thank you so much for all the support and all the subscribers and likes. I would never have thought that I would become so many.
I'm sorry that it took a little longer, but I had some stress with the university and unfortunately did not progress as quickly as I had wished. I wish you much enjoyment reading and hope that you like it. Chapter 2: Honor thy Promise
Determination in adversity is always half the way to salvation. - Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
The next morning came much too quickly for the hunters of Artemis, although the sun rose above the horizon much later. A clear sign that the god of the sun was still deeply in mourning. Even the color and intensity of its rays was not strong and bright as usual, but rather dull and hardly giving any warmth.
At 7:00 a.m., the hunters gathered as usual in the common room of the palace of their patron saint to have breakfast together. The mood at the table was still depressed, it was only now that it was made clear to them that their mistress would not fight with them and at their side. But the younger members noticed that their eldest sisters and their lieutenant radiated the usual, if not an even more dogged determination. Their lieutenant's face, like their own, was still slightly tear-stained, but their steely charisma had returned.
"Sisters, good morning, I know I am not Lady Artemis, but I hope to lead you all in her absence as if she is with us. We have already survived many battles and numerous dangers and all these experiences have not been able to defeat us, the hunters of Artemis. The way we must go now without Me Lady will be hard, but I am sure that we will all get through this time without any losses. I spent all last night thinking about how best to organize ourselves so that Me Lady finds us all safe and sound, and I have concluded that in addition to my command, you will turn to your sisters Atalanta, Cassandra and Pheobe for your tasks. They will refine your use of your weapons, assist you in learning new skills. Nevertheless, I am still your contact person, if you have problems or need to be comforted, I will always help you.
WE, sisters, are the hunters of Artemis, the terror from which the monsters flee and who hunt them. We, sisters, are the ones who protect damsels in distress and hunt down abusive scum. We, sisters, protect our family by fighting against what others cannot do because they lack experience and skill. We, sisters, will go through this crisis together, overcome it and become stronger in it than before. We will not let anything, or anyone get us down.
WE are the hunters of Artemis."
After this impromptu speech and the last proclaimed words, the hunters emitted a " Hau" like one person and the sound of foot stomping was the only thing that could be heard for seconds.
"Sisters, last night we received a task. Lady Aphrodite's nine-year-old daughter Layla is being mistreated by her relatives, who are maybe her uncle and others. Our task now will be to cross the country as quickly as we can and rescue her. Although we have differences with the Goddess of Love about her views, this is about a nine-year-old girl who is defenselessly at the mercy of scum."
"You can count on us Zoë; we'll save her and if we're lucky we'll get a new sister too" Amy now gushed in anticipation of castrating the pig or pigs
"Aye sister, but don't forget we have to rescue her first before she might join us" Grace reminded her cousin and sister
"And where is that exactly Zoë? Where is that girl? You merely said on the other side of the country" asked Megan
"She is located in Olympia, Washington, so that is a good distance to cover"
"You are right Grace, so we should hurry, if we are quick, we could be there in 4 days". Spoke Christy in response
"Aye sister, if we hurry, we should be able to make it to the west end of Ohio today, as soon as we leave the city behind" Pheobe joined in.
"All right sisters pack up and get ready to leave, set out in half an hour after breakfast".
The breakfast was then a noisy and despite the circumstances quite cheerful affair, sisterhood now had again a goal to focus on and a potential outlet to release the frustration, grief, and anger. By eight o'clock, all backpacks were now packed, boots laced, and the hunters gathered in the entrance hall of their patron saint's temple.
"Sisters be strong, it will be unfamiliar, but we can do this. All of us. Together."
And with these words, the lieutenant was the first to step out into the open. At this rather ungodly hour, no one was yet walking the streets of the holy city, yet everyone remained vigilant. They had already experienced too often that they were suddenly accosted or harassed by male gods.
Their way led them now in the direction of the Agora, from there they wanted to take the main street along the different temples and take the elevator back into the world of the mortals. The Agora, which was usually busy even in the early morning hours, seemed to be deserted, only two merchants from Atlantis, who had already begun to spread their goods for today, could be seen.
The group was just turning onto the main street when Pheobe, who was bringing up the rear, was overcome with an uneasy feeling and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. They were being watched, but not by the two merchants, but by unfriendly eyes that much was certain.
She tapped Grace who was walking in front of her and said loudly:
"Grace are you also excited to see how the campers will do against us today? I have these new boxing glove darts that I've been dying to try out."
Grace turned around and for a moment the confusion was evident, but she understood the code her sister was trying to convey and replied loud enough for Zoë at the top to hear her
"I don't know Pheobe, but the campers will definitely lose, as always. I would like to see and try the arrows you are talking about though. They sound like a good tool to humiliate the campers even further"
The second of the hunt tensed, had she understood. Whoever it was going to take advantage of the fact that Artemis was not with them. They would try to shake off whoever it was in the woods outside New York.
"Pheobe, how many of these new arrows do you have? If Grace is so excited about them, I'd like to try them out too"
"Unfortunately, only one" came back the daughter of Ares sadly.
"They were really expensive 13 drachmas each".
"I see, too bad. Save it well and aim carefully with it. Maybe you'll manage to hit one of the guys in his manhood. Then you'd be doing the world a favor. That is if you don't trip over your own feet again"
"What's that supposed to mean sister? You know very well that I am the better shot. I'll bet you ten drachmas that I can do it."
So, the pursuer was now on their left and they were still a good distance from the bridge and the elevator. The other girls who had now realized what they were about were now casting barely discernible glances to the sides. They didn't want to be ambushed in any way.
After five more minutes, they finally reached the stone bridge and looked back.
