I'm reading Greek and Roman Necromancy by Daniel Ogden and once again encountered the trope of oracular locations and temples keeping snakes for various ritual purposes and "feeding them" on a kind of honey cake, which as far as I know would not be interesting whatsoever to a snake and even if a snake ate a baked good it would probably have trouble digesting it (I assume). so I was mulling this over, and naturally Ogden doesn't address it, I've actually never read any writer on these subjects address the animal husbandry involved with ancient rituals, which is always frustrating , and it occurred to me that snakes wouldn't eat a Twinkie but rodents and insects absolutely would.
if your ritual snakes are just being kept in some sort of enclosure, especially something like a pit or a katabasis (the Greeks were really big on a Amigara Fault-type procedure where people would go into holes in the earth in various ways and then come out of the holes in various ways and during this process be understood to have visited the underworld or received a vision from an oracular ghost such as Trophonius, the mechanical details of the process aren't clear), you probably aren't directly observing them very often except for any part of the rituals that involve handling, during which the snakes wouldn't be eating anyway. but alone in their enclosures with a bunch of bakery snacks, the rodents and bugs could sneak out of hiding and get grabbed by the snakes.
also I imagine a lot of the smoke and mirrors of the staff at these temples involved managing the various sacred animals somewhat like a petting zoo or a feeder goldfish tank at PetSmart, and just disappearing any of them that died so the clients wouldn't see them. it's likely the staff were cleaning, feeding, and taking care of the snakes at various locations and the dogs at the Asclepias temple and so on.
one has to imagine that most temple priesthood were probably just people who had gotten that particular job somehow, and not the ecstatic true believers that are depicted in every classicist romantic painting and most mythological or fictional imaginings of such places. of course there are tons of modern fiction books that imagine the same thing I do, I read The Jaguar Princess by Clare Bell when I was about 13 and loved the plain and practical descriptions of Aztec temple life, the process of creating art, and the anatomical approach to the idea of a were-jaguar (i have no idea if this book stands up, probably not), I think it permanently contextualized my thinking about ancient ritual as practical and pedestrian for the people who worked in that field. it's fun to imagine the blood-soaked ancient temples in any part of the history of humanity being as ho-hum as an Anglican church service, but they probably were for most people.
As mentioned earlier, here's my Halcyon Green theory that stems from my reread last night.
A quick disclaimer, though. All pages will be from my copies: US first edition of The Demigod Diaries from 2012; US paperback edition of The Last Olympian from 2011; US hardcover first edition of Blood of Olympus from 2014
My theory is that Apollo wasn't responsible, or at least solely responsible, for Hal's curse. I will explain my reasoning shortly, but I think it's benificial to look at how the text explains the curse.
This is how Hal explains his curse at the beginning, through the voice of the leucrotae:
"I have lost count [of how long Hal had been trapped]. Decades? Because my father is the god of oracles, I was born with the curse of seeing the future. Apollo warned me to keep quiet. He told me to never share what I saw because it would anger the gods. But many years ago... I simply had to speak. I met a young girl who was destined to die in an accident. I saved her life by telling her the future."
...
"[The gods] don't like mortals meddling with fate," ... "My father cursed me. He forced me to wear these clothes, the skin of Python, who once guarded the Oracle of Delphi, as a reminder that I was not an oracle. He took away my voice and locked ne in this mansion, my boyhood home. Then the gods sent the leucrotae to guard me. Normally, the leucrotae only mimic human speech, but these are linked to my thoughts. They speak for me. They keep me alive as bait, to lure other demigods. It was Apollo's way of reminding me, forever, that my voice would only lead others to their doom." (24–25)
So, Hal genuinely believes that Apollo is the one who cursed him, at least at the beginning. But, we see something shift in him after seeing Luke's fate. His immediate reaction to seeing Luke's fate is that "[h]e yanked his hands away and stared at [Luke] in terror" (42). Luke even notes that he, "could swear the old man was terrified of me now" (43). It's clear, based on what we know from The Last Olympian, what Hal saw was Luke's part in the war, and specifically his hosting Kronos, as evident in the way he describes what he saw: a sacrifice, a choice, and a betrayal (42).
