Sally, as it turns out, was quite wonderful at picking out clothes. Meg was no longer dressed up like a street light, instead, she was shockingly pretty in the black leggings and knee-length frock. She gave off a bright springtime feel, almost reminding me of a dryad. I wondered what Apollo would think. Sally glanced around. "Where's Apollo?"

"Asleep. I'll wake him up when there's food." I said quickly. "He's exhausted. He needs to rest for a bit." He really did need rest, he looked like he was about pass out when we had first gotten here. If we were to leave he wouldn't fare well, in a fight or otherwise. It was best to let him gather his strength before we set out.

Sally sent Percy a worried glance.

"Artemis, even I could tell he was exhausted. We can postpone leaving until he wakes up." Percy said. I sighed in relief.

"Thank you.. It would be best to leave when we are at our best." I took a shaky breath. He needed to be okay. If he got hurt because of his injuries.. I don't know what I'd do.

Meg was sitting on the edge of the couch. "Percy, your mom is so normal."

"Thanks, I guess." He picked up a small tower of test preparation manuals from the coffee table and threw them aside.

"I see you like to study," I said.

Percy snorted. "I hate to study. I've been guaranteed admission with a full scholarship to New Rome University, but they're still requiring me to pass all my high school courses and score well on the SAT. Can you believe that? Not to mention I have to pass the DSTOMP."

"The what?" Meg asked.

"An exam for Roman demigods," I told her. "The Demigod Standard Test of Mad Powers."

Percy frowned. "That's what it stands for?"

"Apollo wrote the music and poetry parts. You wouldn't believe how many times he recited horrible haikus to me while writing that."

"That sounds horrible." Percy laughed

Meg turned to Percy "So you're actually a demigod? Like me?"

"Afraid so." Percy collapsed onto the armchair, leaving me to take the sofa next to Meg. "My dad's the sea god, Poseidon. What about your parents?"

Meg's expression darkened. She suddenly seemed very interested in her nails. "Never knew them…much."

Percy hesitated. "Foster home? Stepparents?"

Looks like we were entering dangerous territory. Meg didn't answer, she seemed to shrink under his gaze.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to pry." He looked at me curiously like I might know. I may have been a god but Meg McCaffrey was a mystery to me. "So how did you guys meet?" He looked at me, I took a deep breath remembering what I had said about the thugs earlier.

"I woke up falling, landed in a dumpster. There were two thugs. They tried to steal my money. Meg chased them off." I didn't want to start crying again. That would be completely embarrassing.

"That's not a story, tell it right." Meg complained.

I sighed, and started actually telling it. Just as I finished speaking Sally Jackson returned. She set down a bowl of tortilla chips and a casserole dish filled with a layered dip.

"I'll be back with the sandwiches," she said. "But I had some leftover seven-layer dip."

"Yum." Percy dug in with a tortilla chip. "She's kinda famous for this, guys."

Sally ruffled his hair. "There's guacamole, sour cream, refried beans, salsa—"

"My brother's sacred number is seven" I blurted out before I could stop myself. I pressed my hand to my mouth, color filled my cheeks. "I- Um- Sorry."

"It's fine dear." I laughed weakly and tried some. It was almost as good as ambrosia nachos.

"Wow.. this is good" Meg said. She ate like some sort of squirrel, she shoved more food in her mouth than she could possibly chew.

I drank my smoothie and the turkey sandwich in near silence. All I could think about was Apollo and how easily those thugs took us out. I kept seeing Mikey kicking him every time I blinked.

How were we supposed to accomplish anything if two mortals managed to put him out of commission for a few hours? Percy and Meg chatted about random things, I tuned them out, by now I had come to the conclusion our end goal was definitely retaking Delphi. But I couldn't think of a single way to go about doing that. Finally, Percy addressed me. "So back to your story… You two have to be Meg's servant now? You hardly know each other."

"Hardly in an exaggeration. But yes, me and my brother's fate is now linked with Meg here."

