#mama myrmeke

[citrusreadstoa]

Reading The Hidden Oracle: Chapter 28 (SPOILERS)

"Mamas, don't let your larvae / Grow up to be ants" Then wtf are they supposed to grow up to be?

"I've turned too many people I cared about into flowers, Meg." HAHAHAHA big L. He's not even a god anymore and he'll still manage to turn Meg into a flower.

"BRASIL!" That really is a lucky bandana. Are we sure Paolo isn't one of Tyche's? Nah, his spontaneous amputations kind of offset the luck. Oh well, good thing the bandana bought enough time for the roof to collapse. "I can never tell Paolo about this or he'll be insufferable." No, tell him!

"Meg shook her head. 'You don't understand. I--'" Ohohoho she was about to confess to being a spy~ I'll admit, I almost forgot about that plot point.

"leaving the godly toilet seat up." Gods use toilets?

"a towering mass of black chitin" CHITIN (n.):  the material that gives strength to the exoskeletons of crustaceans, insects, and the cell walls of fungi

"a daughter of Demeter could hear the growth of plants." That's horrifying and awesome and intriguing. I wonder what it sounds like.

"by singing and practicing archery, I had broken my oath . . . not once but twice." Again, is this because singing counts as using a musical instrument or because he was using the anthill as an instrument to project his voice?

"When I sang that I could only wish to marry a woman (or insect) so fine someday, my heartbreak was real. I would never have such a partner. It was not in my destiny." This is the strangest moment to get worked up over heartbreak. Also, does he know for sure that he's not destined to find a permanent partner because he's the god of prophecy or is he just moping?

[twoidiotwriters1]

Almighty (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: This one hurt! -Danny Words: 2,178 Series' Masterlist Previous Chapter // Next Chapter Listen to: 'Let The Grass Grow' -by Ruel

XVIII: This Apollo Is Not Demure nor Mindful

"Bring me the flying chariot!" Ara runs into battle. "Nyssa, Malcolm, assessment of weak points, hand over weapons—Lily, go with them and come back with a strategy! Nico, you come with me—Put that down, Harley!"

Everyone rushes to aid the Athena statue, Chiron stays on the ground while Ara and Nico climb into the chariot and fly to the automaton's head. "I'd like to point out that I work better on the ground!" Nico exclaims, clinging to the vehicle.

"You're a last resource!" Ara shouts back. "You weaken too fast nowadays, I gotta keep an eye on you—"

"I'll be fine!"

"Bomb!" Ara stretches out her palm and Nico places the item on it. She tosses it and the automaton stumbles to the side by the force of the explosion, but it's a strong design, and Ara fails to see weaknesses. This looks like it took time to make, these men had centuries to plan the perfect way to level her camp, hoping for its weakest moment, and they consider Ara's time to be just that.

Nico swears loudly. "Are those Myrmekes?" He squints. "Carrying Apollo?"

Ara groans in dislike. "He brought Mama?"

"IMPOSTER! I AM THE REAL APOLLO! YOU'RE UGLY!" Apollo screams. The statue slams a hand against him and tosses the ant away, ripping out its wings. 

"He loves falling nowadays, doesn't he?" Ara says, ignoring for a moment that she promised not to make fun of him.

"Put me down on the ground!" Nico demands, spotting Will going to aid his father.

Ara obeys, but only because she wants to hear if Apollo has any prophecies that could be of use. The moment he sees his chariot, he climbs in it, demanding her to go back up. "What's the plan?" She asks.

"I shoot plague through the ear, you drive!"

"How is that going to kill this thing?"

"Because I want it to!"

"I don't feel confident in your plan."

"How about this..." He draws the last arrow on his quiver. "This is my last shot. Failing isn't an option."

"I like that attitude," Ara fixes her gaze on the statue.

Apollo looks down at his arrow with wide eyes. "Did you just speak to me?" He frowns. "But you're an arrow, shooting you is the whole point..." 

"Are you talking to that thing?" Ara asks in confusion. "We're on a tight schedule here, dude, you—NO!" The statue stumbles forward and smashes the pavilion under one foot. "No! That's gonna take ages to fix, you foul piece of—!"

She summons lightning and it comes down right on the statue's head. Ara has half a second to feel happy before she discovers that was a terrible idea, now the automaton is ready to go for another five rounds.

"You can't hear this arrow talking?" Apollo places the item next to her face.

Ara slaps it away. "No! Don't touch me while I'm driving!"

"What would you suggest, O Wise Missile of Dodona?" Apollo brings the arrow back to his side. "My quiver is empty."

"I can give you arrows if that thing won't do it," Ara reaches for Almighty and clicks on it twice, the weight of her quiver making itself present. "Hurry, Apollo, this thing is walking to the cabins!"

The former god grabs one and stares at it, then speaks in a choked voice. "I can't!"

Ara glares at him. "Apollo!"

"I forgot the enchantment! Did Michael ever—"

"No, he thought I would abuse those tricks!" Ara makes a face. "He didn't think highly of me when it came to weaponry and magic tricks, now that I think about it. Perhaps he knew what he was doing when he nicknamed me Beast..."

Apollo looks like he wants to dive deeper into that statement, but then his eyes widen and he yells at the arrow on his quiver. "The enchantment does not start plaguey, plaguey, plaguey!"

