AN: Ok, here's the next chapter! Thank you for reviewing! I like seeing your reactions! :D

Let's see who knows their Greek mythology... :P

Edit: 7/7 I fixed some of the middle part of the story since to me, it seemed kind of hurried. I hope it reads smoother. :)

LW

LW

LW

Another month and a half passed.

Artemis was in the woods outside of Hephaestus and Aphrodite's house in Lemnos, carrying a slightly bigger Harmonia in her arms. Deer of various colors and sizes were around them, grazing on some grass or sniffing around. A doe came close to Artemis and the goddess knelt down.

"This is Tamorite," she told Harmonia as she stroked the doe's neck, "she had a yearling some months ago."

Harmonia gurgled as she reached a hand out to the doe. Artemis smiled when the young doe came closer for the babe to touch her. Tamorite snorted when Harmonia's little hand held onto an ear but the doe patiently waited for Artemis to handle the issue.

"No, little one," Sophie laughed. "Don't grab there."

As Sophie got Harmonia to release the doe's ear, she held onto the babe's wrist in order to lead Harmonia in a slow stroking motion along Tamorite's neck.

"Like this," Sophie said, "Feel her fur."

Harmonia's grey eyes were wide as she felt the doe's coat. Sophie let go of her hand and Harmonia continued on her own, though the strokes were much shorter. She couldn't help but think about how fascinated with nature the babe was. It reminded her of herself when Leto - her mother - showed her a pretty part of the forest out in the mountains.

Now, the mountains were her home and she safeguarded the animals as much as she could. Though she did enjoy a good hunt, her aim was true, killing the beast quickly and painlessly. If there was anything that enraged her it was the torturous kill, especially deer. There was no need for that sort of hunting - if she could even call it that.

"You could be a follower of mine," she murmured to Harmonia before kissing her chubby cheek, "we'll travel around the mountainsides and see the clear lakes."

Sophie adored her, though she feared for what would become of Harmonia should anyone find out who truly fathered her. Artemis and Apollo were the result of an affair between Zeus and Leto. To this day, Hera resents the affair, doing whatever she could to aggravate them all. Sophie would have condoned Sora and Leon's affair, especially since she herself was a result of an affair - and still experiencing the aftermaths of her parent's wrongdoing - but she felt the situation was different than what occurred between Zeus and her mother.

Though, it was still an affair.

Sophie wistfully sighed. This is why I asked to remain a virgin. Dealings with the opposite sex seemed to be very messy and unnecessary. Give her the forest and the children to look after. She found herself very happy with this setup, eager to extend this lifestyle to other females.

The doe's head had started to droop from the petting, but then she brought her head up and her ears swiveled around. A few seconds later and she was bounding off with the others, their white tails flicking up as they went further into the forest. Harmonia whimpered at their sudden retreat as her auntie stood up to see who was around.

Golden haired and olive skinned, Artemis's twin, Apollo, steered his shining chariot to the ground.

"I didn't know where you were," Apollo chided, "I even had to ask Helios."

Sophie rolled her eyes. "A sun god asking another sun god for help? You're not as great as you think then, brother." Apollo, usually quick to retort to her prods, strangely did not this time. Sophie frowned lightly. "Is something the matter?"

"Mother needs us," came Apollo's somber voice.

No other questions were asked. "Go. I'll be right behind you," Sophie said as she ran back towards Hephaestus's house, Harmonia squealing at the fast speed they were going.

Apollo narrowed his eyes for a moment and then jumped back into his chariot.

LW

In the chambers of Aphrodite, the god of war had his eyes closed and his teeth clenched, a long low groan escaping him as he reached his end.

Aphrodite was still beneath him, her own eyes tightly shut and her rosy lips stayed parted in ecstasy. The heat of this moment made her moan throatily, allowing herself to bask in their mutual pleasure. Her right leg was still in his grip, but soon his arm released it as he slumped on top of her.

"You're fortunate I am not fragile," she teased even though she was still out of breath. "Or else your weight would break me."

"How fortunate," he agreed, his breath tickling her neck, "or else we could not continue this way."

