Artemis

What goes up must come sideways.

The daughter of Leto and Zeus, Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo. She is the goddess of the hunt, childbirth, fertility and plagues, and she is associated with the moon. Most modern legends portray her as a virginal goddess, however in ancient Greek writings she was a dichotomy. While she was called virginal and shown to be such in some works, she was also shown to be a lover of many Greek heroes including Orion and even of her own twin brother, Apollo.

In the context of the DH mythos, she is a primary goddess who rules over all the Dark-Hunters.

When the Apollites were cursed by Apollo, they were taken in by the goddess Apollymi who showed them how to steal human souls to circumvent Apollo’s decree. Now called Daimons, they turned against mankind. Apollo sought his sister’s aid in handling them. For reasons unknown, Artemis went to Acheron (common belief is that he was a renowned Atlantean hero whose bravery had caused him to be spared when Apollo cast the city into the ocean- we know this isn’t true, but propaganda reigns supreme) and convinced him to help her hunt down and destroy the Daimons who were preying on pregnant women and children. Those of us in the know, know that she did it to tie Acheron to her for eternity.

Neither Acheron nor Artemis has ever disclosed the exact nature of their relationship. In many ways, they act as if the other doesn’t exist. All that is known is that Acheron must seek her out whenever a Dark-Hunter wishes to reclaim his soul. Since no other Dark-Hunter is allowed in the goddess’s presence, Acheron is often sent in to ask her questions or to clarify her orders.

She is ruthlessly protective of her army and of Acheron. Her affinity for Acheron is sometimes an aggravation for certain Dark-Hunters who can’t understand why he alone is able to see her while any other man who dares such is put to death. She has placed her mark on all her Dark-Hunters and demands a sacrifice for each one who would seek his or her freedom.

The idea of Artemis feeding from human blood comes from a Greek play Sherrilyn read in college as part of a paper she was working on that explored the two aspects of Artemis as a virginal goddess and her as a sexual predator.