Redeemed (Sequel)

Chapter 8

Raven P.O.V.

Lyssa and I spent a lot of time together. She told me about my life before becoming a chimera. She helped me piece together my past, and for that I was grateful...and the sex wasn't too bad either. Artemis had pretty much avoided me, but that was fine by me. I didn't need her. I was hardly at the cottage anymore anyway. I was home this particular day because Lyssa was working. Artemis and Storm were busy fixing dinner when the phone rang. I picked up and tried to sound pleasant "Hello?" There was a pause. "Who is this?" a deep voice asked. "It's Raven, who is this?" I retorted. "It's Apollo. I've been trying to call all week, but no one has answered. I need to talk to my sister immediately," he said. "It's urgent." I looked over my shoulder in the direction of the kitchen, an uneasy knot forming in my stomach. "Uhh, yeah. Sure, just gimme a sec," I said before setting the receiver down and heading toward the kitchen.

"Artemis?" I called softly. She was standing at the stove, making I-don't-know-what, but it smelled heavenly. Lyssa couldn't really cook, but I didn't mind that much. Artemis wouldn't even acknowledge me, but so what? "Artemis!" I repeated, a bit louder. She rolled her eyes, a smartass remark on the tip of her tongue, but she froze when her eyes met mine. "What's wrong Birdy?" she asked, handing cooking duty off to Storm as she came to stand in front of me. I cleared my throat, tearing my eyes away from hers and staring at the ground. "N-nothing's wrong, exactly. Your brother is on the phone and he says it's urgent," I replied, pointing to the other room. She ran to answer the phone and I followed behind her warily. "Hi Bubba," she chirped into the receiver. "Yeah, I know we haven't gotten to talk since the military ball. What's up?" Her brow scrunched up as she listened to him talk. "What?" she laughed incredulously. "You're joking." I leaned over her shoulder. "What? What is it?" I asked, trying to listen. She turned away from me and stuck her hand in my face. I couldn't stop myself from glaring. This was getting ridiculous. She couldn't just keep ignoring me. She was silent for a long time, nodding as Apollo spoke. "No, that's okay. I want to meet him. Tonight sounds great. See you then. Love ya, Bubba." She hung up the phone and turned to face me. A million questions ran through my head. Who was he, and why was Artemis going to meet him tonight? More importantly, why did I care? I was ready to tell her just how childish she was being and how it needed to stop, but I couldn't say a thing. Her eyes were brimming with tears. "Artemis?" I whispered. Not knowing what to do, I held my arms out for her. She sunk to her knees and curled up on the floor, crying softly.

I stared at her for a long moment before (literally) flying into the kitchen. "Storm, help!" I hissed. He was stirring food in a pot and turned to face me. "What?" he sighed, putting a hand on his hip. "It's Artemis!" I whispered urgently. "I think she's broken." He raised an eyebrow at me. "Broken? What are you talking about?" he asked, leaning against the counter. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed exasperatedly. "Sh-she, she just curled up on the floor and started crying. I-I don't know what to do!!" I screamed. He turned the stove off and sighed, rubbing his temples. "Okay." I blinked in surprise. Okay? That's all he had to say? "Oh dear Gate, I broke her!" I cried. He rolled his eyes at me. "No you didn't, you idiot. Come on," he sighed before running out of the kitchen. I followed behind slowly, carefully. To be honest, I was a little scared. Storm was sitting on the floor, and Artemis was cradled in his arms. He rocked her back and forth, whispering, "It's okay," repeatedly. "What's the matter?" I whispered softly, crouching down in front of her. Her eyes cleared of tears and she stared up at us, looking lost and confused. "I-I have a son...and I'm meeting him tonight," she whispered.

Storm P.O.V.

Artemis...had a son? "How?" I didn't realize that I had voiced my thought until she turned to face me. "I don't remember exactly. I know that before Grief died, he found a way to become human. And I guess a little while after that, we-- um, we conceived our child. I didn't know he was human at that time. I didn't find out until...until the night he died. When we were attacked by the homunculi, they killed him and left me for dead. It took a year for me to recover, and during that year I was in and out of a coma. By some miracle, the baby survived, and I gave birth to him during my recovery. I was still in really bad shape, and my parents had both me and my baby sister to care for, so Apollo took care of the baby. He said, since he's home now, I should get to meet my baby boy," she explained, looking torn between joy and sadness. "That's good, right?" I said, smiling at her. She buried her head in her hands. "I don't know, I don't know! I don't even remember having him. I was in a coma for crying out loud! I didn't even know I was pregnant with him. Ugh, I feel like such an awful person," she sobbed. "How old is this kid?" Raven asked, looking guarded. He was going to get attached to the baby, I already knew it. "Well, let's see..." she trailed off as she began to count back time on her fingers. "He was born in October, I think that's what Apollo said, and that was while I was recovering. So, he's about a year old now."