Since I was so terrible and didn't update for like a year I'm updating twice in one week! However, this story is coming to an end, sadly. I anticipate one final chapter after this one. It's been a fun journey but unfortunately I don't have the attention span to write anything longer. This chapter kind of took on a mind of its own... Some of you may have noticed I changed the rating to M, just to be safe. And I should warn you that there is a reference to rape coming up. Aside from that, this chapter is rather tame. To those of you who have been kind enough to post them, I thank you profoundly for the reviews. Without further ado, please read and enjoy...

Apples & Oranges

Deep beneath the surface of the earth, Aphrodite's soft leather sandals made a gentle pattering noise with each step she took. Her pace quickened as the swirling mists began to enclose her in their suffocating dampness. She hated it down there. It was always so cold, so barren, so sad…

But then she was reminded of the very reason she had ventured into the vast abyss of the Underworld in the first place. She steeled herself against the growing sense of discomfort that had begun to pool in her belly. She was an Olympian for Hera's sake; it would take more than some wisps of cloud and a chill to set her off her course.

She greeted the ferryman brusquely, swiftly offering him a coin for passage and making sure not to come into direct contact with him in doing so. By the time she made it to the grand throne room of Hades' dark and imposing abode, the infamous Lord of the Underworld was practically a sight for sore eyes.

"Brother," she exclaimed with a sigh of relief. The term of endearment was little more than that, since Hades was in actuality of no relation to her. "I must say, it is good to see you. It has been far too long, and I fear the journey was more…trying than I last recalled."

"What brings you to my realm, Aphrodite?" Hades rarely, if ever, bothered with pleasantries.

Following his lead, she opted for straightforwardness as well. "It is high time you had a wife. Too long has the throne beside yours sat empty."

Hades responded merely by arching one perfectly thick, black brow.

The Love Goddess stood her ground and stared him down until he finally broke the silence with a resigned sigh.

"You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?"

An appreciative smile slid onto her dauntingly beautiful face. "You know me too well, brother."

"And who pray tell is the unfortunate bride-to-be?"

Aphrodite looked stricken. "Do not say such things, Hades! Love is never an unfortunate thing, even when it drives us to our wits ends."

"Who said anything about love?"

Hades abruptly stood from his throne and strode off down one of the many granite hallways that stretched out from courtroom in a labyrinth of shadowy passages. His strides were long and purposeful, and it was all Aphrodite could do to keep up with the elder god.

"Are you really so willing to live an eternity alone?" She called to his back as she gathered up her skirts and hurried after him.

She skidded to a halt as Hades suddenly whipped around to face her. Standing with the folds of her gown still gathered tightly in her little fists, she had to lean back in order to maintain eye contact with the rather irritated looking god looming above her.

"Why the sudden interest in my love life," Hades asked angrily, "You could have your pick of any god or mortal alike to wreak havoc on. So, why me?"

Aphrodite visibly softened then; her shoulders fell, her hands relinquished their hold on her garments, her brow knit together in a rather sympathetic manner.

Then her fingertips came to rest upon the Rich One's chiseled, clean shaven jawline.

"Oh, my darling," she spoke gently, "I chose you because you see so little of the beauty that you embody. And I consider it one of my many duties to nurture love where it is least found."

Hades' response was as cold and unforgiving as the Northern wind, "What of Artemis? Were your actions toward her what you would consider nurturing love?"

Caught off guard by his harsh comment, Aphrodite sputtered, "I did not—that is, I never meant to—"

"Save your pitiful excuses for lesser men," said Hades, "You and I both know why you did it. And it is a poor reason, at that. Be gone, go back to your palace in the sky and think on your own sins before meddling in mine."

Aphrodite had never felt more like a scolded child than in that precise moment. But she'd be damned if she was going to let Hades know he'd gotten to her. Straightening to her full height, she quickly masked the hurt she was feeling with a look of haughty disdain. It wasn't until she was half way across the river Styx that she finally allowed herself to recognize the truth in his words, and all at once she was struck by the ugliness of her actions. Some Goddess of Beauty she was.

"Gaia, forgive me," she wept silently to herself as the pale fog swallowed her whole.

The day of the wedding had finally arrived and it was sure to be a splendid occasion. All of Olympus was in attendance, even Hades had taken time away from the gloom and doom of the Underworld long enough to offer his well wishes to the bride and groom.

