Risk

Panic was upon them in an instant.

When Apollo's words had seeped into them and awakened their nerves to be on end, all of the Olympians immediately rushed back into the mansion at once, with the Underworld denizens following right behind. Their sudden loud entrance surprised Aphrodite, Hestia and Dionysus, all who had been sitting quietly in the living area and drinking some Jack Daniel's whiskey – it was immediately noted that, unlike a tumbler of alcohol like Aphrodite and Dionysus had in their hands, Hestia was drinking straight from the bottle.

It did not take long for Apollo to explain to them about his spiritual encounter with the Fates, and the three of them went into a rush as well. With the gods taking off their fancy tuxedos and the goddesses shedding their fine dresses, and washing off the dirt they had on them from the altercation with Demeter, they started putting on more comfortable clothing that was suitable for travelling across the Pacific Ocean back to Greece. None brought any belongings with them, for what use were the things of mortals when they are about to return to divinity.

However, Artemis may be an exception.

Donning a black sweater under a brown jacket, dark grey jeggings and a pair of worn army boots, she looked as though she was just about to go for a normal session of hunting in the forests. Adding to that presumed look was the fact that she had slung her leather quiver of her best steel arrows over her shoulder, and a modern hunting recurve bow was gripped in her hand. The bow and arrows were gifts from Apollo, who had used royalty money earned from the music he had sold to have it specially crafted for her. He knew very well of how she loved nothing more than archery, so he gifted her with her favorite weapons.

But however, Artemis was not going hunting. Rather, she was having it along with her to defend herself, since she had a feeling that the situation she was getting herself into called for a lot of defense.

With a deep breath to calm her anxious heart, she took one last look around her bedroom – a bedroom she was never going to see again – and silently bade it farewell before walking out the door, leaving behind everything in it forever.

But just as she took one step out the door, she suddenly collided with Apollo, who had been standing in front of it with a hand raised to knock.

They pulled apart to look at each other, and it was then he noticed the bow and arrows that she had on. "What are you doing?" he questioned instantly, looking at her in confusion. "Why are you bringing these along?"

"For protection," Artemis replied quickly.

Apollo only got even more confused. "'Protection'? Protection from what?" he asked. "You look as if you're preparing yourself for battle."

At that, Artemis' grip on the bow tightened immensely, and she pursed her lips in slight hesitation as she gave a firm nod. Apollo's eyes widened in shock at this, looking at her in a mix of fear and disbelief. It was obvious that, at this point, he had figured out what her intentions were.

"No."

Artemis' sighed, knowing an argument was about to come between the both of them. "Apollo, I have to help Hades," she said in plea.

Again, Apollo said a firm 'No'. His eyes started growing more thunderous, almost masking the fear in them.

"I can't just let him go alone," she reasoned. "What if he gets hurt, and – "

"What if you get hurt, Artemis?"

The sharpness in Apollo's angered tone was enough to make Artemis wince and back up a bit. His glare on her was firm and unyielding, and she could almost feel it burning like the Sun that he held patronage over. But despite the slight pang of guilt she felt at hurting him with her intentions, she was very sure that she was not going to back down from it.

In the best calm voice that she could manage, she replied with a half-hearted smile, "Who says that I will, brother? Who knows? I might be able to not get a single scratch on me."

Unfortunately, that did not do anything to lighten Apollo's mood. In fact, it only did well to make it worse.

"The keyword right there, dear sister, is 'might'," he pointed out sharply. "And here's the thing; what if you might notbe able to come out of this safely?

Artemis frowned in disapproval at his words, followed by her rebuking, "Don't think so negatively."

"You had been knocked out cold by her no more than an hour ago, Artemis!" Apollo growled harshly, silencing Artemis in shock. "You yourself had witnessed how strong she has become! If she was able to knock you out with a single blow, who knows what worse she could do to you when you stand face-to-face with her once again?!"

With her grip on her bow tightening so much that she felt she could put such a huge dent into the steel, she blasted back firmly, "That was my own fault, Apollo. I wasn't able to put my full potential into the shield. I just rushed into it without preparing myself properly first."

"AND THAT'S THE PROBLEM!"

Once again, Apollo's rage silenced Artemis completely. But this time, he did not hesitate to continue to vent out his frustration. His eyes were completely taken over by the fury that had grown within him, along with the fear that had been present since a while ago.

