Love is stupid.

Tzuyu may have known very little about the world outside the camp but she knew enough to know that love and attraction were very stupid things. Unfortunately for her, when you fill a camp with a large group of hormonal teenagers you are likely to see signs of it everywhere. Boys commenting on the appearance of the girls that passed them, girls gushing over who the hottest guy was, boys chasing boys, girls kissing girls - it was everywhere. And Tzuyu couldn’t stand it. If it were up to her concepts like love would be out of the equation, instead one would simply pass on their lineage to whomever was deemed an appropriate specimen. Though she could willingly admit that this mind set was probably due to her mother being the goddess of both hunting and chastity. Basically, she loved animals and was queen of s - an ancient Greek crazy cat lady.

That’s what this camp was for, it homed the mortal children of the Gods until they were able to either ascend to Olympus to join their parents or return to the mortal realm to live as humans did. Tzuyu’s mother, Artemis, was the Goddess of Hunting….Tzuyu would usually skip the whole part, her mother could swear up and down that Tzuyu was immaculate conception but nobody truly believed her. Either way she didn’t know who her father was, nor did she wish too. Her mother loved her, she loved and protected all children, Tzuyu loved her mother just as much. Growing up it had been just them in the woods together, surrounded by the many woodland animals. She missed her mother when she began at the camp. Luckily, she was quickly introduced to Momo (daughter of the muse Terpsichore - Goddess of Dance), the muses were good friends of her mother and her Uncle Apollo.

Still, once Momo began dating the daughter of Paidia (Goddess of Play and Amusement), Dahyun, the duo stopped seeing as much of one another. Paidia was the attendant of Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and one of the main Goddess’ in Olympus. These “top tier Gods” were made up of: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Apollo, Hestia, Aphrodite and Athena. Some of which had children of their own attending the camp. These girls made up a social group in the camp that everyone wanted to be in, they were like royalty. There was their leader, Jihyo, the daughter of Zeus. She was training to be a good and just leader in order to join her father in Olympus one day. Then it was Nayeon, daughter of Poseidon, she was a walking contradiction: daughter of the god of the sea but couldn’t swim. Jeongyeon was the daughter of Hestia, goddess of family and home, she was just as OCD about domestic cleaning as her mother was. Sana and Mina were the twin daughters of Aphrodite, both beautiful with a large number of suitors lining up for the chance to be close to them. With them Dahyun was allowed to join the group, which later meant Momo could join also. The final member of the group was the daughter of Athena, the second source of Tzuyu’s hatred of love - Chaeyoung.

When Momo had joined their group she had requested Tzuyu also be invited, but the younger turned it down purely because of Chaeyoung. The girl cause Tzuyu unknown torment by simply smiling and waving at her across the courtyard. Her heart would begin to pound, her palms would sweat and the cold demeanour her mother taught her to see off potential suitors would crumble in an instant. For there was the problem, Tzuyu had somehow fallen in love with the daughter of Athena. It was sad really, she had fallen so hard for a girl she had never once spoken to. They only knew each other through Momo, that was enough to earn small smiles of greeting but other than that Tzuyu had never said two words to her. Again, she purely blamed her mother - the woman’s constant preaching of chastity meant Tzuyu had no idea of how to even talk with women let alone flirt.

It wouldn’t even matter if she could.

The daughters of Aphrodite were as beautiful as their mother, they were adored by nearly everyone. Sana leaned into it, enjoying the attentions she received from her many suitors, loving the feel of having people constantly at her beck and call. Mina, however, preferred to focus on finding her true love, sending away any fool that tried to seduce her as they did her sister. It was well known that Chaeyoung was one of these fools, only she and Mina were friends and so Mina ignored any advances in lieu of preserving their strong friendship. Chaeyoung, being the daughter of wisdom, was smart enough to know not to proclaim her feelings until she was sure they were returned so instead chose to silently dote on Mina. She thought she was subtle but Tzuyu was not an idiot, she knew the other girl loved Mina.

