7 Chapter 07

The next day passed smoothly but not nearly quickly enough for Apollo who wanted it to be evening so he could enjoy the festival with Skye. In the morning they had to be the first to get up as they set up the donation stand. Apollo's Mum was in charge of collecting the donations so that meant they were liaising with the Mayor's office in order to make sure everything was ready so the Harvest Festival could go as smoothly as possible. Apollo spent the morning helping his Mum collect the donations and he saw what his Mum always talked about watching the people come in and happily give whatever they could. His Mum met everyone with a smile and did her best to make them feel seen and appreciated. His Mum always told him that no matter what everyone needs a friend, someone who is there for them and believes in them and that's what she tried to be and what she hoped he would be regardless of if people were kind to him because with time everyone was capable of redemption. Apollo saw several of his classmates with their parents while helping his Mum, they were all giving what they could and Apollo tried to make conversation with some of them. Chloe and Pete were nice enough to him but Kyle and Kenny were a bit more standoffish. They still saw him as the weird nerd. It hurt a bit but that all changed when Skye walked in with her Dad. She was giving away some books and he was giving food and clothing.

"Hey" Apollo said friendlily.

"Hey Apollo" Skye said a big smile on her face.

"Are you excited for tonight?" Apollo asked

"I am, but somehow I seem less excited than you and you've been to this festival your whole life" Skye told him picking up on Apollo's energy.

"This one's different, this one has you" Apollo told her.

Skye blushed deeply and averted her gaze unable to meet Apollo's eyes.

"Well I hope I don't disappoint you" she said looking at the floor.

Apollo smiled at her. He'd never seen her blush or act flushed before.

"I don't think it's possible for you to do that" he said softly.

Skye looked up finally meeting his eyes, she seemed to be scanning his face almost like she was trying to read his mind. Apollo blushed at the intense eye contact and luckily for Apollo that's when Mr. Hubbard pulled her away to take her elsewhere since he was done talking to Apollo's Mum and didn't want to hold up the line as Doctor Vanderspeigle had walked in to donate as well. Apollo waved goodbye to her a kind smile on his face.

"Bye, I'll see you at the festival" Skye told him as she walked away with her Dad.

"Okay, I'll see you there, meet me at our stand" Apollo said continuing to wave goodbye to her.

Ajak watched the exchange between the two and smiled to herself happy to see her son finally have a close friend and amused at the exchanges the two shared because she could see what they hadn't yet.

Skye and her Dad bumped into Doctor Vanderspeigle on the way out. Skye apologized for knocking into him and for a moment Vanderspeigle's face turned white like he'd seen a ghost. He simply nodded in acknowledgement of the apology and Skye and her Dad walked away. Doctor Vanderspeigle eyes tracked them the entire way as if entranced by them somehow. Apollo knew Vanderspeigle for a long time. He moved to town and began working with his Mum at the hospital when Apollo was a bit younger in 1995, his Mum would constantly compliment him for his brilliance and his odd eccentricities were largely ignored due to that.

"Hi Harry" Ajak said. "Are you alright you seem a little spooked today?"

Doctor Vanderspeigle shook his head and composed himself bringing a smile to his face.

"I'm alright Ajak. Say the little human girl who I bumped into what is her name? When did she come here?" Vanderspeigle asked.

"Oh that was Skye Hubbard. Her and her father moved here some months back. Jonathan says Ben had moved away after high school but he recently came back with his daughter" Ajak informed him.

Harry nodded and then gave his donation before turning and looking in the direction that Skye and her father walked off to.

"Thank you Harry, I hope you enjoy your day. I'll see you at the Harvest Festival" Ajak said with a warm smile.

"There's no need to thank me it was nothing" Harry replied before walking away.

Apollo watched him and was a little confused, he'd never seen Doctor Vanderspeigle react like that to anyone and he wondered why he seemed so fixated on Skye. Apollo just brushed it off and then spent the rest of the morning helping his Mum before going back to the farm to hang with his Sprite.

The two of them played board games all afternoon. They had to play chess so that Sprite didn't use her powers to cheat like she did whenever they played the other board games. Apollo ended up winning and so she spent the rest of the afternoon making illusions to make him walk into doors and walls. As annoying as that was Apollo didn't mind it, Sprite wasn't the best at talking about her feelings and he could tell that constantly having to hide how she truly looked hurt her. Apollo could relate to that feeling and Sprite knew that, that shared feeling connected them in a way that was unspoken. He knew when Sprite pranked him it was her way of letting herself be free and a sign he could be free too. Even if it came at his expense, Sprite was showing she cared when she pulled her harmless pranks on him, showing herself and him that it was okay to be themselves and that even if other people didn't see them they saw each other. Sprite would often prank him in moments when he felt lonely or like today prank him in moments where she felt the need to let lose before going out to pretend to be someone she wasn't and the reason she did it was to remind them that they were the same even if they weren't technically the same.

