The Slaying of the Children of Niobe
Title: The Slaying of the Children of Niobe
WC: 674
Characters: Artemis and Apollo; Niobe and her children
Rating: PG, for light violence.
Summary: well, the title pretty much says it all
Note 1: Hokay. Greek Gods are HARD. Some of the children of Zeus are named in the story, but really, I think he had like, 50. At least! So just the major ones, really. (And even then, there's discussion on whether they 'count' or not! Rhadamanthys doesn't even make the list, poor thing.) Further complicating matters, Tantalus is ALSO a child of Zeus. Like I said, Greek Gods are HARD. This doesn't even BEGIN to cover it, though I did reference it for the conversation Artemis and Apollo have.
Note2: I used some of the more uncommon myths surrounding the twins and the Niobids. There are twenty in this story, and while Chloris and Amyclas are mentioned, I may not have kept them alive. I might have though. Which is why you should finally read. :)
"The Daughter of Tantalus shall fall!"
"She has the protection of Polyps and his people."
"His people shall one day fall, much like his sister's sons and daughters."
"How, then, Artie? How are we to kill twenty?"
"I am a hunter," she says simply. "And I shall take you hunting." She has enough confidence to see it through, to think it able. Apollo follows in her footsteps, watching her create the arrows that will kill twenty.
She says nothing as she works, pausing only when Apollo makes her drink. There is blood in her ears and the rhythm of the hunt in her heart. Apollo comes for revenge, but the mastermind is all Artemis. He is the Archer, with his golden bow and arrows. His aim will be fierce, will be proud, and true. But he allows Artemis, the first born, to create the silver arrows that will kill twenty.
They were the Niobids, ten sons and ten daughters. And she was ten times more powerful than the daughters, and her brother ten times more than the sons.
They were merely the children of Niobe; she and her brother of the line of Zeus.
When she is ready, she collects the arrows, divides them in two. Apollo does not speak as he takes up his golden bow, the collection of silver arrows. There are ten for him, and ten for her. He smiles at her, watches as she clutches her arrows protectively.
They will not miss. They will shoot together as brother and sister, and their aim will be true. They have the blood of the other to guide them.
"Our family is far greater than they," she says, gazing down the cliff to the scene below, of an unsuspecting mother and her daughters. Apollo nods besides her, watching the sons bathe before their morning exercises.
"We have Dionysus, and Ares, Hebe, and Hephaestus, not to mention Heracles. We have Athena, Persephone, and Epaphus. There is Aphrodite, Perseus, and Hermes. " She recites the names quietly, a touch of awe and pride.
"There is Helen and Minos as well," he adds quietly.
She scoffs, "Then we might as well add the children of Mnemosyne."
"Is Athena more than they? Ares? Persephone? What of us, Artie? We are all his children." Hera and her three were not any more special. A child of Zeus was a child of Zeus, no matter the mother. Athena proved that. Helen proved that. Even Hephaestus, whose wife consorted with Ares, proved that.
"Yes," she concedes. "I suppose we all are."
"Fifteen plus the nine, then," he says, smiling at her. "That is our family. And we are all better than they."
"Just you and I are better than they," she agrees, watching the twenty. Twenty to be taken by two. There will not be a scratch on her, nor one on Apollo; they are the children of Zeus, they are beyond elite. Any of the twenty-two could have taken these twenty, with the Daughter of Tantalus of Anatolia. Who himself was said to be an old son of Zeus. But that offered the Niobids little protection.
Apollo nods at his sister, fitting an arrow. "In the name of Mother," he says quietly.
"In the name of Leto," she agrees, slotting her own arrow.
It takes only minutes.
"I've six," he says, holding his bow lightly, one last poisoned arrow notched.
"And I've six as well." She smiles at his arrow, and his bow. She turns, scans the landscape, her hunter eyes seeking out. She points, "There, Amyclas, he hides. The coward."
"Who is it you are missing?" He scans the landscape as well, cannot see what she is seeing. He can spot the coward though, hiding among the leaves, watching his brothers die.
Artemis waits until she is sure before speaking. "Chloris. She hides behind her mother. I will have her when Amyclas falls."
Both arrows shoot at the same time; Niobe reaches to protect both children. In doing so, both children are exposed.
