-Artemis-

It took a long time for Artemis to realize how fate worked.

It came with the territory of being an immortal. As much as she detested the whole notion, she'd learned the hard way that there are just some things even the gods could not change. Some things couldn't be explained. Granted, there wasn't much. One of the things she never understood was the oracles. It was part of the chaos, the magic, of the world. They were closely tied to the design, seeing all the possibilities that could be, along with the ones that would never change.

Artemis was still trying to understand the girl, especially now that she knew more about her.

Cassia stood at the bar in the kitchen, looking uncomfortable under Artemis's gaze. Orion stood between them, concern marking his brow. It might have been perfectly normal for people to wake up at this ungodly hour on a Sunday, but the harried voices, the tension and concern in which she could hear them speak, did nothing to calm her. She promptly got out of bed to see what the hell was so important to wake her up when she walked in on the three of them discussing this girl's hair brained scheme over breakfast, of all things. Her family wasn't due to arrive until this afternoon, so she fully intended on spending the morning being lazy. Not that she didn't enjoy a good hunting discussion, but this was madness. Orion would want to help her, which would only get him killed faster. She didn't forgive the idiot just for him to die before he had too! It didn't matter what the girl had seen. There was no way in Hades she was letting Orion go on a quest that would end in his premature death.

"It's suicidal," she snapped. "Stealing from a goddess is never a good idea." Cas shrank at the iciness in her tone, towards Apollo. He playfully bumped into her, trying to ease the tension.

"She's not going to kill you, Cas," he explained. Cas quickly glanced at Artemis while biting her lip.

"He's right, you know. I'm still deciding if you are useful enough to keep around."

"Or until you temper gets the best of you," Cas countered. She opened her mouth to add something else before quickly shutting it.

"Her temper?" Apollo questioned. Cas reluctantly nodded her head.

"I mean no disrespect, my lady," she offered as she turned back towards Artemis. "It's just that, um, in some futures, you do kill me."

"Really?" Artemis mused. "Well, since you are a being of forethought, I would assume you would have the intelligence to avoid the situations that end in your death."

"I try," she offered before stealing a quick glance at Orion.

"It's not that simple, Artemis, and you know it," her brother huffed. Artemis simply rolled her eyes.

"Fate, grand design, yadda, yadda, blah, blah, blah. Whatever. It doesn't take a genius or an oracle to see that this plan is doomed from the start." Yes, some things were meant to be. She had an eerie feeling that this girl appeared in their lives at the right time for the right moment. She didn't feel any particular ill will towards the girl. In fact, she intended on helping her brother free her from the curse. Artemis just wanted to make sure that Orion didn't die before he had to.

"It was just an outline," Orion countered. "It's not like we are going to walk into the Egyptian fortress with a t-shirt that says, 'We are here to steal your book.' We were just talking, Artemis."

"Really, because that's exactly what it sounded like to me! And a damned book, for Hades' sake, will not fix your problem."

"I believe this book will. It contains some of the oldest and most powerful spells known to the universe. I can clarify some of the specifics if you like?" Cas supplied. "It may be the solution I need, but I'm still figuring out the best way to obtain it. We'd really just started discussing it, and I'd love to have your strategic input as a goddess. After all, you are the ultimate hunter, and it is extremely rare that you are denied your prey."

"Hasn't happened yet." Artemis smiled, a chilling one that promised death and pain should anyone cross her. She had to admit, the girl knew her way with immortals. She offered the right amount of flattery. Cas's gaze was steady, unrelenting. She'd stand her ground, no matter what Artemis threatened her with. That was something she respected about her. "So your solution is to steal something of the Egyptians? What book, exactly, do you want to steal?"

"The book of Tope," Orion answered.

"Thoth," Cas corrected.

"That's what I said!"

"The god of intelligence?" Artemis clarified. It'd been a while since she'd interacted at all with the Egyptian pantheon. They usually made a point to stay out of each other's business. They were too obsessed with their spells for her taste.

"Yes. Although, I think he may lack some common sense."

