A Hero's Blessing - Chapter 4

Quick Author's Note:
Phew! You have no idea how hard it was to write this chapter. But now it's finally done. Next chapter I'll be working on is for My Miraculous Academia by request from TheHydra77. That one should be a mite easier than this one was. 

Percy woke up with a sudden jolt, his head knocking harshly against the window. He quickly jerked away, only to feel a stab of pain as his throat was stabbed by Grover’s horns - the satyr’s head having been resting on his shoulder… And drooling on it.

He sighed. Not one of his more pleasant wakings.

He shook his head with a grimace and carefully maneuvered Grover’s head away, taking a deep breath as he stretched as best as he could in the confined seat. His muscles protested from waking up in such an awkward position.

Seriously, morphing vans. He was so talking to the Hephaestus cabin about it.

“Everything alright back there?”

Percy jumped, nearly stabbing himself on Grover’s horns again. The large, rumbling voice sounded like it was attempting to be quiet, but just couldn’t quite manage it. For an instant Percy felt himself tense at the unfamiliar voice before the memories of the previous night came back to him, and he looked at the speaker.

…

Dang. Seeing him in the morning light as opposed to the darkness of the previous evening did nothing to change how intimidating Alcides looked, even when he looked like he had to squeeze himself into the driver's seat.

“We’re good,” Percy replied as he tried to stretch his legs, and he took a moment to look around “How about you guys?”

Things were a bit tight in his truck with all of them pushed up against each other, with Zoe having taken the front and  leaving the other four with the back seats, but they managed. He and Bianca each had a window seat, with Grover and Thalia in between them.

Bianca and Grover looked like they were still asleep, but Thalia was awake, if uncomfortable as he was from being shoved together. Their eyes met and for a moment they shared a moment of shared misery.

“Things have been quiet. Haven’t seen any crashes since we left the city.” Alcides answered calmly, and Percy breathed a sigh of relief that his driving seemed to have gotten a bit better. It might have been because they were out of the city now, but still.

Thalia cleared her throat as she tried to shift in her seat, “Anything happen while we were asleep?”

“Nothing major.” The man waved away her concern. “Just some minor discussions between Miss Nightshade and myself.”

Ok, now Percy was sharing looks of concern and disbelief with Thalia.

“… Just some minor discussions?” Thalia ventured skeptically, and Percy couldn’t help but agree. Clearly it had been quiet enough to not wake them up, but…

Ok, he had been genuinely worried when Zoe had claimed the front seat. He hadn’t known her for long, but back at the camp (and even before that when they had first met her) she hadn’t exactly kept her distaste hidden. Honestly, he was expecting an argument to break out any moment.

Zoe looked back from where she was sitting and gave them both a scornful look. “Did thou truly expect us to descend into senseless arguments?” She asked in exasperation.

Yes.

“Hey, you said it, not me.” Thalia smirked, “but now that you mention it…”

She shot the punk girl an unimpressed look, “we had discussion on how far this… Alcides… is willing to take us.”

The man chuckled, causing the car to shake, “Along with a few small threats and warnings.” He added, “You are fortunate to have such a protective leader.”

Zoe gave the man a scowl, “T’was cursory explanation, no more.” She shot back.

“Hmm, felt a little detailed and practiced for something cursory,” he mused.

“I hath had many years of practice.” She deadpanned with narrowed eyes, “as I hath had to put them into practice.”

Percy coughed loudly, “So, uh, how far are you able to take us?” He quickly asked. He had no idea if Alcides thought she was joking, or if he just didn’t care, but either way he didn’t want that line of conversation to continue.

He shrugged. “I am willing to drive till we reach your destination.”

They all looked at the man in surprise save for Zoe, “W-wait, really?” He asked incredulously, “but you don’t even know how far we need to go!”

“Do you?” He shot back, clearly knowing the answer. Probably part of what he and Zoe talked about. But why was he still willing? And why was Zoe not protesting this?

“Well, no…” he admitted reluctantly after a second, “but you -“

The man interrupted Percy with a scoff, the sound reverberating inside the truck. “You think I would leave you to beg on the side of the road? If you had your own ride; a carriage, chariot… even just horses, then maybe. But to leave you with nothing? What kind of man do you take me for?”

