Chapter 2

Artemis pinched her cheeks, and then placed her left cheek on the cool glass window of the shuttle bus, that would take her directly to her apartment, to calm herself down. The zoo incident had drained her. She felt absolutely tired; her head felt like it was going to burst open. Her whole body was freezing even though it wasn't even that cold. Her breath was coming in short gasps and she was struggling to breath.

The bus screeched to a stop suddenly at a traffic light and Artemis braced her feet against the seat in front of her to prevent from falling. She was about to close her dark eyes again, but then she saw a peacock prancing down the road. It was the most beautiful peacock Artemis had ever seen. Its feathers were a mix of bright, vibrant colors.

Abruptly, the peacock locked eyes with Artemis, and in a heartbeat, it crashed into the door of the bus. The passengers, including Artemis, jumped. The peacock charged down the aisle, jumped on the seat beside Artemis and started turning into smoke. The peacock shed its feathers, which dissolved as it reached the floor of the bus, leaving in its place a slim figure of a motherly woman. She had light brown hair and green eyes. Her full lips curved into a tight, menacing smile as she looked Artemis up and down.

The woman held up her hand in a 'wait' gesture and waved her other hand at the other passengers, who were staring at the woman. With a wave of her hand came peacock-colored smoke that clouded the passengers' faces. The woman repaired the bus door with another wave and then, she snapped her fingers. The bus moved again and the passengers carried on with their business as usual like nothing had happened.

Artemis watched the lady silently. She had no idea who the peacock-changing-into-a-woman is. She was shivering. Not because of the cold that was still wrapped around her, but because of the woman who seemed to emit fear just by her presence. She turned to Artemis after a pause to collect herself and said, in a voice that was supposed to be mocking, "Hello, my dear daughter. How are you? I was pretty sure you were dead long ago." She had a small smile on her pretty face, but Artemis was sure the smile was not supposed to be a 'nice' smile.

Artemis, being the polite person that she is, shakily asked, ""I'm sorry, what? Who are you?"

The woman laughed out loud, like Artemis's question was the stupidest question in the world. "Who am I? Who am I? I'm Hera, goddess of marriage, aka, your stepmother. And this is how you treat me? I'm very disappointed in your disrespectful behavior right now, Artemis. Shame on you." Hera shook her head disapprovingly.

Artemis clutched the edge of her seat tightly till the sharp edge dug into her tanned skin. She did not like this woman. She's probably a crazy maniac. Maybe if she looked away, Hera would go away.

Artemis gulped and turned towards the window. Maybe she was hallucinating. Yeah, that's it. Hallucinating…

Someone cleared her throat. Hera stared back at Artemis in confusion.

Well, maybe not.

Artemis gulped again and tried to remember what Hera said. "What are you talking about? I don't have a stepmother. And my mom is… dead, before I was even born."

Hera tsk-ed at Artemis and shook her head again. "My dear young lady, you're just a shell for the real Artemis. Haven't you noticed? You can understand animals. You made glass disappear. You're special. What happened at the zoo wasn't a mere coincidence. The Artemis inside of you has awakened." Hera squinted. "Artemis, I know you're in there. Come out now. Take over the mortal's body completely if you want to come back to Mount Olympus." At first, nothing happened. Hera waited, and waited, and waited. Apparently, she got bored waiting, so she hit Artemis at the side of her head. Artemis felt like she was being shoved aside and she was standing behind the seat she was sitting in.

There was currently two Artemis in the bus. One was standing behind a seat, while another was sitting perfectly still in front of Hera. Artemis saw her sitting self changed. Artemis's dark eyes glowed dark silver, almost like the moon. Her dark hair grew longer and thicker, and fell over her face in a messy-attractive kind of way. Her t-shirt and jeans molded itself into a short, white fashionable chiffon dress with a silver band wrapped around her waist. She was beautiful. The sitting Artemis looked completely different yet the same as the standing Artemis. Artemis (the one standing) blinked, hard. She wanted to scream to make the nightmare go away, but she seemed to have lost the ability to speak.

The 'changed' Artemis turned her glowing silver eyes at Hera and glared at the older woman. She hissed, in an angry voice, "What do you want?"

Hera laughed again, but nervously, clearly intimidated. "I merely showed the mortal who she really is. Without you, she's nothing."

The silver-eyed Artemis held out her hand. A silver stake appeared on her hand. She aimed it at Hera. "I used to hold back. I swear I won't anymore. Just leave me and the mortal alone. She has nothing to do with anything."

Hera flinched, maybe for a second, and cleared her throat. "You can't threaten me, Artemis. You can't hurt me. I am immortal, unlike you. If the mortal dies, you will die with her. Do you want that? Do you want to exist as particles in the air again? You want to find another mortal and torment her after this one dies? Is that it?"

Silver-eyed Artemis shook her head lightly. "You know I can't harm young ladies. And I can't go back to Mount Olympus. I don't want to. I don't want to join Cronos's Army."

"Why not? Everyone joined him already. The Olympians, the minor gods, even your precious twin brother did. You're the last one who hadn't. With you, Cronos's Army is complete." Hera grinned cheerfully.

A silver tear escaped Artemis. She shook her head again and wiped away her tear. "Apollo was forced. He did it to protect me. Everyone did it to protect something. They didn't join Cronos out of their own free will. I know that. You can't keep the truth away from me. And I am never, ever joining you or your daddy, Cronos."

Hera's expression twisted into a grimace and she huffed, not knowing what to say. Finally, she said, "You will. Definitely." With a burst of peacock feathers, Hera disappeared, leaving silver-eyed Artemis blinking back tears. Eventually, both Artemis blacked out, morphing into one.