Aphrodite stormed inside Helios' temple with a vicious whirlwind – her face was red, her fists were curled tightly on her sides as she walked with heavy, echoing steps towards the sun god. The blatant anger was almost frightening… if the Titan considered the goddess a threat. As she was, she was no different from a kitten lashing out. "You! You told Hephaestus of my affair with Ares!" she accused with indignation.
Helios' face became blank with disinterest. "And so?" he asked, leaning his cheek on a fist, his fingers drumming on the arm of his throne. Honestly, Aphrodite was not only cruel but she was a nuisance as well. She did not deserve to have faithful and caring Hephaestus for a husband.
His nonchalant attitude rubbed Aphrodite the wrong way and made her downright furious. She stomped her foot and pointed a finger at him imperiously. "I curse you Helios! For this humiliation, you will suffer a broken heart!" she yelled with a promise.
Helios rolled his eyes and waved at her dismissively as if he was shooing an errant child. "I am above your influence. I may have a few dalliances but I will never fall in love. Now if you are finished, you are dismissed. The door is behind you."
Aphrodite snorted with disdain and strutted out of his temple, her chin held high. She never understood the contempt most beings have with love. It was a power passed down onto her by primordial Eros. No one was above its influence. And the nerve of that titan to treat her as insignificant! She was the daughter of Uranus! By the Fates, she was born before he was even conceived. "Never underestimate the power of love," she growled quietly to no one and everyone at the same time. Especially when used in spite.
888
The sun had just set in a small meadow in Hellas. A beautiful, flaxen-haired nymph sat alone as she plucked a few flowers – the finishing touches. Anticipation seized her heart as she hastened to complete her flower wreath. Her thoughts were full of prayers that her beloved would like her measly tribute. The sound of light footsteps approaching from behind temporarily froze her expert fingers from picking a small and delicate violet flower. The noise of grass shifting halted and the sensation of familiar and soothing warmth caressed her back. There was only one person she knew that possessed such warmth and just knowing who was behind her filled her with indescribable joy. She continued plucking her dainty little flower and weaved it in the flower crown as if she was never interrupted in the first place. "How was your day, my love?" she asked without turning around.
"It was dreadful. All I could think about was returning to you," a velvety voice answered softly. The nymph smiled. His voice alone made her feel like melting. And of course he must already know that he was all she could think about as well. "Is that bouquet for me, Clytie?"
She straightened her flower crown a little more and brushed her hair away from her eyes as she slowly stood up and turned around. She had to make a conscious effort not to gasp even the slightest at the sight of her lover. She mentally cursed herself. She should be used to his face by now but somehow he never ceased to take her breath away. He was, in a word, brilliant but even that word failed to describe the beauty that was Helios. She ceremoniously placed the crown on her head and replied, "Maybe, maybe not," in a playful manner, her smile turning into a mischievous smirk.
"Oh?" he sighed disappointedly like kicked puppy and pouted. "I thought that was for me. They're beautiful though." Of course he knew they were for him. He knew everything that happened under the sun. He watched her make that flower crown for him throughout the day. She was quite picky about which daisy had the right shade of orange and green that would complement his hair and eyes. He snickered from his place in the heavens at her fastidiousness.
Clytie cleared her throat significantly as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Just them?"
Helios arched an eyebrow, a sparkle glimmering through his amber eyes. "Uh-huh. Just them." Clytie caught the playful light and secretly delighted in it.
She patted one of the flowers on her crown, careful not to ruffle her arrangement. "Well, I never thought the day would come when I would be jealous of a bunch of flowers," she said, sighing dramatically. She took two steps forward and ran a finger from his high cheekbones down to his chin. "Again, are you sure it's just the flowers?"
He gulped, his throat bobbing up and down. His mouth suddenly felt dry as something akin to anticipation settled on the bottom of his belly. "Maybe, maybe not," he repeated, teasing her back.
Clytie chuckled and shook her head. She removed the wreath from her hair and placed them on his crown. "Well, you know what? I think they're more beautiful on a Titan. And since you're the nearest Titan here, I guess you have the honor of wearing it. There," she finished, fixing his luminous red-orange hair. She couldn't help but take the opportunity to brush his fingertips along his face a little. Oh how she worshipped this god. "Be happy. Now you look as beautiful as a queen!" She grinned innocently.
Helios gaped in mortification. "Excuse me?"
She laughed as she took a few steps back and curtsied. "Your royal majesty, Queen Helios of the Flower Kingdom."
Finally, Helios laughed and sashayed around, his hips swaying. "Well then, aren't I lucky? I can just see Selene and Eos dying of envy of my beauty. I think the flower crown does me justice. What do you think?" He tossed his hair back and joggled his shoulders in a slightly flirtatious manner.
"They complement your colors as I predicted Your Majesty." Clytie chuckled as she continued the charade.
"Really? Well then, as queen, I need to order my servants around shouldn't I? And since you're the nearest nymph around, I think you'd make a very convincing peasant."
Now it was Clytie's turn to feel mortified. She placed her hands on her hips. "Excuse me?"
Helios ignored her. "Servants exist to be ordered around. Well then, my first order would be... hmm... ah!" He snapped his fingers. "I order you to please me."
