Welcome one and all to another chapter of The Philosophy of Fear.
Where I get to do one of my favorite things and world build.
Anyway,
On with the show.
Urqupa Llantuynin, Peru, July 19th, Harry Potter.
The village was old, almost five hundred years old and settled around the fall of the last of the Incan kings, and it certainly looked like it. The stone pathway that served as the road was paved with smooth flat stones with moss and tree roots growing over them. The houses were made of enchanted stone and carved beautifully in intricate designs that told stories of the villages past and famous family members of who called the worked stone home. When passing by one of the small houses Harry caught a glimpse of magically expanded insides that were well furnished by those who had called it home for generations.
The village itself wasn't very large compared to some of the major magical cities in South America. It only had three main streets, one that ran the length of the village from the gate that He and Artemis had entered into the one on the opposite side of the small village. The other two streets served as more gathering centers for the people of the village, each at both the beginning and end of the village that loops around and between the building and the wall. At both of the intersections a large bonfire sat, already burning high as the people of the village set up stalls for food, drinks and games.
Music played through the streets as the people chatted, danced, and ate with one another all while dressed in colorful outfits and masks. The atmosphere was lively and upbeat with an undercurrent of good cheer as far as Harry could tell. Alejandro, Escobar, and Esmeralda led them through the streets pointing out different stalls for food and games for later on. Esmeralda continued to hang off of Harry's arm, chatting with him about the village as they walked through it, pointing out this and that to him. All the while Harry could feel the heated glare that Artemis was giving Esmeralda just by proximity of it, he was pretty sure if Artemis was still a god, Esmeralda would be a smoldering pile of ash at that moment.
The group made it to the other side of the village in a short time and broke apart as Alejandro said something about his brothers, and Escobar went off to speak with the elder of the village, Esmeralda stayed behind however.
"So, have you ever been a part of a communal ritual?" Esmeralda asks, letting go of Harry's arm to turn and face him with a lovely smile.
"Ah, no," Harry answers as he moves his arm around, glad that the girl had stopped hanging off of him. Not that it was unpleasant, he just still didn't like when strangers touched him. "I know about rituals and stuff, but I've never heard of a communal one," he says with a frown.
"Oh?" Esmeralda says, sounding disappointed and a bit confused. "Do they not have them where you are from?" She asks as she brushes a lock of dark brown hair behind her ear.
"Ah. No, not from what I've heard," Harry says as he scratches his cheek. "I'm from England and I go- well, went to Hogwarts," he says looking across the street as two younger children run down the street, sparkler fireworks in hand as they laugh. Artemis had been very clear on the matter of him returning to Hogwarts and England in general. She didn't want him to return at all, Artemis wanted him to stay with the hunt, to go to Illvermorny and learn under two of the teachers there that Artemis knew personally.
"Ah! I know that one!" Esmeralda says with a large grin. "That's the one that copied the Castelobruxo ward scheme of appearing as a ruin, yes?" She asks as she folds her hands behind her back and twists her hips back and forth in the same spot. But Harry just shrugs, not really knowing any about that as his mind was somewhere else.
"Perhaps," Artemis cuts in by inserting herself between Esmeralda and Harry, causing the other girl to step backwards from Artemis. "You should go prepare for your dance," she says while crossing her arms over her chest to glare at the girl.
Esmeralda looks between Harry and Artemis before returning the glare to Artemis. "You are right, I need to go help prepare for the dance," she says before standing on her tiptoes to look over Artemis' shoulder. "A word of advice Gringo, don't fight against it. Let it flow through you, add to it, and let it pass on," she says with a smile as she turns, her dress fanning out as she does, before walking away.
"Hussy," Artemis mutters under her breath as she follows Esmeralda with her withering glare.
"Really?" Harry asks, turning to look at Artemis in surprise.
"What? She was looking at you like you were a wild wolf pup," Artemis says without looking at Harry and with a scowl. "While she was an eager hunter hungry for an easy kill," she says scornfully.
