Daughter Of The Moon

Chapter 19

Artemis

"Who died, little sister?" Asks Ares, smiling crookedly. I scowl at him but don't reply. "Don't act like this is the first time you've been called to the Principle's office: you always seem to get called up to dear old daddy Zeus, so why the long face?" The god of war's smile turns into a grin, "Have you been naughty, Artemis?"

"No I most certainly have not!" I snap. "And for your information, I'm here on work business- something I doubt has crossed your mind since the Crimean War."

Ares shrugs and starts absentmindedly peeling an apple with a huge hunting knife. "Just you wait, Arty. There's a storm coming- I've planned it. How does the 'World War One' sound?"

"Like trouble." I reply coldly. "And how are you going to get the whole world into a war?"

"Demigods." He says. "They're proud little squirts, and none more proud than the kids of the Big Three. I'm planning on building a rift between them using the most classic thing: love. A great idea, right? Only you obviously can't appreciate it because you're, well... you."

In contradiction to his words, a memory pops up: 

"Did you ever wonder why I gave this to you, Artemis?" He asks quietly, his gaze shifting back up to me, blue eyes glinting like sapphires. I incline my head in a small nod, not breaking my eyes from his. I can see my eyes, their almost luminous silver reflected in the black pupil of Jake's eye, both  eyes wide with anticipation.

"Because I love you to the moon and back."

Shaking my head, I draw myself out of the memory. I don't want to forget the fact that Jake loves me; it's the most important thing in my life right now. I don't want to forget that memory, or the kiss that came afterwards, or the happy days that came after that. But it has to remain a secret.

My secret love... I muse as Ares carries on waffling on about his plans for the disaster-to-be that is World War One. Who would have thought it?

"Artemis?" The deep, rumbling voice of Zeus booms through the closed doors to the Council Hall. I take a deep breath before pushing open the huge doors, ignoring the nasty smile Ares gives me, and walking inside.

"You asked to see me, Zeus?" I say, trying to sound as confident as possible.

"Indeed, Artemis. We have some funny goings on with the constellations, and we'd like an expert's opinion. Don't worry, there is no trouble." My father replies, and I join him standing in front of the shallow pit in the middle of the hall. Inside the perfectly-spherical pit is a map of the stars, the stars glimmering and the constellations mapped out across them as an exact -though miniature- copy of the night sky.

"What appears to be the problem?" I ask, scrutinizing the map. Nothing appears different, especially not to the point that the king of the Gods would call me in.

"We have some strange star activity that was brought to my attention not too long ago. A new star has come onto the map, you see." Zeus explains, pointing at a bright little star right next to the moon.

"That isn't anything to worry about," I tell him, strangely relieved. "New stars come into being all the time."

"But that isn't the strange thing, Artemis. The map you are currently seeing is the night sky four weeks ago." Zeus makes a gesture with his hand, and the image in the pit swirls a bit before coming to rest on another image of the stars. "And this was the sky last night. Look at the star I just showed you now."

I obey his instructions and immediately notice the difference. "There are now a cluster of stars where there used to be one." I note, and Zeus nods.

"Exactly. Now what I want to know, Artemis, is if this is a problem? Could this strange astronomical occurrence be anything threatening?"

"No." I answer quickly. There's something slightly suspicious about the whole thing, it's like there's something he isn't telling me.

But Zeus's skeptical expression clears and is replaced by a slight smile, which makes my suspicion go just as quickly as it came. "Very well then. You may go."

I incline my head in a tiny bow before walking briskly out of the hall and back to my Olympian palace. I spent the whole walk staring down at my boots, so when I ran straight on into someone as I came through my front door, I jumped about a foot in the air and had an arrow flying from my bow before the person could even cry out.

"Oh!" I cry, slapping a palm to my mouth. "Di immortales, Apollo, you scared me!"

"Yeah. Well..." Grunts Apollo, yanking my arrow out of his shoulder, and placing a healing hand over it. "You continue to scare me, Arty."

"Why are you here, Apollo?" I sigh, hanging my bow up on the peg by the door.

"I... er..." He stammers, running a hand through his bright-blond hair and making it stick up in tufts vaguely reminiscent of the rays of the sun. "I want to talk to you."

I walk up to him, give him a hug, and lead him through to the living room, a place -I only realize now that I have a stranger in it- that looks exactly like the main room in Jake's observatory. My house reflects my moods, and I flush at how openly this must show my feelings about Jake to Apollo. I flick my wrist, and two threadbare old chairs transform into squashy chintz armchairs, which me and Apollo take seats in in front of the fire.

"So what is it?" I ask softly, putting my hands in my lap.

"I've got another kid." He blurts, looking slightly shaken. I break my understanding-psychiatrist-with-hot-chocolate-on-hand impression, and roll my eyes. "Seriously? That's what's bothering you? You're the patron of bachelors; you've been messing around with mortals for centuries!"

"Yeah, well this one was different." Apollo shifts in his chair uncomfortably. "As soon as he was born, a prophecy hit me like a ton of bricks: the fates descended on me and told me that he was the second in a generation that was to repeat itself. What the hell does that mean? Generations can't repeat themselves..."

"Hmm..." I said, that being my only response. I've never been much of a seer- the only glimpses I get of the future are tiny things like mortal decisions that happen right before they actually occur.

"Indeed. They said that it was a generation of three: three demigod children born in the same year that would die and rise again in the time of Olympus's downfall as different people, different souls and all, but with the same power and the same face. They said one would save Olympus, one would save a love, and one would save a secret. I have no idea what that means, but I have suspicions that Poseidon's newest kid -Kai, I think he's called- was the first one, my son Zackary was the second, and..." He trails off, and looks away from me suddenly.

Then he gets up abruptly and strides towards the doorway in obvious haste. "Wait!" I call, catching his arm and spinning him around to face me. "Who was the third kid?"

"It's impossible Artemis." He mutters, trying to pull away. "Couldn't happen... maybe I was drunk or something... too much nectar... the fates lie just to keep it interesting, sometimes-"

"Apollo!" I tug hard on his sleeve, and he looks up at me with a sincerity I think I've never seen on his usually-laughing face.

"A Son Of The Sea." He says.

"That's Kai, right?" I say, almost breathless with anticipation.

"A Son Of The Sun."

I nod quickly. "Your son. Zackary."

"And..." He takes a deep breath. "A Daughter Of The Moon."

I hear my breath catch, and a single word escape me. "No." I hear myself whisper, my body suddenly feeling impossibly heavy. Images whirl across my mind, the floor below me seems to be spinning, and then-

My vision turns entirely black, and a single image pushes into my half-conscious mind. It's of a girl, a small girl with a pale face and grey eyes, sitting on her father's knee while looking through a telescope. Her father pushes her long dark hair behind her ear and whispers a single word.

Luna.