I tried not to think about where we were going or what we were going to do.
Two days ago, I'd received a prophecy indicating what I needed to do in order to defeat Python. I still wasn't sure about what all of it meant - prophecies are almost NEVER that straightforward, something I'd grown quite annoyed about during my time as a mortal - but one part of it was clear: we needed Python's skin.
I'd vaguely remembered the skin being left as a trophy last time I defeated Python. I hadn't wanted anything to do with it. I didn't wish for any reminders of that fight. I couldn't just leave it there, though. One of my Oracles would reside there, and I didn't want her to have to put up with a dead snake in the same room.
So I'd taken it back to Olympus and stuffed it… somewhere. I didn't remember where, and I didn't WANT to remember. Python haunted my thoughts enough without having his skin in my face.
I'd avoided my palace on Olympus for months after that. I just - I couldn't sleep, knowing it was still around up there, knowing exactly where it was. I hung around Artemis a lot, wanting to do SOMETHING to keep my mind off of it.
Of course she figured out what I was doing. She's my twin. As much as we drive each other crazy, we UNDERSTAND each other.
After another day of spending just a little too long hanging around her camp, she confronted me.
"Why are you avoiding Olympus?"
"Avoiding? I'm not avoiding anywhere. I just wanted to spend more time with these lovely ladies."
Artemis turned her piercing eyes on me, her face set in her patented I-don't-have-time-for-screwing-around expression.
Well, so much for that denial.
I sighed. "Look, I- I just don't want to think about some stuff, okay? It's easier when I'm down here, to just - forget for awhile."
Her face softened. "It's Python, isn't it?"
"…No."
She stared at me some more.
"Okay, fine, it is! I keep on thinking about the fight. I mean, I won super easily and quickly, there were no problems, it was easy. But I can't stop thinking about it. No idea why."
I could tell she didn't believe me for a second, but she didn't push. Well, not on how 'easy' it was, at was no way she'd just leave it at that, though.
"Is there anything I can do to help? You should feel comfortable in your own palace."
I bit my lip. On the one hand, I really didn't want her to know that I was THIS affected just by having Python's skin around. On the other hand, she was right, and I did want to be able to enjoy Olympus again. And as much as we teased each other, as much as we could argue, she wouldn't make fun of me for this.
"…Python's skin. Could you take it somewhere else? Somewhere safe, but where I won't run across it?"
It was basically an admission of how much Python had affected me, something I didn't even want to admit to myself. But if that knowledge was safe with anyone, it was with Artemis (and Leto of course. She would understand, but I didn't want to bring back her own memories of Python.)
"Ok. Just tell me where it is. It'll be gone and safely hidden by the end of the day."
So I told her the location. Sure enough, by the end of the day, the snakeskin was gone.
I'd collapsed right then and there. It was GONE. I didn't need to think about it anymore. Artemis had taken care of it. It wasn't here.
So when the prophecy had called for Python's skin, I'd immediately sought out my sister's Hunters. I couldn't see my sister, but it was entirely possible that they would know where it was.
Then I remembered who her current lieutenant was.
Thalia Grace.
My blood turned to ice.
I'd talked to her a few months ago, at Camp Jupiter. I'd needed to tell her that her brother was dead.
She already knew, of course. My sister may not be able to visit in person right now, but she could get away with visiting her lieutenant in a dream.
It was worth the risk anyway. Thalia needed to know.
So by the time I'd told her, she already knew.
She hadn't wanted to believe it. She'd tried to tell herself it was just a dream, but she knew better. And one look at my face had confirmed it.
Telling her what happened… that Jason KNEW he was going to die, that he TOLD me it would happen, and I STILL let him come… I hadn't thought I could feel any worse about Jason's death than I already did. I should've known better.
She only punched me once, surprisingly enough.
We'd avoided each other after that. I needed to give her space to process, and she REALLY didn't want to see me. When we had interacted, she'd been coolly stand-offish, saying the bare minimum necessary, and then leaving the area.
So when I'd told her that we needed to retrieve Python's skin, neither of us were too happy about it. Still, the way her eyes had hardened when I'd mentioned it, and the way her snippiness had increased… there was something more going on.
Something I should know.
I groaned. Curse my faulty mortal memory! Or at least, I'd LIKE to curse it. But a nagging sensation in the back of my head whispered Don't think about it. Don't remember.
Last time I'd felt anything like this, I'd been repressing my memory of Agametheus's death, of refusing to listen to my son's pleas. Whatever memory I'd repressed this time was much, MUCH worse.
We needed to retrieve the skin as soon as possible, and with the way travel had become difficult (which I was pretty worried about. Is something wrong with Hermes?) we needed to use a more unconventional mode of transport.
Unfortunately, Leo and Festus weren't at Camp Half-Blood when we received the prophecy.
Fortunately, Nico Di Angelo was.
It seemed that Nico's range and stamina had increased quite a bit from the last time I'd seen him. He'd volunteered to take Meg, Thalia, and I to our destination, some kind of ruins in Virginia.
At that point Will had cut in, "Not without me."
Nico had opened his mouth, looking like he might try to protest, but Will just said, "Nope. Nico, I love you, but you have NO self-preservation instincts, and the last time you transported people across the country, you nearly faded into shadow. Coach Hedge helped keep you alive last time. This time, I'M going to be your healer."
And with that Nico's jaw clicked shut and he nodded.
I should have felt elated. I was getting to spend more time with one of my children and my future son-in-law! And I WAS happy about that.
Yet a dark coil of dread filled my stomach. Whatever was waiting for us at the ruins, I didn't want Will to see it. Will was right though, Nico needed him, and we needed Nico. I couldn't protest. Whatever was causing this guilt and dread, Will would find out about it too.
Three shadow-jumps and two days later, we arrived at our destination. Will had insisted on taking a little more time than was strictly necessary to rest, so that Nico would still have some energy left over in case we needed to leave in a hurry.
We manifested in the middle of a traffic circle. Of course, no mortals noticed us. The Mist was able to hide a gigantic metal dragon, hiding five teenagers emerging from shadows was a cakewalk by comparison.
