Artemis: A Prologue
Written as a free writing idea while I spent a lot of time by myself, this piece has always felt like a beginning rather than a complete piece. I think I'll expand it at some point in the future, but not today.
“No,” she spoke up defiantly, “I will not be confined to the life you choose for me. If you intend to force my hand, then I will have no choice but to separate myself from you. If you do not think me capable, wait until I get going. I am a hurricane, the likes of which you cannot even fathom.”
Gaea was fuming from her daughter’s blatant disregard for decorum, but she couldn’t bring herself to respond to this new disrespect. She stood agape as Artemis continued her assault.
“I recognise that you think you know what is best for me and for our family. I see that you are the perfect matriarch, and I do not deny that you have done well to this point, seeing that we still stand as the queens of this world. Still, I reject your insistence on controlling my path. Attempting to dissuade me from my own desires is a declaration of war against my character and my life. I will treat it as such, as my very soul depends upon following my own course, prevailing over all those who would stand against me. I cannot allow you to tell me that this is for the greater good, nor can I grant you any assumption of good faith regarding my options. You coolly offer your own perspective, avoiding the possibility that anyone around you could potentially provide a more effective solution or a stronger course. Meanwhile, all those around who have been trampled by your supposed ‘goodwill’ and ‘capable leadership’ have grown to resent you and now only desire your downfall as you sit high upon your noble throne as the ‘one true ruler’ and don’t even look down your nose at them. So how do you think I should feel?”
As she absorbed all that Artemis was saying, Gaea couldn’t help but wonder where she had so grossly misstepped that her daughter would despise her so completely. So absorbed was she in this thought that she almost didn’t catch the question at the end of her daughter’s tirade.
“Well, Artemis, I think —”
“That was rhetorical. I don’t care what you think I’m supposed to feel. Do you understand that? Can you not get it through your head that my feelings are exactly that: mine. And as such, they fall soundly in the purview of ‘not your concern’ until such time as my feelings directly affect you, which they will if this keeps up. You are a monster among monsters, and you deserve whatever horrid things befall you. Or at least that’s what people tell me. Did you know that I spend most of my nights among the people? Did you know I listen to their concerns and do my best to help them through their troubles? Did you know that not one of them feels like you care anymore? And who could blame them when you don’t even care enough to listen to your own daughter? Even so, they still believe in you, so maybe you ought to do something before that changes too.”
“But, I —”
“I’m not finished. Even if I were, I’d be walking out without allowing you another word. I’ve allowed you to speak my entire life, so now I get to talk. And when I’m finished, you will be lucky to speak to me ever again. I am a force to be seen when I get started, so do not trifle with me. You raised me, so you likely believe you know all I am capable of, but my capacity far exceeds anything you’ve ever imagined, so I advise you to stand down. In contrast, I’ve seen you at your best and worst, and I have full confidence that you do not stand a chance once I go all in. This decision you have tried to make for me is the final straw. If you wanted to see how much I can carry, you have now broken my back and forced my hand. I will not be marrying Deimos, as my heart is mine to give, and I already have given it, which you’d know if you ever took the time to actually listen. So now, you no longer have any say. This is the end.”
She meant it. It had been over two hundred years since Gaea had seen her favoured daughter. Artemis had stormed out of the room in that moment and never returned. The first few years after their falling out, Gaea sent out search parties in hopes that some news of her daughter would come. It was more than fifty years before the first rumours about Artemis began to reach Gaea’s chambers. All accounts told that she only appeared when the sun was down. She offered aid to the sufferers, then she left with the dawn sun. Eventually, the word came that Artemis was travelling with another woman. This pair of nighttime heroines were actively working to help the people that Gaea had long felt were beyond help, and it broke her heart that her beloved was fighting against such an impossible task. Still, Gaea knew she could not interfere, as there was no way of knowing when or where the “People’s Queens”, as they had begun to be known, would show up to help.
For the century after the rumours began to include the second woman, Gaea did her best to ignore her delinquent daughter and turned her grooming efforts upon another child of her court, hoping that this one would not embarrass her as Artemis had, but even with Nemesis following her every whim Gaea still longed for the daughter she had lost.
Indeed, Gaea’s constant dissatisfaction with Nemesis was apparent, and it grew as a festering sore within the soul of her new disciple, who internalised that hideous view of herself as never enough. She never allowed her mentor to see that side of her, doing her best to present only what Gaea would want to see. And while she began plotting the downfall of the queen in secret, her public face was that of the obedient novice, always clinging on every word of her senior and maintaining the façade for every spectator. So Gaea was to be caught fully unawares when Nemesis finally chose to act.