Author's Note: Sorry for the enormous delay, I just wasn't into writing the past few weeks. I'm extremely sorry for the delay. And as Dumbledore rightfully said, there is a time for speechmaking. This is not it. Tuck in!
Disclaimer: Trials of Apollo and its characters do not belong to me.

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Chapter 9

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Dude looked cheery, too.

He was looking at us, his eyes sparkling with mystical mirth. He looked amused, though I'd rather believe that was how he normally looked.
He said, 'Well, now that you two are done laughing, would you be so kind as to follow me?'

Not gonna lie, his humor was unnecessarily pompous. My sixteen-year-old mortal self was quite bored by it already. But, getting up from the ground for the umpteenth time, I felt certainly calmed by his antics. Surely an enemy wouldn't linger around trying to entertain us. Unless he was one of the gods of entertainment or was trying to bait us. Or both. But the thought didn't linger long.
Gelos obviously seemed amiable enough. We chose to follow him back, albeit a bit carefully.

We walked for some time. Perhaps Meg didn't notice it, but we were slowly yet certainly walking off our planned route down Long Island. I disregarded the idea.

Presently, we had arrived at a small grill bar, with other floors above it. We went up the back stairs into a homely little apartment. There were two bedrooms, a common bathroom and a kitchen. Apparently both the rooms had been hung with mosaics on every one of their light green walls. Also, in plain sight was a VHS.

'This place is abandoned as of now,' reported Gelos, 'I've been reclining in this mortal abode for some time, for uh—solitude. You two get fresh, I'll be back with barbecue from downstairs.'

I watched Gelos exit. The second he left the vicinity, I felt my face relax. It was as though my expression had been stuck amid laughter, and Gelos leaving had gotten me rid from my paralyzed humor.

As soon as Gelos was out of sight, Meg turned and voiced what I'd been feeling.

'Doesn't this seem suspicious to you?' she asked, 'He's been trying to lead us off.'

'Maybe we should do an Irish exit now, what do you say?'

'You mean, if he's with Nero, we should just let him live?'

I considered that. Certainly, if Gelos was with Nero, he would somehow still try to track us down. Getting rid of him earlier would mean a much cleaner path for us. So, I decided—

'We wait.'

As Gelos had recommended, we got our backpacks off and cleaned off our hands and legs. We dusted our clothes; after the beating they had taken on the road, that was the least we could do. And then we waited for him.

He was back within a minute. Jaunty smile in place, he passed us a package of barbecue which Meg pounced upon. I was the first to enquire of him —

'How soon can we leave?'

'Leave?' Gelos responded, 'Well, when the two of you are sufficiently well fed enough.'

'An hour, then,' I mumbled.

Gelos retired to the other bedroom, giggling to himself. From what I had gathered, Gelos seemed to be unsure of how long he wanted us to prolong our stay. I could have kindly left then and there to politely deny him the pleasantries of boring us with his boomer's humor, but since my stomach was mutinying, I decided to satiate its hunger.

The barbecue was particularly appetizing, but unfortunately, it was over in less than five minutes. Meg was still licking her fingers, while I had worn my quiver and was adjusting its straps. By the time Meg had wiped her hands on the provided tissues, I was ready with my bow and quiver strapped on. She checked her siccae rings and gave me a significant look.

We made our way cautiously towards the door leading onto the other room. I knocked on the slightly open door and entered.

Gelos, who had lying flat on his back on the bed and looking up, turned at the sound. He jerked straight up and grinned, 'Are you two leaving already?'

'We would, but how do we know that you're not on Nero's side?' I said, straightening my bow. Behind me, Meg's sickles flashed into her hands.

'I'm not, honest,' he smiled apprehensively, 'I would've poisoned you if I'd been working for him. Or killed you somehow, I still have my godly powers, you know. They're just… limited.'

'What do you mean?'

'Well, a few months after you were banished, Zeus realized that I could potentially help you in your adventures. He stripped me of my powers of spontaneous combustion and such, and cast me to live amongst mortals as long as you survived as a mortal.'

Uncertainly, I asked, 'Why would you potentially have helped me?'

'Don't you remember?' he said, 'The old feud with Nero about the fire?'

I scowled for a second, but then realization hit me with the force of a dumpster truck. For a moment, everything seemed to dim, and then all of it blacked out.

'Sinius!'

A Praetorian soldier came bustling forward. The man who had called him was rubbing his nose.

'Yes, sire,' said the legionnaire.
The other man turned. He had a haggard look to him and had a weak chin.

Nero sneered, 'Ask the caravans to be readied. I believe the tower in Antium has been furnished suitably.'

'Yes, sire.'

'Good,' said Nero, 'Send word to the pyromancers. Today is the day. Today is when Rome shall become scarred forever, but for the benefit of its people. Hurry now!'

The legionnaire turned and scampered away.

Another voice spoke from the corner. My voice.
'That was not a good idea.'

Nero turned slowly, 'It is only for the benefit of the empire. The city will have a bigger palace. The citizens can be relocated.'

'Many would die.' My ancient voice was eerily cold, 'The capital will be razed. There is nothing that Rome is to gain from this. Consider this mere advice, Nero.'

And with that, I was now spectating a kind-of long hallway. The surroundings gave away that I was on Mount Olympus.

'GANYMEDE!'

And that was father calling his servant.

