Artemis did not even register the clap of thunder, so great was her surprise.
"Wha- Why-!?" she choked out, then inhaled deeply to calm herself. She exhaled just as loudly, and smiled serenely, looking truly relaxed. Until she buried a fist in the masked man's stomach, faster than he could register. Due to her godly strength, he ended up hunched over, wheezing as all the air was forced out of his lungs.
"Are you an idiot!?" she shouted, slapping him on the back of his lowered head for good measure. "Why in the name of Hades would you do something so stupid!?"
"It ain't stupid if it's true…" the spy muttered, trying to get some air back into his abused body.
"How would you know!? Didn't you just say that everything was going wrong, and very quickly!? Something could happen to you at any time!"
"Well," the man said, sitting up straight, "I did. But I meant from your point of view. It'll happen within the next couple of months, maybe years if I'm lucky, but that's like the blink of an eye for you. I have plenty of time to tie up some loose ends," he finished calmly.
Artemis growled, and the man knew he had said the wrong thing. He held his hands to protect his masked face, but that did nothing to stop the brutal kick that slammed into his shin which was a particularly sensitive spot, for some odd reason.
"Fuck!" he cried, leaping backwards. Unfortunately for him, he was still sitting, so his leg caught on the chair, bringing both man and seat down, hard. With a yelp, his head hit the ground, and he began to crawl backwards.
Truly pissed off now, Artemis stepped forward and picked up the chair like it weighed nothing. She chucked it at the spy, feeling satisfied in the way it broke against the arms he had thrown up to block it. The goddess stalked forward, like a deadly predator, moments away from pouncing on her vulnerable prey, who still had his arms in front of him.
Fortunately for him, the zipper for the tent opened, and Thalia Grace walked in. She very nearly walked right back out upon seeing the position the two were in, but Artemis managed to recollect herself,
"Thalia, what do you need?" the immortal asked, barely restraining herself, forcing a smile onto her face. It came out more like a grimace.
Thalia hesitated to speak. "Oh, I, uh, just heard yelling and loud noises, so I got worried. If you're busy, I can go…?"
Artemis nodded, eyeing the spy with a malicious smirk. "Yes, I believe that would be the best for now. Since you have already given me the daily report, I will see you tomorrow."
Thalia nodded back, eyeing the spy sympathetically, and closed the zipper of the tent, disappearing behind the cloth. Artemis turned a feral glare on the cowering spy, who hadn't thought to get up during the interruption.
"Now, where were we?"
"Uh...You were totally not about to beat my ass?" the spy replied hopefully.
"Hmm… Nope!" Artemis said, crushing those hopes. She leapt forward, causing the spy to scream in a very high-pitched tone. Artemis, caught off-guard, was overwhelmed by amusement. No longer in any shape to beat on the defenseless man, she landed on him, laughing hard. She was completely unaware of the fact that she was in a potentially compromising position, straddling him. He was in no hurry to point it out, and possibly lose something.
Artemis laughed and chuckled and even snorted for a good few minutes, until she was drained. She ended up lying down on the spy's chest, now aware of what she was doing, but completely uncaring. She was a bit too busy listening to his strong, if erratic, heartbeat (which was probably her fault for scaring him). After a moment, she pushed herself into a sitting position, keeping her palms against the man's admittedly solid chest to support herself.
"Are you feelin' me up?" he asked, both stunned and amused at the same time.
Artemis blushed, gold spreading across her cheeks, but she stubbornly did not let her embarrassment get the best of her. "And what if I am?" she asked dangerously, digging her fingers into his pectorals to emphasize her point.
"Oh…" was all the spy said, shocked into stupidity. "Well, I guess I won't do anything, because I like to be in one piece… But aren't you a maiden goddess? Meaning, no guys?"
"Yes. However, I'm not sure if you're a man anymore. Did you hear how you screamed just now?" Artemis asked, and began to chuckle once more.
"Hey!" the masked man cried, "That was driven purely by fear! People don't care how they sound when they think they're about to die!" he complained, pushing himself into a sitting position, with his hands pressing against the tent floor behind him. The two were now almost at an equal height, considering Artemis' small size. She was sitting in the valley between the spy's raised knees and upright torso.
They stayed silent, simply looking at each other, silver orbs piercing glowing yellow holes. Slowly, Artemis reached up, running her fingers along the mask, feeling the jagged edges of the oddly-shaped teeth. The previously humorous mood seemed to have become rather somber.
"Can you at least tell me what this mask is made of?" she asked quietly. She sounded dejected, as if she didn't expect an answer to even this simple question.
"I would if I could," was the short reply. Artemis sighed, now tracing the spy's jaw with slow, creeping fingers.
"Is this another thing that's too dangerous for me to know?" Artemis asked sullenly.
"Hey now, don't be like that. I actually can't answer that one, because I don't know myself. I think it's bone, but have you seen how I make it? Weird stuff."