This vision is what allows Hal to see truly what had happened. When Luke asked what scared Hal so badly, he responded, "I think I finally understand why I was cursed... Apollo was right. Sometimes the future really is best left a mystery" (48). This vision changed the vengeful Hal shown just that morning into the Hal who's last words as he burnt down his home as well as the leucrotae were the battle cry, "For Apollo! (50)"
I'll talked a little bit about how Luke misconstrued Hal's message of promise in my earlier post about Alison Simms, so I won't go into further details on that in this post, instead focusing back on my initial claim: that Apollo wasn't solely responsible for Halcyon's curse.
As shown in the excerpts, Hal does genuinely believe it is Apollo, even as he starkly learns to accept his curse as well as his fate. And I do think, at least most of the time, it was genuinely Apollo there, but I think that Apollo was forced to curse him, or that someone in the form of Apollo was the one who did the initial curse, while the true Apollo is left to pick up the scraps.
Apollo is, overarchingly, a good parent. He loves his children; he gives them gifts:
"That was my last sonic arrow," Michael [Yew] said.
"A gift from your dad?" [Percy] asked. "God of music?"
Michael grinned wickedly. (184)
and Will notes how odd it is that Apollo hasn't visited dreams in Blood of Olympus:
"We don't know what's going on at Delphi," ... "My dad hasn't answered any prayers, or appeared in any dreams... I mean, all the gods have been silent, but this isn't like Apollo. Something's wrong" (135–135).
And at multiple points throughout Trials of Apollo we see this immense love for his children, that it's far too many for me to even quote as evidence.
The only of his children, besides Hal, who is not fiercely devoted to him is Trophonius, who, as I said earlier today, was a victim of circumstance. Trophonius used his powers for thievery, and Apollo let him suffer the consequences of his actions; which lead to him cutting of Agamethus' head so that the king couldn't identify his body. And even though Trophonius hates Apollo, Apollo still is shown to love his son, and has some guilt about how it happened, even if what he did was what he, at the time, thought was best, since Trophonius had already done something illegal and wanted to be bailed out.
Hal's situation is similar, yet polar opposite, of Trophonius'. Hal, too, went against what was expected of them, but Hal's, unlike Trophonius' was for the betterment of another, rather than himself. Yet Trophonius' "curse" is consequences without divine intervention: if he had any mortal parent, he would have suffered the same fate. Hal's is, at it's core, a byproduct of being Apollo's son. No other parentage could have led Hal to his fate, and it is truly a curse, no if, ands, or buts.
Hal knew Apollo as a child, this much is evident from the aforementioned quotes. Apollo had warned Hal of his fate as a child, and the dangers of his powers. He told him if he shared it would anger the gods. Not him, the gods. It's curious wording. While Apollo is a god, if he was refering to himself, would it not be more striking to say to Hal that telling the future would anger me? Why envoke the other gods at all if he's going to be the one to enact the punishment?
Curiously, which I've never seen mentioned before, is the timeline. While Rick Riordan's years are wonky, Hal is approximately 60 years old, or looks at least. While he doesn't know how long he's been locked away, it has been decades at least. Luke is 14, Thalia's 12, and Annabeth (and by extension Percy) are 7. Beryl is an 80's actress, which makes sense timelinewise if Percy and Annabeth are 12 approximately in 2005, placing the date of the encounter with Hal at around the year 2000. Hal, therefore, was born after World War 2, and therefore after the oracle speaking of the Great Prophecy and Hades cursing the oracle because of Maria's death. In fact, Hal's childhood had to have been within ten to fifteen years of the curse, which for gods is a blink of an eye. The gods are especially apprehensive about prophecies and the future now with this great prophecy looming over their head. Apollo knew the other gods would not be favorable to a child of his with prophecy powers, and wanted Hal to lay low, especially since he already had a cursed oracle recently. This could be a longshot, but it's worth noting nonetheless. It shows the other gods have motive to distrust prophecies when Hal was a child.
