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Part 5 of ONyx's Self-Insert Army
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2023-12-24
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2024-08-03
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4/?
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The 101 Lives of Lysandros

Summary:

Oh whoopee I died again.

I've gone by many names; Thais, Kimberly, Ben, Jerry... comes with the territory of living over and over again. I swear, I could've gotten into the isle of B half a dozen times by now but instead I'm just back here on Earth again.

At least I've never been a demigod. Being able to see through the mist is bad enough, I'd rather not get hunted. At least I've got my trusty old staff for protection.

Chapter 1: Dying is not a very fun thing to do, even with a very attractive god there too.

Chapter Text

Sometime in the 8th century BC

 

Lysandros lay at the edge of the sea, blearily watching the water as a sudden warmth swept through him, footsteps approaching.

He propped himself up weakly, soaked to the skin with his own blood and grinned.

"Apollo," he said weakly, "well, at least I'll have a nice view as I die."

Apollo was panicking. His favorite mortal was dying, and at this point there was little he could do to stop it. If it had been a demigod, he could've easily just chucked some ambrosia or nectar their way and they would've been just fine and dandy, but no, he had to have fallen for the damned bard with a sword. He held on to the young man, hearing how his shallow breaths rattled his chest, as his eyes become hollow and unseeing. But also he was a god, so could bring him back right?

 

As it turned out, though, things didn't go quite as planned.

Chapter 2: In Apollo's light, the lyre's sweet strain, A celestial melody, the sun god's reign.

Summary:

Accidentally deleted this, oh well I rewrote a shorter chapter. I'm a tad better versed in Roman history *laughs in I got a 9 in Latin for my GCSEs* but I didn't do it for A-levels, so after that point everything is kinda what I picked up over the years, but I'm trying to keep things somewhat accurate to the time (about 700BC in this chp), early chapters are basically just relationship building and I will be slightly speedrunning until we hit modern day PJO, and Lys will meet them around House of Hades, with his first change in the canon occurring in around BotL.

I can't write lyrics to save my life so I will be adapting the Beatles. I did promise those and bad poems in the tags lmao

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

//Lysandros//

 

The glaring heat of the summer solstice beat down on me as I hid myself in the shade of a tree.

I sat watching the construction of the wooden temples when a wave of melancholy washed over me. I had spent the last decade or so growing up for a third time.

At first, I had been confused as to what was happening to me, I convinced myself everything was simply a surreal dream, but after a while I accepted the fact that, instead of being able to relax in the idyllic Elysium, I was back here once again. Then I had died, expecting to reach the afterlife this time. But no, hello world. I was reborn for a second time. And not even in Delphi this time, much to my chagrin.

Though my family were merchants this time as opposed to prophets, which meant that I'd spent more time learning mathematics and geography than I'd ever done before. I had far less time to play my lyre and salpinx, and my songs have been subpar for quite some time. In many ways, I missed my old home, which was well over 600 stadions away from Athens, where I had ended up.

I sighed, stretching my still underdeveloped muscles as the warmth became more gentle, a soft breeze enveloping me. "I have no idea how you're able to live so long without starting to get bored, Lord Apollo," I said, turning to the invisible presence I had felt behind me.

Apollo's bashful laugh as he appeared behind me, a rosy cheeked youth with his usual twinkling eyes, a playful smile dancing on his lips.

"Someday, you really need to tell me how you always know when I'm there."

"Magic, darling."

"Hey! I'm the god here, magic is my thing," he pouted, huffing. Adorable, arrogant bastard that he is.

I patted the ground next to me, "I think it's about time you explain exactly what's happening to me."

"Actually I don't-"

"-Apollo, you know. And even if you don't, you're a god, as you keep saying. I assume it's pretty easy for you to find out, just go and find your uncle or something."

He sighed, a layer of purple velvet covering the ground underneath us as he sat down beside me, leaning over to rest his head on my shoulder. 

"So you know how you died."

"Yes, I am very well aware that I have died. Multiple times now."

Apollo paused at he looked up at me through golden lashes, eyes sparking with light gold.

 

"Apollo wept for his mortal friend's demise,

Intent on granting them a life reprise.

Yet in my sorrow, a fateful error made,

A loop of time where life and death cascade.

 

Unforeseen, a cycle of endless plight,

Beloved friend, in blood, a harrowing sight.

Remorseful tears, my heartfelt plea,

Forgive, dear one, this unintended decree."

