Chapter 1: After punching Apollo right in the face

It was a cold evening. The moon shone brightly overhead, exerting its pull over the sea as the tide wet the shores gracefully. The sky lay splattered with diamond-like stars, guiding all the ships in the sea with their unchanging layout. The island of Delos was strikingly beautiful that night. The forest swayed with the gentle breeze as if they were dancing to a voiceless melody. Sounds of animals were heard feebly while a few scurried along the path in front. The pattering of little feet was the only sound in the otherwise silent night.

Artemis shivered as she pulled her animal fur coat closer to her body. The air was unusually cold today. Her small lithe figure skipped over stones as she sprinted around in her favorite place on the island. The young goddess was extremely ecstatic. The forest always calmed her. She had just fought with her mother, on a trivial matter. In other words, over Apollo's irritating behavior. It wasn't her fault that she didn't find his activities fun when he always insisted that they were. She was punished to spend the night outside on the cold forest floor for punching her brother right in the face.

As she stepped out of the forest onto the beach, she found two figures in the dark, standing near a boat and talking in hushed tones. She instantly crouched behind a bush and listened to their conversation. Artemis always had a great reception to sound and sight. Even the smallest movements or noise didn't escape her watchful senses. She made absolutely no sound as she steadied her heartbeat and attempted to overhear their conversation.

"-safe, Hestia. You know your father loves you so much. But the situation in the world is not safe yet. We don't know if you'll be safe with us. The gods are too powerful and are determined to win this time. Please, daughter, listen to me. Do not leave this island at any cost. If anyone comes here, try and hide. Never lower your guard." The taller, older lady spoke.

"I love you, mom. I'll wait here until you and father return. Please be safe." The girl, now identified to be her daughter, said, teary-eyed.

The mother hugged her daughter for a long time and slowly parted. She boarded her boat and sailed away, both not breaking eye contact with each other. As soon as her mother's boat left her line of sight, the girl broke down into tears. Her knees buckled as she dropped into the sand and hid her face in her palms. The voice slowly became muffled as she slowly controlled her tears. Artemis had seen enough. She came out of her concealed position and walked towards the girl, making loud sounds with her feet on purpose.

As soon as the little girl heard the first step, she became alert and ran to the nearest bush. Although Artemis could see her, she gave no sign that indicated to the little girl. She walked slowly, both her hands raised in the air, palms facing the direction of the girl as she covered the ground slowly.

"Hello, Hestia. I'm Artemis. I am sorry, but I just overheard the conversation with your mother. I have no intention to hurt you. I am now laying down the only weapon I have, my bow and the quiver of arrows." As she said this, Artemis slowly picked at the bow, slung on her back, with two fingers and dropped it in the sand. She did the same with the quiver. She was now weaponless. Now as Artemis thought back on it, she felt pretty stupid. What if the girl attacked her? She wouldn't have anything to defend herself with. Still, trusting the girl, she inched forward. "Can you please come out from behind the bush? I promise not to hurt you."

The little girl, Hestia, now slowly peeked out of her hiding spot with one tear-filled eye and eyed the young goddess warily.

"Who are you? My mother told me there was no one on this island. Are you a monster? Have you come disguised as a girl to kill me?"

The godling almost laughed.

"I assure you, Hestia, I am no monster. I am just a little girl like you. As I told you earlier, you can call me Artemis. I live on this island with my mother, Leto, and my younger brother Apollo in a little cottage on this island."

Seeing Artemis with her hands raised and no visible weapons on her, Hestia slowly climbed out of her spot behind the bush. She still walked slowly as if expecting Artemis to attack her at any moment.

Artemis slowly lowered her hand and smiled at the other girl in front. That smile seemed to have instilled more confidence into Hestia as she returned it, although hesitantly.

"Why are you outside at this ungodly hour, Artemis? Surely your mother and brother must be waiting for you." Hearing this, Artemis just smirked. She recounted the tale of what she did to be sent out of the house for the night. Hestia laughed when she heard that Artemis had punched her brother.

The little girl soon got comfortable with the resident of the island and they walked along the edge of the beach sharing jokes and laughing with absolutely no care in the world. Hestia told Artemis about her family and the situation they were in. She was twelve, only two years younger than Artemis herself. Her father, Atlas, the son of Iapetus and the titan of endurance, was the general in the army of the titans in the war against the gods. Her mother, Pleione, was a sea nymph. She had four siblings, Aegle, Hesperia, Erytheia, and Arethusa, and she was the youngest of them all.

Artemis knew only one person from Hestia's family tree, apart from her parents. Hestia's step-sister, Calypso was known all around the world of the gods. She resided in her island, Ogygia, a mysterious landmass where heroes washed up on the shore. She was ill-fated to fall in love with them. However, fates made sure that the type of heroes they send would never be able to stay with her. Leaving her to deal with her heartbreak, they left on the magical raft that arrived to take them where they desired. Artemis felt this punishment imposed by the gods on Olympus was unfair on the young Titaness.

