To RandomFanAuthor- Aww, thanks! ^_^ But no, get some sleep! And yeeesssss, berserk Big Three is SO GOOD! *evil* As for Trump... do not get me started. I'm not even in your country and oh my god, someone please kill him! He does not have complete power, he just has complete orange! We're staying in lockdown here at home, not everyone is mind, but my family here and other households aren't taking any chances. So what if the Karens want a haircut? Anyway, I won't get started on that or I won't concentrate on stuff, so... yes, Lou and Storm, they're two halves of a whole idiot. And yes, yes, my bad, British slang, but I wanted to put that Toilet Man was having a paddy! It's a great word! And if I was going to take over, you'd never know until it was too late! Sit up straight! And make sure the blood is locally sourced at least!
Commodus did not knock politely, despite the remaining blemmyae instructing him to do so. The Waystation doors were hit with such power, monsters spilled on a tide of explosion. Pieces of furniture caught fire, the temperature sky-rocketed, singeing the air inside their lungs.
"Now this won't do." Commodus chided, shaking his head as he strolled in, monsters fanning out around him. They snarled and roared, scraping their claws, talons, weapons on the floor, excited for the second round. Louisa threw out her hands, the floor cracking in response. A slight uplift to her fingers, chunks of stone flying up in response, both the size of a small car. "You are especially irritating."
"Thank you." Louisa nodded. "Leave now."
"I don't think I will."
"Then eat rock." She cast her hands in front of her. Commodus dived to one side, but his monsters were not so quick, disappearing under the slabs, bursts of dust wafting from beneath.
"Daughter of Neptune, you have been-"
"A thorn in your side for too long?" Leo guessed, arching a brow. He sighed. "You really do know everyone. What did she steal from you then?" Louisa turned slowly, an incredulous protest written all over her face. "I'm sorry, but you stole door hinges and jewels and someone's daughter, I would not be in the least bit surprised you stole Toilet Man's toilet."
"She exploded it, actually."
"I should be a detective." Leo mused, putting a smart-aleck finger gun beneath his chin.
"You shouldn't." Several Hunters chimed. His shoulders slumped, pouting at them all.
"Um, hello? Evil Emperor?" Commodus waved.
"Oh, right." Leo faced forward, looking Commodus up and down. "That armour with that toga? Gods, what a disaster, it hurts my eyes. Festus, let's torch him."
Apollo knew it was bad from the smoke pouring from a hole in the roof. Not far from that, a single detached wing of a bronze dragon. He charged straight through the wreckage of the doors, past piles of monster dust, smouldering furniture and a blemmyae hanging upside down in a net trap.
"Please help me down."
"No."
"Understandable, have a good day."
"I doubt that."
In a stairwell, a wounded Hunter was stifling groans of pain as a second Hunter bandaged her bleeding leg. He went a few more steps and found a demigod, unmoving on the floor. Apollo knelt, checking for a pulse. The boy was about sixteen, his mortal age. And without a heartbeat. Whatever side the boy fought on, his death was a waste. Apollo was beginning to realise demigod lives were not as disposable as he had once believed.
He raced through more corridors, laying his trust in the Waystation to lead him in the right direction. But it also seemed to lead him past more carnage, more wounded, more dead. He forged on, he could still hear fighting somewhere inside, he had to see who was still alive.
Then he saw the body of a griffin. A sob escaped him, rushing to the table. Heloise's left wing was folded across her body like a shroud, her head lay at an unnatural angle. She had not gone down easily, by the looks of broken weapons and dented armour coated in monster dust around her. But she had still gone down.
Apollo lay his forehead against hers, cradling her head as gently as he could. "Oh, Heloise." He cried. "You saved me. Why couldn't I save you?" He prayed Abelard was safe, prayed for their egg. The egg had to survive.
Anger flooded his veins. Proper grieving would have to wait. He still had friends in need of help. He kissed Heloise's beak, lingered for a moment more. Then he turned away, newfound energy springing him up the staircase two steps at a time. He burst through the doors into the main hall, fists clenched.
