Hunting always has had a calming effect on her. It had been that way ever since she was a little child, trying to sneak up on animals. Before Olympus, before godhood, back when it was only her, Apollo and their mother. It was a fond memory that came forth whenever she immersed herself in her domain like this.

Hunting demanded focus and patience, time and a lack of unnecessary thought. It demanded exactly what she needed after the ordeal she just went through. She has had to do this more often in recent centuries, going away and just hunting mindlessly to drive away anger, frustration or sadness. By now she had learnt to do it properly too, unlike in her younger days. She'd hunt invasive species somewhere, find a place where numbers didn't matter. Concern herself only with the process of hunting.

Yet right now, the comfort of her domain was failing her. The anger pounding in her chest wasn't disappearing, instead growing stronger to the point where she felt it roaring in every shot she took. The sadness and helplessness accompanied that same anger, stifling her breathing almost constantly. She had been here for two hours, yet nothing had changed. Hunting didn't work, not this time.

That was something she had realised a while ago, she just didn't want to accept it. There was nothing else she could do to vent so if even hunting had failed her, what was she to do? Something else it would seem.

Artemis lowered her bow, making it disappear with but a single thought. It was childish to run from her problems like this, unbecoming of a goddess that had lived for millennia and had judged the same childishness in countless others. A second thought was all it took for her to flash away, finding herself in her palace now.

Her gaze roamed over the tree in its center, one she had sat and slept on whenever she has had to mull over something. She had sat on there when Percy first came to her to discuss their engagement too, barely more than three months ago. It felt longer but it wasn't.

He had arguably been the least problematic part in all of this, a victim of godly whims just like herself. In other circumstances she would have even considered him a friend, a rare thing even when looking through her entire life. But the circumstances weren't different and he was her fiance instead.

Without paying it any mind, Artemis had scaled the tree and sat down, her thoughts far too distracted. She should probably be thinking about the prophecy too, the foretold fate that would put her and everything she knew into danger but she couldn't. All that filled her mind was her own, selfish situation. The wrath she felt towards Aphrodite and Hera, towards her father, even towards her usually kind sister Athena.

Artemis wondered how she had ended up here, part of a council in which most gods were her enemies. She hadn't thought that she'd drawn the ire of so many of her fellow Olympians and yet…they were gladly watching as she slowly fell apart. Hera. Without really noticing, a knife appeared in her hand as she threw it, impaling the opposite wall, one made of solid rock. Aphrodite. Another knife, embedded right next to the first one, just a little lower and to the left. Athena. Another one, stuck just like the first two knives. Why had her sister turned against her? Was her spite with Poseidon really more important to her than Artemis? To the degree where Athena would willingly sell away one of the things most sacred to her? Ares. The vile brute had always been but a pet in Aphrodite's hands when it came to these matters and yet he had still made his choice. Another knife found its place in her wall. Zeus. Her father, the god she should hope would protect her at least a little bit. But his fatherly protection had long since disappeared as it would seem and it had been replaced with simply being opportunistic. A sixth knife sunk into her wall, forming cracks upon impact. Six. Six of the eleven gods that sat on the council with her had been willing to go along with this, to violate the sanctity of one of her core domains.

Artemis felt her composure crumble, streaks of power breaking through her skin as her form was deteriorating. With a frustrated shout, a wave of anger left her as she descended from her spot, her power pulverising the tree she had just been on. She'd regrow it eventually but not now. A second wave came out, hitting the walls around her as the room was flooded in light, an invisible force pushing furniture and catapulting most of it away from her. Some things broke, others just bounced off the walls. She'd repair that later or ask Hephaestus to anyway. A third wave followed soon after, this one not finding any new targets and instead just wrecking the old ones even more. A fourth and fifth wave followed, her being flickering between mortal and true form, her grasp on her power weaker than it had been in a long time. Slowly, even the walls of her palace started to show cracks, the building not made to withstand a godly onslaught.

By the time she was done, her room looked worse than ever before, wreckage wherever she looked. Artemis had successfully all but destroyed her own home and yet she didn't even have the capacity to care right now. Her breathing was laboured as she slowly regained self-control, simply falling to the ground once she succeeded. Even if it was destructive, it was also effective to blow off steam this way. Oh how she yearned for the ability to just fall asleep right now. To just shut herself down and process stuff in the domain of another. But sleep wouldn't find her, Hypnos wouldn't allow an angry Olympian entry. And so she just laid there, staring up at a ceiling she had almost torn down moments ago.

Her mind stayed blank for a while, recovering from her rage. She'd just have to focus on the good things right now, she could do that…Artemis closed her eyes, feeling herself drift away. She would do what she had done so many times before in her hours of waiting and of seeking distractions. Her soul drifted across her domains, through the forests of the world, then following the night itself. She viewed the young children, the unbridled joy that still flowed through them. It was meditative to see all the things she governed, watching what she held dear. At this point, Artemis was slowly finding back her peace, her anger dissipating in the face of the things she treasured. Her troubles didn't disappear, far from it, but they paled in comparison to what she was viewing right now, in comparison to the things she treasured and loved so much.

