Breaking Black Hearts

Proluge

*17 years ago*

     That night, Olympus was alive with the music of the nine muses, and twinkling lights were blinking in and out of existence like stars. The throne room rumbled with the laughter of the gods and goddesses, their smiles genuine, and their laughs hearty. Everyone was having a magical evening, except for one.
     One minor god, who has been long forgotten, (almost like he was wiped out of existence) was sulking in the corner, behind Lady Artemis' throne. He was bitter, for he was not an attractive man, inside or out, and no woman would ever love him.
     He had grown to hate the race of women as a whole, especially Artemis, the woman who made it even more impossible to find a wife. She spread her tales of woe, and gathered her man-hating hunters, and she acted as if she was above everyone- above him. Of course this arrogant god hated her more than anything, more than anyone.
     And that night, while everyone else upon Olympus was celebrating, he devised a plan. He snuck out to Aphrodite's palace, with the intent to steal a love potion. The palace was beautiful, adorned with love hearts and painted a ballerina pink. The garden was overflowing with fully bloomed roses, and an overwhelming stench of perfume filled the air. If gods could die, this minor god would've died from asphyxiation due to the fumes.
     He got in and out of the house as quickly as possible, rushing back to the party. His eyes scanned the room for Lady Artemis, locating her exiting the throne room. He followed her all the way back to her palace, and slipped into her house noiselessly as she slept. He crept up to her room, and walked slowly to her bed. He observed her sleeping for a moment, her breathes coming evenly and her auburn hair spread across her pillow.
     Then, in less than a second, he forced her mouth open and poured the liquid into her throat. Her silver eyes blew wide, and she started gagging, trying to spit up the substance, but to no avail. Suddenly, she stopped, and turned to the man beside her. The moment her glassy eyes laid upon him, she threw herself into his arms.
     She felt blissfully in love, and she giggled into his neck. She pulled him down onto her bed, and she kissed him deeply. The minor god's eyes filled with lust, and within a moment, all the clothes were discarded on the floor, long forgotten.
     Artemis had never felt like this before, she was in love, and she knew it was real, and everlasting, and she wanted to give everything to this man, and-

     "STOP!" A loud voice bellowed, the words echoing around the large room.

     Suddenly, there was a blinding light, and Artemis could no longer feel the heat of her lover's body. She whimpered at the loss of warmth, and sat up. Her covers were layered in a fine golden dust, and at the end of the bed stood her twin, face red and fists clenched, shaking in anger.
     "Wh-what happened?" Artemis stuttered, still in a state of mad love from the potion.
     "WHAT HAPPENED?!" Apollo screamed, his body being outlined with a blood red glow. "WHAT HAPPENED?!" He repeated once again. "WHAT HAPPENED IS THAT YOU BROKE YOUR OATH, ARTEMIS! YOU SLEPT WITH A MAN! AND NOW YOU ARE ACTING AS IF IT WAS NOTHING!"
     In a second, Artemis' senses cleared, her mind being cleansed of the fog from the potion. As the realization of what had occurred that night sunk in, she started to cry. Her body was racked with sobs, and she screamed in anguish.
     Apollo, not knowing what to do or what was happening, simply stood at the foot of her bed awkwardly for a moment, before exiting and soon returning with his father.
     Zues ran to his daughter's side, immediately wrapping his arms around her slender shoulders, and pulling her shaking form into his body. He stroked her back, soothing her while humming a song.
     Finally, she pulled away, wiping at her red rimmed eyes, and tried to talk. But her throat was sore and raw from all the crying, and she ended up just making gurgling sounds. After a moment, she closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath, preparing to relive the worst night of her life.
     She told the story, how the man must've followed her to her house, how he waited until he was asleep to force her to drink some sort of liquid, (later identified as a love potion) how she felt giggly and bubbly and immensely in love, and how they had slept together. Her voice choked on the last part, still in an unbelieving shock that she had broken her oath.
     Zues circled his mouth with his fingers, and asked Apollo for his side of the story. His son simply answered that he had come to say goodnight to his sister, upon finding her in bed with a man, and instantly turing the man human so he could kill him.
     Zues was silently thinking, when all of a sudden, Artemis cried out in pain. She clutched her stomach, digging her nails into her flesh. Her father and brother stood there mystified, unaware of how to help her. She screamed in agony for a few more minutes until she abruptly stopped. After a second of tense silence, the sound of a baby crying was heard.
     In shock, Artemis threw back the blankets, and underneath she found a beautiful baby with startling silver eyes, the same color as her own. She took in a breath, and went to pick up the baby she was so drawn to, when Apollo snatched the child from the bed.
     As soon as he picked the small body up, he felt a strong heartbeat from it. He felt a human heart beat. He gasped, and with wide eyes, declared, "She's- she's a demigod."
     Zues grabbed his granddaughter from her uncle.
     "We must get rid of this abomination at once!" He yelled.
     "Wait, Father!" Artemis cried, "Please! It is not the child's fault for my mistake!"
     Zues was taken aback. His daughter wanted to keep the child alive?
     "But Artemis, this child... She was not born of love! She was a product of you being taken advantage of!"
     Artemis's gaze turned steely. "She is not her father," she answered simply, crossing her arms.
     "But she is a sign that you broke your oath!" Zues snapped back.
     Artemis faltered at that, her hard gaze softening and her rigid shoulders dropping a bit. She bit her lip in thought, and glanced at the baby, her baby, once more.
     "I don't care," she declared boldly. "She is my child, and I say that she will live. Please," she added softly at the end, her eyes watering. "Please."
     Zues glared at the baby in his arms in disdain, before sighing. "Fine." He breathed out deeply through his nose, making his nostrils flair.
     "Fine," he repeated. "But if you ever claim this child as your own, or try to communicate with her, your hunt will be disbanded. No one must know that you have broken your oath. This secret will live only within the three of us. Forever."
     Artemis smiled sadly, glad that her child will live, but sad that she will never see her again. With tears running down her cheeks, she reached her hands out to her baby.
     "Please," she croaked. "Let me hold her. Just once."
     Zues nodded stiffly and handed the baby over, and watched Artemis cradle her daughter tenderly in her arms. She stared down at her, and pressed a kiss to her forehead, mumbling an "I love you," before tucking what Apollo recognized as an Irish flute in the the baby's blanket, and then handing the baby to her twin brother.
     Apollo held the baby as if it was trash. He absolutely despised it. He couldn't believe that Artemis would let this-this- thing live, let alone love it. But he had an idea. An idea to curse this child, to show everyone what it really was. He placed the tip of his finger onto the baby's forehead, and mumbled a phrase. With a smirk, he nodded at his father, and in a bright flash, he was gone, taking the only child Artemis would ever have, with him.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
*16 years later*

