章 21: Talk with Artemis
[Lysandros Evermore, Camp Half-Blood]
I follow the goddess that was behaving strangely since earlier, away from the party. I think some people, mostly a couple of hunters, noticed our departing, and followed us with curious eyes, probably either wondering what their goddess wanted to do with me, or cursing at me, a man, for following their goddess.
After having walked for some time, reaching quite far away from the others, as the campfire seemed like a dot on the distance. Artemis arrived in a deserted plain, seemingly devoid of any form of sentient life other than the two of us. In another occasion, I would be more than happy to be alone with a pretty girl in some secluded corner, but when said pretty girl was an immortal goddess that could probably kill you with a glance, and when she had already done some pretty terrible things.
Well, most of them were not unjustified, as in, there was somewhat of a justification to them. But still, it was like responding to a friend using your pencil without asking you, by killing his entire family right in front of his very eyes in tortuous manners. That's just too much. Even so, that is only if the stories were really as portrayed in the myths, there could be some mild inconsistencies in all of them.
The fact is, now I was alone with her. She was smaller than me, I stood well over a foot over her. She should be around 1.45 meters tall (4' 10"), so I had to look down when talking to her. She won't blast me into oblivion for 'looking down on her' right? Probably...
She suddenly stops and turns over, looking at me. Being on the receiving end of her stare, made my back drenched with cold sweat. She starts looking all over me, scanning my figure from head to toe, as if to engrave me into her mind, her silver eyes digging holes through me.
"So... you are Mnemosyne's child?" - She asked in a serious tone.
"Ugh... yeah?" - I say, and I kinda regreted it instantly, as it sounded stupid.
"Hmm..." - She seemed to ponder about something deeply - "You do have auntie's eyes, so it should be true..." - She nodded as if confirming something.
"Auntie?" - I blurted, a little surprised by the casual way she was talking.
"So, come! Guve big sis a hug!" - She said with a wide smile and my brain just stopped braining. Say what?
I could just blink while my mind rebooted. The little goddess just opened her arms and pulled me into a tight hug, and even started to rub her cheeks against my chest while making weird noises.
"Is this how it feels to have a little sibling?!" - She said, making me somewhat wake up from my sturpor.
"L-lady Artemis, w-what are you doing?!" - I manage to say at last.
"Hugging my little brother?" - She said, looking at me as if I had just made a stupid question.
"Could you explain why, though?" - I ask while looking around, trying to see if this was some prank of sorts.
As if suddenly remembering something, she released me, and faked some coughs with a little blush on her face.
"Ahem... Right! You don't know!" - She seemed somewhat embarassed. But seriously, where did the stoic and serious goddess I expected go?
"You should know a thing or two about the gods, right?" - She asked and I nodded at her - "You should know that all of us are related by blood in a way or another, right?" - I could only nod again.
"Even with all of that, our relationship is not very great most of the time, with very few, if any at all we can call our family. The same holds true to me. After I was born, there was only my mother and my stupid brother Apollo." - Taking a deep breath she soon continued - "That was until mother met with auntie Mnemosyne. They both had gone through similar experiences, and quickly became good friends."
I got a little surprised when she talked about my mother - "I also quickly became friends with your older sisters the muses, that had similar thoughts to mine, so their little brother, is by default my little brother!" - She seemed to be done telling her story.
"By the way, just call me big sis Artemis! Drop all the Lady this, Lady that! It's annoying!" - I'm honestly unsure on how to react.
"B-big sis Artemis?" - I said tentatively, making her beam a happy smile my way.
"Hoi! Hoi! Now give this big sis a hug!" - Yeah something just don't seem right here. But I still complied and hug her.
"Oh! Right! There are gifts!" - She exclaimed, letting go of me and taking a step back - "Where did I left them..." - She extended her hand and it disappeared, she then seemed to be feeling around somewhere, trying to find something - "Aha! Found them!" - She pulled out a cloth bag out of nowhere.
"First is the gift from your mother! Here! It's this magic map! It shows you all the places that have ever existed! It even shows yourncurrent location!" - She explained, as she took out a big piece of parchment paper, that had been folded - "You can also zoom in onto a specific time or place. Like show me Mount Olympus now!" - She said, and the image depicted on the map, that was a world map, changed to show only the area around the Empire State Building - "See? Super useful! I even want one for myself!"
That was indeed an amazing gift, thanks mother! I am really happy with it!
"Then come the gifts from our sisters Lia and Chore! They eavesdropped on your mom when she was asking for me to deliver you her gift, and they have then struggled to come up with a gift for their newfound brother! You should thank them later!" - Our sisters? Is she talking about the muses?
She then showed me 2 items, a bronze flashlight, and something that seemed like a normal water spray.
"This first one can either be used as a normal flashlight, or so you can sacrifice some monster trophies you might not need to your sisters, so they can send you some gold drachmas, and this second one is a magical water sprayer that can make a rainbow anywhere. They gave you this so you could talk with them regularly using the system Iris created. If you ever need to charge the flashlight, just leave it some time under a light source, and it will eventually charge up." - She explained.
"Now last, but definitely not least, there is mine!" - She presented me with a bronze whistle - "If you blow on it, it will summon you a bronze horse automaton! It's great, right? Praise me more!" - She demanded, as she puffed her small chest out with pride. She looked adorable! I could not resist and patted her head, and for a moment, she seemed to really enjoy it, but then she seemed to realize something and shouted, with a red face.
"N-no! Don't do that! I'm the older sister yoh can't do that to me!" - Huh? But she seemed to like it?! I guess she is just shy...
"I loved the gifts!" - I said as I pulled her into a hug - "Thanks big sis!" - A smile unknowingly crept up to my face at the thought of really having a family caring for me.
We stayed like that for a while, before separaring, and I made use of the oportunity to ask her one thing I had wanted to ask since earlier - "Big sis, could you teach me some tips and tricks regarding archery and hunting?"
She made a conflicted expression, pondering on how to answer me - "Ugh... it's not that I don't want to... it's just that it would infringe upon the laws my stupid father created... giving some gifts is already pretty much the most I can do... and even that need to be done in moderation..." - She seemed downcast by that.
"Hey, sis, since you can't personally teach me, could you ask some of your hunters to help me with it?" - I asked, and she seemed to come to a realization.
"Right! As expected from my little brother! You are a genius!" - She seemed a little ouf of it... maybe due to the excitement of meeting someone she considers her little sibling?
"That's it! I will ask for Zöe to teach you! She's been with me the longest! And she is almost as good as me!" - She is amazing! Is this how it feels like to have a big sister!?
"By the way, won't it cause any problem for us to disappear for so long?" - That seemed to curb her enthusiasm a bit.
"True! We better return quickly!" - She seemed to remember something, and after taking a deep breath, she returned to her previous serious and dignified façade. I looked at her with curiosity, and she seemed to notice.
"Are you wondering why I act like this?" - She asked, and I nod at her - "Well, it's just that brother Apollo told me that people wouldn't take me seriously if I did not do this." - Yeah I could definitely see that happening.
* * *
Author's Notes:
Here we are for another week! Hope you guys are all doing great!
Thanks for all the support yesterday guys, we are back to the top 200! Yay! Keep on helping me for more daily releases!
What did you guys think of Artemis? Surprised?! I bet so! You guys should now be thinking about all the stories and myths surrounding her, and how they came to be, right? That will be a little surprise for later!
That's all for now, folks, see you tomorrow!
Peace out!
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