The Moon Is Definitely a Fool
After fetching Artemis, who had been playing with Atalante, the negotiations ended on a rather deflated note. Apollo had descended specifically to retrieve her, so neither side had any reason to dig in their heels. He promised to speak with Zeus on her behalf, and Artemis herself agreed to bow her head, leaving nothing more to discuss.
Apollo remarked that it wasn’t good for gods to linger too long in the mortal realm. The divine assembly was currently in a period of self-restraint; while an inconspicuous spot might be overlooked, remaining in a conspicuous place like a temple was difficult to permit. If she simply bowed her head once, she could return swiftly.
Both Artemis and I were left speechless. Apollo burst into hearty laughter, teasing her with, “You should have apologized from the very beginning!” Artemis shot back, “You were forced into servitude under Laomedon yourself!” poking at old wounds. They bickered back and forth until she spun on her heel and left. From the way she spoke, it seemed she might be ready to return as early as tomorrow.
“Haa~! What was all my suffering for, then~?”
“Suffering…?”
“Do you have some complaint~? Hmm~?”
“Aghh?!”
She grabbed my cheeks and stretched them, shooting me a pointed look, but I refused to yield on this particular point. Calling it suffering when all she had done was go hunting the whole time was simply ridiculous.
“Hmph~! Still, thanks to me we held a festival and everyone ate their fill, didn’t we? You have to acknowledge that much!”
“That’s true. Everyone’s been praising how the number of external threats has dropped sharply and travel has become much safer. In that regard, Lady Artemis’s efforts certainly shone.”
“Sudden praise?”
“Was that not what you wanted?”
“Hearing praise from you is embarrassing!”
Whether I praised her or not, she found fault. I was annoyed, yet I held it in. Because her appearance was so lovely, the sight of her flustered and embarrassed was beautiful enough to cool my anger almost instantly. If she had been ugly, perhaps it would have been different, but I couldn’t understand why her looks and personality didn’t match, and I found myself thinking once more of Demeter’s gentle, maternal demeanor.
“Haa.”
“Wait! Did you just sigh while looking at my face?! Why?”
“No? That couldn’t possibly be the case. It must be your imagination.”
“Liar! You definitely sighed while looking at my face!”
“I told you I didn’t. I most certainly did not think to myself that you’re beautiful but childish.”
“That’s exactly what you thought!!!”
She let out a shrill cry and yanked my cheeks again, pressing herself tightly against me. Artemis wasn’t quite on the level of Danae or Demeter, but she still possessed a certain softness that made things difficult for me. Treating me like a child, she rubbed her body against mine without restraint, and the desire I had been suppressing began to swell.
‘The problem was probably that I’d been holding back too much because a virgin goddess was nearby.’
Danae was in heat, but every time I tried to approach her I had to worry about Artemis and Atalante’s eyes. As for my wife Achilles, she would simply flee. It was as though I had been abstaining for days, and even while trying my utmost to keep Hera’s mark from glowing, the rich scent of her skin tickled my nose and made my vision grow hazy.
“Ugh! Stop, stop it!”
“Oho~? Calling me a child~! What are you getting embarrassed about~?”
The more I refused, the more she clung to me. An adult would have understood the intent and stopped the moment someone said no, but this woman, with her alley-leader personality, only laughed harder when told to stop and rubbed against me even more.
“Uwaaah!”
“Ahahaha! You really do look like a child like this! Hya~! How’s that~!”
“What on earth are you doing?!”
She wrapped her arms around me in a tight hold so I couldn’t escape. For a goddess, this was not something she should be doing to a man. She seemed to think she was applying some kind of joint lock, but the position was unmistakably intimate.
“Mmph, am I a child?!”
“You called me a child again? You’re the child here!”
“Because you’re acting like one!”
“You little~! Let’s see how long you can keep saying that~!”
Laughing loudly, she hugged me and started tickling. I flailed my limbs in protest, but Artemis was a true heroine; sheer strength wouldn’t free me. The desire I had been desperately suppressing surged along with the struggle, and the light on my back grew steadily brighter.
“Huh? Oh, right, that thing of yours—!”
By the time Artemis noticed the blessing on my back, it was already too late. Even if I tried to pull away, the light had grown too large to contain. It pressed her down beneath me, and I found myself looking down at her in my adult form.
““……………………””
A long silence fell.
Neither of us had intended this. Our gazes trembled.
“Is there a way to suddenly become an adult?”
“It doesn’t work according to my will in moments like this. That’s why I told you to stop, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“And you’re supposed to be the child……”
I couldn’t bring myself to move from the position pinning her down. Normally I should have gotten off immediately, yet her hair was gradually brightening, turning pure white, and I could only stare at it in a daze. I had gone to the trouble of dyeing it blonde, only for it to revert so easily. As expected, a goddess was still a goddess.
“Hmm~? My power’s returning. Apollo must have done a good job.”
