Selene…
Ever since Ruvick had told her that her mother was still alive, she had been putting off confronting Artemis about it ever since. She has been too nervous to go find her and ask her about it outright.
Even knowing that Artemis had been recruited into Lysandra’s Ruin Sentinels Brotherhood and that she wasn’t that far away made it that more nerve wracking.
For the past few days since then, she had distracted herself with work and with helping Marcus out that she did not feel that the timing was right.
However now, with nothing else on her mind to distract her from her problems, and nothing else for her to do since Dean told her that there are no jobs left to file, she decided that today would be the day she talked to Artemis.
As Selene made her way to the far west side of Duranell to the Ruin Sentinel’s Brotherhood hall, she realized that she hadn’t traveled to this area of the city in several years. Not since Dean first made her the Vice-Captain of the Darkmoon Knights Brotherhood at the age of seventeen.
Five years she’s been the Vice-Captain…
For the last five years she had been busy working on papers, keeping her fellow brotherhood members in line so, and investigating the whereabouts of Kayron ever since the end of the Mordrinite War.
In all that time, she had not been out much on missions save for when Kayron appeared out of the blue and attacked that village near Mt. Rheta.
It was the first time in years that she had been able to really leave the city of Duranell to travel anywhere.
She had not even gone back to Lunaas since becoming the Vice-Captain and had been stuck in that leadership role, confined to the brotherhood.
Only in the last two months since Marcus and Thalia arrived has things changed for her.
She had gone back to Lunaas, she had made friends with a man who did not fear her...maybe even become more than friends with him…
She wasn’t sure.
But now, she learns that her own mother might still be alive as well.
What did this mean for her life going forward?
These thoughts ran through her head as she had finished walking up the large hill leading to the Ruin Sentinels Hall approaching a cliff face with the vastness of the Lycenean Ocean behind it.
Looking at the Brotherhood Hall in front of her, Selene sighed.
From her experience with the woman known as Lysandra Smith (whose last name she stole from Dean much to his irritation), she was not only a gambler with a horrible reputation of not being able to settle her past debts, but that she also pretended to be a person of grandiose flair.
Lysandra specifically chose this spot to put her brotherhood hall because, in her own words, she said, “When people walk up this hill to enter my Hall, they will see the sun setting on the horizon and the light reflecting off the face of the ocean behind the hall as if illuminating it. That’d look real nice don’t you think?”
And truthfully, Lysandra was right.
Placing the brotherhood hall in this specific location and walking up the hill at the time that the sun was setting really did illuminate the hall quite beautifully.
However, the brotherhood hall was a mile and a half away from the capital city walls and even farther away from many people’s homes that it could take them hours to get here on foot if they weren’t using magic.
Not only that but the Hall itself was close enough to the cliff face that if a hurricane, an earthquake, or any force powerful enough struck the ground, then the cliff might give way and the entire hall would fall into the ocean below and destroy it.
The Hall itself was made of towering white marble columns with tree roots running up the length of it and multiple sets of wide stone stairs leading to the entrance. The door to the entrance of the hall was made of oak and five times her own size.
It was almost otherworldly to Selene whenever she looked at it. As if the very architecture of it did not originate from this world. In fact, it looked more like a temple or shrine than anything else.
As her right foot rested on the steps of the brotherhood hall, she hesitated to take another step forward.
If she took one more step then it meant she was desperate to know the truth. She really wanted to know if her mother was alive or dead.
With that realization of what it meant if she moved forward going through her mind, she took in a sharp intake of breath and took another step forward without even thinking.
This is really what she wanted…
“Alright then…,” she said to herself with a sigh as she pushed open the doors to the Ruin Sentinels brotherhood as she stepped inside she was surprised to see that it wasn’t complete chaos in contrast to how Dean’s temple was half the time. Although, that might just be because it was close to the start of the contest of champions which is why his own hall was rather peaceful at the moment.
Though as she looked around, it was just as she remembered it.
There were no bars to serve drinks or snacks for down time, and the tables that were in the hall seemed to only be used for meetings and work purposes.
Nobody ever came to this Hall to party, only to work or find work.
The floors were polished and kept remarkably clean. So much so that she could even see the painted ceiling on the reflection of the black marble floor.
She looked up, and looked at the incredibly detailed paintings of Duranell’s history that marked the ceiling of the brotherhood hall.
It showed the start of the Amaskian War as Dagon, the God King of Blood effortlessly swept through entire armies and slaughtered thousands.
