Chains Made of Stars- ON HOLD

Chapter 11: Legacy of the colosseum

None of the images are mine^^

Hey there readers, as you can see, the story has moved out of India and on to Italy (Our main characters will definitely be returning to India though). Their travels will take them to places which I may not have seen in person (or places which I saw when I was younger and have only fuzzy memories of), so forgive me if my descriptions of them are a little off-kilter.  However, I obsess over Conde Nast Traveler and Lonely Planet, so maybe I've picked up some travel-writing skills from there ;)

Mood of the chapter: Dear readers, the next couple of chapters are about travel, history, legacy and ancestry. It's about taking pride in and learning from the people who came before you. It's about knowing that their stories are yours. It's about knowing that you are not alone. It's about the past, and why it is so important in the future.

The trio trekked across the sky-floor to the entrance. Mith felt that exiting the Ark was equally, if not more, harrowing that entering it. The sky-floor dissolved beneath their feet once they reached the entrance, and then they fell.

Mith's heart twisted as Laila screamed bloody murder. Poor girl, she didn't know what it meant to fall. She was too used to soaring to know what it was like to plummet without wings.

The gentle updraft soon caught them, but this time it took them down instead of up.

Will's beat up old plane was hovering below the stars, and they pulled themselves through the hatch; Will with a cocky smirk on his face, Laila with her twig-slender limbs trembling violently, and Mith vehemently wishing that she could wipe the aforementioned smirk off Will's face.

Laila collapsed on one of the seats, her breath coming in faint gasps. Mith scrunched herself into the neighbouring seat , and tentatively held her hand.

The pilot swivelled around to get a good look at the new addition to the rag-tag prison-break team. Mith saw him lower his eyes in embarrassment and pity, and she scowled darkly.

"William," the pilot murmured in a low voice. "Was shredding her wings absolutely necessary?"

Will snorted. "You sound like Mithali."

"Except a lot less profane," he added with a grin.

"Will, do us all a favour and shut up for a bit, won't you?" Mith said angrily.

He said something snarky, and the cabin lapsed into tense silence; the plane glided over the Arabian Sea and into the night. Laila shivered. Mith could tell that she hadn't been in a plane before. Being trapped inside a great metal bird, wingless at that, was cruelly ironic.

The flight was long-haul, a straight 9 hour journey that sapped everyone except Mith's energy. Mith was seemingly resistant to the soul crushing properties of an airplane. She hadn't slept but had stayed up to gaze at the stars instead. She hadn't washed her face or eaten, but her eyes were bright and her skin clear.

Mith had been born with the innate spirit of a true wanderer, the kind that delighted in long journeys and meeting new people. Naturally, flying was a joy for her, and when she was in the air, nothing could dampen her spirit.

"How are you not scared?"

The voice was faint, and Mith realised with a start that Laila had spoken to her in perfect English.

"I, uh..." Mith hesitated, unsure of how to explain the way wide open oceans and roads that stretched into the horizon called to her.

"I love travel," she said finally. "So, uh, being in an airplane doesn't bother me at all."

Laila looked curiously at Mith.

"Why do you love it?" She asked softly.

Mith thought about this.

"I don't really know," she admitted. "It's mostly that feeling you get when you realise that the world is so big, y'know?"

"I don't," Laila said ruefully. "The ark has been my home for as long as I can remember, so can I see the world from above, but never up close. If I'm caught here I'll be killed by the siren coven that exiled me."

"You're going to love Italy," Mith said enthusiastically. "And don't worry, Rome is inland. There won't be any sirens there."

"If you say so," Laila said, doubtful.

They settled into a sort of comfortable silence. Upfront, Will was asleep. He looked a lot younger, and a lot less like an evil bastard.

Mith wasn't fooled for a second.

Will stirred, disturbed by Mith and Laila's conversation. He opened his eyes, and Laila grabbed Mith's hand in terror as his deep blue eyes fixed on her.

"Good, you're awake," Mith said briskly. She squeezed Laila's sweaty palms reassuringly.

"What do you want?" He mumbled sleepily.

"I need a full run-through of the plan," Mith commanded.

"Plan?" he asked, sleepy and therefore still out of it.

"Yes, moron, the plan," Mith said, rolling her eyes. "First of all, Hephaestus's Forge is in a volcano. And I don't know about you, but I sure as hell ain't heatproof. And second, it's been empty for millennia, so who's gonna craft the weapon for you? And third, Mt.Vesuvius is near Naples, so why the fuck are we going to Rome?"

"All very good questions," Will said lazily. "I am stunned by your common sense, because I obviously thought we'd just saunter into a volcano and demand a weapon from the lava gods."

"There's no need to be a dick," Mith said icily.

"Very well," he said with a martyred sigh.

"Don't worry about the volcano, I've got it covered. And we're going to Rome because I want to see the colosseum."

Mith glared daggers at Will.

"I didn't sign up for no goddamn tour-" She began heatedly, only to be cut off.

"We're going to the colosseum because I think there's an important clue there about breaking the Ark's star-chains in it," he said sharply.

"Which is?" Despite herself, Mith was interested.

"Most prisoners in ancient Rome had to fight wild animals in the arena. The most hated prisoners though? They got Ark monsters as opponents. The monsters were freed from the Ark and made to fight in the colosseum. After the fight, they were returned."

"Seriously?" Mith demanded.

He nodded. "The Nemean lion of the Leo constellation was the most popular. He had an especial taste for intestines," He added happily.

"Dear God, it would have been a bloody massacre!" She cried.

Will looked excited, and his eyes had their signature manic gleam.

"Well, it brings up a very important question. How did the Roman beastkeepers manage to release the monsters from the Ark? The chains are unbreakable, so what weapon did they use?"

Hello hello hello, the chapter got deleted for some weird reason but I rewrote it! Comment if you have any criticism!