HYACINTHUS

Chapter Twenty-Three

Pythia let me run away.

She didn't even flinch when I made my decision and flew towards the entrance, as quick as my legs knew to carry me, as if I was wearing Hermes' winged sandals. She had already told me what she had wanted to. She had already sown her seed of terror in me.

You are going to die. You are going to die. You are going to die.

It wasn't a cheap trick, a self-fulfilling prophecy. It was a fact. My sister was going to die in less than a year, and I was going to pass awya before her.

I don't know how many hours I had climbed up the incredibly steep walls of the cave. The rock had roughened my hands. I just saw that by the time I came out on the clearing, the sun was already losing intensity.

Apollo was waiting for me in front of the cave. He stretched out his hand and I took it, my feet finally on firm ground again.

"Sorry I couldn't accompany you there this morning", he said. His eyes twinkled, as if he was thinking that I had gotten the most delightful news of all time. "I was at Mount Olympus, attending a wedding. The nectar was of finest quality, and not to speak of how great the music was! The groom had only wanted harp music, and I agree with that choice, it..."

A wedding. I would rather go back straight to Pythia in this moment than have to confront the thought.

"Whose wedding was it?", I said, trying to keep my tone relaxed.

"Oh, it wasn't any major god", Apollo swished his hand. "Just a wind god and a messenger goddess, I forgot the names. Nothing special. If it were an Olympian, the festivities would be a month long. But it was quite alright. Even Oceanus came, and we all know he very rarely leaves his underwater residence."

Cold sweat covered me from head to toe. Apollo didn't seem to notice my agony. He bruskly turned to me and asked, with a big smile on his face:

"How was it? Brilliant, you are still in one piece!"

"Not for long", I mumbled.

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

I sighed. "Your Oracle told me my whole family was going to die."

Apollo rolled his golden eyes. "She tells that to everyone. It's not something special."

I shook my head.

"No. She told me my father was going to die in a day, my sister in a year, and me... somewhere in between them."

Silence. Leaves rustled lightly, and birds stopped their songs. Apollo widened his eyes and looked at me with a mix of pity and disbelief.

"That can't be right", he let out. "My first blessed mortal can't die so fast, all the other gods will mock me!"

I raised an eyebrow. Ah, of course. I shouldn't have expected compassion from Apollo, should I? He was told to be shallow.

Apollo pursed his lip, and it felt as if I could see the wheels turning in his head quickly, as he considered the options he had.

From the path that led to the temple, I saw a small figure in white approaching. It was one of the priests, but not the one who had woken me this morning. This one was a mousy boy with large round eyes and a skinny, small frame.

"Your Holiness", he adressed Apollo, and bowed so deeply his nose could have touched the ground. "Should I take the supplicant to his room, to recover?"

Apollo shook his head. "No need. Thank you. He can stay by my side."

The boy nodded and quickly left. Once he was long out of view, Apollo exclaimed, as if he just had a realization.