The seemingly endless expanses of the Pit pulled at her sanity with every step. Though, she supposed, the Pit had taken over everything that was known, so for all she knew it stretched endlessly. Or maybe she was finally losing her mind, it was hard to say when she was the only one left.

It had been millennia since they, the Olympians alongside Gaea, had gone to war against the Pit. A full struggle for survival that had been moot. He had been an unstoppable, unrelenting force that overpowered all opposition. Slowly, He claimed the gods, and then Gaea. Under the force of his presence, life withered, and everything formed to His whims.

Perhaps it was a twisted hunt He wished to put her through, or an unseen presence at work, but Artemis had come back first, and she had been on the run ever since.

For almost all intents and purposes, she was a demigod. Of course, her death was not permanent, but when her throne and domain were destroyed it left her with the barest of hints of her old power. Summoning weapons or teleporting were laughable attempts, even getting a basic bearing of where she was had no chance.

The only thing that had kept her going were dreams. Dreams of what had been, what could have been, and a feeble hope that if she kept going she could fix everything.

So she ran, lost track of days, weeks, years. Lost track of what was the Pit and what had once been Gaea. Ran until she could no longer, and started once more the next day.

The monsters pursued of course, yet none had managed to catch her. Just as she hadn't grown tired. Yet, at least. With everything she had, she wouldn't let them manage it.

She missed her hunt, missed Athena, even missed Apollo. Every night spent celebrating a successful hunt, every whispered comment during a council meeting, every irritating quip or corny joke.

A stone bit through the heavily worn sole of her sandal, sending pain shooting up her leg. She barely suppressed a yelp, bouncing away and sending flecks of orange ichor across the black ground.

It had long since faded from glimmering gold, as her domains died around her, yet her nature kept it from the crimson of mortality. It was a sign she was still… alive, for all that it was worth. That she could keep going, keep running, keep fighting.

The pain was quick to dull as she sunk back into the pattern of running, and soon enough the land of suffering would stop her bleeding as well, though the trail of blood she undoubtedly left was far from ideal. She didn't have anything to cover it with regardless, her tunic was already far too tattered for her modesty.

With any hindsight, she couldn't say what had drawn her eye to the horizon to her left. Maybe something of coincidence, maybe instinct, maybe something greater.

A river, though she had nigh forgotten the meaning of the word and the word itself, traveled parallel to her own path. Steady, straight, unwavering, she had to pinch herself in case the Pit had put an illusion over her. It remained, and all at once aeons without drink dried her throat.

Casting a cautionary glance to her surroundings, with an extra moment for the path she had been on, she parted from it. From a path she had been traveling since Athena had vanished, the path Athena had told her to travel. Artemis ached for a moment, a full body ache of physical and emotional pain, but shoved the feeling aside.

The river was wide, a clear line in the stone, swirling and golden. It almost looked more like… sand, than any river she thought she could recall. Then, perhaps she had gone mad, so her recollection meant little.

Still, she stumbled to the bank and collapsed to her knees in one motion, catching herself with her hands and ignoring the cuts the action produced. Gouging deeper wounds, she scooted closer and leaned to cup the liquid into her hands.

"Please do not drink that."

Heart violently leaping into her throat, Artemis whirled and scrambled away from the source of the words, scooting back a few feet and assessing the intruder.

He was her age- rather, her physical age- not terribly tall, with a certain quality to his body that displayed youth. A mop of hair so dark that it seemed to absorb the light from the river stuck up in every direction, and a pair of swirling golden eyes seemed to see straight past her and the stones below her. To the very end.

"Who are you?" She rasped, scooting further as he offered a hand to help her up. He hardly seemed phased by the response, but still offered the help for an extra moment before retreating.

"I have never had a need for a name." The boy offered simply, "One does not need a name to stand guard, no?"

While not the first voice she'd like to have heard after so long, it was hardly unpleasant. Not quite deep, but not too high, smooth and steady and slow as though he had all the time in the world. It sounded far better than her own voice, still weak and gravelly from lack of use. Far from dignifying from a goddess such as herself.

"What is this?" She pressed. He could be as cheeky about names as he wanted, so long as she got the important answers, "Why can I not drink it?"

"Time." He responded, "It is quite the pleasure to finally meet you, Goddess of the Moon."

"Time?" She repeated, and he nodded.

"You are among one of the few to have seen it in such a state. Consider yourself lucky," He offered conversationally, as though it weren't such an absurd thing to say, "I suppose the current state of things plays no small part in that."

