Chapter 3: Reunion

Artemis sat on a chair inside her home where she had first awoken, thinking. Man in Moon had finally made her a Guardian. She wasn't sure if she was happy about it or not. It wasn't more of whether she was happy about it or not either. Pitch had finally risen again. She knew he would have, she was just surprised to see how powerful he must be if two new Guardians had to be chosen, one that was her, no less. Did she want to be a Guardian? She wasn't sure. Of course, she would do anything to protect the children from the Nightmare King; she just didn't want to have to work with the Guardians. It wasn't as if the Guardians were bad at their job. No, not at all! They were just... cocky. Yes, that was a good word to describe them. They were powerful, no doubt about that. It was just that their pride about being powerful immortals often blinded them to the truth: they weren't very good at working together. Each was off doing their own thing, and whenever they fought together, each would be fighting in their own style. That was good and all, but they never incorporated the others' fighting styles to their own, so if one got in the way of another, they'd probably end up knocking eachother out.

Sighing despondently, she decided to hunt. Hunting always cleared her head. Striding outside of the little hut, she took the time to admire it. This she had done many times, but she always marveled at the simplicity of her home. She knew many of the Guardians had huge palaces. Toothania's tooth palace was easily the size of three Empire State Buildings shoved together, with room to spare. North's workshop was about the size of two football stadiums stacked on top of eachother, and had the flying toys to make it look flashy. Sandy had a mini castle in which he sometimes went to to rest. It rested on a small island made of dreamsand, and looked like a beach paradise. Bunnymund's hide-out, though not as big and flashy as the others, was still large and striking in its own way. It was basically a little world, just below the ground where little eggs walked on two legs and got painted for Easter. Yes, her home was much simpler than the rest. It was still small, with honey-oak logs that rested on top of eachother. It still retained the color it did from long ago. Her expression turned sad as she remembered what her home had been like before the Romans attacked. Athens had been beautiful back then, with wonderful architectural buildings and a stable economy. Artemis loved wandering through the streets, staring at all the shops and booths people set up each day. She wowed over the shiny drachmas and awed over the Parthenon, a temple dedicated to Athena, the Greek goddess of Wisdom, Crafts, and War. The architectural wonder was so great, that the Romans had used some of its designs to create their own building, the Pantheon. The Parthenon wasn't what it once was anymore. Rain and snow had chipped away at the stone, and with the Roman invasion, the Parthenon was no more than a structure. The roof had collapsed a long time ago, and the Athena Parthenos, the pride and joy of Athens that had once stood there, had been stolen by the Romans, never to be seen again.

Of course, she had loved Rome too. Rome was probably the most powerful empire that ever existed. Even the US today couldn't match up to their military power back then. Rome was a fresh start from Greece. They did keep the Greeks' gods; they just changed them a bit. Most of the gods remained the same, although it saddened her when Athena was stripped of her military aspects. Minerva, the Roman goddess of Wisdom and Crafts, was said to be a much more subdued goddess, who was more attributed to art than military strategy. What happened to the Athena Parthenos remains a mystery to the historians of the modern day. Even Artemis did not know what had happened, because she had been off in China during that time, observing their advances in literature, science, and government. She'd asked the Bringer of Dreams once, but all she got was a shrug. Athens was still beautiful; it just wasn't what it once was. The architecture became more modern, and it wasn't as special anymore.

Shaking herself out of her deep thoughts, she willed her bow into her hand, before flashing to Alaska. Alaska was one of the only wilderness-filled places left. Her heart fluttered every time she entered this place, because the woods were still so pure. Not many humans ventured into the heart of Alaska, because there were still many bears and other "dangerous" creatures living there. Even with modern technology, not many mortals were brave enough to go there. Darting through the trees, Artemis looked for potential prey. Finally, she came upon a deer sitting alone. It looked tired, and Artemis could feel the stress coming from the animal. Deciding to put it out of its misery, she notched in an arrow and released. The arrow flew straight through its eyes, so the animal felt no pain. Muttering a blessing, she picked up her kill and flashed back to the hut. Stepping to a shed nearby, she skinned it, took out it's intestines, and hung it in smoke, so there would be smoked version for whenever she felt hungry. Immortals didn't need to eat, but it still felt nice to indulge herself once in a while.

