Your Loyalty to Me

No, No, my Servant is a Non-Hunter

Apollo's POV

It took me a long time to get over Hyacinthus' death. Years. But I had Aria with me and she made his death a lot more bearable.

We were outside sitting on the grass with me playing the guitar. The mortals were tired of the lute and created this new instrument.
But that's the true story.
What I made everyone believe was that because I'm the god of music, I made this new instrument and the punny mortals loved it.

I didn't tell Aria the true story though, something told me she would disapprove of that and I didn't want to disappoint her.

I strummed a soft tune on the guitar while Aria sat on the grass in front of me, curled up and her head resting on her arms.

It was nice, just relaxing from godly and servant-y stuff and listen to my amazing music.
Aria had her eyes closed and I took that chance to admire her. Not just how she looked, but her personality.

During these days, when I'm still grieving for dear Hyacinthus, most gods avoided me because I was either too depressed or had very extreme outbursts of temper.
Only Artemis and Hermes talked to me, but that was only out of pity.

The only person who was acting normal and actually stayed with me the whole time was Aria.
It was like she didn't care how depressed I was being or how much I took out my anger on her. She just continued being annoying and that was strangely comforting.

--------- Flashback -----------

"Aria, the LOVE of my LIFE just DIED! I think you owe me an apology for your rudeness," I yell, with an angry glare.
I was having another one of those erratic hissy fits that come for no particular reason and I was taking it all out on my servant.

She bit her lip while standing innocently in the middle of my room.
"I guess you haven't had your breakfast yet then, sire," she replied with a straight face.

My anger flared as I jumped up from my bed. "I'll have YOU for breakfast!" I screamed while chucking a goblet at her. She ducked as I continued to throw things at my useless servant.

"Oh, yes, I can see the LOVELY makings of a GREAT god, Apollo," she remarked sarcastically while she jumped away from a pillow I threw at her.

"ARIA!"

"Worry not sire! I'll fetch the damsel in distress her breakfast!" She curtsied mockingly and ran out of the room before I could throw my lute at her.

"ARIA!"

---------- End of Flashback --------

I smiled at the memory. We stayed there for a while longer, listening to music, in comfortable silence.

"Apollo," came a voice. I didn't have to look up. "Artemis, my dear sister, why have you come?"
She sat down on the grass beside Aria and shrugged.

"I actually came to talk to Aria," she explained. Aria's head shot up and she stared at my sister.
"Yes?" She asked excited.

"In private."

Aria jumped up to her feet without a second thought and an excited smile on her face. But I knew what my sister was going to ask her.

"Oh no," I said authoratively, putting down the guitar and looking my sister straight in the eye. "If you want to say something to MY servant, then you'll have to do so in my presence."

Artemis sat up straight and sent me a death glare. "She's not not a possession Apollo, and is very capable of making her own desicons."

"It's okay, Artemis," Aria said coolly and sat back down again. "I don't mind. You can tell me here."

My sister sighed and continued. "Fine. Aria, I was wondering if you would like to be a part of my Hunters."
Aria sat still for a few minutes, overcome with shock.

I was holding my breath. What if she would say yes? The thought made my heart sink to the bottom of my feet. She wouldn't be able to serve me anymore because she would be travelling with Artemis. She would be sworn off boys and the thought slightly saddened me.

"I-I, Artemis..." She seemed speechless. The look of wonder on her face though... I was convinced she would say yes.

"I can't," she answered. Shock flooded through me as she continued. "For one, Apollo has one hell of a house and I care a damn lot about its cleanliness. And also, I don't think I'd like to swear off romance, thank you. I am honoured that you gave me this option though."

Artemis smiled and shook her hand. "You chose according to your heart. But you are always welcome to my Hunters as well." With that, she left in a flash.

There was a moment of silence as the two of us stared into space thinking about what she said.

"Thank you," I finally say. She looks up and smiled. A genuine smile that always makes her lovely features even prettier.
"I was telling the truth you know, about your house. I don't know how you kept it clean before I came."

We laughed together and stayed outside until it was too dark and went in.

I smiled when I went to sleep, probably for the first time since Hyacinthus died. Thinking of my beautiful, loyal servant, the most humble person I've ever known.