Chapter 3: Stars
The Summer vacation has barely started and Delia already wished they were over. Two full months of nothing but exposure to the Dursleys and chores were hell on earth. At least in school she could learn new interesting things or hide in the school library. Despite her now discovered learning disability - dyslexia they called it - she loved to read, or at least try to.
During this particular day, the Dursleys decided to have guests from Vernon's work come over. The routine was already drilled into her from a young age: clean the house, make the food, hide in the cupboard, don't even think of making a sound and clean up everything once the guests are gone. She was currently on the final phase of the routine: clean up everything. She grabbed the final dirty plate on the table, ready to add it to the wash pile. As she walked over to the sink, she slipped on one of Dudley's toys laying on the ground. It was almost like everything happened in slow motion, as if the plate was hovering for a bit, before it ultimately fell on the ground, with a resounding sound that only broken china can make.
"Now you have really done it, you FREAK!" Vernon yelled as he jumped up from his seat in front of the telly and stormed towards her. His face is already turning a reddish shade of purple.
"I'm sorry uncle! I didn't mean to do it! I swear! I will never do it again! Please uncle!" She cried out, desperately trying to get some distance in between her and her uncle.
"I don't want to hear your excuses girl! Maybe I just have to knock some sense into you, it has been long overdue! It might even help against all that freakishness you get up to!" Delia could smell the alcohol on his breath.
"No please, uncle!" She begged, dodging his first attempt to grab her. However, it only served to make him more mad. He slapped her in the face before he roughly grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, while freeing his belt. Delia was quivering in his hold. He started to hit her with his belt on her back, as Delia started crying out in pain. Never before had he gone so far. He never went further than some slaps and rough handling.
Her aunt had regarded all of this with a resigned look on her face, as if she expected this to happen sooner or later. Dudley however looked on with his eyes wide open, staring from his father to Delia and back. Vernon only stopped when he felt like she received a satisfying amount of lashes. He grabbed her by her wrist and tossed her in her cupboard under the stairs and immediately shut the door with a resounding BANG. Her back felt like it was on fire and her wrist hurt badly, probably broken or dislocated.
As her uncle was dragging her towards the cupboard, she had started to hear that all too familiar high pitched sound again. Right before she could properly fall down on her ratty mattress, the dark cupboard started to brighten up, and eventually she had to close her eyes against the brightness.
Delia fell on the ground, hard, and didn't move for a while. Instead, she slowly opened her eyes and stared at the sky, not blinking once. Tears were still streaming down her cheeks. She didn't even notice when someone found her, tried to talk to her, eventually picked her up gently, and carried her away. It was only once she heard multiple panicked voices arguing, that she broke through the shock and realised she was back in the cabin in Delos. Moving hurt, but she needed to look around. From her first glance of the cabin, it had barely changed, just some extra rugs laying around. Her last visit here felt like a lifetime ago.
She noticed she was laying belly down on Artemis' bed, while the bed's owner was pacing next to her, with a very dark look on her face. Further in the room she saw Leto in a discussion with Apollo, he was making wild gestions with his hands in Delia's direction. She couldn't fully catch what they were saying, she thought she heard something along the lines of "Nectar will burn her up!", but it was all a bit fuzzy. Leto merely seemed to roll her eyes before answering something.
Delia tried to lift herself up so she could sit. It was then that her back decided to draw more attention to itself and she couldn't hold back a slight grunt of pain. Artemis whirled around and instantly was at her side. She carefully pushed Delia back in the bed, mindful of her injuries.
"Hey, what happened to you?" She asked with a very tender voice, while grabbing hold of one of Delia's hands.
"My uncle… he… he just lost it. I dropped a plate, one of my aunt's favourite plates. He didn't like that very much." Delia said, while looking straight at a wall, too ashamed to make eye contact with anyone.
Artemis squeezed her hand and with a look of determination in her eyes, she asked: "Where does he live? I can -"
"Artemis, that's enough." Leto interjected firmly, after which Artemis looked at her mother in pure disbelief. Leto approached them with a cup in her hands. "Delia dear, could you drink this? It should make you feel better." Apollo was still looking at his mother as if she had grown a second head.
She did what Leto asked of her, and drained the cup in one go. It tasted heavenly, just like the fresh stew Leto had made the first evening of her being on the island, like the feeling of home. That didn't make any sense at all, how can a drink taste like that? The confusion must have shown on her face, as Leto quickly said "It's normal that it tastes weird, it's different for everyone. The… medicine should take care of most of your injuries, you'll need to stay in bed for the rest of the day though. Am I clear?"
