Chapter Thirty-Four
Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or HoO series by Rick Riordan, nor do I own Star Holder Commander's character, Walker. I do own all of the other OCs mentioned.
Nico's POV
"Goodbye, my son."
"But dad, what are you—" His face had vanished and the rainbow had gone blank before I could finish asking.
I sigh, running my hands through my hair. It felt greasy and matted. I wipe my hands on my jeans, telling myself I would take a shower when I had called everyone I needed to contact.
I think about what Hades had said about Apollo. It was true that he favored Kyra over all of his daughters, and probably his sons too. Kyra had told me a long time ago that Apollo had loved Michelle so much, that he would have made her immortal if he could've. But Zeus would have forbidden it had he asked, and he most likely had.
I toss another drachma into the rainbow, and ask to see Apollo. The rainbow shimmered for a good two minutes before a blurry image of a face started to appear.
The picture sharpens and I see Apollo lounging on a red settee, the legs of it carved to look like three suns sitting on top of each other. He was eating a chocolate bar with almonds, and a glass of white wine sat on a small side table beside the settee.
"Lord Apollo," I say.
His eyes pop over to the sound of my voice. Upon seeing me, the lazy look on his face disappears and is replaced with a look of curiosity and worry.
"di Angelo, what is it? Is everything okay? Where's Kyra?" he asks, setting his chocolate on the table next to the glass of wine.
"That's what I'm calling about. There's something wrong."
I explain what had happened as quickly as I could without skipping anything important. I told him of being taken by Osiris, and how Michael was still being held somewhere in the skyscraper.
The curiosity and worry had completely disappeared from his face. It was now covered with grim lines of displeasure. His eyes told another story. They were the eyes of a terrified parent.
"Hang on," he says, getting up and running his fingers through the rainbow. It shimmers and then he disappears. A second later, there's a bright flash from inside the small closet, and out came Apollo.
He walks out and grabs a chair, coming over to me. "Walker told me as much as he knew about your disappearance, but that wasn't much. I just dropped James and Adrienne and their companions off in Newport, Maine, as a favor to Walker,"
"So they're okay?"
He nods. "When I left them, they were fine. Adrienne got a little sick and went and ralphed behind a rock when we landed. But besides that, they were all in one piece when I left them,"
"When did you leave them?"
"Not long ago actually. Only about two hours ago,"
I give a sigh of relief. They were okay. That made me feel at least five times better about the situation.
He hops up from the chair and goes over to Kyra. I follow him and stand on the other side of the bed. Her breathing was steady, but her soul was still more faded than it should have been.
Apollo rests a hand on her forehead and leaves it there for a second. A dim golden glow lights up the edges of his hand. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Her soul had suddenly just—brightened up. It was mostly back to normal.
"What did you—?"
He holds a finger up to his lips. "Shh! The god of healing never gives away his secrets,"
He strokes Kyra's hair then turns around and heads over to the kitchen area. He snaps his fingers and a steaming cup of water and a tea bag appear on the counter. He picks up the tea bag and drops it into the cup, letting it steep.
"What is that?"
"A healing tea I had a wood nymph whip up a while ago. She was known for her healing treatments in the Amazon rainforest before she was chopped down," He shakes his head, "What a shame it was to see her go,"
"Will that help restore the rest of Kyra's soul?"
"So many questions with you..but yes, it will,"
I felt like falling over from the pure relief of hearing that. As soon as she was rested, we could get a group together and go back for Michael.
He walks back over to Kyra, pushing a chair up beside the bed. He sets the cup on the table beside the bed grabs another pillow, propping her head up a little more. He opens her mouth and slowly starts pouring the tea in.
"Tell me more about this Osiris,"
"Well, for one thing, he has these monsters that he creates himself. I don't know how he does it, but they're definitely not your run of the mill creatures. They're much harder to kill, and they don't turn to dust or anything. Once you kill them, they're just a dead body, like a human or an animal. They're just left there to rot or for someone to find,"
"Anything else?"
"He's also Callie's son,"
He nearly poured the tea all over Kyra's face. "What?"
"He's her and John's son. John doesn't even know he exists. We didn't know he existed until he took us and Michael, and even then, it took a while for us to figure out just who he was,"
"Is that why he took Michael?"
"What do you mean?"
He rolls his eyes. "Well, considering that Kyra killed the version of his mother that he knew and made her forget all about him, do you think maybe he took Michael as payback?"
"I think that's part of the reason,"
"And what's the other reason?"
"Michael has powers,"
"Well of course he does, he's a second generation demigod,"
"No, I mean, powers of imagination. Like Walker,"
"But how could he—?"
I briefly go over the day Michael was born, and what Walker had done for us on that day. "He must have accidentally transferred a small portion of his power to Michael when he was reviving him,"
"And Osiris wants to use him for it, he wants to train his powers up at a young age, so he can make him do whatever he wants him to do,"
I nod. "Exactly."
We sit there in silence for a while, watching Kyra sleep. Her soul was slowly regaining its brightness. Everyone's soul was different. A different shape, color, and brightness. When I willed myself to see them, they would appear over the person's head, almost like what happens when a god claims you as their own.
Kyra's was in the shape of Sun Star flower, and was the bright beautiful orange color that's most common among the Sun Star. When she had almost died, it had wilted, and turned an ashy gray color. Now it was full of life again.
"Get some rest, di Angelo, I'll watch over her until you wake up. You have a long and hard journey ahead of you, and you'll need to be at your best."
I was going to protest, but I decided against it when I realized just how heavy my eyelids felt. I nod, yawning, and kick off my shoes. I walk over to the sofa and flop down, closing my eyes. Before I knew it, I was asleep,
A/N:
Daddy Apollo to the rescue! For some reason, before I started writing this, I thought today's chapter was another Adrienne POV, I dunno why. Whatever.
Anyway, I really like how this chapter came out. I absolutely adore Apollo, writing him is so simple for me for some reason. It's almost like I'm writing about Kyra, that's how easy it is. Like, you know how some characters are just so difficult to write about, or write in their POV? Apollo isn't like that.
Oh, also. When Nico was talking about Kyra's soul, and how it looks like an orange Sun Star flower. I came across that type of flower by chance while trying to think of what Kyra's soul should look like. They're absolutely gorgeous flowers! I thought it was the perfect fit.
Ugh, I feel like the slowest reader on the planet. I'm only nine chapters in, about to start ten, in BoO. I just don't have a ton of time to read, and when I do have time, I don't feel like reading. It drives me insane. I was going to read tonight, but seeing as by the time I post this, it will be almost one in the morning where I'm at, and I have to work tomorrow, I don't see that happening.
I feel like I keep telling myself, "Just get through this week, and you'll finally have some free time to just be," and I've been telling myself that for, oh, I dunno, pretty much all year. Ugh.
I need to just have a scheduled time to read. Like on the days I don't have to work, which would be four days of the week, since I work Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. But like, have time set aside specifically for reading, and then maybe it will just stick, kinda like when you're trying to get into the habit of exercising or something, and you eventually just find yourself doing that thing at that certain time.
I'm just babbling now, so I suppose I'll end this here.
M/A:
"'Suddenly I'm not so sure
That intentions can be pure
If I could just throw all my doubts into the wind
I think that they'll come back again
But I know that every cloud has a silver lining'"
~ No Wonder I by LAKE
XOXO,
Mrs-diAngelo25
