Artemis Meets The Demigods

I Have To Fight ???

           Artemis trudged back to the Hephaestus Cabin and lay down on his bunk, and was fast asleep in a few minutes. Which left Butler, who lay on the bunk below Artemis', to his thoughts. Butler had thought that he had seen enough weird, what with Artemis' cloning and the LEP, but now he realized that he was wrong. Sure this did not feel as weird as it did on the day when he dressed as a wrestler and boxed his sister out of a huge theatre filled with mind-controlled zombies, but still this was weird.

And here Artemis was, once again waist deep in another weird situation where Butler's skill and brawn was for nothing. But still, he could not help but feel that his young charge had finally found some level of peace in this place. Even in Villa Eco, Artemis had not seemed as peaceful as he looked now, lying in his bunk, with no worry lines creasing his forehead.

Technically, according to Madame Ko (his sensei), these feelings of attachments should not be developed by the bodyguard. But Butler had long since broken that rule to pieces, crumbled them, dipped them in dough, baked them, given them to Mulch, who will enter our story shortly, whose digestive system had digested it and passed it out as wind. Wincing at that imagery, Butler closed his eyes and felt himself falling asleep with disturbing dreams of Mulch farting.

The next day was normal. To Artemis. He had been in so much weird situations, that he felt right at home here. First thing in the morning after breakfast, he left Butler, after being on the receiving end of his stare and scowl, with Chiron and went with Leo who said he had to show him something. They went deep into the forest, but nothing attacked them. Then suddenly Leo stopped. Artemis followed his eyesight and saw a door. Right there, in the middle of a forest.

"Welcome to Bunker 9." said Leo. " A workshop for the kids of Hephaestus."

They went inside and Artemis could barely control his awe. So many tools. Artemis and Foaly had been brainstorming on a machine to run Anglothermothesis scans, but they could not build the machine underground and they could not get the raw materials above ground. But here in Bunker 9, all the equipment and raw materials were neatly arranged. And in the middle of the workshop was-

"Festus the mechanical dragon." said Leo, lighting up his hand with fire. "Only I can handle it. And I can create fire, cause I'm amazing."

But Artemis barely registered his words. He slowly walked towards the dragon as if in a trance, holding out his hand. The dragon tilted its head, as if considering him. Then slowly, it approached Artemis and let him stroke him. Leo's jaw dropped open. When he realized that and closed it, he said,

"And now you can do it too!"

Artemis smiled. He had never been good with biological life forms otherwise called humans, but this dragon was different. It was a machine. And Artemis had been creating and tinkering machines his whole life. After that they left Bunker 9, and as Artemis watched the door close, he saw Festus settling for a nap after having Oil and Tabasco sauce.

Then after lunch, Artemis went over to his siblings in the Athena cabin. He had decided to call them siblings as their real relationships would be too weird to comprehend. He had a very heated argument with one of them on the Greek Gods. Naturally, he won out. And as the Athena cabin trudged out for archery practice and Lava-wall climbing, Artemis went back to his bunk. Archery was not something he would do. And Lava-wall climbing? Forget it. Just as he sat down on his bunk, he saw a horse trot past the doorway. Wait a minute. That was not a horse. It was a pegasus. Intrigued, he went out, and saw the stables. Going inside, he saw rows and rows of pegasi. He was standing there when someone said,

"Try riding one." He looked around to see Percy standing near a black pegasus. Artemis shook his head.

"No. I have ridden horses back at home, but I don't know about pegasi flying. I don't even know if they would like that. And by the way were you at the canoe lake, kissing your girlfriend?"

"How did yo-"

"Oh please. You are barefooted. And your foot is covered in sand that seems wet. And as for the kissing, I saw Annabeth go towards the canoe lake. I don't think you two would go there just to talk and walk." said Artemis smirking.

Percy smiled. "I see. Very clever. And as for the pegasi liking you, I don't think that's a problem. Being a son of Poseidon, I can hear their thoughts, and most of them like you. Even my pegasi, Blackjack, likes you."

Artemis looked at the black pegasus uncertainly, but it came forward and nuzzled him. He climbed on its back and it took off so suddenly that Artemis felt like his heart had been left back at the stables. They soared over the whole camp, before landing. Artemis gave an apple to the pegasus as a thank you, and left. Soon the sun had set, and the camp had gathered for dinner. After they had eaten the place started buzzing with the sounds of excitement as people got ready for Capture The Flag. Artemis had read the rules and did not want to be part of the fighting part of the game. The teams were announced. Athena (blue team) had made alliance with Hephaestus, Poseidon, Hypnos, and Hecate. Ares (red team) had made alliance with the rest. The teams were given a few minutes for discussion. Percy asked Annabeth,

"Well, what's the plan?" Annabeth looked worried.

" I did not have time to think of one." Percy looked at the team.

" Does anyone have a plan?"

"I do." said Artemis. All heads turned towards him. He ignored them.

" I have a plan. Leo, will you give me your tool belt for a moment?" He got it and started pulling out items and within a few minutes he had made 5 identical tiny machines. He looked at the team.

"These machines will detect people wearing red plumage if they come within 200 meters of this device. Plant them around the flag and you will be able to spot them. Here."

He gave Leo a flat watch. "This will pinpoint their location." Everybody grinned.

"Well, Artemis, this is great. Come on let's go. We still have to fight them." said Annabeth. Artemis pretended to be shocked, melodrama being his weakness.

"I have to fight? Oh no. I will just sit and wait here for you to come. I am not good at fighting. I will just kill myself." Percy looked a little disappointed, but brightened almost immediately.

"Don't worry. We will win. Just pray this machine works."

Artemis smiled and fear showed on everyone's eyes. He really had to tone down his vampire-ism. " Oh it will work alright. You just see." And with that he walked over to the benches, sat down, and watched the two teams go inside the woods as Chiron blew his horn.