Chapter Text
Artemis knew she had Zeus wrapped around her fingers. The second she set her silver eyes on him, he was entranced. Willing to give her whatever she demanded.
And she demanded a lot.
It's how she ended up goddess of the hunt, wilderness/nature, free nature, nymphs, wild animals, young women, sudden death of young women, disease, archery, good health/healing, deers, boars bear dogs, rabies, children, childbirth, the sudden death of young children, nursing infants, midwifery, forest fires, lakes/springs, vegetation, fishing, maiden dance/songs, purification, the moon.
The moon, she was technically gifted by association. Not by her father, nor any real birthright. A gift from Rome by technicality. She missed the old Selene sometimes.
Yet out of all the things Artemis was, is or will be in the grand revolving wheel of civilization. She never expected to become mortal.
She didn't remember much, a clap of Thunder, her father's thunderous expression. The roaring sky rattling her bones, energy like a thousand suns, frying her atoms. Younger she had chuckled whenever Apollo ended up on the wrong end of their father's lightning. Especially when it was to turn him mortal.
Now, she just felt cruel. How to even describe that kind of agony? The sheer soul chilling terror it brought.
Thankfully, she didn't have to dwell on it long. Since her mind was far too busy trying to figure out a way to survive this plumet.
Wind howled past her ears like a hurricane. The warmth of Olympus drawing cold as dark clouds clamped shut like gates behind her.
Artemis tried to shift into a peregrine Falcon. Then a Ray of light, even a cloud or a cold breeze. Her body simply wouldn't obey, with a startled gasp she realized what was going on.
Her powers were gone, locked away by her father's own hand. She felt betrayed, her mind was a scrambled mess. Hardly remembering what had warranted such a harsh penance.
All Artemis saw as she rocketed towards the ground. Was a mass of green.
Harsher was her landing. Branches broke, snapping loudly; but what broke harder was her pride as she landed in a fountain in the middle of a busy mid day rush.
Something had protected her from this deadly fall. A well intended something, was very doubtful.
She didn't spare the mortals a glance. Forcing her aching and trembling body of the water. She ignored the murmurs and even some clueless man trying to stop her, asking if she was okay.
No, Artemis undoubtedly wasn’t okay. Huffing and grumbling to herself. The young goddess aimed to stroll out of Central Park.
She was cold, humiliated and frankly all around grumpy. Zeus had never deigned to treat her offenses with equal measure as her many brothers. Call her hypocritical, but she always did enjoy that small privilege. Despite her wisdom; she knew Athena often took advantage of that fact as well.
The king of the gods, was always more frightened of his sons than his daughters. For good and bad reasons.
Artemis rubbed her scratched up arms, sensing the first warmth since becoming mortal.
She raised her hand and stilled like a statue. Her palm was red. It should not be red, it should have remained gold. Apollo whined enough about his specific experiences for her to know how this works.
Her divinity hadn't just been restrained. It was entirely stripped away. Washed away like unwanted paint.
Her hands clenched hard, nails digging in her palm. Her shoulders shaking in pure outrage. Her bleeding arms completely forgotten.
Arms slumping at her sides, Artemis released a shaky sigh. Manifesting her best attempt at ignoring the stab of nervousness in her heart.
Her now very fragile, flimsy human heart.
She thought back to Apollo's own experiences. She had observed his punishments over the millennium. She felt slightly startled when it became hard to think back so far. Centuries never felt distant for her, yet here she was struggling to recall what her twin had even done last time.
It was easy to earn Zeus's' ire. Much harder to earn back his favor. This punishment, likely came with a monumental task. For both her and her... Artemis physically gagged at the thought.
Her master.
She had to pledge herself to someone's service. Choosing her words carefully was paramount, she couldn't stupidly let this fact slip. At the risk, of ending up in service to some despicable and or annoying individual.
Settling on someone morally sound, wasn't going to be enough. To regain her godhood, she'd need both that; and pure unfiltered might.
