Week 4 Day 2

Apollo's POV

"Hey Apollo! There's someone here to see you!"

I tilted my head. I couldn't think of who it could be - not off the top of my head at any rate. Not that that meant much. My memory was still messed up. I'd been getting more flashbacks lately though, most of which WEREN'T extremely sad and terrifying. It was a nice change of pace!

It did make me wonder where the rest of my divine family were. I loved Sis and Mom, but I kinda missed the others. Well, some of them. There was that really stern but really smart lady, who I THINK is one of my sisters, but I don't remember for sure. Honestly from what I remember, it's probably safe to assume that at least half of the gods I remember are my siblings. Father had a LOT of children.

A large man sat on his throne, glaring at me. I shivered and shrunk under his gaze. What had I done now? Why was he so angry? He raised his lightning bolt, the glare gone and a sort of detachedness filling his expression instead.

That was worse. When he grew detached…

I shook myself. This was the present. He WASN'T HERE.

"Apollo?" Kayla asked me, sounding concerned.

I swiftly put a smile on my face. There was no reason to worry her..

"Who is it?" I asked, trying to deflect her attention.

She still looked a little worried, but she dropped it. "Percy's here."

Percy?

I frowned. The name seemed familiar, but I couldn't place it. Kayla seemed happy at least, so Percy was probably pretty nice and friendly.

"O….kay?" I told her.

Her face fell. "Don't remember him either, huh?"

I shook my head.

She sighed. "I guess that makes sense. I don't think you knew him THAT well. Pretty much everyone's met him, but that doesn't mean he's close to everyone."

"If you want, I can come back later," a muffled voice sounded from the other side of the cabin door.

Kayla looked at me questioningly. I nodded.

She opened the door. "No, this is fine. It's just…"

I entered the doorway. I was a lot bigger now. I wanted to handle this myself.

"I don't remember you. I'm sorry." I told the teenager.

Studying him, I could see why Kayla thought I might remember him. You could feel a sort of… power coming off of him. It wasn't exactly intimidating, more just… present. And not just from being a demigod. His demeanor, the way he looked at people, all of it screamed Pay attention. This person is a leader. You want him on YOUR side.

He stared at me. "I knew you'd been deaged, but it's still really weird seeing you like this."

I shrugged. It seemed normal for me, but this was most of what I could remember, so of course it would. Plus from what I COULD remember from before, 'weird' was the course of the day for a god.

He rubbed the back of his head. "Well I don't know whether you'd be interested since you don't remember me, but my Mom invited you and Meg to come over to our apartment for a bit. She's been worried about you two since you first dropped by, and when she heard about you dying and Zeus incinerating Meg… well she's HEARD that you two are okay now, but that's different from SEEING it. Meg already said she's coming, and Leto asked to come as well. I'd have asked Artemis too, but I couldn't find her. Leto said she'd be gone for awhile."

I nodded. Artemis had been spending more and more time with her Hunters. I was sad she wasn't around as much, but I understood. They needed her. She still came by regularly at least, she just couldn't be at Camp all the time anymore.

If both Leto AND Meg wanted to go, then…

"I'll come," I told him. "I might not remember you, but if Mother and Meg are going, then I'm going too."

Besides, I could always use new friends. Or old ones, I supposed. And his mother had been WORRIED about me.

I hadn't seen much of my family except for Mom and Sis, so hearing that someone else's family was concerned and wanted to check up on me? It made me feel a warm glow in my chest.

The four of us arrived at the Jackson apartment a few hours later. Percy had driven us, though he seemed weirdly nervous about it. Something about the car nearly crashing last time? I had a feeling he was talking about before I lost my memories, when I was big.

It was always weird to think back to those times. It was me, but… kinda not. I felt… different. I thought differently. And I knew there was a LOT I'd forgotten. From some of the stuff I HAD remembered… well I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to get all my memories back.

But I needed to. Even if some of those memories were painful. And even - no - ESPECIALLY if some of those memories had me doing awful things. I needed to know.

Didn't stop me from being scared though.

I stayed quiet throughout the car ride. I think Mom could tell there was something wrong with me, but she didn't pry. Meg just munched on some fries she'd gotten from… somewhere. I wasn't sure whether she'd snuck them in her gardening belt, or whether Meg had used her new divine powers to help satisfy a case of the munchies. They seemed equally plausible.