"Of course, Your Majesty. Your wish is my command," Clytie replied reverently as she bowed. She approached him with a seductive look in her eyes. Helios waited excitedly as he thought about what she would do. But instead of something sexy like he imagined, she held out her hands toward him and asked, "May I ask the queen for a dance?" The provocative expression was gone from her face.
He felt his face fall again. "A dance?" he asked as he cocked his head to the side.
"Oh? Has the sun god, who watches from his steeds in the heavens and sees all, never seen a nymphean dance before?" Clytie smiled, her tone dripping with a challenge.
"Don't be ridiculous Clytie. Of course I've seen a nymphean dance!" he replied, crossing his arms over his chest indignantly.
"Then take my hands," she ordered, impatiently waving her outstretched hands at him. She grinned widely when Helios tentatively placed his hands in hers. As if the meadow understood their intent, something magical occurred. The quiet music of nature began playing and Clytie began to sing and vocalize along with the music that was intrinsic to all nymphs.
Helios was as clumsy as a fawn learning how to walk in the beginning. His steps were uncoordinated and he kept tripping and stepping on his and Clytie's feet. He winced and blushed with embarrassment whenever he made a mistake. His eyes never strayed from their feet while he studied her movements carefully.
Clytie shook her head and raised Helios' chin without breaking her song and smiled. Helios nodded and tried not to look down anymore. Eventually, with Clytie's guidance, Helios learned that there was no steps to study. It was just pure movement along the beat of the music. So with a shrug, he moved carelessly and just enjoyed the dance the way he had seen nymphs enjoy it. They laughed as they spun each other around as though drunk in happiness.
It was magical and utterly mesmerizing. Clytie was so comfortable in his presence, bantering with him, sharing her interests with him as if he was a peer and not a Titan god. It was so easy to fall in love with her and he enjoyed her company very much. Her grin, her laugh, her elegant movements were infectious and it lightened his heart to just be with her.
With one last spin, the music ended with a soft note. Clytie found herself wrapped in Helios' arms, her face stopping a few inches from his. They were both smiling and a little breathless from dancing and laughing. Helios leaned and whispered in her ear, "Thank you for the flowers."
A pleasant shiver ran down Clytie's spine. "Just the flowers?" she asked quietly, her eyes searching his.
"Thank you teaching me how to dance as well. That was a first for me and I had a lot of fun," he continued, running a thumb across her flushed cheek. "Don't ever believe that these flowers on my head are more beautiful than you. You are the most beautiful, most fragrant, most delicate flower of them all." He beamed.
She shook her head and smiled. "Thank you," she whispered back. After a small pause, she continued, "Helios... do you love me?"
"More than anything," he replied immediately but his smile stopped reaching his eyes. It became more like a polite smile instead. The difference was almost unnoticeable, imperceptible to those who did not pay attention to his little mannerisms but Clytie noticed. It wasn't always like that with him. His smile before she asked her question was as pure as the first rays of dawn. It was almost as if he was like a mimosa leaf recoiling from her touch. The more she memorized him, the more she noticed his feelings about her. She knew his heart wasn't hers yet but it never stopped her from trying to win him anyway.
She had no idea why he chose her. Perhaps she was a passing fancy but the Fates decreed that they meet anyway. By design or by accident, their paths had crossed. She wouldn't squander this gift. For whatever reason, he chose her and won her almost laughably easily. She knew she should be wary about gods and their fickle love. Her sisters and friends had suffered in the hands of gods and their sweet nothings and these stories had been passed down from nymph to nymph. Nymphs learned to worship and serve gods as it was their duty but also secretly fear them. In fact, with all the warnings about, she should be ashamed of herself for not being prudent enough with her heart. However, if she weighed her fears against the happiness she felt when she was with him, she could never find it in herself to be ashamed of how she fell in love hard and fast.
"I love you. I love you more than my life. I love you very, very much," she declared, her voice thick with emotion. She knew he could see everything under the sun. Can you see it? Can you see my heart, my love? It was a fact, a truth. He will forever be the reason she smiled. He was the only reason her days shone more brightly than before. He brought color into her life and filled her heart with so much warm feelings and she never wanted to lose them.
He was her sun.
Helios hesitated for half a second before answering, "And I, you." He leaned forward and took her lips in his, giving her a searing kiss. For some reason, whenever he would kiss her like that, Clytie would feel her knees buckle under her as though she was melting in his arms. And maybe she was, she didn't know. What her heart pleaded was for these moments last forever.
888
It was another typical day after a night of pleasure with Clytie. He kept the flower wreath inside his temple in a special container where he put all of her gifts. Sometimes, if he had time for himself, he would take out this box and look at all the gifts she had given him. He had given her a gift in return like a magical box that captured the rays of the sun and turned them into golden dust. When thrown in the air, the dust would glow and flutter about like fireflies and eventually fall on the floor like snowflakes. Clytie loved that dust.
The smile on his face remained long after his sister Eos had finished preparing the heavens for his arrival. He watched his lover from his lofty height. Clytie was among her sisters laughing, playing and dancing like they did last night. She would turn to him from time to time and wave her hand in greeting as she always did (though he doubted she could see him from such a distance). The longing in her eyes was unmistakable.
