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Apollo’s eyes were always a marvel. Originally gold, they always unsettled you, the way they seemed to radiate sunlight onto his face. You tried to ignore how much they reminded you of your father. Leto would not be happy if you hit him with your lightning bolt, and you hoped to have her around for a while yet.
It was surprising how quickly Apollo had managed to vanquish Python. Of course, you expected him to take revenge for his mother, but he was four days old. Even if it wasn’t as easy as Apollo made it sound, he hadn’t finished developing his powers yet. Python was a strong opponent. It was unnerving, how much power Apollo had displayed. The feeling was compounded by the green sheen that had appeared in his eyes.
It wasn’t truly your fault that he got accidentally hit by your lightning bolt. He had surprised you, and his gold eyes reminded you of your father. It’s why your eyes are sky blue now, after all. He got the hint after a few surprises.
His eyes were blue now, though a darker blue than yours. They kept the green sheen from Python though, and had a gold highlight now, no matter how bright the surrounding light was. Apollo had painted a sun around one of his eyes, a way to keep him connected to his domain. He heard that he was still appearing with gold eyes around the mortals, but that was okay. Mostly.
You thought he would have retired his gold eyes by now. The gods weren’t well known here, gold eyes would immediately draw attention. Yet he still was finding a way to utilise them, from identifying himself to halfbloods to wooing his latest prospect. You considered smiting him again, but you felt that would only cause distrust. It was fine, there was no need to worry yourself about it.
It wasn’t your fault that he got hit. With your father reawakening, it was no surprise you were distrustful of anyone who had gold eyes. There was no need to have gold eyes anyways, especially since his have a golden highlight anyways.
He stopped using them completely. Even the highlight had dimmed a bit. Kronos must have spooked him enough, seeing him through a mortal’s body. It was unnatural, to say the least, seeing such power in a fragile body. Demigods should not be able to threaten gods, they should bow down to you, grateful that they get to see you at all.
At some point during the Greek-Roman schism, Apollo had lost his green sheen in his eyes. You knew it was important, but you were busy. You had to stay strong during the Roman-Greek schism, to keep everything from falling into chaos. The twins, for example, must stay on Delos.
You remembered now why the lack of green sheen in his eyes was bad. While unsettling, it proved that he had taken control of Delphi from Python. Without the sheen, it meant that Python had reclaimed the Oracle of Delphi. Apollo must have known, gods can always sense the loss of a domain and power, but he failed to inform you. He should have.
You hated to take these measures, especially in this age, but you had to. Apollo had disobeyed you three times over. Once, by appointing Rachel as the new Pythia and accelerating Gaea’s awakening. Twice, by emboldening the augur that caused the Greek and Roman camps to have a war, incapacitating the gods. And thirdly, he had failed to inform you about Python retaking Delphi.
You had to consider which form Apollo would most despise. He was vain, and took great pride in his clear skin and obvious muscle. You added flab and acne. Where his golden curls once were, they were now a much darker brown or black. Apollo enjoyed being just taller than the demigods, so he would be average if not slightly shorter. You gave him much paler skin, so that he would burn if he stayed in his domain for too long without protection.
The mortal body needed some identification, as mortals always seemed to demand it. His name was easy enough. Lester didn’t have any obvious connection to the beauty that seemed to fuel him, and Papadopoulos was a ridiculous last name that you could claim was noble. You paused, searching for the right age. Sixteen years old, to remind him of the prophecy that he had accelerated. Birthday, April 8th? To remove any sevens, of course.
Eye colour was the last thing you needed to do. You considered giving a very boring brown, something that was surely too common for Apollo. A green colour might give him an idea to deal with Python, but it might make it harder for you to deny his divinity if he was still being disobedient. In the end, you decided on a sky blue for his eyes, similar to yours. You didn’t bother with a golden highlight. It would look too unnatural, obviously.