- Artemis's Pov -
Apollo is dead.
The words had no meaning.
Apollo is dead.
I knew what each word meant, but together, they were impossible to decipher.
Apollo is dead.
Apollo is dead.
My brother is dead.
My baby brother, my annoying, wonderful baby brother, is dead.
The words made sense. I wished they hadn't.
I wanted to scream.
Apollo is dead.
That thought would not leave my mind.
Then it got worse.
I heard Zeus yell, "He is GONE. Even his essence has been destroyed."
What?
No.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!
Worse than dead.
I would NEVER see him again. EVER. He didn't EXIST anymore.
I sat there, frozen. I could hear yelling going on, but I couldn't comprehend anything but what I'd just heard.
Apollo is GONE FOREVER.
I sat there frozen for an eternity. Then I felt a familiar tingle in the air.
I knew what was about to happen. But I was too late to stop it.
Lightning ripped from Zeus's bolt, incinerating Apollo's young companion, the girl who he would trade his own life to save.
Only a small pile of ash was left on the floor.
I launched myself at Zeus, summoning one of Britomartis's Celestial Bronze hunting nets as I did. He did this. He sent Apollo down to earth. He prevented me from helping him. And he had just murdered one of Apollo's precious people.
Zeus was a wild beast. I would hunt him.
I threw the net over him. My Hunters swiftly entangled him in it. The demigods of Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter kept Zeus distracted, attacking him whenever he tried to harm one of my Hunters.
Percy Jackson knocked Zeus's Master Bolt out of his hand, passing it over to Thalia. Zeus struggled and yelled even more at that.
He yelled and threatened, something about how he'd kill all the demigods and hunters, and threatening the other Olympians to come to his aid.
I didn't care. Apollo was gone. Zeus could yell all he liked. I would not listen to him.
Zeus was nicely trussed up by now. My Hunters are good at their jobs.
thwack
I fired an arrow at Zeus.
thwack
Another one dug into his flesh.
thwack
If Zeus hadn't prevented me from helping Apollo, would he still be alive?
thwack
After I had sent Britomartis to help Apollo in Indianapolis, Zeus had confined me to Olympus and prevented me from even watching Apollo's quest, much less helping him.
thwack
Zeus's punishment had suppressed the telepathic connection Apollo and I normally shared. I couldn't sense him at all. I couldn't tell whether he was alive or dead.
thwack
And now he was dead.
thwack
thwack
thwack
Zeus was covered in silver arrows, dripping ichor on the floor. I sank to the floor and wailed, tears spilling from my eyes.
I don't know how long I lay there sobbing.
Then something changed.
I could feel a tension in the air, and a presence — no, TWO presences. I looked up, not daring to hope.
A soft light formed where Zeus had murdered that poor girl. It grew brighter and brighter, until it was painful for mortals to look at.
But I was no mortal.
I watched as the light receded, revealing a young girl in a shimmering green dress.
She was holding a small bundle to her chest.
Meg McCaffrey had returned.
And she wasn't alone.
