"Artemis." The goddess jumped at the sudden boom of her father's voice. She put her arrows down and looked up at the shimmering mass of light in front of her; the image of her father's worried expression filled the circle of bent energy. That was never good for her schedule. "Yes father? What has happened?" She asked, trying to get to the point of his request.
"Can a father not call his daughter without there being something wrong?" Artemis raised an auburn eyebrow at him. Zeus signed. "Kronos had one of his fits today."
Artemis hung her head and sighed; ever since her grandfather was defeated all those millennium ago, long before she was born, he would have outburst once every hundred or so years. The problem was, Hades could not predict when Kronos was going to have one of his 'episodes', and it always caught him by surprise even if he would not admit it.
While Hades went to counter act Kronos' magic, monsters escaped. Over the dozens of times it had happened so far, it was only a pack of hell hounds that escaped; nothing Artemis and her hunters could not handle.
After Kronos' first episode that she assisted, Zeus had called a council meeting to discuss the matter. Athena had predicted he would not fail to try again but when he would, she could not calculate, as Kronos was as unpredictable as their father; her words, not Artemis'. The council voted Artemis to take care of the monsters each time it happened with the assistance of the demigods if needed. Of course her father agreed, Zeus always agreed with Athena's plans.
Was Artemis jealous of Athena? No, not particularly because while Zeus always looks to Athena for what to do, he turns to her when he wants that plan executed and she did so flawlessly every time. Athena and Artemis were like sisters, which they were, and Artemis liked to think Athena was her twin instead of Apollo sometimes.
"We will start out now father." Artemis informed him. "I will have Anndra send a message to the demigods and have them send their group out as soon as possible."
Zeus smiled at Artemis though the misty screen. She never did anything that did not make him proud to call her his daughter. He nodded. "Good luck Artemis."
The goddess of the hunt smirked up at the king of the Gods. "Who needs luck?" With that said, she stood and walked through the image, disconnecting the call. She was left with the booming sound of her father's laughter; the echo could still be heard off in the distance as she walked out of her tent and into the hunter's camp site.
As she approached the hunters were all sitting around the unlit fire pit, Artemis noticed one of them looking up at the sky with a small smile on her face. Anndra turned to her goddess. "Were you talking to dad again?"
Artemis chuckled to herself, deciding to answer her half-sister at the same time as announcing their new mission. "Girls." The Goddess shushed the chattering young ladies who all stopped immediately when their patron started talking. "It's that time of the century again, Kronos had another fit."
A round of groans were given coaxing a sympathetic smile from the goddess. "I know, but we all must play our part. Look on the bright side, the faster we finish, the faster we can go remind those demigods who are the masters at Capture the Flag." The hunters cheered and started whispering excitedly to one another. "Pack up camp, the sooner we leave the better. Anndra. I need you for a moment." Artemis led her lieutenant down to the edge of the creek who's shore they had set up camp on; they always settled down near some source of water.
"Anndra, I need you to message your friend and tell her to get the demigod group together to set out."
"Sure thing m'Lady."
Artemis nodded and turned to the water. "Iris, I require your assistance." Mist grew from the water's surface and quickly solidified into the image of a girl with light blond hair and eyes that never stayed one color long, it was like looking into a mesmerizing stethoscope; overall, she looked about fifteen. Artemis knew Iris could look anyway she wanted to, just as she could, but she enjoyed appearing as a teenager. The thought reminded the younger immortal that Iris told her once how she had gotten the idea from her.
"Artemis! How good to see you!" Iris greeted enthusiastically. "And you as well daughter of Zeus! What can I do for you?"
"Iris," Anndra bowed her head in respect before continuing. "If you could please send a message to Stella Jacobs in Washington D.C.?"
"Of course I can! But you should know, she's not Stella Jacobs anymore." With a giggle and no explanation, Iris' image disappeared. In her place, the image of the red haired daughter of Athena emerged.
Well, her bathroom anyway. Iris had placed their image in the middle of Stella's bedroom facing her bathroom. The light blue door was open, revealing the daughter of Athena brushing her teeth while starring in the mirror.
"Stel!" Anndra exclaimed, her outburst successfully obtaining her friend's attention.