She tittered, her hand lazily running along his back. "We could still continue. You would simply have to resign yourself to lying on your back each time."

His head lifted from her neck, having been nibbling along her pulse before she responded the way that she did. He caught her eyes, half lidded and sensual. "You continue with such boldness," he rumbled with a mock-stern expression. Bantering was a part of the pleasure and he was curious how this particular one will go.

Her fingers trailed down his nose. "And you continue to deny liking the sight of me above you."

Bold and saucy.

He was liking this banter more than he should, considering her implications. Any other person and he would have taken offense. But not her. No, he found it attractive rather than insulting. As her fingers continued grazing his back, he felt the revival of desire, though this time thick and heady.

"I have not concluded my thoughts on this matter," he murmured, his eyes glinting with mischief.

She caught the look he was giving her, as well as the hidden message he gave her:

'Persuade me.'

By now, she was well aware that he had not been lying about his endurance. No, the god of war was always hungry and his appetite unending. Luckily for him, she could not get her fill either with only a couple of rounds.

Her lips tilted up as she brushed them against his own, the slow kiss teasing though he knew that it could become seductive at any time. She bit his bottom lip, her tongue hotly running along it before she wrapped a leg around his waist. He half smirked as the kiss turned molten hot like he thought it would.

She pushed against him and he tipped over to lie on his back. Given how easy it had been, she knew that he allowed her to do so. Her fingers ran down from his chest and his abdominal muscles in a slow tease.

"Well then, we'll have to rectify that," she murmured.

He looked up at her messy red hair, the forming hickeys along her neck, and the upturned lips as she started to move against him. His eyes slowly half closed and his hands laid on her hips, making sure she was rocking where he wanted her to. When she wasn't creating enough friction, he began to push her hips down.

A low rumbling came from him. She heard it and pushed down even more.

"Is this good?" she coyly asked, already knowing his answer but wanting to hear it said.

"Yes," he half groaned.

Her hands laid against his shoulders, giving her something to hold onto as she lifted her hips and slowly, she set herself down, allowing him to enter her. Both closed their eyes, basking in the feeling of the other as she moved her hips further down, down, letting him completely in.

Liquid burning was all he could think of at the moment and oh, what a pleasure it was to be in this sort of heat.

"Move," he groaned, his patience for more running thin, "Move, by heavens or Hades - "

His speech was cut short by her lips, her tongue coming in as her hips moved. Both moaned as she went up and nearly disconnecting from him. She came down fast, wrenching a loud groan from him and a long mewl from her.

"Like this?" she breathed against his lips, her voice strained as the pleasure shot jarring electricity along her body.

"Like that," he huskily replied, "and more."

He did not bother explaining what 'more' was like, instead his hands brought her hips up and away from him, then pulled her to him hard, adding in an upward thrust of his own. She cried out at the suddenness and the shivers that immediately went through her, the motion speaking for itself. Her mind was in a haze of unspeakable pleasure. Before, she had thought she liked the gentle lover, but when she met Ares, she discovered a side of herself she had not known about. As they moved together, her body knowing what it wanted and how, especially after being with him so often, she realized that his brand of lovemaking - a mixture of his conquering and her teachings of the flesh - was what she had been looking for.

"Again," she breathlessly demanded. He delivered without pause, this heady, sensual encounter filling and clouding his mind as well as hers.

It was in the middle of this haze that a very hurried knocking sounded on Aphrodite's door.

"It's Sophie," came the frenzied voice, the tone cutting through the couple's heady desire and stilling them, "I have to go, so I'll leave Harmonia in the nursery. I apologize for the sudden departure."

Then Sophie's voice stopped and her footsteps ran to next door.

The lovers looked to one another, a similar concern running through their minds despite the fact that they had been close to the brink of ultimate pleasure. He let go of her hips and she got off of him, both withholding the urge to moan at the friction her withdrawal caused.

"Go to her," Sora softly panted next to him. "We'll meet another time."

Leon nodded, his gaze away from her naked form on the bed. He took several long breaths to cool his blood, focusing on the sense of urgency that had been in his half sister's voice. It took a while to do so and only through extreme willpower did he manage it. He wasn't a god for nothing.