Thalia looked over at a nearby statue of Robert E. Lee. I heard her mutter, "We're close." I didn't know whether she was talking to herself or us.
She strode forwards, very purposely not looking at me, nor anyone else for that matter. I looked closely at her face as we walked. She'd been stony-faced through the whole journey here, which I'd assumed was her way of keeping her composure after finding out about Jason's death. After finding out that she'd be traveling with me. With the person responsible for sending Jason on the quest he'd died trying to complete.
But now. Now her expression had cracked. Her eyes screwed up slightly, and her eyes appeared wetter than normal. She had a personal history with wherever we were about to go - wherever Python's skin was. Judging by her expression, it wasn't a happy one.
The dread and guilt doubled, pressing down on me. I stumbled.
"Apollo!" Meg cried.
"I'm- I'm okay," I choked out.
That was a lie. But what could she do? I didn't know what was wrong, and whatever it was, I doubted she could help me. My sins were my own. I'd faced myself, faced my ignorance, my apathy, my casual cruelty on many past occasions.
I'd seen the way I'd threatened to murder innocent demigods and satyrs, just because I was panicking. Heck, I'd threatened to murder Grover just because he scratched my lyre on a quest I FORCED on him and Percy!
That fear in Leo's eyes as he frantically tried to redirect my panic away from murder-mode… the stammer in Grover's voice as he wilted under my gaze… I never wanted to see or hear them again. I wanted to be loved, not feared. At least I'd made some progress towards that, at the satyr school.
I smiled briefly. Those three young satyrs, Fern, Aster, and Wren, had started off being terrified of me. Yet I'd gotten them to open up, to see that I wouldn't hurt them. I'd changed their perception of me, even now, as a mortal. I'd made a change. I hadn't needed to regain my throne first to make a difference.
For some changes, I WOULD need to regain my throne first. The other gods weren't allowed to talk to me currently, and I NEEDED to talk to them. We needed to change our attitudes towards mortals - towards demigods - towards our FAMILY. There was only so much I could do on my own.
The flashback of Otis and Ephialtes had shown me how uncaring the other gods could be towards the demigods' plight, even when we needed their help and their survival. Bacchus had refused to help the demigods until they'd 'proven' themselves. Percy had even given him a MASSIVE tribute, and yet he STILL only deigned to help after Percy and Jason had nearly died 'entertaining' him. And he had the nerve to claim credit for the defeat of the Giant twins afterwards! Bile rose in my throat as I remembered Bacchus's words, "Being a god has its privileges." Yes, and those privileges apparently included being a terrible person who'd just WATCH while two brave young teenagers desperately fought against enemies they couldn't possibly defeat without help. Their lives didn't matter. They were disposable.
Meg shot a concerned look at me. Abruptly, I noticed that I was shaking, my fist clenched so hard my knuckles had turned white.
I shot her a small smile and tried to relax. I didn't want to have to explain my thoughts.
I turned my thoughts back towards my previous flashbacks, this time being more careful not to betray my feelings in my body language.
Things had to change. I couldn't, I WOULDN'T let my godly brethren continue as they had. If I had to argue with them every day, I would. If I had to intervene myself to keep the demigods, OUR CHILDREN, safe, I would. Maybe I couldn't fix everything, but I'd damn well TRY.
I didn't really think I'd have to do it all alone, though. During the flashback I'd experienced with Percy, Annabeth, and Meg of Kronos's defeat, I'd seen Percy's conversation with Hermes.
Hermes had understood the worth of mortals. He'd cared about Luke SO MUCH, even knowing his future. But fate couldn't be denied…
I gasped. Thankfully, my friends' attention were on our surroundings, not on myself.
Fate couldn't be denied. Terrible things happened to those who tried. When I'd thought about that during the conversation with Percy and Hermes, a mental block had slammed down. That same mental block reappeared this time, but something told me it had something to do with our destination, with the ruins and the snakeskin that were waiting for us there.
I couldn't do anything about that now. The mental block wasn't budging. I'd just have to wait until we got to the ruins to see why it had triggered.
I cast my mind back to Hermes. He'd looked at Percy with something akin to wonder when Percy had stated that the gods could change. He'd WANTED to change, he just hadn't truly believed he could. We'd all fooled ourselves for so long, thinking we were unchanging, unable to grow. Yet he had. I had. Heck, even a Titan and a Giant had! Being immortal didn't stop us from changing for the better. I would make sure we continued to change for the better, to make things better for those we always should have protected.
Those flashbacks had been painful, but they'd shown me things I needed to know. However painful the reason for this block, I needed to know.
I snuck a look at my companions. I wasn't alone. I knew that now. I had friends. I could do this.
I steeled myself as we walked forwards.
We arrived at the ruins a few minutes later.
Well, 'ruins' was being a bit generous. There wasn't a wall still standing. I knelt down and felt the ash at my feet.
"Greek Fire," I murmured.
Thalia nodded, her face tight. "Luke and I helped burn this place to the ground."
I looked up at her, startled. I'd figured that she'd been here before, but with Luke? "What happened?"
She looked over at me with wide eyes. "Wait, you don't know?"
I shook my head. "My mortal memory is highly flawed. I can't access most of my godly memories. Plus…" I swallowed hard. "I- I feel like I should know what happened here. Like I DO know, but I've blocked it out. Something so terrible that even as a god, I just wanted to forget about it."
Thalia stared at me with an unreadable expression on her face. Before she could decide what to do with that information, I heard Meg cry out.
I rushed over to her. Thankfully, she appeared unhurt. "What's wrong?" I asked, gripping my combat ukulele tightly.
She knelt down and brushed away some ashes to reveal two human skulls.
My breath caught. I wasn't freaked out by human remains. I'd seen many, MANY dead humans over my four thousand years of existence. But I could still be freaked out by what they meant.
Gently I knelt down and picked up one of the skulls. Judging by its size and shape, it had belonged to a child no older than eight. The other skull was even smaller. The child it belonged to had still had all their baby teeth. They were probably barely out of toddlerhood.