Deciding she was still bored, and didn't have any duties to do, she decided to go pick wild blueberries. The blueberries in her forest were always in bloom for some reason. Even during the wintertimes, there would always be blue berries hanging down from the branches of their bush. She figured it was probably part of her domain with wildlife or something.

The remaining snow crunched under her boots as she trudged through the forest, basket at hand. Spring was coming soon, and to be honest, she was a little disappointed. She'd been born during the Winter, so naturally it was her favorite season. Not that she had anything against Spring, of course. But still. Bending down, she pushed away some snow-covered branches with her bare hands, and began picking the berries in bunches. The cold nipped her hands softly, but it didn't bother her. Immortals couldn't get frostbite anyway.

It was at that time that she felt a presence enter her forest. Because the forest was directly connected to her, she felt any and all people who entered and exited her domain. Feeling through her domain to the presence, she saw it was no other than the Sandman.

The Sandman was slightly worried as he enter the domain of Artemis. He had met the girl many times before, and knew she was a force to be reckoned with. Although she had the appearance of a twelve year old, he knew she had been around much longer than North had been. Her powers rivaled that of Man in Moon himself, even though he was the one who had granted her those powers. He knew that Artemis was not kind, because though she always greeted him with a cheerful smile and a wave whenever they crossed paths, Artemis did not like the other Guardians, which was why she had kept herself hidden from them. He had understood immediately when Manny had said she would be the hardest to convince, because although Jack Frost was over 300 years old, he was still slightly naive, and childish. Jack was also driven by wanting to be seen, and Sandy knew that he was too kindhearted to refuse helping them. Artemis was a different story. Even though she would do whatever she could to protect the children, she wouldn't care if the Guardians were destroyed. She was fully capable of taking on Pitch by herself; Sandy knew it was true.

Sandy entered the small cottage with a forebodingness inside of him, knowing it would take much to convince the Moon Guardian to support them against Pitch. He was surprised to find the hut empty. Usually, Artemis knew exactly who had entered her domain, and when. A flash of light had him spin around in surprise, only to see said girl, whose auburn hair was tied back in a ponytail, just like the figure of her back at the North Pole, looking at him, curiosity visible in her silver eyes. "Hello, Sandy," she greeted cheerfully. "What can I do for you?", even though Artemis already knew why he was there. Using his dream sand, Sandy created a bow, an omega sign, and then a capital G. Artemis rolled her eyes fondly at the symbols the little man had created to symbolize her, before it was wiped off by the G. "Oh, right. Pitch is rising, right?" Sandy plastered a surprised expression on his face, and a large question mark appeared above his head. "How do I know?" He nodded. "I kind of eavesdropped on your last meeting," she smiled sheepishly. The golden man smiled at the younger's antics, before wagging his index finger playfully. "Sorry," Artemis grinned, but they both knew she really wasn't. "Man in Moon finally chose me as a Guardian." Artemis felt a pout rising to her lips. "But why? Manny knows I don't like the other Guardians..." The word help was spelled out in golden letters above the Guardian's head. "I know the Guardians need my help, I just don't want to help them! Can I just help them, and then leave?" Sandy snickered. Yes, Artemis was scary when she wanted to be, but, he reminded himself, she was still a child at heart. Which was why she was acting like a child at the moment. At least come to the North Pole with me so we can talk it out, Sandy said with his symbols. Artemis nodded in agreement, before looking down at her outfit. It was still the dark outfit she had worn when spying on the Guardians. "Lemme go change first," she told Sandy. "I still have a reputation to uphold."

