The hunter stood, unmoving. With a blink, his eyes came back into focus. Phineus let out a long, deep breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

  “I’m… I’m me,” he whispered, relief spreading through him.

  Looking around, Phineus noticed two things almost immediately: the first was that there wasn’t a tree in sight.

  No Canopy of leaves, or towering trunks, just open ground and an unobscured sky stretching out in all directions. The second was that his ‘Forest Sense’ was still there.

  That made him pause.

  He reached out carefully, and the world responded just as it had before. He felt the gusts of wind, and the blades of grass stretched over hills.

  “Aww mann,” Phineus groaned, flopping backward onto the ground, “Now I gotta rename it.”

  “ ‘Environment Sense?’ No, that's terrible, ‘Wilds Sense?’ Worse. ‘Nature Sense?’...eh.” He grimaced, “Ooo, maybe ‘Sense of The Child Hunter or-’’

  He cut himself off with a sigh.

  “I made it out,” he said, smiling despite himself. “I actually made it out!” he cheered, looking up at the sky.

  He lay there quietly until a few tears swelled up in his eyes. Phineus felt trapped, scared, and honestly a little resentful. ‘She didn’t say anything about divinity being like this…’ he stopped himself before he thought something we would regret.

  It was never a good idea to disrespect a god, even in your own head. Phineus rubbed his eyes and sat up in one motion. He exhaled all the air in his lungs and took a quick breath.

  “Ok,” he said out loud, standing up, he continued, “I made it out of the forest, it wasn’t easy, but I did it. Unfortunately, at some point I lost my bag, and I could probably find it if I went back in…”

  Phineus paused, “I have no intention of doing that,” he said with a shiver. “That means I have no map, no clothes, no money..” he sighed.

  He had a decent idea of where the temple of Poseidon was, and it should only take him a day or two to get there, but how was he supposed to buy a ticket off the island without any money?

  “Maybe just helping out a young demi-god at the start of his journey will be enough,” He said, both skeptically yet also pretty sure that's how it would work out.

  Demi-gods are the stuff of myth, legends, who wouldn’t want to bend over backwards to get into their good books? In fact, Phineus felt the same up until he became one himself, but now he couldn’t help but think of them as just ordinary people who got super lucky.

  With another sigh, Phineus started walking towards the temple.

  As he walked, he felt the fields stretch out before him, though being very cautious not to increase his range too much.

  Divinity scared him.

  Waking up days or weeks later, not knowing what he was doing, scared him.

  But having his very mind altered, that terrified him.

  Thoughts that weren’t his own, in control yet not at all. He shivered. Phineus was determined to stay in control; he wouldn’t let his divinity take over.

  Eventually, when he got tired of walking, Phineus reached inside himself and pushed; a bundle of light jumped out of his body, taking the shape of a panther as it settled on the ground.

  With a lazy hop, Phineus jumped on top of the panther and started to ride; the sensation felt strange. Phineus doesn’t control his remnants; they are a part of him, he feels their every movement and sense as if it's just another limb.

  So right now he was both running and sitting; it felt odd in a way he couldn’t really describe. Yet it did feel like a break, so he decided not to question it.

  —

  It has been a few hours since Phineus started to ride, and he realized he was going much faster than he thought, and he could probably make it in another two hours if he kept this pace.

  Yet he felt hesitant, unsure; he had been isolated for so long that he was starting to get nervous. Phineus decided to stop for the day and make camp; he wanted some time to collect his thoughts before his first appearance as a demi-god.

  Slowing down, the panther made its way to a small patch of trees before coming to a stop. Phineus hopped off and stretched his legs. The silver panther walked in a little circle before lying down.

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  Phineus cracked a little smile watching himself pretend to be an animal, before he too collapsed to the ground, lying back.

  After a few minutes, Phineus sat up and pulled out his quiver a thought the quiver filled itself with pure wooden arrows. Even the tips were wood, making them closer to stakes, Phineus dumped them all onto the ground, then conjured up another batch before doing the same.

  Then a few of the arrows on the ground rose up and started to grow until they looked more like sharpened logs than anything else. ‘Perfect..’ he thought before he started arranging the ‘arrows’ to make a fire pit.

  Then he conjured another arrow, a ‘Fire Arrow’, though he never made one before. It was quite easy, as all he had to picture was a wooden arrow on fire, and it appeared hovering in front of his face.

  He could already see the wood start to char and burn away, so it wouldn’t be any good as an attack, but it worked just fine for his purpose.

  With another thought, Phineus guided the flaming arrow to the centre of his campfire and watched the flames spread.

  It didn’t take long until the fire was in full force, and Phineus lay back against the tree and watched the flames flicker into the sky.

