Page 59 of Sunflower

But I guess that’s what the world was like. Even now, profit ruled everything. People never learned.

Three days after their daughter was laid to rest, Iris’s parents visited her grave only to find Apollo and his twin sister, Artemis, waiting for them.

Wait. What?

Three days later? ApolloandArtemis?

What?!

I went to sit up and ask the many questions that this raised, but Callum simply chuckled and gently pushed me back down onto his lap again with a shake of his head.

“Patience,mo lus na gréine. Let me finish.”

“Fine,” I grumbled and tried to relax again.

Both Apollo and Artemis had taken pity on them, telling the parents that their grief was so loud and their love for Iris and each other so pure that they had been called down from Olympus to aid them. They sat with the parents next to their daughter’s grave and talked with them for hours.

As the sun was nearing the end of its travels for the day, Apollo snapped his fingers, and Iris appeared in front of her parents to say goodbye. Once she had hugged her parents for the last time, Artemis took Iris’s small hand in her own and promised them she would look after their daughter until they could join Iris in the afterlife, decades from now.

Artemis made note of the multi-colored coat Iris was wearing and, knowing that it was a source of deep sorrow for her parents, blessed the garment so that it would be able to transport Iris from place to place. Every trip Iris would take with her multi-colored coat would leave behind colorful traces in the sky, so her parents could see evidence of their daughter enjoying her afterlife and hopefully bring some comfort to their never-ending grief.

Artemis and Iris then bade goodbye to Iris’s parents and left for Olympus, carried forward by the appearance of a variety of vibrant colors in the sky above them and on into the distance.

And thus, the first rainbow was created.

Aw, that was kind of sweet, actually. That meant that every time the parents saw a rainbow, they could think of their daughter playing in the misty rain.

Apollo comforted Iris’s parents and told them he would leave them to their grief for now, but would return to them before the next winter would take hold. As the sun finally set, Apollo vanished.

Months later, Apollo reappeared as promised. The young couple woke up to find him pottering around in their kitchen, making himself at home. He sat them down and presented them with a hearty breakfast that he’d cooked for them, which they all enjoyed. Once their hunger had been sated, Apollo sat back with a knowing smile and congratulated them on falling pregnant again.

The couple were astounded. When they had decided to marry, they had done so understanding that they would have no children. Iris had been a miracle child, and when she’d passed, they assumed they would return to a childless marriage.

Apollo agreed with their assessment and told them that normally that would be the case. Nevertheless, he had decided to grant them one more child to make up for the horrifying way they had lost Iris, but this time he would ensure that the child would survive well into adulthood and have children of their own.

Ah, that’s how Callum came to exist. This was his ancestor.

The new child would share both parent’s powers, just like Iris had. This time, however, those powers would be limited to only being available whilst touching the subject of their focus. Until this point, where most powered individuals grew their power from touch use in childhood to remote use in adulthood, this child would be limited to touch use only. It was the only way that both powers could co-exist and not burn the body up, like what had happened with Iris.

He warned that although their relatives would welcome this pregnancy, it would be for all the wrong reasons. This would make things very difficult for them both, but he would help them where he could. Apollo then wished them both well and took his leave, vanishing in front of them once more.

Months passed, and with Apollo’s warning in mind, the parents tried to hide the pregnancy from the rest of their families. Eventually, however,there came a time when the young mother had no choice but to show her swollen belly. Much to their dismay, Apollo’s prediction came true: every one of their relatives took the new pregnancy as a sign that the barren unions of the past were over, and arranged marriages between family lines could begin in order to create superior mixed power family lines.

I grimaced and rolled my eyes in exasperation. Creating superior bloodlines had always worked out so very well in the past, hadn’t they?

Sighing, I shifted onto my back, getting comfortable in Callum’s hold so I could clearly look up at the dancing stars again, letting his voice quietly drift over me, weaving a tale older than some of the stars I was now looking at.

The young parents tried to explain to their families what Apollo had told them, but their relatives refused to listen, instead insisting that the young couple were lying, even going so far as to accuse them of blaspheming against Apollo and tossing their heritage away like the non-powered public. Finally giving up, the parents withdrew as much as they could, until the mother went into labor.

Much to the astonishment of the relatives, both Apollo and Artemis appeared next to the parents. While Artemis helped the mother through her labor, Apollo lectured the relatives for not believing the young couple. He reiterated that everything they had told their relatives was true,and that this was theonlytime he would ever allow two powered people from different family lines to produce an heir that would survive into adulthood.

He warned that should the relatives ignore what he was saying and continue their path of insisting on arranged marriages between powered children, any offspring that would result from said marriage would burn just like Iris had. Furthermore, he would restrict the powers of any parents that knowingly offered their children up as part of an arranged marriage with the primary purpose of producing a super-powered child.

Strangely, I was with Apollo on this. It felt like there had to be a balance in the world for such power to exist. Too much power in one individual could corrupt not only that person, but everyone around them. Better for there to be known consequences so people weren’t tempted to play God.

I chuckled to myself.Play God.Back in the day, Apollowasthat God.

And if Callum’s stories were true, Apollo wasstillthat God.

---