"You want me to do what?" Nico asked.

"Destroying the two crystal orbs will sever the Tower’s power," Prism explained cautiously. "But it may also result in unforeseen consequences."

"Like what?" Nico asked as he walked up to the crystal. It couldn't be that simple.

"If not done properly, the extra energy generated might overload the Tower and lead to an uncontrolled release of energy in the form of lightning. This lightning strike will be so powerful it will seem like Jupiter himself was striking the island in anger." she replied. "It could be catastrophic."

"Great," Nico sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Well, I guess it's a risk we'll have to take." He squared his shoulders and hopped back and forth to warm up. "I won't let the Hounds use this place for their own selfish gain."

Prism pointed to three bronze levers on the back side of the pedestal. “There are two crystals that power this Tower, the one in this room and another below us at the base of the Tower. You will need to pull all three levers to drain the power properly before destroying each crystal.”

“I have no clue what you mean about any of this but I'm pretty good at pulling levers.” Nico then walked over and pulled the levers down one at a time. The Tower started humming a different tone as if it was thankful to not be at full power anymore.

"That is a great start but be careful, Nico, the Hounds occupy most of the Tower’s floors." the woman of light warned, her body now a shade of green, similar to leaves in summer. "You are brave, but bravery alone may not be enough."

"Thanks for the pep talk," he said with a wry grin. "But I've got this."

As Nico approached the crystal orb, his heart raced, and he could feel sweat beading on his forehead. Was he making the right choice – but there was no turning back now. With a deep breath, he pulled out his sword and reached out for the pulsating crystal.

"Here goes nothing," he whispered, and plunged his sword into the center of the floating crystal . The crystal orb turned black as if it was drained of life. The lights around the room flickered for a couple seconds before going dark permanently.

“Hey Prism! Did I do it right?" Nico asked into the now empty room.

No response.

"Now for the second crystal.” Nico said as he put his sword away and turned toward the stairs. He made it down the first set of stairs and into the next room. “Man, it's dark.” His Crestmark began glowing a soft color of gold as he made a small flame appear at the top of his sword. Nico’s eyes widened as he revealed what was stored in here.

“How much red jelly do they have?” He asked himself, walking past barrel after barrel. The room was packed full with rows of barrels, close to two hundred. All of them looked the same as the ones the Hounds used earlier to store red jelly. Nico headed towards the next set of stairs, when a rat ran in front of him.

“Aaaah!” Nico screamed as he jumped back and the fire on his sword suddenly extinguished. His sword tip sliced into one of the barrels as he fell back and red jelly started pouring out the barrel like honey squeezed out of a beehive. “Stupid rat. I am carrying fire! Almost made me blow up the whole Tower.” He grumbled as he relit his sword carefully away from the red jelly and carried on.

Nico stopped just at the top of the stairs looking down, he could hear the faint sound of footsteps. "Alright, you mangy mutts," Nico mumbled to himself, hitting his chest in excitement. "Time to show you the meaning of 'shock and awe.'"

Nico crept down the stairs as the Hounds stormed up, their boots thundering on the metal steps. He hid in the shadows near the top of the stairs, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. When the first Hound emerged, Nico lashed out with his sword, slicing the man's chest. The Hound shrieked in pain and tumbled backwards down the stairs, crashing into his comrades.

Nico darted downward, engaging another Hound in combat. Their swords clashed and sparked, but Nico had the high ground. He knocked the Hound's blade aside and delivered a punch with his free hand, sending the man sprawling down the spiraling staircase.

Suddenly Two Hounds emerged from the bottom of the stairs and rushed Nico at once, forcing him to backpedal up the stairs. He parried their blows, but they were driving him away from the Tower’s base. Both Hounds swung at the same time, locking swords as Nico blocked. Gritting his teeth, Nico shoved back with all his might, catching the Hounds off guard. They tumbled down the steps, and Nico raced past them toward the next room.

Click.