And why wouldn’t she? The younger daughter of Aphrodite was everything Tzuyu was not, open with all manners of love and sensuality. Not awkward about such matters like Tzuyu was. Chaeyoung following Mina like a love sick puppy ended up causing Tzuyu more pain than she could handle, it was nauseating. So in order to avoid them both, Tzuyu spent her time in the forests surrounding the camp. She would sit quietly with a book or her bow and let the animals on the forest curl into her side as she read. Her mother had allowed Tzuyu to raise a pack of hunting dogs in her youth and so she had been allowed to bring them, permitted they remained in the forests and not venture into camp. It was confusing for most, how someone could both love animals and hunt them. She rarely hunted the innocent ones, usually if she had to hunt she would hunt for predators or over populated species in order to keep the ecosystem the way it should be. Hours would be spent in the forests, ignoring thoughts of the dimpled demi-god that followed the daughter of Aphrodite. Eventually, a disciple (a devout follower of one of the top tier Gods that helped maintain the camp) would appear and request she return for dinner. Then she would be forced to watch from afar as Chaeyoung stared at Mina.

And it would kill her every time.

“Tzuyu!” Momo called, spotting her as she walked towards the forest that morning,

Tzuyu turned to smile at her friend as she approached, “Good morning, Mo.”

The older girl linked arms with her as they walked through the courtyard, “Planning to disappear again today?”

“I wouldn’t say disappear,” Tzuyu sighed, “I’m only in the forest.”

Momo sent her a look. Nobody quite knew Tzuyu as well as Momo did, they had grown up together. In another world she was sure they’d have made an attractive couple but they were too close as sisters to become anything more. Momo was sweet and kind, the only one besides her mother that cared for animals the way Tzuyu did. They knew everything about each other, Tzuyu knew Momo had a crush on Dahyun since they met on the first day of camp and Momo was well aware of Tzuyu’s less than subtle crush of the daughter of Athena. Sure, they weren’t together every moment of the day now but they would always be close.

“I think you should talk to her.”

“To who?”

Momo smirked, “Don’t play dumb, that’s my thing.”

Tzuyu rolled her eyes, “If I told her she’d think I was insane.”

“Did I say tell her?” Momo’s smirk didn’t fade, “I said talk. Have a conversation. Y’know….not stare at her like a creepy stalker.”

“And what would I even say?” Tzuyu asked,

“How about hello?” Momo groaned, “Just sit with us for breakfast, then you can go all mysterious woodland woman again.”

Tzuyu stopped walking and turned to look at her friend, “I don’t know…”

“Come on,” Momo pouted, “Just one meal, please? I always talk about you too them and I’m pretty sure they think I’m lying about being friends with you.”

Cue another eye-roll, “Fine. But if I make an idiot of myself--”

“Which you probably will.”

“--I’ll blame you.”

“I feel like you would even if I was nowhere near the situation.”  

Not waiting for what she would assume a quick and witty reply, Momo dragged Tzuyu away towards the cafeteria. Nobody really gave them any notice as they entered, they were children of lesser gods so nobody really cared for them enough to notice. They walked passed Tzuyu’s usual seat right at the back of the hall and headed for the platform right at the front where the largest table was. Tzuyu’s nerves heightened the closer they got to where the most revered demi-gods were sat, laughing together. Dahyun stood when they got closer, Momo breaking away to greet her girlfriend as Tzuyu awkwardly hung back. Ignoring the glares sent by the fangirls/boys of Aphrodite who were mad she appeared to be joining the big table.

“Who’s your friend, Momo?” Sana asked, the only one to take note of the quiet girl’s appearance,

Tzuyu felt her breath catch for moment, the daughters of Aphrodite were indeed prettier up close.

“This is Tzuyu, daughter of Artemis.” Momo introduced with a smile,

Sana smiled, raising an eyebrow, “The Goddess of s?”

Tzuyu cleared , “The hunt….Goddess of the Hunt.”