"I wouldn't let him here you say that," Apollo mused with a grin. Cas smiled back at him.

"He would probably agree with me now." Cas frowned. "That is, if he doesn't kill me first. I die at his hands just as much as your sister's."

"What did you do?" Orion spurted.

"I did what I was told to do," she countered. "I didn't purposely pick a fight with him! He's nice enough, I suppose. Not my fault that he had this insane idea to write down all of the mysteries and knowledge of the world so that it could be used for future teaching. All he wanted was proof that he does, in fact, know everything."

"Mysteries of the world? Like what specifically?" Apollo asked warily.

"Everything. And I mean, everything. There is the usual stuff, like burial rights, rules of humanity and conscience, how empires should be run, laws of nature, etc. He didn't stop there. There were entries about magic and power that created the world, ways to exploit the weaknesses of immortals. Basically, some pretty nasty stuff that would be disastrous in the hands of the wrong person, which is why Isis hired me to steal it."

"What makes it any better in her hands?"

"It doesn't, really, except that she would make sure no one could use it but her. Thoth tends to be a little, um, scatterbrained?" She laughed a little at that. "He gets easily distracted because there's so much going on up there." Cas tapped her temple. "Set was sneaking in, getting little peeks of things he definitely doesn't need to know about and was using it to his advantage. From what I gathered, he exploited some info that almost caused the end of the world a few years ago. She and her son, Horus, demanded that Thoth give it up, but he refused, because it was his book, his baby, I believe was the endearment he used. While I think Thoth would be more honest in its use, she was the lesser of the evils at the time. I think she eventually plans on giving it back, at least from what I've seen. Probably to teach him a lesson to keep his more dangerous toys out of the wrong hands and actually apply that intelligence he boasts about so much."

"I highly doubt that. How can you possibly know a goddess's motives? It's not like you are an oracle or something," Orion chided her. "Artemis is right."

Cas's face immediately fell before she looked down at her mug, sorrow overtaking her features. Artemis had to admit, whatever tiny portion of compassion she retained in her immortal soul felt for the girl. It was a wonder she wasn't more damaged than she already was, constantly being put down and disregarded. This curse was her and Apollo's responsibility to fix. Artemis sent a tiny zap of power into Orion, making him jump and yelp.

"Ouch! What was that for!?"

"A reminder. Orion, she is an Oracle. Remember, the whole cursed thing? She sees the future."

"Oh…right. You're cursed?" he asked Cas in clarification. She smiled grimly before exposing the top of her shoulder.

"Fifteen years and counting."

"Back to the topic at hand. This is all well and good, but I still don't understand how this will help," Artemis mused. "How will this book fix things? Are you going to use it for leverage? Trade your freedom for the book?"

"Well, not exactly. Now that my name is out, all the nasties that I stole from and tricked know who I am. Isis may not swing the sword, but she effectively gave everyone free rein to kill me. Without her protection, the threat of her retribution, there's no way that I'll be alive for long. It's only a matter of time before my luck runs out."

"She can't be reasoned with?"

"Um, trying to reason her will not go over well. I mean, she might can be, eventually, when she calms down, but how would you react if you thought someone close to you, a supposedly loyal servant, betrayed you to your rivals?"

"I'd wonder who else you were talking to," Apollo admitted.

"And eliminate the threat before it became one," Artemis added.

Cas nodded her head. "I need leverage. And there's a spell in that book that will give me one. Having that in my arsenal will keep Set and any other Egyptian immortal that values their existence far away from me."

"And that is-?" Artemis began.

"A spell to scatter the essence of an Egyptian immortal. I think you all used something similar with Kronos, but I'm not an expert."

"That's a pretty bold move," Artemis noted. "And why don't they have it already?"

"I have to give Thoth some credit here. See, from what I understand, unlike the other pantheons, they don't really have demigod children. I don't know the specifics nor care to do so, but they use descendants of their Pharaohs or whatever to unleash their will upon the world. Anyways, that spell, created by Chaos itself, can only be read with mortal eyes. Thoth put it in there to keep it safe. The book hasn't been in mortal hands in thousands of years. So yeah, that's why I want to steal that book, and it's the only possibility I see where I don't die."

