Your Loyalty to Me

YOUR BACK!!... I Mean... You're Still a Crap Servant.

Apollo's POV

I held her close to me and brought the two of us to my house in Olympus in a burst of godly power. I gently laid her down on her bed and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
I cleaned her wounds and healed her as much as I could, but the damage done to her in one thousand years without any treatment is too much to heal in one go.

She looked peaceful as she lay there, obviously bar the burns and cuts that littered her skin.
Does she remember who I am? Does she still have my rose?

It was then I remembered she was clutching something close to her chest when she came out.
I opened her fist to see that she was holding what was a stem. The petals and the leaves of the rose had burnt off.

I bt back a sob of relief when I was finished. She's back. I have her back.

---------------------------------

Aria woke up two days later, when I was sleeping on the seat next to her.
She had mercilessly tipped back the chair so much that I was about to fall backwards and woke up in a shock.

Then when I saw, alive and well I squealed like a child and hugged her tight, burying my nose in her neck. She hugged back and we stayed like that for ages and ages.

"The rose," she whispered. "It died. I thought you had forgotten me."

I shook my head. "I will never forget you Aria. I don't know why the rose died, to be honest. Maybe it was just the fire, maybe it was too hot
for my magic," I suggested as we sat back down in the bed.

She sighed. "How are things in Olympus?" She asked tiredly. I shrugged.

"Sad. I didn't make many songs you know. I fell in love with this nymph, her name was Daphne," I said shakily. Aria looked wary of my discomfort and she gently took my hand.
"What happened?"
I met her concerned brown eyes and felt like melting at their warmth and care.

"Eros cursed me to love her but he also cursed her, to despise me. She turned into an laurel tree because she'd rather die than be with me."

Aria bit her lip. "I'm sorry, you didn't deserve that. Aphrodite is a twit."
I smiled weakly.

"I think the real story is yours though," I said confidently and waited patiently for her to answer.
She closed her eyes and leaned against the wall.

"I don't really want to remember that place right now," she whispered. Most people would leave it be, saying she had a tough time and they understand. But... I'm not them.

"Well, tough. You're still gonna tell me what happened."
She opened her eyes and smirked. "Yeah, I kind of guessed you would say that."

She took a deep breath before continuing. "It was horrible. The first dragon was impossible to defeat, a fire breathing ferocious beast. I don't know how I killed it, but I did. By then I was already starting to feel a little drained. With every dragon I defeated, the next one was always more dangerous... More harder to kill, and required more energy to deal with. I'd say I began to feel light headed after my first few years in there. Gods, it was long. I couldn't sleep, or eat, or drink... I couldn't think clearly. I don't know how I defeated the dragons. I faced fire, acid, water... Everything on earth at its worst. It was worse than a nightmare Apollo... I was so scared that I would actually die."

"But you're here," I whispered, squeezing her hand in comfort, staring into her beautiful brown eyes. She nodded and finished her story.

"It was probably the last few days where I was so tired, I was fighting and my eyes were closing, I was clumsy, lightheaded and in so much pain. I was facing the last dragon and it blew fire at me. I dodged it, but the rose fell out of my pocket and it got burnt. I can't explain why, but the whole Forest froze. It let me just sit there and cry. The dragon retreated. Everything that was a constant danger to me for a thousand years was finally letting me rest," her breath hitched as a tear ran down her cheek.

"Why were you crying?" I asked her, gently wiping the tear away.

"I guess...I guess it was because the rose had died and it was my only memory left of you," she answered, meeting my eyes.
"It was the only memory I had left of you, you had told me that as long as it lives... You would remember me. But it died. I thought you had forgotten me," tears were pouring down her face again and I pulled her in for a hug.

"No. I never forgot you. And I never will forget you, Aria. I'm sorry you had to go through that," I said earnestly.

She pulled away and smiled weakly at me.
"Apollo?"
"Yeah?"
"I love talking to you and all that, but.."
"But what?"
"I'd seriously love a bath right now."

"Oh, yeah," I said and cleared my throat, standing up again. "I'll just go and... Play some music while I'm waiting."

"Hmm, just make a good one. Your songs are usually crap."

"Hey!"

"The truth is ugly, Apollo, you just have to admit to the truth," she said, putting a sympathetic hand on my shoulder. I rolled my eyes.

"Shut up Aria."

"Your messed up wish is my unfortunate command, sire," she replied while mockingly courtesying.

I smiled, remembering that that was the first command I had ever given her, and that had been her exact reply.

That was a thousand years ago.
And we were still the same.
We will always, be the same.