The ceremony took place in the groom's coastal villa and the feast was held in a vast open hall that boasted an adjoining balcony which overlooked the sea. The guests were seated on either side of a ribbon of water that ran the length of the entire room, dividing the alabaster banquet hall neatly in two. Within the elegant body of water floated tiny candles, bowls of ripened fruit and platters of decadent foods; it was as a table made from water. Artemis had to admit, it was a beautiful setting.

She sat quietly sipping her glass of ambrosia as her eyes drank in the merriment around her. She watched with a faint, knowing smile as Persephone made an attempt at convincing Lord Hades to dance with her. To her surprise, the stubborn man acquiesced and allowed himself to be dragged forth onto the balcony, where many of the guests had gathered to dance beneath a sky painted in vibrant oranges and blushing pinks.

"They make a rather odd pair, do they not?"

Startled, Artemis turned to find Hermes had taken up residence next to her and was currently leering at her, for lack of a better word.

"Oh, Hermes," she said, as her hand flew to her chest, "Your approach was unannounced..."

"They don't call me the 'Fleet Footed Messenger' for nothing," he replied with a wink.

His strange behavior was not lost on her. She regarded him warily for a moment.

"Are you enjoying the festivities, brother?"

"Why yes, very much so," he answered amiably, "Although, there's always something about weddings that leaves a pang in the heart. Would you not agree?"

Artemis eyed him with confusion. "I'm not sure I understand your meaning, brother..."

Hermes shrugged. "Perhaps it's just me, but I've always found that weddings remind me of how I long for a love worthy of a lifelong commitment...for someone whom I could spend eternity with."

Now Artemis could only stare at him blankly. She was almost certain his intentions in coming to speak to her were less than noble, but she was inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.

She was about to respond when she noticed his gaze stray over her left shoulder. Her brow furrowed in puzzlement as she turned to ascertain what had claimed his attention.

It was then that all hell broke loose.

Apollo stood back and turned his guilty gaze away as the great goddesses of Olympus were converted into savage harpies, fighting each other tooth and nail for the chance to claim the shiny, golden apple for their own. All he had to do was plant the unassuming object in plain sight and casually suggest that such a lovely item should be rewarded only to a goddess of exceptional beauty, someone worthy of its brilliance. The rest had sorted itself out, for the apple was imbued with the essence of discord.

In their attempts to capture the enticing apple, a few of the goddesses had gone so far as to leap into the water and physically grapple with one another. It was a truly entertaining, if not improper, sight to behold. But Apollo could not bring himself to look at any of it, instead his eyes sought out a certain Messenger God and his prey.

He caught sight of them as Hermes was leaning into Artemis', whispering something into her ear. And when she smiled in response he wanted to send his conniving brother right through a stone wall. Again he was struck by how he had never before noticed how beautiful she was. Her beauty was unadulterated and subtle, but that was what made her so much more attractive than the other goddesses, in his mind. Truthfully, had he been given the option to choose the recipient of the golden apple, he would have chosen her.

Suddenly, Hermes was spiriting his sister away down a secluded hallway. He could only assume the destination would be some unoccupied room far away from the festivities and the warring goddesses.

He knew they'd had an agreement; he knew he would be going against his very nature by going back on it; he knew that Artemis might never forgive him or look at him the same way if she found out what he'd done. But he also knew, deep down that he would never forgive himself for allowing Hermes to succeed in his twisted plan. Try as he might, he couldn't resist the urge to follow after them. He only hoped he wasn't too late.

Artemis turned to look at Hermes questioningly. She had followed him away from the carnage in the banquet hall under the pretense that he wished to escape the nonsense as much as she did, but she hadn't expected him to pull her into an empty bedroom in a dark corner of the palace that was nowhere near the feast. Something was wrong; she could feel it in her gut—call it her woman's intuition.

Which is why when he suddenly grabbed her by the arms and tried to forcefully capture her lips, she was prepared to thwart his advance with a turn of her cheek.

"Hermes, what are you doing," she asked with a nervous laugh.

He offered her a lopsided grin. "Is it not obvious?"

Understanding dawned on Artemis like an anvil fallen from the sky, yet she still clung to delusion in hopes that denial would lead to her salvation. She refused to believe that she could have been so stupid, so naive.

