A/N: Sorry for the missed weekend...work has been insane. Plus I rewrote this because I wasn't happy with it. I made this chapter a little longer, and you will get another next Sunday! More below!
-Apollo-
"I think we should go to the football game."
Apollo turned towards Athena with a raised brow. The past week was relatively normal. Well, as normal as things could get with a bunch of immortals running around a high school. Everything was almost back to that easy yet annoyingly mortal flow of existence before what Apollo now called Artemeggedon.
He pressed his fingers against the combination lock on his locker, causing it to fly open. "Why do you want to go to the football game, Athena?" He wasn't really surprised about the suggestion. Apollo knew that eventually attending this particular game would come up thanks to Cas. What surprised him was who brought it up.
"You don't want to go?" she huffed. Apollo loved sports, and his half-sister knew it.
"Never said that. I've been popping in on games since we've been here. What else is an underage teenager to do on a Friday night?" He closed his locker door after putting up his books. Thank the fates that over half the day was through already. He started towards the lunch room, his stride easy.
"There's plenty to do on a Friday night. We could pollute our minds, go on a drinking binge, or desecrate public property."
"You rebel," Apollo scoffed. "Like you really would do that."
"Well, since I'm stuck in this hellhole as a teenager, I might as well enjoy the perks of teenage rebellion."
Apollo stopped right outside the door, his hand over his chest as he let out a dramatic gasp. "You want to break the rules? The perfect child!? Oh, the horror! The audacity!"
Athena narrowed her eyes before slapping his hand away from his chest. "I wasn't planning on having a teenage meltdown, thank you very much. One, it would never work on us. Two, I just thought that all of us going together to the game would be a fun thing to do."
"Uh huh." Apollo went to the lunch line, looking at the various offerings. Nothing really struck a chord with him today. He opted for a soda, preparing to pay the lady manning the register. Apollo turned towards Athena. "Do you want anything?"
Athena grabbed a bowl of fruit and passed it to him. He gave the lunch lady a charming smile before giving her the money and heading over to his siblings.
"You haven't given me an answer, Apollo."
"And you haven't told me the truth of why you really want to go, Athena."
She stopped in front of him, hands on her hips with her signature glare. "If Father sees all of us trying to blend in and minding our manners, then he might reconsider letting us off early."
"You really must have had a meltdown if you think that will work," he stuttered in disbelief. His father might be swayed by a few petty instances of comradery, but Hera and Demeter were a whole other animal.
"It probably wouldn't work, but it's better than doing nothing," she mumbled.
"Always have a plan, don't you?" Apollo darted past her and took a seat at their table.
Athena rolled her eyes before sitting down. "Are you interested or not?"
"Interested about what, pray tell?" Hermes looked up from his phone with a mischievous smile.
"Going to the football game Friday night," Apollo explained.
"Now that sounds exciting!" Artemis exclaimed as she sat down with a tray of food. Orion followed with his own tray, packed just as high.
"Where does all of that go?" Athena questioned. Orion and Artemis simply looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders.
"I'm a growing boy," he claimed. Artemis snorted into her chicken sandwich, a silly grin on her face. The outward tension had eased a bit between Orion and Athena, but it was more of a 'keep your enemies close' type of thing for both of them. He was a little more brazen with the goddess of wisdom now that Artemis was back.
"So football game Friday night. Are we all going?" Artemis asked.
"That was the plan," Athena replied. "Where are Aphrodite and Hestia?"
"They had some kind of homecoming meeting," Artemis explained. "They have to go anyways."
"I can't go Friday night," Orion pointed out.
"And why not? The vet closes at five, and the game doesn't even start until 7:30."
"Can't stand to do something without me?" Orion questioned sweetly. Artemis must have kicked him under the chair because a second later he was wincing in pain. "What was that for?" he groaned.
"To deflate your over-sized ego," Artemis shot back.
Orion sighed deeply. "You know why I can't come, Artemis."
She stared at Orion for just a second, her brows furrowed, before realization lit her eyes. "Ah."
"There's no point in it if the boy doesn't come," Athena grumbled.
"And why does that matter to you?" Artemis snapped.