Sprite stopped pranking him for the day around the time his Dad came back to get them both so they could all go the fair together as a family. Apollo wore a nice red flannel shirt and jeans just like his Dad did although his Sprite wore blue flannel. Sprite projected the normal illusion of her older self called Sandra and the three of them went and picked up his Mum who was already dressed for the festival.

"Hey Ma, how'd it go with the donations?" Apollo asked her.

"It went very well, we got even more donations this year, we'll be able to help so many people" Ajak replied happily.

"That's wonderful honey, I'm glad the day was such a big success" Jonathan told her as he hugged her.

"As am I, I'll be helping the Mayor allocate and distribute the donations where they are needed most" Ajak told them.

"Ajak Kent, the oldest woman alive who still believes in politicians" Sprite quipped.

"I don't believe in politicians, I believe in people and you should too because when you give them a chance they are capable of amazing things" Ajak retorted warmly to Sprite who just shrugged and got in the truck.

They all got to the city center and set up their own stand which sold caramel apples. His Dad and Mum manned the stand as Sprite went around to mingle and he waited for Skye to show up. Apollo watched as the people of Smallville and even a few people from neighbouring towns came to the festival all eager to partake in the games and food Smallville had to offer. Apollo saw his classmates either at their parents stands or wandering about and as he watched them all run around he saw Skye. She was wearing a sundress and cowboy boots. Her attempt at fitting in no doubt. She spotted him and smiled and then walked to the stand.

"Hey" Skye said to him shyly.

"Hey Skye, you look really pretty" Apollo told her.

Skye blushed at his compliment and shuffled her feet awkwardly.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Kent" Skye said quickly redirecting the conversation to ease what she was feeling.

"Hello Skye, we're so glad you're out here for your first of many Harvest Festivals. We hope you have fun" Ajak said to her kindly.

"Yeah we do, I know you and Apollo probably want to go do your own thing. Do you want a caramel apple before you see the Festival?" Jonathan asked.

Skye nodded and Jonathan handed her one before she and Apollo left the stand to have fun. They both waved goodbye to Apollo's parents and then ran into the festival crowd to enjoy themselves.

Skye and Apollo visited every stand they could. They first went to the Sullivan's stand and played rain gutter regatta. Mr. Sullivan gave them each water guns and they raced their respective boats. Skye ended up beating him as Chloe cheered her on. Skye and Chloe talked a little and Skye teased Apollo about losing in a friendly way before the two went to another stand. They went to the Fordman's stand and played shooting gallery which Apollo won. Apollo's hand eye coordination and dexterity was perfect though so shooting games were almost unfair, Apollo tried his best to not use his powers but his control wasn't perfect so he wasn't sure whether or not he won by his own skill or if he used his power unknowingly. Skye told him they were now even and the two spent the next hour going from stand to stand playing games and trying to chat with the kids they met along the way. Apollo had never had this much at a Harvest Festival before and Skye spent most of her time laughing. Apollo saw Sprite talking with people who weren't from Smallville and running a projection stand. He waved at her and she simply stuck her tongue out at him before going back to talking to the people from out of town.

Apollo smiled and continued wandering around. The two bumped into Doctor Vanderspeigle again, he seemed less caught off guard this time and apologized to them. Skye took the apology and the two continued to walk but something about the way he bumped into them felt off to Apollo. It was almost like he did it on purpose, like he was looking for them or more specifically Skye. Apollo was so deep in though he hadn't even noticed Skye going off to buy something and then coming back and he was pulled out his thoughts and concerns when Skye shot him with a water pistol and threw one at him. Apollo caught him immediately understanding the insinuation, he took aim and shot her and the two then ran around shooting each other for several minutes smiling and laughing as they did so. By the time they'd emptied their pistols for the fifth time both he and Skye were drenched and she was out of breath. Apollo told her he'd get her something to drink before going off to get some lemonade for her.

