I awake to find my Nestra ten paces away. I look at her, and try to figure out what's wrong. She lays with one knee pressed to her stomach, her arms outstretched toward me. Her fingers are contorted grotesquely, curling into the ground in pain. Her hair is dishevelled and riddled with leaves. In my grogginess I can't figure out what's wrong. And then I see the blood.
I smell it before I see it, actually. Her innocence was taken last night, blood cakes her thin chiton between her thighs. Who would take her? Why would they take the one thing I cherished? My love... Apollo! He was supposed to watch over her! I stand and walk to her from the tree on which I slept upon in the early hours of dawn as Aurora sprinkled her rosy road for my brother to ride upon. I stumble to her, not really wanting to comprehend what's happening. In my cage of ribs, my heart quivers rapidly. My mouth is a desert as I approach her.
I drop to my knees before her. Zephyrus ruffles my hair around me slightly but I don't notice. Tentatively, I put a shaking hand onto her face. She breathes in broken gasps. I pull her into my arms softly, keeping a sob in. It rumbles, but I ignore it, looking at my beloved. Her head rests in my right hand, her waist in my opposite arm. A slight groan emits from her mouth.
"N-Nestra?" I whisper, barely audible to my own ears. Her eyes open the slightest crack. The green of her pupils is dark, almost brown. "Cleminestra..." Her rugged breath escapes her lips that turn into the slightest of smiles. "Ah... Art..." she can barely speak.
"Shush, my love," I breathe out, desperate. She pushes her head up in what would be a nod and closes her eyes. Her quavering breath is all that tells me that she's alive. I pull her close to me and kiss her forehead.

"Apollo, you...." I can't even express my anger for him. He sits above me, again, on his throne in Olympus. He doesn't look me in the eye. I stand and start to pace. "You... you liar... You promised me you'd protect her!" Step, step, step, step, turn around, step. I look at him. "I can't believe you'd let this happen. You promised on the River Styx!"
At that, he looks at me. "Dearest sister, you must realize, I did try my hardest to stop him. I promised I would try my hardest within all my power, and I did," he explains to me. It doesn't calm me down.
"Yeah? Well this deity must be stronger than you. If he was able to overpower you and rape my beloved and you're still alive, his power must surpass yours'. Who was he?" I ask. Apollo flinches at the insult.
"Artemis, I cannot tell you..."
"Brother," I say sternly.
"Please don't make me do this."
I take a step up his throne. "Apollo," I look him in the eye.
He swallows, "Zeus..."
My shoulders slump as if I'd been hit. "Zeus? Zeus, our father, Zeus?" I start to step away.
"Artemis," my brother says. I hear the shuffle of cloth against fabric and marble, him standing up. I start to walk down the aisle of the throne room. I feel his hand on my shoulder, pulling me to face him. "Artemis, I'm sorry... He was drunk and even took out his thunder bolts. You know I can't handle those... Artemis?" I wrap my arms around his upper abdomen, holding onto the back of his short chiton, holding him close to me. I shake uncontrollably and let myself go. His arms wrap around me and support me to him. "He took her... 'Lo... he took her," I mutter slightly incoherently, using an old pet name. I used to call him 'Lo and he'd call me 'Mis. As I speak, I dig my nails into his back. I can feel the muscles tense, but he doesn't push me away. "'Lo, he's forcing me to banish my beloved." I pause for a while and wait for the shaking to stop before trying to speak again. "I don't know what to do, 'Lo. This can't be happening." I pull away from him and look at his eyes. They hold concern, but are also at a loss.
"I really don't know what to say, Artemis..." he says after a while of us just looking at each other. I pull away from his embrace and wipe away any remaining tears from my face. I take a breath then say, "Thank you, Apollo... but I must leave. As do you." He nods in response and kisses my cheek.
"Hunt well, sister," he says and walks toward the stables where his chariot awaits him.
I follow him, only to a different set of stalls. These horses are designated to go down to the land of mortals, Helle. I'm to see my Cleminestra.

A/N: Woah! I actually wrote something... wow... yayy... rejoice, with me!! I must thank all of you for the pleasant reviews and a special thanks to zutAra on fictionpress for nudging me into writing this with an email... Another one's on the way, so, yes, I'm going to update this regularly now. I just suffered a severe dose of writer's block for this story. I kept wanting to make it that Artemis is told by Pan or Hermes or something about Nestra... then I just started to write tonight and, boom, she finds her herself. This is too long, but, thank you all so very much -smilie-
KNQ