Chapter Text
When Artemis awoke she found herself in a bed she hadn't fallen asleep in, within a room she didn't recognize. But what startled her most was how different she felt. She felt weak, vulnerable, exposed and couldn't quite discern why. Before she could properly react to any of this though, a voice rang throughout the room, probably from a loudspeaker somewhere.
“Esteemed guests, we are aware this situation is unusual and maybe even scary for you, but please remain calm and let me explain. You have all been brought here by me, a very powerful entity whose name shall remain a secret. Do not worry, you are outside of time and shall be put back at the exact time and place you were previously when this is over. Now, I need to explain some things. First, there are no real rules here, do what you want. All oaths, duties, responsibilities, prophesies, curses and all that stuff are null and void while here. However, some things are different to how they usually work. All damage done to the environment will slowly undo itself. Similarly, you cannot die here. If you are killed you will regenerate in your bed a few hours later. However, due to how this process works, your clothes and anything you had on you will not be on your person anymore, instead being placed in your closet. Due to this unfortunate detail we made it impossible to enter someone else's room without their explicit permission. All magical items will also be in said closet as if you had simply taken them off. Oh, and two more things: some dead people will be here too and immortals are now mortal with simply the powers of a demigod. All godly weapons and symbols of power have similarly been depowered to prevent immediate disassembly of the whole building. Now, I apologize for the lengthy speech here, I just want to say, welcome everyone, please enjoy your stay and I will not be joining you.”
And with that there was silence again.
Well.
That certainly explained the strange feeling: she was mortal. Artemis shivered at the thought. At least she was in a body she was fairly comfortable with, albeit a bit older looking than she normally preferred, unlike what her brother Apollo had had to go through last summer. Gods, Apollo. He was probably here too, reliving that horrible experience. Artemis stood up, wanting to search for her twin immediately to comfort each other. Despite how they usually treated each other, they still loved each other dearly. But halfway to the door she froze because she noticed that she wasn't wearing any clothes. Right. That particular issue. She was very glad to have noticed before she had opened the door. Looking around she took in the room. It looked rather nice actually, though Artemis personally preferred tents. There were two side doors and one larger door that was clearly the exit. Looking at the smaller doors(and peeking through a gap first in case she was wrong about which door was the exit) it turned out that one of them led to a rather luxurious bathroom while the other led to a walk-in closet. It had many clothes of all varieties, all looking like they fit her current form perfectly. There also was a large box on the side that must have been enchanted because it could conjure up anything she wished for as long as it fit within the box. Deciding on the usual huntress attire and the concealed enchanted bow and hunting knives her hunters used she went back out, this time walking straight out the front door. She emerged to a hotel corridor with 14 doors, their nameplates revealing them as the rooms of all 12 olympians plus Hades and Hestia. One end of the corridor ended in a relaxed common room with more doors (though none of them appeared to lead to personal rooms) while the other end led to what could only be described as a miniature version of the olympian throne room. Apparently she had been the first person out of their room except Zeus, who had apparently decided to forego clothes altogether.
“Father” Artemis sighed, rolling her eyes and looking away
“Artemis” Zeus greeted sounding a bit annoyed, though that was probably more the situation than anything else.
“With all due respect, would you please put on some clothes?” Artemis ground out, not at all comfortable with seeing the private parts of anyone, but especially her male relatives.
Zeus rolled his eyes, but surprisingly complied, vanishing back inside his room.
Half an hour later the last person finally came out (*cough* Aphrodite *cough*) and the former gods all took in what had occurred. They were all roughly in the form they preferred, though slightly altered to all appear around twenty or thirty years in age. None of them really knew what to say or do and just awkwardly stood around each other. Finally Apollo, having adjusted the fastest to being mortal again, spoke up
“So… what now? Council meeting? Exploring this place? I don't know about you, but I definitely want to know who else is here. The announcement sounded like it was only partially addressed at immortals and it also mentioned some dead people?” At that last point Hades grimaced a little, but nobody knew what to say to that. Apparently not even Zeus was in the mood for a meeting, so they all split up to explore this strange place.
Artemis had gone with Apollo and they were now walking down a spiral staircase they had found when Artemis spoke up
“How did you do it? How did you even manage?”
“Do what?” Apollo asked with the hint of a smile on his lips. He probably knew what she meant but wanted to tease her. Fine. Just because he's the only one who could help her.
“How did you get by as a mortal? How did you not go crazy?” Artemis asked him. She didn't want to insult mortals, especially since she was closer to them than almost any other olympian through her hunt. But being in that situation herself, feeling so powerless, she was truly wondering how someone could live like that. Apollo laughed.
“I really didn't at first. I thought it to be torture. But after all that time on earth, making friends, getting used to things, seeing both the fragility of mortal life and the dedication moral beings pursue their dreams with… I've come to appreciate it.” Artemis pondered this for a while. He didn't understand it, but she saw Apollo's point. And she had seen how his time on earth had changed him. He had become a much better person. Something Artemis herself and most of the other olympians should aspire to copy. Well, except Hestia maybe. She had always been nice to everyone. There was this little voice at the back of her head though, whispering to her that Hestia had only been dethroned and forgotten for it, but she pushed that thought aside. Aunt Hestia was the best person she knew and everyone should be more like her, not forget about her! She was pulled out of her thought when she bumped into Apollo who had suddenly stopped.
“What is it?” Artemis asked irritatedly. Then she froze when she saw the reason her brother had stopped.
In Front of them stood, completely perplexed, somebody she had hoped to never see again after what had happened the last time. Before them stood the general of the titan armies, Atlas.