Apollo, the god of the sun, sat in his chariot and pulled the sun behind him. The sky filled with light and farmers woke as roosters crowed. Laughter filled his ears and he heard something else, a calling from one of the temples on the west side of the mountains. He slowly made his way towards the laughter and as the sun set he arrived at the temple and saw two children inside. A young boy, with dark brown hair sat on the floor along with a strikingly similar girl, who was significantly taller than the boy, tall enough to reach fruit on trees, with a bright pink streak covering the brown of her left eye. Her hands were calloused from working in farms and her skin glowed with health. They laughed and chewed on bread and cheese. Apollo watched the two talk and laugh, enjoying themselves though they were alone and felt his heart twinge slightly. He looked up and understood why he was called. The twins had left half of their food in front of a small statue of him and Artemis, and their prayers had brought him there. 

The boy, Alexei, walked outside and held his hand out and light illuminated the darkness, creating a path. Little bugs with fire, fireflies, buzzed around him. Other than creating paths of light he seemed to have no power. They began walking and Alexis stepped on a wilting group of flowers. Before Apollo’s eyes, she purged it of the disease it had and restored its blossoms, turning them bright hues of orange and red that glowed in the dark. The entire field vibrated in power and the dry grass grew tall and a healthy shade of green. The power of taking away and giving disease. Apollo saw his power in them and their strength and the boy’s ability to summon the sun and girls ability to cure and give disease left no doubt, they were his children. They would make wonderful companions and their powers would make them useful for small tasks Apollo needed done. Apollo stepped into the light and illuminated the sky. Alexis and Alexei turned and looked at him, and almost instantly let go of their magic and bowed. Immortality grasped them and the two children became gods. After they understood what had happened, they thanked Apollo and agreed to be his apprentices.

As time went by, Apollo taught them about their magic and Alexis grew powerful. Too powerful for his liking. Alexis could now control disease of plants without any help and had the power to destroy crops with a sweep of her hand. Afraid of power, Apollo threw one of his strongest arrows into the sun and asked the two to retrieve it for him. Chains of dead plants were brought forth to pull the arrow. Proud to be offered such a task by her father and overconfident, Alexis got to work, telling her younger brother she wouldn’t need much help. Alexei held the chain from the ground and Alexis climbed the plant decay and pulled at the arrow at the end. The second she pulled, flames covered the sky and the sun cut open from the center and its hollow center was visible. Both of them were thrust into the sun, trapped in a ball of heat. The two sat inside and wept, their tears falling to the earth in the form of fireflies and seeds. 

The sounds of his children crying hurt him, and the great sun god realized it was better to give them some responsibilities and have his friends by his side instead of imprisoning them in fear of their powers. He let them go and till today, Alexis roams the earth with her signature red and orange flowers surrounding her and cures crops or destroys them with her mighty powers over disease, and Alexei stands by her side helping her make her way through the dark by illuminating the darkness with fireflies and stars.