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Chapter Text

“Look! It’s you!”

I turned to see Fen pointing at an ugly animatronic, grinning at Riley. Riley rolled his eyes, stepping on the pad in front of them that read “TRY ME” in neon green lettering. Nothing happened, and Fen laughed.

“Nice tr--” He did not finish the sentence, however, leaping behind me as the animatronic came to life. It was then Riley’s turn to smile.

“Yeah? Only a try?” I realized in that moment how rare it had been to see Riley smiling. It was a nice change of pace, considering all that had happened.

I had tried to tell them that they didn’t need to buy Halloween costumes, that I could just create for them, but they seemed very insistent on going to the store to pick them out. I didn’t quite see the appeal of store bought costumes, but whatever made them happy. Perhaps it was just an excuse to get to spend time together. I know that they hadn’t been able to see each other as much since Riley had left camp for school.

I had even suggested that we go as something together for a costume, or at least that they might, but they had given each other one look and decided no.

“We’re 17 and 18, Apollo,” Riley said. “We’re not doing that.”

I suppose he had a point there. Still, if my sister had asked me to dress up with her, I’d have said yes without a second thought. Then again, the situation was far more likely to be me asking her to dress up.

I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. Turning, all I saw was a wriggling and writhing animatronic. This place was… weird. The sooner we got out, the better. Not that I was afraid. Of course not. These were bits of metal and latex. There was nothing frightening about them. I ate things more frightening than this for breakfast.

I fell backwards as a giant spider jumped at me. Both Fen and Riley burst into laughter at my reaction.

“Funny,” I said, brushing myself off as I stood. “But I’ve had actual giant spiders jump at me, and it’s nowhere near as pleasant.”

“Really?” Fen asked, patting around his jacket for a notebook and pen. “Can you tell me more about that?

Before I could respond, Riley jumped in. “Later, okay?” he said. “After we’re done shopping.” Fen didn’t seem too thrilled with this, but accepted it nonetheless.

The first section we stumbled upon was, much to my surprise, mythology. There were costumes for gladiators, Roman Senators (thankfully none of which I had recently encountered), a headband of gold plastic snakes that was meant to be Medusa, and then…

“I don’t wear anything like that,” I said, eyeing the costume which read “Apollo.” Next to it sat one that read “Sun Goddess.” In all honesty, that one was much closer to what I generally wore than the first. When I chose to wear clothes at all. The ones for the other gods and goddesses weren’t much better. For some reason, they had also chosen to use the Roman name for Aphrodite rather than the Greek like the rest of us.

“I don’t think--” Riley began, only to be cut off by Fen. 

“Hey look what I found!” He shouted. When Riley turned around, Fen gently smacked the plastic sword on Riley’s head. “Boop,” he said as he did so, grinning. Riley grabbed the blade end, trying to pull it from Fen’s grasp. However, despite being shorter, Fen was still stronger, keeping his grip. Part of me knew as the responsible father that I was that I should take the sword away. The other part of me as a sibling wanted to let them continue on. A little sibling squabble was necessary to ensure a healthy relationship. 

It wasn’t until other people began to stare that I stepped in, grabbing the sword from the center and plucking it gracefully from them. They gave each other a look, before each swiftly grabbed a new fake weapon, whacking me with it. Can you believe that? They hit me. Kids today know no respect for their parents.

“Oh no!” I said dramatically, falling to the ground. “You’ve got me! You’ve killed me!”

Fen erupt into laughter, Riley smiling, both of which made me smile. Despite this, Riley rolled his eyes.

“Okay, Apollo, get up.”

“Thanatos?” I dramatized, reaching out a hand. “Is that you? Have you finally come for me?” By this point, Fen had joined me on the ground, holding his sides from laughter. “I think I can see the light.” 

“People are starting to stare…” He continued. Glancing around, I saw no one. Still, I stood, making a grand gesture of a bow.

“And… scene,” I finished with. Fen began to clap.

“Bravo! Encore!” He laughed. Riley shook his head at us, but kept the smile.

“C’mon, we came here for a purpose.” 

“Yeah? And what’s the rush?” Fen picked up a pair of shutter shades, putting them on. “These look stupid.”

“I like them,” I said helpfully. Riley whacked me with the sword again in response. I couldn’t help but smile at this. It wasn’t like it hurt at all, and in a strange way it reminded me of Meg. It also felt good for him to finally be opening up to me, to be able to see him smile. Things were finally starting to look up.

“I wanna be this!” Fen held up a costume bag with the words “Plague Doctor.”

“No,” Riley said.

“You don’t get a say in this.”

“Where are you even going to wear that?”

“Around camp!”

“Because there’s no way that will go wrong…” Riley looked at the nearby costumes, then shook his head, as if none met his standards. 

“Do you two even know what you want to be?” I asked. Fen nodded.

“Yeah. A Plague Doctor.”

“Before three seconds ago, Fen,” Riley said.

“Yeah. A Plague Doctor,” Fen repeated, holding up the bag again. “I decided it like a minute ago.”

Riley just sighed, walking off as he continued to look at the costumes, leaving me and Fen together.

“Why did you pick a Plague Doctor?” I asked, most certainly not feeling awkward. Fen hesitated, something I’d not seen him do before.

“Because of the plague powers,” he finally said. I stared at him, perhaps a little too long. “You didn’t know?”

Truthfully, no, I had no idea. I could remember something he said once about making his mom sick, but I couldn’t quite remember what exactly he had said about it. I couldn’t tell him that, though. Not when I was trying to be a better father, I had to know about my children.

