Ari Tems was the kind of person that, if you passed her on the street, you would never be able to guess her secret. Wavy black hair, green eyes, and pink lips. Her cheeks weren't rosey and she never wore make-up. She'd wear jeans, and despite her beautiful figure, they were not 'skinny'. She might wear a tight T-shirt once in a while, but she also wore a zip-up jacket that was a little big, and didn't hug her figure at all. She attracted no attention. Or, rather, she wouldn't if she actually went for a walk in town. She didn't.
All of her time was spent in the forests. Among the trees and ponds and animals. She didn't go to school, she had no parents. She had no house or friends. You might wonder then, how she wore jeans and T-shirts and jackets. But you would not care much about that if you knew her secret. If you knew her secret, you would be afraid of her. That's why she never told anyone. Why, even when people had known her, she stayed away from boys. Boys were so... tactless. Crude and cruel. Even her twin brother... no. She would not think of him. The pain was too much.
All the time she had been alone because everyone she knew, her family and friends, were gone. The evil had taken them, and she had not been there to help them. Now she was almost alone. Looking desperately for anyone from that time. The time before the evil, the happiness and the wholeness of the world. When she still had her brother. When she was not constantly searching.
She moved between the trees like a shadow, the bow and quiver of arrows on her back didn't rattle or make any other sound. She must be here . . . close. . . . A slight movement to her left had the girl whirling around, crouching low and her bow in her hand.
"Easy, child," came the voice. Unearthly and beautiful, the voice would have any other being cowering in fright or awe. Or both. Ari simply relaxed. The wolf came then, silver-grey with eyes green as the girl's.
"My Lady," she greeted the wolf, bowing her head respectfully. "I am surprised you came without your pack."
"When I got your message I took the hint that you would not talk if there were any others present."
Ari nodded slowly. "You are wise indeed."
"Now tell me, what would the great Knakeatis want with her mother's Roman friend?"
Ari seemed to flinch slightly at the name, looking around quickly. Being reminded that her people were not the only ones to have suffered the horrible fate. "I am called Ari, now." She said quietly, looking down at her leather boots. The wolf seemed to look at the girl with concern, if it was possible for a wolf to look concerned. Then something happened. Shadows seemed to lengthen of their own accord, enveloping the animal. Ari didn't seem to notice, she was still looking down at her boots.
Then, a woman stepped forward from the spot where the wolf had been. Green eyes and dark brown hair braided with feathers, along with a grey silky-looking dress that shimmered as she moved to hug the girl. Then she spoke with the wolf's voice. "The charade has made you tired, my dear. Why don't you drop it? Just a while, to get back your energy."
The girl shook her head resolutely. "I have to keep this up. If I allow myself to become again what I once was..."
"My dear, exhausting yourself won't help you find them." Ari looked the woman strait in the eyes, and something seemed to flicker, her eyes turning bright blue for just a moment.
"Nothing will. I have been searching for years, but I cannot find them. Was I the only one spared? No, because my uncle is on his throne still. At least, his servant, Death, continues to help me in fleeting moments. But still there is nothing."
The woman pursed her lips, eyes narrowing. "But you are not giving up hope," she noted. "That much is apparent by you asking for an audience. Something that you haven't done 'till now."
"I could not find you," the girl answered as the wind picked up, blowing her hair around her face. It could be a trick of the light, but as her hair danced in the wind it seemed to shimmer silver. "But I can feel him."
"Your brother?"
Ari paused, eyes slightly unfocused. "Yes," she said quietly. "But I do not know where he is, if he knows who he is, or even if what I am sensing is him."
"Your heart cries," noted the woman, "for an end to the loneliness. It is amazing what magic can create in such circumstances."
The girl bit her lip. "I think... I think it is him. I... the sun seems brighter, and it's not as easy as it once was for the moon to raise early on such days as it is supposed to."
"Then I do not think you need to worry about him knowing who he is my dear. And I think he will be looking for you just as much as you are looking for him."
"That is what I came for. I must ask for your help finding my brother. Who knows what danger he could get himself into?" The last sentence was said with a joking tone, but there was an undercurrent of worry there as well.
"So," the woman said, "you wish for the talents that I possess as a wolf?"
"Yes?" Ari said uncertainly. "I can always sense him, but whenever I follow the trail, I lose it. Very embarrassing considering who I was . . . and your wisdom is unparallelled." The woman nodded in understanding, and stepped back into the shadows. She stepped back out, silver fur rippling in the breeze.
