Let's just jump in. I love your reviews, I acknowledge what you love and hate.
The entire school day was weird for everyone. Bella tried to continue as she had for the past week or so, but the wolves followed her everywhere. Wherever the wolves went, a gaggle of girls followed. At lunchtime her group of friends pushed two tables together, displacing a few sophomores to make room for the Quileute's. Bella, not for the first time, considered abandoning her teenage persona. I am a goddess. I can do what I want. I can go where I want. I can be any age I want. I could join Ares in Hollywood. The Cullen's walked by at that moment, and Alice had offered Bella a small smile that made Bella's heartbeat quicken. Bella smiled back. Maybe Forks isn't so bad.
When school finally ended Bella sent the wolves home. "I don't need an escort."
"What do you want us to do?" Paul had asked quietly.
"Go home, guys. What would you like to do?"
"I'd like to relax, for once." Leah had said.
"Good. Take the night off." The wolves had been reluctant, but they followed their new alpha anyways. They went home, and Bella did the same.
Bella was at home for roughly an hour when she realized she was bored. Bella looked around, and thought, Idle hands are Hades' playthings. Bella grabbed her bow from the hook by the doorway. Some people hung coats, Bella hung a silver bow. A shrill whistle summoned Charlie from the woods. "Let's go, little man. We're heading out."
Bella and Charlie perused the woods, looking for something to hunt. Bella was looking for a large buck, something she could skin and use to feed her and Charlie for a week. The deer in the woods seemed to be far away. Bella and Charlie foraged far from their house. They were about ten miles away when they encountered their first big buck.
Charlie, unable to stop himself, launched into pursuit. Bella ran behind him, hot on his heels. Bella raised her bow, ready to fire on the run, when she sensed something in the trees above her. A shape was jumping, almost flying, between the branches. Bella identified the threat just as it dove for Charlie. His hair was wild, his shirt was torn, and his eyes were a deep, dark black. Bella turned, changing her target from the buck to the feral form of Edward.
Charlie turned and snarled at Edward as he hit the ground, thrown off by the arrow slamming into him with unexpected force. Edward snarled and spun around, just in time for Bella to smash into him as hard as she could. Edward flew through the air, fingers gripping into a tree trunk as he righted himself.
"Edward!" Bella shouted. "Edward, calm down!" Edward was wild, dark eyes expanding. Edward charged after Charlie, lost in the blood lust. Bella chased him and hit him with her full body weight. He turned to glare at her. She breathed out, dazed by the force of slamming into what felt like a brick wall. Edward launched himself through the air, intent on ending the threat Bella posed. Edward roared, unhearing and unfeeling. Bella swung, punching Edward quickly and solidly. A sound like a bullet slamming into concrete echoed through the woods. Bella's fingers fractured as cracks erupted across Edward's jaw.
Alice, Rosalie, and Emmett came bursting through the woods. Emmett slammed into Edward, barreling him through a tree like a linebacker. Rosalie and Emmett pinned Edward to the ground. Alice stood over him. His eyes darted wildly, his chest heaved, and Charlie's growls filled the forest around them.
"Edward," Bella intoned, the full power of her impressive bloodline reverberating around them. "Enough."
Bella's voice echoed in the forest. When it was gone, no sound remained. The woodland creatures went silent. None of the vampires breathed. Charlie's growls had even cut off. Bella exhaled heavily, releasing the power she held. The forest around them came back to life.
Edward stilled. "What? What happened?" Edward looked around. He took in his siblings restraining him. Edward locked eyes with Bella, who was several feet away and cradling her broken hand. The memories came flooding back. "Bella, Charlie, oh my god. I'm so sorry. I wasn't myself. My instincts. When we hunt-" Edward sputtered.
"I'm fine, Edward." Bella huffed out between clenched teeth.
His siblings released him, and Edward stood up. "You're hurt. I can't-I never would have. Bella, I am so sorry." Bella nodded. "But how did you stop me? What are you?" Alice's eyes flicked to Bella, a movement Edward caught. "Alice, you know, don't you?"
