Chapter 2

Mount Olympus was taller than I ever imagined.

I lost track of how many days I climbed.

My skirt was shredded by thorns. The blisters on my feet popped and bled. My knees were scraped raw against the rocks.

Giant eagles meant to guard the mountain swooped over my head, and I had to hug a tree trunk and play dead. Several times, I almost slipped off the edge of a cliff, only surviving by clawing desperately at the stone.

Only one thought kept me going.

I had to see Apollo. I had to yell at him to his face.

I don't know how long it took, but suddenly, a blinding golden light pierced my vision.

I looked up.

A magnificent, golden temple hovered right there above the sea of clouds.

I crept toward the massive doors.

The inside of the temple was more breathtaking than I could have ever dreamed, but my eyes immediately locked onto the man sitting in the center of the hall.

He was tall and lean, sitting behind a literal mountain of scrolls.

He wore a pristine white chiton, his golden hair shining like the sun itself. His features were so flawless he looked carved from marble.

He didn't even look up. His brows were furrowed, one hand propping up his head while the other quickly scribbled on a scroll. Several divine attendants were carrying even more scrolls to add to his pile.

I recognized that face.

From the statues in the temples. It was him. Apollo.

Ten years of prayers, ten years of injustice, ten years of whips and tears—it all surged up in my chest at once.

I didn't care about anything else. I sprinted up the steps and threw my arms around his leg.

An ugly wail ripped from my throat.

I sobbed at the top of my lungs.

"Apollo! I finally found you!"

Everyone in the temple froze. An attendant dropped their scrolls in sheer shock, the parchment scattering everywhere.

Apollo’s hand stopped mid-air. He slowly looked down.

His eyes were a glowing, brilliant gold. I’d never seen anything like them.

"...Who are you?"

I looked up, my face covered in dirt and tears. "I'm your believer! My name is Juliette! I've prayed to you every single night since I was a kid!"

"Let go of me," he frowned.

I hugged his leg tighter. "No! If you don't give me justice, I'm never letting go!"

"What are the guards even doing?" he muttered, turning his head, clearly annoyed.

A few guards rushed in to drag me away.

I clung to his leg for dear life, wrapping around him like a vine, and shrieked, "You're the God of Light, and you just watched your believer get abused for ten years! Ten years! Where were you when I was chopping wood and getting whipped?! They tried to sell me to a sixty-year-old man, did you know that?!"

Apollo raised a hand, and the guards froze in their tracks.

He looked down at me, his expression complicated.

"...You came all this way... for this?"

"What do you mean 'for this'?!" I cried, snot and tears running down my face. "You're the most glorious god! You have a duty to bring truth to the world!"

Apollo’s expression went completely blank.

I could tell he was too stunned to speak. The other attendants in the hall looked like they wanted to sink into the floor.

"Let me tell you!" I continued, gaining momentum. "My adoptive dad Gerard, my adoptive mom Martha, and their daughter Cassia! They hit me, cursed at me, treated me like a slave, and then tried to sell me for gold coins! Don't you think you should do something about that?!"

Apollo was silent for a long time.

Just as I started wondering if he was going to smite me, he sighed.

"...What do you want me to do?"

My eyes lit up. "Divine punishment! I want them punished!"

"Be specific," he rubbed his temples, sounding like he was trying very hard to be patient.

I thought for a second. "Turn them into pigs! The really fat, stupid kind!"

Apollo’s fingers twitched. I swore I saw the corner of his mouth tremble, like he wanted to laugh but held it back.

"As you wish."

He raised a hand, formed a tiny spark of golden light at his fingertip, and flicked it. The light vanished into the clouds outside the temple.

"It's done," he said. "Satisfied?"

I finally smiled. "Satisfied!"

"Then can you let go of my leg now?"

I shook my head and looked up at him with wide eyes. "Um... if I get bullied again, can I still come find you?"

Apollo had clearly never met a mortal as shameless as me. He looked like he was about to scold me, but his gaze dropped to my shredded skirt, my bleeding knees, and finally to my tear-streaked face.

He sighed again.

This time, there was something softer in his voice, something I couldn't quite read.

He pulled a pendant from his sleeve.

"Take this," he handed it to me. "When you need to find me, say my name three times in your head."

I took it carefully, treating it like the most precious thing in the world. It was a tiny, solid-gold lyre.

"I will hear you," he promised.

Clutching the pendant, I walked back down the mountain, completely satisfied.