“Relax,” Sana winked, “Only pulling your leg, Momo’s spoken of you a lot.”

Sana scared Tzuyu and she wasn’t entirely sure why.

Luckily, Dahyun pulled the girl into her and Momo’s conversation and Tzuyu was able to sit down in peace. She sat quietly as the conversation flowed around her, she was always good at fading into the background. It meant she could watch the object of her affection from a distance, Chaeyoung was sat at the opposite side of table saying something to Mina and Jeongyeon that made Jeongyeon bellow with laughter and Mina giggle in her quiet way. Whenever she earned a giggle Chaeyoung would brighten, every feature would illuminate and she’d somehow look more beautiful. Tzuyu had to remind herself that Chaeyoung wasn’t smiling at her, she hadn’t even noticed Tzuyu’s presence. That was until Jihyo happened to look up and notice that there was a new face at their table.

“Who is that?” She asked, having inherited her fathers booming voice all the girls looked round,

Tzuyu slightly at all the eyes now on her, including Chaeyoung’s.

“This is my friend Tzuyu,” Momo smiled, “Told you I knew her.”

Nayeon laughed, “We didn’t doubt you knew her Momo---”

“Just doubted she was really your friend.” Jeongyeon quipped, the smile on her face showing it wasn’t a malicious comment,

Momo poked her tongue out and wrapped her arms around Tzuyu’s limp one, “Best friends, right Tzu?”

“I’m pretty much stuck with you.”

Momo pouted and cuddled into Dahyun instead, “Why are you all ganging up on me?”

“You invited me here.” Tzuyu shrugged,

There was a giggle at the end of the table and Tzuyu’s eyes found the source. Chaeyoung smiled kindly at her and all Tzuyu could do was look away, she was simply to much of a gay mess to keep eye contact. She never realised how difficult it would be, seeing her crush close up. Chaeyoung had recently dyed her hair blonde and it suited her well, as her face lit up in a dimpled smile it made Tzuyu’s legs feel wobbly and she started awkwardly poking at her food as a distraction - praying nobody could see her blush. Momo subtly nudged her in the ribs, teasing her without drawing attention. However, this small move was caught by someone else at the table who immediately connected the dots, luckily the rest of the group had quickly gone back to their previous conversations.

Breakfast inched by for Tzuyu, while she liked being close to her crush and hanging with Momo for the first time in ages it was hard watching as Chaeyoung focused all her attentions on Mina. Tzuyu couldn’t even fault the youngest daughter of Aphrodite for it, she was quiet and nice and Tzuyu understood that the shy girl couldn’t help Chaeyoung’s feelings. It would have been so much easier if Mina was a creature of pure evil but she wasn’t, in fact Tzuyu saw a lot of similarities between herself and Mina. The moment breakfast was over Tzuyu waited for Momo to be distracted before slipping off to get her bow. Nobody, to her knowledge, noticed her leave as she was pretty sure they’d forgotten she was there. It was only when she reached the safety of the tree line she felt the awkwardness from the meal disappear.

Tzuyu took a deep breath, inhaling the pine scent of the forest - her home. She let out a loud whistle as she walked further into the trees, barking sounded in the distance and soon four large dogs tackled Tzuyu to the ground. She laughed as they all wrestled to her face, they missed her when she left them and for her to come later than usual today worried them. They were loyal, as only a pack of hunting dogs could be. After a moment she pushed them away, sitting up and patting the four slobbering, excited heads. At least some people in this place loved her, her thoughts went back to how Chaeyoung looked at Mina and she stood, not wanting to continue the self pity party. Once on her feet she opened up her satchel and pulled out a wad of bacon she had taken from the cafeteria, throwing it away from her. The dogs let out loud barks as they sprinted away to find where it landed, fighting each other over it.

