Chapter 8: Archery competition gone wrong
The two huntresses had saved over half a dozen girls from their abusers. Often, Artemis would deal with the offenders in a brutal way, needing to be restrained by Zoe to not succumb to the bloodlust. She got into trouble at Olympus as gods weren't supposed to kill mortals on their whims.
A couple of years went by and the hunt now had eight members excluding the goddess herself. Zoe became the official lieutenant for Artemis, the go-to person, if the hunters had any problem. The council of the gods argued over Artemis recruiting a demi-titan. Yet again, Poseidon came to her rescue, by reiterating the fact that the gods themselves were children of titans. That shut the council up as they found it difficult to stand up against the sea god's wisdom, accompanied by his glare.
The council slowly came to trust the first hunter of Artemis after she saved Artemis a couple of times. She was always under the watchful eye of at least one of the Olympian without the knowledge of Artemis. The council was afraid of Artemis in the matter of Zoe, especially after what she'd done to Ares.
Artemis had received an assignment to track down an ancient monster alone, without the involvement of the hunt as Zeus was scared of the hunters misusing the power of the blood of the monster.
Artemis now dashed down the path which she knew for sure that the monster took. She was searching for a beast called the ophiotaurus. Well, calling it a beast might be too generous for it. It was an innocent sea creature. But only in killing the innocent, the greatest sin is committed. It was prophesied millenia ago, long before Artemis was born, the one who killed the beast was destined to bring an end to the rule of the gods.
A small crack was heard through the forest and Artemis knew she wasn't alone in the woods. Her eyes scrutinized every part of her surroundings. Seeing nothing suspicious, she continued on her path.
A small blue light illuminated the trees before Artemis and she increased her speed, following the path of the light. She drew her bow and let loose a moonlit arrow which whizzed past and struck the monster.
The huntress slowed down and walked towards her pace. As she knelt down before the beast to end its suffering, she saw her own arrow in the ground beside the beast and another arrow lodged in it. An arrow which was not hers.
A man stepped out in the clearing and looked at the goddess without an unreadable expression on his face. His face was strikingly similar to her favorite uncle- Poseidon's. He had the same startling green eyes and the same tanned skin.
He seemed to realize who he was looking at and deeply bowed. Artemis got back on her feet, bow in her hand and arrow notched within seconds. His look turned fearful as he contemplated running in the opposite direction.
"Take one step and it will be your last, boy." Artemis growled. The other hunter froze on spot and held his hand straight up, palms facing Artemis in a 'surrender' gesture. Artemis slowly lowered her bow as she felt curiosity gnaw at her.
"Who are you, boy? How can you see this monster?" She enquired.
He gulped. "I saw the light it cast in the trees surrounding it, and thought it was some powerful creature. My name is Orion, my lady. I am a demigod, Lady Artemis, the son of Poseidon" He said, eyes not meeting hers, head bowed. Artemis was impressed at the respect she got. She pressed on.
"Why are you here in this forest, Orion, don't you have a home to go to?"
Orion shook his head, dejected, and gave a long sigh before answering. "I had, my lady. Until recently, when I was banished. I lived in a kingdom not far from here. I fell in love with the king's daughter. I was about to show her the depth of my love, but the king caught wind of it before and banished me from his kingdom. He also plucked my eyes out as treason against the state."
Artemis felt sorry for the demigod. But she remembered the event that led to him being discovered. "How did you shoot the beast? Where were you in the forest?" Artemis felt ashamed in asking the question. She, the great huntress, couldn't sense the presence of a mere demigod. A son of one of the big three, in fact, whose scent was supposed to be strongest in the demigod world.
"I hunt a lot, my lady. You were my inspiration. But alas, by being born a male ruined all my chances at joining your hunt. Despite that, I hunt for pleasure in forests like this one. I don't kill animals mercilessly, though. I always sacrifice a portion to you, my lady. " Artemis was stunned. She still didn't trust the demigod fully but chose to give him a chance.
"Follow me, Orion, you can now stay with the hunt. Though I can't give you my blessing, you will be considered a part of the hunt." The male hunter looked at her gratefully and bowed in respect. The goddess simply waved him off.
Artemis turned to the beast, cast a spell on it so that the wounds closed and in a bright light, the animal vanished.
Zoe was surprised to see Artemis return from her individual hunt with a male. Her mind was instantly flooded with questions. She doubted Artemis for the first time in all these years. Was Artemis going behind their backs all this time? Was 'solo hunts' the alias for hanging out with this male? Zoe felt her heart shatter.
