Incorrect #12: The Search Party
Note: Inspired by @anotheroceanid 's Athenide AU and loosely based on a scene from The Swan Princess.
HERMES: You’re not still thinking she’s alive, are you?
APOLLO: When I find Perse, Hermes, when I find her, I’ll have my proof.
HERMES: Apollo, you’ve searched everywhere. Olympus, the Underworld, Poseidon’s fish tank—
APOLLO: There was a dolphin in there. I thought it might have known something.
HERMES: The whole pantheon knows she’s gone.
APOLLO: The whole pantheon is wrong. Perse is alive, and I’m going to find her.
HERMES: You do realize you’re the God of Prophecy, right? Have you—oh, I don’t know—checked?
APOLLO: That would ruin the dramatic tension.
HERMES: And you’re also the God of Logic.
APOLLO: Exactly. And logically, if I refuse to accept that she’s gone, then she isn’t.
HERMES: …That’s not how logic works.
APOLLO: (ignoring him, dramatically stepping onto the balcony) Animals, assemble!
(A majestic raven swoops in, landing on his shoulder. A wolf pads up and sits beside him, looking unnecessarily intense. A swan gracefully lands in the fountain. A dolphin dramatically flips out of nowhere, splashing Hermes.)
HERMES: (spitting out water) Oh great. The ultimate search party. A bird, a dog, a wet chicken, and a fish.
APOLLO: They are my sacred animals, Hermes. Show some respect.
HERMES: And what’s the dolphin going to do? Detect her with echolocation?
APOLLO: …Maybe.
HERMES: (gesturing at the swan) And this one? You think it’s gonna serenade her back to Olympus?
APOLLO: If necessary.
HERMES: (pinching the bridge of his nose) I swear, if you just used your actual powers instead of forming a divine petting zoo—
APOLLO: I will find Perse, and when I do, you’ll regret doubting me.
(The raven caws ominously. The wolf suddenly stands up, ears twitching. The dolphin lets out an urgent series of clicks. Even the swan looks vaguely determined.)
HERMES: (watching Apollo’s animals actually act like they’ve found something) …Okay, what the actual Hades.
