"Of course, why not?..."
Artemis saw no problem in telling the boy about the discussion the gods had regarding his abnormal existence; she started to recount everything.
"After your fight against Hercules, Zeus, our father, called an emergency meeting and recounted the facts while your fight was being displayed. In the end, after a great discussion where some gods wanted your destruction to rid themselves of a dangerous existence that could bring about the destruction of Olympus, and some others defended you as just a child acting in self-defense, everyone agreed that there was nothing that could be done regarding this matter."
"The votes that you and Hercules cast before the fight in front of fate left all the gods with their hands tied; Athena even praised your intelligence for it..."
"Since it went nowhere and you were exempted from your crimes against Olympus, this decision quickly spread like wildfire, and several rumors arose about how strong and powerful you were to the point that even the God of Strength, who was the former strongest demigod, had no chance against you..."
"The nickname 'King of Heroes' emerged and ended up sticking..."
A sigh escaped her lips as she finished telling the boy everything in front of her. This information was a way to reward him for saving her life; it was not because of his looks that attracted her like a moth drawn to flames... No, definitely not!
"I understand." Ikki placed his hand on his chin and looked into the girl's silver eyes in front of him, perhaps because she was a strong goddess? His heart began to race, but those dangerous silver eyes, more beautiful than the moon itself, were something to admire; however, he didn't dwell on it and asked, "Which gods wanted my destruction? Just out of curiosity..."
He was indeed just curious, but he would keep those names in mind to keep an eye out.
Artemis looked into those beautiful eyes and saw no traces of hostility regarding who wanted his destruction; they were pure and immaculate, displaying only the most genuine curiosity. She liked to think that she was a good judge of character, but she couldn't understand this boy whose beauty was out of this world.
He truly seemed otherworldly to her. Most men she conversed with had their eyes roaming her body or were too afraid to do so; although if given the chance, they would surely take it, but the boy in front of her was different. While talking or joking, his eyes remained fixed on hers.
Just because of his behavior, a certain feeling blossomed in her chest. As if she had found a man who would go against all her beliefs about why men were disgusting, and that fact made her heart beat faster. Was it fate?
Despite all her internal chaos, she answered the boy's question.
"Those who voted for your destruction were Hera, Ares, Athena, and Dionysus. Zeus was obviously against it; after all, you are his son, the rest abstained from voting, like me, or were against that decision."
"I understand; I guess I should thank you for not voting for my destruction?"
Ikki looked deeply into her eyes and said with a small smile on his lips. Not that the gods had a chance to destroy him, since death now made him stronger, but knowing that the girl in front of him was against his destruction made him somewhat happy? It confused him a bit; perhaps it was because not all gods saw him as an enemy? That must be it...
Artemis looked at the boy's smile and felt her heart race again as her face grew warm. A blush appeared, but she quickly contained it and spoke in the best tone she could muster to preserve her dignity as a goddess.
"N-nothing; I just didn't want to participate in a senseless discussion. Since the votes regarding the fate of you two tied the hands of the gods, there was no reason to hold a vote for your destruction, and my father didn't even want to do that; he just wanted to know who sent Hercules to stop the mission. But the vote arose after an intense discussion, proposed by Hera..."
She cursed how much the boy was affecting her heart to the point of making her stutter like a lovesick girl!
If any god saw this, they would be shocked beyond belief; the goddess who hated men stuttering like a girl swept by love... they would laugh in her face!
"So, who sent Hercules to kill me was Hera... Since she opened the vote for my destruction, I should have imagined it. If I was unexpected even for Chiron, who always knows more or less which demigod is the child of which god, imagine for Hera? She must have been furious about yet another betrayal from her husband..." Ikki thought calmly while looking at Artemis and noticing her restless state.
"I understand; thank you for answering me about that... you're quite cute, you know?"
His words earned him a deadly glare from the girl in front of him.
"Cute? You've got guts, boy." Artemis felt warm in her heart, but her pride had been wounded by his words. She let out a sigh and commented, "Lucky for you that I'm in debt to you..."
"Look at that, the great goddess who hates men spared the poor boy who sincerely praised and joked with her?" Ikki said, pretending to be surprised; he smiled and joked, "I have to thank you for being in debt to me then..."
"Yes, if it weren't for that, I would have turned you into a coelope, which would be a pity. Since you seem to be more pleasant than the other boys I've met..." Artemis rolled her eyes and spoke casually.
To tell the truth, she didn't care at all about the boy's teasing in front of her and even liked it to a certain extent.
The reason for this was that she felt she had known him for years, as if they were old friends; she didn't even understand why, to be honest, but she couldn't do anything about it. It was a genuine connection that she had never felt with anyone.
She didn't know exactly what Ikki was doing to her, but it was very good. The inexplicably wonderful emotion that filled her chest every time she looked at him, was in his presence, or even thought about him, was indescribably fascinating to her.
"Ohh, how scary." Ikki said, raising his hands in a sign of surrender. It was strange; normally he was playful with his friends, but with this girl, he liked to provoke her...
