Remus had fallen asleep in the grass long ago, but Artemis was still awake, lying next to him. She gazed up at the bright stars up ahead, lighting up the night sky. Remus was snoring loudly, dead to the world. She'd never seen him sleep before. She poked him with her finger, but he just rolled his head and murmured nonsense under his breath.
A star streaked across the sky. It almost looked like it was falling down to this world. "How curious," she thought, and let her head fall to the side, closing her eyes and letting sleep take over.
They rose at the crack of dawn, ready to continue their arduous journey to the dragons. Remus seemed pretty anxious after killing the cyclops. Their march through the forest and hills beyond was not as long as Artemis expected. In fact it only took them a few hours to reach their destination.
The dragons lived in various caves at the edge of the small mountain ahead. They all lived communally in one system of tunnels underground. Hopefully Basil would be the one to come out. As they walked closer, relieved to be at their journey's end, a dragon came to greet them. Or so they thought.
The first thing they could see was the shadows of enormous wings. But quickly Remus realized those were not dragon wings. He grabbed hold of Artemis's arm, stopping her in her place. "Don't move," he said nervously, not tearing his eyes from the emerging figure.
It was Apollo. Remus's heart sank. He squeezed Artemis's wrist, pulling her behind him. Apollo approached them, pointing a finger at Remus and yelled, "YOU." Remus growled. Apollo turned his attention to Artemis.
"Sister, I'm taking you home, right now," he said sternly.
"Fuck off!" Remus snarled back. Apollo's intimidating wings outstretched as he started to lose his temper. "You are going back to Tartarus where you belong, I'm going to see to that. You can't hide anymore," Apollo said as he outstretched his hand for Artemis, still approaching them.
"Sister, come home." Artemis looked from Remus to Apollo, unsure of which option would be less favorable.
"Fuck off, she's mine," growled Remus, keeping his tight grip on Artemis's arm.
"And she is my sister," Apollo replied, reaching out and materializing his legendary bow. Without hesitation he shot a golden arrow straight into Remus's chest.
This wasn't just an arrow, it was Apollo's arrow. The force of it hit Remus so hard he flew back. It had deeply pierced the very center of his chest. Artemis had shot him with arrows before and he never even flinched. But right now he was twisting and yelling in agony, trying desperately to pull it out.
Apollo grabbed Artemis's hand and pulled her close. "I'm taking you home and he's going back to Tartarus. You don't have to see him ever again." Artemis didn't know what to think, everything was happening so fast.
"Wait," she replied, trying to buy time to think. Any option she took was one she would not be happy with.
Before Apollo could start to approach Remus, a loud crackling came from the cave and little electric sparks flickered through the darkness. Apollo looked to the cave and a rush of flames burst out. Basil and two other fierce dragons appeared through the darkness of the cave, all breathing fire directed at Apollo. The god wrapped his elegant wings around himself and Artemis, shielding them from the scorching flames.
When the dragons had run out of their gasses and could no longer produce fire, they saw that both Apollo and Artemis were gone. Basil glided to Remus, who was still twisting on his back and pulling at the golden arrow. "FUCK," he yelled out furiously.
"They're gone Remus," Basil informed him. She took her large talons and managed to grip the arrow, yanking it out of his chest. Remus screamed in agony, now left with a gaping hole in his sternum.
"What are you going to do?" she asked, stretching her long neck down to him.
"I'm getting her the fuck back, that's what."
Basil picked up the neck of his shirt and lifted him on her back, directly between her shoulder blades. "Let's go," she said and lifted off the ground. Remus took hold of the long spikes protruding from her back, keeping himself steady as they flew high above the forest and into the dark clouds.
Basil flew as fast as she could, but after expelling all of her fire she was significantly tired. They hid in the clouds for hours until they reached the Kingdom of Giants. Basil glided down to the large stone balcony, landing on the edge gracefully. Remus hurriedly hopped off. "How are you going to find her? You don't know where Olympus is."
Remus winced from the hole still closing in his chest. "You're right, I don't know where Olympus is, but I know where she is. Thank you, Basil!" he yelled behind him as he sprinted away. Basil sighed. This was not good.
