Pets (part 2)
Alexias's pov:
I was running through the woods with aunt Artemis and her huntresses. To my right a shimmer of light caught my attention.
I stopped, making Eliza run straight into me.
"Dude, what the-" She started saying, but I sushed her.
"Did you see that?" I asked.
"See what?" Eliza questioned.
"There was this shimmer." I said, walking in the general direction of what I thought I saw.
Eliza cast a look over her shoulder. The others had kept running and were getting further and further away from us.
"Maybe we should go and try to catch up with the others? Alexia, there's nothing here." She stated, worry sounding through in her voice.
Somehow I felt like I had to investigate the flash. I couldn't explain it, I just had to see what it was.
"You go back then. Tell Artemis where I am. But I'm going to see what the hell that was. I know what I saw."
Eliza grabbed my wrist.
"Now is not the time to prove you're a daughter of Athena and Nike you asshole." She hissed.
Eliza had been my best friend ever since aunt Artemis took me along for my first hunting trip 7 years ago. I was eight back then.
"It'll be fine Liza. What could possibly go wrong?" I shrugged, freeing my wrist.
"Have your mothers never told you that's the worst thing you could ever possibly say?" She raised a brow, crossing her arms over her chest.
Obviously she was correct. I chose to ignore it and continued forward, through the bushes and branches covering the path ahead.
"I fucking hate you." Eliza muttered behind me, but her footsteps followed.
The path wasn't long. Only a couple of feet really. It lead to a clearing with a bunch of old circus karts. Some were broken, others lost their color. Some had tipped over and some were even beyond recognition.
"Woah..." I heard Eliza breathe behind me.
I wandered between the karts, looking inside and underneath.
"How do you think this got here?" I wondered, stepping through the broken bars of a steel cage, inside one of the karts.
"I don't know, mortals are weird." Eliza responded.
"Thanks." I muttered.
"I didn't mean you, dipshit." My best friend smirked, giving my shoulder a playful push.
"Besides, you don't count. If you're raised by Athena and Nike you're at least a demigod."
I shook my head and smiled at her attempt to cheer me up. I'll admit, it worked... Just a little.
Suddenly I heard a snap behind me.
"Did you hear that?" I asked.
"Hear what?" Eliza asked in return, reaching for an arrow from her quiver, her bow ready in her hand.
She knew me well enough to know when I was dead serious. Again something snapped and I whipped my head to the right, outside.
There stood Artemis and the rest of our pack of hunters.
"You want to explain what you're doing here?" Artemis asked.
She didn't seem very happy. Eliza and I looked at each other. We hopped through the bent metal bars and out of the kart.
"Who's idea was this?" Artemis asked, her voice more stern now.
"Mine." I answered truthfully.
"Eliza had nothing to do with it. I dragged her along."
Artemis shook her head and sighed. When she looked back in my direction however I saw her stiffen. The color drained slightly from her face.
The rest of the huntresses behind her drew arrows from their quivers and placed them on the string of their bows, aiming for me and Eliza.
"Alexia, Eliza, whatever you do, don't move." The goddess of the hunt said.
In my defense for what I did next, I've never been a really good listener and my curiosity usually gets the better of me.
So I turned around slowly and stood face to face with a pitch black panther. The panther roared and jumped.
"Di Immortales, Alexia!!! Do you ever listen?!" Artemis exclaimed as I ducked.
The black panther soared over my head and ran straight for my aunt. She rolled out of the way as the other hunters tried to aim their arrows at the moving beast.
"Callisto, don't kill it!" Artemis yelled at her leading huntress.
More huntresses fumbled with their arrows as they switched their sharply pointed arrows with ones that threw nets.
Eliza next to me placed one such arrow on her string, drawing it back and taking her aim. She missed, very nearly. She did however trap two other huntresses who were standing behind the panther.
"Sorry." She apologized as they cut themselves loose with a grumble.
