Chapter 40 – The Apollonian Cultural Convention

Time skip to January 2nd, 1990

[3rd POV]

On this day, tens of thousands of tourists flocked to Apollonia for the first ever Apollonian Cultural Convention.

Journalists, enthusiastic fans, and curious people with money to burn, all showed up for the event. Most were dressed up in outfits ranging from princess outfits to Pokémon costumes.

One such attendee was Vincent Parker. Dressed in a school uniform from Classroom of the Elite, he patiently waited for the gates of Apollonia to open. Considering the 50-foot wall surrounding the city, the golden gates were the only way to enter.

"Gosh darn it, when are they letting us in?" Ethan Anderson, Vincent's friend asked. He too was dressed in a Classroom of the Elite uniform. The two of them went to the same high school and had bonded over their love for the same anime.

"I'm sure they'll let us in soon," Vincent responded while checking his watch. He wasn't wrong considering it was 6:59. A minute later, the gates opened, and a massive wave of people surged through.

Vincent and Ethan had no choice but to follow the crowd. Eventually, they found themselves in a clearing, from which they could get a good view of city.

"Wow," they both said slowly.

Ahead of them, they saw what looked like a scene from a storybook. Houses lined cobblestone streets, all converging on roundabout surrounding a beautiful fountain.

In the background was the tallest skyscraper Vincent and Ethan had ever seen. So tall, both boys wondered how they didn't notice it before.

Looking at each other, an understanding flashed in their eyes. Then, they both started running to the nearest building.

The first building they got to was one that gave out free robes. Just robes. No other clothing.

"Which of these four characteristics do you value most: courage, loyalty, intelligence, or ambition?" one of the women running the store asked them. She herself wore a black robe with a green badge displaying a silver snake.

"Loyalty," Vincent and Ethan both said immediately. Both had been backstabbed too many times.

They both received a black robe with a yellow badge displaying a badger.

"See you later Hufflepuffs!" she told them as they left the store.

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All over Apollonia, tourists and reporters explored the city. There were candy stores selling unknown sweets like Chocolate Frogs, Sugar Quills, and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Many Americans were confused as to why 'Flavour' was misspelled. There were also a 'bank' selling coins made of various precious metals, shops selling 'magic' wands, and bars that served drinks like 'Butterbeer,' 'Firewhiskey,' along with more normal drinks.

In the bars, televisions played trailers of the latest anime made by Apollo Enterprises: Naruto, Haikyuu, and Classroom of the Elite.

There were also all sorts of gaming competitions set up around the city. The 1v1 Halo matches were the most popular, where players would compete on an Xbox that displayed their match on a large screen. Winners would get some premium merchandise.

Near the Sunscraper, there were tables set up where voice actors and famous YouTubers would meet their fans and sign autographs.

To the delight of all fans, everything was free. The food, merchandise, everything. When asked, employees would simply state that Apollo Enterprises was covering everything.

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Just before 6:00 pm, everyone was rounded up and guided to an amphitheater. The amphitheater was a behemoth of a structure, but due to being next to the Sunscraper, it was less noticeable in the skyline. It was built in a Greco-Roman style, with everything built with marble, except for the seats. The seats were covered with leather cushions.

However, there were no back rests. This promoted the audience to sit with a better posture but was uncomfortable for a first world audience.

Seating tens of thousands of people took the better part of an hour, so the earlier arrivers were entertained with a chariot race. The audience was enamored with such an ancient sport.

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[Main POV]

I personally cheered for the Blues. And to my delight (and Artemis's dismay), the Blues won the chariot race.

"You ready?" I asked the Artemis who was pouting.

She snapped out of it and nodded. Working together, we used our powers to make a stage rise out of the ground. We heard the audience whisper at what they saw.

Getting up on our chariot, I extended my hand towards her. Graciously accepting, she stepped onto the chariot before I commanded our horses to move.

As we rode into the open, I had the sunlight concentrate and reflect off the Sunscraper, shining upon us like a spotlight which left the rest of the amphitheater dark. Immediately the crowd went wild.

Bathing in the roar of the crowd, I silently lit Artemis and I on fire. Of course, the fire was harmless, and was clearly referencing Katniss and Peeta's opening ceremony entrance in the Hunger Games. The audience ate it up.

