Summery: Artemis has been transported to a fantastical world where he is mistaken for a city's lost princess, kidnapped by a group of pirates and chosen to be a sacrifice to the god of a primitive tribe…and it's all Juliet's fault!
Author's Note: This is just a little something that I came up with after watching Pirates of the Caribbean, Magic Knight Rayearth, and King of Bandit: Jing a million times in the span of two months. Artemis may seem slightly ooc but that's mostly because this is an entirely new situation and I have no idea how Artemis will handle it.
Disclaimer: Oh please, like I would own the best book ever written?
Miami, a tropical paradise with brightly colored birds and a unique sunset of bright purples and oranges. The plane touched down at six o'clock when the sun was hanging just over the horizon. Artemis, his parents, and the Butlers followed by many other people from all over the world filed into the lobby. Artemis Sr. instructed his family and the Butlers to remain where they were while he went to rent a car. He rented a mini van and they drove off to the hotel where they would be staying for a month.
That morning Artemis awoke to a loud banging on the door to his room. He looked out the peep hole to see an overly enthusiastic Juliet waiting for him. He opened the door and she walked into the room and sat herself on the mini sofa.
"Good morning." She said with a bright smile. She wore a pair of short jean shorts and a pink t-shirt that had a kitten on it and said "don't bug me…I bite".
"Good morning." He replied.
"What did you have planned today?" She asked. Clearly she had something in mind.
"Nothing." He said. Really he had no plans that involved any outdoor activities which is clearly what Juliet wanted.
"Great," She said. "Because I have a super fun idea in mind."
"Have fun then." He said as he walked over to the bathroom grabbing his toothbrush from his suit case on the way.
"But I had planned to have fun with you." She said and began to rummage through his suit case. Finally she pulled out a normal pair of jeans and a plane red t-shirt that his parents had insisted he bring. She then walked over to the bathroom and tossed them at him and said, "Here put these on. I'll be waiting at Dom's room." She then walked out of the room.
After ten minutes of his normal routine of waking up Artemis locked the door of his room and treaded over to his former body guards room, his jeans making a sweeping noise as they brushed against the hotel floor.
Domovoi was just walking out of his room when Artemis got there. Instead of his usual attire the body guard wore a t-shirt, black jeans, and running shoes.
"So what do you have planned?" He asked his little sister.
"You'll see." She said with a wink.
When they got to the lobby she called for a cab. When the cab arrived she hopped in front and whispered their destination in his ear. After a half an hour of driving the cab pulled over to the side of the road and they all piled out. After paying and thanking the man Butler turned to his sister and asked her, "Where are we?"
"Look," She said and she pointed behind them. They turned and saw an old Spanish looking market place.
Juliet ran across the street and disappeared into the crowd. Butler and Artemis looked at each other then they too ran across the street and disappeared in the crowd.
They looked for Juliet for an hour at least; weaving through the many stands covered in hand woven carpets and jewelry.
"This is getting ridiculous." Said Artemis but when he turned to look at Butler he was nowhere to be seen. He snapped his head in every direction, a feeling of panic slowly rising as he failed to find his life long friend. He started to jog through the stands now. It must have been noon by the time he stopped to take a rest for the sun felt as though it were right over him. He was sweating and he decided to sit on a bench near a jewelry stand whose cover shaded part of the bench so nicely. By now his panic had subsided to frustration as he let out a groan and wiped his forehead with the back of his arm.
"Do you like what you see?" Came a voice from behind him. He spun around quickly and spotted the old woman who ran the jewelry stand he was sitting under.
"And what do I see?" He asked as he peered around her at the jewels that dangled from the ceiling.
"Hm," Hummed the old women as she looked around thoughtfully. "Ah," She said excitedly and picked up a beaded necklace. The string was leather and the beads were small and made of bone. Upon further inspection Artemis saw that each bead had three of the tiniest blue gems. He looked curiously at it for a moment when the old women moved it to the front counter. Artemis moved to the front with her but never took his eyes off of the necklace.
"You have good eyes." She said.
'Thank you." He said removing his gaze from the necklace to the old women's face.
