Disclaimer: I don't own the Riordanverse.
Serpent's Halcyon Days
Chapter 1: Trails deferred?
Betas: None so far, you're welcome to apply
Sitting on one of the observation decks of a cruise ship sailing through the Aegean, Ophis enjoyed the fantastic nighttime view of the sea that had played host to and shaped so much of her people's ancient history.
"Amazing view, no?"
"Truly. Thank you for suggesting that we meet here." The Great Serpent said as she turned to face her companion for the evening. The god of the arts was wearing the guise of a handsome twenty something with curly blonde hair, a perfect tan and blue eyes that gave off a faint almost undetectable glow. He was dressed in a stylishly cut but garishly colored gold suit.
Despite his questionable choice of clothing, a gaggle of mortals were gawking at his incredibly good looks and making various appreciative sounds at him.
"They're still there." Ophis said with a amused smirk. "Your fans really do love you."
Apollo laughed good naturedly before shaking his head, earning a few sighs from his adoring groupies.
"My fans? What about yours? You look smashing too, you know." The god said with a playful smirk while gesturing at Ophis' own appearance. The young protogenos was in her new adult form. She had waist length raven black hair that she let freely flow down her back, a supermodel's figure, pale skin and regal features. An overall beautiful package that was made even more eye-catching by her sporting a cocktail dress with an illusion neckline and a black and white checkerboard pattern.
Scanning over herself, the primordial had to admit that her nephew might have a point.
"Mortals are stupid."
"Definitely, Aunt Ophis. Definitely." Apollo said with an amused shake of his head.
"Sometimes." Ophis qualified her observation. "But I'm sure you didn't invite me here to talk about that. What did you really want to discuss?"
"Just wanted to thank you for taking the fall for the Gigantomachy." The god of the sun said while offering his aunt a grateful bow. "Zeus was totally planning to pin the blame for the whole war on me. Then you do your thing and suddenly if there was anyone on our side to blame then it's you because you're the one to first take the fight to the enemy."
"Well, Zeus was just looking for a scapegoat-"
"To appear in charge." Apollo agreed with a nod. "The old man's need to do that all the time is one of his biggest character flaws. Good job exploiting that by the way."
Ophis shrugged. "It was easy. It helps that Zeus rarely thinks things through as he really should."
The Olympian nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I mean, seriously it was not like he didn't exploit the fact that you're not under Olympian jurisdiction at the start of the war to get his way. But then forgetting all about that fact when he tried to punish you at the end?"
"His hubris blinded him, I think."
"Probably." Apollo agreed. "Regardless, you played the whole thing masterfully."
With that the god of music gave her a round of applause.
Blushing at the praise, Ophis shook her head bashfully. "You're exaggerating."
"God of truth"
"Also god of the arts. I'm sure you could if you wanted to." Ophis countered.
Apollo just offered her a cheeky grin.
The Great Serpent blushed. The sun god's grin gave him a roguish look that had her heart beating faster in a way that she was growing uncomfortably familiar with.
By Mother Chaos, why is he so damn handsome!? Ophis cursed. His good looks and unnatural charm was totally unfair. How was she supposed to have a proper conversation with him without getting distracted? Not for the first time since her maturity, the young protogenos wished she could have remained a child forever. Things were so much simpler when things like physical attraction were just abstract concepts to her.
He's my nephew. Nephew! The newly adult primordial told herself like a mantra even as she offered the god a smile of her own.
"So, since you're here, mind answering a question?" Ophis asked, desperate to keep the conversation going. If they were talking then she could distract herself a little better from how utterly perfect Apollo looked.
"Sure, go ahead." The single god said with a knowing look in his eyes.
He knows! Ophis noted with dismay. Then again it shouldn't have been a surprise. Apollo had charmed more than his fair share of lovers. There was no doubt that he knew the kind of effect he had on people. And the meanie is keeping it up! Argh!
Not giving the flirty god the satisfaction of admitting to how he was making her feel, Ophis pressed ahead with her question. "What exactly do you intend to do with Python? He's still at Delphi."
"Honestly? I haven't decided yet." The god admitted, before turning thoughtful. "I was actually thinking that with our main Oracle out of commission, this was the perfect time to push for hunting down a few more."
"That's a good idea. I've always been uncomfortable with the over reliance on the Pythian Oracle by the Campers. It's a single point of failure that left them vulnerable."
