Artemis

Chapter 1

Apollo laughed and playfully smacked Hephaistos’s arm. “You really think you could beat Athena in a building challenge?”

Hephaistos rubbed his arm and rolled his shoulders. He raked his hand through his long gray hair and moved it out of his eyes. “When she’s not around to hear me say it, yes.” His dark blue eye winked at Apollo as he fell into the overstuffed gray couch in the living room. His blue jeans and red flannel shirt looked tight against his enormous muscles, his boots strangely dirty.

Apollo laughed harder and shook his head. His neon blue eyes twinkling, he said, “Wait till I tell her you said it.” He tugged his crisp white shirt down over his tan slacks, his black shoes shiny from a recent cleaning.

Hephaistos blanched and jumped to his feet. “You wouldn’t.”

“He wouldn’t what?” Athena asked as she walked confidently down the steel staircase towards the boys. Her hair was shoulder length and a cool gray different from the others. Her tightly fitting red dress stopped above her knees and just covered her chest. Her thin red heels wrapped around her ankles and her little black jacket was more for looks than for keeping the cold away.

“Nothing,” they both said at the same time.

“I hope you two aren't causing trouble again,” Jacob said with a heavy sigh as he walked into the room. He carried with him a tray covered in little glasses filled to the brim with different colored liquids all swishing precariously.

Apollo moaned and covered his eyes dramatically. “Not this again.”

Jacob set the tray on the little glass coffee table and dusted his hands off on his jeans. He was in his late thirties with his brown hair balding at the front. He wore his ever present white lab coat and thick black rimmed glasses just hanging onto his nose. He looked at the three of them and glanced around. “You know I give these every day at seven o’clock, Apollo. Now, where are the rest of you?”

“Ares and Artemis are probably still kissing in their room,” Athena replied. “And Demeter is in her room trying to wash away her sorrows with music too loud in her ears.”

Jacob shook his head and pushed an invisible button on the table. A little blue light in the corners of the room startled blinking, letting everyone in every room know to come to the living area. “I think I might have it figured out.”

“Look, Doc, don’t think we aren’t eternally grateful for you busting us out,” Apollo started. “But I think we’ve all come to accept that we aren’t ever going to be normal again.”

Demeter slipped down the pole and landed easily near the front door. Her gray hair looked like it had been cut with a razor blade and stuck out everywhere. Her glowing blue eyes were forever narrowed and darkened by heavy eyeliner and black lipstick. She wore only black and today was no exception. Her black dress came down past her knees and had spider web lace all down her arms and drug the floor as her black heels clicked against the stone. She wore no jewelry and seemed only ever angry, never smiling or laughing with the rest of them.

Demeter stalked towards the little glasses and sat on the edge of one of the couches. “Whatever they did to us, Jacob, they did it for too long. We will never be human again.”

Jacob ran his hand over his face. “Demeter, you cannot think like that. I will find a cure one day, you just have to be patient with me.”

Athena laid a carefully manicured hand on Jacob’s shoulder and smiled sweetly at him, her red lips turning up perfectly. “I trust you, Jacob. No matter what Miss Death thinks,” she looked pointedly at an unapologetic Demeter. “We all know you will fix us. You managed to rescue us from that place when everyone thought it was impossible. Even now, hiding us here like this could get you killed at any moment, yet here you are.” She reached up and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

Jacob’s cheeks reddened, and he cleared his throat. “Yes, well, it was nothing. Besides, I only managed to get you away from them. I’ve done nothing which helped you or your pains or powers.”

“It will just take some more time, Jacob,” Artemis called from the stairs. Short and perfect in every way, her long gray hair hung down to her hips and curled gently around her. Her lacy pink shirt curved around her delicate frame and hung over her blue jeans modestly. She wore simple pink flats and her electric blue eyes sparkled gold in her current mood. Her lips were painted pink and her pearl earrings and necklace made her look like a princess from a story.