  Once the flames started to go down and Phineus was feeling a little hungry, he decided to do a little hunting. Leaving the panther by the fire, Phineus left the camp and turned to his ‘Nature Sense’ (name pending), being careful not to expand it too far.

  He walked around feeling his surroundings until he found a male boar wandering through some tall grass.

  Changing course, Phineus set off towards the hunter, staying low to the ground and silent. When he got close to tall grass, he slowed even further, making sure he blended in.

  He took slow, careful steps, emptying his mind, hiding his presence, letting the grass envelope him. He moved silently, unseen, unheard, becoming one with the environment. His divinity started to rise, causing Phineus to jerk back suddenly.

  His heart raced, hammering in his chest. His breath caught. Shallow. Gasping.

  Another step back, and his legs trembled. He stumbled over himself, panic clawing at his mind, “Not.. again..’ he thought, yet the words only made his fear sharper.

  He clutched his chest, fingers digging into his shirt, and the world seemed to tilt. A tingle ran down his arms, and sweat covered his skin.

  His thoughts looped, his chest tightened, he felt trapped, as if his own body had become a cage.

  Phienus’ breath came in jagged bursts, his chest heaved, his small body crushed under the weight of his own panic.

  His legs felt heavy, and his mind started to blur.

  Then a faint breeze brushed against his skin. It was nothing unusual, just wind, but it carried the smell of the forest, of wilds untouched. The promise of movement, freedom, of unending stories.

  It gave Phineus one clear breath. Not much, but enough.

  And then he noticed it, the other sensation, the faint tug along his arm. His mark. A quiet reassurance, not forcing, not speaking, just pointing. Remember what you're after. Remember your freedom.

  The thought threaded through his panic like a lifeline. Reminding him what he's after, what he could become.

  Anything.

  I can do anything.

  At once, his divinity surged again, but this time it felt different. It was white, pure, expanding, and Phineus felt free. Boundless. Like a kid again…

  Then everything clicked into place. Artemis’ domain, his domain isn’t just about hunting, the wilds, or even the moon.

  It's about the freedom that ties it all together. Freedom is what brought him out of his last trance, and now he could see it clearly, feel it coursing through him. His childlike body no longer felt like a cage but a vessel of potential.

  The panic that gripped him only moments ago melted away, replaced by an exhilarating clarity. For the first time, he felt as if he truly understood his divinity. Hunting, the wilds, and the moon are just threads of a larger tapestry and its freedom that ties it all together.

  Phineus inhaled deeply, savoring the feeling of the air in his lungs. The white surge around him settled into a steady warm glow beneath his skin. His earlier panic, his fear of losing control, now felt distant, almost laughable.

  He was free. He was small, still quite young, but he was limitless.

  And thankfully, even during his panic, he didn’t make too much noise, and the boar he was hunting was still nearby.

  Taking out his bow, Phineus kept moving. He was slow, careful, and silent as he blended into the tall grass. Hiding his presence and letting the grass envelop him, he felt his divinity start to rise.

  Only this time, he remained calm. Instead of taking over, it flowed with what was already there.

  A harmony of freedom and wilds, perfectly balanced.

  Phineus crouched lower, letting the grass brush against his arm. The boar hadn’t moved much. It was drinking at a stream just up ahead. Every step he took was light, his breaths were slow, deliberate.

  He could feel the weight of the boar as it shifted on the grass. Phineus drew his bow and then took another step forward.

  Taking a deep breath, he pulled back the string, materializing one of the ‘Nature’s Bounty’ arrows in his quiver.

  Phineus adjusted himself, letting the grass hide his arms. The weight of his bow felt natural now, not just a tool but rather a part of him.

  Another breath, deep and slow. His divinity pulsed underneath his skin, warm, steady, his. He released the arrow, and it soared through the air, passing through its back before it even realized.

  Unimpeded, the glowing arrow passed through the boar like a whisper, no shock, no pain, just release.

  The boar began to glow as its skin and innards dissolved into light, leaving behind nothing but clean and ready-to-cook meat. Using an arrow to pick up his bounty, Phineus followed his remnant connection back to his camp.

  By the time he got back, the fire had almost died down, so he conjured some more arrows to feed the flames, building it back up again.

  The warmth, the crackle of the fire, and the smell of cooking meat washed out the lingering tension from the day. He ate slowly, savoring each bite.

  Once full, Phineus sat by the fire and let the glow of the fire and moonlight wash over him.

  Another part of his divinity is coming together. Phineus lay back, looking at the night sky. Tomorrow, he reminded himself, he would meet someone for the first time as a demi-god.

  The thought made his chest tighten both with nerves and anticipation. He let the warmth of the fire wash over him. Taking a slow steadying breath, he closed his eyes, for the first time in a long while, he allowed himself to rest, ready for what tomorrow would bring.