I gently shook Apollo's shoulders, attempting to wake him. He didn't look like he was going to come to anytime soon, so I decided to lift him. My shoulders strained and my forearms burned, and despite my weak mortal form I was able to lift him. Mortal bodies are so weak. There was no way for me to throw him over my shoulder and spare his broken ribs at the same time. If anything we should be carrying him in a stretcher, just until we are sure his ribs didn't puncture his lungs when they broke. I trudged out of the alley we had landed in. Our new master following close behind. Meg tried to hail a Taxi. Emphasis ontried. The driver took one look at us and kept driving. This happened 5 times before we gave up. After all, who wants a beat up kid dripping blood all over your seats? Sometimes, the mist is useless.
I maneuvered Apollo into a more carryable position, I didn't really know how to move him. He was a 16 year old teen, what was I supposed to do? Drag him?
As we walked pedestrians stared at us. But they didn't question it. Either the mist made it look like I was carrying a huge dog or new yorkers have seen some shit. When i asked Meg, she responded with the flattering statement of "You smell."
"Well yes.. I did land in a dumpster. Also, I've been enslaved by a 12-year-old."
"It's not slavery.. It's more mutual cooperation.."
"I don't exactly have a choice in following your orders now do I?"
"Exactly." Apollo made a sound close to a whimper. Maybe he was waking up?
"How are you so calm about this? You're a demigod. You're walking with two ex-gods. And you're headed to a camp to be with others of your kind."
"I've seen some strange shit"
"Oh." There was a long silence. "Say, Meg, where are you from?"
"I told you. The alley."
"What about parents, other family, friends even?" Discomfort passed over her features.
"Not important"
"I see… You're a feral demigod then.. Rare but not unheard of."
"I guess" the moment after she spoke it started raining a mix of sleet and rain. Just wonderful. Neither of us had coats. Even better.
Apollo groaned, his eyes slowly opened slowly and he made a sound between a groan and a whimper. For a moment he was still, Then his eyes snapped open and he struggled against my grip. "Apollo!" I yelped, stumbling over to a bench and setting him down. He was still for another long moment. "Artie..?"
"Yeah, I'm here. They're gone. You're safe." He abruptly tried to sit up, before I could warn him he had doubled over gasping in pain. That only seemed to make it worse though. It took a moment but he started taking light shallow breaths. "Gods almighty…" he muttered, his eyes squeezed shut. I put my hand on his shoulder.
"Hey.." He didn't look at me.
"Artemis..?"
"Yeah.. You took quite the beating.."
"I.. I can feel that much…"
"We're almost to Perseus's house."
"..good.."
"You're awake!" Meg chirped. Apollo visibly recoiled from the unfamiliar voice, he looked up.
"What are you supposed to be?"
"She's our new master" I deadpanned.
"..No"
"..yep"
"But- she's little more than a merechildArtemis! Why couldn't-" His breath hitched and he started coughing. His entire body seized up and he let out a choked sob of pain. He shuddered and his hands balled into fists. His jaw clenched. It seemed like forever until he spoke again. "Broken ribs take… take 4 to 6 weeks to heal… for mortals... I- we don't have that amount of time.." Apollo murmured weakly. "There were thugs. What.. What happened to the thugs?" He almost sounded terrified.
"Meg here chased them off"
"Oh" Apollo fell silent, we continued to sit in silence for a bit. I was about to help him up so we could start moving again "This is all my fault!" Apollo suddenly blurted out. "If I hadn't been such an idiot than Octavian never would have risen to power and we would have never been mortal! It's my fault you can get hurt now-"
"No. It isn't" I said. "I chose to stay with you. Father gave me a choice, reclaim immorality or help you. I chose you" Apollo blanched as he went completely silent other than his pained shallow breaths.
"Artemis..? Why would you ever..?"
"Because I don't want you to be alone this time."
"You.. Gave up immortality for this loser?" Meg asked.
Apollo turned to look at her. "Loser? I'll have you know I'm the god of music, poetry, and archery!" I lightly elbowed him in the arm.
"This loser right here is the only man alive who can best me at archery. And the best musician ever" I wasn't lying. I was stating a fact.
"That's true.." Apollo looked like he might laugh but was clearly in too much pain to do so.
"Were." Meg reminded him. Apollo turned to look at her, confused.
"Youwerethe god of archery, music, and the other one." He frowned, I laughed humorlessly.
I glanced around, we were on 82nd street. "We should get going. The faster we get to Perseus's the better. Do you think you can walk?"
Apollo muttered a quick yes and stood up. We only made it about 10 feet before he started leaning on me.
While we were in a hurry, it didn't like seem like he could go very fast. I slowed down a bit. By a bit I mean I went about a third of my previous speed.
We had only walked a few blocks when Apollo had to stop for a break. He was out of breath. If only Zeus had had the decency to have left us some ambrosia or nectar.
That's when I came to the startling conclusion that we weren't even demigods. We were mortal. Would nectar and ambrosia even heal us? Would it burn us to ashes? We couldn't take a gamble like that. But Apollo's shallow breathing made me sick. He needed to be healed someway or another. I was going to destroy Cade and Mikey.
One more thing bothered me, how had the thugs boss have known where we would have landed? No god other than Apollo could have gotten that clear of a look into the future. Had some other religions deity have paired up with him?
Me and my brother have no shortage of enemies, a near endless supply really. It a burden that comes with existing for so long.
I could only think of one foe that could possibly tell the future. One of Apollo's oldest and greatest enemies.
