The Bright One (Percy Jackson x Sandman SI)

[Lucien Dawn]

Allow him to enlighten you that being a god was not as idyllic as some demigods believed. Yes, they possessed the awe-inspiring trinity of immortality, divinity, and quintessence, qualities that would drive most mortals to go to any lengths to attain them.

But in the end, they were not truly free. What was the purpose of power if they couldn't wield it according to their own will?

There were existing laws—horrifying and terrifying laws—etched into the very fabric of reality, akin to the code of the cosmos itself, binding them in abstract chains.

The gods collectively referred to them as the Ancient Laws, a fitting name considering their existence since the dawn of time.

However, he personally preferred to christen them the Golden Order, as he perceived within them the primal and abstract essence of Order itself.

The Ancient Laws manifested in the form of a luminous tree, emanating a resplendent golden brilliance. Its ethereal branches extended throughout not just the Solar System but the entire cosmos in its primordial embrace.

So what if he was a God? In the face of the all-encompassing Golden Order, his divinity held no significance. It was a Cosmic Horror in every sense of the word.

And, pray tell, why was he able to perceive its true form? He was certain others could not. Not even his cousin, the three-faced Hecate, possessed such sight. Perhaps it was linked to his reincarnation, but he couldn't be certain. He pondered whether certainty would ever be within his reach.

He sighed, reclining amidst an earthly tapestry of verdant trees, kaleidoscopic fields, and vibrant animals that stretched across the once barren island—this was a blessed gift from Aunt Demeter, who simply couldn't bear to witness the birthplace of her nephews remaining so desolate. And beyond the lush island lay the Aegean Sea, a vast blue expanse belonging to Uncle Poseidon's domain. Above it all, the golden sun blazed and seared, guided by Helios. Its radiant rays bathed him, accentuating his auric visage.

He was extraordinarily handsome, his features seemingly flawless. His sun-kissed tan accentuated his chiseled biceps, and his jawline boasted flawless symmetry. His hair was a lush golden, cascading in locks down to his shoulders, while his eyes gleamed like molten gold, radiating with a divine light.

If you haven't already deduced it, he was indeed reborn as Apollo, the God of too many things to keep up with in Greek mythology.

At present, though, his divine portfolio only encompassed the realms of Light, Archery, and Truth. His innate divinity was that of Light, while the divinity of Archery was bequeathed to him by his maternal uncle, Lelantos, the Titan of Moving Unseen, known simply as Concealment, through weeks of guidance under him.

As for his divinity of Truth, he developed it as a distinctive offshoot arising from his affinity with light, as light has long symbolized truth. However, this particular advancement was a daring endeavor—one that he cautions the gods in your respective realms against attempting without proper preparations.

Now, for other divinities that his namesake in Greek mythology had, he would not only earn those but probably much more as well.

Yes, earn—you heard that right.

Adding new divinities to your godly portfolio was a Herculean endeavor. You see, to understand this, you first must know what divinity actually means:

Imagine reality as a grand tapestry, intricately woven from the threads of abstract and conceptual laws, which the Gods, with their divine power, could deftly manipulate. In essence, this manipulation was the embodiment of their divinity.

As for the Primordials, they stood as the very origin and source of those threads. However, the identity of the weaver responsible for this cosmic tapestry eluded him, despite all he had discovered thus far. Pointing to the Universe of the Percy Jackson, a lingering uncertainty continued to grip his heart.

Was it truly Chaos or someone else?

Anyway, let's get back to the topic of divinity. It granted the Gods the ability to essentially manipulate the laws of reality itself. Gods were born with a divinity that would define every aspect of their future path. To acquire more divinities, they needed to depend on their innate divinity, connecting closely with its related concepts and attempting to manipulate them through sheer will.

This process would ultimately lead to the development of a new divinity, but only if successful. Failure, however, would result in a severe backlash, weakening a god for a prolonged period of time. In extreme cases, it could even burn away their divine essence.

There were other methods, though, that allowed young gods to connect with concepts that were completely unrelated to their innate divinity. One such method involved seeking the guidance of someone who had connections with those unrelated concepts.

Through their assistance, young gods could acquire foreign divinities to add to their portfolio. However, as always, this process was burdensome and taxing, so most gods had reservations about volunteering to be a guider.

But Apollo had lucked out. His uncle, Lelantos, was willing to guide him, and through him, he gained the divinity of Archery. And guess what? Archery divinity was not only cool on its own, but when combined with light divinity, it became even more catastrophic. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that his arrows had the firepower of nuclear bombs. As he said, cool!

As for the remaining methods, one of them simply depended on talent and dedication: a god could possibly attain a divinity in a particular concept if they devoted all their effort to it. On the other hand, a divinity could be bestowed upon gods by the primordials, allowing them to establish a connection and draw power from the concept they embody. However, this often resulted in them becoming subservient to Primordials in one way or another.