"She does," Bella nodded. "My hand is broken. Let's do this later."
"Edward, go hunt. Now." Edward looked like he was going to argue, but Emmett shoved him in the direction of the woods. Edward clenched his fists before running off into the woods.
"Well, that was tense," Alice smirked at Bella. "You're gonna have to tell him now."
Emmett leaned on a tree and stared at Bella expectantly. "Am I him? I hope I'm him. Tell me, tell me, tell me!"
Rosalie folded her arms and glared at Bella. She arched a single eyebrow and waited. Bella looked at Alice. "They're not gonna give in, are they?"
"Not a chance," Alice laughed. "You have to tell them, but you don't get to pack up and leave." Alice looped her arm through Bella's good arm. "You're stuck with us."
Bella's heart sped up at Alice's cool touch. Rosalie tilted her head, and Bella knew her heart had been heard. "I'll tell you, but I need to set my hand first. Let's go back to the house."
Emmett clapped once. "If we hurry, you can tell us, and we can torment Edward by not telling him!" Rosalie patted Emmett's bicep affectionately. Charlie picked up Bella's bow gently in his mouth and started trotting in the direction of the Cullen mansion.
Bella sat on the porch, looking at Alice. Alice wasn't breathing, Bella could tell. "What's wrong Alice? You didn't come out here with me to stare into the woods, did you?" Charlie charged through the trees, chasing a squirrel. "Charlie!" Don't play with your food!" Charlie wilted, cowed by his alpha. He caught the squirrel and ate it.
Edward was in the house, raging at his family. "Come on! Please!" Jasper could be heard laughing.
Bella smiled and adjusted her bandaged hand. She turned her attention back to Alice. "Alice!"
"What?" Alice jumped.
"Are you okay?"
"Do Gods have mates?"
Bella laughed. "Do Gods mate? Often. Don't you know anything about my dad?"
Alice covered her face. "Oh my God Bella. Not do Gods mate, but do they have mates."
"How do you mean?"
"Well the wolves imprint, you know? And vampires mate for life. There's a mate pull. It's sort of," Alice looked at her hands. "It's sort of an instinct. You meet someone, and you come to realize that person is meant for you. Carlisle and Esme are mated, as are Emmett and Rosalie, and Edward and Jasper. Rosalie and Emmett knew instantly. Edward and Jasper had a hard time. They both have old ideals, old values."
"They can't be that old," Bella smirked. "Back in my day, we didn't have those hang-ups. To answer your question, yes. Do you know anything about the Greek ideas of love?"
"A bit. There are different types, right?"
"Yep. Basically, there's sexual, playful, self, and everyone love. There's also deep friendship and a longstanding type of love. Now, the Gods, we're passionate assholes. Eros, who was even older than I, cursed and gifted everyone with this desire to be loved. He came from Chaos, and he gave us chaos. Eros made the world work a very certain way. We all want to be loved, but we'll never be content until we find the one person meant to be with us. It's not exactly a person, though. It's a soul. There is a soul that is put on the earth to match yours. That's why we call them soul mates. It's meant quite literally. But you can spend your whole life searching."
"Did you ever find your matching soul?"
"Not that I know of."
"Aren't gods supposed to know everything? Can't you just find your mate?"
Bella laughed loudly. "Do you think that, if Gods knew everything, I would be able to live a normal life like this? The Abrahamic God is omniscient. My crazy family tree? We're powerful, but not that powerful. You think Hera would have stayed with Zeus if she knew every time he was unfaithful? And trust me, there were many." Bella watched Charlie lick his paws clean. "I thought I found my soul mate, once. His name was Orion."
"What happened?"
"I killed him." Bella sighed. "It was an accident, but it still happened."
"I'm sorry," Alice responded soberly. "But, how did you know he wasn't your soul mate?"
