A/N: Hi, people of fan fiction! Welcome to my second story! Read and let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: I do not own PJO, HOO, the Olympian gods, or any of the characters. They all belong to that awesome genius, Rick Riordan.:) Well, except the gods. No one owns the gods!
Artemis stormed the halls of Olympus angrily. Not again. No matter how many times she told him, it never seemed to get through his big, thick head.
"APOLLO!" she yelled, once she had reached his room.
"What?" a muffled voice came from the room, sounding tired and sickly.
"Open up!" Artemis snapped, pounding on the door. Apollo sighed and hefted himself out of bed.
"What is it, Art-" He was stopped from saying anything further because Artemis attacked him with a punch in his stomach.
"OW! What was that for?" Apollo yelled. Artemis pushed her brother inside the room and shut the door.
"How many times have I told you that you are NOT ALLOWED TO FLIRT WITH MY HUNTERS?" she hissed.
Apollo sighed. "Aw, come on! Can this wait till later? Please? I'm really, really tired!" He yawned to prove his point.
"You idiot! What the Hades do you think you are doing, calling my Hunters sweetheart? How many times have I told you not to? Does ANYTHING I say go into your head?"
"Artie, please-"
"DO NOT CALL ME ARTIE!"
"Li'l sis-"
Artemis gritted her teeth. "APOLLO. We are twins."
Apollo smirked. "Whatever you say, baby siste-"
"Apollo..." Artemis' voice had a dangerous edge to it. Apollo backed away. "Can I help it if all the beautiful girls join the Hunt?" he mumbled, but Artemis heard him anyway.
"All men are the same! Apollo, every girl is beautiful in her ow-"
Apollo rolled his eyes. "I don't need a lecture right now," he interrupted.
Artemis glared at him. "Do not annoy me, Apollo. I am already in a bad mood. I do not want to hurt you."
"Oh, is it that time of the month again?" Apollo inquired, wanting to get back at her for interrupting his sleep with this nonsense.
Artemis flushed. "None of your business!" she snapped.
Apollo raised an eyebrow. Yup, definitely that time. "I'm not stupid!" he teased.
Artemis turned red. She tackled Apollo to the ground.
"Arghh!"
"You typical male! You stupid, annoying, conceited-"
Apollo cringed. "I'm hurt," he pouted.
Artemis pinned him against the ground harder, and glared at him so intensely that he whimpered. The door opened behind Artemis. Apollo's eyes widened.
In the doorway, Athena, Hermes, Dionysus, Hades and Hera were standing, looking concerned. Well, actually, Dionysus and Hades looked amused.
"What in the name of Hades is going on here?" Dionysus asked. Hades scowled and was about to tell him off for using his name when Athena spoke up.
"Artemis? Are you alright? You look...red."
Artemis flushed and released Apollo. "HE FLIRTED WITH MY HUNTERS, THEN HAD THE NERVE TO INSULT ME!"
Apollo got up and rubbed his back. "Sorry, sis...I didn't mean t-"
"Oh, save it!" Artemis snapped. She stormed out of the room.
All the gods present stared awkwardly at Apollo. He flushed. He didn't know what he had done to 'insult' his sister, but he felt bad.
"So, uh...what happened?" Hermes broke the silence.
"Another one of our arguments."
"She said you insulted her." Hermes raised an eyebrow. Clearly, he wanted more information. "What did you say to her, bro?"
Apollo looked down. "I don't know."
Athena huffed. "Apollo, just tell us what you said to her!"
Hades and Hera nodded in agreement and Dionysus yawned.
Apollo blushed and tried to get out of the room but Athena fixed him with a steely glare. "For Hades' sake, tell us already!"
"Yeah! For ...hey! Don't use my name!"
"Whatever. Apollo, get on with it!" Athena demanded.
"OKAY, OKAY, FINE! WHY CAN'T WE HAVE OUR ARGUMENTS WITHOUT PEOPLE BARGING IN? CAN'T YOU LEAVE US ALONE?" Apollo exploded.
Everyone stared in shock at the sun god, usually so cheerful and mischievous. There was a moment of stunned silence.
"But Apollo...We are your family," Athena said quietly.
Apollo didn't meet her eyes. "I'm sorry."
"Apollo, dear, what exactly did you say to your sister?" Hera asked. She felt weird calling him 'dear', but she wanted to make an effort to get her dysfunctional family together.
"I asked her if it was that time of the month again," came the answer.
The gods shifted uncomfortably. Hermes coughed. Hades and Dionysus raised their eyebrows like, what were you thinking?
A silent agreement passed between Hera and Athena. They both stepped forward and socked Apollo.
"OW!"
