Disclaimer: I can only wish to be the brain child behind these games.

Chapter 1

Teatro Romano di Ostia Antica

They had finally made it. Only some twenty kilometres away from the heart of Rome, and they were all finally here, fantastically jet lagged, but excited and raring to begin stage and dress rehearsals.

This had been a life time journey in all, but this particular performance has cut into everybody's lives for the last two years. They were a touring dance company from London and were invited to perform not only at the world renowned 'Spoleto Fesitval', but also as stand alones at this marvellous place they now all stood.

The amphitheatre that they were all standing in the middle of looked like a picture taken directly from an ancient history text book. The stone looked worn with age, the passages crumbled in the corners from all the years, the columns stood tall and proud, and yet it looked like it could easily out last civilisation.

Tani actually believed the place had lasted through one civilisation, it seemed almost to thrum with tales and wisdom's of old. Tani could even imagine lithe dancers twirling and leaping across the stage she stood on. This only got her even more giddy and excited, and she couldn't help but to grin manically only marginally stopping a squeal to accompany it.

Then, as if rehearsed, some of their group bounded on stage and pirouetted and leaped, and joined in formation and synchronised their dance. It didn't last too long, but it spread the excitement further and further.

It was with a sense of accomplishment that Tani sat down and watched her friends goof around, creating their own dance sequences for short bursts before giggling at their own silliness, only to start again. This had been their dream, and it was finally happening. Without realising, someone sneaked up on her, and with momentum to give them strength, propelled Tani from her seat and straight onto the stage. She didn't even have time to catch her breath before her feet left the ground and she was staring down at everyone, the years of practice dictating that she strengthen her lines and perform.

More than half their company was on stage at that very moment. No music, no beat to accompany them. They knew this dance better than they knew their reflection, and as she was circled in mid air, she could visualise how it would look in two weeks time when they were all in costume, and make up and the lights would be fitted and the crowd would be seated and they would app-

Applause sounded around the Teatro Romano.

Tani was paused in mid air, her back perfectly arched, looking directly at the non-existent crowd. This confused her, as all the seats were empty. However she noticed where the other dancers were looking, and standing around the otherwise roped off Teatro were a large crowd of tourists clearly sneaking a look. As if on cue, Tani's partner dropped her from the air, deftly catching her with practiced ease before placing her to his right. And like true performers, every single one of them lined up and took a bow for their impromptu performance.

With a wide smile that she thought would never vanish, Tani felt this was going to be a night to remember.

-...-

Sun filtered into a small room, alighting on several occupants in all sorts of states of sleep. Some were bundled up, there was one with a leg hanging precariously over the edge of a top bunk, one was snoring rather loudly, someone looked as though they were buried under all the blankets, and one was stirring.

Tani didn't know what it was that woke her. It could have been the sun that was hitting her directly in the eyes, it could have been her parched mouth that felt like fur had sprouted all over, there was a possibility that it was the person lying on her arm and effectively numbing it to the point of pain, it could have also been the shocking headache with the accompanying nausea. What ever is was, Tani did not appreciate it.

Cracking her eye open was an effort in itself. The blindness that followed did not improve her mood, and the world refusing to stop spinning was aggrevating her head and stomach like it was on a mission. The room was in shambles. There were bottles and clothes everywhere, two people were passed out on the floor, and if she wasn't mistaken, Martin looked like he was about to fall out of bed from a height that she thought might hurt.

Tani had been right about one thing. Last night was a night to remember. Or at least in her case, a night to try and remember.

This was their week off. And by week off they meant sight seeing and getting absolutely blind. Both were done yesterday. Tani could remember coming here to get changed, she remembered the shots of -Lord only knows what- they consumed prior to hitting the streets. She remembered dinner followed by a rather nice cocktail bar, a cocktail bar with a killer bar tender that seemed to fancy her and gave her free drinks. She remembered the street crawl through the various venues, she remembered loud music, and that bar tender from before-.