"Can't you just sing like in the nest? About sickness and plagues and..." Ara pauses, coming up with a new plan. "Music! You told Harley automatons are sensitive to some waves or whatever, right? I can stun it!" She points at the box between her feet. "Sonic bombs! That can slow it down!" 

Apollo grabs one. "Cover your ears!"

Luckily they're high enough that the campers won't get the full blast of it. Ara pulls Apollo down after he tosses it, the chariot swerves impulsed by the soundwave and Ara struggles to keep it from toppling. The statue vibrates and stays still for five full seconds. Ara nudges Apollo excitedly. "It works! Now we just need to keep it coming..." She has two sonic bombs left, she'll need something else to slow it down.

"Hey, Bronze Butt!" A voice causes her to see in brighter colors: Percy's here. Her brother and Mrs O'Leary land on the statue's head, but the hellhound freaks out and pees over it. Percy slides off without seeing and falls flat on the liquid. "What the—Mrs. O'Leary, jeez!"

"Nemo!" Ara calls, reaching to pull him into the chariot.

Percy jumps and holds onto her, Ara gawks at the pee that he smears on her hand. "All right, who unleashed the giant bronze guy?" Her brother grunts. "Apollo, did you do this?"

"I am offended! I am only indirectly responsible for this! Also, I have a plan to fix it." 

"Oh, yeah? How's that going?"

"Listen, if you're gonna be insolent at least do it while keeping this thing away from the cabins!" Ara says. "Mrs O'Leary, out of the way!"

"Are you wearing a flower crown?" Percy squints while their dog shadow travels away. "Are those growing out of your head?"

"Percy!" She urges him.

He extends a hand and calls for the sea. "Hey, Bronze Butt! You stink! Take a shower!"

Ara tosses the second sonic bomb and the boys duck, then Percy wraps the statue in a whirl of seawater and drags it closer to the beach. "Well?" He looks at Apollo. "Start helping!"

Ara sees her campers running after them, shouting and tossing all kinds of stuff at the giant Apollo while careful not to get stepped on. Lester whispers behind them frantically, and Ara can feel the power emanating from him, tickling her neck. 

"Get me next to its ear!" He exclaims suddenly.

Ara takes a sharp turn that almost causes Percy to fall over. "Watch it!" He rasps.

"Stop fighting! Don't breathe!" Apollo shouts his commands anxiously one after the other.

Percy seems less than happy, every time he's close to Apollo his oxygen privileges get revoked way too frequently. "Shoot it at three!" Ara grabs the last sonic bomb. "One... Two..." Apollo tenses the arrow on his bow and Ara tosses the bomb, which explodes and stuns the automaton one last time. She waits for a second and then screams. "THREE!"

Apollo shoots and Percy drags the statue into the sea, sinking it further into the sand to make sure it can't move once it recovers. Apollo's arrow cutting through the wind is one of the most beautiful things Ara's ever heard, and the sight of it falling straight into the Colossus's ear is just as great.

"Scatter!" She shouts at the demigods below.

The girl hadn't noticed before, but the statue's nostrils are sealed. Once, Leo told her that if a person tried to hold their nose and keep their eyes open while sneezing, they were likely to pop their eyeballs right out. Now she gets to see that on a large demonstration dummy. 

The statue sneezes making a noise almost as horrid as her sonic bombs, his ears pop off just like the top of its head, and they get gallons and gallons of oil over them. "Eurgh!" Percy recoils in the chariot. "Man, this sucks!"

"Take us down, General..." Apollo slips sideways.

Ara lands the chariot where Will, Austin, and Kayla are. They quickly gather around their father to bring him back, Percy slips out of the chariot, and Ara drives the thing a bit further away to make sure the statue doesn't flatten it. The Colossus sneezes again, and Ara runs up to the crowd. "So is that thing dying soon, or...?"

"It's just hay fever, I think," Apollo sighs tiredly. "The best I could do in this punny, weak excuse for a teenage body I'm stuck in."

"You're alright," Ara nudges his shoulder and lowers her voice. "Make an offering."

"What?" Apollo frowns. 

"The statue. Offer it to your dad as proof of your good deed."

"But I barely did anything!"

"Lester," Ara orders. "Do it."

"Oh, mighty Zeus! King of Olympus!" Apollo speaks loud and clear. "Please take this statue as proof of my full commitment to right my wrongs!"

"Good luck fitting that in your backyard, McQueen..." Ara mutters with satisfaction.

The statue sneezes a third time, toppling backward and landing on the water. As soon as it touches the surface, it turns into gold and white foam until it disappears.

It takes an hour to get rid of the oil, the hyacinths are still stuck on her head, but the roots feel weaker. Once that's done, Ara goes out to evaluate the damages done to her camp. The docks will need to be rebuilt, the pavilion too, and the barriers need to be put back up again.

Percy and Lily are with her, helping where they can. Ara's octopus was returned, Meg gave it back to Apollo before disappearing into the woods because she didn't want Ara to think she was a thief, which of course, only made Ara feel even worse about everything.

Percy decides to stay the night, so now he's chatting with Ara on the Big House's porch a few minutes before curfew. Ara tells him everything and he listens in silence, though his expression grows concerned. 

"Ara, if that's all true then..."

The girl leans on the woodrail and sighs. "Apollo got a prophecy," she says carefully. "I don't know if Apollo... if Lester is my obligation, but..."

