Episode 1 | The Champion of Artemis, Part 2

Dianne Hunt would raise the metallic bow, leveling her dominant right arm through her shoulder, and her left foot behind her right. She would stand up straight and slowly — almost dramatically — grab a metallic arrow, notch it on the string of her bow and pull the string back. She would hear the string struggling to keep bending for her and the delicious thwack of an arrow to the target range. It was an easy routine when one has this farfetched eyesight.

If not for something that caught her eye at the very last second, she could have released the arrow.

It stood not far from her line of sight, munching on the head of one of the players as the latter stared at her with narrowed eyes. It was noticeable, at least for Dianne, since its skin was scarred black. As if it had gone through so many fire, its skin was already burnt black. The eyes were red and bulging, almost falling off from its sockets. It had sharp canine teeth instead of normal human teeth and each bite on the player's head sunk even lower. Its head was twice bigger than its body and the hands — no, claws were clinging onto the player's hunched body.

The sight almost made her vomit. And because of the slightest flinch, she did before releasing the arrow, it swerved and hit the target mark outside the yellow circle.

"Ooh~ what was that just now, John?"

"Her fans called that the 'Early sign of the moon'. Apparently, if you see Hunt's plays in the past, her first target hits were either 8 or 9."

"A warm-up, if I call it," Jerry chuckled.

Dianne heaved a sigh, dropped her bow to its place, and glanced at the bench where the player was. It was still there, but she forced herself to get used to it. There were many of them here, anyway, but this was the first time she saw something on the players' bench.

The participant hit the target mark and scored 10, bringing the cycle back to her. Dianne notched an arrow again and this time, she concentrated on the target she wanted to hit. There was silence in her ears as her amber eyes focused on the target face. Then she released the arrow.

A perfect bullseye. The crowd roared in cheers.

"There you go! The perfect bullseye of the Champion of Artemis!"

Dianne kept hitting the perfect mark until the end of the competition, and thankfully, no other thing appeared in her sight to distract her.

The crowd went crazy. She smiled at the crowd, ignoring the black creatures clinging to them as she finally waved, and walked back to Chelsea who clapped her at the back and hugged her rather tightly.

"Another black thing you saw?" Chelsea asked in a teasing voice as she handed Dianne her sunglasses.

The brunette just smiled at her trainer. The latter wouldn't believe her if she told her she did, anyway. Just like the first time she told the older woman. Her eyes went to the audience and she saw them at the bench, waving at her.

The audience was in chaos as they tried to get her attention. Some were even throwing flowers at her but all she could see, in the vision of a hawk, was them waving at her while smiling proudly. Dianne smiled and waved back.

"Who are you waving at?" Chelsea asked as she looked in the direction she was looking.

"Her parents. You didn't see them?" Dianne said before her attention was caught by the announcer calling her name.

She was going to come up to get the medal, but Chelsea caught her arm. The dark-haired woman had a serious expression on her face that Dianne knew could bring the bad news. "We need to talk later, hon."

The brunette nodded slowly, before moving to the platform, still wondering what we were going to talk about. If only she didn't look forward to it too much.

After the awarding of the gold medal, her fourth Olympic gold medal, Dianne and her team went to her locker room, and there, Chelsea broke the news.

"W-what?" I felt numb, still trying to process the news. "B-But I saw… I saw them there."

Dianne went to the door and opened it. She looked around, amber eyes frantically searching for her parents and brother behind the sunglasses she wore. There were many people in the hallway, some she was acquainted with and many she barely knew. Her shoulders slouched as she couldn't find them, not even with her sharp vision.

Chelsea and the head staff of the Olympic Games looked at each other before her trainer turned back at the stunned archer. "I know this is hard for you, Dianne, and… and it's hard for me to break it to you, too. The… The plane crashed before they could touch down. Mr. and Mrs. Hunt didn't make it."

Dianne turned away from the hallway and walked back inside, staggering to the bench of the locker. As she sat, she pulled the glasses away from her eyes, and in an instant, she saw black creatures inside the room. They were wandering around and scratching on the walls and lockers, clearly looking for something she couldn't know.

All the staff in her team started to crowd her, giving their condolences. She heard someone say about the reporters already flocking outside.

But she felt an utter void in her heart. She couldn't feel any grief.

She stared at the large trophy placed on top of one of the lockers; the symbol of her victory.

"Dianne?"

The said girl turned to Chelsea who was standing at the door, waiting for her. The trainer wore a sad emphatic expression. "We have to go. Kylie will be the one to carry your things."

She nodded without a word and stood.

"The reporters will surely ask about your parents, you just need to…"

Chelsea continued her instructions but Dianne tuned her out and stopped at the door. She looked back at the empty locker room. There, three black ugly creatures she would always see staggered around the locker room. Dianne put on her black tinted sunglasses before following Chelsea outside.