Disclaimer: See "Stories of the Hogwarts Sisterhood"
To flamers: I don't take kindly to flames so get out of here, if you know what's good for you.
Note 1: This is a sequel to "Stories of the Hogwarts Sisterhood"; taken place several months later during Easter holidays, so read that first.
Rated Pg-13 for language, content and characters' death.
Thank you for your reviews!
Tabby_4ever, Jestana, Liz O'Brien- See this chapter for answer.
Chapter 27: The Goddess Artemis
Achilles felt as if a knife had pieced through his heart. "Missing?! What do you mean missing?!"
Dumbledore sighed deeply. "She left this on her pillow this morning before I woke up."
He held out a small piece of paper and Achilles took it. He read:
Albus,
I have enough. Although Achilles is back, I'm still depressed about Athena. I decided to go somewhere peaceful and quiet to get away from this place. Don't worry about me, I will be okay.
Minerva
"She didn't say when she would be back!" said Achilles in panic. "Where could she be? Does the Hogwarts Sisters know about this?"
Dumbledore nodded grimly. "Yes, because I have asked them about her before I come here. They are frantic. I searched our summer house too, she's not there."
Achilles hopped up and down in desperation. "Oh, I hope Mom wouldn't do anything rash!"
***
Meanwhile, Minerva was strolling slowly on top of a cliff on an island in Greece (yes, I said Greece) near the edge of the Aegean Sea. She stared remorsefully out at the waves and sighed as she watched them hit the rocks thousands of feet beneath her. The wind blew through her long hair (she didn't tie it up) while she closed her eyes and listened to the sea gulls' cries.
***
At night, Minerva went to the island's hotel and stayed there. Her room was small, the bed looked rather uncomfortable, but she didn't mind. At least there was a balcony facing the sea.
***
The next evening, Minerva climbed up the steps to the top of a hill a few hours later to explode. She just reached the summit when a group of tourists walked past her, chatting in English.
"Isn't it fascinating?"
"Sure is. I wonder if Athena's temple looks as cool as this."
"I'm sure that it looks very grand when it is first built."
"Of course it must be, Artemis is one of the twelve Olympians, you know."
Minerva was still with surprise. Artemis?
"Just a minute, young man!" she called to one of the tourists.
A boy in his late teens turned around. "Yeah?" he asked slowly.
"What did you say about Artemis?" asked Minerva
"That she is one of the twelve Olympians. What? Did I get it wrong? I mean, I have been studying about Greek mythology for ages!" asked the boy in panic.
Minerva felt like laughing. This boy behaved like Achilles when he was younger. "No, I just want to know why you suddenly talks about her."
"O-oh! Because the temple we had just gone into used to be Artemis's temple," said the boy, pointing at a ruined temple not far away. "You should go and see it, it's amazing!" said the boy excitedly.
"Fine, I will." said Minerva, nodding her head.
"Okay, so bye now! And check out Artemis's marble statue! Despite all these years, with all the earthquakes, wars and stuff, most of her body parts manage to stay intact!"
"Yeah, like the Venus de Milo!" added another boy.
"Bye!"
The tourists went down the hill. Once they did, Minerva turned around sharply and went straight towards the temple.
***
By the time Minerva arrived at the temple, it was getting dark.
Minerva stared at the temple in awe. The boy was right, it was amazing. Although most of the walls and roof of the temple had collapsed, it could still stand as a whole. Pillars, big pieces of marble and broken tiles were lying scattered on the white marble floor. Either nobody bothered to clean this place up or they thought that the temple should not be disturbed along with its other pieces.
Minerva stepped up to the long flight of dusty steps that led to the temple itself and looked around the place. She could just imagine what it looked like thousands of years ago: people with robes walking around, talking in Greek, people giving glances at the temple, them kneeling right in front of it, praying hard. A priest standing at an altar in front of the temple, sacrificing an animal (or delicious food) to Artemis..
