Not a soul in Olympus City did not know Choi Siwon who was better known as Hercules. His muscular physique and good looks as well as immense strength had managed to steal the hearts of the young ladies of the city. Everywhere he went there was always one dame who would want to feel his muscles or witness him exhibit feats of strength which were extraordinary. Women loved him and wanted to marry him. Men wanted to be him. Not only that, Hercules was the epitome of physical fitness and well being, often urging other people that working out is the second most important thing in life next to breathing. It was his mission to spread the word about working out and living a fit lifestyle, like he was destined to do so.

Most guys though thought that Hercules was a jerk and a show off. While Hercules mostly had but kind words to say and deeds to do to other people, proving that he was indeed far from jerkiness, jealous men thought otherwise. They thought it was unnecessary to do bench presses in public just to impress ladies or to urge lanky or fat men like them that they needed to hit the gym and basically lift weights 24/7. It made them feel inferior and bad about themselves so they resorted to just ranting about him. But the demigod, who was born of a mortal woman and the playboy god Zeus, did not have a bad bone in his body.

Women vied for his affection. Whenever they’d hear that he was coming to town or was going to the gym, you could expect a whole army of them waiting on him, waiting to catch a glimpse of the strongman. Hercules was particularly accommodating and gentlemanly to the ladies. But there was one lady that particularly caught his attention. And it was the lady that nobody ever expected he would notice.

Enter BoA better known as Megara. BoA wasn’t the girly type neither was she a tomboy. BoA was just not into things typical girls were into and that included staring at macho men and fainting over their bulging muscles. She just found that completely disgusting. To her, there was more to life than just fantasizing about men. BoA was an intellect and would much rather read and focus on getting her college scholarship. She was involved and very much engrossed in reading about theories and philosophies regarding science. Her efforts had paid of pretty well, though. BoA had graduated at the top of her class and was currently working as an engineer. Some years later, income was great and her love for work was even bigger, leading to massive success.

BoA made it a point to stay busy at all times to keep her from going insane. During her spare time, she’d go horseback riding and would do archery, listing these two as her favorite sports. A short hike in the forest was also a hobby of hers. Like Hercules (though she didn’t idolize him), BoA preferred the physical activities and gave it as much importance as the mental works.

One morning, Megara set out to go hunting in the woods. She brought with her her bow and arrow. BoA was clad in a hunter’s attire with all her necessary artillery. It was a routine of BoA’s to kneel at her mini altar in her room and pray to Artemis, the patron of the hunters. She believed that Artemis would guide her and keep her safe from the dangers of the forests. Whenever BoA prayed, she lit up candles and incense, fervently calling on her favorite goddess who never failed to give her guidance.

After praying at her mini-shrine, BoA set out for the wilderness, tightly grasping her hunting tools. The brave and adventurous woman made her way through the thorns and branches, kneeling behind a tree to look for animals to hunt. Coincidentally Hercules was also out and about looking for some deer to hunt with his bow and arrow. BoA had no idea that a fellow man was also eyeing the same deer.

If it was the deer he was eyeing. Hercules was a man not only of immense strength but also of immense attraction. He was easily distracted and attracted to beautiful women, especially if they were in a close proximity. Hercules’ eyes drifted away from the deer to Megara who was preparing to stealthily attack. She took her bow and arrow, positioned it on shoulder level and aimed at the deer. Hercules couldn’t control his urges around beautiful women and decided to speak to her.

“Hey!” he hollered from where he was. The concentrated BoA was distracted and the deer was alerted of human presence, thus escaping BoA. Frustrated, BoA couldn’t help but grunt in annoyance at whoever called her. She spun around and angrily confronted Hercules.

“YOU DOUCHE! IT GOT AWAY! DAMN YOU!” she screamed at him. Siwon noticed that BoA looked beautiful especially when angry, only fueling his desire to get with her.

“Woah. Easy there.” he said preferring to be subtle rather than going for the attack. BoA placed her hands on her hips.

“Back off, chump!” she said feistily as Hercules was standing really close to her.

“Don’t get mad. What are you mad for?”

“BECAUSE OF YOU! THE DEER ESCAPED! I WAS OFF TO A GOOD START! YOU’RE SUCH AN !” BoA bellowed at Siwon.

“Careful who you’re cursing at, miss. You may not know who you’re talking to!”

