Before I start, Artemis and Apollo don't know that they are Gods yet. Just a clarification. Enjoy!
Son of the Pit
Chapter 2: A family
Artemis
I watched as the strange boy was spit out of the pit onto the porch of our hut. He looked to be around my age and had unruly black hair. He warily turned to face us and I couldn't help but be captivated with his eyes.
His eyes were a sea green with black specks in them, almost like snow. He was well built, and I felt my face heat up as I realized he was staring back at me. Just his gaze made me feel insignificant, he made me feel like I was nothing. I tried to break my gaze, but found that I couldn't for his eyes were the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I reached up and grabbed my mother's hand and took a step back to hide behind her leg.
This lasted for a couple minutes before my mother spoke up, "Who might you be, young one?"
"Err, hi I'm Perseus Jackson." He stated.
"And why are you here Perseus?"
Flashback
I was 5 years old. I was living with my mortal mother in Greece when a man appeared at my front door. My mother seemed to know this man as she told me to get as far away as possible. I hid in the bathroom as I heard the man scream 'WHERE IS HE.' I cowered in the corner and bawled. My mother was screaming at the top of her lungs for the man to stop. I heard glass shattering and suddenly the screaming stopped. The man kicked the door down and looked at me with a cruel smile. He grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and dragged me outside. When we got to the living room my mom was dead. He dragged me outside and threw me into a seemingly endless pit. Hours passed and we were still falling.
When we got to the bottom he teleported us into his palace where I was tortured brutally. Every day he punched me. Stabbed me. He set my clothes on fire and let it char my skin. 'STOP PLEASE I BEG YOU' I would scream, but it was all in vain as he would just smirk at me with a cruel glint in his eyes.
End of Flashback
"I lived there for many years, training my skills with a different weapons and also training my powers. With the help of my two aunts I escaped and well here I am now."
"Who is your dad?" my annoying brother Apollo blurted out before covering his mouth with his hands.
"That's not your business." Perseus said rather angrily.
"Okay, children that is enough for today. You kids go to your room. Perseus I wish to speak with you." My mother said with a stern expression and a knowing glint in her eyes leaving no room to argue. Apollo and I walked to our room and crashed on our respective beds.
"Who do you think his father is?" asked my brother.
"No clue." I replied.
"Do you think he'll be staying with us?"
"I don't know."
"Do you like him?" Apollo asked while wagging his eyebrows.
"Apollo!" I said through gritted teeth. "SHUT YOUR HOLE BEFORE I GUT YOU."
"Okay geez, sis chill. Good night lil' sis."
"I'm older than you, you air head." All I heard was laughter before I drifted off into sleep.
Line Break
When I woke up I was surprised to see Perseus sleeping on a chair with his head rested on my desk. He was wearing a fresh set of clothes and had a bit of drool coming from the corner of his mouth. He looked so peaceful when he slept unlike the pained expression he carried last night. I tried to sneak out the door as quietly as possible, but as I was tiptoeing towards the door there was a loud creak coming from the floor beneath me. He jumped from the chair and swiftly turned to the direction I was in.
"Umm hey." He started while rubbing the back of his head.
"Morning. I don't think I introduced myself yesterday. I'm Artemis." I said while awkwardly sticking my hand out.
Instead of shaking my hand he reached out and took a strand of hair that was dangling in front of my face, and brushed it behind my ear.
"Your hair is beautiful." He said. I blushed deep gold at that and stared down at the floor.
Perseus
As I touched her hair I realized how beautiful she was. She had mesmerizing silver eyes and silky auburn hair that ran down to the middle of her back.
Noticing her blush I cooed, "Aww you're so cute when you blush, Arty." I pinched her cheek to emphasize.
"DON'T CALL ME ARTY!" Artemis shouted indignantly and swatting away my hand causing me to stifle my laughter.
"Fine, my little huntress." I said copying what I heard Leto call her when we were having their concentration last night.
"SHUT UP, PERSEUS!" Artemis angrily shouted.
"Aww you guys are so cute." Apollo cooed from his bed. At this I glanced at Artemis who was blushing gold causing me to smirk. Just then Lady Leto called for us to come eat breakfast, saving her from any further embarrassment.
"Race you guys outside!" Apollo yelled sprinting towards the door.
"Oh Hades no, you aren't beating me!" I yelled, my competitive nature coming out.
"Boys…" I heard Artemis mutter while sprinting to catch up to us.
Line Break
"So, Perseus since you are our guest, you get to decide what we will eat for breakfast today." Leto said once we settled down.
