Icarus and the Sun

III.

I knew it was him the moment my eyes landed on his shadow; the shape of his body was all too familiar to me by now. I hadn't been able to stop thinking about him since he'd approached me... In fact, I had so many things I wanted to ask him, so many questions that just burned in my mind: Why had he flew so close? Why did he stop? How was he able to do so?

But, as he neared me, it seemed that my curiosity had completely escaped me. I was at a loss for words. This would be the first time I'd speak to anyone aside from my father and the other Gods who sometimes stopped by, and I didn't think I would ever feel this... afraid? Anxious? Excited?

The glow that emitted from my skin-- the skin that the cloak couldn't cover-- perfectly illuminated the man before me. He was tall, much taller than the form I had decided to take, and lean. His skin was devoid of colour, but oddly enough the gray didn't appear to be sickly on him... No, it was quite flattering. And upon further inspection, it looked like his skin wasn't even skin, but wax that was expertly carved into the shape of a man.

Wax... Of course! That's why he had turned away from me and flew back down into the ocean. I'd melt him, and not by either of our choices. Yet, he still approached me tonight, only sitting a few feet away from me.

Although the night was calm, I could only feel myself burning brighter with excitement. I didn't think I could bring myself to it, but after a few minutes of us just looking at each other with no exchange, I spoke up. A simple "Hello" was all I could muster.

☼ ☼ ☼

Neither of us caught a whisper of sleep that night, nor did any being surrounding.

Hours upon hours passed without a single moment of silence as we exchanged our lives with each other. I told him I was the Sun, the daughter of Apollo. He knew exactly who I was. He was Icarus, the son of Daedalus. You know, the creator of the Labyrinth. He was, in fact, made of wax... It was a punishment he couldn't escape. 

"My father... He put his life before those of his children, mine included. Before he created the Labyrinth, before he was anything other than a man, he was in love. The woman he'd fallen in love with did not belong to him, though. She was one of Zeus's many mistresses, and when she'd told Zeus that she was no longer interested in him, he came for my father," told Icarus as he created small ripples in the pond before us. "The great God gave him a choice: He may spend the rest of his life doing torturous labour for the Gods on Olympus, or his future children may suffer for him. My father made his choice." The rest was pretty self-explanatory from there.

For this piece, I shared my life's story in return. Of course, my father didn't put me in jeopardy from the very beginning, but I explained how his worries kept me from experiencing life. Icarus understood me.

He said his father kept him from experiencing life, too.