Back to Apollo, throughout the five books in his POV he never, once, mentions Hal Green, even when speaking about Trophonius and having a child who hates him, even when thinking about his father and his own experience with fatherhood, even when thinking that his children don't deserve him and that he could be a better father. Halcyon's curse was brutal, yet Apollo never mentions his name once. He speaks of Zeus' punishments for disobeying, but never once mentions or wrestles with the idea that a son of his is stuck luring children to their death, wearing the shedded skin of Python, and only able to talk through leucrotae? And was stuck there for decades? Is that not odd, and honestly out of character given how much he tries to do better by his children than his father does to him?
Of course, a reason could be that Rick Riordan forgot about Hal, but where is the depth in that? To me, it is more interesting if Apollo had no say in the punishment of Hal. If it was more a punishment for himself, than it wouldn't be something for him to feel guilt about.
Now, if it wasn't Apollo, who do I think was the one who cursed Hal? To me it is pretty clear: Zeus. Zeus is apprehensive of prophecies: he ate Metis because he was told a son of his and Metis would overthrow him, he refused to sleep with Thetis since her son was said to be stronger than his father, and he'd recently made a pact to have no children and attempted to kill Bianca and Nico on the off chance that the Great Prophecy referred to them. If Hal could forsee the fall of Zeus without being an oracle himself, that was a threat to Zeus.
And besides, Zeus has no apprehension about killing his grandchildren; he murdered Asklepios for his continous raising of the dead. And Hal is kind of doing the same thing? Saving a person from death.
Since Hal thinks Apollo is the one that punished him, Zeus couldn't have outright done it if it was him which leads me to the least concrete part of this theory, as I see there being two possibilities:
Zeus took the form of Apollo when he cursed Hal
Zeus forced Apollo to curse Hal himself
Let's start with the first one: Zeus is obviously physically capable of turning into Apollo, gods can appear as any form they'd like. And as for why, I find that pretty straightforward. Zeus doesn't want people to know it's him. Despite being scared of prophecies, Zeus is the king of the gods, he is the god of gods and men, he is the strongest being. He doesn't want people to think that he felt threatened by a little boy, much less Hal himself. Appearing as Apollo gives the allusion that Apollo is angry with Hal for disobeying him, and gives the other gods the allusion that Apollo is enacting justice because someone, not an oracle, is using prophecy. This is what I mean when I said earlier that the "Apollo" in the story from Hal may not have been Apollo 100% of the time.
Also, is it not odd that Zeus' aegis, something that can only be claimed by a child of Zeus, was locked away in Hal's house? That cannot be a coincidence. The leucrotae are guarding Zeus' treasure, not Apollo's, Zeus's.
For that second point, it's basically that Zeus had manipulated Apollo into believing that he had to punish Hal or else it would be worse for him. Given Octavian, it's clear Zeus has no qualms about punishing Apollo for his children/descendants failures. Zeus also probably would tell Apollo he could never tell Hal the actual reason for the punishment.
I personally believe the most likely is that Zeus did the physical cursing: the python skin clothes, the missing voice, and the quarantine, while Apollo delivered the leucrotae under manipulation. I believe I doubt that Zeus would fully trust Apollo to enact the punishment exactly how he wants and not soften it for his son, and giving the leucrotae would still let Apollo see the punishment and feel the pain while not being able to mess up the plan.
As for Hal's epiphany about why he was punished, wouldn't it be interesting if he saw Apollo's fate of the wars in Thalia's vision? That he saw her helping a mortal Apollo punished for a child's crime? Yes, he also saw Luke working for Kronos and that scared him, but maybe there was also something about Gaea and Octavian too.
There's two ways Hal could have interpreted this: one, he realized that Zeus punished him but didn't want to say it because Luke already was planning a coup, or two, he thought Apollo punished him because if he didn't Apollo's punishment would be would be so much worse.
I've been typing for over an hour and a half with the breaks only to find the books and quotes so I'll leave it at that for now. Fingers crossed it's coherent.
