Into the Amazon

VII

I turned away. "Well you haven't been around long enough to see the mortals' actions." I said quietly. I started walking, letting Xander catch up. He was walking extremely slow with that limp. I eyed his stiff leg.

"Just explain this all to me. I'm confused." He said. I swallowed hard. "I suppose you know those stories of Zeus, no?" I asked. Xander nodded. "Well they are all true. The Greek gods are real. That's why I'm standing here. They created the Amazon race." I said.

Xander looked at me. "Amazons? Is there any men in your world?" He asked. I glanced at him. His brown eyes held pure curiosity. I felt obliged to answer him. "My world is called Arcadia. And no, no men. We were designed to prosper, protect, fight, not to fall in love." I said, staring ahead.

I felt Xander's eyes widen. "You all don't believe in love?" He asked in a voice full of shock. I blinked. "No."

He cleared his throat. "Then... uh, well... how do you all... um reproduce?" Xander asked meekly. I lifted an eyebrow at his question. Humans really did show a lot of emotion on their face. Xander's face was beet red with embarrassment, which I had no idea why.

"We call it the Hunt. Every year we go out hunting for the best men in the mortal world, worthy to lay with our Birthing Women." I answered. Xander almost choked. "Birthing Women?" He echoed. I sighed, slightly getting annoyed with all these questions.

"Each Amazon gets chosen for a sole purpose. For example, I was chosen to be a soldier." I explained.

"I can see that." He muttered sarcastically.

I frowned. "Some Amazons are chosen to reproduce to keep the Amazon population up. Those women are called Birthing Women because that is what they're for. For birth." I said. Xander thought over that for a few seconds. "So you don't have a mom?" He asked.

I swallowed. "No. We don't consider them our mothers. Just simple Birthing Women."

"No wonder."

"What?" I snapped.

"Nothing." Xander said too quickly.

I looked away from him, stomping over rocks and grass. The air was slightly cool, causing our breath to hang in the air. "What happens to these men?" He suddenly asked. I sighed.

"They get sold into slavery, or just kept as slaves in Arcadia. Or released." I said. Xander blinked in confusion. "Why do you hate men so much?" He asked.

I stopped walking to look at him. "Mens actions throughout the years have caused this separation. There was once a time when we were united. Now, less questions and more walking." I snapped as I forced myself to keep walking.

Xander kept quiet as ordered. We continued to walk throughout the forest. I drew my cap in closer, trying to get use to the chilly air. I had been out of Arcadia long enough to know that summer would take much more time to arrive at Greece.

We walked quietly over rocks, logs, and twigs. Xander was good at keeping quiet, I had to admit. If the mortals' war general was any good, Xander had some good training. My mind began to drift back to the guardians.

There was a savior.

And by the looks Hippolyta hadn't told anyone. Who could it be? How long would it take for us to wait? The prophecy said the savior could either bring peace or chaos. Surely the Amazons would have to interfere when the time was right.

But there was a sign. The owl of Athena. I wasn't sure what that meant yet, but I was determined to figure it out.

"What happened?" I asked, cutting the silence. Xander raised an eyebrow as he chuckled. "What happened to no more questions?" He answered with a question. I frowned. "I was talking about you." I snapped. Xander's smile quickly vanished.