“Oh! Yes, those plague powers,” I nodded. “Yes, I know all about those.”

“I’ve got them under control now. I’m allowed to joke about it.” He glanced at me. “I can’t live my whole life being afraid of something that makes me and others sick. I can control them.”

“Of course,” I nodded again, not believing him even a little bit. I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about it, however. Whatever powers he had, it was obvious he didn’t get them from his mother. Most of my children felt proud of their abilities. From the sound of it, all he felt was shame. “I once accidentally killed a small village with a plague arrow.” 

This surprisingly did not seem to make Fen feel any better. He didn’t even reach for his notebook. “Thanks dad,” he said. “I’ll keep that in mind.” There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. “Do you know anything about--” He cut himself off, staring at Riley as he walked up, holding only a pair of gloves. Fen tilted his head. “Where’s the rest of your costume?” He asked instead.

“I’m wearing it already,” Riley responded, gesturing to his clothes-- a gray hoodie, a red flannel, some jeans, and sneakers.

“That… is not a costume,” Fen looked at his brother with pleading eyes. “Please? Even just a mask?”

“I can’t wear a mask,” Riley said. “It’ll mess with the asthma. Or supposedly.”

“But come onnnnn, gloves? That’s not a costume. Please? For me?”

Suddenly, we were sucked into near total darkness. And then, the worst happened.

Game show music.

Chapter Text

The first time I had ever been in complete darkness was a few months ago. Normally, I give off a pleasant aura of light. Even when I choose to suppress it, there are still elements that I cannot. For instance, my freckles. That was the case here. A dim light, barely enough to see in front of me. When I attempted for more, nothing happened. However, I didn’t have enough time to figure out why before the stage lights came on.

The three of us stood on a stage, Fen to my left and Riley to my right, each behind a podium. In front of us sat an audience. Much to my horror, I realized that it was not people in front of us, but mannequins. Fully dressed, with painted on faces and hair, sitting in the seats as clapping and cheering effects were pumped through the speakers. The three of us glanced at each other as we all seemed to notice this. Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, a woman walked onto the stage, smiling brightly and waving to an audience who would never wave back.

Her hair was an unnatural red color styled up into a beehive with small white flowers placed throughout. She wore a hot pink and red tartan blazer with pants to match, and a tie with the same white flowers on it as in her hair. 

“Who is she?” Fen mouthed to me, only to snap his head forward as she began to speak with a strong Transatlantic accent.

“Gooooood evening ladies, gentlemen, and variations thereupon! Welcome back to “Slay the Atê Way!” I’m your lovely host, Atê! And let’s see who tonight's contestants are!”

On the screens on each of our podiums, our names appeared, written in our handwriting (or at least, I assumed it was in theirs as well, as my name was in mine). Rather than just a simple “Apollo,” it was the Greek spelling, written in Ancient Greek. Fen’s said “Fernando,” while Riley’s still just said “Riley.” I almost felt bad for him. I supposed that we were far past the point for nicknames. Regardless of that, I didn’t like the fact that she knew our full names.

“For those of you unfamiliar with our rules here, they’re simple! All you have to do is complete the task that you are given within the given time frame. When you finish the task, you will be awarded points for it! If you don’t finish, then you die!” She laughed as both Riley and Fen looked at me. I didn’t look at them. I couldn’t look at them. I didn’t want them to see my own fear. “Kidding! Or am I?” She winked at the audience before turning to me. “And don’t any of you think that you can just poof out of here with some powers! I’ve taken the liberty of evening the playing field and removing those pesky things for you! But don’t you worry that pretty little face of yours, I let you keep a little of that beautiful glow for the camera!” She poked my cheek with that last sentence. If I had my powers, I would have easily smited her right then and there. But I didn’t, and so all I could do was glare at her.

Atê. That was a name I hadn’t heard in centuries.

“Who the hell is she?” Riley whisper-hissed to me.

“A daemon,” I whispered. “Of delusion and infatuation and rash decisions. Recklessness. She can lead men to ruin.” I paused. “Not that she’ll lead us to ruin, of course. We have each other obviously.”

Riley nodded, but didn’t seem too confident in my words.

“Atê?” I asked, raising my voice to talk to her. “Is this where you’ve been since you were kicked from Olympus?”

The crowd-- no, the speakers made a sort of oooh sound, but not a pleasant one. One that children might make when one was called to the principal's office. Her smile became terse as she slowly turned back towards me.

“I will kill your children and make you watch,” she said to me in Ancient Greek at a normal volume, then turned back to the audience, giving me no time to process what she had said. I realized that she hadn’t been using a microphone. Still, her voice somehow rang out over the speakers when she spoke again.

“Are we ready to…” She began.

“Slay the Atê Way!” the crowd chanted back.

Riley stared at me, his face pale and eyes wide. Fen turned to me, scared. “She… she can’t really do that, right? She won’t?”

I couldn’t answer him.

Suddenly, I was standing on stage left, a curtain blocking something on stage right, just to the right of Riley. Atê appeared next to me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sure about now you’re wondering what you’ll be doing,” she said with a smile. When I didn’t respond, she continued on. “Good! I’m sure our lovely audience is as well. Now! The name of the game is simple! It’s called the Aim Game! Catchy, right?” Aim. That was something I was good at. This felt like it would be easy. Meaning that naturally, there would be a catch. She placed a discus in my hands.

Oh no.

When the curtain raised, much to my horror (not that everything else hadn’t been so far), it was a mannequin that looked uncomfortably familiar.