"This necklace was made for you." The old women said.
"Excuse me?" Artemis asked.
"Try it on." The old women persisted. She slipped it around his neck and held a mirror up for Artemis to see.
But he did not see his reflection. Right after the necklace came around his neck the sun felt as though it were burning brighter and hotter and Artemis began to feel dizzy. He looked into the mirror and saw an ocean, a castle and a small island floating in a green sky and then he passed out.
When Artemis came to he found himself in the middle of a dark forest. He looked around and saw many plants that he couldn't identify; some didn't even look like plants. He stood and looked up and the sky was…green, just like when he looked in the mirror! Suddenly he heard footsteps behind him.
"I think I saw something over here!" Called I man not twelve paces away.
Artemis stood up and turned in the direction he heard the voices from. Out of the shadows of a large tree came two men. One was carrying a large bow and a quiver of arrows. He was long and lanky and wore a dear skin around his shoulders and as a hood like something you'd see out of a fairy tale. He also wore an unidentifiable animal around his waist like a belt and it held his quiver.
The second man was dressed very much the same but he was large and short and had a sword. Instead of dear skin though he had what looked like a lion's fur around his shoulders and the mane as a belt. His hat was made of leather.
"I did see somethin'!" The first man called out.
"A very important something." Said the short man and smirked a bit.
The two men began to walk toward Artemis as he backed up enough to match their pace. He stopped when he felt his back hit against a tree and he turned and tried to run around it when the small of the two men lunged and caught his ankle in a tight grip. He fell forward and his head connected with what he guessed was a low hanging branch. He caught himself from fainting and was floating slowly from consciousness when the taller man picked him up and began to carry him out of the woods. He managed to stay mostly awake when he was hoisted up onto a horse and the tall man climbed on behind him. He fainted fully, however, when the horse began to gallop.
When he woke up for the second time that day (I know I'm just being mean to Arty huh?) he was in a large and comfy bed. He looked to his right, the side not on the wall, and saw a woman dressed in medieval looking cloths sitting beside him and sewing patterns onto a small quilt. She looked at Artemis her eyes sparkling slightly when she saw that he was awake.
"Welcome back." She said as she stood up and put her sewing in a small basket. "We were all so worried about you. The King has sent many a person after you to try and bring you back home and now here you are, back in your old room."
Artemis noted, as he looked around the room, that the women's voice was heavy British with a bit of Asian. But from which region he couldn't say. "Where am I?" He asked. Not exactly how he wished that to come out but it worked.
"You are home." Said the women.
"And where is home?" Asked Artemis. He was becoming frustrated and he sat up to try and get some of the blood that had been sitting in his head to flow.
"Oh dear," the woman said as she felt his forehead for a fever. "You must have hit your hit head pretty hard. I'll go get your nurse, you just lie back and I'll be right back." She pushed Artemis until he was lying down again and left in a hurry.
She came back several moments later with an elderly woman with a permanent scowl on her face. After the woman had fussed over him for a couple of minutes she turned to the other lady and said. "She is fine. Just a couple of bumps and bruises on her head but after a day or two she should return to her self." And left.
Artemis vaguely wondered why he had been referred to as female but pushed it away and asked the woman, "Who are you?"
"Why I am Lee, your maid. Oh those brutal men. They should not have treated you so roughly." Said the woman and began to mumble things about brutes and what she would do to them if she ever got her hands on them all the while making tea in a fire place on the other side of the room.
Artemis took this opportunity to look around the room. It was decorated with many expensive items and the stone walls were covered in flowery tapestries and it was over all not a bad room. Though he would have preferred it had it not been decorated for a woman. It was then that he began to wonder if they didn't actually think that he was a girl. He then decided to try and play along to get any information that he could from "his maid".
"Who am I?" He asked and he laced his voice with as much curiosity as he could.
"You are Jennifer. Princess of this wonderful kingdom." Said Lee only too happy to help Artemis out.
Artemis's eyes widened. They really did think he was female. And a princess no less. He didn't want to think about what would happen if any one were to find out that he was not a she.
