His talk with Apollo had left Percy feeling... strange, to say the least. He was triggered. Apollo had kept bringing up his friends, and when Apollo acted as if he had a part in the Titan war, Percy had kind of snapped. But he was also feeling like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Like all these emotions he had pushed aside had disappeared. Also, despite how annoying the sun god was... he had felt comfortable with him? It wasn't a feeling Percy had properly experienced before. It was like a mixture of happiness, comfort, safety and warmth. It made him want to get out of bed in the mornings again.
Percy rushed back to Camp Half-Blood. Grover had met him at the gate with a quick hug (gods, Percy loved his best friend) and a nervous blaah-ha-ha. "Perce, you just disappeared! We were all so worried, we thought Hera had-"
"It's ok, Grover. They just wanted to talk about the prophecy." Percy assured him. When Grover stayed silent, Percy realised that the satyr was waiting for a futhur explanation. "Um... it's in Tartarus."
Grover groaned. "You gotta be kidding me. You... you are kidding me, right? You're not actually going back... back there, right?"
Percy stayed silent.
"Percy, answer me!" Grover's voice filled with panic and pain, and the son of Poseidon winced. Grover was another person (well, satyr actually, but same same but different) who Percy had hurt by getting close to.
"Fine. I've got to go back to Tartarus. The Olympian's suspect Kronos is trying to form himself again, and the prophecy says I need to go down and stop that. And since it takes a mortal and a God to defeat a Titan, they all decided that they'd send Apollo down with me." Percy's voice lost all emotion, and once again, he found himself wanting to sleep.
He was still so tired.
~~~
Apollo told himself again and again that he would not watch over Percy every second of the day. But, sometimes temptations are so strong, you'd need a mind of steel to resist them. A mind that the sun god did not have. And so, Apollo found himself keeping a close eye on the son of the sea god, and when Percy seemingly gave up on emotion and physically broke, he literally had to tie himself to the table to stop himself going down there and pulling Percy close, acting as a kind of shield from the world that had hurt Percy, that still hurt Percy every day.
What was this? This feeling... it reminded Apollo of Daphne and Hyancinthus. A stab of pain shot through his heart. Those people he couldn't save. The people that were cursed just by loving him. Those wonderful, beautiful people...
"F*ck..." Apollo murmured to himself, feeling tears flow freely down his cheeks. He felt himself sinking back down into the dark space he had worked so hard to get out of, and with that feeling came panic. He needed his sister.
Apollo ran throughout Olympus, tears still steadily streaming down his cheeks. He had thought he was over this, he had accepted that he couldn't love anyone without getting them killed, he had resigned himself to one night stands so the Camps still had enough demigods to fill the infirmary and teach archery, he had followed all. The godsdam. Steps. And yet Apollo found himself here, a millenia later, crying and searching desperately for his sister, the only one who could be counted on to stand by him for all time. Artemis had single-handedly gotten Apollo out of his depression, and now whenever he felt himself sinking she was always the first he went to. But today, Artemis as nowhere to be found.
~~~
Percy didn't wait for Grover's response to his blunt statement about the prophecy. He just took off back towards his cabin, his main purpose now to curl up in his bed and not leave until it was time to save the world... again. But Grover, being his best mate, could sense through the empathy link what Percy was feeling, and grabbed his arm.
"No, Perce, you can't disappear on me - on us - again. We all missed you, if it wasn't for Chiron forcing us to give you space we would have come every day. It was hard enough for us to convince Chiron to let Will, Nico and Rachel see you. I didn't mke the cut..."
Percy remained silent, giving his best friend a blank stare.
Grover flinched away from the emotionless expression. "I'm sorry, Perce. I'm really sorry." He gave Percy a hug, and Percy felt his heart tear. It was his fault Grover was so upset. If he hadn't been so weak, he could have been there for the rest of the survivors, however few there were.
