Remus and Artemis laid together silently in front of the fire. The only thing to be heard was the crackling of the flames that softly lit up the room, leaving dark shadows dancing along the walls. The sun had gone down hours ago, and here and there they would hear the hoot of an owl, or the howl of some creature.
Remus perked up when he heard a faint ruffling outside of the cabin. He pulled his pants from the chair where it had been drying and slipped them on, cautiously peeking out of a small window. "Get dressed," he said to Artemis as he grabbed his shirt.
Artemis hurriedly clothed herself, preparing her for any danger outside. Remus stood by the door, still trying to sneakily see out the window. He reached his hand out for Artemis and said "Come on, let's g-"
Remus was cut off as the door flew open, smashing into his face. "Damnit!" Remus yelled from behind the door. In came Apollo, as furious as Artemis had ever seen him, bow and arrow ready in his hands. But he was not alone.
Behind him was Hermes, a fellow Olympian Artemis fondly called a friend. They were quite devious when they were together, she often thought he was the most fun to be around. If she was forced to appear in Olympus, he was the first she would want to spend time with. But this was not about to be a pleasant visit.
Remus dashed to Artemis and grabbed her arm, lifting his hand to snap, but before his fingers could touch Apollo shot one of his dreaded golden arrows into the palm of his hand.
"Fuck, you asshole!" he growled while still pulling Artemis close. "Artemis is mine now, she doesn't belong to you!" he yelled, his hand pulsing around the arrow in excruciating pain.
Apollo didn't hesitate before letting another fly, piercing the center of his chest. Remus dropped to one knee, wincing from the golden arrow plunged deep in his sternum. Artemis was not silent this time.
"Apollo stop!" she yelled. "I'll come with you, just stop shooting, for the love of Hades stop interfering in my life!"
Apollo looked down at her, his golden blonde hair lightly curling majestically over his perfect face, his eyes burning like a wildfire. "You are associating yourself with a reject! Do you want to be one too? For fucks sake you're an Olympian. So act like it."
With that Apollo approached Remus, grabbing hold of the arrow lodged in his chest and pushing it further until the only thing that could be heard from Remus was a gurgling and desperate gasping for air.
Artemis leapt up and tried to shove Apollo away, but he was so focused on Remus there was nothing that was going to remove his attention from him. Hermes came from behind Apollo's obnoxiously long wings and snatched Artemis by the arm, dragging her out of the cabin.
"Let go!" Artemis screamed, prying herself from Hermes's grip. She managed to shake him off, giving her enough room to strike him in the face with her fist. She heard a crunch and his face bounced back from the blow.
"Shit, dude stop." He cried, shaking his head and bringing his hand to crack his nose into place. "Why, why is it always the face with you? Do you know how many times you have broken my nose?"
Both turned to see the roof torn open as Apollo flew to the sky, dragging a disabled Remus along with him.
Artemis yelled out in frustration, cursing at Apollo as they flew away. "Yep, I bet he's taking him right to Tartarus," Hermes said in a casual tone. Artemis whipped back over to look at him.
"If he was going to Tartarus, you'd be the one to bring him there. That's your job, not Apollo's. So what are you doing here? I swear, you're not bringing me back to Olympus."
Hermes laughed and replied, "No, I won't do that to you. I'm sick of going up there too. They're not a very fun crowd up there are they? Well fuck them, you're going to hang out with me. It'll be fun. Do I ever lie?"
Artemis scoffed at him. He was a notorious trickster. But she couldn't think of anywhere else she'd rather be.
Hermes flew them back to his home away from home, a patch of forest hidden in Arcadia. It was Pan's domain, but his father often liked to participate in the lively parties. Earth had been the Gods most favored planet, and Kronos adored manipulating the time of that world, keeping their evolution stagnant for their liking.
When they had arrived it seemed as though they had interrupted a party. The forest was lush and bright, flowers of every color sprouting along a sparkling stream. Different colored nymphs swam through the water, fauns danced around happily, playing beautiful songs with their wooden flutes.
Hermes plopped himself upon a large rock next to a wide barrel of wine, overlooking the fun affair. Artemis joined him on the rock as Hermes shuffled around for any cups.
"Aha!" he said triumphantly as he found two wooden goblets that were resting on the side of the barrel. He dipped the cups in and filled them up, passing one to Artemis. She took a small sip. Delicious, but overwhelmingly sweet.
Hermes took a generous sip. "Why are you running around with this guy? He's bad news."
"Did you even know he existed? I had never even heard of him before," she replied.
"Actually yes I did, funny enough, but only because I'm so close to Hades. Honestly going back to Tartarus would not be a bad deal for him. He'd be fine. I'm not sure how Apollo knows about his existence, but you know him. He always finds a way. But I still don't understand why you're still hanging around that guy."
"I let my guard down like an idiot," she began to say. "I didn't think he was a real threat, you know? I mean I knew he was a god, but I assumed it was some distant offspring from a secret godly affair, I don't know. Zeus really knows how to get around."
