And while I'm mortal, she can order me to do anything. She betrayed me to Nero back at Camp Half-Blood. Meg, my demigod master, is a cantankerous street urchin. But why would an ancient Roman emperor zero in on Indianapolis? And now that I have made it here (still in the embarrassing form of Lester Papadopoulos), where is Meg? Those were the orders my old enemy Nero had given to Meg McCaffrey. If you cannot bring him to me alive, kill him. Capture Apollo before he can find the next oracle. They are living out the true beast's actions while they think of themselves as playacting the roles of painted savages, which is Jack's idea of fun - and the true beast's as well.Go west. He doesn't get to share his revelation with the other boys because they are not ready to accept or understand it. Having confronted both the Lord of the Flies (the sow's head on a stick) and the so-called beast (the soldier's corpse), Simon understands the nature of the evil on the island. By courageously seeking out the figure on the mountain, Simon fulfills his destiny of revelation. Of the boys, only Simon took the presence of an unidentified creature on the mountain as a sign to be explored or a symbol to be considered, rather than as an indication of an animal-beast's presence. Considering that his arrival on the island was brought about by a battle of the ongoing war, the soldier truly was an emissary of the beast, the savagery that lurks in humanity. They do not band together to overcome this fearful situation but allow their own worst impulses to surface and dominate, fragmenting into opposing groups and killing one of their own in a frenzy of fear and savagery. In a way, the soldier is actually working as an agent of the true beast, bringing out the worst in the boys. Then he frees the lines of the soldier's parachute from the rocks, enabling the dead soldier to fly off during the storm, which it does upon Simon's death. Approaching the frightful figure on the mountain, he sees it sit up and look at him in response "He hid his face" as if in shame over the boys' misconceptions about its menace. Given the doubts he had in Chapter 6 about this supposed beast and having had a visitation from the true beast, the Lord of the Flies, Simon has moved past fear into another arena of emotion. Simon doesn't seem to fear the beast sighted on the mountain. That confrontation seems to have aged him: he walks with the difficulty of an old man, as if bowed down by "the infinite cynicism of adult life" that he saw in the pig's eyes. Awakening from his faint, he asks again out loud the question he put to the assembly in the previous chapter: "What else is there to do?" He must face whatever is on the mountain. This chapter focuses on Simon and the fulfillment of his role as a visionary mystic. This sight terrifies the boys, and they scatter, screaming. The storm's wind fills the dead soldier's parachute and lifts him up and over the island and out to sea. That night, the tide carries his body away. The rain increases and the boys back off, leaving Simon's body on the beach. Overcome by its own momentum, the group turns on Simon as if he were the beast and kills him. He tries to tell them about the true identity of the beast sighted on the mountain but can barely make himself heard over the storm and the boys' now frenzied chanting. Suddenly, Simon crawls out of the forest and into the center of the dance circle. Ralph and Piggy join in the outer fringes of the dance as well. Jack orders a dance in response to the downpour. Jack has a strong hold on them, however, playing up the role of tribal chief. Ralph makes a pitch for the boys to stay with him, reminding them of the first day's election. Jack allows them to eat but, when everyone is finished eating, calls for all the boys to indicate whether they'd like to join his group or remain with Ralph's. They go as well, out of curiosity and hunger. Ralph and Piggy realize even the biguns loyal to Ralph have gone to Jack's party. He is so weakened by the day's experiences that he can barely walk. From his vantage point, he can see that most of the boys are at the fire at Jack's camp, so he heads there to give everyone the news. He finds the paratrooper's body, inspects it, and realizes its true identity. As a storm builds over the island, Simon awakens from his faint and makes his way to the beast sighting on the mountain.