₁𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞... 𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐

𝒊𝒊𝒊. 𝑶, 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖?

𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞? 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫, 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭?

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TW: Panic Attack, not really graphic but focusing more on the thoughts that a person has than what happens to them physically

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Clear blue and sea-green eyes looked into each other, tension thick enough to be cut by a knife between the two people. Two still bodies, tan and bronze skin glittering under the moonlight as a pair of pink lips opened and a deep voice spoke, "Have you gone mad?"

A heavy silence lingered in the air as Lorelle cocked one eyebrow, her question clear. Do I look like I, in any manner, am joking?

It was with that that Apollo realized just how much time had changed this girl. She went from the young girl who shied away from opening her mouth to this powerful woman who wasn't afraid to do what she felt was right, even if it cost her her life.

No matter how he had hoped that she would be the same best friend that he used to have when she returned from the life-changing quest they sent her on, he had known somewhere deep in his heart that no, Lorelle would never be the same again.

Time had hewed the soft edges and the malleable mind of Lorelle Jackson into a granite statue to hold the weight of the world on her shoulders without breaking and an altar of hatred to get vengeance upon those who had hurt so many like her, respectively.

The events that had happened, the torture that had been inflicted upon her had also erected an unassailable barrier of titanium between her and the rest of the world, a wall that not even Apollo could break down and enter.

Not for the lack of trying, though. Apollo had tried, without a single shred of success, to tear down the walls that separated him from Lorelle Jackson. The girl he loved the most in the whole world.

Platonically, of course.

Something inside him protested to that statement of his brain, something so similar in manner to a storm, deep and unsettling. It wasn't something he had felt in a long, long, time, his heart beating roguishly for someone against his will.

"Tell me, Apollo," Lorelle's voice interrupted his thoughts, "What makes you think that this idea will not work?"

"Because the minor gods are powerful, Lorelle, and numerous."

"And how will it not work to our advantage?"

"It won't work to our advantage because resentment has been brewing amongst them for centuries, carefully bottled up and concealed behind an act of compliance, and wistful thoughts of rebellion rising in their minds every so often."

"Which we can use for our own cause, Apollo! Think about it. We're providing them with an opportunity to channel all their powers into an uprising, a war against the Gods in which they are at a greater advantage than the advantage they have with the Titans!"