 

"That's all Greek Luwian to me. I'm not exactly the best at dealing with poetry and prophecies, if you remember the Thebe incident."

He grinned, pulling a plate of fresh fruits from thin air, which I indulged myself in. I had missed pomegranates, waiting for their season to come again.

"I still can't believe you told them that their city would be destroyed by massive rocks falling from the sky, honestly, watching them run around praying to us was quite fun though until your mother ruined it by telling them the actual meaning of my verses."

"It wasn't that bad...Now, would you please explain the poem?"

"Only if you make a song for me," he shifted, reclining across my lap for the millionth time, so I was obligated not to move so that I didn't disturb him.

"How about you explain first."

"Well, I don't know if you'd want to sing to me if...well, you go first. It's been a while since I heard your voice."

"This body is nowhere near as musically inclined as I once was." 

"But you're still every bit as charismatic, you've never been as good at it as I am but mortals like you could simply never compare."

I sighed, pulling out my lyre.

 

//Very explicitly a slightly altered rendition of here comes the sun by The Beatles//

 

"Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo, here comes the sun

And I say it's all right

Golden chariot, it's been a long celestial winter

Radiant brilliance, it feels like eons since you've been here

Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo, here comes the sun

And I say it's all right

Celestial warmth, the smiles returning to the faces

Little darling, it seems like epochs since you've been here

Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo, here comes the sun

And I say it's all light

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

Little darling, feel that warmth, the ice is slowly melting

My darling, it seems like ages since it's been clear

Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo, here comes the sun

And I say it's all right

Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo, here comes the sun

It's all right

It's all right"

 

"My, my, am I your gorgeous muse now," Apollo stared at me, eyes sharp and unblinking, for a second seeming to radiate a harsh heat before tilting his head slightly.

"You've always been gorgeous."

"Well of course."

 

"So, what I did was attempt to bring you back to life and make you immortal, but I made a slight...oversight in terms of how that would work so now you just can't die permanently and will be reborn for all of eternity."

.

.

.

I stared down at the empty space Apollo had been occupying.

He'd run away.

 

"I'm sorry, WHAT was that?!"

Notes:

I can see Apollo being a tad...possessive of his mortal at this point in time. It's only been a few decades now (they met when Lys was around 14-15 in his first life) Counting in the fact that Apollo doesn't tend to meet up with him until he's about 5-6 and is able to articulate and move around, they've been in contact with each other for around 63 years by this chapter. Which makes him still a new and shiny thing to Apollo, who is enjoying the novelty of a mortal friend who can't really die (and stay dead), who he is quite fond of.

He very much enjoys being flattered with songs and generally messing around with Lys, but would probably still smite him at this point if he was genuinely hurt/insulted, and Lys is very aware of potentially dying to the arrogant, fickle god who brings him gifts. This shifts over time as Apollo becomes genuinely deeply attached and Lys ends up less and less scared of Apollo in return as by around 100BC, he is fully able to insult Apollo to his face and lightly spar against him for fun without any fear of death/destruction.

Apollo still has an 'I'm a god, you're a mortal, I'm better than you in all ways but that's not your fault, you were just born human' mindset, which gradually wears down as he comes appreciate Lys' comparatively down-to-Earth personality.

Lys still is more of a mortal mindset than an immortal one, but over time he starts to isolate himself slightly from other people to avoid losing too many people in a certain amount of time, but eventually starts to get bored with people and starts referring to them as 'mortals'.

Chapter 3: In ancient Japan where legends weave their tale, Apollo's favorite mortal back from beyond the veil.

Summary:

600-500BC (We're getting closer and closer to modern day...)

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

I had spent well over a decade stuck in this strange new land, with all these new gods. For some reason, I was now stuck living as a woman named 'Miko', and it was becoming quite inconvenient. I dearly missed the foods I had grown so used to, though I must admit that at times the landscape was quite beautiful when the pink sakura blossoms bloomed every March.

 

All the same, I believe I was doing quite well. Even if I had almost been taken down by a particularly angry bear, before gaining my own bow from trading pottery. I had introduced the chiton to my family after painstakingly weaving my own from mulberry bark and hemp, which they were quite pleased about, as it meant they could have me make more for them. There didn't seem to be much of a currency going on, so much of our earthy possessions came from bartering, which we stored in our sturdy huts. Though they were far less advanced than the Greeks, there was not much I could do about it as I did not know how to build a house, only what they could look like. I had at least managed to get a musical instrument, a stone with a few holes in it.

 

"Apollo," I spoke.

