How much time had passed since the incident with the mural on the wall?
He did not even care enough to count. One of the few benefits of being immortal was having more time than you knew what to do with, but that was not what kept him buried in his thoughts almost every day. He could barely even sleep anymore. Every time he thought he had finally pushed it out of his mind, the same image came back to him: a figure raising a katana above a golden chest.
He assumed it had something to do with the prophecies. Every time there was something he did not understand, he could not stop thinking about it, and this one was worse because it was tied to the biggest mystery in the entire Greek pantheon.
A myth?
A lie?
How many were there, exactly?
Each person seemed to have their own version of that story. From the Olympians themselves to the lesser gods, everyone knew something about him, yet nobody ever left anything clear, and he knew well enough that rumors and myths always carried at least some truth.
That was what worried him.
Right now, he was in the same situation as the last few times: another stupid meeting he could not care less about. But unlike before, he was completely lost in his own thoughts, something several of those present had already noticed. The change in his attitude had been too drastic to miss. He was usually the one joking around or throwing a comment at another god or goddess just to entertain himself during these meetings. Going from that to complete silence was not normal.
"Apollo."
He heard the whisper of the man sitting beside him.
Silence.
He did not even look at him. He was too deep in his own head.
"Apollo."
This time the voice came louder, and a hand landed on his shoulder, trying to pull him out of the trance his half-brother had fallen into.
That finally got a reaction out of Apollo. He looked at him without saying a word, waiting for him to speak.
"Are you okay?" Hermes asked.
There was no instant reply, only one eyebrow lifting in confusion, followed by the usual smile that fit Apollo a little too well.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"You've been acting different lately... ever since you found—"
"I'm fine, Hermes," Apollo cut in quickly, not letting him finish.
But his eyes betrayed him. For a brief second, they shifted toward the girl tending the fire in the center of the hall, and that did not go unnoticed by Hermes.
"You know, being the messenger god means hearing rumors," Hermes said, finally catching Apollo's attention. "But it's been a long time since people openly spoke about that topic. Now the few who do either get silenced... or punished."
Apollo leaned back against his throne and sighed.
"Nothing makes sense," he muttered, loud enough for Hermes to hear.
"I was in your place once too. The rumors were strong, and the way people told them made them sound completely true," Hermes replied, trying to advise him. "Thinking about it too much will not take you anywhere. It'll only bring you trouble. Just forget it."
Apollo nodded, though not very convincingly, and tried to leave the subject there. Even so, he could not stop himself from looking toward the girl by the fire again. More than anything, he wanted answers.
Why would it be so bad?
None of it made sense to him.
Time dragged on. In Apollo's opinion, it was one of the longest meetings of his life, but he wanted it to end so he could speak privately with the only one who could give him a real answer without fear of being scolded or punished by Zeus. And he had already decided he was going to seek her out no matter what happened.
Eventually the hall began to empty. The twelve Olympians left to return to their domains, until only three remained in the room.
Hermes looked at Apollo and smiled.
"I told you I used to be interested too, and now that look is back again."
Apollo sighed, then smiled before turning his attention to the only woman still present.
Hestia.
She was still tending the fire, staring into it without paying much attention to anything else.
The two gods walked over and sat around the flames.
"Do you need help?" Hestia asked with a gentle smile.
An awkward silence followed. Neither of them knew how to bring up something like this.
"Damon," Apollo finally said, deciding to go straight to the point.
Hestia looked into the flames, and a sad smile touched her face, one both gods noticed right away. A moment later she hid it and moved the fire again, and shapes slowly began to appear inside it.
"Almost everything you've heard about him is true," Hestia said quietly. "The firstborn of Rhea and Kronos. The one who showed no fear even in the worst situations. The one who defeated the strongest Titans alone... and many other stories are real."
She stayed silent for a few seconds while a smaller figure appeared within the flames, enough to make both Hermes and Apollo widen their eyes.
"Wait," Hermes said quickly. "Some of those stories sounded ridiculous. They can't all be true."
Apollo frowned and turned toward him. "What do you mean?"
Hermes hesitated for only a second. "Some of the rumors said that after throwing Tartarus into Tartarus, Damon encountered Uranus himself... and that Uranus gave him his domains. Some even say he's the god of Creation and Destruction, but not many can confirm that. Very few have ever seen enough to say for sure."
Hermes paused for a moment before continuing, his expression growing stranger. "There are even stories saying he awakened his domains on his own... unlike the rest of us, who are simply granted ours once we reach a certain age."
Apollo's eyes narrowed. "Is that even possible?"
Hestia looked into the flames for a few quiet seconds before answering. "With Damon... many things that should have been impossible ended up becoming reality."
"So you're saying the Sky isn't Zeus's domain—" Apollo started, only to be cut off by Hestia.
"Let's start from the beginning," Hestia said, and with a small motion of her hand, more figures began appearing in the fire.
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Damon is not real tbh do you agree? ))))))))))))))))
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P@treon: Brotato