“Actually,” BoA crossed her arms on her chest. “I don’t have any idea who you are. At all.”  Siwon’s eyes widened in shock. How could BoA not have heard of him when his name and face and body were all over the place?

“You’re kidding me, right?”

“Obviously, I am not.” BoA replied, picking her things up and moving to a quieter area. Hercules was still not done talking to her and was interested in knowing more about her.

“Wait! Hold on!” he chased after her and stopped her in her tracks. BoA dropped her artillery and placed her hands angrily on her hips.

“What do you want?” she irritatingly asked.

“I just want to know. You really don’t know me?”

“I said it once and I’m not saying it again. You heard my answer.” BoA shoved him out of her way and marched straight to the back of the tree.

“Why? I mean, how? Everyone talks about me! All the girls love me!” he said praising himself. BoA snapped back and looked at him.

“Well maybe I’m not one of the girls.” he calmly yet fiercely said. BoA strode away from Siwon. Siwon felt humiliated, looking down and deciding if he should pursue the young lady or not. BoA finally found a spot to hunt and though she could see Siwon via her peripheral vision, she chose to ignore him and go on hunting.

She’s insulted me and wrecked my ego. Yet, I still find myself attracted to her. Normally I would be cursing her to go to hell but I’m drawn to her. Like I want to talk to her no matter how many times she turns me down.  In short, Hercules was totally attracted to Megara and had to fight the urge to go closer to her out of respect.

“Might as well just leave.” he announced. BoA heard him and grunted, staying focused on a deer that had no idea what was going on. Luckily for her, Siwon’s loud voice did not startle it, giving her the opportunity to get the animal. Her hunting skills were very much like Artemis, Siwon thought. Maybe because she prayed to the goddess before hunting.

“You have impressive skills, I must say. I know you’re mad at me, but you have impressive skills.” Siwon complimented. BoA turned to him and this time, instead of scolding him, she smirked and cocked her head to the side. Siwon admired her confidence.

“I am guided by Artemis.” she bragged.

“Ah. Apollo’s twin. She does guide you well. You must’ve prayed to her before hunting. Or maybe she is possessing you.”

“This is 25% skill, 25% luck, and 50% prayer.” BoA smirked and went back to her hunting business. Siwon smirked, admiring her feisty spirit and how she refused to back down and in his crap.

“Do you enjoy hunting?” he asked, following her. Her calm response to him earlier gave him the confidence to walk with her, believing that her head had already cooled off. BoA didn’t send him away and actually allowed him to walk side by side with her.

“I live and breathe it. I think it’s what I was born to do.”

“What do you do for a living?” he asked.

“I’m an engineer. But hunting is my real passion.”

“Oh. An engineer.” Siwon marveled. He was surprised to hear that she was ane ngineer because he didn’t know that many female engineers. “Hey, did you know that I hunt, too?”

“Really?” BoA pretended to be interested because she knew that he was just bragging. Hercules, despite his muscular frame, didn’t look much of a hunting expert to her. He was just saying that to please her. Not to flatter herself, but a lot of men have tried that on her and not one had succeeded.

“Yeah. As a matter of fact, I do hunt as a hobby and when I was a kid, I joined and won several archery contests.” he said, quickly raising his eyebrows, hoping to get a positive reaction from BoA.

“Oh. You like hunting, too huh?”

“Love it.” he grabbed one of her arrows and flicked the top. Annoyed, BoA snatched it from him and aimed for the bark of the tree. With a fling of the arrow, she perfectly hit the center, impressing Siwon even more.

“As a matter of fact, I’d like to ask you out on a hunting date.” Siwon did not know what came into his mind and he thought of blurting that out to her after pissing her off heavily earlier that day. He snapped out of his dazed state and accepted that the reality of rejection was going to crash down on him.

“That’s quite interesting.” BoA surprisingly said. Even she was a bit impressed by Hercules now. But she tried to fight it off and pass it as a friendly challenge rather than a date. “I’ll take your challenge.”

“Challenge? Woah! There’s no challenge here. Just a date.”

“That’s what I mean.” BoA said. “If you ask me out on an “archery date”, I take it as a challenge.”

“You are one fierce huntress. You really are possessed by Artemis.”

“Artemis is always by my side.” BoA bragged the truth. Artemis was in fact watching over her, proud of her independence and strong will, resisting Hercules’ charms.

