She woke up later in an unfamiliar room.
"Hey. You're awake." Percy handed her a glass of what looked like apple juice, "here, drink this. It'll make you feel better."
"What is it?" Artemis asked cautiously, handling it with great care - she didn't want another broken glass on her ever-growing tab.
"Nectar."
"I'm not an insect." Artemis replied dubiously and took a sip. It tasted as if little bombs had gone off in her mouth. It was THE icecream.
* One day her mum had announced a surprise trip to the beach. They'd got on an early train down to their nearest seaside town and spent the day there. Towards the end of the day they were both soaked by the sea, had numerous cuts and grazes from the pebbles and that's when they had heard the jingle of the icecream van. Eyes glinting, Artemis' mum had scooped out their remaining change - they'd gambled a lot of it away on the pier - and went to buy them an ice each. Artemis waited patiently, skipping rocks as she did, she'd got quite good at it actually. That's when her mum returned and slipped on some seaweed. The scoops of icecream flew into the air and landed in Artemis' hands. Her mum stood there holding the cones.
And that's how they ate them: licking them out of their hands, faces covered with the sticky mess, and giggling away at the same time. The vanilla icecream was now complimented by a thin layer of salt and the coppery tang that had remained on their hands from the two-pennies they'd lost on the pier. *
That was five years ago now.
Percy had been talking and Artemis hadn't caught a word of it. There were slight tear-tracks down her cheeks and she quickly wiped them away before Percy could notice and then set her glass down on the table beside her. But she could tell Percy knew anyway...
~~~
Actually, some of that's auto-biographical, my mum and I have spent many a copper at the pier on the beach - more pebbles than sand! - near us. The skipping stones bit is true too, but I wish I could skip as well as Artemis can. I can't skip stones at all, they tend to go Plop! Anyway, do you guys like the story? What do you think should happen next? Comment below, share with your friends, or vote if you beieve it worthy! :-P x
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Greeks, Gods & Other Problems
FanfictionArtemis is new to everything: country, home, people, life. She was alienated at home, so when she moves she feels she can make a brand new start on things. Uh uh, the gods don't like that - at all. Will Artemis regret coming to Camp Half-Blood?
