The Punishment of Phoebus Apollo (c) 2003"What would you have me do, Father?" Phoebus Apollo shifted, turning his face from the pitiful creature on the grass below, contempt shining in his eyes. He scowled. "I do not invite this fascination. Zeus sighed. "Show her pity. You know what she craves. Would it harm you so much to go to her?" "Why should I see it again?" he grumbled. "She craves the brilliance without reason and without care of the consequences she courts. It is always the same. They want to know the true brilliance, to bask in its glory, heedless that its intensity will leave them charred, a husk of their former selves, lifeless at my feet. Why should I endure it again?" "To give them peace," Zeus explained patiently. "What of my peace?" There was no exhaustion in his tone, only determination. "You will not concede?" "Never," Apollo vowed. He sighed. "Go on then. Begin your journey." Zeus turned his eyes back to the girl on the grass below. She was there as she was every night before the sun rose, waiting patiently for Apollo to begin his journey. Apollo turned on his heel and glided away, the vision of the perfect god and yet still lacking. He had forgotten mercy in his arrogance. It was a harsh lesson to relearn. Zeus stretched his hand over the mortal realm, his heart aching at what he had to do. He could not change the essence of a soul, only its form. Apollo's cry of rage and pain shook the heavens. Zeus nodded. His son had seen the results of his folly. The sun moved more rapidly than usual that day, Apollo driving his steeds hard to rejoin Zeus at Olympus. Zeus waited for his arrival, knowing the argument to come, knowing that his son would likely hate him for his part in this matter, for the choice Zeus made to bring Apollo to heel. In Apollo came, burning now in fury instead of his typical glory, his beautiful face a terrible mask. "Turn her back," he demanded. Zeus folded his hands carefully, as if in deep consideration. "I cannot. You know I cannot." "How could you do this?" he thundered. "It was the most merciful thing I could do for her. Clytie's essence is unchanged. Still, she blooms in your light. Her face follows your progress across the sky." He met his son's eyes. "As the sunflower, she always will. The one bloom will become many, Apollo. Soon, you will see tens of her shining face. Hundreds. Thousands on every journey." Apollo weaved on his feet at that, paling. "Why?" he pleaded. "Why have you done this to me?" Zeus stared him down. "You should have shown her mercy. I gave you the chance to do so. Always remember the cost of my mercy, Apollo." 
 
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