Apollo The Teacher
POV: Alexandra
I had not noticed Apollo’s orb floating about when I was speaking with Ronan but he had materialized in the room shortly after. I sighed, “Well, apparently I’m very unobservant.” Ronan shook his head, “It’s understandable, you’ve had a morning of worry and stress.” Apollo smiled at Ronan, “The General knows very well you don’t need to beat yourself up. In any case, I assume since most of the people are cleared from the room that you passed your test. Disease free?” I nodded, “Thankfully we all came out of it unscathed including my Lucy.” Apollo arched an eyebrow, “Your Lucy?” I cleared my throat, “Sorry, I just feel so close to her that I feel practically like her mother.” He chuckled and patted me on the shoulder, “I was just messing with you, baby girl. I think it is a good thing you are doing for that child and since she is practically your family then she is practically mine as well. I will send along my blessings when she is officially adopted into your family.”
I looked down at my feet after he spoke of the Gods’ blessings and felt it would be best to talk to him about what Whisperia saw. I sighed, “Speaking of blessings, I think we need to discuss Loki.” He shot a worried look at me, “Did he come after you again?” I shook my head, “No but he was spotted in this camp again. This time he was seen in the room with the child who was diagnosed with the disease.” He placed his hands on his hips then put one of his palms on his face along with the groaning to go with it and pulled it down in an act of frustration. He sighed as he started to pace, “I guess I will have to talk to Father about this, I had hoped to be done with that discussion for the time being but it looks like he’s now trying to keep us on our toes.” He paced for a while after that while saying something, “Where is the young girl now?” I pointed to the east, “They set up a tent for those who are found to have the disease. They are checking everyone in camp now. Everyone that is infected will be sent to the tent and anyone not essential is being sent home.” He nodded, “I think Father will likely send a wisp to the tent then.” I looked at him confused, “A wisp?” He nodded sternly, “Yeah, they are basically little bug-like creatures but instead of a physical body, they have more of a light orb look. They look sort of like we do when we float along in here. They are all light blue though so you can tell them apart from us. You wouldn’t be able to detect their presence either. They’re little spies for Almighty.” I thought to myself about how useful that would be to have Tilly monitored but a thought came to my mind, “Wouldn’t Loki know they were there? He is likely aware of these creatures.” Apollo smiled, “He is aware of them but since he has cast aside his place in the Heavenly Realm, he is losing power so his ability to see these creatures will be nonexistent. His power is almost less than your own, you won’t be able to see them either.” The decreasing of his power meant that he was a wounded creature cornered which meant it was likely he was at his most dangerous. This thought made me furrow my brow. Apollo noticed this and asked, “What’s on your mind, baby girl?” I shrugged, “I was just thinking that if he is desperate, he’s probably willing to do anything at this point.” He nodded at me, “You’re right, I will speak with Father about this and see what we can do to keep you safe.” I shook my head, “I have Sebastian. If he is indeed weakened, Bash should be enough to keep me safe. Right?” He chuckled, “Of course, I forgot Hades gave you a shadow dog. Yes, he should be fine to keep you safe.”
Silence descended on the room like a thin veil as Apollo went suddenly quiet and he closed his eyes. I looked over at Ronan but I was afraid to speak and from the looks of it, he was having the same thought. He shrugged at me and I sighed. I walked over to my desk to open my log journal and place the date on the page so I could record my observations for the day. I wanted to write down what was happening in the camp but these logs had to be all about the observations of the experiment that I was carrying out. Apollo turned to me, “Sorry about that, I was being contacted by Gabriel so I needed to check-in. Father gave me all day here but I need to check in every once in a while. I let him know about what Whisperia saw. He said it was troubling to know that he is making yet another move. Father will convene with Brigit to see what it means and we should know at some point today what he was up to.” I looked up from my journal, “What about Tilly?” He nodded, “As I said before, he would likely send down the wisps. They are probably being deployed now, I will go check to see if they are there later. I just need someone to show me the way.” I heard a soft voice behind him, “I will take you there later, my lord. I have to check on the child again anyhow.” When Apollo turned, Whisperia was standing right behind him. She smiled at him as he looked at her, “Good morning, my lord.” She bowed at him and he patted her head, “Good morning, child of the sun. Are you ready for us to work through this together with Alexandra?” She nodded, “I am eager to learn, my lord.”
He turned to look at me, “Shall we begin then?” I nodded, “Do I need to bring anything aside from the pills?” He nodded, “You need to bring the cauldron for now as well. You will see why.” Whisperia crossed the room and picked up the cauldron, “I can put it in my special place and pull it out when we are ready. This would be a little heavy for us to carry over on a daily basis, Xan. I have this.” I was a little shocked by how much Whisperia was speaking since she hardly spoke more than five words at a time. I smiled at her, “Thank you, Aunt.” She smiled back, “You can call me Whispy. I think we are good friends now.” The way I understood how Whisperia worked from what Jess told me was that only the ones she was truly comfortable with were able to call her Whispy. Not even her own brother was allowed that honor so I felt a little touched knowing she felt comfortable around me. I wanted to give her a big hug and tell her thank you for trusting me but I thought that that would have to come later in private. If I understood her well, I knew she would not like for me to embarrass her in front of Apollo. She was a prideful woman even though she never showed it. I know that from what Jess confided in me, she was not so much a mystery when you got to really know her.
