Chapter Ten

After a while, Nero and Pyrrha were running through the woods heading back to the village. "Okay," said Pyrrha, "we're just gonna stop at the house and get some supplies. And then we'll be on our way."

"Alright." Nero agreed. "I can live with that."

Jus then, one elderly woman sitting on his porch with an elderly man said "Hey there, Pyrrha. You just missed your solicitors."

"My solicitors?"

"We just sent them up to your house." said the elderly man.

"What did they look like?"

"See, there was this big guy and this other guy with a scar that's…" Clueless about describing someone, the elderly man turned to the elderly woman. "…where do you find the scar?"

"On the forehead."

"Yeah, that's it."

Nero and Pyrrha looked at each other with horror, knowing that Vulcan and Mars are there.

In the house, Helius Scuma were serving Vulcan tea.

"So," asked Helius, "remind me again why Pyrrha's involved with this soliciting?"

"I assure you, sir," said Vulcan, "we're sent by the emperor to ask only a few questions.

"But, um…."

"Nothing illegal. Isn't that right, Mars?" Vulcan looked back seeing Mars was baking with Ego. Vulcan groaned with annoyance.

"You know," said Scuma, "I am so sorry that you had to come all this way. But, as I said to you before, you may recall, Pyrrha's not here. I'll be sure to tell her you came by."

"Oh, would you, please? That would be just great." Vulcan made an exaggerated gesture that made him knock his teacup off the table. "Oh, blast it all."

"No, no." said Scuma exhaustively. "Allow me."

"I must go to the mailbox." said Helius. "I'll be right back."

Scuma picked up the cup to get a cleaner one and Helius walked across the house. Finally alone, Vulcan dashed to Mars and said "They're hiding something. When I give the word, we search the house."

"Okay, but I've got three cupcakes left to make."

Vulcan growled in frustration and dashed back to the table after Scuma came back with another cup. "Now then," said Vulcan calmly, "we were saying?"

Meanwhile, Helius walked out of the house and searched the mailbox for any mail. Then he saw Pyrrha running towards him. Pleased, he hugged her for missing her.

"You came back." he said.

"Dad," said Pyrrha, "I need to tell you something."

"Hey, there." said Nero which scared Helius.

"DEMON LION!" yelled Helius before picking up a rake to attack.

But Pyrrha stopped him and said "No, dad, wait! It's the emperor!"

Shocked, Helius looked at Nero being a lion and said "Wait a second. The emperor has become this? But how?"

"Those two in the house." Nero replied. "They're bad news."

But Helius had an upset look on his face and said "And why should I have to help someone who's going to destroy my house?"

"We'll talk about that later. Right now, you need to get those guys out of there."

"Please do this." begged Pyrrha.

Helius looked at his daughter with some thought for a few seconds and he said "Alright. Your mother and I will stall them to give you a head start. Go."

"Thanks, dad."

Back inside, Vulcan said to Scuma "So, while we're waiting for Pyrrha, perhaps we can have a tour of your home."

"You know, why don't you just come back when Pyrrha gets home? I'm sure he'd love to show you the…." Then Helius whispered into Scuma's ear about something. Then she said "On second thought, we can give you a tour."

Meanwhile, with enough supplies, Nero and Pyrrha ran back into the woods to get to Rome before Vulcan ever does. A bit worried, Nero asked Pyrrha "Was it a good idea to leave your family with those two?"

"Oh, don't worry. They can handle themselves."

Back in the house, Helius and Scuma had Vulcan and Mars shut in a closet by taking away the doorknob. Ego and Gladius were there too, sniggering for pulling a prank on their "guests".

"What do you mean the door's stuck?" said Scuma holding the doorknob. "Try jiggling the handle."

"There is no handle in here!" said Vulcan in the dark closet and through the door.

"Are you sure? I thought my husband fixed the closet this morning."

"Alright, enough with this fiddle-faddle! Tell us where the talking lion is, and we'll burn your house to the ground!"

"Uh," said Mars, "don't you mean 'or'? Cause that makes sense."

Vulcan sighed in exasperation "For the love of…. Tell us where the talking lion is, OR we'll burn your house to the ground!"

"Well, may I ask which is it? Because that sounds like a pretty crucial conjunction."

Then Vulcan growled "That does it! Mars, break the door down!"

"Break it down? Are you kidding me? This is hand-carved mahogany."

"You stupid idiot! Get out of my way! I'll break down myself!"

"Kids." whispered Scuma. "You know what to do?"

"Right, mom." said Gladius.

"On it." said Ego.

Vulcan yelled "HERE I COME!" And then, Helius opened the door, and Vulcan came running out, he slid on a wet floor and went flying out the front door into a wheel barrow which goes right down the hill. Ego held up a can of tar and Vulcan flew through it. Further down the hill Gladius held up a pillow. Vulcan hit it and was now covered in feathers. The wheel barrow hit a rock and he flew towards a tree where a pinata was hung up for the children to hit. He knocked it out of the way, and was now the pinata. The kids started whacking Vulcan with their clubs. "Ow! Hey! Put those things away!" Just then, he saw Nero and Pyrrha making a run for it. "HEY! THERE THEY GO, MARS! THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!"

Walking out the door, Mars said the family "Ha ha ha! Well, I had a great time. Let's not wait until the next meeting get together. I, uh, I gotta run." He walked off to get Vulcan.

So the chase began. Nero and Pyrrha ran as fast as they can, but Pyrrha felt like she's out of breath. Eager for the both of them to make it, Nero carried Pyrrha on his back and continued running. They made it over a bridge and they cut the rope so that Vulcan and Mars can't follow. But that didn't stop them. They put on goggles like pilots used to wear and Mars hit a button and wings popped out. They got partially over the canyon and out of nowhere a bolt of lightening hit the flying machine and they went down. Nero and Pyrrha continued on to Rome. At sundown, they made it.