Author's Note: Another chapter. I finally thought of a way to bring back Lady Artymis (Dark Wolf Goddess of the moon) in this chapter. I had to research a bit for this chapter. If you find any errors in this chapter, please tell me so I can fix them.

Dark Wolf Goddess of the moon: Yes, your character can help Peter and Aceline make up. In fact, she does it in this chapter.

Quote from Chapter: "What would we call it?"


Chapter Twenty: The Demis's Prank

"We'll see you later," the twins said simultaneously. It was supper time and it was after their 'meeting' at the S.S. She waved goodbye to them when she saw the Lady Artymis walking beside her brother and the Lord Keagan. She looked quite bored, but curtseyed to her as the lords bowed.

"Hello," the Princess said, curtseying.

"Good evening, Your Highness," the Lord Keagan said.

"May I speak with Lady Artymis alone?" The Archenlandian girl looked confused, but nodded. The lords went into the dining hall, leaving the two alone.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" she asked.

"Aceline," she corrected. "Lady Artymis would you like to hang out with us tomorrow?"

"Us?"

"Dar, Darrin and I." The girl nodded excitedly.

"I'll be on the second floor at around noon tomorrow. Meet me there." The Lady Artymis nodded again.

Aceline, of course, had very subtly invited Lady Artymis to the swing set. Why else would they go to the second floor?

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"Look, here they come!" Artymis exclaimed, pointing at the approaching twins. The girls had dropped all matters of formality five minutes ago. They had been getting to know each other a little bit better. Now, they looked up as the twins sat on either side of them, Dar with Artymis and Darrin with Aceline.

"Hello," the boys - no, youths as the Princess realized - said together. The girls smiled at them.

"Hey, guys," Aceline said.

"Hi," Artymis said. And then (none of them remembered how it happened) they all began to talk, their words mixing up together and forming odd sentences. The twins accepted her at once and the three brought her up-to-date. That included telling her about the Princess's argument with King Peter.

"You're welcome to join us anytime, Artymis," Darrin said to the girl. She nodded, grinning.

"You know," she began, "we should start something like-like a club. A club that only we know about." The three considered this proposal carefully before agreeing.

"What would we call it?" Dar asked out loud, his hand under his chin.

"Let's figure out our nicknames first," his brother suggested. There was a silence before they finally on Aceline's suggestion of gods and goddesses. "But we would be demigods or goddesses or something lesser than that because we're not as powerful as them," she added hastily.

After much thinking, they found a name for Dar: Apollo. The youth was interested in all the things the god was of after all. Then came Artymis. Or rather, Athena. Despite her many protests, they agreed that Artymis was just a bit too wise for her own good. Aceline was named Eos. This was, as she pointed out, was mocking her tendency to get up early. Darrin, much to his pleasure, was Heracles.

It was 'Diana' who finally came up with the name for their club.

"How about 'The Demis'?" she suggested. The name stuck from then on. (And just so you know, they were called that until the end of time. But enough of that, back to the story.)

"I like it," Aceline said. The twins nodded in agreement.

"So what do you want to do?" Dar asked. A smile came on Artymis's face.

"I say we pull a prank," she said, leaning back in the swing.

"On who?" Darrin asked. Her smile widened.

"The High King."

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"Is everything ready, Eos?" Artymis asked. The Princess nodded, fighting the guilty feeling that was in her mind. She was thrilled, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel that it was wrong in some way.

'Athena's' prank consisted of covering Peter with molasses and making him slide in the easternmost courtyard. Dar and Darrin were busy making sure that everything was secure. 'Apollo' looked up the hallway (it was a rather long one) and saw the approaching High King. (Everyone was pleased that he had been gifted with good eyesight.)

"Hide!" he hissed. The girls hid behind a tapesty while the twins hid behind a curtain. Artymis held the rope that, when pulled, would cover the High King in molasses. As he came nearer, 'Athena's' hand loosened on the rope. Everything seemed to go on in slow motion from that point on.

The sticky and slippery subtance fell on the boy's head, dripping down onto his navy tunic. 'Athena', 'Apollo' and 'Heracles' had to stifle their laughs with their hands. He stepped forward but slid - as planned - and seemed to glide (though his feet never left the floor) across the floor, his arms spread to keep his balance. She saw him fall a good, long way off. To her horror, she could have sworn she heard a crack as if something had broken.

Then everything went back to normal.

Aceline was the only one who wasn't laughing as they went out of their hiding places. Artymis seemed to find it particularly funny. Dar and Darrin had to lean on each to keep from falling to the floor. 'Eos' glared at them and her hands rolled up into fists.

"It's not funny!" she snapped. "He could have gotten hurt!" Giving them one last look, she ran to the fallen High King. As such, she failed to notice - and she will usually do in this story - the 'I-told-you-so' look Artymis gave the twins. Aceline dropped down at Peter's side. He had managed to sit up. Unceremoniously, her hand brushed away the molasses-coated hair from his eyes. Then she spoke in a voice that seemed to make her as pretty as the dawn.

"Are you alright?"


Did you like it? It's a bit short, but that's only because this is part one of the next chapter. By the way 'demis' is pronounced 'deh-MEES'. I'd just liked to point that out.

Anyway, I'm a big fan of mythologies. Greek, Roman, Norse - love them! This is just a bit background on the gods and goddess I chose.

Athena: Greek goddess of wisdom and the arts. Known as Minerva to the Romans.
Apollo: Greek god of prophecy, music, medicine and poetry. Known as Sol to the Romans.
Eos: Greek goddess of the dawn. Known as Aurora to the Romans.
Heracles: (Hercules) Greek god of strength and courage.

Characters used:
Lady Artymis Wolfe - Dark Wolf Goddess of the moon