Oll Persson meets Theseus as an old friend while time traveling

He whirled, fist clenching to strike. The man sat at the bottom of the wall. There was blood on his tunic, under the hands that rested on his stomach, red seeping through the fingers. The man looked up at Oll, smiled. His teeth were pink. ‘I should have listened to you. I should have raised the white sails.’ Oll felt cold. He knew the face. It was the face that had smiled with the joy of leaping bulls, that had gone down into Minos’ Labyrinth without hesitation, the face of the man who Oll had told to raise white sails but had not.

Oll knew where he was. ‘You were always good at choices, old friend,’ said Theseus, ‘but these ones ahead are going to be the worst of all, no clear path, no thread back this time.’ Oll brought the lamp closer. The light showed more blood, a lot more, more than a man could live without. ‘What choice are you talking about?’ said Oll. ‘How do you know?’ A bellow came from the dark, echoing off the stone. It sounded like something in pain, like something that was hungry. ‘It told me,’ said the dying Theseus, his eyes looking into the dark as the sound faded. ‘After it… after it did this, it told me all the things that it knows. It told me that you would come. It told me where you are going. It told me that it is waiting for you, here, and that you cannot get out – even if you think you afree, you aren’t. This place, it’s not just a riddle in stone, old friend… Should have known… How could a puzzle of stone hold the bastard-child of a god? I should have known. I should have listened to you. Daedalus did his work well.’ Theseus’ back arched.

His eyes and mouth clenched shut against the pain. ‘You got out,’ said Oll. ‘This is not what happened. You slew the beast. You got out.’ ‘No,’ he said with a bloody grin. ‘I’m still down here, and I always will be. Made…’ He gasped, and the blood was bright on his lips now, pink froth, spilling down his chin. ‘Made the wrong choices. No thread, no way back. A fool… You were right then, but now you are here again, just like it said you would be.’ Eyelids began to flutter. His head lolled onto his chest. ‘How did I end up back in here?’ said Oll, suddenly urgent, his hand going to Theseus’ shoulder. ‘Is this you, John? Is this you trying to tell me something? How do I get out? How do I go on?’ Theseus’ eyes flickered open for a second, but the pupils were small, unfocused. ‘Who… who is John?’ he asked. His eyes closed, and went still.

 Oll froze, then took his hand away; it was wet and red. His head twitched. Somewhere in the distance there were footsteps, coming closer. Shuffle-tap… shuffle-tap, shuffle-tap… Faster, picking up speed as though hurrying. He turned towards the sound.

- Siege of Terra Mortis