"But you're going to help him," Percy says knowingly. "It will be tough, Ara. It's not just one thing to recover, one bad guy to keep an eye on. We're talking about three oracles and three emperors who, by the sound of it, are monsters."

She speaks quietly. "Nero called New York his city, and that felt gross, Percy. My campers, and demigods we don't even know, they're all at risk of ending up on his side of town, and the only way to take them down is by retrieving the oracles—by turning Lester back into a god. Meg is out there and she's..." Ara's voice fails her. "She needs me."

"We all do," he says, though he doesn't sound angry, just tired. "Estelle too."

She knows that. And she knows no one will be glad to see her go, and she knows that if Leo comes back and she isn't here, he'll be upset. She can't afford to dwell on it anyway. Ara is the daughter of Olympus, and if there's ever been a quest that concerns her, this is it. 

She's used to this, ripping off the bandaid, being the detached character that goes where she's needed. It requires a level of control over emotions not many have, but she's always been good at numbing out her despair. She excels at pretending the thought of dying has never crossed her mind when in reality she thinks of it at least five times a day.

Ara heaves a sigh. "There is nothing you can say that will keep me from going, Percy."

"I know I can't stop you. Not even our parents can't stop you. I mean, when I showed up without you Mom didn't even look surprised. Paul asked a few questions, but we all knew this was coming. Things can't be normal when one of us is the daughter of Olympus, that doesn't mean it doesn't suck."

Ara slides down and sits on the floor, her back against the railing. "If it were just Apollo..."

"But it's never about the gods, is it?" Percy sits beside her. "There is no one else that cares about demigods more than you do... And that's great Ara, but it comes at too high of a price."

"I know you think I wasn't aware of it when I became a General, but I knew," she rubs her forehead wearily. "The thing is, when you grow up like I did, abandoned, then overlooked, until you're finally given something precious, you do anything to keep it safe. Anything. I can live with all of you resenting me for leaving, but I cannot stay and watch everything die knowing I could've made a difference."

"I think you're a little Atlas," Percy says, eyes misty. "But like, a good kind. One that takes the weight of things without complaining."

"I complain all the time," she laughs dryly.

"You barely complain," he insists, placing an arm on her shoulders and pulling her closer. 

Ara gulps down the lump in her throat. "I keep having this feeling... like this will be my last big quest."

The boy buries his nose in her hair, the smell of hyacinths strong and exquisite, but it makes him think of a corpse beautifully decorated, and he has to push back a shiver. "You... you can do it. Look at all you did this week and with almost no help!"

"Apollo helped..." At her brother's silence, she sighs. "Yeah, almost no help."

Next Chapter –>

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[rediscoverwonder]

There are more pregnant mothers in the first two ToA books than there are in every other Riordanverse book combined.

[literallyjusttoa]

THEORY TIME

So ToN is forever away, but I wanted to talk about something I hope will happen, and has a bit of evidence backing it up (not a lot of evidence tho im kinda stretching here but bear with me)

(Theory stuff under the cut)

I was thinking, what if Python joined Apollo’s side?

Now I know that sounds crazy, but hear me out! In the past four books, there has always been an enemy who needs to be defeated, and an enemy who has shifted stances and joined Apollo’s side. For example:

THO: The only real villains other than Nero were the myrmekes, who were redeemed through Mama, and helped defeat The Colossus.

TDP: Lityerses was the right hand to Commodus and an antagonist in the HoO series, but Apollo rescued him and he was eventually redeemed, helping to defend the Waystation.

TBM: Probably the most obvious example, Crest worked for Caligula, but decided to join Apollo’s side, sacrificing himself to distract Medea.

TTT: This one’s a bit tricky. There’s no outright redemption in this book, but there is Harpocrates, who heard of how Apollo changed and decided not to kill him. Harpocrates didn’t really need to be redeemed, but he did need closure, and learning of Apollo’s growth helped him get that.

All of these characters have two things in common, They changed sides, and they did so because of something Apollo did. The theme here seems to be that as Apollo changes and redeems himself, he also helps to redeem the people around him. With that being said, we only have two definite villains for ToN, Nero and Python. Nero is DEFINITELY not getting redeemed, so it would make sense that Python would join Apollo’s side. I don’t think we’ll have another villain, because introducing someone new that’s major this late in the series seems like it’ll come out of nowhere. I might be wrong tho, I got no clue what’s going on in Uncle Rick’s brain.

Another thing I find interesting is that throughout the four books, we have gotten almost no characterization for Python. Think about it, right now, all we know about Python is that he wants Apollo dead. We can’t even say he wants control of all the oracles, because in the conversation he had with Nero, it’s implied that that’s only the Trimunitave’s goal and Python only wants Delphi. Of course, Python could just want Apollo dead because Apollo had killed him before, but that’s such a basic answer and provides no depth to his character. In every other Rick Riordan series, the big bad has been given complex motives that are explored throughout the books, but we’ve had almost no mention of Python other than random throw-away lines. This might be because Rick wants to redeem Python in ToN and therefore would need to keep his motives a secret.

Also, Apollo is regaining a lot of his strength, but he’s not at full godly power yet, and even if he was, he’s said himself that the battle with Python spanned many days and was a very close victory. I just don’t see Apollo having enough strength to beat Python with brute force by the end of ToN.

