Notes: This story was made for International Wizarding Championship.
School: Mahoutokoro
Year: 3
Theme: Artemis
Main Prompt: Garden of Hesperides
Additional: Gorgon
WC: 2,544
Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but my OC's.
Just so you know, this story was created with Greek elements. It takes place in the school of Mahoutokoro. I hope you enjoy.
"I just don't get it."
A lady with black hair and gold colored robes turned around from the chalkboard with a wand in hand. "What don't you understand, Jay?"
He lifted his mocha eyes to meet his teacher's gaze and let his frustration flow. "Why are we learning about Greek Gods when we should be learning about magic spells and potions? I mean, how do Greek Gods even relate?"
"Ah, you see, Mr. Vangetta, Greek Gods are a part of the Greek culture which is one of the many cultures we cover in Ancient Runes. It is to help understand the roots of where people thought things came from and were formed."
"But, Ms. Berli, how does learning about Artemis help us? She didn't control lightning or anything." A girl around the age of fourteen finally looked up from where she had been doodling on the side of her paper as her eyes caught onto an interesting name. She had short red hair that fell in curls. Her robes were around the same golden color as Ms. Berli's and had the Mahoutokoro crest on them.
"Well, Seliel, Artemis was a goddess of the wilderness. She was immature but had wisdom others didn't. She didn't trust men because they could be decisive and cunning. She had a huntress sense."
"So, like a girl Robin Hood?"
"Erm, not quite, James," she replied. "Anyway, we'll focus more on her and those similar to her in a later lesson. Yesterday, we talked about places, like the Garden of Hesperides; a place protected by nymphs because of the golden apples; a gift to Hera and Zeus. Today, we're going to talk about some of the magical creatures, like centaurs, but we'll be covering Gorgons. Gorgons, like Medusa, were..."
And just like that, the words faded into the background as Seliel slipped into her own realm of magic.
...
"Man, I don't know why I decided to take Ancient Runes. I thought it'd be more fun."
"Would you relax, Maya? I heard that after this unit, we get to cover the origins of the King Arthur legend. How cool is that?" Seliel said with a small grin.
"I guess that would be more interesting." A yawn escaped the brunette's lips as she trudged over to her bed in their shared dorm and pulled the covers over her legs. "Hey, I thought you were actually going to bed tonight."
"I will."
"Seliel..."
"I will!" she insisted while rapidly finishing a sketch of a Snitch. "I will."
"I don't believe you."
"Geez, thanks for having faith in me."
"No problem," she answered. "Now, get that butt of yours in bed before I drag you instead."
"Just..." she bent over as far as she could in the chair at her desk. "Need to finish this."
"Nope. Finish it tomorrow."
"May-" but the teen was cut in the middle of her sentence as she felt a hand grip her own and yank her out of the chair, pencil landing on the floor, forgotten. "Maya!" she cried indignantly.
"Take it up with someone who cares." With that, she was literally tossed into her bed and the sheets were pulled up, only exposing her head. "Stay." Maya's voice left no room for argument as she pointed a stern finger in her direction before walking over to her own mattress and getting comfortable. With a snap of her fingers, the once lit candle was put out and the room was engulfed in a welcoming darkness.
For a little while, sleep struggled to come to the redhead and she tossed and turned restlessly. Sighing in frustration, she ripped off the covers and swung her legs over the edge. She did her best not to make too much noise as she rose and tip-toed back over to her desk. But luck wasn't on her side and one of the floor boards squeaked in protest at the weight being put on it. Her own ears hurt at the sound but there wasn't time to worry about that as she froze in place. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Maya shift uneasily onto her belly before finally settling down. Letting out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, she waited a minute before continuing forward and easing herself into the chair. Thankfully, she'd left her wand there after coming back and wasted no time whispering a small spell so just the tip was glowing and offered some light.
