roadrunnermuses | meme } { open rp post

There are actually a lot of different answers to that question, though Sam can't really think of any that would use technology to do it. All the same he did as he was told and climbed into the car, reaching for his phone to send Dean a quick text to check in. The last thing he needed was his brother to run into this guns blazing.

"How far are we going?"

"Not far," Artemis replied, a little intentionally ambiguous. After all, she didn't know who or what he was texting. And she did have to keep her people safe.

But she felt he was trustworthy.

Artemis had a heavy foot and drove quickly, expertly navigating the twists and turns of the LA streets until she found a sideroad, running along a wooded preserve.

With one hand, she reached over and opened the glove compartment, shoving aside half a dozen CDs of showtunes until she found a gold chain. Hanging off of it was a pendant, a sunburst. She tossed it to Sam. "Put this on."

He catches the chain easily, studying it carefully for a moment, before doing as he was told. "What does it mean?" Just in case it was cursed or enchanted or something.

"It means you've been vetted by Artemis Seth," she said, with the slightest hint of a smile in the corners of her mouth. "And believe me, that's saying something."

As he would soon see.

"Consider it a visitors' badge."

The trees along the lefthand side of the drive gave way to an iron-wrought fence. It encompassed a compound of nearly forty acres. Much of it was forest, but there was a gently curving drive, from where the gates opened, leading up to an enormous mansion, set about half a mile from the road. Artemis pulled up to the gate, lowering her window and keying in a four-number code.

"Who's there?" a rough voice with a Irish brogue asked from the speaker.

"It's Artemis," she replied. "And I've brought a guest. A Mister Winchester."

There was a click and the gate swung open.

Visitor's pass. Okay then.

He stays silent for the rest of the drive until he reaches the mansion and his eyes widen a bit. It's not quite as large as the library from what he can tell, but still, it's a rather impressive property.

"Do you live here?"

The mansion was old Hollywood. The outer facade was old and worn, although a lot of the surface was covered by ivy. To the far left of the circle drive leading up to the front door was a paved basketball court. A flock of teenagers were playing a game of horse, barely paying any attention to the car as it drove up.

Artemis stopped right in front of the entryway. As she got out of the car, an Amazonian redheaded woman appeared on Sam's side of the car, pulling his door open for him. She eyed him suspiciously, but said nothing.

"Take the car to the garage, Elsbeth," Artemis said, walking over to Sam's side. "There's cargo in the trunk for the lab." She pointed to Sam. "He's with me."

Sam climbs out of the car, trying not to look too suspicious, before moving around the car to stick close to Artemis. It seems to be the safest place for him to be at the moment. He also doesn't needle at the fact that she didn't answer his question. He's sure that will possibly come later.

With an obedient nod, Elsbeth walked around the car, squeezing into the driver's side and started it up. She cast Sam one final, mistrusting glare before driving away.

"Don't mind her," Artemis murmured to him, as she started up the front steps. "She doesn't trust anyone. And for good reason."

With that, she threw open the front door. The inside of the mansion was immaculately clean. It was marble and shining wood. Directly in front of them was a winding staircase, leading up to the second floor landing. A third floor's balcony was visible above them.

The entryway was open, leading to dozens of other rooms. There were a lot of people moving around, talking in small groups, gathered around books and file folders. The most striking thing about them was that they all looked young, no one over thirty. The second was that they were all wearing matching amulets, half golden sun and half silver moon.

"Man of letters," Artemis said, "welcome to the Order of the Silver Crescent."

Sam takes all this in as they go, remembering the paths and twists and turns so that he can find a quick exit if he needed to. But once they arrive in the main room, he has to stop and take it all in if he can.

"The Order of the Silver Crescent?"

"Mmhmm."

Artemis stopped, to let him stare as much as he wanted. She never ceased being proud of what she'd built in the middle of a no man's land, with only Liam and Diana to help her.

Where there once were only three of them, now there were more than three dozen. In addition to the children and tweens living in the carriage house.

"Bit of a silly name, really," she murmured. "But I'd rather be laughed at than taken seriously. Better element of surprise."

"What do you ... do exactly?" Sam's never heard of them, and he's been pouring through the old archives, trying to figure out more about what exactly is out there, how much these men knew.

Artemis gave him a Cheshire Cat smile. "We save the world," she replied.

Clucking her tongue, she started to walk up the stairs, gesturing for Sam to follow.

On the third floor landing above them, a tall, dark man appeared. He looked down at the two of them coldly. At the top of the stairs, Artemis turned her face up to him. She rotated her hand several times, before giving him an elaborate and incredibly sarcastic bow. With a grunt, he turned around, disappearing from the balcony.

