THROWN BACK INTO ROME

Elena and Helen chattered away as last night's dream stuck in my head. Elena and Morgan were after someone - someone related to Kronos - and from what they said, someone who they could trust to protect them, enough to consider seducing. Yet, Elena didn't follow through...

"Yiannis?"

Helen waved to me. I was so lost in thought that I didn't realize how far behind I was. I waved back and ran towards them.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something. Did the two of you see anything?"

Helen shook her head. "The last few days, we haven't encountered bands of monsters. Does it mean we're getting closer to an exit?"

"Possibly. It'd be nice if it were true."

Elena nudged me. "It could be true. But it's also a sign of something dangerous ahead."

I looked at Elena. Her smile was in stark contrast to the past few days. I sometimes caught her sobbing alone. Had Morgan threatened her? Had she already retaliated?

I looked at Elena again, imagining the things Morgan could have said and done to her. I watched her smile disappear, radiating warmth no more. I watched tears flow from her eyes - coerced, afraid, miserable. 

I returned to the present, still dazzled by her smile. Can I protect it?

"Don't cry anymore."

Elena's raised eyebrow asked the question before her lips could. "Um, what? Yiannis, is something wrong?" 

"Sorry! I just - these past few days, I've been worried about you." I went back to yesterday where she cried herself to sleep.

"I don't mean to pry, but are you ok? Did I do something that upset you, or did I hurt you without knowing it?"

Elena was silent, and I feared she was furious that I mentioned it. But it didn't seem so. Her face softened as she pulled me towards her and kissed me.

"It's not because of you, Yiannis, I promise. I'll be fine, but thank you," she squeezed my hand, which assured me a bit.

"Alright. I'll be there for you if you need me to."

"I know. Thank you."

Elena turned away. "We've let Helen get quite far."

I nodded. "We should catch up."

Along the way, we saw sunshine.

We caught up with Helen, but we also found ourselves surrounded by monsters. There were doors behind us, and they slammed shut. What was different was that the beasts weren't gunning for us. They sat on rows of seats in what seemed to be a coliseum. We were in a monster arena, currently preoccupied with a match.

A man was fighting an amphisbaena, a quadrupedal, serpentine creature with chicken legs and two heads at each end. Despite how they looked, the beasts were great diggers, and that's what it started doing.

The man barely dodged the head that popped out of the ground. He managed to slice it with his sword but it simply regenerated. It started spewing poisonous goo, something the man blocked with his shield. Before he could cut its head again, it went back into the ground. 

Th monsters in the crowd jeered the man. "Fight, fight, fight!" they shouted as they pelted him with stones. "We want blood!"

The amphisbaena kept at its tactic of surprise attack from below. The man kept dodging, but he was clearly exhausted now. This was where the audience threw all the stones they could, knocking him to the ground, the amphisbaena licking its lips. 

The monsters roared. While they didn't say it, I knew they wanted blood. There was even monster staff keeping their fellow beasts from descending on the man, who stared agape at his foe before he noticed me, tears in his eyes.

Before he could even say it, I cut off both heads of the amphisbaena. Some in the audience hopped down wanting to fight, but the staff knocked them out cold. 

The man tugged my ankle. "Thank you," he whispered. "Thank you, thank you." I would've smiled, but I realized that he looked famished, even malnourished. How did he end up here?

A roar reverberated throughout the stadium, piercing my eardrums. When it faded, I saw something very bizarre. Or someone - a humanoid monster with three heads and three combined torsos.

It hopped on a podium, its body swaying back and forth. The monster yelled, its voice not much better than its roar. Its three heads all spoke at once, making it worse, like loudspeakers blasting different songs, all horrible.

"Attention! We have three new visitors today! Please stay in your seats, folks!"

The monster started dancing, its body a mess. If it tilted, it would fall over, which it did. Once it got up, it started talking again.

"In just a few minutes, the games will commence! Again, please stay in your seats! Now, I will explain the rules to our lovely visitors!"

We were in an actual coliseum, and we were now roman gladiators, fighting against beasts to a crowd's entertainment. After taking on a series of monsters, we would have the chance to earn our freedom by defeating the one at the top - Antaeus. 

Who I presume was the one sitting smugly, watching from afar. Antaeus sat on a throne of skulls inside an elevated chamber with four helical towers keeping it upright. He didn't look all that big from afar, but from the myths, he almost killed Hercules in a wrestling match. And he was a giant, so at least twenty feet tall. A great final boss for a video game, but not in real life.

Geryon looked at us again, and then his eyes widened. "Ah, we have an old guest! Although she hasn't aged much. Your sons worked hard to free you. Yet here you are. Shall I get your old chains for you?"

"Shut it," Elena glowered. "I'm never going back there. Ever."

Elena's fists trembled, her glare chilling. Her otherwise calm demeanor vanished, replaced by a hatred I'd never seen before. She clearly wanted Geryon dead.

Geryon smirked as he kept Elena in check with his ax. "My, someone's sure is excited. But be patient, sweetie. The games haven't started yet." He rammed his ax down, and Elena jumped back.

Geryon addressed the audience. "Our guests are getting a little itchy. Let's start the games, shall we?" The audience roared in approval.