Wolf and girl stood there, looking at eachother for a while, then Ari closed her eyes, breathing deeply. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, no longer green, but bright blue. Her head snapped to her right, and she took off, sprinting through the forest with the wolf at her heels. Trees blurred until they resembled a watercolor abstract. The smell of the forest washed around the pair as they ran, leaf mold, pine sap, and a smell that can only be described as green. The sound of a brook, or a bird calling, the alarm call of a squirrel as they burst past, came to their ears. Life resumed to something resembling normalcy once they were past.
Eventually though, the girl stopped, chest heaving as she looked around her again, before closing her once more green eyes. The wolf stopped as well, ears pricked.
"I can't find it," the girl murmured sadly. "The trail; I've lost it. It always happens. And always here. I'm always drawn here, but he's not here."
The pair were standing next to a waterfall that cascaded into a pool of clear water. The bottom of the pool was not muddy or covered in leaves and rocks, but pure, white sand. The sun rose higher overhead, reflecting off the water as Ari put her head in her hands, collapsing next to the water. The spray from the waterfall collected on her skin, but the girl didn't seem to care.
The wolf, meanwhile, was pacing as she twitched her ears. "What was it said you were called now? Ari? Well, listen to me Ari." The girl looked up gazing dejectedly at the wolf. "You don't know if the sense you had was pointing to your brother, just that you could feel him. What if this place," here the wolf gestured with her silver muzzle to the pool, "is drawing him as well?" The girl snorted.
"That wouldn't do much good now, would it? He never cared for feelings, for mystical things such as magic." Ari stood and stared down into the pool. She dropped to her knees next to the pool, looking at it as though considering something. Carefully, she drew her hand through the water. Her fingers seemed to grow longer, slimmer and paler, and when the ripples had dissipated, the whole pool seemed to be reflecting the moon. It's silver light bathed the small clearing, temporarily blocking out even the sun's light. Ari's black hair seemed silver as it had when it blew about in the wind, her skin pale as the moon itself. Then the girl touched the water again, and as quickly as it had come, the image faded away.
The wolf seemed surprised, drawing the shadows about her to once more become of human shape. "You are upset," she observed. "You hardly ever did that, even during our time. Create the moon in the middle of the day. I'm surprised, Diana."
The girl jerked as though she'd been burned. "Don't. Call. Me. That." She said, her voice low and threatening. "Ever." Ari was breathing hard, green eyes wide, almost feral. The woman raised an eyebrow with something like amusement. "Do you hear me, Lupa?" the girl demanded. Slowly, the woman nodded. Then, without any warning, an arrow impaled itself in a tree across the clearing. The arrow was not like the wooden arrows Ari had in the quiver at her back, rather, they were shiny as if made of gold.
"Who are you?" The young man who stood at the top of the waterfall glared down at them, another arrow fitted in his bow. His blonde hair caught the sun and glowed gold like the arrows on his back. His eyes were a deep brown, body tanned and muscled. He wore blue jeans and a bright white zip-up athletic jacket.
Lupa, who had turned into a wolf once again, growled as her hackles rose, bristling at the intruder. Ari froze, her back to the young man as he jumped down the rocks and began to walk towards her threateningly. Lupa growled, crouching down as if to attack him. Her fur rippled as her lips pulled back to reveal very sharp fangs. Sensing the danger, the man raised the bow, pointing the knocked arrow in her direction. Lupa snarled again.
"Apollo," Ari said suddenly, whirling around. "Brother . . ." so-called Apollo focused more on Ari again, lowering his bow slightly as she looked at him with calm green eyes. But at the same time, there was nervousness in the way she licked her lips.
"Arty?" Apollo seemed slightly incredulous as he took a step towards the girl, forgetting about the wolf. "Is that really you?" Now the girl bit her lip, and nodded slowly. Her hair seemed to send silver light dancing around the clearing.
There was a rattle as the bow was dropped carelessly on the ground. Apollo ran to embrace his sister and Artemis hugged him back. Because that was Ari's secret. She wasn't normal, wasn't even mortal. She had been one of four, now five, old deities to survive on Earth; or under it, for that matter. The goddess of girls and women, childbirth and the moon, goddess of the hunt. Some might go so far as to say she was the goddess of purity.
A strange thing happened as she stood there, clutching her brother against the fear of losing him again. As Lupa watched, the sun seemed to grow brighter, the air warmer, the grass greener. As Lupa watched, the moon appeared next to the sun yet could still be seen. As Lupa watched, Apollo and Artemis -the twin archers, the children of Zeus and Leto- became whole once more. And as Lupa watched, the world began to right itself.