Trials of Apollo The Tower of Nero(My book five version)(Also this is Rick Riordan book)

**Chapter One**

*I am so carsick*

*Why did you do this Zeus, why?*

*Why did I go fast?*

**As** we sat in yet another most-likely stolen car, I looked back at Meg, my master, though I would prefer the term 'comrade'. She was not paying attention to me, but rather her packets of seeds she was now shuffling through in her belt.

"Er, Meg?"

She did not reply, still busy with her seeds.

"How did you get this car....?"

She did nothing but scowl at me. Like usual, her reply was so long. I decided to shut up now. I believe in many things, and trying not to have onions sprout from my ears is one of them. As we drove along, I thought about the losses that had been sustained yesterday, in the battle of New Rome. It was very upsetting to look at all those bodies and not feel that every one of their lives had been taken because of him. Apollo. He didn't feel very god-like right now, just as god-like he had felt when he had fell in that dumpster the first day of being Lester Papadopuolous.

"Do you smell that?" she finally asked.

I hadn't smelled anything until she pointed it out. Was that, chicken? Odd. But not evil smelling.

"Chicken? How is tha-"

She rolled her eyes. "Is all you smell food?"

"I-"

"It's definitely not chicken. It smells like monsters. It just smells... odd. Like the air just thickened over here, y'know?"

I couldn't tell what she meant. I decided not to question her sense of smell. It was *usually* right, just some of the time it was wrong. Also if I did, she would most likely order me to slap myself. I hummed some varied songs from the 80's. Suddenly, the car lurched to a stop. I cursed in varied languages.

"*Eurynomos?*" I whimpered.

"No?" Meg replied.

"Hi! My name is Elli!

A very strange looking woman was at our window. I just happened to notice her striking beauty. She had bright green eyes that matched her curly black hair. Her smile was kind. She wore a very ancient style dress that most ladies nowadays would not consider a fashion, but it suited her. And yet.... something was off. Most women don't stop cars just to say hello.

"Elli?" chided Meg.

She grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, "what I just said", before returning to her radiant smile.

"Yes! Elli!"

I launched into a series of questions, the silence in the car making me explode with words. "Why did you stop our car? Why are you here? Are you a saleslady on the side of the road or something?"

Oh, how I hope she is a saleslady. Maybe she could sell us that mortal food I really like. What is it called..... churros? Ares insists he created them, but he hasn't created a thing with his own two hands except violence. With our luck, she is most likely a servant of Nero, contemplating the best way to either kill us or bring us to Nero to kill us. We're really popular here.

"Stop your car?" she batted her eyelashes," I only did that because I saw two very hungry and tired looking people! And I do have food, but for free!"

She batted her eyelashes again, and then fretted over the state of our worn down clothes while directing us into the woods. I caught Meg's eye and she shrugged, gesturing towards the direction Elli was leading us. I reluctantly followed her.

"Now I will get you two dears some clothes, while you meet Meddi! She's delightful, really."

I wondered who Meddi was, but thought it best not to ask. As she strode off, I let myself in the little cabin, Meg right behind me. I saw a little old lady hobble our way. Or, it looked like a little old lady. Her face was hidden beneath a cloak.

"New visitors!!" a croaky old voice said from under the cloak.

"Are you Meddi?" Meg asked, hesitantly.

"Yes. What are your names dears?"

"Meg." I gestured towards her." Apol- Lester." I pointed to myself.

"What were you about to say dear?" Meddi questioned.

"N-nothing. He said nothing." Meg replied for him.

"Ok then! Well, you dears should come in for breakfast!"

I found it a little suspicious we just got invited in from the road to this cabin for free food, but my thoughts were groggy with fatigue and hunger. We sat in silence, which I've gotten quite bored of for the past few hours, when Meddi walked in again, this time with trays of food. All my suspicious thoughts were immediately lost when I looked at the steaming food. I must admit, I was hesitant to eat the food, seeing as that means you accepted your place in the house (I don't want to explain), but I didn't think much more about it after the first bite.

"This is guh shtuff! I declared, my mouth full of tasty bacon.

Meg looked disgusted, then devoured her food as usual, and both of us didn't take a second glance at old lady Meddi as she sat down beside us. When we were both finished, Meg stood up.

"Well, I think we'll get go-"

"Leave? But we've just started all the fun! Don't make me upset now." her voice seemed to sound sad at that last sentence, I felt pity. We sat in silence for a while.

"Alright." I said. Meg's head swiveled around. "We'll stay for one night and one night only.

