#pjo koios

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

ToA Theory 1 - Apollo's Waking Visions

First official theory post, here we go! :D

Alright. So. After rereading The Dark Prophecy, I started wondering about something. In TDP, Apollo experiences waking visions, where he conks out for a bit and has prophetic visions.

I found this interesting because, well...isn't Apollo supposed to be cut off from prophecy? With Python back in control of Delphi?

Because think about it. Python controls Delphi, the root of all earthly prophecy. This would include Dodona, Trophonius, Herophile, and Sibyl - sure, they aren't strictly connected to Delphi, but it's pretty heavily stated that Delphi just straight-up Makes The Future. It's prophecies are The Big Deal and you Should Listen.

Meanwhile the other Oracles seem more guiding and "beware!" instead of "this is how it's gonna be".

(sidenote: found out there are MORE oracles and I wanna know WHERE THEY ARE IN RRVERSE CANON because I want my boy Branchus okay??? Okay. Branchus's oracle was second only to Delphi let's give Apollo's first boyfriend the attention he deserves!)

So of course, like all great members of this fandom, I started thinking.

Let's do a little family history first. ;)

Buckle up. We go down a deep rabbit hole 😎

Apollo and Artemis are twins, born to Leto and Zeus. Zeus's parents are Kronos and Rhea. Leto's are Koios and Phoebe.

Rhea has connections to Dodona, as we learn in-series, but she doesn't really seem to be all that involved with prophecy.

Her siblings, meanwhile...ho ho ho, they are a WHOLE NOTHER STORY!

Let's start with Phoebe. Phoebe, like all first generation Titans, is the daughter of Gaea and Ouranos. She married her brother Koios. Her children consist of Asteria, Lelantos, and Leto. As well as Artemis and Apollo, her other two grandchildren are Hecate (Asteria) and Aura (Lelantos).

Her name means "bright" and is the root of Apollo's most famous epithet - Phoebus. She is often described as "golden-crowned" and is the Titan of bright intellect, the overseer of Earthly Prophecies, and is the second guardian of Delphi, after her sister Themis. She gifted Delphi to Apollo for his birthday after he defeated Python.

Classic grandmother move.

Anyway. There's a bit of Phoebe lore. Time for her elusive husband :3

Koios. His names means "question" or "questioning", probably because he's the Titan of inquiring intellect. He's also the overseer of Heavenly Prophecies, and has an oracle up in the North Pole guarded by an earth-dragon - you'd know this serpent by the name of Draco, the constellation btw. Additionally, Hyperborea (where Apollo goes in the winter times) is part of his domain.

eyes

Unfortunately, we have very little mythological lore on these two, and even less in the RRverse (I cling to that one (1) Koios scene) which sucks because I love them already BUT it does give me lots of legroom to mess around with canon >:)

Back to the theory now. As you may have guessed, I'll be taking us in a direction concerning Apollo's mysterious grandparents. But what does this have to do with Apollo's visions?

Well. Remember when I mentioned that Delphi is the root of all earthly prophecies?

...look at Phoebe's paragraphs. She's the overseer of Earthly Prophecies, right? So it makes sense she's been affected by Python's takeover too.

(if you've read my fics you'd know this already lmao)

Asteria, Apollo's aunt, is a little trickier. She, too, has a hand in divination, but mainly through the night/stars and dreams. <-will come back to that later.

Koios, again, is overseer of Heavenly Prophecies, and is heavily implied to be able to commune with Ouranos's spirit. This is, apparently, a Big Deal because nobody else is mentioned to be able to do this.

...Except...remember this throwaway line in The Hidden Oracle?

^Apollo can see Ouranos too.

Within this theory is a sub-theory, so to speak - that immortals with the gift of prophecy can see Ouranos, since they can see what cannot be seen. This would include Phoebe, Asteria, Koios, and Apollo.

And it'll make sense why they'd keep it to themselves. Kronos wouldn't have been happy to hear his dad was still around. Neither would Zeus, for that matter.

So here I was. Contemplating. Wrote a few fics based around this idea. And one in particular got me thinking (fic in question being When The Stars Align), and a little ways down the road I realized something.

If Phoebe, the overseer of Earthly Prophecies, would have been affected by Python's takeover...was Koios? Could he even be affected?

Because here's the deal: Koios is the overseer of Heavenly Prophecies. Prophecies from the Sky.

Phoebe's are of the Earth - the Earth that Python has taken control of. And Delphi is the root of Earthly Prophecies - not Heavenly.

That would be Koios's oracle, up in the North Pole with Draco.

...So that means Heavenly Prophecy must have still been in business during ToA.

But then comes the question: If it was still within the gods' control, why didn't they use it?

Well...Draco's there, for one. He's probably the Python-equivalent of the North, and clearly he's still there since no myth has spoken of his death (that I know of).

If you ask me, I just think the gods are too nervous/afraid to try Koios's oracle. They were too scared to face Python, after all, until Apollo arrived. I think they'd be scared of a serpent who comes and goes from the stars as he pleases.

And as for why Apollo hasn't done anything about it...well, I think his fight with Python left him rather scarred, don't you think? He probably went "yeah grandma's oracle is enough" and the only time he ever got close to Koios's was during his time in Hyperborea.

So getting back to the main theory now. (So many rabbit holes to dive into with this post. The ADHD Urge is real)

Since Heavenly Prophecies is still active, but Earthly is in Python's control, I conclude Apollo's visions come from the Heavenly source.

Could they have come from the now-working Dodona? Maybe. But Dodona's all about those windchimes and trees. It doesn't have the Vibe, so to speak, for granting visions.

And remember. Trophonius, Herophile, and Sibyl aren't destroyed/freed yet. They have Zero connection to Apollo at this point because Python cut him off from them.

...but he didn't from the North. From Koios's divine power.

Because remember. Apollo is the god of prophecy.

Not of Earthly Prophecies, like Phoebe.

Not of Heavenly Prophecies, like Koios.

Not of nighttime divination and dreams like Asteria.

Of. Prophecy.

Prophecy as a whole. The entirety. The whole enchilada.

Every part of prophecy he's the god of, be it tarot cards to the Oracle of Delphi itself.

In my opinion, I think whatever Koios's Oracle is, it has just as must power as Delphi. The only problem was that...everybody just left it be. Nobody considered it because:

1) scary dragon

2) scary titan ruled the place

3) honestly at this point I think it's just straight-up forgotten about. Like Branchus's Oracle. I think at one point Apollo himself mentions there are other Oracles besides the ones in-series, but there's so many that his mortal brain cannot comprehend how many.

If the Grove of Dodona nearly faded into obscurity, then I think it's entirely possible Koios's Oracle was forgotten about (or so we think...I'm gonna be chewing on this for a while.)

Coming back round to TDP...I think this is a reasonable explanation about Apollo's visions. To summarize:

Apollo is cut off from Earthly Prophecy, his usual source of foresight that he gets from Phoebe

The unused, near-forgotten-about Heavenly Prophecy side of Apollo ignites to steer him on the right path

This is possible because Apollo is the god of prophecy itself, and not a single subset of prophecy, so he's not limited in the same way Phoebe is

Koios's Oracle is still out there and kicking and I will die on this hill

One problem. What about Asteria? She can interpret the future from the stars...aka the Sky. Like Koios. So couldn't she provide some insight to the future, since she, too, is connected to Heavenly Prophecy?

This is where things get a lil' tricky. And where I really slap on my tinfoil hat and start headcanoning my way through lmao

Basically, I think that since Asteria became the island of Delos (long story) a good chunk of her power is ingrained there. She's not as strong as she used to be, so her foresight isn't as strong.

This, in turn, I think could also serve as a reason why Koios's Oracle is "asleep" so to speak and nearly lost to memory in the RRverse - in fact, I think Asteria and Phoebe are the only ones who bother to remember its existence.

And Leto, of course. But I don't think she wants her son to know of another Oracle with a giant snake guarding it. She's had enough heart-attacks, thank you.

(Same with Lelantos, tbh.)

Canon is my sandbox and I am making some sweet sandcastles out of it XD

TL;DR

Apollo's visions in TDP stem from Koios's source of Heaven Prophecy because Phoebe's source of Earthly Prophecy (Delphi) has been taken over by Python. Koios's source firmly knocks on Apollo's mental doors and decides to kick back into gear to help its titular patron's grandson out. Because Apollo is the god of prophecy itself - every bit of it.