As we walked up to the door, I felt a weird sense of deja vu. Well, maybe not THAT weird. I had been here before apparently. But for me to have this feeling after only being here… huh. I didn't actually KNOW how many times. Probably not a lot. I hadn't known Percy that well from what people were telling me after all.

"Percy? Are you there?" I heard a woman's voice call.

"Yeah, Mom! We're here! Oh, and Leto came as well, so I hope you made a lot."

I heard a chuckle as I watched Percy's mom walk into the room.

But not just her. No, she was carrying something.

Or rather, someONE.

I rushed over before I knew what I was doing, peering up at the baby she was holding.

The baby yawned and blinked sleepily at me.

I squealed.

Percy's mom noticed my interest. She bent down to my level, still holding the child. "This is Estelle, my little star. Do you want to hold her?"

I nodded eagerly. Slowly, gently, she transferred the little girl into my arms.

Estelle made a little noise as she gazed up at me.

I melted.

She was so cute! So adorable! This small child, this little life… I wanted to protect her.

"I think she likes you."

I looked up at Percy's mom, who gave me a soft smile. I realized that I was grinning back.

Meg walked up to Percy's mom, looking weirdly nervous. She held onto her dress, twisting the fabric as she looked down.

I blinked. Was Meg… shy? I'd never seen her act shy before! …Had I?

We stood in the doorway of the Jackson apartment. A young man opened the door, looking thoroughly DONE with the world. "Why?"

Meg inched back, hiding behind me, as if afraid Percy might hurt her.

Then I was back in the present.

Hm. So Meg HAD acted shy before. Or maybe more scared than shy. In that memory, I'd instinctively KNOWN that Percy wasn't the sort of person who would hurt her. But I guess Meg didn't know that.

Percy's mother approached Meg slowly, gently. "I heard about everything that happened," she told her. "You've had a rough time of it, but you succeeded despite EVERYTHING. You even saved Apollo! And I am so, so proud of you."

Meg stared at her for a moment… and then ran towards her for a hug. I heard some faint sobbing emanating from where she buried her face in Percy's mother's shoulder, but when she looked up again, her face was dry… mostly. Eagle-eyed as I was, I spotted some slight puffiness to her eyes.

The hug broke a minute later, Percy's mother giving Meg a soft smile. "Would you like to help me make dessert, dear? You don't have to if you don't want to, but…"

"Okay," Meg said casually. But I saw how her eyes sparkled.

Percy's mother glanced over at my own mother. "You can watch us bake if you'd like, Leto. Or watch over Estelle, of course."

"I think my son has that well in hand," Leto replied, giving me a bemused look. I grinned, gently rocking Estelle from side to side. She was adorable.

"Percy, could you look after Apollo and Estelle please? This shouldn't take long."

Percy shrugged. "Sure."

He looked over at me, gesturing for me to follow him. "C'mon, I'll show you the nursery. I got to pick out the decorations!"

(Meg's POV)

I followed Leto and Sally to the kitchen. I wasn't sure how baking worked - I hadn't been allowed to use a stove or oven when I was under Nero's control, and no one was around to teach me how to cook anyway. And while I was journeying with Apollo, I had better things to do than learn how to cook.

But now? The idea of learning how to cook seemed… interesting. Normal. I couldn't do it before, but now, in this new life I'd made for myself, I could. And I even had someone to teach me! Speaking of which…

"What're we making?"

Whatever it was, I was SURE it'd be delicious.

Sally rummaged around the cupboards as Leto took a seat at the kitchen table. "We're gonna make blue chocolate chip cookies. We can set them baking while we eat."

"Blue?" I'd never HEARD of blue cookies. I'd seen red and green sugar cookies near Christmas, but blue?

Sally gave a small, sad smile. "Yes. I started making all my food blue as a rebellion, but even after I didn't need to rebel anymore - well the blue food stuck."

I cocked my head to the side. "Rebellion? Who were you rebelling against?"

She was quiet for a moment. Her expression turned stormy. "Gabe Ugliano. The most unpleasant man I ever had the displeasure of knowing."

I frowned. "Who was he?"

She grimaced. "My husband. I needed to keep Percy hidden from monsters. As a child of Poseidon, he has a stronger scent than most other demigods. Combined with needing to keep him hidden from the gods in order to keep him safe from their wrath… well I had to take extreme measures. That meant finding the stinkiest, most aggressively mortal smelling man I could find, and marrying him in the hopes that his stench would cover up Percy's scent."

I studied her face. Between the disgust in her voice and the pinched expression on her face, I could guess what kind of man Gabe was.