Apollo quickly brought some and hurried back to Skye only to find she wasn't where he had left her. Apollo began panicking and frantically looking for her even shouting her name and after a few minutes that's when he saw her at the edge of the festival in the shadows. Nobody to see or hear her not that it would matter because she was passed out being carried into a car by Doctor Vanderspeigle. Apollo shouted out and pointed but the fair was too loud and busy nobody noticed him as Doctor Vanderspeigle sped off. Fear and rage filled Apollo's chest. Apollo looked back at the fair, at all the people having fun at the families enjoying themselves and the children playing and silently thanked God he got to experience that feeling even if it was only for a short while. Apollo took off his glasses and then looked at the dark and empty roads ahead of him.

"Don't worry Skye, I'm coming" Apollo said hoping somehow she would understand that she wasn't alone, he was on his way. Apollo placed his glasses in his back pocket before taking off at and racing through Smallville at superhuman speeds to save his closest friend.

Apollo found Doctor Vanderspeigle's car at an abandoned factory and ran in not caring if Skye saw him do something inhuman. He found Vanderspeigle pacing over Skye whose body was on the ground still passed out. He was muttering to himself like he was trying to psyche himself up.

"Doctor Vanderspeigle, step away from Skye" Apollo shouted trying to sound as intimidating as possible which was quite the difficult task considering he was a kid.

Harry turned around noticing Apollo entering the factory and seemed not only surprised by Apollo's arrival but also deeply saddened by it.

"You shouldn't be here Apollo. Please go back to your family, go back to your Mum and Dad" Vanderspeigle practically begged him.

"I can't go not without her" Apollo told him as he stepped closer.

"You don't need to protect her; you don't even know her at least not truly. Forget this and go back and be a regular kid because she is not what she says she is. You don't have to help her" Vanderspeigle pleaded.

It was clear something about Skye was deeply distressing to him and whatever it was it was enough to drive him to such extremes, however he still had some kind of moral compass as he didn't want to hurt Apollo. Apollo didn't care if he was hurt though, as long as Skye wasn't. Apollo walked forward completely assured in what he had to do, he had to protect his friend.

"You've got two things wrong in that sentence Doctor Vanderspeigle. One, I'm not a regular kid and two, I do have to help her" Apollo told him as he clenched his fists.

Vanderspeigle could see there was no dissuading Apollo from helping Skye and his heart broke. He didn't want to cause Ajak and Jonathan pain. They were good people and killing a child was not something he ever thought he'd have to do but this situation couldn't be escaped. He started to cry a little, shocking himself at how human he had become since he assimilated.

"Why? Why do you have to help her?" Vanderspeigle asked his voice sad as he too clenched his first ready to do what he needed to do.

"Because she needs it" Apollo replied simply.

Vanderspeigle steeled himself and then charged at Apollo grabbing him by the scruff of his denim shirt and lifting him off the ground suspending him in the air with one hand.

"I truly didn't mean for this to happen Apollo, I was hoping I could blend in here in this quaint little town unnoticed but they found me, they sent their weapon to kill me thinking they could disguise it as a child and I wouldn't notice but you cannot fool a master of disguise" Vanderspeigle told him as his skin and clothing began to morph and soon Doctor Vanderspeigle looked like a green reptilian looking humanoid creature.

Apollo's eyes widened as for the first time in his life he knowingly encountered alien life. Harry's grip tightened around his collar before he threw him several feet away. Apollo skidded across the factory floor but quickly stopped himself and stood up still in shock.

"Doctor Vanderspeigle…." Apollo spoke as he stared at the green being in front of him.

"R'Kin that is my real name. R'Kin of the Skrulls" Vanderspeigle told him.

"Why are you doing this?" Apollo asked him trying to understand what situation he had put himself into.

"Because I must, I come from a people without a home. Our world was destroyed in a war and the people who did that, they'll stop at nothing to wipe us all out just as they have been trying to do for centuries" Vanderspeigle told him.

"What's that got to do with Skye? She's not an alien. She's just a human" Apollo told him.

Harry laughed at that as he closed the distance between himself and Apollo.

"Human, no….. not quite" Vanderspeigle said as he grabbed Apollo once again.

"She was made by the same people that killed my people, a dormant weapon waiting to be activated. A weapon that will kill me and many more, she needs to die" Vanderspeigle said his voice filled with fear.

"I don't think you really believe that, you had more than enough time to kill her before I came here. You couldn't because you're not bad man" Apollo said hoping to connect with the good doctor he'd known for the last few years.

"I'm not even a man" Harry growled as he slammed Apollo into the ground hard.