I mean, wouldn’t Python joining Apollo’s side be super cool? It would show Apollo’s growth as a character by having him work with his worst enemy. And it would be a nice callback to the very beginning of Apollo’s mythos. He started off by killing Python, and now he has to end off his growth by talking to Python instead of killing him. It would also add a lot more characterization for Python. Why was he in Delphi? What connections does he have to prophecy? Does he have any connection to Tartarus due to being an extremely powerful monster? (And sense he spent so much time in Tartarus, since he only just reformed now, 4000 years after he was killed) On that note, why did it take him so long to reform? He has sentience and seems rather intelligent, so what are his views on the emperors/gods/other stuff? Some of these questions might be answered in mythology and I just haven’t heard about it, but even so, Rick often strays from mythology to advance the story. Idk I just think it sounds pretty awesome. Also it would be a big fuck you to Zeus, because the whole reason Apollo was made mortal was to slay Python, and pissing off Zeus is always a good reason to have something happen.

wow, this was a lot longer than I thought it would be. Hope it wasn’t too rambly, I kinda just typed it out stream of consciousness style oof. Tell me what you guys think! Love the idea? Hate it with a burning passion? Don’t be scared to share!

[flightfoot]

Memories of Godly Selfishness Ch.4

So I meant to get this out by April Fool’s Day. Clearly I missed that deadline. Still, maybe it’s for the best. I ended up having more to say than I thought, and it’s more angsty than funny. 

“Why did I agree to watch this again?”

“Because it’s a marvelous educational film directed by and starring moi.”

Meg stared at me. I relented. “...and because you lost a bet.”

We’d arrived at Camp Half-Blood a few days ago to recuperate and sort out our next move. I’d been delighted to see my children again. If they tell you I blubbered like a baby and couldn’t string three coherent words together though, they’re lying.

The Demeter Cabin welcomed Meg with open arms. She hadn’t had much chance to get to know her siblings due to... ah... circumstances, but from the tears in the corners of her eyes, I could tell she was happy to see her family too.

We’d each sat and ate at our respective tables and got to talking. I’d mentioned to my kids how proud I was of the orientation film I’d made, and how Meg had deprived herself of it. They had some weird screwed-up expressions on their face after I said that, which I still haven’t figured out what they meant. Austin came up with a brilliant idea to get Meg to watch it; have a small capture the flag competition between just the Demeter and Apollo Cabins. If we won, anyone who hadn’t already seen the Orientation film would have to watch it (both cabins insisted on that condition. Apparently both had seen it recently and didn’t want to rewatch it for some reason) while if they won, the Apollo cabin would have to muck out the Pegasus stables.

Naturally we won, because my children are brilliant and wonderful. The Demeter cabin put up a fair fight though. It took me half-an-hour to pick all the burrs out of my hair.

For some reason, the Campers acted like Meg was about to die. They all said that they’d work on making a shroud for her. I still can’t understand why. Sometimes I think I understand demigods, and then they do something like that. Perhaps it’s an inside joke?

In any case, the demigods had helped us set up the viewing equipment and then hastily left before the film could start, leaving just me and Meg.

The movie started with darkness, as all good movies do. A spotlight turned on, illuminating my divine self.

I nearly cried. My long, golden, flowing hair! My cheekbones! My flawless skin! My eight-pack abs! Oh, the cruelty of Zeus knew no bounds! He couldn’t have let me keep my hair at least? The medium-length hair I was now sporting was no good for flipping dramatically, or waving majestically in the breeze! Ah, and that chiton I was wearing. I could never pull it off in my current form, but it showed off my muscular godly thighs so well!

On the screen, I held out a book. I cleared my throat, “A poem by Apollo, recited dramatically by... Apollo:

O Immortal Chiron, Centaur wise and true, Trainer of our heroes, Just remember who taught you. “

Speaking of heroes....

I glanced at Meg, gauging her reaction to seeing my divine self. Her eyes were wide with shock, her mouth slightly agape. “That’s YOU?!” she exclaimed, looking back-and-forth between my appearance on-screen, and now.

“Yes,” I said wistfully. “That’s what I normally look like... mostly. I change things a bit, sometimes appearing older, sometimes younger, changing eye colors and hairstyles too, but that’s a pretty typical look for me.”

She studied me some more, looking less shocked and more inquisitive now. “You look nothing like that now.”

I groaned. “I KNOW.”

She looked back at the screen with some trepidation, as I gave narration. “You’re not gonna bend over, are you? I don’t wanna see your butt.”

I huffed. “I’ll have you know, my butt is perfect.”

“Don’t care, don’t wanna see it.”

I grumbled a little, but secretly I agreed. I’d seen enough of my butt when the gigantic statue of me - with Nero’s face plastered on it - rampaged around Camp Half-Blood.

The next segment started up a few minutes later. This time I was dressed in a glittery suit and my hair was slicked back. An a cappella choir of demigods stood behind me, all dressed in suits. I pointed to the boys and then the girls side, directing them to start singing the background tune I needed. In the present day, I appreciated their ability to harmonize. Clearly none of Hermes’ children were in this segment. I still remembered Cecil’s complete inability to follow rhythm when we needed to appeal the Mama Myrmekes.

After they were properly warmed up, I announced:

“Ladies and Gentlemen... the Lyre Choir!”