I saw the black panther jump at aunt Artemis. It pushed her to the ground, but in a smooth movement, Artemis rolled over her back pushing the panther of her and straight into a tree. The big cat roared in pain.
Pain...
It was in pain I realized. When the panther jumped aside, dodging a net, I saw its breathing was very heavy.
Just as it got ready to strike again I jumped in between Artemis and the panther, holding out my hand.
"Alexia, what do you think you're doing?!" Artemis questioned, fear for my life sounding heavy in her voice.
"Put your bows away." I ordered, trying to make eye contact with the beast in front of me.
It watched my every move, but it avoided my eyes. Strangely it reminded me of my mother.
I looked at mom as she watched how I made the math exercises she cooked up for me. Trust me having Athena for a teacher was the worst. I loved my mom really, but whenever she made me do schoolwork, she becomes unbearable.
For a moment her eyes met mine. I lingered, trying to keep her away from what she was doing. It didn't work for very long. She averted her eyes quickly.
"Don't stall Alexia. The longer this takes, the longer it'll be until you can do something fun." Mom said, her eyes focused on the paper now.
For a moment I worked on the exercise, but my mind was elsewhere. Why would she avert her eyes?
"Mom? Can I ask you something?" I asked.
"Always darling." Her warm voice responded.
"Why did you avert your eyes? So quickly I mean? It's like, with mommy I can hold a staring contest, but with you I can barely register your eye color."
"Why in Gaia's name would you ask me that?" Mom asked.
She didn't sound angry or hurt. Just surprised. I assume she'd think I wouldn't notice.
"Because I'm curious." I grinned.
I knew my mother was a sucker for her curious daughter. Between us, sometimes I can really use it to my advantage.
My mother shook her head, but smiled faintly.
"Because, Alexia, eyes show you what faces and actions hide. They show you the soul and the truth."
I didn't understand why she was being so cryptic.
"Why wouldn't I be allowed to see you soul?" I asked confused.
Mom let her thoughts twist in her mind. She didn't have to say it for me to know it was happening.
"Sometings are better left unspoken my love." She said after a while.
Mommy walked in behind mom and wrapped her arms around her neck as she joined us.
"I think what your mother means Alexia is that you can tell a lot about a person by their eyes. You see all their joys and laughs in there, but also great sorrows and pain. I don't think she wants anyone to know how much Olympians suffer under the weight of the responsibilities they carry." She said.
I saw mom tense and shoot mommy a warning glare. Like she'd just overstepped.
"You can't hide from her forever darling." Mommy whispered, kissing her wife's cheek.
Mom just sighed.
"Enough about my eyes. You still have work to do young lady." She stated, tapping my paper and drawing my attention back to it.
The black panther moved in the same way my mother had that day. Evasive. I just had to make sure it ran out of space to keep moving.
"Eliza, slowly come up to my left please. Aunt Artemis, you to the right." I ordered.
"What do you think you're doing?" Artemis asked again, but doing as I asked.
"Taking care of the problem." I muttered, moving slightly faster then them, but not fast enough to alert the animal.
When I was close enough it had no where to go. It couldn't back up because there was a huge tree there. It couldn't go left or right because of Artemis and Eliza. It couldn't pass me either. All that was left was to face me, wheter it wanted to or not.
"That's it, look at me." I started talking to the big cat.
'They show you the soul and the truth.' My mother's words repeated inside my head.
I could see the pain in the panther's eyes and how it was desperately trying not to seem weak. Because weak animals get caught.
"You're tired and you're hurt. I get it. I feel you. We're not here to kill you or hurt you more than you already are. We're here to help you."
I don't know what it was, but the moment I started talking the world around me disappeared. It was just me and a wounded black panther. I managed to hold its yellow eyed stare. Step by step I approached until I could almost lay my hand on its head.
When I reached out it growled, snapping at my hand. Luckily I was quick enough to save my hand from becoming a panther snack.
"I understand your pain. I really do. Let me help you." I said again.
