The Boy Is Mine (Egeria)

[Apollo]

Apollo needed a plan, a good plan, en epic plan. A plan to out plan all other plans, a plan that would put every other plan to shame and be hailed as the greatest plan ever planned. They would write books about it, songs, movies, low budget television series! And this wonderful, brilliant plan, what would it do? It would allow him to have his little Apple all to himself once and for all. It wasn’t easy, apparently he wasn’t bowled over as easily as some of his other recent conquests. No this one would take much planning and much…plan.

He sat under a tree in the courtyard reading a book on strategy, seeing if he could get any hints from some of the greatest leaders. The common theme here was getting rid of any potential threats. He hadn’t done that. The Nymph was still skipping about in her stupid ethereal way, charming and enchanting his poor little apple who probably slept later only to have nightmares about her. Poor little apple. Evil little nymph. No he must rescue is Apple, destroy the nymph…the only question was…how.

He looked up at the branches of the tree. It wasn’t a very big tree and there was something a little odd about it. Like it didn’t match the other ones in the courtyard. Standing up and turning to face the trunk he was about to take a closer look when who should catch his eye but his worst enemy. He snapped his book shut and glared, “Nymph. What business do you have here?”

[Deleted]

On occasion, when Egeria needed to resign herself to extremely deep thought, she would retreat to the tree which was her true form. She, simply being the soul of said tree, only wandered about as a mere part of herself and by allowing herself to be whole again she could immerse herself in cogitation. Usually she only returned to the little blossoming apple tree to rest, devoting most of her time to research and problem solving, but today was one of those rare occasions when she felt the need to seek out peace and quiet as she attempted to work through her next move on this war of affections she'd bound herself in. It was nice, being whole for this small amount of time. So often she goes through life incomplete, envying those who may go about through all their lives feeling as whole as she does only on occasion. Such is the life of a tree and she should not question it. Trees do not envy, trees do not go out to seek persons to help. It would seem Egeria is peculiar even to her own race and she had the unfortunate feeling that these human emotions grow stronger inside her the more she studies them.

Just then the pressure of a back on her trunk broke her concentration and, after a moment to collect herself, she peered out to inspect the new arrival. She was semi transparent, like a light spirit might look as her head just poked out of the trunk above the man's head. It took her all but three seconds to realize who she had just laid eyes on and by then Apollo had already stood and recognized her for the nymph trying for the same young man he himself had been chasing. There was this extremely uncomfortable twisting in her gut and she initiatively shied away from the god, retreating back into her tree in a moment of bewilderment. It took her a moment to categorize the emotion she'd just experienced as panic and then another moment to come to a conclusion as to why. Apollo. There may be no other living thing on this earth that hated her more at the moment and he was here. Not just any place, he was here standing beside the tree that was her true self. Apollo was mere inches away from the only way she could be killed. Kill the tree, kill Egeria. He must remain ignorant, never in her existence has she been so close to death.

A breath to regain her composure and she reveals herself upon his call. Looking emotionless save the tinniest bit of resentment, she materialized in a flurry of petals on a low branch. I should ask the same to you, dear Apollo she spoke with a certain breeziness for it was you who chose this tree to rest upon she commented, knowing for certain that he was at least privy to the idea that this must be a tree of hers at least. Little could he know about its vulnerability.

[Apollo]

Apollo folded his arms across his broad chest and loomed as only a large beautifully tanned golden haired God can do. “I will sit where I like, nymph, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it you silly little creature. I choose this tree simply because it looked the most comfortable. Noooooooooow I’m not so sure. Who in the name of Hades just lives in a tree? Oh yeah, I remember, stupid nymphs!”

He looked up at the little Apple tree which distracted him for the moment as he thought about the other little Apple that he knew. Little Milo ‘Apple’ Thatch, the apple of his eye, wouldn’t he just love to take a lovely long delicious bite out of-…wait. No, back to the probably at hand, he couldn’t allow himself to be distracted and put of track, it was probably what the ugly little thing wanted in the first place. The dreamy expression left his face and he glared at the nymph again.

