Hyacinthus and Apollo

Chapter 4 - Apollo

If you had asked Apollo what he expected of the twenty-first century, he honestly wouldn't know what to tell you.

Ever since he was born, greatness had been expected and required of him. There had been moments where he had faltered, fallen even, but he tried not to let those moments rule his life. Unfortunately for him, he didn't have much of a choice.

Any mistakes he had ever made were always mentioned. His father would use them specifically to keep Apollo from doing different things. It definitely didn't help, too, that his sister could oftentimes be such a suck up that she would willingly refer their father back to his simple mistakes just to keep her own mistakes out of the spotlight.

The Fates were most definitely cruler to him than any of the other gods and goddesses that he knew. It wasn't fair.

Then again, life was and never will be fair for him.

If he were to try and pinpoint why he was cursed as he was, Apollo would probably point firstly at his father and then at all of the duties that had been shoved off to him. After all, how could anyone be the god of so many different domains without penalty.

Now, with less and less people believing in the Greek Pantheon, Apollo questioned if they would even be around long enough for his supposed curse to matter anymore.

Shaking the dreary thoughts from his mind, he ran his hands through the soft, golden curls on top of his head. He looked down from the sun chariot at the city he had begun to call his home: Phoenix, Arizona. There was something about it that spoke to him, that called out to him, though that could just be because it was known as the Valley of the Sun.

Not to mention the other Greeks tended to steer clear of the states with their own pantheons of other gods. He was lucky that the Native American deities were welcoming to him. He'd like to think of them as his only true friends within his immortal life, aside from Hermes that is.

As he looked down at the desert city, his attention was suddenly called towards an unassuming house. There was something calling to him, something that he hadn't felt for many years... not since his Spartan prince had died.

He paused for a second at that thought. Worry, pain, and curiosity were warring within him. He had never been known as a cautious god, though, so he pushed away the worry and pain, letting curiosity rule his actions.

He stopped the chariot in the sky, knowing that nothing bad would happen for this brief second. If he stopped and never moved the chariot again, well, that would be a different story. A second would probably only lead to some dryer grass, or some tanner people (except for those who didn't tan and just burned, they would probably burn in the second that he stopped the sun chariot). He leaned on the edge of the golden chariot and watched with interest as a boy exited the home. He moved towards an old convertible, taking the top down before putting on a cheap pair of glasses. Apollo couldn't help but appreciate the dichotomy.

In Apollo's humble opinion, the boy was beautiful. His hair had red mixed throughout it and his skin had a healthy tan that many would call sun-kissed, though only Apollo could say what that really looked like for sure. The sky blue shirt he wore complimented everything about him nicely. Altogether, he was gorgeous and someone Apollo wouldn't mind getting to know better... if he was still interested in relationships, that was.

A small part of him, one that he had thought was buried away for many years, wanted to claim the boy as his. It was a possessive part of his personality that most gods seemed to be cursed with. He was not proud of it.

He kept a close eye on the boy as he began his trek through the early morning traffic. That same call was pulling him to follow the boy, so he did. There was something so interesting about the other. Something that pulled him in and begged him to stay close. Something so very familiar that it felt somewhat like deja vu. As if he had actually met the other before and had just forgotten. So, he continued to follow him, accidentally bringing the sun chariot ever closer. Of course, Apollo didn't notice that his presence was causing the boy any sort of discomfort. He seemed to forget that the full focus of the sun wasn't pleasant for most people. Well, it wasn't pleasant for anyone except maye him and Helios really. Everyone else would probably hate the feeling given the heat it would focus on them.

After a short time, the boy finally stopped and pulled his car into a parking spot. As he got out of the car, Apollo continued to shamelessly stare at him, knowing that he couldn't be seen.

Or, he didn't think he could be seen. But, of course, the boy had to prove that he was even more special than Apollo previously believed as he turned and scrutinized the exact spot that Apollo was watching him from before flipping him off. It was a shock. He didn't even know the last time he had been flipped off. Maybe Artemis had done so the last time he had visited her?

His shock quickly faded away, however, when he noticed where the boy was walking. Although he might have initially ignored the building in favor of the boy (as he was wont to do with very attractive people), it now had Apollo's full attention. Anemoi Law... it sounded far too familiar for his liking.

As the boy opened the door, Apollo got a brief glimpse into the building from his seat in the sun chariot. He noticed the girl sitting at the desk, seemingly acting as a receptionist immediately.

What was Khione doing here?