I was going to die.

But then, a flash of bronze swiftly passed in front of me and intercepted the arrow. The arrow got stuck on the front of the shield, which clattered on the floor beside me.

"Are you hurt?" Athena asked, her voice surprisingly soft.

I stared at her a moment too long but shook my head in response.

Artemis lowered down her bow and glared at Athena. "How dare you?"

Athena smirked. "I dare."

"Then you'll get them next!"

She took more arrows from her quiver and started firing, the arrows turning silver when they got in contact with the Bow of Artemis. The silver arrows flew and came to Athena like a meteor shower. Athena dodged the arrows one by one with incredible speed until Artemis had one arrow left.

Artemis pounded her fist on the banister, leaving a small crack on the smooth marble. Hermes the cat jumped in fright. "That's it! You all gave me no choice!"

She took the last arrow from her quiver and loaded it on the bow and started chanting, the arrow glowing brighter than the Bow of Artemis. The energy from earlier started to gather around her.

While she was at it, I wasted no time and ran to Zeus, grabbing the bronze shield beside me. I passed by Athena along the way and gave her a subtle nod. She nodded back and we both went to her brother, who was on the floor with his bleeding leg.

As soon as we got beside him, Athena quickly tore off a sleeve from her blouse and started to prepare a makeshift bandage for Zeus's leg.

"Amelia, will you elevate his leg for me?" she asked as she tore a small piece of her other sleeve and attached it to the longer one. I slowly lifted Zeus's leg and Athena placed the cloth around his leg.

Zeus made a face at his sister, somewhere between a grin and a grimace. "Nice moves back there, sis— Ow! Man, it hurts! Be more gentle, will you?"

"Don't be such a baby." Athena rolled her eyes as she secured the bandage tightly. "We have to hurry before Artemis launches her last arrow. I bet she got something on her sleeve for it."

I turned to Artemis, who was done chanting and was about to launch the shining arrow. I had to shield my eyes because of the brightness radiating from it. "Uh, guys. . . She's going to do it!"

Zeus and Athena looked at the scene behind them. Both of them gulped.

"Give me Aegis. Now!"

I quickly handed Athena the shield a second before Artemis launched the arrow. It sailed through the air but stopped in midair and started vibrating.

"What's happening?" Zeus glanced at me and Athena.

"I don't know," Athena said, standing in front of us with her shield raised. "Be on your guard."

I turned to Zeus, then pointed at the arrow. "I suppose you can destroy that arrow with your electricity?"

Zeus shook his head, gesturing at his injured leg. "I'm completely drained out, no thanks to Hermes."

Suddenly, the arrow stopped and began multiplying. From a single arrow it became two, then four then eight and so on until soon enough, a hundred or more projectiles were dangerously pointed at us.

"Um, sis, I don't think Aegis can stop that many arrows."

"Really helpful, Zeus," Athena said. "Don't you think I see that?"

The arrows moved all at once and headed towards our direction.

"Run!" I screamed as the first arrows came down near our feet.

Athena and I both helped Zeus up and we three ran away from harm, or at least tried to. It was difficult to move along since Zeus was too heavy and Athena had her shield in her other hand protecting us from arrows that were coming too close.

Zeus hissed as he took a step with his bad leg. "Can we stop and rest for a bit? My leg can't take it anymore."

As soon as he said it, an arrow sailed above his head, its silver shaft brushing an inch of his hair.

"Never mind," he said quickly.

We continued evading the incoming arrows with everything we could. We tried hiding behind large museum displays and marble columns, but some of the arrows appeared to have a mind of their own and would steer themselves away from the obstacles and find us.

I was surprised that we were still alive because the arrows didn't seem to stop attacking at all.

We eventually got ourselves cornered at a dead end. The floor was now full of silver arrows sticking out of the ground and there were still more coming towards us.

"Just surrender and accept your fate!" Artemis called from the balcony. "There's no way you can survive my attack this long."

"Never!" Athena shouted, her shield intercepting three arrows at once.

"You're so pathetic it's making me laugh!" Artemis cackled. "Say what, if you give up and hand over Aegis to us, I'll consider sparing your lives and we'll forget this ever happened." She snapped her fingers and the arrows stopped approaching, freezing in midair.

Athena and Zeus gave each other a knowing look.

"We're not gonna win this, are we?" Zeus sighed.

Athena nodded grimly. "We. . . don't have a choice. We'll have to what they say."

I turned at Athena and Zeus back and forth. "What? You can't just give up!"

"You don't have a say in this, Amelia," Athena said flatly. "This is our mission, and none of this is your concern."

Ouch.

Zeus smiled at me softly. "Don't listen to her, Ames. What she meant was we just don't want to risk your safety, okay? You're more important than the shield."