Halcyon Green, Georgina, Octavian, Trophonius, Phoebe, Pranjal, Vitillius, Rachel E Dare, and Lester Papodopoulos
Note: both Georgina and Phoebe's parentage in the series is unclear, but I decided to add them, and Pranjal is the son of Asclepius, making him the only demigod confirmed grandson of Apollo in the series, and since Octavian in a legacy meaning he's at minimum his grandson, I thought why not add Pranjal. And Vitillius is both a ghost (well, lar) and a legacy of Asclepius but ghosts can have twitter cause I said so. And I added Rachel because she's one of his oracles and the only one (bar Trophonius who's his child) to not have caught Apollo's romantic interest. Therefore, I did not want to add Herophile or the Cumæan Sibyl with his children. I may add them later, we'll see. And "Lester" is Apollo's spam account, of course.
TROPHONIUS, AGAMENTHUS, AND APOLLO ON A FISHING TRIP??? WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABT THIS
im tempted to write a fic on the fishing trio so let me know if you want me to
for reference here's the full thing:
this has got to be my favorite post by read riordan yet and I'm glad that the staff are actually talking about how trophonius was the victim here and that his arc was overlooked and that apollo was in the blame for this one.
I should have posted this a couple of days ago but I forgot,sorry-
The last part of this serie (technically only completed 2/5 of the bigger one but shhh-) is here! Before we get to the technicalities of this book,I want to give my honest (and final) opinion of it.
The Dark Prophecy is boring,the only salvageable parts are the chapters focused on Apollo and Meg in Trophonius's cave,and a couple of moments here and there between the characters. 80% of this book is completely useless. I preferred THO more than this one,maybe it was because it was the first book ever of this serie,so new things and all,or maybe it had been a while since I read of this universe when I started ToA. Idk. I prefer this Oracle to Dodona's,but this book was extremely underwhelming. This was more of a steeping stone,that started to slowly began to get things moving,for the final battle against the Emperor than anything else really. I hope The Burning Maze will do better and be more entertaining,especially with the Labyrinth now involved.
As for the narrative choice,I don't really have much to say. Apollo is still having episodes where he remembers everything and then the next moments he forgets everything. Like I said the other times,this is the only way Riordan can pull this off,otherwise it's too easy for Apollo since he would know everything. I didn't talk about this in my review of THO,but I like how he justified this by having Apollo's mortal brain not being able to contain all the divine memories of his life. It's actually a very good explanation for this.
I want to talk about the plot armor because it bothers me a lot. I forgot to talk about it when I was reading THO (lol),and even then it was bothering me,so I take the opportunity to do so now. I hate how the plot armor works here. Apollo receives a power boost in the most convenient way possible: divine strength when he needs to fight against dangerous soldiers; light of his former divine form when he needs to do something about Commodus. What's next? The sun will be in tune with him again for a couple of seconds? I don't mind that he still has a bit of his talents with archery and music because that's fine,especially now that he needs to practice and take care of his tools and instruments.
I don't know why it bothers me so much,because PJO and HoO definitely had their moments with inexplicable plot armor moments for the various characters (especially Percy),but it was...more readable? Maybe we could find an explanation for it? Like,for example when Calypso had her powers forced out of her body by Britomartis,a literal goddess that violated her? I can understand that. But I can't stand it when it comes to Apollo. Maybe it's Zeus that gives him those boosts (hope so because it's the most reasonable theory I have,even tho it shouldn't make sense story wise),or it's his desire of protecting Meg or it ties up to the fact that she is his mistress,since it happens only when she is in dangers (the characters also acknowledge that).
When it comes to the characters and their dynamics/interactions I have a lot to say. Let's start with the main trio for this one: Apollo,Leo and Calypso.
I'll start by saying that I will do a proper post focused only on Caleo,because there is a lot I want to discuss about them. It's not like they were horrible in this,but they also weren't great either. I can kinda understand Calypso to a point,being away from the island you were trapped in for multiple millennia and starting a life in a world extremely different from what you remember must not be easy,but after that it gets to a point that her behavior towards Leo is unnecessary and uncalled for. Leo also has his fault in this but I will elaborate later–especially because there in the book,when they needed to separate from Apollo,Calypo made a speech about them that I want to analyze.
Apollo and Calypso had a lot of problems with each other,and the book fortunately acknowledged that and didn't forget about their pasts. Apollo started this book by wanting to abandon her to the blemmyae,and ended it by saying that she is a good friend that he cares about. Calypso also ended up appreciating him,despite their arguments,and tried to make sure that Apollo will always know that they were there for him–even if now they were going to be separated. It was a nice character growth from both of them.