The mannequin was different, it didn’t have a painted on face like the rest did. Instead, it was blank, leaving my imagination to fill in the spaces where his features should have been. I could almost feel the breeze running through my hair, smell the flowers. It was like I was back there to that dreaded day all over again

“Now, all our loverboy over here has to do is aim the discus and throw it!” In the blink of an eye, she was across the stage, standing next to the mannequin. “Riiiiight here! Just one try, nice and simple!” She smiled, pointing to a place right on the side of the mannequin’s head. Turning to the audience, “And don’t you worry! I’m sure he’ll remember the spot nice and well,” then disappearing again.

I wanted to strangle her.

“On your mark… get set… go!”

I hesitated. I stared at the discus, the mannequins, my kids. They were too close for my comfort. I couldn’t risk one of them being hit by mistake. Sure, I still had my aim, but I had messed it up before. If this was supposed to be… who was to say that she couldn’t change the winds on me again? Who was to say that someone wouldn’t actually be hurt? And then there was the matter that even if she didn’t, it was still him. It was him, and this was happening again. Still, if this was our way out…

I threw the discus. Sure enough, it hit the side of the head. 

I heard him scream. Maybe that was through the speakers, too. I couldn’t tell.

She appeared next to the mannequin, inspecting the dent, then making a tsk tsk sound. “Not hard enough,” she said. “You didn’t break the skin.”

The second I got my powers back…

Before I knew it, I was back at my podium between Fen and Riley.

“Now, I know that was a bit of a let down, but we’ll be right back with even more exciting tasks after this commercial break!” She said to the imaginary camera.

“Are you kidding me?” I asked her in disbelief.

She shrugged, her accent dropped. “It makes for good entertainment.”

“I’m going to--” She cut me off, wagging her finger and tutting at me.

“Now now, remember what I said before.”

I did remember, and I didn’t like that I did. I held back my tongue. Or tried to. “You don’t scare me. If you touch a hair on either of their hea

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Chapter Text

What? That was… weird. Anyway…

I don’t remember how or when, but the next thing I knew everything had changed. In the center of the stage sat a large inflatable obstacle course with no walls, and Fen and Riley were no longer next to me. I gripped the sides of my podium.

“How many of you remember the story of Orpheus?” Atê asked the audience. Thankfully, no one raised their hands. “Wow! That’s a lot of you!” she said. “Well, this is a little a different. We obviously can’t go for days. That would take… well, days. Instead, we’re adding a fun little twist to it.” She gestured grandly to the bouncy obstacle beside her. “Simple, right? Our little soldier here--” I saw Riley visibly stiffen at this “--just has to not look back and make it to the other end before the timer goes off in three minutes.”

Riley glared at her, but tied back the front of his hair so that he could actually see and got into a position to run.

He looked at me, pleading, as if asking me to get us out of here. I was asking myself that, too. I couldn’t protect them. They were vulnerable, and it was all my fault. If I had only been paying more attention, I’m sure I’d have noticed something off about the store. The cashier, a patron, someone who didn’t belong. Maybe it was even one of the animatronics. The spider, maybe?

“Oh! And did I mention there’s monsters?”

“There’s wh--”

 He didn’t get to finish the sentence, the buzzer going off to start.

Riley took off down the course, Fen following behind. At the first obstacle, a set of horizontal bars, Fen missed clearing the last one, landing flat on his face with a small “omph” sound. Normally I might laugh, but now was not the time. Riley didn’t turn around nor ask, but Fen still called out “I’m fine!”

It was at that moment the first monster leapt out-- an empousa. She hissed at Riley, but didn’t lay a finger on him. Instead, he ran past her. She didn’t even acknowledge Fen.

He could do this, I told myself. He had a chance.

I remembered the actual event well enough. It was a hard one to forget. Us Olympians had been about evenly split on whether or not he would be able to make it out. I, of course, had said that he would. Imagine my disappointment when he didn’t. It could be different this time. It had to be different. He had a chance.

Riley ran by the next monster, a cyclopes, who raised his club and went to swing but didn’t. As Fen ran by, he lowered it.

He was actually doing it. He was keeping his gaze forward, his pacing well. He still had a minute left and was about halfway through the course. I felt some sense of pride, some sense of hope.

It, in a way, reminded me of the original Olympic Games. 

A hellhound swiped, missing both of them as it did so. I had to stop myself from cheering. It would risk not only breaking their focus, but Atê changing the rules on them as well. Riley’s expression was serious, focused, with a clear tunnel vision, while Fen was panicked and frazzled. Not from keeping up, but from… something. I didn’t know what.

The last monster wasn’t a monster, but a person. A girl of around 15 with long brown hair pulled into a ponytail. No weapons. And the exit was right there. Easy, he could do this, he was almost…

He turned around just as he passed her, his expression panicked, with five seconds left on the clock. The buzzer sounded.

I felt myself deflate. He was so close, and he had failed it. He hadn’t done it.

He ran to meet Fen in a hug, only for both of them to be teleported back to their podiums. Fen gripped the podium as if it might calm him, his eyes wide. Riley fell to his knees, gasping for air. I knelt next to him, grabbing his shoulders.

“Riley? Riley, are you alright? Do you have your inhaler?”

Riley nodded, tears pouring down his face by this point. “I’m fine,” he managed, despite very clearly not being. “Go take care of Fen.”