"I'll never get used to or sick of this view" said Christy in awe
"I'm right there with you sister. In all the decades I've been traveling with you now, no place has been more magical than this" said Emma, a clear-eyed mortal who saved the hunt from Al Capone and his mobsters in the 1930s.
"Come now sisters the road is still long, and we want to reach our destination early" Zoë spoke now after a moment of silence, she too had now grasped the uneasy feeling. However, this presence seemed familiar to her in a certain way, even if she had not felt it for several centuries.
And so, the group of 20 girls and young women set off and passed the bridge. The elevator doors opened, and the group hastily entered. Amy, who was closest to the buttons, pressed the down button, the doors closed, and the elevator descended. Japanese pop music played and Atalanta groaned:
"You'd think Dad would never grow out of the bubble of his Japan trip."
To which resounded peals of laughter, they all thought the situation was too funny.
The doors opened and they were greeted by Aloysius:
"Good morning hunters of Artemis, I wish you a good hunt, be careful not to be seen by mortals on your way out. Good luck."
They nodded silently to the guardian of the gates and stepped into the bustling streets of Big Apple. With purposeful steps, they marched west toward the wilderness. All of them were tense after Pheobe's exclamation, and their first destination today was a temporary camp they had built at the city limits a good 80 years ago. Here they left their faithful hunting wolves, because despite the fog surrounding them, it must have looked extremely suspicious to mortals if wolves were suddenly running around in the largest metropolis of Western civilization. The mist also had the advantage of hiding all their equipment, from camouflage clothing to weapons, so that to the rest of the world they looked like a group of teenagers of different ages.
After a good two hours of the urban jungle of New York, they finally reached their stage destination, where they were promptly greeted by the alpha wolf barking and wagging her tail. The tension clearly fell from them, they felt safer in the presence of the Lunar Wolves. With the blessing of Artemis, each hunter was able to communicate with these wild animals of the forest, and so her lieutenant turned to the lead she-wolf and explained in brief what had happened during her stay on Mount Olympus. The leader whimpered during this narration, she and her pack had sensed that there had been a great change.
When the reunion was over and the plan was explained to the pack, the hunt started again. Their next destination was to reach Pennsylvania in the early afternoon. Here in the wilderness, they were considerably faster and were able to take full advantage of their patroness' blessings, and so at three o'clock they reached their destination. A forest outside Harrisburg. Here they stopped for a rest and consumed their midday meal, the first without their mistress. Out of habit they offered her part of their meal, and the flame of the sacrificial fire seemed to glow silver for a moment despite the absence of their goddess. They dismissed this as a good omen, but after the sacrifice they felt freer from worries and their hearts were clearly lighter. They noticed, however, even after they had set out again, that they were more refreshed and fit than they had been used to despite the march. Finally, in the early evening hours, they reached their destination: a small headland on the western edge of Lake Erie. After pitching their tents, feeding the wolves, and eating, the group of semi-immortal young women sat down around the campfire in the center of the camp. All of them were thinking and the silence was interrupted only by the crackling of the wood and the soft sounds of breathing or sighing. The elders among them, however, could not quite relax, they were still queasy. The presence that had been watching them as they left Olympus had obviously lost them in the dense city crowds of New York, but in the late afternoon just before they reached their destination for the day, it was Atalanta who had felt watched. She had made the decision at that moment and all the four oldest had believed they four should best spread out among the group to best protect their sisters.
All four wondered who had the nerve to pursue and watch the hunters of Artemis, the oath-bound maidens. What were the intentions of this person, was he friendly to them and wanted to watch over them, although they were very capable of doing so themselves, or were the intentions more sinister, insidious, and evil in nature? Therefore, they sat a little apart from the others, whispering to each other to confer:
"Cassandra, you and Atalanta take second watch in five hours when Pheobe and I relieve you, I don't trust this silence around our camp. Even the wolves are tense. It's a bad omen."
"All right, but should you, Artemis forbid, find yourselves in need, call for help first. This boy will then think twice about taking on the entire hunt"
"Aye sister, we will. The same goes for you. But I don't think we should let the rest in on it. They're already tremendously tense and nervous, no need to bother them with it."
"Alright, let's keep the others ignorant for now, so they can at least sleep tonight, if the situation gets worse tomorrow and in the coming days, we'll need more than two per wax sight anyway."
At Zoë's last word, the other three hunters nodded in agreement. Zoë then stood up, cleared her throat, and then explained in a slightly louder voice:
"Sisters it's late and the road is still long, we should go to sleep now. I want us to reach the Minnesota border tomorrow and if luck is with us, we can even pass. Lights out in five and no talking back".
After this announcement, the sisters rose and went, partly grumbling partly silent to their tents, until Pheobe and Zoë remained alone at the fire. Silence once again fell over the camp.
Neither, however, was deceived by the peace and idyll, and both listened to their bows ready for the night. About an hour after midnight, they had just put new wood on the fire to keep it going, they noticed how the wolves became restless and raised their heads and sniffed. And then they felt it, the presence they had shaken off had returned.
They looked to the southeast, to the edge of the camp, and there, in the semi-darkness, they spotted a hooded figure hiding behind a dead oak tree. She was tall, about six and a half feet, broad-shouldered, male in stature. Its body and face were hidden by a hooded black cloak.
Alarmed, they sprang to their feet, their bows ready to fire, the arrow on the string. The wolves now stood protectively before them. The hairs on their necks bristled and their teeth bared. Growls of the leading wolf cut the silence of the night.
The figure now that it had been discovered stepped out from behind the oak. In the starlight, a metallic object flashed on the side of the cloak. Without hesitation, she strode toward the two hunters and their wolfish companions.