Her declarations of love, though sincere, never failed to perturb him. He was a god who saw all. He knew what tragedies befell gods who loved nymphs and vice versa. And then there was the convenient curse of his aunt, Cronus' little sister – that shameless goddess who liked to pretend she's younger than Zeus by sleeping with his son, Ares. But with how immaturely she acted, she might as well have been younger than Ares.
Saddled with the curse of an impending broken heart, he was reluctant to admit his real feelings or be sincere with Clytie. Cowardly as it was, he was reluctant to tell her of his fears. Even though he wanted share her feelings, in the end, she could never be anything but one of his dalliances. A future with her was but a fool's dream. He sighed sadly.
Tearing his eyes from Hellas, from the nymph he felt too unworthy to look at, they landed on Persia. It was there that he saw her – the Persian princess, Leukothoe.
She was not doing anything in particular that would possibly catch his attention. She was just sitting on a marble slab, enjoying the sun while her servants fanned her with shimmering peacock feathers. Her white, immaculate robes almost glowed, contrasting with her hair that was as black as night. Her dark brown eyes were equally beautiful, glittering like gems. That woman could not be a mortal. She must be a goddess – a goddess more beautiful than beauty herself.
He felt his heart skip a beat at her sight. Every thought was purged from his mind, wiped clean as if nothing else mattered. In that one telling moment, Leukothoe was the world. In that one telling moment, even his sun's rays could not compare to her wonder. Was this what both mortals and immortals called love at first sight?
888
It was well after midnight but Clytie still waited alone on the meadow. Helios was never usually this late. If he ever were late, he would send a message like a brief sparkle in the sky just before sunset or he would tell her in person even for a few minutes. He never just let her keep waiting.
At first Clytie became impatient but as the hours passed, she became angry. And then after a few more hours, she became worried. After reasoning with herself, worry gave way to anxiety. Finally, her anxiety became loneliness.
Clytie sat with her knees curled close to her chest. She absently plucked the grass under her restless hands, her chin resting between her knees. Did he forget about her?
She shook her head and looked down on the ornate little gold box in front of her feet. It looked like a miniature treasure chest and truly, it contained such a treasure. It was full of the golden sand that took her a month to collect. After a couple of experiments, she found that she got the most beautiful dust during sunrise and sunset. If she opened her box during noon, it would have been filled in no time but the quality of light was bright and harsh unlike the subtle and gentle light of dawn and dusk. She promised Helios that she would use the dust only during special occasions even though he assured her that she could use it anytime.
Well, today was a special day for her and it took her a while but she gathered enough dust to scatter on the trees and grass. It would have made the meadow glitter with thousands of little stars. It would have been utterly picturesque.
She sighed. Well, it wasn't as if this day was such a waste. Her closest sisters and friends came and played with her and gave her gifts of pearls and carefully strung shells. Even her mother and father gave her more than a few minutes of their time. One would think that just because they had three thousand daughters, they would have forgotten someone like her.
She wanted to open the box with him. It was her dearest wish to dance again with him, which was why she slyly taught him how last night, but this time with song and amidst the pretty lights she had prepared. She has never heard him sing and that was her next personal challenge. Actually, just the knowledge that she was the one who taught him how to dance was enough to make her blush in delight.
But apparently her dance partner was nowhere to be found. Was it too arrogant a wish perhaps that it could not be granted by the Fates?
She shook her head and waited some more. Perhaps he is just late, she reasoned to herself for the hundredth time. It was a reason that held only up until Selene was almost setting and Nyx was about to give way to Eos. She sighed again. He was not coming after all. She looked down and caressed the box lid lovingly. Perhaps some other time then.
She flopped down on the grass tiredly and covered her eyes to catch some sleep. She missed him that day more than ever but what could she do? Helios didn't appear. She tried not to let the heavy feeling in her heart, the aching loneliness, bother her too much. Besides, it wasn't her first birthday and it certainly wouldn't be her last.
888
Helios stopped seeing Clytie altogether. Dawn became a little bit earlier and dusk a little bit later in his efforts to see Leukothoe a little bit longer. He was completely fascinated and enchanted by the Persian princess. She was kind to her servants, generous to her subjects and beloved by everyone. She was pure and beautiful both inside and out and he could only helplessly fall in love with her even further.
And his passion for the princess soon could not be denied (not that he would) as it affected the beams of the sun, causing it to shine brighter and hotter, which created drought in some parts of Gaia.
Gaia did not like gods neglecting their duties. They could play with as many women or drink as much ambrosia or act with as much indecency as they want as long as they performed right. This rule was even stricter on Titans than on Olympians because Titans carry more responsibilities that affect her than Olympians, whose concern revolve mostly around mortals. And she certainly was not happy about Helios' negligence.
On the dead of night, the powerful goddess dropped by the sun god's temple. "What is the meaning of this, Helios?" she demanded like the grand matron that she was; her voice cold and contemptuous. Usually Gaia's presence meant bad, bad news. Even potentially fatal news. "You should know better than to allow an insignificant mortal to affect your godly obligations. It is not the season of drought and this winter is too warm, which means that this coming summer would be too hot and there would be too many typhoons and twisters! Are you proving to be incompetent?"
Immediately, the sun god jumped from his throne and dropped on one knee, one arm across his chest, and his head bowed in deference. "Forgive me, great goddess. It would not be repeated again."
