The first thing I registered wasn't pain, or fear, or even the white light everyone talks about. It was gold. Pure, shimmering, blinding gold. It wasn't just a color, it was a feeling, a weight, a truth pressing down on me from all sides. Then came the smell – honey and sunshine, with a faint undercurrent of something sharp and wild, like ozone after a lightning strike.
One moment I was… well, I wasn't sure what I was. The last thing I remembered was a blinding flash, a screech of metal, and then…nothing. Now, I was standing in a courtyard paved with marble so white it hurt my eyes. Columns rose impossibly high, carved with scenes I vaguely recognized, and the air thrummed with a power that made my skin prickle.
I looked down. Gone was my familiar school uniform, replaced with a tunic of woven sunlight, draped over shoulders that felt broader, stronger than they had any right to be. My hands, too, were different – longer, more elegant, with nails that gleamed like polished amber.
A voice, smooth as melted butter and sharp as a razor, cut through my confusion. "Well, finally. We thought you'd gotten lost on the way."
I turned to see a figure lounging against a pillar, radiating casual arrogance. He was impossibly handsome, with eyes the color of the Aegean Sea and hair that cascaded down his shoulders like liquid night. He wore a simple, dark tunic, but it couldn't hide the muscles that rippled beneath. He looked…familiar, somehow. Like a face I'd seen in a textbook, or a dream.
"Lost?" I croaked, my voice sounding rusty and unfamiliar even to myself. "Lost where? What is happening?"
He chuckled, a low, dangerous sound. "You really don't remember, do you? Fascinating. The transition must have been… taxing. You are Apollo, son of Zeus, God of the Sun, Music, Poetry, Healing, and Prophecy. Welcome home."
Apollo? The Apollo? God of sunshine and lyres? That was…absurd. I, Denki Kaminari, possibly dead high school student with a crippling fear of overusing my quirk, was now a god?
"I…I think you have the wrong person," I stammered. "I'm pretty sure I'm Denki."
The dark-haired god pushed himself off the pillar, his gaze narrowing. He stalked towards me, and the air crackled with unseen energy. "Denki? An amusing fantasy, perhaps. But you reek of divinity now. You radiate the sun. You are Apollo. And I am Hades, by the way, brother of Zeus, Lord of the Underworld. Try to keep up."
Hades. He was Hades? This was officially the weirdest afterlife I could have imagined.
"Okay, fine," I said, throwing my hands up in the air, trying to regain some of my composure. "Let's say I am this… Apollo guy. What do I do? Do I get a manual? A training montage? Is there, like, a 'Gods for Dummies' book I can borrow?"
Hades smirked. "There's no instruction manual for immortality, sunshine. You'll figure it out. You have millennia. Besides, there are…expectations. Your people await." He gestured towards a gate leading out of the courtyard. Beyond it, a sprawling city gleamed in the sunlight.
My people? This was getting complicated fast. I followed Hades through the gate, my mind reeling. The city was breathtaking, filled with temples and fountains, bustling with people clad in togas. They stopped and stared as we passed, bowing their heads in reverence. The weight of their expectations settled on my shoulders, heavy and suffocating.
"This is Delphi," Hades said, his voice low. "Your primary seat of power. You are their protector, their guide. And, of course, their source of prophecy."
Prophecy? Great. I was terrible at predicting what I was going to have for lunch, let alone the future of an entire civilization. "Prophecy? I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that. Is it like, looking into a crystal ball or something?"
Hades raised an eyebrow. "The process varies. Often it involves…divine inspiration. The Pythia, your high priestess, interprets your visions. And believe me, sometimes you don't even have to try, but sometimes the visions can be misleading."
As we walked, I noticed that the smiles of the people we passed seemed strained. Whispers followed us, hushed and anxious.
"What's wrong?" I asked Hades. "Why do they look so worried?"
Hades sighed, a rare display of something other than amusement. "The prophecies have been…unclear lately. Vague. Contradictory. They say…trouble is coming. A darkness that threatens to consume everything."
Darkness? I knew something about darkness. I knew what it was like to feel powerless, to be caught in a situation I couldn't control. Maybe, just maybe, this whole "god" thing wasn't entirely useless.
That night, I found myself alone in a vast, opulent chamber in my palace. It was filled with treasures beyond my wildest dreams, but it felt cold and empty. I stood on the balcony, looking out over Delphi, a sea of flickering lights in the darkness.
A figure materialized beside me, silent as a shadow. It was a woman, tall and graceful, with eyes that seemed to hold the secrets of the universe. She wore a simple white robe, and a crown of laurel leaves rested on her head.
"You are troubled, Lord Apollo," she said, her voice soft but firm.
"I'm just…trying to figure things out," I admitted. "I'm not sure I'm cut out for this. I don't even remember how I got here."
"Memories will return," she said. "In time. But you must focus on the present. Delphi needs you. The prophecies…they are growing darker. People are afraid. They say that something has happened to the Oracle."
"The Oracle? Is that the Pythia?"
"Yes. She is the vessel through which Apollo speaks to the world. But she has been…unresponsive. It's like she has lost her voice."
A chill ran down my spine. A missing Oracle? Vague, ominous prophecies? This wasn't just an adjustment to a new life. This felt like a mystery. A mystery that I, apparently, was now responsible for solving.
"Take me to her," I said, a newfound determination hardening my voice. "I need to see this for myself."
The woman, who I assumed was a priestess, nodded. "Of course, Lord Apollo."
As we walked through the palace, the woman spoke. "Her name is Cassandra, Lord Apollo. She is a very good woman, and devoted to her task. She would never let anything interfere with the prophecy."
We arrived to a closed-off chamber that was hidden with many guards around the door. It felt like a prison cell. The guards seemed to tremble at my sight. She must be someone very important to have so many guards. "What is she in there for?"
"Ever since she has been unresponsive, she has been deemed a 'hazard'. They worry about what she is thinking and what secrets lie in her mind. They refuse to free her until she is back to normal." The woman stated.
"Open this door immediately. I want to speak with her, alone." I ordered.
There was no time to waste. I was going to get to the bottom of this, even if it meant unraveling a conspiracy that reached to the very heart of Olympus itself. I was, after all, Apollo now. God of the Sun, Music, Poetry, Healing, and Prophecy. And apparently, mysteries.