"Lucky."

"Indeed."

"Indeed."

She couldn't really do anything more than repeat his words. It felt so silly, she had never even heard a theory of such a thing from Athena, and still he said it with such certainty. Like it were the gray mists that hid the horizons or the jagged black stones underfoot.

"How have I never seen this before?"

"How are you seeing it now?" He offered cryptically, as though it were a proper answer by itself. She gave him a glare, but he did not balk, "It would seem Destiny has a plan for your thread, Goddess."

"I am hardly a goddess anymore."

The admission was sour on her tongue, though it had been a long time coming. She wasn't a goddess anymore, not really. No domain, no followers, hardly any power, and hunted like a frightened hare.

"All the same." He looked to the river for a long moment, and his clothes caught her eye.

They were ever shifting, fabric and color smoothly transitioning between what fragmented eras she could recall and hundreds more that she could not. It made her eyes ache slightly, so she pointedly ignored it.

"What do you mean, Destiny has a plan?"

His expression shifted. Lost whatever casual quality it held in place of a blank, stony mask.

"Ananke has made a deal, of no small cost, to bring you back through the river of time. To the start, before Tartarus began sinking his claws into Gaea, in hopes that you will be able to change the path that we have taken. You have been given a gift, and I must fulfill our portion of the deal."

The words almost flew right through her mind, instead crashing into her awareness like the full weight of a chariot. Ananke? Going back in time? Stopping the Pit?

He gave her all the time in the world to absorb the statement, watching the gray mists swirl and shift across leveled mountains and filled valleys. Finally, she nodded silently.

"You understand what the costs are? There is no returning to your domains, your power, your hunt." He stared into the swirling gold current as he spoke, with a strange monotone quality as though he was simply reading something aloud.

She tried to swallow that bit of information, and the knowledge of what she had to do. Still, a certain lump lodged in her throat.

No more powers, not as an Olympian at least. Likely not even as a goddess. No driving her chariot, no connection to the forests and wilds. No more hunts with her girls.

"I understand." She nodded. For the first time since this ordeal started, silence fell over what had once been Earth. Even the crackling, burning heat underfoot seemed to cease for a moment.

"Very well." The boy nodded, finally turning to face her, "He permits you to pass through, in hopes you may prevent that which has come to pass in this time. However, you may take nothing of this time with you."

Artemis paused, unsure of what he meant for only a moment. Her face burned, mortification flooding her body as she protectively grabbed what remained of her chiton.

He didn't react, did not blush or balk or reassure somehow. His expression stayed perfectly neutral, unbothered.

"You mean my-"

"Your clothes are part of this time, Artemis. The very residue of this time will remain on them, and will mark you as something that does not belong."

She glared now, and if it was an act he was a flawless actor.

With one more glance at the swirling stream of gold, she pulled the only thing holding her chiton free, letting the stained and torn fabric drop to the ground.

She was quick to cover all that she could, and for his part his eyes never wandered from her face. Her eyes shot to all horizons for a moment, relieved to find no one and nothing to see her state.

"Well? What now?"

His eyes shot open wide, this time leaving her face and returning to the river, like a silent conversation was being held. She bristled slightly at being ignored, but forced a degree of patience for the one who would get her out of here.

"It would appear that I am coming with you."

Artemis paused, almost unsure that she'd heard him correctly.

"Excuse me?"

"Your task has been deemed of such importance as for myself to accompany you." His tone was light, not quite anything but an intonation, with a bit of… shock?

"I have no need for you, and the river still needs to be protected. It is best I go alone."

"There will be another to defend the river." He dismissed, clothing lingering on a shirt just long enough for him to cast it off. She gave a shout, whipping to watch the horizon as his pants dropped.

"You would dare to bare yourself before a maiden goddess?" She hissed indignantly, forcing what little power that remained within her to the fore.

"I do not strip in front of a goddess, simply a maiden." The boy responded simply, "Come now, give me your hands. Your temper has drawn undesirable eyes."

On queue, a bellowing roar rang from the distance, almost triumphant yet carrying such a rage.

"How were you going to send me back without coming with me, if you need to touch me now?" She growled, forcing herself to meet his eyes and ignore the small urge to look down.

"By touching you," He responded plainly, "I would have to touch you all the same. Unless you'd like to reunite with Orion, I would advise that we get going."

