Artemis sighed closing back the book finding herself to be more irritated than she was before. The elders closed the gates seeing the king's hatred towards Gods as the best opportunity for them to get rid of their peers and be the only Gods the humans worshipped. "They must have planned to wipe us out first using the humans and then get rid of the kings. Those fools would have come down to this world and acted like saviors. Not even a God could escape the powerfulness of greed," she scoffed.
"Do you believe everything written in the diary?" Alexander asked now that she was done reading. He didn't care to pretend that he wasn't listening to what she read. If she didn't want him to know about anything she wouldn't have read it out loud where he might be able to hear.
"Of course, this is my diary after all. If not me, who else should I believe? The words that your people spread? Over my dead body. What is in this diary happened before my hatred for humans and my elders started. The Artemis who wrote this loved humans at one point and had no reason to lie about what is in." Attacking the people she cared about, betrayal from a man she trusted, and the obsession to make her bow to the kings turned Artemis into something the world feared. It wasn't just her who needed to accept responsibility for what happened in the past.
"Your past kings on the other hand have plenty to lie about. I'm sure the people of this kingdom would love to know that one of their kings started the unnecessary war between Gods and humans. By them hunting down creatures they caused a ripple effect of making humans their enemy. And finally, that the world they so peacefully live in will be filled with terror all because of the king's greed."
Artemis could admit to anyone that she wasn't a nice person or hero. She accepted that she had caused a lot of damage in the past but why wasn't anyone else accepting their roles? "Before stepping out of the forest to attend that festival, I thought I knew what being angry felt like. Today, I understand the feeling completely."
She started walking again brushing past Alexander but he caught her hand stopping her. "I said to stop touching me!" She exclaimed smacking his hand off of her own. She didn't want him making her feel weird again.
"No touching, my mistake," he apologized retreating his hands. "Can I ask one question?"
"Go ahead. You'll just end up asking me later on. What is it?"
"What is it that you are angry about now? You have done nothing but confuse me the entire time I have been here. Are you angry that your people didn't allow you to return home, that the king asked you to bow, or because your innocent human followers were killed?" He stressed the human part. What made her angrier than she was yesterday or the days before that?
"I have a feeling that seeing what you wrote about the humans like the farmer and his wife, made you upset that some of them were hurt. I believe that you are upset because this could all have been avoided. I agree that our kings have been the ones to hurt the people in the kingdom. All because of how much they wanted their names to do go down in history."
Darius was an example of this with his obsession with being better than his father and the kings before him.
"How many times will you keep asking me what I am upset at when I keep giving you the same answer? I'm upset with everyone in this world," said Artemis. She had grown tired of him asking her this question over and over again.
"I'll keep asking until you answer me honestly. Admit that you are angry not because humans tell history wrong but because tell allowed themselves to be fooled back then. What you have to realize is that the people who once followed you obeyed and repeated everything the king said out of fear. So what they were told got passed down for generations and now here we are. Your issue is with the king and your elders," he said.
"All this time your goal was to expose the truth to humans right? That's why you were angry with the play you saw at the festival. You want history to be told right. Admit it that you're issue isn't with humans. You just hate annoying they can be."
Artemis scoffed looking to the side. At least he didn't sugarcoat the last part. She still disliked humans even if she didn't hate the regular ones as much as the king. "Fine, I do want history to be told right. Only then can this senseless hunt for people like me can stop and I want the sword your king has."
Alexander smiled glad that for once she wholeheartedly admitted her issue wasn't with most humans. The humans she should be angry at for turning on her and joining the king were already dead.
Artemis used her index finger to push Alexander's head back to stop him from smiling. "Stop being so cringy."
"Not touching please," he repeated her words. "I'll help you, Artemis. I'll help you take down the king and give you the sword as long as you don't plan to hurt anyone innocent with it."
Artemis cocked her head to the side still not believing that Alexander would kill the king with the help of a God. "You swore to protect the crown who protects the people."
"Yes, I did but the people are being protected these days."