Hey there! Sorry about the long wait.
I've gotten sucked into A Storm of Swords (for those of you who don't know, the third book in A Song of Ice and Fire, the series Game of Thrones was based off of). AND my third favorite character just died. My second favorite character got his hand chopped off. And my favorite character, a young girl of nine years old, is running around slaughtering people with a wannabe-ornithologist.
Also, I just realized it's been exactly a year today that I published the first chapter. It doesn't seem like that long ago, but I've grown so much as a person since then. That is so weird. This fic is also the most reviewed in the entire PJOxAF archive. I know that it's not that big an accomplishment, but still... thank you. To all of you, for sticking with me.
Blood of Olympus was amazing but, sadly, tore holes in my nice AU. *sigh*. I totally ship Solangelo now, but the Nico arc of my story is totally different than what happened in BoO. I guess I'll have to figure something out...
Enjoy!
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"Master Artemis...?" Butler called into the house. There was no answer. Leo thought he saw a flicker of anxiety cross the mask of the bodyguard's face. "Artemis?"
"Yoo-hoo! Graceling dude!" hollered Leo. Percy looked at him askance.
"'Graceling dude'? What is that supposed to mean?"
Leo looked at him as though he had just asked the meaning of the word 'banana'. "You know... two different eye colors..." Now both his friend and Butler were wearing an expression that suggested politely that Leo belonged in a room with padded walls. "Never mind."
There was a crash from around the corner, and a muffled curse.
"Hello?" said Percy.
"That came from the kitchen," Butler hissed.
There were a few moments of silence, and then the trio heard a muted conversation from the unknown kitchen-raiders.
At this point in most works of dramatic fiction, the conversation would involve such terms as 'give ourselves up' or 'there's six of us and only four of them', but in this case it orbited the subject of where the trash can was.
"And do you know where we got the cereal from?" Leo heard. Butler and Percy glanced at each other, as though contemplating the possible dangers of the Supernatural Kitchen Raiders.
He sighed. Why did he always have to be the proactive one?
"Frank? Hazel? You guys planning on coming out and saying hi? Maybe bringing that cereal with you? I haven't eaten since the plane..."
There was dead quiet.
"How did you know it was us?" came Frank's voice eventually.
Leo rolled his eyes. "Please. You, Mr. Duty Dude, are the only person I know who, when stealing food from a mysterious enemy, would make sure to clean up after yourself."
"Duty Dude?" Frank, Hazel and Percy all repeated at the same time, and Leo raised his hands helplessly.
"Guilty as charged," he said. "Yes, I make up strange nicknames for all of you. Yes, Hazel's is Precious." He looked up at Butler, then found he'd misjudged the height and looked up even further. "And don't feel left out. You're Stoneface."
Butler didn't react to this, just glared at Frank and Hazel.
"So where is Artemis?" he demanded. The two shared a nervous glance, then looked at Percy for directions. Their look said plainly: we subdued him. Do we tell?
Percy nodded minutely, pursed his lips. Raised an eyebrow questioningly at Frank and Hazel.
"We..." started Pluto's daughter.
Butler looked at her sharply. "Yes?"
"Well, we... we kind of knocked him out and tied him up with computer cords." She observed the enormous face nervously. "Ummm... sorry about that?"
"You tied him up with computer cords?" Somehow, Leo got the feeling that the bodyguard's heart wasn't really in it. The man looked distracted, almost disappointed with himself, as though he'd failed in something important.
"Well, yes..."
"We couldn't find any rope," supplied Frank helpfully.
"Do you still wish to talk with Master Artemis?" verified Butler. He seemed more with it this time, in the here and now.
"Yes," Percy affirmed. Immediately. In charge. Momentarily, Leo wondered what things Percy had gone through that none of the others knew about. It was times like these, when he saw the other side to his normally goofy friend, the cool, calm, almost chilly leader, that Leo questioned how well he actually knew him.
"Then you will take me to him immediately."
Frank nodded and gestured up the stairway.
"The office?"
"I think," he said. "I mean, yes."
"Go in front of me."
Four little houseguests, ushered in.
Everyone knows the butler did it.
But who died?
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"Alright, everyone," sighed Piper. "Let's call the troops in." She looked plaintively at her two friends. "I'm starving, exhausted, and my head hurts. When is this going to be over?"
"Soon, Pipes. Soon."
"Gods, I hope so. This is the worst quest ever. Annabeth? What's wrong?"
Annabeth had stopped, staring straight ahead.
"Quest?" she repeated in a strangled sort of voice. "Quest. Oh, no. Surely not... but we didn't mean for it to be one!"
"Annabeth, what's the matter?"
The daughter of Athena turned to face them, her face a portrait of horror.
"This is a quest. Rachel gave us a prophecy and everything. All seven of us are on a quest."
"What are you getting at?"
