"Well, new amigos!" The boy with curly black hair grinned impishly and struck out his left hand, but before he could introduce himself, the other boy in complete black and pale skin blocked the gesture and said towards Artemis, "You're suppose to be dead"
Everyone went silent, the day seem to have lost some color upon the statement. "Nico, that was rude of you to say!" Piper scolded, but didn't seem to be fully against any insult directed at this intimidating newcomer.
'Nico' narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the pale boy in a business suit, "No, it wasn't meant to be an insult; this boy literally had died and somehow came back to life!"
"Artemis Fowl, nice to meet you too" Artemis introduced himself nonchalantly, showing no sign of surprise on Nico's remark, "You must be a demigod of death then? If the get-up, aura, and blatant disregard of ones own privacy on one's living status does not give it away, then...well, you get the idea. And yes, I have died" Holly flinched at that, "But I came back with the help of my friends; a tale for another time, sounds fine?"
Artemis crossed out Nico's second attempt to bring it up by facing towards the girl with caramel hair, "If I caught it right, you must be Calypso? A name inspired by the daughter of Atlas I assume?"
The girl fixed her almond-shaped eyes at him, and it nearly made Artemis did a double-take; the girl too was beautiful, but felt more natural...timeless. Something about her seems ancient, the youthful image merely a facade of a being that held power, but strangely didn't, "Um, actually I'm the Calypso, daughter of the Titan Atlas. Nice to meet you"
Artemis shook her hand, but slowly. Something was really off; the Mist didn't cling to her like all the demigods, even mortals such as he and Minerva were still influenced by it; what made her any different?
"I'm curious, are you a sorceress of some caliber, Lady Calypso?"
"Excuse me?" Calypso asked, but seemed not surprised of the statement. In fact, she was astonished that this boy could see...
"Don't mistake it for innate talent, my Lady. Simply put," Artemis pointed at his goggles with a grin, "Innovation goes a long way"
"Ehem" the boy that resembled that of a Latino coughed, "It's all fun and games, but could you let go of my girlfriend's hand please? I don't think a handshake had to last for a minute"
"My apologies" Artemis nodded, letting go of Calypso's hand but didn't break his gaze on her, "I'd like to have a conversation with you again in regards to the Mist...is that fine, my Lady?"
"Of course!" she replied with a satisfied grin, letting the title being addressed to her get to her head, "It would be an honor to teach pointers on a potential genius in magic; though I'm sure the daughters of Hecate can prove to be much more adept in teaching you"
"Yes, but I've always believed that experience trumps talent; You are a fine lady well versed in the arts, I'm certain if-"
"Alright, break it up, break it up!" the self-proclaimed boyfriend interrupted, getting a little annoyed. Artemis took a step back and apologized once more, "May I know your name, good sir?"
"What are you, some gentleman stuck in the Renaissance? Not that there is a problem with that" the boy then grasped Artemis' hand, "Leo Valdez, head counselor of Cabin 9, son of Hephaestus. And no need to be awkward about that supposed-to-be-dead thing, you and I both, pal!"
"I can tell" Artemis agreed, his goggle lenses seem to shift a little, "you also hold a deathly aura similar to mine. I'm sorry for being rude, your girlfriend simply shared a recently developed interest of mine that I've been dying to learn more about, but I honestly had no intentions of flirting. In fact," Artemis gestured to Minerva, realizing how rude he had been for not introducing his two companions, "This is Minerva Paradizo, my girlfriend and fellow genius of the century"
Minerva stepped forward and shook everyone's hand in greeting, even Piper, then slightly bowed, "It's nice to meet all of you" she spoke distantly, she even looked disturbed and son the verge of tears. Before anyone could ponder on it more, Holly strutted forward in greeting, "Holly Short, temporary guardian of these two criminals. I would like to sincerely apologize in behalf of these two, particularly towards anything offensive Artemis had done; I promise you, there is good in him, it's just...difficult, considering his background. I'd appreciate it if you don't take it against him; he's naturally rude and cold, but he really can be kind and friendly; just not the way you'd expect him to be"
"Gee, I appreciate your sentiment, Holly" Artemis muttered, but he seemed subdued, a tinge of red in his pale face. The demigods simply doubted it, but somehow took Holly's sincerity properly, and they seem to come into a silent agreement to give Artemis a chance.
"I'm just gonna, um...restroom" Minerva stuttered weakly and briskly walked away from the group (towards the wrong direction to be exact), and Artemis could have sworn he saw a tears dripping from her face. Apparently Piper caught that too, because she quickly called out, "I'll guide you!" and caught up to Minerva, dragging her to wherever.
"Hmm" Artemis frowned and faced the crowd, "What was all that about?" The group face palmed, while Holly just sighed and gave him a smile of pity.
"You truly are dense when it comes to people" Holly exasperated, and faced the demigods with a look that seem to read, 'you see what I'm dealing with here'.
"Well, I've been wondering for some time now; do you have forges in your cabin, Mr. Valdez?"
"It wouldn't be the cabin of the God of Blacksmiths and fire if it didn't" Leo rolled his eyes.
"Splendid!" Artemis smirked, "Would you mind showing me around there? That is, if it's fine-"
"Umm" Leo glanced at Annabeth, who at this point was just tired dealing with with mortal boy and so she simply nodded, "Sure! I'll be happy to show you around!"
"On the way, I'd like to discuss more about the Mist with you, Lady Calypso"
"On second thought, I remembered it had a gas leak and exploded, another time then"
After some time of bickering, Artemis went along with Calypso and the reluctant Leo towards Cabin 9, leaving Holly with Annabeth, Percy and Nico.
"Aren't you going to watch over them?" Annabeth asked, but she said in a way that clearly had a different message: 'Aren't you going to watch over him?'. Holly picked up the hidden message, but simply shrugged, "They can handle themselves; they are trapped here anyway, and their not stupid to go anywhere dangerous. My best course right now is continue with you guys so I'll get the layout of the camp better-don't mind if we continue the tour?"
"Sure" Annabeth replied, seeing this to be a good opportunity to find out more about them while they are divided. Nico waved his hand dismissively, "I got other things to take care of". Before anyone could protest, the son of Hades melted into the shadows...
=====🗣=====
So, I'm actually speeding up these before Valentine's Day drops (cuz everyone has to have dat Valentine's Day special-even when I'm alone huhuhu) In case your wondering why it's quite frequent these recent chapter releases than my promised one week schedule-It will all go back to normal and back to the plot
So yeah!
And as always, thanks for reading! 🦉