I shook my head. “I’m not leaving until you’re okay.” I wish I could tell what was wrong, how to fix this, if it was medical or emotional. That would tell me how to best help. “Where’s your inhaler?” I asked again. He took it out of his pocket, handing it to me. I put the mouthpiece to his mouth, looking him in the eyes. 

“Breathe,” I commanded, pressing down on the canister and hoping that he would listen to me. It had been quite some time since I had to help someone with a situation like this. It wasn’t like any gods had asthma, and despite all my shortcomings, Lester didn’t have it. He took a breath as I administered the medicine, coughing as I pulled it away. Gently, I placed it in his hands. “There. Better?” I asked softly. He nodded, wiping at his eyes as more tears spilled over. I almost hugged him, before realizing he would probably feel much better if I instead helped Fen.

I stood, turning and taking a step over to Fen. Right as I reached him and put a hand on his shoulder, he vanished, repearring in the middle of the stage, surrounded by a maze, his image projected on a large television screen.

Riley looked at me, panicked. I tried to hide my own, although I suspected I hadn’t done a good job.

“You… you should’ve gone to him first,” he glared at me, trying to stand. I turned quickly, letting him use my shoulders for balance.

“No. You needed me, too.”

“You can help me now. You can’t help him,” he hissed, pulling away and switching his support to his podium.

“For our third task!” Atê spread her arms to the audience. “I’m taking a page from a book my an old friend of mine-- Janus!” She applauded, the audien-- the speakers , it was never going to be the audience, it was the speakers, the audience couldn’t do anything-- joined in, and then made a gesture to silence them. “Our canary over here--”

“But I don’t sing?” Fen looked up, confused, enough to help him out of his panic.

“-- is going to make some choices! Easy ones, really. Only between which figure from Greek Mythology he would rather live the life of. You’ll face whatever they did. Pleasant! And of course, there’s a timer. Sixty seconds per set of doors, not too long and not too short, just enough time to think and keep you moving. Any questions?”

“Yeah, actua--”

“Go!!!"

These tasks had been specifically molded for each of us. She knew what we each feared, what would be our downfalls. She knew I wouldn’t be able to throw the discus, that Riley wouldn’t be able to make it through. But this was an easy task. He just had to make choices, and Fen knew mythology better than anyone who hadn’t actually lived through it. There had to be some sort of twist. I just couldn’t see it yet.

Riley kept his grip on his podium, leaning forward as much as he could to the screen, as if the harder he stared, the easier it would be on Fen.

Fen kept his left hand on the wall as he walked through the maze, following the left wall. He walked carefully, watching the ground as if there might be traps beneath his feet. The camera followed in front of him, being very particular about not looking at it. It wasn’t long before he reached the first set of doors. On each one sat a name in Ancient Greek. Achilles and Perseus.

“Easy, Perseus.” Fen said, confidently opening the door on the right. As he stepped through the threshold, I heard him mutter to himself, “Who the hell would want to be Achilles?”

The walls around him changed to match that of Mycenae. His eyes widened in awe as he looked around. I almost wanted to yell at him to keep on track, but he did so without my interference, resuming the same walk as before. The camera continued to film him closely, keeping the same distance throughout. He made the mistake of looking at it just once, before throwing his gaze down again.

He paused as he reached the second pair of doors. Jason and Iamus. Fen tilted his head to the side, puzzled. For a moment, I feared he was unfamiliar with who Iamus was, but then he spoke.

“So… either spend years at sea while a whole bunch of my allies die and then get crushed by my own ship because I pissed off Hera, or-” He chuckled nervously, “Be favored by my father, raised by honeybees, and brought to Olympia to become an immortal prophet? Am I missing a catch here or something?” A little more hesitantly than last time, he pushed through the second door.

The walls changed, this time to resemble Olympia, bird statues positioned about. They weren’t real, no, but that made it worse. Especially when they turned their heads to watch as he walked past. From there, it was the same routine. Left hand rule, set of doors. Idmon and Ancaenus

“Okay. Let’s think. Both Argonauts. Both tragedies. Both of them died of the same thing.” Fen mused, “So this can’t be about who had the better life or the better ending. Maybe it’s like, who was more virtuous? A seer or a king. If I were following in their footsteps, I’d have to make their choices.”

He stared at the doors for too long to my liking. Time was starting to run out. Once again, I wanted to yell at him, despite knowing somehow that it would do nothing.

“I’d rather know.” Fen murmured, “I’d rather know when my death’s coming than be ignorant, or worse, arrogantly dumb.” With that, he pushed open Idmon’s door. 

The walls changed to resemble that of a ship-- The Argo, I realized. The original. I hadn’t seen it in…

But he was already at the final set of doors. There was no maze this time. And two names.

Apollo and Atê.

I felt my heart sink. 

“Shit, okay. um,” He began to pace, shaking his hands out in front of him. “Dad. I know Dad’s myths. Yeah, a lot of them suck, but they’re not all bad! Maybe I’ll end up at Delos, or Delphi, or Miletus.” He paused, before groaning, “But I’m just as likely to end up in Troy. Or worse…” He grimaced, falling silent and staring at the doors again. 

He was spending too much time thinking. The clock was counting down.

He started again “Atê, then. What do I know about Atê? She’s a daemon, Eris’s daughter, I think?” He tapped the palm of his hand to his forehead, brow furrowed in frustration. “C’mon Fen, you’ve gotta know more than this. What did dad say about her? That she was cast out of Olympus? It must have been Zeus. And she must have been here ever since, which couldn’t have been nice. I mean-” He gestured to the camera, which still stared back at him blankly. He averted his eyes again, quickly. 

