Chapter Text
Artemis wasn't the type to freely show her emotions. Not since Endenary SMP anyway. But right now, she wanted to scream. She wanted to scream her guts out in anguish.
But that was being weak. That was letting your opponent get in your head.
That was not what Red and the Watchers had taught her.
Weakness was to be exploited.
And Artemis wasn't weak. She couldn't be weak.
So instead she wanted blood. She wanted that crimson, metallic liquid to be spilt, and her holding the sword that was damned. She wanted someone's head on a spike. That someone being Faye. But alas, not all dreams were destined to come true. For Artemis had let her emotions take control of her, and had failed, pathetically failed (a voice awfully like Red’s oh so helpfully supplied), to kill that poor excuse of a changeling.
Once again, that was not what she had been taught. She needed to do better.
And she did. Omen, although acting as a scapegoat, was a perfect opportunity that had unexpectedly blossomed. She channeled that rage, and waited for the perfect time, like a serpent, to strike.
And THAT was what Red and the Watchers had taught her.
She wanted to laugh. Laugh joyfully as she made the watchers proud. Laugh as she found an outlet for her emotions. Sure it was manic, but did Art really care at this point? She knew what she was.
But she wouldn't let Kay see that. She couldn't let her pure, sweet, sibling, see what her sister has become.
So she bit her tongue, insteading using its silver to stop the Red-name that was out for her blood.
Then she finally went to the cave, acting as if nothing had transpired. She walked in and laid down beside the dogs and Marcel, and curled up on the floor, enjoying the familiarity that brought her a sense of peace as she finally fell asleep.
★—————————————————
He hated being alone. Well that wasn't completely true. He liked not having to deal with other people because it exhausted him, he liked having space to himself and he liked being stuck in his own thoughts. What Marcel hated was how he didn't know what to do with himself when Artemis left to do their own stuff.
He wasn't mad at her though, because how could he be? It's not like they wronged him, they just- disappeared sometimes without warning. . .
Marcel had no idea for how long he had been crawling in the caves. It was very easy to get lost and stuck there underground but the sounds of his and Art's dogs barking made him come back to reality before he started spiraling in his own thoughts.
He felt his heavy eyes trying to forcefully close more and more the closer he got to their little hideout. Eventually he found his way to their home, if you could even call it that, and he went to lay down near their dogs. His vision immediately went dark as he drifted away to sleep.
★—————————————————
“You failed.”
A voice echoes in Art’s blank, partly conscious mind. Followed by a painstakingly familiar laugh.
“You FAILED Artemis! AGAIN!” The voice says, slightly hysterically.
Suddenly the scene begins to shift, and she sees the Void. The same void that Artemis had to stay in after each game.
But it wasn't Art that was in there this time.
Pure rage bubbled in Artemis as she stared at the new setting in front of her, followed by a sharp intake of breath.
It was Blake, curled up in the middle, eyes shut, trying to block out the scene — an all too familiar one to Art — that was playing around her.
“BLAKE!” Art yelled feebly, praying they could hear her. But it was an idiotic, utterly foolish, hope.
“She can't hear you.” Red said simply, making Art’s head whip around.
Red was standing beside Art, exactly as they remembered them. Shaggy, almost shoulder length red hair, covering the two missing eyes, with an oversized vermillion-shaded sweater. And they were staring at the scene disappointedly.
After a moment, they spoke with a slight sigh.
“She's suffering because of you, Artemis. You failed. You let *her* into YOUR OWN GAME. You believed *her* act!”
Red said with a slight tsk, eyeing Artemis, who had turned back and stood, paralyzed, as she stared at Blake, her own aunt, in the same horrid place she suffered in for so many time frames. She too watched memories. Memories of her failings. Memories of her deaths. Memories of Kay’s deaths.
Over. And Over. Again.
And now her own aunt was in the same position, and she couldn't even do anything about it.
“And even now, you were so weak you couldn't even make the person who did this pay….”
“I MEAN THE STAGE WAS BASICALLY SET FOR YOU!” They added with another hysterical laugh.
“And despite it all, you STILL. FAILED!”
“SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP” Artemis yelled, fury burning in her eyes and shaking as she tackled Red, but they disappeared, laughing maniacally, leaving Art laying on the floor.
