Gaia stood from her chair and moved out of the room gracefully. I, being slightly confused, slid off the bed and scurried after her. I had managed to catch sight of her before she disappeared into a cluster of trees.
I caught up with her, and began walking by her side, my pace matching hers. We were walking in between rows of crowded trees, and I realized that I have never been to this part of her garden before.
Each step we take, the darker it becomes. Very soon, we were surrounded by blackness everywhere. I felt the slightest bit afraid, remembering my horrible dream for a split second. And then I felt Gaia's soothing touch on my left shoulder.
"It is alright, Artemis," she assures me. "I'm here."
Taking a deep breath to calm myself down, I continued walking. I felt stupid for being afraid of the dark. In the past, when I was still a goddess, I used to hunt in the dark, and I worked very well in it thanks to my stealth.
Just then, a white-flamed orb appeared over our heads. And though I had just gotten accustomed to the pitch black surroundings, I was thankful for the tiny light source.
And then, up ahead from us, I see what looks to be an entryway. It seemed to just be a big hole carved into the trunk of a huge and ancient tree. Around the entryway, there were vines of wild flowers and leaves growing on the trunk.
My curiosity heightened as I wondered to myself why this place was seemingly cut off from the other parts of Gaia's garden. It also made me wonder if there was more to the garden than its heaven-and-earth atmosphere.
"What is this place?" I asked under my breath.
We walk past the entryway, and the ball of flames above us suddenly moves ahead, illuminating the room we were now in.
I gasped when I could finally see.
It was as though we were actually inside the trunk of a huge tree. There were only word engravings in Greek decorating the bark walls. There was nothing in this surprisingly wide room except for a pool of water right in the middle that took up nearly the entire space. But what was amazing about this little pool was that it was clean and glowing a bright aquamarine.
"Whoa…" I breathed.
Gaia took notice of my awestruck expression and explains to me, "This is a sacred pool. When my garden came into creation, it was created along with it. And what's even more interesting is that the tree we are in right now actually grew around the pool after a long time, creating this sort of room."
With my wide eyes still staring at the smooth pool, I whispered, "Amazing…"
"And now, my dear, it's time you finally start to find yourself."
I shoot her a curious expression and ask, "What do you mean, Mother?"
She turns so that she was facing me and bends her knees so her light brown eyes met my dark blue ones. She holds my chin with her fingers gently in a kind gesture. Smiling, she says, "When I brought you here, it was to offer you refuge. But I was also waiting for the right moment where I will help you realize your true potential. And now is that moment."
Then she studies me and asks, "Are you ready, Artemis?"
I gulp and answer firmly, "I don't know if I am. But I will try."
Gaia gives me an encouraging smile, then straightens and gestures to the pool.
"Walk to the middle of the sacred pool. Stand there and wait," she simply says.
I look at her in confusion at first, but I turn and dipped a foot in the pool. Surprisingly, the water was very shallow, reaching up to my ankles. I lift up the skirt of my dress so that it didn't get wet and threaded slowly to the middle of the wide and perfectly circular pool. And then, with each step I take, the pool becomes deeper until when I finally situate myself in the middle, the water was reaching halfway up my thighs.
I let go of my dress, now not caring if it got wet or not. I glance at her, seeing her stand where she was and staring at me firmly.
Nothing happened.
"What happens now, Mother Gaia?" I ask her.
On cue, something strange starts to happen.
Vines were growing out of the pool and were wrapping themselves around me. I yelp in shock and began to panic. "Ah!" I shout.
"Don't be afraid, Artemis!" she exclaims. "Remain calm! That is the first step."
I was still afraid, because the vines were wrapping around me tightly and menacingly. But I knew that Gaia wanted me to stay calm, and I tried to do so the best that I can.
I take a deep breath and remain still. The vines was wrapping by itself around my torso, already done fully ensnaring my lower body. I kept my arms to the side and I felt it stick to my body thanks to the vines.
As it wrapped itself around my neck, it was then I felt that I wanted to cry for help. I was so scared, because absolutely nothing in my life had prepared me for this.
And then, I glanced at Gaia again, and saw her famous warm and assuring smile. As she looked at me, I now know what message it was trying to convey.
Be brave, Artemis.
And so, I shut my eyes, just as the vines wrap around my head and finally trap me within.
Apollo was tired, but he couldn't sleep.
He kept thinking of tomorrow, when he and the rest will go down to the land of the mortals and fight against those savage killer hounds.
He contemplates to himself about what would happen. Other than the Trojan War, he has never actually fully partaken in battle. But this was a time of need. If he loses worshipers, he might slowly lose his powers. It was the only way a god dies.
He tosses and turns on his bed, messing up his sun-yellow sheets. It seemed hot with it on, but it was pretty freezing if he took it off.
Unable to stand his insomnia, he gets up from bed and puts on a chiton over the sleeping pants he had on. He silently opens the door and slips out.
The whole palace was silent and dark, only illuminated by small orbs of white fire here and there, as he goes to the front garden of the palace. He slowly and silently opens the main palace doors and goes to the closed gates.
Apollo stands there silently, gazing at the moon that Selene had brought up. But as he stares at it, his mind once again becomes filled with images of Artemis.
He sighs in deep sadness, but he does not cry. He has already cried too much to the point where his eyes were already dry of tears.