Looking at the Snitch, she didn't feel like continuing it until morning but she didn't want to trek back to her bed either, so she grabbed a blank piece of paper and set it in front of her. Seliel didn't think about what she wanted on it, rather, she let her hand be her guide.
At first, she wasn't sure what she was doing because it didn't make too much sense in her mind. It looked like a girl with a sword but then, there was a strange ghost-like figure above her. Well, not really a ghost, but more of a goddess. They seemed to be surrounded by a… garden?
As time passed, though, her eyelids began to grow heavy and her hand slowly stopped moving as her arms subconsciously moved to create a pillow to support her head. She didn't push herself to stay upright and as soon as her eye closed, her grip on reality was gone like the wind.
...
Her head kind of ached. Her muscles felt a little constricted too and it was slowly getting harder to breathe. And why did it feel like something was slithering up her hand?
Her eyes flew open and she looked around wildly only to spot… vines? Vines that were wrapping around her and tugging her body into a hedge. What the hell?!
Suddenly, something materialized in her hand and she gazed down to find that there was a steel sword with golden marks on the handle and a brown leather grip.
It was like adrenaline kicked in and instantly took over her. She swung wildly and cut the vines wrapped around her hands and legs expertly. Next, she cut through the thicker ones around her arms and stomach. As soon as she was moderately free, she pushed herself up and jumped back considerably so she was no longer in the grasp of the vines.
And just like that, the adrenaline was gone and the whole situation caught up to her brain and she doubled over, taking in as much oxygen as she could. "What the hell is happening?"
As if on cue, the sword in her hand started to vibrate; it was like a signal. Seliel raised it so it was at eye level and saw the markings on the hilt shift around until they combined and formed words she could understand.
Artemis's Challenge: Trust no one.
Her expression morphed into one of shock and extreme confusion. Artemis was a goddess of the hunt, not challenges. "I don't get it. What challenge?"
The markings morphed again.
Find the way through the Garden of Hesperides.
"The Garden of Hesperides...The Garden of... Oh!" the red-head exclaimed. "The one with golden apples and pretty ladies! What was it...Nymphs! They were Nymphs!" She jumped up and down. That was pretty good considering she hadn't paid attention to that particular lesson.
"Wait." Her excitement turned into annoyance. "I never signed up for this. What if I don't want to?" Her question was ignored and instead, the paths to her left and right lit up ominously. "Geez, thanks for giving me an option."
She sighed gruffly before focusing on the task at hand. She had to find her way out but she didn't know how. She looked to a right and saw that the garden opened up into a fountain with a single tall tree behind it. She whipped her head left and saw it led to a grove of trees that seemed to go on forever. "Which way?" She bit her lip anxiously as she looked back and forth.
The sword vibrated once more in her hand, the tip glowing as she pointed it towards the grove. She let her gaze switch between the two as her eyebrows knitted together. "I guess I'm trusting a random sword, then." She sighed at the stupidity of the situation but nevertheless trudged on.
About a minute into the grove, she was halted by a shadow that drifted through the trees. Her eyes widened in surprise and she took a few steps backwards. That did her no good, though, since she bumped into something solid but soft. Spinning on her heels, she saw the tuft of brown wavy hair that belonged to her classmate, Jay.
"Hey, Seliel," he waved awkwardly.
"Jay, what are you doing here?" She looked at him suspiciously. He was swaying on one foot to the other and his expression didn't have the worry it usually carried. It was happy.
"Just walking around. What about you?"
Just walking around? Why would he want to be walking around in this nightmare? "Nothing," she lied easily.
"Oh, cool."
"Not really."
He just hummed in response while averting his gaze to the side. "I wanna show you something," he blurted out.
"What?"
"Come on. It just over this way." His hand extended to point at the direction she'd just come from and directly at the fountain. "It's really cool."
The sword in her grip started to shaking, like it had a mind of its own, and yanked her arm up and pointed in the opposite direction. She looked between the two as she contemplated. She wanted to get out, complete this ridiculous challenge but she also wanted to go with Jay and find out what was so interesting that had him wandering around. She didn't want to leave him here either.
