Artemis and her brother were passionate. And one person they both loved dearly, beyond each other (for their bond was almost comletely unbreakable), was their mother Leto. The twins loved and defended their mother with a passion unparalleled, and woe to the god of mortal who offended her. One such woman was named Niobe. Now, I have little pity for Niobe, because she was just stupid. She had the gall to complain loudly that people paid too much respect to Leto. She cried that Leto had only two children, where she had seven boys and seven girls. Hmmmm. Not for long, smartgirl. Once the twins heard they came to her house and Apollo shot everyone of the boys with his golden arrows of extreme pain. Artemis shot the girls with her painless silver arrows, and they all lay down on their beds and died. Some stories say that the youngest girl, Chloris, was spared, but it is unclear why. Niobe wept uncontrollably, and I think some kind god turned her into a rock.
