FIC: Kallistei, "Mount Ida"
Series: Kallistei
Title: Mount Ida
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Apollo/Alexandros, Hector/Alexandros, Achilles/Alexandros
Word Count: 1,635
Feedback: Highly appreciated, please comment on my LJ.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these people and this is a work of fiction.
Summary: When Alexandros was left on Mount Ida, he was claimed by the Twins, especially Apollo, to transcend his fate.
Note: This is all selene_vidae's fault. So you should hug her XD.
Far above the lower lands where the shepherds grazed their many sheep, a young boy grew up on the hillsides, near a sparse forest, with only the company of a nymph, Oenone. She was his caretaker when he was a young babe and would often hold him while he cried, singing when he slept. She told him that his name was Alexandros and that his parents were gone and that he was under the divine protection of the Twins and that no harm would come to him if he stayed near Mount Ida.
As a child, Alexandros had often asked Oenone why he had never seen his protectors, why they did not come to visit him and she would say that they were all around him, in the animals of the forest, the sun and moon in the sky. She told him to listen carefully because he may not recognize them when he saw them and Alexandros learned to look at more than what was physical, he saw into what was not there. And one day, wandering about the forest, he happened upon an injured deer and knelt beside the animal and wanted to help it, but the deer struck out at Alexandros, not relenting until he was forced to give up or risk further injury to the animal.
Oenone found him at nightfall, still at the deer’s side, having not wanted to leave it alone incase predators came, and the nymph chided him for not coming home to the cave they lived in at the tops of the mountain. Alexandros bent his head down, knowing that he had worried her, but not able to apologize for something he did not feel sorry for. It would have been wrong to leave the deer here, harmed as it was, though he did not know why since she had taught him that death was a natural process for that which are not immortal. Alexandros knew one day he would die and lay buried in the earth, mixing in with those dead before him, but his spirit would goon to the underworld and hopefully into Elysia.
Though he knew this, Alexandros could not leave the deer behind, somehow he knew it was important that he stayed even when the deer had made it clear it did not want his help. Oenone was still berating him when suddenly a bright light blinded both of them and a young woman, clung in silver light, armed with a bow across slung across her shoulders, wearing a short white tunic that clung to her pale skin, appeared.
“You have cared for him well,” said Artemis, kneeling beside the deer and placing her hands on its broken leg. “Now it is time for him to move on. You have done all you can for him.”
“But-” Oenone began and then fell silent at the sharp glance sent her way by the virgin goddess.
“I release you from your duties here,” said Artemis, waving her hand at Oenone. “You may go back and care for your son.”
The mountain nymph turned to Alexandros, who was looking at both women with a young wrinkle upon his brow, and she said, “If you listen, we will answer,” and then she faded into the background, becoming part of the nature she had deprived of herself to care for the abandoned Prince of Troy.
“Oenone!” shouted Alexandros, running to where she had disappeared. “Oenone!”
“She will not return,” said Artemis, rising to her feet once the deer had stood up, entirely healed. “You are mine now, Alexandros.” She held out her hand. “Come.”
-
Alexandros was only Artemis’ for a year and a day before he met her twin brother, Apollo. He had learned many things from the virgin goddess, how to hunt with the bow and yet how to kill in the fastest, most painless way. Artemis had told him he was no warrior, he was not meant to be, it was not written in his fate, but there was no reason he could not be a hunter like her and know how to run swiftly and shoot with a precision to make the gods jealous. But there was only so much she could teach him and she told him that though she would have liked to keep him with her as a constant companion, he was meant to serve someone else, and so as a boy of seven, he was carried by a stag to the very top of Mount Ida where Apollo was waiting.
“Apollo,” breathed Alexandros, falling to his knees before the glory of the sun god. “
The sun god, the twin of Artemis, bent down and took the boy’s face into his hands and lifted it up until they saw eye-to-eye. “Rise,” said Apollo and there was nothing else that Alexandros could do but heed it. So he rose to his feet, but kept his head bowed down, something that Artemis had tried to rid him of, but still it had persisted. After all, Oenone had done a good job with him, teaching him to respect nature and the gods in ways that most mortals had forgotten or forsaken. “Look at me, Alexandros.”
Alexandros looked up, careful to keep his eyes off Apollo’s, but that still didn’t stop him from seeing the sun god’s beauty, his fair hair and blue eyes and his golden skin bathed in a luminous light that clung to him as part of his being. “I chose you,” said Apollo, forcing Alexandros’ chin up again. “I chose you over all mortals to be mine.” Alexandros trembled a bit, remembering how Artemis had claimed him as her own and how much her brother sounded just like her. Did that mean he belonged to both of them, or that now, at this time and onward, he would only just belong to Apollo?
“My sister said you were brave, strong, and noble, but I see none of that,” said Apollo. “I only see a scared, young, little boy.”
