ANNOUNCEMENT:

I am pleased to announce that The Reincarnation will be translated into Italian thanks to a reader named Aella A and a friend of hers. Now this got me super excited, because I didn't think The Reincarnation would be so nice that others would actually want to translate it, so I feel pretty honored, if I do say so myself.

Hmm... Maybe it'll be fun to read The Reincarnation in Italian, don't you think?

Now. On with the story...

Artemis' house was like Hades'; modern, fancy and hidden in the forest, accessible only by a single road that went up a hill. However, hers was bigger than Hades'

"I don't live by myself," she informed me as she drove up to the garage. "I live with Aunt Hestia, Hermes, Dionysus and Apollo."

I nodded my head thoughtfully. "Right. Hades mentioned that to me before." And then, I added out of curiosity and a little bit of excitement, "Are they here right now?"

As she pushed the button of a remote she had, which opened the garage doors, she shook her head. "Aunt Hestia had to pick up the boys. They got drunk and lost in a town called Mayfair, somewhere around Maine borders. Fifth time such a thing had happened this month."

I was slightly disappointed that the rest of them weren't there, but I then stifled a laugh, amused by how even almighty gods could get into these sorts of situations like average drunk people. Beside me, Hades smirked and watched me giggle.

"Yup. That's what I gotta live with," Artemis sighed in dismay as she put the jeep into parking in the now-lit and pretty huge garage. She pressed the button on the remote again and the door slowly closed shut. "But no matter. They were already kind of like that when we were still residing in Mount Olympus."

As I got down the jeep, with help from Hades, I had managed to catch a hint of sadness in Artemis' voice when she said 'Mount Olympus'. I turned to look at her, and saw that she was as still as a statue in her seat. She looked to her side and gazed at a corner of the garage, longing clear in her night sky eyes.

I felt pity for her then, seeing how she was silently missing her true home. It kind of reminded me of Hades' own impenetrable longing to return to the Underworld. Somehow, I could feel both their pains.

I reached a hand for her, wanting to comfort her. But she suddenly got out of her trance and looked at me and Hades with a small smile on her lips.

"Come on," she said. "Let's get inside."

After grabbing her bow and her quiver of arrows from the passenger seat, she hopped out of the jeep and then walked over to a table to grab a folded forest green canvas sheet. She covered the vehicle with it, before motioning for me and Hades to follow her as she walked to a door.

When Hades and I walked in, I couldn't help but be amazed by the kitchen we walked into. Everything was clean, and seemed to be made of marble and metal, with beautiful potted plants hanging from the ceiling or standing at random points of the house. This was the sort of kitchen that any celebrity chef would die to cook in.

I watched as Artemis nonchalantly put down her weapons on the kitchen island as though they were merely house keys before making her way to the living room to turn on the lights. There was no wall separating the kitchen from the living room, and I was equally stunned by the interior.

The living room was about thrice the size of my own bedroom, and it was sparsely but nicely furnished. A dark brown shag carpet covered nearly the entirety of the white marble floor. Atop it was a beige-colored couch that could seat five people, with a chaise lounge at the end. In front of it was a glass coffee table that looked like the one at Hades' house. On either side of it, there were two matching white armchairs that faced each other. And on the wall in front of the coffee table, above a fireplace, was an eighty inch plasma television.

Did all the gods and goddess have a taste for modern and expensive furniture?

After Artemis turned the light dial on the wall until the room was completely lit, she shed off her hunting jacket and hung it on the coat hooks next to the door.

"Have a seat," she said kindly, gesturing to the couch. "Want a drink?"

"Black coffee, if you have it," Hades told her as he sat on the couch, pulling me down next to him. Artemis nodded her head and then asked, "And how about you, Persephone?"

I contemplated about what I wanted. Honestly, I wanted to say that I didn't need a drink, all out of modesty. But I realized that I needed something to calm down the jumble of nerves in me.

"I… don't know," I hesitated.

"How about a hot chocolate?" she called out. I didn't notice that she was in the kitchen already. There, I saw her working on the expensive coffeemaker. "If I remembered from last century, hot chocolate was your favorite," she added.

An interesting fact noted, though I will admit that hot chocolate was my second favourite hot drink, the first being chai.