As I looked down upon the hallway, my younger form materialized.
'Teach him to wear his shoes,' I was muttering hotly under my breath, 'The little bumblehea — AARGH!'

I had crashed into Gelos – or rather his Roman form, Risus – who had just appeared in front of me. He was identifiable from his permanent snickering look.

'Oh, Apollo,' he started, 'I've been looking for you.'

'Could we not talk later? Ares has been driving me up the wall lately, you kn – '

'No, this is important.' He continued, 'Where is Nero?'

'What do you mean?' I asked, 'what happened?'

'The city is burning and Nero is nowhere in his palace,' Risus said, 'The streets have been going up in flames for the last two hours.'

'Oh gods!' I stared, aghast. 'It was tonight. He's in Antium.'

'Where? What do you know about this?'

I narrated to him all that I knew about the upcoming Great Fire. As I finished, his face had fallen slack.
'I need—I need to, uh, get him back somehow. This is madness,' he shook his head and disappeared.

I walked off, probably to inform Zeus – ahem, Jupiter – of Nero's exploits.

Then, the walls faded.

I was now in a small chamber off the throne room. Risus was staring at my younger self. He said, 'He really has gone crazy! He is doing this for a palace?'

'And a statue, yes.'

'Oh, my gods, and Jupiter thinks it's your fault?'

'Yes,' I replied, 'He reckons I should have told him earlier. It wasn't my fault Ares made me forget all about Nero's misdemeanors.'

'I'm prepared to back you up, old friend.'

'You couldn't help,' I said, discontentedly, 'You aren't an Olympian.'

'I'll try my best,' Risus declared, 'Nero's mind has quite honestly gone on a roll, Jupiter couldn't blame you.'

Both of us walked away.

'What's he mean, Lester?' Meg questioned.

I stared groggily around. The flashback had been very vivid.
'What does he mean?' repeated Meg.

I remembered having gotten off. Gotten off that one time Gelos had vouched for me in the Olympian Council.

'Let him go,' I pronounced.

Meg stared. 'What? What happened? Did you remember something?'

'He helped me. He's on our side.' I said, 'I believe his story.'

'What? When? What did you remember, Apollo? TELL ME!'

Unable to deny a direct order from my master, I dictated to her what I had just experienced in the flashback.

'You're basing his loyalty on a millennia-old agreement?' Meg said infuriatedly.

Realizing that Meg had said something logical, I replied, 'I might not trust him entirely yet, but I believe his story.'

And, thus, I walked over to Gelos. 'Old mate, I don't know whether to trust every excuse that you might make up, but I can certainly vouch for you this time. I believe I'm also paying off your previous show of support?'

'Yes, certainly,' he spoke, relieved, 'Now, are you leaving already?'
'Yes,' replied Meg.

'Well, I'll be seeing you, Apollo,' he said, 'and you,' he said to Meg.

'Don't follow us, and, gods forbid, don't betray me,' I said, exiting the bedroom, having worn my bow back. Meg retracted her blades.

As we left the apartment, Meg looked inscrutably at me and said, 'I still suspect him.'

'Well, obviously you do. Now, where to?'

'Ooh, rhyme!' Meg exclaimed, 'Alright, just retrace our steps back to the park and we'll probably be alright all the way back.'

In a few minutes, we were back at the children's park. The wreckages of our fight with the horned donkeys was still slightly apparent. The mortals did not notice anything unusual, thanks to the wonders of the Mist.

We continued on our way north-east.

Our stomachs having been full, we continued walking till late evening without any threats to our lives.

When we finally stopped, I felt like we had covered almost the whole way to Camp Half-Blood. I will not give away exact locations as Chiron has obviously forbidden all gods expressly from revealing the camp's location. Zeus has also been in on the game.

Best I can say is we stopped near a small Wendy's near somewhere called Terryville (I don't pride myself on my knowledge of Long Island). We would probably reach camp by tomorrow, hopefully. The amount of distance we had covered today despite having been interrupted by Styx donkeys and a giggly god was commendable.

We found a suitable sleeping place inside the Wendy's, just by hanging around outside until the store was closed.
Feeling slightly overwhelmed by the day's happenings, I wished Meg a good night.

Then, we both departed to find ourselves suitable tables to sleep upon. Having found one good enough, I lay down to sleep.

Tomorrow might just be a better day.

A/N: The time for speechmaking is finally here. Well, the original Tower of Nero has been announced by Rick Riordan and is coming out on 6th October. Depending on when you're reading this, it may already be out. I seriously am waiting to see how terrible my rendition is compared to the original. It might be. It mightn't. But if there's one thing that I'm proud of is how I plan to end this fic. I have very big plans for its ending and TBH, I know many people told Rick to do it, but it wasn't enough.
OH, RICK RIORDAN, this whole fanfic might be ridiculous, but how I plan to end it is gonna eclipse your plot. No hate, mate. I love your work.

Also, I've been reading other authors recently, so forgive me if this story does not sound close to Rick Riordan's narration, my narrator voice might have been tainted slightly by George Orwell, Homer and H.G. Wells. But once I go through the OG Tower of Nero, I promise to be back with the cover voice. And, btw, Among Us has been distracting me. SORRY!

Thanks for reading, and please REVIEW, FAV and/or FOLLOW this story. Reviews are highly appreciated and motivate me a lot.
See you in the next one
RomanArt74