origins

It was an odd feeling being born. One minute, he was drifting through an infinite void, the next--- a physical form, in a physical world. Apollo stared up at the Mother Tree, stared curiously at the strange gemstones floating in its middle. A slight breeze ruffled his red hair, and he felt a bit chilly. Standing, they lost their balance and fell off the root he had been sitting on.

"You might want to be careful, young one." The voice startled them, and they jumped up, looking fearfully around. "Sorry--- I didn't mean to frighten you. I'm a friend."

Their eyes landed on a one-eyed faun--- though, instead of the normal goat features he had those of a deer. He had long, brown hair, wore no shirt, and he had a long, serpentine tail that twisted around one of his legs and ended in a point. A shimmery halo crowned his head and circled 'round his antlers.

"My name is Finn. Who are you?"

Apollo stared back at him silently, unmoving. Finn frowned.

"Um... Are you okay?"

Apollo felt a shift in the atmoshpere, it felt somewhat sad. They couldn't quite explain it, they felt fine, if not a bit confused. They shifted their weight to his other paw and stared curiously at Finn, unsure how to answer him.

"Well... how would you feel about coming with me? And getting some clothes?"

Again, Apollo didn't reply. They did, however, take a wobbly step forward. Finn smiled, and worry that had been emanating off of him turned to something a bit more cheerful.

"Here--- let me help you."

He etended a four-finged hand and Apollo grabbed it with his own and allowed themsekf to be led away. As they walked, Apollo quickly grew confident in himsekf and abandoned Finn's helping hand to dash around and see this new place. They were on a set of floating islands, the one with the Mother Tree being the smallest, each one of which was connected by a rope bridge. There were trees and flowers and streams and waterfalls but what caught Apollo's attention were hte buildings. They were varied in size, but most were smaller and consisted of stone floors, white columns, and a domed roof. There weren't that many of these though.

There was a larger building that did have walls, and it looked like Finn was taking Apollo to it. They didn't appreciate crossing the precarious bridges, but Finn held his shoulder as they did and it made things better.

When the two were finally getting closer to the building, Apollo noticed a couple of other people. One was tall and slender, with dark skin and straight, grey hair that blended nicely into her lynx ears. The other was shorter and fatter with purple hued skin and two extra sets of arms, like a spider. Finn led them past the pair and into the building as Apollo stared curiously at the other immortals. He was being led through hallways while Finn talked, explaining things.

"Those two we just passed--- the cat was Slerina and the spider was Bea. You'll meet them more properly when you meet the other two. There are five-- or, six now, I guess-- of us in total."

The two came to a door and entered into the room beyond. The room was more of a closet and it was packed with clothing of all sorts, though oddly enough there was nothing to fit a scrawny teen.

"Feel free to pick out whatever you want." Finn said, and Apollo gave him a thankful look before stepping forward and selecting a green tunic and a pair of black leggings. Finn smiled and grabbed a couple of belts but he ultimate had to grab a bit of rope to use because none of them were small enough.

"Much better." He grinned, taking in apollo's outfit. The young immortal smiled back, showing a full sttsy of pointy and sharp teeth befitting a sharp. "Do you think you could tell me what you wish to be called?" He asked, without much hope. As he thought, all he got was a blank stare. "Alright, I'll have to think of something myself. You can nod or shake your head to communicate whether you like it or not. Do you know what either means?" Apollo nodded. "Okay. Hmm... You have a lot of red going for you--- hair, eyes... How about Redd?"

Shake.

"Okay... Rust?"

Shake.

"Ummmm, Freckles? Since you have freckles?"

Shake.

"Hm, ok... I'm sorry, I'm not good at naming... How about Fox?"

Shake, but a little slower. It didn't suit him, but Apollo did like it.

"Do you have anything in mind? You're not even thinking about it." Nod. "Can you help me out? Without talking?" A pause, and then Apollo used his hands to form an A. "It starts with an A?" Finn confirmed, and Apollo grinned at him. "Do you think you can elaborate?" Shake. "So you just want me to guess?" Nod. Finn sighed, and smiled at the kid in front of him. "Alright, it starts with an A... Anne?" Violent shake. "Ares?" Shake. "Astrophel?" Shake. "Atkinson?" Shake. "Adam?" Shake. "Aria?" Shake. "Arnold?" Shake. "Aiden?" Shake. Finn was beginning to wonder how long this would go on. "Apollo?" Nod. "Wait, really? You want to be called Apollo?" Nod, and a grin. Finn grinned back, relieved. He had been beginning to run out of A names. "Apollo... I like it."

