Here Comes the Sun (OPEN)

[Apollo]

So there he was, sitting in the chariot that pulled the sun, minding his own business, taking some selfies, when SHAZAM a portal appeared. Now Apollo knew that the kind of portals that magically appear in front of you should be taken with a pinch of salt, not all portals lead to good places…however…there was something about this one…something…familiar.

A wide sunny smile spread across his face.

“Yessssssssss,” he said as he looked at, it quickly pocketing his phone.

He was about to dive through when suddenly he had a thought…this was a second chance, the chance to do things right. He had changes his face a few times when he was there, but this time…this time he was really going to get it right. This time, he wasn’t just going to be awesome, he was going to be…gorgeous. A few changes there, a few changes here and BAM! It was perfection.

With one last look in the mirror he plucked out of thin air, he dived into the portal and landed…

…the middle of the commons, standing on the statue in the empty fountain.

“Here comes the sun bitches!” said Apollo to the…empty…commons.

He sighed.

What was the point in an amazing entrance if no one was here to see it!

He climbed down from the fountain. “Hello!? Is anyone there?!”

[Alyss Heart]

Alyss really wasn't sure what to expect when she and Tori leaped into the Pool of Tears...it really occurred to her she should have thought this whole thing through a bit more. This was definitely the kind of behavior she would have expected from much younger self, but she was a queen and a mother now, and she just LEAPT into action like that? She clutched onto her child as tightly as she could before they entered the glowing vortex....and found herself landing on her feet...somewhere...

Somewhere very familiar, although it certainly had changed quite a bit...well at least she had been right about that.

Before she could fully process this however, she heard someone shouting, and a combination of royal propriety and her Victorian upbringing caused her to blanche at the voice's language, and attempt to cover her giggling child's ears. Oh gods, she's going to be saying that to anyone who'll listen for the next two weeks, isn't she? And if I tell her not to, she's going to want to do it even MORE, because that's just how my child, or really children in general work, but being Hermes' child makes her even worse in that regard... She chose instead to pretend she didn't notice (which would probably fail, Tori was far too smart for her own good).

After a moment or two, she glanced up, realizing whomever was shouting was up on that statue.

Yeah. She was definitely back.

"Erm, hello..." Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Tori was glancing up at the man in fascination, almost as if she somehow recognized him...not that that was possible.

[Apollo]

Voices! Yes! Finally! Someone was here to see him and-…

He slumped his shoulders.

Oh it was only a couple of girls. One older and one younger.

He smiled.

Still, it was an audience, and he loved an audience.

“Hello there older mortal and,” he looked down at the young girl and grinned, “young mortal. Your prayers have been answered, your God of choice has returned and he is here to brighten your day. Please, please, save all your temple dedication requests until later, as you can see, I have a lot of work to do.”

He looked at the overgrown courtyard and frowned, “what on earth happened here? Did Persephone and Demeter have a fight again? Looks like it, although I was sure I would have known if that was the case.”

He looked back at the older mortal, “Who are you?”

[Alyss Heart]

...oh so he was a god, was he? That was good to know. Alyss didn't have the heart to tell him that, no, if she was going to pray for a god to come to her, it wouldn't necessarily be him...not that she had any idea which one he was, but she could say with utmost confidence he wasn't...well, as she looked over at Tori she decided not to think too hard about that. Who even knew where Tori's father was at this point? She might never get the chance to see him again and...

Well it didn't matter now.

By now Tori was beaming up at him with a wicked smile that was usually a prelude to a prank, so Alyss snapped out of her thoughts and gave her a warning look. The gods weren't to be trifled with until you knew that they didn't mind it, and despite how powerful Tori was, she was pretty certain she wasn't smite proof.

Alyss turned her gaze back up towards the god. "I'm not sure what happened, we just got back ourselves. Persephone and Demeter getting into a fight seem as likely as anything, knowing this place...I'm Alyss, erm, Queen Alyss Heart of Wonderland. Though honestly the title's not as important to me as you'd think." She softened and lifted Tori up, she was still surprisingly light. "This is my daughter, Victoria."

"You can call me Tori!" she added. "Are you one of my uncles?"

Alyss' eyes widened and she hushed her daughter, although she supposed it was too late for that. Oh please let this be a god that wouldn't mind meeting one of Hermes' children...