It showed Lycaon, the Wolf King and founder of Duranell as he wielded his blade Wolfsbane in the war against a man at Dagon’s side who looked eerily similar to Malthael.
It showed the ancient founding Queen of Brunhildt, the Goddess Athena with the unholy armament Heaven Breaker in hand as she charged towards a woman with additional bones protruding from her arms, legs, chest, and even had a skull like mask covering her face as her long blonde hair flowed behind her.
It showed the long and brutal history of the minor warring kingdoms who tried and failed to maintain power over the course of thousands of years but eventually failing as their diminishing power gave way for Duranell’s dominance over the land.
It then showed the golden age of Duranell and Brunhildt after the era of warring states was near its end, and the two kingdoms had reached their greatest heights of power and reign over the land. Both kingdoms on peaceful and cooperative terms with one another.
As the Golden Age of the two kingdoms came to an end, it then showed the horrible first Amazonian Civil War between Duranell and Brunhildt as King Vendrick Lykos wielding a broadsword rather than the Wolfsbane Blade charged against the horrible Brunhildt Queen Penthesilia wielding an axe in each hand as she tore through men while drenched in blood.
Every story that Selene had read about Queen Penthesilia made her shudder in disgust as she was a truly horrible person who had earned her the cursed titles such as Rapist Queen and Child Butcher.
A queen who had commanded her soldiers to raid entire towns, slaughter their women and children before raping the men to conceive their own children and enslaving them.
She had continued to rule her kingdom in such a way for hundreds of years and many queens after her had continued that practice until Queen Diana took the throne. In her reign, she began to slowly phase out such practices over time and attempt to usher in a second golden age in cooperation with King Dorian Lykos the First.
Her efforts came to an end and were shown as such in the following painting as Queen Hylla had assassinated Queen Diana and claimed the throne for herself.
In the next painting after, it showed the second Amazonian Civil War between Dorian Lykos the Second and the Brunhildian Queen, Hylla the Queen Slayer.
In between the two opposing sides there showed a painting of a third figure in the conflict. A woman with burning hair and a curved sword similarly designed to that of the Wolfsbane blade with wings of ash and fire carrying her into the sky.
This was the first major appearance of the most famous and most powerful woman in the world.
Moyako, the Immortal Phoenix of the battlefield.
A woman who is present at the scene of many of this world’s most recent catastrophes. A woman who is yet to fail on the field of battle and has saved countless lives.
She alone was able to fend off three Valkyries of Brunhildt and bring an end to the second Amazonian Civil War.
What followed after was a painting of the greatest outbreaks of Wraiths and Draugr that the world has ever seen with the appearance of a being known only as, The Omen Knight.
A warrior that radiates so much death from its soul that it erodes the flesh of all that approach it and turns them into wraiths. In this painting it shows Prince Dorian Lykos the Second and Princess Sophia of Brunhildt joining together to stave off the outbreak of death alongside Moyako.
In the next painting, it shows Prince Dorian Lykos the Second and Princess Sophia joining hands in marriage as they try to calm the tensions between the opposing kingdoms that they hail from only for both of them to be found dead in the next painting.
The final painting on the ceiling did not show any kings or queens, but rather it showed Captain Dean Smith as he battled against the Archdragon Malthael and the Nøkkran Assassin Camilla as she fought against Kayron, the Blood Knight. Moyako herself is also present in this final painting as she stands amidst the burning ruins of Morath, the fallen capital city of Mordran.
It was the last piece of major history that was recorded on the ceiling of this massive brotherhood hall.
As she was admiring the artwork, Lysandra came up from behind her and said, “Have any ideas for what I should put up there next?”
Selene was so focused on the artwork that she was somewhat startled to see someone approach her without her knowing.
“Actually, I was wondering how you were able to afford to hire such talented architects, craftsman, and artists to make this hall,” she asked honestly.
“I rent this place out to royalty and lords for weddings, balls, and sometimes birthday parties. They pay a good amount of coin just to spend time underneath my roof! Haha!” she laughed before asking why Selene had come here.
“I just came to talk with Artemis if she’s around,” she said and Lysandra raised her eyebrows in curiosity.
“Can I ask what for?”
“Just some personal matters between us,” Selene said and Lysandra backed off.
“Alright then, she’s right over there looking at a few jobs. You can talk to her however long you want, we aren’t busy as you can tell,” she said before walking away.