Harry got on top of Apollo and then grabbed his neck and began to squeeze.

"I'm just an alien trying to survive and she puts that in jeopardy and so do you. I'm sorry Apollo" Harry said as he choked him out.

"Please understand I don't want to hurt you or hurt anyone but if I don't do this I'll be killed and they could use me to track down the rest of my people here on Earth. I'm sorry I truly am" Harry said tears in his eyes and his voice breaking from sadness.

Apollo looked at Harry and saw the pain and sadness in his eyes but also the desperation. He had been hoping to reason with him but he could tell now that Doctor Vanderspeigle had resigned himself to what he thought he needed to do even if it broke his heart, in his mind there was no other choice. Apollo mustered up his strength and kicked Harry off of him. Harry went flying backwards into the air until he smashed into the roof before falling down and landing back on the ground hard.

Apollo stood up and he heard Harry groan in pain. He looked over at him as he slowly got back up. Vanderspeigle spat out purple blood and a twinge of regret went through Apollo as he had never purposefully made someone bleed before. However right now he couldn't focus on that, he needed to save Skye.

"How did you do that?" Vanderspeigle asked in disbelief as he clenched his fists once again.

"It's like I said I'm not a regular kid" Apollo said as he super sped towards Harry and open hand smacked him in the chest sending him flying several feet and smashing into the wall. Apollo couldn't let him recover so he ran to him and grabbed him before jumping into the air with him and then at the apex of the jump spinning and throwing him down into the ground. Harry landed on the ground hard causing cracks in the concrete floor of the abandoned factory and when Apollo landed he stood over Harry and punched him across the face. Harry spat out his purple blood again and he looked at Apollo with nothing but fear in his eyes.

R'Kin realised this boy was stronger than any Skrull or Kree. He couldn't win this fight and just like the rest of his kind he was about to be killed by a mightier force. Tears filled his eyes as he thought of the cruelty of the cosmos, his kind was punished for existing and now here he was once again dreading death with his only crime being fighting back against those who planned to kill him. R'Kin let go and embraced what he thought would be his end as Apollo raised his fist a second time.

'Goodbye Commander Talos, I hope one day we can have a home in this cosmos' R'Kin thought as he closed his eyes and waited for the death blow. However, it never came. R'Kin opened his eyes and saw Apollo had put away his fists and was walking away from him towards Skye.

Apollo walked towards his friend and checked on her. She was still unconscious and didn't have any wounds that Apollo could see. He gently caressed her face and then heard Doctor Vanderspeigle walk weakly towards him.

"I don't want to fight you but if you continue to try and hurt Skye I will" Apollo said in a warning tone.

Harry stopped walking and stared at the two of them weighing what options he had now that it was clear he couldn't defeat Apollo or get to Skye. He could try and leave Smallville but if he did they would still find him; they had already sent Skye which means more were undoubtedly coming.

"I don't know why you think Skye is a threat to you but I promise you she's not" Apollo told him his glowing blue eyes filled with emotion.

"But she is, you have no idea what she is" Harry replied weakly.

"And you do? What on Earth do you think she is?" Apollo questioned.

"The better question is what are you?" Harry said to him as he tried to understand how a boy could be strong enough to effortlessly overpower him and beat him within an inch of his life in a couple of blows.

Suddenly the two heard a car pull up to the factory and out of it stepped Ajak, Sprite and Jonathan.

"He's my son" Ajak said anger in her voice as Jonathan stepped out of the truck and cocked the shotgun he was holding and pointed it at Harry.

"Mum?" Apollo said confused as to how they all found him.

"Whatever you are back away from my son" Jonathan shouted threateningly still pointing the gun at Harry who was still in his natural Skrull form.

Sprite and Ajak walked and checked on Apollo and Skye. Both Sprite and Ajak smiled softly at Apollo.

"Are you okay?" Ajak asked Apollo inspecting him.

"I'm fine Ma" Apollo replied and Ajak looked into his eyes to really see if he was okay. Apollo smiled at her assuring his Mum that he truly was alright and she nodded before turning down towards Skye and beginning to heal her.

"Well done Apollo, I'm surprised he's still breathing after he messed with your little girlfriend" Sprite teased him.

Apollo just let out an annoyed sigh.

"She's not my girlfriend" Apollo said to Sprite.

"Sure she's not" Sprite retorted still teasing him.

"Sprite stop you can do that later" Ajak commanded.