"He hurt you," I said to her quietly. "You and Percy."

She shook her head. "Only me, at least as far as I know. I tried to protect Percy as best I could, including from… HIM."

This man - no - this BEAST had hurt Sally. Had probably hurt Percy, in one way or another. He'd hurt these kind people.

The only reason I wasn't swearing vengeance against him already, was because I was CERTAIN he was already 'taken care of'. No way Percy would allow someone to hurt his mother like that and get away with it.

But it didn't hurt to check.

"He's gone, right? He can't hurt anyone anymore?"

Sally gave me a cutthroat smile. I was abruptly reminded that she was PERCY'S mother. I could see where he got his intimidation from.

"Oh, don't worry about him. I put him to - ah - GOOD use. He won't hurt or threaten anyone ever again. In fact, he's rather… inspirational now."

I abruptly decided to drop that line of questioning. Gabe was taken care of. That was all I needed to know.

Sally's smile dropped, her expression softening. "I heard about Nero. I'm sorry you had to go through staying with that horrible man. I don't know whether you're interested, but if you ever want to come over and visit, or stay over, my door is always open for you."

I choked up a little.

I heard a noise from behind me. I startled and manifested my sickles, before realizing it was just Leto. She put up her hands in a calming gesture. I turned my weapons back into rings, embarrassed.

Leto looked over at Sally, giving her a proud look. "You are an extraordinary woman, Sally."

Sally looked slightly puzzled. Leto elaborated. "I came here partly to accompany Apollo… but mostly so I could meet YOU. I'd already heard enough about Percy's childhood, seen enough of what you did for him, to know that you were a wonderful mother, a wonderful person. But you did something more. Your kindness saved my son."

Now Sally REALLY looked confused. "All I did was let him in, ask Percy to help bandage him up and find him some clothing, and made him some food…?"

Leto chuckled. "And those small kindnesses alone can mean a lot, when you have little else to cling to. But it's not the kindness you showed towards Apollo DIRECTLY that made the difference. It's the kindness you showed towards someone else, someone who hadn't experienced any genuine kindness for a long, long time. Someone who I've recently adopted as my daughter."

Oh. OH. She was talking about…

I blinked rapidly. There must've been flour in my eyes. Yeah. That was it.

Sally's eyes drifted over to me. I ducked my head a little.

Leto's eyes twinkled as she saw Sally make the connection. "If you hadn't been as kind a person as you are - if you hadn't helped the way you did - my son would not exist anymore."

"Wait… what?" Sally asked. "How…? I only helped clean Meg up, gave her some clothes, and brought out some food?"

"But that was enough," I told her, taking over the conversation from Leto. This was my story to tell. "You showed me that I didn't need to be nervous around all adults. That maybe - just maybe - I could trust people."

I took a deep breath. "You gave me this dress. It was the first gift I'd received without strings attached for - for a VERY long time. Even when I went back to Nero for a bit, I didn't stop wearing it. It reminded me that Nero was WRONG. That I COULD trust some people. That Nero wasn't my only option."

"I kept wearing the dress, even after I rejoined Apollo. No matter how beat up it got, I had it repaired. Because it meant a lot to me. And that- that allowed me to use it to save Apollo."

"You saved Apollo using my old dress?" Sally inquired. It DID sound ridiculous when put like that. But we dealt in the ridiculous. It came with being a demigod - or a god. Or anyone vaguely affiliated with a god or demigod.

"Feelings and beliefs have power. The Emperors became gods because people worshipped them as gods. The kindness you demonstrated when you gave me that dress, your wish that I be safe and happy, my using the dress as a reminder of everything good about the people I've met - it gave the dress power. Gave me power. When Zeus incinerated me, he incinerated the dress as well. But not the IDEA of the dress. Not what it meant to me."

"To me, this dress is protection. Kindness. A promise that someone cares, even when people are whispering in your ear telling you you're wrong."

"The dryads' worship of me put me on the brink of godhood. Their belief gave me the option to return. But Apollo was so, so weak - the barrier didn't want to let him through. And every moment we lingered on the edge of nonexistence, it got harder and harder to return. I needed a way to keep his essence intact. That's where your dress came in. I was able to 'wrap' Apollo's essence in the 'idea' of the dress. I 'tore' off a strip and swaddled him in its protection. All the emotions, desires, beliefs I'd built up around the dress, I used to keep him safe. But I wouldn't have been able to do that if you hadn't given me the dress in the first place."

