"Welcome, Lady Leto, Artemis, and Apollo to the palace on Mount Olympus"- Euthalia
The young goddess extended her arms in welcome, but no one else greeted them. Naturally, this was because Leto was Zeus's lover and therefore not officially greeted like his wife, Hera.
Euthalia then escorted the three of them down the corridors of the opulent palace, walking with a graceful and playful air.
"To atone for the harm he inflicted on you, Zeus has built a palace for you and your children. There will be many servants there to attend to you; just tell them what you need. If you encounter any difficulties, come to me." - Euthalia
"I thought I wouldn't be allowed up here, but..." - Leto
"Oh dear, Zeus is the one at fault here, so he brought you up here to make amends. There's no need to be so reserved." - Euthalia
Standing before a large gate covered in tree roots, Euthalia lightly waved her hand, and the roots retracted from the gate. She pushed the gate open, revealing a luxurious palace with a large courtyard.
"Nothing much, I hope I haven't disappointed you." - Euthalia
Two small figures of children, one with silver hair and the other with dazzling golden hair, darted into the courtyard. Their eyes sparkled with curiosity as they saw the bows hanging on the racks. Leto, seeing her children's uninhibited behavior, felt worried.
Currently, Leto's status as a mistress meant she couldn't demand anything.
"I sincerely apologize, Goddess Euthalia. I haven't raised my children well. Please punish me!" - Leto
There was no anger in her voice, only a sound of satisfaction.
"Oh, what energetic children they are! They seem to love this spacious courtyard!" - Euthalia
Leto looked up at the young goddess in astonishment. A radiant smile, so bright it was blinding, made Leto shield her eyes from the pure light.
Having heard of the achievements of the Olympian gods, Leto knew that she could not afford to offend them. Therefore, even though she was loved by the king of the gods, her status as his mistress was unworthy of being treated as equal to the legitimate gods.
"Goddess Euthalia..." - Leto
"Oh dear, don't call me that, just call me little sister Euthalia" - Euthalia
"No, how could I possibly call a goddess as noble as you by your full name?" - Leto
"Don't be like that, I'm not noble at all. I'm just a minor goddess responsible for resolving the troubles caused by my own family. To put it bluntly, I'm like a nanny for the family." - Euthalia
"But..." - Leto
Then a hand was placed on Leto's shoulder, gently stroking to ease the woman's tension.
"The one at fault here is my brother; he couldn't control himself and dragged you into this trouble. As for your children, they are innocent and don't deserve to suffer the wrath of the Queen of Olympus. So, if you have any grievances, just come to me" - Euthalia.
"Then you'll be punished by Zeus or the Queen!" - Leto
"You don't need to worry about that... Because I'm very strong" - Euthalia.
An arrow flew towards the young goddess's head, but she didn't turn around; she caught it with her hand, much to the astonishment of the mother and her two children.
"What lively children. You want to play, right? Then let me play with you" - Euthalia.
When her hand left Leto's shoulder, a stream of energy gathered in Euthalia's palm.
She formed a simple bow, raised it, aimed straight at the target, and released the arrow. It flew past the two children, piercing the bullseye so deeply that it went right through the center.
The two children slowly turned their heads, seeing the arrow embedded in the target, and felt a chill run down their spines. The arrow was nothing short of a silent warning.
"Oh, look, I accidentally damaged the target,"- Euthalia chuckled.
The young goddess approached the two children, placing her hand on their heads.
"You two have great potential to become archers. However, if you intend to use them to assassinate someone, I advise against it, understand?" - Euthalia
"Yes... yes, we understand"- Artemis and Apollo replied.
Euthalia smiled, then lightly waved her hand, and before the two children appeared a pair of golden and silver bows and arrows. The two children's eyes widened with curiosity as Euthalia showed them the bows that would later become their symbolic weapons.
"This is the Sun Bow, and this is the Moon Bow. These are gifts I forged for you" Euthalia
"For us?" - Apollo.
