Lord of the Eclipse

2 | Pain

Even a thousand years later, Artemis could still feel the pain.

She tried telling herself and Apollo that he would return, but as years went by, that hope in itself slowly started to fade away.

Currently, the hunters were stationed in Colorado, only two miles from the location of the twins of Leto.

It was an unspoken rule; only the oldest hunters knew this that during certain times a year, Artemis and Apollo would engage like true siblings and disappear for an hour or two. This had first surprised the Lieutenant of the Hunt, back in Ancient Greece, but the oldest among them have become accustomed to it.

At this point, Artemis had run through the woods gracefully, while Apollo sprinted alongside her, albeit less gracefully. Soon enough, they burst upon a small clearing, where the sun shone directly overhead, driven by a minor god of the sun.

Apollo grasped her hand gently as he led her to the middle of the clearing.

"Are you ready sister?" he asked, no trace of mirth in his unusually sorrowful eyes. She could only nod as she placed her hands over Apollo's outstretched ones, her pale skin contrasting with his deeply tanned skin.

Both of their eyes suddenly flashed their respective color, Artemis' already silver eyes flashed even brighter than they usually were and Apollo's sky blue eyes flashed a deep golden color as they channeled their power in their domains. The goddess of the moon gasped as she felt her energy leave her. It took a lot of effort to manipulate another god's domain.

The other gods used to question why they would waste their energy on something so meaningless, but the twins would always deflect the questions, answering that it helped them bond. At that, most gods had dropped the topic and had gotten over their strange behavior, except for one goddess.

Every time Athena pestered them, Artemis had to remind her impulsive brother that the world wasn't ready for their brother's legacy and that he needed to keep his mouth shut.

The reason they would use their energy in such large amounts was to honor their fallen brother.

And they would do so with whatever it takes.

With one final push of energy, the moon started to cross the path of the sun, casting a shadow over half of the clearing.

Just as the moon had covered most of the sun, leaving only a crescent, the sun flared dramatically. Artemis looked down to scold her brother but her eyes widened in shock.

Sprouting from Apollo's neck was a black barbed arrow. His eyes fluttered shut as he slumped forwards. Artemis managed to catch him, then she gently laid him on the ground, swiftly pulling out the arrow by its shaft.

"Apollo! Apollo! Can you hear me?" she shouted at him, but he didn't respond. His breathing was shallow, and his pulse was weak.

Cursing in Greek, she studied the small arrow.

It was poisoned, that she was sure of, but the black liquid dripping from the tip of the dart wasn't anything she had seen before.

She summoned her bow and cautiously looked around the clearing. Nothing was out of the ordinary, until she heard a slight rustling in the bushes behind her.

Turning, she fired three arrows in rapid succession, hearing a satisfying shriek in return. Smirking, she turned back to help her brother. She barely had time to cry out in agony when she felt a excruciating pain in her neck as blackness overcame her vision, then the ground rushed up to meet her.

———————

"Artemis!"

The goddess woke with a start as she heard her name being yelled. She blinked rapidly, trying to gain her bearings. As she shifted in her spot, she heard the unmistakable sound of metal. She looked down to see she was bound in celestial bronze chains, binding her to a stone weight hewn to the ground.

"I've been waiting for you for hours," complained Apollo, his skin slightly tinged with a sickly green hue.

"Where are we?" the goddess questioned, ignoring her brother's statement while trying to escape.

"It won't work," Apollo said ruefully, noticing her attempts. "I've already tried."

They were in a different clearing, on the edge of a cliff, only a few feet separating them. And it seemed that they had both been asleep for several hours, as it was already the next day, nearing dusk.

"Where are we?" she asked again, not recognizing their location.

"Somewhere Northeast I think, maybe Maine?" Apollo answered.

But Artemis' attention was already directed to another train of thought. All she cared about was escaping and making those who dared captured two Olympian gods pay. But in the back of her mind, she realized they had missed their chance to honor their brother, but she pushed that thought away as well. There would be time for mourning later; all that mattered now was their own wellbeing.

She was pulled back to reality when she felt the cold touch of a knife under her chin, the tip threatening to pierce her neck.

"Now now, little moon goddess, don't even think about escaping," came the cold voice of a woman.

"Who do you think you are? How dare you-," she trailed off as she heard the unknown woman chuckle sadistically.

At Apollo's hateful and slightly scared glare, she knew her kidnapper must have stepped into the light.

"I know who I am, the real question is: do you know who I am?" she hissed as she swiftly dragged the blade across the goddess' skin, drawing a thin line of ichor on Artemis' neck.

As the unknown woman stepped into the middle of the clearing, Artemis recognized the figure, throwing her the same hateful glare her twin had done.

How had she not recognized the voice?

"Hello Artemis, did you miss me?" Mnemosyne asked, her violet eyes twinkling in dark amusement.

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Yeah, I don't care about the cliff hangers, that's your problem.

So this is for my fans, I can't go on my account and update, I'm grounded :(

But that means I can write for this story YAY!!!!

I will continue to write for SOTR, BOA and my newest story which is Gods Of Wattpad(The shorter name is GOW[God of War lol] Please check those out.

Dedicated to @Fairytailfanforlife, my partner on this account because she has to deal with my errors and it affects this account a lot. I'm so sorry Lucy!

See ya later!!!

-PixelUp