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I stared at the Caldecott tunnel, the fires, the yelling of battle, the clang of weapons. I had to go, I had to help Frank and the other legionnaires…but what could I do? Frank clearly had a plan as was evident from my scroll call just merely hours ago. How he planned to defeat two semi-divine emperors, I did not know. But I had to put my trust in him and the other legionnaires to successfully defend the Camp. I turned my foot and ran toward New Rome with all the strength my weakening limbs could give.
It did not appear to be in shambles, and that gave me hope. I spotted zombies moving towards utterly bruised and bedraggled legionnaires barely holding on to hope. I scanned the area for a quiver which was unfortunately not hard to find in the possession of a boy, maybe 15 who laid on the ground, dead. I pulled the string back on my bow and fired. The arrows shot the ghouls completely through the chest rendering them to dust almost instantly.
The legionaries turned to me, both stunned and grateful.
“If you’re heavily injured, stay to the side!” I shouted at them, trying my best to summon my inner godly bossiness or my best Will Solace impression, pick which one you think was more effective. “I can cover for you, no use dying now!”
I ran past them further into the city as a few shuffled to the side attempting to bandage and set broken bones and potentially life threatening cuts. I ran further and further into New Rome, advising legionnaires on injuries and lesions while helping lead and in other places single handedly leading them against the Eurynomos. Eventually, I spotted beautiful pink manes like that off a 7 year old girl’s notebook burst into the scene expertly handling the Eurynomos with their horn accessories, Unicorns. By the gods, Meg actually did it. Speaking of Meg, my street urchin companion running alongside Buster and co. She grinned when she saw me and punched my shoulder as the army of unicorns charged the remaining Eurynomos on the street.
“We-we have to find-”
“Tarquin.” She interrupted me with a grin. “Yeah, Hazel figured he’d be in the library a few minutes ago trying to find the Sibyline books. Now come on dummy, let’s go!”
We ran to Ella and Tyson’s book store which had clearly had better days. The windows were completely smashed, the sign hung miserably on one hinge blocking a part of the doorway, and its number one patrons were now Tarquin’s own Frat of Zombies. All collectively gathered around Aristophanes like a moth to a flame. Each groaning and proding the cat as it hissed and tail flicked it. I couldn’t imagine having brainless people as your only company. I mean, unless you count me with the Olympians (BOOM!). As me and Meg burst through the door, Aristophanes let out a relieved meow and jumped directly onto my face and while showing me his incredibly dignified butthole, climbed onto my head and used me as a perch. I’d had Meg use my head as a stepping ladder before, but this was somehow worse. My proximity to my potentially fellow Zombie kind caused my gut wound to flare with pain as I dropped to the ground, Aristophanes sliding down onto my crotch and purring as my entire body seemed to be dunked into a freezing lake, or maybe someone was raising money and was attempting the ice bucket challenge on me. At least it'd go to a good cause, like Dryads without borders or the VOAAG The 'Victims of Apollo Advocate Group'.
All the sudden, Hazel burst from the ceiling, crushing 5 zombies under the floor (ceiling?) boards and ran after Meg stabbing the last of the Eurynomos which spectacularly crumbled to dust with bits showing Meg and Hazel’s hair like they’d just got back from a firework factory.
I was breathing heavier now, long and ragged so they only came out as sad wheezes. Hazel and Meg ran to my side, inspecting my body for any more injuries than I’d had last time. My eyelids felt heavy, my body felt cold, then suddenly, I felt no more pain, no more cold, just the simple almost claiming feeling of death. Hazel and Meg cried and sobbed my name as I sank to the ground, Aristophanes getting off me with a saddening yowl and darting out of the bookstore.
My limbs no longer felt like they were mine. They felt distant and foreign. I felt like I was watching a black and white artistic movie about some shmuck who turned into a Zombie, booing at the terrible acting and unlikable main character. Suddenly, my fingers twitched. Hazel and Meg’s faces lit up with excitement as I groaned and struggled. I sat up, clutching my head, and tried to apologize for almost dying, except my mouth could not move, my head could not turn, I couldn’t blink. I wanted to scream, beg them to run away, beg them to cut off my head and not let them be hurt, but my jaw was set. My head turned and stared at Hazel. Her relief turned to confusion then just as quickly to dread.
“MEG-”
Her head flew backwards against the nearest wall, the noise and her pained cry resounding off the walls of the library. Her curls completely covered her face and head, but I doubted it looked good. I tried to sob, to reach out to help her, but it seemed the only thing that would listen to me were my tear ducts. Meg looked shocked and ran after Hazel. My eyes looked at my hands, feeling excitement at the slight gold tint that flowed in my purple veins.
Meg was sobbing as she held Hazel, looked at her face and cried harder. The second she turned to me, I saw a look I’d never think would ever appear on her face in relation to me…fear. As I met her warm, dirt and baked crust colored eyes, he inched back slowly. The next time I blinked and looked down, Meg laid crumpled at my feet. Her glasses hit the silent area as loud as a spiritual drum at Japanese festivals. She held her stomach, gasping in pain, blood streaming out of her mouth and onto my jeans.
A sudden feeling of warmth flooded my system in contrast to the near antarctic weather that my body seemed to be encased in. The shuffling of bones and robes filled the hallway as purple wisps of smoke entered my nostrils. Tarquin, my lord. Tarquin noticed me and grinned, the only facial emotion he seemed capable of doing.
