Cupid says nothing for a moment. He looks at Crystal and then at the imposing male stood in front of her.

"I presume Lila and I are free to go?" he says.

The Minotaur's dark eyes twinkle.

"Of course" he says.

He gestures at the exit behind him with a fluid flick of his wrist. I frown.

Surely we're not going to leave her here.

I look at Cupid questioningly. He grins at me in response; a dangerous look in his eye.

"Go ahead Lila" he says, turning his attention back to the unlikely pair "I'll meet you back at the Matchmaking Service."

The Minotaur smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes.

"Cupid...?" I say.

He shakes his head.

"Go back Lila" he says firmly "Tell my brother we'll be back in a minute. The other Myths will be waking up and he'll be worried about us."

"You really don't want to do this, friend" says the Minotaur.

There is a menacing undercurrent to his otherwise polite tone. Cupid grins, pulling an arrow out from his quiver.

"Oh...I really do" he replies. "Friend."

The tattooed male shrugs, then, in a movement too quick for me to see, leaps forward across the stone floor and takes a swipe at Cupid. Cupid is knocked backwards a few steps and a bloody welt appears on his cheek. At the same time Crystal hurls herself out of the way towards me and grabs my shoulders.

"Get out of here" she shouts at me.

She pushes me towards the steps and I stumble forwards. I pause a minute.

It feels wrong to leave them here.

"Go" she shouts again from below "Get out of here."

Reluctantly I rush up to the door, the sound of grunts and thuds filling my ears. I turn again.

Cupid and the Minotaur are fighting viciously. Cupid's bow and arrows have fallen to the floor, and the two are exchanging hard blows across the ball room. As I'm staring in horror, the Minotaur throws Cupid over the side of one of the round tables - and there is a clashing sound as silver cutlery rains onto the floor.

Cupid springs back to his feet and grabs a candelabra - thumping it down on the Minotaur's head.

As they are fighting Crystal leaps behind them and grabs Cupid's bow.

I place my hand tentatively on the on the door handle.

Cupid catches my eye as he swipes the Minotaur across the jaw with the gold plaited, makeshift weapon.

He gives me a half nod - telling me it's OK to leave.

Crystal raises the bow and aims at the Minotaur as he head-butts Cupid in the face.

They have it under control. They're going to win.

I push the door open.

Then Crystal moves the direction of her arrow, aiming at Cupid, and shoots.

"CUPID" I shriek from the doorway as it plunges into his shoulder blade.

He staggers backwards and the two pause mid-fight; startled.

For a moment no-one moves, then the Minotaur begins to laugh.

Then in a movement quicker than I can see, an arrow plummets into the Minotaur's shoulder as Crystal swipes another from her quiver.

He falls silent - and a thunderous look crosses his face.

Crystal looks at them both scathingly.

"If we're quite done with the display of testosterone, I'd like to get to the Matchmaking Service." she says "We have a War to win."

Before either of the two males can react, she sprints across the space and leaps up the steps to stand beside me. She looks sharply over her shoulder, her pristine blonde hair flicking whip like through the air.

"I don't need anyone to fight my battles for me" she says, looking at Cupid.

Then she turns her steely gaze to Minotaur

"And I certainly aren't staying with you in this warped cavern of your mind."

To my surprise an amused expression crosses the Minotaur's face.

"Now, are you two coming or what?"

Before either of them can reply, Crystal grabs my arm and pulls me through the doorway.

***

My eyes jolt open.

I'm sat back in the claustrophobic cell, my knees touching the rotting wooden door. I feel dizzy, and my stomach is aching with hunger. There's a cold, buzzing in my ear, and hurriedly I pull out the small microchip that sent me into the Sim.

I'd expected Venus' dungeons to be alive with sound of Myths waking up - but it is as silent as before.

I run my hands through my hair and look upwards.

Through the small barred window Cal is sat rigidly on a wooden stool watching me. The angles of his face are tensed and hidden in shadow. His eyes flash silver in the dim light.

He looks like he's about to say something when a noise sounds out from the cell next door. He jerks his head towards the commotion.

"She shot me!" says Cupid "Crystal shot me! I can't believe she shot me..."

The corner of Cal's mouth momentarily quirks upwards into the ghost of a smile before he looks serious once more.

"What took you so long?" he says sharply.

The door to my right bursts open and Crystal walks out into the dimly lit corridor between the cells. Her hair looks matted, and there are dark circles underneath her eyes. Her white suit is stained a murky brown.

"What took us so long?" she repeats "While you've been up here doing who knows what, we've been battling through a giant labyrinth. You couldn't have made it a bit easier for us to solve??"

Cupid steps out into my view and Crystal turns to him. He's back in his jeans and a cotton shirt – it clings to his body and I notice the glisten of sweat on his forearms. He raises his eyebrows at her.

"You shot..."

"Did he come with you?" she interrupts "The Minotaur?"

Cupid grins, his ocean eyes glinting mischievously. He looks at Cal.

"Seems our beastly friend has quite the thing for Crystal" he says.

Crystal gives Cupid a look and I notice Cal's jawline tense slightly.

"Don't worry" Cupid teases "your boyfriend came along."

She glares at him.

"He is not my boyfriend" she snarls.

Cupid chuckles to himself as he opens the door to my cell.

"You OK Lila?" he asks gently, holding his hand out for me.

I nod and take hold of it, letting him pull me to my feet. My legs wobble a bit and he steadies me, placing an arm around my waist. My skin tingles where he touches me.

He looks at me a moment, his eyes blazing, and I feel my heartbeat begin to race.

"Have any of the Myths woken up yet?" says Crystal, jolting me back into reality.

Cal stares at us before replying; his expression unreadable.

"Charlie and Selena are awake" he says "The others are starting to show signs of waking. It may take them a little longer. They've been in their Sims for years."

I feel a wave of relief that my friend is OK.

"How long have we been under?" asks Cupid.

Cal looks worried.

"Three days" he says "cupids have been coming in from all over the world since you've been down here. Venus has called them all here for the big trial. There'll be more to fight against than I had hoped."

Cupid frowns.

"Have you managed to turn any to our side?" he asks.

"A few" he says abruptly "But not many. They're too afraid to go against Venus."

Shadows flicker across his pale face in the dim light.

"Look...that's not the worst thing" he says tensely.

He pauses, a pained look on his face.

"Lila's trial....it's in less than an hour."

I feel my stomach plummet.

I knew it was coming – but I thought we'd have time to prepare somehow.

A small groan escapes from Cupid's mouth. I look up at him and see his face is masked with worry. Cal opens his mouth to say something but then stops suddenly. He shushes us.

We stand in silence a moment, and then I understand.

All around us come the sounds of rustling and murmuring – quietly at first but then with increasing vigour. Down the dark corridors, doors creak open. There is laughter close-by. I hear the breaking of rotting wood and footsteps against the muddy ground.

Cupid grins and I find myself smiling too despite of myself.

"Looks like our army is arriving" he says "The Myths are waking up."