(A/n: Apollo is a bottom, Annabeth is a jealous little spoiled brat in this but I swear I don't hate her, it's just for the plot. Apollo has PTSD from the trials along with years of child abuse from the lord dick head that's named Zeus. Also, trigger warning, I know it doesn't happen in the books, but Apollo got raped by Caligula after Medea heals Apollo's chest wound from the arrow. Also Artemis and Apollo also have a younger half sister who is a hunter, but is not gonna be in THIS book, but a different book, she is just mentioned here. Apollo is trying to be a good parent and friend, and even babysits Estelle for Sally sometimes. Also I know they get told by the end of the series but for plot reasons Percy and Annabeth weren't told that Jason had died during Apollo's trials cause honestly, with building the temples for every god on the hill in honor of Jason, they just forgot to. The ship is Top!Percy Jackson x Bottom! Apollo.)
Apollo's POV
I laughed as my son Austin purposely tried playing the kazoo off-key to calm my former Demi-god master, Meg McCaffrey down from her menstrual cramps. It was somewhat working for Meg, but mostly working for Will, Kayla, Nico, and I (which I can assure you, are not the intended targets desperately in need of a distraction). It wasn't until I finally calmed down enough that I heard my name being called from Rome. Oh goody! A prayer from.....uh, the one person I did not expect to ever pray to me. Percy Jackson. He sounded like he was in panic and pain.
"Dad? Are you ok? You look worried, and you've gotten pale, and I mean almost Nico pale."(I was in my Lester form as that is now the most comfortable form for me).
I blinked at Kayla after snapping out of it and quickly nodded at her.
"Huh? Oh yes! I'm quite fine, but I will have to be right back, it seems Percy Jackson is calling for help." I said while standing up.
"Percy Jackson asking for godly help? That doesn't sound like him. Are you sure it's him asking?" Austin asked looking surprised. I chuckled a little and nodded.
"Yes I'm sure that it's him. Contrary to your belief, Percy actually used to pray to me before he even found out that Greek gods were real. He was so small and young at the time, so he probably doesn't even remember it. But I shall be right back, keep trying to distract Meg while I'm gone, her mood may go south quickly if we stop now." I said with a slight smirk at the last bit I said before flashing myself to Percy's location.
Percy was in the middle of the battle arena in camp Jupiter, it seems that a couple of Minotaurs managed to break into the camp and were causing quite a mess. I sighed and readied my bow and arrow to help Percy out since he was currently cornered by them and covering Annabeth, his girlfriend.
I quickly released and reloaded as many times as I could, weakening the monsters just enough so Percy could finish them off with barely any fight in the hideous creatures.
"Oh man! Thanks for the assist Apollo, I wasn't sure you were gonna come or not." Percy panted, clearly out of breath from all the fighting. I gave him a small smile.
"Well, you did sound pretty panicked about something, and for the savior of Olympus to be panicked and to pray to any of the gods for help, well that gets attention." I said to him. He smirked at me.
"Hey, do you think you could heal Annabeth? One of the ghoul monsters scratched her arm, and the poisons traveling fast. I'd remove it but I'm too tired to concentrate." Percy said with a huff as he capped riptide and crotched to reposition Annabeth into a sitting position.
My eyes widen as I walk over to inspect how bad the poison has spread through the Athena child, only to hold my breath as I see purple had already traveled through her veins up to her neck.
"Which arm was she scratched on? We need to bleed some of the poison out before I can heal her, if I try to now, she'll still have some poison left in her." I asked as I immediately went into medical mode, inspecting for any other injuries that could be worsening the demigod's condition.
"Her left upper arm I think." He says with urgency.
I nod and quickly rolled the sleeve of Annabeth's left arm and found the cut. It had clotted pretty thickly and was an ugly purple around the area of it. I quickly took one of my arrows and cleaned the surface while heating the edge of it so the cut would cauterize while being opened.
Once the arrow head was ready, I carefully pressed down on the cut, adding slight pressure to it to convince it to open up. Once open, I set down the arrow and then pressed on the area around the cut, making it bleed out a significant amount of the poison.
"Exactly how long does the wound need to bleed out the poison?" Percy asked concerned, as the poison started to gush out of the cut.
