Vampire Greek: The Burning King

When the swirly nightmare finally ended Roman saw Aphrodite standing by his side.

“How did you get here?” Roman and Janus asked in unison.

“A better question would be why are you here?” she snapped, walking towards him.

“Venus, please-”

“That is NOT my name!” she shouted. She snapped her fingers and a light as bright as the stars shone at her side, giving off extreme heat until it faded and a gigantic fox appeared in its place, baring its teeth and snarling. The fox was three times as big as any werewolf Roman had ever seen, its red and black coat stood out even in this dimly lit area.

“What are you planning?” she demanded, the fox edging closer. Janus stepped back towards the pool

“Nothing! Nothing at all!” He looked past the fox at Roman, and smiled.

“It’ll happen without me.”

“Janus disappeared in a flash, and the fox demeanor changed. He nuzzled up to Aphrodite before running around wildly in the darkness, Going from skipping to galloping to jumping over the two of them like obstacles in a race.

“Tell me what he was planning, and what you’ve been doing this whole time.” she told Roman. He told her everything that had happened so far, including Typhon and the Fates. She appeared shocked and fearful.

“He tried to imitate the twelve labors of Heracles.” she told him.

“What?” Roman asked.

“He wants you to overthrow Olympus so he can turn us back to our roman counterparts.” She explained.

“Roman counterparts? Why would he do that?”

“The roman versions of us are mostly ignored, almost completely forgotten. Our Greek selves are alive and well because we are remembered more. Janus has no greek counterpart, so he exists practically alone, along with the few other roman gods with no greek counterparts. You must not fight Zeus.”

“What?! No. I’m getting my revenge, no matter what. You don’t understand.”

“I do. Us gods have wronged a lot of people over many lifetimes. But don’t you want a nice future? Away from the gods and madness? With Willa?”

“I do. And I’ll get it after I win. I don’t want to rule Olympus or overthrow the gods, I just want revenge. He struck me down twice and sent all of you to kill me. Do y’all like being his puppet? Wouldn’t you like to see a woman in charge like Hera, Athena or yourself? What about Demeter? I don’t remember what she’s the goddess of, but surely anyone would be better than that tyrant. After I win, I won’t bother the gods again, I’ll just be with Willa, and be happy.”

Aphrodite stared at him for a moment and thought to herself.

“It would be nice to have someone else in charge. And since we can’t change fate, I guess it’ll have to be that way. You’ll have to meet Hades and try to convince him to let you leave.”

“What happens if he refuses?” Roman asked.

“That’s what this guy is for.” Aphrodite whistled and the giant fox ran back to her side. “This is the Teumessian Fox. He is destined to never be caught. He will outrun Cerberus easily. Once, a dog named Laelaps was sent after him. She was destined to always catch her prey. This created a paradox, so Zeus put them into the sky and made them constellations.

“Wow. That seems kinda mean to take one out but not the other.” Roman commented.

“Indeed. That’s what I told Artemis a few days ago when she released Laelaps to hunt you down.”

“Laylips did a shitty job then, because I’ve been down here for a while.” Roman approached the creature and smiled as it bent down it’s head to let him pet it.

“I’m fairly certain she called Laelaps off after Zeus cocked you to a crisp.” Aphrodite said smugly.

“I’ll call him Cliff, like another big dog I know.”

“Hop on then, its freezing down here.” Cliff crouched and they climbed on together, with Aphrodite in front.

“Hold on tight.” She told Roman as Cliff turned around to get a running start. She waved her hand and a huge portal opened up on the wall of the cliff. It was crystal clear, Roman could see a long bridge leading to a massive dark palace.

“That’s where Hades lives?” Roman asked.

Aphrodite nodded. Be careful what you say to him, or you’ll face a punishment just as bad as those you tried to help.”

Cliff ran towards the portal at full speed, almost knocking off Roman as a result. He leaped through the portal with ease, and as they passed through they felt a strong rushing wind trying to pull them back in. Cliff landed on the bridge with grace but his back tensed up, the hairs on his back slowly raised. He uttered a low growl and Roman see what he was looking at. Near the palace a large figure had stood up, and it appeared to have three massive heads.

“Not now.” She told the Fox, patting his head. He promptly stopped growling but his body didn’t ease up. He walked slowly towards the palace, trying to ignore Cerberus’ aggression. As they approached Teumess slowly began to shrink, getting smaller and smaller until Aphrodite and Roman got off. The doors opened and a human sized Persephone came out, frowning.

“I didn’t think Olympus had traitors.” said Persephone.

“Oh please. I’m not here for this.” Aphrodite rolled her eyes.

“Mutiny for love? I thought you were wiser.” Persephone led them past the entrance hall and into the throne room, where Hades sat with greyhounds at his feet torches lined the walls and there was a big bonfire in the center of the room, but the fire was a ghostly white. Hades stared at Roman and smiled, a dark gleam in his eyes.

“Persephone told me she found you with Sisyphus.” Hades spoke. “It’s a good thing Aphrodite intervened, because I would have had to step in if you neared his goal.”

“His? You mean Janus?”

Hades nodded. “That man has ulterior mortals for helping you to fight Zeus. If his plan was fulfilled, the gods would change. You wouldn’t like that change, I assure you.”

“The fates have already spoken, Hades. He will fight Zeus, whether you let him leave or not.” Aphrodite replied.

“Who said I would stop him from leaving?” Hades stood up and walked to them.

“You won’t?” Roman asked suspiciously.

“No. Zeus is… long overdue for a reality check. A strike to his ego might just be what he needs, but you need to know, you can’t keep a god down forever. Eurus is back, and he’s fine. He’s pissed and humiliated, but fine. Imagine that, times a thousand. Zeus will climb out of Tartarus with a chip on his shoulder the size of the damn sun. When he comes back, guess who he’s coming after?”

“Me.” Roman replied.

“And everyone who helped you. Gods, monsters and mortals alike. If you think you’ll survive, You’re free to go.” Hades walked back to the throne and Cliff let out a chirpy bark, signaling for them to go. Roman looked around and Aphrodite had disappeared, while Cliff was looking at him expectantly.

“Wait, you mean now?”

“Obviously. I’m not going to help you directly though. Cerberus will try to stop you from reaching the gates, and Thanatos will drag you back here if you make it out. That is, if you don’t make it to Olympus first.”

Roman walked with Persephone and Cliff out of the throne room to the entrance hall, where Cliff grew in size again. Cliff allowed Roman to hop on his back and Roman looked back at Persephone.

“Us that thing really going to chase me?” he asked her.

She laughed. “That’s his job, and he does it well. This fox can outrun him but if Thanatos brings you back, you’ll be Cerberus’ chew toy for the next century.”

“Damn, that sounds ruff.”

“Get out.”

“I’m sorry.”

Cliff walked out of the entrance hall slowly, already growling at Cerberus. The two animals eyed and circled each other, Cerberus’ barks so loud and deep Roman’s hair stood on end. Cliff’s chirpy barks turned into a horrible, ear-piercing scream and he broke off, running down the bridge with the three heads of Cerberus barking in fury.