"Okay, I'll have that," I answered with a tired smile. Just then, Hades' arm draped itself on my shoulders, and I turned to meet his concerned face.

"Are you alright?" he asked me worriedly. "Are you hurt?" And then, his black eyes impossibly began to darken as he asked, "Did she hurt you?"

I sighed at the mention of her and shook my head. "She didn't hurt me," I murmured. "But she threatened to take me away from Heatherton. And on top of that, she kept me locked up in my room so that I know she means business. But luckily, I escaped."

I could feel a low grumble coming from deep within his chest. I could see the fury that burned like hot black fire in his eyes. I could hear his teeth grinding against each other.

In an instant, I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in the crook of his neck, to try and calm both him and myself down. The heat of his anger did not falter, but his arms wound gently around me.

"She'll pay for this, Persephone. I promise," he whispered dangerously.

I shook my head, when in reality I was trying to shake away the dark thought. "Let's not talk about this now, please?" I whispered pleadingly against his skin. "It's a bit too painful."

Before I could hear his reply, I heard Artemis say from in front of us, "Here we are."

In an instant, I pulled away from Hades and nervously ran my fingers through my hair. I felt my cheeks go slightly red as I was still at the stage where I felt embarrassed to display affection with Hades in front of someone else.

Especially a virgin goddess.

Artemis stood next to the coffee table, expertly holding two mugs in her left hand and another mug in her right. She gave the mug in her right hand to Hades, who took it with thanks. Then she gave me one of the other two mugs, and I too thanked her as I took it.

"That was fast," I commented, truly impressed that she had managed to brew up a mug of coffee and two mugs of hot chocolate in just a minute.

Artemis shakes her fingers and, with a cheeky smile, simply said, "Magic fingers."

She gently sat down on the armchair nearest to me and all three of us sipped our hot drinks in companionable silence.

"I'm curious," Artemis suddenly said, breaking the silence. "What mortal name did you take, Persephone?"

I stopped sipping my really delicious hot cocoa and grasped the mug with both hands, feeling the warmth flowing into my palm. "It's kind of a silly name, really. Spring Korey. Obviously because I'm the Goddess of Spring."

Artemis looked deep in thought as she ran a finger on the rim of her mug. "It's actually not silly. Most of us do that. And besides, it really suits you."

"Thanks," I replied. "I like your mortal name too, and it definitely suits you. Let me guess; 'Diana' because that's your Roman identity, and 'Archer' because your profession?"

She grinned in amusement. "Smart," she simply said. And then, she added, "Lord Hades here does it for a simple reason. 'Aiden' because it's kind of a short form for 'Aidoneus'."

I raised both eyebrows in curiosity. The name sounded quite familiar, and when I finally remembered why, I turned to Hades and asked, "'Aidoneus'? Isn't that one of your ancient names?"

Hades nodded his head in response before taking another sip of his coffee. "It's not really so well-known, since it was a made-up name given to me by another so-called 'historian'," he said nonchalantly. "But I liked the sound of it."

"Interesting," I murmured thoughtfully before taking a small sip of delicious hot chocolate. "It suits you too."

All of a sudden, Artemis added softly, "But to be honest, I'd pick 'Artemis' over any name."

Hades' relaxed expression suddenly disappeared into one of deep thought. "Yes," he agreed solemnly. "I think we all would rather have our real names."

I stayed quiet as I studied the longing that was hidden in both Artemis' midnight blue eyes and Hades' pitch black ones. Although I agreed with whatever they said and felt, knowing entirely that it was truth, I couldn't help but wish that I could feel and think the same way as they do, to know how difficult it was for them to accept the fact that they could not return to their true home in a very long time.

Unfortunately, I don't. And it made me feel so cruelly privileged.

Artemis broke the silence once again, and she said lowly, "Aunt Hestia told me that Demeter wiped away your memories, but then you got it back recently." And then, she hesitated for a while, before asking, "Was it difficult? To not remember anything?"

Beside me, I could feel Hades tense up, but I grasped his hand quickly to prevent him from going into rage mood. I know that Artemis was not doing this to aggravate either of us. She was merely asking that question because she was curious and concern.

