When Things Fall Apart

Chapter Thirteen

Artemis sat on a rock looking at the letter she received four years ago. She always kept it in her pocket for reassurance. There was always the part of her that wanted to keep looking for him, but she knew it wasn't the right thing to do. This was the closest thing she had to remembering him. She remembered afterwards, how Olympus went into disarray. She never showed them the whole letter, but she was able to make Zeus call off all of the task forces looking for him.

Percy had gone from the hero of Olympus to the bane of it. Zeus knew there was nothing to do but hope he never found his way anywhere near him.

She stood up from the rock and walked back to camp.

"Ladies, attention." All the girls stopped what they were doing and listened to Artemis. "I am going somewhere, and I won't be back till later tonight. Thalia, you're in charge," Artemis spoke.

"Where are you going, milady?" asked Ariadne. Artemis didn't know what to say.

She sort of lied. "I am going to take a personal day today. I haven't seen what is going on with recent mortal affairs, so I am going to go and, um, check it out." All of the girls looked at her with suspicion, but they knew better than to push it any further.

And then she was off.
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knock knock

Artemis was in New York City, standing outside of an apartment. The door was opened by a middle-aged man whose hair was slightly graying.

"Hi, what can I do for you?" he asked her.

"Is Sally Jackson home? I need to talk to her," Artemis told him. The man opened the door.

"Uh, sure. I'm Paul by the way. Come on in," he told her. She stepped inside to a small, but quaint apartment. It looked decent for a family of two. She looked down and saw baby toys and a rocker. Make that three.

"And, what's your name?" he asked.

"Artemis," she told him. His eyes widened. Paul was no stranger to Greek mythology, especially after the war with Kronos, where he sparred with and defeated a dracaenae. He stood there for a moment, thinking intently about ever word he said to her.

"I'll let her know you're here. She's with the baby right now." He scurried away.

Artemis stood on the welcome mat for a couple seconds, and then Sally came out of a room.

"Lady Artemis," she welcomed, giving a slight bow. "Please, take a seat." She ushered Artemis towards the sofa, and then sat in the reclining chair next to it.

"What brings you here?" she asked. Artemis noticed all of the pictures she had of Percy when he was little. She inwardly smiled. He was a cute kid.

"Has Poseidon talked to you recently?" Artemis asked in response. Sally seemed to straighten out a bit with concern.

"No, he hasn't. But then again, neither has Percy." Her face fell to a frown. "Is he alright? I haven't seen him in years. After Annabeth died, I never saw him again." Her eyes were on the verge of tears.

Artemis thought about how she should say this next part. "As far as I know, Percy is alright." Sally's face looked relieved. "However, he has found himself in a lot of trouble."

"What did he do?" she asked.

"There's no good way to put this, but, he went into Tartarus and killed the Titan who killed Annabeth. And by kill, I mean he made him fade," she told Sally. Sally looked like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"He made a Titan fade? Is that even possible. And please tell me he's not stuck in Tartarus," she pleaded. Artemis tried to relax her body. She wanted Sally to think things were somewhat okay.