Heroes of our Time: The Lieutenant of the Moon

Chapter 2: Apollo's Despair

To Kimberly Joy Mariano; an awesome artist and a passionate singer.

Α~Δ~Ω ~ Α~Δ~Ω ~ Α~Δ~Ω

June 21, 2012 5:43 p.m.

During the ride, Apollo always makes jokes and talks about Artemis. He even showed some baby pictures of her. I try desperately not to laugh because if Artemis found out, we won’t have a great time.

Apollo dropped us on the roof of an abandoned factory.  I was confused. Apollo was taking us to Camp Half-Blood but I wasn’t expecting him to drop us in an old, rusty, dirty place like a factory. Was this Camp?

Belle looked at me and we made eye contact. I knew for certain she was also confused.

She turned around and looked at Apollo.” Lord Apollo, you said that we were heading to Camp Half-Blood but this clearly isn’t Camp.”

He sighed. “I know. I guess this is as far as I can go. After all, we can’t have a night with the sun still out, right?”

Of course! Night was approaching and Apollo would be the one responsible for the sunset. And then the moon will be up and that’s Artemis responsibility.

“But, Lord Apollo,” Sarah whined. “We still have, like, a mile to walk before we get to Camp!”

Apollo made a tutting sound and pointed a finger at Sarah. “You know, girl, there are rules in being a god.” He gestured to his outfit. “First, you have to look good in front of everyone. You should give the impression that you’re an almighty and powerful god. And never look like an idiot.”

Sarah tried to interrupt but all Apollo said was, “Shush! I’m explaining the rules here!”

He looked like he was thinking. “Where was I? Oh yes, at rule number two.” He gestured to the sky. “Second rule, you should fulfill your responsibilities as a god. For example-“ he gestured to himself again. “I am the god of the sun. It’s my responsibility to do the usual routine the mortals got used to like the sun rising and setting.” He puffed out a breath. “What will they think if the sun sets at seven in the evening? If you call seven o’clock an evening if the sun is still up.” He pouted.

“And third,” he stated. “A god may help kids like you-“

“’Kids’?” Sarah sneered. “We’re not kids! We’re, like, centuries older than teenagers our age today!”

I looked at Apollo. I can tell that he was slowly starting to get pissed off by Sarah. His hands were clenched into fists and were shaking. His lips were pursed into a straight thin line. His eyebrows were creased and his eyes were literally dancing with small red flames. Overall, he looks like he was about to explode.

“I guess we should let Lord Apollo finish he’s, er, speech,” I said whilst glaring at Sarah. “Right, Lord Apollo?” I can’t stop my hands from shaking. I’ve seen Artemis get mad and I swear it might be the scariest thing I have seen in all my eternal life. I don’t want another god get angry.

Apollo nodded. He looked distastefully at Sarah.  He pointed at her and said, “I don’t want to see your face ever again and if you do, I swear to the Fates, you will never be able to walk on this earth ever again.”

Sarah huffed, “Fine! I don’t even want to see you ever again!” She turned on her heel and stormed off.

Apollo was reddening with anger and for a moment I thought that he was gonna burst and blind us all. I could feel the heat radiating from his skin and I was tempted to douse him with a bucket of water.