“You know you won’t win this, you won’t win him,” he said and smirked a little, “I mean hello?! I’m a Gooooooood. I will bring down firey badness on your head if you continue to get in my way nymphy.”

He failed to mention that he had encounters with Nymphs before that didn’t usually end well for him either, but he didn’t want to think about that either. That was all that stupid cupid’s fault, he couldn’t be held accountable for his actions. They were slippery, sneaky and sly, despite all of his amazing and awesome strength these nymphs would still manage to make him run around in circles and he would see a cold day in the underworld before he would let yet another one get the better of him. Never again.

“So save yourself some heartbreak,” he said and patted her head, “give up now and go…I don’t know, make some daisies grow or something.”

[Deleted]

Egeria was feeling....irritated. Interesting. She never felt quite so irked before, a certain kind of distain that was stemmed from her initial fear and the unavoidable fact that she had grown weary of the greek gods and their troubling, destructive ways. She had no desire to cure Apollo of his haughtiness or of his general lack of concern for living beings other than himself, unlike her inclinations when meeting just about any other breathing thing on this green Earth. Not only is it extremely difficult to redirect someones personality who is well over hundreds of years old (she should know), but the greeks have shown her too many a time what an awful peoples they can be. True, they do have some light, and some are not quite so bad as others, but to take on one greek is to take on them all that is a challenge that even Egeria may not live to see the success of. No not now, at least not today, she had much more worthy patients to spend her time on.

She listened to his words carefully, though did not take action on them. She was considering how she might steer him away from her home, never to return. His words were meant to be insulting, though she hardly let these affect her, they were positively childish. This, she recalled, was another reason she held a certain distain for the gods. Even with all their years behind them, many of them fail, in their proudness, to learn. so many remain ignorant and insist on acting out in a toddler like fashion, such as Apollo was demonstrating at that very moment. She didn't pay him much attention until a certain wistful look stole his eyes as he gazed at her tree. She realized he was making the connection that she was, in fact, an apple tree, and he so endearingly called mister Milo "Apple." She wondered for a moment if he would consider her a "milo tree" then, or if she pointed out he would be particularly put off. She cast the thought aside, scolding herself mildly for such a rash consideration.

He was no assuring her that she would fail in her pursuit of Milo and she made a point to listen to his words more closely now. She patiently waited until he had finished his little speech and, so unfortunately, patted her on the head, before gathering herself to form a retort. mister Apollo she stated calmly You are terribly childish to consider all nymphs to be the very same she said plainly. Furthermore she offered, giving him a cold sort of stare I fear for mister Milo, above all else, given your pursuit of him she paused for a moment before continuing I truly do not believe you will cause him anything but great harm and grief, just as the greek gods has left a devastating trail wherever they tread. Do not be mistaken to assume I am merely following where he lead in hopes for my own personal gain any longer. her eyes flashed, and she could feel that strange sensation of irritation getting the best of her and she spoke before she could control herself Your dear Apple the fruit falling from the tree into her hand as she said the word needs protecting from the horror you wish to cause him and with that she came to terms with the fact that she was glowing a slight hue of red and calmed herself, control her newly discovered emotions and returning to her very unreadable original state.

[Apollo]

He didn’t like what she said. He didn’t like it one bit.

Oh he could deal with being threatened, you didn’t get to the point where he was as prestigious and powerful as he was without a few people threatening you, mortals and half-immortals alike. That wasn’t the problem, that could be dealt with quite easily. He didn’t mind that she had questioned his knowledge about Nymphs. All Nymphs were the same, annoying and troublesome and a pain in the neck. So she thought he was wrong, big deal, she was a nymph, she knew nothing, he knew he was right.

He didn’t mind her insulting his heritage and the other gods, insult were a daily occurrence, almost hourly, and he had to admit it, they weren’t really the nicest or tidiest bunch of people. Although he didn’t think there was anything wrong with that, sometimes you had to make a mess and upset a few folk to make sure things got down, or you got your own way, what ever was more important at the time. As a God, he was used to a little criticism, oh why cant we get a bit more son, why dont I have a muse, why wont be movie be a blockbuster, why cant I win a gold medal at the Olympics, CURSE YOU APOLLO! That was fine, cursing his name he could deal with.