"I know right!" The god of prophecy said with enthusiasm. This was obviously a pet issue of his. "Just look at them now. Without an Oracle they can't even set out on any quests, like at all."
"Well, unless a god goes ahead and issues one directly."
"Yeah, but that's so troublesome."
Ophis frowned. That attitude was typical of the gods and in her opinion, one of the the main reasons they were resented by so many. If only they could learn to be more personable and less self-centered. She knew however this was likely never going to happen. The gods had thousands of years to change but only ended up more set in their ways than ever before. The Great Serpent just hoped she never ended up like them.
"Right." Ophis said neutrally, letting none of her disdain for his attitude show. "Which one are you thinking of going after first?"
"Hmm." The god said while rubbing his chin theatrically. "The Grove of Dodona is the best bet as it's not linked to me. As such having access to it will eliminate the issue, as you said earlier, of having a single point of failure."
"That's a good idea. It's not going to be easy though. Rhea is not easy to find nor convince to help."
"Finding her can't be that hard. Doesn't Grandma Rhea visit you frequently?"
And I wish she didn't! Ophis thought to herself unhappily. The Titan's visits were almost always accompanied by her criticizing and/or reprimanding the primordial over something. Honestly, the younger immortal had on more than one occasion been sorely tempted to just ban Rhea from Ogygia and her other domains. The only thing stopping her was the bad blood that would inevitably cause between her and her siblings for doing something so disrespectful to their mother. That and she gives good advice. Sometimes.
Her feelings for the Titan of Motherhood however were immaterial to the discussion and she pushed it aside.
"I won't help you." She told the god bluntly. "If you do this then it will your mission and you'll need to accomplish it on your own."
"Aw. You sure?" The god of youth asked while amping up his roguish charm while shooting her a pleading look.
Ophis shifted nervously in her seat as her heart raced and she blushed prettily but she held her ground and shook her head.
Pouting, the god relented with a resigned nod.
Taking a deep breath to help regain her balance, Ophis decided to press on before Apollo tried another charm offensive. She wasn't sure she could fend off another one.
"Artemis," the protogenos blurted out, earning herself a confused but amused look from the god. "How is she?"
It seemed she'd hit on the perfect topic, or at least it looked like it at first. But as the god's amusement drained at the question, it was replaced by sadness that tugged at her heartstrings.
Considering this makes him look like a kicked puppy, I honestly don't know if this is any better. Ophis pondered as she suppressed a groan.
"She's not doing too good lately." The sun god admitted. "After the debacle at Delos, everyone picked up on Hestia giving her the cold shoulder. You know how popular she is."
Ophis nodded, fully aware that her eldest sister was arguably the most well liked god on Olympus.
"Yeah, so everyone decided that if Arte somehow pissed off Hestia then she must have done something really bad."
"So they followed Big Sister's example?"
"Pretty much." Apollo said with grimace. "Didn't help either that Hestia was only too glad to tell everyone what Arte tried to trick you into doing. I mean, I know it was beyond the pale and she deserves some bite back for it. But this is a little too much."
"What do you mean? Everyone's just giving her the cold shoulder, right?" Ophis asked. She'd been on the receiving end of that herself when she'd thought herself a mere mortal orphan and while unpleasant wasn't something that would elicit this kind of reaction out of Apollo.
"Hah! I wish." Apollo scoffed. "Arte's been subject to some pretty harsh treatment on Olympus lately. All of the children of Kronos, even Zeus, are angry at what she did and everyone else is taking their cues from them."
"Like what?"
Apollo shot her a searching look, before sighing and began giving an example. "Getting shunned by the vendors in the marketplace. Arte doesn't buy much, if anything really, but when the nymphs and minor gods refuse to do business with an Olympian… well then you know you've fallen far."
That didn't sound too bad, but Ophis could see where the god was going with this. If even the lowest ranking people on Olympus were actively avoiding Artemis then what more her peers and other notables. And what else could they get away with when showing their displeasure? With the goddess of the hunt now a pariah among the gods, what would her rivals get away with that they couldn't have before?
Frowning at the possibilities that her mind conjured up, Ophis resolved to do something.
"I'll go pay Artemis a visit soon. I'll make sure its very public so everyone will know there's no bad blood between us."
Apollo gaped at her for a moment, before his expression shifted into a honest smile.
"You know, I think you might be the best Aunt ever." The god of truth told her.
"Don't let Hestia hear that." Ophis told him, only half joking. Her Big Sister was quite proud of her title as the most beloved member of the family. Who knew what she'd do if she caught even a hint that she might be usurped.