[Apollo]

Oh so she was a Queen was she, well, Apollo knew a lot of Queens, although the ones he knew tended to be a lot taller with far more extravagant make up. Still, she seemed pleasant enough.

Apollo did not hate women, he didn’t even dislike them, he just wasn’t interested in them. He was the god of young men and he took that very, very seriously, and left all the women stuff to Artemis. He had a little pout as he thought about her, oh how he missed his sister, she was such a sweetheart. Maybe he would be able to find a surrogate one until Artemis also managed to shirk her duties and come back to Tintagel for a bit, wouldn’t that be great?!

He looked the Queen up and down. Hmm…it was possible, he would need to wait and see though.

He then looked at the younger girl, at her cheeky smile and couldn’t help but smile back at her. Possibly, although she was very small to be a sister to him. Then she was inferring that he was an uncle.

He laughed and crouching down in front of her said, “I may very well be my little ray of sunshine. My father has a very big appetite so you could be the spawn of one of my many, many siblings. Since I do not recognise this lady, perhaps it’s your father I know?”

He looked back up at Alyss and enquired conversationally, “Who is the father of this child?”

[Alyss Heart]

...well at least it seemed that the god was amused by the notion that Tori was his niece, that was good, that was good...still, from what she knew of the Greek gods, they didn't always get along, and Hermes had his fair share of rivalries. At least he was being kind to her daughter. She had tried to tie one god up with vines to protect Tori before, and she really didn't want to have to do it again, especially since it was very likely NOT going to end well this time.

Tori nodded to confirm the god's realization. "Mum's not a god. She's just a really awesome human."

Alyss' expression melted just a little, as it often did when Tori decided to be surprisingly sweet...and then she was asked the question she was dreading. No sense in lying, she supposed... "Hermes. Although Tori's never gotten to meet him..."

[Apollo]

Hermes?

Apollo’s initial reaction was to jump back immediately from the demon spawn of one of his greatest enemies, however he forced himself to stay still due to the other thing the young woman had said.

‘Although Tori’s never got to meet him’.

Apollo smiled at the little girl.

Oh well now wasn’t this just a wonderful opportunity that just landed in his lap. Perhaps there was potential in this mother and daughter after all. Still smiling sunnily at the little girl he said as warmly as he could, “Ah yes, dear brother Hermes, I have to say I’ve not seen him in some time as well.”

Now thing was, Apollo very rarely lied, he saw no reason too, he was awesome and gorgeous and amazing and everyone should know this. However, he was the god of the arts and acting was an art, it also, wasn’t technically lying. So Apollo was going to act, he was going to act as the loyal brother of Hermes, he was going to take this poor fatherless child and her abandoned mother into his care and protection, and he was going act like the perfect Uncle Apollo they had ever seen. And hopefully by the time Hermes turned up to try and reclaim the two…well…perhaps by then they might be on his side.

“Well that changes everything,” said Apollo keeping most of his attention on Tori and glancing at Alyss, “until my brother gets back I promise to look after you both whilst you are here. Anything you need, anything at all, please do not hesitate to ask. Here, take these.”

He called on his power and although dampened by whatever it was they had in this school, he materialised two gold necklaces from thin air that had a little golden sun pendent on each of them. He held them out to Alyss and said, “whenever the two of you are in danger simply hold the pendant in your hand and say ‘Here comes the sun’ and I will be right by your side. It doesn’t even need to be danger, just anytime you need me, I’ll be there. For now though, it might be best if you stick by me, who knows what dangers might be lurking around this place. Oh, but wait, one more thing.”

He pulled out a big of sweets from the air and was about to hand them over to Tori when he looked back at Alyss and said, “Is it alright for her to have sweets?”