Alexandros’ dark brown, nearly black eyes looked up and met Apollo’s, about to open his mouth and deny that he was scared, because he wasn’t, he just didn’t know what to say in Apollo’s presence-he was overwhelmed. When Alexandros thought of the others, that’s what Oenone had called the people who lived further down the mountain and who she told him to avoid, he thought it was sad they didn’t know Oenone, Artemis, and now Apollo. They must live such unfulfilling lives.
“My sister said you have a gift,” said Apollo, his thumb grazing over Alexandros’ cheek. “You can see things that are not.” Apollo lowered his golden head and nearly touched Alexandros’ own. “What do you see?”
“You,” said Alexandros. He wanted to step back, step away because to be in Apollo’s presence was almost painful, but he couldn’t, not when it was so wonderful. “I see you and you are blinding.”
Apollo threw his head back and laughed and Alexandros stood there, unsure of what to do and if he had done or said something wrong, but when Apollo didn’t say anything and just held out his hand like Artemis had done a year and a day before, Alexandros took it and allowed Apollo to lead him away.
-
The days, and many in number they were, that Alexandros spent in the company of Apollo felt like they were but a pinch of grass in a large field, and Alexandros found himself growing taller, growing up faster than he wanted because Apollo had already told him that when the right time had come, he would be required to leave Mount Ida. Alexandros had once, when he was still a child, wept on his knees in front of Apollo, begging him not to send him away, but Apollo had explained that as a mortal, Alexandros could not stay in this space that separated the immortals from mortals. He should not have even been here one small moment of time, but he had and for that he should be grateful. And Alexandros was, he just didn’t want to leave Apollo’s side.
Alexandros had even planned something to say when Apollo told him it was the right time. He would say that he wasn’t ready yet, that there was still so much for him to learn about seeing without using his eyes and that there was no way that he could even learn all that Apollo knew in one mortal lifetime. This was what he’d planned on saying when Apollo told him one morning when he had spent nearly five years with the sun god, “It is time to take you away.” He had opened his mouth to protest, but Apollo had pressed two fingers to his mouth and he was made silent. “I am taking you to my temple in Ilium. You will learn from the priest there things that I cannot teach you.”
When Apollo withdrew his hand, Alexandros said, “What can they teach me that you cannot?”
Apollo smiled and said nothing. He just held out his hand and Alexandros knew there was nothing to do but take it, so he did and he was whisked away by a golden light that carried from far from Mount Ida to the Temple of Apollo where many priests were waiting for Alexandros. Apollo had already told them that a young, bright boy would be coming to the Temple to learn all that he could about the wisdom and knowledge there and that when he grew into manhood, Alexandros would be the greatest seer in all of Troy.
TBC
Title: Mount Ida
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Apollo/Alexandros, Hector/Alexandros, Achilles/Alexandros
Word Count: 1,635
Feedback: Highly appreciated, please comment on my LJ.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these people and this is a work of fiction.
Summary: When Alexandros was left on Mount Ida, he was claimed by the Twins, especially Apollo, to transcend his fate.
Note: This is all selene_vidae's fault. So you should hug her XD.
Far above the lower lands where the shepherds grazed their many sheep, a young boy grew up on the hillsides, near a sparse forest, with only the company of a nymph, Oenone. She was his caretaker when he was a young babe and would often hold him while he cried, singing when he slept. She told him that his name was Alexandros and that his parents were gone and that he was under the divine protection of the Twins and that no harm would come to him if he stayed near Mount Ida.
As a child, Alexandros had often asked Oenone why he had never seen his protectors, why they did not come to visit him and she would say that they were all around him, in the animals of the forest, the sun and moon in the sky. She told him to listen carefully because he may not recognize them when he saw them and Alexandros learned to look at more than what was physical, he saw into what was not there. And one day, wandering about the forest, he happened upon an injured deer and knelt beside the animal and wanted to help it, but the deer struck out at Alexandros, not relenting until he was forced to give up or risk further injury to the animal.
Oenone found him at nightfall, still at the deer’s side, having not wanted to leave it alone incase predators came, and the nymph chided him for not coming home to the cave they lived in at the tops of the mountain. Alexandros bent his head down, knowing that he had worried her, but not able to apologize for something he did not feel sorry for. It would have been wrong to leave the deer here, harmed as it was, though he did not know why since she had taught him that death was a natural process for that which are not immortal. Alexandros knew one day he would die and lay buried in the earth, mixing in with those dead before him, but his spirit would goon to the underworld and hopefully into Elysia.
Though he knew this, Alexandros could not leave the deer behind, somehow he knew it was important that he stayed even when the deer had made it clear it did not want his help. Oenone was still berating him when suddenly a bright light blinded both of them and a young woman, clung in silver light, armed with a bow across slung across her shoulders, wearing a short white tunic that clung to her pale skin, appeared.
“You have cared for him well,” said Artemis, kneeling beside the deer and placing her hands on its broken leg. “Now it is time for him to move on. You have done all you can for him.”
“But-” Oenone began and then fell silent at the sharp glance sent her way by the virgin goddess.
“I release you from your duties here,” said Artemis, waving her hand at Oenone. “You may go back and care for your son.”
