The cloudy setting quickly reverted back to the library setting from before as the Athena lookalike plopped herself down in the nearest chair.

While it was true she had seen other versions of Artemis fall in love before, they all met their demise, sooner or later. Usually, it was caused directly or indirectly by Artemis herself.

Whether or not, it was related to Apollo's subconscious awakening was still to be determined.

A new-looking book appeared in her hands. The date on the book's binding was completely indecipherable, with a string of days and numbers constantly changing and shifting.

It looked like a constantly running auto-scrambler that was extremely noticeable, but for some reason the goddess herself didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.

She flipped through the pages, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Her eyes moved back and forth as if she were reading the book, but she was flipping it too fast for any ordinary person to possibly read.

Eventually, she reached the point where there was nothing left to read. The rest of the book was completely blank, as if the book was incomplete, but the author decided to publish it anyway.

Speaking of which, the book she was holding didn't have an author attributed to it.

In fact, none of the books on the shelves did.

It was strange. Despite the hundreds of thousands of books, none of them had an author.

The goddess paused for a moment to think, crossing her legs with her calf resting on her knee, but after a moment, it didn't look like she found anything wrong.

Personally, she thought it was a good story. It was definitely lacking a little something, a little life, but she still liked it. She kind of wished that it was complete, so she could see how it ends.

But unfortunately for her, it was still incomplete.

She held the book vertically in the air and made a motion with it, as if she was putting it back onto a shelf. If a mortal saw it, they would have been surprised to see it actually disappear.

On the table beside her, a stack of books appeared, with at least a dozen books towering beside her. Their covers varied from semi-worn to relatively new. Their titles, numbered dates, strangely matched the condition of the books themselves.

The pile stood untouched as she quietly looked at them, debating whether or not to read them.

She hesitantly reached out towards the book at the top. Her delicate-looking fingers stopped right when they met the cover, as if she was suddenly going to change her mind and decide not to.

...

The next thing she did was turn the first page.

She spent some time reading.

It was unknown how much time passed, since the sunlight outside never seemed to change, but beside her was another stack of books, larger than the last.

Her figure flickered and completely disappeared for a solid second, but she paid no attention to it.

She was completely absorbed in the book in her hand.

In the books that the goddess was reading, they all seemed to be about the same two people falling in love, facing trails and adversity, but the way they fell in love in each book were different.

They weren't all completely different. Some of them followed the same plot progression. The details were different, but in essence they were the same exact story, just told in a different way.

Despite this, there was no sign of boredom on her face.

Instead, there was a content smile on her face.

T-T

Back on Artemis's chariot that was in the form of a bus-

Sofia got up from her seat.

The other girls were chatting away with much care in the world.

With her grey eyes, she looked over at the corner, where Jayda and Alexie were sitting.

Alexie and her group laughed as one of them was stretching Jayda's cheeks. The little girl looked rather pitiful.

They seemed to be having a fun time as if nothing had happened.

"Hey Sofia, where are you going?" One of the girls asked.

"Got to stretch my legs. Can't be sitting around day. It's bad for your health."

The girl laughed and made a shooing motion. "Ok, ok~ Have fun."

Sofia shook her head with a vague smile on her face as she walked out of the room.

As if sensing something, she stopped to turn her head up towards the ceiling. After waiting exactly five seconds, she continued walking.

It didn't look like she was randomly taking a walk, because it looked like she had a different goal in mind.

She stopped at a room, pulling the door open.

Inside, three pairs of eyes turned to look at her.

Eviane, Perseus (Halle), and one other girl.

"Sofia, you should've knocked on the door before you came in. I almost got a heart attack." The girl had her hand over her chest.

"You don't exhibit the symptoms of someone who is prone to heart attacks, but yes it is my fault. Sorry about that." Sofia looked over at Halle. "I believe Mistress would like to talk to Halle about something."

The other two girls made slightly disappointed faces.

Halle seemed to notice right away and said in a reassuring tone, "Don't worry, I'll be right back." She ruffled Eviane's hair, who let out a small protest, as Halle snickered, leaving the room with a short wave.

"So, what were you girls doing in here?"

Sofia already knew, but decided to ask anyways.

One of the girls opened her mouth and started to recount all of the things they were teaching Halle.

T-T

It seemed like nothing changed in the slightest.

Artemis was still staring out of the window, watching the passing greens of nature and the manmade grays of mortal infrastructure.

While she did think that it was taking an unusually long time to get to Camp Half-Blood, she didn't dwell on it for too long.

The goddess was subconsciously tapping her tip with her index. An ominous feeling lingered over her like a cloud that wouldn't go away.

Despite checking with her domain sense several times, she didn't notice anything unusual which was strange considering the fact that her gut was always right.

Something was deeply wrong.

A sudden blinding sun ray made her squint a little. It vaguely reminded her of Apollo's annoying smile.

Actually. Now that she was looking at it, wasn't it coming straight towards her?

A strange thought entered her head.

When was Apollo the sun god?

Artemis thought that there was something wrong with that sentence, but she couldn't.

It was natural...? Right?

She was the moon goddess, and he was the sun god.

At least, that's what she believed to be true.

Apollo's face came into view, not that Artemis was surprised in any way. She was just confused at what he was doing.

He mouthed, 'I'm coming in.'

She rolled her eyes, as if she was saying 'Whatever, do what you want.'

One flash of light later, and the door to her room slid open. After a couple of steps, Apollo stood right in front of the seat across from her, with a neutral face. Artemis, however, could tell that he was extremely bothered by something.

