𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐒, apollo

𝐱𝐯𝐢𝐢𝐢. a destiny's brand

I PLAYED WITH MY golden sun necklace as I waited for Percy to finish his audience with the Oracle or whatever. At first, we wanted to go together, but Chiron stopped us and said that we should go separately.

So here I am, standing on the other side of the green door, in the attic, waiting for Cy to walk out. I thought about calling out to Apollo. After all, prophesies are his area, but I stopped myself from doing so.

Maybe he got bored of me? I wouldn't be surprised, it's possible, he's a god and I'm a demi-god. I poked my tongue into the side of my cheek, I am a demi-god. Now that's a sentence I ever thought I'd say.

Finally, my friend came out, looking a bit pale and confused. "You alright?" I asked. He snapped his head to look at me, before looking away and scratching his neck, "I'm fine. You should go. I'll wait for you here."

I stared at him for a second, not for one minute believing his reply. Instead of confronting him, I just sighed, heading into the room behind the green door.

The moment I stepped foot in it, the door slammed shut, making me jump. I swallowed, breathing in when the smell engulfed my senses. The warm air smelled like mildew and rotten wood and something else... a smell I remembered from biology class. Reptiles. I almost immediately wanted to go back, but instead, I held my breath and walked further in.

The attic was filled with Greek hero junk: armour stands covered in cobwebs. Once bright shields pitted with rust, an old leather steamer trunks plastered with stickers saying ITHAKA, CIRCE'S ISLE, and LAND OF THE AMAZONS.

There was also a long table stacked with glass jars filled with pickled things that made me shiver. In those jars I could see severed hairy claws, even huge yellow eyes, and various other parts of monsters. Safe to say I dreaded every second I had spent there.

By the window, sitting on a wooden tripod stool, was the most gruesome looking thing of all: a mummy. But not the wrapped-in-cloth Halloween kind, but a human female body shrivelled to a husk. She wore a tie-dyed sundress, lots of beaded necklaces, and a headband over long black hair. The skin of her face was thin and leathery over her skull, her eyes were glassy white slits as if the real eyes had been replaced by marbles. By the looks of it, she had been dead a long, long time.

Just glancing at her sent chills up my back. Oh, and the smell coming from her was even worse. I felt the atmosphere change, before she sat up on her stool and opened her mouth. A green mist poured from her lips, coiling over the floor in thick tendrils, hissing like twenty thousand snakes.

Safe to say, I understood why Percy looked so pale.

Then I heard a voice in my head, similarly like Apollo's, but instead of the rich, warm, honey voice that wrapped around my thoughts, it was harsh and croaky, slithering into one ear and coiling around my brain.

I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and ask.

I was scared. I could have lied to myself and say that I just felt uncomfortable, but my heart beated faster and faster. I realised something, I needed to calm down and usually Apollo helped me. So gods, where was he?!

I forced myself to take a deep breath. I was a big girl, I could take care of myself. I finally got the courage to ask, "What is my destiny?" I internally cringed at my choice of words, but my thoughts were distracted by the green mist that swirled more thickly, collecting right in front of me and around the table with the pickled monster-part jars.

My heart stopped. In front of me stood my mother.

She was in her hospital scrubs, her blond freshly done hair was tied into a lazy ponytail that she made look more classy than messy. Her makeup was done like always; it looked like she hadn't put on anything. She appeared like she was in a surgical show, rather than one of the most accomplished doctors in New York City.