Artemis knew for a fact that her reputation preceded her wherever she went. Most of the male Gods, her fellow Olympians and the minor Gods, treated her with due respect for her status and the fact that she was a daughter of Zeus. The female ones though, that was a different matter entirely. Athena was tolerable in her opinion given her domain in war and wisdom but disagreed with her sisters proclivity to having sex with mortals and having children; just because she was 'birthing' children from her mind counted as sexual to her. Half the time she wanted to kill Aphrodite for trying to interfere with her Huntresses and lead them astray from their oath of Eternal Maidenhood.

"Milady, are you ok? You've been glaring into empty space for the last ten minutes."

Silver orbs blinked before Artemis shook her head making auburn hair shake from before her eyes. "I am fine Zoë, I have much on my mi… Who is that?" Artemis asked as she pointed to an unfamiliar girl, no more than twelve or thirteen at most, sitting amongst her Hunters yet seemed to be on the very outskirts despite motions for her to come closer and join them. Sea green eyes were lifeless yet calculated, tanned skin clung to a thin frame and black hair hung between her shoulder blades. For a moment Artemis could have sworn on the Styx that the young woman smelled of someone she knew but could not pinpoint who it was for the life of her.

The younger woman that had been speaking to Artemis, the one identified as Zoë, frowned at the question. Having been alive so long and in service to her goddess, she was used to such a question. Young maidens were rescued from poor situations and offered a place in the Hunt, a place amongst sisters who would love and protect them. More often than not they accepted, grateful to find a place they could call home away from the circumstances that had put them in danger in the first place and amongst those who protect them & make them strong. This girl though, she was different.

The Hunters had been in the downtown portion of New York City tracking a monster when Phoebe, a daughter of Ares, had heard the cry of a young girl. She had made the unwise decision, in Zoë's opinion, and departed from her sisters at top speed, bow drawn, as an enraged male voice threatened to kill the owner of the young voice. By the time Phoebe and her sisters in the Hunt had tracked the source of where the shouting had come from, a gruesome scene had met their eyes. A man lay dead on the ground, his chest full of stab wounds and only gaining more as a young black haired girl kept stabbing his corpse more and more. Not too far from the young girl and the man's bloody corpse, the body of a dead woman was slumped over in a chair with the telltale signs of a fatal gunshot wound to her chest where her heart should have been.

"Phoebe heard her cries while we tracked the monster thou had ordered us to find and eliminate. A male had murdered her mother and by the time we came upon the scene the male was dead." A disturbed look crossed Zoë's eyes for only a moment. "She was sat upon his corpse, Milady… Stabbing it again and again and again as his blood covered her" she said with a tone that underlined concern.

Artemis was disturbed by the news as much as she was enraged. This only further proved her hatred of men was right and justified! A man murdered a woman, presumably his wife or significant other, in front of the woman's daughter and only Hades knew what plans to do to the girl afterwards. "Has she said anything? Anything at all?" she asked after a long moment of silence.

"Not a word. She didn't fight us dragging her here while the mortals made to call their centurions, she hasn't eaten or drank anything offered to her and she's barely moved a muscle while staring into nothing." Zoë did not like the distress on her ladies face but as lieutenant of the Hunt she was bound to an oath beyond the standard Hunter oath, Her reports could not omit any facts, not even if they were to spare gory details they both knew haunted many of the Hunters pasts and their nightmares.

Artemis strode over to the raven haired girl, the other Hunters' conversations dying instantly yet she paid no attention. Her eyes were focused solely on the young girl as she crouched down in front of her after a minute, gentle fingers tapping the girl's cheek to get her attention.

Sea green eyes blinked slowly before focusing. She wasn't in the apartment. She wasn't in jail for stabbing her stepfather to death with the kitchen knife. Her mother… Panic filled her eyes as she jolted to her feet and looked around. Nothing but trees, wilderness and a river nearby. She needed to get home, her mother was hurt! She needed to-

"I am sorry but she is gone." Artemis' voice was kind, kinder than it was normally, as she saw empty look be replaced by raw panic and fear. "So is the male who took her from you" she said gently grasping the girls hands in her own. Her heart broke for this young maiden as sea green eyes glistened with unshed tears. She saw the girl trying to lie to herself even as the wetness fell from the heartbreakingly emerald gaze.

