The Fate of Apollo

Blessings...

Time Skip to one day before their quest to the East:

PERCY:

Our quest started tomorrow. We all were too excited ADHD driven demigods. During the dinner at camp, Apollo showed up all of a sudden. He said he had something to discuss with Chiron and disappeared with the centaur at the Big House taking Rachel with them.

About half an hour later, Mr. D summoned the demigods who were a part of the quest – me, Nico, Leo, Will, Connor and Travis at the Big House. When we arrived, Apollo was sitting so smug at the ping pong table that for a moment it felt that the God was carrying the sky on his shoulders. Will beat any of us to speaking and asked, "Is anything wrong, Dad?" Apollo nodded. Rachel too looked disturbed and Chiron had that expression on his face which I had seen only when we fought the Titans.

We stood there quietly for about a minute and then I had enough. I demanded, "Is someone going to tell us anything or should we return to bed. It's late enough and we should get some sleep before our quest tomorrow." The God of light just scoffed, "Percy, you know not what dangers impend for us on this quest and thus you are saying this. No other quest ever had a God take part in it. If the dreams of mine and my dear Oracle come true, I am afraid that we will not be able to return alive." Apollo's words hit me like a truck. "What do you mean?" Nico asked.

It was Rachel who spoke up, "We are afraid that the prophecy won't be just a single quest but more than that." Chiron continued, "You guys will also need some extra help from the people in India or the gods there as the power of Lord Apollo will be decreasing steadily once you enter the Indian subcontinent. We fear that if the doors of Death open in India, more ferocious monsters may be coming out than the ones we faced and our weapons will not suffice there."

"Wait, will someone there help us? I mean who has time to help others, that too some foreigners whom they don't know at all?" Malcolm asked baffled. Apollo shrugged, "We will have to offer some service in order to get help I suppose. But the thing is that the quest will have a huge impact on your mental and physical health. So I wanted to actually bestow some blessings to help you cope up with that." "Well, I have some clue about whom you should take help from. I had a vision but it was too blurry to draw the perfect details but I managed a rough sketch somehow." Rachel showed us a painting of a girl but nothing of her face was visible expect her black rimmed spectacles and most of her face was covered with a long blue scarf.

Mr. D added, "Well, I would also like you to take the supplies I have listed off for you. From my view of India, you'll be needing them and be ready to torture your taste buds as Indian food is something else." For the first time in my life, I saw some fatherly concern in his eyes as he handed away the chits to us. So, I guess he also cares for demigods though it is not much. He then gave a pouch to Will and said, "If anyone from the lot has headache, hangover, or any issues related to mental health, feed them one and they should be fine." Chiron suddenly brought out a bag from apparently nowhere and gave black wigs to the blond guys, namely – Will, Malcolm and Apollo and contact lenses to all of us. "A small gift from Aphrodite to blend in the Indian crowd because I guess mist won't be working there and you will become easy targets there." Suddenly there was a flash of light and Hermes appeared, "Well, I am not much late I suppose." Apollo nodded, "We were about to dismiss them." "Oh, all the party close your eyes and concentrate on my voice." The god of travelers mumbled something and asked us to open them. He then disappeared after wishing us a happy journey.

"What did dad do?" Connor wondered out loud. "He perhaps gave you the power to understand some of the Indian languages." Apollo answered. Travis asked, "Why some and not all?" He was rewarded a smack on the head by Malcolm as the son of Athena said, "There are over 600 languages in India." Before they could bicker any longer Apollo cleared his throat and claimed our attention. He blessed each one of us separately. Well, blessings from the God of Health felt as if you were high on caffeine if you ask me.

"Demigods, you may return now. Be prepared and pack accordingly. I will meet you tomorrow after breakfast at the Long Island beach. Then we will set off." Apollo announced. Everyone left for their own cabins. I was about to enter Cabin 3, when I heard someone calling me. I turned to find it was Apollo. "What do you want?" "Nothing. I just have a gut feeling that you will need this." He placed a locket with a chain in my hand and continued, "Keep this locket safe at all costs please." His eyes conveyed some emotion so deep that I could not decipher what they were. But I could not bring myself to refuse his request. I nodded and he disappeared in golden smoke after giving me a small smile and a goodbye.

I stood in front of my cabin for a few moments and then entered the familiar cabin. After finishing packing my backpack, I laid down on my bed, observing the locket on the chain. It was a gold chain with a gold locket. The locket had an intricately carved Hyacinth on one side and a symbol of the Sun on the other. I decided to follow my promise and wore the chain. It fit me perfectly. I thought that it was just some Godly magic because I knew not of its worth at that time. Then Morpheus dragged me into his realm, in spite of my excitement. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Wishing all my dear readers a very happy new year. Hope you will like this part. I am going to mix Indian and Greek mythologies to make it more interesting.

Please read, vote, share and comment. 

Until next time. Hope to upload soon.