Sacrifice

"Gather around the sculpture, children," said the academy instructor. "Hurry up. You mustn't dawdle. We have a schedule to keep. He has come now. That's it. That's it," he continued as he lightly slapped his hands together between herding his students into a uniform circle around the bronze statue in the center of the plaza.

Taking a break from adjusting the strings on his lyre, the musician watched this occur from where he sat on the half-height wall of the entrance's colonnade that surrounded the open-air plaza. After observing the children's uniforms, size, and behavior, he guessed they were twelve to thirteen. So much had changed since he had been a child of such an age. He wondered how different their childhoods were from his own and realized he could not fathom what their lives must be like.

"Does anyone know who these two are?" asked the teacher, his hand gesturing to the statue.

"Hermes and Athena!" came the rushed answer from one boy.

Another child, a girl, scoffed. "That's not Hermes. Hermes has wings on his feet, you imbecile!"

The first boy turned to the girl and shook his head. "They're not on his feet. They're on his boots, stupid!"

The teacher looked to be questioning his life decisions or possibly contemplating how long until he could sidle up to a bar for a dram.

"Either way," remarked the girl, gesturing to the sculpture. "There's no wings. So it ain't Hermes."

"He's wearing different boots," said the boy with a scoff. "That much is clear... to anyone with half a brain!"

"Actually," said the instructor with a long sigh. "This is Apollo and Artemis," he explained. "Does anyone know what their purviews are?"

"Are they the twin gods?" asked a boy, a different one from the first. He had an Argosi or Thracian look, tall and broad, with dark skin and pale hair.

The teacher nodded with a smile. "They are twins. Yes."

"Are they the gods of twins?" asked a girl with brown braided hair.

"Uh, no..." said the instructor, shaking his head. "This is basic theology, kids. But, certainly, you must know this," he said as he looked up to the sky and saw the two suns overhead, with even a pale moon nearby. "If you look up, you might find a hint."

A girl with a sloppy uniform did not bother to look up along with the rest of her class. Instead, she let out a sharp scoff. "They're the God of the Suns and the Goddess of the Moons."

"Precisely," said the instructor with a relieved grin which disappeared when he turned to see which student had the answer. Contorting his face, he considered what to do next before moving on with the lesson. "Does anyone know who their parents are?"

"Zeus," said the first boy.

"Obviously," said the first girl, rolling her eyes. "Zeus is the father for like half the gods."

The schoolmaster nodded. "Zeus does have many children. And yes, Apollo and Artemis are two of his oldest children, with only Athena being older. However, does anyone know who their mother is?"

"Hera," said the first girl.

"Gods no," said the musician under his breath, catching the class and their teacher's focus. He gestured to his lyre's strings with a nervous grin and chuckled. "Pardon the curse. Just adjusting my instrument."

The class turned their eyes back to the sculpture, though the teacher took a moment to scan the musician with suspicion visually. But, ultimately, he had to return to his lesson. "Apollo and Artemis are the children of Leto."

"Who?" asked one boy.

The musician's jaw clenched, hearing that.

"She was a Titan, wasn't she?" asked yet another boy, this one with black hair, green eyes, and almond skin.

"No," said the instructor. "She was a Titanspawn," he clarified. "The daughter of the Titans Polus and Phoebe, but she turned against her parents and joined Zeus and the other gods in overthrowing the Titans."

The musician raised an eyebrow at hearing this watered-down version of the tale. The instructor was not wrong, but there was more to be said. Leto was not the biological daughter of Polus and Phoebe. She was a servant whose family had once served Polus; however, when the Titan migrated to the far reaches of the North, Leto stayed behind to care for her ailing husband. When her husband died, the Titan Phoebe took Leto in and decided to make Leto her exalted champion, gifting her a portion of her Titanic essence and elevating her to the station of a goddess.

Many years later, Leto would be overseeing the development of Phoebe's estate and observatory on the island of Delos. Zeus was living in a cave on the island during his exile. While surveying the island, Leto found and captured the fugitive god. However, before she could turn him into her Titaness mistress, Zeus managed to seduce Leto and sway her to his cause. As a result, Leto became pregnant with Apollo and Artemis.

