In a library, wooden shelves stood tall, much higher than the world's tallest man. The rich mahogany furnishings looked exceptionally maintained. They looked completely brand new, if not for the sheer magnitude of books; many of which had de-saturated and worn-out exteriors, telling a different story.
Dotted across the library were black velvet-lined wingback chairs that sometimes came in pairs or other times accompanied by a small round pedestal table.
The round top was completely flat, rather simplistic feel to it, though the sides was engraved with pillar-like lines with an insignia of a snake with wavy curves around it, vaguely reminiscent the feathers of a bird, on four sides, on four sides equally spaced apart from one another. It was propped up by a slender leg near the top that transformed to a more bulb-like shape, adorned with small circular details, eventually splitting into three curved feet that allowed the table to stand up on its own. The surfaces of which were clean and polished, allowing for anyone to see their own reflection if they wanted to.
Between the long rows and rows of shelves laid an extraordinarily long oriental Persian rugs with their intricate geometrical designs and flowery patterns, interconnecting shapes and lines to create a single piece of art in the form of a rug. Squares of alternating white and blue formed borders to contain the beautiful red color within. Each color was vibrant and lively as if the word "dust" had never existed to taint their prime pristine condition. The edges of the rugs had neatly organized golden-yellow tassels, which were perfectly straightened out, as if someone had meticulously did each and every strand in the very off-chance that it would welcome royalty one day.
Though, none of these "small" details seemed particularly important to the person, who walking around in the library. Their footsteps being loud and clear, despite being muted by the carpet, since no other sound could be heard.
That person being a familiar blue-eyed and blond-haired god named Apollo.
The owner of the library, Athena, was, certainly, here somewhere, according to a secondary source.
Apollo could never understand the reason why Athena had constructed her library in such a way, where it made finding her a whole lot harder, even though he knew she was here.
Not only was it the size of The White House, but he couldn't use teleportation.
How annoying.
She also made a rule, where you couldn't run in her library, and set up a spell that takes you directly to the entrance if you break any of her rules.
Also, it felt so dour and lifeless being in here.
The silence and quietness was disturbing.
No sound. No signs of life. No nothing.
Just books upon books.
Apollo never knew how his half-sister of his could bear being in such a place for such a long time.
He would mention her as "bookworm" whenever he talked to Artemis, but he didn't realize how bad it was.
After he was done with this, he should invite Athena to do something and get her away from this.
Because, it seemed like a problem.
If he had to listen to his own footsteps for another minute he would've went crazy.
Apollo's method of locating the goddess of wisdom was to walk straight until he felt like walking in a different direction, which was almost no different from wandering around completely directionless, but in his head it was genius. Though, for some reason it didn't seem to work as he would've liked.
After all this time, he had yet to find this seemingly elusive goddess.
Though, he had a sudden realization. Something so painfully obvious that it didn't even cross his mind until that very moment.
What was stopping him from just- you know- calling out to her?
Sure, Athena has "rules". But after spending such a long time looking for her, it had only been 10 minutes, Athena would surely understand his predicament.
Although...
The chances of getting kicked out was high.
It wouldn't be unlike her to lock herself in this library, and make him wait until she was done reading her book or something.
But, it could drastically reduce the time it took to look for her.
But then again, she could be petty and make it impossible for him to find her.
Though? Was it really a big real if he just took some of her reading time for a small request?
The last time he did that- oh.
Maybe, that wasn't the best idea... looking back at it.
After mulling over it for some odd minutes, he just decided to do it, leaving the rest in fate's hands.
"ATHENA!"
His shout echoed through the chamber, which was definitely loud enough to reach her ear, wherever she may be. The sound of his voice got quieter and quieter as it passed through the halls.
Apollo quietly waited for a response, feeling a tiny bit anxious. Though, the only response he got was the deafening silence of nothing.
He waited for a few more seconds for any late responses, any signs of the goddess, but nothing came.
Not exactly the response he wanted- but it was a satisfactory one.
Silence meant that she heard him and was choosing to ignore him, or she didn't hear him (which he severely doubted), or she wasn't here at all.
Out of all the possibilities, he was banking on the first one, which meant only thing...
..