Stella turned and smiled at the image of her best friend. ''Anndra!" She said, or meant to. It came out more as "Awdre!". The ridiculous sound brought about a laugh out of half mortal, even Artemis chuckled. Stella's eyebrows frowned in confusion for a moment before, a second later, she laughed too and turned to the sink to spit.
After placing her toothbrush in it's holder, she ran over to the hovering reflection. "Hey Ann! What's up?"
"Hey Stellie. Well, you're not going to like it."
Stella frowned, not only at Anndra's last sentence but also at the nickname. "Alright. What is it?"
"Kronos." That one word, that one name, and Stella immediately knew.
"I'll get Cy, we'll get to camp in an hour, get the monsters, and meet you in Oklahoma City ASAP." Why Oklahoma City? Artemis had no idea. Cyrus suggested it, and seeing no reason not to meet there, she agreed.
"Did I hear my name?" Cyrus' head popped in from the other room. "Oh hey Lightning Girl! Lady Artemis." Artemis nodded her head at the son of Hephaestus.
"Hey Ash Face. Get ready for another quest..." Anndra started explaining the situation to Cyrus, Artemis was too busy answering another call to listen.
"Hey Arty." Athena greeted and Artemis couldn't help but smile. Normally she would smite anyone that called her Arty; all except Athena. "I have an update for you on the monsters Kronos let out."
"Hey 'Thena." She returned. "Hit me."
Athena's previously semi-happy face turned gloom. "These aren't just hellhounds this time Artemis, Hades was distracted long enough for the Nemean Lion, the Manticore, and several Drakon to get out...and hellhounds."
Artemis froze. This was not in any sense of the word: good. "Oh Athena" she breathed. "...this is not good."
Athena shook her head. "No, but we know you can do it Artemis. We believe in you."
Artemis looked up and cracked a smile. "Thank you. Do you know where they are?"
Through the shaky image of the their transaction, Athena snapped her fingers and in front of her, a piece of paper appeared. "I've fashioned a map with small pieces of their essences I had in my lab." Artemis didn't want to know why, or how, her half sister had acquired bits of these monsters to put in her map. She's learned after a few thousand years not to question Athena's ways of getting information. "Whenever you look at it, it shows you where exactly in the United States they are."
Athena snapped her fingers again and Artemis felt her hand grip something. She looked down and opened the map, giving it a once over. "Thanks again 'Thena."
Athena waved it off nonchalantly. "Not a problem. Eventually, you'll see it also shows where the demigod group is, as well as your own group." Artemis wondered again how the wisdom goddess had gotten some of her own essence, but kept quiet about it.
"Alright, that should help. Later Athena."
"Hey Ann, where did Artemis go?" Artemis heard Stella ask faintly from behind her.
"I'm right here Stella." The goddess answered.
"Stella?" Athena asked. "Move me so I can see her Arty!" Artemis did as she was asked; Athena loved Stella, anyone with eyes could tell that and as if Athena's constant talking about her was any clue. Which she did, a lot.
Artemis watched with a small smile as the mother-daughter duo caught up; this was the only thing the younger goddess was jealous of that her sister could do, but she could not.
Have children.
She's always watched the other gods and goddess talk about what their children had done to make them proud, see their faces when they found out they could talk to them after Zeus lifted the ban. It made the hole in her heart ache and the one thing that could fill that hole, was the one thing she couldn't have.
Why did you need a man to have a child anyway? The concept totally escaped Artemis. She hated men but she wanted a child of her own, and for that she would need a man; she couldn't do what Athena does.
Don't get her wrong, she loved her hunters. They were like sisters to her, a family away from her dysfunctional one, but even the seven year old she had just welcomed into the hunt could only mask the pain.
Artemis craved the satisfaction of seeing her own flesh and blood running around, making her proud, but she would never break her oath for a...man. The goddess of the Hunt was not going to give this dream up easily, however, and she planned on making it come true without breaking her oath.
Athena's voice brought Artemis out of her thoughts. "Good bye Artemis, and good luck." Artemis didn't have to force a smile, she was enthusiastic she got to pull the same line off in ten minutes. A new record.
