#toa jerry

The harpies were no doubt watching on somewhere in resignation as their charges added more work to their already never-ending list of cleaning chores to keep the camp safe and hygienic, but to Apollo the sight of green-stained t-shirts, and pants, and even skin, was a beautiful sight.

Demigods were still children, not magically older or more mature than their mortal peers even if their parentage and the world it brought them into forced them into something more aware aged them before their time because if it didn’t it would kill them, and seeing them act like it always settled something in Apollo’s essence.  He wasn’t the god of children, or youth – Hebe would have several unpleasant things to say if he so much as suggested he was - but he was their protector, the protector of not just the young but of their youth.

It was a role he kept failing at, with demigods, as the world kept pushing and pushing.  This camp was the closest he could come to succeeding at it and its success was intermittent at best.

Right now, it seemed like it was succeeding.

Merida giggled as she pushed her twin, who yelped as he overbalanced and grabbed at her in turn as he fell, dragging her down with her.  They rolled down the hill in a mess of limbs and squawking, yelling at each other and humour surrounding them as they went.  A little further along the hill, Kayla threw herself down with abandon, closely followed by Jerry, while Yan took the more sensible approach of laying down before starting to roll.  Gracie was talking quietly with Austin, but both of them were also grass-stained, so they just seemed to be taking a break from the time honoured tradition of children rolling down hills for no reason other than because they could, and because it was fun.

Apollo loved the sight.

More heads came back into view, Will with his arm around Raphael and blond hair threaded through with glimpses of green, the two boys laughing.  Behind them, Alice’s make-up was smeared but she didn’t seem to notice as she goaded Sam into pulling her up the hill, while Emma hung onto her own waist to get dragged up.

None of them noticed him, but that was by design as he faded into the background, content for the moment to watch them play, tumbling down the hill again and again and feeling his essence thrum with pure love.

There was nothing quite like loving his children.  Nothing like being a father to these innocent, battered but not broken demigods.  Apollo loved being a father, always had done even if he usually looked too young to be one, by mortal standards.

He didn’t understand the people who didn’t.

Apollo watched his children play, unaware of their audience, and considered joining them, letting his presence be known.  It had been a little while since he’d last dropped by in person, even if he’d spoken with most of them in their dreams the past couple of evenings.

The scent of ozone, sprites of static brushing against his essence, stopped him before he could make a move.

“You should not be here,” his own father said, sparking into existence.  For Zeus, it was an unusually subtle display of his presence, but Apollo supposed he didn’t want the demigods to notice he’d deigned to make his way into their camp, even if it was only the very fringes of it, standing underneath the boughs of the tree he had once created to prevent his daughter dying entirely.  Apollo was glad of that, too - he didn’t want his children, or any other demigods, realising Zeus was there, either.

It was bad enough that they were in Zeus’ presence, catching his attention, in the first place.  Apollo supposed he hadn’t been subtle enough in his own approach, not if his father had noticed.

Zeus wasn’t looking at his children, though.  Not yet, at least.  Instead, his piercing blue eyes were focused on Apollo himself, which was never a comfortable position to find himself in, but it was better than it being his children.  He wasn’t foolish or naive enough to think that his father wasn’t fully aware of the demigods, and whose children they were, though.

His father didn’t look as stern as Apollo expected him to be, when he met the older god’s gaze with his own, trying to minimise Zeus’ reasons to look to his children.

It was to no avail.  He’d barely made eye contact when Zeus looked away, looking instead at the children who continued to play, oblivious to their grandfather’s presence.  Apollo stifled Lester’s instinct to swallow, to show nervousness.

“Although,” Zeus continued, as though there had been no pause, not giving Apollo time to scramble to come up with an answer that would both appease his father and not put his children in more danger than they already were, “it is a father’s prerogative to watch over his children.”

There had never really been a hope that Zeus wouldn’t know exactly who he was looking at.

Those bright blue eyes, so much like Jason’s except Jason had been a mortal and his father was the king of the gods with windows to an essence of an eternal storm, whirling and flashing for millennia, much like the storm on the surface of the planet named for his Roman form, glanced back at Apollo again, and he felt seen in a way he didn’t want to be, not by this god, of all beings.