"Can you…not put it like that?" Harry asks Artemis as he screwed up his face in distaste at how Artemis had worded that.
"No. Besides your lucky we haven't talked about the fact that you are no longer a virgin as of yet," Artemis says as she rounds on Harry with narrowed eyes.
Harry blushes and stutters at Artemis' words as his brain quickly short circuited. "How- what- how!?" Harry is able to make out as Artemis looms over him with a glare.
"I can tell," Artemis says a bit menacingly.
Harry opens and closes his mouth a few times before swiftly shaking his head. "No. Absolutely not having this conversation with you, ever," he says before covering his face with his hands in embarrassment. Thankfully before Artemis could continue embarrassing Harry any further or, worse, give him the sex talk, he was saved by Escobar.
"Excuse me, Miss Artemis?" The warrior says walking up to them once more. "I've spoken to Elder Ekkeko, and he has agreed to speak with you after the opening dance," he says, and while Harry couldn't see his face, he did hear the amusement in the man's tone as he looked between Harry and Artemis.
Artemis turns from Harry to look at Escobar, gracing him with a small and polite smile. "Thank you, Escobar. I'll be sure to go to him after the opening ceremonies," she says with a nod of her head. Escobar nods back before turning to leave, and as Artemis turns back to Harry to continue their conversation, she finds her son had snuck off. "That boy, I swear," she says with a sigh as she uncrosses her arms.
Harry had slipped into the crowd as soon as Artemis had turned away from him, wanting to escape both Artemis and the embarrassing conversation she started. He got weird looks from everyone in the village as he moved through the crowd of masked men and brightly colored women, ignoring the looks thanks to all the practice he had at Hogwarts. Harry quickly finds a stand serving drinks and gets himself something to drink, a fruity tasting concoction that fizzes on his tongue, before slipping back into the crowd.
It was around then that he noticed that the crowds started to become thicker around the bonfires, not liking the idea of being trapped in a crowd of people, Harry made his way over to one of the many stone houses with a set of stairs to stand on. From his vantage point he could see over the crowds, and sees Esmeralda and many other girls standing around the bonfire chatting excitedly. An older man, looking older than even Dumbledore, sits on a small seat surrounded by people dressed like Escobar begin to stand as the sun sinks behind the mountain to the east.
This gains the attention of everyone in the crowd as they all look over to him as the old man raises his hand, the crowd falls quiet. The old man smiles and begins to speak, his voice ancient and wispy, but powerful enough to carry across the village.
"With the dying of the sun, on this day, the longest in the year, I am heartened to see so many faces, both young and old, in our little village. But with the turning of the sun, we gather here once more to honor those who came before us. So, without further ado, let us begin," Elder Ekkeko says, before, in a display of wandless magic, he lowers his hand and snuffs out all forms of lights in the village and drowns them all in darkness.
Harry had seen other mortals display other forms of wandless magic over the years, the Monster coming to the forefront of his mind with his shield. But he had also seen Dumbledore and Remus use the skill for a number of mundane things, such as shutting a door or lighting a candle. While impressive for them, there was something different about how the Elder did it. Ekkeko didn't so much as control the magic that hummed and thrummed throughout the village, but guided it with a respectful hand to snuff out large bonfires.
Harry could feel the magic, so thick and powerful in the air, well up as the people of the village began to hum as one. It was an ominous sound as the pitch changed and they started to sing in a language Harry couldn't understand, but it sounded ancient to him. It was the winds between the trees, the crunching of leaves underfoot, the crashing of waves upon the shore, and the shaking of the roots of the mountains. The instruments then began to play, woodwind pipes started softly as the thumping and bumping of drums soon joined to keep the beat and melody in check. Flashes of fire catch Harry's attention toward where the bonfire sat still cold, at first he thought it was from wands, but with another flash of scarlet flame he saw what it really was.