"Umm- I don't know? My father rarely fed me when I was living with him." I said looking down to avoid the looks of shock and pity coming from my new family.
"OOOH! OOOH! We can take Perseus to hunt!" Apollo suggested clearly excited.
"That sounds like a great idea, Sunshine. Grab your bows and Perseus grab a spare from your guys' room. Be careful you guys!" Leto yelled after us.
Line Break
We were having lots of fun while hunting for deer. I felt that Artemis and Apollo were warming up to him but were still a bit intimidated by me because of my strange aura. They often whispered behind my back when they thought I wasn't paying attention, but I didn't mind, I was just glad I had a family for once. They talked about their life on Delos while I tried to avoid talking about my life as much as possible. I decided that I would tell them sometime in the future, but I wasn't ready for that yet. I loved making fun of Artemis, when I called her a nickname she would blush deep gold and try to hide her face. She looked so cute when she was embarrassed.
I felt a disturbance around us due to my heightened senses, because I've been training for so long. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a figure pounce at Artemis, thinking quickly I shoved her out of the way and pulled out my dagger just in time to block a strike from a massive hellhound. All of a sudden a cyclops and a basilisk step (and slithered) forward.
"Artemis! Apollo! Go! I'll hold them back! Find Leto!" I frantically yelled while blocking another swipe from the hellhound.
"But, we can't just leave you he-" Artemis shouted with tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
"Just go! I'll be fine!" I said while striking at the hellhound causing a deep gash appear on its face. Glancing back I saw that Apollo was dragging a distraught Artemis back towards their house. Being Tartarus' sons I had lots of powers like inhuman strength, darkness powers, power over lava, and being able to strike fear into anything's hearts.
I induced terror into the hellhound causing it to whimper in fear before shooting lava out of the palm of my hand at the cyclops' eye. This caused the cyclops to stumble back into a tree. The basilisk pounced at me and I rolled to the side before stabbing my dagger outward into the body of the basilisk causing it to explode into golden dust.
'One down two to go' I thought
Seeing as the cyclops was still backed into the tree, I sprinted towards it and went on a flurry of strikes. The cyclops tried to hammer fist me into the ground, but I was quicker. I rolled to the side before once again shooting lava into its eye. Once I finished off the cyclops I turned around to see the claw of the hellhound slash against my chest causing my flesh to be ripped out. I grimaced in pain and growled in anger.
My eyes burned with hatred as I slashed at the hellhound as fast as I could not caring about my wound. I slashed at the body of the hellhound before ducking to avoid a strike. I saw its legs tense signaling that it was preparing to pounce at me. As it pounced to the spot I was at I dove to the right before stabbing my dagger through the heart of the hellhound. I watched in satisfaction as the hellhound exploded into golden dust.
Darkness began to swim in my vision for overworking myself. The last thing I saw was Artemis and Leto run towards me before I fell unconscious.
Line Break
I woke up on a bed in a dark room. I felt a weight on my chest and looked down to see the sleeping form of Artemis, her head on my chest, and her hair sprawled all over. I realized that I was wearing the same clothes, but my wound had closed up. I reached down and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. An involuntary shiver ran down her spine which caused her to start to stir. I held my breath not wanting her to wake up, but unfortunately she did.
"Perseus?" Artemis whispered groggily.
"Hey, Arty." I said softly, while running my fingers through her hair.
"Perseus!" She shouted. She pounced at me and crushed me in a back breaking hug. This woke Apollo up who was sleeping in the bed next to us, and Leto who was in the other room. Apollo barreled toward us and crushed us in a group hug followed by Leto. I felt my eyes tearing up as this was the first time in a long time that I felt like I had a family. I felt tears spilling down the crook of my neck, and realized that Artemis was crying. Hesitantly, I reached down and ran my hand soothingly down her back.
When we broke apart I looked at Leto questioningly. She responded by saying, "I have already explained to them about the world of gods and that they are both soon to be Olympians." To which I nodded.
"I guess it is time to explain who my father is then. My father is the abyss of doom, Tartarus." I stated. A collective gasp came from both Artemis and Apollo, but a knowing glance from Leto signaling that she had already figured it out.
"So, are you a god or a mortal?" asked Leto.
"As far as I know I am not a god, but I am an immortal. I know because my father made me an immortal so that, and I quote, 'I could suffer a millennia of his tortures." I growled as I said the last part. We decided that we wouldn't talk any further, and we all drifted off to sleep.
Line Break
Third Person
Months had gone by and the trio became closer than ever. Wherever one of them went the others would follow. They did everything together, they ate together, they hunted together, and they stayed up together. But, Perseus had grown even closer to Artemis than he did to Leto or Apollo. It became tradition that at night the two of them would go to the beach together, when Leto and Apollo had gone to sleep, for they both loved watching the moon and the tides.