Other men would call this flirting with death since he was provoking and joking with the goddess whose hobby was transforming men into animals and hunting them for fun. But he didn't fear this because the gods' power to transform others into animals didn't work on him, and because he knew that the goddess in front of him wasn't that bad.
At least, she hadn't been bad to him up to that moment.
Artemis let out a sigh and asked, looking directly into his eyes, "Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course, why not?.."
"I can't understand you. Most mortals would become arrogant after killing a god and gaining such strength. But here you are, standing in front of me, neither servile nor conceited. Don't you feel pride in your accomplishments?"
She asked, looking at him intently.
"About that? Artemis, I have no reason to feel proud of it. I just wanted to help an innocent girl with her revenge, while also resolving my hatred for Hercules. And at the time, I wanted to protect my friends from being killed by him..." Ikki said sincerely; he truly didn't view his fight against Hercules as something significant.
There wasn't much reason to feel proud of a small achievement; his view of the world was far broader. He clearly understood the vastness of the sky—Hercules was just a tiny speck of dust in his life.
It wasn't arrogance or disdain; it was pure indifference to Hercules's existence and what he represented on his journey.
Artemis looked into Ikki's impeccably blue eyes, a beautiful smile on her lips. He earned some points with her for his maturity and for lacking arrogance after achieving such a shocking and impressive feat, showing no excessive pride in it.
However, something in what he said caught her attention.
"Revenge for an innocent girl?" She narrowed her eyes at him and asked.
"I had a dream of a demigod..." Ikki said, releasing a sigh and looking up at the ceiling as if he were traveling back in time; it was a night from his childhood when he had slept.
He had a strange and very realistic dream back then, thinking it was him recalling a specific part of a book that he could no longer remember...
"When I was a child, I dreamed of Hercules's eleventh labor: gathering the golden apples from the Garden of the Hesperides. In that dream, I watched it all as if it were a movie. A Hesperide helped him, and if it weren't for her, he wouldn't have completed his task at all; basically, that piece of trash, the God of Strength, used her and then discarded her."
"I also saw part of the history of the Hesperide and everything she went through made me despise Hercules even more. How her sisters exiled and hated her when they found out she helped Hercules, and how he abandoned her to her fate, while denying everything he promised her: her freedom from the Garden, breaking the heart of the girl who loved him in the process..."
"What he did was despicable without a doubt. Honestly, even to this day, I don't know how he had the courage. A girl who was in love with him, who helped him complete his mission in exchange for being exiled and hated by her family, and all she received from him was abandonment in her bitter fate."
"On top of being abandoned to a terrible destiny, she received no credit for helping Hercules, and if it weren't for her, he wouldn't have even completed his eleventh labor. So yes, part of my reason for killing him was avenging her."
He only knew that this girl had become Artemis's lieutenant, and that was all.
Hearing his answer, Artemis was shocked in her heart; she had truly never thought that the girl he wanted to avenge was his lieutenant and best friend. When those impeccable, agate-like blue eyes, surrounded by electricity, looked deeply into hers again, as if he wanted to see her soul, her heart raced unconsciously.
She smiled lightly and said, "I understand; I think you really are different from other men. Your maturity is very impressive. Many, if not all mortals, would let the feat of killing a god go to their heads and become arrogant. If that's not enough, you have a rare character as well. I'm sure the girl would be grateful and happy that you did this for her."
"If she knew about it, maybe..." Ikki said, releasing a sigh, but then smiled and joked, "Oh, right! Now I have something to be proud of; not every man receives a compliment from the goddess who hates men..."
Hearing his playful tone, Artemis laughed lightly before saying in a half-serious, half-playful tone, "Don't let it go to your head..."
"Of course not," Ikki replied, rolling his eyes. He walked until he stood in front of Artemis, beneath her gaze, and extended his hand toward her.
"Extend your hand; I want to check your condition."
A bit hesitant, she did as she was told. After all, he was the one who had healed her completely, and she was curious to see what he would do.
Ikki held the smooth, soft hand of the girl in front of him and felt his heart race. He just wanted to check the goddess before him with his magical perception to better understand the effects of his newly created healing spell. Under the control of his mind, his consciousness traveled with the pulse of energy and entered the goddess's body; he analyzed her and saw that there was nothing wrong. She just needed to rest a bit more without using her powers, and everything would be fine.
"It seems that you're okay, but I recommend you not make any effort or use your divine powers for the next 48 hours..."
Ikki said after reluctantly letting go of the girl's hand.
"Besides being strong, you also know medicine? Impressive," Artemis couldn't help but say.
"Not really..." Ikki shook his head negatively and briefly explained, "It's something I learned at camp..."
The goddess furrowed her brows at his words because she sensed a bit of dishonesty in his statement.
"Anyway, I've already given you the diagnosis. I will stay with you for the next two days before continuing my journey, just to make sure..." He said, moving away while stretching.
For a moment, Artemis wanted to refuse his help, but she was curious to know more about this boy who had such a significant impact on her.
"Alright, since you are my doctor, I'll listen to you." She sighed, committing to what he said, resting for the next two days right there.
The next two days would be rather interesting...