Gaia glared icily at Helios for a full minute, filling the younger deity with more dread than he had ever experienced in his life. "If you want that Persian woman then take her and be done with it," she said quietly, with an almost deadly calm. "But if you stray from your duties once more, I will have your head and Apollo will find himself driving the sun chariot a thousand years too early." She stated her threat as if it were a fact. Perhaps it was a fact. Gaia could prophesy after all. What would happen if he was not needed anymore? Would he end up in Tartarus like the other Titans? The thought sent shivers of cold fear down the sun god's spine.
Helios gulped nervously and whispered, "Yes, great goddess." If there was someone more feared than Tartarus himself that would be Gaia. Everyone knew she was not above murder to achieve what she wanted.
"What was that?"
"Yes, Great Mother Gaia!" he repeated, this time with more conviction and just as sincere. The last thing he needed was her thinking he was being rebellious or worse, sarcastic.
"Good," she said, disappearing in a flurry of leaves.
After a few moments of silence, a new intruder made herself known.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You got a visit from the goddess of godly death?" a sweet, feminine voice said from behind him. "What a bad omen. You might really disappear soon Helios. And I would almost feel sorry for you... but I'm not. Don't worry. You won't be missed much."
Helios glared toward the goddess with long blond locks that gave her the epithet 'golden'. It was none other than the goddess of impossible beauty whose only flaw was everything save her looks. "Rotten Aphrodite," he spat with controlled fury as if her name was a curse itself. It probably should.
"So how is it? Do you like my gifts?" she asked with mock innocence, pointedly ignoring his name calling. She wouldn't be reduced to immature things like name calling. She had more dignity than that, which was more than she could say about Helios. "By my standards, I think I've been very generous."
"What do you mean gifts?" Helios repeated suspiciously. Ever since the 'net incident', Aphrodite harbored extreme dislike bordering on hate for the Titan. She was, for better or for worse, his enemy.
"Oops, I think I said too much. Like Mother Gaia said, if you want the Persian woman, go take her instead of watching her from afar like an awkward adolescent virgin," she said, waving her hand before she disappeared.
Helios glared at the spot where the offensive goddess disappeared. Fine. They want proof that he could get rid of his Persian obsession? He'll give them proof. But he would be careful about this. He would never be manipulated by Aphrodite of all creatures!
888
Clytie slept every night on the meadow. At first she would be up until the wee hours of the morning waiting for Helios but eventually, after a couple of moons of not seeing even a shadow of the god's persona, she stopped keeping vigil. Without her sun, she slept instead, reliving the memories he left with her in her dreams.
Suddenly a soft sound of footsteps coming from behind woke her from her slumber. She bolted upright, her back towards the visitor, as she wiped her tear-stained cheeks and fixed her unruly hair. She knew she was barely presentable but she did her best to preen anyway.
"Helio-" she started as she whirled around only to be largely disappointed when it wasn't the sun god. Instead it was an unknown goddess. She knew the visitor was a goddess because she had an ethereal aura unique to those of higher power. "Oh, I meant, uh, um, hello! I'm sorry, my lady. I must have startled you," she apologized, bowing slightly.
"It's quite alright, Clytie. By the way, I'm Aphrodite. I hope we could get along well!" the goddess said, giving her an once-over and dismissing her as a non-threat.
"Oh, um, please I am not worthy to be your acquaintance, golden goddess," Clytie replied quickly. She heard a lot about Aphrodite from the other nymphs. She remembered two guidelines when dealing with this particular goddess: first, never contest her beauty and second, always compliment her in every sentence lest she become offended.
Aphrodite looked around before she let her gaze fall on the nymph significantly. "Are you still waiting for him?" They both knew who she was talking about.
"I-" She had wanted to say no. She wanted to say that she still had a little bit of dignity and pride left. But if she was going to be honest, she was like a flower wilting without her sun. She missed Helios. She missed his smile, his laugh, his playful and sometimes impossible attitude, his clumsiness, his stubbornness, his way of making her laugh. She missed him dearly like she missed breath itself. Everyday without him was like a day with another part of her dying. "Yes, O golden goddess," she answered despondently.
"Oh you poor dear," Aphrodite cooed, enveloping her in a warm embrace. "Your sorrowing heart has summoned me, the goddess of love. If you want, I have a way for you to see him but he can't see you. Would you like that?"
Clytie already saw Helios every day. Every day, without fail, she would wave and call for him, praying that he had a wonderful day. At some point she realized that she had been truly forgotten but that didn't stop her from acting foolishly. Perhaps it was because she knew he could see all and perhaps because she hoped he saw her, even in a passing glance. That was all she could receive for now but she knew deep down it wasn't enough. She wanted to feel his arms around her and his lips molding against her again. Even if he didn't want to sleep with her anymore, she would have been content to stay by his side.
What hurt the most was being treated like a stranger.
"I want to see him and talk to him. I want him to know that I still exist but I think I've been erased from his mind now. I don't think I ever held his heart but... I was hoping our memories together would have been enough to make him visit from time to time..." she replied lowly, her voice slightly breaking towards the end.
Aphrodite wiped the tears in her eyes. "Oh my dear, your love is so pure. I want to reward it. I shall let you see Helios. Come with me." She took the nymph by the hand and led her away from the meadow.
"Where are we going, merciful goddess?" Clytie asked as she struggled to keep up with Aphrodite's strides.