Nico recognized that sound and stopped instantly, a crossbow bolt whizzed by his head, embedding in the wall behind him. The remaining Hounds had regrouped in the room at the end of the stairs, and they were armed with crossbows. Nico ducked back up the stairs as a volley of bolts peppered the stair walls. He was trapped—unless he could destroy their weapons first. Nico looked around the room trying to figure out a way to stop them from adding new holes into his armor. He returned to the storage room when an idea formed. He grabbed the barrel he cut earlier and brought it to the top of the staircase.

“Hey! Can we talk about this?” Nico yelled out. “ I am sure this is just a misunderstanding.”

“You stupid kid, understand this,” One of the Hounds replied. “We will be coming up there, and you are not getting out alive.”

Nico could hear a few of the Hounds cheer in agreement to their leader's words, followed by the sound of them loading their crossbows.

Nico shook his head as he lifted the barrel past his face. “I am afraid I must disagree with you on that, I am not a kid! I'm twenty-one.”

Shadows grew on the wall as the sounds of footsteps started getting closer towards him. Nico waited till he saw the tip of a sword appear from the spiraling staircase. He threw the barrel down the spiral stairs, spilling its contents to the ground below. The barrel cracked as it hit each step, gaining speed. Red jelly oozed down the steps and covered the metal at their base.

The Hounds that were already on the steps couldn't move fast enough, the barrel slammed into the first guy who tumbled into the guy behind him. The barrel bounced down the stairs followed by a discombobulated ball of men. The Hounds who stayed behind panicked and replied with a flurry of bolts. Many bolts missed the barrel except for a couple, only adding more holes for the red jelly to pour out of.

Nico waited till he heard the sound of the barrel crashing into the room below. Soon screaming filled the stairway, followed by the sound of stuttering from the red jelly shocking anyone who was unfortunate enough to get some on them.

He ignited the jelly as he struck it with the flame on his sword, causing an explosion of fire engulfing the stairwell. Nico listened as the Hounds screamed in pain. He returned to the storage room and peeked out the closest window to find many of the Hounds were jumping out the windows or running out the Tower itself, anywhere to escape the intense heat of burning red jelly.

Nico turns away from the window and back into the storage room, walking up to the closest barrel. He cut open the top of the barrel, grabbed the lid and rushed back to the doorway of the now burning stairs. The flames had grown huge, chasing up the stairwell and engulfing any space it could find.

"Good thing I’m fireproof." He muttered to himself. He held his breath and jumped into the stairway full of fire, holding the barrel lid against his butt using it as a sled. The fire screeched, bellowed and wailed in all directions. He landed on the stairs and rode the barrel lid all the way down, entering the room the Hounds were protecting only moments ago. The lack of air felt unnatural, even when the smell was a mix of burning flesh and hair, and sulfur.

As Nico rode the lid into the doorway, he only caught a glint of what was in the room- the Hounds' treasury of gold and jewels gleaming from the flames dancing around the room. He dodged the fire as he continued to slide into the next stairway, then the next, as far away from the fire as possible.

He soon landed In front of the Tower's floor level, Nico’s heart started pounding in his chest. The ancient door loomed before him, covered in strange symbols that seemed to pulse with energy. He knew this was his only chance to put a stop to the Hounds' twisted operation, but he couldn't help the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that Deo's advice to wait for reinforcements might have been wise.

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"Too late for second thoughts," he muttered under his breath, reaching out to cautiously touch the cold metal door. To his surprise, it swung open with ease.

He entered and stepped on sand. Nico looked confused until one of the windows whipped open and closed from the wind and sand that was carried with it blanketed the room and Nico. Nico shook off the sand and took a look around. This room was similar to the first control room, large and circular, filled with complex machinery and flashing lights. The room had a metallic scent, like blood mixed with oil and jolt jelly, a strange mixture. In the middle was the same looking metal pedestal with a large red crystal orb floating above it.

