Artemis's Capture

"Ugh, damnit," Remus groaned, rubbing his face with his hand. He sat up, finding himself tucked neatly under a blanket. "Fuck, my head." He pried his eyes open, trying to overcome his hangover. Artemis was gone. A jolt of panic hit him in the chest.

Did she leave? He shouldn't have said all of that stuff to her. The more he remembered the more regret he felt. He leapt out of bed and hurriedly looked around the home, but she wasn't there. He cursed at himself, running his hand through his black hair and searching wildly with his eyes.

He heard a scampering outside and leapt towards the door, swinging it open and hoping dearly it was Artemis. It was a grey wolf standing in front of the door. It had a dead goose hanging from its mouth.

Remus looked at it curiously, but let it pass him to enter the house. It dropped the goose on the floor and let out a whine. "Um, alright," he said, picking up the limp bird and tossing it on her little wood table in the small kitchen.

A wave of relief soothed Remus as he watched the wolf slowly transform into a nude Artemis. "I went hunting," she said triumphantly, shaking the fur that had fallen off of her. Not because getting a bird was any prize to be proud of, but because it had seemed like ages since she had done the one thing she is most well-known for.

Remus roughly grabbed her jaw, forcing her to look up at him. "Wake me up next time." But when Artemis gave him a little smile instead of shrinking back like she always did, he dropped his hand. She wasn't afraid of him anymore.

He scoffed and sat down on a wooden stool by the table, ripping the feathers out of the bird angrily. He had tried so hard to show her he had all of the control, that she should be scared of him. That's how he thought he could keep her.

He gained his power because he was vicious and unmerciful. Instilling fear was how people would listen and obey his commands. If he showed no weaknesses no one could take advantage of him.

When he had escaped Tartarus as a juvenile, he craved adventure. With no home he traveled the galaxy, trying desperately to find his purpose and people he belonged with. But he was naive and friendly, open to anything and anyone that he encountered.

But year after year, decade after decade, someone would manage to take advantage of him and plummet him back into hopelessness and isolation. His heart had been toyed with and ripped apart by those he thought were friends or lovers countless times.

But when people started to fear him, no one got in his way. No one took advantage of him anymore. The more frightening he was, the more people obeyed and bent to his will. Not even the biggest or the strongest of men stood a chance against him.

But here he was, plucking a goose from this girl that he had spilled all of his genuine thoughts and emotions. He wasn't supposed to have those, he was supposed to be a monster. He needed to be a monster.

When the bird was completely featherless Remus bit down on its neck, ripping off a small chunk of meat. "Hey!" Artemis said, leaping towards him, trying to grab the featherless goose. "We're cooking that!"

Remus looked at the goose and then back at her. "Fine, whatever. You're cooking it then," he said, tossing the limp bird on the table.

He felt a tug on his sleeve and looked down to see Artemis, her mossy eyes wide. "What?" he asked uncomfortably.

"So where are we going now?"

Remus gave his head a scratch, giving his answer some thought. "Well, we can do better than a goose. Let's go on a hunt."

Artemis was so delighted by his answer that she practically ran to her bedroom. Her and Remus went through the scattered hunting supplies, taking anything they needed. Both took long daggers and two of her wooden bows, putting any finished arrows into their quivers. Remus took the bundle of rope and threw it over his shoulder. Artemis dressed in her most fitting tunic, tightening a belt with the sheathed dagger around her tight waist.

"Alright let's go. You lead the way," he said to her.

They left the underground home, their eyes adjusting to the bright sunlight. The meadow was the lightest green and gold, purple wildflowers scattered throughout it. It was an extraordinarily beautiful morning.

After only a few feet out of the home they heard a loud noise that practically deafened them, a loud booming and crashing coming closer. Remus grabbed Artemis's wrist. "It hasn't even been one day! One fucking day! What the fuck," he cursed. But the noise was so loud Artemis could barely hear his voice.

Approaching them out of the forest was just a sliver of a crack in the ground. "What's that?" Artemis asked, taking a small step back.

"Oh fuck. We should run."