That was all the ways he knew to gain divinities. There may be more, some even more dangerous and terrifying ways. Anyway, now you could understand the difficulties of adding new divinities to the Godly Portfolio. So abide by his warning word to word if you don't want to plunge into the embrace of--

"Apollo..." Artemis materialized next to him in a burst of silver light. While he appeared to be in his late teens, she took on the appearance of a twelve-year-old girl. However, this did not diminish her perpetual countenance—serene and chilling, like the silver moon on a cold winter night.

But as she sat down beside him, the words she wanted to say melted into a sigh of languor, mirroring her countenance. They sat there in comfortable silence on the natural carpet under the embrace of swaying shadows cast by the branches. The chirping of birds and rustling of leaves echoed softly in the background.

Apollo turned toward his sister and asked, his voice low and deep, almost a whisper that blended in with the atmosphere around them, "How was the hunt with Aura?"

Aura was their cousin, the daughter of Lelantos. She was the Titan Goddess of Breeze, a third-generation Titaness. She had chosen to stay with them after their uncle left, not only because she and Artemis eventually hit it off but for some other reasons as well.

"It went well," Artemis said, her gaze fixated on the swaying leaves. "Aura truly has the spirit for the hunt. She would have been a perfect fit to become one of my first huntresses," she added, snapping her sharp silver eyes at him. "But alas, you just had to ruin it."

"You are weird, Artemis." Apollo shrugged off her glare. "What does maidenhood have anything to do with the hunt?"

Yes, he hooked up with Aura.

Yes, she was his cousin.

But that fact wasn't enough to stop him at all during that passionate time.

How could it? Sex was simply different as a God, so much better than as a human. It was nothing less than divine. After experiencing all that, he couldn't really blame the Gods for being so horny in mythology.

Nevertheless, the time with Aura was just a one-time thing. Whatever bits of human conscience were left in him stopped him, and he really didn't want to lead her on, as he wasn't looking for anything serious.

"You're the one to talk," Artemis snapped. "We're only two months old, and you already couldn't keep it in your robes," she suddenly smiled. "You truly are our father's son, Apollo."

"Take that back," Apollo glared at his sister, his golden eyes churning with blazing light.

Artemis stuck out her tongue. "I hit a nerve, didn't I?" she taunted, her voice laced with playful amusement.

Apollo's initial anger began to waver, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He crossed his arms, trying to maintain a stoic facade. "You always know how to push my buttons, don't you?"

Artemis chuckled, her laughter light and carefree. "Well, someone has to keep you on your toes, brother. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it." She added with a subtle undertone. "Besides, where would you be without me to remind you of the consequences of your actions?"

Apollo feigned offense, placing a hand dramatically over his heart. "Why, dear sister, are you implying that I wouldn't know how to handle myself without your guidance?"

Artemis looked almost genuinely proud at that, puffing her chest.

Apollo wanted to laugh his ass off at his delusional sister, but he only let out a mirthful chuckle before seriousness took hold of his countenance. "Tell me," he said, obviously picking up on her undertone.

"Well, to put it simply," Artemis said bluntly, "Aura is a foolish girl." She tilted her head cursorily. "What does she see in your stupid face, anyway?"

Apollo groaned in realization. "Oh…." He palmed his face. "Don't tell me..."

"Yes." Artemis nailed his coffin, her amusement waned away into somberness in light of this matter. "She has fallen for you."

"Here I thought I already made it pretty clear." Apollo sulked, looking up at the clear sky. He really did, as he said, he didn't want to lead her on to believe something was possible between them.

"You did," Artemis nodded sagely. "But, as I said, Aura is a foolish girl."

Apollo groaned again. He really was going to break someone's heart, wasn't he?

"What are you going to do?" Artemis continued with much interest, placing her chin in her palm.

"What else? I will have a word with Aura," Apollo said, gathering himself and standing up from the ground. "I don't want her to get hurt, but alas…" he trailed off into a listless sigh.

"Well, well," Artemis patted her thighs, looking up at him with burning pride. "I stand corrected. You aren't so much of our father's son after all."

Apollo lightly slapped the back of her head.

"Ow!" Artemis exclaimed dramatically, clutching the back of her head.

"Enough, my dear sister." Apollo rolled his eyes, then looked ahead into the forest, his golden eyes observing all the places that light touched on the island. "With the hunt done, Mother should start cooking now. What was the hunt, by the way?"

"Just some sea monsters, but it was fun," Artemis said, standing up with him. "For us, though, we caught fish," she added with emphasis. "The most delicious ones."

"Then come on," Apollo said briskly, walking forward under the shade of the trees. He couldn't wait to have some delicious baked fish made by his mother; just thinking about it made his mouth water.