So instead she merely replied, "Perhaps we should return to the feast. The others might begin to wonder as to our whereabouts."

But Hermes would not be deterred so easily.

"Come now, sister, don't be coy," he spoke gently as he drew her closer to the bed, "Let us enjoy ourselves for a while. No one is going to notice our absence amidst all that commotion."

Artemis tried desperately to distance herself from his lustful gaze and puckered lips but she could not. His grip was as a vice around her. She shut her eyes tightly as his mouth collided with hers, but her protests were muffled within his kiss.

She fell backwards onto the bed and before she could regain her bearings he was on her once more, gripping her wrists in one strong hand and tearing at her clothes with the other. All the while, he continued to lather her with unwanted kisses, paying no heed to her displeasure and lack of reciprocation.

Finally succumbing to the hopelessness of her situation, she simply turned her head to the side and allowed the hot tears to fall silently from her eyes.

Hermes had positioned himself between her legs and was fumbling with his own robe when suddenly Artemis heard the sound of hurried footsteps and ragged breathing.

"Get away from her, Hermes." Each word was enunciated succinctly, laced with raw fury and an unspoken threat.

Artemis strained to glimpse her rescuer from beneath Hermes' shoulder, though she would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Apollo," she sobbed in relief.

Hermes froze and she watched as the lust drained from his face, slowly replaced by resignation. He pulled himself up to his full height, but did not turn around.

"I thought we'd come to an agreement, brother," he spoke with bravado, but Artemis could hear the faintest trace of uncertainty in his voice.

"I won't take this matter before our father if you'll do the same," said Apollo, "But if you attempt to touch Artemis in such a manner ever again, I will not hesitate to end you."

There was a pregnant pause as the three gods all waited with bated breath for someone else to make the first move. It was as if they were suspended in time and space for that one brief moment that seemed to stretch on endlessly.

At last, Apollo stepped forward and said, "Leave us, Hermes."

The Messenger God reluctantly relaxed his hands, which had previously been fisted at his sides. Then without another word he turned and stalked out of the room.

Artemis heaved a sigh of relief and sat up, adjusting her gown self-consciously. Apollo ran a hand through his hair and let his shoulders slump. He wasn't sure what to do next, but he decided on sitting down on the bed next to his sister. He knew better than to reach out and touch her, though his desire to do so was nearly unbearable.

"Are you alright?" He asked out of courtesy, not actual curiosity. He knew well that she was the farthest thing from 'alright'.

She offered him a wan smile and a shrug of her shoulders. "A bit shaken, but I shall survive."

"I know Hermes meant me no harm," she added as an afterthought.

Apollo wanted so desperately to say something, to tell her the truth about everything, but something held him back-fear, he supposed, or a sense of self preservation. So instead he held his tongue and offered his hand.

"Come," he said with a winning smile, "Let us depart from here."

They found themselves walking along the shoreline beneath the cliff-top villa. The evenings were growing cooler but as gods they weren't bothered by the turn of weather.

Apollo glanced down at his sister, who was resting her head on his shoulder whilst they strolled along the pebbled beach arm in arm. As the stars winked their way through the fading dusk, a feeling of contentedness spread through him, warm and fulfilling. Finally, he felt whole once more. And right then and there he swore to do everything in his power to hold onto that feeling, as well as the woman who had instilled it in him.

"I see no reason to deny myself the opportunity of victory in light of your failure," said Ares with a flippant shrug of his shoulders.

Hermes grabbed hold of his toned bicep and held his gaze with a dangerous look. "Then look harder. Apollo would take matters to our father if our schemes come to fruition. You and I both know that Zeus will roast us alive if he were to catch wind of his precious virgin daughter being deflowered."

Ares appeared to ruminate on the Messenger God's words for a moment before finally giving in. "Your point is made, brother. I stand convinced. But do tell, what became of our celibate sister then if Apollo interrupted your success?"

Hermes shrugged. "What gives you thought that I should know? I returned to the feast to warn you against any attempts. Most likely, they fled back to Olympus…"

Their voices trailed off as they continued on down the hallway and Persephone heaved a sigh of relief at their departure. She had been certain that her presence would not go undiscovered, but she thanked Gaia that her brothers had been too preoccupied with their own troubles to notice her indiscretion.