Before they could begin to sprint away the sliver turned into an enormous fissure in the ground, snaking around them like tree roots. The earth started to shake beneath them, opening up into a dark hole.

The wind circled around them, sucking into the gaping abyss. Both Artemis and Remus were hanging off the ledge by just a hand, struggling against the force of the wind. Remus tried to help push Artemis up with his free hand, but the ground he was just barely clinging onto crumbled in his fingers.

Artemis had managed to get both hands on the ground when she saw Remus had disappeared below her. At first, she didn't know what to do, but she only had a moment to make a decision. She closed her eyes and gave out a loud scream. Not out of fear, but frustration. She let her fingers slip from the edge and plummet into the darkness.

It was pitch black as she fell through the air. She fell for what seemed like forever, the air whipping around her and having no concept of what was up or down.

Suddenly a faint glimmer of light appeared in the distance below her. The closer she got to it, she realized the light was in an ocean of black. It looked like she was falling into space without any control of her destination.

She tried to contort her body so that she could fall as close to the light as possible, but she missed by a significant amount.

She plunged into the water, but it did not feel like water. It was thick and oily and stank of death. She raised her hands out of the oily liquid to see black streams running down her pale hands. She screamed as she started to sink, splashing and kicking to stay above the vile substance.

It was like running through sand, she had to fight just to keep her head from sinking. Finally when she reached the origin of the light, she saw it came from a small lamp suspended above an old wooden gondola.

A figure covered by a dark tattered cloak turned to her, silently watching her paddle to him in a panic. When she finally made it to the edge of the gondola, the cloaked figure leaned down to see her in the faint light of the lamp.

"Please let me on!" she cried, trying desperately to stay afloat.

The figure reached out a long, boney hand and helped pull her onboard. Artemis sat down on a worn-out seat, trying to wipe the vile fluid from her face.

"What are you doing here?" her savior asked in a slow and quiet voice.

Artemis peaked through the little bit of the ragged hood. "Charon?" she asked curiously.

The figure removed his hood and nodded. He was not a horrifying sight, but he was extremely pale and gaunt. Charon was the boatman who took souls across the river Styx to the gates of the underworld. People put pennies on the bodies of the dead to pay the toll to cross the deadly river.

"You're lucky you found me. You would've been lost for an eternity getting sucked down into this river. So why are you here?" he asked again in the same chilling tone.

"I was in the Arcadian forest and the ground opened up into a hole. I jumped in and fell here. I didn't know the underworld was at the center of this planet."

"It's not. The underworld is a whole separate planet, you were taken through a wormhole. There are only a few entrances on earth to portals to the underworld, but none of them come from a hole in the ground in Arcadia. That means someone wants you here, badly."

"Well, what do you think I should do?"

"I can bring you to the gates, otherwise you'll be on the other side forever will all of the other lost souls who couldn't afford the toll. Since it's you I will bring you as far as I can."

"Where do I go from there?"

"Cerberus waits at the gates. He will let you in, but he never lets anyone leave. It's a one-way entrance."

Artemis looked around them, but she could only see a few feet in any direction before the darkness took over. The midnight black stretched on forever. The only sound to be heard was the quiet paddling from Charon in the oily river and their own quiet voices.

"Who would do that? Why would someone want me here?"

"I can only imagine it's Hades. Even if it's not, it's he who you should talk to. I imagine he would have a little bit more sympathy for you. Unless you have done something worthy of being put in your own personal hell in Tartarus. But even so, he is your only hope of leaving the underworld if that's what you choose to do."

"How do I get to him?"

"After you get through Cerberus and the gates you will be led to the three judges, Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus. The only way to avoid them is to take the hidden trail to the Labyrinth of Grief. At the end of the labyrinth is the home of Hades."

"That's easy, I can just fly over the labyrinth."

"No, you can't. All of your godly abilities won't work here. So after you cross the gates, you're on your own."

As Charon slowly paddled Artemis could see a foggy blue light emanating from what looked like above a shore. He pointed his long lanky finger towards it. "There are the gates."