The long skits of the dancing girls, each time they spun the hem of their skirts would ignite, showering the dark in illuminating flames as they stomped their feet with the rhythm of the drums. The string instruments came next, and the primal singing and drums gave way to the harmonics of them, in a clashing struggle that soon gave way to a beautiful song. As the girls twirled and weaved flames into the darkness with the hems of their dresses and handheld fans. The men of the village dressed as demons and monsters could be seen leaping at the girls, but backing away at the last moment in exaggerated poses in the flashes of fire.
The song changed once more, the lyrics more understandable to Harry now, as each person sang their own individual song. Naming someone they knew, announcing their love for them and why they did love them before saying another name and asking for them to protect the first person. In the flashing fire that kept building and building, becoming more and more pronounced as the song went on, Harry could see blood on the ground by the girl's feet. At first he thought that they were bleeding from dancing so hard, but soon realized that blood wasn't coming from them, but the stone below their feet. It splashed and sputtered in the flames conjured wandlessly by the girls dancing in sync with one another. It was then that Harry could feel the thick magic that surrounded the village begin to swell once more.
Harry didn't think of himself as magically sensitive in the slightest, that was Delphini's thing, but not even he could miss the feeling of magic coming from both the village and the people who call it home. It was a rainbow of different feelings trapped in the magic as will began to form it, passing into Harry. If it wasn't for Esmeralda warning, he could see himself intuitively fighting against the intrusion he felt in his core. But he tampered down on that instinct and let it flow into him, while he could feel the Hunt rally against the feeling, hating it, he could also feel the rhythm and melody that Artemis had shown him in Dún Scaith so long ago.
The song was the same, just using different lyrics and melodies to give that same sense of community and togetherness.
So, Harry reached out to the most gentle of the domains he had and allowed the soft moonlight to fill him the same way the song did and let it pass through him without a fight. He could feel his core burn slightly as the full moon had long passed and the waning moon sat in the sky. In the scarlet flame of the dancers he noticed something new, new faces amongst the dancers to be specific, some were older, some younger, but all different in one simple thing. The clothes they wore changed in between modern day, to outfits from the last few centuries, to outfits of hide and leather, to loincloths and simple body paints. But no matter what they wore they danced in the same spinning, stomping, and twirling motions that sent scarlet flames from them.
It wasn't until Harry saw warriors dressed like Escobar appearing in the flames of the dancing girls, swinging maces, and halberd like weapons or shielding the girls from the leaping monsters, did he finally figure out what he was seeing.
Out of all Hermione's rants Harry could recall, it was one from her tutoring from his first year at Hogwarts that jumped to the forefront of his mind. The International Confederation of Wizards had outlawed and banned the study, practice, and experimentation of many "dark arts" the world over. Many have been argued over to death and back, but there were two universally agreed upon by every country: Evocation and Necromancy. Evocation was outlawed because of the inherent danger of reaching out into the aether and pulling something into reality that shouldn't be here. While their were few truly stupid and suicidal to do such an act, the practice of Necromancy was still a huge problem the world over.
It was a veil and repugnant act of blood and magic to infuse false life into a dead body to animate it and enslave it. A few argued the medicinal benefits of Necromancy thanks to a few of the spells that could extend life, but all those spells came at the cost of some innocent soul sacrificed in the act. Ever since Harry first heard about it, he had a deep gnawing hatred for that branch of magic that he couldn't quite explain. Harry knew for a fact what he was looking at was Necromancy in the vaguish definition of the magical art, but for some reason, he couldn't hate it and he couldn't put his finger on why he didn't. It oddly struck him as acceptable for some reason, and it wasn't until he saw things in the dancers and warriors that he knew why.
In the twisting forms of the dancers he saw features that they shouldn't have, blonde and red hair, green eyes that sparkled like emeralds and were as deep green as a forest full of trees.
In the warriors he saw pale skin and cloudy gray eyes, messy black hair much like his own and the roar of flames turned into deep chuckles and mischievous laughter.