A muffled sound brought her attention back to said indiscretion. Her head whipped back around as she hastily withdrew her hand from the mouth it had previously been covering.

"Apologies," she mumbled sheepishly.

The Lord of the Underworld stared down at her unamused, but there was an obvious lack of anger that Persephone took comfort in.

"Greater gods have felt my wrath for lesser acts of impropriety, little one," his words were ill-boding, but she could tell by the smirk tugging at the left corner of his lip that their threat was empty.

"Pardon, my Lord," she replied with equal ambiguity as her arms snaked around his neck, "I would see to proper redress, but a loving sister is in need of comfort at present, if Hermes spoke true."

Hades closed the distance between them and met her lips with bruising passion. By the time he allowed her air, she was weak-kneed and faint of head, but grinning incandescently, much to his pleasure.

"Go then, if you must," he released his hold on her with one last peck to her forehead.

She shook her head at her secret lover and asked herself for the thousandth time how she had been so lucky as to claim his affections.

"I shall see you again soon," she added softly, just before reluctantly taking her leave on swift but silent feet.

"What did Hermes mean when he spoke of an agreement between the two of you?"

Apollo tried to mask the look of alarm on his face upon hearing his sister's unexpected query. He had thought that he was out of the woods, so to speak, but it appeared that the Fates had other plans.

He shifted uncomfortably from his position atop her bed. They had retreated to Olympus after the catastrophic wedding and wound up hiding out in Artemis' room, avoiding any and all other social interaction.

Artemis stared expectantly at her brother from across the room, the scroll she had previously been reading lay forgotten in her lap. The fire blazed warm at her back and from his vantage point Apollo would have sworn that the golden glow from the flames outlining his sister's silhouette gave her the appearance of some otherworldly, fearsome being of beauty.

"Apollo…?" His sister's gently urging voice brought him back from his reverie.

He shook clear his muddled thoughts and attempted to string together an adequate response. "Well, you see…"

Suddenly the words were tumbling forth from his lips, unbidden and entirely of the own accord. The truth was laid bare, in all its shameful ugliness. And with each word that fell off his tongue he watched her drift farther and farther away from him.

He knew it was a selfish thought to have at such a time, but all he could think to himself was that he had been so close—so close to attaining the remedy for his restlessness.

At the conclusion of his confession, Apollo stood and closed the distance between them, but when he crouched down and reached out to brush a stray lock of hair from his sister's grey eyes he found that they were clouded by unshed tears.

She shied away from his touch and Apollo felt his very soul rend in two.

"How could you?" Her voice was soft at first, barely a ragged whisper. But as her fisted hands trembled with the rage that coursed in her veins, the second time she raised the question it came as a deafening roar. "How could you?"

"Artemis, I—"

"I can forgive Hermes his foolish betting upon the understanding that gods oft turn to such unsavory forms of entertainment when left with idle purpose for too long, but your offense is unforgiveable! You are my brother…my other half…you are the one person that—"

Her breath hitched as she stopped herself from revealing too much, from baring herself to even more pain and humiliation.

"I beg of you, Artemis," Apollo pleaded desperately, "Please let me explain. You must know the depth of my remorse."

"Get out."

Apollo flinched at her response and made one last attempt at winning her back, but it was all in vain.

"Get out," she repeated in a tone the broached no further discussion.

With the familiar dull ache in his chest returned, the Sun God fled from her bedchambers to the comfort of his own. Though, in truth, they offered nothing but torment and the reminder that his heart's greatest desire lay just out of reach.

Like I said, this story kind of took on a mind of its own. I hope no one was too put off by the almost rape scene. I tend not to hold back in my writing and I figured this is Greek mythology after all. Also, I never really intended to include so much of Persephone and Hades, but they are my favorite Greek pairing, aside from Apollo and Artemis, so I guess I couldn't help myself. I've always imagined Hades as the Batman of Greek mythology, the Dark Knight of Olympus, if you will. And Persephone is like the Tinkerbell; the phrase "she's whiskey in a teacup" comes to mind (yes, I know I'm mixing my metaphors but who cares?). Anyway, you can expect to see more of them in the next chapter, but this is mainly an ArtemisXApollo story so they won't be stealing too much of the lime light. I hope you liked this chapter and that if you did you'll drop a review xx

P.S. Kudos to anyone who knows where the cover photo I added to this story is from!