Short Story / Through the Huntress’s Eyes

Time, that’s all I have now. Time to watch the people walk by on the mountainous trails as I sit in the trees. Time to think about how they live their lives. Time to sit by as they die off from sickness and old age until the day that this planet completely comes to an end. I am unable to perish for immortality runs thick in my veins and I can’t really live because of the fear of being found by the human race. I remember in the olden days when I ran and hunted in forests of laurel and cypress, and I was worshipped by man and woman alike. Those were the good days, sadly those days ended when Christianity took over. There was no need for the Pagan gods and we allowed to pursue our own goals. None of the gods, nor I, had any idea what to do with our newly acquired freedom and we stayed dazed for many centuries until finally some of us left Olympus and Greece all together. I was one of the last to leave due to the destruction of my sacred forests. I’m at least thankful that some people still respect nature.
I slowly walked the path listening to the sounds of the dirt beneath my boots. I could hear different cries of wild beasts, ranging from hoots to howls. The sounds of the earth changed into the crunch of gravel as I walked up a driveway. I live in a small house, quite different from the temple dedicated to my honour which now dwells in swampy ruins. I hear shuffling in the distance and a low bark. The large black dog sat in front of me, soulless eyes staring me down. I give the dog a reluctant smile, as usual, and walk by, allowing my hand to merely stroke the crown of his head. Cerberus was old and unwanted, and had changed to fit this century’s idealism of what a dog should look like after his abandonment by Hades. I somehow managed to gain his trust after that betrayal and he’s been my companion ever since.
He follows close behind as the house comes into sight. There’s an unknown car and a man with a box sitting on my porch. I don’t see his face, but Cerberus catches his attention with a couple howls. The man stands up quickly as I move closer. He looks similar to an old, deceased friend I once had.
“I’m sorry to be bothering you,” he says quickly, “but, I was wondering if you were the woman who takes in the strays?”
I stare at him and nod. He gives a quick smile of relief as I walk past him for the door. He follows me inside, box in hand, and sets it on the table. I watch him carefully push it towards me. It moves ever-so-slightly as I reach for it. Upon opening the lid a little orange head poked out and meows. Cerberus rested his head on the table and stared as the little creature jumped from the box and walked towards him. Their noses practically touched, before it reached out and swatted his nose. Cerberus backed away in shock.
It was hard not to laugh at what had just happened. To see the once powerful gatekeeper of the underworld in shock from a little kitten was quite amusing. The man walks around the table, picks it up and scratches behind it’s ear.
“There’s another one,” he whispered.
I looked into it to see a small black feline asleep in a ball. I picked it up and a thick purr escaped from the throat, “What are their names?” I asked.
He looked up, “Um,” he paused, “the black one is Luna and the orange one is Helios.” I was slightly surprised by the names, seeing how I was once the goddess of the moon.
“I think they’re twins or something,” he mumbled softly, “I found them together.” This situation was cursed with irony. Two kittens, completely different, named after the moon and the sun being brought to me by a man who could pass as Orion. What in the world would happen next?

I stared at those little creatures, black and orange. They’re polar opposites, like day and night. Like Apollo and I. I haven’t seen him since our world’s fall from grace. I’ve received the odd letter from time to time. Sydney, London, Venice. He’s been everywhere. I was briefly in Oxford and Edinburgh before coming here. Canada gave some kind of comfort which I haven’t felt in a long time. It actually had trees and it was green and I was happy. I don’t talk to the others anymore either. I don’t even know where they are. Athena, Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus. They might as well be dead to me due to their absence in my life. The human stares at me oddly. “Are you all right?” he whispers, as he reaches out his hand in comfort. I pull away and nod softly. I did not need his pity or anyone elses.
He leaves, this human, leaves and returns the next day and the day after that and so on. I later find out his name after months of his visits to the feline twins. It’s Aubrey. Sounds French, maybe Anglo. I don’t really care they were both destructive groups who deserved their deaths over the eras. I especially am disgusted by the Anglos, who are known as the English now. They raped the lands of the gods, stole our possession to put in their museums and destroyed any respect gods once had for the human race. I refuse to give into my anger towards their race. I have only given up in them.
Boreas cools the air and tears freeze. Snow falls from the night sky and catches light from headlights. The fire roars. Cerberus rests by the heat, Helios curled asleep by his side. The two have become friends. Luna wanders in the background, her curiosity reigns her world as she has her adventures. She’s become a fierce huntress bringing back birds and rodent that roam in the night. The door opens. Aubrey has become accustomed to coming in uninvited. Luna runs at him, and Helios let out a cry of sleep as a welcoming call. He shakes off the snow as he takes his usually seat. Silence. Nothing new. Except for the fact that this night becomes something of a revelation to my perspective of this world.
Aubrey stares at the fire as if there is something else to look at other than the flames. I can hear him breathing. Luna walks along the back of the couch and rubs her body up against my hair. I stare at him wondering what he’s thinking about. He shifted in his chair and started the conversation.
“Why do you live out here all alone?” he asked quietly.
“I hate the city, it’s to noisy and has too many people. I enjoy the solitude.” I answered. Aubrey was staring at me now, Luna jumped over to his chair.
“Do you have family?” he inquired, I turned my eyes to the fire thinking of what to say,
“Yes,” I whispered, thinking of my forgotten family, “a couple sisters and a lot of brothers. You?”
He’s silent for a couple of minutes. “No, they died,” he murmured to himself, gave a small, sad smile “I was ten and it was winter. We were going to Vancouver and the car swerved off the road because of black ice.” He stopped and didn’t start again. His face was strained with grief as he looked at his feet, he took a deep breath and continued. “I was sent into the child services system where I was tossed around for years until I was sixteen. That’s when I ran away.” He took another breath, “I was on the streets for about six months before I was taken in by someone.” Aubrey turned his eye’s to me. “His name was Apollo.”
So this was the reason he kept coming back, not to see the cats, but to see me. From what I heard through the shock, Apollo had taken him in and raised him in the Vancouver area until he went to away school. He took classical studies, and learned about Greek and Roman culture. With his newfound education and knowledge of the reality of gods and goddesses, he decided to track down the one goddess who hasn’t been seen in a thousand years—me.