Harry could feel his jaw open slightly in shock as tears gathered in his eyes. A feeling like a warm protective blanket falls over him, hugging him tightly from all sides to protect him from the cold and the dark. Harry looks across the way in the building fire that by now almost reached its apex and sees Artemis in the crowd, watching him with shining eyes like his mortal mother had and she smiles softly at him.
The dancing girls finish the ritual by all turning inward to face the bonfire that had steadily started to burn brighter and brighter as the dance went on, and released one final flash of flames into its very heart. The fire surges upwards, reaching into the sky, climbing higher than any building in the village before igniting in silver flames.
This was, apparently, not the desired effect. For as soon as the fire turned silver, nearly everyone surrounding gasped out in shock and began to question what it meant. The elder had sat up from his chair so fast when it happened, that Harry was surprised the old man hadn't fallen over. His ancient eyes searching the lingering smoke for some meaning Harry couldn't ascertain but couldn't help but fear he had done that as he ducks his head.
Elder Ekkeko raises his hand and all at once, all the people of the village quiet down and look at him, as the village elder spoke his voice was solemn. "Be at ease, children of Urqupa Llantuynin, for this is not an ill omen as I hear you whisper. This is a blessing, it seems, for the first time in countless years, Mama Killa, goddess of the moon and the third great power has blessed us herself," he says as his voice shakes a little, causing Harry to look up to the Elder.
His face was as solemn as his voice and his eyes carried tears in them. Harry knew this because Elder Ekkeko was looking right at him as he spoke.
And deep within himself, he felt a distant echo of thanks, but it felt hollow, empty, and undeniably dead.
Harry Potter, a few hours later.
Harry sat near the bonfire that he had watched just a few short hours ago. His eyes looking into the flames, seeing the odd lick of silver fire leaping upwards toward the sky. Most of the younger children of the village had been put down for bed and soft music had taken over the atmosphere for couples to dance slowly too. No matter where Harry looked he saw either dancing couples or friends gathered together talking and joking. It invoked a sense of longing in him, a homesickness he wasn't expecting. He had left England so fast he didn't even have time to say goodbye to Hermione, Ron, Theodore, or Luna. The thought caused Harry to look down at the drink in his hand, it was no longer cool and had gone flat awhile ago, but it still tastes good. He downs the rest and wonders what he was going to tell Theo when…if he returns to England about Fúamnach.
Harry's head buzzes as he sighs and leans back in his seat, his eyes drifting over to where Artemis sat with Elder Ekkeko, chatting in a way only two ancient souls could. Artemis had tracked him down to inform him that the Elder was going to give them room and board for the evening until they left for whatever the hell they were heading. Artemis had been very tight-lipped on why she was being punished and what the hell Paititi was, and while Harry had no clue what the second one was, he had a good idea for why.
It was because of him.
Artemis had created a Magician, one that should have never been born and thus was now being punished for it. More than likely because Harry was no longer on the isles and in the literal backyard of the Olympians that had triggered the punishment. "Just something else that's my fault," Harry thought to himself with a frown. His thoughts begin to turn over the events of Mag Turied once more to the cacophony of slamming doors. Harry started to feel fuzzy once again, like he wasn't sitting in a small village in the middle of South America but he wasn't fully back on Mag Turied again but he could still see and feel the horrors it had brought him.
He's brought out of it as someone sits next to him and thrusts another drink into his view. "You look like you could use a drink and some company, Gringo," Esmeralda says with a smile as Harry turns to look at her.
"Oh, ah- thanks, I guess," Harry says before taking the drink and giving the girl a half smile causing her cheeks to flush. "I was just…lost in my head," he says with a sigh before taking a sip of his new drink.
"Ah, well- yes. That's what it seemed to me," Esmeralda says, returning Harry's smile. "So, how did you like the ritual?" She asks after a moment.