When the pregnancy was discovered, Phoebe detected that Zeus was the father and attacked Leto. Zeus came out of hiding to stave off Leto's execution. Rescued by Zeus, Leto fled into the wilderness with him, surviving by the grace of woodland nymphs who were friends of Leto. These nymphs had taught Leto to use a bow and hunt, skills which she would later pass on to her children.

"There you are," said the huntress as she approached the colonnade and rested her forearms on the wall where her brother, the musician, was perched. She noticed his being startled by her appearance, and a smile crossed her lips at this realization. "Did I catch you fantasizing over old lovers?"

Apollo scoffed, swinging his legs off the wall and leaning back against it as he folded his arms and looked at his sister. "Maybe I was fantasizing about you."

The huntress scoffed as she blew some wild strand of long white hair off her face. "That would explain your presence in this plaza," she said, eyeing their nearby sculpture. "The likeness is... I've seen better," she said with a glance at her brother.

Apollo shot another look at the sculpture. "I thought it was rather good," he said, looking back at his twin.

"My breasts were never that large," she said with a scoff. "I think that sculpture was originally meant for Aphrodite."

The brother shook his head. "Aphrodite's breasts aren't that large. Common misconception."

Artemis gave her brother a side-eyed glance. "Is that so?"

He nodded. "They're more or less the same size as yours."

Artemis chuckled. "Now I know you're lying," she said with a smirk. "Dangerous habit for the God of Truth."

"I'm not lying," he insisted with a smirk. "Take off your top, and I'll prove it."

Artemis shook her head and elbowed her brother in the bicep. "Why are you in the temple plaza, looking at a sculpture of the two of us?"

"You told me to meet at the temple," Apollo said, rubbing his arm where her elbow had struck. "This seemed the natural place to wait for you."

"I've been standing at the entrance for some time," she said with a roll of her eyes. "I thought that would be the most logical place to find you."

Apollo shrugged. "I thought it better to keep an eye on him, too," he said as he grabbed his lyre from where he had laid it on the wall and stowed it in a travel case among his quiver, bow, and other travel possessions propped against the wall. "You ready to do this?"

The sister let out a long sigh. "Must we?"

Nodding, Apollo decided to stow his instrument and repair it later. "It has to be done. You know this. We cannot allow what he knows to get out. It would challenge the Faith."

Artemis nodded slowly before releasing a frustrated sigh. "Okay," she said as she pushed off the wall and walked to an opening in the entrance's colonnade. "Which one is he?" she asked as Apollo appeared at her side as they stepped down into the plaza with their sculpture at its center.

"The Thracian," said Apollo, adjusting the gear on his belt.

Artemis nodded once she found the young boy. "I see it now. So that's him, alright," she agreed. "His distinctive chin is already taking shape."

"Careful, sister," Apollo warned, shooting her a sideways glance.

Rolling her eyes, Artemis shook her head. "Honestly, brother. Could you give it a rest? It's not as though I am still smitten with him," she said before a long pause. "How do we do this?"

"We go when they move to the next plaza," Apollo said with a nod, thinking that was the best way to handle this.

"And then what?" asked Artemis.

"I haven't thought that far ahead," he said. "Don't worry. We'll figure something out. We always do, don't we?"

Artemis rolled her eyes. "I remember you saying that about before we went to have words with Niobe..."

"What? That worked out for well, didn't it?" Apollo chuckled nervously.

"Did it?" Artemis asked with a doubting tone. "We killed over a dozen people that day."

"But we're still here, aren't we?" Apollo said with a smile that was difficult not to reciprocate. "Besides, we tried the diplomatic solution first... and I was not the one to loose the first arrow, sister."

"I did that to save you," she replied quickly, followed by a critical scoff. "Honestly, if you weren't my brother, I probably would have let that cultist stab you with that-" Artemis did not finish that thought as the instructor eyed the pair again. At the same time, the students descended into another argument.

"Okay, maybe I put too much faith in those heretics' willingness to talk it out, but it's not as though all your ideas are great," Apollo replied, not noticing the instructor's renewed interest in the twin deities. "Remember what you did to Actaeon? My grandson?"

