"You thought only to tell me this now?" Beatrice asked, a slight annoyance in her tone. "Why have you been making transpondence with-- never mind, you already explained it..." She sighed. "Thank you for being transparent, I guess?"
Artemis was downcast, ears draped against the side of her face. "I... I'm sorry I did not tell you earlier. I wanted to make a proper decision before..."
"Why tell me now?"
"I... I just wanted you to know the stakes. I'm... considering what she has to say."
"And? What's your decision?"
"I... I have two days left... I... I think I'll get to something in that time, but at the moment..." Artemis shook her head. "I'm not sure."
"I-it would be real bad for me if you left..."
"I-I know... I'm trying to think of a situation that benefits all of us."
"You're not gonna go with her?"
Artemis shook her head. "No... I don't think I will, but... I also don't want to face her."
"If you leave with her, you wouldn't have to watch me anymore... You wouldn't be conscripted under Jackal... why not? Why won't you escape with her?"
Artemis' face dropped, showing an expression of concern, ears drooping to the sides of her face. "Would you... Want me to go?"
"Isn't it annoying?" Beatrice paused, biting her nails. "L-Looking over me? You... you don't have to do this if you don't want to. She... if anything... isn't this an opportunity?"
"Then what about you? What'll happen to you?"
"W-What do you...?" Beatrice chuckled. "I don't know... but..."
"I don't want to leave you alone."
"W-What? What am I? A child?" Beatrice snickered.
"No, but... you're my friend. My first friend. I don't hate watching over you. So..." Artemis placed her palms under her ears, averting her gaze. "I don't want that. I don't want to leave, not like this."
"Isn't it a burden?"
"No..." Artemis shook her head again. "Why would it be?"
"Well..." Beatrice let out a long sigh. "So you want to stay, huh? What are you thinking of, though? What if you have no choice? What'll she do if you don't choose her? She isn't like you, who is looking for an alternate scenario. She's probably fully ready to kill me for herself if given the chance." Beatrice visibly shivered at the concept, but attempted to keep her composure.
"She would..." Artemis whispered to herself. "She would try to fight me as well."
"She's smart. She isn't dumb. She's been trying to reach out to us to prove good faith... but that can change on a dime. Do you want to save her, or fight her?"
"Save... I want to save her."
"Why? Is it because she is like you? You relate to her? You see each other as family? Is that why you want to save her?"
"No... I... partially. I... my reasoning is much more selfish, I believe." Artemis swallowed. "I... I see where she's coming from. I don't want her not to get the option I was offered. I was offered an opportunity for a second chance; I believe she should be offered the same opportunity."
"I-I would like to remind you. She did mutilate a student of the Academy, y'know? Are you sure you want to give her a second chance? Are you sure that she deserves what you got?"
"Do I deserve what I was offered?" Artemis sat down on one of the nearby couches, rubbing her face with a hand. "I don't think I deserve this."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't deserve to be here."
"I don't agree--"
"But... giving up because I have done wrong once in my life is running away, no? Even if the life I have now is taken from me, I believe those to be the consequences of my actions following me, but I would not wish for those around me to be dragged into my misfortune. As long as others do not repeat the mistakes I have made, I cannot be angry about what I have lost. I would not be angry. I have done bad things. Do you judge me for what I've done? Or have you given me a second chance?"
"Were you not practically brainwashed by the Imperium, though?" Beatrice paused, considering her following words. "I..." She huffed, frustrated. "I wish for you to have a second chance. I... I like you being around me."
"Escaping with Kumi is me running away, no? That's not a second chance."
"Then... what is her 'second chance'?" A beat, "What would you say should be her second chance?"
Artemis put her head in her hands. "I don't know..." She groaned. "She has a dream... I... I want her to find love..."
"O-Oh yeah..." Beatrice scoffed. "So that's what that was about, huh?"
"What do I do?"
"I don't know..." Beatrice contemplated silently, eyes searching for an answer. "I... I'll think of something, okay?"
"You'll help me?"
"We have to get her away from the Benejestria, yeah?" Artemis nodded to Beatrice's question, and she continued. "I'll think of something. Why don't you go and talk with her a bit more? Is she older than you?"
Artemis's crystal blue eyes locked with Beatrice's emerald eyes. "I... I don't actually know..."
Beatrice sighed. "Let me know how that turns out."
"S-Should I meet her now?"
"Yeah! Go!"
Artemis nodded in affirmation to Beatrice's demand, leading the dorm room, leaving Beatrice on her own.
Beatrice sighed, resting her head in one of her hands. "Why am I so fuckin' sentimental?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Artemis found Kumi later atop one of the campus's buildings, huddled up within the shadows, eyes closed. "Your guard is down..." Artemis whispered to herself, approaching Kumi, whose eyes shot open to look at the large Emoren woman.
Kumi searched for an explanation for Artemis's sudden appearance, noting how her soldier friend held herself before asking outright, "How did you find me?"
"You weren't exactly far from where we last met up."
"I suppose not... what do you need?"
Artemis was somewhat surprised by Kumi's guarded attitude, but it wasn't unreasonable that she would, as the days crept closer to her own decision. Artemis sat beside Kumi, staring up at the blue sky above. "How old are you?"
"What?" Kumi chuckled in response.
"I'm twenty-three."
Kumi thought about it for a moment. "I believe I'm a couple of years older than you."
"Really?"
"Yeah." A beat. "Speaking of ages... have you ever had a birthday party?"
