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“Is it time to put her down for a nap yet?”
“Thals you know if we put her down now she will screw up her sleep schedule. It’s not even noon, she cannot nap before 3 and sleep through the night.”
Zoë, the angel child, the gift from the King of the Gods himself, was acting anything but angelic. She had barely eaten anything at breakfast. Any food that was put near her mouth was pushed away and subsequently greeted with an even louder wail than the already considerable level of constant crying Reyna and Thalia were being treated to.
“Well can we try feeding her again? Maybe she is hungry now.”
“I refuse to give her sweets before lunch and she clearly is not hungry! Or were you not paying attention when she threw her sweet potatoes in my hair?”
Thalia walked over from where she was sitting at the bar to the play space where Reyna was trying to entertain Zoë. She pulled Reyna up off the floor, took her in her arms, and pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead.
“Why don’t you go lie down for a nap if you want. I’ll take Zoë for a car ride to get her out of the house. You got up with Zoë last night and I know you have a hard time falling back asleep.”
Reyna sighed and put her arms around Thalia, leaning into her embrace.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you. It’s just hard for me to think with all of the noise Zoë is making. You wouldn’t think someone so small could make so much noise.”
“I know Rey, she’s amazing.”
Reyna leaned up to capture Thalia’s lips.
“Gods above I wished she would stop crying and I could have a moment with you to myself,” said Thalia.
“I think I could be of some assistance. I hear our little hunter has been quite disagreeable this morning.”
“Lady Artemis!” greeted Reyna.
“My Lady,” said Thalia with a small bow.
Artemis walked into the room towards Reyna and Thalia and put her hand on the former’s shoulder, and looked into each of their eyes in turn.
“Please you two. No need for the honorific. Thalia you are my sister and both of you are mother to Zoë. I stand here among equals.”
“Hello Artemis,” Thalia nodded and greeted in correction. “Zoë has been acting up all day. Nothing we have done has gotten her to calm down. I was about to take her for a drive.”
“Do you mind if I see her?” asked Artemis.
“Of course not, honored goddess,” replied Reyna, barely concealing a smirk.
After shooting Reyna a glare, Artemis made her way around the corner to the sound of wailing. As soon as Artemis walked into the room, baby Zoë turned around and made eye contact with Artemis. The second their eyes connected, Zoë’s crying softened and a small smile graced Artemis’s face.
After being reborn as the child of Reyna and Thalia, many things about Zoë were different. Foremost among them, Zoë’s lean, timelessly beautiful body had been replaced with that of a chubby toddler, and her psyche lacked the memories of her first few millennia of life.
Among the things that had not changed, were Zoë’s striking eyes. Every time Artemis looked into Zoë’s soft brown eyes, she could almost believe Zoë had not been struck down by her father in her former home.
“Hello, little one,” said Artemis.
Zoë cooed, and though tears still ran down her cheeks, a smile fought to make its way onto her face at the sound of Artemis’s voice.
“What’s wrong, little huntress,” questioned Artemis.
Zoë, of course, did not respond, though her cries lessened once more as she gazed at Artemis.
“You are a free spirit, dear heart, and you are not meant to be cooped up inside all day. Your spirit runs free with the creatures of the wild.”
Artemis snapped her fingers and all of the toys in Zoë’s playpen were cleaned up and the blankets and walls were pushed to the corner of the living room.
Zoë cocked her head to the side at the sudden change and rolled onto her stomach facing Artemis.
Artemus walked over to Zoë and went down onto her hands and knees. She pressed her forehead and the tip of her nose to Zoë’s, and sneezed. Zoë closed her eyes in reflex and moved her head back.
When she opened her eyes back up, a silver barn owl chick was hopping from foot to foot in front of her face. Artemis flew up and pecked Zoë in her nose. Zoë shrieked in laughter and fell on her back, letting out a stream of giggles.
The second Zoë’s back touched the ground, a wolf pup jumped on her chest. Zoë giggled and shrieked again, reaching up to pet the baby wolf.
Artemis hopped off Zoë and the two of them began to play with each other. For the next four hours, Artemis transformed into every baby animal she could think of, much to the delight of Zoë.
Zoë crawled as fast as her tiny limbs could carry her as she chased Artemis in the form of a turtle. The rabbit bounded over as she reached out to grab it. The hawk landed on Zoë’s head, flying away before Zoë could reach her.
Each of Artemis’s transformations was greeted by hysterical laughter and giggling from Zoë.
The two of them played until Zoë started to yawn and her limbs trembled from exhaustion.
Artemis noticed Zoë’s decline in energy, and transformed into a fully grown silver tiger. Not ready for playtime to end, Zoë continued their game and reached out towards the tiger’s face, shrieking in joy once more.
Artemis could never deny Zoë anything.
Humming in consent to continued playtime, the tiger pounced into the little child. Landing with her hind paws down first, her front paws landed on Zoë’s chest with no more pressure than if Artemis were a kitten, not a goddess tiger that slew giants and could level forests with a swipe of her great claws.
Zoë laughed once more and brought her hands up to cover her eyes. Artemis brought her paw up and swatted at Zoë’s face, evoking more giggles and receiving a swat of Zoë’s own on her nose.
The tiger and the toddler continued to trade blows and the living room was again filled with Zoë’s laughter and Artemis’s snorts.
Zoë’s burst of energy could not last forever though, and soon she began to nod off. Still in her tiger form, Artemis gathered two blankets from the pill beside the couch into her mouth and dragged them over to the corner of the room.
After manipulating the blankets to form a nest, she guided a wobbling Zoë over to them where she promptly laid down. Artemis curled herself around Zoë so Zoë’s head rested on Artemis’s shoulder. Artemis placed her head and jaws on Zoë’s chest and pulled her rear legs up to support Zoë’s back.
Zoë adjusted herself till she was completely encased in the tiger’s fur. Within seconds, Zoë fell asleep, comfortable and safe within the predator's embrace.
Sensing Zoë’s contentment, Artemis let out a deep purr, jostling Zoë and causing her to fall further into the mountain of fur.
Artemis nuzzled Zoë one more, and a single tear slipped from her eye as she joined Zoë in the realm of Morpheus.
fin.