𝑃𝐻𝑂𝐸𝐵𝑈𝑆. (𝑂𝑓 𝐺𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠)

five - now

Now.

Apollo sat in his temple on his island of Delos, staring up at the statue of himself that the people, his people, had built in his honor. This was the island he was born on; he had spent his childhood here, had visited more than any other place throughout his life - including Delphi, it's where he was going to live for the rest of his immortal life with Adoria.

Phoebus.

Apollo could feel the tears begin to brim his eyes. His oracle had called him by his true name, something reserved only for his mother, sister, and one other person. He'd refused to let anyone say it since that night. He'd hated that name so much before, preferring the title Apollo.

Phoebus.

She'd said she liked it so much more than Apollo; she'd said Apollo sounded so pretentious and that he wasn't like that. It was the first time Apollo had been complimented in such a way. She may not have known it then, but it was one of the things that made him fall in love with her. She looked past the outer godly surface and made the effort to understand the man underneath.

Phoebus.

How in all of Hades was he supposed to go on without her?

A smash resonated through the temple as Apollo picked up a arrow, and with the strength only a god could possess, threw it straight into the heart of the statue, cracking the composure and causing it to break in half. The time for tearful Phoebus was over, and what stood in his place was vengeful Apollo.

~~~~~~~

This had to be the best idea Adoria had ever had. Afraid that her unruly attire would cause too much attention to come to her, the siren snagged a longer piece of cloth that had something made to go over the head so that no one could see her face. So far no one had bothered her, keeping on with their dancing and singing as Adoria watched on in amusement. She loved this island already. Her sisters were never this entertaining, never so excited except for when they went into a killing frenzy.

The music playing became faster and the humans began clapping. Adoria followed along, watching as food was brought out and cheering ensued. She didn't want to take from these people any more than she had, what with her borrowing whoever's clothing, but she was terribly hungry and didn't think that anyone would mind. She didn't, however, know much about what any of the food in the feast were.

Adoria took the risk of speaking with someone. "Excuse me?" The girl pulled the hood on her head back just enough to show her eyes.

A man turned around and immediately his eyes widened. Adoria was afraid she'd done something wrong. "Hi, hello, hi," his arm moved to lean against the table next to him but his misinterpreted the distance between his hand and the table and almost fell before catching himself, "sorry, sorry, hi....can I help you?" His other hand began to massage the back of his neck.

Adoria knew what she was making the boy feel. Sirens were naturally appealing to humans, both men and even some women; it made sense that he would be flustered when speaking to her. She felt terrible for making the boy so nervous. "I just wanted to know if there were any, um, non-meat options. Or maybe some fish." Fish was what Adoria had grown accustomed to eating lately. There had been a time when she'd indulged in man flesh, it was a dark time for her and she didn't like to remember it.

"Yeah, yes, of course. Uh..." he turned around to grab a wooden object that seemed to be used to hold the food, "here you are. There's some fruit at the end of the table here, and if you'd like some fish I know that they're cooking some over in the town square. I could, well if you want, I could walk you there."