Reaching For The Stars

Chapter 18

Artume

She sat in the comfortably in the forest, perched on Zeus' fist, gazing at the sky. The day was slowly coming to an end as she felt at ease in the forest. Regardless of the hour, the temperature remained perfect. She would admit that these demigods had an excellent place to call home. Whether they aspired to be heroes on some Godsforsaken quest or something else, they should appreciate the life they had here.

"My Lady Artume..." a female voice hesitantly called out to her, friendly in every way. Artume turned to see a familiar red-haired dryad, Pinea. She smiled at Pinea as she sat upright.

"Pinea, it has been many years."

"Yes, a long time since Rome entered your lands. It's Juniper these days, though," she said with a small smile.

"I see, yes, you changed trees over the years. It's you who read my diary to Annabeth. Not many could read the Etruscan language."

"Yes," Juniper nodded nervously, standing next to Artume. "I am very sorry! I never wanted to hurt your feelings, but I thought if I could force her to confess so you knew who to punish..."

Artume wasn't angry about it anymore. It had led to a relationship with Annabeth, compensating for the fact that she lost her diary for brief period. Besides, Pinea was one of the few she would never truly be angry with, one of the nature spirits she remembered from her time before Rome.

"I am not angry, Pinea, sorry, Juniper, it's fine. No one in camp understands the text anyway. It's just... I poured a lot into the diary and don't want people to have it. Anyway, I have you to thank for bringing Annabeth and me together. When I return to divine status, I guess I have to reward you."

"Oh, I didn't do anything, really! It was your diary after all," she said happily, sitting next to her on the rocky hill.

It felt a lot like back then. Both remembered the moments they talked about nothing and everything. Despite their obviously different status, they often conversed in Artume's temple, especially in the last years before more than half of the gods had faded. The moment Artume made sure that Pinea could live within a different land made Artume lonelier, a realization she felt now.

"You're a demigod now?" Juniper asked hesitantly. "I thought I was wrong in what I sensed, but... What happened?"

"I was lonely. I wandered aimlessly. I was broken. Many reasons to abandon my former position among a dead pantheon. Actually, I wanted to fade. Let it be done. But Artemis seems to think otherwise and is now helping me switch to the spirit of Western Civilization. So, I am waiting now, similar to what I have done for you."

"I am glad," Juniper said.

The dryad swung her legs as she sat on the rock, gazing at the sky as if the stars were about to appear any second. That was their little ritual since they started conversing. That wasn't hard to do when Juniper tree was right next to Artume's temple, making the goddess watch over it ever since. If Artume thought back to those days, she sort of saw Juniper as her child.

"You are one of the few from those days. Actually, you're the only one I ever met from back when I ruled the stars and the dead. I bet only the Titans remember, and some far-flung Gods," Artume said, sighing as she rested her head in the palm of her hand. She wished she could make the stars come out in this moment. It would make things just like back then.