"Because she thinks if Father sees us all playing nicely," Apollo offered before taking a quick sip of his drink, "that he'll let us off early."
"Ha, doubtful," Hermes chortled.
"I think you might be losing your edge, Athena," Artemis supplied with a falsely sweet tone. "You usually come up with better plans than that."
Athena rolled her eyes. "I'm not losing my edge. I know it's not going to work. I know," she emphasized with a slam of her palm against the table. "It's a hail Mary! At least we tried something, and that's better than nothing! Maybe if we keep at it and show them we are trying to behave, they would consider it."
"Consider laughing," Apollo countered.
"It's not going to hurt anything."
"Now that is true," Hermes added. "I'm down, as the mortals say. I've got nothing better to do. Thanks to my new assistant, I'm ahead on shipping! I always love good mortal games."
"You like the cheating and betting," Athena countered.
Hermes's responded with a wink in her direction. "Who doesn't?"
"While watching football with a bunch of immortals sounds like an amazing time, I'm still out," Orion muttered. He glanced over at the far side of the lunch room before playing with his mashed potatoes. It was casual enough that the others didn't notice, not even Artemis, who was too busy gorging herself on the remainder of her chicken sandwich. Apollo glanced in the same direction, a familiar head of dark hair directly in his line of sight. He turned back towards Orion, who gazed at him with piercing eyes. "You all can go without me. Lord Zeus isn't going to care if I'm there or not."
"It matters," Athena promised.
"It only matters to you, and I don't care," Orion replied. Artemis snorted into her drink, a full-brown grin gracing her features. He gave her a bemused glace before facing Athena again. "I get the guilt. No one would be in trouble in the first place if it wasn't for you."
"Why, you little, ungrateful!" Athena slammed her hands against the table in frustration. "Artemis, doesn't it bother you in the slightest why he's avoiding attending a game with us?"
"Why? He's a big boy, Athena. I'm not his keeper."
"Maybe Athena should have a keeper," Orion whispered to her. "Her delusions- "
The table erupted into an argument which mostly consisted of Orion and Athena going at it while Hermes and Artemis encouraged it. Apollo was about to chime in himself when everything stopped.
The scene in front of him changed. He was no longer sitting at a table in a mortal lunch room. He was in the woods, soft moonlight illuminating the surroundings just enough for mortal eyes to see. The air was chilled but promising, like spring was fighting the last dregs of the winter cold. Cas's eyes looked bright in the soft silver light. She stood in front of him, looking haggard and run down. Tears swelled in her eyes, a pleading look on her face.
"That just can't be true," Apollo murmured. He almost didn't recognize his own voice it was so full of mistrust and anger.
"It is," she whispered. "Why would I lie to you?"
"Doesn't change things," he spat, avoiding answering her question. He knew Cas wouldn't lie. There was just no way that this could be true. The chances…
"It does," Cas urged. "It will change everything." She took his hand, squeezing it hard enough that he could feel her desperation, the drive behind her eyes. "I don't want to fight against you."
"Then stay out of it."
"Apollo…"
"Enough!"
"Apollo!"
A hand grabbed his shoulder, a lot bigger and rougher than he remembered from Cas. He blinked and the lunchroom was back in front of him, the students starting to move around in preparation for the bell. Apollo couldn't have been out of it for more than a few seconds at most. Orion and Artemis stood in front of him, a teasing look on their faces.
"Are mortals so boring now that you have to fake visions?" Artemis chortled. He shook his head, trying to hide how off kilter he felt. Apollo shouldn't be having visions. Part of his latest round of punishment was the suspension of his prophecy powers.
"Adds interest, doesn't it?" he deflected. After grabbing his bag, the two followed him out of the lunch room. Artemis broke off from them with a wicked grin.
"Try not to get in trouble without me!"
Apollo shook his head, completely bemused by his sister's antics. He turned to Orion. Athena did have a point about Artemis's reaction to Orion's plans. His sister was extremely territorial, yet she showed no reaction. Which meant one of two things: either she knew and was okay with it or Orion was lying about what he had to do and she was going to make him come. Either was a distinct possibility.