Nearby, Blake let out a small sniffle, and shifted slightly.
Artemis screamed.
She punched the blank floor in agony until her knuckles were as red as the cursed sweater.
She held back a sob, and curled up on the floor beside Blake.
★—————————————————
Marcel jolted wide awake from the gut wrenching scream and immediately sat up. He was a light sleeper but that didn’t prevent the feeling like he got hit with a firework to the head whenever he got up. His ears were ringing and his vision was blurry, it didn’t stop him from seeing his friend screaming her lungs off and hitting the floor though.
He took in a jagged breath and crawled over to Art and put his hands on her shoulders. Trying his best not to hurt her, but still with a little bit of force, he attempted to pull her back so she would be facing him.
“Hey, hey Art are you there? Please wake up- Everything is going to be okay, you’re safe. Everyone’s safe, it’s all okay. . .” Marcel’s voice was raspy but still managed to sound sweet and caring.
Art let out a shaky breath, and a few moments later her eyes flung open, staring panickily at Marcel. There were tears threatening to spill from her eyes, and she did her best to not let that happen, taking deep breaths.
His expression had already turned into a concerned one when she faced him.
He sighed and adjusted himself to sit in a more comfortable position, his hand still resting on one of her shoulders. He could smell the copper in the air so he searched Artemis for any wounds, eventually noticing her bloodied knuckles.
“Ouch that looks bad-”
Artemis didn't reply, simply staring at the bloodied knuckles in silence, her brain still running a million miles an hour.
“Okay um- uh- give me a second-” he stood up and staggered his way to their supplies.
He came back with bandages and sat down next to her. Sighing again as he slowly took her hands, peeking at her face. He frowned, and trying as gently as he possibly could, he cleaned the wound and wrapped the bandage around her knuckles.
Artemis had sat up from her lying position by now and was sitting with her back leaning against the wall. She felt Marcel take her hands to patch them and nodded in gratitude. Despite Marcel cleaning to wounds, she felt numb to their singing. She merely held out her hands, unwavering.
The moment was filled with silence. Comfortable silence.
After a few minutes he was done with his fine work and he took a moment to admire it. Marcel realized that now that he did that he didn't really know what he could possibly do.
“Sooo. . . You’ve been busy?” The master of small talk pointed out.
“Yeah.. a little bit.” Artemis replied with a shaky breath. She was calmer than previously, no longer on the verge of breaking down, but her emotions were still at a high amplitude. Her breathing still remained shallow as the nightmare continued to plague her mind.
She wasn't sure what to say to Marcel. Explaining everything would surely make her start crying. And she hated crying. She hadn't cried since Sorrows End, and she wasn't planning on starting anytime soon. It was a sign of weakness, of being pathetic, and no one tolerates that.
But thoughts of what Faye might do, especially if Marcel wasn't aware of such a threat, made an icy chill of dread run down her spine. She had to tell him. For his sake.
“I uh… found out some not great news…” Art says with a slight laugh at the understatement.
“What um- what is it?”
Art took a deep breath, readying herself mentally, before she began to speak.
“You know Blake, right? My aunt. I've mentioned her a few times.”
“I do, what about Blake?”
“Well…” Art takes another breath.
“The “Blake” that's here isn't really Blake. They’re posing as her. They're a shapeshifter.”
“Oh that's. . . That's not good is it?” he replied, biting his cheek and staring at the floor, fidgeting with his thumbs.
Artemis chuckles humorlessly, even bitterly.
“No… no it's not. While they’re here, my real aunt is suffering. She's trapped. And I can't do anything about it while I’m in the game.”
Artemis takes another sharp breath, a pained look in her eyes as she looks down at the floor.
Marcel pondered as he looked at Art once more. “Maybe if we end it you'll be able to? I- I don't really remember how it works but I'm pretty sure it's possible to do something if we finish the game?” he queried, making the word ‘remember’ feel heavy as if it was hard to say.
“We either need to die, or to win. Dying is simple, just throw yourself into lava a few times and that's it. But that allows that imposter to do whatever they want.” Artemis pauses as the thought of Faye killing Kay enters her mind, and she shudders.
