Labyrinth

This story is an entirely fictional work of adult erotic fantasy, copyright Boy Mercury X and Graham Groans 2018.

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MODERN GREEK MYTHS - A WONDER BOOK FOR BOYS AND MEN: LABYRINTH by Boy Mercury X & Graham Groans

ONE, NOW:

It had been a week at least. Two weeks. Could it be three? Nick had lost count, without clocks or his usual routine. Theseus dictated their activities and if he had any schedule beyond his convenience, it was hidden from Nick. But Theseus was not a big communicator.

It didn't seem reasonable that Nick would be more fit in such a short time, but he did seem to be more lean, and stronger too. Of course none of this was reasonable. Not Greek heroes or monsters, and not even Philip's disappearance which was by far the most mundane of the events that brought Nick to this point.

"Eat," said Theseus, handing over fire grilled bits of meat skewered on a stick. Nick had stopped asking the source of the meat. Theseus had not come back from a hunt with a stag or boar for a while. They were very near their destination, and Theseus told him the larger game stayed clear of where they were going. Nick was beginning to suspect he was eating something small and cute. Not that it would have made much difference at this point.

Nick set his backpack, bow and arrows down and accepted the skewer. "Thanks," he said. "Mmmm, very paleo diet."

Theseus raised a thick black eyebrow. Again, not a big communicator. But very easy on the eyes, with his glossy black hair, sculpted jawline, thick shoulders and abundant pecs. You could almost believe he was a hero out of Greek mythology.

"Nothing," said Nick. "Nevermind. Twenty first century humor again."

Theseus grunted and half swallowed his own skewer of hot meat, pulling the stick out through his clenched teeth, then blowing a jet of steam through his lips.

"Y'know what this could use?" Nick asked. "Some salt. And some bread. Wouldn't bread be good?"

"We train," grunted Theseus, nodding to the bow and arrows at Nick's side. He stood up, and Nick was again shocked to see his thighs as wide as Nick's waist.

"Okay. Bow and arrows," said Nick.

Nick thought to protest, but why bother? There was really nothing else to do anyway, out in this weird forest. Walk, find artifacts, walk, train, walk, find food, eat, train, sleep, repeat. And he was surprised at how quickly he was picking up Theseus's lessons with swords and arrows and shield. His rapid acquisition of skills had the same weird dream like quality as everything else that happened since the Greek Festival.

TWO, THEN:

After some bow work, Nick lay down near the campfire, wedging his backpack under his head as a pillow. He didn't need to be too near the fire. It never got too cold in this weird place, even at dead of night.

As he lay looking at the stars he tried to remember Philip's face. It fueled his will to keep going on because it reminded him of his silly stupid promise.

"I want to break up," Philip had said.

Nick was caught off guard, with half a souvlaki in his mouth. "WHAT?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," Philip continued. "I know it must suck. I'm just not... I guess I'm not feeling it."

"Not FEELING it?" Nick asked, his words muffled by steak, pita and tzatziki. In fact he'd just been about to say the tzatziki was not nearly as good as his grandmother's recipe she learned as a little girl in Thessaloniki. Surely Philip was not breaking up with him at the Greek festival, surrounded by 500 strangers.

Ever since they met at freshman orientation Nick had been smitten by Philip. They could see each other's awkward optimism and connected immediately. Nick hadn't thought someone who looked like Philip with his amber eyes, sculpted jawline and easy athleticism would be interested in him. But he was. "You can't even see yourself, can you?" Philip asked Nick after they fucked, the words warm on his plush lips. The next months were the best of Nick's life, and he thought of Philip's too.

To be honest it was a thrill for Nick to call a guy like Philip his boyfriend. He was so naturally charming and athletic, people were just drawn to him. He was even recruited to a frat, and even now was wearing his Greek letter t shirt Zeta Theta Psi. So Nick found himself dating a frat bro which was cool, though he could never quite seem to fit into Philip's frat activities. Nick used to wonder how he got a guy like Philip, and now here at the end of freshman year it seemed he never really had Philip at all.

"But we --- Philip --- I love you. We love each other," Nick said, his throat swelling with emotion.

"I thought I did," said Philip flatly, "but maybe I was wrong. People change."

"But I haven't changed," Nick gasped.

"I know," said Philip, coolly. "That's the thing. I have. I'm sorry Nick."

Nick sobbed a little. Maybe Philip did take him to the Greek Festival for this after all. It was hard to let his feelings out in a crowd, no matter how hard his heart hurt.

After a little while, Philip said, "I'd better go. We can talk again later. If you need to."

"Wait," Nick gasped, without meaning to. "I lo---- I mean if you ever need anything, I'll be there for you. I promise."

He turned to wipe his face of stinging tears as Philip turned and walked away, between the crowds on food vendor row, honeyed desserts, spanakopita and gyros on either side. His soft brown curls bounced gently as he walked.

Nick's recollection ended abruptly as Theseus tapped him and in a hushed voice said, "Wolves."

Wolves? WOLVES? What the fuck?

________________ THREE, NOW:

"Wolves?" Nick whispered, but Theseus kicked him hard and quick to silence him.

"Sword's across camp," Theseus whispered. It was shocking to see the macho man sound concerned about danger. "Bow. Fast."

The bow was near Nick and the quiver full of assorted arrows they'd picked up along the way, scavenged from abandoned encampments and cottages. He reached over slowly to lay hands on it all, and heard a low growl.

Oh fuck.

Nick moved quickly, grabbing the bow and nearly throwing it to Theseus, as the hero rolled up onto his feet in one athletic maneuver, snapping up the bow in one hand as he held out the other toward Nick, turning in the direction of the growls.

"Arrows," Theseus hissed.

First one, then two more lean wolves stepped out of the shadows into the campground. Their lips were curled back, saliva dripping fangs exposed. Their golden eyes gleamed with reflected light from the campfire.

"Three," Theseus whispered, shaking his open hand. It was ridiculous to notice at this point, but Theseus looked so fucking handsome right then, in the glow of the campfire,his heavy brow furrowed and his bristly jaw squared in the face of danger.

Nick looked into the quiver's hodgepodge of arrows for three of a kind. He pulled one, then another, then slid them back in to try another.

"Hurry!" Theseus spat at Nick. The wolves had stopped in their tracks, but did not retreat.

In the warm glow of the fire, Nick's eye caught a glimmer of something shiny - golden in fact. He pulled out of the quiver three identical arrows, each apparently made of gold. The arrow heads, he noted, were not the normal pointed sort but rounded. In fact, he realized, they were shaped like cockheads.

Increasingly put off by the boy's pace, Theseus glanced down and said, "Not those! Any other!"

Nick was brought back from his distracted state, aware of the wolves moving, the two secondary of them fanning around Theseus. He quickly grabbed the first three arrows he could lay hands on and slapped them into Theseus's hand.

The hero in one blinding motion put the three arrows at one time in place in the bow, fanned out across it, and pulled back the string.

"Come..." he whispered to the wolves, holding perfectly still.

At once the three wolves moved, half stepping, half leaping. Theseus let go the string, and three arrows sliced through the air, one piercing each of the wolves, which fell to the ground with a whimper.