Aubrey let the information sink in before he told me anything else about his life. That’s when the sudden burst of anger filled my system.
“Apollo told you told you to do this?” I demanded trying to control myself, his eyes widen in offence to what I asked.
“No! I came of free will,” he exclaimed, “Do you think I’d be that stupid to come to a goddess whose known throughout legends as a huntress and whose shot down a bunch of men.”
Barriers broke down at his accusation and I started to yell. “I never killed Orion!”
I was on my feet now staring down at him. He had stiffened in during my yelling and kept staring at me. His eyes didn’t show fear like human eyes usually do when confronted with a dangerous threat, but showed some kind of confidence that I haven’t seen in a long time.
“You knew?” he whispered.
“You share some striking resemblances to Orion,” I told him, I was still standing staring down at him, “I never killed him.”
“I know.”
Cerberus got up during the yelling, he sensed it in the air; anger and power. I wondered if Aubrey sensed it as well because his face changed as he turned away and walked across the room.
“Do you ever drop the glamour?” he asked, I shook my head. Apollo probably taught him about how we could make mortals see what we wanted them to see.
“Could you drop it for me?” he questioned.
Humans truly are idiots, “No,” I retorted, “unless you would enjoy being one of the dead.”
He started to laugh, “Sorry. I usually forget that part of the equation.”
Aubrey yawned, Hypnos and Morpheus were at it again. I watched as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. Luna had curled in his lap, she was quite affectionate towards him.
“You truly are Orion’s incarnate.” I whispered in a softened voice. The warmth of emotion deep inside me caused a slight smile starting to form on my face. He looked up at me like a child who had just been praised for doing something good. I walked back to the couch took a seat of the far end, away from him.
“You enjoy that?” he inquired.
“He was one of my best hunters, even if he was a man and he was a friend.” I replied.
He pushed himself out the chair and wobbled over towards where I sat. Slumped down beside me rested his head on my shoulder and closed his eyes. My body went stiff and uneasy.
“Do you use Artemis as your name?” he asked softly, I felt his arm rest against my stomach.
“I use Diana in your human world, but I prefer Artemis.” I told him. He nestled his face closer into my shoulder.
“Artemis,” he whispered, voice heavy with sleep, “you smell like the forest.”
I sat there as his words oscillated in my head. It had been the first kind words that I’ve actually heard in a thousand years.

I guess I’ve gained a friend in Aubrey, the incarnate of Orion. Hopefully this time Apollo won’t become overwhelmed by jealousy and trick me into killing him, but the probability of that is slim to none due the fact that my brother had a hand in rasing this human. He’s the first person that hasn’t actually annoyed me in this short time since we’ve met. Maybe I’ve had what the humans call an epiphany, a moment of sudden and great revelation. Some humans-not their whole race-have stayed the same since my time and they aren’t as horrible as I have made them out to be over the centuries. So until the cosmos burn out and this planet finally dies of all it’s horrible fates, I will try to better myself at this concept of toleration and being friends with a human is I believe the first step. Time still might be the only thing I have, but now it will not be as bad as it used to be.

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