Episode 1 | The Champion of Artemis, Part 3

The funeral ceremony of her parents was short and held in a private chapel in Manhattan, New York. Dianne requested Chelsea not to televise the funeral or anything related to her.

The sky got darker but Dianne remained sitting at one of the pews, staring at the two silver urns of her parents. She wore a plain black button-down shirt with white pants. Chelsea was outside the chapel, talking to a few of the staff and giving out instructions for their next actions. Black circles sat under her eyes, the only evidence of her grief.

"Didi," a raspy voice said.

She looked up at a tall man standing beside the pew she was sitting on.

It was like looking at a mirror. His dark brown hair was cut in a military style, combed back neatly. The light in the room illuminated his light complexion, providing him an inhuman kind of glow. His light brown eyes were stern and somewhat perplexed as he glanced her way.

It was as though they were twins with only their eyes separating them from each other.

Dianne felt like she was being an idiot. Of course, they looked very much alike. He is Jason Hunt, her older brother. And yeah, Jason – expectantly waiting for a response – was staring at her.

"Oh," she started warily but caught herself quickly. "Yeah… what is it, Jay?" she said a little awkwardly.

Jason sat beside me but he didn't say anything. I pushed the glasses up my nose before looking around but him. She and her brother were not that close. Jason went for the military when she was still young and he never once went to her competitions. It was always her mother and father.

After a few moments of silence, Chelsea went to them and broke the tension they were both building between each other.

"Oh, hello, Jason," she said to my brother with a smile, "you just got back?"

Jason didn't smile back. "Yes," he clipped.

Judging from his mute response and frown earlier, it was pretty clear to Dianne that Jason didn't want anything to do with me. So why was he here? Is it because of their parents? He could have just waited for her to leave if he didn't want to talk to her.

Chelsea left them alone again. Dianne heard her saying something about papers and schedules.

"Dianne," Jason muttered. "I'm going to send you to our aunt near StuyTown."

"I can handle all of these myself," she cut him off. "Besides, I have Chelsea here with me."

"You are not safe here, Dianne," he insisted. "You are alone here now. Chelsea can't protect and look after you each and every day."

She didn't reply. She didn't really care to argue with him because for some odd reason, her instincts were telling her that this man wasn't really what he seemed. Somehow sensing what was going on in her head, Jason gave her the look.

'Now, now, Dianne, be polite,' his eyes seemed to be indicating.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a middle-aged woman walking in the chapel and directly to their seats. She had short salt-and-pepper hair with a little wrinkle under her eyes when she smiled.

Jason looked up at her and started to stand. "This is Aunt Giselle. She will take care of you from now on."

Dianne quickly retaliated. "But I didn't agree to anything in this yet."

Jason turned to her with a harsh glare. "I never said you have a choice, Dianne. You will come with Aunt Giselle or you will be alone here without a guardian."

She tried not to scowl. She slowly got up from her seat and out of the chapel, leaving the two of them alone. She stopped just outside the chapel, realizing it was already dark and the reporters are already gone. Jason or Chelsea must have driven them away earlier.

The amber-eyed archer took a deep breath and closed her eyes, feeling the cold air against her cheeks. A few minutes later, Giselle and Jason went out of the chapel. Jason bid goodbye to their aunt before turning to her.

"I will visit you once in a while," he merely said before he walked to his parked car and drove off.

There was a moment of silence between Giselle and Dianne before the latter spoke up, unable to take the awkwardness between them.

"Come on," she said, her tone a bit too rough to be considered polite. She walked towards the parking lot.

Giselle followed her and guided her to the designated car. The ride out of the town she grew up in became smaller and smaller behind her. Dianne wanted to refuse, she wanted to bolt away and hide from Giselle and Jason, and even Chelsea. But she had no strength.

She felt tired and spent.

"Stuyvesant Town is big, so for the meantime, you have to rely on me when you go out," Giselle began to instruct as they walked out of the car and into a huge building.

"You live here?" Dianne found herself asking as she stared up at the tall building in front of them.

Giselle paused beside her and stared at what she was looking at. "Yes. It's a condominium my husband gifted me during our 25th anniversary."

"Oh," the amber-eyed girl said. "Where is he now?"

The middle-aged woman smiled. "He's gone." She took a step forward. "Now, come on. Jason already told me that Chelsea, your assistant, will bring your things here once she finished the necessary papers. So, you don't have to worry much about your things."

For a moment, Giselle thought Dianne was just going to go deaf on her again, but instead, she gave her a slight nod and followed her into the building.

Dianne brought down her sunglasses and saw a cloud of black smoke coming out of her aunt's back. It was almost invisible even to her special eyesight, if not because of her observant attitude.

She sighed and put her glasses back to her eyes. It seems that she would have to live with someone other than her aunt Giselle.