The Daughter Of Night

Chapter Five - I Take An Unwelcome Walk Down Memory Lane

Chapter Five - I Take An Unwelcome Walk Down Memory Lane
Posted: Tuesday November 21st 2023

Once I had stopped shaking, Apollo took my hands in his and told me to close my eyes. When he told me to open them again I saw that we were no longer in the woods, but in a plushly furnished house that looked like what I imagined an Ancient Greek lord's house would look like.

"Welcome home I guess," Apollo said. He sounded miserable.

"You could sound a bit less excited about that," I told him sarcastically.

"Sorry," Apollo said, sounding no less miserable.

I realised that I was shivering and dripping a puddle of water onto Apollo's floor. I was completely drenched from the rain that had no doubt been caused by Zeus' anger. Apollo seemed to already be dry, I suppose as god of the sun he probably dried a bit quicker than a mortal.

"You're all wet!" Apollo complained, noticing the puddle that was forming beneath me.

"Yeah, your dad kind of made a rainstorm on top of us, or did you forget?" I retorted. "Do you have somewhere I can dry up?"

"Up the stairs first on the left." Apollo said, flopping himself down on the plush sofa beside us.

I gave Apollo one last look before making my way up the stairs and into the bathroom. I hadn't had a proper shower since the Princess Andromeda, and I was looking forward to reliving the feeling of the warm water on my skin.

I grabbed a fluffy white towel, locked the door and showered off the cold that the rainstorm had left me with. Once I was dry I realised that my clothes were still wet so I hung them up to dry and wrapped the towel around myself.

I made my way back downstairs to see Apollo still sat on the sofa where I had left him. I padded my way slowly over to him. He was sat with his head in his hands and his eyes closed. I tentatively sat down on the other end of the sofa and stared at the sun god.

To say I was confused about everything that had happened was putting it lightly. I was wary of the god simply for the fact that my mother didn't object to him. She had never shown much love towards Olympians before in my experience, and I was more than confused about the implication that the fates themselves had seen to it that Apollo and I were bound together.

"Where are your clothes?" Apollo asked. I was startled out of my thoughts by the sound of my voice and realised that he had looked up from his hands and was staring at me.

"They were wet," I said, "I'm letting them dry."

Apollo sighed and snapped his fingers. My towel was replaced by a pair of jeans and a plain grey top. The fabric was softer than anything I had ever felt before.

"Thank you," I said.

Apollo and I regarded each other, neither quite knowing what to say or do. He opened his mouth as if he was about to start speaking several times, but he closed it again each time. I didn't even try to speak, I had no clue where I should start. But I did know that I wanted to leave. To run away from this whole situation I was in. Perhaps I really never should have left Tartarus. Down there everything made sense, I killed monsters who tried to kill me or I died. The only immortal who meddled in my life was my mother and I was left alone. Up here there were politics that I had no idea how to navigate.

Eventually, Apollo spoke, "you are mortal." He said simply.

"Duh," I replied.

"You need sleep," he stated. I hadn't realised how tired I was until he mentioned it, but once he bought my attention to the idea of sleep I felt my eyelids become droopy. "There is a bed upstairs," Apollo said, "you can rest here."

*

I was standing on the banks of the phlegethon with my father. I was six years old again and he was showing me how to cup the fire water in my hands and drink it.

He did it first and coughed and spluttered, but smiled at me.

"Now remember my little Ri Ri, if you find yourself lost in the pit, the water of this river will allow you time to find your way home," he said. "Now c'mon, drink up so I know you know how."

I cupped my hands like he had showed me and thrust them into the fire. He had told me it might hurt, but I felt a tickling sensation spread across my skin. I giggled. I withdrew my hands and held them to my mouth, letting the fire water into my mouth and swallowing it. He had told me it would hurt to drink as well, but it felt the same as drinking anything else.

"Welldone," my father smiled at me. Then his face changed into a steely mask as his eyes fixed on something behind me. I turned and saw a woman in robes as dark as I had ever seen standing there. The woman smiled at me.

"Hello daughter," she said.

I had no memory of meeting my mother before, but my father had told me who she was and that she would want to meet me one day when I grew up. My six year old brain took her appearance to mean that I had grown up and I felt very smug. Drinking the fire water had proved to her that I was a grown up.

"Nyx," my father said, "what do you want?"

"Oh Caius, can't a goddess just want to meet her own daughter?" My mother asked.

"No," my father replied. His jaw was set and he stared at my mother with an expression that I couldn't understand. He was pale in the dim light of Tartarus.

"You're dying," Nyx commented.

"Yes I am," he replied. "The pit isn't kind to demigods."

"I am here to take our daughter to safety," Nyx replied plainly.

My father's eyes narrowed, "safety? Does that mean out of here?"

"To my house," Nyx said, "until she is old enough to protect herself."

"I'm not leaving her," my father said, he grabbed my shoulders, holding them tightly, too tight.

"I don't think you have much of a choice," Nyx's eyes narrowed and suddenly we were surrounded by a ring of monsters. Many of the monsters I had never seen before, but some I had watched my father fight.

"What are you doing Nyx?" My father demanded, he drew his sword, "what more do you want from me? I have kept Ariadne safe all of these years, I will do it for as long as I can stand."

"You loved me once Caius," Nyx said softly, "let me take her and bring her up in true safety. She will not have to worry about anything, I will protect her until her time comes."

"Her time?" My father repeated, "her time for what? She is six years old!"

"She will not be six forever," Nyx said, "now stand aside and let me take her."

"No." My father planted his feet stubbornly.

A whirlwind of darkness overtook me and the last thing I heard was my father screaming.

I woke up in a cold sweat. The room was dark, but I could see Apollo through the darkness standing at the edge of the bed.

"You were having a nightmare," he said.

I was still groggy and half still in the dream but I willed my brain to focus on the god.

"Yeah I have them sometimes," I replied, "perks of growing up in hell."

"Go back to sleep," he said, turning to leave.

His presence was like a warm glow over my body and somehow I knew that if he left the dreams would return the moment I fell back asleep.

"Can you stay?" I asked.

He turned back to me, "stay?" He repeated.

"Just until I fall asleep," I said. I felt as though I was six years old again asking my father to tell me a bedtime story, but if it could keep me from the dreams then I didn't care.

"Okay," Apollo frowned and sat on the edge of the bed.

I lay back down and drifted off to sleep. This time no dreams plagued me.

When I awoke in the morning, Apollo was still sat on the end of the bed.