Quest of the Half Gods

Chapter 1: Απόλλων

Apollo sat up from his spot on the couch, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He didn't really remember leaving his room, but he knew that he'd felt trapped in the enclosed space. He got up and put on his flannel before going upstairs.

He padded across the hardwood floors to her room. Yes, he was going to check on Galatea. Ever since her father had died, she had been distant. She told the group that she had a plan two days ago when they'd arrived at the lake house after narrowly escaping Prometheus's execution, but had yet to relay her plans to them. 

He listened at the door for a noise but he heard none. He pushed it open and felt the blood leave his face when he realized that the room was empty. Where did she go? He thought as he ran down the stairs. He pushed the front door open and ran down the porch, his socks getting soaked by the damp morning soil as he searched for his friend. He was about to call out for her when he spotted her and he stopped. 

He watched, open-mouthed as she played a tune on the owner's guitar and hummed along. It was a melancholy tune that he didn't recognize. Loose strands of her braided brown hair blew in the chill wind as she played her song. She stood, setting the guitar down, and kneeled next to a blooming daffodil, the only color that stood out against the gray world. 

"Galatea?" Apollo said, his voice coming out as a hoarse whisper. He hadn't realized that he'd been crying watching her play. She stood and whipped around to see him. "What are you doing out here Sunflower?" She asked, fog chasing the words out of her mouth, lingering on the cold air. "I-I came to check on you. You weren't inside." He said, trying to capture the picture of her standing by the lake. She looks beautiful. She wore one of his many flannel shirts and a camp tee underneath, and the bracelet that had been a gift from Chiron hung around her wrist. He had a matching one on his own. 

"I couldn't sleep." She said, meeting him on the porch. "Me either." He said, breathing deeply. She nodded, "It's time. We need to wake Nico and Will so that we can go over my plan." Apollo turned to her in surprise, "Finally?" She grimaced and turned to look over the lake, "I've been talking with Icarus all morning. We have a plan." He raised his eyebrows, "Wait, you can talk to him?" She shrugged, "I can hear his voice in my head. Come on, we need to go."

She turned to go, when he placed his hand on her wrist, "Wait," She stopped and turned around, "What?" "What was the song you were playing called?" He asked, his voice coming out softly. He hated how just the simple act of talking to her affected him so much. She smiled softly, "The Lakes." "It's beautiful." She shrugged, "It'd sound better on a lyre."

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Galatea woke Nico and Will and brought them downstairs where Apollo already waited. Nico sat on the counter, looking expectantly at his sister. "So what's your plan Teia?" She looked warily at Nico before answering, "The Labyrinth." Nico's face turned pale which, Apollo didn't even think was possible as he was pale, to begin with. Will looked between the siblings, "Galatea, I don't think the Labyrinth is a good idea. We've all had experiences with it and they haven't been good. You've never been inside. You don't know what it's like." Apollo nodded, "It's too unpredictable Teia. Where would you even go inside?" "Camp Half-Blood." She said, finality in her voice. 

Her answer surprised Apollo almost as much as her idea freaked him out. "Why?" He asked. "Look, I need to speak with the Grove of Dodona. You told me about it when we were younger Apollon, it's connected with nature and therefore, connected to me. Hecate is all about using the nature around you to enhance your magic and that's what I feel that I need to concentrate the Spirit of Delphi and finally make it work for me and not against." Apollo shook his head, "Why do you need Delphi?" Galatea stared at him, "I don't know if you've noticed Apollo, but our prophecy that we've been following has a really big part that's been bothering me, and we need to know what it is." He frowned, "Which part?" "The Traitor and The Bird fight themselves, one with and one without remorse." She grabbed the torch necklace that she wore around her neck and held it up. It glowed purple and suddenly the ghostly figure of Icarus stood next to Galatea. Will, Apollo, and Nico jumped back in surprise as he materialized.

Icarus squinted, looking around the room, "Wow, okay, didn't know you could do that." He said, stretching. Galatea ignored the expressions of shock on her friends' faces and continued, "Icarus is the Bird, but we don't know who the Traitor is. Therefore, we need to find that out." Will seemed to recover first and cleared his throat. "I think I need to come clean about something." They all turned to him, "I know who the traitor is. I've been having dreams. It's-" He glanced at Apollo before continuing, "It's Zeus." Apollo felt the blood rush out of his face. "What?" He breathed. "It's true. In my dreams, he's conversing with Prometheus. Prometheus promised him that he'd keep him alive if he didn't get in the way of their plans. It seems that Zeus agreed." Apollo sat down on the couch with his head in his hands, "Of course he did. He's only ever cared about himself." He shook his head. "I agree with Galatea. We need to get to Camp so that we can form an army and take these gods down." Nico finally spoke up, "I can get us there. I've explored the Labyrinth by myself and know how to get through it pretty well." Icarus nodded, "My father built it, I can help too. Especially," He turned to Galatea, "If you let me out of here." Galatea smirked at him. "I'll let you out the day I die Icarus." He rolled his eyes. Apollo looked around the group, "So we all agree? We are going to take the Labyrinth?" No one made an objection. "In that case, we'd better get going." "Not so fast," Will said, "We have to find an entrance first." Galatea raised her hand, "That won't be a problem. There's an entrance in the bathroom of the Whole Foods in the town a few minutes away. I saw it while I was getting us food." 

Nico shrugged, "To Whole Foods then I guess."