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After Clio had found out who her son was seeing out in the woods, she had ended up feeling a horrible mixture of fear and confusion.
Mostly because she couldn’t tell to what degree to take what Lord Apollo had said that day he’d stood mere feet before her, the true form of one of the most powerful gods she’d been taught to worship all her life.
He’d used phrases like ‘dearest’ and ‘love.’ He’d seemed cool yet clearly enraged with having found Hyacinthus hurt by his Father’s hand, and her son hadn’t shown any issue with standing before him.
Yet that could easily have been a ruse. Nothing was to say Lord Apollo hadn’t told her son to act that way.
Her stomach roiled in discomfort, and she tossed in her bed again.
Her husband was slumbering easily. A feat, considering he’d been kept up the last few nights with nightmares of the sun going out over the Kingdom permanently. She supposed it’d finally gotten him worn out to the point exhaustion had forced him to stay asleep no matter what.
Putting a hand to her stomach, she sighed, crushing her eyes shut.
Hyacinthus had promised he’d explain things to her, and yet he’d never done so. He continued to dodge the topic when she attempted to subtly bring it up, and she couldn’t tell if she should read that as her son being embarrassed about his relationship, or as a warning sign that something bad was happening.
It was frustrating.
All she wanted was to protect her son. Help him. Yet what could she do in the face of a god? If Lord Apollo wanted the use of her son, well, what could she do to stop that? Any attempt would only offend him, and put Hyacinthus and perhaps Sparta at large in monumental danger.
She tossed over again, raking a hand over her bed hair, combing it back for lack of anything else to do to distract her thoughts.
It’d been close to five weeks now. They’d held a full week of continuous celebration in honor of Apollo after the event where the sun had gone out. Ever since things had been normal. The only difference was they’d stopped pestering Hyacinthus about his near-daily walks in the forest. He’d even bother to say goodbye now before he left because he knew he wouldn’t have to worry about receiving questions from her.
Clio was grateful for that. She felt awful for all the time her son had needed to skulk around in order to escape to the woods to satisfy the god of the sun.
Or whatever it was they were doing.
Clio just had the worst-case scenario in mind and didn’t feel like she should be blamed for it.
And so, she made a decision. Her heart just couldn’t take it anymore.
She was going to find out what was happening, for better or worse.
The Next Day.
A Spartan woman was more able than one of another Greek kingdom, and as Clio maneuvered her way through the trees, she felt concern bubble in her chest.
He always goes this way. He only left a minute ago…I should be able to see him still.
Soft footsteps padded along the deer paths, wanting to ensure if her son was, in fact, within earshot, she needn’t worry that he’d detect her.
She spent close to an hour wandering about, frustration growing, eyes darting. It didn’t make sense how Hyacinthus could disappear so easily.
Unless Lord Apollo takes him somewhere else when they meet?
That was something she hadn’t considered, and yet that was when something far off caught her ear.
Her son’s voice.
Loud. A single sharp, cut off scream, as it sounded, and any fear of being discovered was abandoned as she rushed through the trees, instinct grabbing hold.
She found a tall mossy natural rock wall and circled to a shorter side.
Finding a foothold, she heaved her way up, kneeling on a soft mossy spot that could hold her weight to peer over the edge.
What she saw was shocking to her.
“You scared me! Why do you do that?” Hyacinthus was turning his nose up at how Apollo seemed to be in the middle of begging for forgiveness.
“I was late! I forgot! I’m sorry!”
“You appeared out of thin air! I hate it when you do that!”
“I know! I’m sorry, I won’t do it again!”
“You said that last time! I almost punched you!”
“I’d have deserved it!”
Hyacinthus puffed her cheeks out. “Why were you late, anyway?”
“Hermes wouldn’t shut up.”
“Is that so? And what was he on about?”
“He’s still laughing about how I managed to keep it together in front of your Father,” Apollo said, before floating a few inches off the ground.
“Amazing, that’s my big brother, what an actor! Who knew you could keep a straight face that long! Burn his beard, what a line!”
He was imitating someone, and at this, Hyacinthus laughed.
“I guess I can forgive you for that, then.”
Apollo smiled. “Good to know you like my impressions.”
The mortal shrugged before taking the sun god's hand, pulling him towards a tree in the middle of the clearing, where a babbling brook split the grasses.
“Not particularly. I just like you.”
Clio couldn’t believe what she was hearing, and yet her heart eased at it.
