Disclaimer: I don't own the Riordanverse.
Serpent's Halcyon Days
Chapter 2: Deferment revoked?
Betas: None so far, you're welcome to apply
Zeus had called an emergency meeting of the Olympian Council, but as usual the old man had terrible timing. Apollo, the most handsome god in the universe (in his own totally truthful opinion as the god of truth), had been busy charming a sweet little Korean girl he'd met while grabbing a hotdog from his favorite stand (Hey! Don't judge! Driving the sun across the sky was tiring work.) when the summons had come. Deciding that it couldn't be anything important, the mighty Apollo decided he'd finish getting the sweet Sophia's number before showing up fashionably late. What harm would being a few minutes late cause?
As he teleported into the throne room and found himself the last to arrive, Apollo couldn't help but feel like he'd made a mistake. A big one if the way the children of Kronos were all glaring at him were anything to go by. Heck, even Hades was there and didn't that set off alarm bells. Whatever this meeting was about had to be super serious if Zeus made an exception and let the Lord of the Dead onto Olympus when it wasn't the Winter Solstice.
As if that wasn't bad enough, even the usually sweet and forgiving Hestia was looking at him like she'd like nothing better than to burn him alive. Though that might have just been because her eyes were literally aflame as she leveled a deadly glare his way.
He'd usually crack a joke or say something silly to break the tension, but his self-preservation instincts told him quite clearly that attempting to do that now would be a very, very bad idea. So he refrained. But damn if it was difficult.
Looking away from the elder gods, the god of prophecy tried to see what the other Olympians thought about all this.
Athena and Hephaestus were looking at him with angry expressions just like the elder Olympians. The goddess of wisdom he could understand, she tended to follow their father's lead more often than not.
The Master of Volcanoes was a surprise though, he didn't usually agree with the elder gods on much or cared much for the matters brought before the Council. Instead, the fire god tended to spend meetings distracted by whatever artifact he was tinkering with at the time. This wasn't the case now though, while he was still tinkering with something - which Apollo noted with some trepidation looked like some kind of gun - it was clear from his baleful expression that the majority of his focus was on him. The sun god couldn't fathom why though, it was not like he'd done anything to upset the god of the forge recently.
In fact, the Lord of Smiths was looking so pissed that the usually hidden resemblance with his brother Ares was on full display. Said war god was sporting his usual bloodthirsty grin, which wasn't unexpected but still worrying to Apollo when he was the one whose suffering the god of war appeared to be looking forward to enjoy watching. With the two sons of Zeus and Hera uncharacteristically both looking furious, their resemblance was quite uncanny. Not that Apollo would ever tell either of them that, he valued his immortal life thank you very much.
Though the ways things were looking, that might be in bigger jeopardy than he'd thought.
At least, Aphrodite looked like she might be on his side. Well, something resembling it anyways. She was wearing a dismissive frown that gave the impression that she thought everyone was being stupid, but the way she shot nervous looks at the children of Kronos told Apollo he was unlikely to get much if any help from her.
Desperate for allies now, he skimmed his gaze across Dionysus who just looked bored as usual and would be no use to him.
To his growing unease, even Artemis looked conflicted. This was not a good sign. Not a good sign at all. She was usually the one he could count on no matter what, so if she's looking like she might not be on his side then he might have no support whatsoever.
Thankfully, a quick glimpse at Hermes and the supportive smile he shot him told him he wasn't totally alone. Though the way the messenger god was forced to smother it when Hestia of all gods glared at him, sent a chill down the god of light's spine.
I'm screwed. Apollo concluded with dismay.
"Um. Sorry for being late?" The god of healing apologized nervously as he headed for this throne. Hoping against all odds that his tardy arrival was what had the set the other gods off.
"Stop!" Zeus declared authoritatively and gesturing to the center of the throne room. "You'll sit there for today."
Looking at what the god king was pointing at, Apollo could only gape incredulously at the human sized stool that had been set up there.
"You've gotta be kidding!"
The only response to Apollo's outraged objection was Zeus and Poseidon brandishing their symbols of power at him. Lightning arced from the Master Bolt and a whirlpool of pure power swirled around the prongs of Poseidon's Trident as they both pointed the deadly weapons at Apollo meaningfully.
Gulping fearfully, the god of music obeyed and shrinking down to a human height he took his seat on the stool like a scolded child.
"Hades," Zeus' voice boomed painfully in Apollo's now human sized ears. "You begin."
Begin what? Apollo wondered worriedly as the Rich One stepped up till he loomed over the son of Leto. Much to the archer's growing fear, the oldest of Kronos' sons was wearing his symbol of power, the dread Helm of Darkness.
