Chapter Text
"...Pardon?" You mutter. Did he seriously mean that he ripped you out of your home away from all of your friends and loved ones because of a misunderstanding, only to not be able to bring you back?
"You are in the realm of the gods, thousands of years before your time." He spoke slowly, as though he were pulling the words out of his throat one by one.
"How did you even get me here?!" You yell, but then you realized something... This wasn't even real! Clearly you were dreaming, as there was no way any of this was possible. You had just fallen asleep on the couch as soon as you got home, that had to have been what happened!
You look down at your hands, and are surprised to see that they look completely normal. Weird. Maybe it was dream perception or whatever.
You are busy doing different dream tests on yourself when you are interrupted by 'Apollo' answering your question.
"As a god of the future, it is possible for me to possess a vessel outside of the world of Ancient Greece, and using that vessel I can transport people to the past. I have a couple of these vessels around the world, all of them scattered across different times, of course. I assumed you knew that that 'fur-by' or whatever it's called was one of them." He spoke, shrugging.
That explained a few things, even if you were just dreaming (Right?). Though, you still were curious about some things. "What other vessels do you have?" you said, avoiding eye contact by looking at your cat he was STILL holding.
"I tend to do objects that are relics of their time period, but not always. I've taken statues, pottery, clothing, children's toys, two of those being Furbys , and other things." He said casually, ignoring your cat's frantic wiggling.
"That's neat" you say, still focusing on your cat.
"You seem a lot calmer now..." he observed quietly, his voice nearly a whisper as he looked you up and down.
"That's because I realized that I'm dreaming, and will probably wake up fine in the morning." You say casually, shrugging.
'Apollo' laughed, his warm voice flowing in the wind. "Oh I promise you little mortal, you are not- OW!" He yelps, looking down to see your cat biting down on his hand.
He quickly drops the cat, and you look down to hide the glint of amusement in your eyes. "By the gods that thing's teeth are sharp!" He exclaimed, staring down at the golden blood trickling out of the wound.
You quickly scooped up your cat protectively, stroking them as they purr. 'Apollo' narrowed his eyes at the cat as it rubbed against you innocently. "Anyways, as I was saying, I assure you this is no dream, but if that is what you wish to believe, you may carry on." He said, his voice calmed back down to his usual, slow tone as he played with his hair.
"Sure, so now that I'm apparently trapped here, what do you reckon I do?" You said, not bothering to cover the hint of skepticism in your voice.
"I suppose you could come to Olympus to see if the other gods have any ideas on how to get you home, but first I would like to learn your name." Apollo said, looking you in the eye.
"Why do you want to know?" You say, arching your eyebrow.
"Curiosity." He said, his gaze softening as he looked at you.
You sigh, bringing your gaze up to look back at him. But as you begin to truly look at him you had to bite back a gasp. He was gorgeous. His eyes were a piercing gold, and his tan skin almost looked like it was glowing. He had dark freckles dotting his cheeks, and his face was sharp and narrow. Apollo chuckled, noticing your shock. "I see you have finally taken in my appearance. Most mortals have the same reaction when in the presence of a god." He said, smirking. "Anyways, your name?" Apollo said smugly.
"___." You said cautiously, your voice barely a whisper, dream or not you were still in the presence of a stranger, even if he was the god he claimed to be.
"___.." He tried, tasting the name on his tongue. "Thats a good name for a pretty mortal like you." he chuckled.
You forcibly beat down the red crawling up your face, not wanting to be caught flustered by the prideful god.
Suddenly, Apollo grabbed you by the arm, carefully avoiding touching your cat. "Come on then, we should get on our way to Olympus."
You protested loudly as the god dragged you along, trying to wiggle out of his grasp. "Quit squirming! You are making this so much harder than it needs to be!" He yells, frustrated.
"What have you got there, brother?"
~~***~~
Both you and Apollo froze, staring in the direction of the voice. Suddenly, a tall slender woman stepped out of the trees. She had forest brown eyes, with long ginger hair tied in a loose braid behind her.
For the first time, Apollo seemed nervous.
"Greetings, Artemis." He said carefully, calming down his voice.
"Care to explain what you were doing?" She said, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing of your interest, sister." Apollo said, staring at Artemis.
"Really? Because what I see is my brother in the middle of the forest dragging away a young virgin woman against her will." Artemis said, her eyes narrowing at her brother.
He swallowed nervously, letting go of your arm. You stood there frozen in place, resisting the urge to run as you had no where to go.
"She is simply lost, dear sister. I am taking her to Olympus to see if the other gods know how to get her where she belongs." Apollo said slowly, flicking his gaze from you to his sister.
As Artemis turned to look at you, her gaze softened. "Another soul stuck in the wrong time?" She said softly, reaching her hand out at you, her fingers brushing your arm. Apollo nodded.
Artemis then turned her gaze back to Apollo, fire burning in her sharp eyes.