Extras:

I find it fascinating how magic and prophecy are both part of the same family tree (Hecate & Apollo).

and yes. You should expect a fic concerning Koios's Oracle at some point. but no promises on when :3

Thank you for coming to Insane Theory Time With Alder. I hope there will be more lmao

Websites you can look into:

Koios (Theoi)

Phoebe (Theoi)

Hyperborea (Theoi)

#toa theory #ramblings of an oracle #the trials of apollo #trials of apollo #toa #apollo #phoebe the titan #koios #asteria #python #pjo apollo #pjo koios #pjo asteria #pjo python #toa python #toa apollo #pjo hoo toa #percy jackon and the olympians #the heroes of olympus

[percabeth4life]

Titans rise again when they hear the romans are denying education

Koios escapes Tartarus solely powered by fury and spite about it. Kronos is following after vaguely awed by the speed in which Koios overthrows New Rome.

#darling dove #life answers #pjo #pjo koios #pjo kronos #new rome

[echo16reads]

#reading the house of hades #leto #apollo #artemis #pjo koios #percy jackson #stimmingrose #heroes of olympus #riordanverse

[tsarisfanfiction]

Eclipse: Chapter 28

Fandom: Trials of Apollo Rating: Teen Genre: Family/Adventure Characters: Apollo, Hades Little more ichor warning here... Sorry about a delayed update tonight, various pieces of independant shit all hit the fan near-enough simultaneously in my life this afternoon/evening. I promise I always update these chapters the moment I'm free to do so! I have a discord server for all my fics, including this one!  If you wanna chat with me or with other readers about stuff I write (or just be social in general), hop on over and say hi! <<Chapter 27

APOLLO XXVIII

Family quarrel Meanwhile Bob says hello to The sun and the stars

Apollo felt his lips twist into a grim smile.

“You didn’t foresee that, did you, Koios?” he asked, running across air – clean, blessed air – as though it were solid land and sending another brace of arrows at the titans.  “I’m not the one who got too caught up in absolute futures – you are.”

“Less taunting, more killing,” Artemis scolded, loosing a steady hail of arrows herself.  The sun had almost set, Sol taking her chariot down on the last stretch towards the horizon, and in the imminence of the rising moon, Artemis was beginning to glow brighter, a silver that outshone icy blue as Koios’ form became darker and darker.

Apollo managed a soft laugh, the scolding of his twin a familiarity he hadn’t felt in too long – not truly since before he was mortal – and it was a return to a normality that he hadn’t realised he’d been missing until it happened.  He’d missed Artemis something fierce during his time as Lester, and they’d been a little off-kilter in the weeks since he’d re-ascended, partly because he’d been readjusting to being a god again, and everything that came with it, and partly because he’d been too busy worrying about Will and Nico’s prophecy, spending as much time as he could get away with desperately trying to find a loophole.

He'd found one, and the Fates had clearly agreed as the prophecy had almost completed without any intervention from the demigods, from mortals who had no place in Tartarus and would never have survived the Primordial’s wrath, nor anything else in the run-up to Tartarus’ rising.

It hadn’t left much time for reconnecting with his twin.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about!” Koios snarled, and Apollo had to jump back as the titan diverted almost all of his attacks on him.  “You are still a child in the ways of the future, Phoebus.  Certainties exist, they cannot be avoided no matter how hard you try, and you should not try.  We are custodians of the future, guardians of it.  It is not up to us to meddle.”

He wielded his massive sword as though it was a fraction of the size, hacking and slashing with a proficiency beyond almost any god (Ares would have something to say if Apollo ever claimed a titan was a better swordsman, but it was a close run thing), and Apollo ducked and leaped, disappearing and reappearing in rays of light.

Compared to Kampê, compared to Typhon and Echidna and evading Tartarus itself, playing keep-away was almost easy.  Apollo’s reaction times were better, bolstered by the sun even as it dipped below the horizon, and his power was greater.  Fresher.  Renewed.  He wasn’t at full strength, but nor was Koios – and Artemis was.

It showed in the extra power of the silver arrows, hitting a little bit harder, burying a little deeper where they scored a hit.  Every so often, the simmering silver flames of his sister’s eyes flickered over to him, not an open concern but something, an awareness that Apollo wasn’t as strong as he should be.  He smiled back, waving it away because he was fine – would be fine, once he spent a few more hours out in the Overworld, away from Tartarus and its constantly sapping miasma.

Even with his injuries to account for, Apollo hadn’t realised just how much he’d been weakened until he was back in the Overworld and no longer being subjected to a steady yet subtle drain.  Even if he wasn’t at full strength, he felt powerful.

Koios, on the other hand, seemed to be weakening.  It wasn’t that titans were inherently weaker in the Overworld, although they did tend to get a boost in Tartarus that gods didn’t, but he wasn’t getting the same degree of revitalisation.  Apollo had no qualms about pressing his advantage, gold arrows falling thick like hail, dragging streams of golden ichor out of his grandfather’s form.

The titan refused to concede defeat.  Apollo was glad for that – he didn’t know how to handle a surrender, didn’t know if he could trust Koios to keep any word he might make, especially when his life was on the line.

But Koios wasn’t completely done.

“If I go back to the Pit, he’ll obliterate me,” he said, voice low and rasping.  “I risked everything to come out here, to see you, to see my daughter.  Do you hate me so much you would be responsible for my destruction?  What would your mother think?”

Apollo thought about his mother, her gentle demeanour yet intense stubbornness.  What would Leto think of her children destroying her father?  Apollo had never heard her mention him, but in their family that meant nothing.  Most family did not even acknowledge each other in any sort of familial sense on Olympus.

“If you wanted to see Mother, then you should not have threatened Olympus,” Artemis said harshly, more silver arrows joining Apollo’s golden ones in their persistent hail of destruction.  “This situation is of your own making.”

It wasn’t just Olympus, although Apollo of course didn’t want to see her fall.  It was the demigods, Apollo’s son – his children – and many others he had come to care about.  Demigods who, against a titan could not and should not be expected to fight.

For the demigods, for Olympus, Apollo could fight.

He stepped in, closer, and with a light spring jumped to land on the broad side of Koios’ sword, perching delicately on it even as the titan tried to dislodge him with some complicated strokes.  Inside the minimal striking range of the weapon, he drew his bow back again, a brace of arrows nocked on the string, and let them fly.

At point blank range, not even Koios stood a chance of evading.  All of them crashed into his head, impaling his eyes, his nose, his mouth.  The force alone stripped most of the skin away, leaving the icy blue titan far more gold as ichor spilled down his front.  Artemis leapt up into the air, as light and delicate as her beloved deer, and at the apex of her jump, released another arrow.

It punctured Koios’ heart and he jerked forwards, coughing awkwardly as he tried to expel the ichor that was no doubt pooling in the base of his throat.

“You don’t know… what you’re… doing,” he rasped, a warning that prickled Apollo’s skin for all that none of his foresight had shown him anything alarming that would come out of his grandfather’s death.  Perhaps Koios really had seen something that had eluded Apollo himself.

“Putting down a rabid monster,” Artemis said, landing lightly behind him but moving before his eyes tried to find her.  “It would hardly be the first time.”  With that, she walked away, not even bothering to watch as their grandfather slowly began to turn to ash, too many wounds of varying severity for even a titan’s constitution to keep up with.

Apollo couldn’t look away, not as Koios took a stumbling step forward, reaching for him – for him to heal him.  He watched, instead, committing to memory the sight of the gold-stained, icy blue titan as he staggered, falling to his knees and then slowly beginning to disintegrate, one limb at a time.

There was no saving him, not once the dust began, but Apollo felt no more attachment to his grandfather as he died then than he had when Koios had first sized him up.  He was a threat – had been a threat – and needed eliminating.

The last light of Sol’s chariot disappeared beyond the horizon as Koios took one last, shuddering breath.  Icy blue eyes bored into his, a desperate rage but no plea, Koios had more pride than to beg for his life, it appeared, and with the last of his strength, he threw the massive sword he carried straight at Apollo.

It was a last, futile, gesture.  Apollo simply stepped to the side, and watched it sail past, burying itself in the side of Hades’ temple, where his uncle could do as he chose with it.  When he looked back at where Koios had stood, there was no sign that he had ever been there.

“What about you, Iapetus?” he heard Artemis ask, and turned around to see his twin glowering up at the remaining titan.  There was something almost comical about a delicate twelve year old girl glowering up at a ten foot tall titan, but Apollo knew better than to laugh.  Artemis would punish him with far too many arrows in far too many delicate places if he did.