When her eyes opened again, hours had passed and the sun was slowly creeping over the horizon, her nightly duty over. She was still in the middle of the wreckage she had created but her mind had stabilised now, a small sprout of a tree growing where she had destroyed the former one. She'd have to leave soon, whenever Poseidon showed up at her door. Artemis took another breath, making sure her composure was steady. It wouldn't do for her to just break down again when she came face to face with her destiny again.

The thought about destiny brought the prophecy back to the forefront of her mind. How had she forgotten that? Though even if she remembered, she couldn't make sense of it fully, not yet anyways. Her guess might be better than that of her sister but that was it. However with how she knew fate to function, she'd know when the time comes just what the prophecy means and until then she'd bide her time patiently.

Artemis slowly moved to leave her palace, making her way through her self-made obstacle course of destroyed furniture. She'd rather already be outside when Poseidon arrived, lest he sees the glaring proof of her loss of control. To her luck, she managed to leave her palace before he arrived, opting to stroll through Olympus to pass the time. It didn't take long for her to find her way to the older palaces either as the moment she stepped onto the main road, whispers buzzed up around her, reminding her of yesterday's announcement and putting her in a spotlight she certainly didn't ask for or enjoy. As such she slipped out to the Olympian palaces, making her way past most of them until she finally came to the end of the road where the eldest Olympians had their palaces. While her father and her uncle had their palaces in relative proximity to the council chambers and Hera had merged hers with Zeus' when they married, the two eldest daughters of Kronos had kept their place firmly, theirs being the two oldest buildings on the mountain outside of the actual council chambers.

Artemis slipped into Demeter's palace, making her way into the garden. Her aunt had never been one to mind others visiting her garden or to put it in her own words "The more people enjoy my gift, the better". While Artemis didn't share that sentiment, she did appreciate being allowed to stroll through these magnificent gardens at her own leisure. What caught her off-guard though was the fact that she wasn't alone. While she didn't notice at first, which in itself was odd, she came face to face with the palace's owner halfway through her stroll. On top of that, it was in a place she had never seen before, a gazebo. Next to her was another one of Artemis's aunts with Hestia pouring three cups of tea as if she had already seen Artemis coming. She might have given her power and ability.

"Artemis, niece, why don't you take a seat?" Her voice was calm, inviting. It was to the point where Artemis forgot that she had been taking a stroll just now. "Yes..since when…" She didn't finish her question but they understood her nonetheless. This time it was Demeter that answered. "Since when is there a gazebo here? It's quite the nice place, isn't it? I've had it remodeled a few centuries ago but this little spot has been here since I've grown this garden. You didn't think I'd leave no privacy for myself at all, did you?"

Now Artemis understood why she had never been here before. Upon closer inspection, she could even see signs of the magic that was sealing this place normally. "I see…", she sat down next to Hestia, taking a cup of tea from her with an appreciative nod before taking a sip. Hestia's tea was a strange thing, she didn't know what it was made of but it had a calming, positive effect even on her, a goddess largely unaffected by even the strongest poisons. There was just something divine and magical in the way Hestia made tea and a part of her didn't want to know the secret at all, content to just enjoy the result.

"It suits your taste, I assume?" Hestia was smiling at Artemis, who only now realised that a smile of her own had found its way onto her face. "Oh, yes…I wasn't interrupting you, was I?" It had seemed almost prearranged when Hestia had already prepared her a cup of tea when she came but now she somehow doubted that now. "Oh, nothing like that. We both saw you coming and you wouldn't have ended up here if you were interrupting." Hestia waved her concerns away nonchalantly. before continuing. "You're troubled by what happened yesterday, aren't you?"

Normally Artemis would have shut down that question without a second thought but something about the presence radiating from the two elder goddesses was stopping her from doing just that. They seemed too sympathetic, too wise in that moment and so for reasons that were still partially beyond her, she answered. "Yes…I just don't know what to do, it feels like all that I've built up is just crashing down on top of me, like I'm losing my whole identity in a span of a single year."