Without waiting for their bodies to hit the ground, Theseus spun round to lay a hand on his best sword. He turned back and within seconds lopped off the head of the nearest wolf, then the next and then the last.

"Holy fuck," gasped Nick, wondering if he'd barf.

Theseus's whole demeanor was instantly altered. He was smiling. He inspected each of the twitching bodies, stepping between them with a posture of bravado, laughing.

"You see?" he asked.

"My hero," Nick said.

Theseus sneered at the boy, and slammed his sword into the soil, leaving it standing there erect.

"Mouth," Theseus said, unwrapping the tunic that covered his now stiff cock. "Here."

Nick thought he might as well. For all his bad manners and odor, Theseus was a square jawed handsome man, with an outrageous body. Nick had seen that when he first laid eyes on him at the Greek Festival.

FOUR, THEN:

Philip had been gone for barely a minute when Nick noted the big shouldered man shoving his way through the crowd, knocking him to his feet. Not just big, but bodybuilder big, in a muscle-t and tight jeans that made clear just how beefy his round ass and thighs were. And - did he have a sword at his side, and a bow over his shoulder and a quiver of arrows on his back?

Fuck, people take this Greek Festival seriously, thought Nick.

"Hey!" he shouted at the man. "HEY!"

He had no business getting into it with a guy built like that, much less one carrying a sword, even if it was just a silly plastic thing. But he was too pissed off to be shoved around like this. Philip had just broken his heart. He didn't give a shit if the black haired brute punched him out. Nick scrambled to his feet, pulled his backpack over both shoulders, and took off after the man, but stopped when he heard a woman's screams. Fair goers fled in all directions, knocking Nick to the ground for a second time.

"God DAMN it!" Nick cursed.

Before he could get up a second time he looked up to see the man squaring off with another... man? The new guy made the swordsman look like a shrimp. He was tall - seven feet, Nick guessed - and seemed as wide as he was tall, with massive shoulders and lats, and huge heaving pecs. His head was was so square and heavy it was almost a block, and he had a single thick ring through his nose, the most hardcore septum piercing Nick had ever seen.His features were so odd Nick thought for a moment he wore a mask.

"Help --- HELPPPPP!" Nick heard, and realized it was neither man, but someone near the feet of the larger man.

"Philip?" Nick asked, as he got a good look of his former boyfriend, being dragged by a leg by ringnose as if he were a rag doll.

"Leave him!" said the swordsman, drawing his sword, which suddenly seemed a little too heavy and metallic to be plastic.

"LET ME GO!" yelled Philip.

The second man, ringnose, simply reached out and wrapped one massive hand around the swordsman's face and shook him violently, knocking his sword and other belongings to the ground. He then lifted the swordsman off his feet and threw him, at least ten feet, into a Greek Salad vendor tent, throwing tomatoes, cucumber and feta up into the air.

Ringnose lifted Philip straight up, holding him by the ankle and threw him over his shoulder as easily as Nick had thrown his own backpack on. He paused to look up at the blue and white lanterns decorating the food vendor area, and seemed briefly transfixed. He reached out and ripped off an entire strand. Inspecting a lantern more closely, he snorted, then took his leave, oblivious to Philip's kicking and screaming. Philip looked up and saw Nick witnessing the entire thing. "Nick!" he yelped, just as his captor turned a corner, "HELP MEEEEEE!"

FIVE, NOW:

Since that day at the Greek Festival, Nick had sucked off Theseus a few times. It wasn't as if he had a boyfriend anymore. Philip had been clear about that. And as unlikely as Nick once thought it was for an ordinary guy like him to date a beautiful frat bro, he'd have laughed out loud at the idea of being with a muscleman like Theseus. So why not take advantage of his willingness?

Theseus sat back with his legs spread wide for Nick to crouch between. His thighs were all muscle, and hairy, and gave something for Nick to wrap his arms around as his licked and sucked the hard curved erection. It was his first uncut cock, and he liked to play with the foreskin. But after a battle kill Theseus was all about business, so Nick got to work pumping him with one hand and sucking his cockhead.

Nick swallowed all he could, and he did a good job, even though Theseus was as physically gifted in his boner as he was everywhere else.

"Good. Good," moaned Theseus, letting one of his beefy paws rest on Nick's head.

He's been talking more lately. Whole sentences even. And Nick liked this.

Theseus spit on his hand and clapped it on Nick's asshole. Way to go, Mr. Subtle, thought Nick.

Kneeling back on his haunches, Nick began to stroke Theseus's club like cock with one hand.

"Not that I wouldn't like to give it a try, big guy," said Nick, "but I think I'd have to work up to taking you back there. You don't have any... lube, do you?"

Theseus spat onto his own cock three times, and looked to Nick as if to say What else do you need? Nick almost had to laugh, reminded of those mythic Greeks and their rule of three.

Nick decided to cut things off by wrapping his lips around Theseus's cock again, going deeper and deeper. It was thickest just after the head, which didn't make it easy. Nick smeared his fingers with his own saliva running down the shaft and off the big Greek balls. He ran his hand between the balls and the dark hairy nest of Theseus's hole, and traced a finger over the pucker. Theseus grunted and shook his head No, but Nick ran two fingers over and then three, and the hero did not stop him. He pushed gently and then curled his hand into a fist so his knuckles rolled one after the other against the only soft spot on Theseus's hard body.

The ancient Greek's thick body trembled as his cock lodged in Nick's throat and his hole was massaged hard by Nick's wet fist. He reached down to grab Nick's wrist and pull it away from his hole, but stopped just short of doing so. Ah, thought Nick, I got your number buddy. He choked down yet more cock, getting off on the pleasure he gave Theseus, swallowing hard to tickle the cockhead.

Theseus groaned loud and snorted and bucked his hips. Of course he just about took Nick's head off as he began to thrust hard and fast. His cock swelled, choking Nick, and then gushed what seemed like an unending quantity of hot cum. With his big mitt hands he held Nick's head in place, so the only way to breathe was to swallow every gush of semen.

When Theseus cumload had dwindled to a slow trickle and his cock softened, he let Nick's head go, and the young man crumpled to the ground, thick strands of mucus running from his mouth to the spent Greek cock.

"Fuck," Nick said, his throat raw and thick with spit, gasping. "Is that how they did it in ancient Greece?"

Theseus held up the two sticky fingers he'd just been ramming up Nick's hole and made a shoving up gesture, saying "We did this."

"Yeah, well I'm just human buddy."

Theseus shrugged. Nick pulled up close to him, and in the warmth of his dense furry body jerked off. Theseus allowed him to caress his hard pecs and nurse at his nipple. Nick had never before touched a chest like his, each pec a firm pillow dusted with curling black hair. It never ceased getting him off. His breathing quickened and Theseus pulled Nick's head into his chest as the young man spurted his cum out on the ground. His full load was healthy, but seemed like a trickle next to Theseus's torrent.

Spent, they curled up together by the fire, surrounded by beheaded wolves, Nick looked at the quiver just a few feet away.