"When he died, I was hurt, but I wasn't crushed. Eros, diabolical as he is, decided that the loss of a soulmate should crush you. When a person loses their soulmate, they might never feel happy again. When a god loses their soulmate, they go crazy. They rage, they destroy. The loss of Orion was painful, but I'm still here. The guilt has followed me for years, but I am still intact." Bella's face fell. "I did spend a century looking for Eros though. I wanted him to take the ability to love from me." Bella looked at Alice. "I thought that, if losing Orion hurt that badly, then losing my soul mate would lead me to destroy the world. I am more powerful than you could imagine, and I'm afraid of destroying everything and everyone one day. People don't live forever, you know?" Bella leaned forward, elbows on knees. If Alice didn't know better, Bella looked like any stressed-out teenager.
"So, what do you do now?" Alice asked. "How do you feel about love?"
"Like I might find it any day now." Bella smiled at Alice, who looked away. Charlie came loping up and put his head on Alice's lap. "We'll see, though."
Alice smiled as Charlie's tail wagged. She scratched behind his ears. "I guess we will."
Bella went home much later. Alice remained on the porch long after Bella disappeared into the forest. Alice had offered to drive her ten times, but Bella wouldn't hear it. The wolves were howling, calling for her attention. She promised she'd be fine, and she was gone in the night. Esme came out and sat on the porch. "Did you have a vision today?" Esme asked casually.
"I did. I saw Edward losing himself."
"You knew you needed to help Bella?"
"I knew I needed to help Edward." Alice smiled. "Bella can take care of herself."
"So I hear. You know, they still haven't told Edward what she is?"
"I know. Isn't it great?" They both laughed. "Do you know?"
"Rosalie texted me." Esme smiled. "She also said something else interesting."
Alice hummed a small, "Hm?"
"She seems to think there's something between you and," Esme paused, "Artemis?"
"You can just call her Bella."
Esme patted Alice's leg. "Honey, is it her?"
"It's not the same for her."
"I'm asking for you, Alice."
Alice's golden eyes were mirrored in Esme's. "I'm drawn to her. I just, want to be with her." Alice looked to where Bella had disappeared. "I know where she is right now. I feel like I want to call her, even though she hasn't been gone long. Am I going crazy?"
"You are. It's her." Esme beamed. She screamed and grabbed her daughter's hands.
Edward showed up at the door. "What is it!"
"Nothing," Esme and Alice answered together. They laughed as he ran back in the house. Esme squealed again, and Alice grabbed her hands and smiled.
"Esme, I have no idea how to court."
"I think we should ask your father. I don't think anyone has any idea how to court a Greek Goddess."
"She's a what!?" Edward screamed as he threw the door open again. The whole family dissolved into laughter as Edward fell to the ground in shock.
"I'm getting tired of searching for her." Apollo rolled his shoulders. "Send Prometheus. Don't you think it's about time to pull him off the mountain anyways?"
Zeus glared down at his son. "If I thought it was time, I would have done it already."
Apollo crossed his arms. His muscles rippled. The TV in the background showed the Hercules movie. Apollo and Zeus both paused for a minute to watch Ares on screen, pretending to be Hercules himself. "You know, I thought we'd seen Ares hit rock bottom when he was wrestling and asking if people could 'smell what the Rock is cooking.' It seems I was wrong."
"You'd think you would have more respect for your brothers. Hercules and Ares alike." Zeus scoffed at his son. "You're such a disappointment. Just like your sister." Zeus threw the plate he was holding and smashed the screen in front of him. "Why couldn't you have been the thief, and she be the one standing here? She would have caught you by now."
"Leave the boy alone, a tall woman said as she came into the room. If you weren't such a disappointment of a husband, you wouldn't have problems from either of them." She glared at her husband.
"So leave then," Zeus sighed. He turned his attention back to his son. "Find her. I want back what she stole, and I want it now!" Zeus slammed his hand through the table. It splintered into pieces. "I don't feel whole without it." Zeus flexed his hand, missing something that hadn't been there for a very long time.
Yeah, this is taking me a long time. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Review and tell me what you love, what you hate. I have a trajectory that can, of course, be altered.