(1 hour earlier...)
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Artemis wonders what has become of him for the past few weeks.
Placing the safety of others before himself was an aspect still new and alien to him, yet his execution of selflessness this time was different: It was laced with anger and fear. Of what? Why, of Minerva getting hurt, of course! This was a byproduct of love! Yet, it left him with an internal struggle within himself, as he fails to see the reasoning behind his actions nor could not comprehend why he was calm to be doing something as foolish as throwing himself in between danger for a girl.
No...she was not just any girl.
He shook his head and sighed as he sat up, his wounds nearly non-existent thanks to Holly's healing magic. He had other pressing matters to attend to at the moment, his personal crisis would have to be put aside for now if they are to make it back home alive and preferably with all their limbs attached. Artemis grabbed his briefcase and began looking around the infirmary until he found the restroom, where he changed into his sharp business suit, his LEP goggles dangling on around his neck. As he washed his face, he reviewed his thoughts accordingly: the worst-case scenario had unfolded in the first jump. Although this would severely push their plans on human jumps back by months, he was not surprised such a failure had arisen.
In fact, this was why he had selected a planet that was nearly similar as their own–The most obvious purpose is the closeness to civilization; just imagine getting trapped in an alternate Earth with no sentient life? How many lifetimes would it take to replicate the machinery that jumps to other alternate Earth's, even more so on gathering the resources to make it possible? Artemis was surely ten steps ahead in regards to convenience and comfort, but now it all came down to rebuilding it.
No matter how much of a breakthrough this project was, it is still in its primitive stage, and has yet to undergo alterations to a more sophisticated scale. Artemis was sure that Minerva had already begun working on that bit of the blueprint, so he had no worries in the technical side, but as for the magical aspect...
He pulled out his phone and loaded up E-38's data. The information was pretty vague and barely any use but it was the best at the time, managing to state the alternate earth's relevance percentage in comparison to his (which was 94%), its mineral composition, life percentages...
Magical entities.
He smirked at that part. In truth, he was playing a gamble in entering an alternate earth that contained magical beings that may even exceed that of the People. His agenda for such was pretty simple: To interact or observe these entities and may be able to find a more efficient magic source than from his original Earth, maybe even strike a partnership of some sort; A reasonable investment considering what Artemis holds is a valuable device that works and the benefits are pretty self-explanatory. It all comes down to taking the initiative, that is if he could find these entities first.
After freshening up, he left the restroom and dumped the briefcase on the stretcher, deciding to scout ahead and get a more detailed idea of where they are exactly, since from his GPS he later identified to be somewhere in New York, Long Island-but that's about it. Odd.
He stepped outside the infirmary and stretched, glad for the approaching dawn. He then put on his LEP goggles and switched on night vision, and squinted around. Everything was...distorted somehow, like a watercolor painting spilt on a canvas, and nothing seemed real...nor fake.
He craned his neck, thinking maybe it was due to the injury, but instead it got worse as headache took hold as a growing frequency began buzzing on his ears. He nearly crumbled to the ground if it weren't for the support of the beam, a sense of vomiting taking hold on him. Was I sick? Delirious?
He denied this immediately, as no such sickness could develop various symptoms all at once unless it was a powerful pandemic.
A backlash to alternate earth jumping? He eliminated this also, since he had not observed such results from the animal tests that returned from these jumps, and had been relatively cautious in terms of the safety of this expedition. So, what could it be?
...
A defense mechanism of some sorts? This he can wrap his head more around, recalling the conditions talked about in the Book of the People when they enter an area owned by humans without the proper invitation. Why did this apply to him though, being a human?
(Quick note: Holly did not get sick entering the infirmary because technically the people that use and occupy the facility aren't fully human, and thus doesn't merit her getting sick, or we could wave this off as the influence of the Book having no power in this safe haven, take your pick-just in case you were wondering)
He then furiously brainstormed for a plan, alarmed that his nose had started dropping blood. At this rate, he might die without reaching his prime; a disappointing death it would be indeed, as he was looking forward to the realm of adulthood...
'Deal with the noise first, it's an annoyance', a female voice whispered to him.
"Hmm?" Artemis mumbled in answer, but did not question it as the ringing intensified. He quickly pulled out some wireless head buds and put them on. His mind seem to sharpen back to life, pulling out his phone and synching it to his ear devices.
'Noise is simply a disharmony of frequency, but with the right tuning, one could arrange the sound to one of easy comprehension', the mysterious voice of the woman lectured to him again in a whisper.
He tapped furiously onto his phone, struggling to find the appropriate tune to the sound as it grew more and more unbearable. Then...
The sound of the breeze blew past, waves crashing in the distance. He blinked at the horizon, but the problems aren't done yet; he still felt like puking his guts out witnessing the Picasso scenery before him. But with the sound appeased his psyche was cleared, and thus started tuning his goggles too.
