Vampire Greek: The Burning King

Willa placed her hand within Roman’s and they both began to feel a warm tingling sensation. Roman heard a buzzing sound and felt his body began to vibrate. He closed his eyes as his skin began to burn and after a loud crack Roman could tell they had teleported. He opened his eyes and the gods towered over them, with Zeus directly in front. Olympus was brighter than ever, but Roman couldn’t see the light source. Zeus glared at them angrily while the other gods had indifferent looks on their faces.

“You never learn, do you?” He spoke threateningly.

“I’ve learned a lot, actually.” Roman replied, staring down, or rather up at the sixty foot god.

“Not you.” Zeus sneered. He looked at Willa.

“Why do you continue to disobey me?”

Willa glared at him fiercely. “You deserve what’s about to happen.”

He flicked his wrist and a golden light encircled Willa, drawing tighter and tighter until it covered her entire body. She vanished with the light, leaving no trace behind.

“Where did she go?!” Roman shouted.

“Where she can’t interfere anymore.” he replied, bending down to look at Roman the way a child would look at an ant.

“You appear to be alive again. How did this happen?”

“It’s none of your damn business.” Roman replied, smoke starting to emanate from his skin. “But I came for a rematch.”

“REMATCH?!” Zeus laughed echoed across the room. The other gods remained silent.

“You are nothing but a fly on the wall. There was no fight to begin with.”

“But there will be one now.” said Roman, whispers in his ears as his body started to grow, larger and larger until he was comparable to the gods themselves in size. Everyone, including Zeus, looked shocked.

It’s time. They chanted. It’s time. It’s time.

“You’ve got a lot of punished people in Tartarus. But no one has ever punished you for your own sins.”

“And you think a lowly, ill-gotten monster will be the one to do it?” Zeus raised his hand, and the air crackled around it.

“I know I will.” Roman swung at Zeus but Zeus was faster. He grabbed Roman by the throat and slammed him against a pillar, shaking the palace.

“Zeus!” said a goddess Roman wouldn’t recognize. “Take this outside.”

Zeus hands burned Roman’s throat as the thunder rumbled overhead. His eyes cackled with electricity and the air began to vibrate.

“Gladly.”

Zeus flew through the ceiling of the palace and held Roman high in the sky. Everything was eerily black now, the clouds thick swirls of fluff and the wind whipping across their faces. Zeus’ face was a mask of rage, slivers of electricity flying off his beard. Roman tried to free himself from Zeus’ vice-like group, but it wouldn’t work. Fortunately for him, he didn’t need to breathe.

“This new aura of yours is familiar. Who aided you in returning?”

“Everyone.” Roman managed through gritted teeth.

Fly. They whispered.

Roman kicked Zeus in the chest and finally got free of his grip. He hovered in the air just as Zeus did, but didn’t stay fixated on it for long. He lunged for Zeus and grabbed him by his robes, repeatedly hitting him in the face. With each strike he hit harder, more and more smoke emitted by his fists. Zeus regained composure and grabbed Roman’s fist, and everything stopped. The rain, wind, lightning, thunder, everything ceased. Roman began breathing rapidly. He smelled it. He could see it. Zeus lifted his head and wiped the golden blood off his lip. Zeus screamed in a rage and lightning exploded off the surface of his skin like a massive firework. Roman backed away in time to avoid it but he wasn’t afraid in the slightest. The rain, wind and lightning all reappeared, but caused little more than a minor annoyance to Roman.

Bite him. They whispered. Gain the strength that you lost. That you craved.

Zeus summoned a lightning bolt longer than the both of them and through it like a javelin, it’s light streaking across the sky as it impaled Roman in the chest. The pain disappeared in seconds. Roman gingerly touched the bolt and pulled it out of his chest. Darkness consumed the bolt and its light fizzled away, becoming a mysterious smoky spear.

“You unnatural demon!” Zeus roared. Roman through the spear and Zeus blasted it away with a bolt of lightning.

“I will chop you to pieces and cast you down into Hades, like I did my father!” Zeus lunged at Roman and Roman did the same, both trying to bring each other down.

“I’ll drag you down there with me!” Roman yelled. He hissed and lunged for Zeus throat but Zeus struck him in the back with a huge bolt, knocking Roman off of him. The hit revealed Roman’s bare lower back, shirt and smoke briefly gone. The spot reddened and got darker until Roman’s body was completely enveloped in it once more. He turned around, seething.

“That doesn’t seem to work anymore, does it?” he taunted.

“Even the Fates…” Zeus murmured. He looked down at Olympus and saw the other gods outside of the palace, all looking on with mild interest except Ares, who was beside himself with excitement. He looked at Apollo’s bow and held out his hand. Apollo immediately obliged and threw his bow into the sky, without giving Zeus arrows. As Roman got closer, Zeus caught it and pulled back the bowstring, creating three arrows of lightning with his fingertips. He let go and all three struck Roman, one in the leg, the other in the chest, and the last into his right eye. He screamed in agony before they exploded and doubled over in pain. Zeus smiled at his handiwork until Roman flew over the crowds and turned back to the other gods for more ideas.

“Hephaestus,” he spoke to him this time. “Your shield.”

Hephaestus chuckled and hucked the shield at him like a frisbee. Zeus caught it without looking and slowly rose above the clouds. Roman hovered above him with haggard breath, but any damage done was no longer noticeable. His eyes were as black as the vast emptiness of space and a hostile looking black cloud was forming above his head Zeus threw a bolt at it and it split in two, becoming shadowy versions of the birds that attacked Tityos. They surrounded Zeus on both sides and pecked at his arms and clothes, tearing the flesh off of him, golden blood dripping everywhere like liquid sunlight against the dark backdrop of the sky. Roman flew in for an attack but Zeus held the shield in his right hand and grabbed Roman with the other, nearly decapitating him as he rammed the shield at his throat. Inky black blood spewed from the wound and Roman coughed up more as he tried to pull out of Zeus grasp.