"Apollo, god of the sun, light, music, arts, healing, prophecy and truth. You stand accused of the crime-"
Oh snit! Has Zeus decided to blame me for the Gigantomachy after all? The god of the arts thought to himself even as he had to actively fight the urge to piss himself in terror. If his father had really decided to do that then he could only imagine how utterly horrible his punishment would be.
His fear was not helped, at all, by the fact that Hades was cranking his Helm's fear aura to the max and if the sick little smile on his face was any indication was getting a kick out of seeing Apollo squirm. "-of corrupting the innocence of Ophis, Protogenos of Time and Space, sister to the elder gods. What do you have to say about what you did to my little sister, boy?"
Apollo's mouth fell open in shock. This was what this was all about!?
Tentatively, in part from having to fight through his shock but mostly from having to work past the terror he was feeling, Apollo asked. "Is this about me bringing Ophis to visit that nightclub?"
The whole throne room gasped at what Apollo in hindsight realized was tantamount to a confession.
A furious Hestia didn't leave it at that though and jumping to her feet from her place by the throne room's hearth, she pointed the very sharp and white hot metal poker she'd been using to tend the flames at him.
"So you confess?" The usually personable goddess asked in a menacing voice that crackled with the sound of a roaring blaze.
Am I in the Twilight Zone? I knew that Hestia was protective of Ophis, but this is a little extreme. Then again, the goddess of the hearth had started a concerted campaign to make his twin a pariah for trying to trick her little sister into making an Oath to be a virgin goddess. So maybe this wasn't as uncharacteristic as he'd thought. Note to self: Don't piss off Hestia.
Taking a breath to calm his frayed nerves and cursing his domain of truth, Apollo damned himself. "I-I did bring Ophis out partying once."
He didn't need Hermes' wince nor the throne room becoming consumed by angry shouts from the elder gods demanding he be punished to know he was doomed.
It did surprise him just how vehement the children of Kronos were for his hide over this. Though their wild accusations of him making unwanted advances on Ophis had him totally confused. Where in the world did that come from?
Mental note: Stay away from Ophis. Full stop. Apollo thought to himself as he shrank into himself in a futile bid to escape the raw anger being leveled at him. Nothing's worth risking pissing off her overprotective siblings. Nothing!
It took a full five minutes but finally Zeus lost his patience with the chaos and reestablished order by slamming the Master Bolt on the ground, coincidentally (Yeah right!) directly in front of Apollo.
Completely naturally, the normally fearless god squeaked in fright and jumped back like a little girl. The Master Bolt was scary!
"Apollo," Zeus said, his whole form exuding a menacing authority. "Would you confirm again that you brought your nine year old Aunt to a nightclub."
Again cursing the difficulty he had in lying, Apollo slowly nodded.
"The accused has confessed. It is but a formality, but let us vote. Guilty or not guilty?" The king of Olympus addressed the Council.
"Shouldn't I get a chance to speak in my own defense?" Apollo asked desperately.
"You already have." Hera informed him, menace dripping from every pore. "You used it to confess."
Oh right… Well, shit.
The voting went as expected. Namely terribly. The elder gods all voted guilty, as did Athena, Hephaestus, Ares and much to Apollo's horror Artemis!
Hermes, a bro to the end, defiantly abstained even as the elder gods all glared at him for doing so.
Dionysius abstained as well saying that he couldn't exactly vote against him when Apollo introduced Ophis to his domain, but that he generally agreed that he screwed up. The jerk!
Aphrodite was the only one who voted not guilty.
"I think you're all being stupid." The goddess of love said in a derisive tone after voting. "Ophis may only be nine but she's a fully grown goddess and is free to do what she wants, even if it means partying like the adult that she is!"
"Your opinion, Aphrodite," Zeus replied sneering the word 'opinion' in a clear indication of how low he thought of it. "Is noted. However, it is inconsequential since there is a clear majority."
Turning to address the whole Council once more Zeus passed the judgement. "Apollo, god of the sun, light, music, arts, healing, prophecy and truth. You are hereby found guilty of the crime of corrupting the innocence of Ophis, Protogenos of Time and Space, sister to the elder gods. Suggestions, Council, on his punishment?"
"Let's have him fight for our amusement until he gets dismembered! The ichor and gore will be fabulous!" Ares suggested enthusiastically and was met with disgusted looks from everyone present. Arte, in a sign that she hadn't completely forsaken him, summoned her bow and pulled back on it meaningfully. Though she still didn't say anything in his defense.