Just like that her walls came down. She'd held onto this caged feeling for a while now and the comforting presence of her aunt just gave her the last push she needed. However the one to answer her wasn't Hestia but instead Demeter. The goddess first gave her a long look, a mixture of understanding and pain seeping into her gaze before finally saying something. "You obsess too much over the things you have right now, Artemis. When I was young, just a little older than you are now, I also thought I had a great life. I was an Olympian ruling a domain I liked and I had my sisters with me to enjoy eternity with. Then came your father and with him I lost my sense of safety and the comfort I drew from being an Olympian. My relationship with my sister was forever tarnished through jealousy I didn't cause and still, my life continued. I got back on my feet and in spite of the things I lost, I still had many joys in my life. My domains remained, Hestia stayed with me through my pain and Persephone came to me as a sunshine in my life that helped me stand through the many struggles yet to come my way. After that, I lost my everything again when Persephone eloped with Hades and I saw nothing but darkness ahead, created death and famine in the entire world, even among the gods and still, here I am. My child became a mother herself and suddenly I could play with my very own grandchild who adores me. Time and fate are powerful things, things even we as Olympians can never fully understand. They can heal wounds and cure pain just as easily as they can bring it. Even when the future looks dark for you, you only need to persist and the darkness will eventually disappear. When this is over you may be married and you may even lose influence in some of your domains, maybe you will even need to give one up entirely. But other domains of your will remain. You will still be the goddess of the hunt, of forests and of childbirth. The goddess of the moon. You will still be the lady of the hunt, their leader. You will still have your brother's support and even Hestia and I will be there for you should you need it. Don't despair in the face of change and loss, Artemis, stand through it and you will find a future past all that struggling, I promise you that."

As she was talking, Artemis could see the emotions pass through Demeter's eyes. She could see the nostalgia and pride of a founding Olympian, mighty and distinguished. She could see the fear and pain as she talked about Zeus, about being raped. She could see the joy that Persephone brought her. She could see the anger and despair when she thought she had lost her daughter forever. And finally Artemis could see peace and…joy once more as she talked about her grandchild. Demeter, despite her many shortcomings, had the experience to give her genuine advice right now and…it helped. She couldn't see a future for herself, not a particularly desirable one after marriage and she would rather stay as she was now, free and unbound. But the elder goddess was right. She didn't have any foresight and she didn't know what fate had in store for her. She didn't have to fear losing everything she had as many of what she held most dear could never be taken from her. It might be hard but her life would continue and many things that she treasured about her life right now would still be with her afterwards. Maybe her assessment had been too narrow-minded after all, how else could she forget this?

Artemis drew another deep breath, muttering a quiet 'thank you' to her aunt before going back to sipping on her tea. Hestia chuckled next to her, gently stroking her hair in a comforting way. "Don't overthink it, Artemis. And even more importantly, don't hesitate to ask for help if you need it. No burden like that should ever be carried alone." The moon goddess found herself on the receiving end of another supportive smile before Hestia turned to her younger sister. "Now, sister, the tea is getting cold so come and sit with us."

Demeter didn't need to hear that again, sitting down as well and grabbing a cup of tea for herself before the two sisters fell into more laidback chatter, talking about anything that caught their fancy. Artemis for her part mostly just listened, content with just having company right now. She'd join the conversation occasionally, voicing her thoughts when she had any in particular but only on a select few topics.

It was perhaps the first time in centuries that she had taken the time to properly listen to Demeter and Hestia talk. Her interactions especially with Kronos's second daughter had been sparse ever since her childhood after Demeter had taught her about her domain of nature and frankly, she couldn't remember why. The goddess was, for all intent and purpose, caring and gentle.

Their session came to an end when their host Demeter suddenly got up, eyes locking on something in the distance. "It seems that our brother has arrived to pick you up, niece. Do you want me to let him in?"

Her voice was noticeably colder as she waited for Artemis to answer. Even Poseidon couldn't reach her if his sister hid her so maybe she could stay here longer if she so wanted. But Artemis wouldn't do that. She wouldn't run and hide from her problems, no. And so she nodded and as she did so, the plants around them shifted, growing and retreating as the entire garden reshaped to show a straight path ahead, leading to a gate on the other side of which Poseidon was standing. "I pray your hope stays as steady as your heart, niece."

With a final, firm grip of her shoulder, Demeter let her go, Hestia bidding her own farewell at the same time. Her steps felt heavy as she walked away, the path behind her closing as plants regrew what they had just laid bare. The gate was still open, letting her leave the garden and only closing once she was outside, face to face with the sea god. "I see you've sought my sisters' company. Do you feel better now, Artemis?"

Even Poseidon, who usually couldn't care less about the children of Zeus, showed some worry for her. She couldn't tell if it was because he feared she might hurt Percy or because he actually considered her someone he had to look out for but she wouldn't dwell on it. Instead she nodded, not wanting to speak to him right now.

"In that case, let us return to Atlantis." Poseidon held out his arm, letting her grab onto it before they both disappeared in a flash of light, reappearing in the palace she had left just a day ago.

So, this chapter was supposed to make a little more chronological progress but I kinda got lost writing these scenes so that will have to wait for another week.

Just for clarification, yes, Artemis doesn't have any romantic feelings for Percy. She likes him as a friend and is willing to tolerate him in general but she still abhors the idea of getting married to him.

That said, I don't really have anything more to say about this chapter so…as always, I appreciate any feedback and/or questions. Until next time!

-M