“Okay. So if it’s a challenge. What-”

“An archery contest.” BoA swiftly replied. “What, you think we’ll just stand around here and watch each other shoot arrows at trees? No way. We have a contest. It’s a date.” BoA smirked at him and continued walking into the wilderness. Hercules was still in a state of shock.

“Woah. Okay. You are one feisty lady.”

“You realized it just now?” BoA said without looking back. Hercules was at a loss of words. Megara just owned him on the spot.

“Alright.” he said, frustrated. He couldn’t believe that a girl was getting the better of him. Megara really wasn’t backing down and was far wittier than the men. Hercules was bitter about it at the same time intimidated. Never had he been challenged by a lady before.

“Do we have a date?” BoA mockingly asked.

“You got it! You want it? You got it!” Hercules confidently replied. He just thought of relying on his superhuman strength to secure him a victory.

“On one condition.” BoA spoke. Hercules had already turned away when he heard BoA’s voice. He stopped dead in his tracks, frozen by the sound of her iron-willed voice. Hercules turned around slowly and looked at him.

“What?”

“If I win the archery contest, you shall become my slave for all your days.” BoA said. Siwon looked nervous but was still willing.

“Okay.” he said. “But what happens if I win?” He was clinging on to that last spark of hope.

“If you win,” BoA walked towards him and tried to flirt with him. “I will marry you in a heartbeat.” Hercules cockily smirked at this deal. If he would win, he could automatically have BoA’s hand in marriage without anyone objecting. The lady offered herself in marriage to Hercules and for this, he could not refuse.

“I accept.” he extended his hand eagerly, waiting for BoA to shake it. BoA smirked in return, shaking his hand. They were in agreement, both confident in their own minds that they would win.

“So when do we meet? Where?” Siwon excitedly asked.

“Here. Tomorrow morning.” BoA smirked. She carried her things and headed straight home, hoping that Hercules would really show up the next day. It wasn’t because she was interested in him, it was because she wante to test his knowledge and skill in archery. She wanted to make sure he wasn’t just bragging.

[THAT VERY NIGHT]

The only thing that filled Siwon’s mind that night was doubt. He was not sure whether his heart and mouth were coordinated earlier. All he did was speak whatever he felt like saying. He was uneasy the entire night, thinking about tactics on how to beat BoA.

“Who am I kidding?” Siwon hopelessly told himself. “I’m no archer. I’m not even close to being a hunter. I’m just a typical brute who happens to be a divine disgrace. I guess I’m just gonna be her slave after all.” Siwon was quite impatient when it came to acquiring new skills. He gave up easily and just accepted the fact that he was going to lose.

BoA on the other hand refused to back down. To her, every single challenge was golden and was something that should be practiced and trained hard for. Despite having already trained that morning, the resilient and feisty lady hunter trained hard in the dark woods that very night. Toiling and working hard, she did nothing but shoot arrows and run, hitting every target perfectly on the spot. With Artemis by her side, she was invincible.  You can tell that she was one to give her all no matter what challenge and that she did not really want to be married off to Siwon.

Upon arriving home the first thing BoA did was drop her artillery and run to her altar of Artemis. She knelt before it and with arms outstretched, she fervently prayed to the goddess of her passion.

“Artemis, my goddess. Guide me as I go through a challenge tomorrow. May I stay humble in defeat or better yet, steer me away from defeat. Help me use my skills to the fullest and may this victory be mine. Every obstacle is a war that I must win.” BoA prayed. It was a prayer that came from the very core of her heart so you could tell that she really didn’t want to marry Siwon.

Siwon on the other hand did not choose to pray rather confidently relied on his skill.

“I am the strongest young demigod. Nothing can faze me.”  he cockily repeated to himself. Behind all this confidence, the fear was undeniable. He knew there was an even more powerful force beside BoA that along with her skill could help her win. Artemis. Goddess of the hunters. Since Siwon so believed in his demigod powers, just when he was on the brink of getting down on his knees to pray to Artemis for guidance, he cockily snapped back into his old arrogant self and refused.

“I can win this. I got this.”

The night wore on for the two with nothing on their minds but the challenge.

[TOMORROW MORNING]

Both parties got up as early as 5 in the morning. The first thing BoA did was grab her artillery and head down to the altar, the ever fervent praying hard once more. That was one admirable thing about BoA. She never forgot to pray. Kneeling before her altar of Artemis, her patron goddess, she lit incense candles, closed her eyes and raised her arms in prayer. She was so deep into her devotion that she started to feel the wind entering her house despite the windows being closed. Artemis’ spirit was already in the house, encircling and enshrouding the praying Megara.

