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Chapter 2
The Goddess of Hunt
"Get out you lying, wretched traitor! Never come back, and may the gods let you cease
to exist from the Hesperides again!"
Eldest sister's shrieks of rage echoed and pulsed through my ear drums each step out of the garden. Past the cherry trees, father's fountain, the immortal golden apple tree, and lastly, the deadly Ladon himself. Dragging my feet upon the clearing, the giant bronze gates suddenly open as if by an invisible force, and bangs thunderously after my very last step inside the Garden of Hesperides.
And now, I am alone.
"Dear child, why do you cry so?"
I lifted my bed ridden head and brushed crisps of leaves and tangled hair out of my eyes. Lowering my head for respect, I gazed at the person's feet. Glowing sandals like dewy moonlight glowered faintly at me.
Shuddering at the amount of power they radiated, I softly whispered Hercules' name.
I could hear a hiss and the howl of a wolf in the background.
Like magic, I felt a force tilt my chin up towards the stranger.
"Some call me the goddess of the moon," she began, stroking a baby fawn that wasn't there before. "Pray tell your parents taught you the background of each god?"
A young maiden, no mere than 18 year of age, dressed in glowing robes that shone brighter than the moon.
"O-of course," I agreed. "My lady," I added for respect. "You are nonetheless the divine goddess, Artemis, goddess of the Hunt?"
"Correct. Pardon my appearance if my form seems too demeaning for your eyes."
She put the fawn down gently and instructed me to shield my eyes when a blinding gust of wind transformed her into the form of a young maiden.
"Come, sit next to me. A maiden like you should not dwell on the grounds," she chided.
"Y-yes, my lady," I said quickly. I scrambled up and straightened my dusty robes that dimmed blankly in the moonlight.
She placed her delicate hand on my knee. "You say that man, Hercules, has caused the fall of your tears?"
I didn't dare met her blazing eyes. "Yes."
"Look at me," she said. "All men are filthy liars. You can not never trust them. A intelligent and wise maiden like you should not go astray with matters of love, marriage, so forth. Maidens simply have more time for better things then men. Men are nothing but useless, chauvinistic pigs," she said, spatting at the last part.
I thought about how Hercules never did me any good. He was all the things Artemis described. I hated him. I could not bring myself to trust another person again, much less a man. He destroyed my life.
"Very well," she said. "My dear girl, will you join the Hunt?"
I didn't have to think or ponder and I began to recite the oath, for I am Zoe Nightshade, a huntress of Artemis.
