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Percy blinked his eyes rapidly as a wave of lethargy hit him with full force. He swayed on his feet and nearly toppled over if it wasn’t for a pair of strong arms catching his falling figure. Percy met Apollo’s golden eyes and furrowed his brows in confusion at the eerie, blank look on the sun god’s face, “Apollo…? What’s going on?”
“Sleep,” the sun god ordered in lieu of answering, placing a glowing hand over Percy’s eyes. The son of Poseidon fell limp and Apollo quickly adjusted his hold so he was carrying Percy in his arms. Apollo carried Percy towards his palace, giving a dark look to anybody who stared too long. The denizens of Olympus quickly averted their eyes, non-existent hearts pounding in terror. Upon reaching his palace, Apollo gently placed Percy on the bed. Apollo smiled to himself as he caressed the face of a sleeping son of Poseidon. It was not a kind smile. It was a smile full of possessiveness and dark desire. It was the smile of myths. The smile that poets wrote about, that brought about tragedies. Apollo leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on Percy’s lips and as he did so, he cut a sliver of his own divine essence and weaved it into Percy’s being, transforming the demigod into an immortal.
Apollo knew Percy would be angry with him, might even hate him, when he discovered what Apollo had done. But Apollo didn’t care. Someone had once warned him that trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair. Apollo had already gone two for three, so he reasoned why not go for a perfect score.
It had taken him years to coax the son of Poseidon to lower his guard, to lure him into a sense of security. It had taken him years to make Percy fall in love with him, but he had done it. The first step in his plan involved getting rid of one annoying Annabeth Chase. He didn’t kill her, no that would have been too messy and hard to cover up. Instead, he steered her towards a different mortal. It had been so pathetically easy to manipulate the daughter of Athena into being unfaithful. For all that she boasted of her wisdom and intelligence, her hubris still blinded her to the obvious.
Apollo had broken Percy’s trust the moment he tricked Percy into immortality. For all that Percy was willing to give in to Apollo, accepting immortality was the one thing Apollo could not convince Percy of. Apollo had tried to be kind, had tried to be better. After all, his time as Lester had taught him much of the mortal heart. But Apollo was not mortal, despite the mortal skin he had donned for a while. He was a god, and gods were dangerous, possessive beings. They took what they wanted, whenever they wanted. Apollo wanted Percy Jackson, and what Apollo wanted, Apollo received. And if he didn’t receive it, he took it.
Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair.
But it’s a good thing that forever is the one thing Apollo has plenty of.
And now, so does Percy.
After all, it gets so very tiring to hate someone for all of eternity, it’s only a matter of time before Percy lowers his guard once more. And when he does, Apollo would be ready to strike once more.
Percy woke up, his body feeling both too light and too heavy. His body moved too easily, as if some unknown weight was lifted from him. But at the same time, he felt a different invisible force, weighing him down.
Later, Percy would learn that weight was the weight of his domains.
But that was later.
As Percy rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he realized that his skin felt too soft, as if all the calluses were scrubbed from his hands. Percy glanced down and realized that it was not “as if.” His hands looked soft, as if they had never seen a single day of hard labor in their lives. His hands looked unfamiliar to him, too perfect. Heart pounding in trepidation, Percy looked for the closest reflective surface, and upon finding none, he unsheathed Riptide. Looking at his reflection, Percy desperately hoped that the blade was distorting his image. But deep inside, he knew that it was just wishful thinking. It was still his face, but all the small imperfections had been removed. There were no blemishes or scars. His eyes were sharper and his eyes seemed to shine brighter, and if he looked closely enough, he could see the ever shifting waves in them. His nose had straightened and his lips were fuller, more plump. His hair was soft and silky, the dark curls were lush on his head.
He almost couldn’t recognize himself.
But worst of all was his skin.
His skin was smoother, softer. But the most distinguishing thing about it was the faint glow of divinity.
Percy felt cold.
But he had no time to wallow in self-pity as the door creaked open, interrupting the dark spiral of his thoughts.
“You’re awake!” Apollo cried out, his voice was far too cheery, almost manic. There was a dark look in his eyes that Percy had only caught fleeting glimpses of. “How are you feeling? Are you feeling any discomfort? Any pain?”
In any other situation, Percy would have felt embarrassed and secretly pleased at Apollo’s concern, but Percy could feel nothing but pain and anger.
“What did you do?” Percy asked, his voice no louder than a whisper, seemed to fill the room. “What did you do, Apollo?”
Apollo spoke succinctly, in a matter-of-fact tone, “You already know.”
Percy sobbed, his shoulder shaking with the force. “I hate you,” he choked out. “I hate you so much.” His body surged forward and a loud, crisp slap echoed sharply in the room. “I'll never forgive you Apollo. I’ll never forgive you!” Percy roared, his eyes, still wet with tears, shined a vibrant, poisonous green.
But Apollo merely pulled Percy into a hug, tucking Percy’s face into his neck. Apollo left a soft, chaste kiss on Percy’s temple and rubbed soothing circles on the small back.
“For now you do,” he whispered darkly in response to Percy’s first statement. “But you’ll forgive me, you always do.” The sun god continued, in response to Percy’s second statement.
And Percy could only sob as he realized the truth in Apollo’s statement.
Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair.
Well, it’s a good thing Apollo ensured they’ll have their forever.