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Artemis could easily say she missed Larry.
She hadn't seen the man in ages and she had lost count of the days and weeks a while ago. And now that she and the rest of the museum needed him, he was seemingly nowhere to be found.
She had spent many nights expressing this to Ahkmenrah, whom she had only grown closer with, and (at the beginning) he had said about how he was sure the ex-nightguard would return soon enough, but that reply grew unsteady and he stopped making excuses on Larry's behalf.
So when she woke one sunset to see him standing amongst the waking exhibits in the foyer, it was safe to say that she was pissed. He could've easily returned at any moment, and with the kind of status that he had now, he might've even been able to possibly prevent what was happening.
"Gods, you bastard." She cursed striding forward angrily, before swinging her fist back, then straight into his nose.
Larry let out a cry and Ahkmenrah moved forward to grip her arm, pulling her back.
"It's alright, love." He spoke, in an attempt to calm down the goddess. She could feel his thumb run over her skin and she took a step closer to him.
"Larry. Look, I'm glad you're here, I really am, but why? You're late. We've waited months for you," Artemis said, her breathing going a little more steady. "But you just decided to ditch us. And don't make up some bullshit excuse about being too busy cause we both know you easily could've made time. It's your company."
"Yeah, I'm sorry. I really am. But you gotta cut me some slack here, I've never had so much work like this, there's so many people that were buying my-"
"What about us? You have magic here, you have adventure, you have people." She sighed. Larry stood silent, not knowing what to reply.
"I missed you." He smiled. Artemis looked down, trying to conceal her smile.
"C'mere." The man said, opening his arms and she moved forward to hug him.
"I missed you too. But I'm still annoyed at you."
"So what's going on? What's happening? I had no idea."
"Indeed. A lot has transpired, Lawrence, since your last visit. One would say that-" Teddy began, but was soon cut off by the sound of Larry's ringtone. "Cricket." He murmured as the ex-nightguard help up his finger and took the call.
"Hey, Bocephus! Little help over here!" A shout came from one of the boxes. Artemis smirked to herself a little, she knew that the last place Octavius and Jed would want to be was being trapped in a box.
"Hey, fellas. How you doing?" Larry said softly, lifting the lid off the box. Clearly, he was expecting the same warm welcome he had received from Teddy.
"Well, lookee here. If it ain't Mr Big-in-the-britches himself, come back in time just to see us off!" Jed called, brushing himself down and stepping up to the edge of the crate. Octavius stood quietly next to him.
"Yeah, Jed, I know. Look, I don't even know how this happened." He sighed, before holding his finger up again and reaching for his ringing phone. Artemis tilted her head to the side, crossed her arms and furrowed her brow.
"Yeah, yeah, real mystery how this happened." Jed started, holding his hands in front of him. "Maybe the answers on that buzzing box there in your hand... you weren't here, Gigantor! That's how it happened! Ain't no mystery!" He shouted, and some of the other exhibits nodded in agreement. Octavius raised his finger, nodding.
"The fact is, Larry, there was no one to speak on our behalf during business hours." He added. "None, none, dumb-dumb." Spoke the Easter Island head, setting the caveman off into excited shouts.
"Hey, guys, it's okay. I'll call the board in the morning. I got some pull now. We're gonna be okay here." Larry said in an attempt to calm the group. Artemis sighed and Akhmenrah wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"We? You hear that? You hear Daydream Johnny? There ain't been a 'we' since you put us on the 'pay no mind' list. And that's a cold place to be, boy." Jed hissed, Octavius stepping forward. "Larry, what's done is done. Even the glory of Rome had to come to an end." He spoke, his eyes drifting.
"Would you please not look dramatically off into the distance when you say that? It makes me feel worse." Larry complained.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Where are you looking? Where are you looking? I'm right here."
"Larry, look. I know think you might be able to fix all this, but look around. Those that are leaving are packaged up and made ready to go. Rather than potentially wasting time on what might not work, shouldn't we be saying goodbye?" Artemis said, stepping forward.
"Come on, I thought you'd be on my side here. And besides, this is the Smithsonian we're talking about! It could be not that bad after all." Larry's response was met with a chittering from Dexter.
"Come on, you don't know that."
"Lawrence, please. These are emotional times for all of us. Artemis is right. This is our last night as a family, I don't want to see it squandered in self-pity. So who will join me, for one final stroll in these hallowed halls?"
Teddy gathered his group and began the final walk. Ahkmenrah looked to Artemis, who gave him a small smile and reached for his hand. He took it, and they began their own wandering through the museum.
Hello, everyone! I'm so sorry that getting this chapter up has taken the longest of times, but I assure you I have some great plans for this book! Hope you enjoyed it!
