Part 4: All That We Can Give

 ___________________________________

  It's all that we've got

It's all that we can give

Believe it or not,

It's all that we can give, and I don't mind

  Oh, not at all  
    ____________________________________    

It had come to Apollo's attention that he and Svarog had no options left.

But it couldn't be, right?

Apollo needed to bring back Eros.

He needed Love's word.

He needed Love's opinion.

Apollo believed that Eros knew what was right.

He just felt that the Love God saw what he saw.

With this, he was desperate for his beloved friend to come back.

And so behold the tale of how Apollo got the resented Christ to help him.

Bryce walked the streets of Los Angeles, keeping away from Los Santos, a nearby source of trouble, as much as possible.

Even as he heard the beasts , nearby or far away, everyone seemed...fine.

It was supposed to be day, but it was night. The people didn't seem to care, or saw what he saw.

He passed by a beggar, asleep on the sidewalk.

The sign next to the sleeping beggar read, "HAVE MERCY ON A POOR SOUL PLEASE GIVE MONEY + FOOD"

The tin can in front had a number of coins, enough for one to take several calls at the phone booth.

Apollo had nothing to give; not even his time was enough to satisfy this beggar.

Well, that's what he thought to himself.

He decided to keep walking.

When he reached a certain street, he heard screams of fear from the other side.

He looked to see a car approaching a young girl in a crossing.

His merciful and swift instincts kicked in.

He ran, took the girl and got themselves over to the other street, just before the car could hit either of them.

"Are you alright?" He asked her.

She was shaking in shock, but nodded.

"Oh my God!" It was the child's father, and Apollo turned to face the parent, who had arrived.

The father was around his early forties, and seemed to look like he just came from work. His eyes were teary behind the glasses.

The parent turned to Bryce as he took his daughter into an embrace. "Thank you so much!"

Apollo felt a ping of joy from his act.

"Be careful next time." He advised both of the mortals.

"You hear what he said, Audrey," The father told his daughter. "We should be very careful."

She simply nodded, and that was enough for her father.

The father then stood up, and shaking hands with Bryce, "Dr. Wecht. And you?"

"Bryce," He then paused to think of a last name. "McQuaid."

He always liked the last name. For some reason he did.

"Good to meet you, Bryce." He let go, then kept hold of his daughter, Audrey. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Ah," Bryce knew he couldn't ask what wanted from a mortal. "No. No need to pay me back!"

"Are you sure?" Clearly Dr. Wecht was still overwhelmed about what happened. "I mean-"

"No really," Apollo insisted. "Besides, I actually have something to attend to. I bet you do too."

"A-alright." The father nodded. Internally, he was surprised at the guess of the hero who saved his daughter.

After all, he was rushing his daughter to own home. He needed to meet his best friend in the airport, as they were heading to Australia to meet with more friends.

What Dr. Wecht didn't know was that the reason for the sojourn was not what it had seemed.

He never knew his best friend, whom he had to meet there at the airport, was just like Bryce. A god hidden amidst men.

Either if he found out or not, it wasn't going to change his skepticism.

The two waved their goodbyes as they went their ways.

Apollo knew human emotion and how they express it. He always loved a man's tears, a woman's laugh and a child's grunt.

Of all the emotions he liked to feel, happiness was one of his favorites.

Love, in any form, was tied with it.

Peace was a close second. War surprisingly tied with it.

The feeling he had right there, as he left the scene, was mysterious.

He could not grasp fully what it was.

But he wanted more of it.

He suddenly felt bad about not giving to the beggar he had passed by.

He brought himself to a park, wondering where he should go next.

He sat on a bench, desperately thinking if Asia had anyone to help. Like, far out East Asia.

Soon enough his own visions had kicked in.

A figure stood before him, limp and bloody.

"Are you even trying? Death has turned to Hell here." The voice was calm, but pain leaked out of it.

"I fear for you all." Bryce throat began to hurt. "Ryan, I know you can't feel it-"

"I feel nothing!" His voice became raspy. "I don't want this!"

"I don't want this either." Apollo replied, calmly.

Love's eyes were paling. "The longer I'm gone, the harder it is for the mortals to secure a relationship..."

Bryce sighed.

"Do it for me,"

"What do you mean?" The God of the Arts was alerted. "No one can bring things close better than you can!"

Eros's hands groped Apollo's. "I may be the best at it, but that doesn't keep everyone else from having no ability to. This war brought you and the Slav together."

"And it brought us together." Bryce tightened hands into a grip onto Ryan's bloodied ones.

The Love God chuckled. "You understand. Don't you, Bryce?"

Apollo nodded awkwardly.

"Save the rest of the world, beloved."

"But what about the Night?" Bryce asked.

"As said to me by Wisdom, the Night will be in someone else's care." Eros said coldly.