He didn’t even mind her insulting his treatment to his little Apple, simply because as mentioned she was a Nymph, she knew nothing. She could never hope to understand the connection she had with the gorgeous young man. She was jealous and of course she would try and stop him, say anything to threaten him when it came to Apple.

No…that wasn’t what he didn’t like.

“Mister?! MISTER?!?!” he bellowed, “You will show some RESPECT! I am a God little miss nymph and you will treat me accordingly or you will suffer the consequences!”

In a fit of anger he reached up and pulled off one of the apples of the tree, throwing it at little nymph.

[Deleted]

Even the wise and ever prepared Egeria Echo of Lantern Waste was so caught off guard by the fact that he threw an apple at her, that she had to remind herself in the last millisecond to adjust her form so that the projectile would pass through her instead of leave an unpleasant, lingering sensation of pain on her forehead. She blinked at him a few times, big blue eyes trying to force her mind to catch up with what was happening. It was exceedingly rare that Egeria didn't see something coming, but for all her studies of the greeks and their ways, she had misjudged his childishness and the measure of his stupidity. She hadn't suspected a rage of some kind. She'd, very rashly and regrettably, insulted him plenty to cause any kind of fiery meltdown, yet he'd chosen to chuck an apple at her as if that would cause some great harm. She's know that to lose herself in her anger like that was terribly counteractive in her attempts to keep him from burning down her tree, yet....he'd only thrown an apple at her.....he threw an apple at her.

After she'd taken a good minute and a half to collect herself from the sock, she let her head fall slightly to one side before commenting on his words. Unlike before, her words lacked any kind of distain or anger, she was simply stating a fact, like she'd always done. Respect she began in her normal, whimsical tone I'm afraid, like love, must be earned she finished. The words weren't only meant for him, but herself as well. She reminded herself that she couldn't expect to keep up with certain aspects of herself in order to earn sweet Milo's heart. He was frightened of her. That would not do, people do not love people who they are mostly just afraid of. It was an obvious fact that Milo was also frightened of Apollo. That could be her key. While Apollo had god like power, Egeria would never be without her wondrous and dangerous mind. This mind of hers now constructing a terrible, though she didn't see it as such, plan for dear little Apple.

She would change herself. She would no longer be something he fears. She would give him comfort, someone to talk to, someone to love. She could not be the same rational wood nymph as always. She would be kind and smart and show plenty of normal emotions. Above all else she will be the perfect being for mister Milo Thatch. She would be what he desires, down to the very color of her eyes. She could not fail. It may take her weeks to gather all the information needed to successfully make this transformation, but surely she'd be in time for the halloween party. She will finally understand love, she was certain of it, and there is nothing Apollo could say to sway her otherwise.

[Apollo]

Apollo was oblivious to the cogs turning in Egeria’s head and instead continued with his anger, “I do not have to earn love. It is given to me freely and as a god I do not need to earn respect. It is a demand. A given. That any person should bow to and follow, including yourself, nymph.”

He moved towards the tree and smacked his fist against it, allowing the rage to pour out through it. “All this nature stuff? It means something to you doesn’t it? You love it. Watch how little respect I show it,” he punched the tree again, the action not so much as causing a little bit of pain to his hand.

He could have clean pulled it out by its roots but he didn’t want an angry Demeter on his back and she could get really testy when someone annoyed her. Turning back to the nymph he said, “Continue to peruse my little apple and I will rip you from this world as easily as I could rip apart this tree.”

