25 Symphony of Lamentation

Apollo retrieved his lyre, which sheened with sunlight, attracting the attention of the muses.

Erato, the muse of romance, inquired, her brilliant blue eyes shining. The excitement in her voice couldn't be hidden at all.

"Is that a new instrument?"

"Yes." Apollo said. "I invented it."

Then, he strummed the strings lightly. The forest was filled with a haunting melody. It was a symphony he composed, recalling regrets from his past life.

Music. It was something that piqued his interest. One of his many goals as a teen was to become a musician. And just like most, it was crushed too, due to his horrendous talent in that area. But talent is no longer an obstacle for him.

This was his symphony, his symphony of lamentation.

Music filled the air spontaneously, like waves filling holes in beach sand; the sound rushes in and around the muses, drawing them in.

A low melody was heard. The melody was a veil-like falling into their minds. Soon, they sank into a dream, a dream of melancholy.

The sombre dream was about love and parting, about a boy and a girl in their youthful naiveté, only to be confronted with cruel reality, about their first love, about their glorious years.

As muses witnessed it all, their thoughts began to drift into painful memories of the past, of how they had been used and discarded, of how they could only smile and play like puppets in the face of cruelty and savagery, of how they were completely powerless...

The sombre music stirred their hearts and memories, bringing out their locked and sealed despairs. Those they thought they had accepted and moved on from, but now it was consuming their minds and souls like a dark abyss. It was drowning them, wave after wave, and they were powerless, just like always.

As if sensing their predicament, the melody turned suddenly high, causing the light of hope to burst forth into the abyss of despair, shattering it.

It drew them back to reality, their eyes wet with tears and their bodies quivering.

However, Apollo still continued on, returning. The tragic symphony grew louder. The trees across the lush forest were shaded brown, withering in the evening light. An autumn scene formed, causing everything to wither away in death. It was as if the entire forest was resonating with sorrowful music, relinquishing their lives to the melody.

The nine muses looked at the withering world in sorrow and pain. Death shrouded the evergreen nature. Despair filled with air, thick and heavy, as if attempting to suffocate the last glimmers of life.

The muses looked at the darkening world. It is the end. They thought, relenting.

But, the melody suddenly changed, illuminating it all. Death and Despair ebbed away, letting life boom across the forest. Flowers blossomed in a range of colours on the planets, ranging from white to gold, pink to green, dark to even brown. When viewed from the sky, the entire forest appeared brilliant, as if it were literally blanketed in a kaleidoscope of colours.

The melody became high and solemn, and the muses noticed that the tone of the music became a little more rousing, as if Apollo, who was playing the lyre, was trying to show them his great faith in life, encouraging them to face the pain and move past the difficulties.

The higher pitch was extremely upbeat. The muses exhaled deeply, letting out long sighs as if they were expelling all negative emotions.

Then came the final movement. Apollo strummed down the golden strings with incredible speed.

The movement of the Apollo was so fast that even the Muses' eyes couldn't keep up. In the midst of their waning sorrow, they stood up and began to applaud loudly in the midst of the symphony.

Apollo finished with a heavy strum on the final string, and his lost smile returned. Then, he lightly bowed under their applause.

Finally, the muses looked at each other, as if conversing through their weary eyes.

Then, Calliope, muse of poetry, walked out towards Apollo, her hand holding a white tablet filled with epic poems, esoteric arts, and otherworldly music.

She handed it to him, her emotional eyes looking into his, saying solemnly.

"Your music conveyed everything we needed to know. And we accept you, Phoebus Apollo, not as our patron, but as our leader."

"You will be our Musagetes, the ethnarch of music and arts."

Apollo accepted the tablet. And he immediately felt a connection being established with himself. He knew exactly what it meant.

He had gained the divinity of music and art.

He closed his eyes and felt his increasing strength. The light brightened considerably around him, forming a column of light.

His predictions were correct. By becoming the leader of the muses, he gained the divinity of music and art.

Art and music are both divine in their own right. He had already proven his findings, that the power of gods is essentially conceptual. The Divinity allows gods to manipulate concepts in a shallow way. However, when it comes to primordials, it should be an entirely different story. Nyx, Queen of Night, embodies the universe's night, and she should literally be the universe's first darkness.

He wasn't completely sure because of the situation like Izanami, who is the primordial goddess of death. If she represents death in his own universe, what about the Death of the endless? Maybe they struck a deal with each other.