"Could I have a few moments to myself?" He asked in the sweetest voice he could, under the circumstances.
"Of course!" Exclaimed Lee and rushed out after putting a cup of tea on a table next to the bed Artemis was in.
Artemis swung his feet out of bed the moment the door had clicked shut. He looked down at himself and sighed when he discovered that the only thing of his that had been remover were his shoes. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Butler's number. There wasn't even a ring and he looked at his phone wandering why he hadn't used it when he lost Butler. He felt stupid beyond compare at that moment and dropped the phone on the ground and sat on the bed, putting his head in his hands as he looked at the floor in frustration. He then took up his meditation stance and began to analyze every thing that had happened to him. He lost both Butlers in a Spanish market place in Miami, came across an old woman who gave in a necklace when he fainted and woke up in a strange place where he was attacked by two men in Robin Hood garb and taken to a castle where people thought he was a princess.
Artemis's eyes flashed open and he reached for his neck where he found the necklace still there. He tried to pull it off but his arms seemed unwilling the pull it past his eyes. The gems sparkled at him unnaturally and he let it drop back around his neck. He once again got up from the bed and made his way over to the window where he looked down. He was only about two stories up and thought that if he wanted to he could easily do what they do in the movies and make a rope out of bed sheets and slide down when two guards marched from around the corner on patrol. He studied their movements and realized that there was no opening for any kind of escape that way. He peeked his head out the door and saw Lee there, talking to two more guards and gave up any hope for just walking out the front door. He sat back down on the bed and came to the conclusion that he was trapped with little hope of escaping.
Just then Lee walked in carrying what looked like an entire set of bed dressings but when she put it down he realized what they were.
Oh. Hell. NO!
She picked up the first layer of a very heavy looking dress and walked over to him.
"I know that you may not be up to it but the king wishes you to accompany him into town. And he got you this new dress too." Lee said happily and smiled. "Now come here and let me help you dress."
Artemis was about to protest when he was pulled by Lee behind a dressing curtain and stripped of everything but his underwear. He wandered how flat chested this girl had to be for this woman not to find out that he wasn't the princess, but when he looked back he saw that the woman's eyes were closed as she was pulling layer after layer onto him.
When Artemis was dressed he was pulled in front of a vanity mirror where Lee put make up on him and did his hair. When Lee was done she pulled him in front of a tall full view mirror and he looked himself up and down. His pride was severally bruised when he realized that, with the way he was dressed, he looked just like a princess from a fairy tale.
"Thank God no one I know is here." He thought bitterly thinking of all the many ways he could push Lee and this dress off a cliff and make it look accidental.
Lee smoothed back a lock of his hair which had fallen in his face and commented, "You must tell me how you changed your hair to black."
"What," He asked, looking at Lee questioningly.
"Oh that's right you aren't in your head," She said. "Your hair used to be such a perfect shade of gold." Her voice was laced with envy as she talked about the way it sparkled in the sun.
"How do you know that I'm your princess?" Artemis asked suddenly.
"You look just like her, besides you're wearing the beads."
Artemis looked down and cursed at the beads.
"There are many differences in how you look now though." Lee continued. "Like how your hair is black and eyes are blue." Lee then walked to the side of the wall that the bed was on and pulled a small curtain aside to reveal a portrait of the real princess. Her hair was long and golden blond, her eyes were green and, in Artemis's opinion, she looked nothing like him.
The only similarities are the shape of their eyes and face and the fact that in the portrait she was also wearing the beads.
Artemis decided that now would be the perfect time to try and reason with Lee.
"I don't see any similarities." He said. "That's not me; I'm not your princess."
"Why of course you are." Lee said. "Your own mother identified you."
"That's impossible." Artemis tried to reason. "My name is not Jennifer, its Artemis, my hair and eyes are like this naturally, and I look nothing like that woman in the portrait."
Lee stared at our poor lost boy for a moment before laughing. "You are as funny as ever Miss. Now let's get you down stairs before your father grows impatient."
Artemis let himself be dragged away to see the king, hopefully he would have enough sense to see that he is not his daughter.
No such luck.