[Deleted]

Egeria had nearly been lost to reality as she began to steal her mind for the purposes of constructing an elaborate plan to win the heart of Milo. She would have to come up with an entirely different life. She found herself at a slight road block, realizing she didn't have nearly as much information on her target as she'd like to being that she was attempting to learn about him as he learned about her. That was the basis of most lasting relationships, or so she had deduced. How could she make herself into someone Milo would fall in love with if she didn't necessarily know what type of person he, what do you call it, the type of person that is "his type?" She was just making a mental list of what she did know about Milo and his interest, paying little attention to the raging god at this point, when something unusual happened.

There was this strange sort of cry of fear and pain that cut through the air, it wasn't until one hand flew to her mouth and the other to hold her abdomen, did she realized that the sound had spilled from her own quivering lips. She hardly had time to understand her own actions when he threw his fist a second time into her source of life. The tree moaned and Egeria felt her form flicker, like she were something as easily snuffed as a simple flame. Egeria had never felt pain before, let alone something so severe. her mind was lost, two seconds too slow too keep her from acting on pure emotion. Emotion that had been so long subdued that it seemed almost too overwhelming to stand. For the first time in her life, Egeria didn't know what to do with herself. She felt sort of dizzy and jittery, her body still aching from the blows. His final threat was the thing to push her overboard and with a sort of panicky rage she extended her arms in front of her and shouted something only the earth seemed to understand.

If she had been thinking clearly, she'd have known better than to engage him, she would have agreed to his terms to simply get him to leave her in peace, then continue her plans in secrete. Had she been thinking clearly she would never have sent the dirt beneath Apollo's feet crumbling into a sink hole. Had she been thinking clearly she never would have called up big, thick roots to ensnare him. Unfortunately, however, Egeria was no longer thinking clearly, and it just might be her doom.

[Apollo]

Before he could counter her attack he was dropping in to the ground and being ensnared by the roots, something which would never have happened had he not been distracted beforehand by what he saw. He had just caught a glimpse of it as he had turned around to look at the little nymph, but there had been a flicker, and there had been pain in her face, he was sure he had seen it. He had seen that…after he had punched the tree…maybe there was a connection there….maybe…but what?! Oh it was hurting his brain thinking about it and these damn roots wrapped around him wasn’t helping.

Submission holds were not his forte.

Grabbing one of them with his free hands he ripped it apart, freeing his other hand so that he could reach up and grab the ground above, wrestling with the roots still wrapped around his feet as he tried to haul himself up. He locked eyes with the nymph and said, “You will release me or…” he held up one of his hands which turned to flame, just as warm and hot as the sun, “I will burn it.”

[Deleted]

Egeria was no longer perched comfortable on a low branch, whimsically letting time and insults pass her by like leaves in a breeze. She was ever so good at that, at present, however, circumstances seemed to have pushed her into a state of precariousness. She was teetering on the edge of her own destruction, blinded by the the only thing on this green Earth that she had so little experience with and therefore could not rein. Emotions. Curse their fickleness. Never in her life has Egeria lost her head and, just when it seemed impossible, here comes this vastly immature and overly egotistical god to shove her over the cliff. It wasn't until his hand lit fire that she managed to cease her dangerous, erratic, tumbling.

The roots stopped their squirming at once with the gentle raise of her hand. Having been floating a few feet in the air, she made a point to secure her feet back to the ground both literally and metaphorically. She came to recognize a a dull sort of soreness to her being, as if the strain of it all had over worked her non existent muscles. Her bitter rage left her and with it a lot of energy. All emotion left her save for a sinking sadness as she assessed the damage she had caused the surrounding trees. With their roots now so manged, she may not even be able to mend them enough to save them. After a moment of two, she finally focused back on Apollo and the flame that could easily mean her death.

Leave in peace, Apollo she said calmly, a certain desolate gleam in her blue eyes enough damage has been brought down upon this place she continued. A quiet melody began on her lips then, a few hummed notes echoed through the air, giving a hint toward the reasoning behind her name. It bounced off the trees and bushes and shrubs, each seeming to add their own element to the song. It was an ancient hymn of her people, a bit of nature magic that would help bring healing, though its tone was full of sorrow. Egeria had never in her life caused such pain to her kin. She could feel their suffering as if it were her own.