Zoë took that moment to approach and kneel beside her goddess. "I am sorry for thous loss. We burned a shroud for thees mother so that she may rest in peace and be able to guide you from beyond" she said trying to sound as sympathetic and caring as Artemis. She had heard and seen many a heartbreaking situation that led young maidens like the raven haired girl to become her sister within the Hunt but nothing was as vomit inducing as what this girl must have seen. Her mother murdered before her very eyes by a man the older woman had presumably loved and trusted before the males rage was turned on her.

Artemis subtly motioned for Zoë to attend to the other girls. She could not for the life of her explain why the pain of this young girl hurt her so much. Every bit of her screamed to embrace the young girl, to shield her from the horrors of men and the world, to care for her and show her she could and would be loved in the safety of the Hunt. As quick as these thoughts passed her mind, she felt the young girl collapse against her, heart breaking cries escaping the raven haired girl's throat, and feeling her shirt become wet with the girl's sorrow. For the first time in a long time, Artemis felt softer instincts rise up from the depths of her being.

Zoë watched her lady, her goddess and she liked to think privately of Artemis as her sister, sweep the bawling girl into her arms and cradle her close to her chest with the girl's face resting against the goddesses neck. Part of her wished to rain hell on the male gender for the sorrow it inflicted on such an innocent soul. Part of her wished to do as her lady was doing, cradle the girl and protect her until her dying breath. Yet she was given her order and silently departed from the pair.

"Is she going to be ok?"

Zoë looked to the huntress who asked and debated for a moment if lying to Phoebe and the others was the best idea. Being a daughter of Ares, Zoë wouldn't be surprised if the fury the daughter of the war god felt earlier reignited in an instant. "I do not know." She dropped onto a log grimacing as she stared into the fire. "Her mother was just murdered by a man and Hades only knows what the man planned to do to her" she said with acid coloring her tone.

Artemis was focused solely on the quivering form nestled in her embrace. She was not gentle by nature but in that moment she would fight and kill everyone on Olympus if it meant keeping this broken girl safe. "Hush my Dearest Heart" she whispered as the girl whimpered, not completely realizing what she was saying right then "I will always protect you no matter what, I swear it on the Styx and by Lady Chaos herself." She pressed a gentle kiss to the top of the raven haired girl's head holding her closer and tighter still until only the trembles and the smell of the breeze over a body of water filled her senses.

What Artemis would remain ignorant to until later was that the aura around her and the girl in her arms turned a deep shade of purple and the sound of what could only be described as claws being sharpened and arrows being nocked roaring through the sky.

Up on Olympus Apollo was having a horrible day. Between his sister eclipsing him, it happened to be the day the mortals coined a solar eclipse, and just having a generally bad day overall, it was easy to make out the flaming orbs glaring at the minor gods as he stalked towards the throne room.

"Apollo, there has been a situation."

Apollo looked like he could care less as he shoved the door open to the throne room. "It can wait for the council to assemble like every other insignificant little architectural upgrade you suggest to Father that gets shot down because he doesn't want waste resources on your flights of fancy" he snapped irritably at Athena.

The grey eyed goddess' eyes narrowed into paper thin slits at the disrespect lacing Apollo's tone. She was a moment away from tearing into the sun god when she saw him tense and his eyes glaze over. His words seemed to be overshadowed by a faraway tone as he spoke.

"Seas divided herald the fall
Hatred of men is her rallying call
For future survival to occur
Father and daughter must forgive.
Silver sky protects her heart and holds her close
Love eternal to occur
Shall call the hope of Olympus home."

In the blink of an eye, the prophecy was spoken and Apollo began to slump forward. Athena caught him with eyes wide as dinner plates. This was not good! If Apollo was seeing the fall of Olympus, they needed to decipher the prophecies meaning, find whoever was involved in it and figure out what the threat was before Olympus was no more.