“Ah…so you’ve already turned, have you?”
I was by now used to the sickening feeling of being pulled on a string as my body moved on his own, but Tarquin’s demands slammed into my gut and forced me to spit out an answer.
“Yes…yes lord.”
Tarquin bent down and grabbed my chin, moving my face from side to side examining my battered face and the purple and gold veins swirling like Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night. He smiled smugly and let go of my chin. He turned his gaze slightly over to Hazel, smiling. He bent back up, Meg’s blood following after his footsteps until he reached Hazel. She struggled, oh thank the gods she wasn’t dead. Or maybe I should curse the gods that she was still able to be turned by Tarquin.
“Hazel Levesque.” Tarquin breathed out in complete ecstasy. Hazel grunted and moaned for a reply. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted you here! Just like this! My servant has done me well has he not? How many teeth would you say that you have left?”
Hazel opened her mouth, and fueled by pure rage responded “‘et ‘im go Tar’in!” Tarquin smiled again before brushing his robes across the ground and walking towards me. He grabbed my head, forced me to look directly into Hazel’s eyes, before slamming my head into the ground over and over and over again. I could feel the base of the skull crack by the time he’s done as he throws me to Hazel’s feet on the ground. Hazel lets out a sob of horror upon seeing me underneath her. Her ruby red blood driping onto my hair.
“Hey Apollo, do me a favor, kill her.”
My head rapt to attention as Hazel’s eyes widened. My fingers twitched and at speeds no mortal and I assumed no average god could see, I grabbed her face and squeezed. My hand glowed bright from incandescence and disgustingly pungent smoke filled the air, the air of burning flesh. Hazel screamed and thrashed, trying to get out of my vice like grip, but it held true like iron. Just as Hazel’s eyes fluttered close-
BAM!
The door to the library was kicked open as a 12-year-old girl with auburn hair and a silver parka crashed in followed by a posse of enormous gray and black wolves. Diana. She strung her majestic golden bow and shot Tarquin square through the skull. Tarquin thumped to the ground as Diana ran straight towards me and Hazel threw my hand off her face and cradling the young girl. She gently laid her hand across Hazel’s head as the scaring began to recede and new skin formed in its place. She gently lowered Hazel to the ground as she laid her other hand on top of Meg’s head. Meg gasped and shook herself as Diana’s hand retracted. Finally, the beautifully gold eyes had made their way to me.
“Brother…” Her voice sounded like a lost Whale calling out to its dead mate despite knowing that it would never come back. She reached out and touched my face, dragging her hands over the fierce indent in my skull and saying a slight prayer under her breath. Instantly, a feeling of cold surged through me as I screamed and kicked her away. Diana merely went backwards an inch with confusion written on her face as Tarquin raised his head ever so slightly from the ground.
“Kill…kill Diana and those damn fool emperors.”
Tarquin crumpled to dust on the library floor. For a second, both of us were stunned as we looked at each other before the walls of the library exploded. The wind from my punch carried away Tarquin’s ashes along with all of the Eurynomos and demigods in a 100 foot radius. Diana flew forward, crashing into a nearby stone building and groaning as she stood up, wiping ichor from her mouth.
“Apollo please! I don’t want to fight you-”
My fist slammed into her chest so hard she flew through the air and landed gracefully on her feet in the middle of the Field of Mars. She summoned a shield just as I had jumped right beside her, preparing for an uppercut which she parried and kicked my legs out from under me as she summoned a rope forged by Hephaestus himself to restrain gods. I hissed and grabbed the golden rope, melting it in my hand like chocolate on a hot day. I threw the melted gold at Diana’s face and she raised her shield and ran towards Caldecott Tunnel. I growled and ran past her as legionnaires gawked at our speed. In seconds we had entered the tunnel as Diana shapeshifted into a peregrine falcon and swooped down before I could catch her in my out stretched grip.
Frank was currently engaged with both Emperors blocking and parrying their strikes, but he was badly wounded. Arrow shots and what looked to be fatal injuries sprinkled throughout his entire body. It was some sort of divine intervention that kept him standing. The Emperors paled when he was Diana and I burst through the entrance. Suddenly, my eyes shifted away from Diana and to Caligula. At the time, I did not know why I specifically hated Caligula more than I had Commodus, but I didn’t care. I let out a primal growl like a wolf and leapt at him. I punched in his face completely (I’ll spare you the graphic details), but after seconds of my fist colliding with his face, Caligula crumpled to ash beneath me. Good, monsters like him should go to Tartarus.
Diana was currently engaged with Commodus, turning him from a jackalope to a deer to a Skink as she shot at him. Commodus screamed and ran away, finally back to being a human, but Artemis stabbed him straight through the heart with his own knife from around his calf. “All animals deserve decency, but from what you did to my maidens and all that you put my brother through, no sane person could ever call you anything but a monster.” And Commodus crumpled to ash underneath her.
My head snapped back to Diana, ready to face her once more when a small prick landed in my neck. I stared down in amazement as a tranquilizing dart had found its way into my neck. I fell to the ground and into Diana’s arms as she whispered “Thank you for holding back brother.” as I fell into a restful sleep.