A bolt of fear shot through her chest with the thought. She hadn't known what beast was hunting her by any means, knowing who it was made that distant danger far too real.

Still trying to maintain what modesty she could, she hesitantly reached out and took his hand with her own. Her own shaking hand. She almost looked at it, if not for what else was within that line of sight.

The boy backed into the 'water', wrapping both hands around the lone one she offered. For a moment she was hit with the full absurdity of the situation, then her foot hit the 'water'.

It was cold. Cold enough to send pins and needles straight to her bones and traveling up her legs, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake.

Artemis still forced herself forward, through the numbing pain and discomfort as Time itself splashed and swirled about her thighs as she waded deeper.

Orion roared again, far too close for comfort, but the guardian didn't flinch.

"We need to go faster!" She hissed, receiving no response. It was up to her tummy now, with that awful feeling of pins and needles bubbling up to her chest.

"Bringing us back to the correct point is important, and requires the utmost care." He responded. She wanted to press further, but the words made it clear enough that another distraction would be rather unwelcome.

The water reached her chest, and her lungs sputtered to get air. Her legs locked for a beat, and the guardian's steady pull sent her stumbling and deeper in Time. A steady shiver overtook her, so fierce that the world rattled in her eyes.

There hadn't been another sound, but that made her all the more worried.

Her foot slipped on a dip in the riverbed, and she fell.

It felt less like water, and more like the coldest air she had or would ever breathe. Misty, heavy air that fought to stay in her lungs with every breath she took.

Still, the river only grew deeper, darker. Soon, beyond the cold that made her very bones rattle, the only thing she knew was the warmth of the guardian's hand in her own. It was a strange thing, numbing and pushing and rattling till it felt like she was hardly even a skeleton anymore. Just… a soul, aimlessly drifting through space.

Time blurred, or perhaps, simply moved around her. Surrounded her, yet she was not within it, was not under it, was beyond it. And the hold still persisted.

Artemis- was that her name?- wasn't sure when time stopped pushing against them, wasn't sure when her stomach had come back to be crawling up and into her throat. They fell, and she finally knew it.

Falling out of, or perhaps it was back into, time was not something that she'd repeat.

Her bones seemed to buzz, her skin crawled, her joints ached so fiercely that she didn't dare so much as twitch. Nausea rolled and protested her very existence, and her lungs burned for air as though they had been starved of it for aeons.

A jolt shot through her body, flinging her torso upright and opening her eyes. Everything was too much.

Sunlight, a light she hadn't seen in what must've been decades, all but seared her eyes. The air almost felt frigid, enough to make her ears sting. The grass below felt itchy, unbelievably so in comparison to the sharp, jutting stones she'd rarely ever slept upon.

She desperately shielded her face from the brightness, blindly kicking backwards till she was covered by shade.

Through the blur of tears and fluttering of eyelashes, she fought the light to scan her surroundings.

It was a park? Maybe some kind of garden, with the glass railings visible just past the collections of trees, bushes, and garden beds. Railings with towering skyscrapers behind them.

Finding the guardian was a relatively simple affair. Clearly not half as affected by their surroundings as she was, his bare lower half was thankfully hidden by a bush as he studied the expanse of the city around them.

Ignoring his dallying, she fell back to the dirt. Letting her eyes fall closed once more, fingers digging into loose soil, nose tickling with the smells of pine trees and flowers.

It was back. The world, the wild, the life was back. Life that seemed so thick around her that the soil was practically humming. This time, the tears had nothing to do with the blinding sun. They were back!

A thump beside her knocked her from the reverie, and she glanced at the form of the guardian now laying beside her. The sight reminded her of her immodesty.

With a squawk she curled away from him, bringing dirty hands to cover herself once more. He didn't react, in fact stretching further out and resting his head on his hands.

"Have you no sense?" She hissed, "Where are we, anyway?"

The moment was ruined, and she wasn't sure if it would've been preferable for him to do as he did or just quietly watch her. If he was going to be a pervert then he ought to keep out of her attention.

"It would appear we are in New York City," He started, "Not terribly far from Olympus, you can see it from here."

"That means little." Artemis commented dryly. The kingdom was hovering over one of the tallest buildings in the city, ignoring how truly massive it was.

"It is one thing to know what it appears as," He started, with the most emotion in his tone that she'd heard from the boy, "it is another entirely to see it in person."

She rolled her eyes, both amused and annoyed by his statement.

