Chasing the Sun

He was still upset. His eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were down turned into a deep frown. He just couldn’t believe that despite her not trying to know him, he still continued to look to her with high hopes that she’d see him deeper than what he showed. He was foolish. He always had been ever since he met her. He couldn’t hate her either. That made him more angry. He hated a lot of things, but for some reason, his own being couldn’t come to abhor her. To him, she may be naive and senseless, but she was still pure-hearted and delicate. That’s what mostly appealed to him about the goddess. It wasn’t just her outward beauty but the beauty she held inside. The passion she felt for everything she believed in, even if it clashed with his beliefs. She was steadfast and strong. He admired her so much and knew he wouldn’t stop admiring her if they stopped interacting. She was someone that a person could never forget. 

When she first came back to the human world, her perspective was narrow-minded. Find Apollo. Stop and destroy the Apollite race. Bring Apollo back to Olympus. As soon as she stepped in Seoul, a surge of living beyond the god that she was filled her up. It was dangerous for a woman so locked in to her own identity. The goddess of the chastity, acting frivolously in front of a mortal, desiring his attention, becoming jealous and vengeful. Okay, the vengeful part was familiar to Artemis, but when she met her Huntsman the resemblance to Orion was uncanny. The feelings were so right, that she allowed it to take over her actions, becoming clouded with thoughts of being with next to him on adventure after adventure. But she knew, it was short lived. Noctis and her father, warned her to not meddle in the lives of mortals, especially men. Especially when it came with fondness and warmth. In the books, Greek gods and goddesses laid in bed with mortals and Titans. However none actually remained loyal. Her parents were proof, Aphrodite was proof. Artemis’ vow to remain chaste was a testament for her own freedom. It was also what made her the goddess she was today. Noctis’ voice entered her mind, ‘You led him on. Shame on you Artemis.’ She felt horrible. Her actions did show affection, show a desire to be more than friends. Hyuna did say one shouldn’t be naked with another if they weren’t going to... Jongsuk’s voice shook her thoughts away, and Noctis’ voice. He had it all wrong, and all she had to do was explain it to him. Explain to him how she’d accept him as is, and she always did. She was a lot like him, alone. 

no, you are not athena. you were not born gracefully from the head of your shared father. you came out bloody from between the legs of your outcast mother, from that moment burdened with the responsibility to bring forth your brother. you do not belong in olympus, like their darling on her silver throne. apollo is their golden boy, in his golden chariot. you belong to the forests, to the wild beasts you will never tame. you are not athena. you never will be. you had to claw your way up to olympus. you are artemis, wild girl with the wild hair, and the blood of your prey on the soles of your bare feet. no. you are not athena. but you make every head in olympus turn your way.

She sounded like Aphrodite when she spoke about love, persuading the huntress how beautiful it was, though the goddess never took her step-mother seriously because half the time she was always galavanting with other men besides her husband. But the underlining meaning of love being effortless was the root of her speeches to Artemis and only now, with the mortal idol before her, did she start to somewhat understand how love should be easy. Anteros, god of unrequited love, and son of Aphrodite and Ares, once told her love had to be answered in order to prosper. It seemed that Hyuna’s love had been answered, and she was truly happy for her. “I’m so sorry, if I had known you were someone, I wouldn’t have asked you to seduce the man earlier.” Harlow bowed and showed sympathy in her eyes.

.He nodded and it wasn’t nothing but a sincere thought of him. Noctis have began seeing her more than someone he had to protect, but also caring for her since he really cared. But the definition itself about his feelings, the God still had no idea of what it was. ” You don’t have to mention it Harlow” he said and looked up at the time.

They way the Goddess spoke in sadness irritated The prince of Darkness. He hated the fact that a mere human made her cry like that. If Harlow didn’t see him as a friend, Noctis would already flee to make sure that guy won’t ever make her sad again. But he didn’t do or say anything besides in his own mind.

To say if he was affected by what she said…There was no clear way to explain it. The way they always were around each other, in any form and any condition Nox have learned to suppress his own feelings and his own needs whenever Harlow tempted him, even without her realizing it. “No, I told you that I will not wear that again”

A small pout appeared on Harlow’s lips, she really wanted to see him in his boxers. Nudity and anything close to it weren’t a big deal to immortals Grecians so long as there was no malice to it. She looked at Noctis and appreciated his heavenly form more so than other immortal and mortal men. And at the same time she was fully aware of the slight elevation of her heart rate when she did see him in his nakedness. She was always able to quench it by thinking of him as her fluffy wolf. Zeus’ promise to keep his daughter free from such thoughts was wearing thin. He knew it when Artemis turned of age. But Zeus’ daughter was strong and only until she arrived to Seoul was her will tested.