"Oh, yeah. That was- that was something else," Harry says with a nod after blinking for a moment. He had never seen or felt magic like that before, and to be a part of it was something else entirely, afterwards his body was a buzz with magic and power like he was under the full moon. While he could still feel it a bit, it had mostly passed and dissipated. "You're dancing was amazing, freaked out a bit with all the ghosts, but otherwise it was an experience," he admits before taking another drink from his cup.
"The ghosts?" Esmeralda says, sounding surprised. "You saw them?" She asks, curious.
"I mean, yeah. Kinda hard to miss once I figured out what I was seeing, the blood part was pretty odd as well," Harry says with a shrug before taking another drink.
Esmeralda looks at him for a long moment before shaking her head a bit as she smiles at him. "I've never heard of a Gringo being able to see our ancestors during the dance. I can't even see them and I've lived in the village all my life, it's mostly the elderly, who have been attuned with the magic for years, that can see them. You're either very special or very powerful," she says, looking at Harry with wide eyes.
"Doubt that," Harry says bitterly, he couldn't even kill one monster before the monster had taken the people he loved from him again.
Esmeralda frowns at his words and sees the heartbreak in his eyes. "Why did you come to the village? Just for the ritual or something else?" She asks quickly, hoping to distract Harry with a change of subject.
"Well, Artemis wanted to bring me here to see the ritual before- well, before a change of plans. Don't get me wrong, the ritual is pretty cool and all, but we're just passing through, heading to a place called Paititi," Harry says with a shrug as he leans back and sighs, bringing the cup to his lips once more.
"Paititi?" Esmeralda says in such a way that Harry turns to look at her. Her face had paled in the light of the bonfire as she looked horrified at just the mention of the word. "Why are you going to that gods blighted place?" She asks, a tremor of fear in her voice.
"You know what it is?" Harry asks with a raised brow, now even more curious about it.
"You do not?" Esmeralda says aghast at his question, and all Harry could do was shake his head and watch as Esmeralda's lips pitch together before she stands and holds out her hand. "Come with me," she says and Harry takes her hand. She leads him away from the town square, heading down one of the side streets that loop between the buildings and the wall. She pulled out her wand and lit the tip with soft witch light as she began to explain. "My village is old with a long memory, but our most important stories we memorialize on the wall so that future generations would not forget where we came from- or, our warnings," she tells Harry as she leads him by the hand.
They walk the length of the village almost getting to the gate that Harry and Artemis had entered through. She stops at a segment of wall that was covered with overgrown moss and tree roots.
"And this was my ancestors first warning," she explains before waving her wand to peel back the foliage to reveal the inscription below it. The largest and most dominating part was the circular middle section, it showed a man dressed regally kneeling at the foot of a mountain with both hands raised toward the peak where a city or temple sat. Overlooking both the mountain and the man was another figure who looked to be a skeleton wearing a dress and a large ornament headdress looking down at the man with its arm bent at the elbow and pointing out at either side of it. All around the middle part were smaller pictures, some Harry could make sense of, some he couldn't, and one froze him in place.
"Long ago, before our village was founded, the Spanish conquistadors came and began their conquest of my ancestors. They were successful in the endeavor when they killed the last king of the Incan people, Atahualpa. But he was not without his heirs, the princes of the Inca Empire scattered to the winds in hope to be a rallying point for their people. Most were hunted down and killed, his daughters sold off to the Spanish, but one however, did escape," Esmeralda explains the bloody history of her people before gesturing with her wand toward the figure kneeling in the middle. "Inkarri, the forgotten," she says in a whisper as if she was afraid of the man showing up in person if she spoke his name too loud.
"The Can't-Spells believe that he was to be the incarnation of Atahualpa, who would rise once more to unite his people and wreak a terrible vengeance on the Spanish for killing him. But we, the children of Viracocha, know the truth," she says with narrowed eyes at the depiction of Inkarri. "It was the forgotten that swore vengeance against the Spanish for the death of his father and brothers and the violation of his sisters, and he had the power to do this. For the Forgotten had the blood of Viracocha in him through his father, but his mother was said to be Pachamama, the Earth Mother," Esmeralda says, and too enraptured by her own story to see Harry's eyes widen.
