• Chapter 3
    After the “victory” at Olympus, Arthur went to bed and dropped the shield, clean as if there was no blood spilled by it. Apollo sat at a table and held his head in his hands. That day had been stressful, but Apollo had no knowledge of Arthur’s murder of the old woman. Had he known, he would be completely distressed. Artemis gave Apollo a fright, climbing through the window, dressed in wolf’s clothing. Apollo jumped, which gave his twin a laugh and she lifted the wolf’s head, revealing the striking beauty underneath. She hated her beauty, because of the terrible aspect of love that it brought.
    “Artemis, do you find such pleasure in causing a scare out of me?”
    “Chill, bro,” Artemis began, “why are you so uptight? For Zeus’s sake, you sound like a bad Shakespeare play. Oh wait, that would be all Shakespearian plays.” Artemis snorted. Artemis despised Shakespeare, mostly because of Romeo and Juliet and the love sonnets. She went to her room and took off her wolf skins.
    “How’d it go,” she asked. Apollo sighed and began the tale. Artemis followed. “So the kid did it, huh?”
    “Yes, but he was on the verge of becoming Father’s captive. As you say, it was too close.”
    “Bro,” Artemis started, rubbing his hand, “close only counts in horseshoes and grenades. The point is, the kid got the shield. I’m ready to believe that he really can win this.”
    “That is something can both agree with. How doth the sword fare?” Artemis paled, her silver aura fading.
    “Um, about that...” She went on to explain that Hephaestus couldn’t forge a new sword to
    rival Excalibur, for they had assumed that Arthur would want an Excalibur. The problem was that none of the available metals would forge a sword identical to the original Excalibur.
    Hephaestus concluded that the only chance of arming Arthur properly, would to find the Lady of the Lake, who would give him some insight to create the perfect Excalibur.
    “Viviane? The witch?”
    “Yes, brother, the witch, though I wouldn’t call her that to her face.”
    “Her being alive is impossible. Surely Viviane, no matter how great her sorcery, would have perished centuries ago. And I have no wish to return to Tartarus to converse with her.”
    “You won’t have to go past Cereberus, I assure you. Viviane is still alive. You forget, she stole all of Merlin’s greatest secrets, including the gift of immortality.”
    “But that is impossible!”
    “Yeah, but so are we.” Artemis grinned and Apollo had to laugh.
    “What you say holds truth, dear sister. Then it is decided. I shall find this Lady of the Lake in place of Arthur. I ask that you will be his guardian. Have the others meet him and please
    begin his training. I say that my absent shant go further than a month, for locating Viviane will be a task most difficult. I set off after I awaken the sky.”
    “God speed, Apollo. Oh no wait, you are a god.” Artemis laughed, and though it was a poor joke, Apollo chuckled as well.