Beauty of Thebes

Chapter 32: A Wild Bet 

The blazing sun from up above looked down on the gods as if bearing witness. Artemis aimed her bow at the cloudless sky and pulled the bowstring tightly. The string bent and arched. The right arm of her muscle swelled, demonstrating strain. While pulling the string to its limit and what it could endure, Artemis let go. 

The cycle repeated. 

Woosh… woosh… woosh… 

The only able sounds that could be heard from a far distance was the whistling sound of the bowstring. 

Apollo rose up. He hadn’t eaten yet and he was somewhat famished. He wore purple tunic, his right breast in full naked view. Both feet were fitted with golden sandals. A ribbon-thin golden band intersected to the knees.  He habitually fixed his clothes and centered it on the gravity on his right; he didn’t forget to frown. 

Artemis hadn’t seen it yet, but the burnt marks on his shoulder hadn’t healed and only furthered his pain. 

Hyperboria was his sanctuary, a place where he regained his vigor. Whenever he rested here, he’d rise to the best optimal condition, yet that formula had broken.
 

The fall of the candle melting the shell of his body was fake, this he knew well, but he wondered why it affected his true self. However much he tried to reason it, Eutostea’s face came to mind—a woman who he had mistaken for a maidservant and hadn’t recognized till the very end. 

A dismal sigh belched out and he leaned his back against the laurel tree. 

Artemis glanced at her silent brother. “The Delphi Festival is tomorrow and you seem like you don’t want to go.” 

“Dionysus will manage it while I’m away.” 

“You’re handing responsibility over to him? Brother, this festival is meant for you. The people came for you,” Artemis said, tone sarcastic and outspoken for a pure beauty of cool, icy-toned (white-blonde) hair and intense red eyes. 

Apollo knew Artemis held great disdain for Dionysus. 

“The boar hunt. The ones in Mount Kerinaiua are young. My hounds aren’t satisfied with the blood of those little pricks, so I asked Zeus if I could open a hunting ground and came to let you know in advance. It’s alright for me to hunt in the woods northwest of Delphi on the night of the festival, right?”
 

“Let’s hear first why you chose to settle on the day of the festival. There’ll be a lot of people in Delphi that day. There’ll be a lot of eyes watching.” 

“It’s on the night where the moon is at its brightest without obstruction from the fog. There’s no better night to hunt. The fairies also spoke the same tune. And it’s been a long while since I last hunted on the mountains of Parnassus. I miss its terrain and I wish to run fast with the wind on my back. Anyways, you’ll let me, right?” 

Artemis smiled gently knowing that Apollo would, of course, allow it. Her bright smile was a blooming flower. The majesty of the goddess disappeared and Apollo saw only his precious sister. And as she expected, Apollo nodded, allowing her to hunt as she saw fit. 

Whoever saw that smile, there was nothing anyone would not do for her. 

“The hunt will begin at midnight and it’ll end before dawn. I’ll be roaming northwest to south. Brother, are you sure you want to spend your days alone in Hyperboria? Why not join me?” Artemis suggested implicitly. 

Apollo looked at his lira, which he placed beside him. It exuded a sour look. 

“Sounds like a bet.” 

A golden bow appeared from his hand. It was his favorite bow—one he used to kill Python, a vicious snake that afflicted both man and god. 

Artemis was dumbfounded with laughter. “You plan to hunt too? You’ll bet against me?