As Selene walked towards Artemis she noticed that her worn out and dirty clothes that she had worn in Lunaas had been replaced with brand new armor. She war brand new knee high leather boots with steel knee and shin bracers as well as steel plates on her shoes. A Brunhildian battle skirt made of black dragon leather (likely Malthael’s) that fell only in the front and back sides of her waist. A belt wrapping around her waist also served to hold her two sickles. A tunic of thin blue cloth made of what looked like spider silk was wrapped around her torso and arms. Her forearms and hands however had steel arm braces and armored gloves with the ends cut off so that her fingers exposed. As Selene looked closer, there were rings on both middle fingers tied to the blue cloth that wrapped around her arms and throwing knives wrapped on her inner forearms.
Her bow and quiver was gone and was instead replaced by a Black Iron estoc sword.
“Artemis!” Selene said in shock of her appearance.
Hearing her name being called, Artemis turned around and looked at Selene and had an excited grin on her face.
“Selene! It is good to see you again!” she said enthusiastically as she walked over to her.
“Uh...hi. You look very different from when I last saw you,” Selene commented as Artemis looked down at herself and chuckled.
“Lysandra told me that I needed to be cleaned up and in better clothes if she were going to show me off in the Contest of Champions. I am to be her champions. Though, I cannot say that this was not worth it. It is better to be clean,” she said with a smile that started to fade slowly as she looked at Selene’s expression.
“Is something wrong?” she asked Selene.
“Hm? Oh...no. No, nothing is wrong. I’m just...thinking about why I came to talk to you. Can you and I sit together? I want to talk with you about something,” she said and Artemis nodded reluctantly as they sat at one of the tables.
Before either of them said anything, both of them were silent as Selene was trying to figure out how to start the conversation while Artemis waited politely.
Eventually it became incredibly awkward as Artemis finally spoke to break the tension and said, “Your new armor is quite beautiful.”
“Uh...thank you. Marcus made it for me…,” she replied.
“He did…? Then I must compliment his craftsmanship. My brother Hephaestus would have been quite impressed by his work…,” she said as she failed to continue the conversation beyond that.
Eventually the stress of trying to start things off safely got to her as she said, “You remember the man named Ruvick, right? The one who had cursed you?”
Artemis’s eyes narrowed in confusion at the question as she answered, “Yes. I remember him. Did you find something about him? Where he is?”
“I did. In fact...he actually approached me to tell me something,” Selene said and she noticed as Artemis’s hands clenched into fists in barely controlled anger yet her eyes remained the same.
“Did he now…? And what else?” she asked, her voice sounding cold.
“He told me...he told me that my mother is still alive and that you would know who and where she is,” she said and when Artemis heard that, her face went pale as all the anger drained away from her face and was instead replaced with fear.
“Its not possible,” Artemis said as she shook her head.
“He told me that you would know who she is and where I can find her,” Selene said, pressing her for answers but Artemis simply shook her head no.
“No. He is wrong. Your mother is dead and gone. That is the end of that,” she said and Selene could tell that she was lying.
“Artemis…?” Selene said to her and Artemis raised her head to look her in the eyes, “When I was about to leave with Marcus, I had asked you if you had anything to do with my father back then because you had said his name to me. You knew him and you know something about your mother don’t you? You lied to me then and you are trying to lie to me now,” she said but Artemis averted her eyes away from Selene, as if in shame.
“What are you lying about Artemis? What is it that frightens you so much that you would lie to me about my own mother?”
With that last question, Artemis remained silent for several minutes. She did not move and she did not take her eyes from a spot on the table that she was staring at.
She was still.
She was still until she finally spoke once again as she asked, “Selene, where do you get your last name from?”
“My last… Well, I wanted a last name so I borrowed it from one of the Nøkkran, Nadalia Kiser, who had trained Captain Dean during the Mordrinite War and died defending the capital,” she answered.
“Would you consider it a coincidence that Nadalia Kiser died only a few months after you were born?” Artemis said to Selene as she looked into her eyes.
Watching Artemis speak to her with such a cold tone like this, clearly trying to feed her a lie that could dissuade her from finding out who her true mother was, angered Selene.
“You still resort to lying to me? Even now? Why? What do you think I will lose if I find out who my real mother is? What would I lose if I find out who she is and she happens to be a terrible person? I would at least gain some closure, wouldn’t I?” she tried to say but Artemis stood upright from her seat and looked like she was about to walk away but Selene grabbed hold of her arm.
“No! I will not allow you to walk away from me so easily without telling me the truth. Do not try to escape with my answers!” Selene grounded out in anger.
Artemis looked down at her arm that was held in Selene’s armored vice grip and then looked her in the eyes.