“In that, we are not so different, you and I,” his father commented, and Apollo had to fight to supress the unease that rippled through his essence.  “Watching over our children, guiding them… making sure they take the right path, against all other temptations.  Those are a father’s duty.”

“I agree.”  It wasn’t something Apollo could deny, wasn’t something he’d argue with his father about, not when his children were right there.

Zeus smiled, and it made him look benevolent.  Kind.  The way Apollo remembered him from his youth, before he learnt that storms were unpredictable and it didn’t matter how pretty the sky was when the lightning struck.  He didn’t know why Zeus was showing him those same pretty skies now.

It felt like a warning.

“I cannot stop you from being a father,” the older god told him, “but you must remember, Apollo, that demigods are mortal.  They are not gods.  Their lives flicker for less than a century before they disappear forever.”

That, felt like a threat.

“I know, Father,” he said, not even risking a glance towards the slope of the hill, although it didn’t stop him being aware of Kayla throwing herself back down again, and the shrieks of laughter that accompanied it.

“A father guides, but he knows when to step back,” Zeus said, as though he hadn’t said anything at all.  “Remember that, too, my son.  Do not linger - and I am sure I do not have to remind you of the Laws.”

He disappeared in another crackle of ozone, before Apollo could even digest the words, but Apollo was under no illusions that he was still being watched.  There could be no visiting his children today, not now.

Not while Zeus was watching… and Zeus was always watching.

Watching, and judging, ready to correct his children’s paths if they strayed.  Apollo watched Gracie push Austin down the hill and surprised a wince as he recalled falling himself, no doubt pushed by his father for all he still didn’t remember it.

He tried to imagine doing that to his own children, remembered Hal and the way he’d had to give him a gentle push before Zeus interceded and pushed harder, tried to imagine pushing any of them hard of his own volition.  He failed.

Guiding his children?  Yes.  But he couldn’t conceive of doing to his children what his father had done to him.  Not even his immortal ones, the ones that wouldn’t flicker and fade within a century.  He couldn’t imagine how Zeus had done it.

Sometimes, it made him want to hate his father.  Olympus knew Zeus’ treatment of him wasn’t right, that the Apollo of old, before the Ancient Laws and his own father’s threats of punishment, would’ve punished parents for if they’d done it to their children.  Apollo didn’t know if Zeus loved him, any more.  He thought he had done, once upon a time, but now?  Now, it was difficult to tell.

Now, it didn’t matter.  Zeus could love him with the strength of a thousand suns and it wouldn’t change anything, because his actions and words were angled to control, to punish, to hurt, regardless of the intent behind them.

The same way, it didn’t matter that Apollo still loved Zeus, that even now, standing in the shelter of Thalia’s tree and watching the children that his father may or may not have just subtly threatened, he couldn’t take back the centuries of love that he’d poured into his father.  He feared him, distrusted him, at times resented him… but he still loved him.

He always would, he knew, and it felt like a betrayal to his own children that he could love the god that would snuff their lives out with a single thunderbolt if the mood struck him – the god that had done that exact same thing before.  It felt like he shouldn’t love them both, but he did.

It didn’t matter, though.  It didn’t change anything.  Apollo had loved Commodus – still, deep inside his essence, loved him despite everything he’d done.  That hadn’t stopped him from killing him twice; if anything, it had spurred him on to end him with his own hands, rather than let anyone else take his life.

Loving his father wouldn’t stop him from doing what he needed to do.  Maybe he couldn’t stop loving him, but he could still choose his children over him.

Well, lucky for her, I have decorated MANY trees. I could her help with that.

"Sure," I said, and she grinned. I gulped a bit at that, but it couldn't be THAT bad.

Turns out it was.

Meg did not call me for my awesome and creative artistic abilities, nooo, she called me because of my "goddy abilities."

"Apollo, summon blue candy canes." She ordered.

I raised an eyebrow at her. Who used blue candy canes for their tree? It was usually red and white or red and green. And trust me, I know. I see a lot of things from the sun chariot.

Meg stomped my leg, "c'mon, dummy!" I caved.

I summoned ten blue candy canes in my arm, and handed it to her. She looked at them, then at me, then nodded approvingly. I did not get punched in the knee.

Then Meg bit into one. I winced. Meg frowned as she pulled it out.

"This isn't a candy cane!"

