(Yesterday)
Aphrodite came back to see a party instead of just the pair of soulmates.
She didn't know how the hunters even got to this place. Considering the distance from where they were and the Hunt's camp location, it was not close but not far at the same time.
This development upset the goddess of love, who only wanted to watch a pair of soulmates fall in love. Aphrodite herself was rather surprised when Artemis had yet to be confronted about the current spying, not that she was complaining or anything.
She was perfectly content to be able to watch them.
And no, she didn't find it strange that she was essentially a stalker.
In her eyes, this was akin to watching a romance movie or reading a romance book. It wasn't like she was going to intervene with the development of their relationship.
Gods watch mortals without their knowledge all the time. Just because it was a god watching another god, did it make it wrong now? How was this any different than what gods watching mortals or their children on a daily basis.
Plus, she wasn't one to renege on her "promise" to Artemis. Who would ever do such a thing!
What kind of natural love would there be if the goddess of love took the liberty of twisting the organic beauty of true love? That wouldn't be love anymore. At the most, she would only help prod couples in the right direction.
Aphrodite didn't see herself as the master of love, which she totally was, but a lowly protégé enlightening others of the path of true love.
A love that surpasses all the rest. Soul mates existed naturally, but the flow of fate spins its wheels, resulting in destined lines to veer into a completely different direction. Or even worse, have those two lines connect, only to viciously tear it apart.
It was a sad reality of the mortal world.
Heartbreak was common between mortals. Between intimate lovers, between family member, between friends, between one-sided admirations.
Gosh, the world was depressing these days. Divorce was so prominent in the United States that greatly saddened Aphrodite. Divorce got to the point where it was assumed that the average person would marry multiple times.
What happened to lifelong partners?
With such short lives, how could they even find the time to be unfaithful?
It didn't make sense to her.
Her attention focused back to the coupling. Artemis's soulmate was rather peculiar.
Not to state the obvious, but he was a male in an all-female group.
Granted, there were a few other males, but they were off somewhere else.
Right now, he was technically the only male in the group.
Siproites used to be a male, but now she was a girl.
Poor lad.
A man turned maiden.
Judging how the Hunt acted around him, she could see that he wasn't particularly liked in the Hunt.
A little less than half of them seemed alright with it. A few of them were displeased, but not entirely rejective of him. The remaining few of them seemed to hate his guts, but again they did not seemed inclined to do anything to him.
Very few of them went up to him to start a conversation.
Actually, it was only one girl that talked to him normally.
If she remembered correctly, her name was Eve- lynn?
No, that didn't sound right.
E-
Evi?
Eve-
Evan?
That definitely wasn't it.
Anyways!
All she knew was that it started with an E.
Aphrodite remembered her face and her little posse. That girl was the leader of one of the groups that seemed to detest the male but unlike her group she seemed to be fine almost cheery, which was a little strange.
If anything she would've thought that Siproites would be one of the few to get along with the male considering the vague connection they shared, but it didn't seem like the former male was inclined to approach Artemis's soulmate.
Aphrodite thought that she knew how they felt about males but apparently not.
Here was a male who wasn't entirely accepted by the majority of the Hunt yet he was able to coexist with them.
Any other male in the same situation would've been wiped off the face of the earth by now.
Theoretically, there shouldn't be something that could stop them from doing so.
He wasn't someone that she recognized from Camp Half-Blood. Every single conventionally attractive person was ingrained into her mind. And he.
Artemis' soulmate didn't ring any bells.
His particular constitution was interesting to say the least.
Face shrouded in mystery and piercing greenish eyes.
Her intro-sight gaze could not pierce through the fog covering his face.
It was a little weird, but it definitely wasn't the strangest thing she'd ever seen.
She had seen.
Things...
Things which the mortal world should never, ever see.
Things that she wouldn't want her worst enemy to experience.
A shiver went down her spine. The memories she had locked away resurfaced very briefly, before she quickly sealed them away, like slamming the door to a vault and turning all the locks.
By the titans, the unpleasant feeling that took over her for a brief second almost caused her to throw up, even though she was a god.
Aphrodite pulled out a fashion magazine to reset her mind.
After a moment, the nauseating feeling went away, and she continued what she was doing.
By this time, the party had died down and almost everyone had gone to bed.
The only ones remaining was the two soulmates.
This was perfect she thought.
Two soon-to-be lovers sharing an intimate night together, getting closer, and closer, and closer, until they-.
Her face blushed while fantasizing a particular course of action.
From what's she has seen, he wasn't bad at all.
Her intro-sight allows her to scan other people's bodies.
In other words, she could see through clothes if she wanted to.
This power wasn't known to a lot of people. It probably wasn't known to anybody. It wasn't a particularly strong power, and she had to fully concentrate to get it to work.
But using it allowed her to inspect every aspect of someone's body, including monsters if need be.
Gods were somewhat resistant to this, but if anything they would want her to see.
Gross, right?
Some gods only thought with their lower half.
Demigods and mortals had no resistance.
And no, she wasn't a pervert that used it all the time. What kind of person did you take her for?
Aphrodite had standards.
She only used it to try to see through the mist.