Thalia leaned forward this time and folded her arms, “Don’t get us wrong, we’re grateful and all, but what about your job? Or family? We have no idea how long this quest will be.” She stated bluntly.

Well, that wasn’t exactly true… they knew they had until the solstice, but that wasn’t really the best of timelines to go off of.

“I have nobody to teach at this time, and my wife and children are long dead.” He dismissed bluntly, the words killing whatever protest they had left, “and unless I’m mistaken I'm currently helping my family with a quest of theirs.”

Well, that brought mixed feelings.

The casual admittance of him being family actually got to Percy more than he wanted to admit… That he was helping them because they were family. Lately, the term ‘family’ just came with obligations. And Quests.

The mention of his dead wife and kids definitely brought the mood down though. A cursory look showed that Thalia and Bianca felt it as well, and were uncomfortable. How exactly do you respond to a line like that?

Thankfully their large driver didn’t seem to feel the same awkwardness. “Now that you guys are all up, do you have supplies for a meal?”

He breathed a sigh of relief at the change in topic.

Zoe spoke up before anybody else could. “We hath sufficient funds to purchase victuals. If need we also hath rations, but they art meant for a party of four.” She explained.

Ok, Percy was a bit grateful he was sitting behind Zoe, because he was sure she would be glaring at him right about now. Admittedly, he hadn’t thought about rations when he left, soooo…

Oops?

In his defense he had other stuff to worry about.

“Hmmm, you don’t need to worry about me eating, but if you don’t have enough for all of you…” Alcides murmured thoughtfully.

“H-hey, I can go for a while as well. I don’t want to hold anything up.” Percy hastily stated.

There was no way he was going to do anything that would get Zoe to feel more stabby towards him. And besides, it wasn’t like they were doing much at the moment. He could easily skip a meal.

“Owe!”

He jerked back as something hit his head, and he looked in confusion at Zoe, who had turned around fully to glare at him.

“Dost thou think of me that poorly as a leader?” She growled, her eyes narrowed dangerously, and he shook his head in response. What exactly did he do to offend her this time?!

“I told thee last night boy,” she explained caustically, “thou art a part of this quest, whether I like it or not. As such, thou hath been placed under mine protection. However foolish thine actions were, I hath no intention of letting thee starve thyself when options are before us.” Her glare increased. “Do not make me repeat myself,”

He quickly nodded. Ok, his plan to not upset her clearly backfired. Maybe he had misjudged her…

“However, make no mistake - after this quest is over, we shall discuss thine foolishness in greater detail.” She finished as she twisted back to look forward.

… Nevermind, there was the sort of response he was expecting.

He felt Thalia give him a small push, “Awww, I think she likes you seaweed brain,” she snickered quitely, and he quickly shushed her with a panicked look.

There was absolutely no way he was going to let that line of teasing continue. Zoe could easily take offense.

“Miss Nightshade is correct. Armies and heroes march on their stomachs.” Alcides agreed, seemingly ignoring Zoe’s last statement. “It would be a poor idea to train on an empty stomach.”

Percy sent a skeptical look at the man. First he says he didn’t need to eat, then he said Percy should eat? Hypocrite much?

The second part of his statement then sank in.

“Wait, ‘train’?”
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Thalia’s POV

Thalia watched in baffled curiosity as a pack of hellhounds that had been rooting around the back of the ghetto gas station practically sprinted away from their group, not even acknowledging the rain of arrows from Zoe and Bianca that were decimating them.

“I’m not the only one that thought that was weird, right?” She asked as she began stretching her sore muscles, cautiously looking around.

Sure, monsters ran away all the time, but usually only the more intelligent ones. Not hellhounds. Hellhounds were like rabid dogs. See demigod, commence chomping.

“Tis not unusual,” Zoe commented with a frown as she shot the last of the shrinking targets with ease. “All monsters have formidable instincts, but those that lack sentience rely on it more. For them to flee in such a manner would make sense were we a fully staffed Hunt. Or if Lady Artemis were to join without shielding herself.”