Artemis thought back, remembering the red-tinged black flames which somehow became this bone-white mask, and was forced to agree with him; it was weird.
"Fine, I suppose I'll let you get away with that one…" she teased, causing the spy to snicker a bit. He stopped when Artemis placed her hand on both sides of his head.
Curious, he allowed the goddess to trace the frame of his mask, which was fairly close to the shape of his face. He did not protest when she began to slip her fingers under the edges, sliding them around the perimeter. He did not twitch when the mask, ever-so-slowly, lost contact with his face, instead closing his eyes. He did, however, pause, when Artemis sighed.
The goddess did another thing that surprised him; she set the mask back in place. He opened his eyes in shock. He had been ready for her to rip the cover away from him, revealing his identity at long last, regardless of his own wishes. Better she did it gently now, than later, by trying to break it off, probably smashing his skull in the process.
"What…?" the man uttered, astounded.
A thin smile graced Artemis' lips. "I wanted to. I really wanted to. But… You said you would tell me eventually. So I will wait. Just… Don't keep me waiting forever, please?" Artemis pleaded, once more amazing the spy.
He stared at her for a few more moments, then sighed quietly. He leaned forward, resting his head against Artemis' shoulder. "Yeah. I'll definitely tell you, soon. Trust me."
"I will," Artemis replied, bringing her hands up to stroke the spy's mess of hair. It was quite silky, and had an appealing scent- that of the forest (probably because he'd been living in the forest), and a hint of sea salt. She pushed his head off her, so she could look him in the eyes. "However, in the meantime, I want a name."
"...I can't right now. It'll give too much-"
"That's not what I meant," Artemis interrupted, "I need something to call you, as opposed to spy. Unless you prefer that...?"
"No, no. You make a good point," the masked man replied, laughing slightly. He tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling. "Name, name... " he muttered, which tickled Artemis for some odd reason.
"Aha!" he cried, snapping his head back up. The goddess flinched in surprise. "Sorry, but it just came to me suddenly. You can call me Ghost."
Artemis pondered it for a moment, before smirking at him. "You are such a male, giving yourself a name you think is so… What's the word… Ah, yes, awesome."
"No!" the man replied, sounding quite offended, "It's actually one of my names. Or, titles, I guess, if you wanna be specific. The 'Ghost of the Bloody Mist', they called me. And I'm totally telling Apollo you said awesome."
"You will not!" Artemis cried, slapping him on the shoulder, "And why would anyone call you that?"
The newly-named Ghost was silent for a moment, worrying Artemis. Finally, when she was beginning to get extremely anxious, he spoke up. "I know that you're an Olympian Goddess, and you've been around… A while."
Artemis scoffed. "A while is an understatement. Try over three millennia," she said proudly.
"Yeah, so, a while," Ghost continued. "You've definitely seen some… Unpleasant, things. But, trust me when I say this, you do not want to know why I am called that. That is nightmare fuel for people who are unaware of true Hell."
Artemis was unsure whether to feel indignant or nervous. After a moment's thought, she went with the former, just to see what happened. "You think I have not seen true Hell?" she asked, raising her chin slightly.
Ghost stared at her once more, making her shift uncomfortably. "Have you ever been to Tartarus?" he asked quietly.
Artemis was stunned. For some reason, she had never thought of the possibility. "N-no! Are you saying…?" she trailed off, unable to get the words out, fearful of the response.
A solemn nod was the answer to her unasked question. "I came back to find thirty mortal days had passed, which is a helluva lot longer down there. I'm still not sure of the time dilation, but the best I can figure is that I spent about a year down there, which is honestly not that bad."
"What do you mean, not that bad!?" Artemis shouted, causing Ghost to lean back slightly. "Only Giants, TItans, and monsters can thrive down there- unless you're saying you fit in one of those categories?" she asked, accusingly.
"And what if I did?" Ghost replied sharply, throwing Artemis slightly.
"Well, there's nothing wrong with it, but I would have to report it to my father-"
"No, you don't. All that would succeed in doing is pissing him off, which is not good for any of us. Do you like listening to him bitch all the time about traitors and threats to Olympus?"
"Well, no, but-" Artemis began, but was once more cut off.
"Besides, there's nothing to tell, anyways. I'm a demigod."
Artemis gaped at him, lips opening and closing, as if she were trying to speak, but could not find the right words. Ghost laughed, reaching up to push her jaw shut.
"Close your mouth, you'll catch flies."
A bit startled by the teasing, she swatted at the offending limb, pushing it off her jaw. Once her ability to speak was back, she asked, "How did you survive?"
"Because, I'm… What was that word you used? Oh, right. Awesome."
"Do not tell Apollo!" Artemis yelled, hitting Ghost in the shoulder for good measure.
