A God's Mercy (Apollo x OC)

Chapter 30

     The collective mood of the island hung over them as thick as one of Zeus' thunderclouds, but none of those as distraught as Ivy's. The never-ending screams of Eedi weren't very helpful. Those who were brave enough—or maybe foolishly curious—to linger outside of Apollo's temple cringed with each echo. From where she stood at the bottom of the entrance steps she felt compelled to stay, as if some trickster spirit manipulated her toes into growing their roots there. For the first time in her life, her nails had been bitten down to the beds. But it wasn't her fault, she rationalized to herself. Wasn't she a supervisor, a guardian spirit worthy of some degree of respect? And wasn't that precisely one of the primal duties one such as her had to oversee, that insubordinate slaves be punished? The girl had no right, saying what she did. No right at all. Who did she think she was, suddenly waltzing in and stealing everyone's attention? It was so unfair.
     ... it wasn't as if Ivy planned to have her killed. She only wanted to show her that she was only a human. Just because she belonged to the prince didn't make her untouchable. Ivy was only glad to teach her a lesson. But Eedi—Gods! If only he weren't so utterly foolish, if only she'd chosen someone else to do the job. Oh, but Eedi insisted as soon as she let him in on the details. Stupid randy goat. He deserved everything he was getting, and more, only... as he was being tortured, she knew he would gladly give away his accomplices as long as there was even a chance Apollo would let him off—which he wouldn't, but Eedi was stupid. Some bit of strength sparked through her legs, and she forced herself to rush away. Anywhere but here, she thought as she ignored the hostile stares. Did they know? They must've. That meddling Karana with her swarthy blabbermouth. They knew what she had done, and she knew they were all just waiting for her to fall from grace, the bastards. Was it any surprise that she was inclement with them? And unless she fled, it would most certainly happen. But where could she go? A nymph could not stray far from her territory for long. At a young age, she'd seen it happen. The depression, then the deep sickness, a nymph with skin so gaunt it was terrifying to watch her decay before her very eyes. She found it fascinating at the time, but now the scenario had a whole new meaning.
     The moon shined as freshly as a river pebble overhead when she noticed a person had materialized next to her. Against her better judgement, she jumped. "Oh, my Lord! You look so well." He didn't. The molten hair that she adored so much looked nearly red now, like it would combust at any second. His face was hard and his eyes had darkened into a stormy blue. Ivy shivered. How could a person smile so gently at her before and now possibly smite her where she stood—with that face? Nonetheless she smiled the smile she usually made when a possible beau wouldn't succumb to her.

"Really."

"Are you feeling alright, my Lord?"

"No. A precious possession of mine has been broken."

"Oh, yes..." she pursed her lips delicately as if she actually cared. "the little human girl. Yes, the whole incident was quite... dreadful, wasn't it? I do hope she's ok." At the same time he was a deadly calm, his features became more turbulent. Very quietly, he said,

"Are you trying to deceive your god?"

"It was... it was only a harmless prank. We didn't mean for it to go so far, I swear to you." Apollo scoffed, a dry humorless laugh as sharp as needles pricking the nymph's ear.

"Oh? Poor Eedi didn't seem to think so."

"Please spare me, my Lord. You—you know me! I've never failed to please you before. I'll never do it again, please." He seemed to ponder that for a second. He tilted his face to stare at the moon, his face relaxing if only for a second as if to bathe in its light.

"Thank your lucky stars that I didn't encounter you hours ago. If I did, I would have blasted you into a million pieces." He shrugged. "Run along and pack your things."

"Y-you're exiling me?" Certain death! "But, my Lord! I've lived here my whole life, I... I've never known any place else..." So funny that only then did she notice the fresh blood that caked his hands. The sight didn't make her feel horrified as she should've been. No, she was angry. There was a time when he cared for her, and they were pleasant associates. As much as she hated to admit it, there was a reason as to why she gained the position she did. Now he had a disinterested expression as she tried to find words to defend her case. Somewhere to her left, she heard someone snicker, and seeing the crowd they had drawn, her humiliation became tenfold. She knew she was making a big mistake, but she didn't care. Her fists tightened. "It's not fair! How could you choose her over me? Time and time again I've bent backwards and forwards to appease you, and you think you can just replace me with this ugly little runt! A mortal whore! You—," and then, with a blast of light, she was gone. A few screams rang up in the crowd as the smoke cleared to reveal some ivy vines curling into ash. Apollo's fingers burned.

     "All of you get out of my sight."

     He had no destination, and like most other gods, he didn't care to have one. Just around was his only objective. He couldn't bring himself to dissolve from the island, nor could he return to the village to enjoy festivities. Such things—this feeling was so jarring that it galled him—felt useless at that time.  The only thing that calmed him was the pools of silver light that dipped through the leaves. His poor, precious sister was now placated, at least in her own mind, believing the girl was now dead. Guilty, he cast his eyes downward. How could he have treated the heretic so kindly? Allowing himself upon her had been unforgivable enough, but he hid her away, and the sight of her being beaten by Eedi had caused his blood to boil far more than it should have. Eedi, his trusted advisor! She caused him to turn against him, an Ivy too. To Artemis, this was the ultimate betrayal, right up there with murdering that Orion fellow. And try as he might to justify his motives, there was no excuse.
     He couldn't forget the time he first met her in the market. Her hair disheveled, the blush that came across her too-round face making her seem blotchy. This girl, more beautiful than Artemis? The 2 couldn't have been more different than a weed and an orchid. And yet, he couldn't deny that there was a certain attractiveness about her. She had nearly the blackest hair that he'd ever seen—second to Nyx—and her skin was as white as the toxic lead that mortal women powdered themselves with. With her small body and large eyes, she simply had the youthful appeal of a child, still as fresh as a newborn doe struggling to walk. Dopey, he supposed, was the correct term. He had a kind of softness for silly women, but this was a new sort that annoyed him as well as brought amusement. Just like that, his feelings had become unsubstantial, flickering here and there like fireflies. He sighed hopelessly. There wasn't much he could do now, except to keep things as they were—a secret. He knew he ought to just kill the girl and get it over with and no one would be any the wiser, but an image appeared in his head of her earlier that day, when she lay in bed weeping after the incident. The sound of it shouldn't have bothered him at all.
     Somehow when he looked up again he found he'd circled the whole island back to the very place he had watched the scene. The boughs of the litchi trees swayed lightly in the breeze. The shutters were locked and it was nearly dead quiet. He glanced around. So peaceful a night for so hectic a day. Surely, she was asleep by now. But now that he was here...
     He wasn't so callous a male as to lie with a woman while her leg was broken, of all things. Still, he felt an inkling to see her. He'd only seen red earlier and didn't remember things as he should've. Did Eedi really have his way? Inexplicably he felt his knuckles tighten. She deserved death, but if anyone was going to mistreat the girl, it was going to be him. Painlessly his arms folded into himself, his legs melting into each other and his skin toughening into scales. Ah yes, there was the solution. It would be a good thing if her face was beaten up. He didn't have any issue killing ugly things. His now-forked tongue darting, he slithered beneath the crack in the door.