Title: A Silver Quarrel
Rating: PG-13
Characters are not mine I am just borrowing.
F/F content warnings apply.
"You shall regret," Aphrodite said calmly, arms gently crossed over her chest, "everything you have said to me on this night, Artemis."
The young goddess narrowed her eyes and then stalked off into the woods, back to her Hunters, and the Hunt.
Aphrodite grinned, baring her teeth. "You shall regret, little goddess, and, mark me, I will make you say so for insulting me."
****
There was a danger in being a favorite of one of the gods. There was an unspoken curse that came with the knowledge of being favored, because for the one god or goddess that favored you there were many others who despised you. The reason why did not matter. The reason why could be anything, jealousy being key among them.
Zoë Nightshade sat in her tent at the Hunters' camp and realized that she was indeed favored. It frightened her. It stole into her heart more deeply than the pain of a hero's betrayal or the banishment from her family for helping him. It forced her awake at night as she touched the symbol of her status as lieutenant. Though being the lieutenant hardly made her the favorite. The post itself had been well earned. There were other signs, other subtle things that made her aware of her situation.
She was flattered, for there was no other way to feel when a goddess such as Artemis favored one. She was wary, always, of everything she felt in return towards the goddess lest she break her oath, but it was already done. She could not foreswear romantic love. It beat violently in her chest at every kind word or smile from her mistress, her goddess.
Love was a dangerous thing. It had ensnared other favorites before her. Callisto had fallen in love. No doubt shot through the heart by Eros' arrows. Callisto paid a price for her falling, and there were others. Those other girls who had not fallen, but were taken by gods who lusted after what they knew they should not touch. Gods who knew they would feel no punishment for their wanting and taking. Gods who would watch as Artemis let loose her wrath when she discovered one of her maiden hunter's indiscretions, unfortunate affronts to sacred vows.
Danger loomed about Zoë Nightshade and she considered her options. She considered what she should do with the things she felt and wanted so desperately. The tent being too stifling she wandered away from camp. She entered the deep wood and sat by a tree. Prayers hung dead on her lips for she did not know of any god or goddess who could help her. Her heart beat loudly though. Her heart called out constantly against her wishes and better judgment. It begged for release, for mercy, for something to end its constant longing. Its need to but once be held close and kissed by the fair Goddess of the Hunt, graced with silvered promise or recognition that the feeling was returned in kind.
She shut her eyes and then stood swiftly as she heard a footfall approaching. It was so feather light it may have only been the wind, but Zoë was a hunter with keen ears. She knew the tread of many beings, many creatures.
Through the brush Zoë watched as a goddess approached. She was difficult to describe except as beauty itself, and even then she held resemblance to the very goddess that Zoë's heart longed for.
"Do you know me?" The goddess asked as she stepped forward.
Zoë nodded. "Yes, Mistress Aphrodite."
"Such manners," the Goddess of Love said with a grin. "Almost unheard of in your ilk."
Zoë narrowed her eyes but said nothing.
"You've been praying."
"No, I have not uttered-"
"You have been praying, Zoë Nightshade, or I would not be here," Aphrodite said softly. "You have been praying for nearly a hundred years with that heart of yours thrumming away like a drum." She stepped in closer still smiling, but it was a vicious smile, the sort of expression the hunter had seen on large cats. "I have been trying to ignore you, but you have made yourself very hard to ignore in your desperation."
"I-"
"The heart betrays the other senses all the time young hunter. The heart wants what it will even when my son and I have absolutely nothing to do with it." She crossed her arms over her chest and said, "You are not like the others. Special by birth and right as the daughter of a Titan, and I am really only here because that birthright makes you impossible to ignore."
Zoë did not know what to say. She did not trust Aphrodite. The goddess in being kind was often cruel and mocking. She would offer things that sounded sweet that quickly turned bitter. She delighted in great romances, and what made something great depended on how tragic the results became. Zoë could not accept anything offered to her, and yet to refuse would be taken as an insult. She was trapped, again, betrayed by her heart.
"You have asked for help and in thy need I have two gifts I can offer you," Aphrodite said and outstretched her left hand. A vial appeared there floating above her palm, heart shaped and filled with a clear liquid. "This, if taken, will make you forget your love. You will be freed from the longing of thy own heart." Aphrodite held out her left hand and a silver needle appeared. "Take this, scratch your beloved with it, and she will love you, long for you, and want you as you do for her."
The young hunter shut her eyes and shook her head. She could not tell which fate would be worse to lose all the love she felt for her goddess or to know that she had forced her love's affections. Could those things be any worse than denying gifts from a goddess? Would her fate be sealed for some horror, taken against her will by some man or god under Aphrodite's influence?
"I am honored," Zoë said, trying to sound as sincere a possible. "I am honored for such gifts as I am unworthy of such favors from you, but…I-"
"Think, very carefully, before you refuse me," the goddess warned. "You would insult my kindness with refusal? You would choose my wrath over the very thing your heart has begged for?" She laughed then. She chuckled and then said, "Make your choice little hunter."