The golden goddess smiled and replied, "To the nearest looking glass."
The nearest looking glass happened to be a small placid pond. It was so still it was as if the wind did not exist. It even reflected the moon perfectly as if there was another realm just below the water's surface. Aphrodite knelt down on the edge of the water and pulled the nymph beside her.
"Show me Helios," Aphrodite whispered, waving her hand above the water. Almost immediately, the water rippled and the scenery reflected on it changed. In showed two Persian women – a beautiful older woman and a younger woman that shared some of the older woman's facial features. They seemed like a mother-daughter pair. As the image cleared some more, it became more apparent that they were inside a bedroom. Perhaps it was the daughter's bedroom by the looks of the trinkets in the room.
"Where is Helios?" Clytie asked the goddess as she searched for the god in the picture. She was confused as to why she was being shown a mortal household.
"I-I don't know my dear. The mirror is supposed to show me Helios. And the mirror never fails," she replied, reaching for the nymph's hand. "I have a bad feeling about this."
"You maids, withdraw. I have a secret that I wish to share to my daughter. Please respect a mother's wish to privacy," the older woman ordered and the maids and servants obediently retreated.
"What is this secret, mother?" the young, beautiful, ornately dressed, dark-haired woman asked through her dresser's mirror as she took off her heavy necklace and moved her neck about, releasing the tense muscles. She then reached for the comb and began to smooth her hair.
"The secret?" Her mother smiled knowingly. "I am he who measured the long year, who sees all things, by whom the earth sees all things, the eye of all the world. In truth you please me well."
As the mother said her piece, her visage slowly melted away, revealing none other than the sun god in all his luminous glory. The girl dropped her comb.
"Helios!" Clytie cried, reaching for the water but Aphrodite caught her wrist and silently shook her head.
While Clytie was overcome with joy, Princess Leukothoe was overcome with fear and dread. She stood up and whirled around. "You- You are a god!" she whispered, her voice trembling as she took a couple of steps back. She tripped on her chair and landed hard on her backside. "I- I did not... I'm sorry." She shifted to prostrate properly with her forehead flush against the floor. "P-Please forgive me, my lord. Thi-this servant is unworthy of your a-a-affections. Pl-please, my lord."
"But you please me," he answered teasingly, taking a lock of the princess' hair and bringing it to his lips. Clytie recognized the slight change in intonation. It was teasing that hid something akin to anger. Helios was angry at something. "Will you deny this god?"
The princess froze. Deny a god? How could a mortal deny a god? If she displeased him, would the sun suddenly stop shining? Would her land be punished with drought? Would her country suffer because she denied this god? She... she needed to give whatever it was the god wanted and it happened to be her. And there was only one thing she could give him - her bed. In Persia, an unmarried woman who was not a virgin was sentenced to death. If they were lucky, they were instead traded into slavery. The world was merciless towards slaves. Animals were treated better than slaves. In other words, Helios wanted her life. Bitter tears began to cloud the princess' vision. The weak had no power against the strong in the mortal world. How much more in the realm of gods and mortals? For the safety of her kingdom and everyone who lived in it, she raised her head determinedly.
"Be it done unto me according to your will. Let your whims be my command and your wishes be my law," Princess Leukothoe replied like a martyr facing the noose.
Helios smiled sadly at her tearful consent and remained unaware of how his words were perceived as a threat; before he took what he thought was freely given.
888
Clytie threw a stone on the water, stood up, and ran as if the very wind chased her heels. She ignored Aphrodite's call. She ignored the sounds coming from the pond. She ran until she ended up on the beach. Only when she dived into the water did she let herself cry. She continued to swim until she found an underwater cave dark where she could hide from the sun. She didn't want to think about him. She didn't want to think that Helios was no different from the gods who were the subject of nymphean horror stories.
Her sisters saw her enter the cave asked what was wrong. What drove her into hiding? They were all intrigued and curious but she didn't want to talk to anyone. She wanted to remain in the dark where no ray of light could burn and scorch her. She wanted to keep her memories with him sacred. But no matter what she did, she couldn't purge the sights and sounds from the cursed pond. Left without reprieve from the haunting images, she wept.
"Clytie?" someone called her name softly.
"Please leave me be," she answered weakly, her head buried in her arms. She was sitting near the cave wall, curled up like a ball.
"Clytie, it's me, Delphin," the visitor whispered as if coaxing a clam to open. "I don't know if I can do anything to help you but if you need someone trustworthy to confide in, I will listen."
Clytie finally looked up and faced the concerned look of the prince of dolphins, Poseidon's faithful right-hand. If he was here then it was most likely that her issue has become a big deal in the underwater. She didn't mean for her to be everyone's concern. She just wanted time and space to sort her feelings out.
"I," she started before she clutched her chest. "I hurt here. It's beating yet I don't think it is. It's so painful. I-I don't know what's happening to me." Her tears began flowing anew. She knew what was happening to her. She was dying.
"Clytie..."
"It's hard to breathe, my lord," she rasped as she began to sob. "My heart feels as if a claw has its grasp around it, preventing it from beating normally."
"When did this begin Clytie?" Delphin asked, slowly sitting down beside her as if any sudden movements would send the nymph bolting towards the other direction.