“You should be able to return right away now. You’re not going to punish me for rudeness at this point, are you?”
“Who knows? What should I do~?”
This foolish moon goddess giggled and then stared blankly at the bow of Orion slung over my shoulder. Since Apollo had already explained bringing it, we needed to decide what to do with it, but the matter had been left hanging until now.
“You said Apollo brought that, right?”
“Yes. He said he picked it up after it fell.”
“And you mentioned making something called a museum?”
“That’s right.”
She opened and closed her lips as if about to say something about its fate. Whether she would take it back or donate it to the museum for future heirs of Orion’s name, I had intended to follow her wishes either way. Instead, an unexpected suggestion slipped out.
“Hmm.”
“What is it?”
“I was thinking of giving it to you.”
“You’re going to donate it to the museum? This is something Lady Artemis is attached to, isn’t it?”
“That’s not it. I meant I don’t want it left there—I want you to use it personally.”
“Me?”
“I heard from Atalante that you can’t shoot a bow. But if I bestow my blessing, that changes things, doesn’t it? I was planning to bless Atalante as well, but she already has exceptional talent with the bow, so she wouldn’t need that kind of blessing……”
I was taken aback by the sudden offer. I should have moved from the position still pinning her, yet I remained where I was. Our faces were very close now; I could hear her breathing, and we spoke at a distance where our lips might touch.
“I don’t understand why you would give me this bow. Did I do something particularly well?”
“Who knows? I don’t know either. There was never any chance of my heart being swayed, and it was simply enjoyable being around you. You’re a completely different type of man from Orion, yet when we’re this close I feel good. Maybe it’s because you’re different? Hehe……”
“Please stop. Even I would misunderstand.”
“Misunderstanding is fine.”
“Are you concerned about what Lord Apollo said? We already told him it was a misunderstanding.”
“Do you think a few words from that fool could sway my heart? It’s simply ordinary goodwill. I really liked how you approached me today to soothe me even while knowing everything. It made me shy, you know?”
“Because I don’t know what might happen if you sulk. Besides, Lady Artemis looks best when she’s smiling.”
“That’s exactly what makes you different.”
Artemis, her hair now cleanly returned to white, opened her previously narrowed eyes wide and let them sparkle. Not content with that, she subtly rubbed her beautifully swollen thighs—earned from running through the mountains all day—against my lower body in a suggestive motion. In an instant, the child’s mask fell away and the woman beneath was revealed.
“Lady Artemis is a virgin goddess.”
“That’s right. Because of that trivial thing I lost my first love, Orion. Just thinking about it makes me furious. Every time this story comes up I get angry enough to reach the heavens, yet right now I feel strangely at ease…… Whose fault do you think that is……?”
“This is troublesome.”
“Apollo took a liking to you. I took a liking to you as well, so no one can say anything. You can relax.”
“What about your virginity? Isn’t a virgin goddess’s vow the same as swearing upon the River Styx?”
“Do you think enjoying love necessarily requires removing the virgin label? I’m not particularly fond of Aphrodite, but unfortunately I don’t deny all of love either.”
Artemis’s signature weapon—her thick, powerful thighs—stroked my lower body before finally moving toward that place. Even though she was covered only by thin clothing, she swallowed hard at the sight of the obvious bulge pressing against the fabric.
“L-Lady Artemis……”
“No need for ‘Lady.’ Just call me Artemis. It’s a privilege only you can have, so there’s no need to hide it.”
“But……”
“Do you know? A virgin goddess’s vow only requires keeping her virginity. No matter what she does with her lover, everything else is permitted. As proof, when Hephaestus ejaculated on Athena’s thigh, nothing happened. Even though they’re called virgin goddesses, the name sounds plausible but the restrictions are actually quite loose.”
“Then why did Orion die? If only virginity needed to be protected, there was no reason for that hero to die.”
“The reason Apollo killed Orion was because that fellow was a Greek hero lacking self-control. Even so, Apollo said he acknowledges you, so don’t you think you can guess what that means?”
“He thought I would be able to endure?”
“If it’s you, with reason stronger than lust, it’s entirely possible. Even I think so.”
With those words, the innocent virgin goddess, now radiating a seductive aura, pushed me down and climbed on top. My member stood tall toward the heavens, and Artemis shone beautifully with the moon—her symbol—above her head.
“You’re a fortunate hero, to receive service from a goddess.”
Sex was impossible.
Yet service was possible?
It was an all-too-convenient setting for me.
*1) In Athena’s case, she swore her chastity upon the River Styx immediately after birth. Hestia, among the twelve Olympians, rejected the proposals of the three most ill-tempered gods and demanded to remain a virgin, which Zeus acknowledged. Artemis is also famous as a virgin goddess, but like Hestia she obtained Zeus’s permission. One might wonder, “Then couldn’t one simply obtain Zeus’s permission and take her?” but a virgin goddess’s vow is synonymous with swearing upon the River Styx, making such a thing practically impossible.