abraxaslogs | April Log

Apollo lifted himself up and sat up on the mattress, reaching over to delicately pluck the syringe from Will's hands and look it over, running his thumb along the shaft and inspecting the misty malaise churning inside it. Now with more of his own power, Apollo could feel out its symptoms the way someone might feel the fabric of a shirt.

"Sinus pressure, draining down the throat into the lungs," he muttered like he was reading a book, "Muscle pain. Lethargy. Hard to tell when it's not infecting a person, but this feels like a flu." He raised the syringe and his fingertips began to glow a golden light. The light flickered across the syringe, dispelling the infused disease.

He handed the purified syringe back to Will. "What were you thinking about when you conjured that? How did it feel?"

It was so profoundly cool and so utterly weird to watch his dad use his powers, powers he gave Will. He'd spent a lot of time with him as Lester, a lot of time with him in dreams or in brief stints on Olympus but, this was possibly the most time he'd really spent with him as Apollo. Will looked over at Apollo with almost hero worship in his eyes. So cool, his dad was so cool. Will reached out and took the syringe back.

"Honestly, I was just trying to replicate what I did with Nyx. I was just so angry and upset and I wasn't really thinking when I did it. It just sort of happened. Like a reflex? I suppose that's not going to work because each illness probably feels different."

Will stopped, concentrating, trying to remember what he had done, felt, how he had done it. He scrunched up his nose for a moment. " It felt like anger and loneliness, like I was trying to reach for all the negative emotions I'd ever experienced. Kind of the opposite I guess to how I feel when I heal someone." Which made sense.

Apollo saw Will's expression and looked a little bashful in response. Once upon a time Apollo would have basked in that adoring gaze — Expected it, even.

But six months as Lester had humbled him. Now, Apollo just hoped he could be the kind of father and god that deserved such adoration — and keep being him for however long Will needed.

He listened and nodded as his son spoke, then motioned for the syringe again. "Try it again, see if you can create the same disease two or three times in a row. If we establish a baseline, then we can start to experiment with different emotions."

Edited 2024-04-07 22:58 (UTC)

Will was proud to be Apollo's son, even before he become Lester. Proud to be an echo of the divinity inside him. But he also knew that Apollo needed to find himself again, to find that balance between Apollo and Lester. And maybe, just maybe, Will could help him again, like he had with Lester. It would probably involve less tucking Lester into bed and teaching him how to brush his teeth though.

Nodding, Will concentrated, trying to bring to the surface the same feelings he had found before. It worked, for a moment, and then the emotions blurred and Will got distracted by the more positive feelings brewing inside him. Happiness that his dad was here, and close sitting next to him. Helping him. Almost like helping him with homework. The illness Will was manifesting fizzled out.

"Sorry. I guess it's a little hard to be negative when I'm happy you're actually here."

The sudden, casual admission that he was wanted caught Apollo by surprise. It made him smile, and he couldn't stop himself from glowing for just a moment.

"Always nice to hear," he said — and upon realizing that was five syllables, decided to keep rolling with it. "But a dad should help his son, not halt his progress."

Nailed it!

"Maybe we can work backwards. Let's try this." Apollo plucked the syringe back, concentrating on it for a moment before another disease began to bubble and ooze inside of it. This time, he conjured something distinct, instead of the million different sinus and lung infections out there. This curse was a sickly pale yellow and looked more grainy than the flu had. Human papilloma virus — Apollo had spread warts to the hands, faces, and... other areas of many humans with this little number.

He handed the syringe back to Will again. "See if you can identify what this is, and if you get any emotions from it."

Apollo had never associated diseases with specific emotions like that, so this would be an interesting experiment.

Edited 2024-04-08 00:50 (UTC)

Laughter burst from Will's mouth as he realized Apollo just recited a haiku on the spot. Beautiful. That was beautiful. And thought about talking to Austin and Kayla about modifying the couplet's curse into a haiku curse. That could be fun!

But apparently homework with Naomi was the same as homework with Apollo. Parents. You could only distract them so much with 'I love you's' and 'can I have a glass of water?' before you actually had to continue with your work. That realization was actually kind of a lovely moment, viewing Apollo more as an actual parental figure than an object of worship from afar, or a Lester who needed to be fretted after. Right then. Will took the syringe again, and concentrated, trying to feel the symptoms swirling inside.

"Pustules...no, not quite right. Not smallpox. " Which he was ever so grateful. " .....blisters....warts......HPV?" Will gave Apollo a look. "I made a mistake and created HPV?" Okay, it was better than smallpox. He stopped again, and tried to concentrate on the emotion. " It definitely feels different than the rage and anger I felt before. More possessive?"

"No, sorry. I made that, not you." Apollo said with a laugh. "I just wanted to see if this emotion association worked in reverse — I don't have that when I use this power. That's entirely you, and I'm really interested in knowing more about it."

He looked back to the syringe. "It's always fascinating to see how demigod gifts manifest. The power changes in ways you never expect. Your brother Asclepius can't magically heal the same way you can, but he can sense what's happening on a cellular level. He was able to glean an understanding of microbiology and organic chemistry millennia before we developed the terms to describe them. Even I didn't understand biology on that level until he described it to me — before then, I would manifest a disease or a cure simply by willing it to exist."

