J A S O N
The throne room was quiet and tense. Everyone was looking at Zeus, who was glaring at Apollo. Apollo didn't seem to mind, though. Artemis looked quite upset, for she was glaring at the floor, and seemed to be avoiding her brothers existence. I couldn't stand the silence, so I stepped closer to Artemis.
"My lady?" I said, wearily.
She looked at me with a blank expression,"What?" She snapped, venom lacing her voice.
"May I-may I speak to you privately?" I asked slowly, not wanting to anger her more.
She scowled at me, but glanced at her father, who was now glaring at her, and nodded stiffly,"Of course. We can head to my camp." Quickly, and almost eagerly, she came by my side and teleported us out. The word 'camp' made me fidget, already knowing what was in store.
We flashed in the middle of a circle. A circle of hunters. They all bowed down upon seeing Artemis, but rose a moment later. A girl with black hair and dark brown eyes glared at me, making me shrink,"My lady, it's a pleasure to have you back, but may I ask why there is a boy in our camp?"
Artemis grunted, eyes unfocused,"Just leave us be. We have to talk about something private." She snapped, glaring at the girl.
The girl flinched back, staring at Artemis in shock. In fact, everyone was, including me. Artemis turned to me, making me take a step back,"You are only here so that I could get away from my father and Apollo, but I swear if you waste my time, I'll turn you into a jackalope, understand?" I rubbed the back of my neck nervously, making her narrow her eyes,"This is important, isn't it?"
"Well, it is important, of course, but you may not like the topic." I muttered.
Her face hardened,"What is it?"
"It's-uh-it's about your brother." I said, daring to meet her gaze.
Her eyes darkened drastically, almost the same way Apollo's did when I mentioned her. It just proves what their relationship is like. Artemis scowled at me, and crossed her arms,"And what exactly about my 'brother'?"
I looked around at all the hunters staring me down,"May we please take this somewhere else, my lady? I'd rather not talk about this in front of them. In fact, I was meaning to speak to Apollo instead, but he's, well..."
Artemis laughed,"I'm surprised you can stand all his stupid comments and terrible haikus."
All the hunters laughed, but I didn't. Instead, I just stared at Artemis,"You and I both know that you don't think that. I know that you care for him deeply, so why don't you do something to make him feel better, huh?"
They all stopped laughing, and glared at me, but looked at Artemis. Artemis growled, grabbed my shirt and practically dragged me to her tent,"You have 5 minutes."
I couldn't help the small smile forming on my lips,"Perfect. This shouldn't take long."
Artemis sat down at the far end, while I sat down near the exit. I felt sick as I asked my first question,"Isn't Apollo's behavior today worrying?"
She continued to scowl, rolling her eyes,"No, he'll be fine by tomorrow. Clearly something upset him, so he took it out on me. He'll get over it and move on, as always."
"Shouldn't you go and talk to him? Ask him what's wrong like a normal sibling would do?" I asked her.
Her eyes flashed angrily,"Of course not! As I said, he will be fine by tomorrow. I don't need to do anything!"
"Are you serious?" I asked her,"You're just going to let him deal with it on his own? You're not going to ask if he really felt that way all these years? You're not going to make him feel better?" She remained silent, glaring at me,"Must I remind you that you're his twin? His sister? You're suppose to be there for him! Sure, I get that your a maiden goddess, but that doesn't mean you have to cut him out of your life!"
"I don't want him in it!" She argued,"He's annoying, calls me stupid names, and flirts with my hunters! Besides, he made it very clear that he doesn't want me in his life either, seeing as he's too jealous of me."
"That's a lie! You do want him in your life, but you act like you don't! I saw the hurt look on your face during the council!" She glared and tried to argue, but I didn't let her,"It's not fair to him. He cares for you deeply. Sure he may not have shown it today, but that's because he's upset. He didn't mean anything."
"And how would you know, huh?" She snapped.
I shook my head,"I know why he was upset today, Artemis. I made him upset." She narrowed her eyes at me,"You want to know how? I asked him about you." She was hard to read, so I couldn't tell if she cared much,"He has a memory-painting-whatever it is. It's in a case, as if precious to him. It's a constant video of you, him, and your mom laughing. As a family. I asked him how long ago that was, and he couldn't remember. He said the memory was fading, so he had it painted. So that he would remember it was always there." I tried desperately to read her, but it was impossible,"If you just talk to him..."
Her face remained expressionless. It unnerved me, but I held her gaze. Finally, she spoke,"Do you think that after eons of hating my brother, you will change my actions in one day?" My heart deflated,"Well, you're wrong. Apollo is very different then me. If he chooses to keep an ancient memory, then so be it, but it won't change me or my actions at all. If he apologizes, we can put this behind us, but I know my brother. He wouldn't have said that out of anger. It was the truth. Do I care much? No. If he's upset and feels left out, then he should start acting like a proper God. Maybe then Zeus will start treating him like one."