Alcides made a contemplative noise from where he was watching against the truck. “It speaks well of your strength for such a small group. Of course a pack as small as this would run.”

She rolled her eyes, adding another mental note about the man. Sure, they had two children of the Big Three as part of their group, but she didn’t think that was enough to warrant a panicked retreat. Which meant there was something about Alcides they were running from.

They had known the guy for less than a day and her list was impressive.

Thalia wasn’t sure what to think of Alcides. She didn’t get any creepy or weird vibes from him, and the fact he promised on the river Styx really should have put any paranoia to rest, but there were quite a few oddities about him.

The fact that he didn’t have any issues putting his life on hold for who knows where for gods knows how long was one.

He was very careful to never give any details about himself. The comment about his wife and kids was about as personal as it got, which… Ok, that was pretty personal, but it lacked anything resembling details.

Not that she thought he was lying, but he was definitely holding back.

Then there was the fact that he was remarkably unconcerned with them. Sure, they explained what they were doing and what their quest was about, but besides a few clarifying questions he didn’t seem to care.

He didn’t even know that she and Percy were children of the Big Three, and therefore were potentially going to be ending civilization soon for crying out loud!

She finished her stretches and glanced at Alcides, “So big guy, you’re the one that wanted the break…” not that she was complaining, she hated being in that cramped space for so long. “How about a spar?”

His eyes shot up in surprise, an expression that quickly morphed into a smirk of his own. “Oh? Are you that eager for a defeat so early in the morning?”

She just laughed, “I hope you’ve got a cushion for that seat of yours.” She taunted, “you’re going to need it after I kick your large butt.”

She saw a flash of confusion at the taunt for some reason, but it vanished quickly. “You’re so small, are you sure you’ll be able to reach it? Perhaps I should find a rock for you to stand on so you can follow through on that threat child.”

A spike of annoyance shot through her. Oh, it was on now - nobody called her a child.

She kept her smirk up as they got in position, Percy, Grover, and Bianca each stopping what they were doing to watch. She was pretty sure Zoe was only pretending not to watch as well.

“If you’re that confident, why not make things a bit more fun?” She asked.

His brow lifted, “What did you have in mind?” He asked as he removed the golden blazer and she got a better view of his muscles, and… Well dang.

She rallied herself, “The winner tells the other who their godly parent is.”

She actually had him pinned as either a son of Ares or Hephaestus, but his reluctance to say had only increased her curiosity. They had asked him the night before, and his only reply was he didn’t want to talk about it.

Suspicious… Once again, had he not taken an oath on the Styx, it would be a huge red flag. As it was, it was probably just a sign that he didn’t have a good relationship with his godly parent, ergo, he didn’t want to talk about it.

Too bad she liked to poke.

“He already told us he didn’t want to talk about it Thalia,” Percy cut in, frowning, but she just shrugged.

“Maybe, but what else do we have to wager with?” She asked lazily. Sure, they had money, but that was funds given out by camp. Zoe had also shown she had access to money, but that was obviously her own and Thalia wasn’t about to ask the uptight lieutenant for a loan.

“If you can beat me, I’m fine with answering that,” Alcides rumbled, not seemingly bothered. “Though I don’t truly need to know who your parents are...”

“Oh? You don’t want to know who you’re ferrying across the country?” She challenged.

He just scoffed, “I already know, you told me last night. I’m ‘ferrying’ Thalia, Percy, Grover, Bianca, and Miss Nightshade. What more do I need to know?”

She frowned as she noted his more formal address with Zoe.

“Hmmm, what do I want…” he mused before breaking out into a smile, one that instantly made her worry for his sudden epiphany, “We’re all family, right?” Ok, she was on edge now, but his smile was more mischievous than evil. ”If I win, you have to refer to me as your brother for the entirety of this quest.”

Her face instantly turned red. “W-what?!” She shrieked, “why would that be the thing you want?!”

No, seriously, what?!