"Can you still see?" Ryan asked.

"Enlighten me."

The Love God smiled. "I can't give you light, Apollo. You can give me light."

"Then teach me to bring people together."

"You've done this before."

"And if I mess it up the next time?" This time the God of the Arts let go, standing up from his bench. "You said that every arrow shouldn't miss their mark. I agreed with you, didn't I?"

"Times are changing, Bryce. The love I represent has been degraded, and only man's expression can save it. You can influence man's expression!"

"The least I could do is take care of my eyes...but Hypnos is gone, and resting is therefore hardly an option." 

"Why rest?" Eros whispered. 

And the visions suddenly stopped.

He looked around the park.

Empty and desolate.

Fear kicked into Apollo, and instinctively materialized a flashlight.

He made sure the light that came out of the device was of his own power. 

Day-like. 

The light he carried was a gift from Hemera. It was meant to reveal.

He felt the movements around him.

Whether Nyx was near he could not figure out, but the shadows, oh, he knew surrounded him.

The winds around him hitched.

Click went the flashlight, and soon the shadows exposed by its light cowered and flinched.

These shadows screamed silently.

But to the ears of the master of these creatures, and the god who battled them, the screams were the sounds of an unknown hell.

Apollo waved his flash light around to defend himself, making sure the shadows did not touch him.

What the Greek God did not expect was that the shadows were increasing in number.

At that point of realization, he tried to run out of the park.

He ran as fast as he could.

Either Nyx wanted him dead or that the shadows were just assholes.

It had been seconds when Bryce felt engulfed in the darkness; he wanted to scream.

____________________________________

"Are you sure you want to take care of him? You two hardly even know each other!"

"It's going to be alright. Just leave us be."

Apollo began to feel consciousness once more.

"Fine. Can I at least get you anything to help? You've done me too much that I can no longer thank you."

Chuckling, "You can wait outside, Tiffany. All I want is to talk with Apollo by myself,"

He paused. "He's waking up after all."

And Bryce finally woke up, confused at the location.

As the door to outside whatever room he was in closed, his vision cleared up.

And Joshua stood in front of him.

"I heard noises from outside and saw you were in trouble, so I came to save you."

Apollo was overwhelmed. "You saved-" Wait no now isn't the time for puns

Joshua nodded.

The Greek God sighed. "The shadows were stronger than I thought."

Sitting down on a chair inside the room, "No, you've softened a little too much."

"What do you mean?" He rose a bit from the bed.

"It's good you've gained more patience in the last few years," He went on, "But the thing is that you've underestimated these creatures."

"I guess I might've." Apollo looked around the room. "Can't believe I'm straying from myself."

"Things change." He looked at Bryce. "What you represent will too."

Looking down, Apollo said, "I hope he does."

"He?"

"Nyx. I bet Aphrodite already told you about him."

"He will." Joshua then took out his smartphone, looking for music.

"You think so?"

"He will." He selected a song. 

"Then when?"

The song began to play.

"That I'm afraid I cannot determine." 

I Don't Mind played.

Bryce looked at Joshua, the lyrics leading them to silence.

Putting the phone down on a nearby desk, "These horrors are ephemeral."

"Then why does it feel like forever?"

"It is either because you do not know patience, or because time likes to deceive you." He got up, went to the bookshelf and looked for a book.

"What are you doing?" The Greek God raised himself up higher from the bed. "Is Aphrodite fine with you looking through her books?"

"We're roomies for the time being, so I'm sure she'll be fine with it." Joshua pulled out The Little Prince. "By the way, I'll be staying here for a day or more, then I'll head over to Canada. Still figuring out where there though."

"Oh," Apollo looked at the book which Joshua had picked up.

Joshua opened the book, flipping the pages.

"Why that one?" Bryce asked.

"Could help us both." He turned to Part 8. "Do you remember the rose?"

"What about her?"

"Do you remember how much the rose has tamed the prince?"

"And how the prince tamed the narrator?"

Joshua smiled. 

Changing the topic of the conversation, "You care about Evan, right Bryce?"

He hesitated to reply. "I do."

"What got him to...tame you?"

And Apollo realized where the conversation was going.

"Why should his significance to me be your business?"

"Because you're worrying about him more than you need to." Joshua looked intently at the book's illustration. "The beasts attacked you because their master roams around your head."

He continued, "After all, the shadows can go as far as getting into your head. And knowing that Nyx is in your thoughts, they might as well think you are a threat to them."

"You read me well."

"I heard you can do the same." He then flipped to Part 21. Page 87.

"But my eyes tire."

"What is essential is invisible to the eye." He responded.

"For it is only with the heart that one can see rightly..." The realization dawned on the Greek God when he instinctively finished the quote.

"I know you have the truth within you." Said Joshua. "You have a good heart."