“Time we will all make sure you have,” Ares promised from behind Artemis. He wore ripped jeans and half-laced boots. His black shirt fit snuggly against his broad shoulders. His gray hair was cut short and his sky blue eyes twinkled as he lifted Artemis into his arms and carried her down the rest of the stairs.

“I thank you for your support, everyone, but hopefully we won’t have to hide in this shack for much longer.” Jacob gestured towards the glasses and said, “Now, the pink first, then the blue, then the clear.” He pulled his overused notepad and pencil from his front pocket and pushed his glasses up his nose.

They all looked at one another and Athena passed out the drinks quickly. “Cheers,” she said weakly.

A silent breath later they all dumped the liquids down and swallowed before grabbing the next. A second after and the drinks were gone. Everyone took a seat and Jacob stared at them intently, waiting for something to happen. At first, they didn’t move or breathe, then they started coughing and doubling over.

“There’s a suffocating feeling in my chest,” Demeter moaned.

“My insides feel like they’re on fire,” Athena said through gritted teeth.

“My,” Apollo gasped. “My heart is,” he stopped and gripped his chest.

Hephaistos grabbed his head and held it between his knees as he bent and cursed. He rocked back and forth and finally fell to his knees and buried his head in the couch.

Ares gripped the side of the couch, his face contorted in pain, and closed his eyes tightly. He shook violently and coughed into his hand, blood seeping through the gaps.

Artemis screamed and fell onto the floor, wrapping her arms around her stomach and rocking. She gripped her throat and gasped loudly for air, her face going red. Blood seeped from the corner of her mouth and her eyes darkened.

All at once they reached for the little glass bottle of blue air and removed the cork. Sparkling blue grew around them and entered their open mouths. They all stilled and several minutes passed in dead silence. Jacob scribbled furiously on his paper, his eyes darting from one of them to another. In a collected sigh of relief, their bodies relaxed and they fell to the floor as they passed out. Jacob grabbed a rag from his other pocket and wiped the blood from their mouths, then hurried back to his spot and waited once more.

Slowly they all came to and started to stand and sit on the couches. They moaned and rolled their shoulders and rubbed their necks. Ares helped Artemis to her feet and held her tightly to his side. She smiled up at him softly and laid her head on his chest.

“Did it work?” Athena asked, clearing her throat and rubbing her temple.

Jacob shook his head and shoved his notepad into his pocket. “I don’t think so. I’ll get some water and we can start on dinner.”

Apollo stretched out his fingers and took a deep breath. “We used Blue again,” he shook his head. “Must not have been pleasant.”

Jacob shrugged, hiding his real worry well, and took the tray back to the lab. “I wouldn’t really know. Y’all never really say anything, I just see you reaching for it and step back.”

Apollo took the bottle in his hand and brought it to his lips. Breathing outwards deeply, the blue mist filled the bottle easily and sparkled against the clear glass. He put the cork back on top and slipped it back behind his shirt. “I wonder how much he doesn’t tell us.”

The others followed suit and everyone’s bottles glowed blue once more. Artemis shrugged and took Ares’s hand in her own. “It doesn’t matter to me so long as everyone wakes back up and we can eat dinner together. It’s for the best we don’t remember.” Her eyes darkened and Ares wrapped his arms around her.

“I remember enough from before,” Demeter said darkly. “I don’t need to remember more.” She rose swiftly and started for the stairs. “I’m not hungry.”

No one stopped their friend from going to her room, knowing the best thing to do right now was to leave her alone so she could cry on her own. A darkness fell over the group and they all tensed. Lost in their own horrible minds, Apollo was the first to break free.

Apollo stood and nudged Hephaistos’s knee. “Want to play PS4?”

Hephaistos grinned and nodded. “If you think you can win.”

They went to the rec room laughing and trash talking, leaving the others to smile and look at one another knowingly. Athena pulled her dress down her hips a little more and made sure her lipstick was perfect. She smiled widely at Ares and Artemis and started towards the kitchen door.

“I’ll help Jacob tonight with dinner. Burgers right?” she asked.

Ares rolled his eyes and said, “We don’t care, Athena. Go one and try to get him to like you, we don’t care about that either.”

