The Gift of the Lethe

Midnight Sunshine

Pallas jerks awake, a scream welling in her throat. She pushes it down before it can wake Athena and curls over her knees, trying to calm her ragged breathing. Why must she relive it? She's experienced her death once in reality and thrice now in a dream. When will it stop tormenting her?

The same nightmare as the last time, the same memories that haunt her. Except this time, there was something new. A dark river, mist rising from its surface, and the sensation of sliding before stopping with a jerk. Pallas shakes her head, trying to push the river from her mind. It can't mean anything, it was just something her mind made up.

She sighs and glances over at Athena, her dark hair spilling across her cheek as she hugs Thee to her chest. A small smile tugs at Pallas' lips at the sight, but it fades a heartbeat later when the echo of blood leaves a stickiness to her skin that pulls at her attention. She grimaces and tugs at a blanket lying folded at the end of the bed, letting it brush against her skin to wipe away the echoes.

She slides off of the bed and steps over to the wide-open window that lies open to the night sky. The moon shines on her skin with a soothing light, stilling the tremors that occasionally run through her from residual fear. Pallas examines the wide windowsill for a moment before pushing herself up.

Leaning against the side of the window, she stares up at the stars, studying the constellations. Many of them are familiar but a few, just a few, are entirely new. She stares at one of them that rests just beside the moon, the light washing over it yet not washing out the constellation's own light. When she lets her eyes unfocus just slightly, she can catch the hints of the constellation's outline, a girl shooting arrows across the sky. What happened to put her up there, and how long ago? Warmth touches her skin and She frowns, glancing down at the blanket wrapped around her shoulders. It hasn't slipped, so how-

Someone speaks from below her. "Hello."

Pallas just barely manages to keep herself from accidentally falling out of the open window in her shock. A young man, perhaps about the same age as Percy, is standing on the ground a few stories below her window. In the light that manages to curl around him even in the darkness of nighttime, she is able to distinguish his hair as a light shade, perhaps blonde. Pallas raises her eyebrow.

"Hello?"

"Can I come up?"

Pallas grimaces. "Umm, no."

He makes a groaning sound but doesn't push, flashing her a white-toothed grin instead. "Okay, then what is a pretty young demigod like yourself doing on Olympus?"

She squints at him. "Are you flirting?"

"Is it working?"

Pallas snorts. "I'm not interested. Is that a good enough answer for you?"

Even with the dim light, she can see as he pouts. "Is it because you're one of my sister's huntresses? Are you visiting Athena for her?"

Pallas frowns. Who is he, let alone his sister? "No, that's not why."

He gives her an even more pronounced petulant expression. "Then why aren't you interested?"

She gives him an unimpressed look. "Because you're acting like a spoiled child. I'm also just not interested in boys that way."

He gapes at her. "How could you not like me? Do you even know who I am?"

"Nope. And regardless of your identity, my interest would not change. Just the same, you would still be acting like a child."

"I'm Apollo, the sun god! And I'm not a child, I'm older than you!"

Pallas raises an eyebrow. The sun god, hmm? That was Helios the last time she was alive. The name is familiar, at least. Was he one of the gods Percy told her about when he was giving her an overview? What did he say about Apollo, exactly? She can't remember.

"Are you sure about that?"

He makes an indignant noise just as someone comes up behind Pallas and touches her shoulder. Just by the way their fingers press into her skin, Pallas knows it is Athena.

"Are you teasing my brother?"

Pallas hums. "How am I teasing him? He's the one flirting in the middle of the night. I'm not pointing out anything more than the truth."

Athena laughs. "Speaking of-" She leans past Pallas to look over the windowsill. "Why are you flirting with her this late, let alone at all? Actually, I know the answer to the second; you can't help but flirt with anything that moves."

"Rude!"

"But true."

Apollo sighs. "Will you allow me up, sister?"

Athena frowns at him. "Did she deny you before?"

Apollo shifts on his feet. "Perhaps . . ."

"Then it is her choice if you are allowed entrance."

Apollo squawks, "But it's your home!"

Pallas snorts. "It's fine. You can come up, pretty adult-child."

That sends Athena cackling, and she manages to get a few words out through her laughter. "Adult-child. Oh . . . I have to tell Artemis that. She'll never let him live it down."

In the blink of an eye, Apollo disappears from the ground. A heartbeat later, light spills across Athena's face from behind, causing Pallas to turn. As she had suspected, Apollo is now standing inside the room.

He points a finger at Pallas, his eyes gleaming. "I don't know whether I like you because you're sassy and fun or if I don't like you because you're being a tad disrespectful."

Athena bares her teeth at him. "If you harm her in any way, I will rip you to shreds and toss you into Tartarus. I swear it on the Styx."

Power ripples through the room, echoing of thunder that rolls across the skin. Pallas shudders and Apollo narrows his eyes, gaze drifting to her.

"What makes you so special to my dear elder sister, hmm?"

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Athena's being protective, isn't she? (But she can't really blame her, Pallas had died) What do you think of Apollo? How do you think he'll react to finding out who Pallas is? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~ Goddess of Fate, signing out