The ocean near the Olympia, in the past year the isle in which Olympia was located had taken a great hit, as half of its shore land was destroyed, this was the result of the battle between Zeus and Hephaestus, the attack that finished off Zeus not only destroyed half the shores of Olympia but it also opened a great chasm in the ocean and the sea was split open for a couple of months until the water finally filled the tear 5 months ago. The lives of those who lived near the shores were ruined and had difficulty getting food as their main source of food was fishing. However after 5 months the shores once again boomed as once the tear in the ocean was filled there was an abundance of fish, the ocean near Olympia was filled with fish life and restored the lively hood of the people who lived near the it, the sheer abundance if fish made the locals conclude it was a blessing from the gods. 

It wasn't just those that lived near the shores, but the main land was also affected, though more positively than negative. 

The battle between the two gods had caused cracks on the land and that in turn created various rivers and tributaries that ran across the mainland not only that but due to the release of Excalibur the was an increase in the ambient mana in the area and this was a boon to many scholars of magic, it also supported the growth of vegetation, of course many houses and buildings were destroyed leaving many homeless but that was hardly anything to cry about when they received great blessings such as this, plus worshippers of Hephaestus put in work on the name of their God, they helped those who lost their home rebuild and as a result the citizens became fervent worshippers of Hephaestus. however, there were those who were still dissatisfied with the situation after what need was there for their homes to be destroyed? 

"the fish aren't biting today, huh?" 

Two men on a soiling boat and were seated on opposite ends with their fishing lines having been cast in to the ocean, the boat wasn't big as it was closer to a dingy but it was large enough for their purposes, or rather their boss refused to buy a bigger boat, they sat there in complete silence as they waited for the fish to start biting but it looked like that wouldn't happen today. 

"it's not just today they haven't been biting all week" 

"is it possible that the blessing from the gods has been revoked?" 

" No, I don't think so, but I do think some sea creature made its nest at the bottom or something similar" 

"So what? Do we hire some mercenaries to take care of it?" 

"How exactly is a mercenary supposed to do that? If it's deep underwater there's no way to get rid of it" 

"So What do we do?" 

"talk to the boss he'll talk to the association, and they'll do something about it, but we'll have to go home" 

"how about we stay a bit longer, I'm sure we'll get something. After all, we get paid based on the number and of the fish we catch" 

The other fisherman rolled his eyes but nodded, it was true that their pay is dependent on the amount and size of fish they catch but who's fault is it if there's a some sea creature preventing them from catching fish? It couldn't be helped, but they do need the money, hopefully they'll catch something 

Unbeknownst to the two fishermen, a dark mist lurked beneath their boat. The mist slowly rose from the ocean, and in a burst of speed, it exploded out and swallowed the whole ship along with the fisherman before returning back in the ocean and descending deeper into its dark trenches 

The mist went deeper into the tear caused by Hephaestus as it had made it it's home. after about a minute, a black blur was spat out of the tear before it shot out of the ocean and flew into the air, the blur then flew higher and higher until it stopped higher above the clouds, it was ball of black mass that slowly transformed itself into winged creature with Obsidian dark scales, a long neck with four limbs with razor Sharp claws. The black mass had transformed into a black dragon. 

The dragon roared, announcing its arrival and flew into a straight line, away from Olympia. Unknowingly, the people of Olympia were saved by the dragon's own ignorance of their location. 

..... 

Daphne danced to the beat of the drum, she knew nothing of dancing and was hardly skilled in the art but her body simply moved in response to the music, her ears were hearing something good as such her body responded in kind, her hair spun and flowed back and forth as her body moved around. 

Apollo, who was responsible for the music, watched her with keen interest. Under the bright sun, her beauty was illuminated, and her smile was ever so enchanting. He was seated on a wooden stool as he twirled his index finger while musical notes spun around it. 

The time the time was just past midday, it was a bit cloudy but the sun was going strong, Daphne had recently finished her morning chores done at the behest of her parents and Apollo had been humble enough to help her father with his carpentry work, something he found to be quite tedious to do but did it anyway. 

It has been a year since he had descended and was living among the humans, he has always found the to be a but more interesting than most of the Gods but he had never thought he would ever be in love with one. He suddenly stopped the music, there were no instruments, he had convinced her that he was using a type of magic to manipulate sounds and make music, and she accepted that explanation. 

"why did you stop?" 

She asked with a bit if disappointment, the two of them were currently at the back yard if her home, her parents had allowed Apollo to stay with them when she explained that she found him washed up ashore and that he had no place, Apollo himself at the time thought a good idea to play along, the reason for that was obvious, he fancied Daphne however using his godhood as a selling point to earn her affection seemed shallow or at the very least he believed he didn't need to, after all if he can't get a woman to love him without mentioning that he is a god then the confidence he has in his looks was unfounded. 

Although spending this time with her has allowed him to figure out somethings about her, he discovered a few things that he is unsure she's aware of, despite currently limiting himself to human levels of strength his divine sight was able to gleam into her soul and found out that she was no normal mortal which only further peaked his interest. 

" I just needed you to be still for a few moments. You dancing is atrocious" 

"how rude, dancing is just moving your body around,It's an artistic form of expression, so it can't be atrocious" 

"not when you're just flailing your arms every which way, you insult the muse Terpsichore with such Dancing" 

He chuckled a bit, earning a displeased pout from the beautiful maiden. How could he insult her in such a way? 

