It almost worked ✸ Apollo ¹

XXXVII. Winter is not very magical

Winter was definitely not Lydia's favorite time of the year. It was way too cold to do anything, and during the winter she wasn't at camp half blood with her friends. The only good part was being with her mom and family. That was it.

Lydia fidgeted with her necklace as she walked through the store with her mother. They were doing the usual Christmas shopping for their family and members. Lydia usually didn't go, but now she was old enough to help shop for others without blurting out what they got. Which made her sad to think about.

Christmas music played on the speakers across the store, customers pushed past with carts full of gifts and holiday decorations. Even some young kids were screaming in the middle of aisles because they couldn't open their gifts early.

"Did I ever used to be like that?" Lydia asked her mother.

"You never cried or whined about it, you just annoyed us by asking so many times." Her mother laughed "But you stopped when your grandfather took over."

Lydia shuddered at the memory "He made all of us wait to open them all at once. One present every hour."

The two laughed at the idea, and they continued walking around the store. They picked up some more presents for family before they were done. Lydia followed her mom to the check out when she heard someone calling her name. It was Apollo.

The sun god looked the same as usual, tan skin with blonde curly hair that stood out. He smiled at Lydia. Apollo knew he was attractive, and he loved it. Yet people around the store gave him odd looks.

Apollo wasn't exactly wearing clothes meant for the cold weather. He wore a plain black shirt, blue jeans held up by a dark golden belt, fancy sporting shoes he definitely borrowed from Hermes, and a bunch of rings. Lydia gave him a look that told him to hold on. So she turned to her mother.

Allison was putting their gifts onto the self checkout counter. "Hey, mom?"

"Yes? We're almost done if you're feeling fidgety." Allison told her daughter, she always knew when Lydia was not feeling herself.

Lydia sighed, before quietly explaining that the sun god was standing behind them. Allison turned to see the same deity that had a force over her daughter's future.

"We meet again, Lord Apollo." Allison glares at him.

"Thank you, Miss Winslow." Apollo says "And I'm sorry we didn't meet on better circumstances last time. I'm here to-"

"I know what you're here to do." Allison crossed her arms "Take my daughter away to her death?"

Lydia found herself remembering last summer, when Apollo promised on the river Styx he wouldn't let anything happen to her. She was grateful for what he did. But some part of her didn't want her life to be some cliché romance book or something. She actually wanted to fight without being saved by a god.

If she was going to die, then so be it. No hero is ready to die. But when they sacrifice themselves in the end, that's what makes them a hero. Yet she was starting to like Apollo. She couldn't really explain it all that well.

Apollo seemed to be thinking about this too, his face full of guilt. He had been responsible for many deaths of the people he cared for. And with Lydia, he never wanted to hurt her. So that's what he told her mother. Not even caring whether they were in the middle of a store or not.

As Apollo spoke, Lydia could feel her face getting red. Allison sighed "Okay, but why right now? We're in the middle of family Christmas shopping."

"I can see that." Apollo said "But with the communication around Olympus and our world going haywire, someone had to tell Lydia what's going on at camp."

Lydia froze "I- what's going on at camp?"

Another thing that happened last summer was the return of Thalia Grace. She had spent a couple years as the spirit of a pine tree outside the camp borders, but when Percy placed the Golden Fleece on her tree— she came back. It surprised everyone.

Lydia stayed at camp only for a few days after that. And weirdly enough, her and Thalia clicked easily. So they spent a lot of time together before Lydia came back home with her family. She hadn't been able to contact anyone like Apollo explained. So if he was here not just on usual occasions, it must've been bad.

The sun god looked around, like someone would overhear them. But that was normal. There was always some sort of mythical creature around when a demigod was. And especially if that demigod was also in the presence of a god himself.

"Your friend Grover— he found two new powerful half bloods at a military school." Apollo explained "He told Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia that they were powerful enough they all needed to get them to camp."

"And I guess I have to help too? I get it, but it sounds a bit much for two kids." Lydia admitted "But I would like to see them all again."

She looked at her mother. Allison didn't seem very happy that her daughter had to leave again, but she couldn't be all that mad. She was the one who brought this life upon Lydia for even loving Dionysus.

"I'll come back, mom." Lydia hugged her "I'm getting better at this whole demigod thing."

"I know, but don't think i won't go thousands of miles away to New York if you're in trouble." Allison says "Right, Apollo?"

"Right." The sun god nodded, and Lydia struggled to hold in a laugh.