Chapter 9: Zeus

Niko, desperate to relive the euphoria he had felt during the festival, had secretly put the potent bottle of Kykeon in his rucksack. As the day wore on, he found himself back in the village where the festivities continued, albeit with a calmer energy. An elder had gathered a crowd, his voice deep and resonant as he retold a local myth. Children sat in front, their restless movements betraying their discomfort on the stony ground, yet their wide eyes remained fixed on the storyteller. His walnut-textured face, marked by years of sun and wind, was animated, with wild eyebrows that danced with each exaggerated gesture. He spoke of the caves of Zeus, his voice rising and falling like the waves of the nearby sea.

Niko stood at the back, drawn in by the tale, when he felt a presence beside him. He turned to see Elena standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him. The sight of her sent a thrill through him, amplified by the memory of his smuggled bottle.

Niko smiled and, with a playful tone, expressed his surprise. "Zeus is still alive and well, huh? Entrancing children here where only Spiderman or Batman would do for kids back home."

Elena laughed lightly. "What about Thor? He’s still pretty popular, even here."

"Wow! I never thought of that," Niko replied, genuinely intrigued. "You're right!"

"But Zeus was actually born right here," Elena added, her voice carrying a note of pride.

"Here? You mean HERE, here?" Niko asked, his curiosity piqued.

"He was born in the caves just over there" she said, pointing toward the hills.

Niko stared at her, astonished. "Show me," he pleaded, his eyes wide with eagerness.

She hesitated, but something in Niko’s expression convinced her. With a nod, she agreed, and together they left the gathering crowd and began to walk along a track that led up into the hills.

As they walked, Niko revealed the bottle of Kykeon he had brought along, pulling it from his rucksack with a grin. Elena’s eyes widened in surprise, but then she laughed, snatching the bottle from him and pulling out the crumbling cork, she took a large swig. Her laughter was infectious, and Niko joined her, the sweet, potent liquid warming his throat.

The path wound higher, and soon they arrived at the entrance to the caves. A small, stone-built kiosk stood at the gate, where a man demanded a modest entrance fee. Niko paid without hesitation, and they stepped inside the cool darkness of the caves.

The interior was lit by an eerie green light that seemed to seep from the stone itself, casting strange shadows on the walls. The floor was uneven, with steps carved directly into the rock, a handrail guiding visitors deeper into the cavern. Niko and Elena moved carefully, and the effects of the Kykeon began to take hold. They took another sip.

As they moved deeper into the caves, Niko’s mind began to spin, the Kykeon pulling him between reality and something far older, far stranger. The cold stone underfoot, the haunting echoes from the cave’s depths, and the shifting green light all combined to make the space feel both ancient and alive. His hand grazed Elena’s as they walked, and he felt a surge of heat pulse through him—an almost magnetic pull.

In his mind, fragments of Orphée et Eurydice resurfaced, a performance he had lived and breathed only months ago. The lines from Gluck’s opera merged with his thoughts, tangled with the memory of Zoe and his unshakable grief. He was Orpheus, desperately trying to pull Eurydice back from the underworld, trying to break free of death’s clutches. His grip on Elena’s hand tightened as his breath quickened. It wasn’t Zoe’s name on his lips, though; it was Eurydice.

“Elena…” he started, but the name slipped away from him. “Eurydice…”

Elena glanced at him, confused by the intensity in his voice. “What?”

But Niko didn’t hear her. His mind was swept up in the music—Che farò senza Euridice?—the famous lament, its melody wrapping around him like a fever. He pulled Elena closer, his hands on her waist, her breath catching as she leaned into him. His fingers moved over her skin, desperate, searching, and needing to feel her warmth, to convince himself that she was real—that she wasn’t slipping away like Eurydice. His lips brushed her neck, and the taste of her skin, salty from the cave’s damp air, overwhelmed him.

“Elena… Eurydice,” he murmured again, the names mixing in his mind as his hands consumed her body. His lips traced along her collarbone, and he felt her heartbeat quicken beneath his touch. The cave felt like it was spinning, the faces in the stone walls watching, waiting. Niko’s need grew more frantic. It was no longer just a physical desire—it was a need to claim something, to hold onto her, to stop her from disappearing as Zoe had, as Eurydice had in the myth.

Elena, too, was swept up in the moment. Her body responded to him instinctively, but when she heard him say Eurydice again, a shiver ran through her. She pulled back slightly, her breath shaky. “What did you just call me?”

Niko blinked, disoriented. Her question barely registered in his mind, so lost was he in the myth and the drink’s power. He pulled her close again, his lips hovering near her ear as he whispered, “Don’t leave me, Eurydice… I won’t look back this time. I promise.”

Elena froze, her heart racing for a different reason now. The passion between them was still there, but it was tinged with something unsettling—something darker. “Niko, stop. You’re scaring me.”

But Niko wasn’t listening. His hands gripped her tighter, his breath hot against her skin, as if he truly believed he could stop her from vanishing by holding on harder. His mind spun in loops, the melody of Gluck’s opera echoing louder and louder until the cave seemed to vibrate with the sound.

Elena pushed him away, her eyes wide with fear. “Niko, let go!” She stumbled back, her skin cold where his hands had touched her, as if the warmth between them had turned into something suffocating. Her voice trembled as she spoke again, “You’re not making sense. We need to leave.”

Reality began to slip back into Niko’s mind, but it was blurred, twisted by the Kykeon and the myth that consumed him. He watched as Elena backed away, her silhouette dimming in the cave’s eerie green light, and for a moment, he truly believed she was disappearing—just like Eurydice, dissolving into the shadows.

“No,” he whispered, panic rising in his chest. He reached out for her, but the distance between them seemed insurmountable. “Elena! Eurydice! Come back!”

But Elena was already retreating, her movements growing frantic as the walls of the cave appeared to ripple, faces forming out of the stone, watching, whispering. She tripped over a rock, nearly falling, and her breath came in short, terrified bursts. The weight of the cave seemed to press down on them both, its ancient energy suffocating and alive. The eerie sounds that had once seemed distant now grew louder, filling the cavern with whispers and moans that sent chills down their spines.

Suddenly, Elena’s voice was gone. The sounds of her footsteps, her breathing—everything—vanished. Niko spun around, his heart pounding in his chest. The cave was silent, empty, and Elena was nowhere to be found. He called out to her, his voice echoing back at him, distorted and hollow. The faces in the walls seemed to sneer, mocking his desperation.

“Elena!” he screamed, running through the darkness, but there was no answer. His hands shook as he realized the gravity of what had just happened. She was gone, and he was alone.

The effects of the Kykeon began to wear off, leaving him with a sinking dread. He stood there, panting, his body trembling with the cold and the fear. He looked down at the half-empty bottle still in his hand and cursed himself, hurling it into the scrubland outside the cave as he stumbled back toward the ticket booth.

“I’ve lost her,” he muttered to himself, barely able to breathe. "Elena... she's lost in the cave."

Overcome with dread, Niko rushed back to the ticket booth, his voice shaking as he explained that Elena was lost inside the cave. The man’s eyes widened in alarm, and without wasting a moment, he alerted others, setting off a desperate search for the missing woman.