Artemis smirked at the goddess of wisdom and said with obvious pleasure, "Who needs luck?" before ending the fragmented light message. Anndra, Cyrus and Stella laughed. Athena's laugh, though not as noticeable as Zeus', could be heard as thunder in the distance.
Getting back to business, Artemis turned to the first call and looked at the map. "The map Athena gave me shows the Nemean Lion is in Arizona, not far from here. The Hunters and I will take that one." The demigods on the other end nodded in agreement but said nothing, allowing the goddess to continue. "The Manticore is in Illinois. You can manage that I'm sure.
"For the Drakon and hellhounds, they seem to have stuck together. There are three groups of about twenty. Ten Drakon and hellhounds each. One is in Utah, one is in Florida, and the last is in Texas." Artemis paused. "I think we should meet in Texas instead of Oklahoma and finish that group off together."
"Agreed." Stella interjected quickly.
"I'll see if Athena can make you a map as well. If not, call us for cities and anything else." Artemis swiped her hand across the section of bent light to end the conversation.
As they were walking back to camp, Anndra started talking. "Did you hear?"
"I hear many things Anndra." Artemis laughed at her hunter's expression. "Hear what?"
Anndra recovered quickly and her smile returned. "Cyrus proposed to Stella! They're getting married, isn't that great?"
"It is Anndra. Hm, I suppose that's what Iris meant." Artemis was reminded once again how marriage led to children however sometimes the other way around. "It took him long enough, how old are they now? Twenty five?"
"I think so. Stel asked me to be her maid of honor, can I go?" "Of course you can Anndra." Artemis said as they entered camp, or now what was camp. Phoebe walked up to her goddess, handing her and Anndra their things. "Thank you Phoebe. Let's go girls! Next stop, Salt Lake City Utah."
~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~
Having only been in central Idaho, it didn't take Artemis and her hunters long to get to their first target; the first band of Drakon and hellhounds.
The goddess took out her map, she found that when they got into a city the monsters were in, it zoomed in to lead their group to the exact spot they were. Artemis made a note to thank Athena again because even though her hunters could have found the monsters easily, this kept them fresh and ready to fight.
Artemis placed the map back into her bag. "Ambush." Was the only thing she said. The hunters swiftly and quietly mounted themselves in the trees overhead, the few trees there were since the monster band had congregated themselves in a park. It was about eleven at night, being the moon's patron helped Artemis know what time it was by the placement of the moon, so the park was deserted except the monsters and them.
After making sure all her hunters had their bows at the ready, Artemis took her place on a low branch with her own bow loaded.
The goddess' eyes focused in, darting around, not staying in one place for more than a few seconds; analyzing her targets and looking for weaknesses. She blinked and she saw nothing but their heat signatures, the places where more heat showed she knew where kinks in their armor.
That's what she motioned the hunters to aim for. All she had to do was point to places on her own body corresponding with the monster's weak spots; every hunter had their eyes glued to the goddess as she gave them their commands.
Artemis focused back on the drakon and hellhounds. "Three...two...one..." she whispered so low any normal mortal wouldn't have heard it. Monsters could and Artemis was thankful didn't seem to over the crackle of their fire. "Now."
With that simple word, a three letter word that spelled out the unsuspecting monsters' doom, thirty five arrows emerged from the dark and into the faint glow of the fire. Artemis didn't have thirty five hunters, there were really only fifteen, but they were excellent with their bows and this was proven not only by each of them shooting at least two arrows at once, but also the screams and wails of the drakon and hellhounds as each and every arrow hit it's mark.
Seconds after the first scream, Artemis was on the ground with her knives out and walking calmly into the monster's camp. Most of the twenty had turned to dust upon being hit by the celestial bronze arrows, but there were a few stragglers who quickly joined their friends with but a few skilled movements of the goddess' knives.
"Good job girls." She praised her hunters. "Moving on." That's how these missions went. Short and to the point. Just how Artemis liked it.
"Where to now?" Her seven year old hunter, Shannon, asked.
"Phoenix, Arizona." Artemis answered after looking at the map. "Let's get-"
"Well, you work fast." The voice cut the goddess off. Artemis turned to the shimmering area that was still forming a few feet from her.
