Second chapter uploaded in batch sorry for reupload, please make sure you've read the previous first!

"I knew it!" she snapped. "I knew there was some sort of connection between you and I - why else would you show me your true form!"

Apollo's composure was eerily calm despite the growling Earth.

"Winter." He called her name very gently. "Do you understand the technical mechanics of a mate bond?"

The question caught her off guard. She glared at him. "I suppose you are about to tell me?"

He ran his hand across her skin before slowly dragging his hand away, an almost warped kind of delicacy resonating in his touch.

"As her... what the Lupine would call mate, Artemis' soul belongs to me. In return, my soul belongs to her. However...There is a slight complication in our unique scenario. It is very difficult to kill a god. Not impossible, but still needlessly complicated - even now, as dead as she is, every so often she chooses to incarnate into a young woman. A young woman which is now dubbed the Maiden. I should add that her reasons for this are far beyond me; in this manner, I know as little as you."

She made a feeble attempt at escape but she was worse off than a mouse in a cat's cradle. Noting her struggle, the vines turned to ashes on his command; she wondered if he'd even realised he'd done it before now. The thought didn't ease her. Apollo clearly had tremendous power he wasn't in control of when emotional.

As he sat next to her he leaned over her and his golden hair spilled over his face as he leaned in to breathe a rugged whisper, "have you felt the pain of nearly having an entire soul ripped from yours? Imagine that, but a thousand times worse. Imagine you are immortal. I want you to imagine that your partner for eternity has died and the equally eternal pain that comes from having your soul ripped from his in an endless cycle of reincarnation."

His eye widened as an unhinged kind of fire seethed the iris, and the light shinning from his skin stained with a bloody red. She couldn't help but whimper. That was a nightmare -- a literal living nightmare. Even Apollo gave a shaky breath in her ear, shuddering. He sat for a moment, simply panting. From the corner of her eye she watched his features contort as if he too was affected by his own words, arms gripping his sides in a protective huddle.

She couldn't bear what he was describing. She'd had a taste of what it was like to nearly lose Tamer. Witnessing Apollo like this was like witnessing her own greatest fear.

"Apollo-"

He flinched when she spoke, appearing to have forgotten she was there. He composed himself with a shake of his head but the tremble in his voice was still prominent.

"If you think that sounds bad, wait until you hear the rest. I haven't even begun to shed light on the worst part yet."

It was torture just to listen to him. She wasn't sure if she could take any more.

"What could possibly be worse than that?"

"You, Winter." The air around them began to boil as Apollo looked down on her, catching her in such a seething gaze it felt like her soul was catching fire. "You are the worst part. Can you even begin to imagine what it feels like when even a fragment of your loved one's soul is reborn? The turmoil, the confusion at falling inlove with someone else, then the inevitable pain you feel when it belongs to that of a mortal and they die?" A quieter, more vulnerable tone softened his voice. "It hurts, Winter. Immediately, as if bound by contract, you feel for them. You cannot help it. When you have a wound in your heart this big, you will do anything to heal it. But like I told you earlier, you are not Artemis. Nor were the countless other Maidens before you. As long as even a fragment of Artemis' soul lives, I am bound to her for eternity. As long as she continues to incarnate, I cannot heal and my constant Hell repeats without an end in sight."

Her head was spinning just from the thought. The previous fire in Apollo's stare drenched with a sadness.

"Then why not kill me?" she whispered. "Why not kill all the maidens so you don't have to go through it all again?"

She flinched as Apollo reached out to touch her cheek, not only surprised he'd touch her in the first place, but how soft and gentle his hands were as he tucked a loose curl of hair behind her ear.

He shook his head and composure had returned to his beautiful face. The roses around them became tinged with gold as the touch reignited his aura and she found herself mesmerised by the being shinning like a fallen star before her. Even the torment in his eyes was beautiful in the sense that it was a powerful, complex emotion beyond that which a human would usually feel.

"All that does is inflict hurt by my own hand. Every time they die, every time they are either killed or die of natural causes, I feel the pain I felt the first time she died again and again..."

His voice drip fed into a slow monotony. Each time he repeated the word, it felt as though a stake driven through her heart. She'd been so caught up on the feeling that she didn't register the last sentence drawled from his lips.

Apollo rested his head on his hand with a placid stare. "It's starting to seem as though the only solution that might stop it is if humanity itself stopped existing."

Winter's stomach lurched. A nervous laugh escaped her. "That was a joke right...?"

"My mind is breaking, Winter," he stated simply. "At some point, it will completely shatter. When that time comes... Who can say what I'll do to make it stop."

The sound of the wind gave a lonesome bowl. Cinder carried through the air like snow falling. Winter gulped. There was a long pause. Apollo straightened his back, hair hiding his face as his head tumbled forward.

"I may be capable of many acts of evil, but it is hard even for me harm piece of my loved one with my own hand and to inflict my own suffering with my own hand on another being such as Tamer," he muttered.

Winter could feel some constriction in her chest like her heart was expanding at a painful rate - Apollo's pain, she assumed.

