The Moon's Shine (PJO)

Chapter 6

"So, what exactly is a restaurant?" Artemis inquired as she followed Percy through the dreary Manhattan streets.

"You really are uncultured," Percy mumbled. He picked up a crushed soda can on the sidewalk and threw it into a nearby trash can. Immediately, most of the passersby looked at him weirdly.

Lady Artemis' eyes whirled with anger. "What did you say?"

Percy panicked; she wasn't supposed to hear that. "Er . . . um . . . mortals eat at restaurants."

Artemis huffed, caught up to him, then shoved him hard, but then appeared to be satisfied. "Humans can't cook their own food?"

"They can."

"Then why don't they eat it?"

"They do."

"Then why go to restaurants?"

"I don't know. Probably to take a break from the food they're making."

"It isn't the same?"

"No," Percy said. "There are different styles and types of food. Sort of like . . . the difference in weapons."

Lady Artemis nodded as if she finally understood at least one of his explanations. "Then . . . can't mortals just make that food?"

"They can. But it takes effort."

"So instead they take the effort to go to a restaurant?"

Percy sighed, annoyed. Ever since Lady Artemis had teleported them to the middle of Manhattan, she'd been non-stop asking him questions about random things, like why New York City was called the "Big Apple" (Percy didn't know) or why people had a weird obsession with almost-fully-built-with-glass-buildings (he didn't know either), and now, why people loved restaurants. (Spoiler: he didn't know as well.)

"Have you ever been in the mortal realm before?" he asked.

"Of course," Artemis replied. "But my hunters usually led me through all the human traditions at the time . . ." she trailed off, and Percy thought he heard her choke back a sob.

Percy glanced at her, concerned. Her eyes were full of unshed tears.

But he wouldn't let her shed a single drop without a fight. 

All of his past efforts would be for nothing. 

"Where are you taking us?"

Lady Artemis paused as if she didn't expect him to ask such a question. "You don't trust me?" There was a dangerous tone in her voice.

"Of course I do, Lady Artemis," he lied through his teeth, bowing his head slightly. Of course he didn't trust her. She could lead him into a shop with hundreds of people, and he'd still be paranoid about the goddess killing him. But he couldn't say that. "It's just that . . . if you're asking me so many questions about restaurants, you should understand that I might have some . . . worries about your choices regarding eating places."

"You should not worry," Artemis sniffed. "I see the full world from my chariot. I might not know why you mortals have restaurants, but I can tell which ones are the fanciest. And in turn, the best."

They turned the corner, and Percy's mouth dropped open in shock. 

"Do you like it?" Artemis asked.

The building she was referring to was about half a block away. Only, there were no other buildings blocking their view, since the restaurant took up the full east side of the city block.

The restaurant in question was LaDebs: the most prestigious, top-of-the-line, fanciest restaurant in the city, if not the state. And this wasn't just Percy's opinion: the passersby were gawking at it in awe, as though wondering how the heck this was in their city, and not grey and dreary and drab like any other building.