The Exiled God; A Trials of Apollo Fanfiction

Plague Spirits

Y/n's POV

"So you're telling me that you don't have a bow for me to borrow?" Apollo quizzed.

"I suck at archery," Percy reminded him.

"Yes, but I don't," Apollo shot back and turned to me. "Y/n? Do you have a spare weapon?"

"Oh no. No no no," I mutter and clutch my trident necklace to my chest. "You are not taking my sword. And even if I had my bow on me, which I don't, by the way, I would not trust it in your hands."

"But I'm the god of archery," Apollo brought up.

"Who is now stuck in the body of a teenage boy with a terrible case of acne," I expand. "So no. I'm not giving you a weapon until I know you can use one."

"Shotgun!" Meg called out as soon as we got to the Prius.

"Oh come on!" I cry out. "That's not fair."

Percy shrugged. "Sorry. Have fun in the backseat with Apollo."

"Traffic sucks," Apollo complained as we inched along slowly on the Long Island Expressway. "We don't have this on Olympus."

"At least we're not being-"

"Don't say it," Percy warned to Meg.

Meg huffed. "You don't know what I was going to-"

"You were going to say, 'At least we're not being followed'," Percy guessed. "That'll jinx us. Immediately we'll notice that we are being followed. Then we'll end up in a big battle that totals my family car and probably destroys the whole freeway. Then we'll have to run all the way to camp."

"You can tell the future?" Meg questioned in awe.

"Don't need to. I've just done this a lot," Percy confessed. "Besides, nobody can tell the future anymore. The Oracle isn't working."

"It still isn't working?" Apollo asked. "I just...I assumed, hoped, this would be taken care of by now."

"You mean by demigods," I point out. "Who would go on a big quest to reclaim the Oracle of Delphi."

"Exactly!" Apollo chirped. "I suppose Chiron just forgot. I'll remind him when we get to camp, and he can dispatch some of you talented heroes."

"Yeah, no. We have this rule at camp. To go on a quest, you need a prophecy. If there's no Oracle, there are no prophecies, so we're basically stuck in a Catch-22," I sum up.

"Um, guys," Meg interrupted. "There are three shiny blobs now. Look!"

I looked out the rear window to see that Meg was right. Weaving through the traffic, closing in on us rapidly, were three glittery, vaguely humanoid apparitions. I had never seen these creatures in my life, which was a feeling I don't think I had ever come across. This was bad. Very bad.

"Just once I'd like an easy commute," Percy grumbled. "Everybody, hold on. We're going cross-country."

Percy shot down the nearest exit ramp, wove across the parking lot of a shopping mall, and then blasted through the drive-through of a Mexican restaurant. We swerved into an industrial area of warehouses with the smoking apparitions still closing in behind us. Percy yanked the wheel to the right, and we sped north, leaving the warehouses far behind us.

"Percy, head for the beach," I instruct.

"Good idea," Percy agreed. "We fight better near water."

"Because of Poseidon?" Meg inquired.

"Yep," Percy concurred. "That pretty much describes our entire life: Because of Poseidon."

"Are you guys gonna be like Aquaman? Or like mermaids and get the fish to fight for you?" Meg implored.