"You are putting yourself in danger! You do things to help others, but you never think about what could happen to you! Even if I were to let you go with Hades; what if Persephone is able to be saved, but you're not?! Do you think I would be able to bear with it?! Do you think I would be able to bear with the possibility of having to go back to Olympus without you?! Go back to our mother, and having to explain to her why you're not there?! Have you ever thought of that, Artemis?! I won't allow you to go! I don't want to risk losing you!"

Artemis really did want to say something in response, for many answers was forming in her thoughts. However, she found that she could not will any words to come to her lips, only being able to continue looking at Apollo with wide eyes. Her brother, even when finally silent, still was as furious, maybe even more so with each passing second. She could see nothing in his sky blue eyes except for much more anger, and a lot more fear.

"But seriously though, Artemis. Why would you want to risk your life just for someone else?"

It was not Apollo who had spoken out of the blue, causing both of them to be surprised by it. Breaking away from their little heated staring contest, they looked to the direction of the voice, and was immediately taken aback to see that they had generated a crowd. Ares was leaning against a wall nearby with his arms crossed, his grey eyes looking at the both of them with a judgmental raised eyebrow. Nearby, Athena and Dionysus were watching as well, though both held concern in their gazes towards the twins.

Apollo definitely seemed to mind the sudden intrusion, immediately setting his glare upon Ares, who had - obviously - been the one to speak so suddenly. "Stay out of this," he warned. "This is between me and my sister."

Ares did not take heed of the warning, instead only deciding to come closer, his arms still crossed and his eyebrow still raised. With a haughty snort, he remarked, "The last time that both of you had an argument like this was in the Hall of the Olympians, and it ended with you calling her a 'whore', and you giving him a slap to the face. If I recall correctly, it was about that hunter, wasn't it?"

Both Apollo and Artemis were taken aback by how blatantly he was speaking of the past – a past which both of them had hoped to leave behind and forget. The pain at that memory stuck them in their hearts in an instant, and Artemis could almost feel tears prickling the back of her eyes.

Apollo's angry grew in outrage at Ares' ignorance, and he growled menacingly, "I said… Stay out of this."

But still Ares ignored him, turning his attentions fully towards Artemis. "I just want to know why you would even bother going through this fight with sunny boy here, when you could simply follow the rest of us to Olympia and be there when the time comes for return," he said in a look of judgmental curiosity. "You have that privilege, so why risk yourself?"

Artemis could only look back into his eyes, but she still could not bring herself to speak. Her tongue felt as heavy as lead and Ares' previous words about the hunter was still stinging her to the point where she wondered if she was about to break down into tears.

"What good had Persephone ever done to you, Artemis?" Ares asked, head tilted to the side as he studied her expression. "In fact, what good had she done to us? Other than, you know, giving us a headache because she can't remember who she was, and also having her nutcase mother coming after her, and revealing us to the whole world."

At this point, Apollo seemed to have definitely had enough of Ares' ignorant mouth. Without any warning, the God of War was suddenly pinned roughly to the wall beside Artemis' bedroom door by the God of Sun, who was growling at him menacingly. Everybody flinched at the suddenness, and their eyes immediately moved to focus on the sight of Apollo growling at Ares.

"Listen here, douchebag. I already told you to stay out of this. Is that really too much for a small mind like yours to understand? If so, why not you just shut your big mouth and get lost, will you?"

"Screw you," Ares snapped harshly.

Artemis took this moment to step in, wanting to prevent any fight from breaking out between the two – Ares and Apollo's relationship was more of hate than civility, so the possibility of a fight breaking out between them was extremely probable. She had to take a deep breath to diminish the emotions rising in her, and immediately spoke in her firmest tone possible.

"Persephone is a part of our family, and I will not be willing to leave her behind just like that," she exclaimed, frowning with a frown and a glare set on Ares. But then, that glare became fixed on Apollo as well when she questioned, "Is it wrong if I want to help to get her back?"

Apollo had been looking back at her as she said that, his angered eyes actually looking conflicted at her words. But this had taken his attention off Ares, who had managed to push him away with rough force to free himself from his hold. With Apollo being a few steps away now, he came to stand directly in front of Artemis, glaring down at her with a sneer and looking absolutely outraged.

"You're a fool for wanting to help her, after what her mother had done to us!" he snarled. "It's because of that woman we're now fugitives!"

At the term 'that woman', Artemis became unsure if he had been talking about Persephone or Demeter, for it sounded as though it was a reference to both for what had happened just now. But she did not let this uncertainty cause her to stop and think, because an answer suddenly came to her lips. However, it was an answer that she had initially wanted to think twice about before saying, but she clearly did not have the will to hold back any longer, and just wanted the actual truth to spill – in the sharpest voice she could manage.