"It is not the time to gawk at Olympus."

"Indeed. There is still much time to stop the full ascent of Tartarus, however-"

"What the hell are you doing?" She jolted to cover herself, whipping around on her bottom to face the intruder.

A security guard, pot belly straining against a gray button up, stared at them in shock. Most definitely stared at Artemis, and rage bubbled in her belly.

"Ah, yes," The boy muttered, "I'd forgotten humans' opinion of lacking clothes."

The guard finally looked his way, seemed to realize the similar state of undress, and grew pink, waving his flashlight more like a baton than anything else.

"Fuckin' kids fuckin in the fuckin garden!" The man sputtered, looking closer and closer to a tomato by the seconds, "Always fuckin breakin fuckin rules like fuckin delinquents!"

"Sir," The boy took a step forward, and the guard took a step back, "I can assure you this is not as it seems."

Artemis took the chance that the advance gave her to scramble to her feet and behind the boy, shielding her form from his and the guards eyes.

"Put your fuckin clothes on and get the hell out of here!"

"We do not have clothes." The boy replied simply, "They were tainted."

Incredulity and mortification made for a potent cocktail in her blood, one that set her face aflame. The absolute gall-

"Tainted?" The man repeated. Artemis finally mustered the will to speak, before the boy could make it any worse.

"It was a bet, sir," She had to bite her tongue to get the words out, "then our friends took our clothes and ran off."

He glanced her way again, and his expression softened when she shrunk further behind her companion.

"Took your damn wallets too din they?"

"Yes." She answered quickly. The guard glanced over his shoulder, and when he looked back it was with quiet resolve.

"Stay here. No one should be pokin around for a bit. Meetings 'bout now."

The guard vanished behind the door, and she took the chance to whirl on the boy, clipping his shoulder with a fist.

"What in Hades is your game!" She hissed, "Bringing us here naked? Our clothes were tainted?"

"They were." He responded simply, "We could not bring them back in time with us."

"He doesn't need to know that!"

"Yet he asked all the same."

She bit back a retort, and let the silence do the talking as they waited. This was bound to be hard enough without a clueless boy on her heels.

"We need to get to the demigod camp. We should be able to gather resources and make contact with Olympus from there."

"And what will you tell Olympus?" He asked easily. Still standing guard for her modesty. She opened her mouth to give a scathing retort, only to fall short.

What would she tell them? The truth would be laughed at, if not used as a reason to put her down. Apollo wouldn't even bother touching his domain for something that sounded so absurd.

Like the weight of Tartarus pressed on her shoulders, she let her head fall to the guardian's back and let out a sigh.

"I will figure it out once we are at Camp. There is no point worrying over it when we still run the risk of failure."

"Very well. Where is this camp?"

"To the East, out of the city."

They were interrupted by the door, and two sets of clothes hitting the dirt. Both paused, and eyed the door.

"Get dressed." The guard commanded, still out of sight behind the door, "And get the hell out of here. You caused me enough trouble as is."

They were quick to comply, grabbing ill fitting shirts and shorts and donning them in a blur. Artemis quickly slipped the cheap sandals on, but didn't see her companion do the same. Strange.

She took point, hardly looking at the building they'd landed in beyond scanning for threats. There was so much life, so many mortals. Too many.

Her heart fluttered, and something in her stomach twisted uncomfortably. All at once her state of dress was wholly and glaringly inadequate in her mind, as the full weight of the situation seemed to slam home again for the hundredth time that day.

Alone, with how quickly it was becoming apparent the boy was useless, unarmed, underdressed and exposed. No divine powers to escape, no way to punish some male's wandering eyes, no weapon to fight one off should the need arise. Her breath hitched.

The buildings were too tall, too looming, giant fingers that scraped the sky itself and kept her trapped in their palm. Kept her from running any which way from threats, kept her under the watchful eye of the Pit.

A hand wrapped around her arm like a vice, damn near scaring her from her skin before she recognized who it was attatched to.

"What?" She snapped, moving to yank her arm free. His hold did not yield.

"Just breathe, Artemis." He hummed, "We are not in the Pit. We will be hunted, but these creatures can be killed, if only for a time. We need to find this camp you speak of."

She paused, forced a slow breath through the nose, and out the mouth. Once, twice, thrice. Panic was not befitting a goddess, not at all.

'But you are no goddess.'

She banished the thought, and forced what little memories she had of the city to the fore.

"Let's get moving."