"If you're a god can't you just conjure some miracle to fix this?"

"Miracles don't work unless for another person, not myself. Even if such a person who wanted such a thing existed, the price I'd pay for such a wish may even leave me in a worse of state."

"What about the other gods? Don't you have them to keep you company?"

Apollo chuckled, as if mused by her naivety. "The longer I live here, the more human I become. I cannot return to where they live and do not desire to anyway. They played a very large part in what happened to her. Useless articles. Humanity would be better off without them." She swore she saw some sharp glint in his mouth as he smirked. "I'd kill them all if I could."

She crawled a few paces back from him. She didn't know what to say. She simply tried to absorb everything.

So a part of her was Artemis. It was odd to think there could be another person living inside her. Another person with her own thoughts and beliefs, and more shockingly, a part of her soul that didn't love Tamer.

She thought back to the incident with the woman in the moon. That woman could have only been her. White roses were linked to the goddess. It made sense that they should be the stimulus to trigger her into being able to make contact. All along Artemis had been trying to contact her from the inside and she'd had no idea.

But the realisation only gave more questions than it answered.

Artemis...What is it you want with me?

She looked up at the god who had his hands twisted through his hair, and she thought, Artemis, you love this man right? I wonder... Does it hurt you when I am with Tamer?

"Winter." Apollo's gaze extended skyward to where the sun was obscured by the white, glowing moon. "If something happened to me, do you think the sun will stop shinning?

She hesitated. "How should I know that?"

Silence fell. She wasn't sure what to do. A familiar stranger sat before her; she wasn't sure how to help, but she didn't want to just stand there either - it seemed dangerous for everyone else for him to be in a mood like this.

At a loss as to what else to do, she tried calling Artemis from within her to soothe him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

The god stiffened at her touch. There was an awkward silence. He looked up at her with what seemed like disgust on his features, but he didn't push her away.

"Winter, just what the hell is this?" he spat.

"W-well what else was I supposed to do!" she stuttered. "You were saying really personal things! How else was I supposed to comfort you?"

"Hey," he grumbled with a frown. "Are you saying you pity me?"

"I...wouldn't say that," she said seriously. "It's hard for me to say on the account that I've just found out there may be a whole other person in my head, but this is a pain I can recognise and wouldn't wish it upon anyone. I understand why you hate me."

He sighed. "I don't hate you personally but rather what you represent for me. You're just going to die one day. Of course I'm not exactly running to get too close."

"Wait, seriously?"

Apollo's eyes grew darker. "With that being said, I'd very much advise you against seeing me as an ally."

"And why is that?" Winter shot back.

Apollo didn't answer. He just shut his eyes. The rigid tension in his body dissipated. She felt the clammy heat in the air cool to a pleasant warmth. He had a slight frown on his face as if unhappy about it, but the golden light on his aura was expanding to cover more ground.

"It's not unpleasant, but it isn't really appropriate for us to be touching like this," Apollo said, prying away her fingers.

Winter made a visible face of confusion. "Apollo, my hand was on your shoulder?"

"...We can't be too careful," Apollo said darkly.

"Wait. You kissed me on the forehead before though?"

"That wasn't a kiss, it was a curse. And it was strictly a  business curse."

"But... You've been the one instigating all contact between us. And you said you only cursed people when you were in a bad mood? Weren't you happy because I gave you the rose?"

"Winter!" Apollo said with a tired expression, exasperatedly spreading his arms, "I'm a man who's concerns include not accidentally eridicating humanity and possibly deliberately eridicating other gods if the opportunity comes up -- who knows what the future holds, we shall see! I can cause natural disasters when I'm upset which is always and sometimes accidentally curse people when I intend to bless them. Whether purposely or accidentally, I will be committing an act of genocide! Do you think these are the actions of a man that knows what he's doing? Do you think these are the actions of a role model? Do you think that just because I do it it's remotely okay for you to do it?"

Winter gave him an unimpressed look. "Well..."

Sighing and returning to his feet, he swept himself off with a determined look.

"Well?"

The statement was said like an accusation. The calculating gaze he gave her did not go unnoticed. There was a pause; Winter fiddled with the hem of her dress, unsure what to do as he stared at her with a strange anticipation in his eyes.

"Are you going to ask me for a deal?" he demanded.

Her fingers clenched. She really hadn't expected him to offer her anything. "There's something you want from me," she realised, expression becoming serious.

Apollo simply waited.

"What do I get for the dress?"

Apollo chuckled, drifting closer to circle her like a shark. "Ouch. You went straight for the weakspot, didn't you?" His voice lowered as he stared down at her."Technically speaking, that dress is already mine. But I could offer you something more.. substantial for a better price."

"What do you want?" she hissed, shooting a glare.

She could feel his more sinister side leaking back through. "Pity you didn't save the rose -- it contains a part of her soul, you know."

She thought of the stem of the ravaged rose pressed against her breast. Thinking about it literally, something had torn Artemis' soul for herself.