"Who dares intrude here? Who dares disturb the hunters of Artemis? Show yourselves!" shouted Pheobe in a loud voice.
The figure gave no answer but stopped a good two meters in front of the she-wolves. The exclamation, however, also caused Atalanta and Cassandra, who had been dozing rather than sleeping, to startle and rush to the aid of the other two. Arrows on their sinews, they raised their bows into firing position and waited.
"I will not ask you again, who are you boy? What gives you the right to disturb us, the hunters of Artemis in our night's rest?"
Suddenly an inexplicable fear came over her. It seemed to emanate from the figure. Even the fearless wolves began to whimper and make way for the now advancing figure. Still the figure did not answer, the only thing that could be made out was a hissing snort. The hairs on the back of the four hunters' necks stood on end, their hands clasped tremblingly around their bows.
"Lord Phobos, what do you want here brother?" Stuttered Pheobe now, who had turned white as a sheet.
"What little sister, can't a big brother visit his sister? I am here to comfort you and your friends. Your heart must be heavy that your goddess is now gone. I will help you overcome your sadness and distract you," the now identified God of Terror spoke arrogantly, his hood pulled back. His eyes glittered with insidiousness and undisguised lust.
"Lord Phobos, you are trespassing, leave before we open fire" Cassandra now spoke, but the tremor in her voice made her threat seem rather mild
"But why then hunter, you are so lonely, I just want to keep you company" and with these words black and red shackles shot out of the ground. They seemed to have a will of their own, or rather the will of Phobos, because in a flash the hunters found themselves weaponless facing the lustful god of terror.
Atalanta tensed and was drawn back into the terror of her village's destruction, watching the bandits slaughter her brother and father, grabbing her mother, the screams of helpless women, her mother's pleading, the bandits' raucous and ghastly laughter.
"But, but hunter, do not despair. I am here and I will comfort you."
"I warn you god of terror, lay a finger on my sister and you will be castrated." Zoë voice radiated power and indomitability, snatching the now shaking Atalanta from the prison of her thoughts
"Last warning, you go you are unwanted".
Then several things happened simultaneously. The advance of the lustful god, a glaring light behind them, the daimon's cry of pain, Cassandra's yell, and the booming of a voice they knew.
The day began, if someone had asked him, much too early for the god of the sun, healing, foresight, and archery. The night had been too short, too many experiences he had to process. The murder of his son, the banishment of his beloved sister, his own punishment, the encounter with his sister's companions, the pronunciation of the prophecy, the analysis of the prophecy, the predestined birth of his nephew, the revelation of his now sister-in-law, his sister-in-law?! It had been too much for him.
"The world set in flux" he grumbled to himself, "it's upside down and about to turn somersaults too".
It frightened him how much the murder of his son had taken a back seat. How could he mourn his son when he had been willing to deprive his half-sisters and even his aunt of their sacred oath? How...? but he interrupted himself from his thoughts, he would try to find answers to his questions later. A glance at his golden watch told him that he was already late for his cleaning duty at his sister and her huge library. He groaned. He'd never get done with it, and then he'd have to do the hunters' chores, too. And that was for the next decade. He was the god of the sun, not the god of chores Styx-again. And with a flash of golden light, he disappeared from his bedchamber and appeared in front of his sister's palace. He knocked on the huge blue and gold gate and waited. The gate opened by itself and he entered to make his way to Athena's study and library. He found her as usual in an armchair, a huge book on modern warfare of the U.S. armed forces in her hands.
"You're late cleaning all the shelves and then doing chores for the hunters Apollo" the goddess of wisdom and warfare rebuked him
"Good morning to you too" he grumbled back, not very enthusiastic about what would follow now
The goddess said nothing but smiled in a way that had otherwise made him and Hermes take to their heels. She knew perfectly well that he would have to do everything by hand and would not be allowed to use his Divine powers.
"In front of you, you will find a bucket of water and the rest of your cleaning utensils, I assume that you have the wisdom not to use excessive amounts of water, because should my books receive water damage..." she said to a diabolical grin and with a snap of her fingers, the required cleaning utensils appeared.
But instead of talking back to her or teasing her in any other way as would otherwise have been his teenage behavior, he grunted and gathered up the needed materials and made his way to the bookshelf nearest him to dust it and then clean it.
Athena watched him for the rest of the day; he didn't seem his usual self. He was unnaturally quiet and seemed changed. The usually carefree, immature childish god, was changed by a mature, thoughtful, brooding god. During the day that he served his sentence with her, she could hear him sighing and gulping repeatedly. It was almost as if he was having a conversation with himself or with his Roman counterpart himself. But what could it be? She had to find out. Knowledge was power and power brought victory.
"Apollo what has you so upset?" she asked late in the afternoon when he had now rolled his eyes and sighed several times. Yet he ignored her. The proud goddess couldn't let something like that get to her. She was just about to speak to him when she realized that he was so deeply engrossed in his work and his mental conversation that he had not heard her. Whereupon she now stepped quietly behind him to avenge herself to him for all the plastic spiders that he and Hermes had repeatedly hidden in her palace and especially her bed. Now standing behind him, she said much louder than necessary:
"Apollo?!" the god flinched, dropped the bucket and the duster and other things, and turned around
"What! did you say something sister?"
"Yes, indeed I did, brother. What made you so upset, not that I see the change as negative. On the contrary I would thank the one who caused it." She now spoke mockingly.