She knelt there, ignoring her knees going numb against the stone, watching through the leaves hanging over her as her son and the god sat and talked.
Eventually, Hyacinthus threw his arms up dramatically, accentuating a point about what he was saying to do with training, flopping across Apollo’s lap.
This seemed to be a usual thing, because the god just rested a hand over the others now prone body, letting the other find his hair.
They went quiet before long, and while Clip would guess at this point, her son might have fallen asleep, Apollo had just leaned his head back against the tree. A content smile had settled onto his face as he stroked Hyacinthus’s hair, his molten gold eyes perusing the sky with equal casualness.
Comfortable.
And the fact that it all looked so routine put Clio at ease. That they’d done this dozens of times before. That Apollo didn’t seem even the slightest bit eager to take advantage of her son's vulnerable position.
He seemed happy just to be there.
It was going to be alright.
Now that she had this confirmed, swearing to never forget the sight, the Queen elected now was the time to take her leave.
As she was making to climb down, however, she found her legs had gone more numb than she’d expected, having spent so long folded beneath her.
She slipped on the moss and clamped her mouth shut so as not to scream as he felt her balance tip, toppling backward.
She fell, and yet just when she braced for impact, she felt arms catching her, a fluid motion halting her descent and easing her to the floor.
Whirling, she was faced with none other than Lord Apollo, an unreadable expression on his face as he stood above her.
Considering she’d landed on her knees, Clio’s posture needed no adjustment, and yet she felt the breath leaving her lungs when she stared up at the god.
“L-Lord Apollo, I…I’’m so…”
Then, before any conclusions could be jumped to by the woman, Apollo just smiled lightly.
“You know, your son would be furious with me if I let you get hurt. He loves you dearly, after all.” He commented as he took her by the arm, gently pulling her to her feet.
She wobbled, and Apollo didn’t release her until he was sure she was steady.
“You’re…not mad?” The words were sticky as they escaped her throat.
Apollo just shook his head, eyes glinting knowingly.
“It is as I said when you first saw me. I see all beneath my sun, all beneath my sister's moon, all beneath the sky. I’ve known you were there the entire time. I’ve known since the moment you entered the forest.”
The god then shrugged. “Though I will say while I see all those things, there are times I don’t pay attention. There’s no need to bother focusing on so much all the time. So you don’t need to worry too much about that.”
Clio blinked, still not believing the god before her to be talking to her so casually. Not a hint of anger about her having spied on them, either.
She spoke again. “You…but Hyacinthus…”
“Sleeps like a rock, you know that? It wasn’t hard to vanish out from under him when I sensed you were going to fall. He’s still out cold. I doubt he’ll even notice I left, and I plan to return before he wakes up.”
Apollo then tilted his head to the side. “Now, since I’d prefer you don’t come out here after him again unless it’s for a reasonable cause, do you have anything to ask me? Not as a mortal and a god. As a mother and…well, whatever you want to call me in that role.”
Clio swallowed, and knew this would be her only chance. “Is he happy? You haven’t hurt him?”
The archer shook her head. “No. And I never would. From the very beginning, it was his choice to continue this. I encouraged it, sure, but in your normal mortal ways. I brought him flowers and talked to him about his problems and so on and so forth…and when I showed him my true self, I told him if he wished it I would leave and never return. I didn’t want to scare him. I would never hurt him. And I will never allow harm to befall him, either.”
At this, Apollo soured. “That’s why I was rather furious about what happened a few weeks ago when I wasn’t looking.”
Clio paled at the memory when Apollo’s eyes turned back to her and softened again. “It’s a shame you had to be scared in that event as well. It’s also understandable you’d come out here, after the way I acted in there. Though I tried to make it clear, I wanted nothing but whatever was in Hyacinthus’s best interest.”
Clio nodded, and after a moment, she managed a smile, bowing her head. “Thank you, Lord Apollo. You mercy in entertaining my worry for my son…it’s more than I could hope to expect.”
At this, the sun god just gave a non-commenting hum and turned his gaze upward again.
“Hyacinthus will wake soon if I don’t return. I hope this has eased your mind…and so, please don’t come out here again unless necessary.”
“I won’t.”
At that, Apollo vanished in nothing more than a smoldering of light.
Clio blinked for a moment at the sheer incredibility that she’d survived this encounter, and the positive results, before a smile came across her face.
She supposed in some ways, it was still possible for a mortal to understand a god.
And with that, not daring another look back to the secret field, she turned on her heel and made for home.