Apollo smiled, and Finn felt glad to have been able to make them happy. Stars knew Catrina wouldn't allow that to continue.

"Alright, Apollo, are you ready to meet the others?" Finn asked. Apollo nodded cheerfully, and Finn led them out into the hallway again and toward the common room.

Bea and Slerina should have alerted Catrina and Lorelei to the new immortal by now, so they should all be there. Upon entrance, Finn was satisfied to see he had been correct. The four goddesses glanced over with varying levels of interest as the pair walked in, and Apollo waved nervously at them.

"Where did you get that?" Ctarina asked.

"The Mother Tree." Finn answered.

Apollo glanced between the two warily. They sensed a shift in the emotional atmosphere--- Finn and Catrina did not like each other. Going further, he learned that Lorelei was bored and a bit annoyed, and Bea and Slerina were simply curious. Bea placed a hand on Catrina's shoulder, which proved enough to keep her civil.

"The name is Apollo, and she---" Apollo elbowed him roughly, glaring at him. "He...? doesn't speak."

"Doesn't or can't?" Bea asked, concerned. "If he doesn't know how I'm sure me and Rina can help."

"I don't know. Finn glanced at Apollo quiestioningly, to which Apollo simply shrugged. "Okay, well... anyways, these are our fellow gods. You already know which are Bea and Slerina. The mouse origin is Lorelei,"

Apollo glanced to the girl in question. She was slender, more so then Slerina, with white hair and light grey fur on her ears and paws. It was at this moment that they realised that everyone had a different amount of eyes--- Lorelei had none, at least none that were visible through the bandage she wore, Bea had eight, Slerina had three, Finn one, and the last one, Catrina, had six. They wondered why that was.

"And the goat origin is Catrina. She's best to just avoid." Finn whispered the last bit, and Apollo nodded.

Catrina looked, at least in Apollo's opinion, cool. She was the tallest of the group, had shaved the sides of her head, had large, pointy horns and her overall demeanor oozed confidence.

"So we have a new god, what does that mean? Normally, in the other Realms, there are only five. Is that going to change? Why DO we need a sixth?" Lorelei questioned. Her mood had shifted from bored to worried.

"The question isn't 'why is it here' it's 'what are we going to do with it.'" Catrina stated.

"What do you mean? He's going to be treated just as any of us are." Finn replied, his tone betraying his dislike for Catrina.

"Why? What need do we have of a speechless child? I say we should just get rid it." Catrina shrugged. Apollo bristled at this.

"Catrina, why are you so against him?" Slerina asked, and Catrina rolled her eyes.

"Look at it. It's scrawny, ugle, young-- younger than any of us have ever been by quite a bit. Why does it exist? Why should it? Why would we keep it? It's useless and will only cause trouble. There hasn't been a new immortal since Lorelei, and that was centuries ago! That's the largest time gap of us all. Obviously, there's been a mistake."

"A mistake?" FInn growled. "There is no such thing as a 'mistake' with the Mother Tree. If Apollo is here, Apollo was meant to be here. Some higher power placed him here."

"Maybe the mistake isn't the Mother Tree. Maybe it's here as a test--- to see if we're truly equipped to deefend our Realm from daebies threats. Perhaps the mistake is keeping it and allowing yourself to see it as a person worth protecting." Catrina paused. "After all, you know the prophecy."

"I've heard it, but I don't believe in it. None of us can predict the future, how would a mere mortal be able to?" Finn said dismissivly, and the others agreed.

"Fine then, keep the daebies." Catrina spat. "Don't say I didn't try. At least I take my job seriously." With that, she stormed out.

The group stared at each other in silence for a minute.

"What's gotten into her?" Lorelei muttered.

"Who knows. She's probably just bored and picking fights for the sake of it." Finn grumbled.

Finn turned and left the room. Apollo followed him, and as he left he heard someone say, "That isn't it...". Finn allowed Apollo to hold his hand as they walked, which he appreciated.

"Sorry about that." Finn mumbled. "Are you hungry or tired or anything?"

Apollo thought on it for a sec before nodding and making a show of yawning exaggereatedly. Finn smiled at that, and took them to his bedroom where they promptly fell asleep as soon as they got comfortable.

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It had been a couple of days, and everyone had finally gotten used to the odd fox-origin*. Apollo still hadn't spoken, but he had been spending a lot of time observing everyone. Everyone except Catrina. He had a special love for Finn, and Finn for him, but despite his abundant warnings about Catrina's behaviour on his first day, they were fascinated by her. Today, they decided, was the day.