"We are cooperating," Meg said.

From his pocket, Percy pulled out a ballpoint pen. He tapped it against his knee. "And this whole turning-into-a-mortal thing…you've done it twice before?"

"Apollo has. I haven't managed to anger Zeus that far until now. The first time my idiot brother tried to overthrow Olympus.

Percy winced. "I'm guessing that didn't go well."

"Apollo and your father got most of the blame. They had to serve a king of Troy.." I trailed off. I hated the man they were forced to serve. I had watched as my brother was forced hours of backbreaking work, he wasn't even properly treated. I decided to change the subject, I didn't want my thoughts to dwell on that dark year. "The second time he was turned mortal Apollo killed some Cyclopes"

Percy frowned. "My brothers a Cyclops. Not cool."

"They made the lightning bolt that killed his favorite son. It was really an act of petty revenge, to be honest."

"Percy's brother is a Cyclops? That's crazy!"

"Yes, Poseidon has quite the variety of offspring. His next master was nicer, Apollo made his cows have twin calves."

"I want a baby cow-"

"Trust me you really don't." I interrupted "Cows eat a lot. And that means they poop a lot. Back in the good old days, cows were great, but, where would you keep it? What would you feed it? Cows are annoying."

"What do you have against cows?" Percy asked.

"Lots Perseus. I have a lot against cows." Meg snorted, I laughed to myself.

"Guys," Percy interrupted. "So, just to recap, you have to be Meg's servant for…?"

"Some unknown amount of time," I said. "Probably a year. Possibly more."

"And during that time-"

"We will face trials and hardships."

"Like getting me my cows," Meg said.

I groaned. "What exactly we have to do, I don't know. If probably has something to do with Delphi, but if we succeed Zeus will forgive us and restore us as gods"

Percy did not look convinced, probably because I didn't sound very convincing. I had to believe our mortal punishment was temporary, for both of us. Zeus had created a strict rule for baseball and prison sentences: Three strikes, you're out. I could only hope this would not apply to Apollo.

"I need time figure out a plan of action. Once we get to Camp Half-Blood, We can talk with Chiron, and we can figure out which of our powers remain in these mortal forms."

"If any," Percy said.

"I have retained quick healing, I must have others." I replied defensively. If healing was my only remaining power...

"That's good I guess. Any idea what kind of spirits are following you?"

"Shiny blobs," Meg said. "They were shiny and sort of…blobby."

Percy nodded, a grim expression on his face. "Those are the worst kind."

"It doesn't matter, what does matter is getting to camp safely. The pine will protect us."

"If you are 100% mortal, how do you know the camp will let you in?" I felt the color drain from my face. I hadn't thought of that. "I- Please don't say that. We need to get in.. we have to get in"

"But you could get hurt in battle now…" Percy mused. "Then again, maybe monsters would ignore you because you're not important?"

"Shut up!" My hands started trembling. Being a mortal was bad enough. The thought of being barred from camp, of being unimportant… That would be horrible. I stood up suddenly. "I'm going to check on my brother." I went to walk away.

"Stay," Meg ordered. The command jarred into my body and I sat down again, I glared at her.

I guess she really could control me.

"What about you? Do you have any abilities, Meg? I heard you can control garbage."

"That's not a power.."

"Oh? Some of the best demigods have gotten their start by exploding toilets."

I snorted. That clip had played on Olympus Funniest Videos for years.

"So we leave when Apollo wakes up?"

Meg reached for the land sandwich. I stopped her. "Save it for my brother" She looked at me and frowned, but left the sandwich alone.

"I guess." Percy shrugged. "I just have to be back by tonight. I have a lot of studying.. If it wasn't for Annabeth-"

"Who's she?" Meg asked.

"My girlfriend." Meg pouted.

Sally Jackson walked in with a plate of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. For some reason the cookies were blue. They smelled wonderful.

"Mom, don't freak," Percy said.

Sally sighed. "I hate it when you say that."