The Sun God shrugged, but instead of looking her in the eye, he looked at a shelf behind her and replied:
"Why don't you try serving a sentence, beaming with joy, when you're still mourning about your dead son. Even if he had been willing to abuse a goddess. And not enough, said goddess is your twin sister? I'd like to see that SISTER." he last two sentences were spoken with a helpless anger Athena rarely knew from him. She could not imagine, how she would cope in a situation like this. However somehow, she could also see he was not telling her everything
"Brother, I know I am not Artemis. I will not be able to replace the relationship you have. But whatever is bothering you, you can confide in me and I will help you find a solution" the goddess now spoke in a soft voice, still trying to find out the real reason for his absent attitude.
"I thank you for your words Athena, but there is nothing I want or wish to talk about. This is a matter I must settle with myself" he spoke, but a little too hastily, for his half-sister's eyes narrowed
"Alright Apollo, I asked you, you deny that there is something that is bothering you. I will get behind this riddle and solve it."
"There is no riddle Athena, let go of your fantasy" he now declared loudly, but also a little panicked.
"Your reaction says otherwise, Apollo I will find out and acquire this knowledge. After all, I still have a decade to get it out of you best".
But now his behavior changed even more drastically and even more uncharacteristically. He looked at her silently for a long time and his eyes had something pleading in them. He swallowed and finally spoke in a shaky voice:
"My dear sister, you will know soon enough, but please, promise me that you will desist for now. It could have disastrous consequences for the future. I ask you as a brother and your sister's brother please."
The Goddess of Wisdom now looked at him with wide-eyed eyes, dazzled like deer in headlights. He had not said it openly, but it was about Artemis and her future. What could be so dramatic as to put the otherwise impetuous, childlike god in such a state of shock? She had to find out...no, if it was about the future of her sister who was otherwise influenced... but just then she would have to do something, she was the goddess of wisdom, she would wait for the time being. Let time play for itself, eventually he will make a mistake and blab, she thought. And then I will confront him again.
"Alright Apollo, I'll leave you alone, for now" her gray eyes locked on him calculatingly
"But know, should it not be earth-shattering, you will feel what I do to acquire knowledge and get my way"
At the word "earth-shattering" the sun god swallowed hard and avoided her gaze
"Sister, you will know soon, I think. I think I am done here for this week. I am leaving now to fulfill my other duties."
And before she could stop him, he disappeared in a flash of golden light.
In the middle of the night, about an hour after midnight, he was out clubbing with Hermes to distract himself and drown his sorrows and thoughts in alcohol, he felt his eldest daughter Atalanta praying to him. The emotions he felt through her prayer were fear, helplessness, and pure terror.
"Father, please help us, even though we don't deserve it, Phobos has invaded our camp and is harassing us. We are defenseless against him and he is getting closer and closer to us".
For a few seconds Apollo forgot everything around him. Even the picture-perfect 21-year-old brunette he had been eyeing a few minutes ago and flirting with extremely violently a fraction of a second before, no longer mattered at that moment.
"Hold on honey, I'll be right back. I just have to take care of something" he winked at her.
He tapped Hermes on the shoulder, in whose arms lay tightly wrapped a no less 22-year-old blonde.
"Brother, we need to do something for a minute. It's urgent."
"Go away Fred I..." but he broke off in mid-sentence. He had not forgotten the oath taken by Apollo and judging by the grim look on his brother's face his nieces were in trouble.
"Sorry beauty, my brother and I just have to run an errand. We'll be right back, why don't you go get another drink".
The blonde and brunette weren't too thrilled that their advances were briefly interrupted but beamed when they were assured the two handsome guys, they had hit on would be right back, with the excuse that someone was bothering their little sister and of course they couldn't leave it at that, they were knights in golden armor in the eyes of mortals. As soon as the two gods were out of the mortals' sight, they disappeared in two flashes of golden light to appear right behind the hunters, who were stiffening with fright.
They saw Phobos moving towards their cousin Cassandra with outstretched hands and leering eyes. Without thinking about it, a now foxy Apollo shot a golden arrow at the god of terror, hitting him in the right shoulder. The aura of terror around the girls disappeared instantly. Hermes raised his staff and boomed in a loud voice:
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING, PHOBOS. FLEXIBLE A MUSCLE AND I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT IT MEANS TO KNOW PAIN AND BE FEARED BY THE BRUTH OF ARES. "
The god of terror took a step back. His hand went to the golden arrow on his right shoulder and pulled it out with a smacking sound. He glared at the gods who had just appeared
"What are you two doing here? Can't you see I'm busy? I came to comfort these poor young girls. You'll scare them away."
Just as he finished the sentence, a silver arrow struck him in his uninjured left shoulder. Pheobe's face was consumed with rage and clearly showed her disgust.
"YOU! Boy get out of our camp; you have no right to linger here. Your presence disgusts me, just the thought of being related to scum like you... makes me sick. Swear by Styx that you will never bother the hunters of Artemis again."
"How dare you demigoddess I am..."
"Swear or my arrow will cost you your manhood" now retorted the recollected Atalanta as well
"If I don't beat you to it... "Zoë spoke with a wicked glint in her eyes
"Lieutenant, I am the god of archery, you girls may be trained by my sister, but I would still beat you to it" now Apollo also thundered, the next arrow already on the string
"I would beat him to a pulp before you could even stir. Phobos don't even think about escaping now, we caught you in the act." Hermes announced his intentions and watched the God of Terror with narrowed eyes.
"Okay, okay no need to get violent right away guys. I just wanted to help these poor young beauties."
Everyone's bowstrings tightened and Hermes raised his staff, ready to strike at the slightest movement.
"But in my generosity...I Phobos, God of Terror, do hereby solemnly swear by Styx that from now on I will not molest nor come near the hunters of Artemis."
"Satisfied Sunny boy?"