"I can not accept either gift from you," Zoë said firmly. "I shall bare all the consequence for the insult."
"And so you shall," Aphrodite said softly. "You are very much like her, your goddess, and it dooms you as it dooms her. Wallow in your selfishness, Zoë Nightshade, stand the test of time as a maiden, but a maiden who has broken one of her vows."
The Goddess of Love disappeared then. Zoë sank to her knees and clutched at her heart. She cried, but did not cry out feeling, ever as before, like some barbed quarrel had been struck through her chest. She would bear the pain of it though. She could swallow the ache and still perform as her goddess required her. She could make herself cold as stone, but still be kind to her sisters. She could. She could-
A bird call came, though it had not been made by any bird. Zoë took a quick and deep breath, standing and trying to steady her nerves. She tried to call back but no sound would leave her throat. The call came again and this time the young hunter called forth all her will to call back, though weakly.
Artemis stepped out from behind some trees, concern marking her features as she drew closer and looked her lieutenant over.
"Are you unwell?" Artemis asked.
Zoë shook her head and said, "I could not sleep. I walked out here and…" She could not bear to lie and so found herself bending the truth. "I must have dozed. I…I fear I have had the most unpleasant vision." She pressed back against a tree for support and shut her eyes.
Artemis reached out and took her hand, tugging lightly. "Come back with me. We shall sleep and I will keep Morpheus' dreams from troubling you."
Zoë stepped forward and opened her eyes. She nodded and then tensed as Artemis embraced her.
"You shiver so," Artemis said softly. "You must tell me of this vision that has my best hunter so shaken."
"I…I shall."
****
Eros landed in the wood near to his mother's side. He watched as his aunt and her favorite wandered back to the camp. He looked his mother over and tried to read her expression. It seemed satisfied and yet oddly angered at the same time.
"What do you wish, Mother?" He asked.
"I wish for them both to be pierced through the heart so they might fall in love with the most ungodly of beasts." Aphrodite said and then continued to stop her son from drawing back his bow. "However," she began bitterly, "their love is true and we can not touch them. There is no arrow or dart that has magic enough to stop it."
Eros nodded and then said, "You seem almost pleased, despite your immediate wish being impossible?"
"Oh I am," Aphrodite replied with a warm smile. "I take pleasure in knowing when I am right, and knowing my curse on the little goddess is succeeding. She will mark her regret. She will voice it." She sighed. "This is boring me. Let us go somewhere more invigorating."
****
The new constellation, the Huntress, was bright in the skies above Olympus. The celebration of the Winter Solstice had begun to die down. The returned heroes had left for Camp Half-Blood, except for Thalia Grace who waited for Artemis to be ready to leave. Artemis herself had wandered far from the festivities to a private garden. She sat and stared up into the sky. She stared at her beautiful huntress.
"Even the children of Titans and gods can fall, isn't it sad?"
Artemis tensed at the sound of the recognized voice. She abandoned her maiden form for that of her true visage. The goddess who had dared disturb her quiet did the same and they stared at each other before Artemis sighed and returned to a form she preferred, though a few years older than normal.
"Are you ready to concede," Aphrodite asked shrinking back down to a less threatening visage.
"What?"
"Really, you are still going to deny it after that," Aphrodite said pointing to the constellation.
"She died a hero and deserves to be so rewarded. It was the least I could do for her," Artemis said softly.
"Right." The Love Goddess chuckled. "You are so dull. I have hardly been able to pay your troop any mind. It does get old after a while all the denial."
"What denial? Speak plainly for I am in no mood for your spurious games."
Aphrodite huffed and rolled her eyes. "Admit you loved her."
"I did."
"You know what I mean." Aphrodite said coldly. "You can not hide it from me. I can feel it in your heart this minute. She may be a deserving hero but you have immortalized her form because you love her, and now you have lost her. All you can do is long for what you cherished, stare at her in the skies and remember that for her you broke part of your vows."
Artemis gritted her teeth and took a deep breath. She shook her head and began to stalk off.
"You always run from me. Are you afraid to face me?"
Artemis stopped in her tracks and wheeled around. She stood dangerously close to the other goddess. "I do not regret my choice. I do not regret any of it, because it is the stronger heart that can stand so close to what they want and deny themselves all the joy that could come from it. I loved her. She was my sister in the Hunt. She was my closest companion, the best of all my Hunters, and she loved me. She loved me so well that it took dying for her to leave me. My vows are intact. Her vows were never broken."
"Is that so?"
"It is." Artemis said sternly. "You have plagued the maidens of my Hunt to get me to relent and concede to your point. I shall not, but I do wish-"
"What do you wish?"
"I wish you could know the infinite sting of never being able to touch the thing you love and desire most." The Goddess of the Hunt stormed off then to vent her anger and morn her loss among the wood.
Aphrodite took a step back and laughed. She laughed loud enough that Ares entered the space of the garden and looked at her curiously. She shook her head as she stepped forward to take his arm.
Foolish little maiden goddess, she thought to herself, do you not know, have you not guessed? Your wish was granted long before you ever made it.
End.