HYACINTHUS

Chapter Twenty-Five

The soft rays of sunlight penetrated the cave, signaling the beginning of the day. I tried to blink the blinding light away. Next to me, Apollo was waking, too, his just opened eyes finding a way to me.

Our bodies were intertwined, our embrace firm.

"Kalimera, Hyacinthus", Apollo wished me a good morning, with seemingly no intention to detach himself from me.

"Kalimera, Apollo", I chuckled, my mood lifted in the presence of the Sun.

I discreetly glanced over his shoulder. No harp. Good. I was just imagining it. My mind probably had difficulty processing all that happened, and create an illusion.

My stomach rumbled. Apollo laughed at the sound, and poked my belly. He seemed to find it funny.

"What, you Gods never get hungry?" I asked, feigning being angry.

"Nobody would take us seriously if we were able to die from hunger", Apollo replied. "You know, the whole immortal thing? I can eat, but I don't have to."

I sat up, forcing him to sit up too.

"What about the humans who are made immortal? Do they never experience hunger at all?"

Apollo shrugged. "No idea. Judging by Dionysus' case, it's plausible. The lad's obsessed with wine. You should have seen him the first time he tried nectar."

My stomach rumbled again, and Apollo laughed, again.

"Well, I have to fix this", I said and stood up.

Apollo ruffled his hair. "Let's go to the chariot and take our bows and quivers. We can hunt you something for breakfast. And then... and then, we could play discus! I could teach you, I always keep some discus in the chariot."

I smiled at his enthusiasm. "That would be splendid."

He beamed, and the sun was just a pale reflection of his warmth.

We walked down the stream, and found the meadow with Apollo's chariot. The scarlet cows were grazing peacefully. Apollo patted them affectionately.

"If only I were a cow", I said. "I could eat grass all day."

Apollo shook his head, horriffied.

"Absolutely not. Hermes would steal you. I don't wont anybody to steal you."

I felt my cheeks turn red.

Apollo climbed into the chariot, and threw my bow and my quiver of arrows. I caught them swiftly. Then, he crouched and fished a few dusty discus from under the back seat.

"Let's go hunt", he said once he was back beside me.

I caught a duck while it was flying over the river. My arrow striked it in the heart and the bird fell a few feet away from where I was standing. I went to pick it up.

Apollo used his Sun God powers to light a fire. I peeled the feathers away and cooked the duck. Its flesh was... digestible, at least.

I handed a drumstick to Apollo. He raised a brow at my culinary masterpiece, and bit into it.

"How is it?", I asked.

"Ambrosia pales in comparison to this taste of heaven", he declared, and handed the drumstick back to me.

We both laughed.

Once I was full, Apollo and I searched for a large meadow where we could play discus. It was quite a warm day for this time of the year, and a light breeze brough with it the scent of flowers and herbs.