"Yes it is, it's a candy cane ornament," I reasoned.

"I was asking for candy canes. Not ornaments." Meg punched my knee. But I was a god so it didn't hurt.

"I thought we were decorating."

Meg looked up at me. "Why would you think that?" I gestured at the tree.

The dryad scoffed. "No one is decorating ME. Don't you know how heavy ornaments are?"

I did not how heavy ornaments are.

"Not even for Christmas?" I asked.

The dryad shot me a look, then sighed. "I'd love too, it's the holiday season and all, but ornaments are really heavy!"

Well, that would be easy to deal with.

I motioned for Meg to hand me the candy canes (which she was trying to suck on, again.)

She reluctanctly handed me them. The I vanished them.

Meg stared at me.

Then I summoned ones that were hollow made of light materials.

"Help me decorate?" I asked. Meg smiled.

The first of the decorations were done, and several blue candy canes we littered (terrible wording, I know) on one side of the tree (no one would look at the back).

I stretched my arms. Meg had asked to put on the higher spots, but didn't reach. Instead of asking me to do it like a normal person, she asked me to carry her so she could do it, instead.

"How does it feel?" Meg asked.

Evergreen went out of her tree. "Not too bad," she bedrudgingly replied. Meg smiled, and turned to me. And I wonder once again what I had gotten myself into.

"You aren't adding fairy lights?" I asked.

"NO!" Evergreen protester.

"Yeah no we don't do that here." I turned around. Joseph, a male dryad, was leaning on the door. "The electicity bill is expensive." On that, I could agree.

Meg stepped on my foot, "summon green ball thingies." Joseph left after that.

"Ornaments," I corrected. Meg rolled her eyes, muttering about potatoes and tomatoes, which was NOT how the saying goes. I still summoned ten of them.

Meg tried to put them up, then realized she was, once again, too short.

"You need to get more calcium," I told her. She stamped my foot. I, by the way, have nothing againt short people. Short people are cute! Why, I have dated many. Still, Meg was a growing girl.

I carried her up. Meg did not weight much, though this was probaly because I was a god. She put a lot of the green ones on top, no, she put all ten of them on top.

"Now for yellow," she said. I stared at her. Green and yellow... hmmm...

I summoned them for her. Meg could put half of them just fine, but needed my part for some higher ones.

"Why did you call me and not just ask Lu?" I asked her after helping her put on a pink - that's right, pink - star on top of Evergreen.

Meg shrugged. "I wanted to hang out with you, I guess." My heart warmed.

Then Meg asked me to summon red ones. And she put them on the bottom half. She walked back and admired her work.

Meg had decorated her tree as a street lamp, with a glow in the dark pink star on top.

I was having a really hard time processing this.

Evergreen seem to share my sentiment.

She stepped out of her tree, and looked at our job. Dumbfouned and shocked.

She turned around at us. "Whose idea was this?" she demanded angrily.

Meg pointed at me. I protested. Evergreen believed Meg over me, though, and sent me a stink eye.

She sighed, "oh well, I guess it's too late to do anything." But then she looked at me.

"Well, I gotta go," I said and dissapeared, not wanting to deal with an angry dryad.

After that fiasco, I decided to visit my kids, and drop their gifts while I was at it.

When I teleported into the Me cabin, the whole place was still bright and alive. The sound proof walls were up (after several complaints from the rest of camp, the row of 5-7-9 were given sound proof walls to use at night) and all my children were wide awake.

Jerry, Gracie, and Yan were playing a vicous and extreme round of Uno on the floor (a game that was one of the reasons why Olympus no longer held game nights, another reason is that dad is always right, and therefore the best at everyting, but we also cannot just give up, and oh the fights that erupted from it.) Gracie and Jerry were doubling down laughing as Yan picked up card after card with a mournfull expression.

Austin was playing a love song using his saxophone in its full glory, while Kayla faked gagged at Will and Nico from her perch on the top bunk. My son's skin had gotten darker with the blush, while Nico sat on the bed with a deadpan expression.

None of them had seen me yet.

It was my youngest that did.

"DADDY!" Gracie screamed and stood up, throwing away her stack of 14 Uno cards in the air. She pushed her siblings and jumped, enloping me in a hug. I scooped her up and twirled her around, smelling her cherry scented hair, the sound of her giggles music to my ears.