“I would prefer to go by Bob now,” Bob corrected.  “Iapetus was the name of the titan who opposed the elder gods and would have continued to attempt to do so had I not been forced into the Lethe and given a new life as Bob.”

"Bob, then," Artemis allowed.  "My question still stands: what about you?"

The titan looked at Hades, who stood beside him.  "I would like to see Nico, first, and then Percy and Annabeth.  I have no designs against Olympus."

"Nico will not be pacified until he sees you," Hades agreed.  Apollo noticed he was rather less offended by the idea than he had been when he'd first learned of Nico's reason for trying to return to Tartarus.  Perhaps the titan had grown on him slightly. His uncle glanced up at the sky, where the first glimmer of stars had begun to appear as a sliver of Artemis guided the moon chariot out of its stables.  "We should return to the Underworld now.  I have left it unattended for too long."

"What about Father?" Artemis asked.  "He will wish to see you about this."  The way she said the word left no doubt that she still did not approve of their quest, and knew that Zeus would not, either.

Hades let out a dismissive bark of laughter.  "My brother will not wish to see me," he said, and Apollo wondered if he was the only one to hear a strain of old pain behind the derision.  "He never does."  Apollo found himself the subject of his uncle's gaze.  "Come, Apollo.  I presume you wish to see your son again."   Before I pass judgement, went unsaid, the look in his eyes telling Apollo he was referring to Asclepius rather than Will.  "Before dealing with my paranoid younger brother."

"The longer you delay, the angrier he will be," Artemis warned.  "Don't make this any worse for yourself, brother.  It has barely been two months since the end of your previous punishment.  You shouldn't push him."

It was the reminder of the last time he was punished, disappearing without a word for six months, that convinced Apollo.

"I need to see my son," he said, meeting Artemis' disbelieving eyes.

 "Apollo," she argued, and his shoulders slumped.

 "I can't just disappear on him without a word," he said quietly, begging her to understand.  "Not again."

She still didn't look like she approved, but she backed down.  "Don't take too long," she warned, a plea of her own in her words.

"I won't," Apollo promised her, and she sighed.

"You'd better not."  She turned to look at Bob again, and Apollo saw her eyes widen.  Curious, he looked at the titan himself, and saw that Bob was looking up at the stars - specifically the newest constellation, the Huntress.

Zoë Nightshade, a long-time companion of his sister and, he remembered, a daughter of Atlas.  A granddaughter of Bob.

"Hello," Bob whispered, barely audible.  There was no response from the stars, the court of Ouranos forever separated from the mortal realm, but after a moment he lowered his gaze, looking directly at Artemis.  "Thank you for honouring her."

Artemis looked taken aback at the thanks, not that Apollo could say he'd been expecting it, either.  "Zoë was a long-time loyal friend and companion of mine," she said after a moment.  "It was the least I could do for her."

Bob nodded in understanding.  "Still, I thank you," he said, glancing back up at the constellation again before turning to Hades.  "I am ready," he added.  "Shall we?"

Hades turned away without a word, heading back into the temple.  Bob followed, but Apollo hesitated for a moment, looking back at his twin.  She looked resigned, although still clearly disapproving of his decision.

"Don't tarry too long," she pressed - Apollo could almost call it a plea.  I don't want to lose you again, passed between them silently, and Apollo flashed her a grin that was far more confident than he felt.

"I won't," he said.  "I just need to see my son, first."  She still didn't look convinced, but she turned away.

"I will find you later," she told him, a promise that almost sounded like a threat, and he smiled wider.

"I will see you then," he replied, and watched as she turned to the silver of moonlight, flickering out of view.

"Apollo," Hades called quietly, and he turned away from where his twin had been to follow his uncle and Bob back down into the darkness of underground, passing the gigantic ice blue sword buried into the outer stones of the temple as he did.  He didn't know how he felt about Koios, his grandfather yet a titan still determined to end Olympus.  Perhaps he should have felt guilty, not even giving him the chance to see his daughter, and knowing that Tartarus would likely eliminate him for good the moment he regenerated, however long that would take.

He didn't, though.  He couldn't, knowing that Koios was a permanent threat to the demigods, to his children and others like Nico and Percy who had been forced through too much already and deserved a peaceful life, not another titan determined to kill them.  And... as Artemis had said, he was an Olympian. He could never have stood by and watched Olympus fall without at least trying to save it.

Passing back into the shadows was less disconcerting than Apollo was used to.  Perhaps it was because, compared to Tartarus, it didn't seem all that dark at all.  It certainly felt more welcoming.  Hades guided them through the twisting passages of the temple, past the closed Doors of Death, until the atmosphere changed and they were no longer in the Overworld, but the Underworld.

Hades greeted Cerberus as they passed, ruffling the fur of one specific head as the massive hound grumbled in contentment.  Apollo gave the three headed dog a wider berth, not overly keen on being either bitten or slobbered on, whichever Cerberus elected to do.  Bob, on the other hand, greeted him as an old friend, and Apollo wondered at how much freedom Hades had given the amnesiac titan, if he'd been able to wander so far from Hades' palace and the associated janitorial duties.

Despite Cerberus’ enthusiastic greeting of Bob, they did not linger, passing the queuing souls waiting to receive their eternal fate – a sombre sight, and Apollo did his best not to scan them for any familiar faces, anyone he had known who had passed while he’d been unable to keep track.  He failed, and caught glimpses of more than a few mortals he’d had an eye on – budding musicians, successful musicians, underappreciated poets…

Mortal lives were short; Apollo lost friends, proteges, interesting mortals near-daily as the Fates cut their threads and moved them on to the afterlife.  It never made it any easier, but he took small comfort from the fact that at least none of his children seemed to have died while he had been in Tartarus (while he’d been mortal had been a different matter, and Apollo had been distraught to find one of his eldest mortal children, Ruth, had passed away shortly after her eighty-third birthday while he'd been rescuing the Waystation’s griffins from Indianapolis Zoo).  He almost never came to the Underworld – technically, he wasn’t supposed to, and visiting the souls of the dead was entirely off-limits so there had rarely been a point to dropping by unless it was to bother Hades – and the eternal parade of the dead unsettled him.

Hades, of course, had no such qualms at all, and nor did Bob, the titan whose descendant had created humans, who held domains such as pain and mortality.  The Underworld was a good match for him, Apollo realised, for all that he had no idea what the titan had planned after greeting Nico and tracking down the other demigods he had befriended to greet them, too.  There was snatches of something in the future, a silver titan laughing with demigods that hadn’t yet been born, finding open plains and simply sitting and staring at the sky, at the sun and the stars as they passed, glowing something fierce, splattered with golden ichor that may or may not have been his own.

Possibilities, all of them.  No certainties, nothing to tell Apollo what Bob would choose to do, but he did know that Bob had chosen not to join Koios’ ambition to destroy Olympus, that he had promised Artemis that he had no intention of doing so – and that those words had sung with the wholesome notes of truth.  For the time being, Apollo would trust the titan – watch him, yes, but trust his word.

Iapetus had always been known for keeping his word, even if in the legends, in the histories he had scraped together later from his mother’s stories and even his father’s, when Zeus was still of a mind to tell stories, those promises had generally been of a darker, more brutal nature.

So far, Bob had done a good job of keeping the agreement they’d released him under, so Apollo figured it wasn’t too naïve to hope that his promise-keeping was applicable to all his promises, and not just ones along the nature of I will make you bleed, slowly and painfully, until you wished you could die.

They passed the Judgement Pavilion and swept through the outskirts of the Fields of Asphodel, the shades absent-mindedly passing out of their way, as though it just happened that they were wandering in those directions – although Apollo knew better, knew that it was Hades’ presence that was gently redirecting them around them rather than risking them coming into contact with the gods and titan.  Hades’ robes, in particular, were a threat to the peaceful shades; Apollo didn’t know how, exactly, it was formed, but he would not have been surprised to discover it operated similarly to Stygian Iron, drawing in any souls it touched as it passed.

None of the residents of Asphodel deserved such a fate, and Hades was fair to his subjects despite the inherent unfairness of death.  Only those that deserved to suffer suffered; the others were left to either a peaceful existence or the celebratory joy of an eternal afterlife.  Even if Apollo hadn’t, on some level, already known that, having felt the depths of his uncle’s essence, the complexity of death with the black and white and grey in between, he would have to be blind not to recognise it.