I stumbled around the area - the impromptu graveyard. I kicked up skull after skull, almost all of them children. They stared up at me accusingly, yet I couldn't remember what they were accusing me of. I'd had no parts in the deaths of these children - right?
Part of me knew I had. I had something to do with their deaths. I just didn't remember how.
I breathed harder and harder, choking on the newly disturbed ash.
"Dad!"
Will rushed over, Nico by his side. He led me away from the ruins, towards the woods.
Normally woods filled me with shame and guilt with how they reminded me of Daphne. Right now, they were a relief. There weren't any child skulls staring back at me here, and no ash to choke on.
I collected myself as best I could. "I'm- I'm okay. I'll be fine. We need to find Python's skin."
Will nodded, but looked worried. "Do you know what happened here? You freaked out more than I thought you would when you found those skulls."
"I- no. No, I don't. But- I think I'm responsible for it. And that I'll have to face my memories of it."
Will frowned, but nodded. "Just remember that we're here. We're not gonna leave you."
Tears filled my eyes and my throat tightened. What had I ever done to deserve such a wonderful son? "I know."
We walked back to the ruins, being careful not to kick up too much ash. I steadfastly tried to ignore the occasional human bone I kicked up. I could do nothing for them now and could learn no lessons from their deaths until I knew what had happened. For now, I needed to concentrate on finding Python's skin.
We split up and searched the ruins for nearly an hour. I uncovered bone after bone, skull after skull. With each discovery my conscience weighed on me more and more, until I felt like I was going to break. Your fault, your fault I heard from the other side of the mental block. They're dead because of you. I couldn't remember why, but I knew it was true.
Near the end of that hour, Thalia yelled "FOUND IT!"
Will, Meg, and I rushed over. Belatedly I realized that Nico wasn't there. Looking around, I saw him deep in conversation with some spirit. He didn't appear to have heard Thalia.
At Thalia's feet, newly unearthed from under the ash, was a massive length of snake skin. And on top of that snake skin was a human skeleton.
Unlock most of the other skeletons we'd found, this one appeared to belong to an adult - an elderly one, at that. Thalia stared at the skeleton, a hard look in her eyes.
"Hal…" she murmured.
My mind exploded.
The world came into being around us. I groaned. The mental block I'd built up was crumbling.
Hal.
I knew him.
He was one of my sons.
And something terrible had happened to him.
I'd happened to him.
I didn't know how or why yet, but I was certain I was responsible.
I pushed that thought away. Find out what was going on first, wallow in guilt later, once I knew for sure what I was guilty OF.
I rubbed my eyes and looked around.
Will and Thalia had tensed up, weapons drawn, waiting for an attack.
Meg just peered around, vaguely interested, but not alarmed.
Ah. Of course.
"Don't worry," I told Will and Thalia. "This is a flashback. They happen around me sometimes. Not sure why. None of this is really happening, we're just revisiting someone's memories of the past. Once it's done, we'll be back where we were. Meg and I have been through many if these, along with Percy and Annabeth."
The three of them relaxed slightly, though they still seemed on-guard.
I looked around at our surroundings. We seemed to be in some kind of ballroom, that weirdly enough seemed to also be the entranceway to outside. Weird design, but okay. I'd seen weirder.
I heard a quiet click. The deadbolt turned. The door swung over, revealing two young demigods.
Two familiar young demigods.
"Thalia and Luke?" I asked.
They were way younger than I was used to. Thalia looked about twelve. Since she was normally (biologically) fifteen, that wasn't a HUGE difference though.
Luke, on the other hand, looked to be about 14, which was a LOT younger than he was last time I saw him, in the flashback where he'd died. He'd been 23 at that point, a man. Seeing him and Thalia now… they were so young. So, so young.
My heart clenched. This wasn't right. They should both be at camp, not wandering around, not knowing where their next meals would come from, constantly needing to watch for monsters.
How could we gods have EVER thought this was okay, letting CHILDREN fend for themselves? Even if they weren't my own children, I couldn't imagine leaving them like that. Not now. Not when I knew what it was like to be afraid of a monster killing you anytime you rested.
I was fortunate compared to those homeless demigods. I had never been alone. I always had allies, and ways of acquiring food. They had no such guarantee.
"That is so cool," past!Thalia murmured.
The two young demigods marched in, Thalia taking the lead.
I looked over at the present Thalia. She stood stock-still, staring at Luke.
Ah, of course. I'd known they used to be close, and seeing him again now, before he died, before he started helping Kronos… I could only imagine how she was feeling. Perhaps I'd talk to her about it later, if we were on speaking terms at that point.
I turned my attention back to the past. Luke and Thalia seemed to be inspecting the room, though Luke moreso than Thalia. I frowned, taking a closer look myself.
The room looked pretty disheveled, the floor streaked with mud and some dried red-brown stuff -
Oh. That was blood. Well that's not good.
I looked over at the furniture. In one corner stood a destroyed sofa, looking like something had torn it apart. Something strong with sharp teeth. Elsewhere in the room lay several smashed chairs.
The stairs were the worst. Trash was strewn at the base - along with human bones.
"Thalia," I asked, my voice even. "please tell me you two turned around and left, and this was just a weird, but ultimately uneventful footnote on your travels together."
Thalia shot me a glare. I wasn't sure why. "Well, we TRIED to leave…"
*sshnk*
Past Thalia now held a spear. Seems she had noticed the bones too. Good.
Luke on the other hand…
"Thalia, why is Luke wielding a normal golf club, and not an ACTUAL WEAPON?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm. I didn't think I succeeded.
"Oh, he had a Celestial Bronze sword. It got melted into acid awhile before this. That golf club was all Luke had for a while," she said off-handedly.
Great. Maybe the monster was some sort of a dog, and he could hit a ball really, REALLY far away while he and Thalia GOT OUT OF THERE.
Breathe, Apollo. Breathe. They survived this. You know they did. If they survived this, then you can survive WATCHING them go through this.
Luke spoke. "Maybe this isn't such a good-"
The door slammed shut behind them.
Well that wasn't good.
