20 Twilight

The bright light of dawn illuminated Apollo, who sat on green ground in the middle of the woods, far away from Mount Olympus.

He was in a meditative state, with light streaks twirling around him and the lyre floating around him, soothing his mind.

Apollo breathed in and out. His spirit had already ascended to a higher realm. It was a realm of infinite and boundless white light.

The realm was the physical manifestation of the concept of light.

The light appeared to be serene yet eerie, beautiful yet repugnant, purifying yet tainting, orderly yet contorted, vibrant yet waning. It looked like an amalgamation of everything in existence, all-encompassing.

In creation, light was primordial. Even God created the world, saying 'Let there be Light!'

It's not even a stretch to say that light gives meaning to everything. The bright side of existence. The creation.

Apollo floated in the midst of the seemingly boundless realm, his figure radiating a golden light. It expanded into the boundless realm as it whirled around him like a spinning galaxy. It was infiltrating the white light and colouring it with his authority, will, and power, conquering it for himself.

The swirling golden light bathed all it touched in auric brilliance, conquering it as his own light.

Apollo's perception of light was slowly expanding. He could only control the concept of light in a segment of the Milky Way, but it was now spreading deeper and deeper into the starry sky.

Through his perception, Apollo witnessed a lot. From a purple titan flipping through ancient texts to a black-haired woman clad in green armour, riding a massive wolf, leading a golden legion through an ice planet, leaving nothing but death in her wake.

He also noticed patterns and paths. It could be found in stars, planets, black holes, nebulae, and so on, everywhere.

He even faintly perceived the cosmos. An ever-expanding ocean of extreme darkness, lit only by the light.

In the realm of infinite light, the golden light of Apollo, which was invading, eventually encountered resistance.

The path of Apollo was barred by a massive pure white wall. Actually, there was no wall within these realms beyond; Apollo simply imagined the passive resistance from the concept of light as an obstructive wall, so it appeared to him like a wall. It is visualisation. This also makes otherwise complex things pretty simple.

The golden light surged up in front of the walls, bending to his will and imagination. It transformed into an infinite number of golden shimmering portals. It unleashed weapons of all kinds, all aimed against the white wall.

Apollo raised his hand and swung down. The weapons blasted out of the golden portals with zeal, smashing through the white wall of passive resistance with all their might.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Beyond the realms, the fight of attrition began. The walls cracked beneath his onslaught, only to be promptly repaired, then cracked again, only to be repaired again.

The battle dragged on, gradually tilting in Apollo's favour. Then he snapped, raising his hand. The golden light converged to form a white bow.

Apollo took a deep breath and yanked the bowstring to its breaking point, causing the bow in his grasp to quiver in agony. A metallic screech echoed throughout the infinite realm.

A burst of pure white flames erupted between the pulled bow and string, morphing into an arrow that gleamed with golden light as it hardened, much like a genuine one.

He yanked on the string so hard that it appeared to be about to snap.

"Peftastéri." Apollo declared in ancient greek as he let go of the cord, firmly aiming at the cracking wall.

For a brief period, everything fell silent, an unnerving silence.

Soon after, everything was shattered by a golden projectile that shot faster than light, shredding the white light in its path.

It resembled a shooting star. No, it was literally a shooting star. The golden arrow transformed into a shooting star and slammed into the wall with all its strength.

A resounding roar appeared to rattle everything. The white wall caved in on itself. The burst of golden light erupted, dyeing a portion of white light beyond the wall in auric, conquering it.

His perception descended immediately, stretching and expanding across the quarter of the Milky Way through light.

Greece, Earth. Apollo opened his blazing golden eyes, weary. But his recent success drew it away. He can manipulate the concept of light across a quarter of the galaxy. As he became more accustomed and proficient with the entire procedure, his rate of progress accelerated with each hurdle he passed.

As he progressed further, he could access different aspects of light and manipulate them to his will, like now he had gained access to twilight.

Twilight. He can now manipulate twilight, another aspect of light.

It may not appear to be very powerful at first. However, if one realises its true power, it can be a game changer. Twilight not only depicts a state of time but also a state of decline, decay, and end. It is, in some ways, connected to death.

Apollo turned around and pointed to a lush tree. At the tip of his finger, a burst of orange-dim light gathered. It then shoots towards the tree. The green tree was shaded brown as it decayed and rotted away, returning to earth in death.

This was twilight.

He finally looked at the bright sky, feeling some weight on his shoulders disappear.

