Three weeks later

Hades had just arrived at the palace of Mount Olympus. But he was only there for a visit. To a particular goddess.

No, no. Not his wife, Persephone. His queen had already returned with her mother to her cottage on the mortal lands, after Zeus had proclaimed the said lands as safe once again. The goddess that he was visiting was his niece, Artemis.

He had bumped into Hermes when he first rode his chariot onto the courtyard, and inquired about the Hunting Goddess' whereabouts. Hermes then told him that he was sure to find her at the garden, where she always spent her time at after the incident.

So he made his way through the palace, knowing every direction to the garden like the back of his hand. The servants that were in his direction all stopped whatever they were doing to bow and greet him, to which he responds with a simple nod.

Finally, he reaches the back doors of the palace which led to the huge forest-like gardens. Just as he was about to pull open the doors, it was already pushed opened by someone from the outside.

And then, Apollo walked through.

Apollo looked up from the floor and saw Hades standing in front of him. Quickly, he bowed slightly and greeted, "Greetings, Lord Hades. What brings you to Mount Olympus?"

Hades returned the gesture with a nod of his head and said, "I am here to visit your sister."

Apollo's eyes widened slightly. Despite the fact that Hades and Artemis had a much civilised relationship, they only closest thing the both of them had ever done together were just talking for a few minutes. Other than that, they were quite distant. So that was why Apollo was kind of shocked and curious to know why Hades would suddenly want to see her out of the blue.

"I simply wish to pay her a visit," Hades stated. "How is she now?"

Apollo sighed to himself as he thought about Artemis. The following week after the Aloadae had officially been sentenced to eternal torture in Tartarus, Artemis had not been herself. She was as still as a statue, sometimes just staring blankly into a distance. She remained silent and never once spoke to anyone. The only response she would give was nodding or shaking her head to yes-or-no questions.

But Apollo knew that she was still afraid by whatever she had experienced in the underground, as shown by the screams that were coming from her room at night. Each time he forced himself into her room, he would find her screaming and thrashing around on her bed violently, but never once opened her eyes, thinking that she was entirely trapped in her nightmare. And if he had shaken her awake and her eyes had flown open, she would resume back to her silent and impassive façade.

Though distraught by her condition, Leto never once let the pain in her heart bother her and carried on taking care of her daughter, tending to the soreness in her right leg which had now begun to heal. Apollo too remained by his sister's side, and the rest of the family tried in any way they could to help.

Luckily, Artemis slowly began to recover. She had started to eat more. She began speaking once again; though her words were soft-spoken, hearing her voice sent joy into Apollo's heart. She had even resumed practising her archery. However, she still continued to keep quiet and stare off blankly into a distance, being very deep in thought. And she would always do so at the gardens.

"She is recovering," Apollo told Hades. "But is still very fragile. I would advise you to be gentle when you speak to her, Lord Hades."

Hades nodded understandingly and made his way through the doors. As he walked down the steps, he could immediately see Artemis sitting on the lip of the fountain, with her knees drawn up to her chest and her neck craning upwards slightly, her eyes gazing at the bright blue sky.

He walked slowly towards her, and she then turned to look at him. She slid off the fountain lip and stood up straight, bowing to him.

"Greetings, Lord Hades," I said as loud as my voice could manage. I was glad that finally, after having not spoken for about a week or two or more, I could finally talk without wavering.

He nodded his head to me; a usual gesture of his. "Hello, Artemis," he greeted with a polite smile. "I'm glad to see that you're feeling well now."

I smiled and thanked him graciously. "Is there anything I can help you with?" I asked.

Hades shook his head and looked down onto the ground. And then, in a solemn voice, he said, "I wish to inform you about the Aloadae."

The mention of them was enough to send my heart into an immediate frenzy. Fear prickled into my skin again like a thousand needles and my eyes began to widen. I felt my hands trembling slightly, and my knees began shaking.

But then, I clenched my hands into fists to forcefully and straightened my knees. I stood tensely, but I did not care. I would not allow myself to succumb in fear any longer. Those weeks where I have been silent and afraid had taken a toll on not only me, but to the ones I cared for as well. And I was not willing for something like that to happen ever again.

"What of them?" I asked him, my voice strained and forced.

Hades assessed me from head-to-toe, definitely noting how rigid I was. But he paid no heed, and instead proceeded to speak.

"How Otus had managed to fight his way out of Tartarus for a little while to bring you along with him was utterly unbelievable. To ensure that they will not even attempt to escape from my Underworld, I had their backs bound to columns made of sharp and hot rocks and the most venomous of snakes to trap their wrists and their ankles firmly. That way, they would be forced to watch the horrors of Tartarus and feel themselves burn at the pain of the realm."

I stayed silent as he told me all of this, and I absorbed it all in. They were given punishment now, with no means of escape. That was good. Very good. I wanted them to happen.

"And so what happens now?" I asked him.

With a ghost of a smile on his lips, Hades simply said, "You're safe."

At that moment, I felt assured and comforted. I smiled to him then and said, "Thank you, Lord Hades."

He nodded his head once more before turning to take his leave, telling me something about paying Zeus a visit. When he had finally re-entered the palace, I stayed where I stood, with only one word ringing in my mind.

A word that sounded like a blessing to my ear.

Safe.

Fin

Author's Note:

And that's the end of this short story!

Glad most of you enjoyed it! I liked it too!

Anyway, this would not be the end of Artemis fics. There will be more, probably most of them being one-shots. And I am in the process of planning out a story about another Greek goddess.

So once again, thank you very,very much for liking the story!

Muse of Fanfiction