Artemis’ Plan for Vengeance Against Her Idiotic and Daring Twin Brother

Wiping that grin off her stupid twin would be a pleasure.

The feeling would be sweet, Artemis thought. More sweeter than any experience or morsel she ever had. Something she would enjoy slowly doing. With full intent.

'Ah….but I have to go through that.'

The pain of reforming her body would be excruciating. Or so she has been told. In reality, in all the years she has been an immortal, she has never experienced the excruciating pain that was described by other Gods. One described it as if all of their bones were broken in place while their muscles burned in excruciating heat. Another described it as if both their soul and physical body were constantly ripped and melded together.

She shivered.

Those disgusting depictions never failed to make her shiver, very slightly but still noticeable to someone perceptive.

And now some random immortal - no it had to be a god with a significant bloodline to be able to even match her like this - would take her first time. It irked her to her very core. She had thought that her first reform would be by the hands of some realm-threatening force or something similar.

But this was not the time to think about such things.

Battles are never lost until the very end. Not until either of them dies.

Or whenever Apollo's plan finally pays off.

Judging by that irksome smug grin slowly forming across his face, Ichor dripping off the side of the grin, his plans were at the very least close to completion. Her trust never wavered for his brother's battle plans, no matter how bothersome and annoying she would find his normal antics would be. The reason being that his plans never failed. It would work itself out in the end, no matter how audacious or dangerous. He never truly explained what his methods were, always dodging the question with nervous attempts of humor. It seemed suspicious, curiosity chewing her from the inside. But her trust did not waver.

Another very small, and insignificant reason that contributed nothing to her trust in his plans was that Artemis would never be in any form of danger.

Nevertheless, she was now in the position of being the one in danger.

And all of this was definitely part of his plan.

She silently clicked her tongue.

The dagger was now a hair breadth away from slashing her unprotected neck clean off her shoulders.

She finally had the chance to study his eyes up close. A deep coloured amethyst-like purple color stared back at her. It was unique, something different, something she has never seen before.

At this distance it was possible.

It was possible that she could examine his eyes further.

There was something in those gem-like eyes, an emotion. An emotion she was not familiar with. The emotion was held with a vast amount of intensity, surprising her. Such intensity of emotion does not belong in the eyes of a trained fighter. But the intensity hypnotized her, making her fall deeper into his eyes - making her concentration flicker longer.

The dagger was supposed to hit its target, with enough momentum and power behind the swing to easily cut her neck. Her gaze never left his eyes, still very much engrossed by them.

But the strike never came.

Her gaze never came undone as expected.

Instead a small mana shield blocked the strike. The strike was close enough that the shield even touched her neck. It felt cold, like metal touching her neck.

The unknown god's eyes showed surprise for a glimmer of a moment and turned his attention towards the direction where Artemis saw Hecate going last. The intense emotion that was there mere moments ago, was now replaced with a mix of surprise, annoyance and familiarity.

Presumably at her lifesaver.

The one who casted the small and yet powerful shield across her neck.

Artemis followed the direction of his gaze, wanting to confirm Hecate did truly save her. Curious as to the reason as to why she did too.

Standing in front of the half-opened doorway to the room that she saw Hecate last. Hecate, her neat hair now somewhat messy while both of her hands crossed over her chest, directly looking at the unknown god.

Her face, now completed with her famous monocle over her right eye, wore an indignant expression with an intensity that could melt a minor god into a puddle. Her gaze was not static however, it moved towards both the twins' state, then moved back to the unknown god.

The scene must have looked somewhat interesting to warrant such a reaction. Apollo was on the ground, clutching his right side of his abdomen with clear signs of his ichor flowing onto his left hand. He supported his body weight with his right hand, which miraculously still seemed to be functional with a gaping hole on his palm. It was starting to heal but for reasons unknown to Artemis, it was healing at an incredibly slow pace. Nevertheless his smug grin transformed into more of a playful smirk, facing it directly to Hecate.

Artemis and the unknown god were placed in an incredibly tight and yet awkward pause. His blade, now lacking the momentum and power it once had moments ago, was still near her neck and was still only separated by the mana shield. The unknown god's lunge had now lost all of its vigor and now it rather seemed to be like he was standing in front of her instead.

Standing very closely to her face, she duly noted.

As Hecate's gaze landed back on the unknown god, she walked closer to the scene. With each step, her intense gaze softened - little by little but softened nonetheless.

"Void," Hecate began as her gaze now locked to the unknown god - named Void. An unusual name. His very slight shiver did not go unnoticed by Artemis.

"These guests are customers. Not enemies." Her tone was surprisingly soft and honest, as if talking to a wary stray animal. It was unusual to see compared to how she and her brother were treated.

Void sighed in response, removing his daggers from Artemis' neck.

'Finally.'

She glared for a moment towards the god for the final time.

Either she was ignored or he could care less, Void ruffling his black hair as he pulled back and relaxed his posture even further. His focus now was on the approaching witch goddess.

"I told you to never use that name ever again. It's Vox." He said in an exaggerated exasperation, a small smile tugged on the edge of his lips.

Without the heat of the battle, Artemis could finally get a proper look of their assailant. Vox looked as if he was shorter than both of the twins in battle but once he straightened his posture he seemed to be as tall as Apollo, maybe even taller. In his confident posture, she also realised the outfit he was wearing - a black suit that was decorated with purple accessories. He was definitely someone close to a significant bloodline.

"My, is that how you greet your dear friend?" Hecate replied back with an exaggerated hurt expression on her face, wiping a fake tear on her cheeks.

That confused Artemis.

As far as Artemis knew, Hecate was a goddess known to be cold and professional. No matter who the guest was, no other emotions were shown to them. A fitting pair of emotions for an important business woman like her. No one was close to her.

"Yeah, yeah."

The pair was now close to each other.

"Care to explain who these guests are?"

His voice had a hint of humor that did not reach his eyes, suspicion still very much evident in them. Artemis felt as the mana shield dissipates, the tension of battle in her muscles relieved. She let out a relieved breath that she unwarily held. The air had inexplicably smelt like sweat and ichor, a mixture of salty and iron. But for some reason, Artemis did not smell any of that anymore. Instead it has been replaced by the nice gentle scent of something she adored.

The smell of nature.

The smell of the forest.

It made her lips slant upwards unconsciously. She was not going to question the source, part of the reason would be that she was in the residence of the witch goddess but also partly she did not want this calming scent to dissipate.

She then looked down onto her brother who was now giving her a weird look towards her. She extended her hand, extending a helping hand to her very much injured twin.

"That smile does not fit you."

He accepted her hand with very much hesitation written on his face. Artemis did not miss his annoyance, she would not miss it for the whole world. Seeing her annoying twin grumbled over such a menial thing was kind of surprising.

Being this close to him now, she could finally see the extent of Apollo's injury. She grimaced. Compared to her exhaustion, he was in a much worse position. Artemis had to do something about it. Although her healing powers are much less potent compared to her brother, she did also have healing powers.

Her hands glowed silver like the shining light from a full moon on a clear night sky as she touched the injured abdomen.