"What do you mean chatting with Apollo?!" Percy yelled across the room. Sally and Paul welcomed Percy and I to stay as long as we wanted, and I knew that Percy needed some time with his mortal family and away from all of the supernatural shit that was weighed onto him by the Fates. So naturally, I planned on leaving him with his parents for the night, and maybe later into the day, and then would come back to get him if he wanted to return to camp. I am nocturnal, and I wasn't going to sleep on their couch without putting up a fight, so the most logical action would be to start confronting my father about his fuck-ups I MEAN mistakes.
"It's fine, Perce. Now shut up, you'll wake your parents," I softly slipped out. Percy was now standing in his baby blue boxers as the dusk took hold of the sky. I avoided looking anywhere but his face, semi-uncomfortable. "Also, do you sleep like that?" Perhaps this was a Percy thing, but I wouldn't know.
In delayed shock, the green eyed sea prince simply flapped his hands around until they covered his groin, not exactly helping him hide, though. "You can't just-" he was frantically running his mouth, which I felt the need to cut off before he ran too far.
"What? Can't talk to that bitch?" I quipped. He froze for a moment, likely having forgotten that Apollo was my... father. Before he could stutter more, I threw off the t-shirt Percy had lent me to throw it in his face. He caught it, not surprisingly. Well, his nose caught it. I turned away, waiting for him to pull the shirt on, but he took a moment of hesitation.
"Do you have to go alone, though? I could come with you!" as he continued to ramble, I considered why he was so desperate to have someone accompany me. I don't know why he would; I proved to everyone that I can hold my own. And yet, he still tries to make sure I'm not alone. I guess I understood; I did the same with Nico, the only difference being that the accompaniment was always me.
"I don't want to drag someone else along. I'm gonna talk to him about some personal things, and I don't exactly know if I want to know the answers, let alone have someone else know the answers." In all honesty, I knew what his answers would be to each of my questions, but still didn't want to risk not knowing.
Percy and I had grown close through his visits to the infirmary, and now because of the hours we spent sharing our struggles and life experiences. Man, shit parents were the worst. I couldn't help but feel the urge to protect Percy from any form of abuse that glanced his way. Despite him being a few years older than me, I would consider him my best friend.
With a sigh, he stumbled over to hug me with both arms. Slightly off balance, I clung to him to keep from falling backwards on my prosthetic, and allowed his shoulders and chest to wrap around my head. "Be safe, okay? Don't go doing something stupid without me, Nightlight." I cringed at the nickname, but smiled at the kindness in his voice.
"I'm going to Olympus, not Tartarus, Kelp-head. I'll be fine (unless Aphrodite catches me)." We both chuckled, but I didn't turn to leave immediately. Remembering that I had no shirt, now, I considered popping back to Nico's cabin for some of my own clothes, but decided against risking a grumpy son of Hades. Will wouldn't be happy to get his hand cut off by a tired Ghost King at breakfast. "I'll be back in a bit. No later than tomorrow night, I promise." I nodded to Percy as he smiled, and then waved to me.
Stepping into the shadow of the doorway, I emerged in the destroyed Hall of the Gods. There was construction abandoned everywhere, sleeping amongst the clouds of Olympus. The night breeze welcomed me as I quickly turned to my dark form. Luckily, no gods were present in my immediate vicinity, so I walked quietly in the direction of Apollo's palace. Each Olympian had a palace dedicated to them, and it was where they stayed most of the time. I had only heard about Apollo's from Luke's stories of Olympus, and Annabeth's description of it, so I knew to look for a bright sunny building. Most of Olympus had been destroyed in the battle, but Annabeth ensured that each god had their quarters rebuilt to their exact preference before anything else.
"You seem to forget your place, Isorreth." I silenced a sigh of annoyance as I turned around to see Ares leaning against a fallen pillar. He grinned a toothy grin at me, trying to get a rise out of me no doubt.
"Hey, Ares. I'm just here to chat with Apollo. Care to help?" I let the bitterness seep into my tone, just to keep Ares happy and intrigued. He seemed to ignore my request and just looked me over.
