Sorry y'all, this is a particularly long chapter!

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Samantha

Apollo gestures to the last glimpses of the glowing ball beyond the horizon.

His smile has dimmed, but its mirth is still present in the tone of his voice.

"Helios tells me you set your robber bridegroom alit," his lips quirk, "I see beauty is not alone in preceding you."

I press my lips into a thin line for a moment, suddenly feeling like my life is riding on a moment again, a moment between me, the river separating me from my kidnapper, and a man who's to blame for the cutting of my hair.

"If a guy doesn't take the hint, you have to set him on fire. It's like, the law."

He takes a seat, and I move to do the same just as a sharp pain stabs at my ribs. Flinging my hands to my chest and abdomen, I gasp for air as I collapse, ignoring the sting of my skin scraping against the tree's roots and the awkward bend of my left arm and leg as I land.

The exertion from our walk and climb finally caught up to me.

I cough and choke and suppress the urge to vomit as Apollo scrambles to sit me upright, crawling behind me and placing his palms on my ribs, steady hands easing the tightness in my chest. He curses under his breath and apologizes over and over, applying pressure on my ribs until I can breathe again.

The same feeling from the clearing where Hades found me returns, that sensation of choking to death despite the fact I can't actually die. It's the human part of me, the one that gets hurt and isn't immune to stabs, arrows, and wounds and heightens the sensations of pain.

"Forgive me, brilliance, I did not think--"

Of course he didn't, he's a fucking moron in every timeline. It's only been five days. I resist the urge to say so out loud for fear of ruining the nice sunset, especially since he made the tightness in my chest disappear, but I do wave him off.

"It's fine, just-- it's fine."

We're silent for a moment after that, content with watching the last vibrant colors of the sunset fade into the coming darkness. But then Apollo moves from behind me and extends an arm, unfurling his index finger and leaning his chin forward onto my shoulder.

"Look," he whispers, pointing to the sky, where a black dot stretches across the horizon, "That is my sister, Artemis, riding my chariot and bringing the moon and night."

The dot he points to moves slowly across the sky in the far distance, seemingly insignificant since it resembles a satellite to me. If it hadn't been for Apollo mentioning it, I wouldn't have taken note of it. My lip curls upward at the gesture, surprised.

"Huh, I didn't know that."

I turn my head to the side, catching close-up glimpses of his face on my shoulder. He looks upward, lashes upturned as his proud gaze follows his sister's movement, the whole gesture is kind of... sweet. Is this what he wanted to show me? His sister riding his chariot?

I return my gaze to the sky, fighting a smile as clouds of darkness skirt around the edges of Artemis and her chariot, almost like driving her out of the canvas they're trying to paint. That doesn't seem like a responsibility suiting an olympian, but somehow, Apollo is proud of it, proud of his sister. It radiates from his every pore and flourishes from his scalp onto the curly ends of his wavy hair in faint golden streaks and beads.

He's like a real life Rapunzel...

Without thinking, I reach out to tug on a golden strand, realizing a beat too late that I shouldn't have done it when Apollo lifts a hand and covers mine with his palm.

It makes this moment feel too intimate-- him sitting against a lone tree on the secluded tip of a hill, me sitting in front of him between his legs, with one of his hands on my ribs and the other on my hand, watching the sunset of all things.

Clearing my throat, I lower my hand again, gently pushing his off. Pushing back my own hair, I sigh.

"Apollo..."

How do I tell him that I'm from a different timeline, met and slept with his uncle from the Underworld, tried putting his kind-of-adopted-son to bed but he brought me here instead and hasn't come back since?

"Brilliance?"

He shifts behind me, adjusting his back on the tree's trunk and reaching for my hand. He sweeps the pad of his thumb over my knuckles, rubbing little circles on each one, expectant.

"Apollo, I'm sorry if I've given you the wrong impression, but I like your uncle. Like, a lot."

Apollo smiles, continuing to rub circles on the back of my hands before he turns his head to the side, pressing his lips to my temple. And then my brow bone, cheek, and the corner of my lips--

I back away to the other side.

"Apollo, I'm-- I'm serious, I really like him, and--"

He stills, looking at my reactions. Disappointment dawns in his eyes once he realizes what I'm saying.

I look away, feeling guilty for some reason. I should have been clearer.

"I'm sorry for not saying it sooner. It's just," I bite my lip, catching the last glimpses of Artemis in her chariot, "I'm not from this timeline, and you're the only person here who's been remotely decent to me, and the only one who's even tried communicating with me, and I didn't-- I didn't want to jeopardize my only friend."

I lower my gaze to the ground.

"You should know that up front, I really like your uncle and have every intention of returning to him and my timeline as soon as I can."

Silence greets my explanation, and I turn to look at Apollo. He's gazing at me, admiring me, before lowering his eyes to the hyacinths surrounding us. His lips are pressed into a line, his glowing strands of hair long gone.

"You would return to him, despite..." he stops, looking to the stitches on my neck and then the slow rise and fall of my chest and abdomen.

