~ Chapter Twenty-Two - Part 2 ~

Artemis was sitting in her usual meadow with Hades and Apollo when she heard the prayer. She tilted her head slightly to the side and closed her eyes as she listened. ‘Please, Artemis. Please help me. Atlas has taken Katalina, and I don’t know where to start looking.’ There was a brief pause before he continued with nothing but grief and heartache in his voice. ‘Please. She is carrying our child. I don’t know what Atlas has planned for her, but I know it can’t be good. Please help me find her.’
Artemis gasped as her eyes flew open. “Katalina’s in trouble,” she gasped as she rushed to her feet. “And she’s pregnant with her first child.”
Apollo and Hades climbed to their feet. “Do we know where she is?” Hades demanded.
Artemis shook her head. “No, but I know where she’s going to end up,” she said tremblingly.
Hades frowned. “Where?” He questioned.
“Tartarus,” Artemis mumbled. “Atlas is going to throw her in there with Jacques.”
“Shit,” Apollo swore. “You said that no one could get through the shield they have around Jacques,” he said as he looked at Hades.
Hades nodded. “That’s right.”
Apollo started pacing as Artemis folded her arms over her stomach. “I’m going to bring Damien here. He needs to know that we’ll be looking for her as well,” she ran a hand through her hair. “I also want to summon Eileithyia. Maybe there’s something that she can do to protect her unborn child.”
“I think we should summon Eileithyia first. Maybe she can give us some good news that we can relay to Damien,” Apollo said.
Artemis nodded and quickly summoned Eileithyia. The goddess of childbirth appeared within minutes. “Hello,” she looked around and sighed. “Is there a reason you’ve summoned me, Artemis?” She questioned.
Artemis took a step closer to her. “We need your help,” she ran a hand through her hair. “Atlas has taken Katalina, but she’s pregnant. I was hoping that there’s something that you can do to help protect her child before we summon her mate here.”
Eileithyia frowned. “How far along is she?” She questioned.
Artemis shook her head. “I’m not sure.”
“Summon Damien here, and we’ll figure it out then,” Eileithyia said as she sat in the grassy meadow.
Artemis did just that. She summoned Damien and watched as he appeared in front of them. Damien fell to his knees as tears streamed down his face. “You heard me,” he said in a broken voice.
Artemis knelt before him and gently held his face in her hands. “I am always listening, my dear,” she pressed a kiss to his forehead before leaning back on her heels. “We will do everything we can to help bring Katalina back home.”
Damien nodded as the tears continued to stream down his face. “Thank you so much.”
Artemis shushed him gently. “There’s something we need to know,” she said softly.
“What?” Damien mumbled as he stared at his hands.
“Do you know how far along Katalina’s pregnancy is?” Artemis asked.
Damien pulled out a copy of the ultrasound picture he had decided to keep on him. “This is from today,” his tears started anew as he looked at the picture. “She was going to surprise me when she got home,” he whispered. “I just know that she was so excited,” he shook his head with a small smile. “I finally got her to agree to at least start trying. We didn’t know that it would happen so soon. We didn’t even notice the signs,” he let out a humorless chuckle. “We thought it was just from stress and all the training we’ve been doing,” he caressed the ultrasound image again and shook his head as he sniffled. “I should have known. If I had only known, I would have been able to protect her,” he clutched his chest over his heart with his free hand. “I promised her that I would keep them safe.”
Artemis pulled him into her arms and hugged him tightly. “She’s strong. She can pull through anything that Atlas throws at her,” she pulled back to look into his eyes. “And I know she will do anything she has to do to keep your child safe,” she glanced at Eileithyia and gestured her to come to them. She could tell that Damien wouldn’t let go of that picture. “Is it alright if Eileithyia looks at that picture for a moment?” She questioned softly.
Damien hesitantly turned the picture so that they both could see it. Then, after a minute, Artemis gave him a single nod, holding the image to his chest again. “Is there anything you can do to help protect the baby?” Artemis asked her quietly.
Eileithyia sighed heavily. “Sadly, there isn’t. The baby is too small. Not even a half-sized baby yet,” she bit her lip. “I can try to put some protection spell around the baby. But I can’t promise that it’ll work. And if it does, I have no idea how long it’ll last.”
Damien looked up at her with nothing but grief, pain, and torment in his eyes. “Please,” he said brokenly. “Anything that you can do to help.”
Eileithyia sighed heavily. “I’ll do what I can,” she closed her eyes and focused on Katalina. She started breathing as she mumbled a spell to herself. It seemed like it took a couple of tries, but her shoulders finally relaxed. Her eyes slowly opened. “I managed to put a protection spell around her womb. Nothing will be able to touch your child. Even if someone harms her stomach, your child will come to no harm.”
Damien practically broke down. “Thank you so much.”
Eileithyia gave him a slight nod before disappearing.
Artemis sighed as she looked up at Hades. “We will do everything we can to find her and help her if we can,” she said softly.
Damien nodded as he forced himself to climb to his feet. “Thank you. You have no idea how much I appreciate your help.”
Artemis gave him a sad smile. “Katalina would surely do the same for any of us,” she whispered.
Damien glanced around before Artemis said. “It’s time to return to your people Damien. You will be the first to know if we learn anything of Katalina’s whereabouts.”
Damien bowed his head in gratitude. “Thank you.”
Katalina blew him a kiss and sent him back to his home.
Damien stared at the ultrasound picture, still clutched in his hand for a few minutes before finally getting to his feet. He knew that he couldn’t wallow in grief and guilt. Instead, he had to try and find her before Atlas sent her to Tartarus.
Damien left his house and went to find Daedalus, Prometheus, Lucas, and Roman. Undoubtedly one of them would be able to answer the question swirling through his mind.
Damien found them all on the training grounds, teaching a group of warriors how to take down a harpy. He cleared his throat as he approached them. “Sorry to interrupt,” he said as he stopped next to them.
“Are you okay?” Lucas asked in concern as he studied him closely.
Damien took a deep breath. “No. Not at all,” he muttered. “But she wouldn’t want me to let grief control me. Katalina wants me to stay strong and do what I must.”
Lucas nodded. “Did you speak with Artemis?” He asked as he gave Damien his full attention.
Damien nodded. “Yes. Artemis said that they would do everything that they could to find her. Once they do, I’ll be the first to know,” he ran a trembling hand through his hair. “However, they think Atlas will send her to Tartarus soon. They said he probably wants to do some damage and ensure she’s not in bad shape when they send her there.”
Lucas shook his head in anger. “That’s pathetic. A titan like him can’t even face a young woman like Katalina on the battlefield.”