Apollo

YOU GUYS.

I totally saw Apollo a week ago.

Where? The Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, CA.



I was only remotely excited about this discovery, let me tell you.

( +1, though it's irrelevant to DDD; I just like this shot of me. )

Now that I have your attention, I'd like to direct it toward a delightful and inspirational movie us mortals refer to as Mamma Mia!-- and, Apollo's favorite movie of 2008. I rewatched it tonight and noticed something I almost forgot.

( A Greek Cameo from The Credits! )

Uh, I promise I'll continue the blindness plot soon. This movie inspired me like crazy, hahaha.

[While Apollo's voice sounds less defeated than it did before, it still carries that weight of dead, dark monotony.]

I have been told of your well-wishes, my friends, and I appreciate them... I apologize, for having left you on such short notice. As I told you before, what has happened is complicated and I am not... at liberty to divulge entirely what has happened to me.

I apologize.

[A pause; some background noise]

If you... wish to hold audience with me, please inform first his Highness, the Emperor Larsa Ferrinas Solidor for permission, as I am in his care.

Thank you, again, for your concern.

(Please, if you want Apollo to reply, make sure that your character replies via voice, so he can hear it!

As for who can see this, you should know who you are-- the lock is hackable, but not easily. Remember that.)

The recent influx of injuries that have befallen the members of our little community are nothing less than concerning -- I, of course, help as much as I can, but... I have found in doing so, in neglecting the problems of our own world and instead helping people of others, that my other patronages have grown faulty. Out of practice, if you will.

I know not the meaning of this, but it is extremely foreboding. My visions tell me nothing, instead, they are as though someone is switching a television from one channel to the next in my mind, granting me mere snippets of voice or picture; more often than not, it is completely blank. I do not ask that you imagine what it is like for he who is Light to experience Darkness, but let me tell you only this -- I am glad when it is over.

I do hope this passes quickly.

Hyacinthus~

I've selected our costumes for the Masquerade Ball tomorrow evening!

Apollo appeared in the Underworld, shimmering and absolutely radiating in heat -- if he had been attempting to be inconspicuous, he failed miserably. Charon had given a laugh at the sight as he paddled along Styx, knowing the child-king had clearly done something to attract his oh-so-bright nephew down to the depths.

He tossed a pair of coins to the laughing boatman and alighted at the center of the Underworld, each step burning into the icy ground as he approached Hades' palace.

"Uncle!" he shouted, searching the dark windows for any sign of life, "Uncle, where are you?"

My, weren't the Olympics just... something else? It never fails to impress me, the absolute camaraderie countries manage to pull when put into a worldwide competition such as this; it is refreshing to see humanity proud of their physical accomplishments... it has been a long time since I have seen such sincerity in their pride. I miss that.

Mankind has come to consider themselves utterly indestructible and live for immediate gratification, and it is absolutely... mind blowing, for them, to see these athletes who have spent their entire lives for but a few moments in the spotlight. And, when they are injured, it is cause for the utmost despair -- how could this happen to our Olympians? These people, whom we have come to regard as Gods in their own right, they cannot get hurt, not at the pinnacle of their careers! It is refreshing, to say the least.

[Locked to Eros]

...Eros, who is the blonde young man I have seen about the house? And... forgive me, but-- are there two Blackouts? The former seems particularly skittish, I caught him rummaging through my collection of bows and he near had a fit, apologizing. He bowed out too quickly for me to tell him that I would mind it not if he were to borrow a couple.

My characters, as of August 18, 2008, are as follows:

☼ Apollo (sine_sole_sileo)

§ Shuraiya Bascùd (shovel_sick)

→ Robin Hood (for_britain)

If you have any questions, comments, critiques, complaints, requests... anything, having to do with how I play my characters, please leave a comment here.

I apologize in advance for not allowing anonymous commenting, but I have had problems in the past with being hassled by people who used anonymity to be cruel.

Anyway, have at it~

Y-yeah, I'm hopping on the bandwagon as well. It seemed like fun! Please, feel free to ask anything you like. :)

I list the characters I play with their journals. You ask questions, on your IC journal or OOC journal, it doesn't matter. They answer IC. Okay? Okay. It can be about their username, what their favorite food is...whatever your mind can come up with.

My characters:

☼ Apollo (sine_sole_sileo)

§ Shuraiya (shovel_sick)

→ Robin (for_britain)

The day dawned as the rest of them had during the run of the Olympics -- crisp and clear, the air absolutely abuzz with energy. The open curtains of the hotel room's large window exposed slats of golden light across the carpeted floor, prime for a certain god-turned-cat to roll over and bare his belly to warm in the light. As he rolled, his whiskers brushed against the unfamiliar plush carpet, its smell foreign and most definitely not his.