I saw tears glisten in Sally's eyes. "Oh-oh.." she choked out.

And then… Leto gave a bow. A slight one, but the meaning was clear. "You are one of the best mothers I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, Sally Blofis. If you ever need a favor, just ask. I can't promise that I'll be able to fulfill it - I know better than to promise such things without VERY good reason - but I DO promise to listen to your request."

Sally's lips quirked up. "Actually… I DO have one small request. Could you look after Estelle? Percy can take care of himself pretty well, but I'm worried about her. And I'd rather ask you than a certain goddess. I REFUSE to allow one of my children to be taken from me again."

Leto gave a slight smirk. "Oh, I know exactly who you're referring to. I don't believe she has any designs for Estelle, but rest assured, I'll help Estelle as much as I am allowed to. It's the least I can do. Besides, she's adorable."

"Yes, she is," Sally agreed. She blinked. "And if we want to have dinner before she goes to sleep, we'd better get moving with these cookies."

Sally and I got back to work, Sally explaining every step of the cooking process. It was so normal, so ordinary, but it meant the world to me.

(Apollo's POV)

I rocked Estelle from side-to-side in my lap. It was kinda tricky since I was so small, but I managed. I loved the way she looked around curiously at everything - ESPECIALLY at me. Not that I could blame her. I was FASCINATING after all.

Percy watched me cooed over his little sister, an odd expression on his face. "You really love babies, huh?" he asked. His tone seemed… thoughtful, I guess? Like he was trying to puzzle something out.

I shrugged. "I guess? I like her at least. I don't REMEMBER having met any other babies before, but I don't remember a lot of stuff.

Percy opened his mouth, still giving me that strange, contemplative look, and then closed it again, looking away. It seemed like maybe he wanted to ask me something, but didn't know whether he should? Or how to?

That was kinda a scary thought.

But I'd had to deal with a lot of scary thoughts.

I'd rather get this - whatever it was - out of the way now.

At least Percy didn't look afraid of me, unlike Birk.

I steeled myself and looked Percy in the eye. "What's wrong? You're acting weird."

He blinked. "Nothing's wrong."

Well maybe not WRONG but… "You keep giving me strange looks, like I'M the one that's acting weird."

He sighed. "I don't know how much I should say. I heard you don't remember much."

"Just say it," I told him calmly, though my stomach clenched. "I already know I did some awful things in the past that scared people. I didn't like finding out about it, but I needed to know."

He shook his head. "It's nothing that bad, I promise. Honestly I'm mostly not sure about telling you because I'm not sure you'd understand it right now, because of the whole age thing."

Oh. Well that's actually a pretty good reason. But…

"Why don't you try explaining it, and I'll tell you what I can understand?" I suggested. "If I can't get it, then nothing's lost. You can just try again later when I'm older and CAN understand it."

He hummed a little. "Okay I'll give it a try. But if Meg or your mom get upset…"

"I'll tell them I asked," I cut in.

He nodded, eyes closed. Probably thinking of how to phrase… whatever it was.

"It just seems weird to see how much you love babies, because back at Camp, before all this happened, I didn't really see you taking care of little kids, or hear about you dropping by and spending a ton of time with them," he said carefully.

O…kay? "I don't really know much about that stuff," I told him. "I know I thought of things a little differently - I MUST'VE, with some of the stories I've heard of stuff I did back before, but I only remember a little of how I DID think. Is me liking little kids really so different though?"

"I don't know," he replied, his eyebrows creased. "I'm beginning to realize how little I actually knew about you, or about the whole situation with you and the other gods."

"What situation?"

"You gods' relationship with your kids. Why you weren't around more. Why you didn't help more."

I stared at him. Kids? What?

Percy continued. "Most of us demigods were lucky to see our divine parents once every few years. Heck, we were lucky if our divine parent decided to acknowledge us at all. I thought that most of the gods just didn't care that much about kids and that's why you guys were rarely involved, but getting to know you after you were turned human and seeing you now with my little sister, I'm not so sure."

I was definitely missing something. Something big.

I had a feeling that Percy was right, and this was one of those things I had trouble remembering. Had trouble thinking about.

"I… don't entirely get it," I confessed.

"Yeah, I guess you wouldn't," Percy replied. "Will DID say that you didn't seem to realize that you're his and his siblings' divine parent, that you couldn't seem to grasp it."

Aaaaand there was the static again. I really hated that.

"I can't, I guess," I sighed. "But it sounds like you're rethinking what you thought about me and some other gods because I'm acting differently than how you thought I would?"