"Hush," Artemis said, trying to warn her brother.

"Don't silence me, sister," Apollo said as he positioned himself in her sightline, waving his hand to draw her attention away. Then, after a long moment, the realization struck him, prompting him to look over his shoulder at the instructor his twin had been eyeing.

The instructor looked at the statue and then back to Apollo. An odd grin encroached upon his demeanor.

Apollo looked back at Artemis. "There's no way he recognizes us."

"You certain of that, brother?" she asked with an unconvinced, dry tone.

"How would he? We're in our trappings," he said, stepping back to his sister's side so he could keep the instructor in her periphery.

Artemis eyed the teacher deliberately for a long moment. Then, she shuffled her feet with a sigh and faced her brother. "Our target is not the only one with a hero's soul, brother..."

Apollo groaned through the open-air plaza to the heavens above as he threw his head back. Then, shaking his head as he slumped his shoulders, Apollo sighed. How could he be so careless? How could he have been so caught in distant thought to make such a mistake as this? How long would it be until Artemis would cease bringing up this moment when teasing him? While he had no answer for the first two inquiries, he knew the last. Never. Artemis never forgot his blunders. She never tired of teasing him. Of course, he had no grievance, as never tired of tormenting her.

"You don't recognize him?" Artemis asked, folding her arms. Her tone was reserved and measured, keeping the conversation to only the two of them.

Apollo risked a brief discerning glance at the instructor before shaking his head. "No. Should I?" he asked of his sister. Of the pair of them, he was usually the social one.

Artemis abruptly turned. "Pallas," she said, acknowledging the instructor breaking from his students to stand among the divine twins.

It's been some time," said the instructor as he adjusted his eyeglasses and brushed off his sleeves and lapels. "Forgive my unsightliness. I had not expected to be in such presence today."

Giving the instructor another look, Apollo was confused. This man looked nothing like the great Titan that had killed so many during the Titanomachy. Of course, some Titans could possess people, but Apollo knew of no trick his sister could employ to discern such things. "Pallas?" Apollo finally asked as he turned to his sister.

"The instructor of our sister," Artemis said, shooting a knowing smirk at her brother. "We met him briefly before- Well, before we were truly gods. When we aided father in the breakout at Tartarus."

"I had a different name then," said the instructor. Then, pausing, he shook his head and chuckled. "Well, not quite. I had a name, but the Titans took it when they imprisoned me in Tartarus on suspicion of heresy. When I was freed from Tartarus by your family, Athena gave me the name Pallas, taken from Titan she felled. She said it was her way of thanking me for all I had done for her."

Apollo nodded. "Ah, right," he said with a smirk crossing his face, "you were the ghost that made Athena such an unbearable smarty-pants."

"Smarty-pants?" asked the teacher. "Are you saying she's a smart ass?"

Artemis sighed. "Pardon my brother. He spends too much time with Hermes. He uses peculiar terms."

"I'm saying you taught her well," Apollo said with an apologetic tone. "I mean to say she is intelligent and-"

"What do her pants have to do with her genius?" asked the instructor, tilting his head. "Certainly, the gods are aware that wisdom comes from the brain and not the buttocks."

Apollo chuckled briefly. "We are," he said with a firm nod. "Pardon me," he said, shifting the weight on his feet, "but I was not aware you canonized as a Hero of the Faith. So if you died before we overthrew the Titans, how was your soul in the Chalice of Heroes?"

"I was," he said with a nod, "just before the exodus. In the course of Hades' audit, he found me and offered me a chance to return to life to reinforce the Faith in this new world. I accepted the offer gladly, as it would give me a chance to see my greatest pupil again."

"And now you have these pupils..." said Artemis with a jesting glare at the quarreling students running about the plaza behind their instructor's back. Then, when her eyes caught the Argosi student's attention, Artemis snapped her eyes back to her brother and the instructor. She let that thought simmer for a spell with a smirk before she went on: "You left your luxurious life in the Underworld for this?"

