i see someone else talking to themselves, maybe it's a mirror looking down on me
Time stood still, the sound of the match being lit thundering through the forest.
Beside her, Apollo sputtered, "Nuh-uh, dun-doot!" as he waved the Brazilian flag as if it was magic.
Hina backed towards the stakes, her eyes glued on Nero. Even with the odds stacked against them, she would die before letting her friends burn in an inferno.
Peaches made the first move. The karpos must have sensed Meg's true feelings. He hurtled through the air, screaming a war cry. He landed on Nero's arm, chomped the lit match from the emperor's hand, then landed a few feet away, wiping his tongue and crying, "Hat! Hat!".
It would have been a relief, except the Germani had regained their strength and six highly flammable human torches still sat tied to the trees. Plus, Nero clutched the matchbox and Hina wasn't sure Peaches would be willing to eat however many more matches were left.
The emperor stared at his empty hand. "Meg...?" His voice was as cold as an icicle. "What is the meaning of this?"
"P-Peaches, come here!" Meg's voice had turned brittle with fear.
The karpos bounded to her side. He hissed at me, Nero, and the Germani.
Meg took a shaky breath. "Nero...Peaches is right. You—you can't burn these people alive."
"Meg," said the emperor, "I am trying so hard to keep the Beast at bay. Why won't you help me? I know you are a good girl. I wouldn't have allowed you to roam around Manhattan so much on your own, playing the street waif, if I didn't know you could take care of yourself. But softness toward your enemies is not a virtue. You are my stepdaughter. Any of these demigods would kill you without hesitation given the chance."
"Meg, that's not true!" Apollo said. "You've seen what Camp Half-Blood is like."
She studied Apollo and Hina uneasily. "Even...even if it was true..." She turned to Nero. "You told me never to lower myself to my enemies' level."
"No, indeed." Nero's tone had frayed like a weathered rope. "We are better. We are stronger. We will build a glorious new world. But these nonsense-spewing trees stand in our way, Meg. Like any invasive weeds, they must be burned. And the only way to do that is with a true conflagration—flames stoked by blood. Let us do this together, and not involve the Beast, shall we?"
Ice ran down Hina's spine and she felt something click in her mind. She suddenly remembered the way punishments were given out at the foster homes she stayed at. They had to be behaved or they'd face the spoon. It made her loath the wooden utencil rather than the woman holding it.
It was the separation of Nero and the Beast that had charmed Meg. He had convinced the girl that he wasn't to blame.
Everything seemed to make sense. Why Meg preferred the streets, away from Nero. Why she could go from cartwheels to shutting down in seconds. Meg never knew what would bring out the Beast.
Meg fixed her gaze on Apollo, silently begging him for a way out. She needed an eloquent speech, something to break free.
"He's evil. You're good. You must make your own choice," Apollo spoke bluntly, taking the Meg approach.
Hina saw the disappointment in Meg's face, it was not what she had wanted to hear. She bit her lip, mirroring Hina as she did the same.
Meg placed a hand on Peaches' curly mop of hair. "Peaches," she said in a small but firm voice, "get the matchbox."
The karpos sprang into action. Nero barely had time to blink before Peaches ripped the box from his hand and jumped back to Meg's side.
The Germani readied their spears. Nero raised his hand for restraint. He gave Meg a look that might have been heartbreak—if he even possessed a heart.
"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.
It would be impossible to make their way through the fire and bringing the demigods to the grove would drive them mad.
"This way!" Apollo begun dragging Austin to the far end of the clearing as far away from the fire as possible.
Hina followed, gently placing Kayla beside her brother. The two continued, Apollo using his godly strength to free the hostages while Hina dragged them to safety. By the time all five of the demigods and Paulie were sat in a pile the flames had reached impossible height.
It was inches away from the gates of the grove, consuming anything in its path and there was nothing they could do.
The inferno drained the air from the clearing, filling Hina's lungs with dark smoke. The heat blistered at her skin as she did her best to shield everyone. It was useless. Soon, they'd be swallowed by the fire too and everything they had worked for would be gone.
Meg and Peaches had disappeared, leaving Apollo and Hina alone.
Apollo collapsed to his knees sobbing uncontrollably. "Help!"
Hina's heart softened. She could hear the desperation in his voice, and yet, it wasn't for his own safety, but for the people they had saved and for the grove.
"I can't do this alone. I'm so sorry. Please...forgive me," he wept, speaking to some unseen vision.
Hina had begun to cough, the light protecting them fading; leaving the clearing lit only by the red glow of the fire.
The world around her began to spun and shimmering figures descended from the trees; a legion of dryads in green dresses. They circled the fire, melancholic expressions lining their faces. They knew they would die and still they continued their circle. They raised their arms, and the earth erupted at their feet. A torrent of mud churned over the flames. The dryads drew the fire's heat into their bodies. Their skin charred black. Their faces hardened and cracked.
Hina felt sick.
As the last flame was snuffed, the dryads crumbled to ash. They had sacrificed themselves. The searing heat that danced along Hina's skin felt cold as she sent a silent thanks to the dryads. She too knew the pain of sacrifice and would not let them die in vain.
Wind blew through the clearing—an unseasonably warm gust that swirled up the ashes and carried them through the forest canopy into the sky. Peace settled in Hina's heart, knowing they were being carried off to their next beautiful reincarnation.
To her surprise, Apollo pulled Hina towards himself. She returned the hug, both crying with no desire to stop. Although each sob brought on a wave of blistering pain, Hina gripped onto Apollo tightly afraid he too would vanish.
