1. | CLOSE [NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM]

[ t h r e e ] ANOTHER NEW DAY

[ three ]

ARTEMIS MADE her way through the corridors the next day in search of Larry Daley.

She eventually found him walking out of the miniature exhibits, she skipped forward and walked alongside him.

"So what was that all about? Are all of Jed and Octavian's problems solved?" She asked, curiously.

"It's getting there, I'm trying to give them some freedom and shared space, maybe that'll mean they can co-operate or at least tolerate each other."

"You sound like a concerned father."

"I am actually, you know." He said, Artemis looked to him, confused. "No, no, not that, I'm not Jed and Octavian's father." He quickly said and Artemis breathed and over-exagurated sigh.

"I have a son. Nicky."

"Really? What's he like?" She asked, looking at him excitedly.

"Well, he's eight, loves hockey and is growing up way too fast." He replied. She liked the way he talked about him he was clearly quite proud of him, his face it up as he spoke about Nicky.

There had been a time when Artemis had considered having children, but of course, that simply wouldn't be possible, and she would not have enough freedom if she was constantly having to look after a child, freedom was something key to her.

They reached the African Mammals exhibit and found Dexter giggling outside. Larry paused, took a breath, then spoke to the monkey in a friendly way.

"Oh, hey Dexter! We're just locking up, you want in?"

The monkey bounded up and sprung onto Larry's shoulder before swinging over into the leafy bushes. Larry faked surprise as the monkey giggled and pulled out a set of baby's toy keys.

"Oh! What's that, you got my keys? I don't think so!" He childishly rattled them as Dexter pouted. "Looks like Uncle Larry," He slammed the grate shut. "Pulled a fast one on little Dexy." Larry locked the grate, grinning mischievously.

"Very mature." Artemis laughed as the walked over to where Teddy was, a mammoth stampeding loudly in the background.

"Hey Teddy." Larry greeted him, Artemis remembering her brother's words, straightened out her posture and stood a little prouder.

"Lawrence! I knew you'd come back!" He slapped a hand onto Larry's shoulder in a friendly manner. He looked to Artemis, tipped his hat and bowed his head in respect. The goddess grinned.

"You look like a man on a mission." Teddy observed, looking Larry up, then down. "Yeah, I'm gonna give it another shot." He replied.

Artemis smiled slightly, she had taken a liking to this particular night guard, he seemed different to the others.

Teddy looked away for a second, back in the direction of where he had been looking earlier. The girl quickly realised that it wasn't where, it was who.

"She's beautiful." She commented. "More individual and bright than the stars." Teddy replied with a dramatic sigh. She hadn't seen anyone look at another that way, she'd only heard and read of it.

Larry seemed to catch on a little later, leaning forward to see Sacagawea. "You, uh, you checking her out?" Larry raised an eyebrow, a grin tugging at the edge of his mouth.

Teddy snorted in denial.

"The nerve! 'Checking her out'! I've never heard of such a thing!" Artemis leaned on her hip and rolled her eyes at his response.

Teddy lifted his binoculars to his eyes, gazing at Sacagawea through them for a second.

"You know, maybe you should talk to her." Larry suggested. "Yeah. I mean, if you never talk to her, nothing can ever progress to anything." The younger girl chipped in.

"Indeed!" Teddy thumped Larry on the shoulder. "Bless ya lad, carry on!"

Before she walked off, Artemis turned to the other wax figure. "I know we haven't exactly talked much, but I mean it. Talk to her." Teddy gave a silent nod in reply.

—§—

Artemis had gone separate ways from Larry, at least temporarily. She needed to find her brother. After all the talk she'd had with Larry and Teddy, she had grown curious over what her future was going to be, or at least what it could be.

"Apollo, I needed to talk to you." She said, tapping on her brother's shoulder. He took one look at her face and decided that it was more important than arguing with Zeus over some petty javelin throwing contest.

"Let's walk."

Artemis brushed a hair behind her ear and began.

"Is this really how we're going spend the rest of forever? We're clearly stuck like this and I-I guess I just want to have a future of some sort. I want to know where I'm going and not be wondering..."

"Hey, I feel the exact same way. But I'm just trying to get by and get through. We never had a complete structure to our lives and I doubt we ever will. I don't think that there's going to be a moment where we can confidently say that we know where we're gonna be in a half year, but maybe that's okay, maybe something amazing will happen and maybe something'll change. I'm just glad that we're together, you know?" He smiled down at his shorter sibling.

Artemis smiled back, still not completely satisfied with his answer, not really knowing if she ever would be.