He chuckled at her obvious embarrassment. Jerk. “I'm trying to inspire you to fight harder with a proper incentive.” He reasoned innocently, something that was ruined with the smirk he wore, “we are already family, so it’s hardly that big a jump to siblings. And from your expression, I would say it works rather well as an incentive.”

“That’s…” she fumed for a bit before his expression shifted to something more neutral.

“If it truly bothers you, we may drop it.” He offered calmly. “But there is truly nothing I want that you can grant.”

Well, at least he wasn’t being all creepy about it.

She still had to debate it for a second. Sure, she hadn’t been planning on losing, but the mere suggestion of it bothered her. Nobody had ever dared call her sibling, playfully or not (most likely because of the whole daughter of Zeus thing as opposed to anything she did.)

“Fine,” she ground out before facing Alcides again. Before it was her curiosity pushing her forward. Now it was her pride. “Best two out of three, first touch rules?”

“Very well.” He acknowledged, shifting into his own stance.

She breathed out slowly and pushed aside her indignation while going over what she knew. She hadn’t been bluffing when she said she could beat him. He was big, but she had fought Laistrygonian Giants and Cyclops. All his bulk would mean nothing if he couldn’t touch her.

She had been fighting since she was kicked out of her mothers house. She had faced hordes of monsters and came out alive, and spending years as a tree had not affected her combat ability. And that was before the last year of Chiron providing assistance during her training.

And that was before taking into account that Zeus was her father.

There was a reason children of the Big Three were talked about more. Due to their lineage, they had more ‘divinity’ than other demigods. Stronger, faster, more in tune with their abilities… they really did have an unfair advantage when you thought about it.

So yeah, she was sure she could beat him.

That didn’t mean she could just let his comment go.

“Grover, you’ll countdown for us,” she ordered, bringing out her spear and shield, narrowing her eyes at her opponent. He wanted to fight against her with just his fists? Did he not have another weapon?

“A-alright then,” he said as he tersely raised a hand. “Three, two, one… start!” Bringing his hand down before hastily jumping back.

She swiftly closed the distance, spear and shield at the ready as she lashed out…

Only to quickly draw back when his hand shot out, almost grabbing the shaft of her spear.

She twirled the spear a little before thrusting at his arm while it was extended, but he just leaned back, his other hand darting forward to grab the weapon.

Her expression darkened after several repeats of this. He was actually pretty fast. His larger size was an advantage, but it wasn’t enough for him to just ignore her weapon and grab her. So he was trying to grab her spear.

It made sense. He was at a disadvantage without a weapon. She could hit his hands, but him hitting her spear didn’t count as a point. Additionally, he was hardly moving his feet, further showing a lack of training and putting himself at an even greater disadvantage. He was probably banking on the belief that if he could get ahold of her spear, he could control the fight.

She hid a smirk as a plan began to form.

The fight went on, and Thalia used it to get a feel for his reactions. When she saw an opening, she immediately took it. In an instant, she activated her shield, and lunged.

Her shield, a replica of Aegis. While it couldn’t petrify, monsters and even hardened campers would cower at its sight. All she needed was a small stumble, a flinch…

She was already moving by the time her shield activated, but was shocked when he simply ignored Aegis’ effect, grabbing the shaft of her weapon before she could pull back.

She was startled enough by his actions that she funneled her power through her spear, electricity flowing through it all the way to the spear and into his hand.

Nothing. No reaction whatsoever.

What the Hades?!

That interaction took all of an instant. Before she could drop her weapon, he yanked on it, easily pulling her towards him. Before she could do anything about it, his free hand slamming into her stomach, the force knocking the air out of her and sending her hurtling back a couple feet.

She launched herself to her feet, ignoring the burning in her lungs and about to launch herself at him, when he startled her by tossing her spear at her.

Oh, right. First touch only…

“A worthy attempt,” he rumbled with a smile. “I would recommend carrying a backup weapon in the event something like this happens again, but good nonetheless.”

She glared at him, “that normally isn’t a problem.” She bit out. Her control over lightning ensured that.

Multiple resistances? She hadn’t heard of it, but if it existed it was probably a blessing from a god, and they didn’t give those out lightly. But which one? Or was it multiple blessings that made it look like some kind of magic resistance, one to protect against fear, another against the elements or something?