"Then why she has obtained immortality?" She spat.
Apollo's eyes widened in shock.
"I am not a fool brother, do you think I cannot sense it?" Artemis said, frustrated.
You stared at them in disbelief. "What..?" You whispered.
Apollo sighed, "I may have slipped her ambrosia while she was unconscious, and for that I apologize, sister." he said, wincing.
You felt your rage brewing beneath your skin. If you understood it right, that meant that Apollo had made it so you'll never make it home, due to the fact that your immortality would probably bind you here.
"YOU WHAT?!" You and Artemis yelled in unison. Artemis glanced at you in surprise, and perhaps a little bit of respect too.
"It was supposed to be a surprise! I thought surely she would prefer being an immortal goddess of Greece than being a lowly mortal." Apollo exclaimed.
"If being a goddess means I have to be around sneaks like you, then I would much prefer being a 'lowly mortal'!" You yelled, setting your cat down.
"She has a good point, brother." Artemis says, chuckling. Her face turned solemn again as she turned to face Apollo. "I will accompany you and her on your way to Olympus, where we will figure out how to fix this." She said, in a voice that wasn't open to argument.
Apollo sighed, and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, a giant golden chariot appeared before them, glittering in the sun. You stumble back, startled, as you stare at it with awe.
Then, to your surprise and horror, Apollo swoops in and grabs you by the waist, gently placing you in the chariot. He laughed to himself as you scowled at him.
"Was that really necessary, brother? I'm sure her legs work fine on their own." Artemis sighed, rolling her eyes as she scooped up your cat and stepped into the chariot. You blinked at her gratefully as she placed your cat down by your feet.
"That was not needed nor appreciated" You grumbled, staring down at your cat. You swear you heard Apollo laugh, but when you looked up he had wiped his face clean of emotion.
Suddenly, the chariot spun into the air, being led by white horses with fiery manes. You yelped in surprised, and felt yourself shrink into your seat in embarrassment as Apollo turned to look at you, amused.
Your embarrassment seemed to shrink away as you felt the wind blow through your hair, filling you with energy. You watched as the chariot leapt through the clouds, and pretty soon you saw a palace in the distance, sitting on top of a mountain peak. Was that Olympus?
~~***~~
You swallowed nervously as you stepped into the palace, feeling alone even with Artemis and Apollo guiding you.
Your eyes widened as you took in what was around you. Surrounding the room, there was twelve thrones, three of which were empty. In the very front of the throne room, sat a large bearded man, wielding a staff and wearing a crown. Next to him, an equally intimidating woman sat, wearing a beautiful dress that shimmered with blue and green, and a crown studded with sapphires and emeralds. Undoubtably, this was Zeus and Hera, the king and queen of the gods.
"Who is this you have brought us, Artemis and Apollo?" Zeus spoke, his voice deep and demanding. You felt yourself instinctively shrink under the curious gazes of the gods, staring at you like you were a fascinating bug.
"This is ___, father-"
"Who my foolish brother fed ambrosia too in her sleep. She is not from this time, and we need to know how to make her mortal again so she may be sent back home." Artemis interrupted, sticking her tongue out at Apollo. Zeus sighed in response, clearly not interested. The rest of the gods however, began to stare at you even more intensely.
"If she was fed ambrosia, that means she is now a goddess, and there is no reversing the effects of immortality." Zeus says calmly, staring at you with curiosity. Hera glances at you with pity.
Suddenly, a high pitched voice rang out from one of the other thrones. "A new goddess! What a delight! It would be nice to have a new face around here." You turned around to see where the voice was coming from, and to your surprise you saw what might just be the most beautiful woman you had ever seen staring back at you. You guessed this was Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty herself.
"I think it would be best to keep this new goddess on Olympus with us, that way she can learn the ways of an immortal." another voice rang out, much lower than the other one and belonging to a woman in battle armor. Athena you thought.
There was murmurs across the throne room as the gods whispered to one another. Suddenly, Zeus cleared his throat and the whole room went silent. "Very well, Athena. ___ will be kept here on Olympus. Until we can find her somewhere here to stay, I suggest she stay with another god or goddess." Zeus said, his voice booming through the room like a bell.
You looked around nervously, none of the gods seemed like someone you would want to spend the night with.
"I volunteer, father!" a cheerful but mischievous voice rang out. You looked and saw a young man wearing a winged cap and sandals. You instantly recognized the god as Hermes, god of messengers and thieves. Hera leaned in on Zeus and whispered in his ear, and he nodded in response. "Hermes, you know better than to think I will stick her in the chambers of a god, Artemis, would you be ok with taking ___ for the night?" Zeus said, his voice echoing like thunder.
"Of course father, I would be happy to." Artemis said, bowing. Zeus nodded in response and Hera smiled. "In that case, you all are dismissed." Hera said peacefully.
Artemis made a beckoning gesture and you followed her down a hallway, into the darkness of the palace.