"You are quite the story, I hear. Almost turned against my father? Now that would be fun," he giggled. Gods, no wonder Percy beat him in a duel when he was 12. Is this guy really the war god? Just seems like the next biker gang member to me.
"As much as you intrigue me, Ares, I am here for a specified reason. I'll be on my way now, unless you choose to guide me." As I awaited his decision, I considered what to do if he refused to leave me be. His decision, may I say, decided my next action automatically.
Grabbing my sensitive shoulder stump, he smirks and tries to block my exit with his body. He's trying to get a fight out of me. Lucky for me, years of abuse led to an insane pain tolerance. I didn't even blink as he intentionally pinched my scarred shoulder, and simply gave him a bored look with stone cold darkness in my eyes. It only seemed to fuel his fire, though, and he then tried to push me forward and trip me simultaneously. Tired of his bullshit, I allowed myself to fall through the ground, and emerge a few feet away so I could begin walking to find the god of music.
"Hey! You little runt," Ares started after me as I calmly walked away, but he was insistent about getting me to fight back. I sent him an unreadable stare as I kept walking and he kept trying to hit me. I used small bits of dark force to deflect each blow, making him follow me and try to land a single hit.
"We just had a war with the Titans, and youaren't the least bit satisfied with the amount of conflict in the last month?" I tried to sound as un-judgmental as possible, but may have let a bit of sourness peek through. The war god smirked and chuckled at my bitterness while still trying to strike me.
"War never sleeps, kid." I rolled my eyes again at how stereotypically Ares he was. I liked to think that Zeus was more than a cheating husband, Poseidon was actually involved with the overworld, and Hephaestus did more than just work in his forge, but Ares made it a bit difficult to believe he was more than a rebellious teenager embraced in conflict.
After ignoring his multiple attempts of attack, he seemed to give in and guided me to what I hoped was Apollo's location. Now impatiently walking around me, he continued staring me up and down. "You're easy to read, you know that, punk?" I brought my gaze back up to stare coldly into his fiery eyes. He chuckled, seeming to win in his battle to make me angry.
"Your scars alone read like a scroll of the battles you've lost. And you display your weaknesses for everyone to see." He smirked and crossed his arms again, seemingly waiting to see me angry. I simply looked at him with bored eyes again, blinking calmly.
"My weakness is what allowed me to kill your grandfather. If you try being on the losing side of the battle, you may find that it teaches you more about winning." I was a tad bit triumphant at Ares' scowl that was returned to me, but didn't let my smirk show. It was true. The blood, sweat, and tears from Eris' training weren't what enabled me to beat Kronos' soul, it was the years of abuse I took and never fought back against.
"You tryna challenge me, weakling?" he sneered. I kept my poker face, and kept walking. I could see Apollo's palace in the distance, and sighed as I realized that my reply only urged Ares on.
"I'm not trying to do anything, Ares. You're the god of war, aren't you? Then you realize both sides of war, the winning and losing side exist?" I questioned with as little emotion as possible. The god of war seemed to barely acknowledge me, seemingly bored at the actual conversation. He ignored me long enough that I could enjoy the silence, but then disappeared as I went to approach Apollo's quarters.
His tower had a Sun insignia patterning everything and the exterior seemed to be coated in gold. A large archway led in with only a translucent curtain blocking the outside breeze from pouring in; I was slightly surprised to find that the outside wasn't littered with arrows or smiley faces. Sensing the overwhelming lack of darkness coming from inside, I could tell that the Sun god was present, his godly glow and all.
Before stepping in, I hesitated. In my dark form, my torso's light scars were clear, despite the bandages Will had wrapped around for my shoulder, but my facial scars were the most visible. My dark eyes still reflected light, but my darkness just seemed so off-put by the Sunny palace. With some courage and commitment, I entered through the drapes to squint at the brightness.
I could sense him approaching, and squared my shoulders to hold my chin high. I didn't plan on threatening the god of medicine, but I didn't plan on apologizing for anything, either. Like a determined soldier, I stared ahead until Apollo was within earshot.