Artemis walked alongside him with a light smile, her wooden bow hanging over her shoulder.

"Speaking of maternal cousins, I met Hecate not long ago," Apollo glanced at his sister from the side.

"The three-faced?" Artemis raised her brow.

"Yes," Apollo nodded, his eyes focused elsewhere. "And she was strong, Artemis."

"Obviously, she is much older than us, after all," Artemis said nonchalantly.

"No, I mean, she is strong strong," Apollo retorted, kicking a stone in their path into the sky. It shot toward outer space with a boom, erupting with shockwaves, but his sister neutralized them before they could blow and tear everything around them.

"Strong strong?" Artemis squinted at the sky, tracing the path of the stone. "It's probably going to hit someone on the way," she added sternly.

Apollo merely shrugged, his hands clasped together behind his luscious golden hair. "She is, I don't know, different, I guess."

"What makes you say that?" Artemis refocused on her brother with a touch of seriousness.

"I don't know, I just felt it, perhaps an instinct," Apollo said thoughtfully.

"Instinct, you say?" Artemis asked dubiously. "The awful way of saying you don't want to share your secret."

Apollo shrugged again. "It is what it is."

Truly, the situation was the same as the Golden Order. He could tell Hecate was different, couldn't pinpoint how, though.

Artemis hummed, seeming to accept his explanation for now. "She was here?" She asked, looking around with narrowed eyes.

Apollo nodded in agreement, his mind flooded with vivid recollections of the strange encounter he had with Hecate. The image of her standing alone at the edge of the cliff, her gaze fixed upon the twinkling stars in the night sky, replayed in his thoughts. Turning his gaze towards his sister, he couldn't help but share his observations.

"She was just there, on the precipice, immersed in silence as she gazed at the stars," Apollo said. "It seems she frequents this place, considering her mother…" His words trailed off, heavy with unspoken truth.

Delos, their birthplace and sacred abode, concealed a sorrowful truth beneath its shores—it was the hallowed remains of their aunt Asteria, the ethereal Titan of Falling Stars and Nocturnal Divinations.

Bereft and shattered by the tragic loss of her beloved husband, Perses, the Titan of Destruction who met his end under the wrathful bolts of Zeus, Asteria found herself consumed by inconsolable grief. Little did she know, in the depths of her sorrow, that the very perpetrator of her husband's demise had taken a sinister interest in her vulnerability, seeking to exploit her grief for his own lust.

However, when she faced the mighty Sky-Father, Asteria stood resolute, unwavering in her defiance. But her resistance proved futile, for Zeus held an insatiable desire to possess her, even if it meant forcing himself upon her. Left with no alternatives, a heart heavy with vengeance and sorrow, Asteria chose a path of desperation.

She embraced a blazing inferno, sacrificing her very essence to injure Zeus himself. Her flames consumed her being, scorching away all that she once was. In the wake of her sacrifice, a transformation took place, an act of rebirth from the ashes of her existence.

From the remnants of her burning essence emerged a sanctuary of divine origin, a testament to her indomitable spirit and the price she paid to resist the mighty Zeus—Delos, forever enshrined as a symbol of Asteria's defiance.

It was the story that Leto, their mother and sister of Asteria, told Apollo and Artemis. It was somewhat different from the one in Greek Mythology Apollo had known in his previous life, but considering mythology was mythology and reality was reality, there were bound to be some differences.

It only served to further solidify their father's image in their minds, as it wasn't really hard for them to imagine the situation their mother had faced when Zeus decided to pursue her.

Way to go, father! If he wasn't already covered in black marks in their books, this certainly sealed the deal.

And Apollo was almost certain that this was the intention of their mother when she vividly told them the story. However, she was also prudent enough to follow it up with some other tales that described the terrifying might of their father and his escapades, so as to let them be cautious and prudent in his presence.

Hearing his last words, Artemis sighed heavily. "Hecate's situation is certainly pitiful."

Apollo merely hummed in agreement. He chose not to delve further into this sensitive topic, knowing it would one way or another end up with the topic of their father. They could joke about their father all they wanted, but the thought of facing him, living with him, still made them uncomfortable.

And let's not even begin to discuss the fact that they were supposed to share a roof with their stepmother, who despised their very existence to the core.

You may wonder: If you know all this, Apollo, why don't you just take your mother and sister and run away together from the craziness of Olympus to start your lives anew in another land? Maybe the divine pantheon there would be much more hospitable and welcoming.

'Oh, if only were it that simple,' Apollo thought sulkily.

Thankfully, Artemis didn't seem enthusiastic about jumping into this topic either. Thus, they fell into silence, but an undertone of heaviness remained between them as they walked toward their home, anticipating the future that awaited them beyond Delos.