"It would be a definitive solution, I'll give you that. Still an insane attempt to try it. Do you have a plan or any idea on how to do that?" Artemis questioned.

"Nope. Haven't really had time to research or experiment with my parents disowning me and avoiding death at every turn. Good news? I helped put it where it is. Isis doesn't know that I know of the spell, so I have a slight advantage there."

"That's something to handle tomorrow. Today, we need to deal with the family," Apollo responded. Cas grimaced and laid her hand down on the table. "Not excited to explain things to your grandfather?"

"Ugh, don't say that. All of this is weird enough."

"Please tell me you are not her grandfather!" Orion stuttered. Both Cas and Apollo looked absolutely appalled.

"Gods, no!" Cas snorted.

"Absolutely not!" Apollo yelped.

"Hermes, right?" Artemis pondered. "Well, Mercury, I guess, since your parents were Roman demigods."

"Yeah, he was my Mother's father. My dad is a child of Bellona."

"Interesting combination," Artemis noted. War with the talent of thieves? No wonder she was recruited at such a young age. She'd make a good hunter, for sure, but something told Artemis that her brother would be displeased with that.

Cas's gaze seemed to fog for a second before she rubbed her head. "Athena will be here earlier than expected. She wants answers."

"Of course she does," Apollo grumbled. "Probably already has about fifty different plans laid out."

"More like six, but, yeah she does," Cas said, her tone patient and understanding. However, there was a frown on her face, her eyes narrowed in confusion. "I'm going to get a shower." She downed the last of her coffee before disappearing.

Orion turned to Artemis, probably to ask about using her shower, and she waved her hand half-heartedly. Orion offered her a wink before striding down the hall. She waited until she heard the door to her room open and close before she turned to Apollo. He was sipping on his coffee, gazing out the window with a contemplative look on his face.

"It'll get stuck like that," Artemis teased him. He gave no response other than taking another sip. "Are you mad at me now or something?"

"No," he ventured. "Just thinking."

"About?"

"Everything." His whispered words were soft, full of regret. He turned to her, his normally sky blue eyes a few shades darker than normal. "I need your help with this, Artemis. I want to set things right, to help her. I know we can't interfere much, but I have to find a way to fix this."

"Have you thought of going to Isis yourself?" Artemis wondered.

"It'll only bring it to father's knowledge, from what Cas has seen," Apollo explained with a deep sigh. "Wasn't worth the risk, as she put it. The poor girl is trying to keep us out of trouble, too."

"Her burdens are heavy," Artemis said.

"Heavier than they ever should have been."

"Do you trust her, brother?" Not that Artemis didn't believe the girl, but they'd been down this road before. It'd been millennia since mortals were so close in their affairs. The last time ended in the Trojan War. Was history repeating itself, their follies coming back to bite them in the ass, just like last time?

"Unequivocally."

Artemis nodded her head. "She knew I would meet Orion again. She knew how much it would mean to us. " It felt like a betrayal, whispering those words, admitting the depth of her feeling for the mortal hunter. If there was anyone in the world she could admit it to, it was her brother.

"I know you worry for him, but trust that the last thing Cas wants is for him to get hurt. You don't have to be so goddessy with her."

"She could get him killed," Artemis countered. Obviously, they were close enough that Orion wouldn't let her do this alone.

"Cas wouldn't let anyone harm a single hair on his head. She's done a lot more for him than you can possibly imagine," Apollo added. Before Artemis could ask, her brother vanished, leaving her alone in the kitchen.

Hope you enjoyed! :) Sorry it has been so long! If you couldn't tell, busy season has been hell this year. I literally did nothing but work and sleep, unfortunately. Now that I'm semi-caught up on life, I was able to get back to writing! Please let me know of any typos you may see, as I edited this while at work.

Thank you for sticking with me! Please leave a review, if you feel like it. I will do my best to get back to a regular updating schedule.