"Thank you Cyrus," she said. "I take pride in that." The son of the forge god nodded. "Well we're ready, we just need a city." The Manticore, Artemis remembered. She took out the map once more and told him which city it was in. "Alright, thanks Artemis." Cyrus ran his hand across his field of vision and the godly call ended.
"Come on girls."
~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~
Artemis wasn't very partial to the heat, and Arizona, was hot. Not to mention Phoenix was over one hundred the day the group arrived.
"So...Where is it?" Anndra asked, impatiently.
"Well," Artemis said while frowning at the map, "It says its ten feet in front of us."
Anndra wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Please don't tell me to our right."
Artemis nodded grimly. "To the right."
The hunters all silently gagged to each other as they walked into the building. "Would someone tell me how and why the Nemean Lion got in a male modeling building?!" Artemis' lieutenant groaned. Artemis shook her head, not knowing herself.
"Spread out girls, look for anything suspicious and don't let the mist fool you." Before she could take another step forward, she felt a weight on her left leg. Looking down, she saw Shannon clinging to her leg. "This place scares me." The young hunter whimpered.
Artemis picked her up easily, "You can come with me then hun." Before anyone noticed, the goddess changed her form, switching from her twelve year old body to her twenty five year old form; an age she almost never changed into. Then again, any form is a form she never changed into.
Artemis took a deep breath before walking in, pausing a moment to watch her hunters and watched in amusement as Phoebe kneed one of the models in the...special area for flirting with her. Shannon giggled from in the goddess' arms.
Feeling she could now leave her hunters without worrying, Artemis started searching herself. The building had three floors reserved to the company out of a twenty story building. So far, only the first and second floors were being searched. Seeing this, Artemis took the elevator to the third floor to begin her end of their monster scavenger hunt.
After almost ten minutes of searching for she didn't even know what, Artemis was ready to give up when Shannon suddenly squealed "Doggie!" The goddess' head snapped to where she pointing.
They had walked into a room that was currently being used for a photo shoot. Artemis gagged at the practically naked model that was suppose to make girls faint; men, honestly. Her attention then shifted on the little pint-sized dog the man standing behind the photographer was holding. It wasn't very big, a Chiwawa, but when Artemis focused, she saw it for what it really was.
Artemis remembered the story a past huntress had told her about fighting the Nemean Lion while on the quest for her father. It's weakness was it's mouth, that was the only way to kill it.
Now she just needed a way to get it to keep it's mouth open...and a way to get the mortals to leave, so she did the only thing she could think of. "FIRE!" There was a pause where everyone in the room stopped at looked at her. "Well what are you just standing there for? Didn't you hear me? FIRE!"
The goddess was probably a strange sight, donning her light silver hunting clothes, a bow and arrow bundle draped across her shoulder. Not to mention despite her emergency call of a fire in the building, stood calmly with a seven year old resting on her hip.
Nevertheless, the man that was holding the Lion screamed like a little girl, in fact it sounded incredibility like Shannon so much so Artemis looked down to check she wasn't the one screaming. She wasn't. The man dropped the dog and ran past her, still screaming his head off. Everyone else followed on his heels though less enthusiastically.
Artemis felt Shannon's grip on her neck tighten as the 'cute little doggie' transformed into it's true form. The goddess set her down, releasing the death-grip the little girl had on her neck, and drew her knives. "Shay, I need you to get your bow ready, and when I say shoot, I want you to shoot it's mouth. It's mouth you hear me?"
The five year old nodded numbly, still quite frightened, but obeyed and took out her bow. After she notched her arrow, Artemis turned to the monster.
Her huntress was right when she said it was huge and intimidating. It easily stood six foot from it's shoulder to the ground, it's golden fur reflected the intense light the photographers was using, and those claws...
Artemis narrowed her eyes, this over-sized pup was not going to scare her. Her grip on her knives tightened and she sprinted forward.
The lion proved faster than Artemis thought, swiping at her with one of it's giant paws as she grew nearer. She may have underestimated the Nemean, but Artemis expected it to swipe at her. She dodged in just enough time to not get splattered all over the wall.
An idea flashed through the goddess' head as she watched the monster's follow through. Deliberately, she backpedaled so she was standing next to Shannon again who still had her arrow rightfully pointed at the Lion's head.
