The world still smoldered from Phaethon's reckless ride. Scorched lands stretched as far as the eye could see, the rivers were dry, and the sky bore scars of the great fire.
But the worst was yet to come.
As Helios stood in his burning palace, watching the consequences of his son's actions, he felt a force beyond even Olympus stir against him—the Will of the World.
It was not a being, nor a god, but the very balance that governed existence. And it had decided:
Helios had failed.
A great curse descended upon him, searing through his divine soul. His power faltered, his radiance dimmed, and for the first time since the dawn of time—the Sun wavered.
Helios gasped, falling to his knees as his own flames began to reject him.
The world had cast its judgment.
And the other gods watched in silence.
Among the gods of Olympus, one saw an opportunity.
Apollo, god of light, had long envied Helios' role as the charioteer of the Sun. Though he was revered for his light, music, and healing, he lacked the absolute dominance of the celestial sphere.
But now, as Helios weakened, Apollo made his decision.
He would claim the Sun.
Yet, to do so, he needed to sever himself from the past.
And so, with cold determination, Apollo took hold of his own divine essence—the concept of Light itself.
He raised it high, and before all Olympus, he offered it to the Sun.
A sacrifice of divinity.
Light, which had once existed independent of the Sun, now merged with it. The Sun became the singular source of illumination in the world, and Apollo became its master.
The god of light was no more.
But in his place, a new god arose—Apollo, God of the Sun.
Olympus shook. The sky changed.
And Helios—felt his authority vanish.
---
The gods gathered in the great hall of Olympus, where Zeus sat upon his throne, judgment in his eyes.
Helios stood in chains, his once-golden radiance now a flickering ember.
Selene, his sister, stepped forward.
"Brother Zeus, I beg you—this punishment is too great! Helios did not seek to destroy the world!"
Zeus' gaze was unmoved.
"And yet, it was his hands that let it happen."
The other Olympians watched in silence. Even Poseidon, who had once warred with Helios, did not speak.
The Will of the World had chosen to cast Helios aside—to defy this would mean disrupting the balance itself.
And so, the judgment was passed:
Helios was to be cast into Tartarus, his divine essence forever bound in chains.
Selene cried out, but her voice was drowned by the decree.
The gates of Tartatus opened and darkness swallowed the fallen Sun God.
---
The New Order
As Helios was dragged into the abyss, Apollo took his place upon the celestial throne.
The gods looked upon him—no longer just the god of light.
Now, he was the Sun itself.
And thus, the old world was gone. No longer did the Sun shine as a celestial chariot pulled by divine steeds.
Now, it burned as an eternal flame in the sky—the undisputed source of light.
And Apollo, with a smile of victory, knew that he had won.
After Helios' downfall, Selene, the goddess of the moon, grew bitter. She had failed to save her brother, and now, Apollo reigned as the sun.
But unlike Helios, who had always carried the sun's light, Selene's power was more fragile—her moonlight was not her own, but a reflection of the sun.
Now that Apollo had altered the very nature of light, Selene's power began to fade.
Without Helios to balance her existence, she found herself weaker with each passing night.
Artemis, the huntress and twin of Apollo, had always been close to the moon.
She roamed the forests by night, guiding her hunters under Selene's glow. Yet, as Selene weakened, the night itself began to change.
The balance between the sun and the moon was breaking.
Apollo, newly ascended as the sun god, saw this—and whispered an idea to his sister:
"If Selene fades, the night will need a new guardian. Who better than you, Artemis?"
At first, Artemis refused. She was a huntress, not a celestial ruler.
But then, she saw the suffering of her hunters—the beasts of the wild struggled without the steady glow of the moon.
And so, she made her decision.
On the night of the eclipse, Artemis hunted Selene.
In the darkness, a battle raged.
Selene, desperate to hold onto her domain, fought with the last of her strength, but she was no warrior. Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, was merciless.
With an arrow made from moonstone, she struck Selene down.
The Moon Goddess fell.
But Artemis did not kill her. Instead, she absorbed Selene's divinity, taking her place as the new goddess of the moon.
The night reclaimed its balance. The moon, now tied directly to Artemis, became a symbol of the hunt, of wild freedom, of the beasts that roamed beneath its silver glow.
And thus, Selene faded into history.
With Apollo as the sun and Artemis as the moon, the celestial order was reforged.
No longer did the sun and moon belong to the ancient Titans—now, they belonged to Olympus.
Selene, like Helios, was reduced to a forgotten deity, her name only whispered in the winds of the past.
Before her fall, Selene, the Goddess of the Moon, had twelve divine children—one for each cycle of the moon, one for each phase of the year.
These twelve children were not Olympians nor Titans but celestial spirits, each governing a piece of time itself. Their names and powers shaped the way mortals understood the passing of months and seasons.
When Selene faded and Artemis took her place, her twelve children scattered, their fate uncertain. They hid themself in the river of time and stayed there forever. But their influence remained, forever woven into the fabric of time. Their existence bought forth the concept of year, month, and day.
The Twelve Lunar Spirits were :
1. Eione (January) – The Cold Dawn.
2. Thero (February) – The Snowmelt.
3. Chloris (March) – The First Bloom. The youngest and most playful.
4. Eiarion (April) – The Spring Storm.
5. Thallo (May) – The Fruitful Maiden.
6. Therion (June) – The Sun's Gaze. The twin brother of Thallo.
7. Helike (July) – The Fire Bearer. The most passionate of Selene's children.
8. Karpos (August) – The Harvest Keeper
9. Sporos (September) – The Sower of Seeds
10. Briseis (October) – The Winds of Change
11. Skia (November) – The Twilight Walker
12. Nyxios (December) – The Longest Night