Mythe || Folkelore

⚔︎ 11 ⚔︎

Apollo slumps into his throne after the Royals have dispersed to their own Courts to check the damages. He covers his face with his hands, and I watch with a heavy heart as his shoulders quiver. I don't know what comfort I can give him, but I'll certainly try.

Walking over, I rest my hands on his shoulders and massage the muscle. My dear husband drops his hands to look up at me. Heartbreak is etched into his face. Although Loam has claimed him as its own, Flare will always be his first home. I let my fingers stop their work to cup his face.

"I'm sorry, love. I can't imagine how your heart must hurt." My thumbs gently track back and forth along his cheeks. It's practically subconsciously.

"I'll be alright," Apollo promises. "I just wasn't expecting it."

He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. I move my hand to the back of his neck, tugging him into an embrace. Apollo gladly falls into me and almost immediately, his shoulders shake with sobs.

All time fades away while I hold my grieving husband. Eventually, he sits back and wipes the tears off his face. I let my hands fall to rest on his knees. Apollo looks down at me, and I can't help but feel butterflies swell at the sight of his damp lashes. Phew.

"What would I do without you, love?" he murmurs, lazily drawing a finger along my face.

My body refuses to do anything that could cause him to stop his ministrations, and I simply shrug. Apollo's lips quirk with a tiny smile, and, internally, I cheer. We'll get through this, same as always.

Alas, it's short lived, and his brows furrow. "What could've caused the collapse? Extier is nothing like Earth. We don't just get quakes."

My heart sinks. "I don't think it's a what, but a who."

"Oh." Apollo drops his head against the back of his throne. "Deimos."

⚔︎

    I sit up in bed, brain-addled. What in the world happened? The last thing I can remember is holding Apollo in my arms, and now I'm here. In my room.

My eyes move to my side, to find Apollo crashed beside me. Perhaps I fell asleep, and he carried me in here. But no... we're both in nightgowns. We may be married, but that's one step we haven't taken yet. Apollo would never. Or would he? There's only one way to find out.

I poke his side, and he sucks in a deep breath. It takes him a couple minutes of shifting around before his eyes finally open. Like me, he shoots to a sitting position.

"Weren't we in the throne room?" he asks, voice deep and throaty from just waking up.

"This wasn't you?" I question, concern pooling in my gut along with the butterflies awoken by early morning Apollo. Or is it late morning... I groan. "This isn't good."

Apollo runs a hand through his hair. "It couldn't be poison, there would be other side effects."

"And we didn't consume anything... other than those Kalipis."

"Exactly. None of the poisons I can think of that would cause a memory lapse take that long to enter the system. So what in tarnations could have happened?"

My eyes flicker back and forth as my mind races for any other explanation. Eventually, they slow to a stop, and I suck in a breath.

"What is it, love?" Apollo asks, his hand grasping my shoulder. My gaze finds his, worry etched into my brow.

"Your Regalia." I pause, resting my hand on top of his. "I'm not saying it was conscious, but you were very emotional last night which can affect the Regalias, and time lapses are something you're able to do, correct?"