When he was ready, he bent down to pick up his toga and fastened it quickly.

Sora handed him his belt, thankfully having thrown a robe on.

LW

Sophie appeared in the closest temple she could find and then ran with bow in hand and her quiver of arrows on her back. Her mother's voice rang in her head as Leto called out to the twins. The anxiety and fear was clearly heard and she pushed on even faster.

She hoped her brother got there first...

Some branches snapped behind her and she quickly turned her head, seeing her half brother Ares coming towards her. She felt touched that he was coming to help even though he did not know what was wrong. Besides her twin, Ares was her favorite sibling.

"What's the matter?" Ares asked as he caught up to Artemis.

She helplessly shrugged. "Mother's calling out, but she only says where she is."

Leon idly nodded as he thought. In the past, Hera has infamously terrorized the children Zeus sires with other women - she even tries to kill the mother, pregnant or not - for her jealously knows no boundaries. The most famous hatred is between Hera and Heracles, Hera going so far as to make Heracles mad, causing him to kill his wife Megara and almost all of their children.

With the reminder of the half mortal, Leon's eyes narrowed. He hasn't forgotten the loss to Heracles just yet, especially with the other gods still chortling behind his back. They'd never laugh in his face for fear of his wrath, but Leon could feel the stares.

I will not be the jester of Mount Olympus.

He will have to remind them who he is...

Sophie stopped and quickly gestured to the right. Leon snapped out of his thoughts, running to the right as Sophie went to the left. They both stayed crouched as they ran, the loud thuds of something heavy making them cautious. Leon paused and parted the bushes to see what was causing the sound.

There was a clearing on the other side and he noted the knocked over trees and large imprints in the earth. He mentally went over what could cause such destruction when a scream pierced the air. Leon heard Sophie move closer and he did as well, still staying crouched. He could now see that there was a large being in the area, narrowing it down to either a giant or a cyclops but he could not find the source of the scream just yet. Whatever was happening, the large being was looking down and bent over some rags. When the 'rags' viciously moved, Leon realized it was a woman.

Sophie made the same realization, however, from where she was, she could see that her mother's garments were indecently torn, the being's large fingers holding her mother down as the garment was further ripped off.

Rage instantly filled her.

"Don't you dare defile my mother!" Sophie screamed as she dashed forward, immediately stringing an arrow and shooting at the creature's back.

As her arrow connected, another arrow from the opposite direction connected with the creature's shoulder, causing it to stumble backwards as it roared in pain. Sophie spotted Apollo high up in a tree, letting loose another arrow to the front of the creature to get it further away from Leto. She ran over to her mother and the older woman hastily pulled the remainder of her clothing to cover her chest.

"You both came," Leto sighed in relief, though her eyebrows were still distorted in fear.

Sophie's mouth was a firm line as she turned to the creature, recognizing it as a giant. Ares just threw his spear through its stomach as Apollo shot at its eyes.

"Hold!" she yelled out. "Don't kill it!"

She snapped her fingers up at Apollo and he came down. "Give me your cloak."

He unhooked it and Sophie put it around her mother's shoulders. Leto murmured her gratitude and kept it closed with her hands. Apollo, seeing the anger in his twin's eyes, cleared his throat. "Come, mother. Let's move away from here."

Sophie waited until they were out of sight and then notched an arrow. She made sure Ares was not in her line of fire, aimed for the giant's dirty loin cloth between its legs and then let go. She heard its bloody scream as the arrow pierced its target.

Ares stood back with crossed arms as the giant crashed to the ground in agony. He had heard a while back of the rage of Artemis when insulted, especially when it concerned those she cared for. The latest incident had involved Actaeon the hunter. Apparently, he stumbled upon Artemis bathing in a spring and the goddess caught him staring at her naked form. Furious that a male would dare to look upon her in such a state, she turned him into a stag and he was ripped apart by his own hunting dogs.

Actaeon had been the grandson of Apollo.

Artemis took her pledge of eternal virginity very seriously.

