She had no idea what she had done for him to betray her. Artemis had been nothing but kind to him since the day they had met. Why would he lead the guards to her temple and do nothing as they killed everyone? It was the first time she ever experienced heartbreak and lost herself in that moment. She killed the palace guards sent to destroy her temple and some of the innocent humans because she wasn't herself.
Unfortunately, the man who betrayed her got away and she couldn't go after him because the elders came down to punish her for killing many humans. They sealed her evil spirit away somewhere that only they knew and Artemis was reincarnated to forget the feelings she had towards humans.
What the elders didn't expect was for the evil spirit created in the original Artemis to start waking up in her new reincarnation. As powerful as they were, they couldn't stop it from waking up unless the reincarnations killed themselves and reborn again to forget the hatred. This cycle had been continuing for a long time and after the evil spirit almost successfully woke up, the elders enforced a law with their power to stop Gods from being able to physically hurt humans. This occurred around Artemis's fifth reincarnation.
Soon, it would be time for her to kill herself and be reborn again.
"What are you thinking about so seriously? Plotting my death?" Alexander asked after silence fell upon the two of them.
"I like to plot deaths out loud to watch the person become full of fear. I wasn't thinking about you and I'm not going to kill you because you have the blood of a siren running through your veins whether or not you want to admit it. I don't need a siren's vengeance on my back in case your mother is still alive. Do you think she is?" Artemis asked in an effort to switch her thoughts from her past memories to Alexander.
"No. I do not know the reason my mother left us but I know she loved me and my father. If she has not returned to us after all of these years then she must be dead. Life could've caught up to her or someone found out about what she was and killed her."
"And you think I am the negative one. What if your father knew something bad was going to happen to her if she stayed with him? Your family is pretty well known. Maybe he sent her to a safe place and because the king is still hunting down creatures, she has not been able to meet you? You have become a general, what if she is alive and scared of what you might think when you find out what she is?" Being a siren and having a son sent to kill creatures like her wasn't the best predicament to be in.
"That could be true but I wouldn't care what my mother is. I have always loved her and will continue to do so regardless of whether or not she is human. As long as she is somewhere safe it wouldn't matter to me that she had to leave. My father has never once said one bad word about her and I can only imagine how it must hurt to not have the woman he loves nearby." He cared more about what his father must be going through.
If his mother was truly a siren, his father must've had a lot of guilt for the things he did in the past. It's no wonder he started to distance himself from the past king and started to do what he wanted even if the other family members disagreed with it. If Artemis were to attack the king and make humans coexist with other creatures, there was a possibility his father might help her in order to have his wife back.
"No wonder my father kept telling me tales of all these creatures. I thought it was to prepare me for the slim chance I ever came face to face with one but he must've wanted me to become more in tune with the other side of the world. In a way, I must thank you Artemis. If I had not been kidnapped by you, would I have ever found out about any of this?" He wondered. His father had never once mentioned anything about his mother.
"Did my father think I was so wrapped up in being Darius's puppet that I would turn my sword against my mother? Did he not trust that I would put my family first? Even after I have tried all that I can to be the bridge between Darius and innocent people. I guess I can understand why he wouldn't trust me. Who wants to trust someone that is the right-hand man of a growing tyrant king," Alexander admitted what many have thought.
To many, he was a savior because of how hard he tried to help them and offered a lot of his own money and time to do so. Still, many called him the king's dog and saw him as no different from the king they grew afraid of.
"I don't think you can't be trusted. Well, the king shouldn't because you've been doing things like helping the orphans behind his back, not report me when you found my existence suspicious, willing to help me change-"
"Gee, thanks. You really know how to cheer someone up," Alexander interrupted her in a dull tone. She needed lessons in how to cheer others up. Why did she have to start off listing the bad things?
"You've been trying to help the people he has affected behind his back even though it could cost everything you've worked hard to achieve and probably your life. From the day at the festival, I have always thought of you as being the annoying hero rather than a bad guy. I don't think your father hasn't told you because he doesn't trust you but he wants to protect you."