"Instruction can be a daunting chore, however..." he said, pausing for a moment as he surveyed his surroundings. "It has its own kind of reward. They might not look like it now, but one of these children will do great works... and I may have played a part in that."

Apollo looked at the Argosi child. The boy took a more alarming interest in Artemis, shooting her looks from across the plaza with each passing moment. "What about him?" Apollo asked, motioning his head toward the Argosian. "Will he accomplish much?"

The instructor looked over his shoulder. He chuckled, suspecting the god of joking, but his smile faded abruptly as he turned back to see Apollo. "You're being serious?"

Artemis rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Brother..."

"It was a simple enough inquiry," Apollo said with a shrug, glancing at his sister. "What harm is there in-?"

Artemis silenced him with the sharpness of her glare.

Biting his tongue, Apollo smiled in silence and nodded. His eyes were apologetic, but he would not admit fault now, not in front of the heroic teacher and his students.

Rolling her eyes until her gaze settled on the teacher, Artemis placed a hand on Pallas' shoulder. "Unfortunately, my brother is serious. Could you answer his question?"

Pallas paused for a moment as he reminded himself of the question. He glanced at the student in question, then looked to both god and goddess as he adjusted his clothing's fit. "Uh, yes... Uh, Belen is a good boy. He means well. He's strong and fit, but... I do not mean to be rude, but-"

"He's dumb?" asked Apollo with a smirk.

"Very much so," Pallas said, nodding. "He will make a great laborer someday, but as for fulfilling any deed of nobler pursuits? I would not wager money on that outcome. No."

Artemis let out a sigh. "Give him time."

"Oh?" asked Pallas, raising an eyebrow at the goddess. "Do you see something in him that I do not?"

Apollo folded his arms as he shot a glare at Artemis. "Sister..."

Artemis seemed to ignore her twin, even turning herself to put the back of her shoulder toward him. "He, like you, is a hero reborn."

Contemplating the implications, the instructor sucked on his lower lip for a long moment. Then, when his lips parted, he let a heavy breath break his silence before he again filled the air with words. "Are you certain? Belen is a hero?" he asked. "I mean, he is of the age where the heroic calling begins to manifest. I have noticed some-" he motioned to his chin, "uh, developments..."

Artemis preened at her brother. "I am not the only one who notices the distinctive chin," she said, nudging her twin for added emphasis. Apollo only scoffed and looked away in reply, but that only made Artemis' smile all the more glowing.

"If I may inquire-" started Pallas, pausing to choose his following words carefully. Then, he removed his glasses and wiped them down as he contemplated. "Do we know which hero he is? Or rather, will be?" he finally asked, sliding the glasses back up his nose. "That is, once the calling has fully manifested?"

Apollo looked back at Artemis, and she to him. Their shared silence was heavy. Then, when the moment was over, Apollo made the confession. "Orion."

"Orion..." the instructor nodded, then paused. He let out a quiet gasp with eyes wide and a hand to his mouth. "Oh, I see," Pallas said as his hand slid down his face, dragging his cheeks and chin before it fell back to his side. "You know," he paused and looked at the god and goddess, measuring his thoughts before transitioning them to word or action. "In the Underworld, I had heard inconsistent reports about what happened with the acclaimed hunter."

Apollo glared at the boy across the plaza. "You wish to know the truth of it?"

Pallas nodded as Artemis clenched her jaw. The goddess was preparing for her forced silence during her brother's imminent tale. After shifting her weight, she gave her brother a permissive nod, allowing him to proceed, though that was hardly her preference.

"It's-" Apollo paused. Then, reading the unspoken plea in his sister's eyes, Apollo reconsidered. "It's complicated," he said, leaving it at that.

"Well," said Pallas with a nod. There was no doubt that he sensed the intensity in the air and acted accordingly. "I am but a humble servant to the gods. Tell me how I might serve you in this endeavor."

"Endeavor?" asked Artemis as she tucked some stray white hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. "What endeavor would that be?"

Pallas chuckled as he nodded his head absently. "Forgive my presumption, but it is no coincidence you are here. You have need to speak to Belen, I presume?"

