"You love him more than you love yourself. We all know you were married to Hephaestus! No matter what you do, you'd always be known as the concubine of Aries!"
He got up abruptly and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. She fell back on the bed as she wailed silently.
He leaned his head against the wall and tried to suppress the anger rising inside of him. He shut his eyes tight to fight back a tear. He wondered why his mother was so selfish.
He'd adored her, he'd loved her more than anything in the world. But she didn't love him as a son. It was always Aries! He flicked his eyes open.
"Time to pay Zeus a visit. "
He strolled towards Zeus's room. For some reason, he hadn't seen Athena and Apollo. Well, their rooms were at the other side of the house. When he'd gotten to Zeus's room, he knocked.
"Come in" Hera said.
He walked in and Zeus sat up, judging by the robes they both wore, and the sweat beads on their forehead, he was sure he'd interrupted something.
"You come to greet me at your own comfortable time. I know you know I saw you the moment you'd landed on Mount Olympia, but, you only decided to greet me when you felt like." Zeus said. As he eyed him with scorn.
"That's what happens when you're the offspring of Aries. Apollo would have never behaved that way." Hera scoffed.
His brows furrowed and the anger he'd tried to calm sprang back up to life.
"I'm sorry Zeus, Hera, please forgive my manners. I was too eager to see my mother, greeting you both must have skipped my mind." He said, bowing courteously.
"Really?!" Hera asked.
"I can see you both are busy with the way of life. If you're not getting the right amount of pleasure, I'm always here at your service. So, if you'd excuse me." He said walking out.
Being an offspring of Aries was a stain to his name. Even his grandfather disliked him. They'd always compared him to Apollo. Even Hera! Forgetting she'd tried to kill that same Apollo when he was an infant.
He walked away from the room and headed towards Artemis room. She was the one he'd wanted to see at the moment, the only face that could relieve his stress. No one knew how much he'd loved her, how he'd secretly admired her.
First, it started up as being fond of her, eventually, it turned into love. But she'd never noticed him. She'd never noticed any other man except her twin, Apollo. He'd wondered why she'd wished to stay a virgin. And he wondered why Zeus granted her, her wish. Even his love arrows couldn't work on her.
Interestingly, he spotted Apollo coming out of his room, he wondered why people thought he was perfect. He couldn't even find love. It always ended tragically for him. This was the perfect time and way to unleash his anger.
Apollo was always everywhere. In Artemis's life, in Zeus's heart, and Hera's too. He was the doting son, and he was only seen as the prodigal son.
He magically summoned his bow, and brought out a golden arrow.
From where he was, Apollo couldn't see him. He smirked, he wondered who would be so unlucky to come out at this time, he aimed and fired. As the arrow struck Apollo from the back, he heard him gasp, then the door to the nearby room swung open and Hayley came out.
Apollo turned towards Hayley and stared at her, wide-eyed, then the effects of the arrow washed over him, he groaned, clutching his chest tight as he fell to the ground.
Hayley's P. O. V
I'd just finished organising my stuff in Artemis's room. She sprawled on the bed, as she watched me organise my things. When I was done, I asked her where I could get water. She told me. It was night already and I needed to call Zara. Lucky for me, I knew her number by heart. I walked out of the room.
I screamed as Apollo's body hit the ground, he'd stared at me wide-eyed, like he'd seen a ghost before falling to the ground. At first I'd wondered if he was dead, I moved closer to him, crouched down beside him to examine him. He was breathing, thank God!
Everyone rushed out of their rooms and Eros came out too. Artemis gasped as she saw him. She knelt beside him, and after she was sure he wasn't dead, she spoke,
" What happened to him? Who did this to him?"
"Oh, don't fret. He's just lovestruck" Eros said.
"Why do you keep doing this to him? You Lunatic!" Artemis yelled. Clutching Apollo's body tight.
Why would Eros shoot him with an arrow? What was wrong with all the gods around here.
"Don't you think Apollo is cursed? How many times do I have to shoot him before he gets laid? I know I must have shot him quite a lot of times on purpose, but this, I just wanted him to be loved! If he's the god of perfection like he claims to be, why can't he be loved? Why do I have to keep doing this to him?" He said with sarcasm in his voice.
"Don't you get it? Love isn't forced. You're just punishing him. Besides, who asked you to keep doing this to him? He was perfectly fine on his own!" Artemis said, angrily.
"You just want him to die of loneliness just like you. The fact that you decided to stay untouched doesn't mean he has to do the same. You know, most people would pay to get shot."
"Then, how do we cure this curse?" I asked.
"True Love's kiss."
"Really?"
"Of course not! This isn't those dumb fairytale movies you see on TV. This is reality. It can't be cured. I shot him with a golden arrow" he replied.
"Golden? What does that mean?"
"It means eternal love. It's one of the most powerful kind of love, can never be broken, unless you decide to get laid by him. That was the purpose of the arrow anyways. Do this and you'd be free from Poseidon. And if I must say, Apollo is definitely a better option for you, he's much younger, and hotter. Don't go for a rigid pile of iron." He said.
Suddenly, Apollo gasped and his eyes flicked open. "My love" he said with a smile as he gazed towards me.