...
"ATHENNNAAAA!!"
"AAAATTHHHHHHEEEENNNNNAAAAAA!!!"
"I KNOW YOU'RE HEREEEEEEE!"
"A. T. H. E. N. A. What does that spell? ATHHENNAAA."
'Was that not loud enough?'
Surely, that one was loud enough.
After all of that yelling, he still hadn't found Athena, making him slightly depressed.
He lightly sighed.
Where was she?
The faint unmistakable sound of a page being flipped could be heard, making his ears perk up.
His steps quicken, not to the point that it would count as running, but it was faster than walking speed, apparently trying to abide by the so-called rules of the library.
A flash of light appeared in front of him, revealing the familiar figure of Athena, who took her sweet time removing the pair of glasses she was wearing.
Her grey eyes that seemed to hold a world of its own had a particular disdain towards the male god, as if he was someone that she wanted nothing to do with.
"Athena!" Apollo exclaimed in utter delight.
She said with a frown, "No running."
"It couldn't be helped," Apollo casually waved it off.
Apollo smiled to himself. It was much easier than it he thought.
All he had to do was run a little bit?
It would've saved so much time if he had done that earlier.
But alas.
He couldn't turn back time.
The goddess of wisdom raised one of her eyebrows. "Then, what about the yelling?"
"I wouldn't necessarily call that yelling. It was more like- a rally. A call-to-arms, per say. Yes." His eyes rose while he stroked his chin as if he was picturing it in his mind. Apollo dramatically began, "My Olympian brethren, would you care to join me-"
Athena interjected, sounding slightly annoyed.
"The point.?"
"Ah. Right. Where was I?"
She shot him a deadpan look that read 'You're the one who came looking for me?'
Apollo appeared immersed in his thoughts as if he had completely forgotten why he had come here in the first place.
The goddess's brows furrowed as she slowly said, "About... Artemis..?"
"Oh, right! How did you- Never mind that."
His demeanor stayed relatively the same, though the look in his eyes shifted slightly, seemingly thinking about something.
He wasn't going to bring his sister up, but since she had so conveniently brought it up he might as well acquire some information, since he had many questions for Artemis that he never got the chance to ask.
"Do you know how the two met in the first place?"
"No."
"..."
"I'm kidding. Of course, I know."
Her facial expression didn't change at all, so it was literally impossible for him to tell.
Athena coughed, trying to divert attention. "Percy was summoned via a spell by Hecate."
As soon as she spoke, a few questions popped up in his mind, but he chose to remain silent, letting Athena continue.
"Though, what she might not have told you is that she fell in love with him after he saved her."
Confused, Apollo couldn't help, but blurt out, "From what?"
He couldn't imagine anything that could possibly kill Artemis without him or anyone else knowing about it. Another question is how does she...
Athena had an annoyed expression as if she was saying 'I was getting there'.
"I know was that Ares and Percy was fighting, and during that Ares threw a spear that missed, which just so happened to fly at Artemis's head."
As if sensing his thoughts, Athena continued, "But! Before it could impale her, the spear was beautifully destroyed at the very last second." She stopped speaking after seeing Apollo's contorted expression.
It seemed like he was bubbling with rage.
In a cold but clear voice, he said, "Do you take me for a fool?"
Athena didn't say anything in response, only offering a relaxed smile.
T-T
Artemis languidly stared out the window, feeling slightly drowsy, listening to the sound of the vehicle's air conditioning unit, as she lazily blinked one eye after another with her arm supporting her head.
Sleeping wasn't exactly a necessity.
It was more of a luxury for gods, not that they could choose to sleep in the first place. The only thing a god could do without Hypnos's help was replicate the state of sleeping by closing their eyes and sealing their senses, but even that had its limitations.
It couldn't be considered true sleep.
She was, however, feeling rather drowsy, though her usual sleeping conditions were in a comfy bed and in the arms of a human radiator named Perseus.
Currently, neither of those conditions were being met, so she couldn't fall asleep.
Artemis touched her lips, unconsciously feeling the desire to kiss someone at that moment.
She sighed, not knowing what made her feel so upset, as she continued to stare at the sky that was full of wispy clouds.