"I know what it feels like to lose a beloved at the hands of someone I thought I could trust!"

She had to suck in a deep breath when she had gotten all of that out of her system; it was as if the words had robbed her of all breath inside her lungs. While it felt like a relief to finally speak it out, a glance to Apollo has her feeling discomfort overwhelm her once again.

In the moment, the twins focused their sights upon each other, their gazes full of hurtful thoughts and painful memories. It was not what they wanted to feel during this sort of situation; in fact, it was something that neither of them would want to even think about ever again. But Ares had to push them to their boundaries, and be a complete asshole for bringing such a sensitive topic up out of spite and ignorance.

Even if it has been many centuries since the incident had occurred, the remembrance of Orion and what his death had caused was still very fresh in their minds, a memory that just refused to disappear even after so long. But it was understandable as to why it was unable to be forgotten by the twins, especially Artemis. Why wouldn't it? It was about the accidental murder of her lover upon her hands, all in accordance to a scheme of Apollo's that had been created out of his immense jealousy towards the demigod who had won his sister's heart.

Such a tragedy would never be easy to forgive and forget. But while Artemis' may have long ago forgiven her brother for what he had put her through, by no means did she forget. She would never do so.

But at that moment, she realized that somehow, the remembrance of that situation seemed somewhat akin to current situation at hand. In a way, Hades was just about going through the same thing; losing his wife to the one person he thought he could trust – his sister – but instead being betrayed and having her taken away from him at the perpetrator's own hands.

And she knew very well from experience what would happen to Hades should he fail to get back Persephone like how she had failed to get back Orion, and she knew that it could not be so.

In a much quieter and more thoughtful tone of voice, she said as she shook her head gently, "I know very well the pain and anguish that it brings, and the betrayal that poisons it further. I'm not willing to let that happen to our uncle."

Her gaze on Apollo's blue eyes deepened when she then added, "Nobody deserves to go through something like that."

The weight of Artemis' words seemed to have touched something inside Apollo's heart, as can be seen in his eyes by the silently watching Athena and Hermes. The sky blue eyes that were once filled with anger and outrage of his older sister's intentions had softened greatly into those of hurt and concern. The way that Artemis was indirectly speaking about his misdeeds towards her and Orion had no doubt caused him to feel pained at the moment, but that he also could not deny that it was truth. There also seemed to be some sort of enlightening in his eyes, as though he had finally come to understand the reasons for his sister's motives for wanting to help their uncle rescue their half-sister, even if those reasons visibly pained him as well.

Ares seemed to have been forgotten in this current moment, even if he was still standing there and glowering in front of Artemis, looking as if the answer she had given him was the absolute most stupid thing he had ever heard. But Ares was no longer such an important matter in this moment – other than the fact that he was a complete asshole for sticking his nose in other people's business.

Thus, he was visibly ignored when Apollo closed his eyes and gave her one slow nod; a clear show that he had finally given in, and will accept her wish.


Macaria, Melinoe and Zagreus were sitting on the bed and playing a clapping game to busy themselves, with Thanatos watching them from where he stood while Hypnos was seated on a chair with his eyes on the floor and Hecate was looking out the window of Hades' bedroom suite.

It was only when the bathroom door opened did their attentions suddenly came to focus on Hades, who was emerging from the bathroom in just a normal plain grey shirt and faded blue jeans. The Underworld denizens seemed to find his articles of clothing so strange; very unlike the signature exomis and chiton that he had worn back in the old days.

Hades paid no mind to the guests in his suite as he made his way to sit on the edge of the bed. The mattress sunk under his applied weight, sinking even more when he rested his elbows on his knees and covered his face in his hands. He was absolutely quiet, not saying even a single word.

Everyone else wanted to stay quiet in respect for this moment of solemnity for him, but the children were of an exception. This night proved to be one with the most number of times that they have seen their father, and this was certainly not a sight they loved to see.

All three of them came closer to him until they were able to hug him. Hades was quick to acknowledge their presences, uncovering his face to look at them with a half-hearted gaze and a half-hearted smile. He picked up Zagreus and placed him to be seated across his lap, while Macaria and Melinoe sat on either side of him on the bed. At the side, Thanatos, Hypnos and Hecate stood by quietly.

"Why the long faces, my dear children?" he asked calmly – his pain was clearly hidden.

Zagreus looked up at him with a pout, telling him quietly, "…I'm scared, Father… What's going to happen to us now?"