Beyond the Fields of Asphodel, in the distance Apollo could see the razor-wire containment enclosure that fenced off the Fields of Punishment, their screams just as grating as they had been the last time he’d heard them.  Every soul that was trapped there deserved to be there, for the atrocities they had committed during their lives, but that didn’t make Apollo any happier to hear their screams – especially when his thoughts turned to Asclepius’ amended punishment, and the likelihood that Hades would send his immortal son there.  He hoped his uncle would be more merciful, but he was well aware that he had bartered as much as he could for Hades’ mercy in keeping his son out of Tartarus, and that there were only so many places in the Underworld where the punishment could continue.

Sisyphus was there for defying death.  Asclepius had done the same thing, although at least he hadn’t imprisoned Thanatos to do it.

It still wasn’t a comforting thought.

Apollo tore his eyes away from the sights of various punishments, some milder than others but all torturous to the recipients, and did his best to ignore the screaming as his gaze was instead drawn to the brightest patch of the Underworld: Elysium.

Guarded by high, ornately decorated gates, the sounds of music, laughter and joy spilled out.  Apollo assumed the gates prevented the sound of screams from entering and disrupting the valorous souls’ eternal lives, but it did very little to stifle the sounds of joy emerging.  It was a startling contrast, but one Apollo gladly latched onto, for all the flicker of want stirred inside him.  He had children in there – some lovers, too, but mortals in modern times tended to end up in Asphodel unless they did something truly spectacular.  Elysium was a place for heroes, and while some modern mortals qualified, over the centuries it had largely tended more and more towards demigods and legacies.  Apollo didn’t know exactly how many of his children had ended up there rather than Asphodel – or the Fields of Punishment, a thought he didn’t want to dwell on for any length of time – but he knew of some that had certainly reached Elysium.

Of that number, several were also some of the most recent, sudden, deaths; ones he had yet had time to fully finish grieving for.

“Apollo.”  Surprised, he turned his head to see Hades had slowed to a halt and was looking at him.  Puzzled, he paused next to him, aware of Bob stopped on the other side of his uncle, watching them curiously.  The older god tilted his head towards Elysium, a graceful and almost regal movement – the king of the Underworld in every inch of his posture.  It was a comfort, in a way, to see Hades in perfect control again.  Apollo could still feel the freshly-revealed light in his uncle’s essence, knew that who his uncle was hadn’t changed from Tartarus, but he had always seemed in control and his struggles in the Pit had been wrong.  “Go.”

His muses screeched to a halt.  “Excuse me?”

Hades’ lips quirked up in one corner, an admission of amusement.  “While I am in the process of upsetting my paranoid brother, I may as well add one more transgression to the list,” he said.  “This is the only time I will do this, but go.  Say the goodbyes you were unable to.”

Apollo gaped at him, then glanced back at Elysium, at the gates he’d never been allowed to pass.

The gates his uncle gestured towards, which soundlessly edged open in a silent invitation as the behest of the god.  “You do not have long,” Hades warned.

Apollo needed no more prodding.

He split, staying with Hades and Bob because he knew there wasn’t much time, and that he had two still living sons in the Underworld to reunite with, both of whom would panic if he didn’t appear with Hades, but also heading towards the open gates, pausing in wonder as he stared up at them.

Was this the right thing to do?  Would his children want to see him?  Phoebe had never been the most devoted daughter, not since she joined Artemis’ Hunt, and all his children that had died fighting for Olympus, for him… did they resent him?

This was for closure, he told himself.  A goodbye, Hades had called it, and the selfish, desperate part of Apollo pushed him forwards, through the gate and into Elysium.

Elysium was bright, not lit by the sun but something similar, the warmth and light of paradise, familiar from the echoes of Hades’ essence.  Music played, songs ranging from older than Apollo himself to recent hits from the latest decade, and he slipped through the laughing, happy souls, many familiar over the millennia, searching for the few in particular he had not yet gained peace with.

He found Lee first; his kind, child-loving son had found himself a group of eternally-young demigods and was telling them stories, interspersed with strains of music from a perfect replica of the flute he’d had in life.

Michael was also listening, lounging in the lower boughs of a tree, with a bow held lazily in his hand and a half-full quiver on his hip.  Some of the arrows were buried in targets a hundred feet away, but he seemed content to just sit and listen to his older brother tell stories for the moment.

Apollo approached him first, silently leaning against the base of the tree until his son noticed him, brown eyes widening in shock.  “Dad?”

He had to catch him when he lost his balance and fell out of the tree, for all that he was just a shade, now, and wouldn’t get hurt even if he did fall.

He splintered further, slivers of himself going further into Elysium, finding children doing what they loved best, content in a way they’d never been able to be when they were alive.  Some of them had grouped together – Robyn and Nathan had been of an age when alive, and of an age when they died fighting against Kronos, firm friends and as thick as thieves – while others had wandered further, meeting with old friends or even making new ones, now that they had all of eternity to do so, and no risk of losing the other.

Apollo sought out all of them, leaving a little bit of him with each as he found them to talk, to sing, to do whatever they wanted in a bittersweet goodbye (Michael hugged him, the first time his son had ever initiated one, and Apollo burst into tears while Lee laughed and disentangled himself from his enraptured audience long enough to join in).

Phoebe was the last one he found, running freely with many other familiar faces Apollo remembered from the Hunt, and he felt a pang of regret that Artemis couldn’t be with here, saying her own goodbyes to those she’d lost.  His daughter did a double take as she caught sight of him.

“Apollo?”  She hadn’t called him father since taking her vows; Apollo hadn’t expected that to be any different now that she was dead, but it was a marked contrast to the rest of his children, who upon realising he was there had called him various iterations of ‘dad’.  “What are you-  The gods can’t come here.”

“Phoebe,” he said, taking in the sight of her for what he knew would be the last time.  Tears prickled at the corner of his eyes as he smiled at her, bittersweet but suddenly so thankful he could, one more time.  “Hades let me in, just this once.”

Chapter 29>>

#trials of apollo #trials of apollo fanfiction #riordanverse #riordanverse fanfic #pjo apollo #pjo hades #pjo bob #pjo iapetus #pjo koios #pjo artemis #pjo cerberus #lee fletcher #michael yew #pjo phoebe

[sunshinesartisticquirk]

Surprise Art!

i just like the those fuckers, brotherly shenanigans and giving @percabeth4life art, SUE ME

#fanart #art #my art #fanart account #percy jackson #pjo fanart #pjo kronos #pjo hyperion #pjo Iapetus #pjo krios #pjo koios #pjo okeanus #pjo titans

[nicosavior456]

Pjo Demititan Oc’s Moodboard Part 1

Ryan Altha- Son of Rhea, the residential psychiatrist and also co leader of demititans

2. Archon Theodore-Greek Son of Cronus and legacy of Hecate and Athena, ruler of Greece, and co leader of demititans

3. Larissa La Rue: Russian-American Daughter of Iapetsus (Bob) and adopted by Clarisse and Chris, leader of the Demi revolution army, bearer of the curse of Achilles, and host of Ouranos.

4. Yura Olsen Daughter of Oceanus and Legacy of Boreas, future queen of the sea and Sally’s girlfriend. She’s also mutiracial (Greenland Inuit, Danish)

5. Elena Foggo: Brazilian- American Daughter of Hyperion and Legacy of Vulcan (Roman Hephaestus)

6. Itri Bassey: Nigerian-Canadian Daughter of Krios and Legacy of Astraeus and Selene. Future Astronaut

7. Aarav Jha: Indian-Canadian son of Koios and a professor at a university.

8. Jung-Sung Han: Korean-Canadian son of Mnemosyne and a graphic novelist.

9. Ambriel Arlert- Daughter of Themis, blind, a vigilante, a lawyer, and the future president of the United States.

10. Aimillios- Greek-American Son of Pallas, Legacy of Hercules, and general of the Greek Army.

Thank you @sakuraazharuno for making them

#pjo #pjo ocs #pjo moodboard #Cronus #Koios #Rhea #Oceanus #hyperion #krios #themis #Mnemosyne #Pallas #demititans

[kiryuu57]

Hmm this pops up suddenly but how about Bob, i think his condition kinda similar to Apollo in term of.. the immortals can 'change'. Or he's basically not as evil as his siblings when they overthrown their father?