She may have accidentally glanced at his body.
Hypothetically speaking, if she so happened to look at his body. And if she did, she might've thought that it was pleasing to the eye.
Of course, this was all hypothetical.
There was no way she would ever purposely use her powers to something so obscene.
It might have been well-built.
And it might have been her type.
It felt a little drafty all of a sudden.
Aphrodite might've stared for too long because she found a gaze looking up at her.
A pair of cold emotionless eyes, peering directly at her as though there was nothing between the two of them.
Their eyes only met for a brief moment that it could've been passed off as a coincidence, but Aphrodite knew otherwise.
She was spotted.
Therefore, she chose the most logical option to do in this situation.
Run away~~~
For now, this was a tactical retreat.
But, she, the goddess of love, would be back.
And so, Aphrodite graciously left.
(Only to return the next morning.)
T-T
"Mistress, why are we keeping it? It's been a month now." Her tone was full of annoyance and not respectful to say the least.
It, as it was referred to, was a male, who by all accounts was still very much despised by a select few of the Hunt. Although his reputation was initially in the depths due to being a male, most of the Hunt felt fine with his existence.
They were still wary, but their treatment was a far-cry from the deliberate harassment from a month prior.
Especially after, Artemis took him to the archery course.
He did all of the chores without complaints and prepared meals whenever they felt lazy.
The male did have the ability to summon a buffet, which was pretty nifty to say the least, but a few people noticed the toll on his body that one time.
So safe to say, buffets weren't going to happen in the upcoming future.
What they appreciated the most was the fact that he kept to himself and didn't ogle at them like those demigods at Camp Half-Blood.
Males tend to stare at them with more than indecent thoughts, but this one seemed alright.
He didn't seem to care that much and silently did his obligations.
That being said.
Not all of the hunters had the same thoughts.
Some of them wanted him out.
This was one of those girls.
Artemis no longer entertained the thought of banishing the male in any shape or form. That ship had been far and gone.
If anything, she actually preferred his presence.
Or wait.
No.
That's definitely not right.
The other huntresses need him.
Yep.
That sounded much better.
He allows us to continue the hunt without worry. The most important part of this group is the hunt.
To protect not only ourselves, but for the greater good of the world.
To make the world a safer place for existing and newly born demigods as well as mortals, satyrs, nymphs, naiads, etc.
He was an integral part of the Hunt now.
When Artemis heard the girl's words, she felt a trace of anger, which was very much unlike her usual self. It manifested into a tiny frown that she didn't even know about. However, the expression itself was so unexpected by the girl that caused her to be taken aback. She regretted saying anything.
Artemis was not one to display her emotions, earning herself the nickname 'The Ice Queen' for how little she expressed herself.
There were only a select few who has seen a glimpse of them.
They were either dead or very powerful.
Thinking that she had somehow overstepped her boundaries, the girl immediately apologized for her actions on all fours, even if the girl didn't know what she did wrong.
Her casual tone transformed into immense formality.
She dared not to move a single inch in fear of being kicked out of the Hunt or something much worse.
The ground seemed to be a part of her with the way she was prostrated. She counted herself lucky for still being alive at this point.
Who knew what Artemis was thinking?
She could never fathom what the Ice Queen might do to her now that she's angered her.
If time could reverse itself, she wouldn't have said anything in the first place, knowing that she could cause the anger of Artemis.
Just from a single thought, her whole life could flip entirely.
The girl earnestly prayed while Artemis remained silent.
She could feel the beat of her heart drum her head, her ears feeling as hot as molten lava.
She longed to hear a semblance of sound. It didn't matter whether or not it was good or bad news. She felt as though the squirming and twisting of her chest was going to leap out at any moment.
The immeasurable silence was gnawing at every fiber of her being. Each passing second seemed like an excruciating eternity, tormenting her as if she was in the fiery pits of hell, condemned to damnation till the end of time.
Her head was pressed against the floor as though they were being weighted down by a million bricks, each pound of weight evaporating her will to resistance.
However, nothing good would come from resisting.
Resistance against a god was nigh impossible.
The only thing that would bring was an even greater despair.
Her ears perked up to the sound of Artemis opening her mouth to say something like a sinner being brought on the path of salvation.
A cold wave of relief rushed over the girl as she heard Artemis's words.
"Go. Wash thy self."
The girl looked up to find the Ice Queen quietly watching.
Despite the passive and detached look, she felt the opposite. The girl felt a warmth of compassion, envelop her very being.
Artemis was certainly the kindest god of all.
She pressed her head on the ground once again.
This time she lowered her head out of pure reverence.
"Go."
...
While that was happening Artemis was thinking about something completely different.
She thought that she should go visit her mother sometime.
Her thoughts were in disarray and needed someone to help organize them, since it was now clear to her that she could not do this on her own.
Leto was the only person that truly understood her.
Perhaps she should go today.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a girl practically glued to the ground.
What was she doing?
Why was she on the ground?
Artemis hurriedly told her to get up and go clean herself.
The girl looked up only to embrace the ground again, causing a few invisible question marks to hover over Artemis's head.
After the girl left, she decided to visit Leto after all.