TAMING APOLLO | completed

35. forelsket

35. forelsket

G A Y L E

I'M PULLED INTO A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, into what seems like a day before my time.

Classical music drawls on in the background as my eyes begin to wander around the place I've landed.

This is some kind of forest, a hiking location of sorts and in the corner of my eye, I can see myself.

Myself, but different. This version of me is iron-clad in a long, beautiful red medieval sort dress, one which hugs my frame until my torso, where it puffs out almost like a parachute, all the way onto the ground. Atop my head is a wonderful sparkling tiara, glimmering in the sunlight streaming in through the trees of the forest.

Only then do I realise that this isn't me. This is Cyrene, and she has her arms crossed over her chest, which is puffed out to enhance her stick-straight figure. She's got magnificent posture, way better than my unladylike slouching. Despite how amazing she looks, there's a frown etched onto her lips and she seems totally out of place in this forest.

I try to reach out and call to Cyrene, but it's the same as last time, when I was in the ballet studio, she can't hear me or see me, like I'm some kind of ghost. 

It hits me that these are not memories of mine, but Cyrene's. I slowly begin to realise that I've somehow wound up in her head.

The last thing I remember is agreeing to the extraction so I can save Cyrene... I remember laying down on the bed with Psyche hovering over me, and then a sharp, searing pain over my body when she reached her hand out and touched my forehead.

And then... darkness.

"We're lost," she frowns, turning to another figure besides her. He turns around, and I gasp, completely taken aback by the boy I could recognize even if he wore a disguised.

Apollo is grinning besides her. He looks totally different to the one that I know. The glittery silver eyes I've grown accustomed to are replaced by light brown balls of light, his hair is a different type of blonde, it's golden, like the rays of the sun came together to create the locks of hair sprawled atop his head.

There's a kind of lightness about him, unlike the one I know. He seems genuinely happy, pulling Cyrene by the arm deeper into the forest with a knowing glint in his brown eyes and a smirk that could seduce even the devil himself.

He bounces about excitedly, like some kind of adventurer, an air of lighthearted confidence making up his entire being as he pushes his hair back.

"My lady, I've yet to fail you. Would you just trust me and lighten up? I know exactly where we are going." He replies, pulling Cyrene deeper and deeper into the forest.

I have to race after them to keep up, but eventually Cyrene loosens up and follows Apollo into the shade, and even though she is trying to hide it, there's a smile on the corner of her lips.

"Oh, very well... but this better be quick, Amice can only cover for me for so long." She sighs, worry in her eyes.

Apollo rolls his eyes. "With all due respect, your royal highness, that stick up your arse is making this much less fun than intended." He retorts.