~Two days later~

"Want to race?" Apollo asked, eyeing his sister as she stepped out onto the porch.
"Where to?" Artemis asked.
"Work. Bet I'll win," the blonde boasted.
"No way in hell. You barely know how to run," Artemis snickered.
"Try me," Apollo challenged, drawing a line in the dirt with his boot. "To the front sign. I'll give the count down."
"I'll indulge you just this once, but if you recall...I am undefeated." Artemis warned, stepping up to toe the line.
"Ready? Set. Go!" Apollo took off in a flash, his boots scraping against the ground, arms flailing almost awkwardly as he sprinted towards the sign dangling off the front of the bank. Artemis counted to three before following. She couldn't keep the grin off her face as she pushed off the line and went to hunt her brother down.
Up ahead, Apollo looked briefly over his shoulder before a small expression of panic morphed his features and he attempted to go faster. It didn't help, as Artemis had already closed the gap and leaned just far enough forward to cross the finish first.
"God damn," Apollo wheezed, all the while Artemis laughed.
"I told you!" She boasted, as Apollo toppled over into the dirt to catch his breathe. "Ah, stand up you idiot. I just washed your clothes."
"Fine, fine," Apollo huffed, taking his sister's hand only to pull her down into the dirt. The two siblings wrestled for a moment before the door opened and Zeus stepped outside.
"Get up! Both of you!" He hissed. Apollo was quick to listen, and grabbed Artemis by the collar to jerk her back to her feet. "Do the both of you not realize what people say?"
"They say a lot about me. I'm sure I've heard it all." Artemis replied.
"You're too close, the two of you. Don't go giving no one the wrong idea." Zeus glowered down at the twins.
"Wait..." Apollo frowned, trying to understand his father's implications. "People think that we-we're toget-"
Apollo gagged before he could finish. Artemis snorted at her brother's clear disgust. "Go on. Puke."
"You'd like that wouldn't you?" Apollo scowled, looking rather ill.
"It'd be funny," Artemis admitted. "Anyways, pretty sure the people that come up with those things are the old ladies who have nothing better to do than gossip on their porches and pretend they aren't about to die."
"Artemis," Apollo frowned, "you'll be old one day too."
"Doubt it," the auburn haired twin shrugged.
"What makes you say that?" Apollo worried.
"Call it a gut feeling if you will." Artemis replied, "but don't worry. I'll at least make it to thirty or something."
"Thanks," Apollo rolled his eyes, "now I'm reassured."
Artemis bid her brother good bye and made her way back towards home when the clouds in the sky caught her attention. It hadn't rained in a while and the fields were beginning to dry out. As far as she was concerned, the land could use it.
— — —
Rain hammered down on everything in its path as thunder rolled overhead. Artemis knew riding in a storm like this was dangerous, but she wasn't going to miss out on visiting her favorite Small One. Besides, it was getting close to Calypso's birthday if she remembered correctly.
Soaked to the core, Artemis guided Stella the usual direction and in the distance she could see the top of a large oak tree peeking over a hill. "Almost there Stella."
Stella gave a snort indicating she understood and picked up the pace eager to be out of the rain. After a gust of wind nearly snatched Artemis' hat clean off, they were safely by the house's porch. Hopping off of Stella's back, Artemis took her to the old shoddy barn. Most of its roofing was gone or withered away, but there was one stall intact enough to keep Stella safe. Then, keeping her head down, Artemis trudged up the porch and knocked on the door. When no one answered she worried that something had happened. Maybe Calypso and Zoë were away and stuck in the rain. But then there came the frantic yelling and shrieking of a little girl and the stern voice of an older sister.
"Cally! You're not going to die just get me another bucket!"
"The sky is falling into the house!"
"No it's not. It's rain!"
After contemplating her options, Artemis carefully opened the door to witness a rather hilarious series of events. The roof was leaking severely. Calypso was drenched and running back and forth with buckets full of water and empty ones. Only she kept forgetting which was which and Zoë, perched on a rather fragile looking stool, was trying to locate the leak and keep water from seeping into the floor by reminding Calypso which buckets went where.
"Maybe I should come back later," Artemis noted.
"COWBOY!" Calypso grinned, having yelled over the noise.
"Cally, darling, FOCUS!" Zoë grumbled.
"I am!"
"Worry about the cowboy later."
"Fine! But she has a tendency to get lost!"