"Hey Thes, what was wrong with those arrows?" Nick asked. "The gold ones?"

"No good," Theseus grunted, closing his eyes.

"I'll get rid of them in the morning," said Nick, not keen to carry anything useless.

"No," Theseus replied, pulling Nick tighter in his embrace. "Too dangerous. Leave them be."

"Too useless to use but too dangerous to dump? Like nuclear weapons? That makes no sense."

"Most dangerous in the world," the hero mumbled as he drifted into sleep, "But no good in a fight."

Well that makes no sense, thought Nick, as he dozed with Theseus's furry chest against his back.

In their wandering they'd scavenged weapons at battle spots and random campsites, usually with the skeletal remains of one or two deceased looking on. On rare occasions they'd passed larger abandoned campsites, and even fragments of villages. Theseus did not like them, saying they were ill luck. But those were early on. Like deer and boar they were nowhere to be seen as the duo reached their target.

Theseus compared his weaponry with what they found, trading out if he liked something better. Nick picked through for daggers and arrows. But he had begun carrying the arrows earlier than that, going all the way back to the Greek Festival.

SIX, THEN:

Stunned, it took Nick another minute to absorb that he'd just seen his now former boyfriend Philip being abducted by the huge muscleman with the ring through his nose. He scrambled to his feet and oriented himself to chase after, though he couldn't guess what he'd do if he caught them.

The first man - the swordsman - tore past Nick, sword unsheathed in hand.

"Hey wait!" yelled Nick. He took off after the man, but tripped on something, going down on the ground for a third time in the last few minutes.

He saw his own leg was caught on the string of a large wooden bow, the same one he'd seen on the first man earlier.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" he swore, jumping up to his feet again.

He didn't know how to use a bow, and he had no arrows even if he did know. Still, it was a weapon, and might be handy to smash it over the abductor's head. He hung it over his shoulder next to his backpack, turned to give chase.

"You need these," Nick heard, and a hand clapped on his shoulder.

Turning he saw yet a third man - a baklava vendor, in a snug white t shirt, the sleeves rolled up. Unlike the other two men this one was not a muscle beast, though he was perfectly proportioned. He was, in fact, the most beautiful man Nick had ever seen. Ever. His thick dark brown hair rose like a crest over his faultless face. His lips were dizzying for Nick, full and exquisitely shaped with a cupid's bow upper lip.

"Huhh?" said Nick, swooning. He noticed the scent of caramel and lemongrass and fresh sweat.

"You need these," said the baklava man, in a voice as warm and thick as breathing in sex. He shoved at Nick's chest an ancient looking quiver filled with arrows. Nick could feel his cock go full on hard, and he would have abandoned Philip right then and there. But the beautiful baklava man spun Nick around, swatted him on the ass, gave him a shove and said "Go. Go!"

Without thinking, Nick took off, again chasing after the swordsman who was chasing the even bigger ringnose, Philip wailing over his shoulder.

Nick couldn't know then that he'd become the swordman's - squire? Sidekick? Something else?

SEVEN, NOW:

After a long day of walking and training, they made camp at an abandoned site with two more skeletons. Nick made a fire the way Theseus taught him. Together they grilled some wild birds Theseus shot down with arrows that tasted a lot like chicken to Nick.

Theseus was glad for the birds. They were so close now, game animals tended to stay away. They should, he said, be there tomorrow.

Theseus was especially quiet after dinner, lying back and watch the slow movement of the stars. Nick couldn't tell if they were the same stars as back home.

"Are these stars, like friends of yours?" Nick asked. "Like isn't Orion a star? Or a constellation?"

Theseus looked at Nick as if he were daft.

"That is the Ram," Theseus said, raised a muscular arm and tracing a line around a set of stars, and then another. "This one is the Lyre."

"Oh yeah," said Nick, but he couldn't see it at all. He was never the most ardent student of Greek mythology, but he knew the basics. He'd always imagined Theseus as a beautiful young man. Weren't those the ones sent to their death in the labyrinth? The most beautiful young men and women?

Nick tried to imagine young Theseus. The Greek's apparent age was hard to determine. He seemed world-weary, with a furrowed brow at most times. There were strands of gray in his thick dark hair. But his body was just amazing, and his face was noble if you could get past the dirt and scruff. He was especially handsome in recline gazing up at the night sky, deep in his impenetrable thoughts.

"Thes, buddy," said Nick, gazing into the fire, full of dinner. "Something I've been wondering. In the story, you killed the minotaur and became King. That didn't happen?"

"It did," grunted Theseus. "Part left the labyrinth. Part didn't. I'm the part still in."

"How can only part of you get out? I don't get it."

"Part got out. Part never did."

"Okay, that doesn't make sense," Nick said. So much of this made no sense, but he was still trying to reason it out. "You can't be out and in at the same time. Physics, man."

Without looking at Nick, Theseus asked "Your boy ended your... THING with you?"

On "thing" he waved his hand in a circle.

"Yeah," Nick shrugged. "Our relationship. It's called a relationship."

"But you chased after. To save him."

"Well I promised I would be there for him."

"But not together. No..." Theseus tried to remember the word, "relationship."

Nick answered, "But I still love him."

"So," Theseus noted with a half shrug, again making the relationship hand motion, "part out, part in."

Nick tried to muster an argument that his feelings for Philip were nothing like this nonsensical labyrinth. But he was so touched that Theseus was in any way thoughtful about him that his heart swelled with affection. He was also less than certain that the Greek was wrong.

After a long silence, Nick asked "Hey, Thes, speaking of in and out, wanna fool around?"

Theseus, Nick had learned, was always game to fool around. He opened his cloak and spread his legs for Nick to suck his cock.

"Uh, I was thinking the other side," Nick said, thumbing back to his rear. "But before you do, I have an idea."

Nick grabbed the fatty skin of one of the birds they were eating for dinner, rubbed his hand with it to get us much grease as he could and then smeared it on Theseus' cock. He observed how he could barely get his hand all the way around its greatest circumference and gulped.

It wasn't like with Philip, with lots of kissing, progression and reciprocation. Fooling around with Theseus , Nick would say, was more to the point. On the ground on his belly, he spread his legs to give Theseus's fingers better access. Some fingerwork would make this easier, after all.

Theseus straddled Nick's ass, and pressed the fat head against the tender hole.

"Okay now go slow buddy," said Nick, as the cockhead pushed in. He breathed deep and adjusted to the wedge in him. Too quickly, Theseus nudged an inch deeper.

"Whoa buddy, we talked about this, remember?" Nick grunted. Theseus, without words, paused for as long as he thought he needed to, then nudged in again.

"Ohhhkay Thes, that's good," gasped Nick. He knew Theseus's cock well now, and how its greatest girth was just after the head, so once he got past that entry was pretty easy going. Of course that still left the prostate punch that was coming.

As Theseus slid his full length into Nick, he wrapped his hand around the boy's chin and shoved three meaty fingers into Nick's mouth to contain his yelps. Nick could taste the fat of their dinner on his rough digits.