"So what kind of plans do you have with Cas Friday?" Apollo questioned with narrow eyes. Orion's face remained passive, but the sun god couldn't help but notice the tightening of his jaw.
"None of your business," he declared.
"I think it's my sister's business."
"Maybe. But that's between me and her, isn't it?"
"I could always ask Cas," Apollo countered. Orion stopped in front of him.
"Stay away from her," he cautioned.
"Why? Didn't seem to mind us being around her before," Apollo noted. "What's changed?"
Orion moved over to the edge of the hall, into a little side hallway that led to some supply closets and a set of stairs. Apollo followed, his curiosity brimming.
"I've always minded. I just couldn't keep her away without blowing my cover. Cas…" Orion paused before running his hand through his hair. "She's weird, but she's a good person. She's got a lot of shit going on, and she lies so she won't have to tell anyone about it. I used to have the time to make her open up, at least a little, but with everything going on," he sighed. Apollo crossed his arms.
"You were just too busy to help? Some friend you are." Orion had the decency to look a tad bit ashamed. After all, Cas had done for him, he should feel a lot worse. True, Orion didn't know exactly what she had done for him. As badly as Apollo wanted to point out what a selfish bastard he was, it wasn't his secret to tell. "Does Artemis know what you are planning?"
"She does. Artemis confirmed it the other day and told me to talk to her. Something has been eating at Cas."
"Like what?" Apollo drawled in the most disinterested tone he could muster.
"I mean, the past week or so she's been standoffish, even from me. She looks exhausted. I've seen her sneak in and out at all hours. The fights with her parents are getting worse. If she'd just listen to them instead of running off all the time," he huffed in resignation. "But she won't."
An idea popped up into Apollo's head. After all, Cas said she saw all of them together. While the future was always open for change, this was one thing he was determined to make happen. "Let me talk to her."
Orion snorted in laughter. "I appreciate that, but Cas isn't going to talk to you."
"She's talked to me before, thank you very much! I might not be as in tune to her feelings as my sister, but I am the god of healing. Maybe she's just sick."
"And you'd heal her, just like that? With nothing in return?"
"Consider it my good deed of the day. She's welcome to come to the game with us, you know."
"Cas wouldn't come," Orion countered. "I know her."
Apollo had to fight the sarcastic laugh threatening to burst from his lips. Out of the two of them, Apollo knew more of her secrets. Secrets are the key to a person's true character. "Let me ask her to join us. If she says no, then I'll concede defeat. Besides, it'll give me an excuse to talk to her to see if she's sick."
"She's not a mortal pawn in your games," he warned.
"Never said she was," Apollo agreed. "I'm trying to do you a favor. Maybe it would be good for her to act like a normal teenager."
"Yeah, with a bunch of immortals, sure." The bell rang in two short bursts, signaling that they only had a couple of minutes to make it to class. Orion bit his lip, uncertainty in his eyes. "She's wary of all of you. She knows something isn't right."
"Interesting," Apollo murmured. "I'll make sure to be extra careful then. I'll handle this."
Orion reluctantly nodded his head before turning to head down the steps. He paused on the first one down and took a deep breath before turning back to Apollo.
"I know you are going to do whatever you want anyways. There's nothing I can do to stop you. Please…just don't let her get hurt."
Apollo knew exactly where to find her.
She was in the library, a pile of books on the table with notes scattered everywhere. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun, tendrils that had escaped framing her face. Her violet eyes looked tired behind a pair of black framed glasses, not that much darker than her hair. From what he could tell, she didn't seem sick. Exhausted and frustrated, a little sore, but not sick. As he approached her, she held up a finger as she quickly added a note to the edge of a page. Apollo kindly waited for her to finish before taking the seat beside her.
"If you knew I was coming, you could have asked me for a ride home so you didn't have to wait." He leaned against his hand, shooting Cas a playful smile. She looked up for just a second, impassive for the most part with just a hint of disdain.
"And why would I want to ride anywhere with you?"
"My chariot is awesome," he countered. "You'd be home in five minutes, which means more time to do whatever it is you are doing." Apollo tried to look over her papers, but Cas quickly stacked them up, shooting him a suspicious look.