Artemis nodded to her, which she returned half-heartedly. "Gather the girls. I need to tell you all something important."
Zoe did as her mistress asked and in a couple of minutes, all the hunters gathered and sat around a fire.
Artemis stood up, gathering attention. "This man here is Orion. He will be a part of the hunt henceforth. He is already a hunter so you don't need to worry about teaching him the basics. Zoe," The goddess turned to her. "Help him set his tent up. I want him included in all of the hunt's activities. Get him up-to-date with all the information regarding our hunts."
The hunter shook her head, almost invisible to any mortal eye. The goddess narrowed her eyes at her lieutenant but didn't say anything. She asked all her hunters to get back to their jobs, Zoe escorting Orion to the storage tent at the end of the camp.
She sneered at the male hunter. "Stay away from us, boy. I don't care what Artemis thinks but you set one foot out of line and I'll personally kill you." Orion gulped and nodded. Satisfied with his reaction, Zoe threw him a spare tent and walked away without bothering to teach him how to use it. She went back to her own tent, having completed her tasks well before, to clear her head and think about recent events.
Over the next few weeks, Artemis grew distant from the hunters and surprisingly closer to Orion. She let Orion accompany her on her solo hunts, a privilege which Zoe herself didn't get. She'd tell Orion all the information who then passed it on to her. The hunters too, stuck to Zoe's line of thought. They didn't trust the male at all. Fear of Artemis being violated plagued Zoe's mind.
One evening, Zoe walked along the edge of the hunters' camp near the lake to clear her head, something she found to be doing a lot these days. On the other side of the bank, she heard someone talking in hushed voices. She saw Artemis and Orion, sitting on a boulder, closer than she'd have liked. It seemed as though Orion was cracking jokes and Artemis was laughing at them. Zoe's shock knew no bounds when Artemis rested her head on the male scum's shoulder. How could she do it? She propagated hatred against males and now, she can't control herself? Zoe was disappointed in her best friend. To her surprise, Orion too, pulled the goddess close and held her to his body with his hand around her shoulder.
When Artemis didn't resist, all of Zoe's shock instantly turned to despair. She rushed back to camp, careful to not make a sound disturbing the couple. She locked herself in her tent and bawled her eyes out. A few hunters came and knocked at her tent but soon found it to be futile as Zoe seemed to not come out any time soon.
Zoe didn't come out until late that night when her sisters called her for dinner. She didn't focus on the worried glances thrown her way. She was shattered. Not much could hurt her now. Thankfully, the hunters seemed to understand the need for her to be alone for a while and respected her space. The hunters all assembled at the dining table where they ate their food regularly. Their patron goddess sat at the end of the table with Zoe usually on her right, the rest of the hunters occupied their positions down the table. But today, Zoe opted to sit farther down the table with her close friends, Phoebe and Atalanta.
Artemis was nowhere to be seen. How would she? She is probably eating the male's face off, Zoe thought sourly. Coincidentally, Artemis and Orion, both smiling widely, arrived at the scene and found all the hunters assembled for dinner. Artemis cleared her throat and took her seat at the head of the table. She gestured to Orion to sit in Zoe's usual spot earning surprised gasps from the hunters.
Artemis didn't seem to bother what her action had caused. She continued on with her food, with Orion making jokes occasionally, making the goddess smile. Zoe was thinking deeply on how the son of Poseidon never seemed to run out of ways to make the goddess laugh. The hunters sent pitiful glances at Zoe who ignored them all. Only Phoebe and Atalanta seemed to understand her pain but wisely stayed quiet.
This continued on for the entire duration of the dinner. The hunters too, chose not to question the goddess. And the worst part, it continued even after dinner. The couple walked away, hand-in-hand to gods-know-where.
A few minutes after the duo disappeared, a bright flash illuminated the camp grounds. Apollo emerged out of the bright light and looked at the hunters. His eyes seemed to narrow when he saw Zoe. He sent a wink in the hunters' direction who all groaned in chorus.
Apollo's eyes narrowed even further as if this wasn't the reaction he'd expected. Which, it definitely wasn't. He'd expected the regular welcome of about ten arrows to his face. He was surprised, not knowing the reason behind the reduced hostility.
Zoe did, unfortunately. The hunters all preferred a flirtatious Apollo to that fake son of Poseidon. She walked forward towards Apollo and bowed a little.
"Where's Artemis?" The god enquired.