"Watch out boy, I'm going to inform Lord Ares of your offenses. And you know I'm in his favor" Pheobe now still bristling pissed off
Phobos swallowed. He knew exactly what this meant. His father would give him hell. For he knew very well that Pheobe was the Only Daughter of the God of War in the last 3000 years and her divided father had developed an overprotective instinct towards her. With one last evil look at the two gods and his half-sister, he disappeared in a red-black glow.
"Well, that went better than I thought it would. For a moment, I thought this pig... Your threat to your father visibly scared him sister."
"Who says it was a mere threat my dear sister?! Nobody messes with my sisters!" spoke a now diabolically grinning Pheobe. She now turned to the two shivering gods and bowed
"Lord Hermes, Lord Apollo you have my thanks for saving my sister from this vile beast."
"Aye, Father, Lord Hermes, I too thank you for your intervention. Hopefully, something like this will not happen again..." spoke a visibly relieved Atlanta
"I join my sisters, you my dear cousins have protected me, have thanks Lord Apollo, Lord Hermes" Cassandra slightly tilted her head in the respective direction of the two gods
"Lord Apollo, Lord Hermes, as Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis, I thank you for your appearance and intervention. You have protected not only my sisters standing here and me, but also our still sleeping sisters. Should you need the rescue of one of your daughters, do not hesitate. The hunters of Artemis will take up this cause to pay our debt."
This statement of Zoë's left the two of them standing with their mouths open. A thank you from Zoë Nightshade and the offer of a favor from the hunters for saving one of their daughters was not received every day. The bows and words of thanks from the others were not lost on them either.
"Apollo did I just hear that correctly! Artemis you mean trusted hunters thank us?! You can't get that lucky, maybe the evening will only get better for us!" A now broadly grinning Hermes declared.
"Oh, my dear brother, no you heard right. The fearless Zoë and her cunning companions thank us. But you are right brother, the evening can only get better now. Maybe when we return, we will find the two beauties again" laughed a now good-humored Apollo.
This was commented with rolling eyes on the part of the four immortal teenagers
"Idiots, just when you think they've finally grown up after all this time..."
" Boys"
"I didn't even want to know exactly what these guys were doing again"
"Can't they be serious for once"
They stood there for another moment shaking their heads at the childish behavior of their rescuers until Cassandra cleared her throat
"Sisters, now is actually change of watch but I would rather we all watch. After him..." she shook herself "I would feel safe if we all kept watch" she finally concluded
"Cassandra, you are right. My fatigue has passed through the fright hour and I could not in good conscience lay me down to sleep now knowing that you two alone are keeping watch. I will keep watch by your side" explained a now again dead serious Zoë.
"You said it Mitéra" laughed Pheobe now quietly, much more relaxed than before.
Zoë blushed and looked to the side, sounding in retrospect like a mother hen watching over her children. She mumbled something incomprehensible to the others but nodded. Whereupon the rest broke out in quiet, but nevertheless violent giggles. Even though the thought was still strange and unfamiliar to them, it amused them greatly to make the usually stoic, proud Zoë Nightshade blush and tease her with it. And so, the four elders of the sisterhood sat huddled around the dying campfire until sunrise, talking in whispers. Yet their bows lay ready to hand in their laps in case of unwanted visitors, be they monsters or other perverts. The wolves, too, had recovered from the terror god's attempted assault and were back at their posts, dozing. By sunrise, the tension of the night had fallen from them and they had fallen asleep leaning against each other. About seven in the morning, the other unsuspecting and fully asleep hunters stepped out of the tents. The first thing they noticed was that the hunting wolves their mistress was holding had settled around their respective tents and were guarding the respective tent entrances. At second glance, they saw their four oldest sisters asleep, leaning against each other with their bows on their knees. Had their sisters kept watch and let them sleep? Had something happened during the night that they had not noticed? Then they noticed a spot of ichor on the ground near one of the outer tents. Close by lay a broken golden arrow. They felt uneasy, for their fears were confirmed that they had had an unwanted visitor during the night, and that the four sleeping ones had apparently kept watch and fought off the intruder, an immortal. But the golden arrow pointed to Lord Apollo. Had he come and protected them despite their offense? They wanted answers, and since Lord Apollo had not yet come to do their chores, they obviously needed to wake their sisters. And so, Amy gently tapped the Cassandra closest to her on the shoulder. The reaction was lightning fast. She flinched noticeably, jumped up, wheeled around, bow in hand, and reached for an arrow from her quiver. As she did so, she bumped into Pheobe, who was sleeping next to her, who startled with an "AHHH" and pulled out one of her hunting knives and lunged at the would-be attacker. The other two also startled up from their sleep and reacted in a similar way, so that Amy was now facing two arrowheads and two bare knife blades.
"WOW, WOW, WOW. Calm down sisters, it is me Amy. No need to draw your weapons right away. What happened during the night that you are sitting here, and the wolves are acting like this?" Amy now spoke soothingly but also quickly to her sleepy, panicked sisters
It took a moment for the rushed look on the faces of the four to settle and for them to shake off their drowsiness. They then realized that the supposed attacker was the rest of the hunters. Cassandra and Atalanta lowered their bows and took the tension off the bowstring and down the arrow, while Pheobe and Zoë put their hunting knives back in their leather sheaths.
"Sorry Amy, that wasn't intentional, after what happened last night, I'm still a little flippant about being touched. We had a visitor last night..." Cassandra spoke after a moment of silence, practically spitting out the word visit.
"The visit was the present tense that Pheobe had already sensed yesterday morning on Olympus. It was that disgusting boy..." she continued now only to spit out the word boy again
"This disgusting boy was my divine half-brother Phobos, god of terror..." began Pheobe.
