Chapter Text
The Kingdom of Olympus was founded on myths. The stories of the Ancient Gods - from their desires to their greatest failures - acted as the ichor of the universe. Centuries came and went. The Olympians oversaw the world’s affairs in return for the devotion of their mortal subjects. At the center of it all, the gods were ruled by the mighty Zeus and his court of fantastical creatures. The stories of the God's affairs were delivered across the seas and their divine priests led songs of praise which filled the Heavens. The ancient myths fueled the worship of gods and the worship of gods fueled the turning of the world in turn.
But even the strongest foundations are subject to the winds of time. The ancient papyrus translating myths began disintegrating. The oldest temples succumbed to the forests they had once risen out of. In mere generations, mortal worshippers forgot the power of the Greek Gods and turned to other deities to fulfill their desires. Zeus and his Olympians were… forgotten.
With the power of the Ancient Gods drastically weakened, the Council of Olympus was summoned. The problem was examined at every angle but even Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, could not find an easy solution. There was no replacement for the myths Olympus had once relied upon.
On the seventh day of the Olympian’s trial, a strange idea was put forwards. If nothing could replace the myths of the Gods, could those myths be remade? After all, the Fates still held the golden threads of each Olympian and their ancient deeds - the last pure memory of the fading stories. It was already too late for the Gods to repeat their past actions, but a line of powerful beings held the potential to trick the world.
The Gods looked to their children. The demigods were weaker than Gods had been, but their powers did not rely upon humanity’s worship. To the dull eyes of mortals, the demigods would be a suitable replacement to the gods in the recreation of myths.
Under the supervision of Zeus, the Fates created an all-powerful contract. Once a signature was procured, the recipient would be bound by a golden line of Fate to perform a role in an ancient myth. To complete the myth, the demigod would be granted the full powers of their aligned god. Given this high reward, if the demigod failed to complete their fate, they would be considered a traitor to the Courts of Olympus.
With the future of the Gods on the line, Chiron, the trusted instructor of the Ancient Heroes, was tasked with starting a school for demigods. There, it was expected that a demigod would be trained with everything they'd need to know in order to complete an ancient story. After training under Chiron, a demigod at the age of 16 would be judged on their potential. Only the most powerful demigods would be worthy of taking on the power of a god. Those who passed every test would be forced to sign the contract.
Once they signed, the demigod was bound. And so the legacy of Olympus could be continued...
–
Apollo was only the God of a thousand or so different abilities and artisans. With that many bases to cover, Will can assume why Apollo felt the need to have so many kids. He was one of them, of course, but so far he'd only inherited two core traits of Apollo’s: his ability to heal and a pretty streak of stubbornness. Both of those were specially designed to assist Will in his quest to complete his father's myths.
As Apollo’s eldest son, Will was set to attend Half Blood Academy every year until he turned 16. Given that Will had less than a year until that date came, he was closer than ever to becoming the next "self-proclaimed Olympian heartbreaker". Chiron said Will would be a hero for taking Apollo’s position on an Ancient stage. Sure.
“The New Year’s about to begin." Apollo strums his lyre absently, fingers floating across the strings to pluck out a mournful melody. "Another year of endless chances..."
Apollo stares dreamily out the wayward window, looking every inch like his statues lining the hallways. With Apollo's soft blue eyes and perfectly curled hair, Will understands how he could be mistaken for his immortal father in a heartbreak. The resemblance alone made Will perfect for the myths. However, even with his status as a demigod, Will has to wait patiently for his father to finish sky-gazing. He’d made the mistake of interrupting Apollo’s meditation before and had ended up with sun-singed eyebrows.
When it becomes clear Apollo’s pretty preoccupied, the demigod takes a golden crown of laurels out of his hair. Will examines the glinting wreath for a second before trying to polish it on his shirt sleeve.
Apollo suddenly turns with an air of impatience. “You’re still here?”
“You called me to speak about school,” Will reminds Apollo. He'd been summoned at dawn.
“I see.” Apollo presses a finger to his forehead as if warding off a headache. “It’s on the tip of my tongue…” A few more bars into one of the God's latest compositions and Apollo snaps his fingers in victory. “I remember now. Before you’re granted my full power - or whatever the agreement was - remember that seasonal depression comes with the gig, all love is a curse, and you should brush your teeth twice a day. That way Hyacinth's heir will take a stronger liking to you.” Apollo nods his head gravely as if the advice was a life-changing accomplishment.
Will feels his jaw tick once from the effort of holding his smile. “Got it.” Hyacinth. That name was scarred into Will’s soul at this point. Hyacinth, Hyacinth, Hyacinth. Everything in Will’s life revolved around Hyacinth. “Is that all, Dad?”
“I believe so...” Apollo hums thoughtfully before going right back to his lyre. Will pushes the laurel wreath back into his messy hair and bows to his father. He really shouldn’t have expected a warmer goodbye. Will exits the throne room hastily and barely manages to avoid running right into Calliope, the Muse of Poetry.