She opened her eyes at that thought and blushed, but with a smile none the less. Boy did she remember the bar tender, remembered bringing him here, remembered him biting that spot on her neck while his hand glided up her thigh and under her dress. Remembered him whispering things in her ear with broken English and that sinful accent, feeling his hands-

"Dear God the things he did with those hands." She muttered out loud to stop that train of thought before she added 'randy' to the list of the things she felt this morning.

"I hope what ever he did with those hands wasn't done on this bed." A voice mumbled from under a pillow to Tani's right. It sounded like Jess, but Tani couldn't be sure.

"I make no promises." She retorted, remembering precisely what was done on this very bed with a slight blush. She only heard a groan in response, yet nobody resurfaced. Glancing at her phone with bleary eyes Tani could just make out that it was eight in the morning and that it was Saturday the 13/3/2010, blessed week end. Deciding she should drag herself out of bed in hopes of getting rid of the hang over she now had, Tani meandered into the bathroom, having to push a stray leg out of the doorway to close it, and looked at herself in the mirror.

She was a right mess. Make-up still on from last night, hair a complete chaotic mess, she was even in her clothes which sort of answered how she got back home last night, that is, her friends dragging her to the room and dumping her on the bed. Deciding a shower was an absolute must, she struggled with it despite the soothing water as her stomach roiled and protested from last nights drinking binge. Not for the first time she asked herself 'why?'

Having liked to say she felt better she could only in fact say she felt cleaner. Her head still hurt, she even dry heaved into the toilet with no luck. Looking at her reflection again, she could summerise her appearance in one word: Miserable. Her normally bouncy light brown hair was laying flat and dark with water, her normally clear hazel eyes were puffy and blood shot, her light skin looked grey and despite her small size, her tummy bulged and bloated in rebellion from the nights festivities.

Grunting at her reflection one last time, she wrapped the thin and worn hotel towel around herself and went to hunt some clothes down. Having managed to locate her bag, it took her another fifteen minutes to choose her outfit, this being done with many pauses to will away the persistent nausea and grunting at people slowly showing life in the room. Getting dressed in her denim shorts and black tank top took another fifteen minutes, the majority of the time being spent on clasping her bra at the back, which was only successful when Jess emerged from under her pillow and took pity on her.

"What are you lot doing!" The voice startled awake anyone who was sleeping and startled into attention anyone who was awake. The person was standing in the door way looking ready to spit fire. A man in his mid thirties, Sam was one of the chaperones for the dance company. He also happened to be Tani's older brother and legal guardian.

"The coach is about to leave in less than fifteen minutes and most of you haven't even gotten out of bed!" The only thing he got for his trouble was stony looks from every occupant in the room. "We're going to see the Colosseum you prats!" He yelled accurately, gauging their incomprehension and receiving nothing but groans. "You did this to yourselves, I don't want to hear any complaints." And he walked out leaving everyone to their own devices.

Tani groaned, she was sure everyone else did too. This was going to be torture, while she wanted to see the great arena the half hour coach ride there would be interesting to say the least. Ignoring everyone while they rushed around to get ready, Tani started packing a back pack for the day. She monotonously listed things she would need. Hat, glasses, wallet, sun screen, iPod, phone, camera, deodorant, perfume, water and the heaven sent pain pills for her head.

Looking around, everyone was still in disarray with many shouts of 'where is my…' and 'have you seen…' could be heard from various directions. Thinking she had the time, Tani started unpacking a few personal items to bring a touch of home to the place they were all to stay for the next four months. Allocating herself a small section of the dresser, she placed her book, two other perfumes and two photo frames neatly on the edge. In one photo was her and her brother Sam, she couldn't quite remember where the photo was taken, but she was only about fourteen and they looked happy enough. The second was of her and her beloved pet Patches. It was taken two years ago for her eighteenth birthday, Patches was a present to her from her brother which doubled as a congratulatory gift when she got onto the short list to go to Italy. It had been a very good year.

"I will not have that slimy snake looking at me while I sleep!" Jess shouted from the bathroom after spotting the newly displayed photo.