Hera just sighed at her son's behavior. "Where did I go wrong with him?"
Her siblings, minus Zeus obviously, smirked at her plight but otherwise ignored her.
Instead, Demeter jumped on the suggest a cruel fate for Apollo bandwagon.
"Why not have Apollo spend some time as a tree." The goddess of fertility said thoughtfully. "He could use the time to reflect on what he's done."
"That idea has merit." Hera agreed.
"Yes, but perhaps not a tree." Poseidon chimed in, sending a look to Zeus he continued. "Turning people into trees is old fashioned. How about a clam instead? Some species of those are long living animals with little to no ability to move, which makes them as good as a tree but a little more unique."
Zeus huffed at the obvious barb at what he'd done to save his latest half-blood daughter, Thalia Grace, a few years back.
Athena though seemed to take genuine offense at the sea god's suggestion. "Not in my lifetime, barnacle breath. You just want to have Apollo under your domain so you can torture him more."
Feeling the twinge of his senses at the war goddess' words, Apollo paled as he realized that she was speaking the truth. He was usually on pretty good terms with the sea god, so to think that his little indiscretion (Not that he actually did anything wrong!) with the older god's little sister would engender such ill will towards him was greatly disheartening.
Uncaring of his dismay, Athena and Poseidon looked ready for another of their infamous bouts but before the two ancient rivals could get into an argument, Hades spoke up and cut them off. "If it's torture we're looking for there's always space in the Fields of Punishment."
Turning to Hephaestus, the Lord of the Underworld asked. "Any ideas?"
"Hmm… Some." The fire god said while he stroked his beard.
Please don't let that be my punishment. Apollo prayed to anyone who would listen. He really didn't want to become the test subject for the smith god's latest torture device.
"Enough with this foolishness!" Zeus interjected angrily. "Be serious about this. There's no way that Apollo will receive his punishment from either of you, his sentence needs to be something fair and neither of you can honestly claim to be objective."
"And you can?" Poseidon scoffed while Hades nodded.
"More so than either of you." Hera countered. "Or have you forgotten Zeus' mixed feelings about Ophis?"
Thank Chaos that Zeus and Ophis don't get along.
As Hera said, the god of lightning and Ophis weren't exactly close. In fact they'd been at loggerheads quite a few times since the protogenos had made her debut. That meant that even if the king of Olympus had been forced to punish Apollo over this joke of a 'crime' to mollify his other siblings, he at least would be fair about it. He hoped so anyways.
"And then there's the fact," Hestia added. "That a fair punishment issued by the Council is the only way to stop you three from fighting over who punished Apollo the most fittingly."
Said god paled at the prospect of his punishment becoming the latest metric by which the sons of Kronos ranked themselves in their unending competition to one up each other. If that were the case… Well, he doubt he'd ever get released from whatever horrible fate awaited him.
"If it's about being fair, then why not have Apollo spend a stint as a mortal like he had in the past when he committed crimes against Olympus?" Hermes suggested. "It has precedent."
Apollo couldn't thank his friend enough for the suggestion. If he was getting punished then he was glad that at least it was in a way that was relatively tame.
The Council likewise seemed to think the idea fitting as after some consideration, the Council - or more accurately the elder gods who were leading this witch hunt - agreed that it was a fair and just punishment.
"That said," Hestia however pointed out. "It cannot be so simple as Apollo just being turned into a mortal for a time. Each time he was punished thus in the past, he was sent to complete a particular task. The first time, he was forced to serve King Admetus of Thessaly as a shepherd for a year. The second time, he was forced to serve Laomedon, the King of Troy. So what then would his task be this time?"
"If we are using precedent as our guide than in line with his previous punishments, Apollo should be sent to serve some mortal ruler."
This was met with easy approval, though they could not agree on who he should serve.
"I say he should go serve one of the cruel dictators and get a look at some of the punishment he so narrowly missed out on." Hades suggested.
"That has my vote." Ares, the bloodthirsty barbarian, naturally liked the idea.
"I think it is fitting as well." Hestia, surprisingly, agreed as well. "Watching all that suffering might teach him some compassion."
Ares scoffed but no one really paid the fool any mind.
That's not that bad… Apollo mused. Sure, he'd end up being the hatchet man of some crazy warlord but at least he'd live in reasonable luxury as the guy's trusted executioner.
As the others debated the merits of Hades' suggestion, Demeter and Hera conferred among themselves for a minute or two before offering their own suggestion.
Acting as their spokeswoman, Demeter said. "We think that he should go serve the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as the caretaker of their children. Doing so should teach him how to treasure the young more."
