Reincarnation to the Past

Chapter 94

Artemis' POV

How dare she? I was forcing myself to suppress my anger because she helped me but she was going too far. "You don't know anything about me!" I exclaimed indignantly, to which she sneered, her sea-green eyes shining harshly.

"Oh, I know you, Artie. You're just like the other gods. Strong to the weak, submissive to the strong. Fair when it suits you. You use your powers to bully those weaker than you and kill those who offend you, even when they have no way of defending themselves! You and your ideologies are hypocritical. You cast males as villains when they are all not. Sure, there are some slimy arses but that's not just limited to men. They can even include women. But you refuse to see that. You go around turning every male who sees you naked into a jackelope or some other animal yet never bother to bathe somewhere private where people won't accidentally come across you. On the one hand, you disapprove of men for exerting their powers and strength over women and yet you turn around and do the exact same thing over men. You claim to be a goddess who advocates justice. Yet your justice is blinded when it is not convenient for you or you let your spite towards men overpower your sense of justice (talking about when Artemis voted against Percy)."

"That's not true!" I exclaim, even though deep down I wonder if it is in fact true.

"Really?", she questions me without giving me a gap to respond before she continues, "You hate Hera for harming your mother, yet you have no issue showering Zeus with affection even though you know he cheats on his wife and forces himself on others. You have never stood up to him in defense of all the women who've been assaulted. I used to always side with you gods but in reality, you gods are the ones who raised many of the monsters that hunt us demigods down. Take Athena, for example. You look up to her, don't you? She physically abused and cursed Arachne and for what, for being better at something than her? For honestly portraying Olympus for what it was? What about Medusa? She was forced upon by Poseidon and the goddess who was supposed to be on her side (Athena), who was supposed to protect her, punished her instead. And for what? For being unwillingly defiled? For being held down and forced against her will? For being raped? For being weak? You advocate for women; where were you when this happened? You gods spread all these tales glorifying yourselves when in reality you're anything but regal!"

(A/N: So while re-reading Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, I realized that, according to the book, Medusa was seduced by Poseidon and willingly took part in defiling Athena's temple. However, according to online sources, a more common version is that Medusa was raped by Poseidon. And when she turned to Athena for help, the latter punished her instead for being involved (even unwillingly) in desecrating her temple. I had assumed this was the original version and since I had read The Greek Gods a very long time ago, I wasn't aware that in PJO, Medusa was portrayed as a willing partner. (For the sake of the RTTP story, I am going with the she got raped version.)

"You can't blame their sins on me!" I exclaim.

"Can't I? You're the protector of women, the protector of maidens. Medusa was a maiden who was defiled. Did you protect her? Forget Arachne, forget Medusa. There was a certain huntress from your very group who was raped—and by your precious father, at that. Remember her?"

I flinched. It felt as though I had been physically slapped. I knew instantly who she was talking about. Kallisto, my dear friend and former lieutenant. "That wasn't my fault! She broke her oath; she was with a child! I couldn't—" I start, desperate to defend myself.

"Wasn't it? First of all, she never broke her oath; she was raped. And what did you do when you found out, Artemis? Did you attack your father? Did you yell? Did you raise a fuss? Did you even bring it up with him, so much as to mention it in his presence? Or did you hide your tail between your legs because you were so afraid of going against the mighty Zeus that you turned your back on the person who trusted you, who you were supposed to protect???"