[Alyss Heart]

…he was smiling. That wasn’t at all what Alyss had expected. She supposed she was grateful for it, and the fact he didn’t seem to harbor any ill feelings for his brother…so much so that he was offering to help take care of them until they found Hermes. What the god hadn’t realized was that Alyss was more than capable of taking care of herself and her child…but Alyss was hardly ever going to turn down some help. She might be very wary of it, especially given past experiences, but surely they could manage him, right?
…oh. Oh, ‘here comes the sun’ was how they’d call him, hmm? Apollo, that must be him then. She had honestly avoided asking which god he was since he was so certain they had prayed for him to show up and there was no way she was going to risk tampering with his ego…so she had tied up his sister out of anger and protective feelings for her unborn daughter then. That was great. They were just going to keep that as a secret as long as possible…especially since he was being kind enough to offer them not only jewelry that would guarantee they could contact him, but a bag of sweets for Tori. Most people would expect that Alyss forbade someone like Tori from having too much sugar, but what they didn’t know was that Alyss knew damn well Tori wasn’t nearly as impacted by sugar as one might think.

“Oh that would be just fine, you’re very kind…” After all, if the god had nefarious purposes, she knew damn well her daughter would sense them.

And well…Tori did, sort of. One of the benefits of being Hermes’ daughter was apparently being a born lie detector, and she knew there was some ulterior motives behind Apollo’s words, even though she couldn’t quite tell what it was. She didn’t think he meant any harm per se, she just had the feeling they were being used somehow…but then again, she was still a little girl being offered free candy. “Thank you!” She reached out her hands and accepted the sweets and the necklace.

“Make sure you pace yourself with that though, Tori,” Alyss warned.

“Yes Mum!” Then she turned to her uncle. “Mum and I can do that sort of thing too! She can make singing flowers and vines that trap bad guys and even really real looking illusions,” Tori declared as she decided which piece she’d have first.. “She thinks I’m doing a better job than even she did when she was my age, maybe it’s because you guys can, you know?”

[Apollo]

Apollo gladly handed over the sweets to the little girl.

“It is no trouble at all your majesty,” said Apollo, “I am simply doing my duty as a god…the sweets are just a bonus. Things always seem a little better after some sugar I find.”

He looked back at Tori and said, “can she really? Well that is impressive, your mother is a very talented person by the sounds of it.” He looked up at Alyss and smiled before looking back at Tori, “as are you little firefly, do you mind if I call you firefly? You just remind me of one, full of energy and so very bright. I enjoy giving nicknames and that one suits you to a tee.”

He held out his hand to her and said, “Now, why don’t you, your mother and I have a little look around and see if we can use our abilities to clean this place up a bit.”

[Alyss Heart]

Alyss' smile broadened just a little. All she could think of were tarty tarts now...she'd simply have to...oh wait...he had been quite kind. Even if she was wary, one look at her daughter's smile upon finding a particularly good piece of chocolate let her know there was really no harm in offering him something in return. And yes, he could've conjured some up whenever he wanted, but he might not have known of tarty tarts. She was never quite clear of how much of Wonderland the gods ruled, after all. As she put on the necklace and helped Tori with her own, she answered, "I have to agree. I'll have to return the favor if we find a place that...isn't covered in vines and probably a lot of grime...I imagine tarty tarts won't taste terribly good here..."

When Alyss realized that Tori had started to go on about her abilities, and it had SOMEHOW led to her being complimented, her smile turned sheepish. "It's just something women in our family can do...but thank you."

Tori beamed. "She's the best Mum I could ask for. And I'll be as good as her someday...and oh, I like fireflies, I'm fine with it, Uncle!" While she was sure he was hiding something, he was being very nice to her and her mother, and that counted a lot in the her book.

Alyss softened...yes, this could be good. A little more family for Tori, was it so bad to want that? She had been robbed grandparents, a father, even her godmother...at least now she had an uncle.

She glanced up at Apollo and nodded. "Yes, that might be best..." Her eyes found the fountain first, and she wandered over...with some thought, it began to fill with water...it'd take a while to make it work like a proper fountain again, but it was a start. She turned, and saw that Tori was Imagining flowers in some of the cracks on the stones. Not quite what they had in mind, but she had to smile all the same.

[Apollo]

“Tarty tarts?” enquired Apollo with a grin, “well I look forward to trying one of them.”

Turning back to Tori he said, “She certainly is, and I’m glad you like it.”

With that he got to work as well, helping them clear away the growth. Under his hand the vines slowly started to move out the way, he emitted a kind of light from his palm which the vines followed as he guided them to a less obstructed place. He did not want to harm the vines, after all they belonged to great grandmother Gaia and he did not want to get on the wrong side of her…or Hestia…or Demeter…or Persephone…basically, getting on the wrong side of women was a bad idea.