No. Something was telling her to keep it.

Apollo stopped behind her. "I want your consent to take part in the literal tearing of souls -- a severing our soul bond." Her back straightened with a jump laid his hands on her shoulder without warning and invisible flames ravaged her body. Within his hands a red dress - seemingly carved from rose petals - flourished. She could feel his voice filter down the back of her neck like a piece of velvet. "In return...I'll protect your village from the king." A gentle growl snagged within his throat. "Perhaps if you'd been less selfish I could offer a better solution to your predicament."

Images of Tamer biting into her neck flashed within her mind. Her heart kick-started.

"What would that entail for me?"

"Who knows," Apollo said with a luscious ring. He picked at his own nails. "If I'd figured out how to sever an eternal bond, I would have freed myself of this curse a lot sooner."

She took a deep breath. She turned sharply, meeting his eye with a determined stare.

Apollo towered over her. The cold stare that cut like a knife through her skin... She realised then that she might not actually have a choice here -- a fact that Apollo was making blatantly known. That if she gave the wrong answer, she would perish. Even if it meant suffering on his part.

It was the same. Once again, she was being forced to sacrifice herself to protect the lives of others.

There was no other choice. She wasn't getting away with making the selfish option twice in front of this god.

"As long as it doesn't sacrifice my life, that's fine," she said quietly. "I can't allow you to do that for Tamer's sake."

Apollo rested his head on his hand. His eyelids became heavier as the iris glistened like honey.

"Good girl," he whispered.

A slow smile crept up the god's face. The look he gave her had a similar hunger like Red's -- the same kind of morbid fascination when Tamer had tasted her blood for the first time.

Somewhere, in the distance, a lone wolf's howl rang out over the hills.

In the back of her mind, she heard the wolfs' howl, but a sudden lightheaded-ness left it fading like an echo in her mind. An electrical current rode through the air as Apollo embedded their deal in magic. With a simple snap of his fingers, the deal was sealed, and part of her soul destined to be traded away forever.

She found herself blacking out.

The sensation of him catching her was like a full-blown electrical fire that resuscitated her as if she couldn't escape the sunlight even within the darkness of her mind.
Her eyelashes brushed against the white of his shirt as he cradled her, and she found herself staring up at the twinkling halo of moonlight behind his head.

"There, there," he whispered, deceitfully charming when he wanted. His fingers curled through her hair as he supported her head. Whatever effect he wanted his voice to have, it had it; right now, it was like a lullaby as opposed to the intimidating force of nature it was earlier. "Doesn't it feel better to not have that guilt weighing down your mind? That must have been affecting you somewhere, right?"

She nodded, eyelids growing heavy. Now, she was afraid. Even just the deal of her soul being torn from his had made her blackout. Tamer had had to bite her for every year of their lives to sever themselves. How long had the gods known each other?

Winter's eyes widened as her consciousness came back. "Wait, there was... a howl?"

Her heart froze. A sickly kind of anxiety coiled around it like a snake.

Xavier had said he would signal his presence with a howl.

"Tamer," she said urgently. She got to her feet, staggering as everything inside her kick-started into an instant riot.

Apollo supported her once again. "Hey, take it easy," he muttered.

She was in danger; no, even worse, Tamer was in danger. Heart palpitating as she realised challenge with Xavier would fall on the next day, her air grew thin. They had less time than what she thought.

"Apollo, are you intending to..." She gulped, voice shaking. "Stop me from going back to him?"

Apollo absorbed the sight of her watery eyes twinkling in the moonlight.

With a faint scowl, he shook his head. "With no idea how to proceed, I have no reason to interfere for the moment. You may live your life as you want to right now. Just know that I'll be back to fulfil our deal when I'm ready, whether that be days, months, or even years."

Her arms huddled over her chest. "Then please, I'm sorry, I need to get back to him. Tamer is... in danger."

"Winter, I can assure you, no harm is going to become you or him tonight."

Her head snapped up. She gave a frustrated claw at her face, feeling ice-cold sweat cling to her brow.

"Winter," Apollo said again, gently but more firmly. She'd been dreading this day for what felt like forever, but the last day had been so nice, it had still crept up on her anyway. A montage of bloody images were already flashing in her mind; it took a lot of work to focus on even such a serenading voice and not bolt back to Tamer's side. "I can absolutely guarantee that until this festival ends tomorrow at midnight, you'll be safe. No wolf will attack you in any ceremony of worship." His voice lowered. "I think the most useful thing you could do for your partner would be to support and enjoy your time with him at the moment."

She clenched her jaw. Sitting like a duck in the face of danger just felt so wrong.

"And why exactly are you suddenly so invested? How can you know that?"

Apollo turned his back. There was a lengthy pause. "When it comes to abused children... I feel the need to intervene since no one else will." Narrowing, his eye burned as his head twisted over his shoulder. "And I don't just know you'll be safe. I can guarentee it."

She eyed him nervously before beginning to walk.

"Come on," Apollo said. "I'll escort you home."