3 Artemis

Artemis was lounging in her hut in her divine world unique to her, wondering if this is what mortals called dying of boredom. As goddess of the moon and the hunt, her divine world was a hut in a forest with a specimen of every species readily available for her to hunt. But after many millennium of hunting the same things over and over she had grown bored. If she wanted she could have joined in the tournament the other gods held among themselves every hundred years. But it required a champion, and she didn't want to waste her time let alone her blessings on a mortal that wasn't very exceptional.

She once found amusement watching mortals hunt in her name, and sometimes become the prey. She had enjoyed the show quite often until she had grown bored of that as well. Now Artemis was wondering what she could do to pass the years . She was even starting to think she might as well just find a champion to compete with the other gods champions. Even if they weren't worth her time, they might provide a few decades of entertainment before kicking the bucket.

Just as she was about to look for a champion her trusted beast Fenrir suddenly let out a sharp growl from his place in front of the fire. Artemis looked over at Fenrir with sudden interest, and understood through their link that something significant must have happened to one of his descendants. As the ancestral God beast of canines, all wolves and dogs were defended from him. And whenever something abnormal happened to one he usually felt it. Rising Artemis strode to the entrance to her hut, with Fenrir following closely behind her.

Leaving her hut Artemis walked to the pond nearby and lightly tapped the surface of the water. As the goddess of the moon her pond could show her all things under the moonlight. As the ripples spread an image of a wounded boy in a bed was shown to her. Artemis was confused, if Fenrir was reacting why was the one shown a boy and not one of his descendants? As she examined him more closely she slowly understood.

The boy was a mutant! But what had mutated wasn't his skin, or eyes or any other outer part of his body like a normal mutant. What had mutated was his blood! And when his mutated blood came into contact with another creatures, it started changing him from the inside. He was slowly becoming not a mutant, not a human, but something else entirely. Artemis had a spark of excitement ignite inside her heart.

'This boy, neither man nor beast, but a combination of both might be my ideal champion!' She began to realize. But her excitement started to cool down the next moment. As she watched the change slowly happen she realized that he was becoming more beast than man. If left as is he would become a monster that would kill indiscriminately, and through contact infect others to become like him due to his mutated blood.

After looking through the boys memories however she realized that he was also a lost person! He had also found something interesting there, something he had seen in things he called "movies". Things called "werewolves". Then she developed a plan inside her head. Summoning Fenrir with her mind she plucked a thorn from a nearby bush.

Fenrir knowing what she wanted to do lifted his paw and held it over the water. Artemis then jabbed the thorn into Fenrir's paw, drawing several drops of blood before the wound healed over. Artemis then used the blood dripping into the pond as a medium. Through the ancestors blood she manipulated the descendants, and shaped the boy's body the way she wanted, from the inside.

She decided, she would help him retain his sanity. But there would be a cost, every month at the height of her power, during the full moon he would lose his sanity and become a beast. He would threaten the lives of all that he cares about. It will be this point that determines if her plan works or not. If he cuts all contact with people then she have to finds other means to use him. If he remains in contact with people however, then she could threaten him with their safety by removing her blessing and turning him back into a beast. He would force him to accept her offer and become her champion, she did not simply want an obedient pawn like the other gods.

She wanted someone who could entertain her, someone who would struggle and fight her very chance they got. Only to be forced into submission and await their chance to strike. Other gods would finds this situation dangerous, but Artemis found it thrilling. She shuddered in anticipation and slowly finished bestowing her blessing. She would wait six months. Six months to finally talk to her champion face to face. That would be enough time to not only integrate into this world through the village, but form connections and come to terms with his new powers. He would get a pass this month, but starting the next full moon; Artemis couldn't wait and grinned in anticipation.

****

Iris watched in fascinated horror as the boy she had saved started changing in front of her eyes. However when it looked like he would fully turn into a monster the moonlight suddenly shown down on him. Realizing the goddess Artemis that she followed as a fellow huntress was interfering, Iris dropped to her knees and bowed her head. Elder grandma soon followed suit. Even with her experiences she dare not disrespect the gods. She watched through the goddesses work the boy's body returned to normal and the moonlight slowly faded. While Iris was frozen in amazement that she had witnessed the goddesses miracle firsthand, elder grandma though of something else. She was thinking that this boy, whose power seemed so strange to her would someday be someone who could stand at the pinnacle of this world. This boy, might someday even become one of the people leading this world into the new age.