He thinks to himself, Oh, my dear sister. If only I have finally found you. I would constantly tell you how much I love and treasure you, like how you did to me in the past. I feel terrible for letting you suffer alone. Even though you may not think that way, I feel as though it's true. You didn't deserve any of the pain. If only I had tried harder, and helped you through it all.
"Apollo? Are you okay?"
Apollo gazes at the moon a little bit longer before turning behind to look at Athena. Her dark blonde hair was tied in a loose bun and her grey eyes were laced with worry.
"Can't sleep?" he asks.
She gives a small smile. "Kind of. I was thinking about tomorrow, when I heard you leave your room."
He nods. "I was thinking about Artemis," he murmurs truthfully.
"I know," Athena says as she walks to his side. "She's basically all you think about now."
Apollo sighs. "I miss her, Athena. So much," he tells her in immense sorrow. He wished that he could cry right now, but he knows very well that crying will do no good.
"I am very sure she misses you too. I know so," Athena says knowingly.
He shuts his eyes, wanting to block out the pain in him. But once again, all he could see was Artemis. Athena was right; his sister is all that he could think of now.
"I don't know if I can manage living without her any longer," Apollo whispers in pain. "I don't know where she is now. I don't know how she is. She disappeared completely. How am I supposed to go on, not knowing whether she is alright or not? Sure, I have my mother, who is a big part of my life. But so was Artemis. When she was banished, that part of my life just crumbled to pieces."
He grasps the golden gates and places his forehead on the metal. The cooling feel of it distracted him a bit from the pain he was feeling.
Athena was silent as she places a hand on his shoulder.
"Artemis would have wanted you to remain strong, even when she isn't around. And I know you are. It's alright to miss her. She is your sister."
Apollo still remains silent, and Athena looks at him warily. For some reason, she felt the need to say just one more thing.
"She is with you. Everywhere. And most especially, in your heart."
And then, a single tear leaks out of Apollo's right eye.
He places a hand on top of Athena's on his shoulder, and whispers, "Thank you, Athena."
Apollo did go to bed the night after talking to Athena, but it was still a fruitless sleep. And he woke up just a few hours later, because it was time.
As he soaked in his bath, nymphs came into his room and laid out the armour and weapons that Hephaestus had forged for him on his grand bed. When they informed him that they have completed their task, he dismisses them.
Now having gone out of his bath, Apollo looks at the armour given to him. There was a bronze chest plate that was to be worn over a knee-length chiton, arm guards and shin guards. There too was a bronze helm for him.
Slowly, he puts on his armour and readies his weapons; two daggers, his golden bow and golden arrows. After he straps the bow and the quiver of arrows to his back, he walks to his closet, retrieving something that he wanted to bring for luck.
The shard of silver.
He felt the need to have a part of Artemis with him as he went to the battlefield, believing that it would give him strength. It was the only thing he had of her, because her things were still locked inside her room, kept in there forever.
He skims his thumb over the silver, being careful of the sharp edges. He was staring at his reflection in the metal when there was a knock on the door.
Believing that it was time to leave, he opens the door and makes his way to it.
But when he sees his mother standing on the other side, he stops in his tracks.
Leto looks washed and well-groomed now. But her eyes were still tired and grief-stricken.
Before Apollo could even say anything, she rushes towards him and grasps him in a tight hug. He hugs back just as tightly, hearing his mother cry into his chest.
"Please…" she whispers. "Be safe…. Come home…"
Leto pulls herself away and kisses Apollo's forehead lovingly, hoping that he will survive and return safe and sound. Apollo hugs her once more, longer this time.
He then makes his way to the front garden with her, and he sees the others boarding their chariots. There too were others who came to see them off. Aphrodite was in the middle of kissing Ares. Amphitrite gives a swift kiss to Poseidon's cheek. Persephone hugged Hades tightly.
But most surprisingly, Hera was there, giving Zeus a peck on his lips and whispering something in his ear. When she turns away, her eyes meet Apollo's.
He glares at her. But to his shock, her eyes held not so much anger as it usually did. She only glances at him once before walking away.
Brushing it aside, Apollo gets on his readied golden chariot. His horses were neighing, awaiting his command. Not once had he let go of his mother's hand, until finally, Zeus announces, "Let us ride!"
And slowly, one by one, they left, with Zeus leading them. Apollo glances at his mother again, who gives him a soft smile before finally letting go of his hand just as his chariot rides off.
"I love you, mother," he whispers just as his ride takes off into the air.
And in his heart, he says, And I love you, Artemis.
Arise, the Goddess of the Hunt, who rules over the sport greater than many others; male and female alike.
Arise, the Goddess of the Wild, tamer and Queen of the creatures that dwell in all the forests on Earth.
Arise, the Goddess of the Moon, who inherits the ownership of the celestial orb, just as the Titaness Selene had before in the past.
Arise, the Goddess of Virginity, who represents and protects the pure young mortal females who protects their chastity before they become no longer a maiden in marriage.
Arise, the Goddess of Fertility, who, at her birth time, had caused her mother little to no pain as she came into existence.
Arise, Goddess Artemis. Wake to hear me, your creator.
Author's Note:
Hi, everyone.
I just wanted to tell you that I've already started writing Chapter 28, and it's seriously difficult to write it -.-
So I hope I can manage to complete it, as usual, by tomorrow. And I hope it turns out well.
Muse of Fanfiction