"H-Helios," she began, her voice breaking and stuttering uncontrollably through the sobs. "I w-wanted to-to see h-him. I-I saw h-him sle-sleep-ping with a P-Persian pr-princess." Something happened when she admitted the fact. It was as if the memory became more of a reality than a dark nightmare. Suddenly she couldn't stop herself from wailing as if the world had started crashing down on her. Delphin wordlessly embraced the sorrowful nymph, tears falling from the prince's eyes as well. Why was it always the nymphs who suffered when gods got around?
A horrified nymph stood at the cave's entrance. She slowly let her hand fall from her open mouth and at once she swam away. Wait until the others heard about this.
888
If one wanted godly gossip, one needed to look no further than the nymphs. And if gossip and Hermes had a race, the gossip would win by leaps, bounds and leagues. Eventually word reached the Persian king Orchamus about his daughter's loss of virginity. Repulsed, he immediately confronted his daughter about it.
"Father, my loving Father, please listen," Leukothoe cried miserably as terror began to consume her. "I-It wasn't my fault. I was forced into it and..."
"Silence!" Orchamus roared, slapping his indecent daughter hard. Leukothoe fell on the floor; her trembling hand reaching for her cheek, which she could feel was bruising by the second. She was never hit by her father before and frankly, it left her in a state of shock. "I've heard enough. You are not my daughter anymore. You betrayed me. You betrayed your kingdom! Even if you had to die, you should have protected your integrity until the end! That is the pride of a royal! The pride of a woman!" As if those words were not enough to shake the foundation of her life, the king continued, "You disappoint me, Leukothoe."
Leukothoe didn't think twice as she crawled and grabbed the hem of her father's robe with violently shaking hands, kissing it in reverence. "Father, please, please forgive me! Please forgive this daughter of yours!"
The king merely took a step back, making himself out of reach. "Don't touch me. You are filthy. Prepare to face judgment tomorrow," he said coldly as he turned around and walked away, literally and figuratively abandoning her.
Leukothoe looked towards her mother, Eurynome. Her mother wept as she took her in her arms. "Oh, my baby! My baby!"
"Mama! Mama, please!" Leukothoe begged desperately, her wide, searching and tearful eyes betraying her fear. "Please, mama, save me! Save me! Don't let me die!" she wailed in anguish. "I don't want to die! Please, mama! Don't let me die!"
"Shh, shh," Eurynome hushed even as she trembled in fear herself. "It's going to be alright. Listen to me." She locked her daughter's gaze to meet her own, giving her the courage she didn't feel. "It's going to be alright."
"Oh mama!" she sobbed harder as she held her mother tightly. "I did it for the kingdom! I did it for all of you!"
888
Come the next day, Leukothoe was summoned at court. There her father passed his cold judgment. Without even looking at the filthy, indecent peasant who was once his flesh and blood, he waved his hand and ordered her to be executed. Leukothoe cried in terrified agony and despair as she was dragged to her place of execution while her mother wailed, screamed and begged until her throat was raw for Orchamus to reconsider. But the king could not be moved.
Leukothoe was thrown inside a deep pit before a massive pile of sand and dirt was poured over her. Her sentence was to be buried alive.
"No! No! No!" Helios cried and dropped from his chariot to the earth as he tried to claw the dirt away. But his hands merely passed through the dirt as if he were a ghost. He wasn't corporeal and he couldn't become corporeal because the sun was still up in the sky. He was on duty; and as a Titan god on duty, he could not interact with the mortal realm. They were essentially living in two separate planes of existence, just like how ghosts could walk through solid walls.
Instead he tried his best to guide the buried princess to the exit with his light. If he couldn't move the sand away then at least he should be able to help her climb out of the pit herself. "I'm sorry, Leukothoe! I'm so, so sorry! Leukothoe! Can you hear me?! I am here! I'm right here! I won't let you die!" Out of options and out of desperation, Helios prayed to the most fearful goddess. "Mother Gaia! Please have mercy on her. She is innocent and I am the criminal! Take me instead! I offer anything! Everything! Just please let her live!"
The earth shifted as a column of sand grew from the ground. The sand took the form of the goddess Gaia. She took one look on the situation and replied in her recognizably feminine yet incredibly gravelly voice, "Helios, your chariot is still in the sky. Get back on it."
"Mother Gaia, I love her! I would do anything for her. I only ask that you move your earth away so that she may breathe," Helios begged, kneeling.
"This is none of my business. Get back on your chariot. I won't ask again."
Helios lowered himself further to fully prostrate before the goddess. "Merciful mother, ple-" But he was cut short when he heard the sound of the earth shifting behind him. He thought Gaia had saved her but to his ultimate horror, he saw that the ground was firm as if it had never been dug in the first place. He slowly turned his eyes towards the fearsome monster that was the mother of all. "You...you crushed her?" he whispered disbelievingly.
"Now there is no longer a cause for your delay," she replied coldly as she became one with the ground again.
888
When nightfall came, Helios did not waste time and dug her out. He carefully arranged her cold and lifeless body on the ground.
"No, you can't die," Helios whispered as he tried to warm her with his power. He was trying to resurrect her. "It's all my fault. You can't die because of me. I'm not like the others. I don't take life for granted. Please, Leukothoe, please. I beg of you, please live."
"Lord Helios," a cold voice called. It was the type of cold brought forth by emptiness rather than apathy like that of Orchamus and Gaia. Once he looked up, he understood why.