"It is so good to have you home again sweetheart." He said with a laughter that reminded him of the teacher he had in second grade who dressed up like Santa Clause the week before Christmas.
"Is everyone here really this blind?" Artemis had to ask him self.
About two hours later Artemis was riding in a horse drawn cart through a city that looked, like everything else, as though it came out of a story book.
Not to far away on the docks a ship that had been there for over two days was getting ready to set sail again when a young boy on the ship called out for them to stop. Many of the older members of the crew yelled at him that he didn't give the orders but stopped what they were doing anyway to see what he saw.
"Cap'n!" One of the crew men yelled. "Cap'n! The king's out and about again!"
The captain, a tall, muscular, man, walked out of his cabin and onto the deck. His eyes moved from the carriage to the boy on the deck who was looking back at him, waiting for orders. He gave a simple nod and the boy hopped off of the ship and headed straight for the carriage.
"Men," he said to the rest of them. "Prepare the ship…we're going to have a lady aboard." And with that said he watched the scene with carriage unfold.
The boy, deciding to take the reckless route, jumped in front of the carriage which made the horses rear up and stop. He then made his way to one of the doors, the one opposite from where he heard the king shouting, and opened it to find Artemis sitting there looking shocked…but just for a moment.
"Excuse me Miss," The boy began, holding out his hand. "But if you'd be so kind I'm here to kidnap you."
Artemis looked at the boy for a moment before asking, "Do you have extra pairs of cloths?" The boy looked confused but responded with a nod. "Please kidnap me."
The boy grabbed Artemis and drug him off to the ship where they were ready to leave the moment they got on. He helped Artemis aboard first and then climbed up him self.
They both fell to the deck when people began to fire at them from the dock. When they were well out of blasting range the boy slung him self over the edge and waved mockingly at them while most of the others dropped their pants or made other rude gestures.
The boy turned back to Artemis and said, "You're not the princess are you."
Artemis slapped a grin on his face and laced his voice with mock confusion, "What could have given me away?"
"Let's get you some new cloths anyway. A ship is no place to wear a dress like that; in fact I don't think that dress should be worn in public." He said, laughing at his own joke. "You're about my size right?"
"I would guess so," Artemis said as he followed the other boy in to one of the cabins.
"What's your name?" He asked Artemis, handing him a shirt and pair of pants.
"Artemis," He replied simply. "And what would your name be?"
"Kale," He said as he was walking out then added. "Try those on and tell me how they fit."
"Well," The captain asked when Kale came back up to the deck.
Kale responded by laughing so hard he had to sit down because of the threat of falling over.
The captain stared at him questioningly and waited for him to stop laughing.
Kale managed to pull himself together and looked back at the captain and, still snickering a bit, said, "They… they mistook that boy for the princess."
Over half of the people on the deck began to laugh their heads off before Kale shushed them so he could open the door inconspicuously. He quietly made his way down the stairs and saw Artemis making the last final adjustments on his outfit.
"Well, do they fit alright?" He asked.
"They… fit fine." Artemis replied as he tried to pull his hair out of that ridiculous hair-do Lee had forced on the top of his head.
"Here, let me help you with that." Kale said. He walked over behind Artemis and pulled a small pin in the back of his head out which caused the whole do to collapse.
"Thank you." Artemis said as he rubbed the back of his head to get the feeling back in his scalp.
"No problem. So where are you from?" He asked, tossing Artemis a pair of boots.
"Ireland." Artemis said as he put the boots on, finding them more comfortable than the heels Lee provided.
"Where's that?" Kale asked with a curious look on his face.
"Europe," He replied.
"What's a Europe?"
"Never mind,"
"So how did you get here?" Kale sat on a barrel in one of the corners, drawing his right knee up to his chest.
"I'm not sure, I was on vacation with my parents and got lost in a Spanish market place where this old woman put this necklace on me and now I can't get it off." He proved the fact by trying to yank the annoying piece off…crap off but failed.
"Let me see that." Kale said, standing up and walking over to where Artemis was standing. He gently took the necklace into his hand and examined it. "Well that's not good," Kale mumbled under his breath, and then he lifted the necklace up and over Artemis's head and pocketed it.
