My name is Artemis; I used to be a god.

In my four thousand six hundred and twelve years, I have done many things. But in all my immortal life, I have not once been turned mortal.

The same cannot be said for my brother.

The idiot's been turned mortal twice before now, none them without injury...

The first thing I was aware of was that I was falling. The wind rushed through my clothes, making them flap wildly against my sides. I hated falling. It always happens at the worst times. It's very inconvenient to be perfectly honest. I'm a goddess, why does gravity have to affect me when I don't want it to? The wind plastered my hair against my face. I am going to punch Bores for that insult. Eventually. I doubt I get the chance anytime soon.

Skyscrapers passed in and out of view as I fell. Flames streamed off my body; Zeus must really be angry.

I tried to turn into a cloud or bird or even teleport across the world, all of which should have been easy for me.

Despite that, I kept falling.

The second thing I realized was I wasn't alone, someone was falling next to me. I could feel the air parting around their form.

My brother.

I don't know how I knew it was him, but something just told me it was.

He was screaming. His voice high pitched and utterly terrified. His throat sounded hoarse from yelling and he almost sounded like he had been crying.

I wondered why.

Something told me I knew why, but I just couldn't remember.

I didn't know why I couldn't remember.

Gods have a perfect memory. I shouldn't be able to forget.

I kept trying to do something, anything, to slow our descent. Nothing worked.

The ground was getting closer and closer.

Apollo was still screaming. He seemed desperate, he sounded terrified, something told me this was my fault.

I just didn't know what.

We just kept on falling. We plunged into a crevice between two buildings, and I braced myself for impact.

BAM.

The air was knocked out of my lungs, I felt dizzy. We had landed in a dumpster. How quaint.

Sadly, this wasn't the first time this had happened to me. (I had lost a bet with Hermes. It wasn't my finest moment.)

My eyesight dimmed for a moment and I felt like crying out in pain. All I could smell was rancid meat and rotting something- I didn't want to know what was rotting. But something certainly was.

I felt queasy, if I had had anything in my stomach I certainly would have puked.

My ribs felt broken.

This shouldn't have been possible. A fall from that high shouldn't have even hurt me.

Apollo was silent.

I realized in horror I had landed on top of him.

I am a horrible sister.

I rolled off of him, then struggled to sit up. I couldn't remember what had happened. How had I got here? Why couldn't I do anything?

YOU SHOULD HAVE JUST LET HIM BE, ARTEMIS.My father's booming voice echoed in my head.IT IS HIS FAULT. THIS IS HIS PUNISHMENT. YOU DON'T NEED TO JOIN HIM.I remembered now. Zeus had stripped him of his immortality, torturing and breaking him in the process. I felt angry. I felt weak. I felt so so painstakingly mortal.IT'S HIS FAULT ARTEMIS. ABANDON HIM NOW, AND I WILL RECALL YOU TO OLYMPUS.I remembered my brother curled in a tight ball sobbing and shaking. I remembered him thanking me endlessly for "saving him".

I am a pitiful joke. I couldn't save him. I had failed him. Now we were both mortals. I wasn't going to fail him again. I knew what I was doing. He wouldn't make it alone, not right now at least. No. I'm not leaving him. IT'S YOUR CHOICE THEN.I was left with my own thoughts.

I tried to remember the details of Apollo's sentencing, had Father told us how long it would last? How to become immortal again? My mind was too fuzzy. It was infuriating. I knew what had happened before, my memories were clear enough for that. A war with the giants. Apollo had fallen for one of his spawn's flattery. But Zeus had punished him severely, and he needed me. I wasn't going to leave him to fend for himself. I knew Zeus wasn't going to reconsider, but I had to get to my feet. I needed to get us to safety. I wasn't going to let him get hurt. Not again. I gripped the rim of the dumpster tightly, my ribs throbbed and my stomach clenched. I didn't want to think about how badly Apollo must be hurt. I had landed on him after all. If my ribs were broken I can only imagine his.

I clawed my way out of the dumpster and toppled over the side. I landed on my back, I lay there for awhile. Trying to catch my breath. I had to get up. I had to get us to safety. Getting up, to put it nicely, was horrid. My head spun and my body screamed in agony.

Why are you humans so fragile? I only fell a measly few hundred feet.

I somehow managed to stand. We were in a dead end alley, about 50 feet from the exit. This looked like the west side of Manhattan. Zeus must be really angry... At least that hero, what was his name again. Oh. Right. That hero, Perseus Jackson lived in New York. I leaned against the dumpster, my hands shaking. How was I going to get both of us in one piece across town?

Hopefully, Zeus was kind enough to leave us some cash. We could hail a taxi if he did.

First things first. Check how badly off Apollo is. He came first. I was not going to fail him again. (Why did I feel like this was my fault? I knew this! I just couldn't recall...) I took a deep breath and turned to face Apollo. I wanted to scream and cry at the same time when I saw him.

He was horribly pale, his eyes closed tightly and his breathing irregular. Dark bruises covered his visible skin, and he looked about 15.

