DIVINE » l. valdez

a forgotten time

"I see you weren't ready for this assignment, my dear," he said. "It's my fault. Vince, Gary, detain Meg but don't hurt her. When we get home..." He shrugged, his expression full of regret. "As for Apollo, the girl and the little fruit demon, they will have to burn."

"No," Meg croaked. Then, at full volume, she shouted, "NO!" And the Grove of Dodona shouted with her.

The blast was so powerful it knocked Nero and the guards off their feet. Peaches wailed and slammed his head into the dirt repeatedly.

This time, Hina and Apollo were ready. As the trees' reached their ear splitting crescendo, Apollo joined in, humming the Y.M.C.A. with a new conviction. Hina joined in, tightly holding her sword to protect Apollo from Nero. 

"Meg!" Apollo pulled the brass wind chimes from his pocket and tossed them to her. "Put these on the center tree! Y.M.C.A. Focus the grove's energy! Y.M.C.A."

She raised the chimes and watched as they swayed and clanked, turning the noise from the trees into snatches of coherent speech: Happiness approaches. The fall of the sun; the final verse. Would you like to hear our specials today?

Meg's face went slack with surprise. She turned toward the grove and sprinted through the gateway. Peaches crawled after her, shaking his head.

Hina wanted to follow Meg, but she couldn't leave Nero with his hostages. Humming Y.M.C.A. the two marched towards their enemy.

The trees screamed louder than ever, but Nero rose to his knees. He pulled something from his coat pocket—a vial of liquid—and splashed it on the ground in front of him. Instantly, Hina recognized the musty scent: Greek fire. Vince and Gary were getting up.

A joint anger surged through the forest. As Vince lunged forward with his spear, Apollo grabbed the point of the spear and slammed it into the guard's chin. 

Hina had no time to be shocked by Apollo's newfound strength as she charged Gary. She charged for Austin, Kayla, and everyone else chained behind her. 

Gary begun his stride as well and at the last second, Hina sidestepped, slicing at him with all the power she could muster. 

The Germani grunted but Hina gave him no time to recover. She pulled back, slamming against his head with the butt of her sword twice. Gary crumbled to the ground with a whimper. 

She faced Nero, Apollo placing a hand on her shoulder in support. 

The emperor snarled. "You're a fool, Apollo. You always focus on the wrong thing." He glanced at his Rolex. "My wrecking crew will be here any minute. Once Camp Half-Blood is destroyed, I'll make it my new front lawn! Meanwhile, you'll be here...putting out fires."

From his vest pocket, he produced a silver cigarette lighter. 

"Don't," Apollo ordered weakly.

Nero grinned. "Good-bye, Apollo. Only eleven more Olympians to go." His eyes moved to study Hina. "Time to snuff out this unwanted light."

He dropped the lighter. 

Nero would have to be faced another day. The emperor fled, dragging the very injured Gary behind him. 

The flames rolled towards the hostages, hungry for fuel to keep it going. 

Hina and Apollo ran to the stakes. She used her blade like a saw, hacking at the bandages surrounding Kayla while Apollo ripped apart Austin's restraints. 

Austin groaned as he toppled into Apollo's arms. 

"Where can we put them?" Hina yelled over the crackling fire, looping Kayla's arm over her shoulders to carry her.