"What do you want?"
"I didn't know you wore glasses."
Cas's cheeks heated at his words, which she attempted to hide by looking down at her papers. "When I get tired, I have trouble reading."
"I can fix that, you know." He leaned forward with a serious expression while pointing at himself. "God of healing."
Cas offered him an easy smile. "I'm well aware." She glanced down at her phone, checking on the time. "You are late, actually. If you came earlier, I might have considered it. Orion's about to be done." She started to gather the books and notes, carefully putting them in her bag.
"You seemed to be deep in the middle of something. Didn't want to interrupt."
"How kind," she mused. She took off her glasses and put them into a case. "I already told Orion that I didn't want to go to the game."
"He mentioned it to you?"
"Last week. It is his last year of high school for a while."
"Homecoming is pretty standard for most high schoolers. Why don't you want to go?"
Cas took a deep breath. Apollo could tell she was debating telling him or not. She should know by now that if he really wanted to know something, it was only a matter of time. Finally, she rolled her eyes.
"I have a job Saturday. I've been going all week, and I need a night off."
He nodded his head. "Orion is worried about you."
"I know," she muttered, her eyes troubled. When she worried, Cas's brows would furrow, making her nose scrunch in the most adorable way. "That's why I agreed to a movie at his place Friday night. It will make him feel better."
"I think the truth would probably make him feel best," Apollo wagered.
"So would I, but as no mortal will believe a word I say when it comes to my visions, it's kind of a moot point."
"I'm working on that." He ran a hand through his hair. With his focus on Artemis, looking for a way to remove her curse was not the top priority on his list. He vowed to make it one.
Cas smiled softly. "And for some crazy reason, I believe you."
"Maybe I could help? Tell him the things that he wouldn't believe, the things that directly have to do with the visions."
"I appreciate that, and it's something to think about. For now, I'll tell Orion he can go without me. I know he'd rather be with Artemis, anyways." She laughed in a short burst, the sound reeking of irony. "I mean, he hasn't really been able to see her for thousands of years now. I've been annoyingly up his ass for the last seven years."
"I think if he considered you annoying, he would not ditch my sister to hang out with you. He's not going to the game without you."
"I can make him," she whispered. Her finger tightened around the spine of her book, he knuckles turning white. Apollo had no doubt in his mind that she was capable of that, but he knew that it pained her to think about it. Orion said it himself: she lied to protect others.
"He wants you there."
"I'm sure he's the only one."
"Wrong, my little diviner. I want you there, too."
Cas paused, her cheeks warming before her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why? What do you get out of it?"
"Absolutely nothing besides the pleasure of your company, I swear on the Styx," he swore.
"If you haven't noticed, I've been trying to avoid the Teen Olympians."
"And you can continue the fact after the game. You said you needed a break, and I'll make sure it will be fun. You'll get to hang out with your friend. You are losing him, too."
"I can't stay out late, my parents-"
"The minute you need to be back or reach your limit, I'll take you home myself. You won't lose any time traveling."
Cas folded her arms across her bag and laid her chin on top. "You are going to keep bugging me until I agree."
"That sounded like a statement. Vision or suspicion?"
"Suspicion," she sighed. "There was a chance I could get out of going, but it's been getting slimmer all day. Orion shouldn't have talked to you. You've made up your mind now."
"Or maybe he was always meant to because it would be good for you to spend one night actually acting your age instead of shouldering the burden of humanity's survival." Apollo leaned forward and tapped her nose with his finger. Cas jumped in surprise, a blush stealing her cheeks. She stared at him, her eyes wide. "Come to the game, Cassia."
"O-okay."
"Good." Apollo stood, confidence radiating from him. This whole thing was a lot easier than he thought it would be. "I'll pick you up at seven."
"I can ride with Orion," she countered, the edge in her voice back. Apollo raised a brow. "But you aren't going to let that happen, are you?" she asked with a knowing frown.
"Absolutely not," he replied with a wink.
I hope you enjoyed. To repay you for my awful schedule and not updating, here's a little upcoming teaser: someone's secret is going to be spilled soon. :)
See you next weekend!