Status: Finished :)
Midas Is King
VIII. In the Spring I shed my Skin
[font= palatino]‘Welcome to my home,’ I whisper as we enter the throne room. None of my family has even moved. Groaning I turn to face Aella, coming to realize my error.
‘I was gone for much longer wasn’t I? I’m sorry time passes differently here, I forgot about that,’ I apologize, realizing only now how long she must have waited for me and I never showed up.
‘It’s fiiiine’ She exclaims nervously, ‘considering you’re immortal and all.’
‘Actually,’ Apollo butts in, ‘you are too.’
Every single head in the room snaps to face him, and Aella lets out a scream of fear. My instant reaction is to pull her behind my body and stand between her and Apollo.
That voice, I will never forget it, or that face. He’s the man that made my mother cry when I was six, he was the man that was in my house the night my fath- stepfather killed everyone but Johnny and I.
‘Maybe this isn’t a good time to mention this,’ Ares looks a little nervous but continues on anyways, ‘but we can read your mind.’
‘What?!? And you’re only telling me this now? I thought I was going crazy!’ I yell at him, much to the amusements of the other immortals in the room. The same god who was talking before clears his throat to regain everyone’s attention.
‘Apollo dear,’ he smiles at me, catching on to the fact that I still don’t know how he is, ‘Actually I guess to you it can also be father.’ I stare at him, unable to comprehend what is going on. I’ll admit we have the same hair color and eye color but so do a lot of people-
‘Shit.’ Ares states calmly from beside me, ‘You look identical to Artemis,’
I shake my head in disagreement; I’m just having a very vivid dream. In a few moments I will wake up to my shit life and have to come to turns with the fact that none of this ever happened. Ares sighs, wrapping his arms around me to pull me close. Slowly he closes the distance between us until his lips are just above mine. I can’t focus on anything but him, his presence clouds all my senses.
‘Good,’ He whispers, bringing his lips the final millimeters to mine. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel anything; it felt like my mind was exploding, like I was shedding my old skin. My life flashes before me in little snippets that I can’t grab onto or hold onto. Maybe it’s because it was so shitty but I don’t even try to save the memories that flash through my mind. I pull away from Ares, feeling as if I just stuck my finger into an electrical socket.
‘This is real,’ I whisper, touching Ares’ lips with my fingers, ‘You’re real, and I actually killed someone.’ The thought horrifies me slightly; even if he deserved to die I shouldn’t have killed him, I didn’t even know that I had it in me. Apollo, my father I guess, clears his throat and looks a little sheepish.
‘You wouldn’t have done it, so I had to influence you a little. I was using my oracle, the woman on the beach to convince you to react, sorry?’ He doesn’t sound sorry at all but I think I can understand where he is coming from. There are probably rules about not directly interacting with mortals and Apollo is my father. Fathers will do anything to protect their children, from fighting off rage-driven stepfathers to killing rapists. ‘I’ve always been here, watching out for you and you’re mother, but I wasn’t allowed to intervene with things went sour and I am sorry that I wasn’t truly there for you when you needed me most.’
‘But you were,’ I tell him, looking from him to Ares and the rest of the immortals, ‘You were there when that man tried to kill me, and that’s the only time I ever really needed you. The rest of the time I had Ares.’
Apollo smiles, and I would move to hug him but I don’t wish to leave Ares’ side yet, not until I know what is to become of me. Ares, Apollo and even Artemis all shift their eyes until they’re staring at a man I assume to be Zeus.
‘You have accepted her as your daughter, which I have to respect. Ares cannot be punished for protecting a demi-goddess and she may stay here, happy?’ Blondie clearly isn’t and Zeus doesn’t look entirely thrilled either but I have my father, my aunt and the man I love for the rest of eternity. What more could anyone ask for?
‘I was gone for much longer wasn’t I? I’m sorry time passes differently here, I forgot about that,’ I apologize, realizing only now how long she must have waited for me and I never showed up.
‘It’s fiiiine’ She exclaims nervously, ‘considering you’re immortal and all.’
‘Actually,’ Apollo butts in, ‘you are too.’
Every single head in the room snaps to face him, and Aella lets out a scream of fear. My instant reaction is to pull her behind my body and stand between her and Apollo.
-.-.-.-
That voice, I will never forget it, or that face. He’s the man that made my mother cry when I was six, he was the man that was in my house the night my fath- stepfather killed everyone but Johnny and I.
‘Maybe this isn’t a good time to mention this,’ Ares looks a little nervous but continues on anyways, ‘but we can read your mind.’
‘What?!? And you’re only telling me this now? I thought I was going crazy!’ I yell at him, much to the amusements of the other immortals in the room. The same god who was talking before clears his throat to regain everyone’s attention.
‘Apollo dear,’ he smiles at me, catching on to the fact that I still don’t know how he is, ‘Actually I guess to you it can also be father.’ I stare at him, unable to comprehend what is going on. I’ll admit we have the same hair color and eye color but so do a lot of people-
‘Shit.’ Ares states calmly from beside me, ‘You look identical to Artemis,’
I shake my head in disagreement; I’m just having a very vivid dream. In a few moments I will wake up to my shit life and have to come to turns with the fact that none of this ever happened. Ares sighs, wrapping his arms around me to pull me close. Slowly he closes the distance between us until his lips are just above mine. I can’t focus on anything but him, his presence clouds all my senses.
‘Good,’ He whispers, bringing his lips the final millimeters to mine. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel anything; it felt like my mind was exploding, like I was shedding my old skin. My life flashes before me in little snippets that I can’t grab onto or hold onto. Maybe it’s because it was so shitty but I don’t even try to save the memories that flash through my mind. I pull away from Ares, feeling as if I just stuck my finger into an electrical socket.
‘This is real,’ I whisper, touching Ares’ lips with my fingers, ‘You’re real, and I actually killed someone.’ The thought horrifies me slightly; even if he deserved to die I shouldn’t have killed him, I didn’t even know that I had it in me. Apollo, my father I guess, clears his throat and looks a little sheepish.
‘You wouldn’t have done it, so I had to influence you a little. I was using my oracle, the woman on the beach to convince you to react, sorry?’ He doesn’t sound sorry at all but I think I can understand where he is coming from. There are probably rules about not directly interacting with mortals and Apollo is my father. Fathers will do anything to protect their children, from fighting off rage-driven stepfathers to killing rapists. ‘I’ve always been here, watching out for you and you’re mother, but I wasn’t allowed to intervene with things went sour and I am sorry that I wasn’t truly there for you when you needed me most.’
‘But you were,’ I tell him, looking from him to Ares and the rest of the immortals, ‘You were there when that man tried to kill me, and that’s the only time I ever really needed you. The rest of the time I had Ares.’
Apollo smiles, and I would move to hug him but I don’t wish to leave Ares’ side yet, not until I know what is to become of me. Ares, Apollo and even Artemis all shift their eyes until they’re staring at a man I assume to be Zeus.
‘You have accepted her as your daughter, which I have to respect. Ares cannot be punished for protecting a demi-goddess and she may stay here, happy?’ Blondie clearly isn’t and Zeus doesn’t look entirely thrilled either but I have my father, my aunt and the man I love for the rest of eternity. What more could anyone ask for?