When it's paw was back in place, Artemis charged the monster again. This time, she didn't get out of the way, and allowed it to hit her. She heard Shannon scream in horror but the goddess of the Moon, however, didn't let go of the creature's paw and allow herself to be slammed into the wall like Shannon thought she had. Artemis clung to it's paw for her life as the lion went threw the swing.
Just like the last time, the lion brought it's paw behind it's head on the back swing and that is when Artemis let go, landing solidly on the beast's back. She shook her head, clearing it from the sudden rush.
Now that I'm up here, how do I keep it's mouth open... Artemis thought to herself. "Get ready Shay!" She yelled down to the little girl.
Turns out Artemis didn't need a strategy to keep the Lion's mouth open, because at that moment, it opened it's mouth and let out a mighty roar. Artemis barely had enough time to shout "NOW!" Before she was whipped off the monster's neck.
As she flew threw the air, she watched Shannon's arrow wedge itself in the Nemean's mouth, and it disintegrate leaving only a pelt. That was the last thing Artemis saw before her head made contact with the cement wall, and she blacked out.
Shannon watched in horror as her goddess lay sprawled out on the floor, unconscious. She looked up at the huge crack in the wall apprehensively before sprinting out of the room and flew down the stairs, not even bothering with the elevator.
Tears obstructed her vision, and as the five year old turned the corner, she ran straight into another person. "Shannon? Aren't you suppose to be with Lady Artemis?"
Looking up from her place on the floor, Shannon recognized the person. It was Phoebe. "Oh Phoebe!" She sprang up and sobbed into her waist which is the farthest she could reach, being so much shorter compared to the older girl.
"Wha-What's wrong Shay?" Phoebe asked, awkwardly wrapping her arms around her younger hunter sister, she was never good with comforting people. That was Artemis' job.
"Its Artemis! She's hurt!" Immediately at attention, Phoebe scooped Shannon up and sprinted down the hall, yelled to her fellow hunteresses before running up the stairs to the third floor.
When she skited into the battle scene, she couldn't help but gasp at the painful position her patron was in. Phoebe set Shannon down just as her sisters arrived. They too looked horrified at the sight.
"We need to get to camp." Anndra said grimly.
"What about the demigods?" One of the hunters, Hannah, asked. "They expect us to meet them in Texas, plus they need the Lady's map to locate the remaining monsters."
The daughter of Zeus sighed. "We'll just have to meet them in Texas then."
"What about Artemis?" Shannon asked, tears still flowing out of her eyes.
Anndra smiled warmly at the little girl, picking her up and hugging her. "We'll take care of her, don't worry Shay."
The next time Stella called, the hunters were were already halfway thru New Mexico. Normally they could have already been in Texas, but they traveled slowly to ensure their goddess' health.
"Hey Ann!" Stella greeted cheerfully. "We killed the Manticore, and man it was awesome, you should have seen it. Talk about pay back!" When her friend didn't answer, the red haired girl frowned already expecting the worse. "What's wrong Anndra? Did you lose someone?"
The lieutenant looked back at her goddess' tent with a worried expression. "Oh no...not Artemis. That can't happen. She's a goddess."
"I know Stel, I'm worried. It's been two days and she still hasn't woken up yet."
Stella frowned at the nickname. "We'll be there as soon as we can."
"After you kill the rest of the monsters." Anndra said firmly. When Stella started to argue, she sent her a glare, which immediately quieted her. Anndra grabbed Artemis' map and opened it. "The last band is in Miami. Meet us in Austin, that's where the third group is."
The daughter of Athena sighed, knowing arguing farther with her friend wouldn't do anything. "We're on it. See you soon Ann."
"You too Stel."
~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~
"Is she awake?"
"When is she going to wake up?"
"Is she dead?"
"She's a goddess, of course she's not dead!"
The voices floated in and out of the goddess' subconscious and she groaned, not wanting to hear them or wake up yet.
At the sound of their patron waking up, the hunters all swarmed around the infirmary bed. "My Lady," Anndra said, cautiously. "Are you feeling ok?"
Artemis looked over at the raven haired girl, her eyebrows frowned in confusion. "Who are you?"