Her mind first drifted to Thalia, her dear sister. She already missed her and her girls terribly, but she knew they could be trusted to take care of themselves. The king wouldn't allow her girls to aid her, they were too close. Apollo never kept his muses in these situations. There was hardly any inkling to believe Zeus would do her any favors anymore.
Had her safety always hinged on forever leaning to her father’s good side? Like a tree trying to grow towards the sun, now her tree had been uprooted by violent winds. Leaving her alone and helpless. Artemis rubbed her aching skull, slowly getting back on track.
Jason? Perhaps, he seemed like a nice boy. Standing up to her father, in defense of her narcissistic self centered moron of a brother; in such a tense post battle no less.
He was either one of the bravest young man she had ever seen, or the dumbest. Mighty he was indeed, perhaps even more than their sister; she begrudgingly admitted to herself.
But her little brother was simply too far away. She needed a proper pledge as soon as possible.
Nico Di Angelo was out of the question. She has more tact than that, plus ending up on the bitter end of a chthonic demigod was most unwise. Especially in her vulnerable state. Cycling through all her choices, naturally left her with the most obvious pick last.
She needed the help of Perseus Jackson.
Calling him master wasn't going to be pleasent, but at least she could trust in his virtue and goodness. Zoe certainly did so whole heartedly. Most would think being called the opposite of Heracles an insult to any hero.
But Artemis knew better, this was the highest praise her late friend could have bestowed.
The feats of the modern Perseus spoke for themselves. Who hadn't he fought at this point? What hadn't he faced and overcome?
Surely this would be a walk in the park with his help... now how to find him?
Artemis might have been marching with pure confidence oozing out of every pores, but in truth she had no idea where to even find him. She patted the pockets of her jeans. Finding a thin wallet inside. She opened it, flashing herself with her new face.
Anastasia Papadopoulos.
Age: 17
Height: 5'11
And more redundant information Artemis glossed over. She didn't look too different, her hair and eyes retained their usual color.
But her face felt off, she hardly looked this old anymore by choice. Her nose and eyes weren't perfectly symmetrical. Her hair felt thin. Her limbs felt long and gangly, nothing felt like her own anymore.
Artemis did a double take as she read a little lower on her driver's license.
Corrective lenses!?!?!
Artemis blinked at the card, her gaze trailing from left to right several times, before she looked up wide eyed. Her eyes narrowed, not in anger or confusion. In her elucubration, she had failed to notice how literally shortsighted she had become.
The young woman earned many, odd looks from passerby's. As she loudly cursed in Greek.
"Go back to your own country!" Called a man from the other side of the street. Her gaze snapped at him, but she could barely make out the details of his face. She stomped across the street towards the sound of his voice. Beyond ready to throttle some unlucky fool.
Momentarily forgetting where she was. A cab honked loudly, throwing a half hearted curse her way as she leapt backwards, her toes nearly crushed by the angry driver.
Artemis took a steadying breath, loosing her cool wouldn't do her any favors.
By some grace, she found an abandoned phone booth. Containing a phone book. She searched for a Perseus Jackson, ending up quite short.
With a sigh she returned to her deep thoughts. Trying to recall a glimpse of anything helpful. She saw her uncle, he held a dreamy look as he spoke with soft fondness belittling of his immense power.
"Sally Jackson." He'd murmur "a goddess amongst women. She has this rebellious and stubborn streak, but never even once. Have I seen her fail to be kind." His face soured a little. "And now she's dating some man named Blowfish?"
Artemis naturally, rolled her eyes at her uncle's poor track record for the ages. And she knew bad track records, she was part of one nearly as extensive as his after all.
Artemis searched for a Sally Jackson. She didn't find many in Manhattan, but at least she narrowed it down to five addresses.
Shamelessly, she ripped the page out of the phone book and stuffed it in her pocket. She seemed to be in an old neighborhood. Streets where one could still find anything they could need. Artemis did enjoy at least that part of a concrete jungle.