The whole day was awesome, it reminded me of Olympus, minus the crowd. We hung out, laughed, target practice, shot the apple off of my head (That was my least favorite. I almost died, like, twice.), and ate more tasty food. I almost forgot my grief for the fallen legionnaires and others in the battle. Almost. I said almost. At around the evening, Meddi called for a picture.

"Come on guys! Picture time!"

Now with old ladies, I've never heard one say 'guys'. Not the weirdest, but my suspicion is starting to rise right now. Nonetheless, Meg and I sat down on the bench, statues around us. Then I realized what's happening. I faintly heard Meddi say, "Say cheese!", when I shouted at Meg.

"GET DOWN M-"

I pushed her head down before Medusa took off her cloak.

"Ah...." she hissed." You recognized me, Apollo..."

She hissed and her hair of snakes echoed her. Meg looked scandalized. We both got up, me leaving a wet spot behind where I was sitting, and dodged out of her vision, eyes closed. I fell flat on my face, and spat out some dirt. I heard Meg transform her swords into rings, so I did my best to extract my bow from its sling. I'm just imagining Medusa was trying her best not to laugh at me. I thought longingly of the empty Mercedes waiting for us on the side of the road, and just wishing we hadn't come here. I tried to think of a plan, but my mind seemed blank. Stupid mortal forgetfulness.

"Apollo duck! Meg cried.

As this was a direct command, I could do nothing but obey. I felt a gust of wind over my head, and assumed Medusa had swung something at me. I heard a splashing noise.

"Look down and open your eyes." Meg muttered in my ear.

I couldn't disobey, so I looked and saw... a puddle of water? Then I realized what she meant. In the water I saw the reflection of Medusa, which couldn't hurt me. I finally fumbled my bow out, but I realized it would be difficult to shoot her without looking. I nocked an arrow just as I heard a *shing* and a yell. I looked up, worried for Meg, only to find out we had a new fighter on our side, Peaches, Meg's *karpos*.

"PEACHES!" he bellowed.

Turns out he is a very violent friend. He seemed to have impaled Medusa in the eyes. Now I looked up, unable to be turned to stone. Medusa had just lost her best weapon and her vision, but still fought better than I imagined she would. She swung around, possibly trying to make her snakes bite me, I have no idea. I just jumped back and shot her in the chest. Battle won. Yay. All that was left was her severed head. A little less yay.

"Thank the gods..." I murmured.

"Welp. Time to get back on the road." Meg sighed.

We trudged back through the woods, and got back into the car. I drove for a while, regretting the silence to come, and became lost in my own thoughts.

*Emmie and Jo, upset about their lost daughter. Georgina in a state of insanity. Georgina, Sssssarah and the other imprisoned. The battered dryads slowly withering away. Jason's dead body on the floor. Caligula laughing at his body. Frank exploding. Fire everywhere. Screams of loss. Dead bodies littering the ground. Harpocrates cradling a small jar, withered and weakened. Thalia's anguish. Meg's flashbacks of her father's dead body on the concrete. All. My. Fault.*

I soon got lost in the memories until I felt a gentle nudging on my shoulder. I looked in the rearview mirror at Meg, concern lining her face. She looked like she knew what I was thinking about.

"It's not your fault." she said.

"Yes it is. I let Triumvirate rise to power while I sat on my throne in Olympus."

"We all make mistakes."

"I don't want to talk about it Meg."

I didn't feel like it, and Meg must've seen that in my face, for she sat back in her seat and frowned, but silent. She tapped a beat to a song I realized, but I didn't bother trying to sing along with her. Suddenly, through the fog, buildings started appearing.

"Look! A hotel!" Meg pointed out.

It was, indeed, a hotel. I pulled up to it, ready to get to sleep. As soon as I stepped inside, a voice greeted me.

"Aha! Apollo! Glad you came."

I nearly jumped out of my soaking pants. A young blonde boy of about eight was standing at the door.

"Oh, I'm not working for Nero." the boy said, obviously seeing my terrified expression.

"Who are you?" I croaked.

"Bill Smith, demigod son of Hypnos!" Bill puffed out his chest proudly.

It was a little strange that we were greeted by a small child but I didn't question it. Bill took us to our rooms.

"Any problems sleeping, ask me or my sister downstairs!" he grinned.

Meg let me take the bed while she slept on the couch. I passed out and my last thought was I had not changed my pants.