“Are you ready to go again?” He asked,“or would you like to concede?”

If those words had been meant to push her… Ok fine, they worked.

“Don’t think it will be so easy this time,” she growled while rubbing her stomach. Dang, that was going to leave a bruise…

“I never do,” he ‘assured’ her, causing her to growl once more.

Ok. He was resistant to both lightning and fear. That would have been great to know prior to this… But she had a better feel for his moves now.

“Alright, round two in three, two, one… Start!”

This time, she didn’t even get to move.

Somebody shrieked (‘somebody’ that absolutely wasn’t her) as a blur was suddenly right in front of her. Everything after that was pure instinct and adrenaline - She swung her spear, a wave of lightning danced from her body and weapon as she pushed herself to make some distance… Nothing worked.

In that instant, she didn’t see a man. It was an unstoppable force of nature and she found herself trapped by a pair of large arms.

She struggled against the iron hold for a few seconds, but that was more insinctual than anything else. Inside, she was desperately trying to reconcile the last several moments.

He eventually let go, and she jerked back, staring at his smug face.

“What the heck was that!” She demanded.

His grin got bigger, “Depends on your perspective. On one hand, that was me immobilizing you.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, “And the other?” She demanded.

He chuckled, “That was me giving a hug to my new sister.”

Her face felt like it was glowing red by this point, and she was pretty sure she heard Percy laughing at her plight. Oh, just wait until it was his turn to spar, then they’d see who’s laughing. She wasn’t even going to look in the direction of the Huntresses, who knows what Zoe looked like right now.

Instead she glared at Alcides, “So you were holding back during the first spar?”

“I was testing the waters,” he corrected. “I had no desire to rush in without knowing where you stood in terms of strength.”

She narrowed her eyes, “how much longer do we have for training?” She called out to Zoe.

“Five minutes.” Came the call back.

Not a lot, but this was supposed to be more of a moment to stretch their legs after driving for so long.

She picked her spear back up, “Again.” She demanded.

“Oh?” He looked at her curiously, “you still want to fight?”

She grit her teeth, “Look brother dearest,” she growled, her glare turning fiercer with how pleased he looked that she called him brother, “I refuse to be taken down that quickly. So like a good brother, you are going to help me improve!”

His eyes rose up, and for a moment she thought he looked proud.

“Very well,” he got in his stance again, “let’s see what we can do in five minutes.”

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Herakles POV

Cars, Heracles decided as they finished getting food, were by far the most incredible thing that had come from Hephaestus’ forges.

Bards tended to cut out much of the travel time when they told of epic quests. The truth was, completing his Labours had been a task that had taken years due to the sheer distance between locations.

“Are you even sore at all? Sweating? Anything?”

He huffed in amusement, “Give it a few more years and you might be able to give me a workout.” They were good, but he was a veteran of a couple wars, dozens of quests, and hundreds of battles.

Thalia swore under her breath, “You know, I was leaning towards Hephaestus before, but now I’m pretty sure your father is Ares.”

He couldn’t help but let out a laugh at that. “You did well, I promise. You just shouldn’t base your strength against my own.”

The people in the backseat mumbled some sort of response, and he left it at that. It was a lesson they would learn at one point or another. If not from him, from another.

For his part, Herakles couldn’t resist the feeling of pride he had in his sibling and cousins. They were young, but their instincts were excellent, and they had good control of their powers for their age. While he was primarily focused on his sister, he was able to glance at the others as well.

At this point, they just needed experience to hone what they knew.

To be perfectly honest, he hadn’t planned on revealing himself the night before. Nor at all. Being an unseen guardian had its perks, and he had hoped to push it as far as he could. But when he had felt the unmistakable presence of Divinity he couldn’t afford to stay in the background.

They were already embroiled in a mess of the gods. They didn’t need more complications.

And if he must reveal himself, then there was no way he wasn’t going to take advantage and get to know this family of his (even if it technically wasn’t his).