"Lord Thanatos," he nodded towards the god of death. "Please hold on for a little while. Your services won't be needed shortly."
"Lord Helios," Thanatos called again.
"Wait. Hold on. Just-just let me figure out a way to make her heart beat again," he said matter-of-factly as he moved his hand toward her heart, giving it all of his godly power. "Perhaps she needs ambrosia." He knew it was forbidden for mortals to even touch the divine drink but at this point he was willing to break every law.
"Lord Helios," the death god tolled, his voice like the echo of a bell's dying sound. "Atropos has already cut her thread. I am here for her soul." The way he said it made it more final. Leukothoe had died through his actions. Now he was directly responsible for a mortal's death. He felt dirty. As if he could see himself becoming tainted black by the blood of an innocent. How could he? He was a monster just like the rest of the other gods. He was just as cruel, petty and unbelievably selfish.
For the first time in his long immortal life, Helios became acquainted with the feeling of self-loathing.
He slowly took his hands away from the corpse of the princess he once loved and let them fall listlessly by his side as if he himself had become a corpse. Thanatos nodded and knelt before him, his hand replacing the spot where Helios had tirelessly tried to resuscitate her. Slowly, he extracted her soul - a beautiful, ethereal butterfly that glowed and shimmered like a sunbeam reflected on a water's surface.
"She's beautiful. She was a pure soul," Helios whispered, wiping the tears from his eyes. "It was her soul that attracted me in the first place not her beauty. I fell in love with who she was. I grew even more in love the more I got to know her. And now she's gone because of me and my selfish actions." He let out an anguished cry as he fell on top of Leukothoe's corpse, gently lifting her and cradling her to his chest.
Thanatos spared the god a glance as his small gesture of condolence before he opened the gate of the underworld and escorted the soul. This one was a mortal beloved by a Titan and was worthy of having the Primordial death god's escort rather than the god of thieves.
888
Though it took her more than a couple of moons, Clytie had finally sorted out all of her feelings. She was finally fine with letting Helios go with the mortal woman. She was finally fine with having him happy with someone who wasn't her. She was fine with that as long as he was happy. A nymph was below a Titan's attention anyway and she knew that she could never hold Helios' heart now that he knew where it belonged.
She rose from the ocean and returned to the meadow. It was nearly twilight so she retrieved her hidden box of golden sand. She smiled as she managed to catch the last rays of sunset.
A few minutes after the sun had set, she heard it – the familiar footfalls of her beloved. In her shock she dropped the box, spilling all of its contents. Perhaps because Helios was near that the sand, which should have remained sand, began to glow and float like the fireflies of summer.
Clytie turned around with the brightest smile on her face. "Helios!" And this time, it was really him. He was there, standing right in front of her just like before. She ran towards him, her arms encasing him a tight embrace. But the Titan did not return the gesture. "I missed you. I missed you so, so much! Please let me stay with you. It doesn't matter if you love someone else. That is alright with me as long as I can see you smile. I was miserable without you so please, just please let me stay by your side. Please?"
There was a small moment of complete silence before Helios asked in the most hollow voice Clytie has ever heard, "Was it you? Was it you who breathed that I had an affair with Leukothoe, the Persian princess?"
"Helios?" she whispered hesitantly as she broke the embrace. There was something wrong with her beloved. Something dreadfully wrong and dark. "Helios what's the matter?"
The Titan laid his hands on her shoulder and slowly pried her from him some more. "Was it you? Did you tell anyone in the underwater that I had an affair with Leukothoe?"
Clytie stared at him wordlessly. He was... frightening. His amber eyes, which usually held warmth and cheer was now turbulent with violence and hatred.
"Answer me!" he yelled, making her flinch and tremble.
"I-I told Delphin," she replied quietly.
"I see. For once Aphrodite was not lying," he murmured, turning around. "From now on, I don't want to have anything to do with you."
"Helios? I-"
"You no longer have the right to call me by name. You shall refer to me as 'My Lord'. Do you understand?"
She shook her head. "I- I don't..."
"You are no longer my friend as well. From this moment forth, I sever all my ties with you," Helios added as he passed by her and disappeared.
Clytie whirled around and found herself alone on the meadow amidst the dancing lights left behind by Helios' magic. "I don't understand at all!" she screamed at him. "Come back here! I said I was already fine with you and that woman together!"
After five minutes of screaming, miraculously managing not to curse Helios or call him names, she finally gave up and fell on the ground. "Please come back," she whispered hoarsely as if a lump was stuck on the back of her throat. She buried her face in her hands. "I'm fine. I'm fine! I'm fine with just being something let alone someone. Make me an accessory for all I care but please, please don't make me a stranger. I just want to be with you."
She screamed his name into the night.
888
Helios had successfully managed to pointedly ignore Clytie. Throughout the course of the days, he managed to not even glance at the meadow where he knew she would be waiting. Persephone was well into the spring and was about to enter summer. He had done his obligations as was proper but this time with a little more detachment to the things that he saw. It was as if a shadow that no amount of light could drive away had settled in the depths of his being. If he had learned anything through Leukothoe's death, it was to never underestimate Aphrodite. Now he wholeheartedly believed that love could build strong relationships like Nyx and Erebus or Oceanus and Tethys but it could also utterly destroy. Like how it destroyed him.