Hermes snorted. "Well, why didn't you kill him like you killed Orion? Remus did the same and more, so why not? And you even liked Orion. I get the whole perpetual virginity thing but there's more to life than just your job."
Artemis turned, pointing at him. "That's it! That's the thing, I mean, I don't like him, but he's made me feel all these things that I really regret never having felt. And if I had I would never have had to kill Orion."
Hermes pointed to the sky. "Well, Orion looks like he's doing just fine up there." Artemis sighed and dangled her feet over the rock, watching a faun play a romantic tune to two blue nymphs that floated in the water lazily.
"I just don't know what to do now. I know that going back to the life I was living would now feel empty. Not enough. As if something were missing. He keeps promising freedom. Which before I never felt like there was anything to be free of. But now I just have this craving for more, you know?"
Hermes sloshed down the rest of his wine and held his hands up dramatically. "Are you going to tell me about craving things? Look around us. All I do is drink wine, fuck, and run stupid errands. I'm drunk most of the time I'm running those errands anyhow. I mean, my son is Pan. You can't get more hedonistic than me."
Artemis nodded in agreement, it was part of why she liked Hermes so much. He took both of their cups and filled them up again. "Come on, be a hedonist with me."
Artemis smiled and took the cup from him. "You know I really don't want to go back to Olympus."
Hermes wiped his mouth, wine had accidentally dribbled down his chin. "Well then don't go. I say go follow Remus! Go on a quest or some shit. I don't know. Or you can live here with Pan, but the Satyrs are little shits."
Artemis puffed, swirling the wine around in her cup. She wasn't a fan of Satyrs either. "I guess I'll figure it out," she replied.
"Good. Well, next time I go to the underworld I'll let you know if he's actually in Tartarus. For the meantime just get drunk with me."
And Artemis did just that. They drank all night, dancing to the beautiful flute songs, basking in the moonlight and laughing at just about everything. Artemis sat on the flowers next to the clear stream, dangling her feet just above the water, half-full cup of wine still loosely in her hand. A nearby pale lavender colored nymph swam past her, barely grazing her toes.
Artemis drank the rest of her wine and laid down, looking up at the full moon. Hermes joined her, hovering above her in the air, the wings protruding from his ankles keeping him magically afloat.
"This is fantastic. I haven't had this much fun in a long time," she said, voice slurring just ever so slightly. A faun had pranced near them, excitedly dancing and playing his little reed flute. Three translucent nymphs swam towards them, giggling and floating in the water, moving to the tune played by the faun. A pale mossy green nymph tugged on Artemis's ankle, motioning her to join them in the water.
"Come in," the two other nymphs said, swimming excitedly. Artemis was sold. Why not! She fumbled with the laces of her dress, trying to balance herself as she slipped it off. She was intoxicated enough where just undressing was difficult.
Hermes watched her intently as she undressed and jumped into the cool water. He gently touched the ground with his feet, floating down to sit on the grass at the edge of the stream. "Wow look at you. I never thought I would see you like this."
Artemis swam lazily, her head and shoulders just about the water. "You know, I really don't think I care anymore. I feel like I can be a whole new person, I just want to let go being, well, Artemis. I'll be whatever I want!"
Hermes laughed, undressing himself and stepping gently into the water with her. "I like this new Artemis. This Remus guy might not be such a bad influence."
Artemis floated on her back, scoffing. "He's a monster. Or at least close enough to it. Do you know he eats people?"
Hermes swam to her, putting an arm around her waist. "Oh you can't get enough of him. You're pretty transparent."
Artemis huffed. "It's not like that," she said defensively.
Hermes tightened his grip on her waist and pulled her in so she was facing him. Artemis was still a bit too intoxicated to register his familiarity until he reached up a hand and gently stroked her breast, cupping it in his hands and teasing her nipples with his fingers. "Show me this new, free Artemis," he said playfully and slid his other hand down her backside to squeeze a soft plump cheek.
When Artemis's mind caught up with her body, she shoved him away, splashing water in his face. But he caught her waist and pulled her close again. He wasn't nearly as strong as Remus, but he was still considerable stronger than Artemis.
Hermes slipped his hand between her legs, crawling his fingers up to her pussy. He rubbed around in circles, feeling every little bit of her excitedly. Artemis felt that creeping warm inside of her, but it just wasn't right. Maybe because despite what had Remus had done, she still felt as if she had to protect herself, still reject anyone who tried to take advantage of her.
Hermes loosened his grip as he moved to push a finger inside of her, giving her the opportunity to slip right out of his arm under water. "Shit!" Hermes said as she splashed back up to the surface, diving for his shoulders. Hermes was taken aback, quickly forced under the water by Artemis. She sat on his shoulders and kept his head underwater as he kicked and splashed around wildly.
Artemis didn't let go until bubbles stopped reaching the surface of the water. She swam off and called out at a group of nymphs. "Help please," she asked, grasping Hermes's arm and bringing him to the edge of the stream. Two pale nymphs swam gracefully to push him up to the grass.
