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Forged Bonds Mini Series 2 – Chapter 3

HESTIA: Welcome back, dear friends. We have another chapter of our story at hand today, one that deals with the consequences of jealousy and the Fates themselves. I will warn you ahead of time, dear friends, that this is not a happy chapter in our story. Loss strikes when least expected, especially where the Fates are involved. This chapter of our story deals with fear, attempted coercion, mind control, and loss of personhood; your discretion is advised.

And now, dear friends, let us begin our tale for the day. We join our story where we last left it, with Zephyr and Eros.

ZEPHYR: I just think it would be funny is all!

EROS: They’ve already fallen in love, Zephyr. What could possibly be funny about shooting Apollo with one of my arrows again?

ZEPHYR: It’s not about falling in love, it’s about making him look like a little lovesick puppy in front of everyone, you know? Apollo is very put together when he wants to be, it would be funny to see him lose that careful control.

HESTIA: Eros contemplated the information given to him, looking at Zephyr skeptically.

EROS: What’s your deal with Apollo anyway? 

ZEPHYR: Can a wind god not want to prank another god for the love of the game? (pause) Fine. My ‘deal’ with Apollo is that he gets everything he wants and looks calm and collected while doing it. At least this way he can still have what he wants while looking like a bit of a fool.

EROS: I’m not sure this is a good idea, Zephyr. This sounds less like a prank and more like a personal attack.

ZEPHYR: Don’t be so dramatic, Eros. You know I wouldn’t have come to you without reason. I admire you and the work that you do, and I know you appreciate a good prank as much as anyone else. Don’t you want to have a little bit of fun for once?

HESTIA: I should tell you, dear friends, that Eros hesitated with this choice. It was not a quick jump to agreement, nor was it without any doubts. But Eros hadn’t known that Zephyr had already called the Fates into play with this, nor did he know that the Fates were already tightening their strings. All Eros knew– and all he knows to this day– is that he said yes. 

He said yes and regretted it every moment after.

It was the hesitance Eros showed before that allowed Zephyr to switch the arrows out. The wind god followed eagerly after Eros as they made their way into the mortal world, the strings of Fate being pulled along the way. Daphne and Apollo sat, as they so often did, under a tree just up the hill from the river, unknowing of the turn their story was about to take.

DAPHNE: Did you ever think things would be like this?

APOLLO: In all my centuries alive, I never could’ve predicted you, Daphne.

DAPHNE: (teasing) Sap.

APOLLO: (teasing) You’re the one in love with the sap here.

DAPHNE: And I have no regrets about that. I told you once that what I feared most was being alone by this river forever. You’ve made it so I never have to fear that again.

HESTIA: It was at this moment that Eros drew his bow, his arrow flying through the air and striking Apollo right in the heart. What Eros thought would make Apollo start to fawn was instead stirring a frenzy in the sun god’s spirit that Eros could see even from a distance. He turned on Zephyr, a new arrow knocked and ready to fire.

EROS: What did you do?!

ZEPHYR: I did what he deserves and nothing more.

EROS: What on Olympus are you talking about?! What did you do to my arrows, Zephyr? Because I know none of them do anything like this. What’s happening to Apollo, what–

ZEPHYR: He deserves this, Eros. He deserves everything that is about to happen.

EROS: How dare you–

HESTIA: Daphne’s scream stopped Eros in his tracks, giving Zephyr just enough time to fly away and hide in the clouds. Apollo had grabbed Daphne’s arm, squeezing it tightly as he tried to gain control over his body again. The Fates were pulling all of the strings in this puppet show, forcing Apollo’s control to weaken and weaken until it was threatening to snap. Eros tried to help, dear friends, he truly did, but the Fates dragged him away from the scene, Daphne’s screams still ringing in his mind.

APOLLO: (struggling) Daphne– run.

DAPHNE: Apollo, please, just talk to me I can help–

APOLLO: RUN!

HESTIA: Daphne took off like a shot after that racing down the hill towards the river as Apollo’s frayed self control finally broke. He was hot on her heels, an intensity to him that Daphne had never seen before. The only thing she could focus on was getting to the river– if she got there, she could draw power from it, could try and break whatever spell had taken hold of her lover. It was mere steps away from the river’s edge that Apollo caught her, hands wrapping around her neck and beginning to squeeze.

DAPHNE: (choked) Apollo, please. Please, let me go. I can help you.

APOLLO: You can help me by dying.

DAPHNE: (choked) This isn’t you! This isn’t–

DAPHNE: (weak) Apollo, my love, please. I love you. Please.

HESTIA: Something in Daphne’s voice broke through the hold the Fates had on Apollo’s mind, his hands slowly falling away from Daphne’s neck. She gasped for air before taking Apollo’s hands into hers and pulling him toward the river. The cool touch of the water allowed her to draw power to herself, but she could tell it wouldn’t be enough. Whatever magic had been called upon to stir Apollo into a frenzy couldn’t be stopped by normal means. It would only stop– could only stop– if one of them were to die.

