icarus, they begged,
do not fly too high.
the sun will scorch you and leave you broken.
then the sea will swallow you whole.
they did not tell me of your beauty,
nor your blinding love,
and so i forged my own destiny.
reaching for the sun, and fall...
My sisters voice fills the room, our shared palace. My cheeks glow with a warmth as I turn away.
"They all stare."
A dark brow, arched high on pale skin.
I shrug.
She slings her quiver over her shoulder, lacing up her silver sandals, the fever for a hunt lighting behind her moon-song eyes.
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"Believe what you like, brother, but there are always the few that gaze at you like they can really see you. Remember Hyacinth?"
Mourning pierces my heart, memory aimed like a precise arrow.
"I don't want to talk about him."
Her eyes soften. She whispers an apology as she slips into the clouds, which undress cloaks of sunlight to dance in the growing moon.
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I look down below us, seeing the boy, soft feathers sticking in his dark hair, as he gazes at my sister in the sky, a melancholy sound dropping from his lips like descending notes of a ballad.
I pull myself away, heart aching in my chest in a dull rhythm.
I make myself close my eyes until my twin returns, chiton stained by various parts of nature.
I rise, and she passes by me, hand reaching out to rest on my shoulder before she drifts away.
Climbing into my grand chariot, I drag the sun across the sky with memorised movements. I find no joy in painting the sky hues of yellow this morning. My mind is miles away, sleeping next to a rosy cheeked mortal.
When the sun is high in the sky I pause, chariot resting on downy clouds.
I lay back in the gilded seats, closing my eyes against the wavering light.
Tears, cold and golden, run down my face as I remember him in those last moments. Palid, brow streaked with his own blood. Shining eyes alight with love and joy slipping into the foggy mist of Asphodel.