"He must have heard us of Me Lady's banishment and thereupon watched and followed us all this time. According to the words of this pig of a brother, he wanted to help and comfort us over the loss of Me Lady...that scum!" she now again angrily stammered out, because as the only daughter of the God of War, she had actually always gotten along well with all her divine brothers. She suspected, however, that they were all too afraid of the wrath of their divided father, since she was Daddy's little girl, a title she unfortunately could not discard no matter what she did.
Now a grin appeared on her face that had already made many gulps. Be they her sisters or the male residents of the two camps.
"But I will tell my father about the behavior of my oh so beloved brother. I'm sure father will be overjoyed that he badgered his only daughter and even tried to force himself on her..."
Despite the unpleasant thoughts of what could have happened to their sisters and what had happened, everyone was now laughing uproariously. Gloating was always good and best when the victim was a boy. Just imagining what the God of War would do to his soon-to-be disgraced son made Dina fall over laughing.
"Oh, this is too good, too bad we can't be there to watch this..."
"I agree, sister."
And with these words, the daughter of Ares closed her eyes and sent her prayer to her father. She explained to him the events of yesterday day and night. As well as in every detail what her half-brother had said and implied to her. Even halfway through the story, she felt the God of War's anger swell and finally explode like a volcano when she reached the end. She winced several times as she felt her father's enormous, unbridled rage run through her. After about five minutes, her father calmed down and assured her that Phobos would receive his just punishment and that he could not be seated again for the next century. Lord Ares, however, admonished her to continue to be on her guard, as word of Artemis' banishment had already spread and, as a father, he did not want to see his little warrior princess hurt. He would, however, make sure that word of the intervention of Apollo and Hermes would get around as well.
Pheobe grumbled at the fact that she was once again daddy's little girl, she was after all the daughter of the God of War but gratefully accepted her father's warm words.
"Alright sisters, Lord Ares has been informed of the situation and will take care of my brother. He also warned me that more of those perverted pigs might show up, since word of Me Lady's banishment has already spread."
"Okay listen up everyone. From now on, there will always be four of us on guard duty at night. I don't want to lose any of you by carelessly dismissing danger. We may be better than all the male demigods, but a god is a different caliber. That is why we will keep watch through the night in two-by-two shifts. Our wolves will support us, should something happen during the night pray to Lord Apollo as he is sworn to protect us. He also keeps this oath as we could see last night." Now gave the lieutenant of the hunt the tone
"But he is male!" Shouted now Dina, who did not trust anything that had a male genital further than she could throw the person
"DINA, it makes no difference. Lord Apollo is a god, he must be respected. He is the god we owe to still being here unharmed. He and Lord Hermes responded to our prayer for help within seconds last night and protected Cassandra and us. This is my final word!" Zoë replied in a stern tone that demanded absolute obedience.
Dina nodded, unable to make a sound. Was this tone of the second of the hunt usually heard only from her mistress, when she brought bad news from Olympus and demanded absolute silence.
"Sisters, we will now wait for the arrival of Lord Apollo. Then breakfast will be taken to us. We will then continue on toward the Minnesota border about nine o'clock, where we hope to spend the night without incident."
She had barely finished speaking when the God of the Sun appeared behind them in a flash of golden light.
"Good morning hunters, I hope the night was quiet except for the minor incident?"
"Good morning Lord Apollo, there were no more incidents."
Only now did the four nightwatchmen notice that Apollo's T-shirt was on backwards, his hair was wild and disheveled, and they could clearly detect the smell of alcohol and women's perfume. To which Atalanta groaned something like "Typical Father" and shook her head dismissively. Which was commented on by the other three with a "Boys."
"Alright hunters, I haven't the faintest idea how we can get to a chord as far as doing your household chores."
"I was thinking that you Lord Apollo will prepare breakfast for us every morning and sharpen new arrows for us every other day. I will not entrust the laundry work to you. Since you have already sworn an oath to Artemis, this should be more than enough, since we, too, want to show humility and repentance towards you." Zoë now opened the conversation
"That sounds like a fair deal. Oh, dreaded Zoë Nightshade. But why don't you trust me with the laundry work?" asked the god with a wink
"You know exactly why, Lord Apollo. We do this to make you..." but she broke off and blushed, muttering something unintelligible
"ha, I the brilliant Apollo have made the hunter of Artemis blush." He now exclaimed, only to screech in response as an arrow made its way just below his manhood between his legs.
"FATHER, that's enough of that. Otherwise, you'll be feeding the wolves too, and they don't like men" Atalanta now interfered to end the war of words as quickly as possible.
"OK, OK it's alright." And with a snap of her fingers, in front of the hunters stood a golden table heavily laden with food what a hunter and wanderer could use for a hard day. After a brief exchange of glances among the young women, they hesitantly grabbed it. At ten minutes past nine, the sisterhood was finally ready to depart. Their gear placed in their magically reinforced backpacks, their boots laced up, their silver parkas donned for winter weather.
"Alright, I'll see you again tomorrow morning hunters, see you soon. I'll be watching you" The God winked and disappeared in a flash of golden light after making sure everyone had their eyes closed.
"Onward sisters, the road is still long, and I want to avoid unnecessary rests to avoid unpleasant encounters." And with these words their leader started moving in inhumanly fast steps.
And so, two uneventful days passed in which the hunt moved from their camp at Lake Erie across the Minnesota border, continuing through North Dakota, Montana, and the short stretch of Idaho before finally arriving in Washington State. The only contacts with outsiders they got during this time were Apollo's brief visits sometimes accompanied by Hermes. Apollo kept his oath, despite his nocturnal escapades as a womanizer, and always appeared on time to serve breakfast to the hunters and to sharpen the arrows as agreed on the third day of their departure. Even if he did this with frequent groans and sighs, because he could rely on Hestia's help for breakfast, but had to use his hands for sharpening the arrows.