The point is, he chose to help mortals and decided not to join his mother's revenge, etc. He sacrificed his life too (i assume Tartarus killed Hyperion and Krios there, cmiiw, so he could kill Bob and Damasen too)

#i respect him bcs he helped our heroes #did Lethe and his amnesia give a significant affects idk #but i feel he kinda didnt get along with Koios Krios and Hyperion eventho he already got his memory back too #trials of apollo #the trials of apollo #toa #heroes of olympus #hoo #pjo Iapetus #pjo bob

[moodyseal]

how do u picture Leto (pjo)? like ik gods look how they want, but do u think that Apollo or Arty may keep some of their features to resemble hers, or vice versa??

I think that even if gods can look however they want, they do have some sort of "original form" that is influenced by their family. For example, technically Artemis and Apollo never met Koios, since he was imprisoned in Tartarus long before their birth, but according to Percy, Artemis has his cold eyes and Apollo has his smile, which means that hereditary traits in gods ARE indeed a thing in the rrverse. Either that or they modelled their features after Leto and Leto modelled hers after Koios, which would have some really interesting implications in regards to her loyalty to Zeus. ANYWAY

This is to say that I do think that they look like her to some degree. I imagine that Apollo has her light eyes and hair and her warm skin, but is overall different from a structural point of view, while Artemis keeps Leto's softer shapes in her child form

As for Leto herself, according to Theoi she's the goddess of motherhood and protector of the young, so I always imagined her to have some sort of motherly presence. She's comforting and she looks like the kindest of souls and even if you don't know her you know that you can trust her 💕 hopefully her clothing shows that too

#btw the wolf is there because apparently that's one of leto's sacred animals along with the rooster #but also because of thesungod's fic 'bad sons' #i think about it everyday #wolf buddy. wolf friend. baby #trials of apollo #toa #apollo #lester papadopoulos #artemis #leto #pjo #percy jackson #lonely thoughts #my art #ask #i still have issues with same face syndrome but i'll work on that promise

[lesbianbanana]

No because I read tkc thinking they were set around the beginning of pjo. It made sense to me while reading. Just small things like Carter and Sadie fighting the Set Monster in Washington DC (Christmas, 2005) because Percy says in SoM Annabeth had gone there between the end of summer in 2005 and the start of summer in 2006.

A few months lately (which I translated to six but is probably less than that) Sadie and Carter travel the path of Ra on that river I can't remember the name on, Percy and Annabeth are travelling the sea of monsters. Sadie and Carter are retrieving Ra to save them from Apophis. Percy and Annabeth are looking for the golden fleece (and Grover) to save Thalia's tree and camp from Luke's (Kronos') forces.

Then, Sadie and Carter have the final battle. Ra vs Apophis. The Greeks also believe they are approaching their final battle because Thalia is about to turn 16. The Titans are at their peak on Mt Tam. Also in my head while reading there was a thing between the parallels of Ra the sun god either about to survive or lose and Apollo being at his weakest as he has lost contact of Artemis and Koios (is that the titan on Mt Tam??) might injure her to the point of no return.

It made sense in my head so I was shocked when I found out tkc was set around hoo time

#tkc #the kane chronicles #sadie kane #carter kane #ra #apophis #percy jackson #annabeth chase #pjo #tlt #som #ttc #riordanverse #riordanverse headcanons

[secretfandomrambles]

Another Trials of Apollo AU

Yes, yes I know I’ve got a myriad of aus floating around on here. But I’ve been thinking about Athena, Apollo and their relationship to Zeus. And that slid into the whole “prophecy of Zeus’s son overthrowing him,” au.

So…mythology (and even pjo canon) shows that gods don’t necessarily need to have an intimate relationship with each other or with mortals to have children. There also are differing myths regarding both Athena and Apollo’s births and if the other had already been born at the time.

With that being said. What if Apollo was secretly the son of Zeus and Metis? If Athena was born before Zeus got involved with Leto. If Metis managed to become pregnant with Zeus’s son while in his head, and when Zeus laid with Leto, Metis slipped her newly born son into Leto’s womb as she became pregnant with Artemis.

The reason why Apollo resembles Koios is due to the fact that a) Zeus and Leto are cousins, and b) all four of their parents are children of Gaia and Ouranous. Apollo knew the truth, but over the eons has buried his memory of his origins deep in the recesses of his mind. He chooses to claim the title of Artemis’s twin, rather than Athena’s younger brother, rightful claimant of Zeus’s kingship. And everything is fine. Until. Until Lester, and the trials.

See, when making a deity mortal, their mortal flesh can be changed drastically. But the things that cannot change between their true forms and their mortal forms are their eye color, and their facial features. And in this au, Lester heavily resembles Athena. His eyes burn blue with just the hints of gray around the pupil.

Athena is the first to realize something is off about Apollo’s mortal form. She manages to assure Zeus when he notices that it was simply the Fates making Apollo’s mortal form innocuous. Artemis is the second to truly realize something is up when she goes to heal Apollo, and feels no maternal bonds to Leto other than those which he had clearly built himself and her mother had eventually reciprocated. But a goddess’s bonds to her children originate from her, not the child. Diana knows something is very wrong. And then she finds the withered and dead husk of a maternal bond Apollo has to someone else near the sparking paternal bond. But whomever was the one the bond originated with has long since faded. Diana says nothing to Apollo or anyone else. When she returns to Olympus Athena meets her, and Artemis sees that like Apollo, Athena also has the withered /dead remains of a maternal bond sitting beside the electric living paternal bond all children of Zeus carry (whether they want to or not). Artemis is confused, but she still does not say anything. When Apollo reascends to Olympus, Athena is one of the first to greet him. In her stern and emotionless seeming mask, she gives him a firm nod, holding his gaze in hers. Which for Athena, is the equivalent of a bone-crushing hug.

Eventually, Artemis corners both Apollo and Athena about their dead maternal bonds and the truth comes out. There is drama, yes, anger, feelings of betrayal. But ultimately, the three of them band together along with Zeus’s other children, intent on either forcing Zeus to change or force him off his throne.

They refuse to let the death of Crest, Money Maker, Jason Grace and so many other demigods be in vain.

#apollo pjo #artemis pjo #athena pjo #trials of apollo #protective siblings #Fanfic ideas #someone needs to stop me already #too many interesting ideas #bad parent Zeus #Apollo has domains similar to both Athena and Artemis #what else was i supposed to do #revolution? #dysfunctional family dynamics #lester papadopoulos

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

Have you ever thought about how Kronos and Apollo’s dynamic would be like and how/if that dynamic could serve as a foil to Koios and Apollo dynamic (especially when Koios actually wants to be a grandfather to Apollo…not a good one but he’s trying his best ofc. i can’t say kronos would do the same.)

I have wondered about that! Not to a great extent, but I have thought about it.

It would be exceptionally interesting, because like you said, it would be a foil to Koios. And actually, real quick I wanna talk about something that connects to this!

Okay so, gods can look however they like, correct? HOWMEVER! We know Artemis has Koios's eyes and Apollo his smile.

...but they've never met him (until my fics)

Could they have been inspired by like. Asteria/Lelantos/Leto? Sure. BUT I PROPOSE-

Gods can look however they like. But. There is always a lil' something they keep in each form. Something that connects them to their ancestors.

Artemis's eyes. Apollo's smile.

And focusing on Apollo in particular, I headcanon he shares a lil' more physical similarities with Koios (and Artemis Phoebe!). Be a nice wittle switcharoo hehe.

BUT ALSO-

Koios and Kronos are brothers. They are intelligence and cunning.

Wouldn't it makes sense if they looked vaguely similar?

saves the angst for later

ANYWAY. Now that headcanon that's been marinating in my head for a good week is outta the way-

Saw someone on Discord say the song Say My Name would be 100% Kronos and Apollo and I am On Board with it.

Kronos: KILL YOUR DAD! :D

Apollo: FUCK OFF

but yeah. Koios-Kronos parraell would be how they view the whole "i am a grandfather' thing.

Koios is coming from a (misplaced) sense of 'protecc' while Kronos...he would manipulate Anyone to further his own agenda and Would Not care about any of his grandkids.

#the oracle speaks #anon ask #ask and replies #asked and answered #apollo #koios #kronos #pjo apollo #pjo koios #pjo kronos #the trials of apollo

[percabeth4life]

The Titaness, chilling at a Mortal Spa while CC's is getting rebuilt: Brother, What are you doing here?

