Apollo POV

I stood, flabbergasted, as Artemis pushed open the doors like she owned the place.

Expecting someone to get told off, I stood, slightly bemused.

I was right... Ish.

"Hello there, Artemis." A feminine voice said. Advancing into the room, my eyes scanned the area until they came to rest on someone I'm pretty sure Artemis didn't know.

That someone was a she. She was beautiful, with flowing, silky black hair and tanned skin, which meant that she either did a lot of exercising and being outside or just spent a lot of time sunbathing. Either was ok since I did both. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, Wow... She sure is pretty.

My eyes suddenly bugged out in shock. She? But I thought she was a he.

Then, I said something so stupid that you could've dubbed me the stupidest entity in Greece. I felt so embarrassed that I could've just curled up into a ball in a corner and die.

"So... You aren't a guy?"

Silence. That was what that followed.

"What" Artemis yelled, disgusted by my comment.

Meanwhile, the girl reacted in a completely different way. "HAHAHAHA-no. I'm not a guy, in fact." She answered humorously," I'm Otrera, the leader of this operation."

"Good to see you again, Otrera." Artemis greeted," It's been a while."

"Yes, it has." The female leader responded.

Meanwhile, I was standing there like a confused nobody as I desperately tried to understand what in the world was going on.

"So..." I began, hopelessly trying to contribute to the waning conversation," Where did you guys meet?"

Otrera turned to face me with a slightly bemused yet baffled face," So you don't know who I am?" She turned towards Artemis and asked," Did you tell him?"

Perplexed, I shook my head in reply to both questions. I honestly could not recall who she was, even though she was pretty hot. "Just, shorten your backstory, please."

She ignored me and began," Well, I suppose you were about a minute old when you saw me, so that's reasonable. It began when I got into an argument with Ares, my temporary mate while leading the Amazons. He sent me to Delos so that I'd prove my worth to the Amazons and make my way back to them. During the trek back to my group of Amazons, I was attacked by a giant serpent that was dubbed 'Python' by the nature spirits there."

"And luckily," Artemis interrupted, shooting an apologetic look towards Otrera," I happened to be in the area and distracted Python long enough for her to escape."

"Then we met up," Otrera resumed, picking up the conversation and wrapping it in a nice pretty bow," I thanked her, and I left on my merry way. I assumed that she would have told you about me since she told me and you."

"Ok..." I answered before I mentioned as a side-note," It must have been really brave of you to face Python. Our mom tells us to avoid him whenever we could."

I didn't really know how I was supposed to act. I knew that I should've done something like making small talk, but I didn't know how, so instead we stood there in uncomfortable, awkward silence.

Luckily for me, Percy chose then to burst into the room, his posture betraying a frantic demeanour," We need to get out. NOW!"

Otrera looked up, slightly puzzled before she saw his face and nodded," They're here."

Percy only nodded in reply before dashing out, a sword in hand, leaving us to either follow him or evacuate the rest of the base.

Of course, my first instinct was to dash the opposite direction, but then again, I could probably help save the rebellion with Percy. And get some attention from the ladies, I thought to myself.

Steeling my very shaky resolve, I bolted after Percy, bow in hand, and Artemis in hot pursuit... Also with a bow.

Percy POV

As beads of sweat trickled down my forehead, I dashed towards the area where I had been healed and left on a table as a museum attraction (Courtesy of Apollo) as another boom shook the very foundations of the underground bunker the rebels had gathered in.

My guess? That some Delphian did something stupid like yell really loudly, make more noise, then, while the people loyal to the king of Sparta were spying, decided to run straight into the pile of waste concealing the rebel base. Good job, people.

I pushed that thought to the back of my head. I gripped a borrowed sword; It didn't feel balanced, but I didn't linger on that thought for too long and sped up. The longer I was absent, the more likely someone might get captured or get worse.

I was vaguely aware of Artemis and Apollo, the twin archers, trailing behind me. I didn't dare tell them to run and get help while I hold the attacker(s) back, because first, I could use all the help I could get, second, I can barely hold off a couple of cyclopes, let alone one (1) or more possibly skilled intruders. And if I ditched them to run after some crazy lunatic, Artemis would have my head, my conscious added helpfully.

After a painful eternity in which anything could've happened, I reached the entrance/exit to the base.

"We are so dead," I murmured to myself, stopping dead in my tracks. Artemis skidded to a stop while Apollo stealthily tripped over and landed on the ground, somehow without producing any sound.