"Yes ma'am!" Delia said, already feeling much better after drinking that potion. She started to get excited to be back in Delos, back with the twins.
"It's good to have you back dear, please be careful." She said while brushing some stray strands of hair behind Delia's ears. "I'll start making dinner now, you'll need some good food to get back to full strength." And with that, Leto left the room so the kids could talk.
"So your uncle did this to you? Why?" Apollo asked, his face showing some of the fury he felt on the inside. He was clenching both of his fists.
"Yes." She answered tensely. "Can we please talk about something else? Did Arty win that hunting competition?"
Artemis decided to follow her request, even though she wanted to continue questioning her on what transpired with her uncle. She carefully hopped on the bed next to Delia and smugly answered "Of course I did. As if there was ever doubt of me being the superior hunter!"
"But you cheated!" Accused Apollo, while hopping on the other side of the bed.
They spent the rest of the afternoon joking around while laying on Artemis' bed. The following weeks were spent playing, hunting, challenging each other in hitting certain targets with a bow (Delia truly didn't stand a chance), running around in the forest, and on one occasion Apollo even started teaching Delia how to sing. She had never heard anyone sing as beautifully as Apollo could. He promised her that if she kept practising, she would become one of the best too. She would definitely have to try.
It was a late night, the twins and Delia had opted to stay outside during the night, with permission of their mother. They were laying next to each other, with their backs on the grass, looking up at the stars.
"You see that one over there?" Artemis asked, pointing more to the right "That one is called 'Delphinus'. He was a servant of Poseidon and helped him in wooing the woman he wanted to marry, her name is Amphitrite. Out of gratitude for the help, Poseidon placed Delphinus amongst the stars."
"How do you even know all of these stories? There are so many!" Delia said with some awe. "You're not just making these up, are you?"
"She spends most of her evenings star gazing rather than sleeping, why anyone would want to skip on sleeping goes beyond me. I mean it's sleep!" Apollo interjected heatedly, clearly this has been a recurring discussion.
"I just like the stars and the moon, that's all. One day I wish to add more stars to the sky." Artemis answered, firmly ignoring Apollo's comment.
"How would you even do that?" Delia asked amused.
Apollo and Artemis quickly glanced at each other - without Delia noticing as she was still looking up - they were unsure how to proceed. "I don't know yet, but I will find a way, I'm sure of it. What do you want to do later, when you're grown up?" She said, quickly changing the subject of conversation.
Delia briefly pondered over the question, before answering "I honestly have never thought about it before. Maybe a lawyer or a teacher? I don't really know. How about you guys?"
"I want to be a healer! Healing people is awesome. Music is pretty cool too. You can just brighten someone's day up with it." Apollo said with a big goofy smile on his face. "How about you, sister?"
"Hmm, I wish to help children, the innocents. Maybe I could form a hunting group to protect nature and those who can't protect themselves." She said with full determination, looking straight at Delia. Apollo seemed to approve and nodded his head. She jokingly added "I bet I would make one hell of a midwife too."
"Keep dreaming sis, I'm still better at it! It's getting late though, I think I'm heading back inside. Are you girls coming too?" He asked, while getting back up.
"I would rather stay outside for a bit longer," Delia says, while sitting straight. "how about you Arty?"
"Same here, the night is still young."
"Very well, see you both tomorrow, good night!" He said, while walking back to the cabin.
"So… protecting children, those who can't protect themselves, hu?" Delia asked, clearly interested. She wasn't stupid, she knew where Artemis' idea was coming from.
Artemis immediately sat back up too. "Yes, no one should have to go through what you're going through! Children should be cherished and protected! Which reminds me, I have something for you." She said, while grabbing something from her pouch. It was a silver colored necklace with a pendant in the shape of a crescent moon and a little round piece of citrine hanging under it.
Delia gasps when she sees it. "Arty, this is beautiful! I can't just accept this! I have nothing to give you in return!"
"Please accept my present and always, and I mean always, carry it on you. It's very important to me." Artemis says pleadingly, her doe-eyes kicking into full effect.
"I… thank you, no one has ever given me something before, thank you so much!" She blinks some tears out of her eyes, puts on the necklace and pulls Artemis in a bone crushing hug.
"There is something more to all of this, isn't there?" Delia suddenly asked, while looking Artemis straight in the eyes.
Artemis was caught off guard and became hesitant. "I… I can't… Mum has forbidden us to tell you about it. She says you're too young to know. That it wasn't our place to inform you, or at least not yet."
"But we're the same age!" Delia cried out in outrage.
"I know, but we were pretty much born with the knowledge."
