Spiral of Ants

The Others

Apollo had been missing for about two million years. Which wasn't all that long for the other gods. In fact it had only recently gotten long enough for them to grow concerned about the curious gods whereabouts. Once they had finally decided to search, it didn't take too long to actually locate him. A quaint little planet the inhabitance called earth. It was one of the planets that had developed life. Little simple creatures, humans.

Aktal, one that had been a little closer to Apollo, observed for a while. Why hadn't Apollo returned to them? What did he see in this dime-a-dozen planet? After a little, Aktal had concluded that Apollo must have forgotten. There was no way being in that flimsy human body for so long could be good for him. Surely if he remembered he would be back by now. Aktal decided he would just have to go down himself to get some answers and hopefully bring Apollo back. He would keep his time there brief, so he wouldn't succumb to the same weaknesses Apollo seemed to fall to.

He informed the others what he was doing, to prevent another two million years from passing, if Aktal got stuck. Apollo may enjoy small details and interactions, but that had never been Aktals forte.

It took the god a moment to gain his bearings, after he came down. His body felt small, and fragile. He already hated it. How had Apollo stuck around for so long? Aktal was already prepared to get out of this form as soon as possible. Eventually he gathered himself enough to head over to the house he had identified as Apollos more frequented areas. A human lived there, as well. One Apollo seemed... quite close to, from Aktals observations. He tried to not think too much of it. Jealousy directed towards these little weak creatures would be nothing short of pathetic, after all.

He knocked on the humans door, eager to talk to Apollo and get this whole thing over with. After a moment, the human answered the door. "Is Apollo here?"Aktal asked, skipping pleasantries. He didn't really see the point, to be honest. It wasn't that he disliked these creatures per say, it was more so that their existence was completely inconciquencal and he saw no reason to participate in their customs when his goal was to talk to Apollo, take him home, and to forget about all of this.

The human frowned "I'm sorry sir, who are you?" He said wearily.

"I am Aktal. An old friend of Apollos."

The human seemed weary. Untrusting. That irked Aktal. Before he could do or say anything about that though, Apollo walked into view "We have leftovers from last night, right Aseil?" He asked, not even noticing Aktal.

Aktal pushed past Aseil, entering his home and rushing over to Apollo "There you are! Goodness I can't believe this is how you've been living this whole time. These bodies alone are extremely uncomfortable. Let's go back home already"

The human was staring, wide-eyed. He seemed to put it together.

Apollo did not. He stepped away from Aktal and rushed over to Aseil, practically babying the creature. Aktal didn't even push him that hard!

Once Apollo had decided the human was indeed alright, he looked over at Aktal "I don't know who you are but do not touch my boyfriend"

Aktal frowned "Really? You're in a relationship with one of them? Honestly Apollo... being in this form hasn't done any favors for you, has it?"

The human grabbed Apollo's sleeve, clinging to it. "A-Apollo I think he's another god"

Realization dawned on Apollos face. What had being in this form done to him? A shell of what he used to be, with comprehension skills worse than these simple creatures. "Oh."

Aktal sighed "Apollo really. I don't want to be here longer than necessary. Let's just go"

"No" Apollo said simply. Matter of factly.

"No? Apollo are you really going to choose these little creatures over us? We miss you, I miss you. You clearly can't remember. Being in this form has harmed you. You and I were extremely close, Apollo. Come back. We can fix what this place has done to you"

"I'm happy here, thank you" Apollo said. The human looked frightened as he watched Aktal. He seemed to have much more common sense than Apollo. Good. At least he wasn't completely stupid.

"Apollo" the human said quietly "We do know this place wasn't made for you. And with that place after you, maybe you should put more thought into it before saying no.."

"Listen to your little human, Apollo. You've had your two million years of fun. Now let's go"

"I said no," Apollo said, sharper now, wrapping an arm around the human. "I'm not leaving Aseil. So you can either leave or stick around but understand I'm not leaving. Not any time soon at least."

Aktal looked at the human distastefully. Was this little creature really the whole reason Apollo refused to return home? His life span was short anyhow, Aktal would wait around till he died. But it was still extremely annoying. The human didn't seem particularly dislikable or irritating, but that didn't change Aktals instant dislike.

The human was quite obviously afraid of Aktal, pressing himself into Apollos side for protection and comfort. What did Apollo see in these creatures?

"Fine. It's not like he'll live too long anyways. I can wait." Aktal finally relented

—

When Aseil had first met Apollo, he had been a little scared. But most of his anxiety came from a sense of being starstruck. Of course he had always known Apollo could do awful things with that microphone if he wanted, but he never would. Apollo was kind, and greatly valued human life.

This was different. This new god, Aktal. He did not value human life. On the contrary, he seemed annoyed with Aseil's existence. The new god had been showing up off and on for a few weeks. Never asking Aseils permission before showing up, and not seeming to care. He didn't directly address Aseil often and whenever he did he seemed annoyed that he had to acknowledge the human at all.

Apollo wasn't really appreciative of how the other god was treating Aseil, which only made the situation more tense. Aseil had opted for trying to always be in a different room than Aktal, whenever he was over. Which was difficult considering Apollo wanted to spend time with Aseil and yet Aktal seemed insistent on following Apollo, trying to talk to him.

One Saturday, Apollo wasn't there. Which was perfectly normal. Despite his love of domestic life Apollo never actually stopped wandering. So when Aktal showed up and saw no sign of Apollo, he seemed instantly upset. "Where is he?" Aktal asked.

Aseil looked up from his breakfast "I don't know. He likes to explore."

"This planet is very small. Has he not explored it all already?" Aktal asked irritably.

Aseil stood up "Look, what's your problem? I get that this whole place seems small and stupid to you, which is fine but you don't have to be an asshole about it. You've really been upsetting Apollo. You said you two were close but you're sure as hell not acting like it, and he doesn't feel like it"

Aktal's expression hardened "Excuse you?"

"I've been trying so hard to be respectful to you, sir. I can take the disrespect you give to me, I know my existence means nothing next to you and Apollo. Not only that but I fully agree that I'm not worthy of his love and that he should go home. But that's not either of our decisions to make. And belittling everything he knows and loves isn't going to get him to suddenly change his mind"

"You've got some gall, telling me off like that, little human""Are you capable of not belittling me for like five seconds? This is the problem. I'm not telling you this to stand up for myself or whatever, I really don't care if you push me around. But Apollo does. You're only pushing him away"

Aktal watched Aseil for a long moment, anger in his gaze. Aseil was genuinely half expecting for the god to kill him. To his surprise and relief, the god vanished, leaving Aseil to sit back down, shaking and shocked with himself.