Nico slowly approached the pedestal, feeling the chill emanating from its metal surface. He could sense the power thrumming beneath his fingertips as he hesitantly touched its edge. "What is all this?" he asked, staring at the crystal orb spinning mid air. " Who knew the Romans were this smart?"

A voice behind Nico said. "Ready to shut it down?"

Nico jumped so high he almost hit the ceiling. He turned around with his hand on his sword to find Prism just standing there, her light filling the room with colors of green and blue. He bent over and started taking deep breaths. "Please, for the love of all that is great in this world, do not sneak up on me like that. My heart is pounding!"

"My apologies Nico." Prism replied with a smile. " You need to start shutting down this control room, more Hound members will arrive soon. Make sure you pull all three levers before breaking the crystal."

Nico nodded and walked over to the three bronze levels next to the pedestal and pulled the first one. As he reached for the second one, the sound of footsteps echoed from a nearby corridor, drawing closer. He cursed under his breath – there was no time for this.

Nico turned to face Prism. "You got to disappear. If they have someone who understands Roman inventions, maybe they figure out how to capture you. Stay out of sight, I can handle these guys."

Prism nodded and vanished, leaving only the torches and glowing runes to illuminate the room.

"Who's there?" a gruff voice called out just before three Hound thugs emerged into the chamber, their eyes narrowing at the sight of Nico.

"Who are you? Where has the kid who is burning this tower gone?" One of the Hounds asked.

Nico's eyes flared wide, his face turning pale as he stuttered. "I'm... Alfonso. I'm new here. I think that "kid" you're talking about is trapped by the flames upstairs, even though I believe he looks like an adult, not a kid. I was told to guard this room just in case he comes down here."

The three thugs looked at him in confusion. The one in the middle with the gruff voice stood a step forward and pointed at Nico. "Nice try kid," he then points to the guy on his left. "but this is Alfonso, and it's his first night as a Hound."

Nico’s shoulders dropped as he huffed. "Seriously?"

"Never mind that," barked the Hound on the right, cracking his knuckles menacingly. "Let's teach this kid a lesson!"

"Get 'em!" the head thug roared as all three charged, fists raised. Nico didn't even have a moment to think, let alone draw his sword, when the head thug lunged forward. Ducking and evading the blow, Nico retaliated with a powerful kick to the stomach. The head thug flew into the wall, but before he could take down the leader of the three the other two thugs rushed at him with a vengeance.

The second taller thug roared as he charged, but Nico evaded with lightning-quick agility, relying on his enhanced speed to keep them at bay. The third shortest thug, Alfonso, came around Nico’s side and started to swing his fist. Nico blocked both of their blows until finally one caught him off guard and sent him crashing to the ground.

"Stay down!" The Head thug shouted, having recovered and grabbed Nico by his collar and thrusted him against the wall. Nico could barely comprehend what was happening, his senses swimming in pain and confusion as he desperately tried to formulate a plan.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you not to play with fire?" Nico spat, stretching his hand to reach his sword. "Or lightning, in your case?"

"Shut your mouth!" The taller thug bellowed, delivering a powerful blow to Nico's abdomen that knocked him back onto the floor.

Come on, Nico. he thought, his vision blurry. You have to keep going. You choose to come here alone. Now get out of this and finish the job.

Nico staggered to his feet, breathing heavily. He could feel his blood trickling down from the cuts on his face and lips. He reached for his sword, and as his hand closed around the hilt, the three hounds bull-rushed him. He yanked the sword out of its sheath and could only hold it up in a defensive position before one of them slammed their fist into his face like an unstoppable train. He flew backward like a rag doll, tumbling back towards the pedestal.

Maybe I should have focused more on hand to hand combat during training. He thought.

Nico groaned in pain as he stumbled about, grasping desperately at the control panel. His fingers brushed something cold and metallic -the middle lever. Nico pulled the middle lever as he stood up, making all the lights in the room start constantly flickering.

