The S.S. Olympus -under refurbishment

Chapter III: Kore-updated

"Spring is about to spring. Persephone is coming back and the ice is groaning, about to break with exquisite and deafening roar. It's a time for madness; a time for our fangs to come down and our eyes to glaze over so that the beast in us can sing with unmitigated joy. Oh yes, ecstasy, I welcome thee!"--Christopher Stevens

Hades groaned and pointed to the unconscious boy. "Apollo, can you deal with that?"

"Pleasant, as always." Apollo rolled his eyes and cautiously picked up the child. He cradled the boy against his chest. The child's small blonde head rested on his shoulder.

Hades then stooped down to pick up Cornelia. Artemis noted, that as per usual with the end of the battle his glowing features had lost their intensity, making him seem more like the indigenous people of this planet. Only small strands of blue light trickled into the deep black of his silky hair. Which was just long enough to shade the sapphire blue of his eyes. Simple echoes of the iridescent blue light that emanated from him during times of intense emotion. She did note that the bioluminescent light that remained, was brighter than usual.

Artemis noticed Hades' schooled expression and rigid movements. She struggled to read the conflicting message of his autonomous response and his expression. The gesture of caring for their unconscious refugee made him uncomfortable, but despite his callousness, he was gentle with the maiden. One of his ghostly pale arms slipped beneath her shoulder blades the other under her knees. He was careful to keep what threads of fabric remained between his hands and her body.

Artemis studied the young woman, that had called herself Cornelia, as he hoisted her up. Her body was unusually muscular for women of her time. Her long lashes tickled high cheekbones. Spring flowers and leaves were caught in the long tangled waves of honey gold hair. She had a handsome square jawline and naturally rose-colored lips.

Other than the unhealthy pallor of her skin, and the bruises, that seemed to be in various stages of healing, the young woman was quite pulchritudinous as far as human went. It will be a challenge to keep my brother, Apollo, at bay when she was healthy again. She felt a smile tilt up the corner of her lips. Though from how the young woman stood up to the chimera, a part of Artemis wanted to see how she would react to his probably endless flirtations. It would be good for a girl to knock him down a couple of pegs, she enjoyed the imagery that the thought had conjured in her mind.

"Apollo," Artemis called to him, "What did she say she was afraid of?" She felt her heart clench at the thought of those tattoos of pain that speckled her body, and he caught her glance at Cornelia's bruises particularly the fresh ones on her arm in the shape of a hand. The girl seems more afraid of going home, than battling a fire breathing three-headed monster with a stick.

"She did not say," he said with a gentle shrug, he was careful to not disturb his sleeping charge.

"Zeus will not be happy to have another mouth to feed," Hercules' matter of fact tone did not sway their progress. "He wants to keep our presence on this planet minimized."

Apollo rolled his eyes, "she lost a lot of blood, and she was conscious for the whole fight. So if we just leave her there without a debrief, her return home could be disastrous for everyone. She will be locked up like a mad woman if she recounts what she saw," He echoed Artemis' other sentiment, "besides, she is clearly afraid of someone or something back home. We need to debrief her and get her biometrics stabilized first then deal with Zeus' opinions."

Artemis eyed the comatose girl, "she has good instincts for a fight, but little in the way of skill. She could be useful if trained." She pointed at the welts on Cornelia's arm. "Those did not come from the Chimera."