KEEPSAKE

chapter thirtytwo

32 HELP?

      THE GRASS IS SO INCREDIBLY SOFT, AND THE SUN ISN'T AS CRUEL HERE, AND PEOP-HUMANS ARE WALKING. EVERYWHERE.

Artemis peels herself away from the ground. A crowd of humans are hovering over her with skeptical expressions.

"Are you okay?" One of them asks just as another says, "Oh, so she's not dead."

"Where am I?" Artemis asks, rubbing at a grass stain on the skinny jeans Hades gave her. He told her they were the norm for humans. And he could've been joshing her and she would've believed every word he said because she didn't know the first two things to do with these new creatures.

"Uh, Manhattan?" A bearded man informs her, with a scratch at his stubbled chin.

Artemis shakes her head and echoes the name. Manhattan. She tries to remember something from her schooling. Her mother used to teach Apollo and her about the geography in the human world. It was so beautiful, it sounded beautiful. She always wanted to visit the pyramids.

"New Jersey!" She claps her hands together as if she's happy with herself for remembering.

The humans boredly look at her. "New York," they correct and she nods embarrassingly. The crowd disperses as they lose interest in Artemis' lack of basic knowledge.

       She walks past the crowds of people and spots the liberty lady. A green blue looking statue with a candle object in her hand, is how Artemis would describe her.

       Shaking her head, she moves her thoughts to now. Thirsty. Hades said this would happen. That a side effect of world jumping was a case of being parched. She needed water.

      "Excuse me?" She pokes a lady who is wrestling with a young boy that has one foot in a fountain. She glances at Artemis and scoffs. "Um, is there anywhere around here I can get a drink?"

        "I can think of a place that you would fit just right in." She says with a sneaky grin, her eyes looking Artemis up and down.

      "Okay..and that is where exactly?"

       The lady readies herself to blabber our directions but before a word can escape her wrinkly lips, a figure steps between them.

       Artemis narrows her eyes at the man whom is now grabbing her wrist and guiding her away from the lady. It's only when he speaks that she realizes who the unknown body is.

      "She forgot her meds!" Hermes explains nervously to the lady as he directs Artemis behind a tree. Releasing a sigh, he gives her a stern glare. "Are you insane?"

     Artemis arches a brow, "Uh, no?"

     "Sure seems so," he runs a palm over his head before sighing once more.

     "Hermes, what're you doing here?" Then a thought flutters inside her. "Did Zeus send you to kill me?" She doesn't work to hide the worry.

     He briskly shakes his head, "No! Well, he did send me but not for that."

       She releases a breath of relief that feels well overdue.