"He was a Magician," Harry thinks to himself in realization but keeps quiet as he listens more intently.
"He, using the blessing of Pachamama, was the one who created this village and using his skills with the blood of Viracocha, he hid the village from the Spaniards," she continues on, ignorant of Harry's epiphany. "At first he accepted any and all of his people, both the Can't-Spells and the children of Viracocha. They gathered at his rallying cry and looked to him as the next Incan King, but when the Village became overcrowded the forgotten had concocted a plan. You see, Gringo, our gods very rarely appear before us and kept their distance, but they did pass on terrible rights and magic to their high priests and the forgotten had learned one of them," she says gesturing toward a few symbols around the circle that Harry didn't understand as she took a much needed breath.
"The forgotten also knew of another secret, he knew the location of Paititi, the golden city of the gods," Esmeralda informs Harry as his eyes are drawn to the temple on the peak of the mountain. "He gathered up all the Can't-Spells in the village and climbed the mountains to the east to the seat of the very gods, and it is there that he did something unforgivable. Out of the two hundred innocent men, women and children he brought with him, he sacrificed half of them in the name of reclaiming the Incan Empire. The ritual he conducted was said to bring forth a power that could not be stopped, that could bring an end to the Spaniards once and for all," she says with a frown.
"But all it did, if the legends are true, was kill the gods," Esmeralda tells Harry as he freezes, he could feel his heart beat in his chest faster and faster as he eyes widened as her words. His thoughts running a mile a minute, Esmeralda's words replying over and over again, it made a…sickening amount of sense when Harry thought about it. "But when he tried to use this power, it had cursed him and tainted the city of the gods, for he had brought sin to the golden city and doom to all within it," she says softly.
"For his crime, the forgotten one was sealed in the golden city with those of the Can't-Spells who survived, unable to leave. For his hubris of trying to usurp the power only the gods may wield, he and his men were cursed to become Corpo Seco, and guard the city forevermore," Esmeralda says before pointing at one of the surrounding symbols around the main one. It was in the shape of a heart marked with another symbol, a symbol that froze the blood in Harry's veins, a lightning bolt like scar.
Esmeralda turns back to Harry, a worried look in her eyes as she watches him inspect the image on the wall. "I do not know what your sister is hoping to find there, but all that is there is death, Gringo. Neither of you should go," she tells him.
"Whose the other figure?" Harry asks, pointing at the skeleton.
Esmeralda looks back and frowns. "The stories are unclear on it, some say it's just a representation of the forgotten one's curse, others say it's the power he wished to wield. While my grandma called it the watcher of the bones," she tells Harry as he continues to look at the figure of bones, he was drawn to its eyes, as they looked to be small polished stones set into its eye sockets. Giving them a look of fathomless blackness, and a chill runs down his spine as Harry was sure that wasn't a coincidence.
A name runs through Harry's mind, a name he hadn't thought of for weeks and one that echoes in his mind like a curse.
Harry lets out a shaky sigh as his eyes draw up to one of the odder symbols around the larger one. It was a snake, one Harry had never seen before, fleshless, scaleless, and coiled back and ready to strike with the same polished black stones in its eyes.
"Are there any stories on how to break the curse?" Harry asks, looking back at Esmeralda.
She chuckles at his question. "If you're hoping for some story about some wild and pretty Gringo coming along and breaking the hundreds of years old curse, I'm sorry to tell you that, no. Nothing like that," she says with a smile and batting her eyelashes at him. "The ICW named it a world heritage sight and forbade anyone from getting within a mile of it for their own safety and then forgot about it," she says with a sigh as she brushes her bangs out of her eyes. "Out of sight and out of mind I guess," Esmeralda says with a dejected sigh before with another wave of her wand, the foliage recovers the mural.