Communities weren't her forte, but she always found a spark of warmth for them. Nature crawled along a few brick buildings as she attempted to navigate her path to another section of the city.
Her sight might have been worse than it's ever been, but her ears still worked more than fine. It didn't help smooth the edge in her mind. Someone was watching her, stalking her. Perhaps from the rooftops? They weren't hard to scale or move across.
With a frustrated sigh, Artemis stopped by a small playground. On a bench in front of the gate, was a middle aged woman reading an old copy of pride and prejudice. She seemed well put together, her dark hair raised in a Greek knot. The rest of her attire reminiscent of a fancy librarian.
Before them, over a dozen children were peacefully playing under the shade of a few precariously planted trees. The giggles and soft cheers were music to her ears. A much needed comfort in her dull situation. She turned to the woman, her face hidden behind the novel.
"Excuse me ma'am, I'm more than a little lost. Could you give me directions?"
"Of course dear." She cooed, "I was so lost when I was introduced to this era. I am still quite lost myself, but I am certain I can give you a sound advice or two."
Her tone was particularly smug, slathered in a false sweetness Artemis had heard too many times from
Hera. Always meant to placate her father, while her eyes shone with deep hatred. That much she didn’t struggle remembering. She took a careful step back, towards the gate of the playground. Her fists clenched tightly in perfect fists.
The woman lowered her book, Artemis couldn't help her slight hitch in her breath; as a ghost greeted her.
"Niobe." Coldly greeted Artemis raising her nose at the ancient queen.
"Artemis!" Brightly greeted the would be long dead woman. "How dreadful to see you again, your looking awful dear. Would you like a seat? I won't be much longer here. Neither will you for that matter, but I won't ruin the surprise." She smirked with a dismissive wave.
"How." Was all the would be goddess mustered.
"Why isn't it obvious? Has your mind left you in this feeble body? The doors of death opened and someone reached through with an offer. I gladly accepted of course, anything to allow myself a sliver of justice."
"You compared yourself to a goddess." Artemis replied stiffly. "There are not many greater crime for a mortal."
"But you aren't goddess anymore now; are you? No more divine vindication, no more divine tantrum from you. Which believe me, I find truly delightful."
"Get to the point." Bit Artemis through gritted teeth.
"And me who thought patience, was the tenure of a true hunter. Although I guess hours and days for a prey, is a child's breath when you can simply live long enough to forget the awful things you've done... we humans don't have that luxury, we live with our pain. Often far beyond the afterlife."
"I was under the impression you were turned into an ugly weeping stone." Artemis replied with scathing coldness.
Niobe scoffed, her smug gaze slowly turning haunted. "Nothing more than an embellished poem... when I saw two divine mongrel, descend from the heavens to slaughter my babies; with honest smirks on their faces. I couldn't keep going, I walked for days, seeking respite in death. Yet still, all I found was a dull forest. Where I was tormented for over two thousand years, by the memories. By my failure to protect them."
"It is not my fault, if you couldn't move on in death." Calmly replied Artemis, her arms crossed defensively.
"It is your fault I lost everything. You and your whore brother, will finally suffer for what you have done."
"Then what is your plan, to yammer away till I pass away from old age?"
Niobe gave a sinister chuckle. "Of course not, we just needed a moment for me to savor your fallen state. And of course, for her to take the shot."
Artemis cried out as a searing pain pierced her leg. Nearly collapsing, she steeled herself on shaky legs. Looking down wide eyed at her calf where a metal bolt was protruding. Her pant leg already rapidly staining with blood.
"Great shot sweetie!" Called Niobe with a radiant smile. Happily glaring at the retreating ex goddess.
"Gallop as much as you want little doe. Your hide will decorate our new home soon enough!" Viciously spat Niobe as Artemis limped away as fast she could.
The hunter amongst hunters, now the prey amongst prey’s.