Reaching the stage, I guided Artemis off the chariot, like the good gentleman I was. I heard the cameras flash, both from mainstream news, and from people's phones.

With tens of thousands of cameras on us, I stepped up to the microphone.

"Hello everyone, welcome to the first every Apollonian Cultural Convention!" I said before pausing for the applause. Luckily, I didn't need to say 'please clap' for the audience to do so.

After everyone calmed down, I continued. "I know many of you have seen trailers of our new movie the Lion King, so I won't bore you guys more by talking about it. I also know everyone knows about the new anime coming out – hold on, you guys like anime, right?"

The crowd roared in agreement.

"What's your favorite anime? Alright, we'll do a quick survey, who here likes Naruto the best?"

There was a large cheer.

"Who here likes Full Metal Alchemist the best?"

There was an even larger cheer.

"Who here likes Classroom of the Elite the best?"

There was a noticeably smaller cheer. I looked over to Artemis who was giving me a 'told you so' look.

"Okay, it's clear," I said with a smile, "as the impartial judge, with no favorites, it's clear that everyone like Classroom of the Elite the best."

I paused as the audience laughed at my joke.

"Other than my anime, I know you guys like my books. A Song of Ice and Fire, Maze Runner, Hunger Games –"

"Write a fourth book!" I heard someone shout. The words echoed throughout the stadium, and everyone roared in agreement.

I looked over at Artemis again who simply shrugged. Alright, time to pivot. "There is a prequel that I've written, but we'll see about releasing it," I lied. "But before you read that, you guys got to read my latest book."

"I'm sure all of you have been wondering about the theme of this convention," I continued. "The robes, the weird candy, the magic wands, all of which are in it. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Harry Potter, and the Philosopher's Stone!"

The crowd whispered furiously as Artemis held up a book with a boy with a lightning scar on the cover. As the cameras around the arena zoomed in, large monitors displayed a closeup of the book.

"If you liked my previous books, you'll love this one! Magic and mysteries, what more could anyone ask for?" I asked rhetorically. "On your way out of Apollonia, you'll receive small gift bag containing a free copy, signed, by yours truly." God, I felt like Lockhart.

The crowd ate it up as they cheered. I'm pretty sure a bunch of them just wanted my signature.

"You will also be getting our the latest iPhone 4, along with a couple of random pieces of merchandise! Thank you for attending, god bless you, and good night!"

I had to shout the last part over the audience cause everyone cheered the second I said they'll be getting free iPhones. Well, my job here is done.

I got back on the chariot with Artemis and rode out of there.

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[3rd POV]

"Bro, what'd you get?" Vincent asked Ethan. In Vincent's gift bag were an iPhone 4, the Harry Potter book, a Kakashi nendoroid/paperweight, and a Full Metal Alchemist poster.

"POG!" Ethan yelled. In his hand was a holographic Charizard Pokémon card. This card was one that was worth thousands of dollars in Apollo's past life. He had only given out 12 out of the tens of thousands of gift bags, and Ethan had been lucky enough to get it.

"Lemme see," Vincent reached, only to have Ethan move his hand out of reach.

"Wait, I don't want you to damage it," Ethan slowly brought the card closer to Vincent. Vincent narrowed his eyes to get a better look. It was beautiful.

"Damn, I didn't get anything else," Ethan grumbled. "Hey, what's this?"

Ethan was on his new iPhone 4. On the home page, he noticed a new application called 'Instagram.' Opening and logging in using his Facebook account, he saw an app similar to Facebook, but one more oriented towards pictures. He scrolled through his feed and saw lots of pictures of people showing off their own haul from the convention.

"Vincent," Ethan said handing his friend his phone, "take a picture of me with my shit."

Vincent did so and Ethan reciprocated. Both boys posted their pictures on Instagram, and saw the likes and comments roll in.

In a single day, Apollo got tens of thousands of people to post on Instagram. An app that didn't exist 24 hours ago. Over the following weeks, that number turned into millions, as people could easily make an account using their Facebook account, which many already had.

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AN: I know the past few chapters have been more static. But I promise there's action to come.

You know the drill, drop me some Power Stones, and maybe I'll get enough for a holographic Charizard Pokémon card.

Also, write some reviews. I don't know how many I need for the story to get an official rating, but the more the better (I think).