Apollo and Leo,instead,were much more comfortable with each other since the beginning,at the end of THO. I wish we got to see more moments between them,because I liked the friendship they have going on and I love how Apollo understood Leo's view when Calypso didn't. I also liked how Apollo sometimes praised Leo's mechanical skills and how Leo tried to reassure Apollo that everything would be fine. Leo also called Apollo multiple times "ese",and I did my research on it and it meant "friend" in gang culture (Leo you want to tell us something man?). They are underrated.
Now,Meg and Apollo aren't really focus here like last time,but it was nice seeing their relationship progress. I left them last time with Meg betraying Apollo and Apollo still wanting to get her back because he cared,to have them back again together. I liked how Meg was hesitant at the start. She saved Apollo's life because he is a friend she cares about (she also probably felt guilty about what happened in Dodona),but still didn't know if it was ok trusting him after everything because she didn't think she deserved to be forgiven. And Apollo? He didn't yell,didn't get angry or anything really,he just....wanted her to feel welcomed and safe. And also started to help her by making her,little by little,accept how much poisonous Nero is to her. All the interactions and parallelisms they had in the cave? Pure agony for both of them. And I loved every second of it. I'll probably do a post only on that because the flashbacks scenes are living rent-free in my mind right now.
Commodus was underwhelming. He had a great start,especially with Apollo's memories of him before we even got to actually meet him in the book,but everything went flat pretty fast. I know that he is the weakest of the 3 but he got presented as a whole dangerous killing machine,and then? Nothing. I think he is "all brawn no brains" of the group since his strategies weren't really great,and were all based on brute force. I enjoyed Apollo's flashback of him because it gave the opportunity to see how their relationship ("definitely more than friends but we don't know what we are yet" stage?) was,and how Commodus took Apollo's "betrayal". The dude had it coming honestly,especially with how much shit he was doing back in the day.
All the new side characters (that had a bit of screentime and lines) were great. Hemithea and Josephine (with Georgina) were the most important ones without a doubt. I liked their subplot and how they took care of the main group. W acknowledging mental health! This was the first book where I could feel that it mattered. Other than that they were flat. Hemithea backstory is given to us by Apollo while Josephine apparently was a gangster that regretted what she did. Other than that,their characters is all about Georgina. Which fair,she is literally the daughter that went insane and was captured by the bad guy. It's understandable that they worry about her (and the griffins) but their characters are just that: worrying about Georgina. Josephine is barely acknowledged at all most of the time and Hemithea's only interesting subplot was the fact that she had to give up the immortality that Apollo gifted her,and that it wasn't easy for her to do so. But it's never shown. I also have no idea where her sister is,since they went to Artemis together. Is she with the hunters? Is she dead? Somewhere else enterely?
Lityerses had a whole character arc with a final redemption and is by far the one I liked most. Starting from being a total asshole with a desire for revenge against Leo,to being a total asshole to Commodus. We need more Lityerses in this world. The other (ex) prisoners were also flat: there were two demigods (we didn't even get to know their names or their parentage); Jamie that only gave us another pantheon that we will never see again; the hunter was completely useless because the Hunters of Artemis were going to be there anyway; Sssssarah–the comic relief; and probably other people too but that were never named. Out of this group Georgina was the only one that was plot-relevant because of Trophonius's message.
Speaking of him,Trophonius is a complicated one. He deeply cares about Agamethus a lot and is still pained from what happened. He also doesn't like Apollo and tried to kill Meg,but was still civil with them (how??) and even asked Apollo to destroy his cave. His relationship with Apollo is conflicted,because of what happened but he still hopes that one day Apollo will become the dad he never was to him; while him and his brother,even in death,care a lot about each other–which is interesting for me. Trophonius himself killed Agamethus as collateral damage but Agamethus was the one that asked him,and knew it was necessary,otherwise both of them were going to die that night. And Trophonius was devastated by his death,and he was until the end,his last words to Apollo were about his brother. Their story was tragic but they still love each other ever after everything–it's really heartwarming.
