Artemis hesitated for a while because she just wanted to end it already, but she still nodded, trusting Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom. The twitching of the corpses intensified, and then, one by one, they began to rise like zombies in an outbreak. The huntresses tightened their grip on their weapons, ready to face their fallen comrades and end it quickly to avoid desecrating their bodies. "Hold," Athena said in a serious tone, raising her hand to signal restraint and calm. The glowing petals enveloped the fallen huntresses, creating a cocoon-like structure around each of them, but instead of using a spider web, it was made of light.
"What is happening?" Diana whispered to herself in confusion. Atalanta and the other huntresses heard her, and they, too, asked the same question silently, though with added hope that it wasn't going to be what they feared.
Athena shook her head with a smile as she looked at the huntresses' vigilant and tense expressions. Her gaze then shifted to the light cocoons shining brightly before she said, "I believe Gaia's magic is not meant to harm. It appears to be... a resurrection, and not just an ordinary resurrection." She observed it more closely with narrow eyes before adding, "Their souls are being pulled from the underworld too, to make sure it's the real ones being brought back to life." She spoke in awe of the magic unfolding before her.
Hearing this, Diana and Atalanta were shocked in disbelief, but their shock turned into smiles. They looked around to see the huntresses who had already put down their vigilance after hearing what Athena said. The huntresses smiled widely and excitedly shouted at the possibility of their fellow huntresses being resurrected.
Artemis, too, wanted to jump for joy and join the huntresses in their shouts, but she held herself back to preserve her dignity as the Goddess of the Hunt in front of her followers, though it wasn't necessary as her huntresses had already devoted their lives to her. Her face, however, still smiled widely to welcome the huntresses coming back from the underworld. But then her smile turned to a frown. "Will this upset Hades? I'd better give something to Persephone to help me placate Hades," she thought inwardly. She smiled again when she thought of an excellent solution.
Hippolyta watched this with interest, but she also noticed Hera holding back her laughter for reasons unknown to her. She tried to think of what might be amusing Hera—perhaps Gaia's magic? Or was there something else? "I hope it's not something petty like the huntresses just dying again after being resurrected," she thought inwardly, then dismissed the idea to avoid jinxing it.
The cocoons of light began to dissipate from the bodies of the fallen huntresses, revealing them standing, alive and unscathed. Their wounds were healed, and they seemed infused with new vitality. Their souls had been brought back to make it a legitimate resurrection, not just a physical one. The resurrected huntresses looked around with confused expressions, as they had been ready to relax in Elysium.
When Artemis and the other huntresses were about to greet them happily, the newly revived huntresses reacted differently.
"No! Why am I alive?"
"I wanted to die gloriously; why take that away from me?"
"I was already sunbathing in Elysium. What a killjoy!"
"Yeah, fucking killjoy! I was about to reunite with my girlfriend who died in battle!"
"Well, on the bright side, maybe I should leave a descendant before dying in battle again."
"But I don't want to train anymore under our Goddess!"
Artemis and the huntresses looked at them with confused expressions, understanding their frustration. They had wanted to die gloriously in battle. However, Artemis was not having it when she heard the last remark from a random huntress. "Who said that?" she demanded in an upset tone, an angry tick mark appearing on her forehead. The huntresses looked at the angry Artemis before pointing at each other in a comedic way, which upset Artemis even more. She was about to blow off some steam when Hera unintentionally interrupted her.
Hera laughed loudly, holding her stomach, startling the huntresses and Goddesses, including Diana, Atalanta, and Hippolyta. The thunder in the sky seemed to laugh in rhythm with Hera. Athena and Artemis looked at each other, not knowing how to react to this. It was the same for Atalanta and Diana, but not Hippolyta, who had been observing Hera from the moment the vines started blooming flowers. She walked to their location and said, "I think it's because of Gaia's magic," glancing around their group before turning to stare at the amused Hera.
Hearing this, Athena looked confused and then scrutinized the revived huntresses. "Is there something wrong with Gaia's magic?" she asked, unable to see any flaws in the huntresses' bodies. The only apparent problem was their upset reactions, but that wasn't part of Gaia's magic.
Artemis then stared at the group with an angry look. "Don't tell me they're going to die as soon as they do something," she said, her expression becoming upset at the possibility. "Don't tell me Gaia is just playing with me," she muttered, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists inwardly, thinking of Gaia playing with the lives of her huntresses for amusement. However, she tried to calm herself down since nothing had happened yet.
"Why did you have to say that out loud!" Hippolyta said with a sigh, looking at Artemis with a raised eyebrow. "Now something is going to happen; I'm sure of it," she added confidently, nodding sagely to herself, though she wasn't sure what should happen, just like Mr. Murphy's law suggested.
Hearing this, the revived huntresses became excited and yelled in celebration at the possibility of dying again.
"Yes! Oceanus Beach, here we go!"
"Hell yeah, I'm finally gonna get laid!"
"Hey, who wants to send a message to someone dead? Just a golden drachma!"
"Before I die again, I love you, Atalanta!"
"Ew."
"You guys know we need to die in battle again before going to Elysium, right?"
Artemis and the huntresses just sighed and shook their heads after seeing their behavior, collectively thinking, "What a bunch of lunatics." However, they didn't realize that they too might act this way if they were in their shoes.