Immediately something struck inside Hades' heart, his half-hearted smile disappearing just then as the pain he felt inside became clear and fresh in his eyes. This was noticed by his daughters and the others, while Zagreus still remained looking up at him with an expression of pure innocence.

Quietly, Hades placed his hand on his son's hand gently, affectionately caressing his head of coal black hair. A sigh slipped past his lips, before he asked, "What do you think is going to happen to us?"

Before Zagreus could even have a few seconds to answer, Melinoe suddenly exclaimed determinedly, "You're going to come back to us, of course! You, mother, and all the Olympians! You're going to come back! And you and mother can be with us once again! We can be in the Underworld together again!"

Macaria could only look at her younger sister blankly, but there was a glimmer of hope present in her orange eyes – it showed that she too wanted what Melinoe was saying to be true. But being the most knowledgeable out of her siblings, she knew that it could not instantly come true – unfortunately. She could tell very well that there was a great disturbance that their father was facing which was keeping him from their mother, which was why Melinoe's words were easier said than done.

Macaria just wondered what it was that was holding everything back.

In the meanwhile, Hades turned to look at Melinoe with a slightly bigger smile, and used a hand to ruffle her hair. "Soon, my dear," he replied in assurance. "We will be together again soon. I swear upon the river Styx and the name of great Gaia."

Hecate, Thanatos and Hypnos all felt their breath hitch upon hearing their king swear the two most sacred oaths known to gods. To swear those sorts of oaths would mean dire consequences should it not be fulfilled. And while all three of them were very sure that Hades meant to make those oaths come true, neither could they deny the fact that the probability of him not being able to succeed was also quite likely – all thanks to Demeter.

Just then, knocking was heard on the door, drawing everyone's attention out of the solemnity of the current moment. Hades stayed where he was on the bed with the children, while Thanatos went ahead to answer the door.

Just a few seconds after the door was opened, Artemis came rushing in, her midnight blue eyes readied yet urgent.

"Come on," she said. "We'd better go now."


Author's Note :

In some things, especially in dire situations, some risks have to be taken. For Artemis, it's the risk of not being able to save herself and return to Olympus with her brother to their mother. For Hades, it's the risk of failing to keep his promise to Persephone to always be with her, and ultimately lose his children and friends in the process.


Answering reviews!

Guest #1 : You, along with everyone else.

Book Nerds Rule the World : *hugs you close and tight* I'm sorry, my dear! But I promise that things would be better... SOON. Anyway, what happened between Athena and Hephaestus was in the actual Greek myths. One day, Hephaestus got drunk, to which Athena came to visit him on his island to request for new weapons. Too lost in his drunken stupor, Hephaestus was overwhelmed with lust at her beauty and tried to rape her. Unfortunately, Athena managed to fight him off, and that incident marred the acquaintanceship between them forever. Anyway anyway, hope this chapter was good for you!

Guest #2 (Ember) : That's a good choice song, but I have to go with The Irony of Choking on a Lifesaver by All Time Low for that sort of situation (thanks to kat2764!) And while that could be a probability, I would still go with the usual 'Aphrodite is a cheating slut', because... that's what she is (and she's proud of it, by the way).

cutedivaprincess : Yes... soon...

kat2764 : Because not a lot of the deceased went through the usual Greek burial rites after the abolishment of the practices (save for a few Pagans), the souls were not directed to the Underworld - also because psychopompos Hermes is not there to be their guide. And in Death's Lonely Past, Macaria is not a child but a teenager - around the age of 18. Also, I hope so too!

Daebak Fai : I'm glad to include the three of them in the story too! And would it be wrong if I said my favourite subject was Recess? :P Kidding! I loved Home Economics and Food&Nutrition.

Harrylover11 : YA! EXAMS ARE OVER FOR YOU! AND WE'LL SEE, FATES WILLING

Guest #3 : Thank you very much! And I'm glad you had liked the way Hades differed greatly from Demeter when it comes to family; Hades is more open-minded and is mindful of these things, whereas Demeter is simply hell-bent of having Persephone. And no problem!

taity : Unfortunately, that's how the Fates had willed it to be...

Guest #4 : Here it is! And thank you!

gracefish21 : Thank you!


To all those who are wondering why Death's Lonely Past had not been updated recently, it's because of some things that has happened to me in real life. As mentioned by Harrylover11, I'm currently dating someone... hehehe... and I've been quite busy :P

But other than that, the other story will be updated soon for sure! As will this one!

See you on Monday!

Muse of Fanfiction