They dashed out of their room excitedly and shifted from their "official" form into simple, fluffy, red fox. It didn't take long to find Catrina, and when they did they began to follow her at a distance. This did not last long, though.

"I know you're there." She stated, glaring at the fox under the bush. Apollo crawled out and shifted back to "god" form, tilting their head curiously. "The only animals here are birds. Stop following me." She turned and began to walk away.

Apollo took a step forward.

"I said," Catrina growled, whipping around to face Apollo. "stop following me." She spat, throwing a rock Apollo didn't remember her picking up at him. It hit him in the face, and he stumbled back a couple steps. He glared at her, confused and upset by it. She grinned at him. "I told you to fuck off."

Apollo decided to follow her out of spite. If she was gonna be a bitch and throw things, he was gonna be a bitch and annoy her. She understood fairly quickly that he would not be deterred, and decided to take a different approach. Ignoring him.

The majority of the day was spent with Apollo silently following Catrina as she talked to the other goddesses and generally went about her day. The others would talk to him, and he would smile, then continue his observation. Apollo did make sure to keep a good amount of distance between himself and the goddess of wrath. Things changed, however, when the two found themselves alone together under the gazebo, as the sun was beginning to set and the fireflies came out. Apollo, having come to the conclusion that Catrina was just some boring loser, was catching fireflies instead of paying too much attention to Catrina, so he was shooketh when he heard her speaking to him.

"You were going by Apollo, right?" Catrina asked, sounding bored. Apollo snapped his attention to her and nodded. He could tell from her emotions that she was up to something, but he coudln't tell what... at the very least, she wasn't being nice, but he opted to ignore it in hopes that she would finally try and be friendly. "Is there a reason you don't talk?"

No response. Not even a noncommittal shrug, just a blank stare.

Catrina sighed. "Why were you following me? Even though I told you not to?"

Apollo grinned mischiecously.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Catrina narrowed her eyes, annoyance beginning to show.

They just shrugged.

Catrina scowled at them."Can you speak?"

Another shrug. Catrina stood moved closer, grabbing Apollo's shirt and yanking him to be standing up, looking her in the eyes. "Can you speak?" She repeated, tone threatening.

Apollo stared into her face nervously. She was being really rude right now, and he wanted to shove her and flip her off, to return the favor. But she could easily hurt him, and the intent was very clearly there. Hesitantly, he nodded. At this point, they had been choosing to stay quiet and learn about the people around them, not really sure what to say to them, but he had spawned* knowing full well how to do it. She let him go and shoved him back toward the bench he had been sitting on.

"Then do it." She commanded.

Apollo got back to his feet, he had fallen over the bench, and watched her warily.

"Say something, you snobbish prick. If you can, than you have no reason not to." Catrina hissed, taking a step closer.

Apollo took a step back and felt indignant anger flare up in his chest. He glared at her and stuck his toungue out at her. A mistake. Now thoroughly offended, Catrina lunged forward and shoved them to the ground.

"You will do as you're told by your betters, you insolent upstart." She spat.

Apollo rolled over and propped themself up, raising a hand with all but the middle finger held down. Catrina kicked him, hard, in the chest, and said something about how he shouldn't be disrespecting someone older and wiser and more useful then him.... or something... he really couldn't tell, much more focused on trying not to allow the tears from the pain to show. Apollo realised that maybe poking the goat wasn't a great idea, as she continued to kick him and shout about how a 'dirty daebies' shouldn't even be here to begin with and other nasty things in the same vein as 'kill yourself.' Apollo curled into a ball and rode it out, not really in the mood to try and see about getting away from it. Besides, he reasoned with himself, he'd asked for it by provoking her...

"Catrina." A calm voice interrupted Catrina's tantrum. Apollo unocvered their face and looked up to see Finn.

"Don't start with me." Catrina said, reaching down to yank Apollo up and thrust him toward Finn. "Keep a better eye on your kid."

Finn caught Apollo, keeping him from stumbling to the ground again, and looked him over, before glaring at Catrina. "You need to treat your fellow god as an equal, not a lower lifeform. Your behaviour is immature and unacceptable." He informed her.

"It needs to learn to respect us." Catrina said, before turning and stalking off.

Once alone, Finn turned his glare to Apollo, though it softened up a bit. "What did I tell you?" His tone was angry, but he was only worried, so Apollo shrugged and smiled apologetically. "Are you alright?" He asked, looking over Apollo again.

They nodded. There were bruises and cuts from where her hoof had connected, but nothing serious.

"Don't try to befriend her and definitely don't antagonize her. I'd rather she not harm you, too." Finn sighed.