Apollo waited for us by the tent flap after he grabbed a nearby blanket and as we were set to go, he spoke to Ronan, “General, I will have her back soon to try the first iteration out. If it doesn’t work, I have something that will help heal your wounds from her experiment.” He led us out to the field behind what used to be the Kastilidan manor. It was a green field with tall grass and little golden daisies. He pulled the blanket he grabbed and laid it out in a small clearing. He waved his hand, “Please take a seat like we were sitting yesterday in practice.” Whisperia and I sat down side by side and he took his place facing us. He pulled off his armor and looked back at Derek, “You cannot participate, Derek. I’m sorry to say, you will have to keep an eye out and keep my baby girl safe.” Derek nodded, “It is quite alright, my lord. I am more apt to do my duties standing and being at attention.” Apollo smiled and nodded at him then he turned to me, “Remind me again, why didn't you choose him as your mate?” I sighed, “He was just always a good friend to me. I love him but only as a brother.” Apollo sighed, “I bet Aphrodite had a hand in that too.” I shook my head, “She told me that it was ultimately up to me. She only gave me a few options but in the end, Lucien won my heart.” I knew Apollo was never Team Lucien and I had always wondered why that was. I looked at him, “I think we need to have that conversation when we have more time.” He nodded, “I will invite you over to Sol when you are less busy with all of this serving your realm stuff.” I smiled at him, “I look forward to it.”
He nodded, “Right then, let’s start.” He took a deep breath, “You want to find peace before you start. Do a few slow drawn-out breaths. Slowly in through your nose and slowly out through your mouth. We can do this a few times.” We proceeded to do this breathing exercise until he was satisfied with my level of relaxation. He pushed the bottle of pills and the flask of water we grabbed towards me, “Now take one.” I pulled the pill out and took it with some water. He looked over at Whisperia, “Child of the sun, please bring us the cauldron and place it in front of Alexandra.” She did as asked and he asked me to breathe peacefully a few times more. Suddenly my mind was free of the worry of everything that Vellum had presented to me. I instinctually closed my eyes. I could hear Apollo, “Good, this means you are center. Can you see anything?” I nodded, “Blue sky, fluffy cotton-like clouds.” He spoke again, “Look down, what do you see?” I looked down and saw that my feet were bare and I was standing on a cloud, “I’m floating in the sky on a cloud. My feet are bare except for an anklet.” I could hear him take a slow breath, “Okay, you are on the neutral plane then. The anklet represents your tether to Vellum. You must make sure it remains intact while you are visiting this other plane you are going to be on. Do you understand?” I nodded, “Yes, Father.” I heard him gasp, “Y-you called me father…I….” I could hear Whisperia, “My lord, it will do you no good to get emotional at this stage. Perhaps you should shelve your feelings for now and have that conversation with Xan later. We must focus on the task at hand.” I heard him clear his throat, “You are correct, child of the sun. We shall proceed. Now then, Alexandra, you must think of a place that makes you the happiest you’ve ever been. Your world should go dark at this instance and slowly this place will appear.”
I took a deep breath and thought about what made me happiest. As Apollo had stated, the scenery around me went dark slowly, something blue started to glow in the distance. I looked around as the scenery came into vision and I was standing in the water cave that Lucien brought me to on our first date. My brain had subconsciously brought me here and I thought about what I felt at that moment in time. It made sense this would be the place where I was happiest. I told Lucien that I was in love with him here and we shared time alone when I was not special and he was not King in this place. I heard Apollo speak, “Do you see the place that made you happiest?” I nodded, “Yes, I see it.” He spoke again, “Good now check your anklet.” I looked down and it was still secure around my ankle. I nodded but didn’t say a word because Apollo sighed after, “Okay so now you just have to fill it in with the people you were with and think about what was said and how you felt at that moment. This will be the last thing I will be able to say to you. You will be on your own.” I nodded, “Okay, see you soon.” I thought back to that time and was able to replay what happened that night. I felt the emotions of the sun starting to rise and not wanting to leave that place. I started to feel a warmth build in my veins and as it got warmer, I felt myself breathing harder. At one point, it got so warm that I could not bear it anymore and I shot my eyes open. I looked around at Apollo and Whisperia and started to cry. He jumped to his feet and leaned me over the cauldron. My tears were falling into the cauldron but they weren’t normal tears. They were glowing…like the sun.