Luke tugged at the handle, but it wouldn't open. He put his hand on the lock, trying to will it open, I imagined. Hermes's kids could do that sometimes. Came with being children of the God of Thieves. It still didn't budge.
"Some kind of magic," Luke said. "We're trapped."
Past Thalia ran to a window, tugging at the drape. I supposed she was thinking of smashing a window to get out. Good thought, but I doubted that whoever came up with this trap would have left so obvious an escape method.
The fabric wrapped around Thalia's hands.
"Luke!" she screamed.
I hated being right.
The curtains transformed, changing from fabric into a thick black ooze. It enveloped Thalia's arms and crept down her spear.
Luke charged, whacking at them with his golf club. To my surprise that actually worked. The curtains temporarily changed back to fabric, and Luke was able to pull Thalia out of its grip.
The curtains quickly recovered, turning back to ooze and trying to reach out to Thalia. Luckily the ooze didn't seem to be able to leave the curtain rods, and it soon quieted down, giving up on reach its prey.
Thalia shivered in Luke's arms. Her arms and hands steamed and blistered.
I wanted to rush over and help her. Sing healing incantations, give her ambrosia, SOMETHING.
But I couldn't. This had already happened. I could do nothing for her now.
Luke, however, COULD. "Hold on!" he shouted, laying her on the ground. "Hold on, Thalia. I got it."
He fumbled through his backpack, finally pulling out a bottle of nectar. He poured it over Thalia's hands. The blisters faded.
I breathed a sigh of relief. At least Thalia was okay now.
"You're going to be fine," Luke said gently. "Just rest."
"We- we can't," Thalia said shakily as she stood. "If all the windows are like that, and the door is locked-"
"We'll find another way out," Luke said.
Luke looked around, trying to find an exit that WOULDN'T try to dissolve them, I assumed.
His eyes locked on some small red lights. Which were paired together. And moving closer. A growl emanated from them.
Thalia made a strangled sound. "Um, Luke…"
She pointed down the second hallway. A second pair of eyes looked back at them.
From both hallways came a strange sound, *clack-clack-clack*.
"The stairs are looking pretty good," Luke said.
From somewhere above them, up the stairs, a man's voice called, "Yes, this way."
A sharp pain tore through my head. "Nngh," I groaned.
"Apollo!" Meg and Will cried out.
"I'm okay," I tried to assure them. "Just a headache."
Meg nodded, but looked troubled. Will didn't seem to buy it either, but neither of them said anything. I noticed that they both stayed close to me, though.
"Who are you?" Luke called up.
"Hurry," the man called again. I felt like I should recognize the voice.
"Hurry," echoed from the right hallway, from the creature with the red eyes. It was the same voice.
A creature with a human voice… The same voice coming from two different directions…
I moaned as my headache pulsed again.
"Hurry," the creature on the left called.
Luke grabbed Thalia's hand, bolting up the stairs with her.
"Luke-"
"Come on!"
"If it's another trap-"
"No choice!"
They ran like Tartarus himself was after them. They plunged down the hallway, nearly tripping over piles of human bones.
"This way!" the man's voice called. "Last door on the left. Hurry!"
The creatures echoed the man's words. "Left! Hurry!"
"We have to help him," Thalia said determinedly.
"Yeah," Luke agreed.
They ran down the corridor, towards the last door on the left. Light spilled out from the crack under the closed door.
The door opened as they reached it. The two frantic demigods tripped through the doorway, the door slamming shut behind them.
"Hello," said the man's voice, much closer now. "I'm very sorry."
In front of them stood an old man with gray, spiky hair. He looked resigned and very, very tired. But his clothes were what really caught my attention.
Snakeskin boots. A mottled green-and-brown snakeskin suit.
He was wearing Python's skin. Where had he gotten Python's skin?
Because I forced it on him.
The answer came back naturally, as I'd known it all along. I suppose I had, and had simply forgotten it.
But why would I force the snakeskin on him? And why did it feel like a hole had opened up in my stomach?
Breathing hard, I forced myself to concentrate. I was SO close to remembering. I could feel it.
But do I want to?
I clenched my teeth. Whether I WANTED to didn't matter. I NEEDED to.
Past Thalia spoke. "Um, Luke…"
She pointed to her left.
The left portion of the room was closed off with iron bars, like a prison cell. Inside stood one of the monsters that had just chased Thalia and Luke. It looked like a weird mixture of creatures, with a lion's body, horses' hooves (I suppose that explains the clacking sound, I thought distantly) and a head that looked like some amalgam of a horse and a wolf head.
It opened its mouth, revealing two horseshoe-shaped plates of bones instead of teeth. When it snapped its mouth shut, it produced the *clack-clack-clack* sound.
Of course the sound was produced by the more horrifying option. Naturally.
Thalia and Luke stood up, facing the old man.
"Who are you?" Luke demanded. "What's that thing in the cage?"
The old man grimaced, his expression miserable. He looked like he was about to cry. He opened his mouth, but when he spoke, the voice didn't come from him, but from the monster in the cage.
"I am Halcyon Green. I'm terribly sorry, but you are in the cage. You've been lured here to die."
The block in my mind dissipated.
My legs buckled, long-repressed memories whirling through my mind. Meg and Will caught me, having made sure to stay close after the last time I nearly fell.
Halcyon Green.
My son.
I'd done something awful to my son.
I hadn't wanted to, but I had.
I still couldn't quite sort out what had happened, why I'd repressed my memories of Hal. The block may have dissolved, but I still needed to sort through the memories it was hiding.
Meg and Will gently lowered me to the ground, sitting me down.
"Apollo. Breathe. We're here. We're not leaving. Everything's okay," Will said soothingly.
I appreciated his reassurance, even though he had no idea what was actually wrong.
The flashback didn't pause just because I was struggling to remain upright, unfortunately. How inconsiderate!
"Y-you'd better explain," Luke stammered. "Why - how - what…?"
"I understand your confusion," said the monster sympathetically, speaking for Hal. "The creature you see her is a leucrota. It has a talent for imitating human voices. That is how it lures its prey."