"I supports this." Artemis said, earning herself dark looks from most of the other gods.
They probably think it's because it's a cushy job and as my twin she's just voting for it because of that fact. Apollo mused even as realized that his twin was just voting in accordance with her domain over maidens. The Cambridges had a young daughter after all.
"Bah!" Poseidon said dismissively. "That's far too comfortable a post. Why not have him be the handler for some wastrel prince and see how partying can ruin things. That should be appropriately fitting I think."
"That has my vote." Zeus said.
"Fitting indeed." Hephaestus agreed.
"I'll have to object on principle." Dionysus said, breaking from his disinterested silence. "There's nothing fundamentally wrong with a good party."
"Gotta agree with D there. Besides, wouldn't that mean Apollo gets to party like crazy. Don't think that's much of a punishment."
Apollo shot Hermes a betrayed look at that. It sounded perfect to him!
Hermes ignored the look and instead continued with his own suggestion. "Why not have him go be a Secret Service agent guarding the President, at least this way he wouldn't be as far away from Olympus as what Demeter suggested while being less of a fun time than Poseidon's suggestion."
"This idea has merit." Athena said with a nod. "Hermes is correct to say that it would bet unsafe to send Apollo as far away as Britain or worse outside our sphere of influence as some of the other suggestions have the risk of doing."
The Council mulled over this for a moment, before Zeus turned to the only member who had not voiced an opinion on the matter.
"Aphrodite, any suggestions?"
"None. I'm staying out of this nonsense."
Zeus looked ready to rebuke the defiant goddess of love when he was interrupted by a black and white geyser of energy spontaneously erupting next to the daughter of Ouranos' throne. From this rather impressive but short lived display of power stepped out Ophis.
The protogenos was in her adult form and wearing a provocative white dress with a plunging v neck and a skirt that barely reached her thighs. One made from a thin almost translucent fabric which allowed the outline of the black undergarments she wore underneath to peek through.
"I have to agree with Aphrodite. This whole trail is a farce." The young immortal declared before nodding to the Lady of Doves. "Thank you for notifying me about it."
Apollo silently offered his thanks to the goddess of love too even as Ophis continued with her intervention.
"That said, I acknowledges that judgement has been pass-"
"What are you wearing!?" A scandalised Hestia asked, apparently unable to contain her shock at her little sister's choice of attire any longer. Not that he could blame her. With the exception of Aphrodite, everyone in the throne room - Apollo himself included - was looking at the protogenos in shock. They had never seen the young woman in anything remotely like her current outfit.
"You do remember, Big Sister, that I am an adult now, right?" Ophis asked rhetorically, while smirking. "I'm just trying out something new. Isn't flaunting my new status and experimenting with other things like my sensuality that comes with it something all new adults do?"
"I guess so…" Hestia unhappily conceded. "But did you have to wear something quite so provocative to make your point?"
"Statements need to be bold or they'll be overlooked." Ophis said with a shrug.
Zeus cleared his throat, which sounded suspiciously dry and said, "Ophis what are you doing here besides trying to prove our point about Apollo's corrupting influence?"
Apollos gulped. It backfired!
It seemed that Ophis' little 'statement' might actually be doing him more harm than good. At least that looked to be the case if all the glares the elder goddesses were shooting him were any indication. Their brothers were doing much the same while desperately tried to avert their eyes from their youngest sister.
I can't catch a break today.
"I'm the victim here, aren't I?" Ophis said with a sigh. "That being the case, I felt the need to intervene by offering a reasonable suggestion for a punishment."
"You're not contesting the guilty verdict?" Hera asked, curiously.
"No, I respect the Council's right to pass judgement on one of its own."
No! You were my only hope! Apollo lamented as his heart sank.
"Instead I'm here to offer a suggestion on a fitting punishment."
"What do you have in mind?" Zeus asked his youngest sister.
Ophis just smirked and Apollo felt a chill go down his spine.
A few weeks after Apollo began his punishment, Ophis decided to pay her nephew a visit. Checking his schedule to make sure he was having a break, she teleported into the large room packed to the brim with cubicles that served as the the staff room of the elementary school on Ogygia.
Yup, you heard that right. An elementary school.
In the end, the Council had agreed to follow Ophis' suggestion and sentenced Apollo to serve as a teacher of music, art and literature to the children of Ophis' subjects. A sentence that nicely kept him within Olympus' sphere of influence like Hermes and Athena brought up as being a good idea while exposing him to children like Hera and Demeter wanted and being something that all involved agreed was a suitably torturous punishment.