The rocks and quiver of arrows on the ground cast flickering shadows in the firelight as Theseus humped Nick, driving his cock in like a piston, his back arching like a bull's with every pump.

"Okay, unf," groaned Nick, seeing stars even with his eyes open. "That's - oh whoa, fuck Thes, slow dowwwnnnnn....."

Under the ancient Greek's full weight dumped on him again and again, Nick's whole body contorted and he spurted cum into the ground beneath him unexpectedly. Theseus's club of a cock forced it out of him relentlessly, faster than his own body could shoot. Nick's sphincter quaked and spasmed, milking Theseus and inducing him to shoot his own thick cum into Nick. He groaned loudly as every muscle in his powerful body contracted to flood Nick with his copious load of semen.

Even only half hard, at its thickest Theseus' cock stretched Nick's hole uncomfortably, But when it was out, Nick felt a deep absence after having been so completely filled. He wondered how soon Theseus would be game to get in him again, to end the empty feeling.

As unaffectionate as Theseus was fucking or getting blown, afterwards he'd always lie on his side and pull Nick in close, wrapping his beefy limbs around him in a comforting bearhug.

He wondered how long they'd go on like this, and if Theseus would ever consider bottoming. Just another of the things he should have asked the Oracle, back when he had the chance.

EIGHT, THEN:

Ringnose was carrying Philip far out of sight, but Nick could still see the swordsman and was determined not to lose him. He was winded from the chase, but every time Nick heard a distant "Heeeeeellllp!" from Philip he had a renewed burst of energy.

Greek Festival goers spilled to either side of the chase, souvlaki and greek flags flying, white cardboard ruins collapsing easily.

As Nick spun around one corner he body slammed a woman in a toga, worn over her t-shirt and jeans. She spilled back over a card table covered with a flimsy arch. As she went down, the sign on the arch tore, and a banner fluttered up in the air and then landed across her, reading MAKE A PLEDGE AND MISCHIEF IS NIGH.

"Oh God! I'm sorry!" Nick yelped, pulling himself off of her and the collapsed card table under her. "Are you okay?"

The woman did not speak, but seemed neither injured nor upset. A smoke machine whirred behind her, releasing streams of foggy tendrils around them.

Nick nervously looked around for signs of Philip, his abductor or the swordsman, while trying to maintain some concern for the poor woman he'd flattened.

"Did anyone see which way they went?" he yelled to the crowd around him.

But the bystanders said nothing, fearful of getting more involved in the situation.

"Fuck," he said under his breath, realizing he'd lost them.

The woman before him reached down to pick up a sheet of paper on which was handwritten THE ORACLE IS IN - 3 FORTUNES for $3. She held the sign up to Nick and gave him a twisted half smile.

"Did you see?" he asked. "Which way did they go?"

The woman did not speak, but raised a hand, rubbed her fingers together in the universal sign for money, and then laid out a palm.

"What? ARE YOU SERIOUS? That's my --- my EX-boyfriend!"

She emphatically laid out her palm again.

"Oh FINE!" Nick yelped, reaching into his wallet and slapping into her palm every dollar he had without counting.

"Ah," she finally said, her lips finally unlocked. She held up one finger and whispered, "Look to the labyrinth."

"What?" Nick asked.

"All labyrinths are one labyrinth," she murmured, holding up a second finger.

"WHAT?" Nick nearly screamed.

The woman held up a third finger and added, "The battle is not the way out."

She folded the bills and tucking them into the front of her t-shirt, finished.

Just then Nick heard a loud "HEEEEEELP!"

"Thanks a LOT!" Nick sneered sarcastically at the woman before he spun on his heels to continue the chase.

Following the voice and the splayed Festival goers, Nick found himself at the foot of a large painted cardboard structure. Across the entrance was painted in block letters LABYRINTH, in the same goofy lettering Nick recognized from his grandparents Greek restaurant.

Hm, maybe the Oracle knew what she was talking about after all.

From inside the cardboard labyrinth came a plea - "NIIIIICK!!!" Through what must be an acoustical quirk, it sounded very distant.

He pulled the bow tight over his shoulder, hiked up his backpack and ran in.

NINE, NOW:

Nick was shocked to actually reach the Minotaur's home. Of course that was the point all along, and he knew Theseus had done it many times before. But the time wandering and training and fucking had begun to seem like it would go on and on. Maybe there was something to the endless cycle in the labyrinth after all, and Nick wondered if part of him would stay here forever like Theseus.

Near a steep cliff overlooking an eternal sea stood an imperfect stone tower that seemed to spiral in a knot from the widest point coming out of the soil to a crooked pinnacle.

"Not the minotaur home I imagined," Nick said to Theseus.

"The heart of the labyrinth. It twists," the ancient hero replied, "inside and out. Like him."

Nick knew the him in question was the Minotaur, but, Nick let himself wonder about the other him, Philip. Was he even still alive? Was he hurt? Starved? Tortured? Would this be a revenge mission instead of a rescue?

Theseus rigged up two torches, wrapping rags smeared with animal fat from last night's dinner around sticks. Funny, thought Nick, it was the first time they'd been indoors since they got here. What did he expect, electricity?

Side by side they entered the tower. In every direction Nick could see there were staircases. Some leading up, some down, some leading into solid walls, some upside down. What the fuck, he wondered. Just when he thought this place couldn't get any crazier.

They walked through, as silently as possible. Along the way Nick noticed odd things. An upholstered loveseat that Nick thought seemed Victorian. A frame of stained glass, from a church Nick guessed. He followed a random trail of odd items.

"We go down," Theseus whispered, descending a curving path of stairs.

"How do you know?" asked Nick.

"He builds up. But always goes down," Theseus whispered. "I know him."

"Better than he knows himself?"

Theseus grunted in the affirmative.

Nick followed behind, but a new random item caught his eye on one of the staircases curving upward. He hoped it wasn't what it seemed.

He silently turned and crept upward toward the object that shone dull white in the torchlight. A skull.

"Oh fuck," Nick gasped, "don't be Philip. Don't be Philip."

With trembling hands he lifted the skull. It seemed old. Very old. It was covered with a thick layer of dust.

Nick noticed that his torch was bumping something making a crinkling sound and looked up. It was a string of blue and white lanterns. Where had he seen that before?

The Greek Festival. He'd seen them there. In fact he'd seen the minotaur, in his human glamour, yank them before taking Philip into the labyrinth. Nick noticed they had barely any trace of dust on them.

He sighed with relief. If they had no dust on them and the skull had a thick layer, the skull had to predate Philip's arrival. But why the string of lights was there at all he couldn't understand.

He turned to ask Theseus, and realized the hero had gone down while he'd gone up.

He was alone, for the first time since entering the labyrinth, back at the Greek Festival, when he thought the labyrinth was just a cardboard amusement.

TEN, THEN:

Nick ran through the cardboard labyrinth, wondering just how long does this thing go on?

After a few minutes, his hand running alongside the painted cardboard brushed over something rougher. Stone. In fact huge slabs of stone, lining the walls, and even the floor and ceiling. The stones gave way to rough rocks and boulders, and then dense trees, and then finally sparse trees, with a nighttime sky overhead. And then nothing.