The temperature on the island dipped even lower, causing both of them to shiver. Artemis removed her jacket and gave it to her friend who accepted it gratefully. Luckily, they found a cave near the shore, opening towards the interior of the island where they camped in for the night. Artemis took a few dried branches that littered the forest floor and started a fire with the matches her mother always forced her to carry. They also caught a couple of rabbits and roasted them over the fire they'd made, to fill up their growling stomachs. It was early in the morning when both the immortals went to sleep exhausted by the fun they had.

Artemis' eyes opened lazily the next day, to see Hestia sleeping peacefully beside her. The light was streaming into the cave and the goddess guessed it was close to noon. Leto would be mad at her as she'd asked her to come home by dawn. She nudged Hestia awake only to receive a "five minutes more, mom." Artemis just laughed and nudged the girl harder. Hestia's eyes snapped open and landed on Artemis' smiling face. She stared at her for a long time before the night's events seemed to return to her mind when she returned a bright smile, accompanied by a "Good morning".

"Will you come with me to my home? I'll ask my mother if you can stay here with us."

Hestia nodded and followed the goddess on the path she took towards their cottage. It was a simple home, made of wood from the trees found in the forest around them. A beautiful garden surrounded the wooden structure, filled with flowers of different kinds, filling the area with their sweet fragrance.

A large wooden door guarded the entrance to the house with windows flanking either side. Smoke came out of the chimney on top of the house. The house itself had three floors, with windows adorning the walls of the house. There was a long vase outside the house where Artemis left her bow and the quiver. She knocked on the door. It swung open with a woman standing in the way with an angry expression.

"Where were you all morning, Young La-" She stopped abruptly when she saw Hestia standing behind Artemis. Her expression softened and she knelt before the two girls.

"And who might you be, darling?" Her expression was so soft that even Artemis was surprised by the sudden change of her demeanor. Hestia slowly unwrapped herself from Artemis' arm and walked forward. She bowed to the Titaness and spoke.

"My name is Hestia, my lady. I am the daughter of Atlas and Pleione. They left me here on this island because it isn't safe outside. They said they'd be back when the situation is under control. I think there is a war going on outside with someone called the gods. Artemis met me last night when I came to this island. I'm sorry to intrude in your space, Lady Leto. If you wish, I shall stay in the cave we found last night at the edge of the island near the beach."

To say Leto was shocked was an understatement. She was surprised to see the young girl so mature and respectful.

"You will stay with us here, Hestia. I will take care of you as long as it takes for your parents to come and fetch you. You are my cousin's child. I won't let anyone in my family go unattended if I can help it." Her view moved to Artemis. "Take her to the spare room beside yours. I will get her some clothes. Freshen up and head down for lunch."

Artemis nodded and dragged Hestia by the arm. She led her up two flights of stairs and showed her into the room on the left. It wasn't much, but it was adequate nonetheless. There was a bed in one corner and a room that led to the bath. A dark-colored wooden wardrobe stood in one corner. The window in the room faced the forest right in front of them, looking over the sea behind. Hestia smiled and pulled Artemis into a tight hug, shocking the young goddess. When they parted, both their cheeks were glinting light gold.

Artemis smiled and went to the room opposite and closed the door. She looked into the mirror and eyed the blush on her cheeks. That was weird. The temperature wasn't even too high. Shrugging it off, she went in and did all her morning duties.

The lunch table was very noisy with Apollo blabbering. It abruptly died down when both Artemis and Hestia came down the stairs, both smiling brightly. When Hestia saw Apollo, her smile dimmed. Until Artemis introduced them to each other. She also threatened her brother, just a little, and warned him not to flirt with her new friend.

After filling their stomachs with Leto's delicious cooking, both Artemis and Hestia left the home to hunt and roam the island, promising to be back home before nightfall. The girls left the house together and ran through the forest, leaping from tree to tree as they searched for animals or monsters to hunt. This was Artemis' favorite activity of the day. She would leave after breakfast every day, hunt animals and monsters all day long, and return home after nightfall for dinner. Reasons unknown, Artemis felt very happy while hunting, being surrounded by animals. She could also communicate with them. The young goddess never killed animals unjustly. She would kill them only to fill her stomach during noon. She'd murmur soothing words in the animal's ears and then kill it without much pain.

"We need to make you a weapon, Hestia," Artemis mused out loud. Her friend broke a thick branch from a tree and grabbed a sharp stone from the forest floor. She sat down on a huge boulder and started hacking away at the stick. A few minutes later, she had a moderately sharp wooden sword. Satisfied with the weapon, she gave it a swing. The weapon fit perfectly in her hands. Hestia then turned to Artemis and displayed the piece of engineering in her hand.

The goddess was shocked and looked at the sword with her mouth agape, her eyes not believing what she saw. The sword was beautiful, though made of a thick tree branch, was relatively sturdy and hard. There were no designs or patterns on it, but that simply made it even more beautiful.

Now that they both had their weapons, Artemis almost yelled out "Let's hunt!"