Amidst the arguing, Artemis ventured out to the shed. There was a small piece of tarp shoved away in the corner like it belonged to an old wagon, and some spare wood shingles. Grabbing the items she made her way back to the house and tossed them up onto the roof. After a bit of a struggle, she managed to wriggle her way up and crawled along the rooftop. It took her a moment to locate the hole in the roof but when she did it became obvious what had happened. Some sort of nesting bird had found its way into a crack in the roof and burrowed out a home and removed a shingle.
Carefully removing the nest, Artemis slid off the roof and tucked it in a safe spot before climbing back up. There, she pulled the tarp out of her pocket and stuffed it into the hole. Next, she replaced the missing shingle and hammered it into place. Thunder echoed about yet again, much closer this time and the weather vein spun about sporadically. With a nod of approval, Artemis made her way towards the edge of the roof when the taste of iron filled her mouth, her hair stood on end, and lightning slammed into the weather vein with a loud boom.
From inside the house, both Zoë and Calypso went silent until they heard something topple off the roof.
"Cowboy!" Calypso worried, sprinting outside amidst the rain with her sister in tow. The youngster spotted Artemis in a heap on the grass looking dazed. "Did you get hit? ARE YOU DEAD?!"
"Nope," Artemis wheezed, sitting up and blinking furiously. "I got the roof fixed."
"What the hell were you thinking?" Zoë glowered, scooping up Artemis' discarded hat and smacking her with it.
"Before I nearly died I was thinking 'I'm going to fix the roof'. What I was thinking as I got launched off the roof was 'oh shit'." Artemis replied, taking her hat and putting it back on her head.
"Smart ass," Zoë frowned, before pulling Artemis back to her feet.
"Yeah," Calypso nodded, mirroring her sister's gaze.
Albeit still dazed, Artemis remembered the little bird nest and took it inside with the rest of them. Calypso couldn't keep from staring at it out of curiosity. "Where's the mommy bird?"
"Probably stuck in the storm," Artemis explained, ducking inside the doorway.
"What if she doesn't come back?"
"I suppose they'll need a new mommy," Artemis decided. "You could hatch them. They just need to be kept warm and safe."
"I could do that." Calypso determined. "But we should put them back outside just in case."
"When the storm is over," Zoë reminded.
"Right," Calypso nodded.
"In the mean time we should all dry off," the elder sister decided. Calypso seemed to like this idea and ventured over to the small fireplace where she shamelessly stripped down into her underclothes.
"Okay, I'm ready for the fire." She remarked, looking expectantly over her shoulder at a rather dumbfounded Zoë.
"I promise I taught her manners," she whispered, causing Artemis to stifle a laugh. After rummaging through a drawer for matches and retrieving the last of the dry wood, Zoë set a small fire ablaze. She grabbed a carefully woven blanket and set it beside Calypso before hesitantly removing her soaked outer wear as well.
Artemis kept her gaze averted until Zoë picked the blanket up, wrapped it around herself, and pulled Calypso into her lap cocooning them both. Feeling out of her element and severely out of place, Artemis took a seat at the small wooden table and studied the pattern of the tablecloth. She didn't noticed she was shivering until Zoë mentioned it.
"You can sit by us you know," she noted, looking over her shoulder at the auburn haired girl. "Last thing I want is the idiot who fixed my roof freezing to death in my own home."
Artemis cracked a small smile at the remark before joining them, though she remained fully dressed. Calypso on the other hand was more than comfortable and didn't seem to mind Zoë combing through her hair with her fingers.
"I used to play in the rain with my brother," Artemis stated, breaking the silence. Silence always worried her. When things were silent at home it meant her father was in a foul mood.
"Did you get struck by lightning then too?" Zoë asked, but her words, for once were not filled with malice. In fact, there was somewhat of a glint in her dark eyes.
"No," Artemis mused. "But we did run through the neighborhood naked once when we were three. My dad hated that but my mother thought it was funny as hell."
"I did that once," Calypso snickered, "you got mad."
"Because you were supposed to be getting a bath," Zoë protested. "You were an extremely tiny three year old and all slippery. I think you got away from me five times before I got a proper hold of you."
The three friends spent most of the evening exchanging harmless stories until Artemis noticed that Calypso was sound asleep. The young girl was curled up in her sister's lap, lips slightly parted, brow furrowed like she was thinking while asleep, and hair neatly combed from Zoë running her hand through it repeatedly.
"I'm gonna tuck her into bed." Zoë decided, carefully getting to her feet and venturing to Calypso's room. She came back a few moments later, now having the blanket all to herself. Artemis wondered how many times Zoë had put Calypso to bed just like that. It was endearing to say the least.