The eerie silence was making Artemis increasingly nervous, but she was confident she could survive the journey ahead. She would find Hades and get Remus back. That was pretty much the extent of her plan though. All she knew was she didn't want Remus to be trapped in Tartarus. She had found a new purpose and she wasn't going to do it alone. He promised adventure, and that's now all she wanted.

Charon slowly paddled them to the shore, a gray sandy beach leading to an overgrown trail of twisted dead trees. "This is as far as I can take you. Take the trail, you will find Cerberus and the gates. Good luck Artemis."

Artemis climbed out of the old wooden gondola, rocking it ever so gently. She thanked him as she watched him float away back into the dark abyss in silence.

It was still dark, the only light came from the caerulean fog above. The trail was uninviting, intertwined roots came out from the ground and dead tree branches arched overhead, rustling loudly even thought there was no wind.

At the end of the trail was a huge gate between the stone walls that reached over two hundred feet. No one could escape that. And in front of the gates to greet her was the infamous three-headed hound, Cerberus. She bravely walked to the entrance of the gates as the enormous beast drooled and growled, never removing his evil gaze from her.

Cerberus was one of the most feared creatures, especially in the underworld. She noticed all three of his snarling heads were similar to Thaddeus and Cosmas's heads, scrappy and slightly deformed.

Cerberus did not stop her as she approached the door. When she was close enough, she realized the tall gate was made of bones and sculls of every creature imaginable. She could even see the skeleton of a very unfortunate dragon weaved among the other remains.

When she touched the door it started to budge, scraping against the ground loudly as it opened by itself. On the other side was a bridge made of stone, suspended over a river of fire. She searched around, looking for Charon's hidden trail.

She couldn't find anything until she approached the bridge and realized there was a small cutout on the cliff underneath. That had to be it. She took a deep breath and crawled down to the tiny path, hugging the walls of the cliff as to not fall into the scorching flames below.

The heat was so powerful she was sweating just moments after descending the side of the cliff. But it was not long until it led her to another smaller stone bridge across the flames. She ran over the bridge, trying to escape the boiling heat before melting in a puddle.

When she made it to the other side, she saw she was at the start of the dreaded Labyrinth of Grief. It stretched on for miles, and at the very center was Hades' home.

The home looked like a black pyramid, and from afar it looked like the top half was completely made of glass. It was an intimidating sight, she had never seen anything like it before. She had no idea how she was going to get passed this, but she had to try.

If she strayed off the path, she would fall into the flames below, and she could already see some of Hades' deadly creatures flying over the labyrinth. There would be nowhere to hide on the path, she would be in plain sight and in serious danger of the harpies and furies she saw up ahead.

Artemis slid the dagger out of the sheath on her belt and took her first steps. Her bow and quiver were lost during the fall, but somehow, she managed to keep this tightly by her side. She walked at a steady pace, trying to decipher the right path to her destination.

It didn't take long until the harpies were swooping down to her. They were hideous creatures, with the faces of an ugly women and the bodies of freakishly huge eagles. One came in for an attack, outstretching its long talons and slashing Artemis's shoulder.

Artemis cried out and started to sprint, desperately hoping she would stay in the right direction while being attacked. But the harpies had circled her, one flying above and two landing on either side of her. Artemis was done defending herself, she had to go on the offense.

She slashed wildly but effectively. She plunged her dagger into the first harpy's wide chest, pushing it until it slid off into the river of fire. Before the second could snatch her up, she cut its wing in half, hacking at the beast violently until it too fell below, disappearing into the flames.

Before she could look up, the last harpy flew away, screeching into the distance. Artemis looked down at herself. She was drenched in that slick, oily substance from the Styx, and now blood splattered over her tunic and drenched her body. Barely any of her skin showed through the combination of repulsive fluids.

She shook the excess blood from her face and stayed on the path, now at a quicker pace. She was making good time, she thought she could even see the right directions to get to the end of the maze. Her march turned into a run, and her run turned into a sprint.

The farther she ran, the hotter she got. sweat poured from every pore, combining with the other disgusting liquids she was covered with. But no matter how hot or tired she became, she didn't break her sprint.

Finally she saw the end. Tears of joy escaped her eyelids as she got closer, her body pulsing with adrenaline. But right as she took her last steps to her goal, a snarling beast came out of the shadow separating her from the short walk to Hades' home.

