Sunshine Kids (Apollo Cabin Oneshots)

(demi)god part 1

Every demigod's powers came with a price; they were mortals, not meant to wield the domains of gods and yet they did. It was a war of natures and it only made sense that the mortal threads of their bodies would disintegrate after a while. It wasn't monsters that killed demigods before they turned old. It wasn't the constant wars or leaving Camp Half-Blood that prevented them from reaching eighteen. It was the powers inside of them.

They killed themselves. It was why the less powerful you were, the more likely you were to live longer. It had nothing to do with scents or phones, those were only precautions against the inevitable. The more power you used, the more of your mortality burned away.

Some demigods were fortunate. Percy Jackson was one of the few who had always been more god than mortal, whether by accident or prophecy, and they survived longer because their powers were more entwined with their being. Other demigods, like Annabeth Chase, were completely divine, anyway. They didn't actually have any human DNA to contend with: the Athena cabin held the record for longest-living demigods since the founding of Camp Half Blood. That was just the way of things.

The ones with the worst track record were the Apollo kids. They were the children of a powerful god, who held one too many domains that he kept passing onto his children, but that wasn't their only problem. They were about on par with Demeter kids generally; if they used their powers sparingly, they'd live well into early adulthood. It was how much they used their powers that made the Apollo Cabin a place of death.

It had become a joke amongst the campers, a way to cope with the reality of their lives: being claimed by Apollo was a death sentence within a few years. Healing burned their mortality through and through until not even their siblings could save them. And it wasn't for lack of trying.

They'd held plenty of meetings about it with Chiron but there was no way around the matter: Camp needed their healers and Apollo's kids were the only ones who could do it. No one lived long enough to actually graduate medical school. They relied on divine powers.

And there were the Apollo kids themselves, all sacrificial to a fault. Perhaps it was written into them as healers, the need to protect others no matter what the cost to themselves. Maybe it was the way they were raised, always taking care of others. Or maybe it was Camp itself, and the rumours that circled about their death cabin, that somehow brought life to others.

"Trading their lives," Hermes kids would nod wisely. "It's weird."

Kayla Knowles was an exception to the rule and she knew it. She had more in common with Athena's children than with her siblings; born solely of a god and without the human DNA that risked Will's life every time he woke up and started working again. She knew she'd live longer than her siblings, if she didn't die in a battle (and who was to know that when she led the archer corps, she did it recklessly, taking risks she shouldn't, almost hoping she wouldn't come back this time).

The funeral pyre carried the smoke up to the skies, lit brilliantly in red and orange. It was one of Hephaestus' kids, a young boy who'd been caught in the cross-fire between two monsters battling for territory. Or, that was how Kayla had tried to describe whatever fight was taking place. She hadn't been able to save the boy's life, despite her best efforts.

She wiped her nose on the sleeve of her hoodie.

"It's not your fault," Will moved next to her. He glanced down at his younger sister: so much power, so much potential, and none of the risk. She'd do well as Apollo's head counselor when he was gone (and oh, how he could feel his life slipping away, burning to nothing as he saved another child younger than him, trading lives indeed).

"I should've-"

"It's not your fault."

"Will, I-"

"We can never save everyone. It doesn't matter how good we are. Even the best surgeons in the world don't have one hundred percent success rates."

"They're mortals," Kayla protested.

Will wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Even Dad couldn't save everyone," he whispered. "And he's a god."

"Are you okay?" Percy came to stand on her other side. "I know that was your first-"

Will gave him a warning look– he'd never forgiven him for Michael (and neither had Kayla), despite everything Percy had done for camp. Oh, they knew it wasn't his fault, not really, but that didn't erase the pain of his loss and the connection their minds had made between him and their dead brother. Percy didn't see the look, pressing on.

"It'll get easier."

"Watching people die?" Kayla asked.

"Forgiving yourself," Percy whispered.

"I won't."

"Eventually, you will. It's okay. It's what we're supposed to do, the ones of us that keep going on. He'd want you to forgive him."

Kayla laughed harshly. "He's dead, he doesn't get a say in whether or not I forgive myself for letting him die."

"Ghosts are just a quick trip away; they very much can give their opinion on the matter. I got an IM from the Underworld once."

Kayla stared at the pyre. "How do you do it?" She didn't ask Percy or Will directly and they were silent for a minute, trying to figure out who she was addressing. Will finally spoke, taking the lead as her brother.

"Do what?"

"Keep going after."

"Percy, can you give us a minute?" Will asked softly. Kayla was different from the other Apollo campers and it wasn't something they paraded around, worried other kids might take it as an excuse to try dangerous stunts and get her to heal them.

"He can stay. I don't care- him and Annabeth are like me, aren't they?"

Percy cocked his head. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Are you sure?" Will asked.

"It's gonna get out eventually," Kayla shrugged. "I don't mind him knowing," she added, jerking her head towards Percy.

"What's getting out?" Percy asked.

Will sighed. "You're more god than mortal, right?"

"Uhuh."

"And Annabeth and her siblings don't technically have any human DNA at all. Kayla doesn't either- Apollo was the pregnant one. So like you," Will hurried on, not giving Percy a chance to ask any questions. "- her powers don't kill her from the inside. She can use more of it without any consequences. She'll live longer."

"And I still couldn't save him."

"Kayla-"

"I'm not wrong, Will."

Percy stared at Will. "Let me take this one," he mouthed. "I can help with this."