Nick stood in a clearing just outside the forest he emerged from. A few feet ahead was the swordsman. But his clothes were different, or more accurately, gone. He had his sword, but his jeans and t-shirt were gone. He wore only a rough cloak, and sandals. He had a variety of weapons in addition to the sword, and leather straps and a bag of sorts. Nick himself was unchanged, looking down to see his same t shirt and jeans and sneakers, tugging at the strap of his backpack to ensure it was still there.

"Where the hell is he?" Nick asked. The swordsman did not respond. He looked disturbed. "Where's that big asshole who took my boyfriend?"

The swordsman grunted, paying no attention to Nick, and started off.

Nick chased him, punching his rock hard arm. "HEY! I'M TALKING TO YOU."

The swordsman stopped, and slowly turned to face Nick. He cleared his throat and spoke. The first words came out rough, like the words of a man who had not spoken in a very very long time, "Has your boy. I find him. Before dead. Maybe."

"Mister," said Nick in as firm a voice as he could as he began to tremble, "You'd better tell me what's going on."

The swordsman turned to him and sized Nick up with his eyes. He could see the young man, barely more than a boy, fighting panic, worried for his friend and for himself. He again cleared his throat, unaccustomed to so much speech, and stepped up close to Nick.

"He... gets out. Through the labyrinth. Takes very... beautiful boys. Brings them here."

"But it's night here - it was day. And your clothes - what --?" Nick was near tears.

The swordsman put a single meaty hand on Nick's shoulder to steady him. It was surprisingly effective. He tried to find the words and again spoke, "When we pass we... change. You don't see as we truly are. For me and for... him."

"Who the fuck is he?" Nick asked, getting his bearings.

The swordsman held up fingers on either side of his head, approximating horns. "Minotaur."

"Minotaur? What? Where the hell are we?"

"Labyrinth."

"Well it doesn't LOOK like a labyrinth. It looks like a remote island."

"It is labyrinth."

"Well that makes no sense. If this is the labyrinth who the hell does that make you?"

The man rested his hand on the hilt of his sword and said simply, "Theseus."

ELEVEN, NOW:

"Theseus?" Nick whispered in the dark. "Theseus? Buddy? Where are you?"

At first there was only silence, but it was broken by a loud animal bellow that seemed to shake the labyrinth and almost knocked Nick to his feet.

"What the actual FUCK?" he asked, crouching on the crooked stairs, covering his head with his hands.

Then a moment later he heard it again, something like a deep moan building up and being released from a powerful engine. It emanated from below, and Nick remembered Theseus heading down - down the stairs.

Nick scrambled, working hard to not slide down the uneven crooked stairs. Again he heard the animal bellow, louder this time, and felt the temperature rise.

At the base of the stairs Nick held close to the wall. His own torch stood out less as he saw the walls lined irregularly with torches at various heights and angles, casting haphazard shadows. And then motion, shadows moving and... a long tufted tail?

Nick gasped on seeing the minotaur. He knew his appearance at the Greek Festival, like Theseus's, was an illusion, a glamour that somehow governs the appearance of those exiting into the earthly plane. But this knowledge didn't prepare him for his true appearance.

Over seven feet tall, maybe eight feet, and a body of pure muscle that would make any bodybuilder shrink in comparison, tan skin barely visible under a coat of blue-gray fur covering him in every part but his mammoth cock. It was so big Nick thought it was a limb at first, being at least as long and wide around as Nick's own forearm. His legs were as thick around as Nick's torso, and at his knees curved back and then down again into hooves as hard and big as bowling balls. And his head that of a bull - a BULL! - with the same nose ring, and two white horns curving round like a crescent moon on its side. And a tail, at least three feet long, whipping violently.

The beast was snorting and cocking his head, Theseus standing with his legs braced wide, his sword in one hand and a club in the other. He swayed side to side, ready to strike or defend himself. Nick recognized the posture from his training.

The underground level of the minotaur's home was as chaotic and confusing as the upper levels, but unfinished, with odd pits dug, rocks unsmoothed in their natural shapes, troughs dug in meandering paths. For a second when Nick saw the pit his first thought was of Philip's corpse being buried. But then he saw, behind Theseus, a primitive prison, sticks bound with leather strips, and inside it a lone young man, dirty but alive.

"PHILIP!" Nick screamed out, catching Theseus' attention, and even a slight turn of the minotaur's monstrous head.

"NICK!" Philip shouted back, ambling up to his feet and rattling at the bars of his prison.

Without pause, Nick ran around Theseus and the minotaur. The beast reached out more quickly than Nick could have imagined to grab at him, but jerked his hand back as Theseus swung his blade. Good thing, Nick was aware, as his hand could have wrapped fully around his head and had the strength to crush it.

At the cage, Nick reached through the bars to hold Philip. He looked tired and thin, smudged with dirt and his white frat shirt was ripped, but he seemed otherwise healthy enough. His chamber was equipped with an odd assortment of amenities - crude bowls, chairs and even paper lanterns.

"How did you get here?" Philip asked tearfully.

"I just...." Nick began, before his words were choked by his own tears. "I said I'd be there for you. I said it, and I meant it."

The two began to rattle at the cage, and Nick pulled a dagger from his side to hack at the crude bars.

"Holy fuck!" said Philip, looking past Nick.

Turning around, Nick could see that the minotaur had hit Theseus hard, sending his sword across the room. The beast snorted and stamped a hoof, then bellowed a deafening roar as he picked Theseus up and slammed him up against the ceiling, the down on the floor.

Theseus struggled the rise up on his elbows, but the minotaur was on him again. He shook Theseus violently, and slammed him again and again, then dropped him on his back, stunned.

"He's gonna kill that guy," Philip said, his eyes wide.

Nick looked at the dagger in his hand and the bars holding Philip prisoner, then again at helpless Theseus. With one slash he cut through the last binding holding the gate shut.

"No he's not," Nick said, tightening his grip on the dagger and turning his back on Philip to face the minotaur.

He must look a sight to Philip, sure of himself, brandishing weapons, fulfilling pledges, and now about to fight an eight foot tall monster. He'd learned so much from Theseus since those first days through the labyrinth, when he started trailing behind the ancient Greek hero.

TWELVE, THEN:

Theseus walked on, Nick following him.

Nick had never experienced anything like the strange summer on the island before. The light seemed odd, refracted. And the temperature was always pleasant, whether it was colder or warmer. The water running in streams was cool and clear, and better tasting than any water he'd ever known.

Theseus mostly ignored Nick. But as Nick followed, Theseus began to offer him bits of meat, without words or tenderness, allowing him near the campfire at night. With each passing day they walked closer together.

"I can, like, help carry stuff," Nick offered one day. Theseus threw his bow and arrows to Nick, who gladly picked them up and walked on. "I guess you ancient Greeks guys liked sidekicks, right?"

Theseus gave him a side eye glance and kept on.

The Greek kept to odd turns in his route, indicating Nick follow. He led them down a rocky hillside on a narrow meandering path just to stop halfway down the slope, look around, grunt once, and then turn back up the ridge. Then they took another path next to the first, similar in every way, but veering down the slope and ever so slightly more to the left.