'I miss coffee..' Looking towards the rising sun, Apollo reflected. In his previous life, he always started his day with coffee. By time, it had become more than just a habit. 'Perhaps I should invent it...'

He suddenly clicked his tongue, remembering it was already time for 'someone' sent by Zeus to arrive with an order for the divine weapons.

So, without more ado, he dashed towards where his sister was training, his figure transforming into a zeal of light.

On the other side of the forest, Artemis was instructing a group of twenty women, demigods and nymphs, on the bow and hunting. The women listened on with utmost attention.

Artemis abruptly looked up, bringing her lecture to a halt.

"That's all for today." Then she said, her gaze returning to them despite their dismay. She then handed each of them a white stone. "Crush it, and you'll be teleported to Delphi, your temporary home, until I find us a palace."

The women complied despite the reluctance. They thanked the moon goddess before crushing the white stone and teleporting to Delphi.

With their disappearance, a frenzy of light appeared before Artemis, revealing Apollo, who lifted his brows at his sister.

"Who were they?"

"They are my hunters." Artemis answered, without any surprise at his sudden appearance. "Demigods. Nymphs." She gazed at him. "I chose carefully. There will be no spies."

"I expect nothing less of you." Apollo smiled, looking up and down at his sister. "So, what drove you, stinging and solitude, to do this?"

"Oh, please. I am not anything like that." Artemis snorted, continuing. "The Hunters. I already had a plan to form this after you decided to take over Delphi. At first, I wanted to follow in your footsteps, establishing them as an associated force in the mortal world. But after seeing how they handled women as an asset rather than a living creature in Olympus, I could see it in their filthy eyes. Their lust. Their desire. Their callousness. Women with no power could not resist them, so they could only smile and be obedient, becoming a broken toy…"

Artemis suddenly stopped, looking at her silent brother.

"Well, I got a little too impassioned there. I might have bored you with this... " She sighed.

"No." Apollo said, flicking her forehead. "Go on."

"Why do you this?" Artemis grumbled, rubbing her forehead. She immediately raised her finger, flicking his forehead too, while Apollo just smiled.

She pouted, seeing his silence, knowing he was not going to say it.

Artemis continued, twisting her hair. "After seeing everything on Olympus, I decided to change my approach. I made the decision to lead them myself. I intend to give them my blessing as well. And I only set it up the night before."

"It's fantastic." Apollo grinned and punched her in the shoulders. "It's really great that you are actually doing this." His tone became sombre. "It is good to care, my sister. But remember, you cannot save everyone in the end."

"I am not a child, but you still advice me as if I am one." Artemis scowled.

"I'm simply worried," Apollo remarked.

Artemis averted her gaze, shifting the subject. "What about from your side?"

"Ah, Delphi. The high priestess keeps me aware of the situation," Apollo answered. "There are no problems there yet. I'll probably go there after we've forged our divine weapons. Now that I think about it, I think I should accept someone else like you did with hunters."

"Oh…?" Artemis inquired. "Who do you have in mind?"

"The muses." After a slight pause, Apollo responded.

"Muses?" Artemis was surprised. She didn't expect her brother to take an interest in music.

"Music can be powerful, very powerful, you know, in the right hands." Looking up towards the sky, Apollo smiled. "Its potential is wasted now."

"So you are the 'right hands'?" Artemis asked, eyeing him up and down.

"Yes." Apollo nodded briskly. "I shall show the world the glory of music."

Artemis gave him a deadpan expression. "I have faith in you, brother."

Apollo simply chuckled, noticing her look. "Oh, you certainly will..."

Artemis simply raised her brows, clearly unconvinced.

Apollo shrugged and asked, looking around. "Has mother still not returned?"

"No." Artemis raised her head. "Aunt Demeter dragged mother to meet Persephone, her daughter."

"Oh…" Apollo arched his brow. He also pointed forward, gesturing her to follow. "She presumably wanted to use this to exemplify parenting."

Artemis frowned as she started walking with him. "Considering how she treated us, I can't imagine what her daughter went through in the name of care."

"Has she even seen the outside world?"

"Now you're just being dramatic," Apollo remarked. "I'm sure she grew up fine."

"All right, let's put this aside for the time being." Looking ahead, Artemis said. "Where are we going? Olympus?"

"Its already late." Apollo gave a nod. "However, no one has arrived with father's order. We'll go to Olympus just in case..."

He abruptly turned around and gazed forward. A beautiful woman in a white gown emerged from the forest, her grey eyes focused on them. She held a scroll and a letter in her hands.

The woman was none other than Athena.