As the choir sang a soft, slow background melody, I began singing.

“Marble may be marble-lous,

And wood might be good.

Stone’s a sturdy choice,

for this half-blood neighborhood.

But for my children’s cabin,

I demand something more divine.

so give me precious metal,

and make it GOLD every time!”

I hummed along to the melody. I’d forgotten I’d put in musical segments, but I was glad I did. Nothing could make an educational film entertaining like music!

[Everyone sings]: Gold, gold, gold, gold - there’s nothing quite so bright!

Gold, gold, gold, gold - it reflects Apollo’s might!

I stared at my hands for a moment at that one. I certainly didn’t feel mighty now. And not just because I’d lost my power. I hadn’t been able to protect my children. They’d been kidnapped because of me. Jason had died because of me. The Emperors were still out there, still intent on subjugating all the demigods, like how Nero kidnapped Meg. And Python, my old nemesis, still waited for me, plotting my destruction.

But even if I’d still been a god, what would have changed?

I would have gone after Python, scared as I was of him. I would have defeated him or died trying.

But not much more than that.

Maybe I would have intervened when my own children went missing - if they went missing. That had at least partly been to bait me. I could see leaving a hint to their location, assuming I knew where they were.

I wouldn’t have intervened prior to that. Demigods go missing? Who cares! They go missing or die all the time.

The battle at the Waystation? The struggle against Caligula on the boats? Maybe I would’ve watched. But I wouldn’t have intervened. For all my supposed might, for all the difference in power between my godly self and my mortal self, My mortal self had done more good, made more of a difference than my godly self would have. Just because I was more powerful as a god, didn’t make me mightier.

It reminded me of a story my old friend Aesop told me, about a miser and his gold.

A miser had acquired some gold and buried it in the ground. He visited it for years, digging it up to stare at it and then re-burying it. One day it was stolen. Grief-stricken, the miser cried and wailed, making such a fuss that a traveler stopped by and asked him what was wrong. The miser confessed that someone had stolen the gold he’d hidden. The traveler had asked why he put it in such an inaccessible place, where he’d have difficulty getting it out when he wanted to spend some. The miser, affronted, replied that he’d never even think of spending his gold. At that, the traveler had tossed a stone into the hole, and told him to cover it up, that it had just as much worth to him as the gold he’d lost.

I had not appreciated the moral when I first heard the story. After all, the gold was lustrous and valuable. The stone was not. Even just possessing that gold made the miser feel powerful and rich.

Now I had another view on it. My divinity was like the gold, hidden away, jealously guarded, to be obsessed over, not used. Even as a god, an Olympian, I had done little good for my children, or the people I now counted as my friends. I had power, but I’d hardly used it to help, even when the problems plaguing the demigods were divine in nature, not mortal.

Now... now it was like the gold was stolen, and replaced with a handful of drachma. Not nearly as valuable as the gold, but every piece was actually being used to better the world, instead of being merely stared at.

I was mightier now, as a mortal, than I had ever been as a god, because I was willing to try my hardest to help - something I would either not do as a god, or not do much of.

[Divine!Apollo cuts off the choir, restarting his solo]

Silver suits my sister,

But unattended, it can tarnish.

Roofs of thatch are fine, I guess,

But why not add some varnish?

Vines of wine are creepy,

Meg snorted and rolled her eyes at that one, giving a look as if to say ‘Really? you said that’? Out loud, she said, “Wine isn’t a vine. And grapevines aren’t creepy.”

And abalone smells like fish,

As my divine self continued singing, I replied, “I needed a rhyme. And they are creepy. Why, I remember this one time with Dionysus...”

She shushed me. On the one hand, I was annoyed that she didn’t want to hear my story. On the other hand, it meant that she wanted to hear my singing.

Hah! She could claim she didn’t like my singing as much as she wanted, but I knew the truth.

Red’s too strong a color,

And gray is boring-ish.

That’s why my children’s cabin,

Is made of something more divine.

I’m worth that precious metal -

So make it GOLD every time!

[All] Gold, gold, gold, gold...

I saw Meg mouthing along to the last line. I tactfully did not mention it.

Another segment started up. This time, I wore a white T-shirt, jeans, a leather jacket, and some awesome-looking sunglasses. I lounged on a throne beneath a neon sign proclaiming “Fortunately Apollo’s Here!”

I frowned. What was this segment about?

On-screen, my godly self shouted, “Next!”

A female camper entered and asked, “O, Great Apollo, god of prophecy, tell me, will I ever find love?”

“Find love? I didn’t know it was missing?”

Beside me, I heard Meg groan as she buried her face in her hands.

Meanwhile, I winced at the reminder of my being the god of prophecy... or rather NOT being the god of prophecy.

Back on the film, I cried out, “Next!”

A male camper entered this time.

“O, Great Apollo, god of prophecy, tell me, will I ever be rich?”

“What’s your name, child?”

“Albert, Great Apollo.”

“Well, Albert Greatapollo, I foresee only one way for you to be rich...”

“What is it?”

“Change your name to Richard.”

At that, Meg let out an even LOUDER groan. “You make such dad jokes.”

I didn’t know what that meant exactly, but I had the feeling I’d just been insulted.

A second male camper entered and asked, “O, Great Apollo, god of prophecy, will I ever discover who my godly parent is?”