Athena stuck her tongue out and turned on her heel. Sashaying away, she tossed her hair over her shoulder and hurried off. “Jacob, I think burgers sound great tonight.”

“The meat isn’t thawed out for that,” they could hear Jacob replying.

“Oh, well, that’s fine. They don’t mind waiting a little longer, I’m sure.” Athena said, winking back at Ares and Athena as she shut the kitchen door behind her.

“Finally, alone,” Ares said as he wrapped his arms around Artemis’s thin waist. He pulled her tightly against his chest and kissed her deeply.

Artemis laughed and broke the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled warmly up at him. “Want to go out on the fire escape and stare at the stars?”

Without another word they made their way to the window and stepped out onto the rusty metal staircase. Ares reached back through the window and grabbed a thick blanket, then wrapped it around their shoulders and held Artemis tightly. She shivered and snuggled into his firm chest.

The stars were blindingly beautiful tonight, a stark contrast to the solid black sky. Lights from the busy city were not a bother this far away in their old factory building. The street sounds were minimal and the streetlights flickered gold and white. Few cars passed in this part of town, fewer people walked around. Stray cats were more alive here than anything else as they hunted mice and rats.

“Ares,” Artemis said softly.

“Hm?”

“What if one day we were to start a family?”

Ares froze from beneath her and she laid her hand on his chest. He took her hand and held it tightly. “Why would you say that?” his question came out in a whisper.

“I don’t know, Ares, I’m just asking.”

“But you’ve never asked before.” He paused and tilted her head up so he could look at her. “Do you think?”

Artemis shrugged and looked away. “I don’t know, of course. I wonder, but it isn’t like I can go to a doctor and find out.”

Ares pressed his lips harshly against her lips and held her so tightly she could barely breathe. “If it were true, Artemis, then I could not think of a happier man.”

“Do you mean it?” she asked.

“I swear to you.”

“We are the same, Ares, and a child like us,” Artemis started and stopped. Her eyes filled with tears, she turned away from him.

“A child like us would be hard, Artemis, yes,” Ares said softly. “However, we would love it and care for it no matter what. We could protect it like no one else could. We would be happy and safe and a family.”

“I don’t even know if I am, Ares,” Artemis said. “I was just asking.”

He tilted her head up once more and made her look at him. “I love you.”

She relaxed and smiled. “I love you.”

Their home was six stories of the old looking building on the outside and nothing but new and tech on the inside. The bricks were all exposed inside and the black stone floors gleamed as though always cleaned. Staircases were steel and the solid handrails glass. Windows were blackened and wood beams were everywhere. Rooms were large and spacious with comfortable furniture and TV’s in every place. Bathrooms were all glass and stone, bedrooms with huge beds and plenty of fancy pillows. There were seven bedrooms, two living spaces, a rec room with video games, a pool table, Bose sound system, foosball and ping pong tables. There was a large kitchen and a fancy dining room, the second floor was a laboratory, an indoor swimming pool and hot tub, and the first floor was nothing but go-carts. It was a wonderful place to live and they had all been extremely happy to hide here for the last three years. Everyone together and safe and with plenty to do, there was little they wanted for. 

They sat outside for a few more minutes before the freezing January air got too much for them. Ares helped her back inside and they shut the window firmly behind them. Ares plopped on the couch and grabbed the remote. He held out his hand for Artemis and she paused, he looked at her oddly.

“I’m going to go shower, Ares, and get in my pajamas. I’ll be all cleaned up for dinner.” She went to his side and kissed him meaningfully.

Ares stood and dropped the remote on the couch. “I’ll help you.”

Artemis stepped just out of his grasp and smiled. “I don’t think I need any, Ares. I’ll be fine.”

Ares lowered his head and he looked at her, his eyes darkening, his smile changing to something of a challenge. “No, Artemis, I think I should help you. You could slip and fall and then where would we be?”

