A/N: Sorry for not getting anything posted last weekend. I think its a safe bet that until I get this latest edit of my book done (I'm about to start querying, eek!), I might not get to posting every week, but I will try my best, at least every other week!

Note: I'm not writing anything of Artemis's view of her absence simply because one of Mirelle's friends as already written a wonderful piece about this. If you want to read that, check out her Teen Olympian's page!

Thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad to be back, and you all rock my world! :)

Now that all that's done...Enjoy!

-Apollo-

"I can't help you."

Out of all the words in any language that ever existed in this world, any phrase used to deny Apollo of the thing he wanted was his least favorite. The only thing that made it slightly better was the fact that Cas had warned him this would happen. Still, it was only enough to stop him from attempting to blast Freyr from existence. It wouldn't work, of course, but it would definitely hurt him for a while. Sadly, all Apollo could do was grind his teeth.

It was easy to see from Freyr's face that he knew something. Sure, he might not know exactly where Artemis was at the moment, but he knew how to find her.

"How about you let me talk to your sister?" he wagered. "It's been a long time since I've spoken with her."

"That's what you call speaking?" Freyr chortled. "Sorry, but can't help you there, either. My sister is out of the country at the moment, off gallivanting with the Valkyries."

"With my sister, right?" At least Freyr had the decency to not deny it. "Look, we both know they are together. And I also know that your sister is helping Artemis stay hidden from us. She's angry and pissed, and I don't blame her. We need her back soon. Her absence is affecting the pantheon."

"And from what I hear, that is you and your sibling's own doing." The reprimand was there, in his tone and piercing gaze.

"I didn't know," Apollo ground out.

"You knew long enough," Freyr countered. He couldn't deny that. While he knew he'd hurt his sister, it wasn't intentional. Even though Artemis was older by only a few minutes, he had a duty to protect her. They stuck together, always. Freyr took a deep breath before running his hand along the back of his neck. "Look, I can tell you that she's safe. Artemis just needs time to cool off. You know how things affect us."

"I do. But she's also stubborn. Artemis will watch the world burn to get back at us."

"Something our sisters have in common, I think," Freyr added with a small smile. "Give her a little more time."

"I want to, but time is running out. If she stays gone much longer, then we are all screwed."

"Then we'll take whatever the universe has in store for us. I'm not betraying my sister's trust."

Apollo's lips pressed into a thin line. Cas said he needed to tell Freyr what he wanted to tell Artemis. While immortals weren't ones to spill their guts to anyone, let alone those outside their pantheon, Freyr and Freyja were a special case. They understood how deep a sibling bond went. After all, Freyr was someone he considered a friend.

"I know you aren't going to tell me where she is. And you are right. Until Artemis is ready, she won't forgive us or come home. It doesn't mean you can't help me."

"And how could I help you?"

"If you see her, can you tell her something for me?"

"Maybe," he offered, his tone interested.

"Tell her I'm sorry. I don't have an excuse. There's no defense or explanation for what I did other that at the time, I thought it was the best. I was trying to protect her from that pain. She was a mess when Orion died. I…I would do anything to keep her from experiencing that again. I should've told her the moment I found out, and I didn't. I underestimated her strength, to be able to handle all of this. We need her. I need her."

"Anything else?"

Apollo couldn't believe he was saying this. It felt way too personal to tell, but Artemis needed to know everything. "Now that everything's out, she's wasting her time. Orion told me that he will die at the same age he died the first time. That gives her less than a year. That amount of time, its… that is just a blink for us. She might not want to forgive him. I strongly questioned it myself. Mortals get desperate, and in that desperation, they can do some stupid things. If she wants to speak to him before he reincarnates again, she needs to do it soon."

"Why do you want her to know that?" he wondered. His gaze narrowed just a bit before he tilted his head to the side.

"I don't care what my family thinks. I want my sister to be happy. If she wants to forgive him and let him join her hunt again, great. I'll support her and help her end anyone in her way. If she wants to kill him and make him suffer in Tartarus, I'll curse him myself."

"Good."