“I know dad’s myths.” He said, “But what about what wasn’t written down? There’s no way of telling what could be there, I- I don’t know!” he cried out. “I don’t know anything here!” The clock continued to wind down, he had less than 15 seconds. 

“C’mon Fen…” I heard Riley mutter beside me, his knuckles white as he continued to grip the podium in front of him. 

“There’s no way to logic this out, I just gotta go with my gut.” Fen said, “I haven’t been wrong yet, it’s gotta be Dad.”

As he reached to turn the final doorknob, he let out a nervous laugh. “Besides, it can’t be anything too bad, I mean, it’s not like Dad can die!”

Behind the door was not Delos or Delphis or Miletus. It wasn’t even Troy. I wished it had been Troy. Troy would have been a frolic through a field compared to what it actually was.

Tartarus.

“This isn’t right,” he looked back at the camera, panicked. It felt like he was looking at me. “My dad’s never been Tartarus.”

Atê appeared behind Riley and me, putting her arms around our shoulders as the maze walls evaporated. “Ooooh, tough loss. Looks like your little canary in the coal mine didn’t sing quite right.” She smiled at us. “Well, don’t worry. He doesn’t have to be the one to go. Just one of you.” 

She let go of Riley, using her now free arm to wrap both around my neck, putting her full weight on me so that I couldn’t pull away. Riley rushed forward to Fen, grabbing him before he could walk through.

“Apollo, doll, that’s a tough one, isn’t it?” She fluttered her eyes at me.

“What?” My attention snapped back to her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fen yank away from Riley’s grasp. I couldn’t hear them. I couldn’t hear the audi-- the speakers! I couldn’t hear the speakers , I couldn’t hear the music, all I could hear was Atê.

“Which one are you going to pick to save?” She gently booped my nose. “You can’t save both of them. Someone has to go through that door. So who are you going to let? The one who failed you, or the one who hates you?” By this point, Fen had pinned Riley to the ground, sitting on his back. Riley was shouting something. I still couldn’t hear. But he was trying to break free.

Those couldn’t be the only two choices. There was always another choice.

I looked her in the eyes. “Let me go.”

She did, blowing me a kiss as I walked towards my children.

“Apollo?” The fighting had stopped. Riley looked up at me as I approached. “What are you doing?”

“I’m stepping up,” I said, hoping I sounded a lot braver than I felt.

“Apollo, no--” 

I took another step to the door.

“Apollo! Stop, no, Apollo you don’t have to… please… just stop!” 

I put one foot through the door. “Keep each other safe.”

“Dad! Please!”

I stepped through the door, shutting it behind me and letting the darkness consume me.

Chapter Text

When I opened my eyes again, I couldn’t move.

This must be what death was, I thought. An eternity of nothingness. Darkness for as far as the eye could see. And a stage.

Wait, a stage?

On the stage, the fighting between Riley and Fen had resumed, although looking slightly different. Now rather than them fighting to reach the door, Riley had a hold on both of Fen’s arms, keeping him from running to the door.

“It should have been me! It was my choice!”

“It was his choice, too!” Riley snapped back.

“No it wasn’t!” Fen broke one of his arms free, reaching for the knob just as the door disappeared. Fen collapsed to the ground, his breaths shaky. “It was… he… It’s my fault…”

Riley knelt next to him, gently rubbing circles on Fen’s back. “Fen,” he said quietly, although the speakers amplified the sound for all to hear. “We need to get out of here.” Fen looked up at Riley horrified.

“You’re just going to leave him?”

“We’re no use to him here.”

Fen shoved Riley away, standing quickly. “Do you even care about him?” He accused. “Or do you just want him gone?”

Riley scowled, standing as well. “What are you talking about?”

“You’ve never liked him,” he continued on. “You always used to talk about how much you hate him. You don’t get why I have to stay.”

He did?

“ I don’t get it,” Riley laughed. “No, you don’t get it.”

“I get that he was trying to be a better dad!”

“Trying for two and a half months doesn’t make up for eighteen goddamn years!”

“It would never be enough for you, would it?” Fen stood on his toes to get in Riley’s face. His fists were clenched at his sides. “Because now he’s probably fucking dead, and you still can’t find it in you to care about him!”

“I didn’t ask him to sacrifice his life for us! I didn’t ask for any of this! I didn’t even ask him to be my dad!” His voice cracked, tears running down his face again.

“You didn’t want him for a dad?” Fen scoffed. “Yeah, well, he shouldn’t have wanted you for a son!” He raised his fist.

Before he could strike, both of them were teleported back to their podiums.

I felt sick. I had finally understood Riley, after months of trying. And Fen, the person who understood him best to this point didn’t. I couldn’t get why-- why, when it mattered most, could he not see it?

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen!” Atê laughed as the music started up again. “Quite the scene there! But this is a game show, not a reality show.” Canned laughter from the audience. “One last game before we must say goodbye to today’s guests!” An aww from the audience. She winked at the camera. “Well. We’ve already had to say goodbye to one of them.”

I wanted to get up and scream that I was right here, that I was okay. But all I could do was sit and watch in horror.

“Nice and simple one. No physical activity, since I’m sure you two are more than tired.” Two pieces of paper and a pencil appeared in front of both of them. “All you have to do is describe yourselves and each other in one word. But,” she held up a finger. “You must not let recent events cloud your judgment. If you do, I’ll know.” She gestured to them. “Thirty seconds on the clock. Your time starts… now.”

