Page 45 of Arrogance
“Artemis, be careful!” Orion shouted.
I held my hand up in his direction, wishing for him to be silent. I rounded the giant scorpion and traced my palm along its hardened shell. It was indeed dead.
“Where did it come from!?” I thought aloud in disbelief.
“I’m not sure. Never have I seen a creature like this anywhere on the island,” Orion replied.
“That’s because one does not exist on Delos. There is no possible way a monster like this could linger on this island without my knowledge. It was no accident that it appeared when it did. Someone sent it here to harm me. To harmus,” I explained.
“Who would want to hurt us?” Orion asked.
“There are quite a few people I could easily think of. My great grandmother, Gaia, for instance. She was not all that pleased to hear you state that you would ‘kill every animal in the world’ for me.”
Orion rubbed his chin, deep in thought. “You honestly think she would send forth this scorpion all because I made that comment?”
I nodded. “It wouldn’t surprise me. She treats her creatures like her sons and daughters. You should have seen her reaction to Apollo killing Python years ago. Gaia did not take it well.”
“But that is so…extreme!” Orion blurted out. “I cannot believe she would resort to sending one of her monsters to kill us all because I made an off-handed remark like that.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, still perturbed by all that had just happened. “There is no point in questioning it. We should be thankful we remain unscathed. It could have ended far worse. But for now, we need to do something with this creature.”
“And what do you propose we do with it?’
I glanced up at the night sky above us, barely able to make out some of thekatasterismoibeyond the canopy of the trees. “I think I know precisely what I want to do with it.”
Just a few hours later, I returned to the surface and met Orion in the vast open plain, so that the entire obsidian night sky was visible to us. Every sparklingkatasterismoiprovided us a glowing light on the field we stood in.
I pointed up at the newly placed pieces I had just inserted for Orion to spot. “Do you see them?”
“Yes. It’s mesmerizing. Perfect. Just like the real thing,” he admired.
The pattern I created depicted the great scorpion, eventually to be known asScorpio,in the far distant future. It was a strategic move on my behalf. Whoever sent the monster after us would learn of its demise by viewing it in the brightly lit up night. Not only this, but it was a sign of respect for the creature. I knew it was ordered to strike me, not of its own free will. The poor thing had no mind of its own. It was manipulated and forced to attack us.
So, I could not solely fault the scorpion for its actions. To show my sorrow and appreciation, I made it a permanent constellation among otherkatasterismoithat told the tales of many brave animals and heroes.
“It was the best I could do,” I humbly replied to Orion.
“It’s beyond majestic, Artemis.”
As we stood side by side, gazing up at my creation, I found my hand taking on a mind of its own. It reached for Orion’s and before I could even rationalize what I was doing; I was already holding his hand. It was the first intense moment of intimacy between us.
“Thank you, Orion. You saved me from being harmed,” I sincerely said.
His grip around my hand tightened as I stated this. “There is no need to thank me, Artemis. I will save and protect you from anything and everything. You have showed me nothing but kindness since I met you. I wish to never leave your side.”
This entire experience made me second-guess everything I had thought about Orion. Now I knew I needed him by me at all times. If it wasn’t for him, I could have been dismantled and badly hurt. We were a team. But now, I realized we were so much more than just ateam.
I wanted to touch and feel all of Orion right now. I wanted to push him down onto this field and press myself into him. I wanted to feel his flesh, his fully exposed body against mine. I needed to taste his lips. To feel their soft touch against my own.
But as desperately as I wanted this right now, I knew it was impossible. Committing such an act would only be such a blatant disregard for all of my values and beliefs. I could not allow my urges to get the best of me. I would shun them. Have them retreat to the very back of my mind and the most inner hidden depths of my body in a dark abyss, hoping they would remain concealed there, never to emerge again. For now, holding his hand was enough to make me content. It was all I could ask for.
Chapter 22
Aphrodite
News broke across the lands that someone had sent a giant scorpion to attack Artemis and her rumored lover, Orion. Suspicions of Gaia being the culpable one grew. It was believed that Gaia sent the creature to harm them in retaliation towards Orion for something he did to her. Little did everyone know that Gaia was not involved in this scheme. In fact, I knew of the very person who sent the giant scorpion to Delos, and I would be arranging a meeting with them soon.
However, I had other fish to fry right now. Akheilos, the handsome son of Zeus and Queen Lamia of Libya, was becoming one of the biggest thorns in my side these days. He went around to both mortals and gods boasting about how he was the most beautiful creature in the world, even more so than me.