Luke looked from Hal to the leucrota and back again. "But the voice is yours? I mean, the dude in the snakeskin suit? I'm hearing what he wants to say?"
"That is correct," the leucrota sighed. "I am, as you say, the dude in the snakeskin suit. Such is my curse. My name is Halcyon Green, son of Apollo."
"WHAT?!"
I winced from Meg's and Will's yells. Thalia just silently glared at me.
They quieted down in time to hear past Thalia's own exclamation of surprise, "You're a demigod? But you're so - "
"Old?" the leucrota asked. Hal looked over his hands, seemingly contemplating how old and weathered they were. "Yes, I am."
I understood Thalia's confusion. It was very, very rare for Greek demigods to achieve senior status. Something else that I hoped to change.
"How long have you been here?" Luke asked.
A long, long time, my memory whispered. Decades.
Hal shrugged listlessly, his face conveying his misery and despair. The utter hopelessness… he'd given up on his situation improving a long, long time ago. The leucrota supplied Hal's voice. "I have lost count. Decades? Because my father is the god of oracles, I was born with the curse of seeing the future. Apollo warned me to keep quiet. He told me I should never share what I saw because it would anger the gods. But many years go… I simply had to speak. I met a young girl who was destined to die in an accident. I saved her life by telling her the future."
My blood ran cold. Distantly I heard voices calling me, but I couldn't speak. I couldn't move.
Precognition. The ability to see the future. An extremely valuable and important ability. We were currently on a quest to try and restore the Oracles, after all. But it was the ability I most hated to pass on to my offspring. Seers could easily run afoul of the Fates - and run afoul of Zeus by consequence.
I remembered the horror I felt when I first visited Hal when he was a child. I'd desperately warned him to keep silent, whatever happened. Whatever the contest. That he would be punished severely if he dared to utter a word. He'd agreed. He hadn't said a word. When he managed to reach adulthood (a rare feat for a Greek demigod) without triggering Zeus's wrath, I had let myself be deluded into thinking that things would be fine.
It had only been a delusion. Before Hal was even born, I'd seen that the Aegis would need to be sealed in a trapped safe and left in his family's house. I hadn't seen why, simply that it was necessary. I'd convinced myself not to worry about WHY it was like that. After Hal had spoken - after he'd saved that little girl - it became abundantly, horribly clear.
I forced myself to concentrate on the rest of the exchange. I could fall to pieces afterwards.
"I don't get it…" Luke looked Hal in the eyes, very pointedly NOT looking at the leucrota. "You did something good. Why would that anger the gods?"
I almost laughed. Good intentions only mattered for so much when one stepped on a god's domain.
"They don't like mortals meddling with fate," the leucrota replied. "My father cursed me. He forced me to wear these clothes, the skin of Python, who once guarded the Oracle of Delphi, as a reminder that I was not an oracle. He took away my voice and locked me in this mansion, my boyhood home. Then the gods set the leucrotae to guard me. Normally, leucrotae only mimic human speech, but these are linked to my thoughts. They speak for me. They keep me alive as bait, to lure other demigods. It was Apollo's way of reminding me, forever, that my voice would only lead others to their doom."
I looked around dazedly. Meg and Will had stopped calling my name, instead staring at me in horror. Thalia determinedly did NOT look at me, fixing her gaze on Hal and Luke instead. I was fine with her ignoring my existence. Right now I wanted to ignore my existence.
I would have to explain later, tell my side of the story, and hope that they could forgive me for what I did. For what I had to do.
But for now, this was Hal's show. He'd been silenced enough. My son would get to say his piece.
Luke looked furious at Hal's words. "You should fight back. You didn't deserve this. Break out. Kill the monsters. We'll help you."
I gave a bitter smile. Not deserving something didn't matter much. Otherwise Jason would still be alive.
"He's right," past Thalia cut in. "That's Luke, by the way. I'm Thalia. We've fought plenty of monsters. There has to be something we can do, Halcyon."
Normally I'd say it was hopeless. This was meant to be a trap for demigods, there were measures in place to prevent them from simply being able to fight their way out, otherwise the trap would have been destroyed years ago. Yet Thalia and Luke had survived this. I was not about to underestimate them.
"Call me Hal." He shook his head, "But you don't understand. You're not the first to come here. I'm afraid all the demigods feel there's hope when they arrive. Sometimes I try to help them. It never works. The windows are guarded by deadly drapes-"
"I noticed," past Thalia muttered.
"-and the door is heavily enchanted. It will let you in, but not out."
"We'll see about that," Luke muttered determinedly. He pressed his hand against the door behind him, willing it to open, like he did with the front door downstairs. Unsurprisingly, it didn't work.
"I told you," the leucrota speaking for Hal said bitterly, "None of us can leave. Fighting the monsters is hopeless. They can't be hurt by any metal known to man or god."
Hal opened his jacket, revealing a dagger on his belt.
A very familiar dagger.
I'd seen it not too long ago, in a different flashback, that one also involving Luke.
"Is- is that…?" I asked hesitantly.
"Yep," the present Thalia replied.
Oh, the strange and twisted path the Fates had taken.
Will and Meg looked at Thalia and I curiously, but we didn't elaborate. I had a feeling that the flashback would explain anyway. They usually did.
Hal stabbed the knife at the leucrota. It bounced off the monster's snout.
"You see?" the monster said as Hal backed away from it.
"So you just give up?" Thalia demanded. "You help the monsters lure us in and wait for them to kill us?"
Hal sheathed the dagger, gently placing it back in its holster. "I'm so sorry, my dear, but I have little choice. I'm trapped here, too. If I don't cooperate, the monsters let me starve. The monsters could have killed you the moment you entered the house, but they use me to lure you upstairs. They allow me your company for a while. It eases my loneliness. And then… well, the monsters like to eat at sundown. Today, that will be at 7:03."
I glanced at the nearby clock. It read 10:34 am. A little over eight hours before Luke and Thalia were dinner.
Hal continued. "After you are gone, I- I subsist on whatever rations you carried."