Python.
Just thinking his name made me angry. The immortal had regularly appeared in my brother's nightmares over these last thousands of years. I hated that snake. I remember all too clearly Apollo trudging back to Olympus, ichor streaming from his various wounds. I was the only one who saw him before he cleaned up, I never told him. If I did i have a feeling he would get angry. I remember when he came to the throne room, telling us a story of pure triumph. A story that certainly didn't match his ragged appearance from before. I remembered him spreading his arms as he spoke of how easy it was to defeat the serpent, a single arrow to slay it.Lies.I remember seeing the two puncture wounds from its fangs in his right bicep. No one else noticed. He said it was easy to defeat. But I could tell he was lying.
I knew that serpent was one of the hardest foes my brother had ever faced. If he came hunting for us while we were mortal.. Let's just say it would be bad.. Very bad indeed.
I ended that train of thought right then and there. There is no point in overthinking mere possibilities. No point in worrying over completely probable outcomes. We passed a Prius with the unmistakable pattern of pegasus prints across the hood. About half a block down I recognized the building. Apollo muttered a weak confirmation, he was painfully pale. He needed to rest. Mortal bodies need to recharge, the more damage they sustain the faster they lose energy, and Apollo looked about a minute away from collapsing.
We walked up to the front steps, my hand on his shoulder. He stumbled, almost falling. If it wasn't for me, he would have fallen flat on his face. I steadied him. He murmured a weak thanks.
Meg froze as if she had walked into an invisible wall, and let me tell you, invisible walls are the absolute worst.
"Is there an issue?" I inquired.
"Thought I saw them again."
"Them?" I scowled, "the thugs?"
Apollo audibly winced. The fields of punishment would be merciful compared to the punishments I was going to bestow upon them once we were gods again.
"No" Apollo exhaled, losing a bit of tension in his shoulders. "A couple of.. Shiny.. Blobs.. I first saw them way back of Park Avenue."
"Shiny blobs? Why didn't you say anything?!" Apollo said, I bet he wanted to sound angry, but all he managed was to sound out of breath and slightly exasperated.
"I've seen a lot of weird stuff. Things don't really bother me much"
My eyes swept the streets, I saw nothing amiss. I didn't doubt Meg had seen the blobs, spirits can take many forms. But I couldn't help but be reminded of that time my father seduced a woman by turning into a blob. Disgusting.
"We should get inside quickly if there are blobs.." Apollo nodded in agreement. Meg just seemed nervous. It's amazing how she could go from pelting thugs with trash but be second-guessing herself about ringing a doorbell. It occurred to me that she might have had some.. unsavory meetings with demigods before. "Meg, I realize that some demigods are not good. I could tell you countless stories of men I have had to turn into jackals. My brother here has turned his fair share of demigods into herbs."
"Herbs?"
"But Perseus has always been reliable. I let him into my camp. He is the only male this century I've allowed that privilege without them ending up as a woodland creature." I smiled reassuringly.
"So let's go up." Apollo took an unsteady step towards the buzzer, I set my hand his shoulder.
"Allow me. You should save your energy."
"I'm fine Artemis.. I can ring a doorbell" I gave him a pointed look and allowed him to press the button. "Yeah, I suppose you can do that." There was a buzzer and the garbled voice of a woman answered. I Stepped in front of Apollo. He made a "what the hades" face. I only specified he could ring the bell.
"This is Artemis."
Static.
"The goddess. Apollo is with me" I continued. "Is Perseus here?"
More static, followed by two voices in a muted conversation. The front door buzzed, signaling they were letting us in. Apollo and Meg went inside, just before I stepped in I thought I saw a flicker of movement in the corner of my eyes, but when I turned I didn't see anything.
"Did you see something?" Apollo asked quietly.
"Possibly." Apollo took a shaky breath.
"Let's not keep out hosts waiting" I stated, hoping there was an elevator.
Sadly, it turns out there was no elevator. Only stairs, and the Jacksons lived on the fifth floor. It took so much longer than it should have to climb up the stairs, every step caused Apollo to whimper or wince. He had to rest every 4 to 6 steps, It was terrifying to see my brother like this. He wasn't supposed to be like this. He was supposed to be strong. He wasn't supposed to be incapable of climbing stairs.
I didn't expect much for our greeting. Maybe a prayer or an offering, something that showed their respect. What I didn't expect was for Perseus to swing open the apartment door and say "Why"
But of course, that's exactly what happened.
It once again shocked me just how much he resembled his father, however, it seemed Perseus did not favor Hawaiian shirts and beach shorts.
Meg inched back into the hallway, hiding behind Apollo.
"Perseus-"
"ItsPercy."
I sighed. "Percy Jackson, our blessings upon you. We are in dire need of assistance."
Percy's eyes darted from me to Apollo, then to Meg.
"Who's your friend?"
"This is Meg McCaffrey," I stated, "She's demigod who must be taken to Camp Half-Blood. She rescued us from street thugs." Apollo looked mightily uncomfortable. His nose had started bleeding again.
"Rescued…" Percy scanned Apollo's battered face. "You mean the 'beat-up teenager' look isn't just a disguise? Dude, what happened to you?"
"There were thugs." I said curtly.
"But you're a god."
"About that…Weweregods."
Percy blinked. "Were?"
"Yes. Was." Apollo said sharply. "Also, there is a good possibility we're being followed by malicious spirits."
He looked like he was about to punch Apollo in his already broken nose. He sighed. "Maybe you three should come inside."