"Yes?" Shining blonde hair appeared before me as he materialized. I missed my old blonde hair, it had been traded for a dull shade of dark brown, and my skin was ghostly pale from time spent indoors creating pots and crushing shells.

"I am still angry with your meddling, though I am ready to talk to you again."

He sighed, "of course you'd finally be ready to talk when I am unable to talk to you as often as I would like, Lys."

"How so?"

"Let's just say that I'm not the most welcome here... this is not exactly my godly domain. Amaterasu isn't particularly fond of me."

"Oh..."

"If you would like, dear, I could take you with me to one of my temples? Or perhaps..." he looked me up and down with a grin, "perhaps one of my sister's?"

"Do as you wish, I am not long for this world regardless. I can feel it in my bones," after so many lives, who wouldn't be able to tell when they would pass on to the next.

Apollo nodded, taking me to his chariot. 

"Choose anywhere you see today, and I shall take you there."

I sighed, bringing my bow, a few pots of of food and some of my favorite plants.

 

 

This would be an interesting way to start a 'new life'; not by death but by the whim of my beloved Apollo.

Notes:

Source:
History of Humanity, Volume II: From the Third Millennium to the Seventh Century B.C.
Edited by A. H. Dani and J.-P. Mohen; Co-edited by J. L. Lorenzo, V. M. Masson, T. Obenga, M. B. Sakellariou, B. K. Thapar and Zhang Changshou
(We will ignore why I actually skim read a history book for writing fanfiction.)

Sorry for the short chapter but my writing time is limited at best :')

Chapter 4: Apollo's regrets, Lysandros frets

Summary:

It's been about 6 months since my last update... oops?
Either way, here's the next short snippet of Lysandros' life.

I got annoyed with how long it was taking to get to the actual Percy Jackson era, therefore I skipped half a dozen centuries :D
Aka we're getting closer to the actual action

100AD-200AD.
As a Brit, the weather stereotype gets more accurate the further North you are. So Lysandros is getting a taste of the Scottish highlands. I have no regrets, unlike him.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

//Lysandros//

Of...all..the places I could've ended up, of course it's some miserable spot up North. First I die to the rage of Vul- Hephaestus, and get buried under the magma and roast and now I have to suffer through the rain and the sleet and the cold. Bloody hell, it's horrific.

I glared petulantly at the slightly sheepish look on the god beside me, before swatting his head. 
"For the millionth time this life, I wish to reiterate that I did not ask for this and continue to be deeply displeasured by the weather. Change it," I huffed at him.

"Well you see..."

"No. Change it or let me die here. Take me back to the sea."

"...the sea is right there-"

"Apollo, don't you dare compare this freezing death-turned-water to the lovely warm seas back home. Stepping foot into the water here is practically a form of torture. What do you take me for, a lunatic? Wait, no, don't answer that."

"Well, Zeus did tell me off the last time I took you to a place you shouldn't've been. Having someone from Yamato come over to Phoenicia was quite an upset, if you do remember. You did come very close to messing up the timeline of events."

"Look at me Sunshine, and tell me if I care."

Apollo pouted at me as he did any time we started arguing over important matters such as my despondency while living a lackadaisical village of woad covered unintellectuals who insisted on going outdoors in less than pleasant weather, and taking me with them.

"Look, either way I'll just be back again, hopefully on some other continent with working bathhouses," I sighed, reluctantly giving up against the divine puppy-eye effect.

"I could take you for a ride on the sun chariot today as a compromise?"

"That would be lovely."

I took the offered hand as I got on to the golden chariot, "I hope you understand that a second hand vehicle isn't enough to win my forgiveness for this mess."

"Well, it's not like I can do anything else, Hades and even Thanatos consider your situation amusing for all that it affects me. Also, don't call my ride second hand."

"Mhm, sure..." I trailed off as we set...flight into the horizon, catching glimpses of countries I'd lived in or visited as we went. Apollo's warm hold kept us stable as the wind whistled past us.

 

Perhaps I could survive the dreary country that had in part joined the Roman Empire as long as I had moments like this with my old friend.

 

 

Notes:

Honestly Lys has reached the point where he barely holds back on insulting Apollo, who has lost about 80% of his mysticism and all-knowing/powerful/etc ness and is basically just a friend and sometimes lover he's had for the last few centuries.

Apollo is pretty used to Lys' antics and is actually somewhat attached as they've known each other for just short of a thousand years.

Comments and Kudos are my main source of external motivation lol

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