soul into a new vessel. You can now escape the Underworld as you are, though there is no hope for a human mortal to take on the gods. You’re not even a demigod.”

“I was a vampire when I killed Eurus but that’s not even important right now. How did you give me a new body?!”

“I am a son of Gaea, Mother Earth. She carried me to term when I split my mothers womb. Prometheus created mankind, and sense our punishments are so similar I figured I could do the same.”

“Thanks, but, what if it hadn’t worked?”

“I would’ve eaten you, right before I ate the vultures.”

Roman offered up a half hearted laugh. “You’re joking right?”

“Of course. Your tormented figure would’ve tasted disgusting.”

Roman noticed he was naked and started to freak out.

“Can’t you make clothes too?”

“No.” Tityos replied bluntly. He picked up a rock in between his figures and dropped it over Roman. “Hide with a rock.” He said, laughing.

Roman rolled out of the way before his bits, and his entire legs, got crushed.

“I’ll get a smaller one, but thanks.” he replied annoyingly.”Does this mean you’re on my side?”

“Yes indeed, little man. Until you burst into ashes again.”