Harry's lips thin. "Was this why she wouldn't tell me anything about Paititi? Because a Magician had caused all of the problems. What did he do that caused the death of the gods here? Did the same thing happen in Mesopotamia?" Harry thinks to himself, unsure of it all, he had so many questions and no answers to them. He honestly wished he had Hermione here with him, she would be able to figure it all out in no time.
"Where are you staying tonight?" Esmeralda asks, with a slight smile on her face. "Not in the forest I hope, it's not safe out there after dark," she offers.
"Oh, ah. The elder offered me and Artemis a room for the night," Harry says as both he and Esmeralda start walking back to the town square.
Esmeralda nods her head, before brushing back her bangs once more. "Well, if you don't wish to stay in the same room as your sister, you can always keep me company for the night," she says looking at Harry with a soft smile.
"I don't really sleep well, I'd hate to keep you up all night," Harry says absent mindlessly, his thoughts a thousand kilometers away.
"Oh, I'm sure I won't mind," Esmeralda says with a mischievous smile and smoky eyes. "Besides I may know a trick or two to tire you out and make for a more peaceful sleep," she offers as she stops and turns to look at Harry.
Harry turns back to her with a brow raised, looking curious. "What do you mean?" He asks, completely oblivious at what the pretty girl was offering him.
Esmeralda just smiles at him.
Artemis, Urqupa Llantuynin, early next morning.
Artemis was upset. No, she was angry, the frown set on her face and her crossed arms spoke to all who saw her about Artemis' mood. She was deep in conversation with Ekkeko about Paititi and what she could expect from going there when she had lost sight of Harry. She took her eyes off him for five minutes and that little Harlot had swooped in and swiped him out from under her nose. Ekkeko had laughed when Artemis raged about it in front of him, merely telling her that she would not need to worry about any "Legado" as he would take care of it in the morning.
The village elder was a far more perceptive man than he let on. Much like Albus, the man had felt she was far more than she let on at first and while she did not tell him of her missing Godhood, he was still respectful to her. Which wasn't all surprising as the mortal was over three hundred years old and would be a bit more entuned with the world around him.
Artemis' frown deepens when she spots Harry lightly jogging down the street with his pack thrown over his shoulder, he slows down to a stop as he was quick to avoid looking her in the eyes.
"Enjoy your night, Harry?" Artemis asks shortly to her son.
"Ah, it was- ya know," Harry says sheepishly and with an uncomfortable shrug. Artemis opens her mouth to lambast him about spending the night with women like his teacher, but stops short when she takes him in. Harry seemed more…relaxed, the bags under his eyes less pronounced as if he got a long and restful sleep for the first time in weeks. Artemis grinds her teeth at the sight of bruises and bite marks on his neck, but in the end decides not to say anything.
"Come then, we are burning daylight and I, for one, would like to get out of the forest before nightfall," Artemis says sharply before picking up her own pack and throwing it over her shoulders.
"Is it because of the-" Harry begins to ask, but Artemis cuts him off.
"Yes, it's because of the Nazi Vampire's," Artemis supplies quickly.
"So, why haven't we dealt with that particular problem?" Harry asks as he follows behind Artemis, silently thanking whatever caused Artemis to overlook his own escapades last night.
"Because it's not our problem to deal with, if the Magical Government here in South America wanted us to remove them all they would have to do is ask, and they haven't," Artemis supplies, forcing her issue with Harry out of her mind for now.
"Well, I don't know if it's the Hunt or the quintessential British thing in me, but when I hear the word Nazi, I immediately want to do nothing more than to find them and curb stomp them until I'm making wine to celebrate freeing France," Harry says in a deadpan voice as he walks behind Artemis, not seeing the amused smile growing on her face.
"Then perhaps on our return trip when I reattain my godhood, we can make a pit stop to Hunt them down like dogs," she says with a chuckle and a roll of her eyes as she hears Harry cheer.
