I've nicknamed this chapter Deepest Shade of Gray, and I think it's enjoyable. You tell me thuogh! ~*~
Apollo walked by my side until we reached the entrance of the camp. He wouldn’t be allowed in, but I needed him by my side. Seeing the place I had been exiled from brought back horrible memories from the night of my cursing. The very marble archway Apollo and I stood under was the very place I had scurried away from on four legs for the first time. These memories flashed through my brain, mixing the present with the past.
“Please come in,” I begged, looking into his depthless eyes. He looked as if he was in pain; his eyes furrowed deeply, his mouth set in a grim line.
“You know I can’t,” he whispered, “I caused a lot of trouble last time I was here.” A faint smile edged at both of our lips. Last time he had come in we had fallen in love and look where that brought us.
“We cannot delay,” Artemis called impatiently, leaning against a Redwood a hundred feet ahead of us. I gulped, trying to hold back the memories threatening to overwhelm me.
“You’ll be fine,” Apollo said, brushing his lips lightly against my forehead, “I’ll always be watching above you.” It felt so hard leaving him like this. I prayed to the gods, ironically enough that included him, that I would not be stuck in the camp tomorrow and could see Apollo.
I looked up and kissed him lightly on the lips, feeling his pulsing warmth ease my anxiety once again. I heard Artemis make a noise in disgust. Without taking a look back at Apollo, I walked to her. Even with my back facing him, my eyes lids grew red when he flashed up into the sky to continue his duties as the Sun God.
Immediately I felt utterly alone. The goddess ahead of me was once my closest friend, my most trusted ally, but now I was weary and on guard. The trees that I passed under were once my friends too; now I could only barely hear their whispers of words. All fell silent as we entered the camp.
I stared straight ahead, trying to hide the blush that was creeping along my neck and onto my face. The silver tents blew noiselessly in the soft wind, their white flags fluttering gracefully in the foliage. The girls that I saw had judging eyes and fierce glares, unlike the once adoring looks I had received. This area, once my home, was now a completely foreign land.
We made our way to Artemis’ main tent. It was obviously the largest and inside the very nicest. My old tent, the one just next to the main tent was empty with all of my furnishings stripped bare. On the contrary though, Artemis’ tent was full of life and character, from the antique paintings to the pelts of the rarest creatures ever to walk the earth. I’d always loved this tent and somehow it seemed like the least hostile place in this camp for me.
I slowly entered the main chamber, and Artemis donned her throne, a large silver chair with an arched back and draped with animal pelts. The richness of this room would’ve been overwhelming for me once, but to now it felt as good as home. I had spent many evenings here, talking hunting strategies or girl problems with Artemis, but now it seemed empty of all our niceties.
“What’s she doing here?” I heard a familiar voice call. Oh, how that voice drove me crazy. It was more of a screech really. I turned, knowing who I would face behind me.
Rianne, a higher ranked Huntress stood with her hand on her hips and her face barred in a hideous sneer. Lovely, I thought sarcastically. She was beautiful though with short, angled, black hair and slanted green eyes. Her toned, full body reminded me of the fact I was too skinny. I knew it, and knew it wasn’t that attractive, but I had little desire to eat in wolf form, and when I was a human I always spent my time with Apollo, never pausing to think to eat. He would occasionally mention it to me, telling me I looked sickly, and even though that comment hurt, I never felt hungry.
“She is a guest, Rianne,” Artemis said softly, “And you will do well to remember that.” Rianne scoffed and gave me an obvious look of distaste. I did not miss my days with the particular girl. When I had been Commander, she was sassy and back talked my every order. I would get so frustrated I wanted to snap, but Artemis told me I was not allowed to. Artemis saw something in the girl that I did not.
I had a few reasons why Rianne hated me so much. Jealousy was the main issue, I believed. As Commander, I had many powers and abilities that the other girls did not possess. Besides Artemis, I was the most powerful person in the camp. Rianne never accepted that fact, claiming that I barely possessed anything at all. I never showed my true strength around any of the girls, unless it was a dire situation in a hunt. Still, since I never exercised that true power around them, I wondered if I understood the powers I had at all.
As this thought reached my mind, it made another take its place. The fact I had been banished had taken up so much mental processing that I hadn’t even try to use my powers. I wondered if I still had them. It was something I needed to check into.
“Alright,” Rianne snapped, “But the second she is no longer a guest, I’ll be the first to escort her out.” The dark underlying tone said it all.
“Duly noted,” Artemis replied calmly, “You are fully dismissed.” Rianne nodded once, sneering at me as she strode past. Dark passion, which I normally associated with my wolf form welled, up in my throat, constricting my airways and causing me to dig my nails into my palms. From out of my throat came a guttural noise, exactly like a growl.
Rianne came to an abrupt halt and spun on her heels. She looked me straight in the eye and laughed. It was a meticulous sound, filled with exactly the right amount of spite and mockery.
“I always knew you were a bitch,” Rianne said, “And when it actually came true, I laughed for three whole weeks.” The words had an unexpected effect on me. Where I had been on the point of snapping, they somehow strung me back together. This time, I was the precise one.
“You think I care about what you say,” I whispered as I walked up to her. Instead of stopping directly in front of her face, I slowly paced around her, circling her like a dying animal.
“But really your words strengthen me. Why? Because I can see just how weak you are, “ I
spat, “You think you’re high and mighty. Well Rianne, I am one of two immortals in this camp. I exist without you, without the approval of Artemis, without the sanctity of rules. You? You follow the laws; obey them, for without them you have no immortality. Me? My entire being is based on being lawless. Something that you cannot, and forever will not, comprehend.” Once my speech was finished, Rianne stood shaking, speechless. She sputtered something; then tried to speak again but to no avail. Finally she managed to get something out.
“At least I am not a mongrel,” she hissed before blowing out of the tent. Her statement, of me being a mongrel, I could certainly not deny and it gnawed at me like an unreachable itch. I returned to stand in front of Artemis.
“Why am I here?” I asked, looking up into her glowing eyes. Her mouth was downturned and her brow creased.
“Will your chaos in this camp never end?” Artemis asked, her eyes looking blankly towards the sky. I growled and it sounded fully wolf.
“Why am I here?” I screeched, feeling the power of once being a Commander rush into my bones.
I had forgotten such power, the feeling of enlightenment, and the sense of superiority. I was superior. Now, with this power, I felt that again. Maybe it was being in the camp that triggered it, or maybe it was the fact I couldn’t lose them once I had them, but the powers Artemis had once blessed me with were pounding through my veins with unparalleled clarity.
“You feel them again?” Artemis looked up in shock. Our eyes gazed deep into each others’.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“Then we have discovered why your counterpart, the monster on the dark end of the spectrum is so powerful,” she said.
“But it’s not all black and white,” I said bitterly.
“What do you mean?” she asked, tilting her head in bafflement.
“Nothing is black and white, Artemis. There isn’t just good and evil. We’ve learned that with me,” I said, “Artemis, if anything, there is only the deepest shade of gray.”