Bryce realized that Joshua was trying to motivate him, but he still didn't feel confident.

"I know my ways are good and that I can bring upon a righteous truth, but I still can miss my mark...even sing off-key."

Joshua closed the book, shut off the music and returned the book back into the bookshelf. 

"In a country stood three kingdoms, each with an bad king." He started.

"One king was selfish; he would do all he could just to get much riches. Another was ignorant; he never knew what was going on outside his kingdom. The last was foolish; he never considered thinking before doing. There came a time when the ignorant king was richer than the other two, and so the selfish king got envious. He paid the foolish king a visit,"

"'That ignorant king doesn't know we exist! I asked for his assistance, but he did not respond. Now I ask for yours. Will you send your armies next to mine, so I can teach this king a lesson?'"

"'What do we get from this?' The foolish king asked."

"'Satisfaction and justice,' replied the selfish king, whose words tricked the foolish king into joining him in his plan."

Joshua paused, "Guess what happens next."

"The ignorant king's kingdom collapsed at the strength of the other kingdoms' armies." Bryce said.

"Great that the future still presents itself to you." This hit Apollo at a realization.

Seeing the future was ability he had forgotten, for he knew the pain that carried with him whenever he used it.

"Great indeed." He said softly.

Joshua smiled at him. 

"Then finish the story." 

He hesitated to reply. "Why should I?"

"So I know if you know how the story ends."

"Why should you know that?"

"To," He paused, "assure myself that...that I helped you out."

"You'd really do that for me?"

"I know I didn't do anything wrong, but I know you don't believe that. So, I'm making it up to you."

Then he cleared his throat. "How does it end?"

"With the selfish king taking all the riches from the ashes of the ignorant king's kingdom."

"What happened to the foolish king?"

"He felt guilt and regret in his actions, and realized he had been tricked." Apollo stopped. "He then had to live with it. The end."

The Greek God felt that he may have not guessed the ending.

After a brief pause, "I didn't get it right, didn't I?"

Joshua slowly nodded. "Neither did the foolish king."

Apollo sighed. "You're worse at this than I thought."

Disappointed, "Let me finish; you really need to know what happens in the end."

"Then what does?"

"That the foolish king learned from his wrongdoing and became a righteous king," Joshua raised his voice. "And soon enough, his kingdom prospered so much that the selfish king's kingdom collapsed."

"Apollo, you lack hope in yourself." He went on, realizing directness was the way to go. "You need to realize that you can do good, and a failure is a lesson to remember."

"I..." He couldn't respond back.

"You'll understand when the time comes," Joshua said. "Don't let time enslave you, however..."

"Time is a great friend of mine," Bryce spoke about Luke.

"Then where has he gone off to? For apparently, he has none of himself for you."

How does this guy get me to realize my shortcomings? Should I thank him for this?

"Well," He stopped himself, and dove into thought.

Silence hit them both.

Apollo then stood from his bed, and faced Joshua.

"If you want something, simply ask."

The Greek God sighed. "What am I supposed to do? I watched my friends suffer from a distance, and I know simply watching will do nothing to help them. I thought...I thought Love would help me. He always knew what to say, and I would spread it about."

"Was it his words, or yours?"

"His, but you can say that they're mine as well."

"If they're yours, then you should be responsible for it. These men are mine; therefore, I am responsible over them." Bryce felt bitter when he heard Joshua say that humanity was his, but even so he brushed this off.

"Eros gave me a job -- a last will and testament."

"What did Ryan say?" Surprisingly, there was some concern from Joshua.

"You knew him."

"Like Tiffany."

"Huh." Then replying to the question, "he wanted me to take his task in bringing these humans together."

"It's not that hard, most especially for someone like you." Chuckling, "I've heard many state how what you represent has brought them all together."

"I'm not ready to fail. I don't want to be a fool!" Fear entered Apollo.

"With that attitude, you are."

"Are you truly helping me?"

"Yes." Joshua replied, but then couldn't say anything else.

"What now?" Bryce began to tear up. "Y-you're going to tell me to go back to my remaining friends? See if they're okay?"

He nodded. "It's all up to you if you want that job done."

"Lucky are you, for I've never seen a God that even gave those against him this much freedom."

"You're no different than my brethren, which is why you even have this much freedom." Then he proceeded to head out.

"Where are you going?" Apollo stopped him, hand on the knob.

"To get some ambrosia for your travel, which would happen in probably in a few hours."

"I guess I have to," Bryce sighed. "It's Svarog's turn tomorrow."

"Oh, he won't need to,"

"Excuse me?"

"The Day called and wants her time back." Then opening the door, "When you get back home, I assure you that she will be alright."

Then He closed the door on the Greek God of the Arts, who was left contemplating at their conversation.