Well, it's now or never.

"Hey, the rules aren't fair."

Geryon raised three brows in confusion. "What do you mean the rules aren't fair? We've spent a lot of time deliberating on the rules, you know."

"But it's not. Why do we have to fight monsters and then Antaeus? Why does he get to sit down and watch?"

"Well, he made this place to watch spectacles. That's a good enough reason, no?"

"Well, why do we have to fight all those monsters? If he wants to fight us, shouldn't he fight us? Or does he only prefer to fight weak opponents who're injured?"

"Would you like to fight Antaeus immediately?"

Elena grabbed my arm. "I could use magic to create blind everyone with light," she whispered. "Then we can get out of here."

"I don't think Antaeus will just let that slide. He'll either come to kill us himself or have Geryon release all the monsters he has. Or he tells the entire audience that they can participate in his games."

"Alright. What about him?"

"We're helping him out. Objections?"

"Not at all. He can come with us if he wants. As for food-"

"I can eat a bit less for a day if I have to."

Antaeus walked out of his little throne room. Well, walk for him. For us, it was stomping. The ground shook with every step he took.

"So the girl has come back?"

He seemed to recognize Elena too. "Kill her," he said. We've already seen the entertainment she could provide. The demigods will prove to be more interesting."

Geryon nodded, but Elena spoke up for herself. "Oh, so you're not even going to fight us? Do you think we'd just die? I guess you've turned into a coward after losing to Hercules. Too scared to fight now?"

Antaeus glared at her and gripped his club. Geryon tried to calm him down. "Let the girl live for now. You can kill her later yourself anyway."

"Kill me like you tried to kill Hercules? If I remember correctly, that ended pretty badly. Is that why you're making us fight monsters? Because you're scared if you lose again?"

Antaeus would have killed her at if Geryon and I didn't get between them. "Calm down, both of you," Geryon gritted his teeth. "Especially you, girl. I don't care if you want to rush to your death, but I'm trying to make money here. Letting you fight Antaeus off the bat would be bad for business."

"And we want to get out of here," I retorted. "I don't see how letting me bypass your entire business model would be so bad. If you advertise it right, I'm sure you can still pull a pretty haul off of this."

"It's not so simple-"

Antaeus cut him off. "Do as the boy says, Geryon."

Geryon stood, paralyzed. "Sir-"

"I SAID DO AS THE BOY SAYS!"

Geryon reeled, gulping as he stared at the audience. "Good guests, I bear some great news! Antaeus has decided to fight right away!" He went on to describe how we badmouthed him, and that Antaeus wants to put me in my place. "This is going to be one heated battle, folks! Will the arrogant newcomers vindicate their mockery, or will Antaeus show them why he owns this arena?"

Helen tugged my shirt. "That giant's scary. Shouldn't we run?"

"A hungry man's gonna slow us down. And I don't think we could outrun a giant. We'll have to fight."

Geryon signaled the start of the fight. Antaeus sprinted, rushing towards Helen.

Antaeus brought his club down and was shocked to see that Helen's body had disappeared. When he saw her again, he also found arrows in his back. He stumbled back, almost falling.

As the myths said, he was a child of the Earth. As long as his body touched the ground, he was immortal. Hercules killed him by lifting him off the ground and then crushing him. Unfortunately, I am not Hercules. But there could be a way, thanks to my sword.

While Antaeus was still on the ground, I leaped and drove my sword into his neck. I felt waves of energy flow into me - way too much. I fell on my back and barely avoided Antaeus's club.

So I absorb Gaia's essence as long as his feet are on the ground. I'll make a paltform for him then, but I need him to stay still...

With Antaeus trying to swat us like flies, I couldn't find a time to communicate with Helen or Elena. But I didn't have to. Converting myself to a shadow made all his attacks phase through me, just like with Menoetius. It was still tiring, though. Regardless, I managed to sneak behind him. I hacked away at his calves and used my powers to create ropes out of his shadow to bind him. 

While I was doing that, Helen shot a barrage of arrows at his face. A couple hit his eyes and made him stagger backwards. Thankfully, he didn't fall on top of me, but on a thin sheet I made just for him. 

I went to work tying his feet, glancing at Elena. She nodded and hopped on top of him, stabbing him all over. Helen aimed at his sides, and without being able to see, Antaeus wailed like a little baby as he didn't know what to do. Unfortunately, giants are loud, and my ears almost exploded. 

Once I finished, Antaeus may as well have been dead. Not even a whimper came from him, and he stopped resisting. He accepted his fate, just like that. Once I drove my sword into him, he began disintegrating into it, and that would be the final match of Antaeus the giant. But not ours. 

Geryon wanted to join in. Could've just said so instead of throwing an axe at me. I almost died. What happened to coliseum rules?

Helen tugged my sleeve. "I don't think I can fight anymore," she huffed. "Not another beast." 

"Yeah, I'm only energetic because I absorbed Antaeus's soul. Geryon might just have the audience descend on us now that we've killed his boss. Shadow travel?" 

"You do it, Yi." 

Helen created a barrier to protect us as I grabbed her and Elena. The problem with shadow travel is that I won't know where I end up in places I haven't been to yet. If we end up somewhere worse than this, it might be game over.