Jerry groaned, as he was about to win. Yan was not sad at all, seeing as they had 36 cards. They threw down their stack and walked over to me, much to Jerry's chagrin.

Austin stopped playing, and Kayla jumped up from her perch, which I winced. Luckily my ginger daughter was fine. Will stood up and dragged Nico, staring at the younger three's mess disdainfully.

"Hey dad," Austin greeted. I gently dropped Gracie and hugged her siblings and  brother in law.

"How are my sunshines doing?" I asked.

"I was about to win but somebody had to run off," Jerry sent a side eye at a certain blonde with pigtails. Gracie, being the mature twelve year old she was, stuck out her tongue at him. Yan shook their head at their antics.

"Gracie don't tease your brother, and Jerry we can play later," I chided.

Jerry lit up, "can Yan get 36 cards in one round again?" Yan groaned and playfully punched him.

Then Jerry stamped on their shoes.

Then Yan pulled his sleeve.

I realized they were about to fight and quickly dissolved it. Gracie was the one that shook her head, this time.

Kayla held my hand and brought me to the rug in the middle, waving at the others too follow.

Jerry grabbed all the Unos with help of Gracie, and brought them to the rug.

"We're doing 7 each," Jerry said and started to dividing them. Nico tried to leave but stopped when Will pulled him in.

"You're not leaving me with Jerry and Uno."

Nico and Will sat together, with Austin on Will's right. Kayla sat left from Nico, with me on her left. Yan was beside me and Jerry and Gracie sat next to them with Gracie next to Austin (because Austin and Jerry should not sit next together)

And thus, the game of Uno began

"Uno!!" Jerry exclaimed cheerfully as he placed down another plust two card.

Yan's color drained from their face. Turns out, their last card was not a plus one.

It was sad watching them get 36 cards. Gracie was laughing again. Will shook his head.

Nico had about 19 cards. Kayla had raged quitted after getting a stack of 28. Austin was content with his 7. Will did not care. Gracie and Jerry were tied in five, and Yan had 37. I had 3.

Jerry's card was blue, and I placed down a blue +2

Somehow, Yan won. And Jerry was last, much to his dismay.

"I want a rematch," he proclaimed to his sibling. Will shook his head.

"C'mon," Austin said, "karaoke time!"

He pulled my hand and asked me to set up the karaoke set. Will, Gracie, and Nico sent scared looks of eachother. My youngest did not know what to fear.

Austin turned on his speaker and played THE Christmas song. Nico had gone, much to Will's dismay, as soon as the song started. Kayla is searching for something to cover her ears with, and Will is done.

Yan is confused. Jerry is insulted by Austin's choice in music. Gracie though...

"-IS YOU!" she sang, joining me and Austin in karaoke (Will shot me betrayed looks when i joined my other son in his fun.)

The song finished, and Jerry turned to look at his brother. "Austin, what the bloody hell was that."

"Language," I reprimanded as Yan asked him to donate into the swear jar.

"It's your turn, now," Austin said and smiled. Jerry slinked away but Austin caught him before he could.

Gracie turned on her song choice, and started singing along.

"LAST CHRISTMAS I GAVE YOU MY HEART, BUT THE VERY NEXT DAY-" she stopped for Jerry, giving him a look.

"You got fanum taxxed." He sang, seemingly enjoying himself.

Gracie and Austin both stopped, staring at him as if he had grown another head.

"THIS YEAR, TO SAVE ME FROM MEWING," Jerry continued on, completely oblivious from his siblings' stares. Will looked done with him, and Kayla's jaw was dropped. Yan just shoon their head, seemingly used to Jerry's antics.

"I'LL GIVE IT TO SOMEONE RIZZFULL~"

Gracie shook out of her daze and clamped Jerry's mouth shut, and shook him.

"What was that?" She demanded.

"How, where have you heard rizz from?" Austin wondered out loud, wondering how Jerry, who was white, heard the AAVE word. (AAVE, mind you, is slang Blacks made to talk about things without alarming the oppressors)

"...gen Alpha version?" He said unsure.

The others just stared at him as if he was summoning an ancient primordial by turning into a dog and dancing (long story don't ask)

Jerry was panicked that his siblings had no clue.