Euthalia withdrew her hand, and the two divine weapons vanished. She turned around.
"But... I cannot easily give them to you" - Euthalia.
The two children, stunned, ran to block the young goddess's path.
"But why? Didn't we come here to get whatever we wanted?" - Artemis.
"Yes, Father said that failing to meet the requirements means breaking a promise." - Apollo
"Oh, so Zeus said that? But I'm sorry, little birds. Zeus can say that, but I'm the one who decides here." - Euthalia
Although the young goddess was smiling, the two children seemed to understand what was behind that smile and remained silent.
"Unless you prove yourselves worthy as gods of Olympus." - Euthalia
"Impossible, the king is above all. He must be the most powerful." - Apollo
"But the king cannot wield power without someone behind him to influence him. Otherwise, with Zeus's influence, I fear Olympus will sooner or later descend into chaos." - Euthalia
After saying this, the young goddess turned and left, the two children's eyes following their aunt's retreating figure with complex emotions.
Since living on Olympus, Leto's two children had focused on practicing archery, with Euthalia supervising them. Watching them draw their bows, their technique was correct, but when they released the arrows, they missed the target and stuck straight into the base of the bowstring.
Artemis placed an arrow on the bowstring, raising it towards the target, when a pair of hands gently placed themselves on the bowstring and took the arrow.
"Calm down, don't rush. Focus on the target, don't be distracted by your surroundings. Release decisively and finish the target"- Euthalia
The girl took a deep breath, concentrating on the target, and her small hand released the arrow. The arrow flew at breakneck speed, piercing the bullseye.
Artemis' silver eyes, like the moon, shone brightly like stars as she looked up at her aunt, seeing that her arrow had hit the bullseye. The little girl hugged her aunt, overjoyed.
Seeing her sister's successful archery, Apollo became envious and raised his bow to shoot. However, when he pulled the bowstring, his grip faltered, causing his finger to slip and the arrow to fall, the tip of the arrow cutting his finger.
He gasped, clutching his injured hand. Apollo was about to wrap it with a cloth when Euthalia's hands grasped his small, injured hand. She placed her hands on his, and a green light of life enveloped Apollo's hand.
"You shouldn't force yourself like that; it'll only harm yourself." - Euthalia
"Why should you care?" - Apollo
"Because you're my nephew. If I don't care about you, who should I care about? Or... don't you like being cared for?" - Euthalia
"No... I mean..." - Apollo stammered
"Apollo, there are some things you can't understand at your age. It's natural that you feel wronged for not getting what you want and the attention you desire. But you know, you can come to me to confide in me." - Euthalia
"As if I need to." - Apollo
"As you wish." - Euthalia
The light disappeared, and Euthalia released Apollo's hand, the wound on his hand gone. She picked up the bow and arrow, helping Apollo stand in the correct position to hold the bow. The boy's small back pressed close to the woman's body, making him blush.
"Hold the arrow tightly, keep the base of the arrow close to the bowstring, understand?" - Euthalia
"Yes...Yes, I understand," - Apollo stammered.
Euthalia sensed the child trembling, probably from nervousness, so she leaned close to Apollo's ear and whispered.
"If you keep being so scared, the prey will escape," - Euthalia
Apollo jumped, immediately releasing his grip on the bowstring, and the arrow slipped from the bow, flying straight into the bullseye of the target. The boy was stunned, unable to believe it, when a hand gently patted his head.
"Well done, just remember my lesson," - Euthalia
And so, under Euthalia's tutelage and guidance, after some time... Leto's two children officially received their divine positions.
Artemis, Goddess of hunting, wild nature, protector of chastity and women in childbirth.
Apollo, God of light, truth, music, poetry, medicine, and prophecy. In the presence of the gods, Euthalia advanced with two bows, one silver and one gold. The bows flew towards the two young gods, who held out their hands to receive them.
"From now on, you are gods, and you must bear the responsibilities of being gods," - Euthalia.
"We accept this responsibility!"- Apollo and Artemis said in unison.