“Oh Artemis...” she was just about to utter another short prayer before heading out the door when she felt a spirit enter her body. Her breathing became rapid and her motions seemed to be controlled by another entity.

“What’s going on?!” BoA frantically uttered. Her entire body went stiff as she was basically glued on the floor, down on her knees praying to Artemis. A few minutes later, her mobility came back and she was stronger than ever.

“What has gotten into me?” she asked. BoA looked at her limbs and tried to close and open her hands. They felt new. Strong.

“You and I are one.” Artemis, in the form of Sun Ye, spoke. “I am in you. You hunt with my strength. I hunt with yours.” BoA was in utter disbelief.

“What? So you’re saying that you and I are one? You are inside of me?”

“Yes.” Artemis replied. “And together, we shall win.” BoA smiled at the notion of having Artemis possess her and her skills upgraded to that of a goddess’. With full confidence, BoA stormed out of the house with her artillery and headed to the woods.

Siwon was prompt. This was something that he couldn’t afford to miss for today could be the day that he married Megara finally. He in turn grabbed his artillery and headed straight out of his house to the forest where he and the lovely maiden huntress met.

“I have prepared a grand surprise for you.” Artemis had told BoA.

“What?”

“You will see when we get to the forest.” BoA walked with Artemis who led her to the woods where she often went hunting. This only heightened her excitement and fueled her curiosity.

Coincidentally, she and Siwon arrived in the forest at the same time and stared each other in the eye. BoA took time to see that Siwon had prepared well, judging by the artillery he brought. It was also at this time that BoA saw the obstacles that Artemis set out before them. The forest was turned into a giant maze, like a labyrinth. It took Siwon quite a while to figure this out but he soon realized that they were going to be dealing with something more than just meek forest creatures.

“You took the challenge seriously.” BoA commented. “I admire that.” Siwon had no idea that he was dealing with a force of more than just a 5’5” girl.

“Of course. Hercules never plays around when it comes to physical challenges.” came his arrogant reply. BoA nodded her head and prepared her bow and arrow.

“Get ready. The challenge is about to begin.” BoA told him. The two parted ways. Siwon went to his side of the maze while BoA walked over to hers. Suddenly, a goddess from above descended to the forest, bearing a wood-brown gown, her hair tied up messily in a bun and a bow and arrow in her hands. She was none other than the huntress herself, Artemis. BoA looked up at Artemis and smiled. Her savior and patroness had come. Hercules was shaking but did not want his anxiety to become obvious.

“Artemis. Most venerated.” Megara ran to the feet of the goddess and knelt, kissing the ground from where Artemis stood. Artemis placed her hand on BoA’s head and blessed her. Hercules was too arrogant to kneel but smiled.

“Herucles.” Artemis greeted while the top of BoA’s head. Hercules waved his hand at Artemis and smiled in turn.

“I have come for the challenge.” he said. “To win BoA’s heart and hand in marriage.”

“Very well.” said Artemis, the smile gone. She found the demigod to be a bit too cocky for her, thus automatically siding with BoA. BoA stood up and gathered her weapons.

“Listen carefully.” Artemis spoke loudly,her voice echoing throughout the woods. Hercules and Megara straightened up, paying closer attention to what the goddess was about to say. She was to explain the rules of the challenge.

“The forest has been turned into a labyrinth upon the request of BoA.” Artemis spoke. BoA confidently looked at Hercules and smirked. “But I twisted it up a bit. BoA, this is nothing like you have ever seen or encountered before. This labyrinth is a maze, a test of your skill in hunting. You must race to the finish line where your wealth is. Along with this, whoever finishes first must abide by the deal BoA made.” Artemis spoke. Siwon and BoA overlooked the maze. Sure enough it was huge and they would be having a hard time snaking their way through it but the expert huntress was confident that she would be able to victoriously reach the end of the maze Artemis designed for them.

“For the hand of Megara. Or the freedom of Hercules.” Artemis grabbed her bow and arrow and aimed at an oak tree. When she shot the arrow, this signaled that it was time to begin the race. Siwon and BoA both lunged at the maze, navigating their way through, staying alert for any mythical beasts that they would have to encounter.