Sprite nodded and Ajak finished healing Skye and Apollo of any potential injuries they may have had before ushering them both to the truck all while Apollo fussed and kept telling her he was fine and not to worry.

The whole time this was taking place Jonathan had his shotgun aimed straight for Harry, rage filling his eyes as he instructed Harry to stay still and put his hands up. R'Kin complied recognising how bad the situation was for him. He put his hands up and then shifted back into his human form.

"Oh my god Harry?" Jonathan said in shock "What are you?"

Harry was about to tell him but suddenly Ajak spoke up walking back from the truck.

"He's a Skrull" Ajak said to her husband.

"I am. How did you know?" Harry asked curious as to how Ajak knew of the Skrulls.

"How and why are you on Earth? Why aren't you on your own home planet?" Ajak questioned ignoring what Harry asked her clearly more concerned as to why he was here covered in blood with a passed out Skye laying on the floor when they found him.

"It was destroyed. The Kree, they and their Accusers razed it to the ground after we refused to bend to their rule" Harry answered his voice quivering as he talked about the loss of his home planet.

"Look Harry, I am sorry you've lost your home world I can't even begin to imagine the pain that caused you but what exactly were you planning on doing here tonight? What did you do to Skye and my son?" Jonathan said to him still pointing the shotgun at Harry but far less angry than he was before.

"I came here to get rid of Skye, she's a threat to my race and to me but I couldn't muster up the strength to do what I had to before your son arrived saw what happened and then beat me near to death" Harry said matter of fact-ly.

"A threat? She's a little girl Harry" Jonathan told him.

"Your son's a little boy and he's stronger than any Accuser I've ever encountered" Harry retorted.

"And he only hurt you because you were going to hurt his friend." Ajak replied.

"You don't understand" Harry said emotionally

"Don't understand what?" Jonathan asked angrily.

"What it's like to be hunted, what it's like to have people want to kill you simply for existing. What it feels like to have no home. Everyday I woke up wondering if today would be the day the Kree found me and killed me and that's how every one of my Skrull brethren feels. I do not want to hurt Skye, I did not want hurt your son, I don't want to hurt anyone. I just want to live and you may not know it yet but I know that Skye is Kree weapon and she will kill. It's what she was designed for. I had to ensure my own survival. The pain that comes with making decisions like that because if you don't you and everyone you've ever know will be killed is a pain you can't understand" Harry told them bearing his soul to the Kent's.

Ajak nodded finally seeing more from his perspective, she turned to the truck and saw Apollo and Sprite eavesdropping. She looked back at Harry and saw the tears in his eyes and the quiver in his stance and she saw how truly afraid he was. How much pain he was in, not just physically but emotionally.

"I understand feeling threatened, feeling like you could be killed or are even being hunted by a race that wants nothing more than your death but killing children is not the answer and Skye I can assure you has no abilities. She's just a little girl who wants a home and a family, like you." Ajak said to Harry as she put her hand on shoulder.

Harry looked at her questioningly right before her hand started to glow and Harry felt all his wounds heal.

"What?" Harry said to Ajak not understanding what she was doing or how she was doing it.

"I don't like seeing those I care for in pain and that includes you too" Ajak said softly as Jonathan lowered his gun.

"Harry being a man, being human means looking out for your fellow man. Being kind, that's what today was about. My family are Jewish, my grandfather saw first hand what the Nazi's were doing to people like him and while I don't fully understand what you feel I do know that my father always told me that even in the darkest times do not give in to despair, persevere and hope because there will be a light one day. You will see a brighter day one day and you don't have to kill a little girl to do it" Jonathan shared to him.

Harry took in Jonathan's words and began to feel moved by the words as Ajak's healing energy continued to fill him.

"Harry there's no point in staying alive if you lose your soul to do it" Ajak said softly and empathically her big eyes beaming with kindness.

Apollo stepped out of the car and walked towards Harry. The little boy with the strength of a giant looked up at Harry and stuck out his right hand for Harry to shake

"Doctor Vanderspeigle…R'Kin I know your scared but Skye's not a threat I promise you. She's my closest friend and she would never hurt you and the day she tries I can promise you I'll help you" Apollo said sweetly having overheard the entire conversation and deciding to follow in his parents' footsteps and show Harry kindness.

"Why? Why would you help me?" Harry asked Apollo looking into his glowing blue eyes trying to make sense of what he was saying.

"Because you'd need it" Apollo replied simply a kind smile on his face.

Harry fully began to cry overwhelmed by the kindness being shown to him. He fell to his knees and broke down.