"Isorreth? What a lovely surprise, coming to visit your old man!" I suppressed my urge to glare and smile at the same time, and ended up only staring at his warm welcome. He had that cocky, confident grin that Percy and Will usually had, but multiplied by 1000.
Tipping my chin, I tried to greet him as neutrally as I could. "Apollo. Am I interrupting anything important?" My voice came out cold and less confident than I would have liked, but he still grinned. When he reached a hand out to my shoulder, I automatically side-stepped to avoid his contact.
"No, not at all! I must say, I'm glad you've come to see my home of awesomeness, it's really comfy" He led me to another room which held a hammock and beach chair. Realizing his choice of diction, it struck me with how little I knew my own father. A feeling of detachment couldn't help but make its presence known before I aggressively pushed it down.
"I'm here so that we can clear the air between us, and I don't intend on detouring from that route." I hoped to be as straightforward as possible, not wanting to tip-toe around topics like everyone at camp had. He nodded, being serious for what seemed like the first time in forever.
With a sigh, he gestured a hand for me to start. With him currently lounging in a beach chair, and myself leaning against the doorframe behind him, I couldn't help but narrow my eyes ever so slightly.
"Explain your side of the story about... the foster system." This was the topic I was most and least worried about. The theme of balance seemed to suggest good intentions, but did he even consider that? What were his real intentions? That's what I needed to know.
"I'm the god of prophecy, Seth. I saw your element of balance, and I could see distantly how every part of you embodied it. That's why... when I saw what the future could hold, I wanted what was best for everyone while giving you the ending and memories you deserved. I'm sure you've pieced it together already; you're a smart kid." He looked at me with loving eyes as he craned his neck around the chair; not knowing what to do, I simply stared down. With sad eyes, he continued. "From pain, only joy. That's what haunted me for years. So I thought, more pain now would mean more joy later. The mortals had the most power here, so I placed you with the most harmful."
As if a dam broke, I exhaled shallowly. I was right. He did it. Trying to keep tears from falling, I continued staring into nothing.
"It hurt to watch," he murmured. At that, I almost snapped. Eris and Nemesis had said the exact same thing, and they had lied. Remaining silent with my eyes closed angrily, he sighed and continued. "I couldn't stand it at one point. You don't remember, but I disguised myself as a mortal for about a month to foster you. I loved you, since I knew that you wouldn't know it for many years of your life. I tried to be there for you, but it would be going against the prophecy, so I left the Journal-"
Suddenly, I moved. Instead of leaning against the doorway, I was now standing straight up and staring into his eyes. "Y-you wrote the Journal?"
He nodded, smiling lightly.
This changed everything. That Journal was like my life-line for so many years, and it meant more to me than I could ever put into words. I had memorized every line, could vision every crumple in the pages, remembered each smudge of ink, and had cherished the life saving words. It was the only hope I had after countless nights of thinking nobody cares, it will never get better, I'm too broken. Gods, that Journal kept me from killing myself too many times. Too many times that I thought of how easy it would have been to just not patch the wounds, or to just accidentally move in the way of the hit so that I wouldn't have to wake up to the pain. Now, it was the promise between Nico and I that blossomed into one of the closest relationships I had ever dreamed of. I owed so much to that damn fucking Journal.
My mind had spiraled too much, and as I returned my attention to the present situation, I found myself squeezing my eyes shut to stop the tears from spilling out and onto Apollo's chest. He had brought me close, lightly rubbing my good shoulder and running a hand down my short haired head. With a warm feeling coming from between us, he shushed me and whispered reassurances.
"I know it means a lot to you. I'm sorry that that's the only thing I could do for you. I just... I had to leave you. I didn't want to, but-" for the first time since I had stepped foot in the palace, I allowed the darkness to recede back to my core. With my human skin and scar light glowing brighter than before, I allowed him to pull me closer.
"I get it. I understand..." as soon as it started, I knew exactly who Apollo was. He was my father. And as my father shed a tear with his chin nestled in the top of my hair, I allowed my inner light to shine with his. Without the darkness pushing back at him, his grip embracing me only strengthened.
"I love you, Seth. I always will." I almost flinched at the words. I had never had family, never had anyone who would tell me that they loved me without hesitation, never had someone promise to love me forever. Until now.