"Only three per quest. That's the rule. Only three. Look what happened to Bianca and Zoe. Look what happened to Joan of Arc. Boudicca. John Lennon. All of them demigods. All of them went on at least one quest with four or more members. All of them dead. Maybe not during the actual quest, but all of them were killed eventually."
"So... you're saying four of us are going to die?" Jason asked.
"You heard Rachel's prophecy!"
"Six of us?"
"I guess so... maybe Nico counts as well? So who's the seventh member? This is awful."
Piper patted her awkwardly on the back. "Annabeth," she said. "We're the world's most powerful demigods. We've survived two wars, and countless battles. We're not going to die because Jason's dad kicked us off of a plane. It's not going to happen."
Annabeth didn't seem very comforted, but for Jason hope was rising.
"Yeah," he said. "Not going to happen. We'll survive this. We always have. And then we'll go home and sleep for three days and then celebrate Bobby's birthday." He looked wistfully at the horizon. "He asked me to get him something from Germany..."
And maybe Bobby's gift wouldn't be German. Maybe the situation was pretty grim. But hope had dawned, like the sun. And so the three friends set off into the sunrise.
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"Well," said Artemis when the door opened, his voice as dry and brittle as a bone, "it seems you have decided to come fetch me after all." He delivered an icy stare in Butler's direction.
"They want to talk to you," the huge man said, unperturbed.
"Well, by all means, bring them in. And please untie me. If talking in fives and being outwitted by myself were wounds to my pride, being tied up with computer cords probably takes third place."
"You won't attack, will you?" asked Percy cautiously.
"Me? Attack you? You mean, the four heavily armed intruders standing in the doorway? Don't make me laugh."
Percy nodded tersely and pulled out Riptide, slicing easily through the cords. Artemis glanced, irritated, at the ruined electronics, but didn't say anything.
"Well," he said professionally, settling back gratefully into a chair, "What would you like to say? Starting, perhaps, with who you are."
"I'm Percy," said Percy.
"Yes. I know that."
"We are being attacked by an unknown enemy who fires arrows at us, and so we are taking refuge in your mansion. We didn't want to hurt you."
"Hmmm." Artemis raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Four of you are being attacked, and then the other four are immune to arrows and don't need shelter, is that it?"
A sliver of anxiety pierced through Percy's mask. "No. We... got separated. Three of us are on a different mission. We don't know where Nico is. He was supposed to scout ahead. Have you seen him?"
"Which one is he?" asked Artemis, feeling very guilty. He really hadn't wanted to hurt the boy, but he'd driven himself into a hole.
"The one who looks like he just rose from the grave."
"No. Sorry."
Percy sighed and for a fleeting second he looked absolutely exhausted with life, the universe and everything. "I'm sure he'll turn up eventually. He always does. Anyway, Annabeth and I would like to talk to you about some of the things you've said since we arrived."
"Annabeth being…?"
"Not here right now."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," said a voice from the doorway. Percy spun around.
"Wise Girl!" he breathed, relieved, and ran to greet her. Stupid, stupid, stupid, Artemis thought. He just gave away in the last ten seconds not only that they're incredibly attached to one another, probably romantically, but also that they are most certainly the ones in charge.
"I take it you're Annabeth?" he said coolly to end the uncomfortable silence. The two demigods stopped staring into each other's eyes and turned to face him. Annabeth's companions, Piper and Jason, slipped into the room behind her.
"Yes," she confirmed. "Artemis Fowl, am I correct?"
Artemis inclined his head slightly. This girl reminded him of Minerva. He would have to be somewhat wary of her.
"You have not treated us as politely as you might."
Ah. A game of courtesy, then.
"You disabled my cameras."
"The cameras were there to spy on us in the first place, but by all means, if you would like us to take a look at them…"
"I fixed them, but thank you for the offer." Eyes widened. He smiled internally—she hadn't expected that.
"Why didn't you trust us?" she asked, her voice carrying the perfect semblance of hurt. Artemis noted that the girl with the braided hair, Piper, was clearly trying very hard not to smile.
"Why did you find it necessary to, ah, convince me to help you?"
At that, her eyes widened quite a bit and her eyebrows shot up. Intelligent, perhaps, but not very skilled at masking her reactions. His eyes flicked over to Piper again. Her lips were pursed, but there was something else in her expression, something Artemis was very adept at exploiting. Guilt.
"I-I'm sorry," Annabeth said shakily. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."
"Really? Why don't you ask Piper?" He saw her change in expression, the sudden determination in her eyes. Perhaps he'd been too abrupt. "Although of course I am loath to suggest that she acted without your consent…"
That should do it. It hinted that he recognized Annabeth's command, something that any leader would appreciate.
Piper stepped forward.
"I would of course be pleased to speak with you about any breach of courtesy I may have made while enjoying your hospitality." She smiled, wide, warmly.
He smiled back, a sharp smile, full of teeth.
And so the game begins anew.
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Some of that was rather abstract, if anyone has any questions about what certain passages meant, feel free to ask. : )
~Kero out.