He still did, for the most part, but that understanding of biology did allow for a bit more precision in his work.

Apollo leaned in closer, looking thoughtful. "I've never seen this emotional understanding of disease before. You say this one felt possessive?" He wondered how the emotions correlated with the diseases. Was the possessiveness related to the way infected cells aggressively replicated themselves, demanding larger shares of the body's resources? Or was it related more to the emotions that might drive Will personally to inflict it? "This could allow you to approach medicine from a completely new perspective."

He looked back up, meeting Will's gaze and smiling proudly.

Will blushed. As usual he just got distracted and hadn't been paying attention. Thank you demigod ADHD. Also, it was a lot more relieving that Apollo made that than him.

"I suppose that makes sense. Ichor manifests differently when combined with DNA? Or maybe it has to do with the form the god takes?" Will shrugged because he didn't know, and clearly Apollo didn't quite either. That was a mystery he'd have to ask the Fates. Or maybe Asclepius if he ever got free.

"Yeah, it felt possessive. I guess that's the best way to describe it." Will thought back to how to had infected Nyx, how he had triggered the shot of light at Epiales. "I don't know if it helps but, during Tartarus, I just got angry. I was so angry and hurt and upset at Nyx and overwhelmed at everything. I didn't really think about it. And Persephone had told me to ....embrace my darkness, so that's kind of what I did. I'm not sure how it works. If I'm somehow converting my own negative emotions to a specific disease or illness or if the negative emotion already corresponds to that illness on like some kind of emotional frequency?"

Will paused in his retelling, wondering how much of the story Apollo knew. He was a god, probably most of it right?

"And then when I blasted Epiales, honestly, I just got scared." He looked a little unsure as Apollo was smiling ever so proudly at him. "This is good? I don't know what it means in terms of how I can summon illnesses but....I suppose that's what we're figuring out."

"Maybe it's a reaction between blood and ichor," Apollo said thoughtfully, "but in my experience, mortals are just... really good at changing everything they come into contact with. I don't know if it's a biological or a spiritual thing, maybe it's both, but it's something even gods can't seem to get a handle on."

He listened with interest at Will's retelling. Some parts he had heard, but others were new.

"Darkness gets a bad rap," Apollo mused. "Take it from the Sun God: Everyone needs a little bit of darkness, and it's unhealthy to pretend otherwise."

Apollo leans back thoughtfully. "As for whether or not this is good... I think so. It's new, and it's full of potential. I think once you get a handle on it, you'll be able to accomplish some amazing things with it."

Will knew it was silly to think that Apollo didn't have any darkness in him. He knew the stories. His dad had a temper, and maybe, just maybe, Will had let the idea of Apollo as the god of light and sun and everything that made civilization and humanity great, overlook the idea of balance. That there can't be light without a shadow. Maybe that's part of what drew him to Nico, and Nico to him. They balanced each other out. Maybe without realizing it, Will had been drawn to that idea.

"Yeah, I think I'm starting to figure that out. Maybe I didn't give it a fair shot. Or maybe I didn't give you a fair shot. Like I had this idea in my head of what you were and what you stood for and...it's not really realistic."

Will moved a little closer, getting used to the idea that his dad was there and enjoying his presence, advice, just...being a dad.

"Thanks, I hope so. I mean, I'm sure you're right. You're the god."

Apollo saw Will scoot closer and smiled. He an arm around him and pulled him into a side hug, encouraging Will to lean on him.

"I think I know what you mean," he mused softly, gaze growing distant as his eyes turned down to the floor. "It's... hard, learning things about your parents you'd rather not know."

Or realizing things about them that had been in front of you all along, Apollo thought, trying not to let his own bitterness toward Zeus cloud this moment. Of course, things that were in front of you all along wasn't Will's issue — That would have required Apollo being there to begin with. "And trying to reconcile that with who you thought they were."

Edited 2024-04-15 02:13 (UTC)

Will leaned into his dad, letting his head rest against Apollo's. He found himself relaxing, honestly something he never really was able to do before with Apollo. For one, well, Apollo had usually been in dreams, not physical. And when he was? Well, he was Lester. And it was Weird. Dad but not dad? Kind of dad? So, he was gradually adjusting to having an actual father around. Someone to talk to and guide him and lean on. That was a trip and a half. Someone to lean on. Who wasn't like, Chiron or Mr. D (did he even count?) So he let himself relax and just feel and realize that his dad's was hugging him. Which was. Kind of cool.

" Or maybe learning things about your parents that were right in front of your face. It's not just you. It's....my entire view on life. I've separated the good parts and the bad parts and, I'm just starting to realize that's not realistic. Or healthy." Thanks Persephone. He got all that from one short convo. At least, that's what he thought you were trying to say.

"You never hid who you were, not really. I mean, maybe I didn't always see all sides of you but, I didn't accept or understand the you given to me even from the collection of stories I had in the Apollo cabin. Collection of stories I gave younger campers to guide them." It was kind of ridiculous, the set of blinders he had on. Maybe, just maybe, Apollo could relate.

"And in turn, I guess, trying to figure out who and what that makes me." That was probably the real reason he never had tried his plague powers before, had never dared to entertain that he could.

That and his Star Wars obsession.

Edited (wow english i can. Now words that actually make sense. I'm done I swear) 2024-04-16 02:14 (UTC)

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