"You imbecile! Stupid, obnoxious male!" Athena huffed.
"Idiot!" Hera added.
Then they both stormed out of the room.
"What is it with the women today?" Apollo mumbled, rubbing his sore shoulder. Demigods couldn't hurt him unless with Celestial Bronze, but gods don't need swords to hurt each other. In other words, that meant that Artemis could smack Apollo as many times as she wanted and he would be hurt for a few minutes, but after that he would be okay.
"Apollo, you were... insensitive," Hades explained. Wow, the god of the Underworld thinks I was insensitive! Great, coming from him! Apollo thought bitterly.
"Yeah, Apollo! Go and apologize to Artemis," Hermes agreed.
"You could take her wine!" Dionysus offered, but Hades glared at him and he shut up. Being glared at by the god of death isn't fun. It takes the meaning of 'Death Glare' to a whole new level.
"I guess I should go now," Apollo said. He sighed and trudged out of the room.
OoOoOoooOoOoO
"Artemis? Sis?"
There was no answer. Apollo heard sniffling. With a start, he realised that his sister was crying. Artemis never cried. As far as he knew, anyway. He barged in without thinking.
Artemis yelped. She turned around to glare at the intruder when she saw the sun god standing there, bewildered.
Her eyes were red and a few strands of hair were stuck to her tear-streaked face. Seeing Apollo, she choked back a sob. Apollo shut the door and approached her cautiously. He sat down next to her.
"I'm sorry, Artemis."
She collapsed into his open arms and sobbed, staining his shirt with her tears.
"Artie? Is it me?" he whispered.
There was no answer. That's how Apollo knew it was serious.
Artemis never let him call her Artie.
When the sobs died down, Apollo asked her again.
She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Apollo. I didn't mean to scream at you."
She stared at the floor for awhile. Then she locked eyes with Apollo.
"It's Zoe. I miss her tremendously," she said quietly.
Apollo kept quiet, thinking of what to say.
"I miss her too, Artie," he said finally. "I miss her old fashioned way of speaking." He chuckled lightly. "But we have Thalia now. She's our sister, too."
"Apollo, that just makes things worse! I cannot afford to lose anymore girls. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to any of them, esp-" she stopped.
"Especially Thalia." Apollo finished for her. He nodded, his eyes full of understanding.
"My Hunters. They are like my daughters. My sisters, my best friends. My girls." She started sobbing again.
"Hey, hey, hey. No need to cry. It's not your fault, Artie. Zoe died a hero! You took care of her. She served you well." Thank you, Zoe, he added silently. "You're a great mother, friend and sister to them. And they love you for it. "
"I do, too," he added after some thought.
After a few more minutes, the sobs died down completely. They sat there for awhile, in silence.
"Maybe I should start a 'Hunters of Apollo'. Boys only. What do you think? I'll call them the...APOLLO ARCHERS! Cool, huh?" Apollo joked. He couldn't stand the silence.
"Apollo, that's what people call your kids," Artemis pointed out.
"Whatever. So, what do you think of my awesome idea?"
Artemis snorted, a smile playing at her lips.
"Yeah, you start that club. And once you see a 'beautiful' mortal girl, you'll break your oath."
Apollo pouted. "Glad to see how much faith you have in me, Artie. Who said anything about oaths anyway?"
"Do not call me Artie!"
Ah, back to normal. Apollo hid a smile.
"This needs...a haiku!" Apollo announced. He cleared his throat and started.
"Artemis was sad
Being an awesome brother,
I made her happy," he finished proudly.
Artemis groaned. "Shut up, Apollo!"
"I love you, sis. If anyone hurts my sister, I'll make sure they go to Hades the hard way," he said suddenly.
"I...I love you too, Apollo. And if anyone hurts you, I'll make sure they go to Hades the hard way, too."
Someone screamed in delight.
"Awwww! Sibling love! You guys are so adorable!" Aphrodite cooed. She was passing by the corridor when she heard Apollo saying that he would 'send anyone who hurt his sister to Hades the hard way' and, of course, being the goddess of love, she sensed sibling love and decided to stay and eavesdrop.
The twins looked at each other. "Let's get her," they said in unison.
Then they both got up and chased after the love goddess, who was still screaming something about 'sibling love', whatever the hell that was.
END.
A/N: Okay, so let me get this out to all of you reading this: I know this is absolutely cheesy, but I've always wanted to write something like this...so...yeah. Here it is. Well. Love it? Hate it? Okay-ish? Tell me all about it in a review! Constructive criticism accepted.
Oh, and I know most of you hate Hera, but I always like to give people the benefit of the doubt. Plus, I think Hera should be a...caring(?) mother (or stepmother) for a change.:)
~ Mel