Quest of the Half Gods

Chapter 2: Γαλάτεια

Galatea shielded her eyes from the rare glimmer of sunlight that shone through the clouds of the perpetually gray sky as she and her friends made their way into the town. "Hey," Galatea jumped out of her thoughts as Apollo fell into stride beside her. "Are you okay?" Galatea could see the concern in his eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine." He nodded distractedly next to her. He squinted up at the sun as they turned a street corner. "So...has Icarus said anything about me?" 

Galatea raised an eyebrow, "No?" She studied his face, "Why would he?" He shook his head as if clearing a thought. "I..." He cleared his throat, focusing hard on the ground while he walked. "We know each other from a long time ago." Of course, you do. Galatea thought. I can't think of a person in Greek history that you didn't mess around with. 

Apollo seemed to read her mind and blushed profusely, "No! Not like that!" Galatea stared at him, eyebrows raised, waiting for an explanation. He cleared his throat again. "I-I was the sun Teia. I saw Icarus die, it was kind of my fault." Galatea stopped in her tracks. "What?" Apollo wore an ashamed expression, "I was um...well- I...that day, I was driving the sun over the earth, as I used to every-" "You don't have to explain being the sun god Apollon, I know." Galatea interrupted. "Right." He said, blushing again. He is so easily flustered by everything. She thought, rolling her eyes impatiently. "Well, this particular day, I was in my sun chariot and I-" He sighed, "I was distracted by my date which I had in the car with me." He paused when he saw Galatea's expression, "See! I knew you'd judge me!" He complained. Galatea threw her hands up, "I'm just a little surprised that you'd do something like kiss a person while driving a vehicle that could literally kill us all." She said exasperated. 

Apollo opened his mouth to counter before closing it, his face clearly displaying the fact that he didn't really recognize the risks of his job until right then and there. He seemed to snap himself out of it. "I was a different person then!" He said defensively. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Look, I was flying the chariot, was distracted, and went a little lower than usual! In my defense, I was flying over the ocean. I can't light water on fire and it's not my fault that two people decided to cosplay as birds where I was driving."

Galatea turned away and kept walking. "Careful," She said, keeping her gaze ahead of her, "You're old Apollo is showing." She could practically feel him scowling behind her. He reached her side and began talking again. "The fact is, I recognized that it was my fault and vouched for him in the Underworld and got him into Elysium. I knew that I couldn't make up for what I did and I'm not proud of it Teia. It was an accident." His tone was full of genuine regret and shame making Galatea regret her own comment. He actually cares about being better. 

Galatea was used to being surrounded by gods who couldn't care less about the people they killed, much less the small mistakes that they made along the way. Apollo had always been different. Sure, he would go around mercilessly killing people in villages and cities, but if he found out that one of the victims had been a dog, well, Galatea had been the only guest at the memorial services he'd held for the animals. 

"I was kidding Apollon, I know that you wouldn't do that on purpose. What you did- making sure his afterlife was good, was the best you could do. I'm sure he appreciated it." Apollo stared at the ground, though he nodded. Galatea glanced behind her and saw Nico and Will talking closely, the pair glancing at Galatea and Apollo. A thought occurred to Teia and the blood left her face. "Excuse me." She said to Apollo before falling into step beside her brother. "Could you give us a moment Will?" He nodded and joined Apollo.

Nico raised his eyebrows in a question. "What's up?" Galatea stared at Apollo and Will who walked several feet in front of them. "What were you and Will talking about?" Nico frowned, "Why?" "I need to know. Be honest." He hesitated, "I- We were talking about you and Apollo." Galatea waited for him to elaborate. "We were saying that it seems like there are a lot of secrets between the two of you. Will was saying that he was concerned about how that would affect us going into the Labyrinth. That place can mess with your mind Teia. I'm just not sure that you know what we are getting into."

Galatea sighed in relief. "You're right. I don't know what we are getting into in the Labyrinth, but I can't change that. This is one part of the quest that I can't help lead. However, the whole thing with the secrets between me and Apollo will never change." She hesitated, "Can...can I trust you?" Nico nodded, "Of course, you can." Galatea shook her head, "I'm not kidding Nico, no one can know. I can't even really tell you what I want to without hiding some of the meaning. You just have to figure it out for yourself." 

"I swear on the River Styx that I won't tell anyone what your secret is." He said. Galatea nodded. She took a deep breath, "I have a curse." She blurted out. Nico frowned, "What kind?" Galatea raised an eyebrow, "You have experience with curses?" He shrugged, "Hazel had one. I guess it's kind of a Hades kid thing to have a really screwed-up life. What is it?" He repeated. Galatea thought for a moment, about how to word what she was about to say in a way that wouldn't cause the curse to kick in and ruin everything. 

"If I-" She hesitated before starting again, "If I feel...a certain way...about someone...and they don't feel that way about...me, that person is condemned to an excruciating death and eternity in the Fields of Punishment, no matter how good of a person they were." Nico's eyes widened, "I- you- Apollo?" He stammered. Galatea hardened her stare, "Nico if anyone even says it out loud then the curse takes action." He frowned, "But, how do you know that someone doesn't feel the same way." Galatea laughed dryly, "It's happened before Nico. I was there to see it. It was just someone from my school when I was younger. I told her how I felt and she the next day burned to death in a chemical fire in the science lab. I could hear her screams from my dorm and as I sat there Aphrodite appeared and laughed." 

She looked up at Apollo who stood outside of their destination, laughing at something Will said. Her heart panged as it always did when she saw his smile. Even if he wasn't the sun god, he'd be the envy of them all. His ability to light up any space with the sound of his laughter beat any divine being. 

"I don't- I can't mess with it anymore Nico. Besides, he..." She closed her eyes, trying to get the image of his face out of her mind. "No. That's it. It's just me. Do you understand?" Nico hesitated, before nodding. "I do." "No one can ever know. No one." He nodded, clenching his jaw, "No one." Galatea returned his nod and turned to the grocery store, pushing past Apollo and Will as she entered the Whole Foods, leaving the sunlight behind her.