My eyes widened,"But-"
Artemis sighed,"Jason, stop. I get that you're trying to 'help', but it's useless. Apollo is acting like a child right now. I don't know why he suddenly cares about being 'the better twin', but it doesn't matter. Let him feel upset about it because he isn't doing anything on his end to change that." She took a deep breathe and stood up,"I believe your 5 minutes are up."
I bit my lip and nodded,"Well, uh, thank you for your time, my lady." She nodded stiffly, and soon, I was teleported back to camp. I walked down the hill, heart aching, but head held up high. At least I tried.
...
L U K E
I walked back into camp as soon as the sky turned gray. Lightning flashed above and clouds covered the sun. I sighed, walking down Half-Blood Hill only to see the campers fighting. The team and Chiron was trying to calm everyone down, but things were being thrown at them. I groaned, running down the hill to stop the commotion, but as soon as I got close, a dagger was thrown my way. I just barely missed it, and I stared at the campers, wide eyed. They didn't seem to notice though.
My eyes met Travis', but he simply shrugged,"They've been at it all day."
I gritted my teeth together,"Then I'll deal with it." I pushed through the crowd, trying to get to the middle. I stopped when I saw something. More like someone. I kneeled beside the person, but didn't recognize him. He had brown hair, his skin was deathly pale, and there was a large cut on his forehead, gushing out blood. The campers around me quieted, and soon enough, everyone was quiet. I felt for a pulse, and let out a relieved breathe when I found one,"Can someone take him to the infirmary?" I called out. Luckily, three people did come, picking him up, and taking him away.
I stood up again, and glared at the campers near me,"Is this what's it come to? Hurting each other?" The campers looked down,"Come on, guys. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought you were the gods, not demigods. You're making the gods control your actions, and it's ridiculous! You should make your own decisions, so stop acting like fools! Look at Clarisse!"
Everyone's eyes turned to the child of Ares at the edge of the crowd. She was watching the scene with Chris. She didn't even acknowledge me,"She's a daughter of Ares. Ares sided with Zeus, correct?" Everyone nodded,"But does she agree with her father? No. She's decided to side with Poseidon because Percy's her..." I stopped, unsure of what to call them.
"Friends, Castellan." She answered for me, still not looking at me,"Friends that argue and beat each other up every time we see each other."
I rolled my eyes,"Friends. I'm sure many of you are friends with him, so why are you doubting that now? Because your godly parent sided with someone else?"
"Your opinion is biased! I'm sure you're on Poseidon's side!" Someone from the audience yelled.
My eyes flashed,"Wanna know who's side I'm on? I'm on Percy's side." My hands balled into fists,"Now, if I have to stop anymore fights, I will personally send you to the infirmary myself."
As I turned away, I heard Chiron dismissing everyone. The person who harmed the demigod was put on stable duty, while everyone else went about their normal activities. I stormed in my cabin, the rest pouring in after me.
"Luke." I felt someone place their hand on my arm. I turned to face Zoë, who was looking at me in concern,"Just relax. You're getting worked up."
I sighed, placing my hands on her waist,"You're right. I'm overreacting." I chuckled a bit,"This is why I shouldn't be commander."
She smiled and turned around, grabbing my hand and dragging me to the couch. We sat down with everyone else,"So," Bianca started,"Wanna explain what happened on your quest?"
I groaned. It was so stupid of us to think she'd give us Percy's memories like that. We went across the world for a mini brain and a knot. Spectacular. I explained what happened anyways, giving them all the details. When I finished, they stayed quiet.
"Let us see it!" Michael said, practically sitting on the edge of his seat.
I rolled my eyes and pulled out the two objects. I placed them both on the coffee table, allowing everyone to see it. Everyone looked at the pieces weirdly. Zoë and Bianca had on thoughtful looks, while Michael and I were just confused.
"Clearly, the brain must mean mind, right?" I asked, throwing around an idea,"Maybe he knows it, but just can't remember. We might have to hypnotize him into telling us." Everyone stared at me,"Or not..."
"It does mean mind though..." Michael said,"It has to."
I sighed, then clicked a button on my watch. Not even a minute later, Chaos flashed into the room. His face was red like he was yelling just a moment ago, and his hands were balled into fists. His eyes flared, and I could tell he was furious, but he still gave us a forced smile,"Hey, guys."
Bianca frowned,"What's up with you?"
He dismissed her concern,"Ah, nothing. Just a disagreement about something, but it's nothing really. What is that you need?"
We all looked at each, not quite believing him. I mean, Chaos was the calmest person I've ever met, so if he's angry, then it's about something very important. We all decided to ask about it later, so I explained to him our situation.
When I finished, Chaos nodded slowly,"Yeah, that's something she would do. She just loves her riddles."
"Yeah, well, she gave us these pieces. We could use some advice on what it means." Michael told him.
Chaos hummed and pointed at the brain,"Perhaps it means it's in his mind."
"Yeah, we thought that means mind as well."
"No, I mean like it's in his mind." We all stared at him. He sighed,"Like, we might have to go in his mind and free the memories." He pointed at the knot,"Maybe that means someone who has a close relationship with him has to do it."