The room was eerily calm. Smoke still curled through the hole in the roof, rising from the loft where a bulldozer chassis was, smouldering and unexplainably nose-down. The griffins' nest seemed to be unharmed, but there was no sign of Abelard or the egg. By Josephine's workshop, spread out across the floor, lay the head and neck of Festus, his ruby eyes dark and hollow. Where was the rest of him?
Sofas had been flipped and smashed to pieces. Water dripped from ruptures in the walls, where pipes had exploded and dispensed their contents over almost every surface. Kitchen appliances were spotted with bullet holes.
And then there was the stand-off around the dining table.
On the side closest to Apollo stood Josephine, Calypso, Lityerses and Thalia. The Hunter lieutenant was armed with her bow; Lit held his sword, blood dripping from one side. Calypso stood with her hands ready to karate chop and Josephine had her trusty sub-machine gun, Little Bertha.
Opposite them, stood Commodus, smiling. A diagonal cut across his face explained the blood on Lit's sword. The emperor held his spatha casually at his side. Either side of him, a Germanus bodyguard, each with a captive. The one on the right had his arm around Emmie's neck, pressing a pistol crossbow to her temple. She held Georgina tightly, hugging the little girl as though it would be the last time she could.
On the left, the second Germanus held Leo in a similar situation, except Leo seemed much too cheery about it.
"Villainy!" Apollo cried. "Commodus, let them go!"
"Hello, Lester!" Commodus grinned. "You're just in time for the fun!"
"Say the word," Thalia growled, "and I will shot him straight between the eyes."
"It's gonna be OK, baby," Josephine assured, "stay calm." Her overalls had gained a thick layer of goo, dust and blood. Apollo wasn't sure who she was talking to- herself, Emmie or Georgina. Maybe all three.
"Hey, Apollo!" Leo grinned, waving casually. "Haven't seen Lou on your travels, have you? She made the pipes go whoosh and then just disa- ack!" His Germanus captor tightened his hold, Leo pulling unavailingly on his arm. "Nevermind," he wheezed, "I'm sure she's not gone far."
Lityerses stood beside Apollo. The wound on his leg had begun bleeding, deeply staining his bandages. His hair and clothes were thoroughly scorched, as if he had run through a gauntlet of flamethrowers, his Cornhuskers shirt simply said CORN.
"No good way to do this." He muttered. "Somebody's gonna die."
"No." Apollo shook his head. "Thalia, lower your bow."
"Excuse me?" Thalia demanded, offended.
"Josephine, your gun too. Please."
"Yes, yes," Commodus chuckled triumphantly, "all listen to Lester now! And Calypso, my dear, if you try to summon one of your bothersome wind spirits again, I will kill your little friend here."
"Less of the little!" Leo protested, looking rather pink.
"You summoned a spirit?" Apollo questioned.
"A small one." Calypso confirmed, anxiously watching Leo as she lowered her hands.
"It's OK, guys," Leo rasped, "I've got everything under control."
"Leo, you're turning blue and a seven-foot-tall barbarian has a crossbow aimed at your head." Apollo pointed out.
"All part of the plan." Leo gave a thumbs-up, winking at Apollo. Apollo did not understand that- did Leo really have a plan? It wasn't like Leo to have a plan, not in Apollo's experience. Leo seemed to rely on bluffs, jokes and improvisation more than anything. Or, even worse, what if he was expecting Apollo to have a plan? No, no, no, that simply would not do! If there was anyone less qualified to make a plan than Leo Valdez, it was Lester Papadopoulos.
"Albatrix," Commodus said, "if the demigod speaks again, you have my permission to shoot him, suffocate him, whatever. Just make sure he's quiet." The Germanus grunted assent. Leo kept his mouth shut, but they could all see he was itching to spill another witty retort. "Now!" Commodus clapped his hands together. "As we were discussing before Lester got here, I require the Throne of Mnemosyne. Where is it?"
"Are you telling me that your great army surrounded this place," Apollo spread his arms, "invaded and couldn't even find a chair? Is this all you have left? A couple of dumb Germani and some hostages? What sort of emperor are you? Now, your father, Marcus Aurelius, he was an emperor." Commodus's smile soured into a sneer.
"I'm not finished, Lester," he growled, "I'll admit the cursed building was more trouble than expected. And we didn't account for water up our noses-"
"That was Lou." Calypso said helpfully.