Both had a moment of panic before beginning to write. Thirty seconds was hardly enough time to think, let alone to come up with a word that summarized a person in their entirety. I don’t think I would even be able to think of a word that described myself in that time frame.

The buzzer went off.

“Pencils down!” Atê waved her hand, the papers and pencils disappearing. “Let’s see what you have to say about yourselves. Youngest first?”

A word appeared in the top left corner of a screen behind Atê-- a screen I was fairly certain didn’t exist moments before.

“Curious, hm?” She mused. “Interesting of you to pick your fatal flaw, but I suppose it works.”

“Wait, my wh--”

“Onto the next!” Atê sung out. A second word. Coward.

He failed, I realized in horror. He let the game get to him.

“Coward, an interesting choice,” Atê said. “That’s unfortunate. For you, that is. Time for each other!”

What?

Another word on the screen. Strong.

“Hm, now isn’t that fun!” Atê looked to the audience. “Let’s hold our reactions to the last one, why don’t we? I think you’ll all like this one.” If I didn’t know better, I’d swear she was speaking directly to me.

Naieve?

“Spelt wrong, but the effort is there. You meant “naive,” didn’t you, doll?” She smiled at Riley. “That’s okay, we all have our struggles. I do believe an applause is in order, though, both of you passed this one!”

Fen was glaring at Riley, tears falling onto the podium in front of him.

“I swear, Fen, I can explai--”

“Save it.”

It couldn’t possibly get any worse.

Oh, but it could.

Suddenly, I was whisked back onto the stage. It was rather disorienting, one moment being a mannequin and the next back to your normal self.

“Dad?” They both said. Dad. Not Apollo, I realized. Dad.

“I’m okay,” I looked at them each in turn. “I promise.”

“But will that last?” The audience oohed. “I know, I lied before. Silly me! That was not our last game.” She shrugged in a playful way, which only made me hate her even more, something I didn’t know was even possible. She appeared between Fen and Riley. “If you two can agree on a word without seeing the others, then you get to save your dad! Hooray!” The last part was said a little too sarcastically for my liking. Paired with the eye roll, it only fueled my rage. “But if you don’t…”

She appeared next to me, pinching and pulling at my cheeks. “Daddy dearest here will be sent back down to Tartarus. For real this time.”

I felt my anger bubbling and boiling beneath the surface. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t win. This wasn’t fair, she had no right to ruin this. We were supposed to be getting better, becoming a family. She ruined it. I didn’t care that she was a goddess. I didn’t care that I didn’t have my powers. I was furious at her. Who was she to do this to us?

My fist connected with her stomach with all the force I could put behind it. Even if it didn’t do anything, it let her know she wasn’t winning.

Needless to say, it did a lot more than I was expecting.

As it hit, there was an explosion of light. She went flying through the wall behind her. I stared at the Atê shaped hole in the wall. Fen stared at the Atê shaped hole in the wall. Riley stared at the Atê shaped hole in the wall. Around us, the illusion started to crumble. The mannequins disappeared, leaving an empty auditorium that was somehow more frightening than the mannequins themselves. The podiums, the lights, all had vanished.

I grabbed each of their hands, running for the door as the stage began to collapse.

We landed just outside the Halloween Costume store rather ungracefully. Fen was hugging his Plague Doctor costume, Riley gripping the gloves as if his life source. Both of them blinking like they were trying to clear something from their vision. I suspected from the sudden light. My children couldn’t be blinded by the sun and by extension any form of solar light from me, but would likely be seeing spots for a few minutes. 

No time had passed since we had been sucked in.

No one said anything for a moment as we processed what had happened. Riley watched Fen, as if trying to think of something to say but coming up blank.

“At least things are over now, right?” I tried.

Fen didn’t look at me. “Yeah, dad.”

We began to walk away.

“Wait,” Riley looked down at his gloves. “We didn’t pay for these.”

Chapter Text

One of the perks of being a god is being able to split your form. This means that I can be in two places at the same time, hold two conversations at once. While I was at Camp Half Blood, I was also in a dorm room. It really saves a lot of time.

I knocked on the door to Cabin 7. I knew that would be where I found him. I could tell he was there. It was because of godly abilities and most certainly not any sort of hidden baby monitor. That was why I opened the door rather than wait for a response.

Fen was up on his bunk bed, setting one of the jars back on the shelf. I didn’t ask, but he explained anyway.

“I was checking to see if it was broken,” he said. “Why are you here? Not that I’m not glad to see you! It’s just… weird for you to come over unannounced.” His expression quickly turned to worry. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m just checking to make sure you’re okay,” I reassured him. “Yesterday was…” A word to describe it escaped me. Yesterday was awful. But that didn’t feel like the right word. A song began to play in the back of my mind. I told it to shut up.

“Horrifying? Utter hell? Completely fucked up?” He offered, glancing towards the swear jar on instinct in the last one. Or, at least where they used to sit.

“That’s one way to put it,” I nodded. “Are you, then? Okay, I mean, not horrifying or utter hell or anything like that.”

“I’m managing.” I knew what that meant. “When you stepped through the door, did you actually go to Tarturus?”

“No, I didn’t,” I assured him. “It just sent me elsewhere.” I left out the part of being sent to the audience and watching their fight. He didn’t need to know that.

“Was she lying, then? When she said you had been before?”

I could have very easily lied in this moment. I didn’t have to tell him that I had been. I could have said that Atê was the one lying. The thing was, I didn’t want to. I wanted to start being more honest, more open. That was the whole point of me trying to reach out to my children.