He looked hungrily at Luke's backpack. I felt sick.
"You're as bad as the monsters," Luke said.
I flinched. Hal might be as bad as the monsters, but what did that make us gods, who had made this happen?
"You're right to hate me," the leucrota spoke, self-loathing and resignation coating its words. "But I can't save you. At sunset, those bars will rise. The monsters will drag you away and kill you. There is no escape."
Two more leucrotae entered the caged off room, as if underscoring Hal's words. One of them chomped on some long-dead demigod's Celestial Bronze breastplate, which seemed like an entirely unnecessary illustration of how screwed Thalia and Luke were.
"As you see," one of the new leucrotae said, "the monsters are remarkably strong."
"Send them away," Thalia asked pleadingly. She was trying to put on a brave face, but I could see how scared she was. I didn't blame her. If I'd been in her situation, my knees would have been quaking so hard I'd have had trouble remaining upright. "Hal, can you make them leave?"
Hal frowned. One of the leucrotae spoke, "If I do that, we won't be able to talk."
The second leucrotae continued his statement, "Besides, any escape strategy you can think of, someone else has already tried."
The third monster ended the statement, "There is no point in private talks."
Okay, the leucrotae HAD to be doing this on purpose, trying to reinforce how outmatched the demigods were.
Thalia paced, thinking. I admired her ability to concentrate on anything besides 'Oh my god, we're gonna die.'
She turned to Hal, "Do they know what we're saying? I mean, do they just speak, or do they understand the words?"
The first leucrotae whined, then mimicked Thalia's voice, "Do they understand the words?"
The second one supplied Hal's voice, "The creatures are intelligent, the way dogs are intelligent. They comprehend emotions and a few simple phrases. They can lure their prey by crying things like 'Help!'. But I'm not sure how much human speech they really understand. It doesn't matter. You can't fool them."
"Send them away," Luke said. "You have a computer. Type what you want to say. If we're going to die at sunset, I don't want those things staring at me all day.
Hal turned at the creatures and stared at them silently. They snarled and stalked out of the room.
"Luke," past Thalia asked anxiously, "do you have a plan?"
"Not yet. But we'd better come up with one by sunset," he replied grimly.
Luke and Thalia paced, trying to come up with some solution. After a couple minutes of waiting, the present Thalia sighed. "Nothing's going to happen for at least an hour. Maybe more. It certainly FELT like an eternity," she grumbled.
This was the perfect opportunity for me to come clean and explain what I'd remembered about Hal.
I half-wished a leucrota would burst in.
Sadly, no such distraction was forthcoming.
I shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably, not meeting Will's or Meg's eyes as they burned holes in me.
"Why?" Will asked softly. I flinched. "Why did you punish Hal so severely just for saving a girl? A-and why…" he struggled to find the words, his face screwing up as he attempted to keep his composure. His voice came out hoarse and rough, "Why did you give him a punishment that would kill HUNDREDS of innocent people. Kill hundreds of KIDS. I- I-" Will's voice cracked as tears streamed down his face. "I looked around the ruins for an HOUR, Apollo! Do you know how many children's skulls I found?! How many never got a CHANCE, because they were caught in this messed-up trap?! Just- just- WHY?!"
Looking at the anger and betrayal in my son's face, at his clenched fists, I almost lost my voice. Nothing I could say could fix this.
But I could explain it. I owed that much.
"Because Zeus threatened to do something worse. "
An audible silence fell.
Thalia, Meg, and Will stared at me.
I fought the urge to stare at my shoes and shrink into a tiny ball. I needed to keep myself together. To give them answers.
I took a deep, shuddering breath, collecting myself. "As soon as Hal was born, I knew he was a seer. I also knew that something terrible would happen to him if he ever tried to use his powers. Zeus told me to kill him. That he couldn't be allowed to live, to interfere with the Fates. I begged for his life. I assured him that Hal would never tell anyone the things he saw. It worked. And as soon as Hal was old enough to understand what I was telling him, I visited and warned him to never reveal his visions."
"But he DID tell someone. He had to save that girl," Thalia cut in, an unreadable expression on her face.
"Yeah. And honestly? I can't blame him. If I'd been in his circumstances, I would've done the same thing."
"But you didn't have a choice. You HAD to punish him," Will said.
As I opened my mouth to explain farther, the world blurred.
A new memory?
The scene resolved. We were on Mount Olympus, in the throne room. Only one throne was occupied; my father's.
But that didn't mean he was the only one in the room.
My godly self stood, looking up at my father, fear and worry painted on my face.
Zeus glared at him- at me- stonily.
At last he spoke.
"Hal has meddled with the Fates' design, as I knew he would. He broke his promise."
"Father, please-"
Zeus steam-rollered on, disinterested in what I had to say. "He must be punished."
He leaned forwards slightly. I felt a bead of sweat trickle down my neck. I knew what was coming next.
Zeus rumbled, "YOU must punish him."
A beat passed. Then another.
"Wha-?" my godly self asked, looking confused and frightened.
I remembered this now. Zeus had known that I didn't want to hurt Hal - to hurt my son - so the fact that he was putting me in charge of Hal's punishment, when he KNEW I'd try to lighten his load as much as possible… well, I knew as soon as he said it that it couldn't be that simple.
I'd been right.
Zeus leaned slightly forwards, hand teasingly close to his Master Bolt. "Punish him fittingly… or I'll intervene."
The world blurred again. This time when it stopped, we were in a forest. My godly self, stood, talking to a preteen girl with long auburn hair and cold silver eyes.
Sister.
My eyes prickled.
I'd seen her in two flashbacks so far, one less than a month ago, but it still felt like a punch in the gut every time she appeared. I desperately hoped I'd get to see her in person soon. To Hades with appearances, I wanted to collapse in her arms and cry and just… BE with her. I hadn't gone this long without seeing her in millennia.
"I need Python's skin."
Artemis looked back at my godly self, frowning. "Apollo, what's wrong?"
I smiled slightly. Artemis could read me like a book.