He hesitated. "I guess so?"

I didn't totally know what to do with that. But.

"I guess we can figure it out together?" I offered. "I'm still not sure who I was or who I am. Not really. I'm… not sure ANYONE really knows that. I guess we just keep trying to figure it out, look at things differently. Try to understand each other and ourselves a little better everyday, even as we're changing. That's the best we can do."

Percy stared at me. Then he chuckled, breaking the tension. "You know, you're surprisingly smart for a - what, four-year-old?"

I puffed myself up. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" I cried indignantly.

But I couldn't maintain it and started giggling myself moments later, Estelle joining in.

It was just nice. Really, really nice. I didn't know these two very well, but I WANTED to learn more. To be a part of their lives.

I wanted to watch Estelle grow up. To celebrate when she took her first steps.

I wanted… I wanted to just - BE a part of this world. Of this little bit of happiness.

I started singing "Part of your world". Afterwards I said that it was just because Percy was Poseidon's son so it was an obvious choice, and that was true, but there was MORE to it than that.

I was Ariel, and I wanted to be a part of this world.

Dinner went well. Meg seemed very relaxed and comfortable with Sally - which I'd expect, but the WAY she was relaxed… well, it seemed that Meg might have a third mother now of sorts.

I was mostly interested in the food though. Sally was the kind of cook that in ancient times, one of us gods would have spirited away to Olympus and made into a god so that we could enjoy their cooking for all eternity! As it was, I asked her whether she could make food for all of Camp Half-Blood at least once, so all the campers could taste it… and all the gods. It seemed like a daunting task, but she said she'd think about it. I hope she does. I can DEFINITELY see why Uncle Poseidon fell for her. Her cooking alone would be enough to win anyone over!

I was sad to finally leave. I hadn't remembered Percy before, but it was really nice hanging out with him. It made me wonder…

"Hey, Meg?" I asked, tugging at her dress. She looked down.

"What is it?"

"I really enjoyed going to see Sally, Percy, and Estelle, even though I couldn't remember them. So I was just wondering… is there anyone else I forgot that we should visit? I love being with my family, but I kinda wanna see my friends too, even if I don't remember how we became friends. And…"

I looked down.

"I'm glad I've got Harley to be friends with, but… I'd like to see more people my age or younger. There's no one at camp as little as me who isn't afraid of me!"

Meg seemed to think for a minute. "Well… she's still a little older than you, but she's the person I can think of who's closest to your age, and she's probably your family too…"

I perked up. "Who?!"

"Georgina. We helped rescue her during your trials a few months ago. She's seven years old, though she's pretty big for her age. She lives at the Waystation."

Waystation…?

That sounded familiar…

Two older women comforting each other, tears in their eyes.

A short, almost elfin-looking Latino boy, grinning as he cared some cheese into the room, cracking jokes.

Singing a sad duet with a pretty teenage girl, feeling trapped.

A scarred young man sitting in the corner, dejected and miserable.

And a young girl handing me a doll made of pipe cleaners.

There were more people I wished to see. More that I'd forgotten. I'd miss the rest of my family, but… I wanted to see these people. To learn more about them. And hopefully, remember them. And maybe help them. It didn't escape my notice that most of them seemed sad or miserable in my memory. I wanted to cheer them up! To help them! I didn't know whether I could, but I could at least try. That's all I COULD do.

"I'd… I'd like to visit her, and everyone else at the Waystation. Please."

Meg hummed, then nodded. "I'll talk to Artemis and Leto about it. And Leo, of course."

"Leo?"

A memory of that same elfin Latino boy flashed through my head, though this time he was playing some musical instrument. A beautiful instrument. One I wanted really, really badly.

Maybe we could play some music together!

"Sounds great!" I told her, buoyed by the thought of playing a duet with this boy I could barely remember, but felt a strange affection for.

"Are we gonna take Artemis's chariot again?" I said casually, trying not to betray how much I liked the thought. I'd love to pet the deer again!

"..Maybe?" Meg said, deep in thought. "Leo has his own ride though. He's slower, but it might be better to take him instead."

His own ride? I didn't see how you could get much better than those deer of Artemis's, but hey, who knows. Leo could surprise me.

Meg dropped me off at my cabin, returning me to the rest of my family. I hugged each of them in turn. I probably wouldn't be here much longer, so I'd enjoy what time I had left with them. Then, it would be time to see more of my forgotten friends and… maybe family?