Chapter 16 – Love is War

[Main POV]

"Apollo, how do you feel about your victory after continuously playing for 26 hours straight?"

"Well, I feel amazing. It's like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders as I feel my hard work paying off."

"Apollo, how did you prepare for this tournament, and did you make any specific changes to your training routine?"

"Considering I just started playing chess last year, I don't really train. I just show up to the games and play. Oh – I'd actually like to give a special thanks to a Sheldon Cooper from the great state of Texas. In terms of preparation, I spent a bit of time thinking about my victory over him at the state championship, and I realized I could have beaten him 15 moves earlier than I did."

I was at a press conference answering questions. Despite not sleeping for over 30 hours straight, I felt great. Basking in my inevitable, glorious victory was something I would never get used to.

I received a trophy along with a check for half a million dollars.

After realizing she had lost, Artemis was deflated. Then she looked over at what I was sketching. Seeing that I had drawn a giant squid, her face turned dark, then she high tailed it out of there like she was a cowboy on the run.

She ran so quickly that I almost confused her for the god of speed. Then I remembered that was Hermes. So I continued enjoying what I considered my first real win.

"Apollo, what do you think of your opponent Artemis?"

"Well, I was surprised when I first saw her. I thought I would get the honor of dethroning Karpov. While she turned out to by my toughest opponent yet, I'm happy to say, I've yet to lose a chess match."

.

[3rd POV]

Meanwhile at the Kremlin, the whole place was turned upside down. The politburo had gambled all of the USSR's reputation on this match, and they had lost. They were humiliated on the world stage.

They had just watched the American President give an address, celebrating this moment as a triumph of capitalism over communism, despite those terms having nothing to do with chess. Not that the Soviets could do anything about it. They would've done the same thing if Artemis had won.

"What the hell Chernenko? How could we lose? In such a stupid fashion as well!" Grishin yelled.

"Don't point fingers at me Grishin!" Chernenko responded, "Why didn't your poison work?"

"This isn't my fault. I fed the kid enough poison to kill an elephant!" Grishin exclaimed.

"And yet nobody got sick, not even the secret service agents." Chernenko interjected. "Comrades, Grishin has clearly proven his incompetence or disloyalty. Either way, his failure has resulted in a largest blow to the union since the Americans put a man on the moon. All those in favor of his immediate execution?"

One by one all the members of the politburo raised their hands. They knew somebody had to pay for this mistake, and they were okay with condemning Grishin if it meant there wouldn't be a wider purge.

In reality, Grishin wasn't at fault. The poison worked. But Apollo had healed everyone who ate the poisoned food, preventing anyone from getting sick.

.

Outside the hotel, Artemis was on a park bench crying. The moment she was checkmated, she realized her feelings had been used against her. She felt embarrassed, humiliated, and ashamed.

Embarrassed about what happened in front of her crush.

Humiliated that she lost the chess match.

And ashamed that she let everyone down. The politburo, the union, but most of all, the people of Moscow were counting on her. She had heard their chants of encouragement, as well as their jeers towards her opponent. Throughout the 13 days she was here, people would approach her, encouraging her and giving her free food. And she threw that all away.

As she cried, an old man approached her. She looked up at him holding a chess set.

"Care for a game?" he asked.

She scoffed. Perhaps whipping him all over the board would help cheer her up.

Once they started playing, he started speaking, "My name is Sergey Popov, and I watched you play against the American."

Artemis shrunk, making herself as small as possible. "Oh…"

Sergey continued, "My entire family thought the politburo was crazy, sending a child. Then we saw you play the other child. We also watched Karpov's interview of being beaten by you over 20 times. We think you did good."

"But I lost…"

Sergey shrugged, "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. You played 136 games with the American. You lost once. I'm sure anyone else would have lost every game." After scanning the board, he realized he would lose in 8 moves. "Just like how I lost now. You played 26 hours straight with no sleep, and yet you didn't make a mistake until the very end. Nobody could expect better. Nobody in the union is angry at you."

After the chess pieces were put away, Sergey flipped the board and handed her a pen, "Can you sign the board? My great-grandson's a big fan."

.

After her talk with Sergey, Artemis walked the streets of Moscow. She met a lot of the same people she had met before. Like before, none of them were mad at her. All of them echoed Sergey's reasoning and were more annoyed with Apollo than disappointed in her.

Now she was no longer depressed. Just disappointed in herself. She knew she could do better. Everyone was comparing her to a human standard, but Artemis knew otherwise. She knew she was a goddess, and thus demanded more from herself.

Standing on a small hill outside the city, she could see a plane take off. She knew that Apollo was on that plane. Somehow, she just knew.

"Farewell my dear Apollo, I know we'll meet again. And when we do, I will win, both the contest and your heart."

.

On the plane, Apollo felt a small shiver down his spine as Artemis said his name.

"Well, fuck."