     "Hey, kid. Watch it." The short, slender girl growled. She glared down, or more like up, at a skinny, pale, boy whose cheery disposition contrasted starkly with his look. He looked like the kind of kid stereotypical white-picket-fence parents would tell their stereotypical white-picket-fence kids to stay away from.
     His hair was a raven black, but it was spiked up with blue frosted tips that faded to a sea green that matched his eyes. She smirked in appreciation at the dyed hair, as she had some of her own. (Personally, she liked her half red/half black look better, but that's just her.) The kid looked like he had a decent build, but hadn't eaten for a while, causing his bones to be more prominent.
     But what really made her wary of him was his smile. It was big and cheeky, like he'd just done something he shouldn't have, and was waiting to see the outcome.
     Suddenly there was a yell, and then someone was tearing down the alley, headed straight for the two of them. The kid smirked at her, and promptly said, "Sorry, gotta Zayn," and started running. The girl, confused as hell, stood shocked for a moment, until yelling, "What the fuck does that mean?" before chasing the weird, tall boy she had just met.
     She chased the boy for what seemed like miles, slowly catching up to him, until she judged she was a close enough distance to stop him. She sprung forward, her calf muscles straining and her body stretching out as if she were a tiger. She had not a second to enjoy her flight before she landed on the boy, tackling him to the ground.
     "What the hell?!" He yelled, staring into her face, which was uncomfortably close to his. A second later his smirk returned. "Hey lady, I know I'm a fine looking man, but sorry, I don't swig your way." The girl just glared down at him intensely, before standing up, grabbing the kid's arms and pinning them behind his back tightly.
     "Ow!" He yelped in pain.
     The scary girl ignored him, and just hissed a menacing "Why was that man chasing you?" into his ear.
     The boy shuddered, uncomfortable at how close this girl was.
     "No reason," he muttered.
     "Speak up!" She commanded.
     The boy squeaked. "I stole from him! I'm sorry, please don't murder me and feed my body to the pigeons!"
     All of a sudden, the boy was whipped around, and he was looking into the stony face of his capturer. Her eyes softened as she took in his appearance. His clothes were ratty and he wasn't wearing shoes, his eyes had huge, purple smudges under them from lack of sleep, and as she looked closer, she noticed his bones stuck out a lot more than she originally thought they did.
     She hesitated before pulling him close to her, wrapping her strong arms around his thin frame. After a moment, she started to feel a wetness on her shoulder. The boy pulled back, wiping furiously at his puffy eyes.
    "I don't need your help," he said stubbornly.
    The girl simply pulled his body back to hers, and whispered in his ear, "Yes you do."

A/N: Hi! This is a new story that I (hello_my_lovelies) and my friend (Percico_Is_My_OTP) are writing together. I'm really excited for this, and I hope you guys like it!

Stay rad my fellow demigods!
-Oli ^-^