After trying various configurations, he managed to make it work by adding the magic detection configuration to the lens in a 40 percent concentration. Interestingly, any higher and things seem to indicate a sort of thick veil evident everywhere, invisible to the naked eye and was like a thick musk of fog but seemed alive...ominous even. He just sat down on the porch, taking deep breathes to calm down his beating heart.
"Thank you" Artemis mumbled in gratitude, looking up to properly express his sincerity, as the ordeal was nearly the most excruciating experience he had ever encountered.
But no one was there, no woman to be exact. He looked around confused, and pondered on it for awhile. Was it real?
No, the voice was too vivid to be fake, nor was it anyone particularly familiar. Artemis was also sure that the voice had given him the strength to think, as he had already succumb to the pain to go with a plan...
He shook his head and knelt on the wood. Whoever the merciful lady was that helped him, even if she had run off before he could recover, still deserved his utmost thanks and thus simply followed a Greek tradition of offering a sacrifice of sincerity; he had been intrigued in the Greek culture ever since he had been given his name after the Greek goddess of the hunt.
But, the one he had mostly revered the goddess Athena, being one that symbolized reasoning and wisdom. He rarely showed this side of himself to anyone, even to Butler, but right now he felt it was appropriate somehow to do it, as if a force was willing him so. He looked around for something to burn, facing the table on the porch that held a basket of fruits. Amongst all the fruits, he had picked up the olive, and was about to find means to burn it when a barn owl came out of nowhere and snatched it out of his hands. He groaned in frustration and futilely followed it for a couple of steps but stopped as his eyes laid down on the sight around him...
Was this a camp? If he remembered correctly, camps where filled with run-down wooden cabins and under managed facilities, not intricate Greek pillars of various designs, cabins of various colors and Greek indentations and infrastructure, but what really caught his breath away was the outstanding 40-feet statue of a woman wearing a gold toga, and holding a statue of a miniature figurine on its palm. The statue's other hand held a shield, with a snake emerging from behind it. It eyes seem to bore at him, yet he didn't waver from its gaze.
The Athena Parthenos.
Artemis had heard of this famous statue that was said to have been located at the center of Parthenon of Athens, and rumored to bare the very image of the goddess herself. Last he had checked, it had been lost over the centuries, yet there it was, standing proudly on the hillside.
Now, usually he was skeptical in terms of confirmation of a work of art, but he somehow feels like this one was the real deal. He seem to walk towards it in a daze, amazed on how lucky he was to see this priceless piece of history, and would have been tempted to have devised a plan to steal it if it were only found in his world.
In no time, Artemis stood right in front of the statue, admiring the little details like the fact it was made of ivory, and realizing the figurine was meant to represent Nike, the goddess of victory. He was snapped out of his trance when he felt claws seem to dig into his left shoulder, but it felt gentle and didn't seem to pierce his skin.
He faced it and it turned out to be the same barn owl, the olive still on its beak. What surprised Artemis was its piercing gaze that held authority and intelligence. Noting the darker brown feathers around the rim of the facial disc as well as darker bars on the tail and small black spots on the chest and underside of the wings, Artemis safely assumed it was a female. It bobbed it head for awhile, then dropped the olive on his hand.
Remembering what he originally wanted to do with it, he gathered some dry leaves and lit it with an igniter. He made a small fire after several tries, and was ready for the sacrifice. The barn owl flew away, but not because of common reasons.
Moments after its takeoff, and before Artemis could throw the olive into the flames, a loud, female voice filled with anger shouted, "HEY!"
Before Artemis could respond, a strong jet of water hit him square in the chest, launching him all the way to the camp border and slammed right on it. The stream of water kept him pinned to the invisible barrier, rejecting his mortal blood.
How did that get there? Before Artemis could think more into it, the water wavered, and he then fell and landed on the ground with an oomph!
Well, crap.
Artemis gritted his teeth as he felt like he fractured a couple of bones, his shoulders and back biting him in pain. He could hear two set of approaching feet, running towards his direction, and based on the pacing and the previous shout, they aren't happy.
Flee now, reason later.
Fighting wasn't his style or element; he was mostly the brains. I must get to Holly.
Artemis then reached for his cane, grinning evilly. Time to try out my little toys, he thought as he pressed the first button just as the two strangers caught up to him.
"Oh gods we are so-"
Before the girl could finish, Artemis swung his cane in front of him in an arc, black smoke with green particles rapidly spewing out of its secret compartment. Without looking back to admire his handiwork, he made a dash towards the infirmary, hoping he would make it in time and let Holly do the real dirty work.
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There, early double EoinColfer-style chapters! Next would be a RickRiordan-style chapter!
(By now, you probably see the pattern on how this goes)
And as always, thanks for reading! 🦉