Darting back into the next room she had added to her home, she looked through the outfits she had. Deciding on a silvery-gray hoodie that read "Boys, Beware" in bold letters, comfortable blue jeggings (a new pants the mortals had invented: apparently it had the appearance of jeans, but it felt like wearing leggings), and gray converse (because it worked better with the rest of her outfit). Deciding she looked presentable enough, she walked back into the room to join Sandy, who was admiring a silver locket with a crescent moon engraved on it. Inside the locket was a small book of myths and legends. She wasn't sure she'd gotten it from; she woken up wearing it. "Come on, Sandy." The golden man nodded, before taking out one of North's snow globes. "Really, Sandy?" Artemis deadpanned. "I hate those. They're probably the bane of my existence, after Pitch, of course." Sandy snickered, but said nothing. The huntress grabbed the locket, feeling as though it would be important later on, before taking the offered snow globe (Sandy couldn't talk, so he wouldn't be able to control the snow globe; see? Stupid invention). "North's Workshop," Artemis called out confidently, before smashing the snow globe onto the ground with malice. A swirling portal appeared, and through the forever-swirling substance, Artemis could make out the workshop at the other end. No turning back, she thought, before stepping into the portal and into the workshop beyond.

Should I stop here? Nah.

Appearing into the middle of a bustling mass of yetis and elves, Artemis jolted back in surprise, not expecting the rush of creatures rushing around doing whatever they were supposed to be doing. She almost bumped into Sandy, but regained her balance just in time. Once the surprise wore off, Artemis began looking around in interest. Though she had been to the North Pole a few times, mostly to spy on the Guardians, she'd never really taken the time to look around. The yetis were making toys, while little elf-like creatures ran around underfoot. "Folklore always said the elves made the toys," she remarked, watching one yeti paint a line of robots blue. Sandy shrugged his shoulder, saying What can you do? "Good point." The mortals always mixed stuff up when regarding legends. Heracles was the Greek hero who did all the things mortals said he did, not Hercules (Hercules was Roman).

Artemis suddenly tensed, and did a backflip over a fast-moving object. Good thing too, because a red sack carrying someone had been tossed at her head. "I'm not joking, Sandy. North had better change his snow globes or else I will-"

"You will what?" a Russian accented voice boomed behind her. Turning around, she saw a large man with twinkling blue eyes and a white beard and mustache. Her first thought was Dumbledore, the wizard from Harry Potter, a new book series some woman had released in 1997. But the similarities ended there. Whereas Dumbledore was rather thin, wearing long robes of atrocious colors and half-moon spectacles, this man was rather large, with a pair pants and a shirt whose colors went well together. In other words, Santa Claus. "Oh, hi, North," she said nonchalantly, like she had not just threatened to turn him into a Santa Claus shish-cabob.

"Artemis! You are new Guardian, no?" North asked happily. For such an old man, he sure had a lot of energy. "We will see" was all the mighty huntress said, before the attention of Artemis, North, Sandy, Tooth, and Bunny, who had just arrived, was drawn to the red sack that had almost decapitated Artemis. A muffled groan could be heard from within the bag, and scratching sounds, like someone was trying to get out. "You really think kidnapping a potential Guardian, shoving him into a Christmas sack, and tossing him through one of your spinning whirlpools of death would make him willingly join you? Personally, that is one of the worst plans I have ever heard of," Artemis said flatly. Ignoring the hurt and annoyed looks from the three Guardians she did give three (swearing ahead, people) shits about, she walked towards the bag and cut opening with one of her silver hunting knives. A tuff of white hair popped out, then a wooden staff brimmed with frost. A pale face appeared from the opening of the sack, and icy blue eyes met brilliant silver. The winter spirit's mouth opened and closed in shock, while the huntress looked amusedly down on him, before he uttered one name:

"Artemis."

Okay, chapter 3 is out! I'm sorry for the cliff hanger, but I couldn't help it! Now I understand why authors love writing cliffhangers. It's so beautiful! I think I'll update one day for The Dreamer, then one day for this one. Maybe more, maybe less. Love you all! Happy reading!