Behind them, someone groaned. "Where am I?"
It was Austin.
Apollo crawled to his side, his tears now filled with relief, and kissed his face. "My beautiful son!"
His cornrows were sprinkled with ashes like frost on a field, yet he still looked as healthy as he had before.
Hina reached out for him, her hand shaking. "Austin."
"Ah, right...Apollo. Why do you look like you rolled around a campfire?" He tried to move. "What the—? Why am I wrapped in smelly bandages? Could you free me, maybe?"
Despite everything, Hina laughed. It was broken and hysterical, but it rang through the air.
Apollo clawed at the bandages to no avail and Hina handed him her sword. Together, it took them several minutes to get Austin free while he complained of the smell.
Once pulled from the stake, he stumbled around, trying to shake the circulation back into his limbs. He took in the scene—the smoldering forest, the other prisoners. The Grove of Dodona had stopped its wild chorus of screaming. A radiant amber light now glowed from the gateway.
"What's going on?" Austin asked. "Also, where is my saxophone?"
Relief washed over Hina, he was still Austin.
Even with the reassurance everyone would be okay, the silence of the trees unsettled Hina. When had it stopped? She struggled to her feet, staring at the entrance of the grove, her stomach doing backflips.
Apollo handed Austin the sword, "Free the others. I'll be back." He placed his hand on Hina's shoulder once again, giving it a soft squeeze.
"You're going in there? Is it safe?" Austin asked increndously.
"Probably not," Hina answered.
They entered the grove, and were hit with the voices once again. This time, the trees babbled nonsense in a more reasonable volume.
Apollo led the way, calling out for Meg, prompting the trees to get louder with each shout.
Hina covered her ears as she walked, scanning the woods for the demigod.
As they continued the trees spoke, exchanging bits of verse to one another:
Caves of blue.
Strike the hue.
Westward, burning.
Pages turning.
Indiana.
Ripe banana.
Happiness approaches.
Serpents and roaches.
None of it made sense, and yet Hina felt the weight of prophecy in each line.
"Meg!" Hina called again.
The grove did not seem so large and yet how could she not hear them?
The trees became more conversational as Hina reached the second ring. Millions of conversations blended together as one tree repeated an infomercial for a pasta maker while another had begun telling a joke.
Hina tried humming a tune to drown out the noises but it fell flat, only prompting the trees to speak louder.
She didn't dare listen to them any closer for fear of losing her mind. Hina could feel the words chipping away at her, drumming a never ending beat.
Thoughts of pasta had infiltrated her mind and Hina tried to focus herself. She needed something to keep her mind away from the voices.
Leo.
His name hit her with full force, making her stop in her tracks for a second. The longer her thoughts sat on his name the more the voices seemed to fade away. It seemed like it had been ages since she had thought of him. A repressed memory, hidden away to keep her from crumbling.
As much as it hurt, Hina pressed forward, each step fuelled with another memory of Leo. The crooked grin smiling down on her. The way he would furrow his eyebrows in concentration when working. The nights star gazing.
The voices were a distant whisper by the time Hina reached the centre of the grove. On the far side of the largest oak tree, Meg stood with her back to the trunk, her eyes closed tight. The wind chimes were still in her hand, but they hung forgotten at her side.
At her feet, Peaches rocked back and forth, giggling. "Apples? Peaches! Mangoes? Peaches!"
Apollo ran to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Meg."
Hina rushed to the girl's side, grasping her free hand gently. Any feeling of betrayal had melted seeing her so helpless.
Meg squinted at the two, as if focusing on an optical illusion. Her eyes simmered with fear. "It's too much," she said. "Too much."
The voices had her in their grip. It was hard enough for Hina, but she had spent her whole life haunted by prophecy. On the other hand, Meg was a daughter of Demeter and the trees fought for her attention. It would only be a matter of minutes before they destroyed her mind beyond repair.
"The wind chimes!" Apollo yelled. "Hang them in the tree!"
He pointed to the lowest branch, dangling well above their heads. Alone, it was out of reach, but if Hina and Apollo could boost Meg...
Meg backed away, shaking her head. The voices of Dodona were so chaotic, Hina wasn't sure if Meg could even hear him. If she had, Hina feared Meg didn't trust them anymore.
Apollo nudged Hina before kneeling and lacing his fingers together. She copied, creating two footholds for Meg. "Please."
To the side Peaches rolled onto his back and wailed, "Linguine? Peaches!"
Meg grimaced. Hina could see the fear in her eyes. She would cooperate not out of trust, but for Peaches' sake.
Meg stepped forward, planting her left foot in Hina's hand before pushing herself up onto Apollo's. They gently hoisted Meg before she climbed onto Apollo's shoulders and eventually stood with one red sneaker on his head.
The voices rose, the centre tree acting as an antennae for their conversations.
Apollo's knees buckled and Hina held her hands up to catch Meg in case she fell. Finally, Meg tied the wind chimes to the branch.
She jumped down and Hina cushioned her fall, all three laying in a line on the dirt.
The brass chimes swayed and clanged, picking notes out of the wind and making chords from the dissonance. The grove hushed, enchanted by the notes.
The central oak shook with such energy, it rained acorns.
Meg stood and approached the tree. With a hand on the trunk she commanded it to speak.
A single voice boomed forth from the wind chimes:
There once was a god named Apollo
Who plunged in a cave blue and hollow
Upon a four-seater
The bronze fire-eater
Was forced death and madness to swallow