And the children of Niobe are slain.
WC: 674
Characters: Artemis and Apollo; Niobe and her children
Rating: PG, for light violence.
Summary: well, the title pretty much says it all
Note 1: Hokay. Greek Gods are HARD. Some of the children of Zeus are named in the story, but really, I think he had like, 50. At least! So just the major ones, really. (And even then, there's discussion on whether they 'count' or not! Rhadamanthys doesn't even make the list, poor thing.) Further complicating matters, Tantalus is ALSO a child of Zeus. Like I said, Greek Gods are HARD. This doesn't even BEGIN to cover it, though I did reference it for the conversation Artemis and Apollo have.
Note2: I used some of the more uncommon myths surrounding the twins and the Niobids. There are twenty in this story, and while Chloris and Amyclas are mentioned, I may not have kept them alive. I might have though. Which is why you should finally read. :)
"The Daughter of Tantalus shall fall!"
"She has the protection of Polyps and his people."
"His people shall one day fall, much like his sister's sons and daughters."
"How, then, Artie? How are we to kill twenty?"
"I am a hunter," she says simply. "And I shall take you hunting." She has enough confidence to see it through, to think it able. Apollo follows in her footsteps, watching her create the arrows that will kill twenty.
She says nothing as she works, pausing only when Apollo makes her drink. There is blood in her ears and the rhythm of the hunt in her heart. Apollo comes for revenge, but the mastermind is all Artemis. He is the Archer, with his golden bow and arrows. His aim will be fierce, will be proud, and true. But he allows Artemis, the first born, to create the silver arrows that will kill twenty.
They were the Niobids, ten sons and ten daughters. And she was ten times more powerful than the daughters, and her brother ten times more than the sons.
They were merely the children of Niobe; she and her brother of the line of Zeus.
When she is ready, she collects the arrows, divides them in two. Apollo does not speak as he takes up his golden bow, the collection of silver arrows. There are ten for him, and ten for her. He smiles at her, watches as she clutches her arrows protectively.
They will not miss. They will shoot together as brother and sister, and their aim will be true. They have the blood of the other to guide them.
"Our family is far greater than they," she says, gazing down the cliff to the scene below, of an unsuspecting mother and her daughters. Apollo nods besides her, watching the sons bathe before their morning exercises.
"We have Dionysus, and Ares, Hebe, and Hephaestus, not to mention Heracles. We have Athena, Persephone, and Epaphus. There is Aphrodite, Perseus, and Hermes. " She recites the names quietly, a touch of awe and pride.
"There is Helen and Minos as well," he adds quietly.
She scoffs, "Then we might as well add the children of Mnemosyne."
"Is Athena more than they? Ares? Persephone? What of us, Artie? We are all his children." Hera and her three were not any more special. A child of Zeus was a child of Zeus, no matter the mother. Athena proved that. Helen proved that. Even Hephaestus, whose wife consorted with Ares, proved that.
"Yes," she concedes. "I suppose we all are."
"Fifteen plus the nine, then," he says, smiling at her. "That is our family. And we are all better than they."
"Just you and I are better than they," she agrees, watching the twenty. Twenty to be taken by two. There will not be a scratch on her, nor one on Apollo; they are the children of Zeus, they are beyond elite. Any of the twenty-two could have taken these twenty, with the Daughter of Tantalus of Anatolia. Who himself was said to be an old son of Zeus. But that offered the Niobids little protection.
Apollo nods at his sister, fitting an arrow. "In the name of Mother," he says quietly.
"In the name of Leto," she agrees, slotting her own arrow.
It takes only minutes.
"I've six," he says, holding his bow lightly, one last poisoned arrow notched.
"And I've six as well." She smiles at his arrow, and his bow. She turns, scans the landscape, her hunter eyes seeking out. She points, "There, Amyclas, he hides. The coward."
"Who is it you are missing?" He scans the landscape as well, cannot see what she is seeing. He can spot the coward though, hiding among the leaves, watching his brothers die.
Artemis waits until she is sure before speaking. "Chloris. She hides behind her mother. I will have her when Amyclas falls."
Both arrows shoot at the same time; Niobe reaches to protect both children. In doing so, both children are exposed.
And the children of Niobe are slain.