It was another typical day and he was about to enter his palace for his much deserved rest. Imagine his surprise when he found Poseidon with Delphin waiting on his front door.
"I'm sorry about this, Helios but Delphin would like to speak with you," Poseidon said sheepishly, scratching his jaw and noticeably looking at anywhere but him.
Helios let his gaze drop on the small god and smiled pleasantly. "Alright. What can I do for you, dolphin prince?"
"You have ignored her. Even in her dying breath, you ignored her," Delphin began darkly, his fists curling on his side until his knuckles turned white.
"I'm sorry. I don't seem to be following," he asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Do you see nymphs as animals? Creatures with the shape of a woman but no different from dogs, which mortals keep as pets?" Delphin growled, his voice rising with every word. "Do you think they can't feel?! Do you think they're creatures no different from pebbles, which you can kick around after you're done using it?!"
"I have no idea who you're talking about," Helios replied agitatedly, his mood turning sour.
"Clytie! I'm talking about Clytie! The one you used and discarded like she was more worthless than dung!" he yelled. "I can't believe you, Helios. I thought you were different. And now because of you she is dead."
And now because of you she is dead.
His breath left him as though he had been punched. Those were the words that he had tormented himself with ever since Leukothoe died. He couldn't believe he was being accused of murdering another one. "Wh-what do you mean?"
Poseidon gently pulled Delphin back. He could see his assistant was borderline snapping, if the redness on his neck and cheeks were anything to note. If he snapped, there was a high chance that he would attack Helios. He had seen it happen once and he would never wish for it to happen to someone else, especially not to a Titan.
Poseidon cleared his throat and began to explain. "Clytie passed away recently. From what I heard, you accused her of spreading the rumor about you and the Persian princess. According to Delphin, he had been her only confidant. I know for a fact that Delphin is not a tattletale. If he were, I'd be in Tartarus right now. I did an internal investigation and traced the rumor to another nymph who eavesdropped on Clytie's confession. She was the one who spread the rumors, not Clytie. When we rushed to Clytie to deliver the news, we found her already dying. She called for you but you did not answer. I offered to call you but she adamantly refused, telling me that it was a matter between the two of you. Before she died, she wrote you a message in case you didn't come as she feared."
"She loved you unconditionally, you bastard!" Delphin growled angrily from behind Poseidon. "Don't you know that today is her birthday too?! She wanted to open that-that stupid box but she couldn't because you weren't there!"
"Delphin!" Poseidon chided. Instead of continuing his tirade, Delphin continued to glare at the sun god.
"I don't understand... How did she even find out about me and Leukothoe?" Helios muttered, as he staggered backwards. It was the question he realized he should have asked himself a long time ago.
Delphin bit his lip. It was one of the secrets entrusted to him but he thought that this one needed to be known. "Aphrodite," he answered quietly.
"Aphrodite..." Helios whispered as he fell on his knees. Poseidon was immediately on his side while Delphin simply stood and watched with blatant judgment in his eyes. Suddenly Helios remembered her words.
Do you like my gifts?
That he loved Leukothoe and that Clytie loved him, she called it gifts. It was her all along. This was her revenge for him tattling on Hephaestus about her and Ares. He would have laughed but he was much too horrified. This was beyond cruel. This was evil and wicked. He couldn't remember being this broken since his son Phaethon died.
He stared beyond the horizon with his unseeing eyes. Even though he boasted that he could see all, he never saw Aphrodite's cunning plan until it had come into fruition. He had been so unbelievably foolish. Yet even though he knew this was all orchestrated by one goddess, he wanted to die from the shame, guilt, and pain that ate at his heart. "What was Clytie's last message?" he asked, his glazed eyes never shifting from the darkness of the night. His world was suddenly so very dark and bleak.
"This," Poseidon replied, pulling a small roll of parchment. Helios blinked the tears in his eyes as he took the missive and read it. Written in a small, delicate script, it said:
Come dance with me under the shower of your lights, my Queen of Flowers.
I love you.
Waiting on the meadow,
Clytie
Helios swallowed as a sob escaped his lips. Clytie was always there. She always waited for him. Did he love her? Yes. Yes he did. But he was fearful of admitting it, fearful that Aphrodite's curse had been about her. How wrong he was. "I-I never even..." I never even told her 'I love you'. And now she would never hear it no matter how much he admitted it. "I-I didn't even get to say thank you or goodbye or I'm sorry…" He had amassed a lot of regrets in such a short amount of time but perhaps this one was one of his greatest regret. He couldn't believe how painful it was to have so many regrets. It haunted his heart and mind with a thousand 'what ifs' and he didn't have an answer for any of them.
With a shared look, both Poseidon and Delphin retreated into their realm and left the Titan to his immense and unrelenting grief.
888
On the meadow where a nymph and a sun god met one fateful day, a small plant with gorgeous violet flowers bloomed. In the morning, it followed the sun religiously and at night, it closed its petals as it waited for her beloved to ride the sky again.
On this fateful night, its closed petals were illuminated by the thousands upon thousands of glittering little stars that had fallen on earth. On the base of the flower was a carefully preserved flower wreath of orange and green daisies and an open treasure box. In the treasure box was a small letter that said in a beautiful and elegant script:
I love you too.
From your beloved.