"Only a little bit longer, I'm trying to get the purple lines to lighten before I try any treatment." I say pressing only a little harder when the blood looked like it would start clotting to get it to gush out the poison more.
"You can't just snap your fingers and heal her?" Percy asked, a little sarcastically. I huff at him.
"I could, but that takes a lot of energy, energy I no longer have. Ever since I ascended back to godhood, it seems the more godly power I use, the more exhausted I feel." I explain, before letting up on the pressure on Annabeth's arm, satisfied that the purple lines were significantly lighter than what they were a few minutes ago.
"Could it be possible that lord shithead only gave you a certain amount of your godhood back and that's the reason you can't use energy like you used to?" Percy asked, all while calling Zeus out on his shitty rule. I snorted.
"It's a possibility, but that would be more of the Fate's fault than my dear sperm donor of a father. I suppose I could ask them later when I return to Olympus for this solstice's meeting." I said as I grab nectar and ambrosia, quickly getting the Athena spawn to drink and eat it to heal. As soon as I get her to swallow, the lines of poison disappearing from the blonde's veins.
"There, she should be fine now, but I wouldn't let her exercise for about two weeks, just so she gets rest and make sure she eats and has lots of fluids." I said to Percy as I patch up Annabeth's arm. He nodded and picked her up bridle style.
"I'll ask Hazel to watch her. Hey I got a question, do you maybe uh, wanna hang out?" He awkwardly asked. I froze and my eyes widened. I think about how this could turn out.
What if Annabeth wakes up and gets the idea that I'm flirting with Percy on purpose? What if Poseidon found out I had out of the blue started hanging out with his favorite mortal son? What if Zeus found out I was spending time with mortals even after my trials ended? What if he decides to punish those I care about? (I no longer care if he turns me mortal for a short time, I've learned it's a much more fitting purpose than facing the fact of I'm going to outlive my own kids and one night lovers. Also less of a burden on Arty and the rest of my siblings.)
I bite my lip as I thought about it but ultimately nodded at the sea prince.
"Uh, sure! What did you have in mind? And if you don't mind me asking, why do you want to hang out with me?" I asked with curiosity.
The question seemed to stump him as he furrowed his eyebrows together, something I've noticed a lot of humans do when they're thinking of something. He shrugs nonetheless.
"I was thinking the beach at camp half-blood and as to why, I'm not really sure. My mom told me that you had been visiting for the past year since your trials as a thanks and to 'remember' for someone. She didn't tell for who though." He said while walking towards the pavilion where Hazel and Frank where working.
My eyes widen at that fact. Did anyone bother to tell Percy and Annabeth about Jason?
"It's huh, something Jason told me." I said gently, trying (and just barely succeeding) to suppress the memories of that part of my trials. I shake a little as I get flashbacks of that night, the feeling I had right after Medea healed my chest.
"You've seen Jason? Where? We haven't heard from him in months!" Percy exclaimed a little anxiously. I gulped.
"It wasn't recently. I-it was during one of the quests I was on. Um, we were facing Caligula to steal some shoes to find and free the next oracle. Um, Caligula triggered Jason's anger because of, uh, forcing an action I guess you could say. They fought, I was severely injured, a hole in the center of my chest. Piper was in no condition to fight either, probably had a concussion from getting hit in the head from a horse. Meg wasn't very well off either. Jason fought Caligula but a teenage Demi-god versus a thousand year old emperor?" I pause, shuddering at the memory.
"So, you're saying that.....Jason's d-dead?" Percy whispered horrified. I gulp, but sadly nod, looking down in shame and blaming only me for getting him killed. I hear a heavy sigh along with a soft snivel.
"Sounds like him, you know. Sacrificing himself I mean." Percy said softly. I look up at him, he had tears slowly falling, a sober look in his usually whirl pool eyes, a frown on display.
"Yeah, it does, although, you and the rest of the seven would know him better than I do." I said in a somber voice, low so it wasn't sounding offensive. Percy nodded at this as we dropped off Annabeth with Hazel and Frank.
Once we did, I teleported us to camp half blood where we spent most of the afternoon just talking, getting to know each other on a deeper level than before. Maybe, just maybe, I could be friends with the son of the sea.