He looked over to where Tori was making flowers and sent a little light from his palm their way as well, causing them to bloom a little brighter in the sun’s rays. As he did this he looked round at Alyss and asked, “So how did you come to meet my darling little brother? Was it here at the school?”

[Alyss Heart]

Alyss smiled at both of the last couple of comments she heard from Apollo before they had gotten to work...really, he seemed to have nothing but nice things to say. It was probably only memories of trauma that had her keep even his kindest words at the slightest distance.

After all, Dodgson had been nothing but kind too...so this time? She was taking full advantage of what he had to offer, and was going to be courteous towards him...but she wasn't going to allow herself to be caught off guard if he somehow betrayed them, or had other plans for them. And knowing her daughter and how very clever she was? She knew that went for the both of them.

Between her and Tori creating new life, and him finding ways to push away the unwanted vines, they had quite the convenient set up going on here, and she could imagine this place looking a bit more like itself before long. She caught a glimpse of Apollo offering little sun spots for Tori's flowers, and...honestly, that made her endeavors make a little more sense. Plus the way Tori's little face lit up was undeniable.

...and just like that her heart grew just a little heavier. She hadn't wanted it to. She spent this long accepting that this was just the way it had to be, but bring him up without warning and her heart clenched with regret...not of their night together, never. You need only look at how she looked at her daughter to see she didn't regret a thing from that. More...regret that they didn't have a little more time...which was preposterous, of course, but...

She shook off her pointless thoughts and answered, "Yes...I don't believe I was ever in one of his classes, we always seemed to meet by chance. Though how much of it was chance on his end is hard to say, I suppose..."

Tori had heard this story before, more or less, but even as she occupied herself with some of the insects that had found their way in the cracks on the ground, she listened intently. She always loved hearing what little her mother had to say about her father, and perhaps now with Uncle Apollo she'd hear more, even if they weren't 100% sure of how much to trust him.

[Apollo]

Apollo nodded and said, “it’s always been hard to figure out what goes on in his head, and he always seems to have a plan for anything. If I was a betting man, which I’m not, but if I was, I would say it wouldn’t have been by chance. Hermes has an angle on everything he does, he knows what he wants and he knows how to get it.”

He heard his words and realised how harsh that had sounded and quickly added, “but he is not devoid of compassion, what he wants could be something important, something he cares about, something…like you I imagine.”

He wasn’t quite sure if he was acting there. Alyss did seem like something he would care about, and Tori…well…he got the impression Hermes would love that little cheerful firefly.

[Alyss Heart]

Alyss nodded...at the very least, the encounter that...well, made Tori possible, she was certain he had sought her out. After all, it was all about him pleading for forgiveness over what had happened that Halloween. So it made perfect sense that Hermes had a lot more control over when they interacted than she did...and she softened at Apollo's implication that she was important to Hermes.

"I...get the feeling I reminded him of someone. He always seemed so sad to look at me, and..." She paused, pondering if this was information she wished to divulge..."And I know what it looks like when someone has lost something or someone precious..."

Just then, she felt a tiny hand touch her own, and she looked down, finding Tori looking up at her with those big blue eyes. "Mum?"

Almost overwhelmed by her little girl's kindness, she answered, "Oh...oh Tori, Mum's fine. I promise."

Tori studied her expression, nodded, and then gave her a little hug for good measure. Alyss was more than happy to return it.

[Apollo]

Apollo tried to wrack his brains as to who Alyss might have reminded Hermes of. There were so many to choose from it was hard to pick just one. Who had been most precious to him? It highlighted to him that for all the bickering with his brother he actually knew very little about him. He was surprised to note that he felt a slight twinge of guilt at that fact.

Attempting to ignore he decided it was time to lighten the mood, and no one lighted things quite like Apollo. He decided to do this by projecting a warm glow around the courtyard, emitting from himself nothing too bright, just enough to light things and warm the mother and daughter beside him.

“Loss is the storm, the rain battering down on us,” he said sagely, (he was a god after all), “but after the storm comes the sun and makes everything bright again.”

He pointed to Tori and said, “I think you got your sun, am I right firefly?”