"One of my children broke a promise, told the future when he wasn-'t supposed. Zeus's on the warpath. He… he said that I had to decide a fitting punishment for him, or he'd intervene. I'm hoping that dressing him in Python's skin, reminding him that he's NOT an Oracle, taking away his voice, and confining him to his home will be enough. I… I don't want to hurt him anymore than I have to. Anymore than I need to."
Quietly, I told my present companions, "It wasn't enough for Zeus."
Artemis looked at me for a long moment. Finally she spoke. "I'll retrieve it. It'll only take a few hours. Come back later tonight."
My godly self nodded and turned to walk away. Before he could leave, Artemis called out, "Oh, and brother? COME FIND ME after this is over, or I WILL track you down and drag you over myself."
A small smile tugged at my divine self's lips. "How could I refuse the opportunity to flirt with so many of your lovely Hunters."
Sis rolled her eyes, "Just come over, you goof. I'm NOT letting you brood by yourself."
Artemis… sister… she meant so much more to me than I'd ever been able to tell her. Sometimes I couldn't stand her, but she was always there for me when I needed her.
The world blurred again. At this rate, I might get motion sickness from all the scene changes.
When it cleared, we were back in Hal's house, in his room.
Bars covered the walls, leucrotae behind them, just like in Thalia's time. Hal stood facing my past self, garbed in snakeskin. But this Hal was younger. He wasn't worn down. He hadn't given up.
My godly self spoke in a monotone, as if reading from a script: "You told that girl her future. You meddled with fate, with the domain of the gods. You shall be punished accordingly. You will wear the skin of Python, to remind you that you are NOT an Oracle. Your voice has been stolen, so that you may never again tell others of what you see. You will never leave this house again. And… a-and…"
Here my past self's composure cracked. "Y-your voice will be repeated by the leucrotae. It will be used as bait to lure demigods' to their deaths. To re-remind you that your voice will only ever lead others to destruction. You will be forced to watch them die, knowing it's your fault. Your curse.. your curse will only be ended when the owner of the treasure in this safe," here I gestured to a huge locked safe, "successfully claims it."
Hal looked stunned. He moved his mouth, but no words came out. My godly self turned around, whispering hoarsely, "I'm sorry," before disappearing.
Thalia broke the silence. "Zeus. HE was the reason for all those deaths. He was the one who set up the death trap," she spat.
She let out a breath. "I'm not surprised. It explains some things I'd been wondering about."
I looked at her interestedly. "Like what?"
She looked me in the eyes. For the first time in several days, I saw no anger directed at me. "Hal never seemed angry or upset with you, just resigned. Zeus's goat led me to the mansion, so he knew about it… and knew that the Aegis was here for me to claim. Plus the fact that the Aegis was here in the first place."
She gave me a small smile. "Also, after getting to know you… this just REALLY didn't seem like the kind of punishment you'd come up with."
I teared up slightly. Thalia Grace, thinking well of me? Believing me to be a good enough person to NOT willingly consign hundreds of innocent demigods to a horrible death? (Okay, that was an admittedly low bar, but I'd take it.)
Still…
"I could've done more," I admitted. Abort, mouth, abort! I screamed to myself. She only just now started to stand you again, what are you doing? My mouth didn't comply.
"I could've tried to guide more demigods away from the area. I could've appealed to Artemis and Athena for help in persuading Zeus to change his mind. Maybe I wouldn't have succeeded. Maybe he would've even gotten angry with me. But I could've TRIED. Instead I buried my head in the sand. I blocked my memories of this as best I could, ignoring the demigods' screams for help. I did what I'd been doing for millennia; ignoring those I should have helped to protect. Because it was EASIER. Because it was SAFER."
I looked Meg, Will, and Thalia each in the eyes in turn, and reiterated a promise I'd already made, but needed to be repeated. "I will fight to ensure that this kind of thing NEVER happens again. That my divine family finally starts to protect demigods. ALL demigods, not just our own children. Even if it means protecting them from other gods. This was WRONG. This… this was EVIL. I can't go back in time to stop it from happening. But I can try to prevent a repeat."
Light shone in Thalia's eyes as she studied me. At last, she gave me a small smile. "Luke would have agreed. The Luke I knew, at least. Before… before everything happened."
I smiled back at her.
The world blurred and melted again (seriously, how many times was this going to happen? This had to be a record!)
When it cleared, we were still in Hal's room, but back with Thalia and Luke. I checked the time. It was 7:01 pm.
Almost time for the leucrotae to eat.
"You haven't escaped?!" I hissed to Thalia. She looked at me sadly.
"We escaped after this. We had to wait until…"
ZZZAAP-POP
Everyone except Thalia jumped. Past Thalia sat up grinning, holding a glowing jar of Greek fire.
"Somebody order a magic bomb?" she asked cheekily.
"..until that," the present Thalia finished.
The clock turned over to 7:03 pm.
It was sunset.
Time for the leucrotae to feed.
Hal held out his hand to Thalia, silently asking for the jar.
"Thalia," Luke said. "Give Hal the Greek Fire."
Past Thalia looked back and forth between Hal and Luke, indecision warring on her face. "But-"
"He has to," Luke ground out, his voice laced with sorrow. "He's going to help us escape."
Oh. So this is how Hal died.
Past Thalia realized Hal's and Luke's plan at the same time I did. She blanched. "Luke, no."
The bars continued to slowly rise, the leucrotae clacking their bone plates impatiently.
"There's no time!" Luke shouted. "Come one!"
Hal took the jar from Thalia, setting his face in a brave smile.
I knew that smile. That need to put on a brave face for the sake of others. I'd needed to use it several times in the past few months.
He nodded at Luke. I didn't know why, but Luke seemed to get his meaning. Luke slipped a book and Hal's dagger into his pack. Then Luke pulled Thalia into the closet with him.
"In here!" One of the leucrotae shouted, speaking for Hal. "I've got them trapped in the bathroom. Come on, you ugly mutts!"
The leucrotae ran to the bathroom.
Thalia and Luke burst out of the closet, sprinting for the open enclosure. They barely made it before the panel closed, Luke wedging it open with his golf club.