"Fi~ne," he groaned, tossing his head about in protest. Artemis spluttered and spat when his hair repeatedly slapped her in the face.
"Stop!" she cried, grabbing a handful of his hair, and yanking it hard.
"Ow!"
"This is payback!"
"No, it's just you being mean!"
Instead of verbally responding, Artemis began to pull harder.
"Stop! You'll rip it off!"
"That's the point, fool!"
Finally, Ghost wisened up, and grabbed Artemis' wrists. She fought valiantly, but he had an iron grip, so she eventually gave up. The two stared at each other, breathing heavily, then they both eventually broke down laughing. They hunched over, their foreheads bumping together lightly, and they rested like that for a moment. Ghost did not relinquish his hold of the goddess' hands, just to be safe.
"You wanna go play video games?" he asked suddenly. Artemis took a moment to register his question, then agreed.
After a moment of silence, Ghost said, "You know, you need to get up if we're going to go…"
Artemis realized that, but then stubbornly refused to do so, just to irritate him. She even made a scene of dropping her entire body weight against him, resting on his chest. She giggled when he sighed in aggravation, but stopped when he began to move. Confused, she nearly shrieked as he leapt to his feet, causing her to pitch backwards and land on the ground. Ghost was laughing loudly now, hunching forwards slightly.
"That's what you get for trying to annoy me!" he told her, pointing at the grounded goddess. When her eyes narrowed into a sharp glare, he froze. Ghost turned around, yanked on the tent's entrance zipper, and bolted through the opening. Artemis followed, not a second later. They ran the whole way to Ghost's tent, the man screaming every time he glanced back to find the Moon Goddess gaining on him. Upon reaching the tent, Ghost managed to time his entrance perfectly, so that he opened the door while losing minimal speed. The door slammed into the wall extremely hard, and Ghost made a mental note to check later for any dents or holes. Later, when his life wasn't in danger, obviously.
The masked man blitzed through his small apartment, then dove over the entire couch, hiding behind the armrest. He stayed there for a few seconds, controlling his breathing and listening for any signs of his impending doom. He heard the front door click closed, then a floorboard creaked, indicating that Artemis had entered and was walking down the front hallway.
Ghost waited a few moments in that unnerving silence, then took a risk by peering over the side of the couch. He came face-to-mask with Artemis, who was sitting on the couch.
"Boo."
Surprised, the man shot backwards with a small shriek, and Artemis broke down laughing. She was soon gasping for air and beating the armrest she was leaning against. Thankfully, she did not utilize her godly strength, or the poor couch would have been in smithereens.
Ghost laid a hand over his heart, breathing a bit heavily, both from the intense chase and almost having a heart attack. "Ha… Ha. Very funny," he wheezed out, crawling to his feet. He didn't take his eyes off Artemis, just in case she tried something. When the goddess kept laughing without a care in the world, he relaxed a bit. "So, are you done trying to attack me?" he asked, warily.
Artemis finally looked up, tears in her silver eyes, and she nodded. She took a deep breath to refill her lungs, then swiped at her eyes. "Oh, it's been so long since I've laughed like that," she muttered.
Ghost smiled behind his mask; it was nice to know that she enjoyed being around him. He turned to the bookshelf holding his excessive amount of games, searching for one that supported multiplayer. It took a few minutes, but he finally found one; Little Big Planet 3, which looked absolutely adorable. He also grabbed the extra controller on top the bookshelf.
A short while later, Percy and Artemis were sitting comfortably next to each other on the couch, watching the opening cutscene for the game, each clutching their own remote. Artemis took a few minutes to memorize the location of each button, then the function of each button. Ghost, as an experienced gamer, found it hilarious, and made that fact known by laughing at the goddess' struggles.
Ghost was also being decidedly unhelpful, making his in-game character slap around Artemis' so that she could not do anything. She eventually got so aggravated that she tossed her controller onto the coffee table and began beating on the non-virtual Ghost. He made a weak attempt at defending himself, but both were rather tired, so the scuffle ended quickly.
Artemis picked her controller up once more, and the two played the game for hours into the night.
"Herfgh?" a raspy, bass-heavy voice mumbled, as the owner was startled awake by nothing in particular. Ghost sat up slowly, attempting, and failing, to not aggravate his aching body. Sleeping on the couch, especially while sitting up, had not been kind to him.
It was funny, in a way. Sure, torture the masked man, flay his skin slowly, grind his bones to dust, take a stab or two at him with a sharp object, and you might get a groan. It may even be an audible one, if you're lucky. But force him to sleep in an odd position? He'll cry like a little bitch.
Ghost, groggy as all Hades, examined his surroundings with sleepy eyes. He was… In his living room, and the ceiling light was off, so… Where was the blue light coming from? Oh, right, he had fallen asleep playing games. The TV screen flashed with a warning that the Dualshock controllers had been disconnected due to low battery, and the game in the background had been automatically paused. The controllers were nowhere to be seen, so he didn't worry about it (they fell onto the ground, but were, luckily, undamaged).