With a sigh, Artemis stretched her arms above her head and laid back to sprawl out on the floor. "Random question."
"Shoot."
"Got any hobbies? I feel like it'd get a little boring doing the same old things every day."Artemis turned her head to study the other girl. Zoë pursed her lips in thought for a moment.
"I used to play the guitar. It's been a while since I tried though," She shrugged, carefully folding Calypso's now dry clothes and collecting her own.
"My brother knows how to play. He taught himself surprisingly." Artemis smiled, "he got all the musical talent in the family."
"Do you have any other siblings?" Zoë asked, making her way to her room to re dress in her now dry outer wear.
"I believe so, most of them I don't know though." Artemis admitted. "My dad never admitted there were other women and I think my mom liked to pretend there weren't just for mine and my brother's sake. My father has never been the most faithful person. Wouldn't surprise me if he inadvertently fathered half the town."
Stretching out on the floor, Artemis studied the ceiling above. She could tell where repairs had been made, but it added a bit of character to the place.
"I have other sisters," Zoë admitted, returning from her room and holding a Spanish guitar. "I met them twice in my life."
"And?" Artemis asked, her curiosity heightened.
"We didn't get along." Zoë frowned, taking her place on the floor again. "They're all, well mannered quaint little girls. I could care less about overly proper manners and fancy things. It takes too much time to worry over those things."
"You don't like people looking at you, do you?" Artemis asked, eyes still on the ceiling. "I know how that feels except everyone looks at me."
"It's nice to be a nobody," Zoë admitted. "At least sometimes it is."
Artemis remained quiet and lost in her thoughts. She'd give an arm and a leg for people to ignore her existence just for a day. It seemed like a dream, some small excerpt of heaven. Only, she knew no such thing would ever come true. Not for her anyways.
Closing her eyes she listened to her own breath and tuned into the faint sound of guitar strings humming in the air. The sound was quiet, timid, and gentle, but Artemis didn't mind. In fact, she was sound asleep in a handful of minutes.
— — —
Artemis woke up alone on the floor with a small pillow tucked under her head and a blanket tucked around her shoulders. For a moment she panicked, forgetting where she was until the day came rushing back. With a sigh, she rubbed at her eyes and let her vision adjust to the dark. With a small groan, she got to her feet now perfectly dry from that morning's rain.
The ashes to the small fire place had been removed and sat in a metal pale off to the side. There were still a few glowing embers that left Artemis wondering how long Zoë had stayed beside her while she slept. The thought was somewhat comforting.
With nothing else to occupy herself with, Artemis ventured outside to check on Stella who had left the broken down stable after the rain to graze about. She was now sound asleep. It was cute to say the least, and Artemis contemplated waking her to venture home but decided against it. There would be nothing pleasant at home for her.
Staying quiet, Artemis decided to explore the stable and moved up into the shaky loft. Remnants of old hay bales lingered in the corners and tucked in the corner were blankets and a few pillows as if someone stayed there quiet frequently. For a moment, Artemis suspected that Calypso had made the loft her own, but upon closer inspection Artemis realized the little corner belonged to Zoë.
Old pictures drawn with random coloring tools littered the floor partially crumpled and damaged from the weather. They were made up of carefully drawn stick figures with smiling faces. Like a happy family portrait that wasn't supposed to last. The thought made Artemis sad, and she began to realize that whatever grief Zoë had endured in regards to her broken family, was kept well hidden and tucked away deep inside her heart.
Sighing, Artemis ruffled through a few of the other pictures from many years ago. There was one of just Zoë and Calypso, one of them growing flowers, even one of them catching butterflies, but they weren't all happy. There were a few crudely spelled messages written in that of a child's handwriting.

Daddy is meen . He duz not like hugs. He duz not like kises. He's just grumpy and meen.

Daddy and Mommy must be on vaycasion. They hav not com home yet. I hope they hav fun.

Sumtimes I wish I did n hav to do chors. I do them rong all the tim. Then Daddy get mad.

I miss Mommy.

Artemis carefully placed the old messages back where they belonged and clambered down the ladder to the loft. She figured that Zoë's initial callousness wasn't un-warranted. The poor girl had been abandoned one too many times. At that point, you learned not to let people in.
So, Artemis returned to the house with a new appreciation for the farmgirl's hospitality, even if it had taken time to to get there.