Here's the next part! Hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 1

Apollo sat at another boring council meeting of the gods. The prophecy of the Seven had just finished three months prior and a new prophecy was spoken not even a week later. It was the reason they were having a council meeting right now actually. The prophecy was grim and seemed to all retain to one person, the one who was known as Silent Death. No one seemed to know who the prophecy was referencing.

Right now Zeus was accusing random people and demanding they be brought here and questioned, while Athena seemed to be trying to talk some sense into him. Apollo really wished that his best friend was here right now to shut Zeus up.

He smiled slightly when he thought of his best friend. He was awesome and always made sure Zeus' ego never got too big. An old memory that bubbled up to the surface when he thought of his oldest friend.

It was another council meeting that seemed to be getting nowhere. Zeus was rambling about how great he was or something like that. He wasn't really listening. Looking around the throne room he realized he wasn't the only one. His Uncle Poseidon seemed to be watching something hiding in the shadows. Deciding to follow his line of sight, he saw something that caught his eye. A figure with golden-orange eyes. There was only one person he knew with eyes like that; it had to be his best friend. His friend hated the way Zeus ruled with a passion and loved to play pranks on Zeus to embarrass him. Apollo caught his friend's eye and gave him a smirk. In return, his friend gave him a wink and mischievous smile. The figure moved towards Zeus' throne unnoticed by most of the gods. Eager to see Zeus humiliated, Apollo pretended not to see him. The man climbed up to the ceiling above Zeus, hiding above a support beam. Looking at Apollo, the figure started counting down on his fingers. 3… 2… 1…"BOO!" The god yelled right in Zeus' ear, before bursting out laughing. Zeus jumped up, squealing like a little girl, and causing the rest of the council to snicker, some even laugh. Zeus glared at the orange-eyed god in front of him, but before he could yell at him, the god got up and left, winking at Apollo on the way out.

Nobody let Zeus live that day down for a decade. Every time Zeus' ego got too big, the orange-eyed god would play a prank on him. Sometimes he would even get the entire council in on it. Apollo remembered the good old days when he would skip out on meetings to hang out with his best friend. He remembered how Zeus would get really mad every time he did it, but it was worth it to see his radiant smile and the way his beautiful golden orange eyes lit up.

He really missed his best friend. Apollo lost his smile at that thought. His best friend hasn't been seen for over 3000 years and most of the Olympians assumed that he had faded. Apollo refused to believe that though. He had promised that he would return and the Sun God was not going to lose hope. The orange-eyed god was strong and witty if anyone could survive it would be him. He was also the most stubborn person Apollo knew. He was sure he would come back and restore the balance in their world. He was broken out of his thoughts by an angry voice.

"Apollo! Are you even paying attention!" Apollo looked up to see the angry face of his father.

"No Father." He said, lowering his gaze. He mentally prepared himself for the long lecture he was about to get.

Zeus scowled not liking the fact that Apollo wasn't paying attention to what he was saying. "We were talking about your punishment."

Apollo was afraid, not sure what he had done to deserve Zeus' wrath. He hasn't even pulled any pranks on him recently, not that any of his pranks were ever as good as his best friend's. "What am I being punished for, Father?"

"Your legacy almost lost us the Giant war, causing a rift between the Romans and Greeks. This cannot go unpunished and I have decided that you will become mortal to serve your sentence." Zeus thundered at him.

Apollo cowered at Zeus' punishment. He heard protests being voiced in the background, but he wasn't paying attention to any of it. He watched in slow motion as the bolt left Zeus' hand and headed directly towards him. In these last moments before the bolt hit him he prayed for someone, somewhere to save him.

Suddenly a bright flash appeared in front of Apollo, blinding everyone in the throne room. When the flash faded, it revealed a man holding Zeus' bolt in his hand. The man had his back turned to Apollo so he couldn't see his face. He was wearing a dark cloak with the hood down and looked to be in his mid 20's. His hair was pitch black with silver ends, and his skin was lightly tanned. He had two swords crossing on his back that were covered by his cloak so you could only see the handles. On the hand holding the bolt lay a silver ring with blue gemstones.

The council was stunned silent, none more so than Poseidon, Hera, and Hestia. Using the shock to his advantage the cloaked figure turned around to face Apollo. Apollo looked up at his saviour to freeze in shock. The man's eyes were golden orange, the exact same shade as his best friend's. He locked eyes with the man in front of him, eyes asking the question everyone wanted to know. The man gave an almost unnoticeable nod. Apollo surged forward wrapping the man in a hug whispering one word that confirmed what everyone was thinking.

