(Olympus, inside the throne room)
The throne room of Olympus, a truly magnificent place to see, though few have had the privilege, especially after the events that transpired a year ago. The Primordial Goddess Gaia, who attempted to end the rule of the olympians, had made it near impossible for the gods to not act suspicious these days.
At the moment only two people were actually present, and how unlikely that they would be alone in a room together without destruction being unleashed. Zeus, The king of the gods, and the god of the sky, who paced back and forth, much to the irritation of the other god present in the room. Hades, The king of the underworld, and the god of the undead, leaned against a pillar on the side of the room, rolling his eyes every time his brother made another lap.
"She should have been here by now." Zeus complained impatiently, increasing his pace as his brother Hades shook his head.
"You do realize this whole problem could have been solved a long time ago by forcing Aphrodite to unbind the curse. It has become a burden to me as the centuries have gone by, because she would have a tantrum when someone wouldn't bend to her will." He said with an annoyed sigh, causing his brother to glare at him.
"What? Am I wrong? The more of them that are made, are the more that die. If you had nipped this in the bud when it started, we wouldn't be having this problem." Hades spat out angrily, matching his brother's glare.
"I understand that." Zeus said, anger lacing his voice, "But I can't interfere in what another god does, it will ruin the power balance that is barely being sustained as is!" He finished, angrily going back to his pacing, just in time for the doors to the throne room to be thrown open, and a young girl, with a silver bow and the garments of a huntress, to stroll in. her silvery yellow eyes swept the throne room, finding the two other gods in the room immediately.
"Father." She said as she approached, bending at the knee and then turned to Hades with the same respect. "Uncle." she finished, both gods moving to stand in front of her.
"Artemis, I'm sorry to call you from your huntresses, however I want to know what took you so long, I sent for you an hour ago." Zeus spoke quietly, suspicion lacing his voice like he thought she had delayed on purpose. Ignoring his tone, she nodded, clearing her throat.
"When you called, my hunters had engaged a pack of werewolves, one that we have been hunting for a few weeks now and supposedly hosted Lycaon. I had to assist my huntresses in finishing them off, and that took precedent at the time. I apologize." She answered, causing Hades to shrug.
"In any case it doesn't matter, your father is just impatient." Hades said calmly, causing Zeus to turn on him. Before he could open his mouth, Hades continued. "We have called you because we need you to do something you will absolutely hate." He finished, causing artemis to furrow her eyebrows in confusion.
"I'm not sure what you could ask of me that I would absolutely hate Uncle." She spoke out, clearly unsure of Hades intentions.
"You will understand in a second, but know only you can help with this." he spoke, raising his hand, causing a dark hole to appear in the floor, widening as he held his hand up.
As he did this, both Zeus and Artemis watched in silence, Artemis slightly confused still, and Zeus in sorrow.
A human form appeared in the portal, slowly rising from the blackness, its hands bound with stygian chains, and its muscular body only covered in a black tanktop and a black jeans that were tore on the bottom. This terrifying form was complete with its head, which was shrouded in darkness, only allowing its bright white eyes to show. It sat hunched, its arms hanging limp beside it's still body.
"What is it?" Artemis asked in slight horror, noticing that the person seemed to be male, even though it didn't emanate an exactly human energy. This caused Zeus to sigh, and Hades to shake his head in disgust.
"Before I answer that, you know that in the world of gods and goddesses, names carry a heavy weight, even with deities such as ourselves?" Hades asked, causing Artemis to nod. "Well if the right curse is performed, in the right circumstance, and your "Name" will become obsolete." He finished, causing Artemis to furrow her eyebrows again.
"Obsolete, as in they can't use that name? Or that they can't remember it?" She asked, causing Hades to chuckle darkly. " If only it were that simple. No, when a person's name becomes obsolete because a curse has been placed on them, such as in this case, they completely forget their very being. They are stripped of their very essence, which is nearly impossible to return to them. They become simple husks that can live without food, without water, without the very products that breathe life into their essence, and then they die from old age. Because they have no purpose, they have done no crime, and no special deed, in fact they have literally done nothing except sit in a single spot their entire life. They do not understand that time passes without them." he finished, causing Artemis to gasp, and then stare at the person's stygian cuffs.
"Why do you have it restrained? And furthermore, what happens to him in your realm?" she asked, staring at the chains in sadness.
"It is the only way to keep them from fading completely, by chaining them to the world of the undead, since they can go nowhere. They are not qualified to go anywhere when they die, they can't even go to the fields, because they have done nothing, ever." He said, shaking his head.
"Well then, now I want to know how this involves me and my hunters." Artemis said, looking between Zeus and Hades, letting the statement set in.
"Well the problem we are facing, is that these nameless are becoming more frequent in hades, and are causing a strange rift, one that is allowing monsters to escape tartarus from the entrance pit in my kingdom. This appears to be a byproduct of the curse's energy becoming more frequent as of late. Already I have had to personally deal with three drakon attacks that have been focused on Elysium." Hades spoke this, a venomous tone lacing his voice.
"Of course, this wouldn't have been a problem if Aphrodite hadn't been a complete and utter brat." Hades spat out, causing Artemis to turn on her father. "What does he mean father, what has Artemis done?" she asked in confusion, causing Zeus to sigh, shaking his head.
"It started around five centuries ago, when a man refused to fall in love with a married woman, even under Aphrodite's influence. This angered her, and she cursed him to be nameless, so he would be unable to love at all, even after he passed. As more men matured to be respectful individuals, the more Aphrodite cursed them, because she couldn't bend their will." he spoke out gravely, causing Artemis to go pale.