Flashback
Artemis
I couldn't sleep at night and couldn't find Perseus in his bed. Not wanting to disturb Apollo I decided that I would search for him on my own. I walked onto the beach and found a lone figure sitting on the beach, watching the flow of the tides. I walked towards the figure and found that it was Perseus. I took a seat next to him, and stared up at the sky.
Without looking at me, he said, "Beautiful isn't it? I've always wanted to see the moon, the stars, the sky, and the ocean when I was in Tartarus. I dreamed that one day I'll get my chance to see all of this in person."
He looked into my eyes and I felt my breath hitch. "Thank you, Artemis." This confused me. What did he have to thank me for? I sensed that this was serious for he didn't use a nickname as he usually does.
"For what?" I asked genuinely confused.
"For giving me a reason to live. When I was in Tartarus, I wanted nothing more than to be put out of my misery. I wanted to commit suicide, but I couldn't, hoping that one day I'll get to see the world above again, hoping that one I'll find my reason to live. And it payed off. I've found my reason to live, for you."
I felt a lump form in my throat. I couldn't believe his words. I gave him a reason to live. Did I really mean that much to him? Acting on impulse, I kissed his cheek before blushing a bright gold. I leaned my head onto his shoulder and we sat in a comfortable silence. We watched the tides for hours, but neither of us seemed to care. Eventually, my eyes began drooping threatening to close shut. The last thing I remembered was being kissed on the forehead before drifting off into the realm of Morpheus.
Flashback over
Third Person
Perseus ended up carrying Artemis back inside before going off to sleep himself. Perseus now considered Leto his mother and Leto considered Perseus her son. Both feared that one day that this perfect little family would be torn apart. One day Perseus would be taken back to Tartarus and one day Artemis and Apollo would become Olympians.
Being close siblings meant that they argued a lot as well. But, this one was bad. Artemis had wanted to go hunt by herself so that she could prove herself to them. Perseus wouldn't have it though, he wanted to be there to protect her.
"JUST LET ME GO! I'M PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF PROTECTING MYSELF!" shouted an enraged Artemis.
"NO! I'M COMING WITH YOU! I WILL NOT LET YOU GO ALONE! YOU'LL GET HURT!" Perseus argued back.
Apollo didn't know what to do. On one hand he was confident that Artemis could handle herself, but on the other hand he also wanted to protect Artemis. Perseus and Artemis were engaged in a stare down, before they both stomped away, Artemis into the forest, and Perseus into their room. Apollo walked into the room Perseus was in and saw that he was fuming. He tried to calm him down, but his efforts were all in vain. Knowing that it would take time for Perseus to calm down, he roamed into the forest to try to find Artemis.
When he got into the forest he heard a small scream coming from ahead. Rushing forward he saw a trembling Artemis, with her bow drawn back. Her hands were shaking violently and in front of her he could see a large serpent, the python. (A/N: I know this isn't what actually happened in the myths, but I thought it fit well into the story, so oh well.) Apollo fired an arrow into the side of the python, but all that did was annoy it. Turning its attention to Apollo the python whipped its tail out into the body of Apollo causing him to fly backwards into the tree, knocking him unconscious.
Artemis was on the brink of breaking down. As the python turned its head towards Artemis, but before it could lunge at her it was thrown back by a ball of darkness. Artemis turned her head to see Perseus, who had poisonous green eyes signaling that he was furious.
"Artemis, go bring Apollo back and bring Leto here as quickly as possible." His voice was hard leaving no room to argue.
"But, what about you?" Artemis asked in a small voice.
"I'll be fine! I promise I'll be back. Go! Find mom!" he shouted.
Artemis limped away with Apollo on her shoulder. The python lunged at Perseus making him roll to the side before blasting the serpent with lava. The python shot acid at him which caught his pant leg. The pant leg began to disintegrate. Perseus unsheathed his sword that he had brought with him and hacked away at the python, but the python was quick, dodging all of Perseus' attacks. The python went to take a bite at Perseus, and managed to scrape his right forearm.
Growling, he went on the offensive again, managing to get a lucky slash which cut the python's face. The python was now furious, letting out a feral screech, its acid hit Perseus square in the stomach and started to eat away at his flesh. Using the last bit of his energy in desperation, Perseus notched an arrow and fired. Miraculously, it hit the python in the forehead before exploding in gold dust.