Apollo sat up abruptly, meowing in surprise -- where was he? This wasn't home! He got to his feet, meowing intermittently as he cautiously padded across the room, desperately looking for anything familiar. Hyacinth's duffel bag lay at the foot of the large bed where the boy slept -- Apollo was drawn to it immediately and purred, rubbing happily against it. Hyacinthus was here! But where? Where could he be, why did he bring him here? Apollo cried out hopefully, maybe he would hea-- what was that? The form on the bed shifted, exposing a shock of messy blonde hair. Hyacinthus! Elated, the orange tabby hopped onto the bed, mrriiaoo-ing as he slipped on the comforter, stopping here and there to rub at a knee, a hand. He was so happy! Hyacinth hadn't left him somewhere! But what was this new place? He still didn't know, but he would have to wake the boy, maybe he'd tell him.

One of Hyacinth's legs had kicked out from under the blankets, creating a tent of sorts and Apollo slipped underneath, still purring as he crawled, nuzzling the curve of his exposed belly and upwards until he reached his face. "Mreh!" Apollo announced, head tilting to brush the underside of the boy's chin, his purr deeper now. He pawed at his cheek, hoping it would wake him. When it didn't work, Apollo tried telling him to get up.

"Mreh mehh, mrraaa. Rrrhh?"

I finally got on the band wagon and set up and AIM account for Apollo, so~

Feel free to IM him at Apollo Vindonnus~ He'll be happy to chat!

Oh, gods.

( [Not Cut IC//NSFW] )

It was a pity Apollo had not bothered to leave well enough alone; if he had any sense left in him, he ought to have stayed in Chile and comforted Eros, it probably would have done him -- no, all of them -- more good than coming to Blacko-- Mikaela's world and wandering about the desert of Nevada. At the very least, he had Chrysilla to accompany him, she had landed on his shoulder and wound her tail around his neck with such determination that he could not deny her.

Speaking of Nevada, gods, was it ever dry and bleak; he was reminded of a drastically warmer version of the Arctic Circle and involuntarily shivered -- at least, this task would not be so trying on the body so much as the mind and the heart. It was a fool's errand, was it not? He kicked a stone, sending it skidding down into a dried out ravine and clattering to rest there. Maybe he should leave, and pretend he couldn't find Blackout, say he possibly returned to wherever it was he came from, and console his dear nephew.

It occurred to him suddenly that Blackout would most definitely be in his robot form, either as a helicopter or... whatever he truly was, Apollo didn't know. He had only seen him as the former, when they descended into Tartarus, and even then, the Decepticon's sheer firepower was a force to be reckoned with. His human form was easily subdued, but a millions of years old war machine? If worse came to worse, he would have to forcibly transform Blackout and take him home biting and screaming.

Well, hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

I suppose... it is to be expected.

Longevity was never in the equation.

Yes, I believe today would be a lovely day for the beach. ♥

Perhaps a nude beach, I have not been to one of those in ages.

(Gods can read the strikeout.)

Somehow, it has seemed to have slipped my mind completely to mention this, but -- I am happy to report that the regeneration of my arm has gone spectacularly.

Five fingers, thirty bones, and twenty-eight muscles later, I am now as complete as I was the day I was born. It is a curious thing, possessing something you lost once; you realize that it is a blessing and know not to take it granted.

That said, it is a pity that I lost the tattoo I once bore down the length of my forearm -- I will be replacing it soon enough.

"Αυτό είναι μεγάλος αντέξτε."

It was devastatingly cold where she had taken him, a place where even the Sun's light, while bright as ever, could not warm the dead, thick ice that covered the earth beneath their feet. It was already dawn; soon, the uncaring Sun would show his light upon the barren waste, and remain a constant for the following twenty-four hours -- this was Hyacinthus' time limit. Within that time, he was to locate and retrieve an amber pendant from the half-sunken steam barkentine and return said treasure to Hera, before the sun set.

The task itself was easier said than done, for the ship could just barely be seen on the horizon to the west, the darkest point from which they stood. Where the ice thinned, dark, looming masses could be seen, the only sign of life in this desolate place outside of themselves.

Then, as if night had been nothing but a fleeting fancy, light burst forth from the east, reflecting blindingly off the endless expanses of ice surrounding Hera and Hyacinth -- it was time.

"Καλή τύχη, υάκινθος."

And she was gone, to fetch the foolish lover of this brave boy.