I nod, trying to gather the right words. It's hard to explain how it's not the same man. His uncle in this timeline is nothing like the one in mine. My Hades let his brother torture him to protect me, he drives himself to exhaustion looking after the dead, taking case after case, all while guarding the dormant titans his brothers left him with and dealing with a realm he was cheated into keeping.

My Hades is patient and kind, and carries all of his burdens in dutiful silence. He's responsible and careful and solemn and deserving of all of the love in the world. It hurt so much to see him being so gentle with Persephone in this timeline, because I want to be the one to love him.

I want to be the one to push back his hair and kiss his forehead when he's tired, to wrap my arms around him when I haven't seen him all day and inhale the scent of earth, clean clothes and my vanilla perfume on his coat. To wrap my legs around his waist and pepper his face all over with kisses when he feels unappreciated and love him senseless every time we're alone in a room, just so he knows I'll never grow tired of him. That I'll never leave him or treat him like he's some kind of freakish monster.

I think-- I think... I have to return to my timeline to let him know all that.

"Your uncle, this one that tried more than once to kill me, he's nothing like the one I know. And I'm willing to bet even this one is misunderstood. He must've been suspicious that a stranger was wandering the surface calling his name several times."

Apollo's expression turns sour.

"And I suppose that merits shooting arrows meant to injure the divine at a weaponless woman? Or impaling her with a sword crafted by Hephaestus only days later?"

I feel my control slipping.

"He's a man who's seen the horrors of war."

Apollo shakes his head, brows knit.

"As have I and every other god and goddess on Olympus. He is not unique in that."

Not all gods and goddesses are forced to relive the wars' horrors every day by guarding their father's cell, nor do they live with the knowledge that their own mother didn't stand up to their father when he swallowed them whole. They're also not burdened with constant work, the souls of the dead, horrifying creatures, or living in loneliness.

"Did your responsibilities ever force you to relive it? Are you forced to live with the knowledge that your father swallowed you whole and your mother did nothing to stop it, but was willing to hide your youngest brother?"

He quiets at that, sighing before shaking his head.

"No."

Satisfied, I move to sit next to him, joining him in looking at the night sky in silence for a while, until he suddenly turns to me.

"It is true that my uncle's misfortunes have been great, but the Fates have been unkind to us all. Poseidon shared his fate, Hera was forced into a loveless marriage, Persephone has an overbearing mother, Aphrodite's beauty invites misdeed, Hephaestus' appearance has made him target of much disdain, Ares is plagued by war, Athena by knowledge... and I by Eros' curse. So what I do not understand, is why you so fiercely come to my uncle's defense. Of all the gods, why him?"

I pull my legs up to my chest, ignoring the discomfort it causes me. It's almost enough to make me sit in front of Apollo again. Almost.

"Because of Fate."

Apollo frowns.

"Fate?"

"Yes, Fate."

"How so?"

I roll my eyes, irritated that I not only have to defend Hades from him, but now I have to explain my reasons for why I do so.

"How else? Our threads are entwined. The Fates foretold my arrival and we met and now I'm supposed to be with him. It's my destiny."

Apollo knits his brows, pursing his lips as he holds up a palm.

"Forgive me, brilliance, but I am afraid I do not understand. You say the Fates foretold your arrival..."

"Yes."

"And they descended to the underworld simply to do so?"

"Yes, I think so."

"And then...?"

I frown, holding up my palm in a "duh" fashion.

"And then we met... and I was human but then Zeus kidnapped and tortured him, so I went and searched for him, but then he killed me and so I spent a long time in Tartarus only to come back as an immortal."

Apollo blinks.

"And you believe he is the sole reason for your existence? Your creation and transformation from a mortal being into an immortal one was simply so you would cohabit the underworld alongside one another?"

"Well, yeah. What else is there?"

I laugh at the dumbfounded look on his face, realizing what he means.

"I mean, I'm meant to help with his responsibilities and run the underworld and guard the titans in their prisons... and all that, obviously. I know I'm not meant just to be with him."

He scoots closer to me, glancing to the stars for a second before turning to me again.

"What was their foretelling?"

I bite my lip, becoming quiet because I can't remember. It's been so long since I heard it, I don't even remember what my reaction to hearing it was. I just went along with it because I thought Hades was hot. I'd listen to him drone on about the history of Olympus and the Underworld and follow him around the realm all in the hopes I'd get to make out with him. I mean, can you blame me?

Some people walk around with very punchable faces, but he walks around with a very kissable one.

Beside me, Apollo seems to tell I can't remember, because he lays his head against the tree and says,

"Brilliance, the Fates are mother-goddesses of creation, all-knowing primordial beings with sources of unfathomable power. Why would they go about all this if only for a human girl's marriage?"

I scowl.

"I'm not married, we're not even engaged or even officially anything."

"That is not what I mean to say."

"Then what do you mean? Because now, I don't understand."

Apollo lets out a heavy exhale, bringing a hand to his golden hair before looking to my hand.

"What if perhaps the Fates' designs are far beyond your conceptions. What if their plans are much greater and they have brought you here, for a reason?"

I feel my chest constrict again as he stops there, looking at me expectantly, leaving words left unsaid to hang between us, startling me.

To me?