The Mighty Ones' Fall

Chapter 8: The Prophecy Delivered

"Apollo?"

At that moment, the whiteness finally cleared from everyone's vision. And in the center of the massive circle of confused Knowing members stood Alec, blue eyes narrowed, body shaking, facing the one and only Lord Apollo, hazel eyes shining, lips peeled back in what was supposedly his signature smile. Needless to say, Alec was no longer the most handsome guy around. Although he was wearing a simple t-shirt and a pair of jeans, just like Alec, the god with sandy blond hair - well, it was really more golden than blond - looked like he should have been at a photo shoot or on a movie screen, not at an army camp in the middle of nowhere. Both he and Alec had that strong, confident stature and those well-defined muscles, though Alec somehow seemed slightly pale and weak in comparison. But the biggest difference between the two appearances was that Lord Apollo had his eyebrows raised in an extremely cocky expression, and as far as I knew, Alec was never that arrogant; Alec was not a god.

"Apollo?" Alec repeated, taking a hesitant step forward and reaching an arm out towards the god, and all of the Knowing except him immediately bowed down out of respect. "Is it really you? Are you real?"

"As real as any spirit can be," Lord Apollo responded in Greek with a small chortle. He then slowly extended his own arm out to meet Alec's, and everyone, including Alec, held his or her breath. But after a slight pause or bump, the Lord Apollo's arm only seemed to pass straight through the hero's, creating a slight ripple in the otherwise perfect 3-D image of the god.

Alec let out a shaky sigh. He pulled his arm back quickly and gulped, trying not to feel too disappointed. Lord Apollo just watched on in sad silence, no longer smiling but patiently waiting for the hero to speak. Finally, Alec pulled himself together and whispered hoarsely, also in Greek, "How are you here? Are the other gods okay?"

Lord Apollo sighed. "Whether or not the other gods are okay is a matter of opinion. Our bodies may be gone, Alec, but our spirits aren't. As you can see, our spirits haven't taken over the bodies of other humans yet."

"Why not?"

"We haven't been able to," the god huffed shortly. "Last summer, your spirit absorbed too much of our own. Apparently Athena was worried something like this might happen, but there was no way for her to undo everything that was done by the time of our deaths. We've been inside of you all along."

"Even Hades?" Alec asked, frowning dubiously and clenching his fists.

"Even Hades...though his spirit is definitely the weakest. But I bet you can guess whose is the strongest," Lord Apollo confirmed with a nod and maybe even a tiny smirk, though I couldn't be sure. "Anyway, we can't move on with the reincarnation until you let us go."

"But I don't want let you go!" Alec argued passionately.

"I know that. Hell, I bet everyone knows that by now," Lord Apollo said as he rolled his sparkling eyes. "But you're going to have to let us go eventually. You've made our aura so strong around you that the oracle can't even break into your dreams to give you the new prophecy, and she's been trying for days now. She sent me here to tell you instead. So, are you ready to hear it?"

Alec nodded firmly. "I've been ready for months."

Hearing Alec's confident response, Lord Apollo smiled softly as he closed his eyes. When his body appeared to start shaking, the crowd let out a collective gasp, but Alec immediately yelled at them to be quiet, so I guessed he had seen something like this before. Then the air around the god's feet seemed to condense into little clouds of silvery mist, and when he opened his eyes, there were no more pupils or irises - only bright green light. Just like the Oracle of Delphi's creepy eyes in my dream the night before. He spoke,