Greeks, Gods & Other Problems

Chapter Twenty Two

Artemis skipped lunch. Her arm wasn't sore or anything but she didn't want to present herself with two working arms too early as it would inevitably lead back to Chiron and she'd be up to her eyeballs in dirty dishes. Instead she simply ignored the growling of her stomach and crossed over to the Apollo cabin - she needed some practise with the bow.

Unfortunately no-one was there. The cabin was deserted. It looked even emptier for the orderly placed possessions gave it more space. Artemis shuddered: ugh, how could you be this tidy? String instruments propped up against one wall, bows and swords, likewise but on the opposite one. Books stacked alphabetically. Torches neatly piled in a cardboard box labelled 'TORCHES'. There was the beginning of a planetarium in one corner, and the whole cabin smelt of resin and strawberries. Overall very pleasant, but also not at the same time. Artemis' stomach, once again, pleaded to be fed and she quickly sniffed out the secret biscuit stash. Yep, she thought, popping one into her mouth, she'd definitely been a bloodhound in a past life. Finally deciding that she should try and get some practise in, she debated whether simply borrowing a bow or waiting for someone to come back and ask then; she chose the former. Before she could do anything though she heard the telltale clatter of feet and voices. Letting out a small, panicked, strangled scream she hastily hid the biscuit tin - spraying crumbs everywhere - and leaped from the window.

"Like a ninja." She congratulated herself and cursively ducked into the shadows of the trees.

No-one seemed that surprised to see Artemis at dinner with both arms intact. They must have got used to the strange going ons: she supposed. She grabbed some of whatever was on offer and briskly strode towards the fire before anyone else. The fire glowed a little brighter after she had thrown half her plate in, or at least she liked to think so, as she made way for the next person she stared ruefully at it. She really wasn't eating properly.

A camper pushed past her on his way to offer and glared at her. He was from the Apollo camp. Oops. Artemis had the grace to look apologetic but they could only suspect. If there was any hard-core evidence that she was the biscuit thief she'd be with Chiron right now. Sorry mate, she tried to send telepathically as she walked back to her table, that's the way the cookie crumbles. She sat down and picked at the salad and chips that were left.

"Change of heart?" Enquired Jon.

"Yeah. Had an epiphany."

"One helluva epiphany," he glanced down at her arm.

"What can I say? Salt water does wonders for your injuries." She grinned at him and he grinned back. Annabeth and Percy were nowhere to be seen. Jon sat next to her quickly, as if afraid the seat would be taken. Artemis immediately snaffled half his portion of chips and a few delicate salad leaves, Jon didn't seem to mind.

"So, instead of being a good girl and going to training you..."

Artemis glanced quickly at the Apollo table, they were all shooting daggers at her - did news really travel that fast?

"Went and played in the sea, yeah?" She answered cautiously. Jon lifted his head in understanding, he hadn't noticed she'd put it as a question and not a statement. So, the Apollo cabin hadn't told anyone, thank the gods!

"It just about confirms it you know," Jon interrupted her thinking wavelength, "salt water does 'wonders' for Percy too." He took a big bite of the chip, salad, and fish sandwich he'd been concocting.

"Confirms what?" Artemis asked, fascinated, as before, with how much food he could shovel in one mouthful.

Jon swallowed, "that you're a daughter of Poseidon."

"Oh, that."

Jon waggled a chip in her face and continued, "every camper here wants to know why you're in the Poseidon cabin having not been determined, even though you can do all this cool water stuff. You should be in the Herme's cabin. Everyone who is undetermined goes there, despite if their abilities and skills are really prominent or obvious. Yet you go straight to Cabin Three. Maybe Percy pulled some strings for you. Maybe you are determined but you don't want anyone to know - which is kinda stupid really; whatever. Basically, almost every camper is jealous of you."

"Hang on. Why would Percy pull strings for me?" Artemis rephrased the question, "how could Percy pull strings for me?"

Jon threw his hands up in the air, "because he's the hero of the gods. Because he turned down immortality for the camp and the campers. Because the gods don't know what to do, or make, of him. Surely you know all this stuff. You share a cabin for Herme's sake!"

"No." Was this really her big brother? Was this really the same person she'd joked around with? The same person who snored softly in their sleep? Burped? Farted? Sneezed? Hiccuped? Seriously? Percy just seemed like such a down-to-earth, normal - if sometimes irritating- guy. Artemis started to realise that there was a lot more to her big brother than she realised.

She studied Jon's slightly agitated face and something began to niggle her in the back of her head.

"How long did it take you to be determined?"

"Two years."

"Ah ha! You said you were new here." This time it was a statement and not a question. Jon had the grace to blush slightly, "err..."

"Anything else you need to tell me?" Artemis was annoyed and Jon's dismayed, guilty face enraged her still. She was on the other side of the world away from anything that was familiar and her only friend had lied to her from the beginning!

Spurred on by Artemis' face, Jon sighed and started to tell the truth,

"Okay! I was jealous! I was jealous that you knew exactly who your father was from the second before you stepped into camp. I had to wait two years for mine to admit it, and only because Percy made the gods promise to determine those who weren't! And, turns out, I'm still in the same cabin, maybe mine didn't want to get my hopes up, I don't know. Don't look at me like that: every camper's jealous. But I'm not friends with you because of that, honest."

"Then why are you friends with me?" Artemis had a rather vindictive suspicious streak about her. He shrugged, "your natural charm, I suppose."

"Ha ha. Still think you have a serious case of the green-eyed monster."

"The what?"

"Jealousy."

"No," he defended himself, "I'm not jealous... anymore. I'm friends with you because you're easy to talk to, fun, and, besides, everyone needs a friend. You don't want to have to tell your brothers and sisters everything. Especially if they're older than you."

The boy made sense. Artemis pretended to think about it.

"Okay, you win," she sighed. He clapped his hands to his face in mock relief and Artemis rolled her eyes in reply.

"Speaking of brothers and sisters, where are Percy and Annabeth?"

~~~

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