Hello lovelies! That wasn't too long of a wait right? I guess I'll start by saying thank you for all the lovely favorites follows and reviews. And now please stay tuned for a quick commercial break. My friend SongOfRejoice and I have started a collab fanfiction here. Our name is CelestialTwins. We currently have two chapters of our story posted with much more to come and it would be really lovely if you guys would check that out. Okay, that's over with. On with the story! Stay lovely!

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson nor do I own anything affiliated with it. Percy Jackson and all his friends (as well as his enemies) belong to the brilliant mind of Rick Riordan.

Chapter 14

"So…" Apollo finally spoke. The silence had grown thick in the air with time. The twins had moved to sit back to back against the barrier some time ago. "This was Hera's plan? Have you trapped in a cave for Zeus knows when?"

Artemis stared straight forward, her brows slightly furrowed in thought. "I think it was more than just being trapped in a cave." She shifted so her side was against the barrier. "It was you. And I. The tantalizing moment when we both see that after all this time, all this pain, we are so close," she laid her fingertips softly against the barrier, "yet unable to touch. A truly Tartarus worthy punishment, though not very original." She gave a quiet sigh, letting her fingers slip down from the wall and in to her lap.

Apollo ran his hands through his hair, letting out a hard breath as he did so. He turned his head and watched his sister as she sat staring off in to the distance. "Hey, why don't you just transform in to some animal? Then you'd be able to dig yourself out or at least be free from the chain." He gave a kind smile.

Artemis returned his smile, but then swung her leg in to his view. "I have tried. I cannot. The chain is celestial bronze. There is no escaping it by myself." Apollo gave a sigh. "Apollo, I do not think you staying here is going to help me out of this. Perhaps you should go to Olympus and have Hera take down the barrier."

Apollo was quiet for a minute before responding. "I don't want to leave you here alone. But if I could do something that would free you, then I'd be a fool to just sit here." He stood up, Artemis followed suite. "I'll go to Olympus as fast as I can, and I'll fight Hera as hard as I can." He wished he could lift her chin like cool heroes do. "For you."

Artemis smiled and put her hand to the barrier. Apollo put his over hers, his being much bigger and blocking his sister's from view. "Be careful Apollo."

Apollo smirked. "Now when am I ever not careful?" Artemis chuckled at this. "I have an idea, how about I get Hermes to keep you company while I'm gone?"

Artemis frowned. "Doesn't his work keep him busy?"

Apollo shook his head. "Nah. His company's so grown he's pretty much just a supervisor. I'm sure it'll be fine if he spent one day away."

Artemis raised a questioning brow but decided to dismiss it. "Whatever makes you more comfortable with leaving."

"Now if I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to get rid of me." Artemis rolled her eyes. "Alright. Let me just go find him. He's probably in his office on Olympus."

Artemis gave a nod. "Yes, Apollo, I will be fine until he gets here. I'm not just a child scared of the dark."

Apollo took one last deep look in to his sister's eyes. As much as he hated to leave her here like this, he knew she was right. He turned before calling over his shoulder "I'll be back before you know it!" and he was out of the cave.

Artemis could hear the engine of his sports chariot revving as he took off, flooring the gas it sounded like. She slowly sank back in to a sitting position against the far wall, her ankle tired from fighting the chain. "I truly hope so."

Apollo could see Olympus coming closer. He finally arrived and after a long period of searching for a parking spot he got out and headed over to Hermes' office. He didn't pay attention to the receptionist at the front and threw open the large doors. What he saw he certainly wasn't expecting.

Hermes had his headphones in and was dancing around wile packaging boxes of various contents. What really surprised Apollo was that he had no shirt on. He hadn't tried that style in nearly millennia. Apollo could hear Hermes singing to the song playing. "Whoa oh ooh, whoa oh ooh oh oh ooh, whoa oh ooh! 'Cause if you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it! 'Cause if you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it!"

Apollo pursed his lips before shouting "Hermes!" simultaneously switching from true form to human-like form hoping the bright flashing would get his attention. When Hermes looked over and saw Apollo he was a deer in headlights, a look of pure shock and surprise on his face. He yanked out the headphones and made a shirt appear on his torso.

"I, uh…" Apollo saw his face turn a shade of red.

"Beyoncé? Really Hermes?" Apollo said with a raised brow.

"Oh, you're just jealous 'cause the humans worship a mortal as a musical idol far over you."

Apollo gave a grumble. "She's just a mortal I don't understand."

"Hey, don't be hatin on Queen B. There are even mortals who believe her to be and worship her as a god."

"Now she's a queen?" He shook his head. "Never mind. I've found Artemis!"

Apollo proceeded to tell Hermes about how he found Artemis, the horrible thing keeping her in that cave, and Hera's tantalizing punishment for both of them. Due to his being the god of truth, he forgot to leave out the part about him singing to Artemis, to which Hermes replied with a high pitched "Aw!" Finally, he told Hermes of his plan to confront Hera and his request that Artemis not be left alone.

"Of course! I'll leave right away!" Hermes' sandals began to flutter and he zoomed off out of the room before Apollo had the chance to thank him. He reached the cave pretty quickly, and walked in cautiously. "Artemis?" He called.

Artemis stood up and took a few steps forward. "Hermes?" She halted her steps as the chain held her back. She could feel a few drops of ichor running down her ankle.

Hermes jogged forward until he was right in front of the barrier, putting a curious hand on it. "Whoa." He then looked at Artemis with a grin. "So, as I'm sure you know, Apollo sent me here to keep you company while he gets himself killed by Hera."

"I am aware." She cocked her head. "What exactly did you have in mind for that?"

His grin spread. "Well, Bruno Mars is a pretty good artist, but he's also a peasant." He pulled out his iPod. "It's time you we're introduced to the queen."