“It lets Faye win. It shows vulnerability. Us winning, on the other hand… Well, that's not as easy. But it shows they don't have control over me just because they have Blake. If they want a game, then thats what they’re going to fucking get,” Artemis says, her voice laced with raw, unfiltered rage towards the end.
All he could reply with was a simple hum in agreement. Marcel went to look at his hands again, still fidgeting. His eyes were heavy and he felt oh so exhausted. His face turned into a combination of worry, confusion and hurt as he thought of something.
“Why. . .” He slowly started but immediately after that he inhaled sharply, regretting his life choices just then. “Or you know what- nevermind- it's uh- nothing. . .”
“What is it?” Artemis asked. Now it was her turn to wear a concerned look on her face.
She also couldn't help but notice the exhaustion on Marcel’s face, and guilt engulfed her. She had woken him up. How pathetic was she? She couldn't even deal with a simple nightmare. Something that pitiful got her so out of sorts that she had to disturb her friend.
He debated silently on how he could phrase his question without sounding desperate. It has been lingering in the back of his mind for quite some time now and felt like he needed some sort of reassurance.
“Where did you go when you left?”
His tone was now more stern as he furrowed his eyebrows. It wasn't his business really, it's not like he was her parent or anything but. . . He needed to know, needed some sort of explanation.
A reason why she kept leaving him.
Artemis looked baffled at such a question. Sure she was away a bit more than usual but… Marcel sounded hurt.
He deserved an explanation.
“I confronted Faye. You saw us talking. But during that I uhh… I got Boogie. I tried to kill them.” Artemis says with a sigh, and anger flashed in her eyes again.
“And I failed. Pitifully. My emotions got the better of me. I had to come up with another plan. And I did. I uh, killed Omen, to get rid of the curse,” Artemis adds, the last part quieter.
He looked even more confused, almost the same way when he saw a baby zombie riding a chicken. The story wasn't adding up, because why would it? He didn't remember going out but he didn't remember a lot of things.
Marcel hated how easily he forgot everything. The only memory he could rely on was the memory of other people. How could he tell if they were telling the truth though? Everyone could so easily feed him lies and he would just go along with it because he just didn't know what happened.
Was Artemis lying to him?
That didn't feel right.
Why would she lie in the first place?
Art was his best and only friend so she couldn't just lie to him about what happened knowing his memory problems. But she has been disappearing more and more and for longer periods of time without saying a word. At least he thought it was getting longer.
“Right. . .” he murmured almost completely to himself.
Concern flooded into Artemis as she observed Marcel’s reaction. They didn't seem convinced. Despite the explanation, they remained apprehensive.
They never had doubts about her before.
The one person Artemis never deceived.
Artemis could be unwilling to talk about something, not mentioning anything regarding the subject, but if Marcel ever confronted her, she had always spoken her mind.
So what happened?
“We should. . . We should go back to sleep. . .” He said putting the leftover bandages back to their chest.
There wasn't much more to say so he laid back down, next to their dogs and Artemis.
Marcel usually hummed a song to help him sleep, but right now? He was too tired and overthinking everything to consider doing it. They laid there in silence, the only thing making sound was the popping lava pool that was close to their place and the dogs breathing.
Artemis couldn't help but notice how Marcel didn't hum this time, and sighed, running their fingers through their hair. Guilt still weighed them down.
So she decided to hum a song for the two of them herself.
It was a song she had heard a long time ago. It came almost naturally to her.
“What am I fighting for? Whose side am I on? Lost everything in the crossfire~ witnessed the wreckage and dawn.
Say it enough and you start believing, they will tell you that its righteous, keep your chin up in the crisis,
Say it enough and you start believing,
And the glory and the justice,
They will drill it into your head.
Ain't no crying till the war’s done.
Ain't no crying ‘cause the fighting's just begun,
No crying till the sun comes~ till the sun comes up till the sun comes up”
Marcel took a deep breath and they eventually fell asleep.
They didn't see the small tear that slid down Artemis’s face, before she shut her eyes, taking the lyrics to heart.
The war she was fighting had only just begun. And the sun was far from rising.
But for her best friend, for her aunt that was suffering, and for her sibling, she will win it.
And she won't cry. Not until it's done.
She took a deep breath, and fell asleep amongst her best friend and their dogs.