Sam fights the urge to laugh at that. Sam has saved the world. He has to be curious what this particular group is doing. He almost asked, before he got the cold stare from the man on the balcony.

"He seems fond of you."

Observant. Then again, one didn't become a man of letters by being a village idiot, she supposed.

Artemis folded her hands behind her back, staring up at the balcony, where Liam's shadow lingered still. Dark blue and purple. Royal colors. Sad, lonely colors.

"That," she said, "is Princes Liam Stephens. Benefactor of the Order. He's cross with me right now. Personal. Not business."

And without a moment of transition, she nodded her head down the hall. "Come along. I'll show you the library."

He nods slowly at the explanation, before turning to follow her lead, glancing around as they go. "This place is very impressive."

"The Order's been here since the early 1800s," Artemis told him. "Some faces come and go, but there's been enough consistency over the years that we've been able to amass a significant portfolio of investments to fund things. Liam is particularly good at playing stocks and bonds."

As they walked down the dark hall, young people moved out of their way. Some of them bowed their heads to Artemis. Others smiled or waved. All of them peered curiously at Sam, whispering as the two of them passed.

Artemis slowed down a little bit, leaning in closer to Sam. "If I talk to you like this," she whispered, "they'll think we're planning something."

It was far too much fun.

He grins a bit at that, before nodding. "Got it. Total conspiracy." He can totally play along with this game, all the while amassing all the information he can. Whatever this place is, it's impressive. He'll have to see if he can research it later.

Laughing softly, with her mouth closed, Artemis continued to limp down the hall. At the far end were a pair of double doors, one of them slightly ajar. She pulled that one open, stepping aside to gesture Sam in.

The library was an enormous room with two levels. The first level was nicely crammed with bookshelves and tables, covered in papers and tomes and items of varying states of decay. In the corner of the room was a spiral staircase, leading up to the second floor. It was more or less a balcony surrounding the bottom. The walls up there were nothing but bookshelves, filled with nothing but books.

The lights were dim. The room was more or less empty, except for two twenty-somethings, sitting at a corner table. Clearly, they'd been doing research, judging from the number of books around them. And clearly, they'd lost interest, since they were busy snogging each other.

Artemis cleared her throat firmly. The guilty-looking couple pulled apart. "Two of my field agents," Artemis muttered. Then she jerked her head toward the door. "Out."

There was no telling them twice. The embarrassed couple was up and rushing for the door.

Sam was too busy focused on the amount of books around them to really care about the couple that was making out. Sam and books have a very special relationship. If Dean was here he would be mocking him for it right now.

"This is ... amazing."

Sam Winchester: one track mind.

If Artemis had any doubt about his claim, about being a man of letters, that put it to rest for the moment. Yes, he was a younger, kinder, much more interesting version of Charles Something-or-Other.

And there was something else. Artemis couldn't quite put her finger on it. Something about what she'd seen in his aura. Yes, he was worthy of further study, to be certain.

"Feel free to have a look around," she told him. Who knew what she could glean from whatever drew his interest? "The lab reports will take a while to come back. We seem to have an abundance of time on our hands."

Edited 2013-10-07 02:43 (UTC)

Sam smirks a bit before turning to face her. "You sure about that? Because I disappear into those stacks, and I may never come out again." It's a real problem. That much is certain.

Artemis carefully sat down in a chair, lifting her leg onto the seat of another. "I wish all my operatives had your enthusiasm," she said. "A lot of them are less than interested in the research parts of our work."

She rested her chin on her fingers, watching him carefully; both his exterior and his aura.

"How is it that you're a man of letters? Because I know your kind was killed off in the 1950s."

"Actually, they weren't." Sam isn't sure how much he really wants to tell her, since they're in the saving the world business and all, he figures it can't hurt to share a little. "They just went into hiding - or the survivor did, at least."

"Hiding," she repeated. She said the word like it tasted sour in her mouth. Artemis had little patience for that sort of thing. She held other world savers to a high standard. A very, very high standard.

A self-sacrificing standard, sometimes.

"Well," she said, resting her chin on her fingertips. "We'll put you lot to use again." It was meant as a compliment. In her Malkavian way. "The world could do with a few more thinkers."

Edited 2013-10-10 12:37 (UTC)

"Yeah," Sam retorts. Honestly, he can't blame the guy. After dealing with Abaddon himself, he can understand why they never wanted to be anywhere near the supernatural again. "They were researchers. Analysts. They weren't ready to take on something like Abaddon when they summoned her, and when you're the only one of your group left, you get a ... weird sense of self preservation."

But that's ... not what he's here for.

"But I agree. Sometimes if people thought a little more, the world might be a little easier to live in."

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