I scramble backwards on the floor.

Bile forces its way up my throat as the double doors in the ground burst open – releasing one of the Sins.

Gluttony.

It looks like a huge, worm. Its bulbous, swollen flesh drips a sticky fat like substance and shudders as it lurches forwards. With each movement it makes, the squelching sound I heard earlier resounds about the room.

It gives off a pungent odour that's acrid and sour; the smell of old sweat, rotting garbage and death.

Pandora stands before it, swishing her sword through the air– her dark eyes fixed on the embodiment of the Sin before her. Her words repeat themselves over and over in my mind.

Don't get eaten.

Suddenly Gluttony rears its entire top half into the air, exposing its underside which is completely covered with sharp, needle like teeth. It stays there a moment, its body pulsing, before suddenly it turns and lurches in my direction.

"Lila" shouts Cupid "Get out of the way"

I scramble to my feet and instinctively I reach into the quiver over my shoulder and pull out an arrow. I thrust it upwards as the monstrous creature slashes its top half towards me.

As I do, the black weapon sinks into the side of its body – its rolls of fat sucking it in. I try to pull away, but find half of my arm drawn into its flesh; it's moist and hot and feels like jelly.

The stench is unbearable and the intense pressure against my arm makes me feel light-headed with pain.

I gag as Cupid springs to my side.

With a heave, he hauls me away from the beast; a suctioning noise resounds as my arm is released from its flabby prison. We both fall to the floor and Pandora leaps before us – slashing at the monster with her sword and scattering lumps of flesh about the arena.

The monster however does not slow down.

It bears closer and closer towards her – forcing her to move backwards until she is fighting with her back to the far wall. Every time a part of it is cut off, its body pulses and pushes a new roll of slippery fat in its place. It moves with an extraordinary speed, its teeth gnashing and gnawing through the air towards Pandora.

"A little help here" she calls between heavy breaths "WOULD BE NICE..."

Cupid gets back onto his feet and grabs his black bow.

He looks at the creature distastefully.

"It's just so....gross" he says.

She throws him a dirty look as the beast hits her with the side of its body – throwing her across the floor.

"OK, I'm coming" Cupid says, leaping towards it. "As long as I don't have to touch it..."

He fires a rain of arrows into its swollen body.

It rears up again, away from Pandora, and for a moment it looks almost like it's sniffing the air. Then it turns towards Cupid and me.

"Fire into its mouth" shouts Pandora, springing back to her feet "Between its teeth. It's the only place where it's vulnerable."

Cupid does so – firing arrow after arrow as it bears down on him.

It begins to thrash about in the air as, one after the other, the arrows find their mark. Then, suddenly, it falls down to the floor – its flesh exploding on impact and spurting a sticky, gelatine like substance across the entire arena.

Cupid gets the full brunt of it – the dripping fat covering his body.

He turns around and looks at me, a pained expression on his face.

"So...Disgusting..." he says as the translucent goo drips down his face.

He throws off his leather jacket and wipes his face and hair with it then casts it to the ground. My eyes linger on his bare muscular arms as he does so – exposed by the black tank top he is wearing.

Even covered in goo he manages to look hot.

He catches me staring and raises his eyebrows mischievously. He grins.

"See something you like?" he asks.

Pandora walks forwards and stands beside him, surveying him with dark eyes.

"Of course she doesn't" she says drily "You look, and smell, disgusting."

She momentarily smirks, lighting up her otherwise serious face, and I find myself grinning despite of myself.

There's something very blunt and direct about her persona.

Cupid's eyes glint with amusement.

"Pandora, this is Lila" he says "She's my match."

Pandora frowns and raises her dark eyebrows.

"Your match?" she says "I assume Venus is back then?"

Cupid nods.

"You assume correctly" he says. "We've come to ask for your help. You and all the others she trapped in Sims."

Pandora frowns.

"Sims?"

Of course, Cal said earlier that they had no idea they were in a Simulation.

She must have no idea where she is.

"Yes" says Cupid, "Think about it – you've been here for centuries. In this room. Where did you think you were? It's all a Simulation – created in your head."

She doesn't respond but after a few silent moments a flash of understanding passes across her serious features.

"Venus' dungeon" she says through gritted teeth.

Cupid nods.

