Chapter 10

Apollo was overjoyed spending extended time with his family, he had woken up this morning thinking he was a monster but today showed him he wasn't. He wasn't different when he was among his Mum's family, in fact he was seemingly becoming like his Uncle Ikaris. 'What are you?' That one question from Doctor Vanderspeigle had been in the back of his mind since he uttered it. He had never had to question what he was because he always figured he was like his Mum however the stronger and faster he got the more that feeling of being different grew within him and he but today he learnt he was simply taking after his Mum's side. He really was some kind of demigod. Apollo looked at his parents and his uncle and aunts and saw how happy they all were and decided today would be the day he asked them.

"What are we?" Apollo said

"What do you mean?" Ajak replied.

"I mean; I'm becoming less human as I grow up so what am I becoming? What are you? What is Uncle Ikaris? Aunty Sprite, Sersi and Makkari? Are you gods? You have names like them" Apollo rattled off.

Ikaris chuckled a little at his question and Ajak and Jonathan looked at one another trying to figure out how to proceed. They knew Apollo had questions about himself any kid would but they also knew how much he wanted to fit in and be like other kids and so they held off telling him the truth about themselves and him but it appeared tonight they'd have to tell him the truth. Or at least part of it.

"We're not gods. We did inspire a lot of myths which is why our names are so similar but we're not gods. The truth is my family are a race of beings called Eternals. We come from a planet called Olympia and we came to Earth millennia ago and have been protecting it since" Ajak told her son hoping the answer would be enough for him.

Apollo sat there in shock at the revelation. He wasn't a demigod; he was half alien. Apollo suddenly saw his family in a new light. They were like Doctor Vanderspeigle, aliens from another world.

"Do you need time to process all of this?" Ajak asked him.

Apollo didn't respond right away. He felt uneasy as the full breadth of the revelation swept over him. Apollo felt like he was going to start freaking out and looked at his parents who were staring at him with kind eyes. His Mum was an alien but his Dad was human. That meant he was still part human, he was different but not a total outsider he could exist in both his parents' worlds. The thought of still being part human calmed him down. It didn't matter if it was Mount Olympus or Olympia that didn't change much he rationalized. He's still from this world, or at least part of him is and his powers they all make sense for his Mum's family. He was a human alien hybrid and that wasn't too bad, he could fit in both worlds because he was part Eternal but still human in some way.

"Son? Are you alright?" Jonathan asked him as he crouched down next to Apollo's chair.

Apollo smiled at his father and mother and said "I'm fine Pa, I promise"

Jonathan and Ajak smiled back sensing that their son truly was okay with the partial truth he was told and it seemed to be enough to ease him of his questions about himself. At least for the time being.

Soon the evening faded into late night and Apollo went to sleep early clearly tired after what was probably the most physically taxing day of his life so far. Apollo said goodbye and thank you to his Aunt and Uncle who assured him they'd visit again soon. He went upstairs into his bedroom and lay in his bed thinking about his heritage. He wondered why his Mum came to Earth in the first place, she said that they had been helping humans since they came her and maybe that meant they were sent to be guardians of some kind. He wondered if he could be like them when he grew up and be some kind of guardian or hero. Apollo closed his eyes and decided he'd think about that more when he was older tonight he was just happy to know that he could control his powers but even more than that he glad that he had met more family, learnt what they were and the family he had were all there for him.

A few days later Apollo was back in school and hanging out with Skye, she had been very worried about him but his parents just said he'd gotten a bad fever and needed to be at home for a few days. Skye was catching him up on all the homework he'd missed as they sat together in the library. Luckily it wasn't much and he was pretty much almost finished with it. Suddenly Chloe came up to them, she still didn't know what to make of Apollo so she simply talked mostly to Skye.

"Hey Skye, are you still coming to Crater Lake after school today or are you hanging out with Apollo?" Chloe asked.

"Umm" Skye started to say as she looked between Chloe and Apollo.