“A boy with the golden fate/He must hurry else he’s late” Calliope warns with a melodic sigh. Will smiles quickly, side-stepping before she can try to fix his hair. The Nine Muses meant well, but they were much more occupied in their arts to raise children properly.
Which is probably why Will had ended up the person responsible for 7 or so tiny kids. The son of Apollo grabs his duffel bag from a lone chair and heads off down the hall to find Kayla. His younger sister had just turned 13, meaning it was her first year being required to attend Chiron’s mock boarding school.
“Kay?” Will calls down the corridor ahead of him. He almost gets run over by a floating nymph in the process of climbing the spiraling stairs made of pure gold. “KAY!! We’ll be late!”
A girl with green hair appears at the top of the stairs, lugging a huge suitcase behind her.
Will almost laughs when he spots his sister’s disheveled dress. “Do I even want to ask?”
“Terpsichore.” Kayla curses the Muse’s name as she tripped down the first set of stairs. “I was trying to sneak off in my breeches when she appeared to sing my ear off.”
Will nods along to Kayla’s description of her torturous morning. “Tough luck... can’t say I feel too terrible given the fact I found several quivers hiding in my bag.” Will pats the duffel at his side knowingly. Most demigods brought their personal items to boarding school, but Will’s packing was definitely on the light side. It made it hard to miss the smuggled archery equipment.
“Carrying weapons isn’t against dress code or anything,” Kayla defends her arsenal. Her smirk reminds Will a bit too much of Apollo. He’s about to respond when Kayla hoists her trunk over the banister with a loud grunt. Before Will can react, Kayla casually pushes the entirety of her luggage off a 20-foot drop.
Will curses, lunging forwards to try and catch the trunk. No luck.
A cloud nymph materializes midway through the fall and safely delivers Kayla’s luggage to the foot of the staircase. Will feels his shoulders tense as he turns around to reprimand his sister.
“I’m already in a dress.” Kayla holds up a hand in warning. “I’ve suffered enough today.” Will rolls his eyes and starts walking down the stairs with his menace of a sister in tow. Picking up her skirts, Kayla races after him. “- you stupid boys and your golden cape and stupid vests-”
Will bites his cheek to stop from smiling at her barrage of half-assed insults. He never really cared about the clothes he was given to wear unless they were uncomfortable. It was almost comical to hear Kayla so pressed about a dress she had to wear for an hour.
“We’re half God Kayla. We have appearances to keep up,” Will recites one of Apollo’s favorite speeches for when one of the kids acted up (more than usual).
“I’ve heard the speech,” Kayla miserably gestures to her outfit. Now that Will has to notice it, the daughters of Olympian’s had it much worse in terms of dress codes. Will vividly remembers his first year at the Academy when Piper - heir to Aphrodite - destroyed half of her closet to protest the same thing.
Will half-listens to the rest of his sister’s rant as he continues through the maze of hallways inside Apollo’s mansion. Every surface Will could see was covered in layers of gold or designed to filter sunlight into every possible inch of space. The sheer amount of sun exposure inside Apollo’s domain had lined Will’s golden hair with streaks of platinum just from living there 3 months a year. Austin said it gave his older brother more of the “dumb blonde” appeal.
Triggered by the thought of Austin, a familiar anxiety begins clawing at Will’s gut. What if something happened to his siblings when he was gone? What if Gracie got sick? What if Apollo forgot to check in on the rest of the kids when Will wasn’t there to remind him?
Will tries to steal his nerves. He can feel his heartbeat spiking, which isn’t good since he knows Kayla has the ability to sense his metabolism. This anxiety was ridiculous. Will had to leave. He didn’t have a choice. If Will didn’t sign Apollo's contract, one of his younger siblings would have to. It was bad enough that Will couldn’t complete Daphne’s myth.
Kayla claps loudly, startling Will out of his thoughts. The blonde turns to see Kayla raising an eyebrow judgmentally at him. “You were the one who said we’d be late.” She points a finger at the front door waiting. “Are we going or not?”
Will adjusts his laurel wreath. “We’re going. I’m just gonna miss these losers.”
“I’m not,” Kayla says. “Austin gets to watch those suckers for once. I’m free.”
“Free to wear big skirts and chase after girls,” Will continues for her. He rightfully earns himself a punch on the shoulder.
Kayla pushes the door open without another word and runs out into the waiting sunlight. Will walks down the steps outside more hesitantly as the sundial lock spins into place behind him. One more year of this. That was all Apollo asked of him.
With a firm exhale, Will straightens his shoulders and runs after Kayla. He follows his sister’s path across the clouds towards where Helios’s Chariot was parked on their sunroof. The gleaming spires of the Sun were too bright for anyone but a child of Apollo to stare at directly. It was nothing short of magnificent.
“Get in, William.” A bored voice says from inside the Chariot.