"But I. . ." I tried to say something, but Athena already took a step forward.

"Artemis, we accept your terms," she said, her tone firm. "We'll give the shield to you and you all let us go safely."

"Took you long enough to decide." Artemis crossed her arms. "Walk slowly and Apollo will meet you halfway and take it from you."

Apollo looked at Artemis, his eyes narrowed. "Who made you leader all of a sudden?"

"I did," Artemis answered coolly. "Do you prefer getting shot with one of my arrows instead?"

He waved his hand dismissively. "Don't waste an arrow for me."

Apollo jumped down and landed on the floor smoothly on his feet. He then slowly headed to our direction.

I looked at Athena, pleading. "You're smarter than this, Athena. There has to be another way!"

Athena's stoic expression didn't falter. "Why do you care so much, Amelia? You're not even a part of this."

I clenched my hands to keep them from shaking. "I am a part of this, Athena! Don't you see? I'm just like all of you!"

"What's taking so long?" Artemis called when she saw us talking to each other.

"Nothing! Just a little misunderstanding." Athena replied, then turned to me. "What are you talking about?"

I looked away. "I. . . You won't understand if I tell you."

"If you don't tell me, then you're wasting precious time," she said. "I'll go."

I breathed through my nose noisily. I-I can't take this anymore! They keep pushing me away when all want is to help them stop Artemis! I want her to pay for what she did to Uncle Ben and Poseidon, but they won't let me do it. They're making me feel useless just because I couldn't fight.

But I won't let them. I won't let them think that I'm powerless and a piece of trash. Not again or in a hundred years.

I'll show them what I can do. I'll show them all.

Rage bubbling up inside me, I gazed coldly at Artemis and Apollo. "We won't give you anything!"

"What?" Apollo said, his eyebrows raised.

"We won't give you the shield!" I shouted. "Not on my watch!"

"Ames, what are you doing?" Zeus asked worriedly. "You're going to get us all killed!"

"Well, it's your loss," Artemis scoffed. "Apollo, Hermes. Let's get out of here."

Apollo went back up to the balcony. He then placed two fingers on his right ear and muttered something under his breath, as if talking to himself. A few moments later, the sounds of whirring blades and chuffing engine came from above us.

A helicopter.

Apollo took out something from his pocket and threw it at a skylight. The thing detonated, shattering the glass window into pieces. A ladder came down from the opening and Artemis held it with one hand, handing the bow to Apollo who climbed up the ladder with Hermes the cat on his shoulders.

Artemis climbed the ladder next but stopped halfway, staring at us blankly. "We'll see each other soon. If you survive your incoming demise, that is."

She snapped her fingers and the arrows began shaking violently. The helicopter flew up and just like that, Artemis and the bow were gone. The arrows continued on their course, this time coming to us all at once.

"Amelia, look at what you've done!" Athena snapped.

Pushing me aside, Athena planted her feet firmly on the ground and raised her shield. Her free hand shook by her side, but she clenched it into a fist.

If I die today, then I may as well die in honor.

I turned to Zeus, who was staring at the incoming missiles with wide eyes. His jaw trembled slightly. When he looked at me, he gave me a weak smile.

"It's okay, Ames," he said. "My sis and I will get through this. Go while you still can."

"No!" Tears started to form from my eyes.

"Amelia, please," Zeus said. "You don't have an injured leg, and you don't have a huge pride to keep. Go away."

I shook my head vehemently.

No. No one's gonna die today. I won't let it.

Save yourself. Run. Zeus whispered in his mind.

Closing my eyes shut, I screeched at the top of my lungs, "No one's gonna die!"

I didn't know what came to me, but I felt a huge chunk of my energy was being pulled out of my system. But it didn't last long. Whatever took my strength stopped, and my body collapsed on the hard floor with a thud.

"So. . . tired," I mumbled.

A throbbing headache was setting inside my skull, and my eyes threatened to drift close. I heard a million people calling me, their voices faded but somehow clear. "Amelia! Amelia! Are you okay?"

When my sight cleared a bit, I saw that there weren't many people at all, but only Athena and Zeus. For some reason, the two of them were crawling towards me, their faces full of shock and worry.

That's weird. I swear they were standing near me a while ago.

It also took me a second to realize that. . . the arrows were gone. At least no one's hurt.

"Yay, no more arrows. . ." I let out a yawn. "That's funny. . . Why do I feel sleepy all of a sudden?"

"No! Wake up, Ames!" Zeus shouted. "Don't pass out!"

I lazily glanced at him before smiling. "Don't worry, I'm just going to take a nap. . ."

Still panicking, Zeus turned his sister. "Athena, do something!"

Staring at me wide-eyed, Athena began shaking me. Her lips parted and close, but I couldn't hear her words as my body drifted into a dark, cold abyss.