The first god to fall was completely random. The Council had gathered for the regular Spring Equinox meeting. Zeus was droning on and on about something completely random. Apollo didn't care for what it was. He was half asleep when Ares suddenly fell off his throne. Apollo's eyes shot open, suddenly concerned. He pushed up from his throne, and walked carefully towards the fallen god. As Apollo got closer, he noticed Ares was shaking as well. He leaned down and put the back of his hand gently against the war god's forehead. Ares forehead felt like it was hotter than the sun chariot. Apollo frowned. He hadn't seen this since... since her.

"No. No," he muttered to himself. Artemis stood up as well and approached her younger brother.

"Apollo," she said carefully. "Are you okay?" He shook his head, still muttering to himself. Everyone was watching him, seeing what the shaken god would do. Apollo placed his hands on Ares chest, muttering to himself again. His hands glowed faintly, but nothing happened. Apollo shook his head again. Artemis put her hand on his shoulder. "Apollo, please stop."

"No," he told her. He muttered another prayer, and his hands glowed a little more, but Ares was still lying on the ground shaking. Apollo gritted his teeth and said another prayer to himself. He was suddenly thrown back into a column on the other side of the room. He sat there for a second, stunned. He muttered no to himself constantly. This couldn't be happening again. Every god in the room could see the sudden change in Apollo. It wasn't just his emotional state, either. His appearance had changed from a cheerful, carefree young teen into a worrisome adult. His hair had suddenly grown into a dirty blonde instead of his normal gold. His skin lost some of his tan as well.

But what scared his sister the most was the change in his eyes. His eyes had gone from a dazzling sky blue to a sad, dark blue. Apollo stood slowly, his breathing labored. It seemed as though everyone was holding their breath, waiting for him to speak. He didn't though. He simply walked to his half-brother and picked him up tenderly. Apollo made his way to the large double doors that opened out to the path to Apollo's own temple. No one tried to stop him, to frightened to even try. Artemis watched him go carefully. She didn't understand what had happened to her brother. But she planned on finding out.

Apollo laid Ares down on one of the cots in his infirmary. He sat in the chair besides it and sighed. Why was this happening now? Of all times, now? He buried his face in his hands, and let out a small sob. He couldn't deal with this again. He couldn't stand the thought of facing his biggest mistake. He heard the door to the infirmary open and quickly pulled himself together. He knew he must still look like a mess, but it wasn't like he could magically make it look like he was perfectly fine. Well, he could. He just didn't have the strength and energy to do so.

"Apollo?" He looked up, surprised. Apollo had suspected his sister at first, but realized that the woman who had walked in made much more sense. Aphrodite, after all, was the only one who had any clue to what he had done. "Apollo, are you okay?" she asked. He was about to nod when he realized that would only bring him more pain. So he simply shook his head. She frowned, automatically concerned for the sun god. She brought a chair over and sat next to him. She didn't say anything. She just sat there, utterly silent. It was exactly what Apollo needed.

He noticed she wasn't wearing her normal outfit of long necked gowns that showed off her perfect figure, but instead was wearing jeans and a tee shirt. He let out a forced chuckle, trying to avoid the obvious elephant in the room.

"You didn't... uh, you didn't have to get so... so dressed up for me," he joked, forcing his words to sound cheerful. He figured they sounded about as joyful as he felt at that moment. Aphrodite internaly groaned. This was going to be tougher than she had originally thought. He was trying to joke away the pain, and she knew from experience that that never works.

"Please talk to me Apollo," she murmured. "I know something happened in that... that place. Something bad." She wasn't wrong, Apollo knew. He thought of his time he had spent away from Earth on a small planet named Star. It was an ironic name, he knew. But that placed had been a dream at first. Partying and drinking every night. Beautiful women and men. He had loved it. But then the accident happened and he had to leave all to quickly. He ran a hand absent mindedly over his chest.

"It doesn't matter what happened there. This isn't the same thing. It's just some random virus or something." He didn't want to believe the truth. The truth made it all to real.

"Apollo, you can't just-"

"Get out."

"Apollo, come on. You have to-"

"No, I don't." He glared at her with fiery eyes. "Look, I know that Ares is your bed buddy and all and that you're worried, but maybe you should go check on your husband for once. Now get the Hades out of my infirmary." He regretted it as soon as he said it, but he couldn't take it back now. Aphrodite gapped at him. She couldn't believe he would say such a thing. She was only trying to help, after all. She let out an indignant huff and stormed out of the room.

Apollo watched as she left, and mentaly cursed himself. "Damn it," he muttered. He buried his face in his hands again, feeling even worse than before.