"It was difficult," I admitted quietly, staring at the warm chocolaty liquid in my mug. "All those that I've met – Poseidon, Athena, Zeus and Hera – and Hades and…. Demeter…. All of them remembered every single thing about me, but I couldn't even recall one memory. Well, one memory that wasn't completely fabricated by my mother. It just made me feel so trapped, and angry."

I sighed when I was done and took a gulp of hot chocolate. The warm liquid travelled down my gullet and into my stomach smoothly, leaving a trail of comforting inner warmth. Hades too began to gently rub my shoulder, giving me more comfort.

"It doesn't have to be this way for long," Artemis said under her breath, but loud enough for me to hear. "Very soon, the day will come where we'll return to what we truly are, and all of your memories will return."

When she had finished her sentence, my curiosity then grew. It was that statement again; the same one spoken by Athena and Hecate.

I recalled Athena's warning.

You and Lord Hades must leave before it is too late.

I remembered Hecate's words.

When the approaching day when you and Lord Hades finally return to the Underworld arrives, all your memories are sure to return.

And until now, I still had no idea what that meant. And I had no idea of its significance.

"What do you mean by that?" I suddenly ask, my eyebrows furrowed in a confused expression.

Artemis' expression too turned into one of disbelief. Her eyebrows furrowed as like mine, but her eyes held more confusion.

"Persephone. Don't you know?"

I shook my head. "What was I supposed to know?"

Her eyes then moved from me to Hades. I turned to look at him as well, and was taken aback by what I saw.

His eyes were focused intently on the coffee mug in his hand with a frown and taut jaw. I saw how tight his fingers were wrapped around the handle, and I had a feeling that if he squeezed just a little bit more, the handle would have easily broken into pieces.

Just looking at his expression already told me that I was in for some bad news.

But the very minute I was about to finally ask them what they were talking about, all three of us were suddenly distracted by the noise and voices outside the door.

A key rattling against the lock, and then a woman's voice said disapprovingly, "I really do hope that such a thing won't happen ever again. It's four in the morning!"

A snort, and then a voice of a young man exclaimed, "Blame it on Di here who won't stop calling for shots! I can't even remember how we managed to get over to the next state."

Suddenly, the door opened, just as another man's voice complained, "Damn, he stinks! Alright, who puts him into be-"

But the man didn't finish his sentence when they all set their eyes on me.

I looked at each and every one of them closely. There were three guys, one unconscious and slung over the shoulder of another, and all looked between the ages of twenty-two to twenty-five. Then there was a woman, who looked like she was in her early to mid-thirties, though she still had a youthful face.

One of the guys, who had the unconscious one slung over his shoulder, was tall and lean-muscled, nearly similar to Hades' figure. He had peach skin, slicked-back golden hair and eyes the color of a clear afternoon sky.

The other conscious guy was about a foot shorter than the golden-haired one, but still lean-muscled. He too had peach skin, his hair was a pale blonde and it reached halfway down his ears and he had the brightest spring green eyes.

I couldn't see much of the unconscious fellow, but I could see that he too was quite well-toned, had peach skin, and shoulder-length chestnut hair.

The woman was very beautiful. She was tall and quite curvy, and too had peach skin. She had the most brightest reddish-orange hair I've ever seen; the style was shoulder-length and very curly. But what struck me most were her eyes. Her eyes were a blazing yellow, like a cat's, but it was gentle.

In just a few seconds, I could tell who was who.

The woman was named Portia Flare, but was forever known truly as Hestia, the Goddess of the Hearth and the Home.

The golden-haired guy was Kris Archer, Diana Archer's twin brother. But in reality, he was Apollo, the God of Music, Knowledge and the Sun, and Artemis' twin brother. (Hades was right. The both of them looked nothing like each other. Fraternal twins, I could only guess.)

The pale-blonde one was Zachary Wright, truly known as Hermes, the messenger of the gods, and the God of Thieves and Communication.

The unconscious one, if I recalled, went by the name of Jake Heron, but it was obvious to me that he was Dionysus, God of Wine.

I carefully set my mug down and stood from my seat, my eyes unable to move from them. They noticed me then, and my heart skipped a beat when Hestia, Apollo and Hermes looked at me.

I stared at all of them in complete awe.