**Chapter Two**

*Why is it that the*

*monsters always come for us.*

*Help me Father Zeus.*

**I** finally changed out of my wet pants. (They were wet because of the fog, okay? I didn't- never mind.) Meg refused to change her unicorn shirt, but reluctantly took a new pair of pants. We met Bill and his sister Jill downstairs. They were twins. Jill's hair matched her brother's. In fact, they were almost identical twins except for some slight differences.

"Can't you guys stay a little longer?" Jill pleaded.

"Nope. Sorry. Got this thing with a sword and a Roman emperor impaled on the end. Y'know. The usual." Meg explained.

I gaped at her." That's the longest sentence I've heard you say!"

"Hmph. Pick your nose." she said grimly.

I fought with myself until my finger found its way up my nose. I know. Only Meg did that kind of thing! Meg and the twins started giggling at me. I scowled my displeasure Meg had gotten away with it, and aimed my humiliation at the wall. That just made my toe hurt. I howled curses in Greek and jumped up and down, clutching my toe. That just made them laugh more. I decided to just slowly hobble away. Once Meg and I got outside, she grinned at me.

"We should go there more often." she said, grinning.

I didn't answer, I was lost in thought. Poor mortals! I've heard they stub their toes all the time. This is awful!

"Hello?" she asked impatiently.

"Just thinking." I muttered.

"Didn't know you could do that." she giggled, trying to look intrigued but just looking amused.

I hastily changed the subject away from my intelligence. "Where's Peaches?"

"Oh... he went to wherever he goes when he just disappears..."

"Magical inter-dimensional fruit land?" I offered.

She bust out in giggles so bad I thought she had a medical problem. I seriously thought about going back in there to get some duct tape (Duct tape fixes everything!) when her giggles subsided. We didn't talk much, though I thought her mutter, "inter-dimensional fruit land"... as if she were imagining what it'd look like and if it included unicorns. I finally reached the car, Meg slightly behind. I opened the door as I heard a familiar voice.

"I call shotgun!"

I looked inside to find none other than Lavinia Asimov sitting in the passenger's seat.

"Nice car." she said, examining the dashboard.

"Lavinia how-" I croaked.

"Not just Lavinia." said an unknown voice.

Lavinia moved aside to reveal a very pretty dryad. As I looked at her, I saw Lavinia had plenty of rashes everywhere and I sighed. Before I could answer, Meg did.

"I assume this is Poison Oak?" she said, surveying the new face.

"Yes. Poison Oak, my girlfriend." Lavinia grinned, her pink hair brushing her face.

Lavinia showed us a pot with a very young looking tree inside. That didn't answer my question though.

"Lavinia, how exactly did you sneak away from camp for however long it took you to get here and not be noticed?"

"Sneak? Oh you know me! I always follow the rules! Well anyways, Hazel sent me here as a messenger to you, and I decided I couldn't leave out Oak."

As she spoke, her grin faded. My heart thumped against my chest. What was the message? If she had come all the way out here to deliver it, it couldn't be good.

"Fr- Frank has gone missing. We don't know where he went, but as soon as you left..."

I was shocked. What could take Frank? Did he go himself? Why did this happen?

"It's not the first disappearance." Lavinia continued, interrupting my thoughts. I gaped at her. "Some civilians have gone missing too. Just- disappeared."

She looked close to tears and I wondered if she'd lost anyone she knew or cared about.

"Why did you tell us?" Meg asked.

Lavinia sighed. "We think these disappearances are connected to the Tower. Before they disappeared, they acted... strange. I remember what Frank was like. He started muttering. His eyes were out of focus. Every now and then, we caught the occasional words, 'revenge', and 'kill'. That can't mean anything good. Anyways we didn't know what happened until one muttered 'Nero'. That was when we knew he had something to do with this."

I was in shock. People were going missing? That was not good.

"I'm sorry Lavinia... Can we help?" Meg inquired.

Lavinia nodded eagerly.

"Yes. The reason I was sent is to let you know that they're in the tower. Oh, also, I would really like it if you dropped me off at the bus station." She popped a bubble of gum right in front of my face and I decided not to argue.

Poison Oak muttered something in her ear, and Lavinia's face fell. She thought for a moment and whispered back to her.

"Er-"

"Oh. She's just wondering if I could replant her by my room at camp." Her face told me otherwise, but I didn't ask any more.

I hopped into the car and waited for the other three to get in, humming 'Stayin' Alive'. I drove off, Lavinia chattering like a squirrel to Oak. They were both giggling, and Meg, who had to sit beside Oak, was edging away from her as far as possible.