Apollo, Summer, and the Camp for Greeks | DoS #1

V. I Meet The Killer of My Estranged Father's Ex-Lover

He looked up when he saw us rounding the sand dunes and smirked. This was the place I had sent the message to my mom the day before. As I noticed that, Alec gasped.

My brother - it feels weird to write that - glanced at Riley with a "You've got to be kidding me" look. She just replied with a look that read, "I know, right?"

The man looked between them, then at me. A flicker of surprise went through his jewel-colored eyes, but it was gone within a moment, and then he waved his hand. "Go on, children. Bow."

Riley and Alec did as he said, but I just narrowed my eyes. Who was this man? He almost seemed familiar...

"Hey, escapee," Alec hissed to me. "Kneel. This is-"

And then I realized. Why he was glowing like he was. Why my siblings were bowing for him. Why he called us "children".

"Apollo." I finished for Alec. "You're Apollo."

The man barked a laugh. "Of course! Though, technically, it's Lord Apollo, God of the Sun, Poet of the Heavens, Most Handsomest of Everybody Ever." He glanced at Alec and Riley, then said, I suppose you two can get up now."

Alec and Riley both raised themselves from the sand, staring at Apollo as if they were waiting for him to do something. I just stared at him too, until Alec spoke finally. "Father, why are you here?"

"I came to speak to this famous Percy Jackson fellow. But it seems he's not here. If he was, he'd be here, right? Old Fish Face's children always like the beach."

Percy Jackson? Old Fish Face? What?

To me, Alec whispered, "He means Lord Poseidon. Percy is his son." To Apollo, he said, "Percy is missing, Father. Nobody knows where he went."

Apollo rolled his eyes dramatically and sighed. "Why does the world always want to make things hard for me? Ugh, I guess you'll have to do."

I narrowed my eyes. "Do... what?"

"Do me a favor! It'll be easy, don't you worry." Apollo grinned, and his teeth were so white that I felt like I was going to go blind. "Since I'm not very good at prophecies any more, and I'm awesome at haikus, I'll give you the favor in haiku form." He held up his hands and closed his eyes before opening them again and clearing his throat.

"Demigods are bored. They will help me fight Python. I'm just really hot." He nodded and waited for applause. I just glanced at Alec and Riley warily. "Ah, c'mon, guys, that was good!" Alec just crossed his arms, but Riley slowly started clapping. Apollo smiled again, this time directed at her, which made her wince. "Thank you. I'm glad somebody has enough common sense to appreciate my talents."

He went on a ramble about how nobody on Olympus valued him or his skills, but I stopped listening. I just stared at him, finally realizing what this meant. This, this... young guy... was my father? I didn't know what to say. All too soon, I was reminded of my conversation with my mother, and her revelation. The thought of this man - God - dating my mom... I shuddered.

"Anyway," Apollo said, coming back to reality. "What I meant by that beautiful haiku was that there's a monster I need you to kill. Its name is Python. It was my enemy back in the good old days, but now it's around again, and I realllly don't want to have to waste the time to kill it..."

Alec rolled his eyes just like Apollo had a few moments ago. Suddenly, Alec's usual chuckling, happy self was gone; in its place was just sheer annoyance. "Where is it?" Alec asked.

Apollo cocked his head, then said, "South Carolina, I believe. Outer Banks?"

I frowned. "That's, like, 10 hours away."