Just a little something that I thought about during the solar eclipse in Australia on the morning of 14/11/2012. This is sort of about sibling care, just shown through another's eyes. Hope you enjoy this.

Secrets of the Twins

Hermes POV:

There are two moments in time where I have witnessed an amazing feat – at least when it comes to Artemis and Apollo, that is. The first time one of these moments happens is when Artemis is alone at night and thinks that no one else is around. She does have to 'protect her dignity', you know. Unfortunately for me, I had to go deliver a message to her on the same night that she had one of those moments. I did not expect Apollo to be there talking to her and otherwise comforting her over something I still don't have a clue about. The result of that chance meeting was that I ended up in bed with a broken leg and a few stitches in my side and shoulder; the message left for Iris to help me send to the feisty moon goddess.

The second moment was more of a public matter and it was concerning Apollo. Now let me explain something here. When Apollo gets upset, my advice is to duck and cover. When he gets upset, he doesn't just get upset. He get angry… really angry. My belief is that he got that trait from Father (that's Lord Zeus to you mortals). Another thing about Apollo is that he usually gets angry over something either Hera wants him to do or Father has said; more often than not, it's Hera.

And that was exactly the case when I walked into the Throne Room for that afternoon's daily meeting. Now usually I'm one of the first there, but on this particular day I was late (blame Persephone). And, of course, I had entered during a full blown war… well, it was close to one anyway. Both Apollo and Hera were on their feet and yelling in each other's faces. No one noticed me slip into my own throne, but then again, what was to be expected?

" Damn it, woman! How many times do I have to tell you that you can't control my life?!" Apollo yelled.

" What did I miss?" I asked Dionysus.

Said god merely looked up from his wine magazine, though I had a sneaky suspicion that this time he wasn't fantasising about the wine that he wasn't allowed to have. Maybe that was because of the large image of the Joker blowing up some building. Who knew Dionysus liked Batman? I let my mind drift off the thought, though, when I noticed the glare that I was receiving. It was almost like he was contemplating using me as a test subject for some of those ideas that the Joker was probably giving him. A chill ran down my spine at the thought.

" How can you miss anything when it's the same thing every time?" He asked in a bored voice.

I rolled my eyes knowing all too well what the argument was about. Funny how something like that can tell you an awful lot of information. But, and I'll be honest about this, something seemed different about this particular confrontation. Father looked particularly cheesed off that day and I head from Aeolus that he had ordered a rain forecast down in Australia. I also couldn't help overhearing Athena muttering about some kind of mortal-scientific natural wonder occurring sometime soon (and, no, I wasn't eavesdropping or anything like that. I was just passing through as I trudged back to my own bed after a really long day. George and Martha are witnesses… well Martha is, George was asleep).

Sure enough, my thoughts were confirmed when Aphrodite squealed in pleasure. " That means that I can help organise the wedding and make sure that the bridal party is looking fantabulous!"

I wasn't even sure that fantabulous was a word and Athena had her thinking face on again. I didn't want to disturb her with something that she probably thought was trivial.

" No you will not organise the wedding!" Hera roared, failing to hear the word 'help' in that sentence. Wisely, Aphrodite kept silent.

" No one is going to be organising my wedding because I'm not going to have one!" Apollo roared back.

" It will calm you down!"

" Just accept it." Hephaestus sighed.

" Like it did you any good!" Apollo growled in reply.

" Apollo, calm down." Artemis ordered gently.

" I am calm!"

Yep. Definitely calm. I thought to myself. I honestly didn't want to get caught up in this.

There were a few more choice words spoken from all three of them (them being Apollo, Artemis and Hera) until, finally, Hera hit another sensitive nerve… only this time it affected Artemis as well. And trust me when I say you don't want Artemis as an enemy. Father, on the other hand, seemed to be getting even more worked up about the entire situation. I guess Hera's blinding jealousy was getting on his nerves, too. Either way, I wanted to be out of there but something kept me in my seat.

However this next attack on Hera's part was a little too low. Even I knew that Artemis and Apollo's mother was beautiful. But it just goes to show that you should never insult Leto in front of both of her children. Boy, were the colours flying then. Personally, my Drachmas were on Apollo and Artemis… though that may have been because I shared their distaste to our step-mother.

" I should have banned all forms of land to your mother!" the slightly crazed (in my opinion) wife of Zeus bellowed, possibly forgetting that she basically already did. " I should have sent tougher opponents than Python and Tityos."

And that is when Apollo lost it. You see, mention of Python and Tityos is still a kind of sore spot for him. It would be for me too, if I was punished for protecting my mother who just so happened to be one of the many lovers of my father. Quick as lightning, Apollo lunged. And that is when Artemis had to drag her brother from the Throne Room, using her own body to prevent him from lashing out. Needless to say that talk of marrying Apollo off was quickly cut short. And the mortals got their solar eclipse.

Now that you know these two little secrets that I had (unluckily) witnessed, I must leave again. I have two (slightly annoying) voices whispering in my ear about something which I hope is not important. I'll just make a quick reminder to myself to PUBLISH AND SEND THAT PRANK BOOK TO MY CHILDREN! And then I'll leave.

Signing off,

Hermes.

" Hermes, what are you doing?" Apollo asked, leaning over the side of his throne to try and sneak a peek.

There was a sharp, echoing snap as Hermes quickly shut the book he was working in and sat on it, determined to hide it from view. The snakes on his caduceus shaped pen writhed in discomfort – not because one didn't like the other touching him, but because the very book which Hermes was now sitting on was also personal to the both of them. Unfortunately for the three of them, the entire council had fallen silent on Apollo's words.

" Yes, Hermes. What are you doing?" Athena repeated, an obvious clip in her voice that clearly said that he was missing something important.

" Nothing." Hermes replied in a small voice.

" Yes, well…" Athena started to say before Apollo interrupted her again.

" It didn't look like nothing." The sun god protested.

" Well, it was!" Hermes growled in reply.

Things could have only gotten worse when Aphrodite squealed, " Oh, are you composing a romantic piece of love to that someone who has caught your eye?"

Everyone just looked at her for a good five minutes. Most were just dumbstruck. The rest (mainly Hermes) was plainly horrified. There really was no other way to describe it. And the only thing on Hermes mind was why Aphrodite always had to come to that sort of conclusion for just about everything. Quietly, he sent a reminder to Martha (knowing that George was bound to forget again like he did with the reminder about the prank book) telling him to make a note for this meeting for the book as well. Then he answered.

" I was doing no such thing, Aphrodite." He said.

" Then what were you doing?" Apollo pestered.

" Answer honestly. This is getting annoying." Artemis warned.

Of course, Hermes being Hermes, he didn't reply honestly. Instead, he teleported his book to the most secret secret compartment in his room and smiled. There was no way in Tartarus that he was going to let anyone find his 'reflective book of secrets'.

Next time, though, He thought to himself, try not to have any spur of the moment memories.

So what did you think? Did I get everyone in character? Does it need to be better? Do I need to get a life?

...Maybe ignore that last question...

Anyway... please tell me what you think about it. Meanwhile, I go nurse a couple of sunburns I got today at an excursion to the zoo.