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XI
Time passed fast. Too fast. And too many things happened in between the two years that passed like the wind.
After the incident with the Hunted, Artemis and Apollo returned to Firestorm, their hands still clean from blood, at the same time graduating smoothly from Firestorm Academy. They became the Sun and the Moon.
But the cleanliness did not last long. Approximately 3 months later, Ariadne was sent onto her final test- she was later than the others, being slightly weaker.
She never came back.
Nobody was too sure what happened, but it was rumored that she was killed by the Black Assassins, the rival organization of Firestorm, and also the largest and most powerful.
Either way, they never saw her again. There wasn't even a body.
Another month or two later, the twins were once again sent onto a mission.
They made their first kill: a young woman who for some reasons, owed something to Firestorm and never paid. When they had her tracked down, ready to be killed, neither Artemis nor Apollo wanted to strike first; neither of them wanted to be the first to be stained with sin.
So they made the kill together, and stained their hands with blood at the same time.
They hated it, hated it already at first. Hated it even more when later they found out that she had a husband and she was pregnant.
Hated it so much their chests ache with hatred.
But they couldn't do anything. They were afraid to. Firestorm was so big: two young recruits weren't all that important to them. And they knew the threat of their family being killed if they disobeyed hovering over their heads.
More jobs, more blood. Artemis wanted to stick an arrow through Scorch's head. If it wasn't for her…
She restrained herself. Everything seems to be in a daze now. Everything seems hazy and unfocused, like they were walking through a blurry memory.
Artemis looked up when she heard the door to the training room open and Apollo walked in. He and Artemis was the same. Both had sunken into a half-dazed state, unfeeling, unknowing.
"A job," he said simply before leaving again to get ready. Artemis followed him swiftly.
Arrows, guns, knives, all strapped and hidden all over their bodies. Casual clothes to hide them, acting… blood everywhere…
Mission accomplished…
Artemis and Apollo entered a familiar region. Not all that familiar, but they could vaguely remember it. They were in a park; the same park they had spent so many afternoons in when they were younger. Before all this.
They knew that road: that long, winding cement road lined with bushes and flowers and trees and houses. As you walked down the road, the houses will become more and more extravagant, and at the very, very end of the road, there stood the most magnificent house of all, so immense and proud it was like a castle.
Artemis and Apollo knew that house. They had lived in it. They had called it home for many years, practically all their lives.
But it was no longer home.
The twins turned their gaze away from the memory, unfeeling, unknowing.
And they froze.
Artemis and Apollo had been sitting on a bench, side by side, looking out into the distance when they heard a voice that sounded almost familiar.
The voice laughed, and another voice joined in, the two of them beginning to chat.
At that moment, another voice, another voice they knew, called out to the first voice, joining the conversation. More came, and the memories began to resurface.
The proud and all-knowing voice of Athena, the sweet, quiet voice of Hebe. The mischievous bragging of Hermes and the slurred, undistinguishable words of Dionysus.
The twins turned their heads a fraction towards their long-lost family who sounded so happy.
Then more voices came. Aunt Hestia, Aunt Demeter, Uncle Poseidon… Hera, their Father Zeus, Uncle Hades and his kind wife Persephone, along with sweet Aunt Amphitrite. The loud, boisterous joking of Ares and Triton, the almost inaudible tinkering of Hephaestus's agile hands.
It was this sound that began to wake the twins. They opened their eyes once more, and they began to breathe again. They turned completely, back to the memory, feeling, knowing, seeing, breathing, thinking, yearning…
They were alive. And for the first time in two years, they acknowledged that. For the first time in two years, a smile crept up their faces, and tears fell from their eyes.
"I…" Artemis couldn't speak, peeking back towards her family. All of them have grown older, but they haven't changed much. Athena was still proud and pretty in a cold, calculating way. Hermes was still elf-like and mischievous. Dionysus was still drunk. Ares and Triton were still annoying as hell. Hephaestus still has no life. Aunt Demeter was still crazy, and Aunt Hestia still looks seven, sweet and kind. There were more gray hairs on the adults, but that was it.
They were still the family Apollo and Artemis remembered.
Hestia took out a large blanket from a basket, and with the help of a few others, spread it out onto the grass. The girls began to set up a picnic.
The twins couldn't believe it. Everybody was there, even their father. And they all looked so happy… even though Artemis and Apollo have been lost. Apparently they've gotten over it.
The picnic was set up, and everybody sat down, beginning to enjoy the wonderful cooking of Iris and Aunt Demeter. They were chatting, laughing…
Abruptly, Artemis stood up. Apollo copied her actions without a question, and slowly, the two of them began strolling towards the large family.
As they neared them, Hestia suddenly stood up, a cup of orange juice in her hand. She cleared her throat before speaking up, "Everybody, attention!" The chatters stopped. Even Ares and Triton stopped joking around.
"I believe you all know why today in particular, we're coming out for a picnic." Hestia began. "If you've forgotten, shame on you, but let me remind everybody anyway." She took a deep breath. "Today is the fourth anniversary of the disappearance of Artemis and Apollo Olympia, our beloved twins."
Both Artemis and Apollo stopped, mid-step.
"Artemis and Apollo, though they didn't seem to like each other too much, they actually care about each other… and everyone else a lot. They were an irreplaceable part of the family, just like Melinoe and Kymopoleia."
Eileithyia's name was never mentioned.
"The twins were special, talented, and without them, the family seems empty and lifeless. Though we do not know what had happened to them, let us never forget them."
Artemis turned once more, away from her family, biting down a sob. Apollo placed a hand onto her shoulder.
"Though two years ago we have miraculously received an email from them, sent from an anonymous address, it was too long ago. We do not know how they are now."
Time has passed.
It was the first time in two years that Artemis realized that. Time has passed, so quickly it didn't seem to have passed at all. But it did, and they could not get the time back.
Turning once again, facing her family once, Artemis took a deep breath and pulled down her hoodie, Apollo following her actions.
Together, they walked up to the picnic crowd, smiling the best they could. "Missed us?"