"I'm going to take these two to camp when Apollo wakes up That's all. I'll be right back."

"I think I've heard that before."

"It'll still be a few hours probably…"

Over the course of the next few hours I found myself checking on Apollo almost every 34 minutes. After he hadn't woken up for an hour Sally had thrown a quilt over him. As he slept, color had returned to his face, and he looked much healthier than earlier. His nose had healed almost completely. I wanted to check on his ribs but I was afraid of waking him. Meg and Percy were discussing demigod things, and they had been for the last few hours. Just as I was about to leave I heard Apollo shifting on the bed, he sat up slowly, looking around drearily. I walked back over to him. "Hey.."

"Artemis? Why am I on Percy's bed?"

"You fell asleep. We decided to let you rest."

"Artemis I was fine-"

"No Apollo you really weren't." I deadpanned. "You looked like you might pass out at any moment. You needed rest.. And I was worried about you.."

Apollo stared at me for a moment, then he smiled and shook his head, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "How long was I asleep?"

"Five or six hours, it's still early enough to get to camp before dark." I informed him. "And Apollo.. How are you doing? Do your ribs still hurt?" Apollo took a moment to consider this.

"I mean, I am a slowly dying flesh sack. But I'm not in pain or anything."

"That's good." He gave me a pointed look.

"The not in pain part, I'm a meat sack too brother." I offered him my hand to help him up. He took it, the moment he was standing I pulled him into a tight hug. I buried my head into his shoulder, ignoring the fact that tears welled up in my eyes. He sat there surprised for about 3 seconds before he hugged me back.

"Artemis..?"

"Yeah?" My reply was muffled by the fabric of his shirt.

"I'm okay now.. You don't need to worry"

"Okay.." I murmured, but I could still see Mikey kicking him. I could still hear their taunting voices as they kicked him. I will never forget the crunch his nose made when they stomped on it. I'll always worry about him. Always.

Finally, I pulled away, scrubbing furiously at my eyes. Apollo smiled weakly. "You look fine sis"

"Apollo.. I.. I can still see them.. Kicking you.. They wouldn't stop.. Whenever I close my eyes I see them I just- he just kept kicking you- He wouldn't stop-" I'm not sure what my voice sounded like, but Apollo stiffened.

"Hey hey hey.. Look at me." he interrupts, I look up, he's smiling. I can tell it's fake. "I'm fine now. I'm not hurt. When we're gods again we can destroy them. Okay?"

"Okay.." I manage, he looks genuinely concerned.

"Let's go see what our young master is up to alright?" He goes to lead me out of the room, I grab his wrist to stop him.

"I.. I need a minute to collect myself.." I said, going and sitting in the chair at the desk in Percy's room. Apollo leaned against the wall.

It took a bit more than a minute but I managed to get my eyes to stop watering with tears. Apollo smiled gently, assuring me that I looked fine and it wasn't obvious I had been crying. We left the room. I was sure my eyes were bloodshot and puffy, but no one noticed or just didn't comment. Meg waved at Apollo, he seemed to observe everyone, his eyes fell on Meg. He froze in place and made a sound that was something between a whimper and a cough.

Meg pouted. "Do I look that bad?"

"No, no," I managed. "It's just…"

Just what?

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

I suddenly realized with startling clarity that Meg didn't just remind me of any old Dryad, she reminded me of the one who had broken Apollo's heart. Daphne. He looked away, a pained grimace taking the place of his forced smile. I turned to Meg and smiled weakly.

"It's not you Meg," I said, attempting to be reassuring.

Apollo stared at the ground, I patted his shoulder.

"Well." Sally Jackson said with forced cheerfulness. "We saved you a sandwich Apollo, you can eat it as you drive, oh and Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"I have another batch of cookies in the oven, it would be a shame if Paul eats them all when he gets home."

Percy's expression turned grim. He turned to face us. "You hear that, guys? A batch of cookies is depending on me. If you get me killed on the way to camp, I am gonna be ticked off."