But now it was already the 21st century, the temple looked as if it was going to fall in one of these days.
Minerva went into the entrance and stopped immediately when she saw the statue of Artemis.
The statue was huge, it was as high as a 2 storeys building. It was completely white and was standing on an enormous platform. Artemis's left arm was gone, but her right arm was and holding an arrow. Some of her toes were gone and there's a rather large crack on her neck. A few chunks of marble had fallen off her short robe, her thighs and chest.
Minerva checked whether if there was anyone else in there with her. When she found that there was no one, she kneeled down.
She put her hands together. "Oh mighty Artemis, please. If you could answer my prayers, I need you to tell me why you take my daughter away.."
***
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew right into the temple. Minerva looked up in shock and she got up immediately. The wind continued to blow wildly, messing up Minerva's hair. The wind was so strong that Minerva felt like she was going to be blown away any moment. Suddenly, the wind stopped as sudden as it came.
She saw something sparkled in front of the statue and she backed away as sliver sparkles went higher and began to form a shape.
Minerva stared with her mouth dropped open as the shape ended up as a woman's form. Then, the sparkles disappeared, leaving a beautiful woman behind.
"Oh Merlin.." Minerva mumbled as she looked at the woman.
The woman was tall, even taller than Albus himself. She had long brown hair, so long that it reached her ankles. Her eyes were brown as well. She was tall and had a perfect body. She was wearing a short, light blue robe which was so short that it only reached her thighs. Her sandals were silver and looked as if they were made yesterday. Her headband was silver as well. She also had a bow and arrows with her.
"Good evening, Minerva." said the woman in a rather charming voice.
"You, you are...."
The woman just stared back and smiled gently.
"Oh Merlin!" exclaimed Minerva and she kneeled. "Minerva McGonagall pays her respects to the Goddess Artemis!"
Artemis gasped and went to Minerva with her arms outstretched. She put her arms around Minerva and tried to get her up. "There's no need to pay your respects to me, dear Minerva!"
"I have to." said Minerva seriously, remaining firmly to the ground. "And I won't get up until you give the command."
"Really, there's no need!" said Artemis quickly.
Minerva didn't respond.
"Oh well, if you insist.." Artemis muttered and rolled her eyes. "You, you may rise."
Minerva got up.
Artemis looked at Minerva carefully. She touched Minerva's cheek gently.
"My dear Queen Cold-As-Ice, look at you, pale and weak. You look like you are going to collapse any moment."
"I will if I carry on thinking about Athena like this." said Minerva, tears once again rolled down her cheeks. "Artemis, why do you take her away? She's only seventeen and there are so many things for her to do.."
"Dear Minerva, it is not I who take her away." said Artemis quietly. "It is Death who takes her away."
Minerva sniffed. "A-and you couldn't..."
As if she had read Minerva's mind, Artemis shook her head. "I could do nothing. Minerva, I love Athena as much as I love my brother Apollo, even though she and I have not met in person. I often watched her on Earth from my place in Mount Olympus. Do you remember what happened when she was born?"
"Yes, there's a shower of shooting stars."
Artemis nodded, satisfied that Minerva remembered. "I am the one who send the shooting stars down, as a celebration to Athena's birth."
Minerva raised an eyebrow. "You?"
Artemis nodded again. "Come, let me show you the whole thing."
Minerva swallowed. "All right."
Artemis waved her hand and a wooden bench appeared on the floor. She held Minerva's hand and led her to the bench. "Let's sit down."
They sat down and once Artemis made sure that Minerva had settled down, she waved her hand again.
A large, rectangular mirror appeared out of nowhere.
"This is my personal mirror. It stores all my memories since the beginning of my birth." introduced Artemis. "Do you want to look at what exactly happened during your daughter's birth? From my point of view?"
Minerva nodded eagerly.
"Fine."
Artemis raised her arms. "Mirror of Seiromem, show me my memory of the second of July, 1986!" she commanded.