(OOC notes: The Arctic circle, named for its correspondence with the southernmost point of the constellation Ursa Major -- Megale Arktos, in Greek, is where the task is taking place. On the summer and winter solstices each year, a phenomenon known as arctic day / night occurs. Since the summer solstice is of our concern, I will explain "arctic day": there is non-stop sunlight, for twenty-four hours straight. It is also referred to as "midnight sun". This is also the day I designated as Apollo's birthday, for those of you who have been following along with this particular plot.

The significance of the amber necklace is that when Leto, Apollo and Artemis' mother, was about to give birth to the twins, Hera attempted to kill Leto in childbirth, but was distracted from doing so by a necklace of amber beads, given to her by one of the other goddesses.

Lastly, the Greek is translated as follows: "This is Ursa Major" and "Good luck, Hyacinthus".

Enjoy the unfolding of this modern day Greek epic~ ♥)

By Olympus, why did I ever leave Greece? Moreover, why did I distance myself from Hyacinthus, of all people? Being with him has done me more good than any amount of lying on the beach or pitying myself has. It has been lovely, just walking about and exploring the mortal shops here in Xanthi...

It is so different now, the modernity of what used to be a mountain village has been a shock to the system, as the ruins of my great temples in Delos and Delphi have been. At the very least, the continued patronage of tourists (and, rarely, worshipers) have kept up the maintenance of such places, but these camera toting Americans will never quite know the beauty of my temples in their prime. I need to go back; there is something drawing me towards Delphi in particular, and I know not yet what it is, but... there is -- hm, a presence there, that requires my attention. We shall see.

Just yesterday, an errand for Mikaela brought Hyacinthus and me to the London of the world of Sweeney Todd, a London not unlike the one I remember of our own nineteenth century. I brought him along for two reasons: one, to reacclimatize myself to the weight of world hopping more than one person it is rather easier when you are able to hold your passenger close~ ♥, and second, to dress him in the fashion of the period, of which I have always been extremely fond of. A dreary place, that London - everything is so very desaturated, as though someone has washed all the color away. Fleet Street, in particular, has a -- hm, an interesting sort of ambiance to it, which is... to be expected, given the nature of hers and Mr. Todd's operation. I cannot be more thankful than I am now that my aging halted just at the height of kouros; though Mrs. Lovett intervened in the middle of an offer of a shave, I would not have wished to alight those murderous stairs. She offered us both a meat pie as a form of thanks, but I had to decline -- I know her story too well, and the idea has never sat too well with me, besides.

In any case, I am glad to be traveling to other worlds once again, even for minor errands such as Mrs. Lovett's. It remains a little trying on my system, but I expect that to fade as my strength returns -- I must accredit a good deal of my quickening recovery to the approach of my "birthday", the Summer Solstice. I hope to celebrate it with Hyacinth on Olympus in conjunction with the success of his finishing the final task, hopefully with whomever I can convince to return home - it has been too long since we have all been there together. I miss it.

A T T E N T I O N
A T T E N T I O N

A P O L L O - M A S T E R ' S // C U R R E N T // L O C A T I O N :: X A N T H I , G R E E C E.

D U R A T I O N // O F // S T A Y :: U N K N O W N.

Q U E S T I O N S
C O M M E N T S
C O M P L A I N T S
N E E D S
W A N T S
D E S I R E S

M A Y
B E
A N S W E R E D
B Y
C H R Y S I L L A

♥ ♥ ♥

(...Apollo-mun is bored. :| As for the Sun God himself, he's off to spend time with Hyacinthus in Xanthi, before his final task towards immortality.)

...Hm, curious. I cannot say this is wholly accurate, but there are portions that definitely apply.

[Locked to Hyacinth]

Hyacinthus? The date for the final task is approaching, beloved. Hera has not told me the extent of the challenge, nor the location - I am assuming it is to prevent interference. Are -- are you ready? Knowing her, it will be trying on you, both mentally and physically.

Ι… ανάγκη για να σας δει. Έχει όντας πάρα πολύ πολύς καιρός από τότε έχουμε δει ο ένας τον άλλον. Σας έχω χάσει τρομερά, αγαπημένος~ Δεν μπορώ να περιμένω έως ότου μπορώ να σας φέρω σε Olympus, ως αθάνατο.

"I... want to see you. It's been too long since we've seen each other. I have missed you terribly, beloved~ I cannot wait until I can bring you to Olympus, as an immortal."

[/Locked to Hyacinth]

***

[Locked to Alphonse]

I love you, dear heart.

[/Locked to Alphonse]

***

[Locked to Dionysus]

They've located him. But -- you won't believe where he is.

[/Locked to Dionysus]