Riordan needs to find something else for the Hunters of Artemis since all the times they show up,they can never stay too long because they are going after some dangerous and ancient animals. A bit of creativity no? Ok-
I don't like how the Hunters of Artemis got retconned,because at the start the girls become hunters only to "escape" from men and romance. Now it's extended to "all the romance are off-limits" and as a aroace myself that's something I don't agree with. But I'll do a separate post on them because I hate their whole "man-hating" culture and their attitudes most of the time,but first I want to get to Reyna joining them because I have a lot to say about that too,I might as well do everything together. Artemis has a cult in these books,not a group of young women that are devoted to her.
Thalia is the only exception among them. And speaking of her,I wish Riordan would use her in the main story more,instead of giving her a short cameo per story. She has a lot of potential and let's not forget that she is Zeus's daughter,not a nameless demigod. If Riordan doesn't want her to leave the hunters then it's fine,you don't have to put the hunters everywhere she goes because Thalia is capable of doing things herself–as shown in the short story with Percy and Nico. Everytimes she pulls up there is always something important going on,and her help is always fundamental (not really with Orion but it was more of a Reyna sub-plot,so she had to defeat him). Even here,she saved Apollo and then proceeded to help the Waystation resident to fight Commodus,giving them a chance since the hunters were a lot,and they needed as many people as possible to fight him and his mini-army. Thalia herself is extremely powerful too,she went toe to toe with Percy in TTC and that was when she just come back from being a tree for years. But nope,let's have her almost always excluded from everything.
For the gods instead,it was a surprise knowing of Styx and that she is a real goddess,she is a very interesting concept. I really want to know more about her and I hope that Apollo will meet her again,especially with his broken promise. I'm conflicted on Britomartis because she straight up violated Calypso's magic –in her own body– something extremely important and sensible for her,especially now that it was "gone" (which I don't like because Calypso shouldn't be able to get her magic back after she left her island),but if she hadn't done it,they would have died in that zoo. Maybe she could have destroyed the net herself in another way,but she also couldn't alert Zeus of her presence since he doesn't want gods to help Apollo. There was no in between (maybe).
Artemis was only mentioned but it's still nice knowing that she is trying to stem the rule a bit to help her brother,and that she also cares about him like he does for her. Leto and Zeus's conversation got my attention. I love how Apollo,Artemis and Leto are extremely close to each other and then there is Zeus. Leto begging Zeus to end Apollo's punishment put emphasis on how much she loves him and can't see him suffer. Zeus is still Zeus,but I found it interesting how he was the only one that noticed Apollo during their conversation (if he really heard him like Apollo thought),while Leto couldn't.
I don't really have anything to say about the world building,because they realistically stayed in only 3 places (in the same city btw-) in this whole book,but the addition of the Waystation to this world is nice. It's nice knowing that there are safe places out there for demigods that don't feel under CJ or CHB radars. I loved its concept and it reminded me of a safer CHB,with actual people that help you out instead of whatever the hell Chiron is doing. The Oracle of Trophonius was also very interesting,shame that the cave got destroyed in the same book it got presented,but that's fine. There is a whole new pantheon introduced in this world that I know Riordan will never use again,he is like that after all: he adds everything he wants,but never uses what he has to do something interesting with it. But nope.
This post was lowkey more about the characters than anything else-
Anyway,this is all for now. I'll wait for a bit before starting reading the third book (maybe next week or the future ones),but I do want to get into more details for some elements of this one. The next few days are going to be interesting :D
Fandom: Trials of Apollo
Rating: Teen
Genre: Angst/Family
Characters: Trophonius, Apollo, Agamethus, Meg
The Dark Oracle gave answers to everything its supplicants asked of it. The only answers it didn't have were to the questions it was formed from in the first place.
@toapril-official TOApril day 10 - Redemption of a Ghost. This was a challenge to write. Trophonius is not a character I have spent much time digging into and writing this fic felt a little bit like being a supplicant of the Dark Oracle at times!
Soon. It would all be over soon.
Trophonius had long since lost track of the exact passage of the years since his father’s betrayal, decades blurring into centuries, possibly even millennia. It was difficult to keep track, without the sun, but Trophonius didn’t miss the sun.
