A Hero's Tears

Sentencing

"I'll escort you to that Camp of yours," Artemis says distastefully, and Luke's heart drops. "I mean, I can't really make you the Guardian of the Hunt, now, can I? We don't need any protection, for one, and you're a male, so that'd look hypocritical. A male protecting a bunch of independent young women who don't need men, which is why they're here? Not likely. And I said I'd keep you alive, so I'm not gonna send you back downstairs, or up to the Council. So I'll drop you off at your camp and make sure you aren't banished instantly. Who knows? Maybe you'll end up a hero?"

"Because they're gonna love to see my face, out of all those who died," Luke mutters.

"You never know. Besides, would you rather see them down there within a decade, at best?"

"Honestly? Probably, because they can kill me in my sleep up here," he replied in a tone that Artemis wasn't sure if it was joking or not. He couldn't tell, himself, either.

"But whatever. I'm more likely to get my hero's death in Camp than smitten by a god or goddess," he continued in a tone that was more obvious that he was joking. Or at least less serious.

"Then let us depart," Artemis announced, standing up and stretching.

"When'll we get there?" Luke asked, doing the same.

"I don't know exactly, but sometime tonight," she says simply, retrieving her bow and quiver from the back of the chair.

"How?"

"You get a front seat in Lady A's Moon Sleigh," a voice said behind him, causing him to spin around to see a smirking Thalia standing in the entry way of the tent.

Artemis scowls. "Must you refer to me by that name? It's patronizing."

Thalia chuckles. "I like it. It's fun to say," she says, causing the Moon Goddess to sigh exasperatedly.

"Whatever. I'm out for the night, so you're watching over the camp. And no free-for-all battle royale. Or team. No fighting."

"Aww. You're no fun," Thalia whines, pouting playfully, which Luke thought was kinda funny, if a bit childish.

"Deal with it," Artemis replies in an equally playful manner, sticking her tongue out. Thalia returns the gesture.

"Alright, ladies. You can get back to your flirting once I'm at Camp and have a no-stabbing-in-sleep pin. Okay?"

"Well you aren't fun, either," Thalia says, this time aimed to him.

"I've been stuck down stairs for the past six or seven years, and I kinda wanna get my 'best-swordsman-of-the-millennium' title back."

"Very well. Thalia... behave," Artemis says, switching more serious. "Come along, Luke."

Thalia does a mixture of a wave and salute with her first two fingers as Luke and Artemis make their way around to the back of the tent, to a large, silver sleigh with reindeer harnessed to it.

"Luke, I present to you... The Moon," Artemis says flatly, tossing her bow and quiver into the carriage before climbing in herself.