章 5: Falling Star
Delos, Aegean Sea.
Apollo and Artemis walked along the wet shore, their feet sinking into the loose sand as soothing cold waves swept over their legs.
They walked into the clear water until half of their legs were submerged in the chilly ocean.
Their faces glowed with the last orange rays of the sun before the sun beckons the stars. They looked out at the vast sea ahead.
On the horizon, the sky and the sea appeared to merge. The colour was almost black. The setting sun was a deep crimson colour, nearly blood-red. The red sun appeared to be sinking into the water like a live ember, and the heat caused the air around it to shimmer. The sky was almost dark and the first stars could be seen.
Apollo's lips bore a semblance of a smile, just enough to show that he is enjoying the breath-taking view. Artemis' face was stoic at the sight, but her softening silver eyes told a totally different story.
(Image here)
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Thoroughly enjoying the last warmth of the twilight sun, Apollo exhaled a sigh of contentment.
Artemis nodded, grabbing the wooden bow from behind her back, her gaze still fixed on the eternal sun.
(Image here)
"Twilight." She smiled. "The sky turned to a light, dark littered with tiny silver stars. I sometimes even wish that the sun could pause like this every now and then."
'I suppose I could...' Apollo looked up at the sun, shaking his head at the dangerous thought.
"And speaking of the sun..." Artemis asked, as she pulled the string, a ray of moonlight erupting from her hand, bending to her will and morphing into glinting platinum arrows. "How's everything going over there?"
"As usual," Apollo sighed, clutching a handful of stones in his hand.
"I was not welcome at all," he said as he tossed one of them into the ocean, causing it to bounce as it travelled to the horizon. "They didn't seem to like the prospect of a new sun god appearing."
He chuckled. "In particular, a harpy in a kimono dress literally looked at me with judging eyes for a moment and tsked, saying, 'Uncultured barbarian.'"
The sun is not just any ordinary star in the universe. It was a symbol of light and power.
And, despite being a sun god, he only had partial control over the sun.
The sun is actually shared by several sun gods from various pantheons. It contains the wills and divinities of all the sun gods. As a result, they frequently clash in order to increase their control over the sun.
However, Apollo already has authority over the sun, an aspect of reality that allows him to have a direct connection to the concept of the sun and influence it with his will.
In essence, his authority should have surpassed the divinity of the gods, as divinity utmost should only allow for shallow manipulation of concepts.
So, in conclusion, he can use his sun authority to completely control the sun, overriding all divinities and wills. But, in the end, no matter how tempting it was to completely control the concept of the sun in the universe, he did not do it.
After all, his conjectures about divinity are just educated guesses based on his observations of his sister and mother using his order authority. He was still unsure about conjunctures, and there were far too many unknown variables.
A multi-pantheon war is on his head if something even remotely goes wrong. So he decided to wait. And time is the last thing he needs in his new life.
"When did this happen?" Artemis inquired, surprised and enraged.
Apollo said. "Remember the white sun from a few days ago? That was when."
"You have to stop with the secrets." Artemis turned, letting go of the string with hesitation. "Did you actually confront her in the sun? That harpy in your mouth should be..."
"Amaterasu…" Apollo finished for her. "A bitch is what she was. And, I rubbed that fact in her face."
He laughed. "You know, it was so satisfying to see her high and noble face twist to reveal the true ugliness hidden in her bones."
His laughter became louder, increasing the worry in the heart of Artemis.
"Apollo." Artemis said, solemnly "She is a Queen of Gods."
"You don't have to be concerned..." Apollo dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Helios informed me that our relationship with the Shinto pantheon is strained."
"He arrived just in time, having noticed the conflict. And, he was the one who stood up to Amaterasu. However, nothing major occurred in the end. She didn't even look at the Helios, instead snorting in the direction of the earth and giving me a glare before disappearing."
"Helios then told me not to worry, emphasizing that the Olympus would always have my back, no matter what."
Artemis turned, redrawing her bow. "Don't do something like this again, Apollo."
"She was targeting me, Artemis." Apollo snapped. "I'm pretty sure she'd start cornering me if I even showed a hint of weakness."
Artemis waved her hand. "No, I didn't.... I was just worried."
Apollo looked up at the sun. "Remember what our mother said. In our world, the strongest fist decides the fate of all those below. So, never show your weakness in this cruel world. And, they'll be already plotting to share your corpse like hawks."
Artemis released the string as the silver arrow shot into the sea, accurately piercing a large fish into the sea floor.
Then she sighed, "I understand that more than you think. After all, the situation on the moon. Tsukuyomi."
The heaviness filled the air as they stared in silence at the twilight sun for a few seconds.
"That's enough depressing topics for today. Let's save the rest for tomorrow," Apollo said, smiling.
Artemis nodded briskly. "Let's hunt. This time, I'm serious."
The waning sunlight converged into Apollo's hand, morphing into a golden bow and arrows.
Then, the hunt began.
"Your silver arrows?"
"If you hadn't noticed, I'm a quick learner."
"Let's see who can catch the most fish by the time the sun sets."
"This is the hunt. I'm not going to make this a competition."
"Haha…"
"My dear Artemis, you're just afraid of losing to me."
"Whatever you want to say, brother, I don't care. This is the hunt."
They continued their hunt under Apollo's laughter until the sun faded away from the horizon, heralding the arrival of night.
They got to the shore dragging all the fish in a big net with their hands.
"Come on, let's go." Apollo said, "Mother has her worries with the night."
"Should we just carry this?" Artemis pointed to a large net filled with fish.
"No, I have a better way." Apollo shook his head, then pointed to the moon. "Do as I s..."
He came to a halt, his eyes narrowed at the night sky.
"What happened?" Artemis followed his gaze and became transfixed by the spectacle in the starry sky.
Suddenly, a star in the night sky shone brightly before descending from the dark heavens, leaving a trail of silvery light.
It rushed out of the night sky like a falling star, descending straight in front of them.
It exploded into starry blue light, illuminating the entire Delos Island, before morphing into an illusory starlight door with images of swirling galaxies on it.
'How grand...' Apollo thought as he witnessed the magnificent spectacle.
The door swung open, and a blonde woman rushed out, smelling of earth. Her concerned eyes immediately fixed on them, and she hugged them immediately.
"Apollo and Artemis..." The blonde woman said, relief washing over her face. "Thank god, you're both okay. I was really worried."
She continued by kissing them on the forehead. "Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet. I am your aunt, Demeter."
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