"I'm sorry. I am so sorry. And I promise to follow your kindness, to be a good human, a good Skrull" he stammered out between cries.

Ajak and Jonathan nodded as Harry finally shook Apollo's hands and they walked him to his car. He told them he had injected Skye with a drug to knock her out and she would wake up in a few minutes. He then told them to enjoy the rest of the festival and apologized again for what he'd done. The quartet nodded and drove Skye back to the festival as Harry drove behind them. Skye came to in the back of the car groggy and freaking out and Apollo quickly put his glasses back on.

"What happened?" Skye said terrified.

"You don't remember?" Ajak inquired.

"No I just remember hearing something behind me and then before I knew it I was passing out" Skye said her voice filled with terror as she was clearly rattled.

"It's okay, Skye someone from out of town tried to take you but we stopped them before they could do anything" Jonathan told her trying his best to have a soft and assuring tone.

"No you don't understand. This happening means I'm trouble, if I'm trouble nobody wants me and if nobody wants me it means I'll be abandoned again" Skye said as she started hyperventilating.

Apollo reached out and grabbed her hand and looked her in her eyes.

"That's not true, you're not trouble Skye and you're not being abandoned" he told her.

The truck stopped as they arrived back at the festival. As soon as they got back to the festival Ben rushed to Skye and pulled her into a deep embrace.

"Skye there you are. I was so worried" Ben said.

"She's okay" Ajak said. "Someone tried to mess with her but we scared them off, someone from out of town."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" Skye said still freaking out.

Ben hugged her tighter and stroked her hair.

"You don't have any reason to be sorry. You did nothing wrong. It's me that should be apologizing to you. I let you down" Ben told her.

"So you don't think I'm trouble? You're not going to send me back?" Skye said in disbelief.

"You're not getting rid of me that easy Skye" Ben told her warmly as he embraced her again.

Harry's car finally pulled up behind the Kent's truck as Ben and Skye hugged.

"Harry good to see you, we were just telling Ben about the man from out of town who tried to mess with Skye and how we sent him on his way and he'll never be back again" Jonathan said knowingly.

"Yes, I don't think any of us will ever see that man again" Harry agreed.

"Good. That's very good" Jonathan replied.

"Let's try and put this bad event behind us honey. What do you want to do? Do you want to go home or enjoy the rest of the festival?" Ben said eager to do anything to make Skye feel better.

Skye took in the moment for a second. She wasn't a burden or a problem to Ben. He truly loved her, this night may have been a lot but tonight she understood what Apollo had been saying about the Harvest Festival. Tonight people she barely knew came to protect her and for the first time someone genuinely wanted her as their daughter. This night had shown her the kindness, giving spirit and care Apollo talked to her about and she got it, she got what he meant. A smile came to her face as tears filled her eyes.

"I want to enjoy the rest of the festival" Skye said.

"Okay, let's do that" Ben said.

"There should be fireworks in a few minutes" Ajak said I can get us a nice spot to watch them.

Skye nodded and Ben and the Kent's all walked with her to the spot.

"You still haven't tried the Fisher's chocolate bacon" Apollo said to her as they walked.

Skye's mouth watered at the thought and she looked at Ben.

"We'll go get some chocolate bacon and then watch the fireworks" Ben told her.

She and Apollo celebrated simultaneously as they all walked to the Fisher's stand. Apollo then turned around and looked at Harry who was still standing behind them unmoving and unsure of how to proceed. He remembered Harry's words to him during the battle. 'What are you?' For the first time in a long time Apollo questioned what and who he was. He wanted to ask his parents more questions about himself and about why he was the way he was. He wanted to know if he really was a demigod and his Mum and her family were gods and goddesses. But as he thought about that a different thought emerged. There was another person who felt like he felt. Another person who felt like an outsider who would be punished for being different and Apollo didn't want anyone to feel like that.

"You coming Doctor Vanderspeigle?" Apollo said.

The group all stopped and turned back towards Harry who was standing where they had left him.

"Yeah come with us Harry, this night should be enjoyed by the entire community and that includes you" Ajak beckoned.

Harry looked at all of their kind faces. Jonathan the kind farmer, Ajak the wise and caring healer, Ben Skye both oblivious to the pain he caused them and Apollo the boy with strength of a giant but a heart filled with selflessness and heroism so great they could dwarf the sun. Harry smiled and felt emotional once more.

"Okay, wait up" Harry said to them as he jogged to catch up to them.

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