☆｡LEGENDARY｡⁠☆ | apollo |

xiii fear, fury, I love you, I'm sorry

There's a very thin line between love and hatred.
Ash knew that all too well because of her mother. What she didn't expect was herself crying her eyes out in an imaginary situation in her mind. But there she was.

Tears continue to flow down her face as she looked around at the bloodied room and the severed head of somebody she used to love. Apollo held her through it, yet there was something wrong.

Ash stifled a scream as the older version of herself turned around to see Apollo. Not the one who was holding her right now. No, the one from before.

The god walked it with confidence in his stride; unfettered by the horrific scene in front of him.

He walked over to Dawn and roughly pulled her up. He looked into her red eyes before letting go of her hand and letting her fall back down.

"I told you this wasn't going to end well. The least you could've done was tell me what was going on here."

Ash flinched at the god's tone and was becoming even more self aware that the same person who said these words to her centuries ago had his arms wrapped around her. She stilled, and held her breath.

She watched herself look up to the god and smile. It scared her, inside that she had once sat in a room covered in blood; holding a severed head; and confronting a god who looked like he was about to kill her.

"What are you going to do about it?"
Dawn spoke up in a dangerous tone, "Kill me? Skin me alive and use my flesh as a rug?-"

The god recoiled back at the suggestion. "I would never-"

Dawn cut him off "Wouldn't do what? Huh? You've killed enough, might as well kill another! Then you can add me to your list of tragedies to get pity for never finding your fated."

Ash shifted. The weight was to heavy. As if now she was in her mind, with a powerful being who was clearly controlling her in her life before.

She shrugged of Apollo's arms in a hurry and scampered away from the god. He looked broken and shocked right now. But Ashlyn watched as centuries ago, the god did nothing to help her as she broke down and said between sobs.

"I am not afraid of anything. Death cannot scare somebody when they have nothing worth living for."

Salt streams ran across her face as she watched herself cling to the head of somebody who died and the god who was meant to love her leave her there.

She turned her head slowly to face Apollo, her eyes wide and flickers of fear and fury residing inside them. She got up and backed away from him until she tripped over a severed hand. She screamed and fell back until Apollo caught her in a flash.

She let herself break down, her vision blury with the imagine of a hand clutching a ring burned into her head. Apollo held her now. But he left her then.

What was she supposed to make of that?
He let her stand before kneeling to gently take the bloodied ring out of the hand and wiped the blood away with his white button-up shirt. He gave it to her "I'm sorry, 'lyn. I'm so sorry."

Ashlyn took it out of his hand gently and he embraced her in a bone crushing hug. She eased into it regardless of her fear from before. It was like hot chocolate on a winter day and sunshine as a person.

She felt herself fall back through the cracks of reality as the faint sound of Zoë's voice entered her mind. She let herself go back and as she faded back into the present she willed herself to forget what she had seen.

It didn't happen but she knew there was more to the story that what she saw. So she let that be her guide and let go go the memory.

Unknown to her, as she faded away, Apollo whispered softly in her ear, "I love you, I'm sorry."

☆｡～✯～｡⁠☆

They reached D.C. by midday. Zoë parked at a curb and everyone got out.

"Right there," Grover pointed, it was one of the buildings lining the mall.

Thaila nodded. "Let's go, everyone stay sharp."

"I always stay sharp." Zoë grumbled.

Thaila muttered something under her breath that sounded like words you should not repeat.

Everyone followed Grover, huddling into their coats, braveing the cold. Ash had gone numb since she woke up. She couldn't feel anything emotionally and now not could she physically. The cold prickled her skin until she couldn't feel her fingertips only then did Grover stop to face the building. It read in bold letters AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM.

Thalia pushed the door, which was open and looked inside to check for any threats. Since she couldn't see any, she ushered everyone inside.

At this point, Ash felt terribly uneasy. Not a single monster since they started, something was up and she knew it.

"How much longer are we going to be walking, Grover?" Thalia asked, sounding bored. "I didn't come here to sightsee in the Smithsonian."

"Just give me a minute," Grover said frustrated. "I need to-"

Ash yelped in suprise as she banged into Thalia. The two nearly missed the Apollo capsule.

Grover jumped in suprise.

When she regain her sense of her surroundings, she looked back to see Percy looking like he had run a marathon. Zoë and Bianca already had arrows aimed at him but when they recognised who it was Zoë didn't lower her bow.

"You! How dare thy show thee face here!"

"Wait, wait!" Ash walked in the crossfire and held her hand up. "Hold up for one sec; then you can get back to killing each other."

Zoë put down her bow confused and Percy looked up and he put his hands on his knees and took in deep breaths.

Ash went over to Bianca, "Hold your bow up."

The girl did as she said. Ash observed the way her fingers held the bow before giving her unasked for wisdom "You're holding it wrong. If you held it like that in battle, you'd shoot someone's eye out. Your own."

She picked up the bow and gave the younger girl a representation of how you should hold the arrow. Bianca nodded before she took her weapon back and practiced. Ash leaned away slightly, not bothering to move as the arrow skimmed  across her shoulder and hit its mark about a meter away from Percy who fell to the floor to avoid it.

Thalia looked amused as she gave him a hand in getting up.

"Percy," Grover said rushing towards him, "Thank god you're here!"

Zoë gave him a look and the satyr blushed. "I mean, um, gosh! You're not supposed to be here."

Percy didn't even laugh at the awkwardness of the situation, giving away that he knew something. Ash's eyes widened as the pieces fell into place.

"Luke," Percy said looking at Thalia in concern. "He's here."

✯✯✯✯
Heyy, so, yes I did give another update early. You're welcome 🤗

In all seriousness, if you want me to publish another chapter quicker just ask. It's motivating 💀

Byee <3
~ A