"I-I don't know..."
His pleading eyes were making her kind of crumble; the sword only tugged harder. Its glowing grew and the marking shifted back to read Artemis's Challenge: Trust No One.
"Trust no one..." she mumbled. Of course, Seliel thought, Artemis was a goddess that didn't trust men. She depended on no one.
The choice suddenly became clear.
"I...can't," she answered. Getting out of here was way more important. This was probably part of the wacko challenge, anyways. He'd be fine without her.
He looked at her with wide eyes. For a moment, she was sure her heart stopped as she waited for his response. The silence continued to drag on and her breathing picked up to restart her heart.
"Okay."
She gazed at him wildly. "Okay?"
"Yea," he replied with a lopsided grin. "I'll see you around, 'kay?"
Her body, which had frozen without her realization, finally moved as she backed away and mirrored his grin. "'Kay."
...
After that little encounter, she'd wandered around in whatever direction the sword had pointed her in and she'd gladly let it... until she realized that she'd passed the same pond twice.
Aggravated, she let out cry. "What is wrong with you?! I just want out, okay? I wanna leave!" She threw the sword onto the ground, landing with a rather loud thud.
As if on cue, again, the sword started to shake violently before rising up and spreading a white light that engulfed it. A scream emitted from it as the light disappeared to reveal a woman with strange white wings, a head of green snakes, and light pale skin. Her eyes were in slits and her sharp teeth stuck out slightly. In short, she had a sort of beauty hidden by a deadly nature.
Her voice was missing for a brief second, but as soon as it returned she didn't waste a second."What the heck are you?"
"I am a Gorgon. Defeat me," she hissed, "and you may depart."
"With what?!" she yelled just as the sword materialized in her hand again. She looked at it dumbly. "Oh."
The Gorgon lunged towards her, snakes flying wildly and they narrowly missed biting her shoulder when she jumped to the side. She made another attack and the redhead got quite lucky when she managed to sweep her leg from under her. Taking it as an opportunity, she swung to land a blow only for the sword to rebound. She stumbled back and landed on her butt.
Seliel barely caught her breath before she was up on her feet again and striking over and over again even though it had no effect. The creature snarled viciously as it snatched the sword from her grasp and threw it straight into a tree.
Her flight instinct kicked in almost immediately and she ran, swerving around trees while she was chased. As she continued, she found that she was further away from the sword than before. She didn't have anything to actually defend herself aside from the apples which just bounced right off.
Suddenly, her foot caught on the branch and she tipped forward.
"End of the road." The Gorgon smiled wickedly as it lowered itself onto the ground.
The panic was kicking in as she fought desperately to shuffled away. "I-I can't defeat you," she realized with horror.
The snakes became tentative and she stopped in her tracks, her expression turning thoughtful. "Mmmm, the truth is difficult. Artemis understood that." Her gaze became sharp. "Do you accept defeat?"
"I just want to go home."
"Mmm, you have passed the challenge."
"W-what?"
"You proved that you are independent and carry intuition. You have demonstrated the traits of Artemis. Congratulations." The Gorgon spread its arms wide, letting the a familiar feeling fall over the young girl. She watched as the creature disappeared along with the trees. She watched the golden apples drop to the ground, one landing in her hand, and she watched as the ground caved in around her.
And then she knew no more.
...
Waking up with a jolt, Seliel fell backwards in her chair. It took her a moment to adjust to the surroundings of her dorm but as soon as she did, she was crying with joy. That nightmare was over. It was all over.
"Finally! I thought you were gonna miss Care Of Magical Creatures. I know how much you love it."
Her head snapped around and she was greeted with her best friend's face. She stared at her blankly.
"Now, come on!"
She was pulled up to her feet and a robe was tossed into her face. As she was pushed into the bathroom, she didn't miss the flash of gold that came from her desk...where the golden apple from her dream sat.