He wondered if the mortal Orion was aware of that, having run across Artemis and Orion hunting together sometimes. If he was correct, he did not think Orion sought her out merely as a hunting companion...

Sophie moved closer to the giant, an arrow poised over its heart. "Speak your name, vile giant, so that I may hate it."

The creature groaned in pain. "Put me out of my misery!"

"Your name?"

"...Tityus."

"I suppose Hera sent you, the seething she-demon that she is," Sophie muttered to herself and then straightened up to address the giant once more. "I will send you to Tartarus, where those who trouble the gods go for unending damnation."

Tityus shuddered, having heard the horrors of that dreaded place. "No, not there...!"

Sophie shot his heart, and he breathed no more.

She continued to stare at the giant's still form until the anger left her. For a moment, she closed her eyes and sighed, grateful that they came in time to prevent the assault from going any further. And the others wonder why I chose a life of chastity... She didn't want this mess of affairs and jealousy. The forest was her haven and there she will remain for the rest of her immortal life.

"Thank you," she murmured with eyes still closed.

Leon nodded, having been keeping an eye on her as she settled down. His sister opened her eyes with a resolve that confused him, not knowing that she recalled her thoughts regarding Harmonia living with her and wanted to discuss that option with him.

However, he looked to the right of Sophie, having caught a shadow of something. He started to pull out his sword to block whatever was coming for Sophie. Unfortunately, in the process of aiding her, another shadow appeared above him, the clanking of metal links warning Ares of the other presence but not in time.

Simultaneously, Sophie was hit on the head and Leon was immobilized.

Sophie dizzily lifted her head, seeing large chains wrapped around Leon. A giant was holding the chains and throwing a struggling Ares into a large bronze jar.

"That's for Adonis," the giant spat, sealing the jar.

Otus, son of Poseidon? Sophie frowned as she recognized the voice. She attempted to string an arrow, however, the hit to the head disoriented her and made her repeatedly miss an arrow from her quiver.

"Let...him...go," she groggily demanded, finally grabbing an arrow.

Otus looked at her and laughed. "Our quarrel is not with you, young hunter."

Our...?

Wide eyed, Sophie turned around to face the other giant, not having known that there were two giants around, having thought that the one with Ares was the same one that hit her. She only had time to recognize him as Ephialtes before she was hit on the head even harder, effectively knocking her out.

LW

Someone was shaking her awake, but the throbbing of her head was making it worse.

"For all that is good," Sophie half pleaded, "stop shaking me."

"You're alright," Apollo sighed in relief. "We were beginning to worry."

Sophie sat up, seeing her mother, Hermes and Apollo around her. Leto was in new garments and her scratches were wrapped up by none other than her brother, the god of medicine.

"Where's Ares?" Sophie asked as her mother fussed over her, pulling some leaves out of her hair.

"He was gone when I came," Hermes piped up, the shade of the dead giant Tityus behind him.

Sophie glowered at the giant. "Tityus! What did your friends do with Ares?"

The shade refused to look at her.

"That won't do you any good," Hermes shook his head, "This giant's dead."

"I know," Sophie bit out, "I killed him." She sighed, putting a hand to her head. "Otus and Ephialtes were here and one of them chained Ares and threw him in a jar." She removed her hand to look at those around her. "He said 'That's for Adonis,' as he threw Ares in."

Hermes and Apollo shifted a little.

Not too long ago, the handsome mortal Adonis was killed by a wild boar in the forest. As the protector of animals, she had thought it was strange that someone like Adonis would be killed that way. She didn't know anyone that didn't like Adonis, including the animals.

No one, although...

Adonis's death was around the tail end of Aphrodite's pregnancy, before Ares was injured and before Sora and Leon were reconciled. Adonis and Aphrodite had been lovers once before, but they had stopped for some reason. There had been rumors that they were seen together though nothing concrete.

Could Leon have something to do with Adonis's death?

"Hermes, did Ares kill Adonis?" Sophie asked with a slight narrowing of her eyes.

"Ah, well, people have suspected it, even Adonis's shade, but he can't really talk anymore cause, you know, he's dead," Hermes let out an awkward laugh "But I really cannot confirm anything except that a boar killed him."

