Apollo accepted Pan’s apologies with a small nod. It was possible the old goat was still ribbing him but he decided to take the sentiment as sincere. “I’m not sure anyone knew where you were to send you an announcement,” Sam replied taking a swig of his beer. The ache where his children used to occupy a little place in his heart particularly Orpheus and Aesculapius was still sore even after all these years. He’d begged Zeus to make them into gods so that they wouldn’t die and they’d live on forever like so many of the children of the others. But Zeus had refused. He’d just gotten away with Heracles and Ganymede, he couldn’t get away with two more even for his most favorite son. That had rankled with Apollo and made him bitter toward his father. Of course his favorites were immortal but not anyone else’s.
He looked over at the girl and wondered if she really knew what it was like to lose a child. Granted he’d been an absent father as the gods were strongly discouraged to take an active role in their mortal children’s lives but that didn’t mean he’d cared for them less. “Their deaths were tragic and needless,” he said truthfully. Most of them needn’t die at all if Zeus had let them become freaking gods. He glanced over at Pan with a warning look. Pan was skirting that fine line of outing them as not normal. As it was Hilde already looked more than a little freaked out.