"I miss Patches." Tani pouted, though a smirk was clearly etching its way onto her face. "I could put the photo back into my bag now, but all bets are off about him being in his enclosure the next time you come around to practice." Tani won this battle and she knew it, the picture of her Royal Python was safe, especially when her friend retorted with a dignified-.

"Bitch."

"Cow." She sang back smugly.

-...-

"This- is- amazing!"

She was acting like a right tourist, but who wouldn't forgive her. Tani was standing in front of the Colosseum. The structure so famous, so old, and so big. She just couldn't comprehend the sheer enormity of it all, or its age for that matter. Her brother stood by her with a big grin on his face, he was no doubt feeling a little bit smug. He got a lot of resistance about this trip, namely from the people that drank themselves stupid the night before.

However the bus ride was eventful, if entirely disgusting. Twice the driver had to pull over in a hurry as Jack, Tani's dance partner, needed to retch his guts up from the terribly bumpy ride. This made everyone even more nauseated and irritable. The final straw came when Jack didn't make it out of the bus in time and Jess, having sat at the front, was privy to the spectacular projectile display…to which she promptly contributed to.

Standing here now, and trying desperately to rid herself of those horrible images from her mind, Tani was glad her brother persisted. She felt even better about it when he bought her a can of Coke which settled her stomach and gave her the much needed caffeine kick. One of the dancers walked pastand insisted they have a photo together in front of the Colosseum, they didn't need much persistence at all. Tani was just wondering when their tour would start, when an announcement sounded for all ticket holders to gather.

They gave a brief explaination of what they were to do and see. Naturally the boys cheered when they were informed that tales of gladiators and executions were to be told. Tani personally wanted to see the alter of Julius Caesar, not that she was a history buff of any sort, but she could imagine the grandness of it and she was sure it would make an impression.

And so it begun. Their guide gave histories, and pointed out artifacts. Tani couldn't believe how feral and barbaric people were in those days after hearing some of the tales. Their day dwindled on, they stopped briefly for lunch at a designated station, they went on to see the Palatine Hills, follwed by the alter, which was anything but grand. Tani still thought it was worth seeing, knowing that people still lay flowers down she knew it must be worth it.

And so their tour was coming to an end. The group requested one last look at the arena for photo opportunities, so the guide kindly allowed it. So while waiting for the boys to get their fill of pretending to be gladiators and barbarians, the girls took shots of themselves in various poses, each descending further into the ridiculous.

That's when madness truly set in. The boys no longer content with play fighting decided to run screaming at the girls. The girls in turn screamed back in surprise. And in all the confusion and disorientation someone knocked heavily into Tani. She felt herself flip over some kind of barrier, felt the world take a tumble and then she felt the sudden rush of free falling.

She couldn't scream. The feeling of hitting hard ground overwhelmed her, knocking the wind out of her lungs. She didn't know how far she fell, but the sound of laughing was distant, and unless her ears decieved her, they seemed to be moving away. Tani tried to shout out, but all she managed was a croak, followed by a hacking cough as she breathed in the dust she unsettled.

Still disoriented she inspected her body for any damage. Apart from the bruising she would get from the fall, nothing seemed to be broken. Her head throb fiercely, but she wasn't too bothered with it, she felt around her scalp, but nothing appeared to be bleeding. Deciding to find some sort ladder or steps that 'staff only' used, she didn't expect her left ankle to give out under her weight, didn't realise that there was yet another ledge which she toppled over again.

The fall this time was worse. The ground she fell to was on a slope and gravity propelled her down after the fall, smacking into a wall. Trying to get her bearings and failing miserably, Tani tried to understand which way was up and which was down, but her head was now spinning so badly and legs throbbing painfully, that it took a minute to realise that she hadn't stopped moving.

That minute made it too late. Gravity once again took hold, and legs first she went sliding down an even steeper slope which was hidden behind the wall she fell into full force. This time Tani screamed. She forced the voice out past her lips, in her confusion tried groping for anything to stop the descent, but the disorientation and the swirling dust made anything impossible, even her screaming got cut off as she choked on the dust riddled air.