"You can go; we don't have to hang out today" Apollo quickly said not wanting to make Skye feel held back by him. She was much more social than he was so it made sense she got invited to more stuff than he did and he didn't want her to be burdened with always having to hang out with him.

"Awesome" Chloe said. "So you'll come? I don't want to have to brave Whitney and his crew by myself"

"No girl should have to suffer that alone, so I'll be there" Skye jokingly told her.

"That's great" Chloe exclaimed.

"And so will Apollo" Skye added.

"What?" Apollo and Chloe accidentally shouted in unison clearly taken aback at his random invite.

The librarian told them to shush and Apollo and Chloe mouthed sorry before looking at Skye confused.

"Apollo's my best friend and this parties meant to be for everyone right? Whitney doesn't own the lake so why not go all three of us and try have some fun?" Skye questioned Chloe and Apollo.

The two of them didn't have an answer and so relented to Skye and decided to both be there. Apollo and Chloe exchanged awkward bye's as they both left the library. Skye assured him everything would be okay before she was picked up by her Dad. Apollo ran home and was secretly both nervous and excited for the random invite as caught off guard as he was by it. Maybe he could make more friends and be more like Skye. Skye told him to meet her there before sunset and so Apollo rushed home and tried to make himself look more cool. He briefly considered taking off his glasses but one look at his glowing blue eyes and he knew that he had to wear his glasses. He was a bit anxious about running into Whitney, Whitney was year older than them but he was the type of guy who was friends with everyone and was good at every sport he played. Especially football. He used to try and get Apollo to play sports with him because Apollo was always big for his age but after a while he just classified Apollo as weird and decided to leave him alone. Maybe tonight could be the night Apollo could change that. If Apollo could become friends with him maybe, he wouldn't be an outsider anymore. Apollo finished changing into his outfit which was a red turtleneck and simple and plain silver necklace with a winter jacked and jeans.

"You look nice, where are you headed?" Ajak as she saw her son walk past her towards the door.

"I got invited to this small gathering of kids in our school at Crater Lake" Apollo told his Mum.

"Honey, that's wonderful. Your father and I always told you that you'd make more friends over time. Stay safe and have fun" Ajak said to Apollo have voice filled with happiness.

Ajak walked up to Apollo and hugged him deeply before kissing his forehead.

"Ma, stop I have to go" Apollo said feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Okay, I'll let your Dad and Sprite know where you've gone when they get back" Ajak informed him.

Apollo nodded as he walked out of the house and then took off at super speed to Crater Lake. He arrived in a few minutes and immediately spotted Skye talking with Chloe and a bunch of other kids standing by the large cabin in front of the lake. With the snow falling and the sunset happening behind them it looked like a scene from a Christmas ad. Apollo briefly imagined an ad playing saying 'Small town big holiday wonder'. He briefly laughed at himself in his mind before nervously walked up to all of them and saying hi. The kids all awkwardly said hi to Apollo clearly not entirely sure how to act around him. Skye didn't seem to care as she hugged him and tried to include him in the conversation. They were talking about their favourite movies of the year so far. Pete and Kyle were trying to argue it was Lion King 2 while everyone else was clearly on team Mulan. Apollo chipped in saying his favourite was Prince of Egypt although he did like Mulan and Lion King 2 a lot as well.