After a few moments of drying tears, embracing the warmth of the hug, and gathering my mind back into pieces, I pulled away to look him in the eye.
"Thank you... Father." With a slow but sure decision, I watched his smile grow. He had signed himself as Dad on the note when he amputated my leg, which at the time I had scowled at, but now it felt less out of place. He smiled and patted me on the back, careful of the injured shoulder, and nodded.
"For what it's worth, Isorreth-" I cut him off with a shake of my head. With my thoughts pulled together again, I opened the distance between us a little.
"W-why didn't you tell me? Why did you wait until I hated Zeus?" I asked. Apollo sighed sadly again, and sat back down.
"Telling you earlier would have jeopardized the war. When my dear old Dad asked me to tell you, he was worried, and I was too. You had... so much anger, and I knew that the anger wouldn't let you question the bigger picture. Your fatal flaw is that you're gullible, and you needed to know that. As to why I waited so long... I didn't know how you would react to not being a demigod. I hoped that if I waited, you would have befriended the half-bloods somewhere along the line by breaking the rules. Seems I was right."
I only nodded, this time. His reasoning was logical, and I couldn't question it at that point. "Why have me in the first place?" It truly was an anomaly that Apollo would have a kid with Nyx.
"My sister mentioned your mother a few times, and you always want what you can't have, right?" he smirked slightly. I rolled my eyes at how much of a playboy he was. Artemis likely mentioned Nyx because of the Moon's relationship with the night.
"How... how am I a mortal god? That's never happened, I'm pretty sure." He sent me a toothy grin which I lightly glared at.
"As the embodiment of balance, there is no being that bridges the gaps between immortality and mortality more than you. A demigod comes close, but the elements of life and death are too powerful to be outweighed. You are just as you said: mind of a mortal, life of a half-blood..." he left out the body of a monster part, "and power of a god." I nodded, remembering what I had told Kronos with the same bright confidence as Apollo.
"Did you let Zeus try and kill me?" He winced at my bluntness and his smile dropped.
"The first time was because he was angry with me for getting with Nyx. I knew from the Fates that I had to let it happen. I was still upset with him, but it was fate." Paling, I looked away.
"When you landed, I gave the gift of a mortal form after your mother cursed you." My eyes shot open, staring into his soul, now.
"My mother cursed me?!"
With a slow nod, he chose his wording carefully. "Without the mortal form, you were made up of your light, your life force, and blanketed in the darkness. When you fell, she cursed you to take away your blanket, leaving only light. That's why you have this form." He gestured to my human form pridefully, and I thought of his words. Before I could ask, he answered my silent question.
"She payed you no attention until you controlled the dark force on your own. Her claiming you was also giving the blessing back. Under your mortal form, she encased your light in darkness again, hence the dark form." I watched as I let the darkness flow over my skin, seemingly like pouring black oil on a clean surface.
"As for the other strikes, I knew that they wouldn't kill you, not after everything you had survived already. If I'm honest, he was partially doing it because of the amusement he gained from you socking that Poseidon kid in the face." I raised an eyebrow and made a mental note to tell Percy that Zeus found it funny when I broke his nose. "Other than that, you would have to ask him yourself."
"I'll get to that some other time." With a short nod and smile, he tried to get me to sit down next to him. My phantom pain deciding to make itself noticeable, I was visibly hesitant and awkward. "Thanks, by the way. About my leg..."he smiled brighter.
"I'm sorry it cost you so much, and I'm sorry your leg couldn't be saved. You're getting to know my half-bloods, right? Will's nice, I'm sure he treated you well." I nodded, smiling at the memory. Now that I had gotten to know Apollo a bit more, I realized just how similar he was to Will. Sure, all of the Apollo cabin got some of his traits, but Will had almost the entire package of being an Apollo spawn.
"Brother, what are you doing in here? The birds won't stop their singing and-" the huntress herself froze when she walked in on Apollo and I. I avoided her gaze, too emotionally spent to trust myself in talking to the goddess. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Apollo wave like an idiot and Artemis smirked at me.
"So this is the one they called little moon."