He took a step closer and Artemis held out her hand to stop him. His grin grew and he reached for her. Artemis turned and ran as fast as she could. He laughed at her and she heard him start forward. Artemis ran towards the rec room, hoping Hephaistos or Apollo would help her, but they just laughed and got out of their way. She risked a glance behind her and Ares was closer than she thought, she looked forward and ran faster. Through the kitchen and around the counter while Jacob and Athena laughed and stepped back they went.

“I’m going to get you, Artemis, and when I do you will be sorry!” Ares shouted and laughed.

“I’d like to see you try!” Artemis dared to reply. She made it back to the living room and put the couches between them before stopping to catch her breath.

Ares leapt over the couch in an easy enough move and grabbed Artemis by her shoulders. She gasped, surprised, and struggled weakly against his grasp. Ares bent his head and caught her lips with his. She paused just long enough to let him think he’d won and when she felt him relax a little, she shoved him back and she started off again. Ares tumbled over the couch and was back up and after her faster than she’d thought.

Artemis headed for the stairs and took them two at a time, desperate to get far enough away Ares couldn’t grab her.  She let out a crazed laugh and struggled to breathe and run upstairs. Ares was right behind her, she could feel it, and he laughed as he tried.

There was a ping against the glass and they stopped suddenly. Artemis turned to the glass windows which went from floor to ceiling and saw a small hole close to her. She tilted her head and looked at the strange thing.

“Ares, what do you think,” she started to ask as she turned to him.

Ares gripped the glass railing and looked at Artemis in silent pain. Blood stained his shirt where his heart was and ran greedily down the rest of him. He opened his mouth and reached for Artemis, his eyes coming in and out of focus. Artemis grabbed his hand but he weighed too much, and he tumbled backward down the stairs. She looked back out the window and saw dozens of armed men on the other roof and in every window- all aiming their guns at the building.

Artemis screamed and ran back down the stairs towards Ares. She grabbed him and pulled him behind a pillar just as the next shot broke the glass. Ares’s eyes were open and he stared blankly back up at her. She cupped his face in her hands and pulled his lips up to hers.

He brushed the hair out of her eyes and she broke the kiss, tears streaming down her cheeks. “We always knew this day would come.” He coughed and his eyes started to close.

“No! No, Ares, stay with me. Please, my love, don’t leave me.” Artemis begged.

Struggling to keep his eyes open, Ares touched her lips and tried for a smile. “I love you.”

Bullets started blasting through the building and glass shattered all around them. Screams came from everywhere and Artemis could only hold Ares more tightly. Looking at him she knew there was nothing she or anyone could do to help him, and time was running out.

“I love you,” Artemis whispered to him.

He gasped once and his hand fell back from her. His head drooped back and eyes closed, he was gone.

Artemis screamed again, her cries now lost in the noise of bullets. She laid her head on his chest and let her tears fall freely. Demeter suddenly landed beside her, blood pooling around her. Artemis jerked her head up and stared at her dead friend, her face mercifully turned away, as vomit made its way up. Jacob ran through the kitchen door carrying Athena with him. A bullet hit his head and he fell. Athena struggled to stand and took one step forward before she was shot in the chest. She fell dead with a cry, not moving again. Hephaistos and Apollo came running from the rec room with blood covering themselves.

They saw her and Apollo yelled at her to take cover. He curst as a bullet hit his knee and he fell. Hephaistos turned to help his fallen friend and was rewarded with a bullet through the head. Apollo grabbed his necklace and pulled it up to his lips. He dumped the air inside of him and closed his eyes as the Blue surged through him. He stood easily and came running towards Artemis.

Artemis kissed Ares’s head and grabbed his Blue from around his neck. She threw the chain around her neck, feeling the weight of two Blues suddenly, and stood on shaking legs. Apollo grabbed her hand and together they ran downstairs as fast as they could.

“How did they find us?” Apollo shouted as they ran.

Something exploded above them and they froze. Artemis covered her mouth as she screamed and Apollo yanked her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

“I know, I know,” he yelled.