"What's not good, and how did you do that?" Artemis asked, checking his throat to make sure that it was really gone.
"Well, the person wearing the necklace can't remove it, the reason behind it is," He paused wondering how to word what he was thinking. "Well," He began. "A long time ago there was a group of old Indians living by the palace boundaries in the city where we found you. They preached of their gods night and day until the king threw them out of the city for speaking against the church of his choosing. No one believed them when the Indians warned the city of their gods' fury. So when the gods appeared to the city, angered by the disrespect they were shown, they tried to beg for forgiveness. But it was too late. Now every other generation must give an offering by sacrificing young women of noble birth. That's why the spell was placed on this necklace; it identifies who is to be the next offering."
Artemis took all of this in and was contemplating how the old woman got it when a shout from above them caused him to snap out of his thoughts.
"OY! Kale! The captain wants to see ya!"
"I'm on my way!" Kale shouted back. "Come with me." He then said to Artemis.
They made their way to the deck where the giant burly man, the Captain, sat in a corner.
"You wanted to see me?" Kale asked.
The Captain glanced briefly at Artemis then replied, "Yes, would you please escort our guest to the galley, Mr. Grady can fill him in on what chores he is to perform and what his schedule is going to be like."
Kale nodded and led Artemis to the galley.
"Chores?" Artemis said with slight worry in his voice.
"Yeah, you have to pull your own weight around here. What's the matter? Haven't you ever scrubbed a floor before?"
"Never," Artemis replied honestly.
Kale stopped at the bottom of the steps and turned to Artemis, looking confused then said, "You are a little princess aren't you?"
"You're one to talk!" Came a scratchy, worn sounding voice.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Kale asked angrily.
A large, chubby man looped his right arm over Kale's shoulders, putting him into a headlock. "I mean," he replied. "That you, being the capt's favorite and all, don't have to do as much work as the rest o' us do."
"That's not true!" Kale yelled as he tried to struggle from the large man's strangling embrace. "Now as much as I love the smell of your sweaty pits would you mind LETTING ME GO?"
The man let go of Kale who fell on to the stairs and rubbed his neck to get the blood flowing again. "This," he said, pointing to the man, "This is Mr. Grady."
"It's a pleasure to meet ya'." Said Mr. Grady, giving the fakest bow in the history of man kind.
"And Mr. Grady," He said, motioning at Artemis. "Is Artemis, be gentle, he's delicate."
Artemis rolled his eyes and was left with Mr. Grady as Kale made his way up the steps and back over to the captain.
"Well?" Asked Kale, when he was in front of the captain who was still sitting in the corner.
"We will be reaching the island in a few days; if you wanted to stop there for a while I don't think the crew would mind any."
"That's fine; I think it would be wise considering that the new kid hasn't had to work a day in his life. He may need the break."
"I shall inform the rest of the crew then."
Kale nodded and went back to Mr. Grady's work station.
He made his way down the stairs just as he heard a bunch of shouting and cheering behind him.
"Why hello there princess, to what do we owe this pleasure?" Mr. Grady joked.
"You're lucky your food is so good or I'd throw you over board." Kale threatened. "But, I came to inform you two that we will be landing in a few days, two, at the least."
"Where will we be landing milady?" Mr. Grady asked, emphasizing "milady".
"The island without a name." Kale said with a smirk on his face.
Mr. Grady's face lit up when he heard that. "I'll make the preparations then," He said.
"What's so special about this island?" Artemis asked.
Kale, who had almost completely forgotten about him, turned to see him in a corner, leaning on a broom.
"Oh," Kale said. "Um, let's just say that it's a very relaxing place." And with that said he left to go stand by the captain.
I think that this should be plenty for chapter 1 how 'bout you all? Anyway what will become of our adorable protagonist? Why was the captain taking orders from a child less than half his own age? What's on this island? Well that's for me to know and you to find out, and I'd just like to say that this is the first fan fic that I've planned out completely so you should have quick updates and all that so long as I get lots of reviews!