“No. She wasn’t lying.” An expression of horror flashed across his face, although he seemed to realize this and tried to not let it show. “I’m okay now! Don’t worry.”

“What happened? Why were you there? When was this even?”

I explained to him where my trials had led me, down to the edge of Chaos, leaving out as many of the messy details as I could. He didn’t need to know it all. He just deserved to know some.

When Fen didn’t immediately respond, I quickly added “I’m sorry. That was too much.”

Fen quickly shook his head. “No! I’m glad you’ve told me. I want to know. I want to know you. Even if it’s dark.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, although I wasn’t sure I would. I was the parent, not him. I was supposed to be the one making him feel better. “The same goes for you, you know. You can talk to me if you need to.”

Another beat of silence. “Remember what I was saying? About the plague powers?” I nodded. “I do have them under control. That’s not a problem anymore, I know how to handle them so I’m not looking for advice on that. But…

When I was a kid, I had no idea how to deal with them, I didn’t even really know what they were. I just knew that I was always sick, and that I was always getting people…” Fen paused, looking down at his hands. 

“It was just me and my mom, my whole life, and I kept making her sick.” He said softly, “I didn’t know how to stop hurting her. She must have been so miserable, but she never let me see it. I guess even though I know, logically, that nothing like that will happen anymore, I still get scared. I never want to hurt anyone like that again.”

“Oh,” I said, trying to find the right words for it. “I didn’t know they hurt you like that. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.” It was a lame response, but it wasn’t technically a lie. I was also really sorry about it.

Fen looked at me, mulling over my words. He tilted his head to the side, considering, “You were there for me. I know you never talked to me, but I talked to you.” He chuckled lightly, “I remember when I was a kid, I used to pray to you all the time.”

My expression must have looked horrified, because his eyes went wide and he waved his hands out in front of him, “No don’t worry, this is funny! I had no idea how to address you or how your job worked, and I had just learned about the solar system, so every time I prayed I’d say something like--” Fen clasped his hands together and bowed his head, mimicking a devout priest “ Dear dad. I know you live 93 million miles away, because you are the sun. But I was wondering if you could make the journey to Carolina, the city not the state. In Puerto Rico. I just think that would really make my mom happy and then she’d be cured. Also I read about how you killed Python today, and I just wanted to say that was really cool. I’m glad you’re my dad, even though you’re 93 million miles away. Thanks, bye!”

Fen grinned, “I did that, like, five times a day.”

“That’s… not really any better,” I frowned. “I’m sorry for not returning your calls.” 

“No, no, don’t feel bad, really!” Fen said frantically. “This is coming out all wrong, what I’m trying to say is that … reading your myths, knowing that I was your son, that really helped me. You weren’t just my dad, you were my hero.” He blushed, looking down bashfully. “You are my hero.”

I was used to people admiring me. Even long after Greece or Rome fell, I was admired. In different forms, perhaps, they took my image and used it for others, but I was still looked up to. Yet it was different coming from someone who had every reason to hate you.

“Thanks?” I said, “I don’t know if I’m deserving of such a title,” I held up my hand, stopping Fen from voicing any objections. “But I’ll strive to live up to your expectations.” 