And so, it happened that the hunters of Artemis reached the city of Olympia at noon of the fifth day. Cities were an unpleasant place for them, some of them had had their worst experiences there and the many alleys and rooftops offered many places and opportunities for ambush without much cover in the streets. Lady Aphrodite had told them via Iris message that her daughter was in a house to the northwest of the city. And so, they continued to make their way cautiously to their destination, a larger estate just outside the city.
Upon their arrival, they immediately noticed the run-down and neglected condition of the estate. The wall that surrounded the property was completely overgrown by bushes and already broken in some places. The paved driveway to the entrance gate was overgrown with grass. Of the former beauty of the garden and the pond in it was no longer much to recognize as wildly growing shrubs, a green pond and extremely tall grass. The house itself looked uninhabited if it were not for the empty bottles of various spirits and beers lying at the entrance. The windowpanes had been partially broken. All in all, not a warm sight. The smell that rose to their nostrils spoke of alcohol, tobacco, dirt, mold, and such other things that they did not really want to know.
"And there's someone still living here?" asked Megan.
"Hard to imagine, but you can also tell by what pigs' guys are. This stench...UHHA I'm starting to get really sick" replied Dina
"Sisters, let's get Layla out of this place as fast as we can and then get as far away from this hole as we can" a somewhat green looking Pheobe spoke up now
In response she received affirmative shouts like "AYE" from the oldest or even "YEP, you said it", "what she said"
And so, Zoë, who was the lieutenant closest to the door, reached for the doorknob.
"Sisters, we'll go in pairs through the rooms until we find the girl. No one goes alone, who knows what kind of beast of a boy resides here. No one goes exploring alone. Cassandra and I, Pheobe with Atalanta. If you find them or run into that bastard of a man, shut him up no matter what and call us. Let's go."
And with these words she pushed the door open with them. They were presented with a view of what was once an extremely elegant entrance hall, once paneled with wood and decorated with expensive paintings. Now only scraps of the paintings hung in the frames. The only painting that had survived was of an athletic man in his early 30s with his arm around a daughter about 6 years old. The daughter had a striking resemblance to the goddess of love, only her nose she had inherited from her father. What struck them as odd, however, was the feeling as if the painting, or rather the people in the painting, were watching them.
"Okay, we now know what she looks like practically, then let's take a look..." but that was as far as Christy was to get
A shrill scream of pain from a girl could be heard from upstairs. Followed by the roar of a man. A brief silence and another scream of pain from the girl. Layla was being abused by whoever, beaten it seemed. They had to intervene. Immediately and without another word, the hunters dashed up the stairs to the second floor. Five doors, two left, three right. Which door was it, or was it one more floor up? By hand signal Zoë instructed ten hunters among them Pheobe, Atalanta, Cassandra, Amy, Christy, and Megan to take the different doors.
Amy and Christy made their way almost silently to the nearest door on the left. Arriving, Christy placed a hand on the doorknob and looked over at Amy and nodded. She opened the door quietly; Amy closes behind her. The blank hunting knives sparkled with action. But the room was empty except for a lot of trash. All the other doors and the rooms behind them were empty, cluttered, or crammed with dusty and sometimes odd furniture.
Now at the last door, the third on the right, Pheobe and Megan could make out a faint groan followed by a gasp and heavy footsteps. With a shout that was unparalleled, Pheobe kicked the door in with her hunting knives raised. The ramshackle door immediately gave way, revealing the back of a hairy, unwashed fat man in a once white undershirt stained with dirt, beer stains and other not exactly identifiable stains of unknown origin. The man was not wearing pants, but only something that remotely resembled boxer shorts.
The shout and the kicking in of the door made him wheel around, holding a belt in his hand.
"Who are you? What are you doing here? This is private property you..." he slurred in the direction of a flailing Pheobe. His breath reeked of alcohol and cigarettes.
"You brat get out of here now before I get uncomfortable and teach you a lesson" he slurred again, raising his belt threateningly. At the belt buckle Megan could see the blood dripping down.
But Pheobe in her rage madness gave him no answer, but with two powerful movements of a half turn to the right down she had already pulled her two hunting knives over his chest. The sharp knives penetrated deep into the man's flesh and he howled in pain and stumbled back a step. But before he could collect himself and lunge for the belt, a knife thrown by Megan struck him in the left breast. A grunt escaped him as the knife pierced and his knees buckled slightly. Still seeing red, Pheobe lashed out with and hit her target deep in the hairy beast's genitals with the right knife and right in the chest with the left. An unpleasant smacking could be heard as she now turned the knives to inflict as much damage as possible on the organs she had hit. The man now cried out even more, but his cries of pain became more and more of a gurgling rattle. The left knife had pierced and destroyed the lung. With all her strength and body weight, the daughter of Ares threw the now dying, still impaled man to the side. With a final gasp, he breathed his last. Pheobe took her knives, a combination of steel and lunar silver, wiped them clean on a rag, put them back in their sheaths.
Silence. Absolute silence reigned for several seconds as the rattling faded. Interrupted by whimpering and sobbing. Pheobe, still splattered with blood, turned her head towards the sound that seemed to come from a corner of the room. Crouched under a chair was a tear-stained young girl covered in bruises. Megan, following a flash of inspiration, crouched down at the girl's eye level and raised her empty hands, a sign that she was unarmed and meant no harm to the frightened girl. In as soft a voice as she could muster, she asked:
"Layla? Are you all right?"
Whereupon the girl burst into hysterical crying, too many events crashing down on her at once.