The mountain nymph turned to Alexandros, who was looking at both women with a young wrinkle upon his brow, and she said, “If you listen, we will answer,” and then she faded into the background, becoming part of the nature she had deprived of herself to care for the abandoned Prince of Troy.
“Oenone!” shouted Alexandros, running to where she had disappeared. “Oenone!”
“She will not return,” said Artemis, rising to her feet once the deer had stood up, entirely healed. “You are mine now, Alexandros.” She held out her hand. “Come.”
-
Alexandros was only Artemis’ for a year and a day before he met her twin brother, Apollo. He had learned many things from the virgin goddess, how to hunt with the bow and yet how to kill in the fastest, most painless way. Artemis had told him he was no warrior, he was not meant to be, it was not written in his fate, but there was no reason he could not be a hunter like her and know how to run swiftly and shoot with a precision to make the gods jealous. But there was only so much she could teach him and she told him that though she would have liked to keep him with her as a constant companion, he was meant to serve someone else, and so as a boy of seven, he was carried by a stag to the very top of Mount Ida where Apollo was waiting.
“Apollo,” breathed Alexandros, falling to his knees before the glory of the sun god. “
The sun god, the twin of Artemis, bent down and took the boy’s face into his hands and lifted it up until they saw eye-to-eye. “Rise,” said Apollo and there was nothing else that Alexandros could do but heed it. So he rose to his feet, but kept his head bowed down, something that Artemis had tried to rid him of, but still it had persisted. After all, Oenone had done a good job with him, teaching him to respect nature and the gods in ways that most mortals had forgotten or forsaken. “Look at me, Alexandros.”
Alexandros looked up, careful to keep his eyes off Apollo’s, but that still didn’t stop him from seeing the sun god’s beauty, his fair hair and blue eyes and his golden skin bathed in a luminous light that clung to him as part of his being. “I chose you,” said Apollo, forcing Alexandros’ chin up again. “I chose you over all mortals to be mine.” Alexandros trembled a bit, remembering how Artemis had claimed him as her own and how much her brother sounded just like her. Did that mean he belonged to both of them, or that now, at this time and onward, he would only just belong to Apollo?
“My sister said you were brave, strong, and noble, but I see none of that,” said Apollo. “I only see a scared, young, little boy.”
Alexandros’ dark brown, nearly black eyes looked up and met Apollo’s, about to open his mouth and deny that he was scared, because he wasn’t, he just didn’t know what to say in Apollo’s presence-he was overwhelmed. When Alexandros thought of the others, that’s what Oenone had called the people who lived further down the mountain and who she told him to avoid, he thought it was sad they didn’t know Oenone, Artemis, and now Apollo. They must live such unfulfilling lives.
“My sister said you have a gift,” said Apollo, his thumb grazing over Alexandros’ cheek. “You can see things that are not.” Apollo lowered his golden head and nearly touched Alexandros’ own. “What do you see?”
“You,” said Alexandros. He wanted to step back, step away because to be in Apollo’s presence was almost painful, but he couldn’t, not when it was so wonderful. “I see you and you are blinding.”
Apollo threw his head back and laughed and Alexandros stood there, unsure of what to do and if he had done or said something wrong, but when Apollo didn’t say anything and just held out his hand like Artemis had done a year and a day before, Alexandros took it and allowed Apollo to lead him away.
-
The days, and many in number they were, that Alexandros spent in the company of Apollo felt like they were but a pinch of grass in a large field, and Alexandros found himself growing taller, growing up faster than he wanted because Apollo had already told him that when the right time had come, he would be required to leave Mount Ida. Alexandros had once, when he was still a child, wept on his knees in front of Apollo, begging him not to send him away, but Apollo had explained that as a mortal, Alexandros could not stay in this space that separated the immortals from mortals. He should not have even been here one small moment of time, but he had and for that he should be grateful. And Alexandros was, he just didn’t want to leave Apollo’s side.
Alexandros had even planned something to say when Apollo told him it was the right time. He would say that he wasn’t ready yet, that there was still so much for him to learn about seeing without using his eyes and that there was no way that he could even learn all that Apollo knew in one mortal lifetime. This was what he’d planned on saying when Apollo told him one morning when he had spent nearly five years with the sun god, “It is time to take you away.” He had opened his mouth to protest, but Apollo had pressed two fingers to his mouth and he was made silent. “I am taking you to my temple in Ilium. You will learn from the priest there things that I cannot teach you.”
When Apollo withdrew his hand, Alexandros said, “What can they teach me that you cannot?”
Apollo smiled and said nothing. He just held out his hand and Alexandros knew there was nothing to do but take it, so he did and he was whisked away by a golden light that carried from far from Mount Ida to the Temple of Apollo where many priests were waiting for Alexandros. Apollo had already told them that a young, bright boy would be coming to the Temple to learn all that he could about the wisdom and knowledge there and that when he grew into manhood, Alexandros would be the greatest seer in all of Troy.
TBC