On Probation

03/27/14

. . . .

Chapter IV

"Wiiiilllll" the fifteen-year-old half-a-year councilor whined at his brother who was preparing for bed, obviously choosing to effectively ignore him. "Can you please put the twins to bed?"

William, who was already settled and comfortable on his bed, spared a glance at his brother who was struggling between pacifying his upset sister and calming his younger brother. "No way! We had a deal right?" despite his brother's pleas, Will chose not to lend Michael a hand, after all, he has to learn how to handle his own siblings just like what Will did for the past three-weeks since the twins arrived. Michael has to face this responsibility, which he's been trying to dodge. "Remember you said you'd man up tonight and take them? Besides, you're doing a pretty good job…" he sarcastically indicated at the havoc in front of him with a smirk.

"Yeah but-ow! But I didn't know they-Ow! Hate me that much. Ouch! Stop that!" Mikey turned to his hyperactive brother, voice raised, causing his sister's cries to raise a volume as well. "No, no, no, I didn't mean it. Ow! Stop crying!" the younger teenage demi-god tried to suppress a laugh at the scene unfolding by him. There, the great and mighty Michael Yew, getting hit and owned by a pair of three-year olds. Well they're not normal three-year olds. They are demi-god three-year-olds-with one being afraid of the dark and one who's hyperactive at night. So far, they are the second youngest children to be admitted here in camp, Annabeth being the first. "Will! Help me! They hate me!"

Three weeks ago, a woman who could pass up as a victoria's secret model came by and dropped the twins off to camp, claiming she can't keep them anymore. Admittedly they can be very troublesome, but it's not a reason to abandon your children. And to think they haven't even began being chased by monsters! So here they are, stuck at camp with only their older siblings to look after them. And with their young minds, they're still having a hard time adjusting… especially at night.

Unable to hold it any longer-Will blatantly let a chuckle escape his lips and took his hysterical younger sister leaving Michael to deal with a manic three-year old. Only it didn't help. Despite his usual lullabies, his sister continued crying, which earned groans from the rest of cabin seven occupants who had their heads buried under their pillows already to block the incessant noises. Some of the more capable campers even tried to take their sister, rock her to sleep, or at least shush her, but to no avail, the toddler proved to be indignant. That is until their cabin door burst open, which earned screams of terror and shock from various demigods inside the cabin, and in came their resident goddess who they learned to obey no matter what after the stunt she pulled earlier. And they're not just talking about the archery incident here.

"Relax kids. It's just me" the twenty-four looking goddess rolled her eyes and strode towards the spot where Will was distraughtly rocking his sister in an attempt to put her to sleep. "May I?" she motioned him to pass the hysterical child and in exhaustion and surprise, the teenage demi-god complied in relief. The demigods watched in awe as the goddess began to sing a lullaby in her mother language, the song seemed to bring a tranquilizing effect on everyone seeing that almost everyone was asleep when the song ended. "She has nyctophobia yes?" Will and Michael who just tucked his younger brother, nodded. "It's only normal for some children of Apollo, however, it's not the dark they're afraid of, rather, the lack of light emitted any celestial body." The goddess indicated at the window, and both confused demigods turned to notice that there were no stars and moons present. "It's new moon tonight. Naturally when the sun set, it panicked her to see anything but darkness causing her to fuss more than normal." Both demigods just nodded as they try to digest the information dropped on them, they didn't know their siblings are capable of being that way. Sure they find comfort when the sun rises, and some become uneasy when sun sets, but never did the thought that being in the dark can produce such strong reaction to some. Artemis snapped her fingers and Apollo cabin's ceiling imitated that of a beautiful night sky, a smooth silk of darkness encrusted with stars shinning brightly and with a full moon even. They also noticed that their sister visibly relaxed even more in her sleep.

"And he" the goddess turned to the male twin who was grinning and giggling playfully whilst peeking and hiding under his blanket, clearly not asleep yet but relatively calmer compared earlier. "Is hyperactive at night." She smiled softly and gently run her hand on his soft blonde curls. "Just like how I was, when I was his age."

"Stowy Pwease?" the toddler shyly queried at the goddess in front of him, which elicited an even more astounded expression from his older brothers. Did he just demand a story from the goddess? 'No he asked. Politely at that.' Artemis answered with a chuckle in their heads. Not wanting to disappoint the mini-Apollo, Artemis began to rearrange his sheets to accommodate her and in no time, she's comfortably settled with the toddler on his bunk, ready to tell him countless tales she gathered throughout her immortal life until he falls asleep, just like how she did when their father was this age. Finally, she faced the older two and with a gentle tone, she commanded them to retire for the night. "You can go to bed. I'll handle him."

The older demigods mechanically moved to settle their selves for bed, still astonished as the goddess began to tell their brother the story behind the constellation Gemini, the legacy of Perseus and Hercules, why Orion was being chased by the scorpion 'till his death and the many tales behind Lyra. They all fell asleep with the moon maiden's voice lulling to their oblivion.

When she was sure that the toddler is slumbering peacefully, Artemis tried to rise only to have the child grip on her clothes tightly as he mumble 'mommy' on his sleep. Poor kids, left by their mother without even thinking over it twice. Of course she'd know; she has been watching over them since they were born. Their mother wasn't exactly the happiest and proud mom when she gave birth to them, the only reason she kept them for three years is because they looked good and perfect for a modeling career, but now that they require more attention and she refuse to provide that, she just ditched them in this camp. Great. Not wanting to deny the child his much needed affection, Artemis settled herself once again and relieved herself with the events earlier. To say it has been interesting would be an understatement.

. . . .

Artemis was peacefully strolling around the camp to relieve her anger towards her brother, when a bunch of hands began to drag her away from the forest and towards the camp's rest room. To say that she's astonished would be another understatement, how can the camp supervisors let their comfort rooms stink like this? This is unacceptable! Oh right … Dionysus could careless about toilets as long as they serve their purpose since he's too inebriated to give a damn and Chiron is a centaur, meaning he doesn't necessarily need to use one. But she won't tolerate this! She'd have misbehaving demigods clean this explosion soon.

Just as she's about to get over her shock, a gruff and brawny demi-god began to man-handle her and drag her to one of the cubicles. Oh my Zeus! What are they gonna do to her? They tossed her inside and tried to dunk her head on the rancid toilet. Eww! This smells worse than Ares' underpants and Hermes' socks combined! They're trying to give her the initiation rights of a demigod! Remembering that she's a goddess and she can have the upper hand anytime she wishes, she let the Ares cabin experience the wrath of the forest guardian first hand. Its not like their father would be mad at her, he promised he wouldn't meddle on his children's battle and that's what she likes about Ares. So later a handful of boars began scampering out of the camp's restrooms. That will teach them a lesson how to treat people properly and it taught her a lesson not to wear her usual twelve-year-old look when inside a camp full of annoying brats.