"SSSSSCCCCHHH, everything will be fine. My name is Megan and me and my sisters are here to save you. We were sent by your mother..." continued Megan now in a gentle tone
"YOU ARE LYING my mommy died after I was born! YOU just want to kill me too as well as you KILLED my uncle that pig!" blurted out Layla full of fear and anger.
"That's not entirely true Layla, your mama is someone incredibly special. She is a goddess. That makes you incredibly special too. You are a half-blood, half-human half-god. She is alive and cares for you very much, that's why my sisters are here. We are to protect you from your uncle. Your mother didn't know that your father died of cancer, when she found out and saw what happened to you, she sent us to save you". Explained Zoë, who was now also squatting, in a slow and soothing tone.
"But...But...But then why didn't Mommy come and get me herself?" sniffed Layla, now calming down a little.
"Unfortunately, there are certain rules about how the gods can interact with us half-bloods and mortals like your father. That's why your mother can't be here to help you herself, but she can assign others, us for example, to save you. Are you in pain Layla, where does it hurt, did this...this animal do something else to you? "Atalanta asked, she was the daughter of Apollo and one of the best healers in the hunt and probably in both camps.
Layla didn't know if she could trust the strangers, they had just killed her uncle in the most brutal way. But deep inside her she felt that the strange girls were telling the truth. Could she dare to trust them? The last time she had trusted someone who was not her father, her uncle had turned out to be an absolute bastard. He had only taken his brother's money and when the money ran out, he beat her daily, yelled at her and got drunk. The outbursts of accidental magic had only made the whole thing worse. How would the strangers react to her gift? But suddenly she had the same feeling again as when she was a baby, this luminous warmth and love that flowed through her. Without being able to describe it exactly, the feeling spread that she could trust these girls. Her head twitched in the direction of the blond girl with blue eyes who was looking at her with concern, just like the pediatrician she used to go to with her father. She trusted the feeling, as it had saved her from one or two beatings in the last two weeks. Maybe the strangers were right, and her mommy was really looking out for her. The feeling of warmth and love increased until it felt like she was in a tight hug and then disappeared.
"My back and face hurts...and my left leg...why does someone do that? He...er...er was my uncle, dad's brother. Dad was always there for me and...and...and he...always hurt me..." Whispered the nine-year-old blonde to the other, still shaking all over.
"Okay Layla, I'm Atalanta. I am going to look. Can you come out?"
Layla carefully crawled out from under the chair toward the young woman. Atlanta eyed and examined the young daughter of Aphrodite critically, making sure no injury escaped her. After several minutes of looking at all the injuries, she quietly sang a healing hymn that her father had taught her centuries ago. The bloody and bruised face gave way to an almost unearthly beautiful angelic face. The visible bruises and bruises also gave way, leaving behind untouched lightly tanned skin. Atalanta had broken out in a sweat during the procedure, yet many injuries had sat covered by the girl's clothing, gratefully accepting the piece of ambrosia. "Here eat this, it will do you good and help you get better."
With a silent nod, Layla took the unfamiliar golden piece of bread. An. She bit into it carefully. It tasted like the pancakes her father had always made her when she was on location with her father. Tears came to her eyes at those memories. Even after almost 2 years, it was still hard to say goodbye to her father.
"Hey, are you okay? We're here and we're not leaving. Schhhh everything will be fine."
"The bread, or whatever this is, it just reminds me of Dad's pancakes he used to make me... what's going to happen to me now? Where am I supposed to go everyone is gone...? "sniffled Layla
"Layla from here on out there are two options. Either you travel with us for a while and we take you to a safe place where people like us, children of the gods, train to survive. Or you join us and travel with us forever, fighting bastards like this pig here and other monsters. You would get a new family, but if you want to join us it has a price."
"What kind of price? I don't have anything except dad's bracelet and grandma's necklace?"
"Don't worry. It's nothing of value, just an oath you have to take, an oath to eternal virginity and swearing off the company of men forever"
"That's all?"
"That's all-but be warned, we hunters of Artemis take the oath very seriously and don't take kindly to anyone violating it."
"A New Family...what do I have to do"
"Repeat after me:
"I consecrate myself to the goddess Artemis."
"I consecrate myself to the goddess Artemis."
"I recant to the company of men, take upon myself eternal virginity, and join the hunt."
I renounce the company of men, take upon myself eternal virginity, and join the hunt."
"I Zoë Nightshade, lieutenant of the hunt, accept your oath. Welcome to our family sister."
A silver glow enveloped Layla, wrapping her in a silver parka, black and silver camo pants, and black combat boots.
"Alright sisters, we have been here long enough, let's get out of here. Layla is there anything else you want to take from here? If so, then go get it, Megan goes with her. The rest of us are waiting outside. Once we're out of here, we'll make camp in the wilderness. Layla when we get to camp, I will answer all your questions."
And so, it happened that Layla Taylor, daughter of the famous Joe Taylor became a hunter of Artemis. Her few belongings, a photo album with photos of her family, her grandmother's necklace, her father's arm ornament, and a casket containing a wooden, conical arm-length staff, were quickly found and packed into her backpack. And so, the sisterhood set off into the wilderness with their new sister.
A few minutes later, the silence of the now deserted mansion was broken by the multiple crashes as of rifle shots. Several men and women in dark purple floor-length robes with drawn wooden arm-length staffs swarmed through the estate, searching for a nine-year-old girl. But other than the brutally battered body of her uncle, they found no trace. They should have intervened much earlier and placed the girl in a caring magical family, some No-Magis tended to violent attacks out of fear of the unknown but also sadly out of envy...
I hope you liked it, if so let me know, the same applies of course if something bothered you.
I wish you and your families happy and peaceful holidays, celebrate beautifully.
Cheers :D