Koios, getting a Massage and drinking a Cocktail: I'm not fighting a War with all Prophecy Kids not on our Sides, thats what i'm doing here

Rhea: Understandable, Wanna join us ?

They're having a very nice vacation

#life answers #anon asks #pjo koios #pjo rhea

[echo16reads]

#reading the house of hades #percy jackson #bob the titan #pjo koios #stimmingrose #heroes of olympus #riordanverse

[tsarisfanfiction]

Eclipse: Chapter 27

Fandom: Trials of Apollo Rating: Teen Genre: Family/Adventure Characters: Apollo, Hades Unsurprisingly, the ichor warning continues for this chapter... I have a discord server for all my fics, including this one!  If you wanna chat with me or with other readers about stuff I write (or just be social in general), hop on over and say hi! <<Chapter 26

APOLLO XXVII

Mother of monsters And her horrific husband We can’t win this fight

Apollo was terrified.  It was taking everything he had to stay upright, to not fall over in an ungainly lump of ichor and leaking essence as his form desperately tried to heal, but without a miracle, he couldn’t see how they were going to escape the monstrous couple.

It wasn’t even his looming erasure from existence that terrified him the most; he’d faced that before, with Python on the very edge of Chaos, and it was hardly a comfortable feeling but it paled in comparison to dark glittering eyes and the knowledge that the moment he fell, Will would be Styx’s.

Perhaps Koios was right, and he’d been trying too hard to fulfil the prophecy after all.

Typhon responded in a language long dead before Apollo had been born, the rumbling noise of an off-key orchestra as clashing sounds pierced through his essence, words unintelligible.  The elongated, bloated fingers tipped with serpentine heads – what was it with monsters and snakes – were easier to understand as they lashed out at Hades.

His uncle slashed back desperately, cutting off the snake heads of the first to reach him, but he was off balance and barely holding himself together.  Apollo had no weapons, no time to even try and summon a fresh bow from the distant Overworld – and never had the Overworld felt so far away as it did at that moment – but he couldn’t just stand by as his uncle was torn to shreds.

Koios got there first, massive sword blocking the initial onslaught.  “We will make it to the surface,” he grit out, his countenance devoid of amusement for the first time since he’d caught up with them and made things complicated and threatening in ways Apollo really didn’t want to deal with.

There was something about his insistence that had been bothering Apollo.  The future wasn’t solid, nothing more than a trail of potentials unless events fell in the exact manner to draw one into existence, and Koios should know that at least as well as Apollo did – better, arguably.

And yet.

Koios was convinced that he would make it to the surface, had mentioned his sister but not his mother, and Nico and Will had been talking about Artemis, so it made sense.  Apollo was certain that his grandfather had seen it, not just as a possibility but as a very, very rare certainty that Apollo in four and a half millennia had never experienced himself.  Even now, the Fates had shown him nothing of the sort, but it wouldn’t be the first time they hadn’t shown him something important.  For all that he did see, he didn’t see far more, and he could believe that Koios saw different things.

The only thing that was missing was how.

How they were going to get out of Tartarus – how they were going to get away from Typhon and Echidna long enough to even try.

Bob had joined the fray, spinning his broken spear aggressively to keep Typhon back, but it only seemed to be extending the inevitable.  Apollo threw himself closer, letting out a shout because his voice was the only weapon he had left, but Typhon was so loud he didn’t seem to even notice.  A tail swept past him, catching him in the stomach and smashing him into Hades, which in turn sent them like skittles into the titans.

They landed in an ichor-covered mess at one of Typhon’s feet.

Being so thoroughly beaten had become a second nature to Apollo as a mortal, when Lester could barely fight in the first place, but as Apollo, as a god, it was alien.

Not even Python had been this powerful, but Typhon had always been known as the strongest of Gaia’s children, had sent them scattering to Egypt the first time they saw him for a reason.  Adding Echidna into the mix hadn’t even been necessary.

“The way out?” Koios hissed, detangling himself from his position at the bottom of the heap.  Apollo found himself flung to the ground and clawed his way upright slowly, feeling more than seeing his uncle’s dark essence trying to pull itself together again.  He reached out his own, battered essence to support Hades – if he couldn’t fight, he could at least heal – and felt the streak of light within his uncle respond sluggishly.

“A way out?” Echidna repeated, laughing lightly behind her fangs.  “There isn’t one, titan.  You will cease to exist here and now.”

There was a crack, too sharp and crisp to be natural, or Tartarus tearing up beneath them.  The resulting force shoved the monsters back a pace, but Apollo wasn’t looking at them anymore, not when two massive doors had appeared right in front of him.

For the briefest moment, Apollo’s startled mind thought that somehow the doors to Olympus had reached Tartarus, before he realised that the colours were all wrong – black and silver in place of white and gold – and that the disembodied frames were the pitch darkness of Stygian Iron.

Then they opened.

“Lord Hades!” Thanatos called, as pale as Apollo had ever seen him – the exact shade of pale he’d been in his vision – but gripping his scythe in a way that was clearly meant for battle.  “Lord Apollo!”

“Th-” Hades began, but Apollo wasn’t hesitating and wasn’t going to let his uncle hesitate either.  His vision in the prison hadn’t been the present, it had been the future and that future was now, Thanatos had felt Tartarus rising, realised that they would never escape without help, and for reasons Apollo couldn’t even begin to fathom, come to get them.

There was no time for any other thoughts, for everything else Apollo had seen in the vision and their implications.  He grabbed his uncle and ran.  Hades didn’t fight him, missing the context Apollo had but clearly realising what Thanatos’ presence meant: a way out.  It was hardly graceful or elegant; neither of them were much more than spilling essence barely contained within an ichor-coated, fragile form.

“No!” Echidna roared, echoed innumerable times by Typhon’s deep growl.  She lunged for them, but Thanatos was there, his scythe blocking the massive body and covering them as Apollo and Hades all but fell through the Doors of Death, a bright streak of golden ichor in their wake.

Bob tumbled through after them, and then, to Apollo’s resigned horror, Koios barged his way in just as Thanatos retreated after them, scythe whirling and slashing in a way the god of peaceful death rarely used – but not never, and it was clear Thanatos knew how to be violent and vicious as he opened up a gash along Echidna’s flank, hacked off reaching snake-headed fingers as Typhon reached for him, then took the split second opening of their clear surprise at a god not known for his combat causing them injury to turn tail and fly through the doors.

They slammed shut the instant the last iridescent black feather of his wings passed through, and everything shifted.

“Who is pressing the button?” Koios demanded.  “What is stopping them from following?”  His sword was still at the ready as he warily watched the closed doors.

Thanatos ignored him, crouching down by Hades and Apollo as they slowly pulled themselves together.  “I trust your business is concluded, Lord Hades,” he said, with a glance at Bob.

“It had better be,” Hades replied, his voice slightly husky – not that Apollo could comment when he was in at least as much of a state.  “I am not returning there.”

That was a sentiment Apollo whole-heartedly agreed with.

Koios, on the other hand, didn’t appear to take being ignored kindly as he bashed his sword into the floor hard enough that the ichor pooling around them splashed up.

“Have you trapped us here?” he demanded.  Even Bob looked disquieted, and Thanatos finally turned to face the titans, looking extremely unimpressed.

“These are my Doors,” he said firmly.  “Unlike titans who steal them and then bastardise their use, I do not need outside influence to use them.  We will shortly arrive in the Overworld.”

“You are no match for Tartarus, Typhon or Echidna,” Koios retorted.  “They will pry these open and follow.”

“They won’t,” Thanatos replied, with a certainty that even paused the aggressive titan.  “There are no chains.”

“The Doors are no longer in the Pit, are they?” Bob realised.  “They moved.”

“The Doors of Death do not belong in Tartarus,” Hades said, straightening up fully.  His form had fully coalesced again, although Apollo could tell it was still fragile, more a mask than a reflection of his true state.  Apollo stood next to him, and was only somewhat startled when his uncle clasped his arm and his essence extended towards him, not mingling but the intent there.

Before this experience, Apollo would never have considered being able to mutually heal with his uncle, let alone actually doing it.  If Hades was willing to do it in front of Thanatos – in front of the titans, although he suspected Koios had seen it already, if he’d been following them as long as he claimed – then Apollo wouldn’t refuse.

Besides, they still had Koios to deal with.  He was dangerous – not that Bob wasn’t, but they had an accord with him and a mutual interest.  With Koios, there was none of that, and that worried Apollo.  Was Koios truly just looking to escape Tartarus, or did he have more intentions?  Was his vision of being out with Apollo and Artemis truly enough for him to throw himself into the worst Tartarus had to offer?