"-but I blame my former prefect, Alaric. He was woefully unprepared. I had to kill him."
"Shocking." Lityerses grumbled.
"But most of my forces are merely lost." Commodus shrugged. "They'll be back."
"Lost?" Apollo repeated.
"Some of his monsters fell in the laundry chute." Josephine supplied. "Some more wound up in the furnace room and no-one comes back from the furnace room."
"No matter!" Commodus snapped.
"And his mercenaries," Josephine continued, unperturbed, "are now at the Indiana Convention Centre. They're trying to navigate their way through the trade-show floor of the Home and Garden Expo."
"Soldiers are expendable!" Commodus stomped his foot, crimson with fury. Blood spilled from the cut on his face, dripping onto his golden armour. "Your friends," he rounded on Apollo, "won't be so easily replaced! Neither can the Throne of Memory! So let's make a deal! I will take the Throne. I will kill the girl and Lester and burn this building to the ground. That's what my prophecy said, you never argue with prophecies! In exchange, the rest of you are free to go, I don't need you. Although, I will be taking that daughter of Neptune if I can find her, she owes me a new toilet."
"Should I ask?" Apollo queried.
"No!" Commodus snapped.
"Jo." Emmie said her name like an order. Her eyes conveyed the rest of the message- you cannot let him win. You cannot let Georgina die. There was no regard for her own life; she did not mind death on her own terms. Apollo had seen that determined light in her eyes three thousand years ago, and he could still see it now.
Light…
He looked to Commodus, a memory surfacing. He could remember something Marcus Aurelius used to say to his son, a quote that went on to become famous: Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what's left and live it properly. What doesn't transmit light creates its own darkness.
Oh, how Commodus hated that little tidbit. He found it suffocating, self-righteous, impossible. What was proper? Commodus planned to live forever, he would drive away the darkness with the glitz of spectacle and the cheer of crowds.
But he did not transmit light.
Emmie and Josephine did, the Waystation did. The women lived their lives properly, renouncing their immortality to be together, creating light for everyone that sought shelter under their roof.
Movement in his peripheral, speckles of dust showering on his shoulder. Apollo seemed to be the only one that noticed them, surreptitiously glancing upwards. He saw Louisa staring back, a question on her face. Apollo gave her a small nod. Determination set in her jaw and she nodded back.
"Commodus," Apollo said, straightening his spine, "this is your only deal. You will let your hostages go. You will leave here empty-handed and never return." Commodus laughed uproariously.
"You think you can threaten me in that little adolescent body?" He mocked. Even his Germani broke protocol and smirked scornfully. They felt no fear looking at Apollo, at Lester. And that was fine.
"I am still Apollo." He held his arms out either side of him. "Last chance to leave of your own accord." A flicker of doubt appeared in the emperor's eyes, hurriedly quelled.
"What will you do, Lester, kill me? Unlike you, I am immortal. I cannot die."
"I don't need to kill you." Apollo replied calmly. "Look at me closely. Don't you recognise my divine nature, old friend?" Commodus snarled.
"I recognise the betrayer who strangled me in my own bath! I recognise the so-called god who promised me blessings and then deserted me!" His voice splintered as the memories swam back up to the forefront of his mind, sneering in an attempt to disguise it. "All I see is a flabby little teenager with a bad complexion and in need of a haircut!"
"My friends," Apollo addressed the others, "I want you to avert your eyes. I am about to reveal my true godly form." Leo and Emmie immediately shut their eyes, Emmie covering Georgina's. Apollo hoped those this side of the dining table had done so too.
Commodus scoffed, shaking his head.
"You're damp and speckled with bat poop, Lester. You're a pathetic child who has been dragged through darkness! That darkness is still in your mind, I see the fear in your eyes! This is your true form, Apollo! You're a fraud!"
Apollo. He had spoken his true name.
"Behold." Apollo smiled. His body super-heated, every particle igniting in a chain reaction within him. For a microsecond, he became pure light, dousing the room with godly radiance. The Germani staggered in retreat, wailing with pain, firing blindly. A bolt narrowly missed Leo's head, thudding into the sofa. Leo dived for Emmie and Georgina, Apollo's weight fell on the table, strength failing him.
"MY EYES!" Commodus screamed, shoving his hands over his face.
