Elves and Demigods

Chapter 23 - Apollo

"What do we have to do again?" Apollo asked. 

"You'll see", Lady Gisela answered in that weird sweet tone. She was leading them to some place in the maze Apollo couldn't quite understand.

He had no idea where he was or what he was doing. But he remembered Jason and Piper. Even Fitz, but he didn't know how he knew them. The other boy- Will- seemed the most familiar and somewhere in the back of his mind, Apollo knew he was close to Will. Now, if only he could figure out why. 

Apollo also had a weird headache. It wasn't painful... But, you know, weird. Like there was some kind of energy or light churning inside him. This feeling was familiar too, but again, he didn't know why. 

"And we have reached", Lady Gisela said. The found themselves facing a huge iron door. "I request all of you to wait outside, while I do the preparations for your welcoming".

"That's not really necessary, Lady Gisela", Fitz said politeness.

"I insist!" With that, she thrust open the door in front of her and headed inside before shutting it loudly. A click sound indicated that she bolted it.

"It's very sweet of her to welcome us with open arms", Piper remarked.

"Yeah", Fitz said. "Although, there was something about Keefe's mom I think I should know... Something I used to remember. It feels like it impot but", He shrugged. "I can't remember". 

"I'm sure it's not that important", Apollo said.

"Lady Gisela said something about our friends and enemies. Do you remember any of them?" Jason asked.

Everyone else shook their heads.

"The Neverseen seem to be nice. They'll help us remember", Will said. 

"Will", Apollo said. "I think I know you".

Will squinted at Apollo. "I've been thinking the same thing". 

"Maybe you two are best friends?" Piper suggested.

Just then, Lady Gisela came back. She had a grim expression, then, as if remembering something, put on a smile and gestured the group inside. 

"And when you were alone, they attacked you, hitting your heads with metal rods", The man said. "That is why you have forgotten your memories". 

Apollo was listening hard. They were seated on rickety chairs in a room no different than the one he first found himself in, except this one had a large desk at a corner. A man sat on a swivel chair behind it, his elbows resting on the table as he explained about what happened to Apollo, Jason, Piper, Will and Fitz before they lost their memories. 

The man wore a black cloak, like Lady Gisela and the other woman with her before. It had a white eye on his sleeve, which, honestly, was really creeping Apollo out.

The man wore a black mask so Apollo couldn't see his face but Lady Gisela introduced him as Memory, which was obviously his fake name. She said that they keep their incentives a secret so that other members won't be able to reveal the Neverseen's secrets if they were ever caught by their enemies.

This is the story Memory recited:

The five of us are orphans whose parents were all killed my our 'enemies' and the Neverseen had adopted them when they were kids. The group, who they called 'Team Prodigious" trained hard everyday to become skilled elves so they could help out the Neverseen destroy the bad guys. Unfortunately, Fitz and Apollo was the only one to manifest, and the rest of the team turned out to not possess any abilities. But during one of the 'enemie's' attacks, Apollo got injured terribly and couldn't use his Empath powers anymore, because it was too weak.

"Is that why I always fell something weird inside of me?" Apollo asked.

Memory nodded and continued his explanation. The second time the enemies attacked, they took Team Prodigios' memories with them. 

"Any questions?" He asked at the end.

"Um", Fitz started. "You keep talking about this 'enemy'. Who is the enemy exactly?"

Memory sighed sympathetically. "We have more than one enemy. There is a whole group of evil people out there, nearly as big as the Neverseen. But the most evil of them are as follows". He took out a sheet of paper. Did they have so many enemies that they couldn't even keep track of them?"

"There are two groups of them who have joined forces. The first- are the demigods".

"That sounds familiar", Jason remarked.

"They are- Perseus Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Leo Valdez, Nico Di Angelo, Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang".

"They sound very familiar", Jason said. "Leo and Percy... I know them".

"And Nico", Will said, pressing his eyes shut in  concentration".

"Of course", Memory said. "They are your greatest enemies".

"What about the second group?" Piper asked. 

"Sophie Foster; Keefe Sencen; Sophie's sister, Biana Foster; Dexter Dizznee; Linh and Tam Song, the twins; Wylie Endal and Marella Redek".

"That's an awful lot of enemies", Will said.

"Sophie and Biana... Keefe...", Fitz looked distant.

"They were the ones to attack you, Fitz", Memory said.  "You hated those three the most".

"I see". 

"I have a question", Apollo said. "What kind of relationship do I share with Will? He seems especially familiar to me".

"Ah", Memory said. "That's because you are brothers. Apollo is older by two years". 

Somehow, that didn't feel right to Apollo but he let it drop. 

"You may leave now", Memory gestured for the door they had chosen me in through. "Lady Gisela will lead you to the lunch room". 

They filed out, and Lady Gisela quickly slipped into the room after they exited, asking them to wait for a while. 

"What do you think our enemies want?" Jason asked in a soft voice. 

No one responded.

Apollo, was thinking about the fact that he used to be an Empath. The power in him felt more like... Energy. Energy straining to get out. It felt much more powerful than an ability that simply helps one know what a person is feeling. 

"It may sound crazy", Apollo said. "But what if the Neverseen aren't the good guys?"

"What do you mean?" Fitz asked.

"I mean, they keep their identities a secret and don't tell us much and... What if their story isn't fake? What if they were the ones who wiped out our memories?"

"Do you really think so?" Lady Gisela said as she pushed open the doors. 

"L-lady Gisela".

She raised an eyebrow and looked like she was talking to a wounded puppy. "The enemies have really done a terrible thing. To make Team Prodigious doubt the Neverseen!" She threw up her hands. "Darlings, we have been your family even since the enemies destroyed your previous families! Do you really think we're the bad guys?!"

Apollo bowed his head apologetically. "I'm really sorry for saying that, Lady Gisela".

"Aww, it's alright", Like a mama bear, she gave the group a big hug.

Even then, Apollo couldn't help but feel dubious.