“Dear child, the answer is right in front of you.”

“Really? Where?”

My divine self stood up and spread his arms, “Right in front of you.”

“I don’t get it. Am I missing a clue?”

“You’re missing a clue alright. One might even call you clueless!”

Meg frowned slightly as the segment ended. “You hadn’t claimed him before that?”

I frowned, hoping I could remember the child. Luckily, my memory felt like cooperating. “I’d claimed him years before that. This was all scripted, he just pretended not to know I was his father.”

Meg nodded, the frown disappearing from her face in favor of a thoughtful expression.

In another segment I jogged backwards across the beach, shooting arrows from my favorite golden bow, campers in full battle gear jogging behind me in military formation. I flashed a blinding smile at the camera as my golden hair flowed behind me. In the present, I bit back a sob.

My godly self began a rousing military chant, the campers repeating each line:

“I don't know but I've been told!”

“We don't know but we've been told!”

“The sun god's got a bow of gold!”

“The sun god's got a bow of gold!”

“He's the best shot in the land!”

“ He's the best shot in the land!”

Suddenly, my godly self tripped and landed on his butt. Meg erupted into giggles. I couldn’t help joining her. At the time it was kinda embarrassing, but with what I’d been dealing with the last few months, I was kinda used to that now. And it WAS pretty funny.

“ Augh!  I've fallen in the sand!”

No longer being able to follow my godly self, the campers improvised, jogging n circles around me instead.

“ Augh! He's fallen in the sand!”

“ I meant to do that, so don't laugh!”

I snorted. Like anyone had actually believed that.

“He meant to do that, so don't laugh!”

My divine self attempted to get back up. Key word being ‘attempted’. He fell back down on his butt.

“Ow! I hurt my godly calf!”

At this point, both Meg and I were guffawing so hard our sides hurt. I couldn’t BELIEVE I left this in, but I was glad I did. I needed a good laugh, even if it was at my own expense.

“Ow! He hurt his godly calf!”

My godly self glowered at the campers and started to glow. The laughter died in my throat. “If you want to live another day ...”

“ If we want to live another day ...”

My godly self glowed brighter. I sat back heavily, mirth forgotten. Meg had also quieted down, choosing to glare at my past self. I joined her. REALLY? There just HAD to be an appearance of stupid murderous Apollo. I highly doubt I would actually have hurt those campers, but THEY didn’t know that, and I wasn’t COMPLETELY sure I wouldn’t have. Gods I was a jerk.

“STOP REPEATING WHAT I SAY!” my divine(ly stupid) self shouted.

“STOP - um... “

I breathed a sigh of relief. At least they knew better than to purposely antagonize my godly self. I really, REALLY wished I could reach through time and smack myself. A lot.

Meg was quiet.

I looked over at her, worried.

"I shouldn't have said those things."

Meg looked back at me. "Yeah. You shouldn't have. It was stupid."

"I won't do it again," I promised.

Meg's face softened slightly. "I know."

New segment, this time with myself as a game show host. I stared longingly at the open shirt, bright gold lamé jacket I wore. Oh how I wished I could wear some of my old attire! Alas, glittery golden lamé anything had fallen out of fashion for some inconceivable reason. I’d tried to convert Meg to the lamé side, but she kept misunderstanding and thinking I was saying “lame”. ...Or she was teasing me. I honestly wasn’t sure at this point.

I (by which I mean my godly self) opened up the segment:

“Welcome to our first annual Camp Half-Blood quiz show! Please give a warm welcome to our contestants. From Athena cabin... Bea Wise! From Ares cabin... Arnold Beefcake! And representing our cloven-hoofed friends... Ferdinand Underwood the satyr!”

Wait, what?

Underwood? Like GROVER Underwood? 

I perked up, listening intently. 

Meg leaned towards and whispered, “Is he related to..?”

I whispered back, “Probably. Shh.”

I was still talking on-screen. “Contestants, you know the rules. I ask a question. If you know the answer, ding your bell. Are you ready?”

Wise tapped her temple. “I think, therefore I am.”

Beefcake flexed. “Do your worst!”

Ferdinand, meanwhile...

“Um, I ate my bell.”

Meg giggled. I smiled. Ah, satyrs and their insatiable appetite. That’s one thing Grover had in common with his maybe-relative!

On-screen, my godly self cried, “Excellent! Then let’s begin. First question. Name the serpent I slayed.”

I sat back and scowled. Really? Did I HAVE to remind myself of Python? It’s not like he occupied my nightmares enough already. Nope. He HAD to crop up during the day too. That serpent, always popping up when he wasn’t wanted. For a moment I fantasized about asking Hephaestus to make some sort of serpent-killing machine. Alas, there was no way it would be that easy.

*Ding ding*

Bea hit her bell. Of course she did. Athena’s kids were usually the most knowledgeable of all the demigods. She had this in the bag... right?

I frowned. That didn’t seem right... I couldn’t think of what happened though. I stopped trying to remember and just watched. It’s not like I’d have to wait long for answers.

“Wise?” my divine self called on her.

 “That’s not a question.”

I snorted. That also wasn’t an answer.

My past self agreed. “Sorry, ‘That’s not a question.” is incorrect.”

“No, wait, I meant-”

*Ding, ding*

“The serpent was Python!” Beefcake declared. 