"Somewhere in the forest, as she always is, sucki-" she stopped herself. Apollo caught her slip and narrowed his eyes.
"What?" He growled.
"She's with the son of Poseidon. She's always been with him for the past few weeks, Lord Apollo." Zoe said, afraid of what'll follow. And… she was right. Apollo vanished in his golden light, reappearing back a few moments later.
"Okay listen to me. We need to split the pair. But, for obvious reasons, I can not do it directly. I need one of you to scream her name. She'll come running. After that, I'll take care of the son of Poseidon. Understood?" The sun god said furiously. The hunters, not used to this side of the usually peaceful god, nodded their heads fiercely. He teleported away in a golden flash of light.
Zoe made a mental note to thank Phoebe later. The daughter of Ares pulled the ear of one of Artemis' youngest hunters, Demeter's child, who screamed for their mistress. True to Apollo's word, Artemis came running to the scene.
Choosing that moment, Apollo made himself visible in a bright flash of gold.
"Why are you here, brother?" Artemis asked, the little hunter's cries forgotten.
"Why? To meet my little sister of course. Want to have a friendly archery competition, Artemis?" Apollo asked, with a smug look on his face.
Artemis looked uninterested and like she had to be somewhere, which she actually did. "What do I get from this stupid competition, Apollo?" She grumbled.
Apollo scratched his chin for a bit and brightened up immediately. "Well, if you win, I will reduce the number of visits to your hunt to not more than once a month. How's the deal?"
The goddess of the hunt seemed to think for a while. The hunters begged the goddess of Archery to take part and win so that they could live in peace. Artemis reluctantly accepted.
"We can settle this for once and for all, sister. I have always wanted to prove that I am the better archer." Apollo boasted. Artemis rolled her eyes.
"Point at any target, brother. The one who shoots the most arrows in ten seconds wins. Fair?" Artemis set the terms of the duel.
"Very. " The sun god replied. "There, shoot that bush. Most arrows, remember? Your time starts… now. " Apollo said, looking at his empty wrists. Artemis sighed and summoned the bow Poseidon gave her and fired in quick succession. By the end of ten seconds, Artemis shot fifty arrows at the bush. "Your turn, Apollo." She said, the bow already vanishing.
Apollo just smirked. "I already won, sister. See you around!" Apollo winked and vanished in golden light. Artemis looked at where he previously stood in surprise.
"ARTEMIS!" Someone yelled. No, the bush yelled. What! Oh, wait! The son of Poseidon emerged from behind the bush. He was bleeding from fifty different places. All of Artemis' arrows had pierced him. He was bleeding profusely from all his punctures. Only then did Artemis realize. She'd been tricked. By her own brother. Her insides hurt by seeing Orion like this. Because of her. A hollow feeling welled up in her chest.
Tears slid down her face as she ran to the wounded son of Poseidon. She cradled his head in her lap and wept for him. She knew this couldn't be cured. He was too fatally wounded. She could only hold him in his last moments. She saw the hunters disappear from the corner of her eyes but she didn't care. Orion coughed and with that, all movements were gone. Artemis placed a hand on his forehead as she drew his essence and put it in the sky. She formed a constellation with the essence of her only male hunter.
She conjured and placed a drachma on his tongue as his body vanished into nothingness. The goddess turned her head towards the sky and yelled as loud as she could, channelling all her rage and sorrow. Zoe came out of her tent to see what happened. She just shook her head and went back into the tent.
Artemis willed herself to be teleported to her tent where she spent the rest of the night, mourning the dead son of Poseidon. Artemis' stream of thought changed to Zoe's disapproving glare. Had she been so smitten by Orion that her behaviour changed. Maybe. She'd killed a lesser number of males in the last few weeks. She'd been far too lenient in her punishments. She'd barely spent any time with her hunt. Artemis had shunned Zoe for a spawn of Poseidon. As soon as she realized, a hand flew up to cover her mouth. Her eyes widened. She'd pushed away her entire purpose to loiter around with that demigod. That night, Artemis pledged to herself that she'd never let this incident repeat. What she didn't know was the plan made by the hunters and her brother. And when she does, she'd explode.
On Olympus, Apollo watched all that happened from his palace, guilt gnawing away at him. He knew it was the right thing to do. But was it supposed to hurt him so much? To see his sister mourn a murderer, a rapist, a lying, cheating bastard. He just closed his eyes, unable to watch any longer.
That night, Artemis wasn't the only one who went to bed, unhappy.