Delia sighs. "I understand. I just hope that one day you might trust me enough to understand."
"It's not that I don't trust you, because I do, you're family! It's just… it's safer for you if you don't know about it yet. I care a lot about you, so please, don't ask me." Delia scans Artemis' face for any trace of deceit, and as she found none, she nodded and decided to drop the matter. She laid back down in the grass, eyes firmly to the night sky. "I care a lot about you too, Arty. I believe you. I'm sorry."
Artemis relaxed at her admission, followed her example and laid back down next to her. After a minute of silence she asked while pointing up "Do you know the story behind 'Aquarius'? It's the constellation right there."
"I know a drink by that name, but not a constellation."
"There once was a handsome Trojan prince …". The rest of the evening was filled with more tales about several constellations. Delia was surprised that the stars here were so different from the ones she knew back home. For example the Ursa Maior was missing, which was one of the few stars she knew from back home. Interesting how some things are the same, while others are so different.
As the stories were discussed and the hours passed by, Delia slowly started to nod off. Eventually, she fell asleep on Artemis' shoulder. Artemis decided to follow Delia's example, rested her head on top of Delia's, and fell asleep too.
The following morning, when Artemis was woken up by the sun glaring in her eyes, she discovered that Delia was missing. Considering she was a very light sleeper, she didn't deem it possible for Delia to get up and leave without her hearing it. Besides, Delia would definitely wake her up so she could join her. Artemis knew it could only mean one thing, as she was looking at the now empty spot with a sad smile on her face. She decided to get up and walk to the cabin for some breakfast, as she met Apollo just outside of it.
He looked around for a few seconds, clearly searching for someone, before he frowned and asked her "Is Delia -".
"Yes, she disappeared again." Artemis cut him off, clearly sad about her disappearance.
"Were you able to give it to her?"
Artemis closed her eyes, clearmy focusing on something for a few seconds, before she answered "Yes, but I can't sense her anywhere. Can you?"
"No, I can't sense her either. Don't worry, we'll find her, no matter how long it takes." Apollo said, as he looked at her with determination in his eyes.
AN: So brain dead me decided to quickly write this chapter in a quite tired state (only two more weeks of exams to go after this, yeey). I didn't proofread it as much as I usually would, so sorry for the probably increased rate of errors.
I'm currently planning on skipping a lot of HP content (majority of first two years), by focusing mainly on the x-over part. Reason for this is that Delia will be very much like canon HP during the first years, to only truly diverge later on, as she discovers what she is and what she can do. Once that happens, the 'jumps' will become more frequent.
Cya again in a week or two.
Anon2018 - Lmao, not so much a problem with the 'guest' part, but more with his way of delivering his opinions :P I definitely agree that the fast growing body, early speech etc don't necessarily translate to being mature and making good decisions. Everyone needs life experiences for that.
The ApolloxDeliaxArtemis has been a bit on my mind. I wasn't sure if people were down for that, as I haven't seen many of those. I'm generally leaning towards a DxAr, but if I find a way to make it fit, I'll add Apollo to the mix (so I guess we kinda have a winner). The fact that most of his myths involve him fooling around with someone does make it a bit challenging though, especially if you look at the circumstances of some of those. Not gonna lie, as a non-anime watcher, I had to google those terms, they are definitely fitting.
I haven't planned out all chapters yet, I mainly have looked through Artemis' and Apollo's myths, and pinpointed what I want to include or at least reference, I'm still constantly shuffling the order of it all though. Daphne's story definitely is a good example of what to use, just not entirely sure how and when yet, gotta let that 'rest' for a bit. As you could see in this chapter, I did plan out some help for her, as well as her catching onto the fact that the names and their skills can't be coincidences anymore. She will be suspicious for sure, but more about that in future chapters ;)
Tl;dr, I definitely loved your comment and insights, thanks for the feedback :)
Tiger2020 - The focus will probably be Artemis, but if I can find a - in my opinion - decent way to include Apollo in it, then it will be the 3 of them. His love stories often are tragic, but more often than not by his own doing, like him trying to rape Daphne (when Delia sees that happen in front of her, it will definitely have quite an impact). So for now, she will continue as a sister figure, his 'little sister' if you will ;)
Clexaislife2014 - Me neither, mais c'est la vie. Awesome to hear that you like it so far, thanks! Not too big of a fan of a relationship with the canon Apollo either, he is more of an irresponsible comedic relief imo (fair warning, haven't read ToA books yet, so don't know how much his character develops there). So if Delia would end up with him, he would definitely have a somewhat different personality.