"Are we taking the scenic route?" Nick asked.

"Labyrinth," responded Theseus without turning back or slowing his pace, but indicating a maze like route with his hand.

Later Theseus stood at a fork in the road for thirty minutes until he decided which of the paths they'd take. Theseus glanced quickly at Nick, who hoisted the bow and arrows and his backpack, nodded and said "Labyrinth. Got it." In truth he was grateful for the brief rest.

That night by the fire Theseus sat on one leg, the other raised. Nick couldn't help but see his thick cock hanging over a pair of egg sized balls. Theseus had the most amazing body he'd ever seen.

"So...." Nick began, trying again to make conversation. "How long have you been doing this?"

"This what?"

"He kidnaps guys, you try to rescue them. It sounds like a cycle? It happens again and again?"

Theseus nods and grunts.

"Why do you keep doing it? Why don't you do something... I don't know... different?"

"Fate," said Theseus. "My fate. His fate."

"What's he like? Like how much man and how much bull? Does he talk?"

"Animal," murmured Theseus. "Just animal. No man there. No talk. Smelly. Hairy."

"Ya don't say," chuckled Nick. Theseus is oblivious to his implied dig.

"Steals boys."

"Ermh, yeah. Sounds like anyone else we know?"

Theseus was silent.

Just my luck, thought Nick, hot but humorless.

THIRTEEN, NOW:

Nick jumped, throwing his whole weight at the minotaur's back, stabbing with the dagger in his hand. Only after his feet left the ground thinking, What the fuck am I doing?

As he could have predicted, he bounced off the beast barely noticed, his dagger nicking the hide but no more than that. Nick rolled into a freshly dug trench, where the broken soil and his backpack cushioned his fall. As he twisted around to get up on his feet, the minotaur gave him a side glance and snorted.

"Hey ugly!" Nick yelled, waving his hands to draw his attention from Theseus. "How about over here? What am I, not pretty enough for you?"

Nick began to sway from side to side out of nervousness, but noted the slow pattern drew the minotaur's bull eyes to him. The longer he swayed the more focused the beast became, almost hypnotized. As he did, Theseus came to his senses, rolled onto his belly and began to crawl away.

"What are you DOING?" shouted Philip, at the opened door of his cage. "Let's get the police!"

"Sorry," answered Nick without turning away from the minotaur, continuing a rhythmic rocking keeping the bull eyes focused on him. "I know you're scared, but I'm gonna need you to keep it together a little longer. We're a long way from home, and here, buddy, I AM the police!"

The minotaur observed him but did not move more than a slight weaving of his head. He made a deep rumbling sound that made Nick think of a car motor idling.

When Theseus reached a distance he hoisted himself to his feet. He was awkward and slow, not himself, but alive. And without a weapon, trapped in the heart of the labyrinth with an enraged minotaur.

"Hey buddy," said Nick in a low tone, maintaining the swaying movement that so interested the minotaur, "On the count of three I'm gonna throw you the bow. Get ready."

Nick counted, still rocking side to side. "One....Two...THREE!"

As fast as he could Nick reached down to pick up the bow and threw it to Theseus who caught it in one hand. The minotaur's eyes locked on the motion, and at the sight of Theseus standing, the bow in his hand, he bellowed again. Nick's legs wanted to run.

"Thes, arrow now buddy!" Nick said, moving fast now. He reached into the quiver and pulled out the biggest most hardcore arrow he could find and and tossed it toward Theseus. At the same moment, faster than anyone would think a creature of his size could move, the minotaur charged Theseus, throwing him off his feet and into a stone wall. The bow flew from his hand and shot across the chamber, hitting Nick who tripped and rolled into a trench.

The minotaur lifted Theseus and coiled a fist, punching him down again. He did it again, and again, snorting and bellowing as Theseus' body went more limp with every strike.

Fuck, thought Nick. Come on buddy, you're Theseus. You can do this.

When the minotaur finally dropped Theseus to the ground, the hero's head rolled and he muttered undecipherable words. He raised a hand blindly, and it dropped. The minotaur blinked and leaned to smell his foe. Victorious he raised his massive bull head and let out a deep rolling bellow, and thick ropes of mucus oozed from his lips.

Nick waited for Theseus to spring into action, but he lay there breathing hard. The minotaur was not still. His head twitched, his great horns cutting the air, and he scraped the ground with his great hooves. He turned his head down toward Theseus. He moved his head in and out again, angling his mighty horn toward the hero's exposed belly.

As if he's aiming, thought Nick. Oh fuck, fuck, fuck, no. Not this time.

Nick dropped his backpack and scrambled to lift the bow. He looked into the quiver and his eyes seized on the three golden gleaming arrows. Theseus had said they were the most dangerous arrows in the world, but no good in a battle. But the battle isn't the way out, the Oracle told him.

Nick pulled one and observed it was so slim and elegant it couldn't do much damage. He pulled a second, remembering how Theseus shot off three arrows at the same time against the wolves. He didn't think he he could manage that. But maybe two. Maybe.

Fast as he could he crouched back on one leg, and braced the other forward against the far side of the trench for leverage. He placed the arrows to the bow, pulled the string back and took aim. Between the golden arrowheads he could see the beast rear back to drive its horn straight through Theseus. The mythic hero. The founder of Athens. The man who fed Nick, and taught him and protected him. His buddy.

He could hear himself, as if distantly, say, "Time to go nuclear, motherfucker!"

His fingers let go of the string and time went thick. His heart pounded loud in his ears, but drawn out and dull, ba-dummmm, ba-dummmm, ba-dummmm, as the arrows sliced the air in slow motion. They veered just slightly from each other in mirror arcs, as the minotaur's great horned head rushed down at the fallen hero. Yes, yes, yes thought Nick as he tracked the arrows on their twin journeys. Then no, no, NO as they arced just slightly off course.

One golden shaft struck true, piercing the side of the minotaur as the massive head thrust forward to impale Theseus, while its twin veered lower, slicing into Theseus' chest.

"Nooooooooo," screamed Nick, leaping over the edge of the trench to scramble to Theseus' side. He was caught up by Philip, pulling him back from the fallen hero.

As he struggled to free himself, Nick became aware that neither beast nor man bled, nor had any visible wound from where they were pierced. In fact neither arrow was visible, both having passed through their targets without any sign they ever existed.

The minotaur's head crashing toward Theseus' exposed belly veered as slightly as the arrows had, and instead of a horn a long blue tongue slurped out to lick the Greek's muscled abs. Theseus slowly reached out and tenderly caressed the muzzle of the monster.

Oh my gods, thought Nick, looking at the bow in his hands and the arrows he'd collected.

FOURTEEN, THEN:

Nick was a quick study. He learned to follow Theseus in his paths that appeared nonsensical without question. He learned to avoid the apparently abandoned village fragments. He learned to join in combing the campsites they passed for weapons or anything useful. Theseus compared swords and spears carefully because he could carry a limited number. Nick was assigned the collection of arrows, which were few and prized. A bow without an arrow is useless, and their number would need to be refreshed if they ever used any, so the quiver came to be filled with a variety of arrows of different sizes and materials.