"Dad that was future stuff, wasn't it?" Jerry's thought prayer asked, since he couldn't say it out loud and his siblibgs couldn't know, yet. And Jerry wasn't comfortable with people knowing.

I shook my head, and he blushed at my gesture.

Austin shook his head, "just, how do you know rizz?"

Jerry shrugged. "It just came to me."

"Well, don't say things if ya don't know the meaning, okay?" Jerry nodded dutifully.

"Can I choose a song now?" Austin hesistated before letting his brother choose, hopefully nothing like the monstrosity of the one before.

Jingle Bell Rock played, and I heard a snippet of Will and Kayla'a conversation.

"I think he's too far gone, Will"

But Will and Yan were singing along, then Kayla joined, and it lasted until I forced them to go to sleep (they were still kids after all.)

As I rised the sun, this prayer greeted me:

"Hey Apollo,"  the voice of my friend Jo came into my head "We're opening the gifts."

I split off a part of me to Indiana. This year, Jo and Emmie thought it would be a good idea to do a secret Santa. Me and Meg were invited. Meg couldn't come though since she was spending Christmas in the Cistern.

The Waystation was bright and colorful. Red and green fairy lights were intertwined with fake bushes on the walls. Mistletoes were everywhere, and all sorts of Christmas decorations were on the walls. All the inhabitants were in the living room.

"Hello, Waystation," I greeted.

The Waystation's tree was (thankfulky) decorated normally, with ornaments and cady canes and red string around. The star was a celestial bronze throwing star. The gifts were under the tree.

Jo waved me over. "Hey Apollo," Emmie greeted, leaning on her lover.

I walked over and sat next to Leo. "Hey guys," I greeted back.

"Okay now that everyone's here, let's get started, eh?" Leo said, grabbing a red gift. He read the tag, "Georgie this is for you." He tossed the gift to the eight year old sitting on Lit's lap, next to their moms.

Georgie caught the gift and giggled. She opened it up and found a coloring set and book. Her eyes lit up and teared.

Calypso smiled from where she sat next to Sssssarah, happy Georgie enjoyed the gift she got her.

Georgie put her gift next to her, then walked over to the tree and grabbed a green, giving it to Olujime.

The pretty man took the present, and inside it was a key chain of an ax, with a note attached. "From Stan," Olujime read the tag.

He opened the note and scanned the page, his eyes widening after. He took the keychain, and flipped.

The keychain, turned into a lifesize ask.

Stan, for your information, was also a son of Hekate, and was being mentored by Jo to take care of the Waystation after she and Emmie dies.

Olujime grinned at the ax before minisizing it, shooting a thanks at Stan. The boy was very proud of this.

Olujime grabbed a colorfull paper wrapped box, and handed it to Leo.

Leo opened it gingerly, and opened the brown box inside it. It was filled with bits and bobs and a drawing of Festus, by Georgie.

Leo sniffed and wiped his eye. "It's beautiful," he said rather melodramatically.

Stan had an equally dramatix reaction to Lit's gift, a book on the history of Magical Mechanics by Hardy Long from RMRAR Publishings, the only publisher of the Greco-Roman world (other titles you may know would be Camp Half Blood Confidential or the Demigod Files)

The Lit in question scratched his neck at the Stan who had tears and thanking him really really extravagantly.

Lit could not relate. Sssssarah had given him a new cornhusker shirt and corn seeds, with a note saying, "reap more corn and less men."

Suffice to say, Leo will not let that die down. Sssssarah was rather proud at her idea.

Jo must've known about the Snake's parctical joke since all she gave her was eggs in cups.

It didn't work well though. Sssssarah loved it, and ate it all up in a couple of bites.

Stan stared at her in disgust.

Olujime gifted Calypso a hand made book full of note sheets for her band practice. Calypso was really happy, even if she was losing interest in band. Not that Olujime knew that, of course.

Emmie's gift was the best, of course. She had given me a picture book filled with pictures of time I spent with my loved ones, with empty slots for more. I did not cry, my eyes were watering from the dust.

The gift Deacon (and me. I helped xey out) gave to Emmie was also really good. She got artifacts from way back when, something to remember with.

I don't know if it was a good idea, though.

Leo got Deacon a lot of toys, and I gave Jo handmade sweaters.