Vampire Greek: The Burning King
Chapter 34: Tantalus

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU KILLED HIM?!” Janus shouted. His body emanated power. His eyes glowed with white with fury, Roman took a few steps back, pressing up against the cliff wall. It started to shake and he stepped away from that too.

“I was trying to help him, I swear to god-”

“What happened to using the lyre!”

“I”m not Orpheus, or anybody else with talent! There was no way in hell I would’ve been able to stop it like he did, you should’ve lowered your expectations.”

“Orpheus? You know his name now?”

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“Was he angry? Upset? Did you gain his favor?”

“He was relieved, actually. He wanted the pain to end. He thanked me, kind of.”

Janus stroked his beard and pondered this revelation.

This could potentially still work. Yes… yes I’m sure of it. Very well. Onto the next prisoner.” Janus motioned towards the pond. “Get in.”

Roman gaped at him. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am.” said both faces.

“There was a monster in there that tried to kill me!” he protested.

“It’s gone now. Get in.” Janus repeated.

Roman remembered Janus leering over the edge earlier. “What do you want me to do in it, backstrokes?”

“No. You will walk into the pool and keep walking until you come up on the other side. The quicker you move the less you’ll have to hold your breath. You won’t need to swim until you reach the other side. I assume that’s possible even for someone as inept as you?”

Roman decided to take the insult in stride. He quietly nodded and Janus smiled.

“You’re becoming more disciplined, I’m surprised. This is the last king you will meet. His name is Tantalus. I’m fairly certain you won’t be able to kill him this, wait there’s a rock!” Janus facepalmed his old face and murmured something about curses. “Look, don’t kill him, you got that?”

“Yeah, of course, I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.”

“You’re planning on fighting Zeus for the second time.”

“But I don’t plan on losing.” he said as he stepped in the water. It was shockingly cold compared to his surroundings, he was surprised it hadn’t frozen over. With each step he took the more he went down, like a mysterious invisible ladder. He never felt like he was floating, or like the water was carrying him. It felt more like he was an anvil, like he was anchored to whatever lay below. The water finally reached his chin and he took a deep breath pausing for a few seconds before speed walking through the water. Almost as soon as it was submerged his head sprung up out of the water, in an entirely new environment. Here it was sunset, the sky was a beautiful orange and there were tons of small islets around. Some of the trees were almost completely underwater, with no ground visible under them. Roman noticed that he actually had to swim to stay afloat now, and the water wasn’t half as cold as it was in that other part of Tartarus. Roman looked around and saw a decrepit, emaciated man up to his neck in water next to a tree with fruit almost directly near his head, struggling furiously to reach the fruit. Every time his hand got near one of the fruits the branch moved upwards by its own will, seemingly to mock him.

“Tantalus?” Roman questioned. Tantalus turned to gaze at his new visitor.

“Why have you come here? Are you punished as well?”

“No. Well yes, but this isn’t my punishment. I have come here to learn about you, and to seek your help.”

“My help in what?”

“In bringing down Zeus, of course.” Tantalus stared at him in disbelief.

“You? You’re a mortal.”

“I won’t be for long. With my vampirism and the collective power of the inmates of Tartarus, I’ll bring Zeus down.”

“You are going on a mission to recruit all of the prisoners of Tartarus?” Tantalus laughed. “Good luck with that.”

“Not all, just twelve. It’s… symbolic, or whatever.”

“The twelve labors… and you don’t even know. Who recruited you? You didn’t think of this yourself.”

“A god named Janus.”

“I can’t say I’ve heard of him.” Tantalus thought aloud.

“This isn’t about me though, I’m here to learn about you. What did you do to anger Zeus?”

“Get me this fruit, or help me drink this water, and I’ll tell you.”

“Fine.” Roman waded over and plucked an apple from the tree. Tantalus stared at him like a child does when someone disappears while playing peekaboo.

“Oh gods, please give it to me!”

“Here.” Roman tossed it to him.

“NO!” Tantalus screamed. The apple shriveled and dissolved into nothing before he could reach it, leaving him swiping at nothing. He punched the waves in fury, cursing the gods as he looked up to the sky. He laid against the trunk of the tree and murmured something about thirst. A big rock hung directly above his head from one of the higher branches.

“You can’t eat or drink anything, can you?” Roman asked him.

“Very observant. I hope you didn’t hurt your head trying to figure that out.”

Roman steadied himself and cupped his hands. The water was pure and clear, so he held out his hands to Tantalus.

“Tell me about yourself and I’ll give you water.”

Tantalus shook his head. I’ve tried for centuries. I can’t drink or eat anything. There’s no use.”

Tantalus cupped his hands himself and tried to reach for the water but it lowered all around him.

“Zeus invited me to Olympus once. I stole nectar and ambrosia from them to bring back to my people, and I revealed some secrets of the gods.”

“I see why they punished you, but this still seems a little severe.”

“That’s not the worst of it. I offered my son up as a sacrifice.”

“I thought gods appreciate that kind of thing.”

Tantalus looked at him, red eyed and teary.

“Not as the main course.”

“You fed them your son?!” Roman exclaimed, disgusted.

“Demeter is the only one that took a piece, the others knew something was wrong. I deserve this.” He reached for an apple again only to have it move out of his reach once more.

“I deserve this.” he whispered to himself.

“You do. And so do the others. But the main ones that should atone are the ones casting judgement. I’m sure the gods have done far worse, to mortals and each other. Hell, I don’t know much about greek mythology and even I know Zeus cut up his father and put him down here. Say you have my support, and I’ll make sure you can drink and it again after I defeat Zeus.”

“You’ve gone mad. You can’t change anything here, you don’t have that power.”

“I could make that request. I could bargain with the gods-”

“Who’s to say they’ll listen to you?”

“I do. I say it.”.

Tantalus grew annoyed with Roman, so he refrain from speaking any further. Roman, frustrated and silent, bit his lip a little too hard. The horrible coppery taste filled his mouth, but it also gave him another idea. He cupped his hands and scooped up water again, but this time he let a drop of blood from his lip get into the water. It darkened slightly as his blood dispersed into the water, but it still looked fairly okay.

“Open up.” Roman held his hands out to him.

“There’s no point-”

“Do it!” Roman demanded.

Tantalus slowly obliged and Roman poured the contaminated water into his mouth. Tantalus’ eyes widened when he realized the water was actually going into his mouth instead of being repelled by an unseen force. He swallowed in a loud gulp and coughed harshly.

“What type of monster are you?” He said with ragged breath.

“I’m just human, and dead now, but when I was alive I was a vampire. I drank the blood of the gods and I managed to kill one of them. That’s why Zeus struck me down.”

Tantalus stared at him with a renewed light in his eyes.

“Do you truly believe you stand a chance against the ruler of the gods?”

“I’m absolutely certain.”

“Then you have my support, Roman. Don’t fail us.”

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