"Aleixo…"

Aleixo hugged his oldest friend back, just as fiercely. He had truly missed him along with the rest of his family. "Hey my liakáda, I told you I'll come back."

Apollo just hugged him tighter, tears threatening to spill out of his eyes. After more than 3000 years of waiting, Aleixo has finally returned. Their reunion was cut short, however, by Zeus. "You dare show your face here!"

The orange-eyed god let go of Apollo to face the king of gods. He raised one eyebrow, unimpressed at Zeus' attempt to look threatening. "Yes, I dare. You just tried to give my best friend here an unreasonable punishment, and you expect me not to interfere?" He scoffed, "It seems as if you have gotten stupider while I was gone."

Zeus' face turned red in rage. "Why you…"

"Why I what, Zeus? You know that Apollo is under my protection. Or can your tiny brain still not process that, even after 4000 years?" Aleixo said smirking at Zeus' angry face.

Zeus stood up from his throne, ready to blast the god for embarrassing him. Before the Sky God could do anything though, he found a trident placed at his throat. Poseidon was standing in front of his brother, eyes swirling in anger.

"You will not be doing anything to my son, Zeus or this time nothing will stop me from killing you." The Sea God spoke in a deadly calm tone that sent shivers down the God King's spine. Zeus opened his mouth to retort, but before he could he was interrupted again, this time by a female voice.

"You will not hurt a hair on his head, brother. As I will not hold back either." Zeus turned his head to see Hestia rising up from the hearth, eyes literally on fire.

"And neither will I." The god whipped his head around to see his own wife with an angry expression. Zeus was fuming but relented knowing this was a fight that he could not win.

"We will continue this discussion another time. Council dismissed!" Zeus bellowed angrily before flashing away.

The assembled gods sighed, but one by one they left, leaving Apollo, Poseidon, Hestia, and Hera with Aleixo.

Poseidon was the first to walk up to Aleixo wrapping him in a hug. When he pulled back he took the time to study him. His appearance hasn't changed much since the last time he saw him. His hair was longer and he was paler but other than that he looked almost identical.

"I missed you, my son," Poseidon said smiling at the orange-eyed god.

Aleixo smiled back genuinely happy to see his father again after so many years. "I missed you too, dad."

The Sea God opened his mouth to speak, but stopped and frowned. "It seems that I am needed in Atlantis." He looked at his son sadly wanting to speak to him for longer.

"Go," Aleixo told him, "Your duty as a king is more important."

The Sea God looked at his son sadly. "Come and visit me in Atlantis soon. We will continue catching up then." Poseidon said before disappearing into a sea mist.

Aleixo turned to be crushed in a hug by Hera. He hugged her back feeling happy to see his aunt again. "Hey, Aunt Hera. It's really good to see you again."

Hera pulled back from the hug, looking at her favourite nephew. "You better come visit me when you have the time." She threatened looking at Aleixo seriously.

The god chuckled, "Of course."

Hera smiled at that, "I hold you to that." She told him before flashing away.

Aleixo then turned to Hestia, who was watching them with a large smile. She loved it when her family was getting along. Hestia opened her arms for a hug from the nephew.

"Auntie Hestia, how's the hearth?" He asked as a greeting.

The goddess smiled at him, "Burning brighter than ever now that the God of Hope is back."

"Good, good. The hearth is the most important domain of them all. Everyone needs a hearth in their life." Aleixo said, smiling fondly at his aunt.

Hestia looked at his nephew, remembering the fond memories of their past. "We need to catch up, but there is someone else you need to talk to first." She walked back towards the hearth. "I'll leave the two of you alone for now."

Aleixo took a deep breath and turned to face his best friend. Instantly he was crushed into a bone-breaking hug. Apollo held on to the god, afraid that if he let go he would disappear again.

Apollo finally let his tears flow out, all the emotions from the past 3 millennia breaking out to the surface. The God of Hope held his best friend as his tears flowed out, hugging him close. "Shhh… don't cry. I'm here now. I won't leave you again."

The Sun God looked up at his best friend. "Do you really mean that? You won't ever leave me again?"

"I will never leave you again. I will always come back to you, my liakáda, no matter what it takes. I promise." Aleixo vowed, never wanting to see his best friend so sad ever again.

Apollo hugged him again, whispering "I believe you."

And... Cut! Here's Chapter 1!

The chapters should get longer as the plot starts to develop. The next chapter should give you all the basic information on Aleixo, as well as develop his character more.

Aleixo (uh-lex-oi) - Defender

liakáda (le-ka-da) - Sunshine