Hera finally calmed her laughter, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Oh, Gaia, that is so funny and so predictable of you," she said with a smile, gasping for breath as her laughter had taken its toll. She then insulted Gaia for reasons unknown to the Goddesses.
Seeing Hera stop laughing, Athena and Artemis signaled to Hippolyta, urging her to ask the question they all had in mind. Understanding their intention, Hippolyta nodded and asked on their behalf, "Queen Mother, is there something wrong with the resurrection magic that Gaia used?" She looked at Hera expectantly.
"Did you not see it, my dear Hippolyta, what Gaia did?" Hera replied, answering with a question and adding an unnecessary layer of mystery. The Goddesses frowned, understanding that they, too, had done this on occasion. However, now was not the time for such ambiguity. "Come, Hera, being mysterious and vague has a time and place," the Goddesses thought inwardly, refraining from voicing their thoughts to avoid earning her ire.
"She resurrected the huntresses?" Hippolyta ventured, unsure if this was the right answer or if there was a deeper meaning behind Hera's question.
"Yes, you're correct, but why? Why resurrect them?" Hera pressed, smirking at Hippolyta, who sighed tiredly. When Hippolyta thought she had given the obvious answer, she sighed in relief, but upon hearing the follow-up question, she sighed again, thinking to herself, "Oh, why do I have to be the tool for Queen Mother to flex?" She looked at Hera before answering confidently, "Because she can?"
"No, you fool," Hera said with a smile before adopting a mocking tone. "Because, just like I told you earlier, Gaia is wise but..." she trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished.
"Coward," Hippolyta completed Hera's sentence, just as Hera wanted her to.
"Exactly," Hera said in a knowing tone, then turned her gaze to Artemis. "She is scared of an angry Artemis with equally angry huntresses driven by revenge, pursuing her and potentially finding her location because she tortured and killed her huntresses. Gaia would be forced to find another hiding place, like the rat she is, but Artemis and her huntresses would not stop until they found her, so she would have to repeat this over and over," Hera explained, smirking as she mocked Gaia's rat-like existence.
Hera then asked Artemis, "You would do that, right?" She looked at Artemis with a knowing expression, already aware of the answer but wanting it to come from Artemis herself. However, Diana interjected.
"What about Odin?" Diana asked curiously, but Hera shut her down. "Would Olympus go to war just for the huntresses?" Hera asked instead of answering. Diana shook her head. "That's your answer," Hera said, rolling her eyes at her great-granddaughter. This made the huntresses and Goddesses laugh lightly before they turned to Artemis, waiting for her answer.
Artemis looked around at the huntresses, who were watching her expectantly, and said with a smile, "Of course I would do that; they are my precious huntresses." She spoke in a loving tone, making the huntresses sigh in relief before they collectively shouted, "Long live Artemis! Long live Artemis! Long live Artemis!"
Artemis smiled proudly but then frowned, remembering something obvious about the Moon Tarot card. She looked at Athena and said, "The Moon Tarot represents me," her tone confused.
Athena facepalmed in embarrassment before smiling. "That was so obvious," she said. "All three Tarot cards together mean 'The end of Artemis is just the beginning.' This means the target of Dionysus... the beast created by Gaia and Odin is none other than Artemis." She explained, making the huntresses gasp and become upset at Gaia and Odin's scheme.
"Then, Queen Hera, would Gaia still resurrect me or the huntresses after they killed me?" Artemis asked curiously, looking at Hera with a questioning look.
"No, she will not do that," Athena answered in Hera's stead, then looked at Hera to see if this upset her. To her surprise, it did not, and Hera seemed to encourage her to answer further. "Because huntresses are weak without you," she explained, looking at the huntresses with pity because that was the truth.
"What about the wrath of Olympus? That should scare her," Artemis asked further, upset that Athena underestimated her huntresses' ability to track the Titaness, fight, injure, or even kill her.
"HAHA, the wrath of Olympus," Hera laughed heartily, making Artemis frown. "Don't make a funny joke, child," she said, looking at Artemis with a smile. "Heh, the wrath of Olympus. Maybe if your name is Hades or Poseidon, then you can talk about the wrath of Olympus... or even better, if your name is Herakles, then Zeus and the wrath of Olympus will come to Gaia. But right now, your name is just Artemis."
"Don't worry, Lady Artemis. If something happens to you, we will chase and kill them even to the ends of the world," a random huntress shouted with fury. The other huntresses agreed, upset at what they had heard.
Upon hearing this, Artemis frowned deeper but soon sighed, understanding that she was not the favorite child and had no right to be upset. She looked at her huntresses, who were getting upset for her, with a warm smile.
"Then that means Odin is also not scared because he already knows that Zeus and Olympus will not go to war even if Lady Artemis dies," Diana said, nodding sagely as if she understood.
"Yes, Odin and Gaia chose the safest target to kill, making this whole plan cowardly," Hera said, mocking both Odin and Gaia. "And Zeus too is a coward for not going to war. I suspect if Hades, Poseidon, or Herakles died, he would still not go to war and just send his favorite soldier," she added, clearly biased.
The sky rumbled, and lightning started appearing, making the others look up in reverence.
"Speak of the devil," Hera said venomously, already knowing who was coming. With a flash and a streak of lightning hitting the ground, someone appeared at the impact point, shouting a question.
"What in my name happened here?"