"So, 'Artemis'?" They were on the boardwalk overlooking the lake.
"Yeah. My mum had a fixation with everything greek."
"Evidently," a camper snorted as he jogged past. Artemis ignored it.
"I go by Arty mostly."
"I know what you mean, my name's Perseus." He made a face.
"Oh, after..."
"Yep. My mom figured it'd give me good luck." He was silent then. They sat in silence for a while, watching the naiads underwater and the rhythmmical ripples of the lake itself. Calm. Peaceful. Sleepy...
No.
No. No. No. No. No.
And for good measure: no!
Sleepy was bad. Very bad. She would never forgive her step-father for what he did to her mother. Yes, they loved each other. But if he'd just listened to her...
"Arty?"
"Hmm..."
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you survive fourteen years? My mum and I had to put up with a real pig to cover up my smell, how did you?"
"Was my step-father a pig? Is that what you're asking?"
"Well... yeah."
"Sheesh! You find a long lost brother and you have to tell them your life story. Alright, no, he wasn't. He was pretty nice actually. I reckon, since coming to America, that you have most of the monsters here. Whereas, in England, all you have to worry about are politicians and petrol prices. Oh, and the weather doesn't leave much to be desired. Ever wondered why we're so green?"
He was silent for a while and then spoke up, "you miss it, don't you?"
"Miss what?"
"Your home."
Now it was her turn to be silent. Yeah, she did. She missed it a lot. Their little suburban house next to rolling hills. The quintessential villages that brochures boasted about that had quaint sweet shops where they came in jars and you filled up a little, red and white striped bag before it was weighed and paid for with english sterling. The shopkeepers had delightful british accents and it sounded right. Unlike here where you sounded stuck-up and posh. She did miss it. She missed all of it. The Best of the British: as her mother would say.
"Yeah," she eventually replied, "I do miss it."
~~~
YOU ARE READING
Greeks, Gods & Other Problems
FanfictionArtemis is new to everything: country, home, people, life. She was alienated at home, so when she moves she feels she can make a brand new start on things. Uh uh, the gods don't like that - at all. Will Artemis regret coming to Camp Half-Blood?