He didn’t miss the warmth of his father, the feeling of being watched over, favoured, blessed.
In the darkness, he couldn’t see the blood on his hands, or what had once been hands. His physical body was long since gone, morphing into an idea, a concept, dust and darkness agitated and whipped together by winds of fury and betrayal. He’d died the same day as Agamethus, died the day his father turned away from him, survived and endured without a death. Impossible contradictions, alive yet dead, bodied yet bodiless.
It was past time it ended. The Fates had given him an opportunity, at least. For vengeance, for peace, for his brother. Agamethus had never deserved an eternity of this, the restless death when Elysium existed. The Fields of Asphodel, even, would be better than this, a headless brother trapped and bound by the same loyalty that had killed him in the first place.
But Agamethus wouldn’t find rest until Trophonius, until the Dark Oracle, ceased to be, and one way or another, that would happen soon. The wheels had been set in motion by powers beyond even his comprehension – he was an Oracle, a guardian of an Oracle, but to be an Oracle was to pass on messages, not to understand them all himself, but this he could comprehend just fine. The girl had been a sign, the beginning, and her shrouded origins made her perfect for the task he needed performing.
Agamethus couldn’t talk, not anymore, even though Trophonius could understand his darkness because it sang in tune with his own. The women at the Waystation were ingenious, but this was beyond the shaking of a ball, no matter how enchanted it was. Besides, Agamethus was the catalyst, the cause, but this wasn’t his fight.
He was Trophonius’ brother, but he wasn’t Apollo’s son. The girl, on the other hand…
Perfect bait, and one that Apollo had no choice but to fall for because when it came to his children – most of his children – there was nothing the god wouldn’t do. Trophonius, for all he’d seen and heard through the Dark Oracle, had yet to work out what had made him, of all Apollo’s children, unworthy of his father’s assistance. Perhaps he would solve that one, final mystery before the Oracle died.
Things worked even better than planned.
Apollo came, preparing himself to kneel at Trophonius’ feet, at his mercy with his mind opened and the threads of his sanity fraying with every second that passed, and he prepared himself to tear his father apart from the inside out – the Oracle would not, could not turn Apollo insane, not even as a mortal. His divinity was still too strong for that, god of prophecy wrapped up in his essence beyond anywhere even Zeus could reach to tear it out entirely. Trophonius could make it hurt, though. Make his father wish his sanity had broken.
The girl loved Apollo more than anticipated. This was not a bad thing.
The Dark Oracle latched onto her, unprepared, vulnerable, more likely than not to die, and Trophonius was finally able to confront his father.
The taunts were sweeter than honey. Apollo fell into his lap, crying words that Trophonius had never been able to forget passing his own lips, and the reversal of their roles, the power rush it gave him, was heady.
Trophonius had no control over the Dark Oracle. It had come from him, was part of him, but it sought out the minds that opened themselves up to it with a single-minded focus to hurt while it sought answers.
It had always been easier to answer other people’s questions. Even this girl’s questions – what must Apollo do, where must Apollo go, how do I help Apollo? – were easy, the Oracle cramming all the information she could ever need and more besides into her small, unprepared, young mind.
Trophonius’ own questions – why didn’t Apollo help me, why am I the exception to the rule – had no such luxuries.
Apollo had made the promise. Trophonius’ end was finally nigh. The irony that he would finally be killed by his own father, so many long, dark years after first pleading for the exact same thing, was not lost on him. For the girl, he would do what he had refused to do for Agamethus.
It enraged Trophonius, and the Dark Oracle responded in kind, pushing the girl’s mind further, showing her more, more, more, dragging her into depths that would be so very, very hard to resurface from. Scathing words passed easily from the wisps of darkness that formed his mouth, anger and hurt finding no reason to hide as the betrayal lashed out.
Apollo’s anger was legendary. Trophonius had grown up on stories of his father’s fury and love in equal measures and always fancied himself the loved one protected by the anger.
Agamethus’ life had been the price for his naivety, the first time, when Apollo’s anger had manifested as a cold, gaping silence.