But now that he had revealed himself, he needed to be even more careful to not let them know his identity. Even if they believed him, the gods might very well be listening, and they would no doubt intervene. Even if they weren’t, the children would probably tell them in their prayers.

Thus far he seemed to be passing inspection with everybody except for the leader, Zoe. Thalia might be a little suspicious now that he had shrugged off her lightning, but there was something about the Huntress Lieutenant that bothered him.

And apparently the feeling was mutual.

Flashback

“I do not trust thee.”

Herakles looked at Zoe briefly before returning his attention to the road. It had taken longer than he’d like, but he had managed to get a hold of driving this beast without appearing too inept, and he didn’t want to ruin that impression. He understood the basics, but everything else was trial and error.

‘Cars’ might be one of the greatest inventions of all time, but they were a mite different from horses or chariots.

“I would be disappointed if you did.” He answered eventually. The others had eventually fallen asleep, so it was just him and the Huntress, and he was curious as to where this interrogation would go.

Though, a small part of him was also curious about her. She felt… Familiar, though he was pretty sure he had never met a Zoe Nightshade in his past. Did she feel the same about him? It might explain why her distaste and distrust of him was practically its own presence.

She said nothing more for several minutes, yet he could feel the heavy weight of her stare. “How far art thou willing to take us?” She asked eventually.

He shrugged, “How far west do you need to go?” He countered.

She looked at him skeptically, “We were told a direction, not distance. It might be as far as the west coast.”

Herakles let out a grunt. With no knowledge of the geography of the land, that didn’t mean anything to him. “You’ll no doubt make it faster driving with me than walking.” He answered eventually.

She scoffed, “You are willing to put thine life on hold for a cause you know nothing about?”

He felt his lips curl up, “Of course not. But I know that it’s a cause that those kids back there are willing to put their life on the line for. Putting my life on hold isn’t that big a deal in comparison.”

Especially considering he didn’t really have a life to go back to, but who cared about that little detail?

“We don’t know each other, and my arrival could be seen as coincidental. But will my oath be sufficient until I can prove my sincerity?”

She stared at him for a second, “It might, had you known what an oath on the Styx meant before you took it.”

He very carefully did not react to that beyond raising an eyebrow in question. “Oh?”

Clever girl.

His world had an oath upon the Styx, but it was an oath for the gods, not their children. As such, he had been caught flat footed when she asked one from him. How different was it? He had no idea if it required his actual name or not, and if it did he couldn’t exactly say it was Herakles. It had been a spur of the moment decision to use ‘Alcides’, a name that was his, yet one he hadn’t used in many, many years.

“Thine reactions were off, thou wast too confused.” She accused him intently.

He simply nodded, “If that were the case, does that negate my oath at all?”

That was a genuine question. Not that he planned on breaking it, but it would be nice to know whether he had some theoretical punishment hanging over his head.

Her eyes narrowed, “Nay, twill not negate the effects of such an oath, yet it negates thine sincerity if the effects are not known.”

He let out a chuckle, “I assumed it to be a serious matter based on your reactions.” He replied dryly. “And it would only matter if I didn’t intend to keep my oath. Which I do.”

He looked her in the eyes, “Now, let’s cut to the crux of the matter. Do you wish for me to drop you and your party off? Or shall I continue?”

He looked back at the road and continued in silence for several minutes while she glared at him while thinking it over.

Eventually she sighed grudgingly, “to break an oath made on the river Styx is to render thyself to the goddess Styx’s judgment. Depending on the severity of the oath, she could very well claim thy soul as penance.” She leveled another glare at him, “go back on thy word, and I shall ensure that thou shall meet her judgment swiftly.”

He nodded solemnly and accepted the information, “I understand.”

The silence returned for several more moments before he heard Zoe mutter, “San Francisco.”

He looked at her in confusion, “Pardon?”

“We had mentioned distance. My Lady was on her way to San Francisco to hunt a monster.” She stated louder. “I know not if she made it, but that is where she was headed.”

He hummed in understanding. “Just tell me when to turn.” He replied.

That information would be a lot more useful if he knew where exactly this San Francisco was.

