A Collection of my Writer's Games Entries

When in Rome: Task 7 (Tyber Mitango) D1

“Come on,” Phae whispered, “I have a plan.” Only I could hear her – Phae would know that. No one else knew her secret but me. I followed her, sticking to the shadows.

“What happens if we kill Charon?” I asked curiously. The bad-boy me would never have dared to say something that smart. Phae raised an eyebrow, “Charon is the boatman-”

“I know who he is,” she whispered, annoyed, “How do you?”

“My brother,” I shrugged. It was an honest answer. Phae seemed deep in thought, “Change of plans?”

Then Nixie screamed – attracting the unwanted attention of Charon. Nixie’s eyes turned from blue to red– a sign that her alter-ego Trixie had made a spontaneous appearance. Trixie must have had a plan. She tried to stab Eden, but he neatly dodged her attempt. Then Trixie focused on myself and Phae.

“Remember the partner thingy is the Career school?” I asked nervously as she prepared to charge.

“Yeah, but I had no one to practice with.” She said through gritted teeth, not taking her eyes off Trixie – who had now begun to charge at us with a katana in her hand.

“I trust you.” I almost shouted because adrenaline was already coursing through my body. I unsheathed my sword and deflected two fatal blows before slicing her leg, then ducking as Phae swiped her clawed knuckles at Trixie’s face and somersaulting over my back and kicking her to the ground. Phae and I stood side by side, waiting for a blood-covered Trixie to come at us again. But she looked to the left first, spotting Charon. She let out a growl before charging at him – it seemed like Trixie was indestructible, no wonder she volunteered. Before Charon could react, Trixie had him by the throat and strangled him until they both tumbled into the river. Charon instantaneously was mauled by lost spirits that lurked in the water. Trixie, however, had now changed to Nixie. She yelled in surprise and flailed about in the water trying to get to the edge. But the spirits started dragging her down. She bobbed under and came up yelling for help. I started towards her but Phae grabbed my hand.

“She’s dangerous, and one less for us to kill.” She hissed quickly as Eden came over to watch the scene. Her grip on my hand didn’t release. I thought about a smart-alec comment I could make: ‘Handing holding!? Phae, I think we better slow this relationship down’ but I thing that would earn me some red cheeks. I turned away as I watched Nixie drown and get devoured. Soon the water was a white mist, mixed with a few bits of flesh, bone bits and skin. I shuddered. We could have paid Charon to get past – avoided losing Nixie, if only I could turn back time….

“Let’s get on this yacht!” Phae cheered, dragging myself and Eden to the dinghy.

I wouldn’t even call this a dinghy. It’s more like a few bits of rotted wood with a spooky lantern on top that is rusted to the point of extinction. I would call it rubbish – it belongs in the bin. That was part of the reason I volunteered to row the boat though. If those hungry spirits came for me – I could beat them away – I’m not sure how that would work though. I wasn’t sure how they could even consume a human if they were supposedly transparent.

“That’s a big shadow,” Phae gawked, interrupting my thoughts. I looked over my shoulder to see a large shadow – Cerberus. As we got closer, I could also see a shadow sneaking up along the bank of the river. I did a quick count in my head and figured that it must be the only remaining tribute who was not in our alliance – either that or Nixie/Trixie had made a reappearance. My bets were on it being the boy from District 5. I slowed the boat down and coasted into the bank, hitting with a soft thud that made the rubbish-of-a-dinghy groan. We silently slipped out – something Phae excelled in – and ducked behind the bank. I had lost track of the whereabouts of the boy from 5.

“How do you plan on getting past that big three-headed puppy?” Phae whispered, looking at myself and Eden.

“His name is Cerberus,” I began quietly, “And I’m hoping we can use someone as bait.” They both went wide-eyed, “We have an unwanted visitor from District 5,”

“So we can use him as a distraction and slip through the gates,” Eden nodded along. I knew Phae would grasp the plan – even if she was supposed to be dumb, but it was how she worked. So we glided like ghosts up the top of the bank. Cerberus seemed to be sound asleep with an enormous amount of dribbled drooping from all of his mouths.

“Or we could get past,” I suggested, as just as I was about to rise from our position – Mr. 5 crept out of the darkness. He treaded carefully and went slowly – not even noticing us. He didn’t even realise that the three-headed dog had stopped snoring, I almost – almost – wanted to warn him but stopped myself. The beast rose up silently, like a growing shadow. Mr. 5 only stopped to look up when the shadow came over him. I heard him gulp loudly. Cerberus snarled, making dribbling topple to the ground. Phae, Eden and I took the chance to soundlessly run up to the gates. There was a painful cry before the chopping and growling began. One of his arms was tossed into the gate and I watched as the blood and organs splattered as the three heads tore the poor boy apart. Even without his arm he was screaming. I stood, frozen – too shocked to move because the beasty had turned to me with Mr. 5 still hanging motionless from different mouths. I felt Phae’s soft hands grab my wrist and yank me through the gates then she slammed them shut quickly as Cerberus went psycho trying to reach us. I was panting from the shock of almost being eaten alive. I turned to Phae to apologize but she held up a hand.

“Don’t ever do that again, okay?” she said angrily, but I could see the worry in her hazel eyes.

“Okay,” it came out in a hoarse whisper. She nodded to herself – as if she had completed her duty. And spinning on her heel, she led the way that was supposedly into the depths of the Underworld.

A blinding pain in my chest made me fall not even a minute into the walk. I moaned in pain and put pressure on my chest to somehow ease the pain. I closed my eyes to see an image of Jewel. I shouted and opened my eyes.

“You alright, Tyber?” Eden asked. Phae was leaning over me, wearing concern on her face.

“Jewel!” I murmured. I pulled myself up and saw her – my beautiful sister – standing in the center of the barren Underworld. Dione said she was alive – had he lied, or didn’t he know? I shouted her name and ran to her. I could hear my allies behind me and kept running but she always seemed out of reach. But I stumbled through her body and landed in front of the castle, which I would assume, was Pluto’s. I looked around for Jewel. I had just gone straight through her – like she was a ghost, or a hallucination. I cursed and got up. She’s still alive. I told myself. Phae arrived breathlessly behind me.

“Jewel,” I panted, “She was just here.” I exclaimed.

“Tyber, she probably fine.” Phae squeezed my hand, “Almost everyone loves your sister,” I caught Eden staring and Phae ripped her hand from mine and mouthed ‘cooties’ to him. Why couldn’t she just be normal? Why couldn’t I find out if Jewel was alive? Did Pluto live in this castle? Too many questions pondered my mind. I kicked the ground in frustration. I hated this world! Mum and Dad are gone. Maybe Jewel too. I blinked away a tear. Then I felt a presence behind me.

 “Hello children,” a familiar voice said from behind us. My questions would have to wait. Eden, Phae and I turned around in unison and gaped. Standing in front of us was Pluto – God of the Underworld – and in one of his hands he held a limp body. He threw it on the ground.

“I’d be worried, if I were you. Who knows who is controlling the Games now,” he smirked and threw down the body. It was none other than the notorious Gamemaker.

Antonio Silver.