Apollo feared it wasn’t.

He clasped Hades’ arm in turn, and let the light of Elysium, of the Isle of the Blessed and rebirth mingle with his own light of healing.  Thanatos glanced back at them in surprise, but didn’t comment.

“I was not expecting you, titan of the north,” the god of death said instead, focusing his attention on Koios.  “Iapetus – Bob? – I was aware would be there, but there was no mention of you.”

Koios scoffed.  “I would not be so sure about that,” he said.  “Tell me, grandson, what was the exact wording of that prophecy you’ve been attempting to subvert?”

Apollo bristled.  “I have not been attempting to subvert it!” he insisted; the titan was wrong, he’d claimed it as his own, and with two – no, three, he realised, the golden ichor running across the floor of the Doors catching his attention – lines now coming to pass, he was confident that the Fates had accepted his and Hades’ claim.

“Are you not supposed to be the god of truth?” Koios laughed.  “But if you want to lie to yourself, that is of no concern to me – the prophecy, Phoebus.”

“We are no longer in the Pit,” Bob added.  “You said you would reveal it once we were out.”

Apollo sighed, but felt the words build in his throat regardless.

Sunshine and darkness go deeper than earth Topaz and silver search for rebirth Gold passes through the shadow of death A fading light to take one final breath

“One more line to go,” Koios observed, and Apollo disliked that he’d unravelled the meanings of the first three lines so easily, but Apollo’s own prophetic domains had been inherited from the titan side of his lineage – not just his maternal grandmother but his grandfather as well.  If there was anyone else in existence who could tell when prophetic lines had come to pass, it was his maternal titan ancestors.

“One more line to go,” he agreed reluctantly, gesturing at the golden ichor they’d dragged through the Doors of Death when Hades and Thanatos looked at him in askance.  No-one needed explanation for the first two.  As for the single one still to go, it was, as the final lines of prophecies tended to be, the direst one.

Thanatos walked over to the closed doors and pushed them open.  “We’ve arrived.”

Koios was the first to barge past, almost knocking Thanatos aside in his determination to get out.  The god of death looked at him disparagingly before fixing Apollo and Hades with a stare.  “I could not stop him from entering, but did he have to be with you?” he asked in clear disapproval.

“It seems as though he did,” Hades grumbled.  Interestingly, Bob didn’t protest at their complaints at his brother’s escape; perhaps the titan realised how much of an issue Koios might be, loose in the Overworld.

Realising that they had to do something about him before the other gods – his father – realised that not one, but two titans had escaped Tartarus, Apollo reluctantly separated from Hades, putting a stop to their mutual healing as he followed his grandfather out into the Overworld.

They emerged in the large, dark hall of the Necromanteion, a temple Apollo hadn’t spent much time in but recognised nonetheless, even if he hadn’t already known that it was the location of the mortal, unmoving, side of the Doors of Death.  They were underground, but compared to the depths of the Pit they’d just – miraculously – escaped from, it felt like he was on top of the world.  Strength swelled as he ran after the titan, before remembering what being out of Tartarus meant and simply dematerialising, appearing outside the temple, under the fresh air and the sun as it passed to the west.

It felt like Sol was the one covering that shift, and Apollo spared a moment to watch it on its downwards arc – dusk was approaching, soon Artemis would take to the skies in her chariot for the night.  Despite the lateness of the day, the warmth of the sun revitalised him further, and with a thought, a new bow materialised in his hand, his quiver filled to the brim with arrows.

Everything that Tartarus had tried to take from him was back, or near enough.  He was still wearied, weakened from the ichor loss he hadn’t fully replenished, but bathed in the rays of his own celestial domain, he felt stronger.

“Phoebus,” Koios greeted.  The titan had stopped just outside the temple, likewise looking up at the sky.  “Join me.”  He gestured for Apollo to approach, seemingly unconcerned that he was fully armed again.  Then again, he, too, was standing stronger, wounds closing with his hand draped over the hilt of his sword.  “Your sister is coming.”

Artemis was.  Apollo could feel her clearly, the moon to his sun on a collision course.

He could also feel that she was not happy.

Koios gestured again, and warily Apollo stepped closer, staying out of immediate sword range.  “It’s a shame Leto and Phoebe aren’t here,” he commented, almost idly.  “It would have been nice to have the whole family.”  He shrugged.  “I will have to find them.”

“What do you want, Koios?” Apollo asked, aware of Hades and Bob behind them, not intervening but present.  Thanatos was nowhere to be felt, but Apollo had not expected him to stay.

Knowing his uncle was there, that if Koios attacked, he wouldn’t be alone, was a strange yet comforting feeling.

“Freedom,” the titan said, “much the same as you, grandson.”

“I have freedom,” Apollo dismissed, ignoring the small voice in the back of his head that pointed out he wanted to be able to do more than the Ancient Laws allowed.

Koios laughed, full of humour but also derision.  “The freedom to be stripped mortal whenever you displease your father?” he challenged.  “The freedom to cower behind as many masks as you can conjure rather than risk making the wrong enemy?  You have a strange way of saying the truth, Phoebus.”

Apollo was saved from finding an answer to the titan who knew far too much for his liking – titan of knowledge, he couldn’t not remember, Koios was somehow worse than Athena – by a bolt of silver light exploding into existence in front of him.

Artemis had never been a fool, and a single glance around the scene had her pinning Apollo with a heavily disapproving look.  “Phoebus Apollo, what have you done?”

Despite himself, Apollo couldn’t help giving her a genuine smile.  “It’s good to see you, too, dear sister,” he said.  Almost automatically, he took a step closer to her, further from Koios.

“Granddaughter,” the titan interrupted, and Artemis’ silver eyes snapped from assessing Apollo – and no doubt racking up an entire list of grievances to air at him in the process – to instead inspect the ice-blue titan.  “Artemis, yes?”

They had the same eyes, Apollo realised, seeing his twin and their grandfather regard each other, clearly assessing.  Artemis’ posture was rigid, the fact that she was in her favourite pre-pubescent form doing nothing to detract from the way she was as taut as a drawn bowstring.

“Koios,” she said after a moment, no doubt but plenty of suspicion in her voice.  “You should be in the Pit.”

“And yet, here I am,” Koios replied, spreading his arms and bestowing a smile upon them.  It was a self-satisfied look, not a kind smile.  “Thanks to Phoebus here.”

“You forced your way out,” Apollo corrected hurriedly, sensing his twin’s increasing ire and feeling the need to set the story straight.  “You were never the aim.”

“But Iapetus was,” Artemis said, looking far more terrifying than twelve year old girls had any right to – not even Meg could hold a candle to a four and a half millennia old goddess, even if they looked of an age.  “Apollo.  Are you trying to be punished again?  Father is furious at your disappearance; once he realises exactly what you’ve done…”  She trailed off, seemingly unable or unwilling to elaborate further.  She didn’t need to.

“There is a way to prevent punishment,” Koios murmured, drawing both Apollo and Artemis’ attention back to him.  The fading light of the sun reflected off of his cold, cold eyes, calculating at best and a promise of cruelty at worst.  The smile he gave them was too full of teeth, too full of malice for Apollo to trust it for even a moment.

Artemis’s bow materialised in her hand, an open sign of her own mistrust.  “And that is?” she demanded, with the air that she knew she wouldn’t approve of whatever their grandfather had in mind.

“He can’t punish Phoebus if he isn’t in any position to do so,” Koios said slowly.  Behind him, Apollo felt Hades lurch forwards.  “Or you, nephew.”  The titan had also noticed.  “You asked what I wanted,” he said, addressing Apollo directly.  “What I want is that tyrant gone, for those upstart gods who mocked me to grovel at my feet, knowing that they will never rule again.”  He glanced sideways, where Hades had halved the gap between the two of them and was standing a little way away from Apollo.  “You are different, Hades.  Your brother rewarded you for your help by shutting you away, too, did he not?  Then you protected my brother, when you could and should have handed him over, and finally came to rescue him.  I have no interest in the Underworld; so long as you do not oppose me, I would be perfectly content to leave you alone in turn.”

“You want to overthrow Olympus,” Artemis said bluntly.  “Did you learn nothing from your previous attempt?”