End Flashback

They had reached an unspoken agreement. Because of that, he felt hesitant to break it by asking her questions of his own.

Yet that did nothing to stop his curiosity.

She was experienced, that much he could easily infer. Extremely so. One that spoke of more years than one should be able to live. As a Huntress, she could easily have been alive when the Herakles of this world had been around.

Had there been a Zoe Nightshade in his past? No matter how much he searched his past, he couldn’t remember any such person. He sensed divinity within her, but it was mixed with the feel of other divinity and impossible to differentiate.

… Maybe she resembled the nereids he had met while aboard the Argo?

It wasn’t any of his business, but that was the problem with quests. Even with one of these cars, travel was boring, and he had nothing to do but talk and think.

Perhaps if she became more comfortable with him in the future he’d ask her who she had once been. Not now obviously, not when she was so obviously stressed and worried. But later, definitely.

He couldn’t tell her - couldn’t tell any of them - that they didn’t have anything to worry about now.

He was going to do his best to ensure they fulfilled their quest and make it back alive.

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Somewhere in the Mediterranean

In a flash of light, Apollo teleported onto a beach and looked around. Abandoned beach? Check. Pillars and ominous sayings? Check. No sign of civilization?

He frowned in disappointment. Double check.

Apollo let out a huff. “You haven’t even tried any of my suggestions.” He lamented out loud, turning to the figure he felt appear behind him. “Bro, you’ve been here for how long and you still haven’t done anything with this place! No personalization, nothing!”

He looked at the other god and had to suppress a smirk when he saw the others glare.

His relationship with Hercules was pretty lukewarm, surprisingly so for a sibling (or… maybe not, considering their family tree). See, Artemis hated the guy’s guts. That didn’t mean too much, considering she hated most of his friends and about half of earth's population, but this was a level of hatred that transcended her usual man-hating. So normally that meant he’d take her cue and follow suit in order to avoid being shot at. Full sister trumps half-sibling.

On the other hand…

Look, they were all immortal. They’d all done some pretty bad stuff in the past, so it’s not like he could throw stones. Artemis’s beef with Hercules was personal (or, it was personal to her oldest huntress and friend), but the other god had never done anything to Apollo personally.

End result? He kept things amicable and friendly, but didn’t push for anything else. Which honestly wasn’t that hard considering the former demigod seemed determined to brood for all eternity.

Apollo just ignored the look and shook his head, “Look man, I know you’re supposed to be the guardian here, but it’s still yours. You’re allowed to, like, make it more comfortable. A house, a small gym… maybe a bar, heck, a hammock if nothing else!”

Hercules folded his arms and gave a glare, “I don’t like this place, and I hate my so-called ‘job’. I refuse to put any more effort into it than I have to. I’ve told you this before.” He leaned forward, “Now ask me what you want and leave.”

Apollo gave the other god a curious look. Sure, Hercules was rarely happy, but this seemed a step beyond that. “C’mon bro, is that any way to speak to visitors?”

“Well if I ever see one that’s welcome, I’ll be sure to watch my tongue.” He replied caustically. “Now stop delaying. You only ever come when you have some gossip you just have to share, or you need something. If it was gossip, you’d have started off with that. You didn’t. That means you want something from me, and I’m not in the mood to do the whole song and dance routine.”

Yep, something was definitely bothering him.

Apollo hummed in contemplation before giving a shrug. “Fine, you’ve got me. I did have a question for you. I don’t suppose you have a kid running around named Alcides, do you? Probably in his late thirties? Tall, dark, muscles bigger than some tanks?”

A stellar description if he said so himself.

Hercules just scowled, “Is this a joke?”

“Huh?”

“Alcides? Really?”

Apollo gave him a blank look.

The other god’s glare deepened, “Do you really not know that name?”

Blank look, continuing.

Hercules grit his teeth “That’s MY name you idiot!”

His expression didn’t change, “I’m pretty sure your name is Hercules.” He stated carefully. Memory loss wasn’t usual in a god, but it did happen on occasion. It was never a good thing. Usually widespread damage and chaos ensued.