"Cal has connected all the Sims together" he continues "We have the Finis, and we're breaking out all her prisoners. We're going after Venus."

He pauses.

"Will you help us?"

Her steely gaze passes over Cupid then me.

"I should have known you hadn't come to help me out of the kindness of your heart" she says "But very well. You get me out of here, and I'll help you kill Venus. I'd be happy to watch her die."

Cupid's face cracks into a grin.

"Excellent" he says "Now...how exactly do we get out of here...?"

She gives Cupid a look.

"Well I obviously don't know" she replies scathingly "I've tried the doors – they're all dead ends leading to the Sin rooms. The double doors that spat out our friend Gluttony are home to all the monsters."

She shakes her head.

"You seriously came in here not knowing how to get out?!"

Cupid shrugs.

"Not really thought that far ahead..." he says "But my brother will have built us an exit. The doors could lead somewhere different now. There must be some kind of clue. We just need to find it."

Pandora raises an eyebrow.

"Well we better be quick" she says "By my calculations the next Sin will arrive in the next twenty minutes...."

***

The three of us scout the vast arena. We have been searching for around fifteen minutes and no clues have been found.

I look at the double doors worriedly.

In five minutes time another monster is going to come out of there.

I force myself to look away – focusing on the task at hand – and my eyes brush over the carvings of the nearest door. W is embossed into the metal along with the picture of a fierce lion like creature.

W for Wrath?

I walk to the next door.

This one is marked E for Envy. There's an image of a snake curling its way around the letters.

A snake? Why does that mean something to me?

I'm about to move on when something glinting on the ground catches my eye. I crouch down and brush away the rubble to expose a dirty mirror. There's an M engraved in the centre.

"Cupid" I call. "The girl in the Venus' prison – Medusa. I saw a snake in her cell."

He looks up from the door he is examining and nods.

"Yep" he says "She always has snakes, they're kind of her trademark."

He walks towards me and Pandora follows.

"What is it?" she asks.

Cupid inspects the mirror on the ground, then the snakes on the door.

He grins.

"That, my friend, is a clue" he says "Medusa, and the way out, will be through this door."

Pandora looks unconvinced.

"If you're wrong we're faced with Envy in there" she says "We'll kill each other."

She pauses.

"Well...I'll kill you at least..."

Behind us a hissing sound resounds about the arena. I glance over my shoulder.

The doors in the floor are moving.

Cupid raises an eyebrow.

"Shall we take our chances?" he says.

She sighs then nods resignedly.

Cupid opens the door and we hurry through just as something bursts into the arena; he slams it shut behind us.

With a wave of relief I look around.

We're back in the labyrinth – concrete walls stretch up to the sky on either side of us and lead to a junction just ahead. The faint sound of carnival music hums in the air.

I hear Pandora's intake of breath beside me.

"It really was the exit..." she says.

"Good to be out of there?" asks Cupid.

"You have no idea" she says, her eyes drinking in the black sky above us.

We walk forwards to the junction.

To the right the labyrinth walls are replaced by a network of abandoned carts, tents and fairground rides – maze like paths criss-crossing about them.

Far in the distance something glints and gleams in the eerie red and white lights.

Along the path to the left, the labyrinth darkens ominously. I shudder as I notice a dark, shiny substance on the wall.

Blood?

"You see that glinting building through the carnival?" says Cupid, pointing right "That's a house of mirrors. Medusa has the power to turn people to stone at will with just a glance. She won't be able to control her powers in here. One look in a mirror and she'll turn herself into stone."

He looks meaningfully at Pandora.

"She'll be in the house of mirrors" he says.

Pandora nods sternly.

"I agree" she says "Want me to retrieve her?"

Cupid nods.

"Then get to the centre of the labyrinth" he says. "Cal has built an exit to the Sim in there."

She turns without another word and makes her way through the desolate carnival. I look up at Cupid.

"We're not going with her?" I ask.

He looks down the path to the left, a dark look on his face. He shakes his head.

"No" he says "We're going this way. We need to get back to the Matchmaking Service as soon as we can. The trial will be soon, and we have an army of Myths to co-ordinate before Venus realises what we're doing."

He looks at me seriously.

"Time to get to the centre of the labyrinth" he says "Time to face the Minotaur."