The longer Sophie looked at Hermes and Apollo, the more terrible the sinking feeling felt.

"Brother," she slowly started, "where were you?"

"What?"

"You left before me," she firmly restated, "so why weren't you already shooting the giant Tityus before I did?"

Apollo did not speak and in that moment of silence, Sophie knew.

Otus and Ephialtes were not here on accident. Her brother must have seen Ares with her as she ran and informed them somehow, which is why they were prepared. The sons of Poseidon respected Adonis and sought revenge for his death. They must have heard the talk about it, or maybe even saw Ares themselves. She supposed they waited so long to avenge him in order to have a proper method of capturing the god of war.

She was going to have to tell Aphrodite. There was no way around this issue.

LW

Leon had worked his way out of the chains a while ago, however, he was having trouble breaking the jar's walls.

With his spear through the giant Tityus's stomach and his sword on the forest floor, he only had his breastplate to aid him. Keeping the breastplate at a ninety degree angle, he threw all of his weight into it as he slammed against the wall. He gritted his teeth as the force of the hit merely made the plate ram into his stomach with no damage to the wall.

I'm only going to succeed in breaking some ribs.

Frustrated, he threw the plate to the floor. He has been trying this for a long time, but it didn't seem to be working.

"Stop that," boomed a giant's voice from outside. Leon fell to the floor of the jar as the giant shook it. "You cannot possibly break through this."

"We'll see," Leon darkly muttered.

He sat on the floor to rest for a while, the pitch black darkness making him stumble as he went down. He ran a hand through his hair, damning himself for being distracted to have not noticed a giant of all creatures hovering above him. He grew angry at the giant, angry at himself and angry at the talk that was to come from this incident.

And to think only this afternoon he was making love to Sora.

The reminder made him scowl even more, embarrassed and ashamed about what she would think when she heard what happened. The shame was quickly covered over with anger for it was easier to deal with.

It was more familiar to him.

LW

Eris, goddess of strife, hovered above the giants from a safe distance.

She closed her eyes, relishing in the chaos that was building up with Ares' imprisonment. This was only the beginning of the discord and she couldn't wait for what was to come.

If you want some trouble, start by riling up the god of war.

LW

It was late at night when Aphrodite heard the soft tapping at her door.

Harmonia was with her tonight, the baby surrounded by pillows so she didn't roll off of the bed. Sora lifted her up, balanced the babe on her hip and the little hands gripped her robe as she opened the door.

"Sophie," Sora said with some confusion, but let her friend in. "Are you alright? I wasn't certain what happened with your emergency."

"That's all fine now," Sophie said as she fiddled with the strap of her quiver. "Leon was a great help." She nearly slapped her forehead for jumping right into the issue, but got over it. She didn't sneak into the house just to stand around. "He's actually the one that's in trouble."

Sora sat down on the bed when she felt her knees tremble. "In trouble? What? How?"

"Two giants got him," Sophie murmured, "they knocked me out so I couldn't help. But Sora, there's more."

She walked over to her friend and sat down next to her, feeling like she needed to be close in case Sora needed something for the next news she had to give. Being the barer of bad news has never really been left to her before so she decided to just spit it out.

"The giants think that Leon killed Adonis, so they want revenge."

Sora frowned. "Why would they think that?"

Sophie looked directly at her friend's face. "Because it's true."

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AN: Sorry, there's drama to come, starting here! I know some of you wanted me to just leave it with Leon, Sora, and Harmonia, but there are some key Greek mythology events that I want to cover!

The 'Heracles killing Megara and kids' is, sadly, a part of the mythology, especially Hera not liking Heracles. Can you see how the Disney version is just funny in a twisted way? (they made Hera the mom of Hercules. Hah!) Still like that movie though.

Artemis is one of the three virgin goddesses and is quick to punish people when insulted. Some of the offensives have extreme punishments. 0_0 Her mother is Leto and Tityus did try to rape the mom but the twins killed him. Some versions just have Artemis killing the giant.

Ares really was put in a jar.

I'm playing around with the order of events. Creative license and all that. :P