“No! It…” he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “… My name was Alcides. When I was born. My parents were hoping to hide me from Hera’s wrath.” He scoffed and spread out his arms, “History shows how well that went.”

“Ah,” Apollo grimaced. Hera’s reactions to Zeus’ affairs were well known far and wide.

But that was getting off topic…

“So one of your kids was named after yourself?” He concluded. Hey, he wasn’t judging. Several women he’d slept with had named their kids after himself in some fashion or other. They hadn’t done it lately though… Too ‘old fashioned’ they said.

Which was ridiculous, by the way. Naming your children after somebody as important as a sun god was always in style.

Hercules let out a growl, “No,” he ground out, “I don’t have a kid named Alcides.”

Apollo frowned, “Are you sure? Here…” he created an image of the guy above his hand, “maybe he was using an assumed name, but I could have sworn he felt a bit like you.”

Hercules studied it for a second before shaking his head with a scoff, “He looks like some kind of barbarian… Tch. Yes, I’m sure. And no, I don’t recognize him.”

Apollo frowned. That was disheartening, he wasn’t gonna lie. Hardly unexpected though. Not all of the gods kept track of their offspring. Some of the male gods weren’t even aware that some of the women they had slept with had had kids. Made some Council Meetings kinda awkward.

Maybe he’d have better luck at Camp Half-Blood.

“So that’s it? You came all the way out here just to ask me about that?”

Apollo shrugged, “Eh, I ran into the guy and he made me curious, that’s all.” He brushed the question aside. No need to draw attention to the fact that he was straddling the line of interfering with a quest. His brow furrowed as he looked closer at the other god. “Now what’s up with you? You’re far more irritable than usual.”

The man kept a glare up for several seconds before turning away with an explosion of breath. “It’s nothing. Just a headache.”

Apollo winced in sympathy. It had to be a killer migraine to affect a god like that. “Want me to take a look?” He offered, extending his hand.

Hey, God of Medicine. It came in handy.

Hercules let out a snort, “I’ll manage.” He replied dryly. “It'll leave as suddenly as it came.”

Apollo looked at him questioningly before giving a shrug, “Alright if you’re sure…”

“I am.” He replied firmly, and Apollo shrugged in acceptance before looking at the image of ‘Alcides’ with a frown.

“He must have made quite the impression if you’re chasing him down like this.” Hercules commented idly.

The sun god didn’t say anything for a few seconds as he looked at the image before looking away with a carefree smile. “I suppose.” He mused. “He said something that sounded off, but now my curiosity just wants to be sated.”

He was probably just being paranoid. The guy would drive them somewhere, drop them off, go back to his life and never see them again.

End of story.

…

But if that was the case, then why were his instincts screaming at him that the man had a bigger role to play?!

He nearly groaned. Sometimes it sucked being the God of Prophecy. Barring an actual prophecy from the Fates you didn’t know if it was just your head messing with you or if it was a genuine premonition.

“Well, if it continues to bother you, drop by Olympus and I’ll check it out.” He instructed Hercules absently.

Maybe he’d drop by Camp Half-Blood and ask Chiron… The emergency meeting the night prior had been about how something had smashed through (and then left) the wards of the camp. After something like that it wouldn’t be out of character for him to swing by and inspect stuff, right? And while he was there it would only be natural to talk with Chiron… And Zeus could hardly blame him if while he was at it he said hi to his kids… Yeah, that would work.

Hercules just let out a grunt, “Sure, we’ll see. Now get off my island.”

Apollo gave him a cheerful wave and swiftly teleported. Hopefully Hercules actually did something with ‘his island’ next time he visited.

Next stop: Camp Half-Blood.

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It’s been a long time since I last updated this story… to be honest, the main issue I had was I had no idea where I wanted to take it. I know where I wanted to end up, but how to get there was a complete blank. Now, I think I have a better idea.

Very little happened here, but I felt it was necessary. The boring travel portion while we see how they and Herakles interact thus far. I’ve written this out and erased it so many times it’s not even funny. I’ve finally gotten it to a point that I feel it flows alright, but please let me know what you think.

I hope everybody enjoyed this chapter!