"Now…what to do with you two?" asked Zeus. Artemis and Apollo were chained to the floor in the middle of the throne room. Most minor gods had fled the room, and only the children of Kronos remained, yet none spoke against Zeus.

"Father, what you did was wrong, what you wanted to do was worse," Artemis shouted, "You would condemn a child to live a life without parents?" Artemis was struggling with her bonds, trying, but failing, to break free. The golden chains left beet-red chafing marks on her wrists.

"It was not I who sentenced that child to a life without parents. I was going to kill the girl; you are the one that sentenced that girl to a life without parents, Zeus began, "Daughter, you and your brother are foolish for helping Jackson and thus you will be punished for it."

Artemis struggled more as Apollo seemed resigned. His head was tilted down and golden locks covered his face. The final line of the prophecy rang through his head, 'A legend forever written, the child who caused Olympus to fall.' He could not get that line to go away, he needed to do whatever it took to keep that girl alive.

"Brother! How could you be so silent?" Artemis questioned. Apollo began to chuckle.

"Because Zeus's time as King of the Gods is coming to an end sister. That child will be your doom father. All because you felt threatened. This time, when a Jackson comes knocking on your doorstep, it will not be to save you from the next evil, it will not be to save Olympus, and it will not be to keep you in power. When a Jackson comes knocking on your door, it will be to end you, and she won't be alone."

"Enough! How did my children become such insolent creatures? I strip you of your godhood and banish you from Olympus. You two will spend the rest of your days as mortals." Declared Zeus.

"So be it," said Apollo. The twins were struck with lighting that stripped them of their godhood and sent them down to earth.

When they hit the ground, they were lucky that neither had any broken bones. Apollo took stock of what they had: nothing. They were 18 or 19 and had nothing but the clothes on their back.

"Apollo we need to go to Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter…"

"No. We can't, even now Zeus plants his spies in the camps. Follow me." And so the twins were off, heading west. They passed through empty streets, dirty alleyways, and deserted stores. Finally, they came upon a doughnut store.

"Apollo! You can't be serious. You know what that is right?"

"Yes, but we need a way to Mexico."

"Why? Why Mexico?"

"I have some friends down there. Maybe they'll help us."

"You're telling me that your 'friends' might help us? You're risking our lives for a maybe?"

"Listen, it's been a while. Just trust me alright."

"Fine." With that, the twins made their way into the store, and up to the counter, heads down. When they reached the counter Apollo said,

"I need fast and discrete travel to Mexico."

"No can do little man, we don't provide travel to places with other gods." The cyclops said.

"But can you provide us with travel to San Fransisco?" Artemis asked.

"Yes?"

"But if you can do San Fransisco then why not Mexico?"

"Artemis…" Apollo tried to warn.

"No little man. I understand the little lady," the cyclops turned to Artemis, "It's none of your business girl."

At this moment Apollo wondered if the fates had protected the twins from Zeus's full wrath. Because at this moment it would seem that the twins had retained some godly power. Instead of becoming full mortals, they had become demigods. Thank the fates.

Artemis was only about 5'7 in her half-blood form, so the move she did next caused her to jump about 10 inches. She jumped, placed her hands on the back part of the Cyclops' head, and pushed down with all her might.

The Cyclops' head smashed against the counter, his nose instantly breaking. Blood gushed from the wound and the sound drew the attention of a dracaena who was working in the back. Artemis vaulted over the counter sending a powerful kick into the Cyclops' chest, knocking him back.

At the same time, Apollo ran through the store looking for weapons. He found two bows, a pair of daggers, and a shit-ton of arrows. He put one of the bows on his back, took aim with the other one, and pinned the Cyclops to the wall with an arrow. He dropped the bow, took aim with the daggers, and threw them into the dracaena who disintegrated into dust. He picked the bow back up and fired at the Cyclops again. However, the Cyclops had moved towards Artemis, and the arrows only pierced the wall.

Artemis backed up from the Cyclops and picked up the daggers. The Cyclops caught up to her and tried to take a swing at her. Even though her godly reflexes had been stolen, she still possessed some reflexes as she ducked under the swing, lunged forward, and thrust both daggers into the Cyclops' throat. Both monsters had disintegrated into dust.

Artemis brushed the dust off her clothes and caught the bow and arrows that her brother tossed to her. She hopped back over the counter and stormed out. Apollo grabbed a set of keys, raided the register, and followed her out.

"You almost got us killed Apollo, we're not gods anymore."

"You think I don't know that? Artemis, may I remind you that this isn't my first time with this punishment. Except this time the way back to godhood isn't through Zeus. It's through Jackson. And in case you haven't noticed, we're half-bloods, by some luck of fate."

"What do we do now?"

"We change our names, take a car to Mexico, and meet with my contacts," At Artemis's nod he continued, "From now on I'm Lester and you're Diana. If you find a better one let me know. Now let's go."

The twins hopped in the car but not before Artemis wrote a letter, pierced it with an arrow, and fired the arrow into the night sky. They began their perilous and long journey to Mexico. At the border between Mexico and the United States Apollo met with his contacts Zane Obispo and Brooks.

"Hello Zane, Brooks, It's nice to see you again."

"What do you need Apollo?" Zane said.

"It's Lester now, this is my twin Diana. We need a place to stay and a phone."

"How long will you be staying?"

"12 years."

"Holy shit Lester. Why?"

"I'll explain on the way." The twins, along with Zane and Brooks drove to Zane's farm. There, Apollo made a call.

"Hey Nico, I need you to do some recruiting for me."