"That is… disgusting. Even I wouldn't curse a man to such extent.." she whispered out, turning to stare at the shrouded face of the man, whom had not moved even once during their conversation. He only stared ahead, not really looking at anything.
"That still leaves the reason I have been brought here however." Artemis stated, causing both Hades and Zeus to look at each other uneasily.
"Well we found a way to cure this curse, and we need only cure one of the males affected to cure the rest." Hades stated, and held up his hand as Artemis opened her mouth.
"The part you will dislike is that, according to Aphrodite, the only way to unbind the curse is to give one of the males a sense of purpose under a deity that has hold over the forbidden to love." Hades finished, causing at first, Artemis to be confused, and then surprised and angered.
"No." she spoke out quietly, causing Hades to sigh in irritation. "Please Artemis, we need you-"
Artemis cut Hades off with a snarl. "Absolutely not. I forbid it, in fact it would throw off the reputation of the hunters, not to mention the man in question would be hated from start to end." She growled out, and hades growled back.
"I don't care!" he snarled, a black wave of energy surging out in his anger. "For once, set aside your hatred of males, and think of the bigger picture! I don't even ask you to like the man you are given, only that you allow him to live among you, as a guard, an attack dog, a dishwasher, I DON'T CARE!" He thundered, his voice causing Artemis to falter slightly, fear growing in her eyes.
"The only way to fix my kingdom, and essentially the doors of death, is to combat love with the absence of it. Aphrodite has been punished already, and is spending the next 100 years abstaining from forcing any form of love, nor is she allowed to play a part in the affairs of her children. Now I expect a far more respectable goddess to at least CONSIDER assisting in this endeavor!" He finished, pointing at Artemis as he spoke his last few words.
She stood, slightly red in the face as she regained her composure and looked to her father, who nodded at Hades, leaving no doubt that for once, the brothers had agreed on something. She then walked to the bound male, and tapped his shoulder experimentally, jumping back as his shrouded head swiveled to look at her in an instant, his silver eyes not leaving the spot she had been a second before.
"If he is in this state, how will I be able to even attempt to give him a sense of purpose? He is barely functional." she asked incredulously and Hades nodded, walking up to the bound male.
"You have to give him a nickname, to bring a sense of servitude. At that point the recovery will begin. He will not recovery his memories, but he will recover his essence. When he has fully recovered, his fellow nameless will also be cured. At that point you may do what you wish with him." Hades finished quietly, leaving Artemis to her silence.
"You know I usually feel no sympathy for mortals. They are far too fickle and dangerous, usually bringing their own doom upon them." Hades started, walking back to the pillar he was leaning on before, "But no one, no mortal or immortal, deserve a fate this terrible." he spoke, finishing as he leant against the pillar once more, leaving Artemis to her decision.
"And this will be the male?" she asked, regarding the massive male in interest.
"Yes, out of all the pasts that we searched through, this specific nameless was by far the most innocent. He was an orphan, and as he grew he took in animals to his home in a cave. He made a sort of shelter where animals could come for safety and protection. He attracted the audience of a princess, already set to marry a prince from a foreign land. Aphrodite saw that he wished that she would stay and attempted to trick him into capturing her. He refused on every level, and she cursed him after he saw through every trick and temptation she threw at him." Zeus spoke out, causing Artemis to nod, her eyes growing soft.
"Hmm, I will take him, he will serve as a sanctuary when the hunters are in their darkest hour." she spoke out, and Hades nodded, gesturing or her to finish the claiming.
"I name thee Hagion, the Sanctuary of The Hunt. May you hunt with us, fight with us, and feast with us, until you can hunt no more." Artemis finished, standing back as The man stayed still, staring at her for a second before slowly standing up straight. At full height he stood around 6'5 and almost all of his body showed muscle. He looked so well built that it seemed as if he spent most of his time working out, even though he had been in a darkened trance for well over a couple hundred years.
His face slowly appeared, along with the white light retreating from his eyes, leaving bright blue iris' and a sad and childlike face draped in dark red hair that must have grown out of control in his solitude.
"I… I am confused." He said, his voice deep, but calm. "I… do not remember anything."
With that statement he looked around at the three gods in confusion, settling his eyes on Artemis.
"Can you help me? I can't remember." he said, his voice lowering to a mumble. Artemis nodded and walked up to him, taking his hand in her own.
"You won't remember anything, and that is your curse. You must shape your new future, as Hagion of The Hunt." she said softly, frowning sadly at his childlike confusion.
"My name is Hagion?" he asked and Hades nodded putting his hand on Hagion's shoulder. "Yes, it is Hagion, and this woman here, Artemis, is your new mother. She will take care of you, just like she does in the others of The Hunt." though he spoke softly, Hades seriousness was easy to pick out of his tone.
With that Hades walked to his brother, and nodded at Zeus, who turned and walked with him into the darkness of the night. That left Artemis with her new charge, who's confusion only grew worse.
"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do.." He spoke quietly and Artemis nodded, before swiping her hand down, causing a silver portal to appear in the wall, where she walked, guiding Hagion.
"Come Hagion, you need to meet your sisters." she ordered and he nodded, taking a step into the portal.
Artemis followed, feeling a pang of sadness at the thought of the way he would be treated by the hunters, needless of what she, Artemis, wished. He would be left in the dust, just as he had in his past, and she couldn't do anything about it.
With that she shook her head clear of these thoughts, and stepped fully into the portal.