"I think I just need a nap..." Percy muttered tiredly. "I'll see you in a bit for dinner, okay?" Grover nodded, and Percy was already dreading having to eat. It would also be the first time he would truly get to see who survived the war, as all surviving demigods from both Rome and Greece were staying at Camp Half-Blood until everyone recovered enough to go home for the winter or back to Camp Jupiter. With a heavy sigh, Percy made his way back to cabin 3, and lay down on his bed. The empty bunk next to him reminded him of his half-brother Tyson, who was currently MIA. No body had been found, however the cyclops hadn't been seen since the last battle. Percy still had hope that he was out there somewhere, though. The thought of Tyson's death was unbearable.
It seemed like Percy had closed his eyes for just a couple seconds, but he was awoken by Grover shaking him awake. It was dark outside. "Percy, dude, cmon wake up!"
"Hhh yes I'm awake sorry... what's up?"
Grover sighed. "Percy, thank the gods... I thought you'd died or run away or... nevermind." The satyr went over to Percy's clothes drawer, which was filled with old camp shirts, hoodies and jeans, and threw Percy a warm outfit. "You missed dinner, but the campfire is starting soon and Chiron wants to brief the demigods on the prophecy. Apparently we also have a special visitor tonight, and they're gonna run a karaoke competition."
A karaoke competition, Percy thought dryly. Wonder who that could be. "Can I pass?"
"Nice try, but Chiron specifically requested that I come and get you. He wants you to help tell the others about the quest, since you're probably the most informed."
Percy groaned and got out of his bed. "Fine. I'll be there in 30."
"Oh, and it starts in 10." Grover called, already on his way out.
~~~
If it wasn't for Hestia, Apollo wouldn't have made the campfire at camp either. Desperate for his sister, Apollo ran into the throne room, which was deserted except for the heart goddess.
"Apollo, is that you?" the warm voice called, laced with worry. "Talk to me. What's wrong? You have to be down at the camp in about an hour."
And so Apollo told Hestia all his secrets, his whole story of heartbreak and loss. He told her about Daphne, about how he stayed by her tree for weeks on end, weaving crowns from her leaves until his sister forced him away. He told her about Hyacinthus, about how he held the Spartan prince as he died, hit in the head with a discus thrown by none other than Apollo himself. Apollo cursed Cupid for firing the arrow at Daphne, the one that made her run away. He cursed Zephyrus for shifting the wind's direction so the discus would hit Hyacinthus, and Hestia listened and held is hand the whole time.
"How do you feel now, Apollo?" she asked, her voice filled with sorrow and concern.
"I'm-" he was about to say 'fine', but decided that as the god of truth, it would have been easy to see through such a blatant lie he told. "I'm heartbroken and tired, Hestia. But I'll be okay eventually." Apollo gave her a weak smile, which was returned almost instantly. "I should go down to the camp now, I'm worried for Percy. Also, I believe a karaoke competition was promised." he tried for a winning grin, but it faltered and he gave up. With a wave, Apollo exited the throne room and travelled to Camp Half-Blood, with a few minutes to spare.
The spaces around the already roaring fire were slowly filling up. When about half of the seats were filled, Chiron nodded to Apollo and the sun god came out of the shadows, earning a few gasps from the younger campers. The older campers just stared blankly, and Apollo noticed only one of the Stolls was present.
"Is... is this all?" Apollo asked, surprise colouring his tone. When his question was answered with nods, Apollo did a quick headcount. All in all, there we 17 demigods left, originating from both Rome and Greece. Not including Percy, who was nowhere to be seen. Interesting, he thought. They had told him this was all of them. But then Apollo noticed a messy mop of dark hair, sitting behind Will, Nico and a scruffy haired satyr. They seemed to have formed a protective triangle around Percy, hiding him from the prying eyes of the other demigods.
"I see..." Apollo's voice was small. He had known the losses were immense, but it seemed that over 80% of the total demigod population had been wiped out. Guilt burned Apollo's chest. He could have helped them... but instead he was too busy talking with his father. About what? Being stuck on Delos? All because he couldn't handle a headache? He had no words, only feeling unspeakable shame.
Chiron cleared his throat. "Well then. Let's begin."
(1620 words)