Their world was falling apart and everyone they knew and loved was dead above them, and he was still taking precious time to comfort her. Artemis kissed his cheek and wiped her tears, then pushed away and they started down the stairs once more.

“It’s the government, Apollo,” Artemis struggled to say. “They always find who they are looking for. Especially when six very powerful people they created were stolen from them.”

“Come on,” Apollo tugged on her hand. “We can get out through the hidden tunnels we dug when we first got here. They lead to,”

His words were suddenly cut off by a terrible groaning and creaking from above them. Artemis screamed as a chunk of stone fell only a few feet from where they stood. Smoke poured into the space and they coughed and choked as they hurried from the scene. Apollo yanked Artemis through a doorway as metal screeched against itself and the building shook. Over the roaring fire and building groaning they could still hear the sounds of gunfire as clear as day.

The smoke was thick and black and smelled of chemicals as Artemis and Apollo ran through pathways which had no windows. Finally, they reached the ground floor and ran to the back door with a sudden burst of energy. Apollo slammed into it and bounced right back. They looked at one another and his face changed to one of determination. He kicked and beat against the door with everything he had and even his Blue wasn’t helping him win this fight.

He stopped and leaned his head against the metal door. Artemis laid her hand on his shoulder and stepped closer to him. He took a deep breath and coughed into his arm from the smoke.

“What are we going to do?” Artemis asked carefully.

“We can’t do anything.” Apollo’s voice was heavy with pain and loss, he would not look at her. “They’ve blocked us in, shot and killed everyone we love and are burning the building to the ground. Blue will keep us safe for only so long. Even it can’t keep us alive through a chemical fire and building collapsing on top of us. It won’t bring back the dead, it won’t keep us alive.”

“There has to be a way, Apollo, there has to be.” Artemis tried again. “We can’t let them win, not again. We have to try something.”

Apollo pushed off the door and pulled away from Artemis. “They’ve always had us, Arty. We never got away. It was only a matter of time before they found our hiding spot. It was nice living in a dream world for three years, believing Jacob would find a cure and we could try and have normal lives. Not us, Arty, not after everything we’ve done. The people we’ve killed and the missions they sent us on. The torture and the mind games,” he turned away completely and lowered his head.

“Apollo, please,” Artemis barely whispered. “You’re scaring me. Please.”

“Truth is, Artemis,” Apollo started, turning slowly towards her. “I’m going to die and you’ll never know how much I loved you. It doesn’t matter now, I know. You had Ares and Hephaistos had a crush on Athena and Athena had a crush on Jacob and Demeter loved Hephaistos and Jacob loved his chemicals and test tubes. Everyone else is dead and I’m bleeding out and telling you all of this now because I’m afraid and I don’t want to die but I don’t know of anything else to do so I’m rambling and trying to keep my eyes open for as long as I can before I’m gone here forever.”

At his words, Artemis ran to his side and for the first time saw the bleeding on his left side. A stray bullet had sliced across him deeply and he was bleeding badly. His knees gave out and he crumbled to the ground, Artemis just catching him she helped him slowly down. She helped prop him against the wall and she balled up his white shirt and held it against the wound. It didn’t do much, maybe even made it worse, and Apollo called out and blanched.

“I’m sorry, Arty, I am.” He gripped her bloody hands in his tightly and stared at her meaningfully. “I’m sorry I can’t help you or keep you safe or stop this. I’m sorry I couldn’t save Ares or the others. I’m sorry for everything.”

“Apollo, stop. None of this is your fault and you must stop thinking that way. Please. We are going to get out of this alive and we will go after them like we always talked about.”

He managed a pained laugh and shook his head. “No, Artemis, not me. Something was on that bullet, I’m not meant to live.”

Artemis looked down and saw that the bleeding was getting worse, considerably so, and her jeans and shirt was soaked in it. Apollo was gray now and his breathing labored. Sweat was covering his brow and he shook terribly. The building was falling in on itself and bits of concrete fell all around them. The smoke here was thickening and Artemis coughed more violently than before, blood coming up with every exhale.

“Apollo, no,” Artemis begged him, tears streaming down her face.