“I’ll always be here for you,” I said, “Even if I’m 93 million miles away.”

~~~

Taking a breath, I knocked on the door to the dorm room at the same time I knocked on the cabin door.

Riley answered it, staring at me. “Apollo?” He said in disbelief. “What are you…”

“I’m here to see if you’re okay,” I answered before he could finish.

“Right, because yesterday.” He stood in the doorway for a moment, before remembering his manners. “Sorry, come in. My roommate’s are down at dinner. I don’t know when they’ll be back, but it means we can at least sit in the common room?” He gestured to an old couch and armchair, allowing me to pick which one. I sat down on the couch, expecting him to sit next to me, only to sit on the armchair instead.

“So… How are you, then?”

He gave me a look that read “how do you think ?”

“Noted,” I said. “Is there anything you want to talk about?”

“Not… really?” He sighed. “Okay. How about starting at when did you get your powers back?”

Oh. That was easy. “I don’t think she ever actually took them.”

“Then how…?”

“Because I’ve had my powers taken away before.” I stared down at the rug in front of me, worn down from years of walking. “Any other god it wouldn’t have worked on. But me… Pretty recently, too. I believed her. It was a foolish decision, but that’s what she’s best at making people do.”

“And whatever other shit you said yesterday.” He frowned. “I should start borrowing Fen’s notebooks.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Maybe. He’s quite good at that. But this isn’t about him.”

Riley looked away. “... Yeah.”

“Why did you turn around?”

“Yesterday?” Riley didn’t look at me.

“You passed monsters. That was just a person. Why did you look?”

He didn’t respond, and for a moment I thought he never would. “Chloe Smythe,” he said finally. “She was a Demeter kid, never claimed. She fought on the Titan side during the war. She was… it was the only choice I had. She was going to kill Fen if I didn’t. He wasn’t even there to fight, he was just running messages”

The story played at something in the back of my mind. “You asked for my aid,” I said. “I remember that. I thought it was odd, I had never heard you ask for something before.” He smiled sadly.

“I’m surprised you remember,” he said, then shook his head. “I picked up a bow because I liked it, yeah. It didn’t come naturally to me, but it was something I enjoyed. And I also sucked at sword fighting, you never want to have to see me— um. Yeah. But also… I was afraid. I couldn’t get past the idea of having to look someone in the eye when I was… I couldn’t do that. That’s why I’m a coward.”

I paused, considering his words. “I use a bow,” I finally said. “Does that make me a coward?”

“That’s different. You’re a god.”

“You’re right, it is different. I have nothing to lose if I get hurt. Yet I still use a bow.” He didn’t need to know about the being born with a sword or the wrestling Ares things if he didn’t already know. Which I was assuming he was. Even so, while I could use other weapons, the bow and arrow was still my preference.

“There’s other stuff, too.”

“Like?” I prompted him. When he didn’t respond, I continued. “Fen seems to think otherwise.”

“Does he?” He rolled his eyes. “I don’t know if that’s true anymore.”

“It used to be at least,” I said. “He thought it enough to write it down.”

“Yeah, but she said an hour before. I don’t know what he thinks of me now.”

“You two haven’t talked yet?” I asked, surprised.

No response.

“That’s okay,” I tried to assure him. “There were entire decades where Artemis and I didn’t speak to each other.”

“Because you had been a coward?” Still looking at the ground.

“I’m sure there was at least once.”

“But not because you had let someone you care about die.”

“I didn’t die,” I countered. “And you were also trying to prevent him from throwing himself into more danger. Actually…” I pointed a finger at him, wagging it slightly. “ That is brave. Standing up to someone you care about.” He had gone silent again, his hair covering most of his face. I really needed to talk to him one day about cutting the front of his hair. “Remember what I said when we went to the boardwalk? About relying on me? That means that you don’t have to worry about me.”

“But I do,” he said, sticking his face in his hands. “I do, and I kind of hate that I do, but I can’t help it.”

“Hate that you care about me?” I asked, taken slightly aback. And here I thought that our relationship had been getting better.

“I spent years trying to hate you, to pretend I didn’t care about what you thought. I mean, you fucking left me. And yeah, you left everyone, but then you showed up at my first concert as a kid just after my mom started to tour only to leave like an hour later. And fuck, that hurt. ” He finally looked at me, although I almost wished he hadn’t. It was like he couldn’t stop himself. “You left. Again. I wanted so bad to hate you in that moment. And I guess I did, but also… I couldn’t. Because really, I just wanted your attention.” He sunk into his seat. “And then all the shit with the Battle of Manhattan, and I was stuck basically raising the rest of them and helping them cope with what had just happened, and I never got to.” He shook his head. “There was no one I could tell. I couldn’t talk to you, my mom didn’t know any of the demigod shit yet because how do you bring that up in a letter, and it wasn’t like I could just dump it on the others.”

That was… a lot.

Seeing my expression, he averted his eyes again. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to accuse you of anything. I know you’re here to help.”

The old Apollo would have run at this. This was emotional, was raw, was very hurtful. That was the thing though, wasn’t it? He needed me. I couldn’t run out on him again.

Instead, I moved over to the armchair, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m glad you can be honest with me now,” I said. He looked up at me. “And I’m here for you now, right?”

He tried to smile, but it was clearly forced. “Right.”

At that moment, the door to the dorm opened. A boy around Riley’s age stepped in, looking down at a book and not at where he was going. Something seemed… off about him. From the corner of my eye, I could see the flash of panic on Riley’s face. If I had been paying just a little more attention, I could have gotten out of here before the door even opened. Unfortunately, it was now too late for that.

“... Hey, Marc,” Riley said awkwardly. “You’re back from dinner early.”

“Just wanted to get some line studying done,” he half held up the book, the cover reading “The Play That Goes Wrong.” It was at that moment that he seemed to notice me. “Oh. Hello. Sorry, I didn’t know Riley had a friend over. What’s your name?”

“Apollo,” I said. Riley glared at me.

“Oh. Like the Roman god?” He asked.

“You… could say that.” I frowned, tilting my head slightly at him. Was that it?

“Cool,” was all Marc said in return. “I used to be really into mythology.”

“Who’s your godly parent?”

Both Riley and Marc snapped their heads at me. Marc laughed nervously. “What?”

“Who’s your godly parent?” I asked again, glancing at Riley, confused as to why Marc might not know this. “Because you’re a demigod…?”

“... What?” Both boys said at the same time.

“Roman? Considering that’s how you know my name?” Silence. “... Did you two not know this?”

“Woah woah woah,” Riley shook his head as he stood, pointing at Marc. “You’re a demigod?”

“I have no idea…” Marc took a step back. “Wait, how do you know about that?” He looked at me. “And how did you know?” His eyes went wide. “Wait. You’re actually…” He shook his head. “What are you even doing here? In my dorm room? And why are you with…” His gaze trailed to Riley. “... Really?”

Riley looked back at the ground but nodded.

“... Oh. Uh… Nice to meet you, Mr. Apollo… sir… lord?” He shuffled his book to one hand as to not lose his place, sticking out his free hand, only to seem to remember that he was talking to a god and bowed instead. “Marcus Driscoll, child of Mercury, Third Cohort.”

“You don’t need to bow,” I said, glancing at Riley. Maybe this was just how he greeted people? “I was just visiting Riley here. Checking in on him.”

“... Why? Not that I mean any offense by that, of course, you as a god can do whatever you want to obviously, I just don’t get why… I mean, no offense to you of course.” Marc said that last part to Riley.

“Because he’s my dad,” Riley said. “And you don’t need to be so weird around him. Actually, He was just about to leave.”

“I was?” I looked at him, confused.

“Yup. Because now, Marc and I have got a lot to talk about.” He began to usher me towards the door. “You can stop another day,” he whispered to me as he pushed me out of the dorm, closing the door before I had a chance to respond.