The Light Of Apollo's Love

Chapter 13

Apollo had gone off with Dionysus and Artemis, glass in hand, taking the occasional sip of his wine. He could still taste Myrrh on his lips, the sweet taste of her lipstick leaving a stain upon his lips and the glass he was drinking from. He had studied around the crowd, spotting a few friendly faces, but souring when he nearly made eye contact with Aphrodite. He took a gulp of his wine to drown out the feeling of dislike, feeling better knowing that Myrrh was off having her family reunion at the moment. Maybe it would help her feel more at home here with him? He was lost in thought when he felt an arm wrap around his shoulder, startling him, only for it to be a somewhat tipsy Dionysus.

"Where's your girly friend hm? I would suspect that you two love birds would be joined at the hip the entire night, but it seems you let your little dove out of your sight for a while." Dionysus gave him a drunken grin, and Apollo simply patted him on his shoulder, looking off to outside in the gardens, admiring the night sky.

Aphrodite had been sitting on a chaise looking out at the room, occasionally plucking a grape from the vine on the tray next to her and plopping it into her mouth. She grinned in amusement, her red lips shining in the light while Eros sat nearby, waiting for a moment to catch Myrrh and Apollo leaving together, alone. He knew it would happen at some point throughout the night, all he needed was to spot them as they slipped away from the gathering and follow them out of sight. Then he would find a way to get a perfect shot, hit Apollo first then Myrrh, if he did it the other way around Apollo would be able to evade it, but if he got Apollo first Myrrh would be defenseless against him. He felt a pang of guilt within his chest, having seen how happy they were together when they had simply walked in, holding each other's hands in their grasp.

He had watched Myrrh walk off with Chloris, and Aphrodite stifled a bitter laugh of distaste as she eyed Myrrh before she disappeared. She had practically picked her apart with her eyes, finding every nit and grit detail about the human that she could use as an excuse to despise her. She had her hair cut short as though she were a slave, and her curls always rested upon her shoulders, along with her skin being tanned from the sun, unlike how rich women and women who cared more for her looks than she did, had pale skin. She could not understand how so many wanted to be within Myrrh's presence, and how someone could find her looks pleasing, much less attractive to the point of being able to snag the hearts of people, including Apollo. She glanced over at Eros, her legs crossed with her red peplos nipping at her ankles as she stood up, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder, before walking off into the crowd to get a glass of wine.

Myrrh had sat on cushions within the room, the sweet floral incense filling her nose its perfume as the other women sat around her, with Chloris by her side. They were vaguely familiar to her, but she remembered seeing them in one of her memories when she had been trapped within her mind by the toxin Eris had poisoned her with. The women all had some sort of flower growing within their hair and on their dresses. Two of them had brown hair, one red, one blonde, and one black. The oldest, Amphinome, had dark brown, curly long hair that trailed down her back, with brown eyes, such as Myrrh's. The second oldest were the two twins, Batella and Mendeis. One had long, straight straw-colored hair, with green eyes that matched Menedis's. Menedis on the other hand had hair as red like fire, with straight locks that were short just like Myrrh's. Nomia, who was only slightly younger than the twins, had coffee-colored hair, with deep, azure eyes, with long sea waves of locks. The youngest that was closest to Myrrh's age, was Eidyia, with black hair and deep hickory eyes, with long tight curly ringlets. They all had tan skin similar to hers, due to them all staying outside throughout the day just as Myrrh would usually. They had bombarded her with questions to the point of where Chloris nearly had to yell at them to quiet down, so instead, they sat and told her stories of the time they had spent with her in the past, trying to bring her old memories to light. Menedis had decided to finally start asking her questions once again, this time giving her a chance to answer them.