"What do you want?" Apollo greeted Ophis unhappily as she materialized in front of his desk in her favored child like guise without even looking away from his computer where he seemed to be be working on some worksheets.
"Is that how to greet your Aunt, Apollo?" Ophis asked with a pout.
"Considering you arranged for me to be sent to the worst possible punishment imaginable? Yes, yes it is." The surly temporary mortal informed the protogenos.
"Is this really that bad?" Ophis asked, genuinely curious. She'd known teaching was tough, it was part of the reason she'd suggested it. The Council wasn't likely to accept anything that let Apollo off easy after all.
"Worse." Apollo replied, still glued to his computer. "The work is unending. The hours are insane. And the hellions are unbearable."
Ophis laughed at that. "You sound like every other teacher."
"That's because I. AM. A. TEACHER." The mortal god said stressing, with a no small amount of pride, his current occupation.
"And a good one." Ophis said with a smile. "I've heard only good things from your students and their parents. Apparently you're incredibly good at your job and the kids love you."
Apollo just huffs in annoyance. "They're just saying that."
"Really? Then what's this?" The Great Serpent said as she placed a homemade meatloaf with an accompanying letter on the man's desk.
Pausing in his work, Apollo turned to examine what Ophis had delivered. "It's Kristy's mum's special recipe meatloaf. She has some for lunch at least once every week."
"Read the letter."
Frowning slightly at Ophis' commanding tone, Apollo nevertheless obliged.
"What does it say?"
"It's a thank you note from Kristy' mum. It asks me to not skip lunch so often and to eat better." Apollo tells her blinking away the beginnings of tears in his eyes. "But you already knew that didn't you? It's bad to read other people's letters, you know."
Ophis just shrugged and conjured some cutlery while Apollo began unwrapping the plastic wrap that the meatloaf had been packed in.
"I did nothing of the sort. Mrs. Boneclaw told me what she wrote. She wanted me to make sure you ate her gift for lunch today and to get you to eat lunch more regularly in general. She's worried about you."
"Since when did you become a mailwoman?" Apollo asked as he cut a slice of the meatloaf and put it on his plate.
"I just decided to do it this once since I was on the way to check on you anyways."
"Right." Apollo said disbelievingly as he dug into the food. "You sticking around?"
"Gotta keep my promise to make sure you eat properly, don't I?"
The rest of Apollo's lunch break passed in companionable silence as the man ate his meal under the watchful eye of his young aunt, who took the liberty to use her authority as the island's supreme ruler to scare away any colleagues that might have thought to disturb the overworked newbie teacher.
As the bell rang signalling the end of the break, Apollo quickly began putting away his food when Ophis stopped him.
"I'll handle that, you should get going."
With a thought, the cutlery and crumbs vanished while the leftovers flew into the staff pantry.
Apollo nodded and gathering his materials headed towards the staff room's exit.
"Good luck!" Ophis said with an enthusiastic wave.
"Don't need it! I'm awesome." The depowered god said with a smirk as he walked out.
This was the best punishment for him after all. Ophis noted even as she giggled at his antics and teleported away.
Well, as you can see Apollo didn't get away scott free for the Gigantomachy after all.
Now, I betcha, some of you why the hell did the Council react that badly to what Apollo did. For everyone but Zeus, it's mainly because they think Apollo did a lot more than just bring Ophis to a nightclub. They aren't sure what exactly happened (Riordanverse gods aren't wholly omniscient) and are basically extrapolating from what they could discover. They know Apollo and Ophis flirted while on a cruise ship and that they ended up in a nightclub. They know Ophis was behaving uncharacteristically 'adult' during that time. Well, combine that with a whole lot of overprotectiveness and they ended up thinking Apollo made a move on Ophis. Recall what was their response to a similar situation involving Hestia in Greek Gods? Yeah, their overreaction is pretty in character.
As for Zeus? He basically sees this as the chance to punish Apollo that he wanted but couldn't follow through on because of Ophis' interference. He finds it poetic that he can use Ophis as the excuse he needs to punish Apollo. Why he wants to punish Apollo when he already has his scapegoat in Ophis? Simple. He hates that Ophis outmaneuvered him and is happy to get his petty revenge any way he can. That and he is also somewhat outraged by what Apollo might have done too.
Why were the 'younger' Olympians so relatively silent? Well, when the elder gods are on the warpath would you want to put your neck out there?
As for Apollo's eventual punishment? Well, it's a homage to my own profession which while great at times can also very often be quite the punishment.
Anyways, that's it for this two short. Hope you guys stick around for more. I've got quite a few more shorts to finish off the Ophisverse.
Till next time. Peace!