Remus dashed through the hallways of the castle, making it to the Great Hall. Thaddeus and Cosmas were standing next to the throne, attending to the kingdom during Remus's absence. Remus sprinted to them, slipping on the floor clumsily. "Thaddeus! Cosmas!" he called.
The two perked up their ears, dropping everything they were doing. "What's going on Remus?" asked Cosmas in a shrill voice. Panting, Remus put his hand on Thaddeus's shoulder.
"You two, please take care of the castle. I will be gone, and I have no idea for how long."
Thaddeus sneezed violently. "I don't understand, where are you going?"
Remus tried to catch his breath, but he had no time. "Apollo found me, he took Artemis and I'm getting her back. Like I said I don't know how long I will be gone, but I swear I will be back for you when I can."
Both of his friends started to cry and wail, but Remus needed to leave. "I promise I'll be back." The two creatures sniveled and pouted. "Don't forget about us," Cosmas said between tears. Remus sighed. They were so dramatic.
But Remus needed Artemis more than anything. He would leave everything just to get her back. He wouldn't let her go now. She was the only one that could spend all of eternity with him, the only one that would never leave. While everything is birthed and dies around them, they would be together forever, watching it all. Finding Artemis was worth the risk of being sent back to Tartarus. He got out once, he could do it again.
Apollo had taken Artemis back to Olympus. She had always felt rather uncomfortable there, though it was her true home, she did not like the company of other gods. Most of them were nothing but brutal savages, but they had all the power and were practically invincible. They could do what they want with virtually no consequences.
Remus had not been the only one to attempt to take her virginity. Humans and gods alike, all had failed with a violent end. In fact it was the main reason she avoided Olympus as much as she could. She would roam from forest to forest, planet to planet, alone and free.
How Remus took her so easily, and at all, was extremely embarrassing. Maybe she had gone soft after centuries of protecting the forests, performing her life's purpose with too much ease and comfort. Maybe she had become too vain to think anyone could be a threat. Or maybe he was just extremely lucky.
Artemis dipped her feet in the clouds and dangled them over the steps. Apollo came out from the Pantheon to find her there. "You need to come inside," he said patiently.
Artemis sighed. "I really, really don't want to. Can you just give me a few more moments?"
"Alright, but please don't be long."
Apollo went back inside the Pantheon, leaving her alone on the marble steps. She rolled her eyes and huffed. This is bullshit, she told herself. Maybe Remus's swearing rubbed off on her a little bit.
Her short time with Remus had been terrifying, but exciting. Never had she explored a life beyond her solitary existence, nothing past the limits of her godly duties. But now that she was free from him, what would she do now?
She could go back to another forest, to another world and continue her purpose. But after so much that had happened to her, all she could think about was if there was more. Would simply protecting the forest ever completely be enough? Would she always ache for something more than settling for her previous life?
She shook her head and stood up reluctantly. Artemis jumped from the sound of a loud snap. She turned and there was Remus, standing in front of her. "How are you here?" she asked.
"I told you I could always find you," he said and wrapped her in his long arms. With another snap they disappeared.
The next thing they knew they were falling. They clutched each other as they fell through the sky, both yelling at the top of their lungs. They plummeted down for what seemed like ages. Remus hit the ground first. Artemis, still clinging to him, landed on his chest. Remus gasped from the force of her body thrown on his.
"Where are we?" she asked. They landed on the shore of a beach that looked like it stretched on forever. They had to have been by an ocean. Remus sat up and looked around. The trees off the beach were twisted and exotic. Nothing he'd ever seen before.
"I have no idea."
They got up, both still in pain from the great fall. The clouds were heavy and low, the only thing to be heard was the water rushing up the shore. "How did you find Olympus, but not know where we are," she asked, quite annoyed.
Remus shook the sand off of his pants. "I mean, finding you wasn't a problem. But I didn't know where to go right away, so I took us somewhere at the end of the universe. Maybe we went too far," he said.
Artemis fumed. "How do you even do that? How do you just go too far? That's ridiculous!"