'Fine, but only because I can't get the hell out of here.' It seemed to say.
I tried to reach out once more, slower than the first time. It still growled, but let me touch its head.
I petted the panther, letting my hand glide slowly over its smooth black fur. It seemed to be fine with it so far. As I petted the big cat I let my eyes inspect its body for anything unusual. Then I saw a giant cut behind their left foreleg. Probably tore it open on one of the broken karts.
I turned around to Artemis with a smirk.
"So, can I keep it?"
"Can you what?" Artemis asked in return.
"You heard me." I stated, knowing fully well she was ignoring what I just said.
"Alexia that panther is dangerous, it nearly killed you. Would have if it had been in proper shape probably." My aunt argued.
"It's not dangerous now is it?" I said, still petting the animal.
Artemis shook her head. There was nothing she could say to relay that point.
"You know what, this is not my problem. This is your mothers' problem. Go ask them." She laughed to herself.
"Could you, you know?" I asked sheepishly.
The goddess shook her head and snapped her fingers. Next thing I knew I stood in front of the front door, the black panther still by my side.
"You wait here okay? I'll be right back." I said to the animal.
It just gave me a blank stare on return. I shrugged and entered through the front door. I wove my way through the house to find my moms.
"I'm home!" I yelled through the house.
I heard a bang, an auw, some stumbling and playful banter before my moms came down the stairs.
My mom the victory goddess looked rather messy, as my mother the wisdom goddess had a devious smirk on her face. One that seemed rather out of character for her. I shruddered already having an idea of what had just happened.
"Hey honey, how was your trip?" Mom asked, combing her fingers through her hair to get it a little more back into its usual updo.
"Good, great actually. I want to show you something... That is if you're not doing anything important." I grinned.
"Not anymore." Mother smirked, brushing past her wife and letting her hand linger on her waist, letting it slide lower and lower.
"Athena!" Mom exclaimed, swatting her hand away.
My mother merely chuckled as she followed me outside, mom not far behind.
"So what are we supposed to see?" My mother asked.
I should've seen it coming that whenever I'd bring them outside the black panther would be gone. It had no real reason to listen to me really. It wasn't trained. I guess I just hoped it had felt the connection I did when I looked into its eyes.
I muttered an incoherent curse as I went to look around in the nearby area. It couldn't have gone that far, could it?
"What are we looking for exactly?" Mom asked, her and mother trailing behind me.
"I didn't come here alone. I had someone with me." I sighed.
Soon enough we'd went around the whole house. Just when I was about to tell them that I was sorry for wasting their time the panther sat at the front door again licking it's paw.
"You've got to be kidding me. You sneaky little bastard." I muttered.
"Urm, why is there a black panther at our front door?" My mother asked.
My smile grew wider as I approached the beast once more. It let me and this time it let me touch them without growling.
"Mom, mother, I want you to meet my new friend." I said, aware of the smirk playing on my lips.
"Your new what?" Mother stated.
Mom didn't say anything, she just grabbed onto her wife's arm, as if she didn't trust her own balance in the moment.
"So what do you think? Can I keep it?" I urged.
My moms shared a look.
"Does it make you happy?" Mom asked.
"More importantly, does it trust you?" Mother added.
"Yes and yes. Look, I can't explain what it is, I just know this majestic beast is supposed to be at my side. I know we'll do great things together, if given the opportunity." I said.
In that moment I decided for myself that even if they didn't let me keep the panther, I'd still take care of its wounds and I'd still find a way to keep seeing it.
My moms shared another look.
"We're not going to be able to keep you away from it are we?" My mother grinned.
I shook my head, matching her grin.
"Well then, if you're going to do great things together you better take care of that wound don't you think?" Mom smiled.
"Do you hear that buddy?" I asked the panther, petting its head.
It was even slightly purring now, admitting it liked the attention it was getting.
"You get to stay and I believe you and I are going to be the best of friends."