Rebuilding the World

10 The goddess of the hunt

After creating a fire in the middle of the 4th floor, Artemis excused herself out.

“So what happened to you after high school?” I conversationally asked Jean who was silently staring at the embers, her legs to her chest.

“Uhh, my dad enrolled me to an all-girls college school in Makati.” Jean answered. “You know him; he’s always protective of me.”

I nodded, remembering Jean’s retired fashion model now owner of a designer clothes shop dad. I met her dad when I went to their mansion for a school project that we were going to do. He greeted me warmly as I waited for Jean to go out from her room.  He was handsome for a guy in his forties, tall and still muscled. Due to his modelling background and owning a designer clothes shop, he made sure Jean was never out of fashion and always looked presentable. I wonder if that was the reason Aphrodite appeared to him in the first place, his fashion sense.

“Everything’s doing well until the war broke out.” Jean continued, she looked like the experience traumatized her. “I started seeing things, monsters started attacking me. I tried to hide inside my room thinking that they won’t find me there. But there was this woman wearing a turban, she attacked our house and turned everyone to stone. I just got away through the back door and I’ve been wandering out since last week.”

So that’s why the girl in my dreams seemed familiar. She was Jean all along and I started dreaming about her when the monsters started attacking. But it still doesn’t explain why Artemis is out looking for her and I’m sent on a quest to find her.

As if on cue, Artemis came back with three dead rabbits on hand, she walked to one side of the room away from us and skilfully skinned the rabbits before sticking them on a stick. Talk about being served by the goddess of the hunt.

Artemis placed the rabbit sticks close to the fire and then sat beside us.

“So, Jean, I want you to join me in the hunt.” Artemis said straightforwardly.

“Go find her before Artemis does.” Hermes’ last words echoed inside my head.

“No! Wait, Jean don’t!”

“What?” Jean asked in confusion.

“I want you to join me. Just pledge yourself to me and I will grant you immortality. With that, I can save you from the fate the prophecy has made for you.” Artemis asked.

I was intrigued with the prophecy part that Artemis said but I was sent here, ordered here to get to Jean before Artemis does. Whatever that means, I’m going to make sure Artemis doesn’t get Jean to join her.

I grabbed Jean’s hand and looked straight into her chocolate brown eyes “Don’t listen to her.”

“You’re always welcome to join us, Majella.”Artemis offered to me.

“Wait, what are you two talking about?” Jean asked. “And why would I join you? I don’t even know who you are.” She directed to Artemis.

“I am Artemis, the goddess of the moon and the hunt.”

“You’re the Greek goddess, Artemis? Oh, then I must be Aphrodite!” Jean laughed thinking what Artemis said was just a joke.

“Greek mythology, Jean. It’s real.” I said, trying to help her understand.

“What do you mean it’s real?”

“The monsters that are chasing you? The weird things that you keep on seeing? They’re real, Jean, believe it“ Artemis said. “You’re a demigod daughter of Aphrodite, the Greek mythology lives inside you.”