"Why not? You might be best, but she's bestest!"
Ophis giggled at his antics.
Smiling victoriously, Apollo stood up.
"Enough serious talk for today." He declared as he offered the young woman his arm. "It's time for us to do what we really came here for."
Raising from her own seat and hooking her arm around his, Ophis raised an eyebrow as she asked, "What exactly do you have in mind? I take it that it has something to do with your insistence that I come in my adult form?"
"You're right." The god acknowledged as he began leading her off the observation deck and into the halls of the ship. "Let's just say I'm doing my duty as your nephew and introducing you to a few things that you can enjoy now that you're an adult."
Ophis felt her blood pumping in her ears as her thoughts went wild at his declaration. What did he mean exactly? Was he going to bed her? Show her some bedroom tricks while doing so? Did she want him to?
Mother Chaos, what should I do!?
Confused, Ophis threw Apollo a pleading look hoping that he'd clarify his intentions a little more. The damnable god just shot her a smirk, obviously enjoying how she was working herself into a tizzy.
Despite all that, she didn't try to break away from her nephew or just tell him no. Instead, she continued letting him guide her deeper into the ship as she desperately tried to make up her mind.
"We're here." Apollo said, still sporting that teasing smirk of his.
I'm not ready! Ophis almost shouted out loud and pushed away from him, but stopped herself at the last second as she recognized where exactly her tease of a nephew had brought her.
They were standing outside the on-board nightclub.
This is what he meant!? The protogenos thought to herself incredulously. Argh! Damn him for getting me so worked up over nothing! Then again, this place has possibilities…
Gently pulling free of her nephew, she offered him her best effort at a sultry smile. Which judging by the way he gulped must have been pretty good.
"So this is the adult fun you wanted to show me tonight? Hmm…" Ophis purred as she eyed the club evaluatively. "I guess this is fine."
Turning to Apollo she sent him a smoldering look that once more had him gulping.
Never thought Aphrodite's lessons would actually come in handy. Ophis noted with amusement as she recalled the impromptu lessons on seduction that the goddess of love had teleported onto Ogygia to forcefully provide her shortly after her maturity. She'd called it an essential part of a woman's education. I didn't believe her then, but now… I think she might have the right of it.
"Just remember to make sure to keep things from going too far, okay?" She told the now frozen god as she ran her hand down the side of his face while stifling her urge to giggle. "We wouldn't want to do something Big Brother Hades wouldn't approve of and get into trouble."
Watching as her reminder of just who he'd have to answer to when it came to her caused the usually unflappable sun god to pale, Ophis turned to hide the broad grin she was sporting at his expense and began to sensually saunter into the club.
She barely managed to smother her giggles as behind her she heard the god hiss to himself that maybe this was a bad idea.
Too late for that Nephew. The young woman thought to herself as she stepped into the club and the night of new adult pleasures that awaited.
This turned out a lot more flirty than I intended… But you know what? I like it. I think it fits well with Apollo's personality and Ophis' nature as a freshly minted adult keen to explore what that means.
Ok, just to clear things up.
1) Apollo did not set out to seduce Ophis, he was just teasing. Plus being flirty is as good as being his default mode when faced with an attractive person which his Aunt definitely is.
2) Ophis, despite her subjective age, is an adult here. She's a protogenos, beings that don't exactly follow the mortal rules when it comes to aging. After her maturity at the end of Rise of a New Power, she's an adult in all the ways that matter. It's why I repeatedly described her as a young woman.
3) Ophis was not going to sleep with Apollo. She was tempted by the prospect, since he is an incredibly handsome man and she's a healthy young woman attracted to men. That said, as she herself makes clear when they reach the club, she was not ready and wouldn't have went through with it.
4) When Ophis talks about adult pleasures at the end there she's not talking about sex. As established in the preceding point, she's not ready. That said, there's plenty of adult pleasures she can enjoy in a nightclub that would be totally new to her and she's looking forward to trying them out.
That I think covers all the potentially controversial things in this chapter. That said if you have any issues, drop me a PM or review and we can discuss it.
Now this is only the first part of a two short. I hope it entertained you and encourages you to look forward to the next part where Apollo faces the consequences of what he did in this chapter.
I'm publishing this now when I have the time, but expect future releases every Friday/Saturday UTC+08:00 from now on (including one this Friday).
Hope to see you then! Peace out!