It was a manticore, a creature even more unattractive than the harpies. It had the body of a lion and a twisted face that just barely resembled a humans. It threatened her with its long scorpion tail, a loud rumbling coming from its horrible mouth.

It let out an earth shatteringly loud howl. Artemis did not back down. She stepped forward and screamed back at the top of her lungs. "COME GET ME!"

Blood streamed down Remus's dagger, surrounded by the slaughtered bodies of furies. "What do you want?" he yelled angrily.

In front of him was Hades, slouched lazily in his ivory throne. Unlike Remus, he actually looked like a king. His attire was cobalt and lavish, a long cloak wrapped around his shoulders. His hair was the darkest of blues, matching his cold dead eyes. His features were young and slightly boyish, but he had an evil air around him that could not be matched.

He smirked, fiddling with his regal scepter at his side. "You didn't need to kill my furies. You have nowhere to go," he said with a sigh.

Remus snarled and stepped towards him, pointing the bloody dagger threateningly. "Let me the fuck out of here," he barked.

Hades rolled his head. Though he may have been hidden in the underworld, he was more powerful than even Zeus. As far as Hades was concerned, he was himself invincible, and next to the primordial gods he thought himself the most powerful creature in existence.

"I don't think so. You've been stirring up a lot of trouble. And now that I have finally found you, I'm not letting you escape again."

Remus scowled, spitting blood from a cut on his lip. "Why do you care? There's no reason for me to be here, there was no reason to stay," he yelled back. "I left everyone alone, no one even knew I existed!"

Hades laughed, rising from his ivory throne and casually taking slow steps to Remus. "Well, you didn't. And everyone's freaking out. Apollo has made a big deal of this and is stirring up so much bullshit now Zeus even wants you gone. Even my dear Persephone thinks you should rot in Tartarus."

Remus's black eyes burned into Hades' icy cold stare as he stood just inches before him. Even though Remus was considerably taller, the confidence Hades had around him made him twice his size. "You're a problem. You always have been. And now it's time to get rid of you."

Remus's face twitched angrily, steam practically spewing out his ears. Hades gave him a condescending smile and slowly walked through the bodies strewn across the floor, giving each a small kick.

"I've thought of so many different options for your own personal hell. At first, I thought of the typical eternal punishments. I'm rather proud of my idea for Prometheus's hell, getting his liver pecked out day after day. I even made it so Sisyphus has to push a boulder up a mountain forever. That was a good one. But for you I wanted something special. Something more personal."

Hades sat back down on his ivory throne, staring back at the dangerously furious Remus. "I'm going to make you relive your worst memory continuously until the end of time." He crossed his legs and rested his chin on his hand. "I think I'll keep you all alone in my favorite corner of Tartarus, forever by yourself. You'll never see another soul for the rest of eternity. You're just a scared child and always have been."

"I'm fucking older than you!"

"Yes but I came into existence just as I am now. You on the other hand, had to grow up just like a human. Except it doesn't take a human five hundred years to become a full adult. So actually, you're even more useless then them."

Remus smirked. "So that's it? You're taking orders from Zeus now? How I see it, you're just his bitch."

Hades' calm expression disappeared as he slammed his fist down on the arm of his throne. "You disobeyed me! You fucked with me, destroyed part of my labyrinth, and stole my hydra! Now I have been looking for you for a very, very long time, and I swear you will not escape again."

Both gods jumped when the glass door flew open, cracking and nearly shattering. Remus whipped around to see Artemis. He almost didn't recognize her, completely drenched in black and crimson fluids, hair slicked down over her face as if she had jumped into a rotting pool of fresh corpses.

"Fuck you!" she screamed, holding the decapitated head of the manticore in her hand by its matted hair. Remus and Hades were shocked by her sudden intrusion, both looking at the horrible creature's lifeless face.

She marched to Hades, each step leaving a footprint of blood and slime on the stone floor. "I don't care what you're up to, you're going to let Remus go and we are fucking leaving!" She screamed so hard you could've heard it from the other side of the underworld.