Apollo looked up in time to see Louisa fall down. She kicked off Leo's captor's shoulders, launching herself at the second Germanus. She rolled over his shoulder, gripping the back of his shirt. Her feet hit the floor and, for a split second, the world seemed to freeze. She met Apollo's gaze across the table, one corner of her mouth tipping up in a smirk.
She knew who she was.
Then time started up again, the force of her launch-and-roll aiding her. Her grip lifted the Germanus from the floor and she bodily threw him against the wall. He hit it with a stomach-churning crunch, collapsing to the floor.
He didn't move.
But she had, already moving on. As soon as she let go, she had turned sharply, kicking Commodus in the gloutous. He yelped, knocked forward and falling flat on his face. She chipped his spatha into her hand, glancing around as the first Germanus was coming to his senses. He bared his teeth, outraged, blinking furiously, still somewhat blinded. He rushed her, but hardly made it two steps. She raised the sword over her head in a two-handed grip and swung downwards, releasing. It surged through the air, striking the barbarian in the chest. He was yanked off his feet, propelled backwards, hitting the wall with a sickly thud. The blade dented his chest, buried to the pommel. Cracks in the wall slithered up past his shoulder and away from his ribs. He slumped, staring listlessly at the floor.
Commodus rubbed at his eyes, struggling to find his feet.
"Albatrix!" He yelled. "What is going on? I can't see, I can't see! Albatrix! Answer me!" He fell again, settling to turn his face in the direction he thought his bodyguards were in. He squinted, squeezing his eyes shut when that hurt. "ALBATRIX!" He raged. "Why won't you answer me?" A shadow fell over him, he tipped his head up. "Albatrix?"
"No." Louisa said. "Get up." She ordered. Commodus frowned, trying to place her voice. Louisa bristled, clenching her fists. "I said," she snarled, drawing her foot up, "GET UP!" He did not see the kick coming, slammed back. His head cracked on the floor, golden ichor gushed from his nose. A hand curled around the neck of his armour, wrenching him into a sitting position. "Do you have any idea how many people you've got killed?" Commodus groaned, hand tentatively touching his broken nose. Louisa shook him once, a warning.
"No." He managed.
"I do." She dropped him, slamming her fist into the side of his face. He fell sideways, golden ichor splattering on the floor. "Let's start wiiiith Bianca di Angelo. Know her?" He groaned again, a minor shake of his head. "Daughter of Hades, never recovered." Her sword sprang in her hand, ramming the blade through his arm. "Zoë Nightshade, daughter of Atlas, Lieutenant of Artemis." She cut the straps of his armour, kicking the pieces away. Commodus tried pushing himself up. She brought the hilt of her sword down on the back of his head. "Lee Fletcher, son of Apollo." Stabbed him through the shoulder, twisting the blade as she pulled it free. Commodus screamed. "Castor, son of Dionysus." A kick to the ribs. "The Battle of the Labyrinth. Know that one?"
She kept going. A stab, a kick, a punch, a slash, over and over and over, each one accompanied by a name or a memory.
Charles Beckendorf. Never recovered.
A child of Apollo, dragged away by a hellhound. Never recovered.
Michael Yew. Never recovered.
A child of Apollo, wrapped in a golden shroud.
Leneus, now a laurel tree.
Silena Beauregard, trying to right her wrongs.
Ethan Nakamura, fell to his death from Olympus.
Luke Castellan, sacrificed himself to stop Kronos.
Bob. Small Bob. Damasen. Kinzie. Phoebe. Naomi. Celyn.
Hunters, demigods, Amazons, satyrs, nature spirits, legacies, a griffin, hundreds turning into thousands. All dead because of the emperors' puppeteering. All dead because they sent the Titans, who resurrected Kronos. All dead, because they stirred Gaia. And she sent the giants.
"'N' now this." Louisa took a step back, examining her work. Golden ichor dribbled over Commodus's skin, soaking the floor, from countless wounds. "When will it end?"
"Ask… Apollo." Commodus gasped.
"I'm askin' you."
"Ask… Apollo."
Haha, memories!
I never said I would be nice about it.
How are you? Are you coping with the lockdown? What have you been up to?
Review! ^_^