He sat on the bench looked off into the distance. Apollo followed suit, leaning up against him and wrapping his electric-blue tail around Finn's own red and orange one. Despite everything, Apollo was still curious about Catrina. Why was she so quick to turn to violence? Why was she so bothered by them? Surely there was more to her actions then that she was just an asshole...

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Over the next couple of days, Apollo opted to continue following Catrina to try and figure out what her deal was, though this time he took the form of a bird and was more careful about not being caught. There were still a couple incidents, but they found that if they moved fast enough, she wouldn't bother to give chase. Finally, after a few days, something new happened. Catrina was sitting under a tree, reading something, and Apollo had been wondering what it was for so long that he finally decided to just ask. Which meant that he would have to speak, out loud, to Catrina, because she would never pick up on (or at least, she wouldn't act like she did) his nonverbal ways of communicating. Shifting from the small bird he had been to his "default," as Lorelei liked to call it, he stared down from the branch of the tree he was perched on and broke his silence.

"What are you reading?"

Catrina paused, then closed her book and looked upwards at Apollo. "Pardon?"

"Whatcha readin?" Apollo repeated.

"That's none of your business." Catrina scoffed, picking her book back up. "Actually. How come you choose to start talking now?" She glanced back up at him, narrowing her eyes.

Apollo shrank back against the tree, eyeing her warily.

"What, you gonna stop now?"

"I was just curious..." Apollo mumbled in a small voice.

"Of course you were." She rolled her eyes, then continued to read.

There was silence for a bit until Apollo landed on a different question. They were sure they knew the answer already, but...

"Why does Finn hate you so much? You two never even interact."

Catrina slammed her book shut in annoyance. "Why do you insist on being so damn annoying?" She retorted.

Apollo frowned, but gave up on their mission. Catrina was only going to be difficult. This whole thing was a waste of his time, they were learning nothing. Shifting back into a bird, Apollo flew from the tree. He made his way to Finn's room, curling up on the bed under a fluffy blanket and just... existing. Mulling everything over. It just didn't make sense to Apollo why Catrina would act the way she did... no matter how hard he tried to make it.

This is how Finn found him a couple hours later. Apollo was startled by a blast of emotional turmoil as Finn stormed in, casuing them to shrink in on themself. Finn looked at them and sighed, taking a couple deep breaths to calm down.

"You spoke to Catrina." He said flatly.

Apollo didn't reply. Finn was feeling betrayed, but Apollo couldn't place why. Why did it matter that they spoke to Catrina? Finn would speak to them and listen to them when they used other ways to say things, Catrina wouldn't, so they had made her understand what he wanted. Though she had refused to actually answer his questions...

Finn sighed again and walked over to sit on the bed beside Apollo. Apollo shuffled over to lean against him.

"Why don't you talk to anyone else?" Finn asked. Apollo shrugged.

They felt it a good enough explanation, that being that there wasn't much reason to, but Finn stayed confused andApollo sighed and sat up. They stared at Finn for a few seconds before realising that they didn't really know how to communicate this any clearer.

"Do you just not like anyone?" A firm head shake. "...are you scared to?"

Another head shake. How did they get him to understand that they simply didn't have anything to say?

"Fine. Why did you talk to Catrina, of all people?" Finn asked, apparently giving up on his other line of questioning.

Apollo shrugged and used their hands to show being ignored. Finn took a second to get it, but when he did, he just frowned.

"She's not the kind of person whose attention you want to have."

Apollo nodded.

"If you agree then why do you keep trying to get it?"

Apollo shrugged.

"You'll have to be more specific then that."

Apollo nodded, thought a moment, and came to conclusion the best way to get him to understand was through the use of their voice. "Curious."

Finn jumped at the noise, obviously not expecting it, and Apollo cackled.

"Wh... Ok, uhm.. What is there about her that you're curious about?" Finn asked.

Apollo shrugged again.

"Well, there's not much to her, I'm afraid. If you want to understand why she treats people so badly, then I'm afraid that one remains a mystery to everyone here." Finn sighed. "You're better off just giving up."

Apollo frowned and gently punched Finn's arm. They didn't appreciate being told to give up... it was too much like admitting defeat.

"I know, I know... Out of character for you. But you've learned by now that you can easily get hurt... please just stay away from her."

Apollo didn't respond. Finn was right, and Apollo didn't even want to be around her... well, whatever, it's not like she mattered that much in the long run.

notes

*[animal]-origin is used by the immortals as a way of saying which animal's features they take. so, a human with the ears and feet of a wolf is known as a wolf-origin. finn is a deer-origin.
*spawn is the term used for when an immortal is born.