They walked in silence for most of the trip out of the forest and into the rocky hills that led to the Andes mountains. Stopping only once they were out of the forest to eat a quick lunch and refile their canteens with water from Harry's wand. It was late afternoon by the time they were halfway up the mountains, and Artemis was starting to think her father had underestimated the distance Artemis and Harry could cover in a day.
They made it to about the midway point of the mountain when Artemis decided to break for camp. It was better to get set up early than set up in the dark of the night, she had tasked Harry to set up his tent, collect firewood, and get everything set up for the night as she set out to find something to hunt to bolster their meager rations.
Artemis had set out later than she wanted to and had no desire to be caught out after dark. For she knew what else called these mountains home and did not wish to run into a Boitatá in her weakened state. But her luck had held out when she came across the tracks of a pack of Taruca, she frowned at the sight, disliking the idea of hunting the Vulnerable species. But the need to eat demands sacrifice and she vowed to restore the beast to life once her lost godhood was reclaimed.
Artemis followed the tracks a few miles down the mountain, making sure she would not lose her bearings and could make it back to camp as soon as she bagged her kill. She found the herd grazing in the setting sun, the large bucks on the outside watching over the fauns and young in the middle. Artemis is quick to find a spot in the rocks above the grazing herd and notches an arrow, her eyes scanning the bucks and quickly picking out the largest and oldest of them. She did not wish to Hunt one of the younger ones who still had many more rutting seasons ahead of them. She takes a steady and deep breath before raising her bow and taking aim. The buck would run as soon as her arrow struck it, and she would have to make chase to keep it in her sight and dress her kill on sight and leave the guts for the Spectacled Bears that also call the mountains home.
The circular nature of the domain of the Hunt must be respected no matter the form she took.
She lets out her breath, slowly and steadily, before drawing in a deep one and pulling back the bowstring. She counts her heat beats as she clears her mind of all things but her shot as she closes her eyes. One of the most useful things that Apollo had brought back from the far east was the art of Kyudo. It taught mindfulness, focus, and dedication in archery as a meditative state, something she found oddly resonating when it came to teaching new hunters on how to control the Hunt.
But as she opened her eyes to let her arrow fly, a thunderous roar sent the herd of Taruca scattering up the mountain. A frown appears on Artemis face as she loosens her pull on her arrow and watches the beast she heard yesterday walk into the clearing.
It was massive, as all its kind was, but its grace betrayed its size as it moved fluidly like a predator three-fourths its size. It's dark fur shimmered with starlight as galaxies and Nova's could be seen in its fur, like a piece of the night sky was torn from the heavens and given form. It's claws and teeth looked to be forged from moonlight as it walked forward on all four legs, only to stop in the middle of the clearing and stand on its hind legs. At the beast's standing height it could easily look into Artemis' eyes in her vantage point above the clearing with little effort before it growled at the sight of her.
But Artemis looked at the great bear without fear. "So, you've come to try and kill me while I am trapped in a mortal form, tell me, did my father put you up to this-" Artemis asks with a small smirk as she tilts her head at the bear. "-Callisto?" But all the Ursa Major does is roar in wrath at the former goddess that had trapped her in her beastial form.
Chapter done!
And we are officially moving back to weekly updates ladies and gentlemen!
This chapter was fun to write, I was a bit iffy on Harry actually getting laid because I don't want him to suffer from main character syndrome too much and just gets every girl he wants because I dislike that. But decided to go with it because it felt right.
Now the question is: Did Harry cheat on Delphini?
It's pretty iffy answer to be honest for me, because in Harry's mind he and Delphini are over but he still loves her, but according to the tags, they aren't. So I'll let y'all figure out if it was or not.
But hey, we got to learn about Paititi and did a little world building with magic.
Who is Callisto?
Well, if you don't want to look it up I will answer it pretty quickly in the next chapter.
But for those who do know who she is, we are going with The version of the myth where Artemis was the one who transformed her, not the other goddess involved.
Kingsaxcul, out!