Using the distraction to her advantage Tzuyu pulled a roll of parchment out of her satchel, she unrolled it as she walked forwards towards a large oak tree. As she usually used this oak tree for her practice there was already a nail sticking out of the bark. A string was attached at the top of the parchment to make a loop that could make the parchment hook over the nail to be displayed on the tree. She stepped back and straightened it, the makeshift archery target now visible. A squirrel ran down a low hanging branch to investigate the new decoration and Tzuyu smiled, gently raising a hand to its cheek. It purred a little and rubbed itself into the girl’s palm. This was Tzuyu’s world, adorable woodland creatures, her pack of hounds lazing around with their bellies full of bacon, nothing but Tzuyu, her arrows and the gentle breeze rustling through the trees. Paradise.

Snap.

The squirrel startled and scampered up the tree as quick as possible, the pack now rising to their feet and growling at whoever was disturbing the peaceful area. Tzuyu turned and saw she had been joined by…honestly the last person she ever expected.

“Tzuyu.” Sana greeted with what Tzuyu could only assume was supposed to be a heartshaking smile,

Tzuyu’s introverted nature prevented a reply. That and the fact she was still a panicking gay and Sana was an extremely attractive woman even if her heart would only ever belong to Chaeyoung. Tzuyu didn’t know why Sana was all the way out there, nobody ever came out here especially not the eldest daughter of Aphrodite.

“Cat got your tongue?”

Tzuyu cleared , “W-What are you doing here?”

“I felt we needed a little talk,” Sana smirked, “Woman to woman.”

The hounds were still growling slightly, they weren’t used to outsiders - they only just stopped growling at Dahyun when Momo would bring her by. They loved Momo though, she grew up with Tzuyu and therefore with them too. She was part of their pack, Tzuyu was the leader and Momo was at the bottom so they protected her. Hence their initial hatred of Dahyun. Sana made their leader feel uncomfortable, so she must be a threat. Tzuyu hushed them softly, the growling becoming quite but leaving the dogs in their aggressive stance. She took her bow off her back, deciding not to show how startled she was. Her cold facade was her protection, so she focused on shooting at her target.

“Talk then.” Was all she said, lining up her shot,

“You know who my mother is?”

Tzuyu fired.

9.

“Of course.” Tzuyu adjusted her trajectory, “Goddess of Love.”

Second shot fired.

9.

Closer to the centre though this time.

“Then you understand I know a thing or two about crushes.”

Tzuyu hesitated, “Right…”

She fired once again.

10.

That was better.

“Look you seem like a sweet girl,” Sana cut to the chase walking over and lowering Tzuyu’s bow, “But Chaeyoung is my friend, so I’m going to warn you now. She loves Mina and Mina may not realise it but they’re perfect for each other.”

“How can you be so sure?” Tzuyu began getting defensive,

Sana almost looked like she pitied her, “I’m set to take over my mother’s mantle, I know love. Mina deserves every happiness in this world and Chaeyoung can give her that. So I’m asking only once, stay away.”

Tzuyu shrugged her off and aimed again, “Who are you to tell me what to do?”

“I’m the Goddess of Love.” Sana told her sternly, “You are the Goddess of s…who would really know better.”

10.

She turned to glare at Sana, “Goddess of Hunting.”

Sana shrugged, “You say tomato, I say .”

“Look I’m well aware it’s one sided, I’m not gonna make a move so you can save your protective big sister speech.”

Tzuyu notched her next arrow.

Sana beamed, “At least you know your place.”

The arrow flew past the target into the woods behind the tree.

“Place? The hell does that mean?”

Sana looked genuinely confused, “Tzuyu, be serious. We’re top tier and you….you’re of a lower Godly status.”

Umm….what!?

Who did she think she was? She did know she wasn’t her mother, right?

Tzuyu scoffed, she’d heard enough, “Get out of my forest.”

The dogs sensed Tzuyu’s rare temper spike and began growling again, Sana’s smile didn’t fade but she did raise her hands in surrender, “No need to be so testy, I’ll go. Just remember what I said.”

Then she turned and walked out of the forest, leaving a seething Tzuyu to turn back to her target and aim again.

“How could I forget it?” She muttered, firing her arrow again,

Dead centre.