As Nick pulled an arrow from between the ribs of one skeleton he looked at the white bones and wondered who the poor guy was. He seemed better off than his buddy, whose bones were askew, some shattered and some tossed several feet away.

That evening Theseus taught Nick to shoot with his bow and the arrows he'd plucked from the campsite remains. It was distracting to have Theseus' thick arms around him as the hero showed Nick how to lay the arrow, aim and release.

When Nick had successfully shot off three arrows, he turned to Theseus and asked "So would you say I'm a GREAT archery student? Or the GREATEST?"

Theseus looked indignant, and answered, "I would not say either."

"Ha! Okay buddy," Nick laughed. "I'm just messing with you."

Theseus called training over, and they settled down to grill some deer that Theseus had killed earlier that day.

As Nick gnawed strips of meat off a bone he was reminded of the camper's ribs he'd plucked arrows from earlier that day.

"Hey Thes," he said, "I've been kind of wondering something about these campsites. Who are these skeleton dudes we keep coming across anyway?"

"Doesn't matter," Theseus said, tearing a piece of meat off the bone with his strong teeth.

"Cause I noticed there's always one or two, and they're on the same path we're on, right?"

Theseus did not respond.

After a while, Nick asked, "I'm not the first person to come through after you, am I?"

Theseus shook his head, No.

"And these skeletons are them? The other guys who came through before me?"

"Some," answered Theseus.

"Did they all die here?"

Theseus did not respond.

"Wow," said Nick. "That's kind of heavy news."

Theseus continued to chew and did not make eye contact.

"Thes, I know this doesn't make sense, but nothing here does. If some of the skeletons are the other guys who came through, are the others... are some of them you?"

Theseus' silence was somehow deeper than ever before.

"So sometimes you die?" asked Nick. "And then it starts again?"

Theseus nodded, Yes.

"Does he... does he ever die? The minotaur?"

Theseus nodded, Yes. "Sometimes."

"Have I been here before? Am I stuck in this cycle with you?"

Theseus nodded, No. "Me and him. Always me and him."

"That's really fucked," said Nick. "You keep killing each other and coming back, again and again? Just trapped in this cycle of hurting each other?"

Nick tried to not wonder if by the end of this he'd be just another skeleton for some future wanderer to raid of his arrows, his dagger and backpack. He felt chilled, even though the climate was as comfortable as ever.

"We were bound," said the hero. "Long ago. To each other."

"Do you remember that far back? When you were young?"

"I do," answered Theseus, softy. "How he looked at me then. Such longing in his eyes."

Nick marveled. Nick had never heard Theseus's voice go so soft, not since this whole adventure started. "His eyes? Whose eyes? The minotaur?"

"We'll be there soon," Theseus said, as he sucked the meat off the bone loudly, looking wistfully at the stars. But Nick noticed the hero's cock swell, as it often did after a kill or when he spoke of the minotaur. It was intimidating in its size, but beautifully shaped, and Nick had been thinking about it more each day.

"Thes, buddy," he said, "Do you know what `oral' is?"

Nick blew Theseus for the first time that night. It was fast, and Nick thought the back of his head would blow off when the hero came. He thought the ancient Greek must not have been with someone for a very long time.

FIFTEEN, NOW:

The minotaur lifted Theseus off the ground, and licked him from his thick thighs into the matted hair of his armpits, taking in his taste and pungent odor.

Theseus, revived, raised his arms to wrap his fists around the minotaur's horns and pulled himself up on them, as his cock sprung to full erection. One by one he let go of the horns to wrap himself around the massive bull head, kissing it and stroking its fur. He wrapped his mighty thighs around the great muzzle and ground against it, his hips thrusting slowly. Beneath him, the minotaur's cock roused, a sight both irresistible and horrifying in its hugeness. It looked to Nick nearly the shape and size of his own shin and calf.

"Holy fuck," said Nick, as he stopped struggling against Philip's grip.

Theseus and the minotaur were oblivious to everything around them. They spun through the heart of the labyrinth, throwing themselves against each other and rolling against the stone walls. Their bodies writhed against each other, saliva and precum matting their hair and fur. The minotaur's tail whipped around them, curling up behind Theseus and swatting his muscled ass.

"Are they doing what I think they're doing?" Philip asked.

"I guess we'll see," Nick answered.

Nick wrapped an arm around Philip, realizing at last that he was free. He couldn't help but notice that Philip seemed smaller than he remembered.

Theseus slid down the minotaur's body and over the curved belly, down to his monster cock. He licked it and wrapped forearm and hand around it. As he stroked up and down the beast sat back and bellowed, its fist sized balls churning. Theseus opened his mouth and pressed it against the base of the monster cock and licked up, up, up all the way to the head which he struggled to engulf.

Way to go buddy, Nick thought, recalling the many times he'd blown the hero. Now here he was with an even more impossible task than he'd given Nick.

The minotaur ran its human hands through Theseus' black hair, moaning deeply. In one movement it spun Theseus around to face the other way, and with one hand he shoved the Greek down, shoulders to the ground, ass up. Theseus breathed deep and exhaled, and his lips curled back and he... laughed. He laughed with complete abandon, raising his rear higher and pulling the firm cheeks apart to give full access to the minotaur. The long blue tongue slithered out and licked Theseus' crack, smearing it with heavy mucus and snorting hot breath. Theseus moaned and arched his back, without a care for Nick or Philip or labyrinths or his stars.

After slathering Theseus' crack, the tongue licked more aggressively, the tip pushing softly, then firmly, as Theseus moaned out loud, into the hero's tender hole.

"Oh my God," gasped Philip, his own jeans pulling tight as he too went hard. "He can't..."

While the minotaur tongue fucked Theseus, its monster cock bobbed up down, a stream of thick precum oozing down the shaft, around the balls and puddling on the soil below. When it could no longer hold back, the beast dropped to its knees behind Theseus and positioned itself to mount the hero.

"No," moaned Theseus. The monster snorted. "I want to see your face, love."

Theseus rolled over in one turn onto his back and hiked back his legs, pulling them open with his powerful arms. The beast took the hero's ankles in his hands, propped his cock up and oozed more saliva onto it.

As the minotaur's cock nudged into Theseus's hole, Philip gasped. "It's not possible!" he said.

"Philip," Nick replied, patting him on the back. His whole heart felt warm. "That's my buddy Theseus. If anyone can do it, he can."

The minotaur wedged the teacup sized cock head into Theseus. The hero gritted his teeth, arched his back and shoved his ass up higher to meet the monster's aim. The beast slowly, carefully continued a long slow slide of his mammoth member into the Greek. At the point of the widest circumference Theseus breathing was fast and hard, and sweat covered his face and chest. But with steely determination he said, simply, "Fuck me." The minotaur gave one thrust to squeeze through, and then sank the rest of his bull cock in, not stopping till he reached the root and his balls slapped against the hero's ass.