“It’s best this way, honestly.” His eyes were closing as whatever was inside of him won its battle. “This way they won’t be able to get anything else out of me. I won’t suffer,” he coughed and winced. “anymore.” He slipped down the wall and held Artemis’s hand weakly in his. “Don’t let them win, Artemis. Don’t let them win.” His eyes closed and his head turned to the side, one final breath escaping his lungs. A strange, peaceful smile was on his purple lips in death.

Artemis pushed herself away and vomited several times as everything came suddenly to her. She looked at the body of a friend who’d been through so much pain and suffering and died in such a terrible way and vomited again. Cement fell all around her and the air was thick with smoke and death. Sweat beaded her forehead as she pushed herself weakly to her feet. She went to the door and beat against it tiredly, screaming for help as she tried to stay awake. The chemical smoke was messing with her vision and she saw strange colors and things in three and four.

She stumbled away from the door and fell through the bathroom door. It wasn’t smoky in here yet and she gulped in the coldish air. The tile floor was cold against her fevered skin and she drug herself to the back of the room, as far away from fire and death as she could. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, her hands rubbing over the smooth surface in the last moment of sanity. Tears fell from her closed eyes as the bodies of everyone she’d ever known flashed in front of her. Ares, his last kiss and admission of love, his gentle touch. He was gone forever. Athena, Apollo, Demeter, Hephaistos and Jacob. All of them. Dead.

Her fingers touched something small and perfectly round, like a button. Artemis opened her eyes and looked down. She didn’t see anything, but she felt it. She used her pinky and touched the circle, pressing down hard. There was a faint click and a two-foot square appeared on the floor, the space under it lighting up easily. She looked at the door, at the smoke pushing its way under the crack and quickly filling up the space. She looked back at the unknown and stood slowly. There was a spiral staircase leading down to a brightly lit area. Shaking and coughing blood, Artemis made her way down the first few steps carefully. As soon as her head cleared the bathroom floor, it replaced itself and locked. She gasped and beat her hand against it, then stopped and went down the rest of the stairs.

The space was small with seven beds neatly made lining the walls, a crude looking operating table under the staircase with all kinds of medical equipment piled atop it, and a large table with a foldable top in the center of the room.  The walls were stone and lights hung from all over the ceiling. A door was on the far wall with locks lining the entire of it, another was on the left and she guessed it was a bathroom. The air here was clean and cool and Artemis stumbled to the table. Folding back the top there were air tanks and face masks on one side, the other held medicine and bandages. Six small vials of Blue sat on top of everything else. She went to the other side and folded that top back. Stacks of clean clothes with their names on each pile filled that side. Artemis slammed the lid closed and went back to the medical side. She grabbed some sleeping pills, an air tank and mask, and drug them to a bed.

She hooked everything up and popped a few pills, swallowing them easily. She took out her Blue and popped the top letting just a small bit of it out and breathing it in. Relief immediately flowed through her and she strapped the air mask on. She fell back on the bed and pulled the blanket up over her. The Blue would heal her insides and the air would clean her lungs. The sleeping pills would force her away from reality and she would at least have a little time away from her troubles.

She didn’t care if the government found her here, passed out and open for the recapturing. If they retook her, she would die with the first stick of the needle. The only problem would be they had the original, untainted body of someone using Blue and they could easily do it again to someone else. The pills were already working and she was grateful. She closed her eyes and breathed the clean, pure air deeply.

One, two, three

They won’t miss me.

Pain and suffering

They bring to me.

One drop, two drop

Three drops more

One more day,

I’ll know no more.

One, two, three

They all use me.

My blood, my powers

My Blue friend’s three.

They tore me up

They sewed me up

They stick me with something else.

I scream, I cry

I die.

One, two, three

They won’t miss me.

An old rhyme the six of them used to say went through Artemis’s mind as the sleeping drug ran through her mind and her Blue filled her veins and fixed her inside.

“One, two, three,” she said allowed as a tear slipped down her cheek and her mind turned off.