The Tower of Nero - Hit By Nero

Nero threw away the remote and picked up … oh, gods. The last controller. The last one is always the right one.

‘Nico!’ I yelled.

I had no chance of bringing Nero down. Instead, I fired at the Germanus who stood directly between the son of Hades and the throne, blasting the barbarian to nothingness.

Bless his fancy cowboy hat, Nico understood. He charged, breaking out of the ring of Germani and leaping straight for the emperor with all his remaining strength.

Nico’s downward slash should have cleaved Nero from head to devil tail, but, with his free hand, the emperor grabbed the blade and stopped it cold. The Stygian iron hissed and smoked in his grip. Golden blood trickled from between his fingers. He yanked the blade away from Nico and tossed it across the room. Nico lunged at Nero’s throat, ready to choke him or make him into a Halloween skeleton. The emperor backhanded him with such force the son of Hades flew twenty feet and slammed into the nearest pillar.

‘You fools cannot kill me!’ Nero roared to the beat of the Bee Gees. ‘I am immortal!’

He clicked his remote. Nothing obvious happened, but the emperor screeched with delight. ‘That’s it! That’s the one! All your friends are dead now. HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!’

Meg screamed in outrage. She tried to break out of her circle of attackers, as Nico had done, but one of the demigods tripped her. She crashed face-first onto the carpet. Her borrowed sword clattered from her grip.

I wanted to run to her aid, but I knew I was too far away. Even if I shot the Arrow of Dodona, I couldn’t take down an entire group of demigods.

We had failed. In the tower below, our friends would now be choking to death – the entire camp wiped out with a single click of Nero’s remote.

The Germani hauled Nico to his feet and dragged him before the throne. The imperial demigods pointed their weapons at Meg, now prone and helpless.

‘Excellent!’ Nero beamed. ‘But first things first. Guards, kill Apollo!’

The Germani reinforcements barrelled towards me.

I fumbled for my ukulele, desperately reviewing my repertoire for a song that would produce a stunning reversal of fortunes. ‘I Believe in Miracles’? ‘Make It Right’?

Behind me, a familiar voice roared, ‘STOP!’

The tone was so commanding even Nero’s guards and family members turned towards the broken blast doors.

On the threshold stood Will Solace, radiating brilliant light. At his left was Luguselwa, alive and well, her stumps now outfitted with daggers instead of silverware. At Will’s right was Rachel Elizabeth Dare, holding a large axe wrapped in a golden bundle of rods: the fasces of Nero.

‘No one hits my boyfriend,’ Will thundered. ‘And no one kills my dad!’

Nero’s guards made ready to attack, but the emperor cried, ‘EVERYONE FREEZE!’

His voice was so shrill that several of the Germani looked back to be sure he was the one who’d spoken.

The demigods of the imperial family did not look pleased. They’d been about to give Meg the Julius-Caesar-in-the-Senate treatment, but at Nero’s command they stayed their weapons.

Rachel Dare scanned the room: the pollen-covered furniture and barbarians, the overgrown dryad trees, the pile of bull bones, the cracked windows and columns, the shades still going up and down on their own, the TVs blaring, the Bee Gees playing, the disco ball swirling.

‘What have you guys been doing in here?’ she muttered.

Will Solace strode confidently across the room, barking ‘Out of my way!’ to the Germani. He marched straight to Nico and helped the son of Hades to his feet. Then he dragged Nico back to the entrance. No one tried to stop them.

The emperor inched backwards on his dais. He put one hand behind him, as if to reassure himself that his sofa was still there in case he needed to faint dramatically. He ignored Will and Nico. His eyes were fixed on Rachel and the fasces.

[...]

WE ALL MAKE OUR CHOICES.

Mine was to turn and run.

Not that I was terrified of a dozen Germani trying to kill me. Okay, yes, I was terrified of a dozen Germani trying to kill me. But also I had no arrows and no strength left. I badly wanted to hide behind – I mean, stand next to – Rachel, Screech-Bling and my old friend the low-budget Celtic Wolverine.

And … and . Nero’s words rang in my ears. Destroying the fasces would be deadly. I could not allow anyone else to take that risk. Perhaps the leontocephaline had been amused for reasons Lu hadn’t understood. Perhaps my sacrifice couldn’t be avoided as easily as she believed.

I stumbled into Luguselwa, who managed to catch me without stabbing me to death. Will, still glowing like an overachieving night light, had propped Nico against the wall and was now tending to his wounds. Screech-Bling let out a high-pitched whistle, and more troglodytes poured into the room, charging the emperor’s forces in a flurry of shrieks, mining picks and stylish headwear.

I gasped for breath, making a grabby-hand gesture at Rachel. ‘Give me the fasces.’

‘Please?’ she prompted. ‘And, Gee, sorry, I underestimated you, Rachel, you’re actually kind of a warrior queen ?’

[...]

He jumped off his couch and marched straight towards me, his whole body starting to glow, because Will Solace couldn’t have his own thing. Oh, no, Nero had to glow, too.

Trogs swarmed the emperor. He tossed them aside. Germani who didn’t get out of his way fast enough were also thrown into the next time zone. Meg looked like she wanted to challenge Nero herself, but any move away from her foster siblings would have shattered their delicate standoff. Nico was still only half-conscious. Will was busy trying to revive him.

That left Lu and Rachel as my last line of defence. I couldn’t have that. They’d been in harm’s way for my sake enough already.


[Sometime later, after Apollo beats Nero, then passes out and wakes up...]

‘I WAS DREAMING …’ I POINTED WEAKLY at Meg. ‘And you weren’t there. Neither were you, Lu. Or Nico and Will …’

Will and Nico exchanged worried looks, no doubt wondering if I had suffered brain damage.

‘We need to get you to camp,’ Will said. ‘I’ll get one of the pegasi –’

‘No.’ I struggled to sit up. ‘I – I have to leave.’

Lu snorted. ‘Look at yourself, buddy. You’re in worse shape than I am.’

She was right, of course. At the moment, I doubted my hands were working as well as Lu’s dagger attachments. My whole body shook with exhaustion. My muscles felt like worn-out tension cords. I had more cuts and bruises than the average rugby team. Nevertheless …

‘I have no choice,’ I said. ‘Nectar, please? And supplies. More arrows. My bow.’

‘He’s right, unfortunately,’ Rachel said. ‘Python …’ She clenched her jaw as if forcing down a belch of serpent prophecy gas. ‘Python is getting stronger by the second.’

Everyone looked grim, but no one argued. After all we’d been through, why would they? My confrontation with Python was just another impossible task in a day of impossible tasks.

‘I’ll gather some supplies.’ Rachel kissed my forehead, then dashed off.

‘Bow and quiver coming up,’ Nico said.

‘And ukulele,’ Will added.

Nico winced. ‘Do we really hate Python that much?’

Will raised an eyebrow.

‘Fine.’ Nico dashed off without kissing me on the forehead, which was just as well. He couldn’t have reached my forehead with the massive brim of his cowboy hat.

Lu glowered at me. ‘You did good, cellmate.’


- The Tower of Nero, Chapters 30, 31, and 32