“You want answers? Truly? Very well, I will tell you,” she said as she yanked her arm away and turned to face Selene.
“Your mother abandoned you to fight in a catastrophic war after only a mere two years when you were born. Your mother abandoned you when your father needed her to watch after you when fired rained down on your home in Lunaas and you were left stranded in a forest to fend for yourself. Yet you ask of me to tell you who this worthless sack of shit that you call a mother so that you might need ‘closure’? What greater closure do you need aside from knowing that this woman left you when you needed her the most? Take your need for closure and leave before I throw you out of here myself!” she said to Selene with anger and pain in her voice.
As she had kept talking Selene noticed her words becoming more strained as if they were causing her pain to force out.
Hearing those words cut into Selene deeply as she took an involuntary step back from Artemis and her mouth trembled.
Then, a wetness trickled down her cheek as she realized that she was crying. Selene dabbed her face and saw that her fingers were indeed damp with tears and seeing that made her feel worse.
Seeing what Artemis had done to her, she took a step back in horror of her words as she said, “Wait, I’m sorry. I did not mean-”
But Selene would not listen to another word as she erupted into a pillar of flames and disappeared.
Artemis…
As she watched Selene vanish in a plume of fire, Lysandra clicked her tongue in distaste.
“I won’t lie, the way you handled that was awful,” she said as she shook her head.
“Would you like to get involved or would you like to stay out of it?” Artemis asked in a neutral tone of voice but the manner in which she asked clearly indicated her anger.
“Nope! I’m staying out of all that. You take care of that mess on your own,” she said as she promptly turned around and walked away.
As she watched Lysandra leave, she wondered where that man Ruvick might be hiding.
After sitting on the roof of the brotherhood hall, waiting for the moons to stretch across the night sky, she looked up at the largest of the three, Phobos.
She stared into the moonlight raining down on Duranell and looked at every face it shined on to see if she can spot the man she was looking for.
She knew not what he looked like, only how his magic felt when he had attacked her. It was dark and full of immense pressure. As if the concentrated might of the darkest aspects of humanity were contained within him.
She looked and looked and looked for hours until…
The moonlight shined down on one face which seemed to swallow all the light around him. The shadows merging with his own as if it were a living thing. The moment she laid her eyes on him, he stopped walking…
...and stared back at her with a smile.
It was him. It was Ruvick, she knew it was.
In a fraction of a second, she had closed the distance between them as she appeared in a flash of light and stabbed her sword into Ruvick’s throat.
She shoved the blade deeper into him and stared at his lifeless, colorless eyes with blood lust in her veins.
“You will not escape from me a second time,” she said as her moonlight flowed from her sword and split his head apart. She pulled the length of her sword down until she had shattered his torso completely and ripped through his waist.
Looking at his broken form, she thought she would see him fall to the ground in a bloody mess, with his eyes in pain one last time but...he only smiled. He smiled as he was completely unbothered by what she had done to him.
In fact, even though she had completely shattered his body into thousands of bloody chunks, he managed to pull himself back together with his shadows and his body repaired itself.
“Hello Artemis. I take it Selene talked to you already, yes? So? How did it go?” he asked with frustrating politeness.
She did not care to answer him, only to kill him as she tried to stab him once again but even though her blade traveled at the speed of light, he caught it effortlessly between his fingertips.
“Ah ah! No. None of that. I asked you a question and I expect you to answer me,” he said.
“I could care less of what you expect of me!” she said to him as she tried to punch him but he caught her wrist and twisted it behind her back before pinning her against the wall.
He then brought his face close to hers and said in Ancient Greek, “Artemis...use your brain for once you damned autistic goddess. Does this seem like a battle you can win? Wouldn’t it be much easier on you if you just spoke to me instead of trying to kill me?”
“You...speak my language. How? Why? Who are you?” she asked him as he gently pulled away from her.
She turned around to face him and did not attack him as he had made her aware that nothing she did would result in his death.
He then returned to using English as he said, “It should not matter to you who I am. What really matters is that you are angry that I revealed to Selene that her mother is still alive but you…you still haven’t told her the truth have you?”
“I swear if you say anything more to her I will-,” she tried to say but he held his finger over his lips to gesture for her to be silent and she did so. In her mind, she did not want to be silent. She wanted to curse him and shout at him but her instincts told her to do as he said.
“You lied to her once again didn’t you? Why do you feel the need to keep the truth from her? The truth that she is, in fact, your own daughter.”