Chapter Three:
Moments of Fatherly Lovin'.
— I watch the           work of my kin,
bold and boyful, toying somewhere
between love                   and abuse !

That night, everything was in disarray.

Two of the three godly brothers had broken their oath to never have children after the dreaded war that was caused because of it. Only the oldest managed to uphold his end of the deal, but the truth about his children was a story for a future date. Both the God of Lightning and the God of the Sea had children behind the backs of their wives — not that the gods weren't known for their faithlessness and infidelity, but these were gods had sworn to not have children for more than a century in hopes the Great Prophecy that would either save or destroy the world they built, wouldn't come to fruition. There were lethal and imperative consequences to being a child of the Big Three, torture even after death had to be the worst. For that very reason, being one of their children seemed to absolutely suck. It was also why Phoebus Apollon tended to gloat to his daughter about being one of the best godly parents. Due to him never listening to a word that comes out of his father's mouth, he was one of the most parents involved with their children's lives and he prided himself for it.

Apollo prided himself in being willing and open to take whatever consequences his father might dish out to him so long as he can speak to his children — as a father, it was all that mattered to him. He might've become a lot more laid back over the years, but should something happen to his children, his anger would not be restrained. Despite knowing that he might be punished, he kept a warm and loving smile on his face as he appeared in his beloved daughter's dream. She was growing up, faster than he'd hoped. She was fifteen-years-old, and he was proud that she had made it so far — he could only hope that she'd make it to eighteen. As she grew, she was starting to look more and more like him. Her hair was beginning to darken a bit at the roots and grow brighter toward the ends, her eyes that shone like the sun and the stars would deepen a shade whenever she felt something negative, and her powers were growing along with her. The body he took on was young, but rules be damned, he felt like a proud father.

When her eyes opened, Apollo could see that Colette Victoire's eyes immediately softened at the sight of something so familiar. They were in front of a lake, comfortably watching the sunset over a gothic cathedral in Strasbourg, France. He remembered the day that she'd once told him that she wished to visit in person clearly, so he brought it to in her dreams. "I remember you once told me you wished to visit." He smiled at the wistful look on her face.

               "I still do. Maybe I'll go in person one day." If she could make it to eighteen, of course. The scenery was so nostalgic. Colette loved France with all her heart, it was where she was raised even if it was where her mother was murdered there as well. For now, it was the one place she would truly call home — the one thing she adored with every fiber of her being, but she knew that one day, it would be in third place of the things she loved. She would love two things — two people — more.

As if reading her thoughts, Apollo sighed tiredly, feeling his incredibly old age hit him like a truck. "You know what's to come," he commented rather than questioned because he knew the answer to his own statement. He kept his eyes on her expression, noting the way she gulped audibly and her pouty lips dropped into a soft frown, enhancing their natural shape. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you sooner; I was forbidden. I may be the God of Truth, but that doesn't mean I can't withhold certain truths."

"No, I—" she sighed quietly, thinking her words through before speaking them. "Je ne suis pas fâché contre toi, papa." I'm not upset with you, dad. "Parents have to keep things from their kids sometimes; I understand that — I just wish there was a way around it, you know?"

Apollo moved from his place to sit beside her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close to hold her. "Je sais, chérie, je sais." I know, darling, I know. "I know better than most, I'm sorry for condemning you to this — this life, your life; This World, your world — you don't deserve it. If I could get you out and away from it all, I would. I would take you to Delos so that nothing would ever harm you again, but we both know that's not how life works, darling. For that, I am truly and irrevocably sorry that I cannot change it."

Colette laughed tearfully. "How am I supposed to love two people if I cannot love myself, papa? It's too much." And it was. Being destined to love two people who couldn't be anymore different from each other was difficult. To have your soul intertwined with two others as your destiny and future with them was written in the stars, carved into the universe to forbid anyone from changing it. Don't get her wrong, she is capable of loving more than one person — she had plenty of love in heart for it — the act in itself wasn't hard, it was everything that came after it that struck her soul. The tragedies that would follow, especially for children of the gods who'd experienced just as much, if not more, heartache than most demigods at all. It was a rather ... tricky thing to think about. Would you rather be immortal and capable of loving anyone, but losing them with time or mortal and incapable of keeping a lover due to time? Everything always ended in tragedy for the Greeks.

"There is one thing that I can assure you on." He began to tell her carefully, choosing his next words wisely as he gave her a summary about it all. "This future of yours may be difficult and painful, but, I swear to you, it will all be worth it in the end, chérie. Love doesn't come without a price, usually it is pain, but the outcome of it all will be enough."

The father and daughter duo sat in silence for some time, relishing in each other's company and comfort as they listened to the wind and how it flowed over the lake. The eccentric sight of the gothic cathedral in front of them was jaw dropping, but instead of excitement and adrenaline, they felt peace and love and warmth. Apollo could tell that his daughter was gathering her thoughts and needed a moment of silence, so he gave it to her. He had spoken to Aphrodite in passing, her constant comments about his golden daughter's future — he was always curious about it. That destiny of hers was a heartbreaking one, that much he knew for a fact, but he knew that she would be happy one day. Happiness was all he could ever wish for his children, and he would be utterly damned if he didn't try his hardest to help them achieve it.

Suddenly, their surroundings seem to flicker around them. Both of them sighed because they knew what it meant. "You're waking up, chérie." He realized before whispering one last thing to his daughter. "A quest for you and those you're destined for is coming. Be prepared for when Chiron calls for you." His words were soft and gentle, floating delicately with the wind around them, but they were so quiet that she barely caught them. Once she did, she held on with a sad smile and never let them go.

               When she woke up, the sun was rising. Her father's (iconic) loud AC/DC music blasting in the ear drums of everyone in Cabin Seven, seeing as they all shot up from their peaceful laying positions. "He's so loud." Austin groaned, annoyed by their father's obnoxiousness. He earned many agreeing groans and noises from everyone else.

               "That's exactly why he does it." Lee spoke up, jumping up from his bed to walk towards the bathroom next because Michael had just walked out and he didn't want to stick around for the fight the girls would start to use the bathroom before Austin (who took longer than the both the girls ever did, it really pissed them off when he went first). "To annoy us."

               Colette sat with a loving smile as she thought of her father sweetly. "Yes, that's exactly why he does it." She parroted, staring at the golden ring on her pointer finger that she didn't have last night. She figured their father must've slipped it on her finger when she was distracted in her dream last night. She wondered what weapon it was. The necklace with a golden sun and silver moon (gifted by both her father and her aunt) around her neck was a bow, so she figured the ring had to be a sword or a dagger — at least, that was what she was hoping for. She knew he wouldn't just give her jewelry for fun, everything had a reason.

It was how Apollo expressed his moments of fatherly loving, she realized.

Indeed it is, chérie.

ICARUS INQUIRES:

Mhm, Apollo is #BestGirlDad