With that, he vanished, leaving Apollo alone in the middle of the snow covered tundra.

It was Wednesday, three days since he'd spoken with Freyr. The whole ordeal left Apollo raw, which left him in a foul mood. Add that in to the others constantly questioning his plan, and it became one huge pain in Apollo's backside.

"I still say that we need to explore other options, Apollo. This course may not work, and we need a backup plan!" Athena whispered harshly.

"It will work," he said for what felt like the hundredth time. They all sat at the table, waiting for the next round of classes to start. Orion had taken to sitting with them after Cas left or when she wasn't there. It seemed that Cas didn't want to be around the others any more than she had to. Plus, she often used lunch to run her "errands" which were the Gods know what. Orion always sat by Aphrodite, who gazed at him with a little bit pf pity when he wasn't looking.

"You seem pretty confident in that," Aphrodite pointed out before taking a dainty bite of her apple.

"I am." Well, at least he was confident in Cas.

"I thought you couldn't see the future anymore?" Hermes grumbled. He was swirling his mashed potatoes around on his plate. The others were enduring the same punishment he had until Artemis came back. While they all retained some of their godly abilities, some were taken away, including Apollo's ability with prophecies and the future.

"I can't," he admitted, not liking where this conversation was heading.

"Then how could you possibly know that one conversation with an immortal who is not her will get her to come home!?" Athena spat before slamming her hands against the table.

"Because he's hiding something."

Everyone's heads turned to Orion. He playing the label on the bottle of Coke he was sipping on, staring at the table like he could memorize every grain and swirl in the wood.

"Excuse me?" Athena huffed. She looked between Apollo and Orion, trying to read their expressions. Apollo didn't have to work hard to appear surprised. His brows raised as he fought a knowing grin.

"And what makes you think that?" he wondered.

Orion looked up then, finally feeling all the eyes on him. The color in his cheeks darkened before he narrowed his eyes. "Because you have the tone."

"The tone?"

"Yep, the tone. The I-know-what-I'm-doing-and-you-better-not-question-it-because-I-know-things-you-don't tone. Your sister has the same one. Even your expressions are the same, like you are fighting a smile. Plus, you seem calmer. Your form is more at ease. You know something we don't."

"Huh. You believe him?" Aphrodite questioned.

"I believe that he wants his sister back almost as much as I do, so if he's this confident in the plan, then I'm going with it. I don't care how he knows."

"I think you are agreeing with him because he put your finger back on," Athena countered. While Apollo healed Orion for the most part, there was some damage that couldn't be fixed with magic. Artemis had cut it with a dagger imbued with a ton of magic, which took time to heal. He's just gotten the brace off his hand. Orion gave her a blank look, but the fury in his eyes was plain as day. Aphrodite flipped her off when he couldn't, causing Athena to scowl.

"Come on, before we both punch her teeth in," Aphrodite murmured quietly. Orion nodded his head, giving Apollo a significant look before leaving with Aphrodite. Apollo knew that Athena was searing him with her gaze, but he wasn't about to tell Athena anything. They all had their secrets, and he was keeping this one.

"E-excuse me? Apollo?"

Apollo turned to see a boy behind him. He was thin but full of corded muscle, with a buzz cut and deep skin. His eyes were a light shade of brown, almost ocher. He'd seen him around school a few times and recognized him as the Editor of the school paper.

"Why hello, handsome!" The boy's cheeks blushed, hard to notice with the color of his skin, but still there. Athena rolled her eyes before getting up and leaving the table with exaggerated roughness. Apollo smiled at the boy, who was trying to keep his composure. "What can I do for you?"

"Mrs. Hartman wants to see you in her office before class starts."

"Oh my. Am I in trouble for something?" he purred.

"N-no. Not that I-I'm aware of," the boy murmured, his voice strained with lack of breath. "I've got to go." He stumbled away, almost tripping on a poor girl in his haste.