A hoarse cry tore out of her voice box as the weightless feeling of being airborne engulfed her again. It didn't last long, ground rushed to her knees with the ferocity of gravity aiding it, the pain that shot up and down her legs was blinding and caused her to role and tumble for several metres before the back of her head collided with something very solid.

Tani saw stars.

At least she thought she did, because on second thought she must be beyond stars and seeing the light. There was a figure hovering near by, very bright and as though they were some weird hologram with terrible reception as they kept fading in and out, she couldn't be sure as everything was blurry. Tani could hear a voice, but knew not what it was saying, she couldn't really see the lips move and only vaguely heard a females pitch rise and fall.

"Am I dead?" Tani croaked out, though she barely heard her own voice. The weird figure made a sound that sounded like it could be a laugh, but Tani wasn't sure. Neither was she sure if the figure was pointing at her or at something further away as her vision blurred and doubled. And then she heard it.

At least Tani thought she did. Because it didn't sound like noise coming into her ears, but as if they were in her head. Whispers and voices and chanting and she didn't know what, nothing was making sense, she couldn't understand any of it, but she suddenly felt compelled to look around. There, just past the column that she hit her head on, amongst the eerie glow of the place, was a golden light. Yet it couldn't be gold, it looked too brilliant and otherworldly to have such a common label as gold.

The whispering in her head intensified, the chanting got louder. Tani didn't know what made her do it, or what gave her the strength even, but for reasons that were not of her own volition she started making her way achingly toward that shock of light. Something compelled her to crawl, to use only her arms as her legs were useless, the whispering got louder and louder and she was sure that this is what they wanted.

Finally she was with in reach of that orb, the voices were becoming unbearable, and despite a small sliver of fear and uncertainty that managed to penetrate through her hazy mind, Tani now wanted to reach for the globe, reach for it like the whispers clearly wanted her to. And so she did, stretching her finger tips as far as they would go, the chanting in her head became unbearable, and with one final push of strength Tani reached out and felt the oddly warm and pulsating globe be engulfed by her hand.

For a moment nothing happened, everything was still, the whispering and chanting had stopped, the world wasn't spinning. The eerie glow in the place vanished. Tani felt no pain she felt as though someone stuck her in a vat of cotton, blindfolded her and dropped her in an air tight container. She could only hear the steady rhythm of blood flow in her ears.

Then, the glowing figure reappeared in the darkness. Tani could now see her with crystal clarity, she looked human, but not at the same time. The weird flickering continued as though there was bad reception. But before Tani could find her voice or even formulate something to say, the figure smiled and spoke.

"It is done."

It was but a heart beat. Everything went dark and quiet again. Tani didn't even take a breath when light and pain exploded around her. Tani screamed like she never thought she could, one long drawn out wail, and everything went dark and silent once more.

-...-

A/N: Okay, so here is the first of many chapters. Now, should I be starting another fic? Probably not. However this little (actually it's rather epic) nugget has been playing around my mind for AGES, I kid you not. I have a very large portion of it planned out, and I know how I want to end it. Here are a few things I want readers to be aware of, please bare with this A/N and I promise there won't be such a legnthy one in the future, and it may just answer I few of your questions.

- I cannot promise frequent updates. I tend to run out of steam, but while I'm piping I'll write furiously, so my plan to update weekly will hold true for a while yet.

- Characters name is pronounced TAR-nee not TAN-ee. Why do I put this here? I often find myself reading a fic and getting through ten chapters only to find I've been pronouncing it wrong.

-There is a method to my madness. Unless I admit otherwise (and I am honest, I can admit a mistake) any confusion will probably be answered at a later time.

-I have strong opinions about mary-sues. Do I consider my character to be one? Most certainly not. Should you wish for me to get on a soap and expound my wisdom on the subject just PM me and I'll write you an essay (a very short one).

Anyways lovely readers, please let me know your thoughts. Do you like this? Hate this? Can it be improved? Can anything be added? Should anything be taken out? Please let me know, I cannot possibly read people's minds only when you let me know what you think can I act on it. Should you wish to flame, by all means, but let it be known that it will be unhelpful.

Take care and have yourselves a Merry Christmas