Schoolwork...

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What on earth are you involved in?

Piper observed Artemis through narrowed eyes. He didn't appear fazed. As far as she could tell, he never appeared fazed.

"Let's speak plainly," she said. She didn't lace her voice with charmspeak like she normally would in such a situation. She didn't trust that it would pass unnoticed. "You clearly know a lot of what's going on here, but I'm sure you'll appreciate that we have things that we would rather were not thrust into the open, and I don't doubt that's reciprocated from your part."

Artemis leaned back in his chair and raised an eyebrow. The rising sun glinted strangely off of his two differently colored eyes, and in the pinky half-lighted it gave him a slightly demonic air.

"I'm very, very sorry about how rude we've been sine we arrived," Piper continued, "I come clean—when we first met I used charmspeak. It was a reflex. We really don't mean you any harm, but we're in a bit of a desperate situation."

"I am prepared to forget the charmspeak."

Piper's heart stopped. He'd hesitated. He'd hesitated before saying the word 'charmspeak'. So he hadn't known about it, at least not fully, and now he did and it was her fault! She'd let slip what could prove to be infinitely valuable information!

Naïve.

She had thought she was a master of negotiation. She'd read books on the subject, she'd even talked with a war veteran who, when just a corporal, had been demanded by necessity to conduct hostage negotiations. She'd thought that all of her studies, coupled with her natural skill at manipulation, would put her up with Annabeth to the rank of one of Camp Half-Blood's most skilled delegates.

Dreaming.

A simple slip of the tongue, the use of a word instead of a paraphrase, was a fatal mistake.

Stupid.

Internally, she sighed. There was no use in berating herself now. Guilt still swamping her mind, she directed her attention back to Artemis.

"Thank you for that," she said earnestly. "And again, I apologize."

"Think nothing of it." Suddenly, he was all charm. "What can I do to help?"

"Well, I mean, I… uhh…" Caught off guard by the sudden change of demeanor, she groped for an answer.

"You could provide us with food," said Leo eagerly, and Artemis nodded genially, waving his hand as though he was perfectly used to his house serving as a restaurant.

"And a bed…" Jason said longingly.

"A map of the surrounding areas," put in Annabeth.

"Of course, of course, all of that goes without question…" Artemis' voice trailed off. Then his eyes sharpened. "But is there nothing I can do to assist with your 'unknown assailant' situation?"

Piper was about to answer that they didn't want to get him involved in that when Annabeth answered in her stead.

"Actually, we would welcome your help."

She exchanged an unreadable glance with Percy.

"We have a friend of ours who is a bit… wacky… and literally only speaks in riddles. But underneath that she's really smart, and usually gives really good advice. Unfortunately, in this case she's been really cryptic. Before we left—we meant to go to Germany on vacation but our plane crash-landed—she said something along the lines of: 'The golden, the fallen, again will he rise/Hand of a brother through starless eyes'. Do you have any idea what that might mean?"

That was risky, Piper thought. As risky as her slip about the charmspeak. Maybe more.

Annabeth is looking for someone to tell her that those lines aren't about Luke, she realized. She's hoping that they're part of Artemis' world, not hers.

Artemis smiled widely. "I'll think about it."

"Thank you," said Annabeth gratefully. "For that, and for everything else. It's not everyone who helps random strangers who are being shot at."

Artemis spread his hands. "It's not every stranger who's being shot at. Especially not teenage ones. I always help an Ally."

Something about the way he said 'ally' caught in Piper's brain, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was. From the brief narrowing of Annabeth's eyes she deduced the daughter of Athena had noticed it too.

Artemis' smile dropped. He glanced nervously to each side, then leaned forward. "If you are, you know, high up in the Alliance," he said under his breath, "could you just sort of, drop in a good word with the bureaucracy? They haven't been very trusting since the panda incident, which I totally understand, but I swear, the entire thing was an accident." His eyes crinkled in concern. "Please?"

The Alliance? What on earth is that?

Annabeth was playing along. "I'll talk to them," she assured.

Relief flooded Artemis' face. "Thank you," he said gratefully. "And if you need an Envoyer, just tell me. I have one in the back room."

"That would be wonderful," Annabeth said, with rather less than her normal commanding tone. She was getting lost, Piper saw. "I haven't used one for a couple of days."

Artemis looked shocked. "Oh, god." He looked around at them. "Have none of you?"

Looking awkwardly at each other, the demigods shook their heads.

"I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. If I hadn't... but never mind. I'll show you to them as soon as possible. But I only have one... you'll have to take turns." He looked at Annabeth. "Would you like to go first?"

"I would appreciate that," Annabeth said. Not in character for her, Piper thought. Normal Annabeth would be the last to do... whatever it was that was apparently so necessary for members of the Alliance. Annabeth would never put her own needs first.

Artemis nodded. "Immediately. Butler, could you please take care of that? For our guests, highest quality only. That means the Fae on the top shelf." He turned to the other demigods. "And I'll show you to a room. Our Envoyer is in perfect condition, so it will only take a matter of minutes. You can meet up with your friend in the Post-Envoy chamber."

"Wait!" Percy called. "Where's the room? Where will Annabeth be?"

"Just in my work room across the hallway," Artemis replied.

"Don't worry, Percy. I'll be fine." Annabeth flashed him a confident smile.

' Artemis led them to a small room and pulled four cots out of the closet. He placed them carefully on the hardwood floor and tossed a blanket and a pillow on each.

"There should be some more in the next room over,'" he said. "Go ahead and grab the ones you want, and any bedsheets or anything." He smiled at them. "I'm just going to check up on the Envoyer."

The moment the door closed Leo was checking the walls for security cameras.

"Clear," he said, a note of surprise in his voice.

"What on earth is the Alliance?" whispered Percy furiously. "And what are they doing to Annabeth?"

"I think," Leo said cautiously, "That it's some sort of... charger."

They looked at him for further explanation.

"The way he was talking about it, it sounded almost like, you know, a plug. Like what you'd use to charge up an iPad."

Understanding dawned on all of them except for Hazel.

"I pad?" she asked, puzzled.

"You know, that weird tablet thing that Leo is always carrying around."

"I always thought that was a bomb!"

"You know how he always talks about crushing candy?" Frank said over Leo's strangled laughter. Hazel nodded. "Well, it's a game he plays on his iPad. You can touch the screen and stuff happens-"

"Genius, Zhang, so descriptive. 'Stuff happens'. Wonderful."

Frank glared at Leo. "Yes," he repeated, "Stuff happens. And you need to power it up every so often. Give it energy."

Hazel mulled this over. "Okay," she said finally. "I get it. That makes sense."

There was a knock on the door.

"Everything's good," verified Artemis. "Piper, you next?"

Nervously, Piper got up from the cot she had claimed and followed him to what was apparently his workroom. Annabeth was nowhere in sight.

Artemis held the door open for her as she stepped cautiously into the room. Instead of some fancy machine, as she had expected, there was a simple office chair, three computers, and a shelf of strange, futuristic technology.

Her eyes darted from the top shelf to Butler and Artemis, and in one horrible moment she understood.

Piper opened her mouth to scream, but the bolt of light, fired from one of the strange guns, caught her in the shoulder.

She blacked out.

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