"Go, go, go!" he yelled.
Thalia wriggled through as the golf club began to bend.
Hal's voice shouted from the bathroom, "You know what this is, you Tartarus scum dogs? This is your last meal!"
On of the leucrota tore away after Luke and Thalia. Luke punched it in the snout, distracting it long enough for the club to snap, closing the panel.
As the two young demigods started crawling through a metal duct, I heard a battle cry from Hal.
His last words.
"For Apollo!"
The mansion exploded into a fireball.
The world blurred forwards. I felt like my mind was blurring too.
For Apollo? Why would he shout that? Why, when my existence had caused him nothing but misery?
And… he'd sacrificed himself to save Thalia and Luke. He could've let them die, like so many demigods before them. But he chose to die in their place.
"He was like you."
I looked up, startle, and found myself looking at Meg.
"Huh?" I asked, not sure whether I had heard right.
"He was like you," she repeated. "Like with you and the arrow. With Jason. He killed himself to give the others a chance to escape."
I almost laughed. "Yeah, but he KNEW he was going to die. I don't think I would've had the courage to go through with stabbing myself if I'd REALLY believed I'd die."
"You would have," she said with certainty. "I know you."
I didn't know MYSELF well enough to say that; yet, I couldn't bring myself to disbelieve her.
Will cut in. "Hal believed in you. That's why he shouted that, at the end. He wanted you to see. He wanted you to be proud of him."
"I am. I am so, so proud of him." I said hoarsely.
CLANG
I looked around. The world had cleared while we'd been talking. We appeared to be in some sort of warehouse.
Thalia and Luke crept towards the clanging noise. Ahead of them, a piece of metal quivered.
Something was there.
They inched their way over. Luke lifted the sheet of metal. Thalia readied her spear.
A hammer flew out, narrowly missing taking Luke's head off.
"Woah!" Luke yelped, and grabbed the little girl who had just tried to give him a concussion.
I took a look at her. She looked about seven years old, with blonde hair and intelligent grey eyes.
Annabeth Chase.
She struggled and screamed in Luke's grip. "No more monsters! Go away!"
"It's okay!" Luke tried to hold her, attempting to calm her down, but to no avail.
"Thalia!" he shouted. "put your shield away! You're scaring her!"
She collapsed her shield and dropped her spear.
"Hey, little girl," she said soothingly. "It's all right. We're not going to hurt you. I'm Thalia. This is Luke."
"Monsters!" Annabeth yelled.
"No," Luke said, still holding onto Annabeth. She wasn't fighting quite as hard now. "But we know about monsters. We fight them too."
He continued to hold her until she settled down and accepted the hug.
"You're like me?" she asked suspiciously.
"Yeah," Luke confirmed. "We're… well, it's hard to explain, but we're monster fighters. Where's your family?"
Annabeth's face screwed up in anger. Her chin quivered. "My family hates me. They don't want me. I ran away."
She was so, so young. To be on her own…
My blood froze. If she'd been in the wrong place… if she'd run across the mansion instead of Luke and Thalia…
I shook those thoughts away. I could beat myself up about that more later. I already knew that scenario would be visiting my nightmares.
Thalia knelt in front of Annabeth, putting her eyes level with Annabeth's. "What's your name, kiddo?"
"Annabeth."
"Nice name," Luke told her, smiling. "I tell you what, Annabeth. You're pretty fierce. We could use a fighter like you."
Her eyes widened. "You could?"
"Oh, yeah," he said earnestly. I smiled at him. If not for everything that happened, Luke would have made a good dad. I could see why he was made Counselor for the Hermes cabin.
"How'd you like a real monster-slaying weapon?" he asked, pulling out the dagger Hal had given him. "This is Celestial Bronze. Works a lot better than a hammer."
Annabeth took the dagger and studied it, looking at it in awe.
Luke continued. "Knives are only for the bravest and quickest fighters. They don't have the reach or power of a sword, but they're easy to conceal and they can find weak spots in your enemy's armor. It takes a clever warrior to use a knife. I have a feeling you're pretty clever."
"I am clever!" she cried, beaming.
Thalia laughed and ruffled Annabeth's hair. "We'd better get going, Annabeth. We have a safe house on the James River. We'll get you some clothes and food."
Annabeth's smile wavered for a moment, doubt creeping across her face. "You're… you're not going to take me back to my family? Promise?"
My heart broke a little. No child should be this adamant about not returning to the people who are supposed to protect them.
Luke reached out, placing a hand on Annabeth's shoulder. "You're part of our family now. And I promise I'm not going to fail you like our families did us. Deal?"
"Deal!"
Past Thalia smiled at Luke approvingly. "Now, come on. We can't stay put for long!"
"He broke his promise."
I startled, looking up at the present Thalia. She stared at the three of them, a far away look in her eyes.
I knew. Annabeth had told me, after we'd flashbacked to the final battle with Kronos. That broken promise had cursed the dagger, making it the weapon from the Great Prophecy.
Seeing Luke make that promise, seeing the sincerity on his face… It made me doubt my own capacity to keep the promises I'd made. If even Luke could fall, what chance did I have? With my record of promise-breaking?
Yet I had to try. I HAD to.
I didn't want to fail my family anymore.
I didn't want anymore children's deaths on my conscience.
I had to do better.
Maybe I'd fail.
But that was better than not trying in the first place.
The world blurred together for the final time. The four of us blinked awake. We were still standing in the burnt out husk of the mansion.
I looked down at my feet. There lay Hal's skeleton, surrounded by snakeskin.
I smiled bitterly. He hadn't deserved his fate. I hoped that he'd made it to Elysium. He deserved it.
"What HAPPENED?"
I heard a shout. I looked to the side.
There stood a frantic-looking Nico Di Angelo.
Oh. Yeah. We WERE in that flashback for a while.
"It's… kinda a long story."
Will started explaining what had transpired to the son of Hades.
Carefully, gently, I removed Python's skin from my dead son.
We'd give Hal the proper rights soon, once Nico was up to speed.
For now, I had a promise to make.
"Never again," I told Hal. "Never again."