They repeated this cycle again and again, picking up speed and comfort each time until Theseus hole had relaxed enough to accommodate the monster. The minotaur began a hard fuck, pounding the hero again and again into the earth, stretching both his hole and his guts. Theseus groaned as his prostate was punched, forcing hot gushes of precum out of him onto his abs.

The two slammed into each other, hips bucking, spit and precum flying. Theseus tried to raise himself on one elbow and clung to the minotaur's thick neck. In this position the monster cock penetrated him most deeply and he let out a long loud moan. The sound aroused the beast and his thrusts reached a peak speed, pulverizing Theseus's hole with abandon. Theseus's own cock bounced up and down against his belly until he roared and his swollen cock belched thick ropes of cum, untouched, streaking his belly and pecs with it.

Seeing his love in ecstasy, the minotaur seized up and thrust with all his force. "Aiiiiiiiiiiiii," yelled Theseus. The monster erupted in him, great gushes of minotaur cum squirting filling him and then squirting from the tight hole when there was nowhere left inside to contain it. The long hard thrusts went on and on, in what seemed a millenium of passion compressed into a single rut.

"He's killing him," said Philip in complete shock.

"Nah," replied Nick, smiling with warm affection. "Not this time."

EPILOGUE ONE:

"Well that's something different," said a voice behind Nick, warm and smooth as honey.

Even before he turned to see him, Nick knew it was the baklava vendor from the Greek Festival by the scent of caramel and lemongrass and sweat. Even prepared, he nearly swooned at the sight of his handsome face, alit with a soft glow as if illuminated from inside. Philip gasped on seeing him also, as he inhaled the scent of soap and the sea.

The baklava man no longer wore his apron, but dark jeans and a white muscle t. Over his own finely chiseled shoulder he carried a bow and arrows, the tattoo of feathered wings running under it. Nick could see in the man's quiver the same golden arrows as he had just used, and a set identical in size and shape but made of cold grey lead.

Beside him stood another man nearly, but not quite, as handsome. The second man wore something like a bike outfit in black and slate gray, and had slung over his shoulder a messenger bag. He was tattooed as well, with long, elegant serpents coiling his firearms, and running from his ankles up the sides of his well shaped calves.

The minotaur and Theseus held each other in post orgasmic bliss, infatuated with each other, and oblivious to the onlookers.

"So," said Nick, "I take it you're Cupid?"

The baklava man pursed his lips and furrowed his brow with disapproval, correcting Nick, "Eros. And you may recognize Hermes."

"So this whole thing was a setup?" Nick wondered aloud.

"Do you know how boring it is watching this cycle again and again and again?" replied Eros, the wanton god of a thousand tricks and cruel sports, from whom neither gods nor men were safe.

"You put those those arrows in the quiver... knowing this would happen?"

"Not knowing," answered the handsome young god, with a twist in his smile. "More suspecting something might happen. Something different."

"And it did," added the black haired herald. "Their cycle is ended. Or that cycle was. Now for something new."

Theseus and the minotaur rolled on the ground, their spent cocks rousing again.

"Is this done?" asked Philip. "Can we go?"

"You may," answered Hermes, in his aspect as psychopomp. "The brat god could contrive to bring you here. But I, whose province is the in between places, can take you out, whole."

"Whole?" asked Nick. "Part of us won't be stuck here?"

"This is not your labyrinth, it is theirs," said Eros, glancing down at Theseus wrapping himself around the minotaur and nuzzling his ears. "You may yet have a labyrinth of your own making, if you so choose."

"Well.... If we're going I need my backpack," said Nick, jumping into the trench to retrieve it.

"I'll get you a new one," yelled Philp, eager to depart.

"No!" shouted Nick, bent over and zipping up his bag in the trench. He climbed out, pulling the straps snug over his shoulders. "It has my stuff - my iPhone and my books and my stuff! It's mine."

"Gather to me then," said Hermes, opening his arms wide to wrap them around Nick and Philip. "All this will fade from your minds, and you will be home in a twinkling, as if you never left."

"What?" asked Nick in a sudden panic. "No! I don't --- I CAN'T forget. All the things I learned.... If that's what it takes, I'm not leaving. Go without me."

Nick stepped away from Hermes to stand near Theseus and the minotaur.

Eros smiled to near laughing, but Hermes was vexed.

"It can't be done," said the god who is sworn to never lie, but does not have to speak the whole truth. "Two memories. It is not done."

"They are my guests," said Eros, but it was no use. Hermes needed to think.

The herald god considered and considered, in the same way Theseus had to consider the labyrinth he knew that was unseen by Nick. At last he looked up and nodded to Philip, saying "The beautiful one, will recall an assault by a brute who sought to carry him off, and that the brave one," he nodded to Nick "rescued him. It is not true, but true enough."

Eros said to Nick, "You alone may know these things have passed. For your amusement provided, I grant these payments. I pray thee use them."

Eros' eyes twinkled as his tongue lingered on the s in payments.

Nick wrapped a fist around the shoulder strap of his backpack pulling it tight, looking at Eros, thinking with a tremble, He knows. The god of love and more simply smiled his twisted smile.

Hermes again wrapped his arms around Nick and Philip, and they knew they were going home. At their feet Theseus rolled up on top of the minotaur. He wriggled his muscular ass against the bull cock, gazing at the monster with loving eyes, and the beast caressed him tenderly.

"Hey, Thes buddy," said Nick, "remember to eat something now and then." He held back a tear as he realized Theseus was not listening to him at all, having eyes now only for the beast. "Thes... I'll miss you---"

And they were gone.

EPILOGUE TWO:

At the Greek Festival, vendors and workers were still picking up from the scene caused by Theseus and the minotaur.

Nick noted the baklava stand was manned by a squat older woman. Eros was nowhere to be seen.

"Aw crap," said a Festival worker. "Who knocked down the labyrinth?"

Nick looked over to see the cardboard structure had collapsed.

"Should we build a new one?" asked a second worker.

"I dunno," the first answered. "Festival's almost done."

"Damn," said Philip, looking at his ripped frat shirt, his firm copper pec exposed. He remembered a creepy guy with a nosering jumping him and then being thrown over the guy's shoulder. And then Nick... tackling the guy? Hitting him till he let Philip go? Or something like that. It didn't seem to matter. "That was - that was crazy weird."

"You said it," answered Nick.

"I've never seen you like that before. You chased right after that big guy. Thanks."

"You're welcome. I said - I said I'd be here for you."

"You were. But Nick.... Even though that was really cool... We're still broken up. I'm sorry."

"Yeah," sighed Nick. "I figured. But... can you hold on a second? I actually have something for you."

"Sure thing buddy. Least I can do after this crazy day," said Philip, clapping his hand on Nick's shoulder, causing his backpack to roll to the ground.

Nick picked up the pack and just to be sure, looked inside. There, with his hoodie and iphone and books was a single golden arrow, gleaming even in the dark.

"So what's it gonna be?" he heard a Festival worker ask. "We going to build a new labyrinth or call it a day?"

Nick's mouth twitched from side to side in indecision.

A HAPPY ENDING DEPENDS ON WHERE THE STORY ENDS.