Apollo & Cassandra (#rewindtheclassics22)

Day Turns to Night

I stood there, under the oak tree, long after Cassandra disappeared into the building. I was still there as the throngs of students filed out after class. Cassandra was not among them.

Persephone would be returning home to Demeter after a long, cold winter. There were signs of her journey everywhere. Snow was melting, revealing patches of brown grass. Leaves budded on the trees, eager to drink in my summer sunshine.

As such, the students wore warm sweaters, hats and scarves. Most went without a jacket even though their breath plumed out like wispy clouds.

If I were a human, the cold would have me in its clutches by now. My fingers would be frozen and numb, my bones heavy with chill. I'd seen many humans succumb to the freezing death. Thankfully, it did not bother me.

I kept to the shadows and waited.

What compelled me to do so, I could not say. Talent drew me in, but with Cassandra there was more. A compulsion.

"You shouldn't be here, brother."

Her crystalline voice came from behind me, smooth and cool as the night air. I stared at the building Cassandra had entered and said nothing.

"Ignoring me isn't going to make me go away," she continued. "You must return home before Zeus finds you."

A sigh escaped as I finally turned to face the goddess that was my twin.

"I'm not doing anything, Artemis," I said with a smile. "I was simply observing. Besides, no one can control what I do, even Zeus."

Artemis was the coldness to my warmth. She was the moon, and I was the sun. Night versus day. My hair was like a ray of sunshine–golden and soft. Her hair was like the night sky–velvety black and straight. Her porcelain skin was like the cold light of the stars, while mine was sun-kissed and dark.

Polar opposing twins.

"You have been "observing" for hours now."

She crossed her arms and stared out at the humans with her dark eyes. The pupils bled into the irises. Mine were bluer than the sky on a cloudless day.

"There's no harm," I assured her, though I couldn't help shifting my gaze back to the building.

Traces of the day were fading, the evening coming in as quickly as Artemis had appeared. Yet, Cassandra still hadn't exited the building.

"Cassandra," Artemis hummed. I started and found my sister staring at me. Her cold eyes even made me shiver. "Apollo, you know the rules–"

I pushed out of the shadows. "Yes, I do. Nothing is happening here, sister dearest. You can tell Zeus as much."

"Apollo, Cassandra will not fill that void."

There was one thing Artemis, and I shared: our persistent stubbornness. She followed after me as I trudged through the slushy snow. Already the temperature was cooling enough for icy patches to form on the sidewalk.

"I know losing him was hard–"

"Enough, Artemis," I snapped. "I don't want to talk about him."

Thank Zeus she fell silent, though it was too late. That wound I'd worked so hard to stitch reopened. It had been centuries since I lost him. It still felt like yesterday. Over the years I tried to move on, but no one ever came close.

No one could ever match my Hyacinthus.

"I don't need a babysitter," I said after we'd walked the length of the building.

"Zeus seems to think otherwise."

A swirl of thoughts was caught up in my mind, most of which were curses against Zeus. He'd never cared what the rest of us did. He'd had his own share of fun on behalf of the humans.

But ever since that day, he watched me closer than the others. As if he were afraid that I, his favourite son, would become weak towards humans.

"I appreciate your concern, but I am fine. I'm not going to do anything."

I'd already told myself to watch Cassandra from afar. Her orbit was powerful, but I was a god. I could resist if I wanted.

"If you believe that you are a fool," Artemis said, her steps slowing.

There was something in her eyes, a silent understanding. It was gone as quickly as it had appeared.

"But you are in luck. I am tired of your sorrowful attitude and the night calls to me. I must oversee my duties." She pressed a hand against my arm, her fingers a shock of cold against my hot skin. "Be careful, Apollo."

Then she was gone.

I let out a breath of relief and curled my hands in my pockets. There was no destination in mind, my feet took me where they pleased. It was a pleasant evening and the humans, reinvigorated by the prospect of warmer weather, wandered the street, seeking food or entertainment.

As I rounded a corner, I felt it. That compelling pull ensnared me.

She was standing at a bus stop, her face illuminated by the phone screen.

Cassandra's head bobs along with a song playing in her headphones. A blissful smile tugs gently on the corners of her lips, an unconscious gesture.

Artemis' warning and my promise are already slipping into the recesses of my memory as I approach Cassandra.

Though she appears distracted, her body tenses and her head snaps up, caution and warnings dashing across her face. When our eyes meet, however, something shifts in her demeanour.

A calm passes over her, and the shy smile replaces the alarm, though her eyes are guarded, watching. She senses it too, this connection we share.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," I began. My voice is even, though my heart races. "I just... You look..."

Never have words left me scrambling. Not since him.

"My name is Apollo," I said, extending a hand.

"Like the god?" She asked. Her voice was smooth and honeyed.

My lips quirked upwards at the connection. "Yes."

She glanced at my extended hand and then reached for her. Unlike Artemis', Cassandra's hand was flush with warmth and softer than velvet. When our skin touched, her warmth flared through me, leaving me momentarily breathless.

"Well, Apollo–like the god–my name is Cassandra," she smiled.

***

Current word count: 1,344