Apollo eyed Artemis, but she was only looking off toward the boy at the center of their conversation. When his sister did not give him any input, the god turned to Pallas. "Yes, it seems we do have need to speak with him."

Pallas let out a long sigh and nodded. "I wondered why there were so few tales of Orion as of late. I half-suspected he was not in the cycle of rebirth, but now I think I understand," he said with a dry chuckle. "It's a shame... but the gods have their reasons, I gather?"

Apollo did not answer, still looking at his sister with no small measure of concern.

"Well, I'll give you the plaza and send Belen over," said Pallas with a nod. "I hope that gesture pleases the gods."

Breaking from his silence, Apollo turned and nodded. "Thank you, Master Pallas."

Artemis remained silent.

As Pallas walked away, he clapped his hands and motioned to the nearby corridor on the north wall of the colonnade that would lead to a different plaza and shrine. "Class, let's move on, shall we? We still have our gods to study," he said as he guided them out while placing a hand on Belen's shoulder and whispering in the boy's ear.

Belen looked at Pallas and was directed toward the twins at the other end of the plaza. Then Pallas gave the boy a hug, clasped his shoulders, and began to give him some instruction or inspiration.

As the mentor and pupil shared their moment, Artemis just stared, and Apollo idly strolled until he ended up at the altar at the feet of his own likeness. He looked at the offerings and candles, wondering which were from the students most recently occupying the shrine. There were coins - mostly obols and a few drachmae - in the collection bowl, some entrails remaining from the last sacrifice, and a scattered mess of folded papers bearing written prayers.

Also among the mess on the altar was a sacrificial dagger with a small chain linking its grip to the altar to discourage thieves. Theft at a temple, Apollo balked at the notion but did not put it past mortals. Many heretics were among their ranks these days, and sacrilege ran rampant when heresies were about.

Artemis slowly drifted over to her brother. She looked at him and then to the subject of his focus. "Damn Eros for doing this."

Apollo lowered his head and placed a hand on his sister's far shoulder, draping his arm around her, and pulling her in close for a sideways embrace. "I'm sorry for my part in this, too."

Letting a sigh go, the sister shook her head. "You had no part in this, dear brother."

"I ridiculed our nephew," he confessed in a quiet, reverent tone. "He took it too far in retaliation. There is no doubt about that, but I did not have to mock him so... First Daphne and now..." Apollo paused and let out a long sigh.

"You are my pillar of support. You give me the strength to do this."

The brother shook his head with a heavy sigh and a gentle bite on his lower lip. "Perhaps, but I did not have to bring you here for this. I could have handled this myself, I-"

"I want to be here," Artemis said defiantly. "I owe him that much. Besides, though, you blame yourself, I shoulder some blame as well. If I had not provoked Aphrodite as I did she would not have allowed her son to act against us as he did."

"Water under the bridge," Apollo said. "We have erred and been wronged in return. Eros has his own eternal struggles. As do all the immortals of Olympus... But we have something that the rest do not," he said as he kissed his sister's head above the ear.

Artemis bit her lip and nodded. "Each other."

"Each other," he agreed as he closed his eyes.

"I was told you wish to speak with me?" asked the boy, somehow sneaking up behind the god and goddess, managing to startle the deities in their tender moment.

The divine twins turned around. As Artemis let out a heavy breath and stepped forward, Apollo leaned back against the altar, resting his hands among the offerings.

"Yes," said Artemis as she reached out and took the boy's hand. "You know who I am," she stated with certainty rather than inquiry.

"I think..." the boy glanced at the statue looming behind the goddess. He then glanced at the god against the altar for confirmation. "You are Artemis. And he is your brother..."

Artemis nodded. "You remember?"

"Remember?" asked Belen, raising an eyebrow. "Why would I-?"

"Have you never spoken to the Oracle?" asked Artemis.

Belen shook his head. "No, I-" he paused and nervously played with his collar. "I'm sorry, but I have not... My family are not the most devout and-"

Apollo raised an eyebrow at this admission. Before his first death, Orion had allied with the vengeful Titaness known as Eos, becoming her faithful servant in her vendetta against the gods for the imprisonment of her kin. Orion became Artemis' hunting companion and seduced her to gain access to the gods.

