Artemis had been laying lower than usual following the incident. She wasn’t used to getting this much attention and despite her best intentions there were still stubborn hunters in Pastia who would still be willing to kill her, not only because she is a giant but also to benefit from her unwanted fame, to be the one to kill the legendary Artemis. 

Her reputation precedes her. She does not consider herself to be some divine saviour or masked vigilante. She is a tired young woman on a path of revenge. Her actions are not fuelled by love or compassion for humanity but by hatred for her own kind. Sometimes she feels ashamed of what she is, she knows it’s out of her control but she hates that she is one of them. 

Maybe this violent way of dealing with her grief is just the monster inside her wanting to come out, that violence is in a giants blood, maybe they’re right, maybe she is like the rest and she just doesn’t want to accept it. This train of thought is interrupted when she noticed how close to the tavern she was getting. 

She closes her eyes, focusing on her senses and breathing in and out, methodically. With a bit of mental effort she opens her eyes once more to see the tall grass around her brushing against her knees. This helps blending in,appearing human. It was a simple yet tiring spell to cast, but it was worth casting to have a nice drink.

She walked into the tavern at human size and everyone was on edge, some were shaking and some had their weapons drawn. She furrowed her brow confused, looking for an empty table in the process. “Uuhmmmm. Is everything ok in here?” She asked out to the room. Ready to leave quickly if it turned out she’d somehow been recognized 

“Did you not hear those footsteps? There’s a giant outside!” She looked bewildered for a moment then it clicked. She cursed at herself for being so careless as to walk that close to the building at full size.  “Oh! That sound? That uhm....I didn’t see anything if that means anything.” One man was looking out one of the windows and confirmed that there wasn’t a giant outside, that and the stomping obviously subsided. 

The tavern began to calm down until soon it was back to its cheery glory. She sat at an empty table by herself, she didn’t want company, not right now. She sipped away at a cup of ale, thinking about what to do next, she knew she was now in the public eye and many hunters would be looking for her, some for good intentions and some not. There were probably some people in this very room that had her on their mind. 

Across the tavern, Steven had been talking with a good friend of his. Everyone had seen the mysterious woman enter the tavern, while the rest of the room had gone paranoid she didn't budge when the giant's footsteps had passed by, it was unnatural, for someone to be so unwavering in the face of a possible giant threat. Neither of them knew the truth as to why, but their half drunk imagination led to wild conclusions. 

Stevens own village was under the control of a giantess, who called herself Azura Grimm, who didn't yet destroy the village, which meant she must have some intended use for them, which was perhaps even more concerning. Perhaps the woman knew something or two about giants, something he could save his people with. 

Artemis needed this drink, for every giant she killed she never felt like she was getting any closer to her ultimate goal. The giant she seeked was a master at laying low. She didn't know she was being hunted by Artemis so clearly she must be someone important. Even despite the legendary reputation she has attained, she was only one woman, a giant yes, but so are her enemies. It was her against an entire species. 

“Hello uhm. Excuse me?” She heard a male voice say. She raised her eyebrow and turned her head to the young man. “A-Are you a hunter?” He stuttered out. He looked pretty young, likely an adult only recently. He was a bit on the smaller side, even at human size she wouldn’t break a sweat against him. “What makes you think that?” She replied. “Well you were outside when the giant was here, you didn’t so much as flinch, I’ve only ever seen giant hunters have that kind of confidence around giants.” This young man seemed to be quite perceptive, maybe she’s underestimating him. 

“Good eye little man. Is there anything I could help you with?” She answered. He was clearly intimidated by her but being called ‘little man’ probably didn’t help his case, force of habit on her part. “I was hoping you could train me. To fight giants?” He asked. This caught her offguard, she was expecting a bounty or something along those lines. “You want me to train you? Why? This occupation is dangerous enough for hu- for us.” She couldn’t go through with this without revealing her secret so the answer was already no in her mind.

 “There’s a giantess that’s been living near my village and we don’t have the money to pay a hunter to kill her, so I want to learn to do it myself. Her name is Azura Grimm. She-“ hearing that name made Artemis’s blood boil. It brought back so many bad memories. “What did you just say?” She interrupted him, a bit of anger rising in her voice. “Her name? I’m sorry. I thought you needed the info?” He turned apologetic. “I do, Meet my by the river and tell me more. There’s some things I need to tell you personally if you’re serious about this.” She said a bit softer before she left out the door. 

The walk helped recompose herself and she wiped away a few tears from reliving those traumatic memories. She didn’t mean to snap at the boy like that but the anger wasn’t directed at him. 

She needed to know what he knew about Grimm’s whereabouts. She never thought she’d get this chance but she’s been waiting for it for so many years.