"You are terrible," Hermes said with a grin. Apollo offered him a wink before grabbing his bag and sauntering off to Mrs. Hartman's office. She was the English teacher who taught his poetry class. Apollo thought she might have a bit of a crush on him, especially when he started quoting Emerson. Her eyes tended to get a little dreamy at that.

He walked down the hall, and about halfway down, a hand shot out and grabbed his arm, pulling him into…a janitor's closet. Despite the darkness, the space was tight and smelled like jasmine.

"For Hades sake, Cas," he huffed as he reached up for the light. He fumbled in the air for just a minute before he found the string and pulled. Cas was next to him, her violet eyes bright and excited. "Can't you just come up to me like a normal person?"

"And deny poor Jayden the chance to talk to the guy he's been crushing on for weeks?" she asked in mock shock. "You are a terrible flirt, by the way."

"Second time I've heard that today. Wait, terrible as in awful or terrible as in too much for my own good?" he wagered with a grin, the first true one he had in days. Cas rolled her eyes, a smile of her own teasing her features.

"Actually, I'd go with both."

"Jayden didn't seem to think I was a bad flirt."

"You've had a lot of practice. Years of flirting, of getting what you want and tossing it away."

"He would say yes if I offered."

"He wouldn't if he knew what I knew," she retorted, her eyes narrowed in challenge. As they talked, they'd edged closer towards each other, barely a few inches between them. Apollo was pretty tall. Cas only came up to his chin, so she had to look up at him. With that stare, though, they were on equal footing.

"And what do you know, Cassia? What secrets am I not yet privy too?"

He tucked her hair behind her ear, a light purple stand peeking through at the nape of her neck. She froze, her eyes wide before her gaze faded. She no longer saw Apollo, the mops and brooms in the closet along with the smell of cleaner and aged grime. Her sight took over, showing her something that caused a wicked blush to come to her cheeks. Her eyes cleared, coming back to the present. She took a step away from him, pushing him with what could almost pass for a growl.

"Keep your hands to yourself. Gods know where they've been."

"You are so kind," he chided before crossing his arms across his chest. "Did Mrs. Hartman even want to see me?"

"No. I knew you wouldn't blow her off because you know she thinks you are adorable."

"I am, aren't I?" Cas mouthed something that looked dangerously like pig-headed. "What do you need, Cas?"

"I came to tell you the good news," she replied with a smile. "It worked."

"What?"

"As we speak, Freyr and Freyja are having their little chat. Freyja has already decided to talk to Artemis about it when they visit Arthur and his knights, and-"

"We know where she is, where we can get her." The relief was tangible, a weight lifted off his chest. He reached for the knob on the door, but Cas slapped his hand away.

"Are you trying to ruin everything!?" she complained. "You can't go after her! She'll beat the shit out of you!"

"Really?" Apollo balked.

"Let me add, you really do not look good with a swollen black eye," she stressed. "I'm not telling you where she's headed so you can go storming after her. I've already told you that chasing her will not work. I'm telling you this because it's concrete now. She'll be home by the last football game, the one before Thanksgiving."

"Seriously?"

Cas's face fell. "You don't believe me?"

"No, no, I believe you. I'm just… she's coming home? My sister is coming back? She's going to forgive me?"

Cas's answering smile was warm and radiant, so at odds with the cold intensity she exuded last week. "Yes, she's at the game with all of us. She looks happy."

"Us?" Apollo questioned, his voice a little shaky.

"All of your little crew and Orion. I'm there, surprisingly. Probably Orion's doing. Even Actaeon, although he's only there because he goes to the visiting school-"

The feeling in him was indescribable. He radiated happiness, apparent from the now subtle gold glow to his skin. Cas took a step back, almost falling over a bucket. Apollo caught her and helped her get her footing.

"I owe you," he whispered.

"No, you don't. We are even, remember?"

Apollo took Cas's face in his hands. She went ridged, her eyes wide and a little afraid. Apollo quickly pressed his lips against her forehead. He pulled away and opened the door, leaving Cas frozen and staring at him. He smiled.

"We're not even close."

I hope you found that chapter interesting. :) I think Artemis will be coming back next chapter. Please leave a review!