"Can you dance then? because you seem to be talking an awful lot" 

She questioned as she stood still and tilted her head sideways and looked at him and her hands behind her back her ocean blue eyes seemed to glow as the light of the sun reflected upon them. This was an attempt from her to appear more appealing to him, which succeeded as he paused for a bit 

"I'll take your silence as a yes to my question" 

He did not respond but instead smiled and beckoned her to come closer, and she complied, once before she was before him, he touched her pink flushed cheeks tenderly and placed her upon his lap. The woman felt a great bit of fuzziness in her stomach. His beautiful golden eyes were alluring, by the Gods she'd swear such handsomeness could only be wielded by a God. 

"Silence does not equal compliance. To agree is to affirm and exercise ones own will and show case that it is a firm spirit capable of defiance." 

He spoke while his hands roamed her back and his nose taking in her smell. She smelled of fresh lavender and cherries, and a sense of great desire had struck him at this moment 

"was that a poem?" 

She asked whilst snaking her arms around his neck and using her hand to feel his hair. It was silky smooth, more so than any silk she's ever held. Her heart seemed to halt whenever he held her like this. His embrace was comforting, his arms rigid and strong, she had never seen him fight, but she knew he could protect her. His existence gave her a sense of security that she wasn't aware she needed. 

"Hardly, just words" 

The atmosphere changed as the two stared at each other the eyes, their foreheads touched as Daphne leaned closer, their noses touch as Apollo leaned closer, their lips slowly inched closer until… 

*Roar!!!* 

A loud roar sounded from above the clouds and shook the air, interrupting their intimate moment. Both looked up in the sky and saw nothing, Daphne's mother exited the house. 

"What was that?" 

She asked them, to which they shook their heads in ignorance, another resounded in the area this time shaking the very buildings and structures, everyone within the city of Arcadia started exiting their homes to see what was happening many were asking those who were already outside about the noise. 

The little clouds that were in the sky parted and revealed a giant black mass, it's dark scales glistened in the sun with it wings flapping up and down with enough force to cause shockwave, it was a dragon and the creatures land right at the centre of the city and roared one last time. 

The citizens were stunned into silence as the sudden arrival of such a monster had seemed unreal. It took no more than 5 seconds before chaos ensued. Seeing the little morsels before it, the dragon began to feast. No one was spared, men women or children the dragon simply scooped up as many as it could with its mouth and swallowed them whole, they didn't even make it down to its stomach as they were quickly dissolved into black dust by the dragon's own dark fluids. 

"Apollo what are you doing!!" 

Daphne screamed as she watched Apollo jump over the fence and run straight towards the Monster, her parents behind her beckoned her to leave him be and run away but she found herself stepping forward rather than turning back, she then sprinted after Apollo, jumping over the fence with ease she chased after her foolish lover. 

Apollo ran towards the dragon. Each step he took increased his momentum until, eventually, he was so fast he had become a golden blur. Daphne, who had been a little ways behind him, was shocked to see such speed. 

The golden blur that was Apollo slammed his foot onto the stomach of the beast and sent it flying across the city, spiraling through the air destroying buildings and any poor soul that happened behind it. As the dragon struggled to gain control of its body Apollo wasted no time, using the power of the sun, he floated upwards and then aimed his hand towards the creature before a concentrated beam of light was expelled from his palm, the beam moved at speeds incomprehensible to normal man and crashed on to the Dragon, its intense heat burned the beast charring its body in to a deeper shade of black, it writhed in pain and whimpered as it tried to fly away but Apollo didn't let up, he increased the heat of the beam by each second that passed. 

The dragon thrashed around and writhe but Apollo had it pinned, there was nowhere it could go and for a full 5 minutes the people of Arcadia watched as a beast that nearly killed them all burn to death at the hands of Apollo. 

"That should be enough" 

Seeing that the Beast had stopped writhing in pain, he had concluded that it was dead. As such, he stopped the attack and descended down to the ground. Looking at its remains, he saw nothing, but It's burnt remains. It was nothing but black ash. 

"Apollo!" 

Daphne arrived huffing and puffing, with a bit of sweat on her forehead, Apollo had opened a great distance between himself and her as such she has had to run at full speed in order get to him on-time, arriving in front of him she bent down a bit using her knees as support. 

"Are you alright?" 

She asked as the urge to sit down overwhelmed her, and she simply let herself fall on her butt. Apollo smiled. Of course, she didn't know he was a god, but it was a bit nice to have somebody worry over himself. It reminded him of his mother. 

"of course— 

He had extended his hand to offer her away to Stand up but unfortunately that hand was gone, along with its shoulder, and searing pain comparable to the flames of Tartarus assaulted him, in his haste to get away he forgot Daphne who was immediately swallowed by a black mass along with his arm. 

"NO! DAPHNE" 

Was all he could do as the black mass suddenly covered the whole city whole forcing him to fly up high in the air. The black mass swallowed everyone. Leaving the whole city whole but all the people were nowhere to be found, the black mass seeped into the floor and disappeared, leaving Apollo stricken with grief and loss, his arm regenerated but what good was it now? 

"Apollo are you alright?!!" 

Hephaestus along with Hades arrived right behind Apollo With Hephaestus asking the question but Apollo didn't respond, all he did was simply descend down to the ground, he looked around and there wasn't a single person on the city, the wind whistled as it blew through the empty street. 

"What was that?" 

"we don't know" 

Hephaestus answered as he touched down on the ground before kneeling and touching the soil was fine and there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary, the plant life wasn't effected, he even spotted a insect. So, it was clear that the black mass was most likely after humans. 

"Whatever it is, it's dangerous we have to find it and kill it" 

Hades stated, he had a deep contemplative look on his face, as he tried to figure out what it could possibly be. For a brief moment, he thought of Nyx. 

...

A/N: Poor Apollo, I feel bad for him, well, not really

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