I gulped and looked around.

Monstrous intruders surrounded the area. There was about nine (9) of them in total and they didn't look like they wanted to sit down and talk.

I winced. Nearly three dozen (36) people had engaged in combat with the muscular men, but under half a dozen (6) were conscious.

The rest suffered from injuries ranging from a small bruise on their head to a mangled arm which seemed to be bleeding at such a rate that if they didn't receive medical attention soon enough, they were unlikely to make it.

My senses went into overtime as I took charge," Artemis, get them to safety. Especially him. He might not make it otherwise. Apollo, you're coming with me."

Artemis seemed quite miffed and looked like she wanted to complain, but she refrained due to the direness of the situation.

"Come on," Apollo yelled, a bit dramatically I suppose," Let's go!"

Turning to Artemis, I nodded," Good luck."

"You too." She said.

And with that, she raced off, her trail covered by a sudden puff of smoke as she hauled soldier after soldier away and nimbly dodged a... celestial bronze sword?

Glaring, my head snapped towards the direction of the blade and my scowl intensified as I locked onto a guy who stood menacingly behind the other fighters, lobbing swords and other projectiles with surprising accuracy.

A split second passed and I was off, darting towards the lobbing soldier as I weaved between blades and ducked under blows from the rest of his comrades.

I caught glimpses of the battle raging on around me. Apollo had taken two (2) blunt-tipped arrows and held them like daggers, slamming the blunt blades into the helmets of the king's soldiers.

Meanwhile, Artemis came rushing back after getting the last of the soldiers to safety before joining in, her eyes burning with determination and a thirst for revenge.

I shivered and cracked a small smile despite the situation. I would hate to get on Artemis' bad side, especially when she was in a bad mood.

My eyes widened. A near collision with a hammer brought me back to reality. I ducked and slid against the floor, my shins probably getting raw in the process.

I reached the lob monster and gripped my sword tightly. Nimbly, I leapt into the air, hilt raised and slammed down.

He yelped in surprise as the hilt of my sword slammed into his skull and his eyes rolled up behind his head.

I took ragged breaths, warding away others and knocking some out.

My adrenaline rush rapidly fading, I surveyed the area.

Apollo was fine. He was, surprisingly, holding his own against three (3) men who seemed very annoyed that they were getting beaten by a teen.

Artemis was also doing well. She moved like water, twisting and curving under blows before gut-slamming or punching her adversary (I'd rather be gut-slammed).

But, of course, nothing ever went right.

A crooked smirk attached to his face, a man rushed Artemis from behind, his knife gleaming with blood. She turned in time to match his blow, and they engaged in one-on-one combat. Then, I saw him. Another guy crept from behind, a wicked axe in hand, and raised it over Artemis, who was so occupied by the knife guy that she failed to notice the shadow the axe cast before her.

I was too far away. It was hopeless. I could try to use my inherited powers as a son of Poseidon and Amphitrite to summon some water orbs, but I needed time to find a proper water source since someone frisked me of my flasks. However, we didn't have time.

I wouldn't be able to reach her in time... But Apollo would.

"Apollo!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, not even missing a beat when he noticed," Help her!"

His gaze quickly followed the direction I was pointing at as we ran before they came to rest on Artemis. A series of emotions flickered upon his face. Confusion. Surprise. Hopelessness. Anger.

Infuriated, he leapt into action with his bow and arrow, before he was engulfed in an ivory light.

Apollo POV

My vision going red, I bounded into action, nothing but my bow in hand and my quiver secured to my belt. However, I didn't get far when everything around me went white. For a second, I wondered if the universe had been destroyed, then I shook my head and thought it out, If the universe had been destroyed, then all of the gods would too, meaning that the sun wouldn't be there to make light.

About a split second after that thought, the light died down.

In my hand sat something dusty... WAIT, WHAT? BUT THAT WAS MY BOW! My head exclaimed, beating up my brain, NOW HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO HELP?

At that moment, My only thought was, I am so screwed.

Then, I entered the real world.

Around me, all of the mortals - even the ones on our side - seemed to have fallen asleep, almost as if I had... Wait?

"ARE THEY DEAD?" I exclaimed, very quickly panicking.

"Uh, no," Artemis said, pushing some of the intruders off of her," They're just asleep."

"Ok." I sighed, relieved, before I felt a wave of nausea overcome me," So I'm really tired, and I think I'm just going to rest now."

And with that, I keeled over and fell face-flat on the ground.