After a while Whitney called them into the cabin and showed them where they could find soda and stuff for ice skating if they wanted to go. Pretty soon everyone was inside hanging out and playing games. Apollo jumped from place to place looking for a group he could naturally fit in with. Kyle Cushing was no go, Pete and Chloe were friendly enough but either of them were entirely comfortable with him yet and he could sense it. He wanted to talk to Skye but Whitney had been chatting with her for a while and he didn't want to interrupt them. Apollo's heart sank as he realized he was still so far away from being fully accepted by the class. He was still an outsider; everyone saw him as the freak still. He looked at Skye with Whitney and wondered how long until she saw him that way too. Apollo relegated himself to the background and watched the party unfold. He saw Whitney and Kyle talk to Skye and Chloe who looked like she didn't want to be there. He saw Skye and Chloe exit the conversation which selfishly made him smile and they both went to get ice skating shoes. Apollo briefly considered joining them but surprisingly Pete came up to him and the two started talking. Pete seemed to not be keen on talking to Kenny and Apollo quickly realized it was because Kenny kept saying weird racial things. Apollo hoped it was because he just didn't understand what he was saying and it wasn't malicious. The two chatted nonchalantly for a while and Apollo smiled, he may not be Pete's friend but sometimes all people was someone who was willing to give them a shoulder of support and being that for Pete was enough for Apollo. Who knows maybe this could lead them to become actual friends in the future. As the two talked Whitney started talking about a game they could all play but before he could finish what he was saying they heard Skye freaking out and shouting. Skye ran into the house clearly distressed.

"Help, somebody help" Skye shouted.

"What's going on?" Apollo asked

"We need to call the police, or firefighters or any adults it's Chloe" Skye said her voice quivering like she was on the verge of a breakdown.

"What happened? What did you do?" Whitney accused.

"Nothing, it was the ice, a patch wasn't fully stable and Chloe she fell in" Skye spoke finally breaking down.

Everyone started freaking and Whitney started throwing accusations at Skye and talking about how he was going to be blamed for this.

Apollo looked at everyone freaking out and then looked back to the river. Chloe…. He barely knew her but she was weird and quirky like people thought he was but most of all she was kind. She wasn't going to die tonight. He could save her. He would save her. He turned back to the party and knew everyone was freaking out too much to notice him, now was his chance. He accelerated his entire body and the world slowed around him and he looked at all his school mates, they all looked basically frozen from his perspective. Apollo put his glasses into his jacket pocket and ran off onto the frozen lake at super human speeds. He ran to the lake and felt out the vibrations, the movement around him just like Makkari had taught him and he felt Chloe she was thrashing several meters below under the frozen ice. Apollo super sped to right in front of where she was and then looked towards her, she had stopped thrashing, Apollo could no longer feel those vibrations, she'd most likely passed out. He had to act quickly. Apollo summoned the heat within him, he felt it and let it rise through him and blasted it into the ice below with as much as power as he could summon. The ice melted away almost instantly and Apollo dived into Crater Lake and swam at super speed right to Chloe grabbing her limp body and swimming to the surface firing his heat vision above them to make sure the ice didn't even begin to freeze over them again. Moments later he pulled her out of the Lake and looked her over. Her skin looked completely blue. Apollo began to deliver CPR and Chloe weakly spat up the water she swallowed but she still wasn't waking up. She was too cold and Apollo knew what he had to do. He'd never done this yet but he had to trust himself, it's like his Uncle Ikaris said this power was his and he would use it to help, to save. Apollo let the heat within him rise but this time he let it flow out of his eyes like waves of warm heat and encompass all of Chloe. He saw Chloe's skin regain colour and the ice on her skin and in her clothes melt away. Chloe began to open her eyes and Apollo quickly put his glasses back on.

"Apollo?" Chloe said confused and out of it.

"Yeah it's me" Apollo said as he put his hand on her shoulder.

"What happened I thought I fell through the ice... did you, did you save me?" Chloe questioned.

"I did, but anybody would have. How are you feeling?" Apollo asked.

"Cold" Chloe joked and the two of them nervously laughed together.

"I figured, and it's good you've still got your sense of humour, that should mean you should be okay. Which is good the world couldn't afford to lose future Pulitzer award winner Chloe Sullivan" Apollo earnestly told her.

Chloe smiled and blushed a little at the comment. She was the type to smile by showing all of her teeth in a wide smile. It was a nice smile.

