The Remembrance of Chaos (PJO)

Chapter 11

Normally, when a dangerous, man-hating Olympian asked you to do something, no matter what it was, you would generally listen in fear of getting castrated. Even more so, when you saw her clobber a man right in front of you.

But Percy was not normal (at least, in human standards)and he was sure that he would not get castrated if he spoke his mind.

Probably.

"Are you insane!?" He exclaimed. "It's only the second day!"

Artemis regarded him curiously. "Yeah, so?"

"They're probably still guarding the gates! Again, it's only the second day!"

"Calm down," Artemis said. "We can't stay at this inn any longer."

Percy glared at her. "And who's fault is that?"

Artemis rolled her eyes. "I'll take fault."

"Why did you even pay the innkeeper that much?! Of course somebody's going to try to rob us!"

"He wouldn't tell End about two suspicious customers who had given him a decent sum of money."

Percy looked at her like she was insane—which, in retrospect, was kind of true. "A decent sum?!" Percy exclaimed. "You gave him a what he would earn in a month!"

"You really think that's true?" Artemis arched an eyebrow at Percy in curiosity.

"Yes!"

"In that case, there's no possibility he'll tell on us!" Artemis gaily stated.

Percy gaped at her like a fish: here he was, trying to evaluate her mistake, and Artemis took it in stride, using her mistake as a valid point. And Percy had to agree, it was a good move—but the cons were more than the pros.

"Let's see," Percy said, ticking off his reasons with his fingers. "You drew attention to us, a guy tried to rob us, the same guy tried to rob us again . . . you see where I'm going with his?"

"No." And yet, there was a twinkle in her eye that she knew what he was trying to say, but she still wanted him to finish. 

"If you'd just pay him a regular sum of money, we would be regular guests. But since you've paid him a large sum, you've caught everybody's attention."

Artemis shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "I've got a solution to that." Percy knew her enough to know it wouldn't be a good one. A solution, yes, but presumably not a good one.

"What is it?"

Artemis smiled at him, as if he gave the right answer. "Are those all your reasons?"

"Yes . . . ?" Percy wasn't sure where she was going with her explanation.

"Seventy-five percent of our problems are from this guy over here . . . " Artemis kicked the still unconscious robber, and not too gently either.

"Hold on," Percy said confused. "How did you get 'seventy-five percent'? It's sixty-six percent."

Artemis shrugged yet again. "I rounded."

Percy sighed, rubbing his eyes in exhaustion. It was too early for him; the sun would begin to rise in about an hour. If he could have chosen, he would have preferred the robber to come two hours later—or not at all.

"Anyway, want to hear my solution?" Artemis asked.

Percy sighed. "I'm waiting." And unfortunately, he was.

"Since this guy is most of our problems, we should dispose of him!" Artemis stated brightly.

Percy had a few qualms about that. "If you did have support from me—which you don't—how would you 'dispose' of a human being?"

"Throw him out of the window!" Artemis spoke with the eagerness a normal human girl would have used to convince her parents to let her sell lemonade. In other words, Artemis spoke with a disturbing amount of eagerness in her voice, especially since she was talking about killing a human.

That's what gods do all the time, right? Kill humans for fun? She's probably done that as often as a human sleeps. Percy thought. Especially Artemis, the man hater.

Percy still had several qualms with her plan—a plan which he would never support. 

Firstly, he was not comfortable (disgusted, even)at the thought of killing a person. Sure, he's seen it before—heck he's probably done it before—but that was all war related: after all, only living beings can fight. (and have pointless wars.)

Secondly, it was the window part again which was not very astute. It was not a very good way to dispose of anything, since the object would disturbingly land on the ground, in plain sight. Plus, it could also hit a random passerby.

Thirdly, it would only solve some of their problems; the innkeeper still knew them, and he could recognize them. And he most definitely would not let Artemis kill him too.

Lastly, he was pretty sure Artemis' plan written in shorthand would be "murder." Something he wanted to avoid at all costs.

Percy was brought out of his thoughts when his assailant groaned, obviously gaining consciousness. 

Artemis looked at Percy expectantly: before the starting of their escape, they had agreed that any plan, even one that was crazy (like throwing somebody out of a window, which was crazy, demented, and mental)had to have the support of both of them before it was acted out. (Unless, of course, it was a plan free the other from imprisonment.)

No, Percy mouthed to Artemis, shaking his head for further measure. Artemis frowned, but obliged with his request. She then walked over to the incompetent robber and cocked her fist back. 

Percy stepped forward; it seemed as though Artemis was going to beat the man up. It was expected, as she was the man hater, and the robber had tried to bereave her twice from her nonexistent money. 

Instead of multiple punches, however, Artemis simply punched him once in the face. Percy then heard a crack as the man's nose broke. Percy winced as his body limply fell to the ground, his head thudding painfully onto the hard floor. 

"That should do it," Artemis said, obviously satisfied of her handiwork. Percy wondered how strong her hands were; she had broken a man's arm and nose in a matter of a couple of hours. "Let's do the only thing we can do, thanks to me: escaping this insane place!"

She didn't seem like she was blaming herself for her mistake; it looked more like she was praising herself.

Why am I following her? Percy groaned in his head. From what I know, she's not just an adrenaline junkie: she's a refractory danger-junkie; one who always gets into fatal situations, and likes it.

And so, Artemis walked out of the room, Percy involuntarily following her, longingly glancing back to his bed, wondering if he could sneak in a quick nap.