“Correct!”

Beefcake flashed two thumbs up. “Ayyyyy!”

“Next question-”

Ferdinand chimed in. “So should I just say ding-ding if I know the answer or-”

My godly self ignored him. “Who falsely accused me of flaying him alive after a music contest?” 

Really? WHY would I bring that up? Especially since it was my fault I was ‘falsely accused’ of that anyway. I spread that rumor in the first place! I hadn’t wanted people to think I was ‘soft’. Nowadays I regretted it and had been trying to quash it. 

Ferdinand’s eyes went wide. He withdrew slightly, looking freaked out. Scared.

I felt terrible. I should’ve known that would freak him out. Why did I include that question, KNOWING that I would invite a satyr?

Of course I knew the answer to that. I hadn’t cared. A satyr was scared. So what? Why should I care about his feelings? 

Heck, even AFTER I’d turned mortal, I didn’t care much for a while. I’d freaked out Woodrow. I hadn’t meant to, but me being in his class, playing music, caused him to beg me to not flay him. I’d reassured him at the time that I wouldn’t, but I hadn’t really absorbed WHY he’d been so freaked out. Now I did. I was the satyr’s boogeyman. I didn’t want to be. Not anymore.

What could I do to change that?

Maybe I should ask Grover. I was planning on apologizing to him for that Celedon business anyway. Now I had two more things to add to the list. Ask about Ferdinand so I could apologize to him, and come up with a way to put the satyrs fear of me to rest.

Ferdinand blanched, “Blaa-blaa!”

My godly self ignored Ferdinand’s freak-out. Of course he did. “I’m sorry, ‘Blaa-blaa’ is incorrect. Also, you didn’t ring in. The correct answer is Marsyas the satyr.”

Wise was indignant. “Hang on! I knew that! You didn’t give me a chance to answer!”

“He thought he was so great on those stupid twin pipes, but I sure showed him.”

I glared at my past self, wishing I could shoot lasers from my eyes into the past. Sadly, nothing happened.

Beefcake cheered, “Yeah, you did!”

Wise was annoyed, “I thought you were falsely accused.”

Ferdinand continued freaking out, “Blaa-blaa!”

I felt a pang of guilt. I REALLY hoped this part wasn’t dragged out much longer.

Mercifully, my past self gave me a break. “Final question: Do you know what time it is?”

*Ding-ding*

Wise looked at the sun’s location, clearly using it to tell time. “Two twen-”

“It’s dancing time!”

My godly self ripped off his jacket and shirt and started Hula-hooping.

“Hit it boys!”

Satyrs danced in, flailing ribbon sticks, playing reed pipes, and cavorting around my divine self.

Meg stared at the scene. “This is SO stupid.”

I just grinned. 

Beefcake was thrilled “Oh yeah!” He ripped off his shirt, twirling it in the air. “Now it’s a party!”

Wise rubbed her temples, thoroughly exasperated. I’d seen that same look on Athena’s face several times, along with her descendant’s faces. I had long been convinced that it was as much an Athena trait as overly detailed plans were. “I can’t believe I studied for this.”

“Ding-ding?” Ferdinand chimed in as the segment ended.

“That was awful.”

“Well the style was a little... dated, I admit, and maybe it COULD have been more informative, but...”

“Nope. Don’t try to save it. That was horrible.”

Okay, yeah, I could see where she was coming from. Looking back on it now, it wasn’t really the BEST way to present the info. I winced. Especially since most of it came off as an ego trip for me.

It wasn’t just the style of the video that was outdated anyways. Between Thalia’s tree, the Golden Fleece, all the additional cabins and the new rules regarding gods claiming their kids (I winced slightly, thinking of that one. It REALLY shouldn’t have taken a young demigod FORCING us gods to claim all our children and to give recognition of non-Olympian demigods), the Athena Parthenos, and the Grove of Dodona, there had been a LOT of changes. Not to mention the existence of the Roman camp.

Hmm... if it needs an update...

“Well... when this quest is over, if I survive, why don’t we make a NEW orientation film?”

Meg looked over at me cautiously, though her eyes glinted slightly. “This won’t be an excuse to stroke your ego this time, right?”

“Why, I never!” I cried dramatically, clutching one hand to my chest. “I am the pinnacle of modesty, I would never dream of it!”

Meg giggled. I grinned.

Still smiling, she warned, “I’m not sticking around if you rip off your shirt.”

“But I pull it off so well!”

She stared at me.

“Fiiiiine,” I crossed my arms and pouted. Secretly I was happy we could relax and banter like this. The past few weeks had been stressful. We needed to decompress.

“Maybe we should get everyone’s help with the new video?” Meg suggested.

“I was planning on it,” I replied, slightly more seriously. “Being mortal has shown me that there are some things you don’t realize are important unless you’ve been in that situation. The demigods will probably have a better idea what sorts of things other demigods need to know, the sorts of things they WISH they knew when they started camp.”

Meg nodded.

I grinned, adding, “We’re keeping the Hokey Pokey border song, though.”

She groaned, “It was TERRIBLE, no!”

“Oh, come on! I saw the way you smiled while I and the demigods were singing it. ‘It lets the demigods in! It shuts the monsters out! It keeps the half-bloods safe, but turns mortals all about! It’s Misty, and it’s magic, and it makes me want to shout: the border is all about!”