“It’s been a while since I’ve faced a monster worthy enough to fight me.” Zeus said as he pushed the shield farther into Roman’s throat. “This is precisely why I can’t let you exist.”

Roman looked upwards and reached out, blood now streaming from his nose. Zeus looked up to see a huge spherical shape forming high up, taking the form of Sisyphus’ boulder. Roman’s arm limply dropped to his side as the boulder came down upon them both, smacking them with so much force they went hurtling towards the mountain.

Get up! Get up! GET UP! The voices rang in his head. As everything came into focus, Roman saw that Zeus was pinned under the boulder and the faux vultures were perched on top of it. Instead of attacking, the vultures stared at Roman intently, waiting for his next move.

“It’s hard for him to help you from here.” One spoke. “Hide and heal before Zeus moves again.”

Roman could feel his throat healing but he didn’t have the strength to move yet.

“I... can’t.” Roman managed a harsh whisper. The vulture nodded as if it understood. Suddenly, a black wall of smoke appeared around Roman on all sides, solidifying until it felt like cold metal surface. He leaned against the side and noticed how the rainwater was gathering around him and looked up at the sky.

This is the tub. He realized. The Danaides tub.

Zeus roared in anger from a few feet away and the vultures flew to Roman’s tub. His left arm began to smoke again and he could feel his body heating up. The pain in his neck was gone.

“I’m ready.” He told the vultures.

“Good.” One replied. “Because he’s throwing the boulder.”

The vultures flew away as the boulder smashed the tub to pieces, but Roman was nowhere to be found. Zeus approached the remaining fragments of the tub, carefully surveying his surroundings.

“Where are you, demon?” Zeus spoke, the air around him crackling and buzzing.

“I’m ready to finish this, once and for all.”

The broken pieces of the tub started to dissolve into smoke and collect together. Zeus stopped where he stood as the shape became larger and larger until it solidified into a giant wheel with wings.

“Ixion.” Zeus muttered, glaring at the wheel. “All of you will pay.”

Electricity began to accumulate at his fingertips as the wheel’s wings became to flap. A small black bat flew from behind the boulder and hitched a ride onto the wheel as it took off, soaring above the clouds.

“GET BACK HERE!!!” Zeus shouted as he flew after it, holding lightning bolts in each hand. He slammed them into each other and as one they grew in length, becoming so bright it looked like a shooting star landed on earth and was flying back into the sky. When Zeus rose above the clouds, the wheel slammed itself into him, instantly falling apart. The wings limply fell out of the sky while Zeus, although angrier, appeared unfazed.

“WHERE DID YOU GO?!!” He shouted into the sky. He watched the broken wheel fall, looking for a sign of Roman when he heard a hissing sound above him. A humongous black bat descended upon him, eerily similar to the creature that attacked Roman in the pond while in Tartarus. Before he could react, Zeus was wrapped in its clutches unable to move as it sank its teeth down into his shoulder. The entire sky filled with lightning, striking every surface on Olympus. The bat became smaller and slowly became human as Zeus drove the massive lightning bolt through its chest, but it didn’t matter. Roman smiled as he took his human form, his heart now beating. He coughed up golden blood that was now his own, and Zeus’ eyes went white. He grabbed Roman by the throat and electricity sparked off of his body from head to toe. Zeus flew down like a speeding bullet, crashing through the palace in a blinding explosion. The entire floor cracked under the impact. Zeus stood over Roman, who was conscious but immobile. The other gods rushed back into the palace, Now looking a lot more interested than before.

“Zeus,” Hera pleaded. “Don’t you think that’s enough?”

In response, more lightning sparked off Zeus, hitting the ceiling, the pillars, even the thrones. Zeus kneeled over Roman and beat him mercilessly, striking him so hard the ground under Roman’s head cracked even more.

I can’t move! Roman panicked, feeling himself get weaker and weaker with each hit. I was winning; I bit him, how is this possible? I should’ve been stronger, but for a split second.-

I’m ready. A voice called out to Roman. A voice he had heard before, but not in English. It’s time for my rematch now.

“You should’ve stayed dead.” Zeus told him. “Any other creature given a second chance would flee for its life.”

“It’s three.” Roman muttered, spitting up teeth and golden blood. Hera and Aphrodite gasped in shock, but Zeus ignored them.

“What did you say?” Zeus demanded.

“Three. I’ve died three times. Once at seven, the second time when you did it, and the third time before I came here.” Roman starting coughing but broke into a smile. It reminds me of a poem, but I’ll have to paraphrase a bit. It goes like this: My life closed thrice before its close, it yet remains to see. If immortality unveil a fourth attempt to me. So huge, so hopeless to conceive, as these that thrice befell. Parting is all we know of heaven, and all we need of hell.”

“Funny of you to mention hell,” Zeus said triumphantly. “Because you’ll be tortured there for eternity.”

“No.” Roman replied. “I think it’s your turn.”

The floor beneath them started to fall away revealing a huge pit of darkness with wailing souls crying out to them. Roman’s body hovered over the pit, but Zeus began to fall through. He quickly grabbed on to the remaining floor but even that continued to chip away.

“What is this?” He shouted in confusion. “HADES!”

I AM NOT HADES. A voice below bellowed. YOU KNOW MY NAME, ZEUS.

For the very first time, Roman saw true fear in Zeus’ eyes. Hera ran to help Zeus, but she was too late. Zeus lost his grip and was swallowed by the pit, disappearing so fast it was as if darkness itself closed its fist around him.