“Get out of my seat,” Will calls back to Rachel. He walks up to the driver’s side and leans against the door. “My legacy, my drive.”
“You haven’t signed your Fate yet, William.” Rachel puts an arm out the side of the Chariot, green eyes striking as ever. She points to the passenger's seat with a thin smile. “I signed. I drive.”
“Do you even know how to control these things?” Will questions, opening the side of the car to pull himself in next to her. The trunk of the Chariot clicks loudly into place behind him, indicating the Nymphs had finished loading their luggage.
“Not even slightly.” Rachel ties her flaming red hair into a tight ponytail, hairband between her teeth. The Oracle’s eyes sparkle as she takes the reins of the Sun. “I’m a fast learner.”
Will grabs the side of the Chariot, briefly admiring the cool metal handles. “Kay - you should hold on.”
Even with the warning, Will ends up grabbing Kayla’s hand before she flies out of the window as the pegasus spread their wings. Rachel cracks the reins and the heirs to Apollo dart up, into the open blue sky. Will laughs in shock, feeling himself jerked along by inertia.
Apollo hadn’t taken his kids out for joy rides often, but Will still loved the feeling of flying. It was like freedom. Freedom on pairs of racing wings.
“You can slow down!” Will yells over at Rachel. Over the roaring sound of the wind, Will isn’t sure if she ignores him or just doesn't register he spoke. Kayla whoops in excitement as they soar over the earth, very obviously starting a forest fire when they get too close to the ground.
Rachel tugs the reins again and the Pegasi are urged higher into the air, away from particularly flammable trees. The golden Chariot flashes with light as the sun is pulled along in tow. The children of Apollo race through several time-zones in under 5 minutes, probably a new record somewhere in the world. Icarus couldn’t manage this if he tried - and according to the Fates, another his heir would have to try.
Will feels more windblown than ever when Rachel finally pulls the Chariot to a stop. “Off you go,” the redhead says casually. Only the adrenaline radiating off of her skin shows how much Rachel enjoyed the experience.
Will jumps the remaining feet to the ground and holds out his arms for Kayla. She promptly jumps off the other side of the Chariot. Extra athletic abilities were definitely a perk of being a demigod.
“Are you coming?” Will yells up at Rachel. She flashes a peace sign.
“I’m going to use my absences first and take this thing to London,” Rachel explains. She flips her ponytail back and releases the luggage from the holding before flipping the reins. The sun takes off across the sky, leaving behind the shadows of the mountain range they're standing in.
Kayla walks up to Will with an appreciative whistle. “She is definitely related to us…”
“Dad certainly thinks so.”
Will hadn’t even heard of Rachel until Apollo showed up one day with the mortal in tow. After she signed onto the Oracle’s line of Fate, Rachel had become immortal like her predecessors. That was the only explanation for how she could drive the Chariot…
“Are you ready?” Will directs the question to where Kayla is vainly trying to flatten her hair.
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” Kayla shoots back. Her voice seems set in stone, but her darting eyes give her true feelings away. She’s nervous - and why wouldn’t she be? Neither of the two children of Apollo were the first choices to take over their fates.
“If you need anything here” Will starts “- don't hesitate to ask. Okay? I’m your brother first. Anything else second.”
“I know. But I can hold my own too.” Kayla tiptoes to kiss Will’s check. It’s a small gesture, but it loosens Will’s anxiety by an entire threshold.
“I love you, jerk.” Will starts walking towards the cliffside. The entrance to the school was hidden among the rocks to keep curious mortals from discovering the demigods before the Gods were ready for it.
All love is a curse.
Apollo’s words repeat over and over in Will’s head as he starts hiking up the mountain. Yes, his father had horrible experiences when it came to love, but Will wouldn’t let anything happen to his siblings. Ever. He could at least control that much in his life, right?
Kayla’s footsteps echo around the path as Will searches for the right entrance into the mountain. The school had ‘broken zoning rules’ in the mortal world, leaving the gods no choice but to trust that Hades would protect the demigods underground. It had worked so far.
“Are we there?” Kayla deadpans barely a minute into Will's search.
“Yes.” Will didn't have Apollo’s full power over light yet, but he did have some control over wavelengths. He holds up his hand and wills light to reflect off his skin. The glow created by the motion is enough to reveal the false shadows covering the entrance to the caverns.
“Show off.”
Will gives Kayla an airy smile in response. He leads her down through the drafty rock walls, careful to stay on the steps. The work of the gods would be impressive if Will wasn’t so focused on getting down the steps alive.
The first overlook towards the school appears and Will pauses to let Kayla take it in. He has Iris Messaged her about this experience for years, but she never believed him.
Kayla’s brown eyes go Olympus-level wide. The white marble growing out of the ground created massive arches and bridges across the open caverns. The peak of the school spiral up through the mountain, creating the classroom and dormitories that assisted the demigods in their preparation to become Gods. The only thing the gorgeous place missed was the sunlight.
“Where should we start?”