The Sun God and His Laurel

A thousand years ago, Daphne, daughter of the river god, deeply loved Apollo, the sun god. Apollo was poisoned through the heart by the serpent Python while saving her, and lay dying. Barefoot and bleeding, Daphne carried the unconscious Apollo to the temple of Olympus, only to be publicly humiliated by Queen Hera—who agreed to save Apollo only if Daphne was stripped of her divine status and turned into a mortal laurel tree, never to see Apollo again. The muse Clio seized the opportunity, claiming Daphne was dead and became Apollo's companion. But as a laurel tree, Daphne absorbed a single teardrop from Apollo that fell through the clouds, and gave birth to twins with divine blood—golden-eyed Helios and green-eyed Flora. Over five years, Daphne clung to human form through sheer will, struggling to raise her children on scraps of magic stones, while hunted by Clio, buried alive by villagers, and torn by wild dogs. At five years old, Helios ventured alone to Olympus to save his mother, and in his desperation unleashed the power of his sun god bloodline—finally alerting Apollo, who had searched for Daphne for five years in vain. Apollo followed the bloodline trail, found the truth, burned his enemies, and carved out half of his divine core to keep Daphne alive. When Apollo's sun core went wild, Daphne saved him with her laurel essence, and as their powers merged, she fully regained her divine form. In the end, Clio's schemes were exposed and she was imprisoned in the abyss forever. Apollo crowned Daphne as his queen before all the gods, and the family of four was reunited—the sun would never set, and the laurel would never wither.