As an Oracle, being on the receiving end of it for a second time, igniting it on purpose and watching it fizzle and boil, restrained by mortality and a dying girl in his arms, was fascinating. It was easy, cathartic, to bite back, to rage at his father and be raged at in return.
There was no room for facades in the cave of an Oracle, and the Dark Oracle in particular let nothing stand, tearing it to shreds as it burrowed and sought the deepest, darkest secrets of the petitioner, dragging them out of breaking minds as it stuffed them with new information that may or may not be helpful.
No-one read the Dark Oracle, there was nothing accessible to be read, but Apollo?
Apollo was an open book.
His mind was stretched thin, exposed and tired by Mnemosyne and Lethe clashing inside him. He had questions, too, most prominent amongst them is Meg going to die? and associated questions about how to save her, and floating thoughts towards the young girl Trophonius had used as his messenger in the first place, but the Dark Oracle was too busy with his companion to bother with him.
Trophonius didn’t want it to answer his father, anyway. Apollo did not deserve answers. Not when Trophonius had none of his own.
Why didn’t Apollo help me?
It wasn’t because Agamethus wasn’t his child. If he cared about that, he wouldn’t be trying to exchange his life for the demigod with him.
Why was I the exception?
Don’t pray for me to bail you out Apollo shouted.
The Dark Oracle thrived on fear, generated it and encouraged it further. It opened the mind up further, made it more vulnerable.
Apollo’s mind had flooded with fear the moment he realised his companion would be the one paying the price of their knowledge, but it was rigid, almost under control. Far too much control.
The fear had leaped, flashed like lightning as he shouted those words.
Trophonius didn’t think his father even noticed, but he did. The Dark Oracle did.
Apollo spoke. His voice was one of his greatest powers, and it gave advice, gave recommendations and commendations. It got Trophonius and Agamethus one of the greatest honours they could have had, secured their future as renowned architects.
Ask me for advice, his words said then, beneath the rage. Don’t ask me to do things.
A lightning-flash of fear.
An answer.
Even gods had limits. The Dark Oracle had learnt that over the years.
It wasn’t a good answer. It meant nothing, didn’t douse even a flicker of the rage and betrayal that Trophonius felt, because Apollo could have done more. The Dark Oracle knew that, too. Neither of them cared for excuses and reasons, not with the blood of Agamethus forever staining his palms long after his physical palms had ceased to exist. It changed nothing.
But it was an answer. Finally, finally, Trophonius had an answer to the questions that had haunted him for an eternity.
Finally, the Dark Oracle’s purpose had been fulfilled. It was time to go.
The end came quickly, once he shooed his father and the maybe-dying girl away from his cavern and into the waiting arms of the Blemmyae. After an eternity of waiting it hurtled towards him in a ball of fire and cascading rocks, dashing the darkness of the Dark Oracle into nothing and parroting the end of Agamethus, all those years before.
Trophonius unravelled, wisps of darkness separating and fading as everything fell down around him, the way he should’ve died, the way he was finally dying.
His consciousness spread thin, stretched and scattered like the darkness and the rocks that fell. He sought nothing, had no questions left to ask – Agamethus will follow soon, the Dark Oracle whispered to him, a reassurance in their final moments – but still his father and the girl came into his awareness.
She was still half-dead and dying a little more with every breath she took. Apollo was stuck, trying to defend both of them from Blemmyae that wanted them both dead. It was pathetic to see, a kick that wouldn’t do much from a feeble, mortal body.
It would be amusing if they fell there, dying the same way he and Agamethus had died long ago, ignored and doomed. It was tempting.
More tempting was the thought of one-upping his father, for doing the thing Apollo had turned away from. Of leaving Apollo forever in a debt he couldn’t repay, and another mystery to spiral around in his mind when things were quiet.
He didn’t have much strength left, but he had enough, for this last act. The stone ceiling of the underground lake cracked exactly over the flailing Blemmyae, plunging it into its depths and killing it instantly.
Don’t say I never helped you, Father, he hissed silently, despite knowing Apollo would never know for certain if it was a coincidence or not. Compared to the conundrum of the little girl it was hardly a deep mystery, but it satisfied him, regardless.
One last act, one last piece of pettiness at the father he could, would never forgive, and he faded away.
