DIVINE » l. valdez

a forgotten time

i see someone else talking to themselves, maybe it's a mirror looking down on me

Time stood still, the sound of the match being lit thundering through the forest.

Beside her, Apollo sputtered, "Nuh-uh, dun-doot!" as he waved the Brazilian flag as if it was magic.

Hina backed towards the stakes, her eyes glued on Nero. Even with the odds stacked against them, she would die before letting her friends burn in an inferno. 

Peaches made the first move. The karpos must have sensed Meg's true feelings. He hurtled through the air, screaming a war cry. He landed on Nero's arm, chomped the lit match from the emperor's hand, then landed a few feet away, wiping his tongue and crying, "Hat! Hat!".

It would have been a relief, except the Germani had regained their strength and six highly flammable human torches still sat tied to the trees. Plus, Nero clutched the matchbox and Hina wasn't sure Peaches would be willing to eat however many more matches were left.

The emperor stared at his empty hand. "Meg...?" His voice was as cold as an icicle. "What is the meaning of this?"

"P-Peaches, come here!" Meg's voice had turned brittle with fear.

The karpos bounded to her side. He hissed at me, Nero, and the Germani.

Meg took a shaky breath. "Nero...Peaches is right. You—you can't burn these people alive."

"Meg," said the emperor, "I am trying so hard to keep the Beast at bay. Why won't you help me? I know you are a good girl. I wouldn't have allowed you to roam around Manhattan so much on your own, playing the street waif, if I didn't know you could take care of yourself. But softness toward your enemies is not a virtue. You are my stepdaughter. Any of these demigods would kill you without hesitation given the chance."

"Meg, that's not true!" Apollo said. "You've seen what Camp Half-Blood is like."

She studied Apollo and Hina uneasily. "Even...even if it was true..." She turned to Nero. "You told me never to lower myself to my enemies' level."

"No, indeed." Nero's tone had frayed like a weathered rope. "We are better. We are stronger. We will build a glorious new world. But these nonsense-spewing trees stand in our way, Meg. Like any invasive weeds, they must be burned. And the only way to do that is with a true conflagration—flames stoked by blood. Let us do this together, and not involve the Beast, shall we?"

Ice ran down Hina's spine and she felt something click in her mind. She suddenly remembered the way punishments were given out at the foster homes she stayed at. They had to be behaved or they'd face the spoon. It made her loath the wooden utencil rather than the woman holding it. 

It was the separation of Nero and the Beast that had charmed Meg. He had convinced the girl that he wasn't to blame.

Everything seemed to make sense. Why Meg preferred the streets, away from Nero. Why she could go from cartwheels to shutting down in seconds. Meg never knew what would bring out the Beast.

Meg fixed her gaze on Apollo, silently begging him for a way out. She needed an eloquent speech, something to break free. 

"He's evil. You're good. You must make your own choice," Apollo spoke bluntly, taking the Meg approach.

Hina saw the disappointment in Meg's face, it was not what she had wanted to hear. She bit her lip, mirroring Hina as she did the same. 

Meg placed a hand on Peaches' curly mop of hair. "Peaches," she said in a small but firm voice, "get the matchbox."

The karpos sprang into action. Nero barely had time to blink before Peaches ripped the box from his hand and jumped back to Meg's side.

The Germani readied their spears. Nero raised his hand for restraint. He gave Meg a look that might have been heartbreak—if he even possessed a heart.