Something shifted on the couch next to him, causing the soft material to crinkle. Glancing down, Ghost saw a woman, who seemed to be… Maybe eighteen? Probably younger, but that seemed like a good guess. She had auburn hair, and was wearing a silver t-shirt, silver joggers, and even silver socks. She, like him, fell asleep sitting up.
"Ergph?" the man muttered, which roughly translated to; "Who the fuck?"
Oh, right, he had been playing video games with Artemis. They must've fallen asleep. But didn't she have her own tent? So why didn't she sleep there?
Ghost picked up a nearly-unresponsive arm, and sent it in the direction of the sleeping goddess. It ended up landing on her head, which had tilted backwards to face the ceiling (the back of the couch was very low). Not really caring, or understanding, Ghost began to shake her face.
Artemis woke up quickly, mostly alert right off the bat, ignoring her tight muscles. All she knew was that there was a hand covering most of her vision, so she immediately jumped up, summoning a hunting knife in a small flash of light. Dropping into a combat stance, she relaxed once she noticed it had been Ghost, who was now simply staring at his dropped hand.
Slowly, Ghost's head swivelled to the standing goddess, and grunted at her. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, and watched as Ghost fell over and stretched across the whole sofa, now that there was space. A smile stretched across her lips, and she giggled quietly.
Ghost, who had been an instant away from falling back asleep, heard. His thankfully still-masked face tilted up at her, bleary yellow eyes seeing nothing more than a silver blur. A hand flopped over the side of the couch, and with a little more effort, reached out to Artemis, who took a hold of it curiously. Ghost grunted something unintelligible, then pulled on her. Getting the message, Artemis came closer. Still, Ghost pulled.
The Moon Goddess blushed once she realized what the sleepy man wanted. With the only source of light behind her, and the only viewer functioning at zombie levels, nobody would ever know. However, Artemis herself was acutely aware of how hot her face grew, as she hesitantly laid down next to Ghost. When the man wrapped a tired arm around her and pulled her even closer, she thought her head would explode in an eruption of ichor.
Fortunately, Ghost's breathing levelled out within seconds, indicating that he had fallen asleep. Of course, with the state she was in, it was absolutely impossible for her to follow suit. So, she simply laid there, basking in the heat given off by the man whose chest she was pressed up against.
With nothing else to do, Artemis turned to her thoughts. How had she ended up in this situation...? It started with her volunteering to contain the spy, because… Her Hunters needed target practice? That wasn't really true, since her girls hadn't really shot at him that much. Sure, they chased him down in the name of tracking practice, but that was really because they were trying to terrorize him, and he was, understandably, running for his life. Apparently, Louise, daughter of Ares, had shot him once, but she refused to speak of it anymore for fear that Ghost would track her down to collect the money she now owed him. Money she didn't have. That would probably turn into a scene from a mafia/gangster movie.
So why had Artemis volunteered to watch over him? Was it because, even back then, during that short interaction, she had recognized his mannerisms and how similar they were to Perseus Jackson? Had she been so subconsciously desperate to see the son of Poseidon again, that she pulled a stunt like that? It made an unpleasant amount of sense, since Artemis had gotten those foreign memories about a month before the Winter Solstice Assembly- speaking of which, how had that turned out…? Oh well, it wasn't really that important. If it concerned her, Zeus would have called her back to Mount Olympus.
Maybe she took responsibility for Ghost because she wanted to be cruel to him, and provide her girls with some form of entertainment… Yes, that made much more sense! She had just passed it off as target practice to seem slightly more humane, even though everyone present knew the truth. And then… Things happened, that most definitely were not Artemis' fault, that changed her opinion of the spy. It was not the spy's fault, either, so she couldn't take it out on him (not that she particularly wanted to).
Yes, it was all completely out of her control, but Artemis, in all her wisdom, had decided to make the best of a bad situation by simply going with the flow. Fighting against it would have taken too much energy, and could have been potentially dangerous for her Hunters.
Artemis nodded to herself, but stopped suddenly. During her mental, one-sided argument, she had somehow forgotten about the very situation she was thinking about, managing to disassociate herself from it temporarily. As such, she ended up rubbing her face against Ghost's muscular chest, causing her to once more erupt into a brilliant golden blush.
She tried to pull away out of embarrassment, but the man's grip suddenly tightened. Sure, she could still escape, if she exerted some of her divine strength, but that would probably wake Ghost, which would be rude. She was, after all, in his house/apartment/tent… Place.
Besides, who would find out if Artemis spent the night pressed up against him a bit more closely than she needed to be?
The Moon Goddess fell asleep soon, surrounded by Ghost's arms, a smile on her lips and a golden blush on her face.