Silencing himself, Belen let out a sigh and looked at Apollo. "I'm sorry, Divine Bard," he said, being apparently devout enough not to address a god by their name in their presence. "I had planned to seek out the Oracle upon turning of age, but I just... I haven't got around to it."

As the God of Prophecy, Apollo was the patron of the Oracles. The Rites of the Faith asked that all children thirteen years of age make the trek to an Oracle to have their aura read, gain guidance, or learn if they had been called a hero. Failure to do so was not an oversight. It was blasphemy. This was an indication that Orion's soul was awakening, and meek Belen was already changing into the heretic hunter he was destined to become.

The confirmation came as no surprise to Apollo. He could see the presence of Orion's soul affecting Artemis.

Long ago, as payback for Apollo humiliating Eros during an archery contest, Eros plotted to snipe Apollo with one of his golden arrows. But Apollo was not the only target. After being shot while visiting his sister at her camp, Apollo was smitten with Daphne, a beautiful nymph and one of Artemis' silver wardens. While the two were in the throes of passion, a young and immature Eros then shot Daphne with a cursed arrow - causing her to despise Apollo.

A confused and naked Apollo was then chased through the camp by the huntress as she shot him with arrows from his own bow. Eros was not aware of the violence he had caused as he had already slipped away to give Artemis a measure of vengeance for her insulting his mother. Artemis had just returned from hunting with Orion when Eros struck her with another golden arrow, causing her friendship with Orion to take a sudden and unexpected turn.

Eventually, a very arrow-littered Apollo would burst into Artemis' sanctuary, demanding his sister call off Daphne. Only, much to Apollo's shock, he found Artemis straddling Orion. Before that instance, Apollo had only even known Artemis to seek comfort with women. As Artemis and Orion both tried to explain themselves to the wounded god, an angry Daphne ran in and thrust an arrow into Apollo's neck, splashing his ichor across the lovers.

As Apollo went down, Daphne jumped on top of him and began to repeatedly stab him. When Orion grabbed the huntress and wrestled the arrow from her, she shoved him away and snatched a dagger from the hunter's effects sitting atop his pile of discarded clothing. The adamantine steel glint caught Artemis's eye, and she wasted no time doing what she must do to save her brother's life. The goddess of the hunt put an arrow in the eye of her own huntress and friend.

While Apollo's injuries were tended to by the silver wardens, Artemis confronted Orion about why he owned a weapon made for felling gods. Unfortunately, the hunter's flimsy excuse only passed scrutiny as Artemis was too smitten with him to doubt him. But Apollo also saw the blade that could have killed him, and he had plenty of reason to doubt Orion.

Though Apollo was incorrect in assuming Orion had been responsible for the twins being hit with Eros' arrows, his suspicions of Orion did pay off later when he caught Orion amid sabotage at the behest of Eos. Though he brought this evidence to Artemis, she was hesitant to believe it. Ultimately, she would be the one to loose the arrow that ended Orion's first life, though it had nearly killed her.

With reincarnation in effect, heroes and monsters return from death as a way to bolster the Faith in this new world. Despite his offenses against the gods, Orion was still a hero, and he could return from death. But unfortunately for Orion, the God of Prophecy had every reason in Elysium to prevent Orion from getting the second chance he eagerly hoped for.

"You openly defy the articles of the Faith," Apollo said, leaning against the altar. "Bold admission, boy," he said, kicking off the altar and tucking his hands behind his back. "Sister, you know that requires punishment."

Artemis glanced briefly at her brother before letting her eyes fall back to the boy. Her fingers stroked his knuckles gently as her face shifted between discomfort and infatuation. "I think mercy is in order," she said with a tone that sounded like she was trying to convince herself. "Maybe things will be different, brother. Maybe he's learned his lesson and wishes to make-"

"Artemis," Apollo warned, shaking his head. "We have to do it. Listen to yourself... If we allow him to live, we give him tremendous power over you," Apollo said sternly. "You don't want that."