Keeping his distracting thoughts at bay, Apollo concentrated on the divinities of music and art. Anything that involves concepts is strong, and music and art are no exceptions. But, at the end of the day, it all comes down to the gods and how they use it.

Apollo had altered reality by employing music as a channel when using his power of order. He did it with Hecate before and now with the Muses. But now, he can use music to directly influence reality. If he played a sad song, the storm would grace the sky. If he played a goth or rock song, honestly, he didn't know what would happen. But one thing is certain: there will be destruction, a lot of destruction.

However, like every divinity, it has limits on how much music can alter reality; otherwise, the muses would have long conquered the universe by simply signing and dancing. After all, divinity is merely a shallow manipulation of concepts.

And then there's art. Art is an expression of one's creativity, skill, and imagination to the world, with the goal of influencing it. It is also undeniably a vital part of civilization.

To be honest, art has tremendous power. It is literally influencing the world via imagination, skill, and innovation. Anything can be considered an art. War, creation, and destruction....

By putting an end to his ravenous thoughts, Apollo shattered his own fantasy. He could do none of that with his divinity. It was still powerful, though. He can sketch a painting of an exploding volcano, and a volcano will erupt somewhere in the world, mirroring his image.

In conclusion, despite their divine limitations, the gods are extremely strong. His examples with the art and music divinities, the muses, could also totally do it.

Now for the important questions: can divinity turn into authority? If so, then what are the requirements? Can he possibly gain authority over music and art through the divinity of art and music? If it's really possible to turn divinity into authority, what is stopping the gods from trying already…?

Many thoughts raced through his mind. Curiosity. Even after he became a god, Apollo never lost his curiosity about everything. He desired the paths of music and art, in addition to the paths of light, order, sun, and fate.

In a split second, Apollo drew a deep breath, repressing the flurry of thoughts that raced through his divine mind. Then he gave Calliope a nod.

"It's an honour." Looking at the muses, he said. He was now their leader. "I shall do my best to carry out my responsibilities."

"Our Musagetes, we expect nothing less from you." Calliope's solemnity faded as she smiled.

Apollo nodded, clarifying. "As your leader. I will not limit your liberty. But I expect you to notify me if you are going to perform anywhere, especially Olympus. If I am free, I will also join you. I will also bestow my blessings on all of you, conferring upon you powers related to my divinity. And finally.." He raised his hand, and eight white stones formed from the sunlight. "Take this and crush it. It will teleport you to Delphi, my domain."

The stones floated to each of them.

"Thank you." They bowed lightly, their eyes gleaming when they heard the bit about blessings from him. Calliope spoke up again on their behalf, clutching the stone tightly. "Our Musagetes, all we ask is that you give us some time to prepare."

"I expect you to be present by sundown," Apollo said.

"Then we'll take our leave. We don't want to arrive late." Calliope said, her eyes locked on him. "Our Musagetes, we will see you in Delphi."

Apollo simply nodded and observed them as they took their instruments and whispered to one another. Then they took off for Olympus, though Calliope gave one last look before dissolving into the hazy sky.

Apollo gazed silently up at the sky. Calliope was beautiful not only in appearance but also in her heart.

But he shook his head, remembering her fate and future. Then, he focused on the tablet given by Calliope. The tablet resembled his sun chariot, connecting the Olympian Pantheon to the concept of art and music. Maybe it can help him with his doubts and questions.

He finally put it away in his personal space that he had created through order and went off to meet his sister.

Just then, the clouds in the sky were whisked away, and a blinding kaleidoscopic light dropped in front of him. A divine woman with butterfly wings hovered in it.

She was Iris, the Goddess of the Rainbow, the Messenger of the Gods.

Iris stated as she slightly bowed towards him. "Prometheus has requested your presence, your excellency, Apollo. The creation of humanity is about to begin."

Apollo pulled out a daffodil from the light, each petal a different colour that gleamed brightly. He gave it to her as a token. "Thank you for the message."

Iris took the rainbow daffodil in her hand, her eyes melting. She then inserted it between her earlobes.

Finally, she smiled brightly and waved her hand. "It's my pleasure, excellency. And you can enter my rainbow. It will take you directly to the Temple of Prometheus. Your sister is also on the way there."

Apollo gave a nod. The figure of Iris then faded away, leaving only the rainbow. He strolled into it without more ado. The rainbow shimmered and faded away with him.