The three hounds stopped, looking around nervously at the lights. Nico took advantage of their confusion and lunged forward with his sword. He reached the head hound who pinned him earlier and parried one of his fists away when the thug tried to block. Nico spun around and smashed the hilt of his sword into the guy's right temple. The force was enough to knock out the Hound right away, while the other two stumbled back wide eyed.

A moment of silence filled the room. Nico took this moment and walked over to the wall that was closest to the Tower's main entrance. Nico pushed each foot against the wall one at a time, pushing his feet deeper into his shoes. The two remaining Hounds moved to stand between him and the floating crystal. The taller one stood in front of Alfonso, pointing at Nico. "Let's end this!"

Nico smiled in agreement. Time to get serious.

Nico didn't waste any time. He lunged to the left and swung the sword upward, bringing the sword down and slashing through the taller Hound's right arm. The Hound fell to the ground screaming, grabbing at the space that his arm used to occupy.

Nico quickly got to his knees as he spun around, bringing his sword in an arching motion before slicing into the thigh of the other thug, stopping him from moving any further. “Sorry for this Alfonso, I felt like we shared a bond with our names.”

“What? We don't have a bond.” Alfonso spat back as he choked up, tears from pain rolling down his cheeks. With two swift movements, Nico struck all of Alfonso’s limbs simultaneously, blood pouring out of every deep cut. Both men collapsed to the ground either unconscious or dead, Nico didn't have time to check.

He then turned around just to make sure that no more were coming down from upstairs or the main door. Satisfied, He approached the last lever.

Pointing his sword at the crystal, he smiled. " Time to shut you down-" Nico was suddenly pushed forward. He could only see from the corner of eye; it was the Head Hound Nico had knocked out earlier. He must have jumped and tackled Nico. As they fell forward into the pedestal, Nico's sword pushed forward and pierced the crystal.

The Crystal started cracking, multiple beams of light shooting out of the crystal at all different angles. The crystal shook, vibrating so hard Nico's sword fell out of the hole it made. The Tower started shaking, dust falling from the ceiling as the ground groaned like it was waking from a long sleep. All the lights from runes and torches flickered at random or shut off completely.

Nico and the Hound landed on the ground. Stunned at what was happening, the Hound didn't notice Nico pulling his leg back and kicking him straight in the jaw. The Hound dropped like a sack of potatoes.

Prism reappears into the room, her body light made of all the different shades of one color, red. "What happened?!?" She started flying around the room looking at different machinery, Nico watched as she never made any footprints in the sand. She stops in front of the crystal. " I said to pull ALL three levers before breaking the crystal. Look at what you did!" She points to a group of six runes in a circle on the wall. All the runes glowed a soft blue except the top rune, it glowed a harsh red, like blood.

Nico stands up, wipes the sweat from his eyes and walks up to the runes. " What does that mean?"

"It means this Tower will soon overload and discharge all the energy it has stored."

Nico looked at Prism, his head trying to process what she just said. " So, does that mean I stopped the lightning?"

Prism hit her head with her hand, shaking it in disappointment. " It means that this Tower and probably the whole island will soon disappear from local maps."

"Oh... Well sounds like your job is done, let's get off this island." Nico waved his hand in the air , pointing at the front entrance.

"I would love to leave Nico, I have thought about it many times throughout the years." Prism's light changed from the intense red before to a more dark purple.

"That's great! I can find a boat and we can leave. You can even come to Venice with me. I'm sure we can find another Tower for you to live in"

Prism walked over to Nico. "But my job is not done yet, even now I am doing everything I can to keep this Tower from discharging early and killing everyone. You have to leave. Please don't worry about me."

"That is nonsense!" Nico's face was hot. " I don't know how you control this Tower but it is failing. There is no need-" Prism's face suddenly looked panicked but Nico couldn't react in time before something smacked him in the back of the head. He dropped to the ground, his head spinning already from all the constant hits he had taken tonight.

But as he tried to rise, Someone slammed a fist into his temple, sending him collapsing back to the ground, darkness closing in. The last thing he heard was Prism's voice, tinged with desperation. "Nico!"