"I do, though," said Artemis, standing between the boy and the god, stepping in front of the seemingly confused Belen. "I want things to be different with him. I think things can be different with him. He's-" she paused and sighed. "He's just a boy, brother. We can teach him and... He can change."

Apollo closed his eyes. "I shouldn't have brought you. I thought... I thought the spell would be weak enough now that-" he paused and sighed. "I thought this might finally put an end to it, but..." he did not finish that sentence as his hands drifted from behind his back and appeared at his sides. Clenched in one hand was the sacrificial blade he had borrowed from the altar. The god's strength snapped the chain with a sharp tug and allowed him to step forward, brandishing the dagger with deft skill and murderous intent flaring in his golden eyes.

"Brother," Artemis said, taking a step forward and placing her hands on Apollo's shoulders. "Please, don't-"

"I'm sorry," Apollo said as he used his forearm to sweep her arms away. Then, sidestepping his sister, he turned toward Belen and found the boy standing his ground and glaring at the god. "We meet again, Orion."

The boy scoffed and chuckled. "I thought I might get away with it this time," he said with a sigh as he slid his hands into his school uniform's trouser pockets. "I almost made it a year after my awakening."

Apollo nodded. "Clerical error in the Underworld," he admitted. "You were sent to the surface almost three decades too soon," the god explained. "Thankfully, my uncle does his job well and eventually noticed the oversight. Once I heard, I had Pythia give me your location."

Nodding, the boy looked over to Artemis and flashed a wicked grin. "Well, maybe in my next life, eh?"

Artemis reached out and placed a hand on her brother's arm. "Please, brother... Maybe we try something different this time?"

Apollo felt his arm relax at his sister's touch. Then, he closed his eyes and thought of a way to end the effect of the golden arrow. Having been under the influence himself, the god knew just the remedy.

With a sharp gasp, Artemis turned away as Belen's body dropped to the plaza floor. Blood pooled around the boy's head as it drained from his neck, the life fading from his eyes. The body rattled and gasped as its murderer stood over it, its own blood dripping from the blade's edge.

With the breath of life and the soul becoming disjointed, Artemis found her thoughts clearing. Sobriety stung her as she swallowed and parted her lips. "Thank you, brother," she said, wiping tears from her face. "I... I thought I would be strong enough this time, but-"

Apollo nodded as he flung the sacrificial blade away.

A temple priestess was entering the plaza at that moment, strolling idly at the edges of a colonnade. The blade's clatter startled her from her pensive stroll. Lifting her gaze to the plaza in search of the racket, she saw two persons standing over the corpse of a young male. As she was poised to scream, her piety cleared her vision and allowed her to look beyond the trappings. She was looking at no blood-spattered bard nor tear-streaked huntress but was divinity incarnate.

Quickly approaching, the priestess stepped over the lifeless schoolboy and knelt before the gods, her robes smearing the blood pool. "How might I serve you?" she inquired.

Artemis took one last look at Belen's remains and marched off, leaving Apollo alone with the priestess and the corpse. As the god watched his sister stroll off, he let out a long sigh and shook his head. "There is nothing left to be done," he said, gently placing his hand on the crown of the priestess' head. "We are done here," he said as he withdrew his hand and followed his sister's path, snatching up his travel gear from the colonnade's half-wall as he did so.

Confused, the priestess stood up to retrieve the discarded dagger. As she threw her eyes between the bloodied blade in her hand and the corpse it had made, several other temple clerics came shuffling into the plaza from another corridor.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked one of the senior clerics, boldly walking up to the priestess. "Who dares defile our sacred shrine in such a manner as this?"

"No concern at all, hierophant. It's a sacrifice," the priestess said, nodding slowly, as she held out the bloodied sacrificial dagger as evidence. "Performed by the gods themselves."

"The gods?" asked the cleric. "Which gods have done this?"

"Who else?" the priestess asked before raising her eyes to the twin sculptures in the plaza's center. In the distance, the faint pulse of an ascension chain's anchor could be heard activating. Moments later, the massive chain descending from the sky rattled as a thrum shook the temple's foundations.

## Characters

### Gods

* Apollo
* Artemis

### Heroes

* Pallas
* Orion