Meg covered her ears, steadfastly ignoring my existence as we exited the Big House.

A few hours later, I stood near the Woods, watching Grover chat with some dryads. Meg had offered to come with me for this, but I’d turned her down. I wanted to have a private chat with Grover. Besides, I didn’t want to eat into her time with her siblings. She hadn’t gotten to know them very well last time, and I didn’t know how much longer we’d be here this time.

Whatever chat Grover was having with the dryads appeared to be winding down. I approached him.

He turned around. “Apollo? What is it?”

I sucked in a breath and slowly exhaled. No need to be nervous. I was just apologizing to a friend.

“Grover? Can we talk in private? Please?”

He looked confused and a little worried. “Um... okay. Where do you want to go?”

“My kids are all out right now, so we can use the Me cabin... if you’re okay with that.”

Silently he mouthed ‘the me cabin’, looking confused. Realization slowly dawned on his face. “OH. Oh right! That makes sense. Yeah, that’s fine.”

We walked over to the cabins. I fidgeted slightly. Come on, I apologized to Percy, and he’s MUCH more intimidating! This shouldn’t be so hard!

That had been more natural, though. I didn’t have to go out of my way to make it happen.

I closed the door behind us and turned to face Grover. 

“So Apollo, what’s going on?” he asked.

“I’m sorry,” I blurted out. Yeah, that seemed like a good way to start.

He looked confused. “Um, for what?”

I rubbed the back of my head. “You know how I sometimes had flashbacks, re-experiencing the past?”

“Yeaaaah...?”

“Well lately, Meg and I have gotten sucked into flashbacks together, sometimes with others. First time it happened, we were sucked into my memories, and I saw how I acted as a god from an outside perspective. One of the things I saw was that quest I sent you and Percy on. You know, when you got back my Celedon for me?”

“Oh. Oh yeah, I remember that. Heh. It’s only been two years, but so much has happened...”

“Yeah...” they’d been through so much... “so I... just wanted to apologize for... you know... forcing you to go on a quest on your birthday.... and forgetting it was your birthday... and forgetting your name... and threatening to kill you if you damaged my lyre.”

Awkward. This was SO awkward.

He grimaced. “I was scared at the time. I really thought you might incinerate me. That was the WORST birthday I’ve ever had.”

I avoided his eyes, a lump forming in my throat.

“Still,” he continued. “It wasn’t that bad, as far as quests go. At least you made sure to choose people who could definitely do it without dying. And it’s nowhere NEAR the worst thing that a god’s thrown at us.”

“I’m... I’m not going to do that again. It wasn’t right to make you endanger yourselves when I could have done it just as easily. She was my responsibility, not yours. I’m going to try to stop other gods from doing that too. Endangering mortals unnecessarily, I mean. If I can’t stop them, I’ll try to help as much as I can. I... I’m sick of people dying needlessly.”

Grover blinked and studied my face, as if seeing me for the first time.

He exhaled, smiling slightly. “I am too. Thanks.”

I suddenly remembered the other revelations I came to while watching the orientation video. “Do you know where Ferdinand Underwood is? I rewatched the orientation video I made recently. I really freaked him out when I talked about Marsyas, and I wanted to apologize to him too.”

“Oh, uh... he’s not around anymore. Percy, Annabeth, and I stumbled across him years ago. Apparently he’d stumbled into Medusa’s lair and been turned into a statue.”

“My condolences.”

An long pause followed. How do you continue on from that?

Eventually I decided to just plow on through with what I was saying.

“I didn’t flay Marsyas. I just made that up to sound scary. You know that, right?”

“I wondered. After traveling with you for a week, I couldn’t imagine you doing that.”

“I want to put that myth to rest. Stop satyrs from thinking that I’ll skin them if they offend me. And REALLY put it to rest, not the mixed signal thing I was doing before. Will you help me?”

He thought for a minute. “...Okay. I think I know how to do that. We can start now, if you like.”

Now?

“How do you propose I do that?”

He smiled. “Being a Lord of the Wild has privileges. The satyr school is having classes right now. We can talk to the teacher about allowing you to be a guest speaker. I’ll warn you, though. A lot of the kids will probably be scared of you. The Marsyas story is used to warn us about the consequences of getting on the wrong side of a god, starting from an early age. Some of them might freak out a little.”

My chest tightened. For a minute it felt like I was being squeezed by Python. I was used as a warning to kids, to tell them that they had to be good, or else the big, scary god would kill them slowly and painfully. I really WAS the boogeyman. I didn’t like it.

“I don’t... I don’t want to freak them out. I’ve caused them enough distress. Any advice?”

“Be gentle. Don’t get angry or upset. They’ll calm down when they realize that you won’t hurt them. Nowadays, you’re nothing like what we were warned of. They’ll realize that too.”

I breathed out, relaxing slightly. This was fixable. And I could start fixing it NOW, on my own. I could make things better even BEFORE I regained my godhood.

“Thanks.”

As we exited the Me cabin, Grover looked back at me. “I know I didn’t say this before, but... Apollo, you’re a good friend.”

A warmth filled my chest as Grover walked towards the Satyr school. 

‘You’re a good friend.’ 

I never thought those words would matter to me so much.

I’d change things with what little power I had.

I’d do my best.

But I didn’t have to do it alone.

I had friends to help me.