To flamers: I don't take kindly to flames so get out of here, if you know what's good for you.
Note 1: This is a sequel to "Stories of the Hogwarts Sisterhood"; taken place several months later during Easter holidays, so read that first.
Rated Pg-13 for language, content and characters' death.
Thank you for your reviews!
Tabby_4ever, Jestana, Liz O'Brien- See this chapter for answer.
Chapter 27: The Goddess Artemis
Achilles felt as if a knife had pieced through his heart. "Missing?! What do you mean missing?!"
Dumbledore sighed deeply. "She left this on her pillow this morning before I woke up."
He held out a small piece of paper and Achilles took it. He read:
Albus,
I have enough. Although Achilles is back, I'm still depressed about Athena. I decided to go somewhere peaceful and quiet to get away from this place. Don't worry about me, I will be okay.
Minerva
"She didn't say when she would be back!" said Achilles in panic. "Where could she be? Does the Hogwarts Sisters know about this?"
Dumbledore nodded grimly. "Yes, because I have asked them about her before I come here. They are frantic. I searched our summer house too, she's not there."
Achilles hopped up and down in desperation. "Oh, I hope Mom wouldn't do anything rash!"
***
Meanwhile, Minerva was strolling slowly on top of a cliff on an island in Greece (yes, I said Greece) near the edge of the Aegean Sea. She stared remorsefully out at the waves and sighed as she watched them hit the rocks thousands of feet beneath her. The wind blew through her long hair (she didn't tie it up) while she closed her eyes and listened to the sea gulls' cries.
***
At night, Minerva went to the island's hotel and stayed there. Her room was small, the bed looked rather uncomfortable, but she didn't mind. At least there was a balcony facing the sea.
***
The next evening, Minerva climbed up the steps to the top of a hill a few hours later to explode. She just reached the summit when a group of tourists walked past her, chatting in English.
"Isn't it fascinating?"
"Sure is. I wonder if Athena's temple looks as cool as this."
"I'm sure that it looks very grand when it is first built."
"Of course it must be, Artemis is one of the twelve Olympians, you know."
Minerva was still with surprise. Artemis?
"Just a minute, young man!" she called to one of the tourists.
A boy in his late teens turned around. "Yeah?" he asked slowly.
"What did you say about Artemis?" asked Minerva
"That she is one of the twelve Olympians. What? Did I get it wrong? I mean, I have been studying about Greek mythology for ages!" asked the boy in panic.
Minerva felt like laughing. This boy behaved like Achilles when he was younger. "No, I just want to know why you suddenly talks about her."
"O-oh! Because the temple we had just gone into used to be Artemis's temple," said the boy, pointing at a ruined temple not far away. "You should go and see it, it's amazing!" said the boy excitedly.
"Fine, I will." said Minerva, nodding her head.
"Okay, so bye now! And check out Artemis's marble statue! Despite all these years, with all the earthquakes, wars and stuff, most of her body parts manage to stay intact!"
"Yeah, like the Venus de Milo!" added another boy.
"Bye!"
The tourists went down the hill. Once they did, Minerva turned around sharply and went straight towards the temple.
***
By the time Minerva arrived at the temple, it was getting dark.
Minerva stared at the temple in awe. The boy was right, it was amazing. Although most of the walls and roof of the temple had collapsed, it could still stand as a whole. Pillars, big pieces of marble and broken tiles were lying scattered on the white marble floor. Either nobody bothered to clean this place up or they thought that the temple should not be disturbed along with its other pieces.
Minerva stepped up to the long flight of dusty steps that led to the temple itself and looked around the place. She could just imagine what it looked like thousands of years ago: people with robes walking around, talking in Greek, people giving glances at the temple, them kneeling right in front of it, praying hard. A priest standing at an altar in front of the temple, sacrificing an animal (or delicious food) to Artemis..
