Crown

Apollo awoke, stretching his arms and legs, yawning. As he stood up from the green ground, his figure was splattered with the golden sketches of the sun.

"Where did you get this crown?" Artemis stood nearby, holding his laurel crown and examining its intricate details with her gleaming silver eyes.

The crown had numerous engravings in a language she didn't understand. Mind her, she has something called all-speak, which, according to the nymphs, allows her to understand virtually any language in existence.

'Well...' Artemis thought as she examined the crown's leaves. 'They looked suspicious anyway, trying to act all cosy...'

Her thoughts were interrupted when Apollo snatched the crown from her grasp and wore it on his head.

Artemis noticed the sun in the sky becoming brighter at the moment Apollo wore his crown.

'Has he already made progress with the sun?' Her brow furrowed in frustration. 'And the silver moon...'

"Don't touch my things." Apollo said, glaring. "Without my permission, Artemis."

Artemis snorted. "It isn't."

Apollo smiled. "I made it, believe it or not."

Artemis still looked at the crown with scrutinising eyes.

Apollo sighed exasperatedly as he drew her attention to him.

"Don't be so pragmatic. We are gods," he said as he walked towards her. "Normal logic and reason don't apply to us."

Apollo raised his hand, causing the sunlight in the surroundings to converge above his hand, morphing into an intricate crown, necklace, ring, book, and so on. They were 'constructs' made entirely of sunlight.

In frustration, Artemis pursed her lips and stomped her feet on the ground.

"See…" Apollo smiled brightly and continued rubbing it in her face.

His sister, Artemis, hated losing, especially to him. She can be 'quite' adamant about it, turning many simple things into a contest.

So it's always so satisfying to her frustration after losing to him, which happens almost every time. Trust him, satisfaction never lessens despite seeing her loser face so many times.

But satisfaction is one thing; leaving her hanging is quite another. She is, after all, his sister.

"Here."

When Apollo extended his hand to her, the transforming sunlight came to a halt and turned into its final form, a golden necklace inlaid with glittering diamonds. She adores diamonds, particularly gleaming ones. He formed it by using his authority to imitate the actual process of diamond formation. He is well aware that doing this in a split second appears absurd, but that is exactly what he is doing. Logic does not mix well with authority.

Artemis looked up and down at the pendent and at him with apprehension before snorting and turning away. She reached behind her head, clutching her long black hair and lighting it high, revealing her white neck to him.

Apollo chuckled as he raised the golden necklace and tied it around her neck, saying. "The key to divinity is imagination and will."

She appeared to be distracted as she looked ahead at the waving grass. But, her ears had already perked up to his words.

"Divinity allows you to tap into the power of the cosmos and manipulate related concepts in reality to some extent. However, as I previously stated, don't let preconceived notions and ideas of our world confine your mind. The moon is more than just a symbol of purity. It can be a symbol of calamity."

He finished tying the necklace around her neck, causing her to turn and face him with raised brows and eyes filled with curiosity and confusion.

"Calamity." She inquired as she examined the necklace. "How?"

Apollo responded, his gaze fixed on the east. "Remember the heavenly court in the east."

Artemis nodded. Apollo enquired. "In their culture, what is the term for purity, femininity, and the moon?"

"Yin." Artemis replied thoughtfully. "Yin is the polar opposite of Yang. Negative and positive force."

Her eyes suddenly widened in realisation.

"That took you long enough…" Apollo chuckled.

"Negativity…" Artemis muttered, her mind still racing with ideas. There are far too many concepts associated with negativity.

Death, Destruction, Calamity, and so on...

Artemis jolted on him, hugging him tightly and causing them to fall on the grass. She kissed his cheek numerous times.

Her lips then rose to form the brightest smile. "You are the best brother in the entire cosmos."

"Artemis…" Apollo glared at her, pushing her aside and forcing her to roll on the grass near him. Artemis simply laughed joyfully. They were lying on the grass, basking in the sun.

Her laughter was cut short by her brother's sharp words.

"Oh, my poor Artemis, do you think it'll be that simple?"

"Do you believe you can access the concept of negatively, the primal forces of the cosmos, with nothing more than your divinity?" Apollo snickered, shattering her irrational fantasies and dreams.

"No…" Artemis lamented, her gaze wide at the sky. She turned to face him, lightly punching him in the side. "Why do you do this? Just let me dream of conquering the moon as my crown..."

Apollo just sat there silently listening to her complaints until she calmed down. The Moon is more than just a satellite. In this world, it is far more than that.

"However, as much as I hate to admit it..." Artemis finally spoke up. "You are indeed right. The moon..."

"This is the road you should take on your own. I've already shown you the way; the rest is up to you." Apollo stated solemnly. "However, as long as you don't put your brain in that 'box,' the obstacles in your path will be far less."

He continued flicking her forehead. "Never forget that will and imagination are the ultimate keys to everything."

Artemis, Goddess of the Moon and Hunt, his sister. She is always reasonable and pragmatic. She is also stoic and reserved in front of everyone except him and his mother.

Her pragmatism about reality only deepened after being influenced by her mother's numerous stories and tales about human civilization. It sparked her unusual interest in humanity, and she secretly bribed the nymphs to tell her about human civilization.

Actually, there are almost no human beings in the land of Europa now, as told by his mother. She asserted that the aftermath of the battle between Titans and Gods destroyed all human settlements.

His mother even told him that the Mediterranean Sea was formed by the fall of Kronos, who was struck by a blot of Zeus as large as a planet in the final battle.

The Titan king's body shattered into thousands of pieces as it descended on the largest continent like a swarm of meteorites. It collided with the continent, causing it to split into two parts, which will be known as Europe and Africa in the future.

So, unlike the rest of the world, Europa is mostly devoid of mortal life and serves only as a heaven for immortals. It is also completely ruled by Olympus.

However, his mother stated that there is also a small ice wasteland filled with barbarians who worship another pantheon of gods, but they don't really matter. This is exactly how she put it to him.

Returning to human civilization. They are still evolving, having just emerged from the primitive period.

As for how his sister was influenced by human civilization that hasn't even developed?

It's because his mother's stories and knowledge were not about the current human civilization, but about the one that came before.

The Atlantis. The floating kingdom was said to have accomplished many impressive feats for mortals, such as semi-immortality and warp travel. It was thought to be the most powerful and technologically advanced kingdom of its time.

At the time, science and materialism ruled supreme.

But everything came to an end. As do all stories. His mother referred to the event that destroyed the kingdom of Atlantis and sank its ruins into the Atlantic Ocean as the cataclysm.

Despite his pestering, his mother remained silent about the cause. Her expression, however, was solemn.

Apollo had already made several educated guesses about the cataclysm based on his knowledge of the marvel multiverse. But he wasn't sure because he didn't know what universe iteration he had been reborn into.....

His thoughts were interrupted by his sister's sigh.

"I understand, brother…" Artemis said, firmness and resolution filling her eyes. "I will conquer the moon as my own crown. It will be the first step on my path."

"I hope so too…" Apollo smiled, raising himself from the ground, "Now, why did you need me for?"

"Oh, I almost forgot that…" Artemis clutched his extended hand, rising up. "We need to go on a hunt. Mother said, there are guests coming to visit us by the night."

"Then, come on." Apollo nodded. "It's already late."

"Who do you think is visiting us, brother?"

"Who else? It should just be the family of the mother or father."

"But, mother said 'guests'."

"Obviously, they are just 'guests', after they all indeed abandoned our mother no matter what."

"…"

They continued walking along on a muddy path in the direction of blue oceans, under the radiance of the sun.