He had curly brown hair and looked nothing like he was supposed to.

Zeus did this to him.

Zeus hurt him.

Now the hard part, I hooked my arms under him and dragged him out of the dumpster. He whimpered weakly in his unconscious state. I hoped I hadn't aggravated his injuries too much.

Despite that I had dragged him out, he didn't wake up. Not even when I propped him against the wall.

He was wearing a polo shirt and jeans. Something my brother would never ordinarily wear. He looked nothing like he usually did. We were both Caucasian, and if we looked anything alike then I probably had a killer case of acne. I inspected my new body, I didn't appear any older or younger than Apollo was.

I guess being 16 is better than being 12 as a mortal.

I felt sick, weak, and so, so, human.

How do you mortals even tolerate it?

You can't do anything fun. You can't send death arrows across the land. You can't flatten disrespectful men with a snap of the fingers. You can't even summon a weapon! I don't understand how you manage that.

I started searching my pockets, looking for something, anything useful. I found a cheap wallet and a New York State Juniors license.

So we WERE in New York. A

The name read Livia Papadopoulos. I cringed. Livia?! Papadopoulos?! Why.. Why couldn't he have just put something like Artie Olympia or something along those lines. My face wasn't bad, but I didn't really care what I looked like either way... The flimsy wallet contained a hundred dollars cash. Score. With that money, I could get us to Perseus's house. I checked Apollos pockets, he also had a license and cash. Cool.

Apollo's eyes fluttered open, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, Apollo." I murmured, sitting next to him.

"Artemis..?" His voice was small and weak and I just wanted to gather him in my arms and shelter him from the world.

"I'm here 'Pollo" I put a hand on his shoulder. Tears welled up in his eyes.

"You're okay," He said quickly. I felt confused, why wouldn't I have been okay?

"I'm fine, Apollo" He nodded and let out a shaky breath. His eyes closed and he relaxed a bit. He grabbed my hand. I let him.

"Hey Cade, would you take a look at these losers"

I whirled around, two men stood in the alley's entrance. One was platinum blond and the other had red hair. They both wore oversize hoodies and baggy pants. For some unknown reason, they both had serpentine tattoos wrapping around there necks. I doubted they were just overly enthusiastic Slytherins. I was glad Apollo's eyes are closed. He may try to hide it, but his fear of snakes is terribly noticeable.

One time, Hermes dropped a snake on his shoulders and he screamed. I had laughed until he ran out mortified. OnlyI'mallowed to make fun of his fear of snakes. From that point onward, I threatened anyone under the pain of blunted arrows who dared prank him with snakes.

Anyways, the two men basically screamed thug. Males like them were why I hate their kind. Brutish and completely worthless. Truly the pinnacle of human filth.

Their eyes zeroed in on the wallets I was holding. I was not going to let them mug me. I needed the money to hail a taxi. If they took it we would have to walk, and I doubted either of us could make it very far in our present state. Why are mortals so fragile?

"Now Mikey, be nice. These two look friendly enough" He pulled a hunting knife from his belt. This could get ugly fast. "In fact, I bet they want to give us all their money"

"No." I stood up. "I am the goddess Artemis. If you know what is good for you, you will leave me and my brother alone. You have two choices, leave now or become a jackal."

"I don't know, should we leave Mikey?"

"Nah Cade. I don't see her turning us into a jackal."

"I will destroy you," I said evenly.

Mikey snorted. "How about we destroy you instead?" He stepped forward.

I slipped the wallets into my back pocket, raising my fists. I didn't want to kill mortals, but some things couldn't be helped.

Then, I heard a voice.

"Don't hurt her" Apollo staggered to his feet. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. The sight made me stumble back.

It was red.

He was bleeding.

We really were mortal.

"Oh? I doubt you could take a single punch loser"

"Try me" His eyes had a dark gleam in them as he stumbled in front of me. "Apollo- you can't-" I tried to stop him.

"I've had worse recently" he murmured, but his legs were nearly giving out under him. "Please... Just let me do this for you.." He sounded terrified.

"I am Apollo" His voice was shaking. He sounded like he might pass out. I didn't want him to do this. I put a hand on his shoulder.

"My powers are far beyond your comprehension. Flee or face destruction"

Mikey laughed and lumbered forward, Apollo went to punch him. I tried to hold him back but he was already charging.

He missed, the thug ducking. He stumbled forward, caught in the force of his punch. The male kicked Apollo in the back, and my dear brother fell on his face. I screamed his name, going to rush forward, but the Cade guy held me back, I fought and twisted in his grip. What I would have done for my hunters right then. Apollo didn't get up. He laid there for a good 10 seconds before he rolled over.

"Cade, are you comprehending this guy's power?" The thug holding me gave no indication of him letting me go.

"Nah Mikey."

"I.. I will destroy you" Apollo sounded like shit. I wanted to scream at him to just back off.

"But first, how about we have some fun." My head was forcefully turned to look at Apollo. Mikey raised his foot over Apollo's face and stomped down.