He even left the door open, which she didn't bother to point out.

Because, she had no idea who or what could've, possibly, made him feel so concerned.

"What is it?" Artemis genuinely asked him.

That feeling briefly came back, however, she decided to ignore it for the time being, putting most of her attention on Apollo.

Seeing that he didn't answer the first time, she asked again, standing up with a sense of seriousness, "Apollo. What is it?"

His eyes moved up and down, scanning her for any abnormalities with his "vision".

Artemis didn't know what he was trying to do, since she could tell when he was using it. But, if it made him feel better, then she figured that it was fine to let him do what he wanted.

Considering the fact that her dearest brother had yet to say a single word, Artemis figured that he should sort out his own thoughts, alone, rather than her trying to conjure up reasons for herself. She'd rather not resort to her own guesswork on whatever thoughts they might be brewing in his mind.

If he was planning on saying something, he would've said it by now, so Artemis sat back down in her seat, looking back out the window.

"Sister."

When he called her, that foreboding feeling she got earlier began to grow stronger, causing her heart to beat faster. She instinctually felt like she wasn't going to like the next thing that was going to come out of his mouth.

Artemis didn't want to look at him.

"Why-? Are you trapping yourself here?"

Her heart grew cold.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"And, I am saying that I don't." She said in a frosty tone.

"So, you're saying that you didn't cause him to get possessed? Is that not the reason why your divinity was in him before? To stay with him a little longer? Because, you know he's on a time limit. You know that gods and demigods don't mix very well. You know that as well as I do."

"..."

Her auburn hair slowly changed their luster into shades of dark black as a subtle chill began to fill the room. Though, the drop in temperature had no effect on either of them. Her piercing gaze of silver threatened to kill any other man or god, who would dare try to anger her.

"Finally, you seem like you want to say something. Sister."

A smirk appeared on Apollo's face.

"That's the sister I know."

Artemis spoke with an icy bite, "Hmph. Tell me what you want."

Apollo said in an innocent tone. "I just want the best for my sister, that's all."

"I think what's best for you- is to stay out of my business."

"Sister, your wellbeing is my business."

"Tch! I don't need your meddling like last time."

"Look sis, that one was on me. I'll admit it. I didn't want you to fall for the wrong guy."

"And look what you did! You tricked me into killing him with my own hand."

"Yes. Because, he didn't love you. He was planning on making you break your oath. Do you know the consequences of breaking an oath back then? ... Your life! Your divinity! You would've faded away! And I would lose my one blood sister."

Artemis grit her teeth. Her jawline could be visibly seen hardening as she clenched it tight.

She knew he was right, but her pride didn't allow her to say anything, choosing to keep silent.

"And here you are, wasting away your life for another man, who isn't even real in the first place."

When Artemis heard his words, she burst into rage, screaming, "SAYS WHO? He exists! He exists here!"

Then, she began to mutter to herself like a delirious person, "The fates foretold it. My soulmate. He must exist."

...

Apollo kept quiet. He could tell through her cold facade that she was in agony.

The agony of emotion.

It was something that she rarely showed to other people.

She would rather die than to show weakness, because of her immense pride, inherited by their father. But in this moment, her weakness was laid out in the open for all to bare.

Artemis had watched everyone around her fall in love. Her mother had fallen in love, her brother, her sisters, gods, and mortals alike.

But what about her?

When was it her turn?

When was it her time to fall in love and be... happy..?

The feelings she felt for that man, ... Orion, were of pure admiration. Admiration of his fantastic archery. She understood that-- now.

But...

She wanted it to be love. So badly.

That man recognized that fact. That man didn't hesitate to prepare a knife behind his back.

Didn't hesitate to take advantage of a pure maiden.

It was from that realization, that a distrust and deep-seated hatred of men slowly grew.

At some point, Artemis had stood up in a moment of passion, and her usually strong figure was nowhere to be seen. Anger filled her face, yet she looked like any other teenage girl, looking for her one true love. Her hands were balled in a fist, nails dug deep into her skin with blood dripping unceremoniously onto the ground, because she could not cry.

Tears would make her look too weak.

Apollo understood that.

So, he hugged her, embracing his sister for the first time in many moons.

Not out of pity.

His sister wasn't pitiful.

But out of gratefulness.

That she allowed him to see this side of her that she had hidden from the rest of the world.

Artemis trembled slightly upon contact, but soon accepted the fact that she was being hugged by a man.

Because...

He wasn't there to hurt her.

She understood that.

But as soon as she calmed down, she heard a noise coming from the doorway of the room.

Her heart immediately began to accelerate, and a sinking feeling began to weigh on her.

Artemis shut her eyes, hoping, no, praying that it wasn't the person she was thinking of.

The voice spoke with much difficulty, trying to think of the right thing to say, but the only thing they could manage to utter out was, "Artemis, is that true?"

T-T

Author's note: Hello everyone, I know I've been updating rather late, and randomly went on another Hiatus without saying anything (partially because of medical reasons). But, it's mostly all better now.

I've been taking some more time to think about how I could incorporate parts of the story that I haphazardly wrote into something part of the plot, and this is the best direction I could think of. Because, I do want the story to be enjoyable, and be an overall "good" story.

So yeah.

Again, I appreciate all and any suggestions/thoughts/comments, etc.

I hope you guys enjoy what's happening annnnndddd

I'll cy@ later - lob