Apollo

"Soon, I must go."

The old man across from me abruptly spoke. Both of us, he and I, stared at each other, though personally, I specifically stared at his mouth, enthralled by the round glow of his cigarette, cast an orange shade . The majority of the light, however, came from the moon's gaze above, which shone down brightly through the large glass windows. My boss sighed again, wistfully staring at the pale face amongst the star scattered sky. I remained quiet, his grand aura calling only only for my ear.

"My sister and I, we were both protectors of the young." He chuckled, "Though she, the huntress of the night sought only to protect young girls, and turned them only into cruel huntresses"

Turning somber once more, the old man spoke again, his sunny face darkening, "Though I was no better, possibly worse." He sighed again, and the night silently whispered a breath of hardship, as the sun toned down, becoming a chill that spread to all, the pain of a god. 

The old man looked up from his lap of grief, speaking in a sad tone that resonated through the room, causing the plants in the corner to shift back slightly, “You know, I was called the averter of evil, and protector of the herds. But under my power millions died. It was only when Hades, my uncle and god of the underworld, brought me down to the land below the land to see the misery that I brought to much of the world, did my immaturity disappear. Too late now I suppose, the world has turned corners once again and now, even my prophetic eyes are blind. Blind, but sometimes images once again appear in my mind. Just like when I was young and brash, bringing only curses to torment the fate of mortals.” 

Again he sighed, turning a forlorn and regretful face towards me, “John, don’t follow a path where you are blind to what you do. I still regret over all I have done, even though there is nothing that even my power can do.”

“Ah, I got off topic. I apologize.” 

I shook my head side to side. I didn’t mind listening to the man as learning held the utmost importance in my eyes, and Apollo, the old man in front of me, took me in at a young age from an orphanage, thus making all the words he spoke as something to value.

“Anyway, I need to leave as the gods are investigating situations far out in space. You must stay here and look after the company. Moreover, boy, Gaea is in trouble. Make sure to protect the land when we are gone, and do all you can to stop the damage to her.”

I nodded, Apollo in the past often awoke to the moans of Gaea as humanity polluted Earth. The old man stood up from his chair. 

“Boy, I’m going now. Make sure to take of yourself on top of everything.”

Startled, I asked, “Right now you must go?”

He nodded, “Yes, the other gods await for my mighty presence,” and he shone pridefully, as the beard disappeared, and a golden youth appeared, strapped in leather armour along with quiver of silver arrows slung across his shoulders. Pressing a button under the table the glass windows grandiosely opened, and a side wall fell down to reveal a bronze, flaming chariot, covered in Apollo’s favorite laurels. Picking a laurel of the chariot, Apollo placed it on my head. 

“This represents the handing over of this company, a company of Apollo. Do well, my boy.”

As my head shook down, and up in promise, the chariot roared as Apollo leapt on, and then flew up to the sky, where other figures could only be discerned if one knew what existed. And then together, they joined the starry sky, and I stood at the edge of the window, pondering about the future, and hoping for his soon return.