“From my youngest brother’s attempt, you mean?” Koios corrected.  “None of those plans were of my devising, but yes, I learned plenty.  Your father has held that throne far too long; how can you call yourselves gods when you whimper and cower behind masks and shields, constantly in fear of your own father’s retribution?  Sometimes,” he grinned, all sharp again, “fathers need to be disposed of.  Isn’t that right, brother, Hades?”

“No,” Artemis said sharply, before either could respond.  “Your father, and the Crooked One, but if you insist on extending that to my father, I will stop you here and now.”

“Even if it’s the only way to save Phoebus from his wrath?” Koios pressed.

“No,” Apollo agreed.  He remembered previous attempts to talk Zeus down, even overthrow him, and they had never worked – and Artemis was right, Koios had not just spoken about Zeus.  All the gods that had opposed him, save Hades so long as Hades did not fight back – Olympus.

Apollo could never stand aside and let Olympus fall.

He glanced up at the darkening sky, disconcerted at the lack of thunder or lightning.  Koios was forcing them to talk about treason – surely Zeus would have noticed by now?  Once, Apollo might have thought Zeus was waiting to see what their response would be, but in recent centuries, even a hint had been enough for the lightning to come down.  The silence was disconcerting.

“No?” Koios repeated.  “Phoebus, do you want to be punished?  If I was not clear, I am offering for you, children of my beloved daughter, to join with me.  You would be honoured, finally in the position beings as fine as you should always have been.  Even if you are too afraid to stand against your father, all you have to do is stand aside.”

Instinctively, Apollo and Artemis stood closer together, close enough for the familiarity of his twin’s essence to wash over and through his, and despite their differences, despite Artemis’ disapproval at his various antics across the millennia, especially those their father had deemed rebellious, he could feel nothing but a thrum of agreement in this.

It was the same feeling they’d had when Tityos had tried to rape their mother, when Niobe had boasted of being a better mother than the titaness of motherhood herself.  The moment of being fully in sync, two halves of one whole.

Koios could not be allowed to tear down Olympus.

As fast as thought, golden and silver arrows combined flew towards the titan, who growled as he ducked away, his massive sword coming up to act as a shield.

“Do not be foolish, Phoebus, Artemis!” he scolded.  “The glory days of Olympus have passed; she will fall, and you will fall with her if you do not step away now.”

There was Koios’ certainty again, an absolute confidence in an unchangeable future, but this time, Apollo wasn’t so convinced that he was right.  He’d seen Olympus crumble, stones cascading down and the mountain turning to the same broken shell Mouth Othrys had been for his entire existence, yes, but he’d also seen her thriving, glorious days that spanned millennia more.  Apollo had seen possibilities, different paths that the future could still take, and even now, faced with Koios’ certainty, not all of those paths belonged to defeated potentials.  Many, many still laid open, Olympus’ fate far from sealed.

“No,” he said, calm and measured.  Certain in his own way.  “One day, in the far future, the time of the Olympians will come to an end, but not now.  Not from this.”

“We are Olympians,” Artemis added, as though she thought Koios needed reminding of that.  “We are loyal to Olympus.  If you insist on attacking, then you are our enemy.  Sometimes, it is the grandfathers that must fall.”

Rage flashed through icy blue eyes, but Apollo and Artemis were ready for Koios’ attack and scattered, arrows flying in their wake.  There was no delay between thought and materialisation now, no split second of weakness as Apollo was unguarded, unarmed.

“Iapetus!” the titan barked, stamping his foot and summoning a wave of ice that rushed to Apollo.  He shimmered out of existence just before it struck, reappearing in mid-air with the setting sun at his back, and let loose another barrage.

Bob moved, stepping forwards, but his spear was still half-broken, and he seemed hesitant.  “Brother-”

He was stopped by Hades, the god gripping his arm tightly.  “Koios would see the demigods you promised to protect dead,” Apollo heard his uncle say.  “It is not just Olympus he wants to destroy.”  The underlying threat was there; if Bob stepped in, if Bob turned on them, then their alliance was moot and Hades, too, would join the fray.

“I am aware,” Bob said, his voice hard.  “I will keep my word, Hades.  I had plenty of time to think in that cell; I know that you showed me mercy, the day Nico brought me to you.  More than that, you protected me, for reasons I still cannot fathom.  We were mortal enemies from the moment you were born, and yet when you had the chance to destroy me, millennia later, you did not.  And if a god can do that, then so can a titan.”

“You were always the most honourable,” Hades replied.

“Iapetus!” Koios shouted again, dodging a hail of golden arrows and ending up in the path of the silver projectiles instead.

“My name is Bob, Koios,” the titan called back, crossing his arms.  “Why do you insist on doing this, brother?  Our brothers are gone; the age of titans is passed.  We should co-exist with the gods, not seek to destroy them.”

Koios roared, and Apollo took advantage of his split-second distraction to plant an arrow in the small of his back, knocking him forwards half a pace.  Artemis drove several arrows towards his front; off-balance, Koios didn’t manage to block all of them, and received a silver shaft to his shoulder.  “You’ve gone soft, Iapetus!” he snarled.  “You were always the weak one but now you’re just pathetic!  Co-exist with the gods?  Did your memories come back diluted of the atrocities they did to us?  Was millennia in Tartarus not enough to teach you that the gods will never be our allies?  The time of the gods has run its course; it is time for the titans to return.”

“Kindness is not softness!” Bob replied.  “How is it that for everything you see, brother, you have never seen that?  I will be kind, now, as Hades, Phoebus and the demigods have shown me is possible, but I will not be soft.  Stop this madness, brother, and I will stand by you, but not until then.”

Koios let out a howl of betrayal.

Chapter 28>>

#trials of apollo #trials of apollo fanfiction #riordanverse #riordanverse fanfic #pjo apollo #pjo hades #pjo bob #pjo iapetus #pjo koios #pjo typhon #pjo echidna #pjo thanatos #pjo artemis #tsari writes fanfiction #eclipse

[sunshinesartisticquirk]

The Muses have blessed me! two down, four to go!

#fanart #character design #pjo fanart #percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo koios #pjo krios #pjo coios #pjo crius #art #pjo titans

[nicosavior456]

Riordanverse Demititan Oc’s

Elena Fogo: Brazilian daughter of Hyperion(Titan of East, heavenly light) and Legacy of Vulcan( Hephaestus Roman)

Lucian Angel: British son of Eos(Titaness of dawn) and Legacy of Helios (Titan of sun).

Itri Bassey:Nigerian Daughter of Krios (Titan of South, stars, constellations) , Legacy of Astraeus(Titan of stars, dusk, and planets) and Selene (Titaness of moon)

Camira Sealgait: daughter of Lelantos(Titan of hunting and air)

Archon Theodore: Greek Son of Cronus(Titan of Time and king of the Titans) and Legacy of Athena and Hecate

Ambriel Arlert: Blind Daughter of Themis (Titaness of Justice).

Ryan Altha: Son of Rhea (Titaness of motherhood and Queen of the Titans).

Aarav Jha: Indian-Canadian Son of Koios (Titan of North, Intelligence and Knowledge).

Larissa La Rue- Rodriguez: Daughter of Iapetus (bob) (Titan of west, death and pain) and adopted by Clarisse and Chris.

Carlos Hernandez: Mexican son of Perses (Titan of Destruction).

Jun-sung Han: Korean-Canadian son of Mnemosyne(Titan of Memory and arts)

Yura Olsen: Daughter of Oceanus (Titan of the oceans), Legacy of Boreas and adopted by Amphitrite. She’s multiracial (3/4 Greenland Inuit and 1/4 Danish)

Aimillios Iroas- Greek Son of Pallas (Titan of War) and Legacy of Hercules

Jair Mammon: Black American son of Theia

Gunnar Nelson: Canadian Son of Menoetius and legacy of Nemesis

Kaito Hanabusa: Japanese-American son of Tethys and host of Pontus

Evangeline Bechtyl: Irish daughter of Phoebe and legacy of Apollo

Thank you for helping me @sakuraazharuno

@pjo-hoo-toa-freakazoid @yonemurishiroku @artistic-kombat-and-mythology @hazellevesquelover @justanotherweebgirl

@struggling-author @julchenawesome

@0lympian-c0uncil @tea924 @heroes-of-olympus-next-gen

#pjo ocs #demititans #Rhea #Cronus #hyperion #iapetus #chris x clarisse #clarisse la rue #chris rodriguez #koios #astraeus #eos #perses #themis #mnemosyne #greek titans #percy jackson #heros of olympus #bob the titan