I'm really sorry about the delay for this chapter. I know I said that I would have it in early in the week, so again, I'm sorry. But on the plus side, here's another chapter of the misadventures of COTT x Artemis Fowl!!

Chapter Four

Cooleman Caves, Kosciusko National Park, Australia

The Cooleman Caves are a wild, remote part of Kosciusko National Park in the Snowy Mountains. They are undeveloped and consist of several underwater drainage caves. The caves are hard to access due to the wildness of the area. And maybe that's the reason Cronus chose the place as a new hideout.

Cronus had always found Australia alluring. The history and culture of the country made it a great place to visit, but it's vast deserts and bushlands made it a perfect hideout for an immortal god trying to destroy the world.

He had spent weeks searching all over Canada and America to find a suitable headquarters, but he found nothing. He had decided to go abroad to Australia, which was proving to be a good idea. It was summer, and no one was anywhere near the Snowy Mountains, except for the occasional hikers. Of course, getting back to New Olympia wouldn't be any trouble due to the fact that he could travel through time and space.

He had been setting up his quarters for almost a week. The caves had plenty of room for technology, weapons, giants and cages specially designed for holding the seven kids. Once he caught them this time, no luck or skill would get them out.

He heard footsteps approaching him. He spun around quickly to face his head giant, who appeared to be annoyed.

"Oh, what is it Agnon?" He said exasperatedly." Can't you see that I'm in the middle of my plotting?"

The giant pointed over to the mouth of the cave and then to his ear. Cronus got the message and fell silent. At first there was nothing but the sound of birds chirping and branches blowing gently in the wind. But then Cronus heard another sound, and he didn't like it one little bit.

Teenagers.

Thanks to his godly hearing, he eavesdropped on the teens' conversation. There were five of them, aged about thirteen or fourteen. The group was made up of one girl and four boys.

"Do you think we should camp in the cave or keep going?" Asked one of the boys.

"Nah, to risky camping in a cave," replied another boy. "You never know if there might be a quake tonight."

"Yeah, Alistair's right," agreed the girl. "Besides, it's a better view from here. Let's set up near the entrance."

The teens walked towards the mouth of the cave and dropped five heavy items, probably hiking packs. Cronus heard them taking tents out from their packs and assembling them. He also found out, from their small conversations whilst setting up, that they were scouts. Not good.

Of course Cronus didn't fear them, quite the opposite in fact. But scouts explored anywhere and everywhere, and if just one of them went in the cave and saw him, he was a goner. He would kill them, but their parents would know where they were and organise a search. Cronus might be a god, but he couldn't stop fifty armed police officers and ten distraught parents.

So he would have to wait in the cave, staying absolutely silent, until the pesky scouts left. And that wouldn't be until the next morning, if he were lucky.

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Hera's Office, New Olympia High, New Olympia

Hera was not happy, as usual. Zeus went away without telling her, Aphrodite was complaining about how old fashioned the interior design of the gods' domain and, of course, Cronus. Until he was back in prison where he belonged, she wouldn't be happy.

She paced around her office, changing from her younger form to her normal self. Somehow, it made her feel calm and relaxed. Her younger form had brown hair and weapons clinking at her waist, and her normal self was grey haired and wearing an old fashioned tunic.

Every now and then, while in her younger form, she would stare at a painting on the wall. It was a painting of Zeus, Hades, Cronus, Poseidon and herself. And she was smiling. Something that she never did anymore. Not since her brother in law escaped from Tarturus.

Cursing, she pulled out her knife, aimed roughly and threw it at the painting. Faster than her eye could follow, it snaked through the air and struck the painting, blade in. It hit Cronus between his eyes. Dead centre.

"Stupid Cronus!" She yelled at the painting.

She stood, staring at the painting. It reminded her so much of how everything used to be, before her stupid brother in law because a criminal. It made her so mad to think that he was out, terrorising her young pupils. The gods should have been the ones to put Cronus straight. But no, the oracle said the teens, not the gods, would defeat Cronus. The oracle hadn't made a mistake in over five thousand years, and she highly doubted he would start now.

She was awoken from her thoughts by a knock on the door. She quickly changed back into her normal self and wrenched out the knife from the painting. She placed it under a pillow and called out "Come in."

Herry, Jay and Theresa entered. Herry was carrying a fourth person slung over his shoulder, who appeared to be tied up and unconscious. What on earth was going on?

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Jay waited outside Hera's office with the rest of the group. They were waiting for Hera and Chiron to finish interrogating Artemis. He doubted they would succeed. Artemis had never been out smartened since he was eight years old.

Finally, after what seemed hours, a very grumpy looking Hera opened the door. The group quickly got to their feet, eager to hear how the interrogating went. Or rather, how it didn't go.

"We couldn't get anything out of him," said Hera unhappily. "So we're stepping it up. Theresa, you know what to do."

She looked at Theresa, who nodded. Jay had told her what she would have to do if the gods didn't succeed. She would have to use her powers to break into Artemis's thoughts and find out as much as possible.

Only one problem- how on earth was she supposed to break into the mind of the smartest kid in the world?

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What do you think? I know it's kind of boring, but I'm dedicating the next chapter to Theresa entering Artemis' thoughts. Who knows what dark, evil secrets he has in there? Will this help the team, or get them into more trouble? And what will happen to these innocent scouts caught up in the middle of Cronus' plotting? Find out in the next chapter of Old Friends!!

Little Miss Illusional

PS.

Half of this chapter is set in Cooleman Caves, which is in the Snowy Mountains, Australia. I recently visited the place with my scout troop and I absolutely loved the place. I really wanted the place to have a part in the story, so here it is! I also wanted scouts to have a part in it too.