Perseus couldn't stand anymore he dropped to one knee, and faintly heard his name being shouted. He tried to stand again, but he couldn't get a few steps without stumbling over. It was too much, using all of his energy AND getting hit by acid. Black spots danced in his vision and everything went blurry. He saw a blur of auburn before drifting off into unconsciousness.
Line Break
Apollo
I was ashamed of myself. Artemis was in trouble and I couldn't even protect her, now Perseus might die because I was weak. A weakling. I was supposed to be her big brother, the one who could protect her from anything. Instead, I was weak, I let her down, I let Perseus down, I let mom down, and I let myself down. I went to go find Artemis to beg for her forgiveness. I walked into our room and saw that Artemis was on her knees sobbing.
"Artemis.." I whispered softly.
"A-apollo, please brother forgive me. I-I shouldn't have gone by myself. I was a fool, I was stupid. Now look where that got us, P-perseus is dying and it's my fault." Artemis managed to choke out.
"Sister, it's not your fault. It was mine. If I weren't so weak I could've protected you, and Perseus wouldn't be dying. It was all my fault. Please, Artemis forgive me."
She looked at me, eyes wide with disbelief, "NO! It was my fault! Don't you get it Apollo? You are not weak. I was weak. I'm sorry Apollo." She stood and walked over to where I was standing and pulled me into a big hug. We embraced each other, not wanting to let go. She cried into the crook of my neck and I cried into her hair.
Eventually we broke apart. She looked up to me with her red rimmed eyes from crying and said, "Apollo, I promise that we will always be together. We will protect each other forever. Till our death." Neither of them noticed the small smirk dancing on Perseus' face. Just then Leto announced that it was time for dinner.
Line Break
Artemis
"So. Tell me. What happened in the forest?" mom probed. I broke down as I told the story of our fight and running into the python. Mom looked at me with narrowed eyes.
"The words you said. Don't ever say that to your brother and Perseus ever again. They only wanted what was best for you and to keep you safe. Remember this Artemis" mom said sternly. I couldn't meet her or Apollo's eyes because I was ashamed of myself and the way I acted.
Mom pulled me into and Apollo into a hug and said in a tender voice, "You guys are both strong. Remember that. You guys are far from weaklings. I know for certain that Perseus would lay his life down for yours and you would do the same. Now Artemis, when Perseus awakes I want you to apologize to him." I nodded.
"He saved me… Why would he do that?" I asked confused.
"I have a feeling you'll find out soon enough." Mom smirked and winked at me, which confused me greatly. Dinner went by and it was time for us to go to sleep. Instead of going to sleep I went to what I considered Perseus' and my spot on the beach. One question rung in my head 'why would he save me after what I said to him?' So deep in thought I didn't notice someone take a seat next to me.
"Hey." His soft voice startled me.
"Perseus, why did you save me? Even after what I said to you." I asked in a small voice.
He didn't respond for a second, which worried me. But, after a while he said, "You know, I can never stay mad at you forever. You mean too much to me, Arty. I would never let anything hurt you. You mean too much to me, Artemis. I would lay my life down for you a million times over. You know, someone worth dying for makes life worth living, you are that someone, Artemis. And I thank you."
I was glad it was dark so he couldn't see my bright gold face or the tears rolling down my cheeks. I laid my head down onto his shoulder and tenderly, shyly kissed his cheek.
"It's been a long day hasn't it, Arty? Let's relax." He said and kissed her forehead. He laid down onto his back and I followed suit. Putting my head onto his chest I fell asleep.
Line Break
Third Person
Years passed and their bond grew even stronger. Artemis and Perseus' love grew with each day, but neither would admit that they loved each other. They were too stubborn and shy to confess to each other. But, also with each day Apollo slowly reclined from the group. Neither Artemis nor Perseus knew why, but Leto did. Apollo was seeing visions as he was blessed with the Gift of Prophecy. His powers were blooming.
One day Perseus decided to confront him, "Apollo, what's up with you? Is something wrong?"
He forced a smile, "No, nothing's wrong everything is fine." He lied.
"Apollo you are a terrible liar." Perseus said with a raised eyebrow.
"Really, Perseus. I don't want to talk about it." Apollo responded.
"Apollo. Tell me. Now!" Perseus whispered dangerously.
"U-u-umm…" A lump caught in Apollo's throat. Perseus narrowed his eyes.
"I've been seeing visions…" Apollo started.
"Tell me." Perseus growled.
"I-I saw that… that… we're going to be separated."
And done. I'll try to update twice a week. Once during the weekday and the other during the weekend so look out for those.
This week's recommendation, "Perseus Jackson and the Forethought Five" by The Argent Crusade.
Peace.