APOLLO: (frantic) Daphne, I’m so sorry, I don’t know what came over me, I’m–

DAPHNE: Shhh. It’s okay, Apollo. It’s all going to be okay.

APOLLO: Don’t say it’s okay when it’s not. I almost killed you, Daphne. That’s the furthest from okay anything could ever be.

DAPHNE: (weak laugh) Well, not the furthest away. 

HESTIA: If you looked at Daphne right now, you would see a young woman– so much younger than any god could ever be– weighing her options. You would see a person so fully in love that she wouldn’t allow the Fates to take her lover from her. You would see a person who was fully prepared to die for the one she loved.

DAPHNE: Apollo, we don’t have much time.

APOLLO: What do you mean?

DAPHNE: I can’t keep them at bay for much longer. The Fates… They demand retribution. For what, I couldn’t say, but…

APOLLO: Daphne? Hey, hey, Daphne, talk to me–

DAPHNE: I need you to promise me something, Apollo.

APOLLO: Daphne–

DAPHNE: Apollo please.

APOLLO: (relenting) Okay. Okay, what is it?

DAPHNE: Promise me you’ll come visit.

APOLLO: Daphne, what–

HESTIA: Daphne pushed Apollo as far back as she could, sending him stumbling away from the river’s edge before she stepped into the current of the river. The water washed over her, allowing her to call the magic of nature to her hands. Pan– wherever he was– had always been fond of the naiads and would always be willing to help them; she could feel this truth as she began to cast. 

DAPHNE: I love you, Apollo.

HESTIA: She reached her hand to the sky, tears streaming down her face to meet the river water rising up her body. Apollo’s eyes met Daphne’s one final time as the water overtook her completely. When the water finally crashed away, Daphne was gone, leaving only a laurel tree in her place. 

Apollo scrambled to his feet, running to the edge of the river where the tree was rooted.

APOLLO: Daphne? 

HESTIA: He allowed his hand to run across the tree, a very human warmth growing colder and colder as the last vestiges of the Fates’ spell finally receded from Apollo’s mind.

APOLLO: (broken) Daphne, no. (crying) I’m so sorry, my love. I’m so sorry.

HESTIA: We shall pull you back to the present now, dear friends. Apollo and Hyacinthus are both crying over the tale that had been told, hands clasped firmly together.

APOLLO: So you were wrong. It was my fault. If I had just been stronger–

HYACINTHUS: Apollo, there’s nothing you could’ve done. It sounds like there was something bigger than both of you involved there, nothing else could’ve made you lose control like that.

APOLLO: But I didn’t save her!

HYACINTHUS: Apollo, my love, she gave herself for you willingly. Everything you’ve told me? Has been a story of care and love that you both felt for each other; a willingness to do anything and everything for each other. And that included Daphne giving up her life.

APOLLO: …Her biggest fear was that she’d be all alone by that river forever, and because of me she is. Just a lone tree on the banks of a river that keeps moving past without her to guide it. 

HYACINTHUS: Do you visit her?

APOLLO: Of course I do. I made her a promise.

HYACINTHUS: Then you didn’t leave her alone by that river forever. You went back, Apollo. You made sure she had company, just like you did when she was alive. (pause) Zephyr was wrong about you. I don’t need to be afraid of you loving me because I know that, no matter what, you will do anything for me.

APOLLO: I really would. I love you so much, Hy. I never thought I’d feel like this, then I met Daphne. And after her I never thought I’d feel like this again, but then I met you. You’re it for me, Hyacinthus. I feel that in my soul.

HYACINTHUS: You’re it for me too, Apollo. I love you.

HESTIA: Usually we would close here, but I think there is one more conversation you need to hear. Hyacinthus has bumped into Zephyr on his walk home, and the words shared here will be important in the days to come.

ZEPHYR: Hyacinthus!

HYACINTHUS: Hello, Zephyr.

ZEPHYR: How have you been? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.

HYACINTHUS: I’ve been well! I was just with Apollo–

ZEPHYR: Don’t tell me you’re still seeing that lowlife, Hyacinthus. He’s no good for you, no good for anyone! I mean, you have to know what happened to Daphne–

HYACINTHUS: I would thank you not to speak of my partner and his past like this, Zephyr. What happened with Daphne was a tragedy, yes, but it wasn’t Apollo’s fault and for you to come around here parading this incident like it somehow makes Apollo a worse person is honestly appalling. He’s not the same person he was then, and even then it wasn’t his fault. 

ZEPHYR: …I’m just looking out for you, Hy.

HYACINTHUS: Well, I can look out for myself, thank you. 

HESTIA: Hyacinthus charged past Zephyr after this, ignoring the wind god’s calls for Hyacinthus to come back. There is a storm brewing within Zephyr, one that will become darker and more dangerous as we approach the end of our story. Until next time, and as always, thank you for listening.