But now it was already the 21st century, the temple looked as if it was going to fall in one of these days.
Minerva went into the entrance and stopped immediately when she saw the statue of Artemis.
The statue was huge, it was as high as a 2 storeys building. It was completely white and was standing on an enormous platform. Artemis's left arm was gone, but her right arm was and holding an arrow. Some of her toes were gone and there's a rather large crack on her neck. A few chunks of marble had fallen off her short robe, her thighs and chest.
Minerva checked whether if there was anyone else in there with her. When she found that there was no one, she kneeled down.
She put her hands together. "Oh mighty Artemis, please. If you could answer my prayers, I need you to tell me why you take my daughter away.."
***
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew right into the temple. Minerva looked up in shock and she got up immediately. The wind continued to blow wildly, messing up Minerva's hair. The wind was so strong that Minerva felt like she was going to be blown away any moment. Suddenly, the wind stopped as sudden as it came.
She saw something sparkled in front of the statue and she backed away as sliver sparkles went higher and began to form a shape.
Minerva stared with her mouth dropped open as the shape ended up as a woman's form. Then, the sparkles disappeared, leaving a beautiful woman behind.
"Oh Merlin.." Minerva mumbled as she looked at the woman.
The woman was tall, even taller than Albus himself. She had long brown hair, so long that it reached her ankles. Her eyes were brown as well. She was tall and had a perfect body. She was wearing a short, light blue robe which was so short that it only reached her thighs. Her sandals were silver and looked as if they were made yesterday. Her headband was silver as well. She also had a bow and arrows with her.
"Good evening, Minerva." said the woman in a rather charming voice.
"You, you are...."
The woman just stared back and smiled gently.
"Oh Merlin!" exclaimed Minerva and she kneeled. "Minerva McGonagall pays her respects to the Goddess Artemis!"
Artemis gasped and went to Minerva with her arms outstretched. She put her arms around Minerva and tried to get her up. "There's no need to pay your respects to me, dear Minerva!"
"I have to." said Minerva seriously, remaining firmly to the ground. "And I won't get up until you give the command."
"Really, there's no need!" said Artemis quickly.
Minerva didn't respond.
"Oh well, if you insist.." Artemis muttered and rolled her eyes. "You, you may rise."
Minerva got up.
Artemis looked at Minerva carefully. She touched Minerva's cheek gently.
"My dear Queen Cold-As-Ice, look at you, pale and weak. You look like you are going to collapse any moment."
"I will if I carry on thinking about Athena like this." said Minerva, tears once again rolled down her cheeks. "Artemis, why do you take her away? She's only seventeen and there are so many things for her to do.."
"Dear Minerva, it is not I who take her away." said Artemis quietly. "It is Death who takes her away."
Minerva sniffed. "A-and you couldn't..."
As if she had read Minerva's mind, Artemis shook her head. "I could do nothing. Minerva, I love Athena as much as I love my brother Apollo, even though she and I have not met in person. I often watched her on Earth from my place in Mount Olympus. Do you remember what happened when she was born?"
"Yes, there's a shower of shooting stars."
Artemis nodded, satisfied that Minerva remembered. "I am the one who send the shooting stars down, as a celebration to Athena's birth."
Minerva raised an eyebrow. "You?"
Artemis nodded again. "Come, let me show you the whole thing."
Minerva swallowed. "All right."
Artemis waved her hand and a wooden bench appeared on the floor. She held Minerva's hand and led her to the bench. "Let's sit down."
They sat down and once Artemis made sure that Minerva had settled down, she waved her hand again.
A large, rectangular mirror appeared out of nowhere.
"This is my personal mirror. It stores all my memories since the beginning of my birth." introduced Artemis. "Do you want to look at what exactly happened during your daughter's birth? From my point of view?"
Minerva nodded eagerly.
"Fine."
Artemis raised her arms. "Mirror of Seiromem, show me my memory of the second of July, 1986!" she commanded.