"And the world definitely couldn't afford to lose your smile" Apollo added. "C'mon let me help you inside"

Apollo then picked her up and carried her back to the cabin where Whitney was calling for help. Everyone in the cabin looked Apollo and Chloe like they had sprouted a third eye on their foreheads. Skye rushed to the two of them and hugged them.

"Oh my god Chloe, you're alright" Skye exclaimed.

"I think I am but I should probably go to a hospital to make sure. Apollo saved me" Chloe said as Apollo put her down.

Everyone stared at Apollo and he suddenly wanted to be invisible, he didn't like this type of attention. What if people figured out he was different? What if they went out and saw the holes he melted in the ice?

"How?" Whitney said sounding like a mix of relieved and bewildered.

"There was a hole in the ice. I jumped in and saved her" Apollo said mixing in the truth with a small lie.

"You're an idiot" Skye said as she smacked the back of his head and Apollo had to pretend that hurt for a moment.

"Ow. What was that for?" Apollo questioned.

"You could have died. That was incredibly dangerous thing to do….. but I am so glad you're both okay" Skye responded.

"I'm sorry but why isn't Kent shivering? He dived into a frozen lake and he seems like it might as well have been a relaxing Jacuzzi" Kyle said.

"His skin isn't even blue, and neither is Chloe's. What happened out there?" Whitney added clearly just as confused as Kyle.

Apollo started to feel very self conscious he should've remembered to shiver; he was to caught up in saving Chloe to think about the potential aftermath and now he might've been caught. Everyone would know he was different, that his family was different and they'd be chased down or experimented on. How could he fix this he wondered?

"Are you really asking such dumb questions when Chloe almost died, chalk it up to adrenaline or maybe a holiday miracle either way I don't care. Chloe's alive and that's what's most important" Skye intervened unknowingly saving Apollo.

Those words seemed to snap Kyle and Whitney out of their suspicions and the group heard the ambulance that they had called pull up to the cabin effectively ending any interrogating the two could do of Apollo. The first thing the EMT's did was check on Chloe giving her a new set of clothes and telling her they were taking her to the hospital. The next thing they did was chastise them for skating on a frozen lake without adult supervision. They were all told to go home and so they packed up and Apollo's first party was over.

As he walked out of the house and by the ambulance he saw Skye and Chloe talking right before Chloe was about to be taken away and he waved at them walking over to make sure they were both alright. They both assured him they were fine just as Mr. Hubbard arrived in his car to pick up Skye. Skye said bye to the two of them hugging them deeply before going off with her Dad. An awkward silence fell between Chloe and Apollo as Apollo didn't know what to say to her in this situation.

"Apollo I hope you know how glad I am you were at this party. I may have been a bit taken back by Skye inviting you but I'm really glad you came" Chloe finally said.

"I am glad I came too. Although the party would've been better if you hadn't nearly drowned" Apollo told her.

"Are you kidding, now I have the coolest story to write about" Chloe retorted.

"Well I can't wait to read it" Apollo said with a smile.

Chloe blushed a little then said "You're a really cool guy Apollo, I can't believe I couldn't look past the specs and see that. Maybe I'm the one who needs glasses"

"I'd lend you mine but then I'd be walking around blind, just knocking things over and tripping. I don't know how cool I'd be then" Apollo joked and Chloe laughed at the mental image.

"You'd still be cool to me. You saved my life even though it could have cost you your own, I don't know anybody else who would've done that. Apollo Kent you're totally my hero" Chloe told him.

Apollo blushed as the EMT's finally fired up their engine and told Apollo they had to take Chloe. Apollo watched them drive away with Chloe and then when he was sure nobody would notice him he ran off back home eager to get some rest. He passed by his parents and Sprite on his way in and told them he made a new friend and saved a life. His parents had more questions but Apollo just told them he was tired and they let him go to sleep. Apollo crawled into his bed and the moment his head hit the pillow he was fast asleep. That night Apollo didn't dream but he still smiled as he slept because the words of Chloe Sullivan rang throughout his mind 'You are totally my hero'.

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