Artemis blinked, searching for an explanation to Kumi's question within her expression but finding nothing. "No?" Second time that's been mentioned tome... She thought back to Selavi briefly.
"I want to have a birthday party... I heard they're fun... people celebrating that you've actually managed to live another day. People normally do that, y'know? Have birthdays, celebrate life... hug, kiss, love..."
"You seem to have more dreams than you've let on..."
"One at a time," Kumi smirked. "Sorry if I'm not in the most... optimistic mood."
"It's understandable."
"Have you come to a decision yet?"
Artemis shook her head. "I have an idea of what I want to do, though. I want to find a third solution."
Kumi chuckled, looking over at Artemis with a look of sympathy. "Artemis... sometimes... There isn't a third option, y'know?"
"I'm aware... but," Artemis paused. "It couldn't hurt to look, right?"
"I guess not..." A beat. "Did you learn about love?"
Artemis shook her head. "No... I... I still don't get it, but... the movie we watched was super fun! The movie was called 'Killia's Last Day Above', and it was sad."
"Did it make you cry?" Kumi showed a wide smirk to Artemis.
Artemis shook her head. "No, was I supposed to?"
"Aw..." Kumi snickered. "Well, whatever..." Then, she paused, keeping her gaze on Artemis. "Have you ever cried? Have you ever cried before?"
Artemis stared out at the Academy, pondering on the question, rolling her tongue across the bottom row of her teeth. Her jaw tightened as she spoke, "There have been times when I wished I could have cried. Every time I've wanted to, no tears have come out. Maybe I'm all dried up of tears. Cried them all when I was a child."
"We're still children, in a way. We're all just grown children stumbling in life. Us specifically-- children forced into conscription, children not allowed to be kids. Kids should be allowed to be kids, Artemis."
"I agree..."
"What is your earliest memory in those facilities they put us in?"
"Hm? W-What is my earliest memory?"
Only one memory played out in Artemis's mind. A small, five-year-old girl wearing sunglasses, looking at themselves in a mirror, wearing a magenta dress dirtied and caked in mud, dried blood staining the upper collar. They hadn't bothered cleaning up her clothes from wherever she had been picked up, nor bothering to remove her from said clothes.
It could only be assumed that Artemis had been within the facility for four months. She relayed this to Kumi, who could only smile in sympathy. "That's fun, at least."
"It was the first time I wore sunglasses, and the last."
"For me..." Kumi gazed up at the sky as a cargo ship passed by overhead. "My first memory was-- you had to kill one too, right? A brother, or a sister?"
"A brother for me. Yor'tik in ancestry."
Kumi nodded. "It was an Elf for me. I remember the blood on my blade and the stains on my hands. That was my first memory-- it made my stomach churn. Thinking on it now... it still does."
"Remembering what I experienced... I... I remember how scared I was." Artemis's hands shook, and in an attempt to comfort herself, she began to wring her hands together.
Once again, she thinks back on it, eyes searching for something as if the very same scenario was playing out in front of her, all over again.
They took an unsteady step forward, the small, hairy young man with a blade in his hand looking at a young Artemis, eleven years old, with a blade in hers.
Artemis hadn't learned how to speak, her mouth hanging helplessly as words failed to escape her lips, leaving only a garble of sounds as she attempted to find her voice.
The boy was larger than her and more knowledgeable, leaving her at a disadvantage, it was then that she finally felt fear, heart racing, stomach tensing, hands shaking, tail whipping violently as each step backward could spell her last with one unsteady misplaced placement of the foot, too far onto the balls of the feet, too far inward, every thought was going at a 100 miles an hour as the young man before her rushed forward, pressing the advantage.
When you're scared, no one tells you how the throat constricts, sweat beads run down your brow, your hands feel as if you're touching static, as the base of your thumbs aches wildly-- god, the chills you get, how cold and clammy you get, and how hard your heart beats as your nose burns.
It becomes a blur, the adrenaline making everything feel more like a dream than a palpable reality, but when eyes lock wide on a pool of maroon seeping, leaking from the neck of the once living, iron pricking at your nose-- god, the stench. One doesn't usually understand how putrid iron smells when it comes from a living body until there is a high concentration left out in front of them, the fermenting scent permeating the brain and eliciting fight-or-flight responses widely, it feels like you can't breathe, you're being constricted by guilt, palm reddened, matted like paint upon one's skin the luster of a blade no more.
You wouldn't even notice at that point that you also were injured in the exchange, a knife stuck in the arm, you could even feel the jutting anomaly wedged into your muscle fibers and tendons, sharp, painful. And the adrenaline wears off…
Artemis, after a few seconds had passed, finally took a breath. She gasped, blinking madly before shaking her head. "Artemis? Are you okay?"
Artemis blinked, snapping her head around to look at Kumi. "I-I apologize... yeah... I agree. It's..." She nodded.
"Guess you got it bad, huh?"
"I don't know..." Artemis struggled to speak, her voice sputtering out as she leaned against the wall behind her. "As I can recall... that was the first time I could think of wherein I cried. I cried a lot until I was fourteen, I think."
Kumi stood up, not saying anything at first. Artemis's eyes were kept on her, watching as she subtly swayed against the wind, hitting the massive tower of Lumanbell's Academy. Kumi then looked down at Artemis, smiling. "Two more days." She spun on the balls of her feet before vanishing with her cloaking device.
Artemis could only bring her attention back to the sky, the ship from before drifting through the air, slowly disappearing over the horizon, and past the clouds that hung low in the distance.
"Beatrice..." Artemis spoke up, re-entering the dorm room.
"Yeah?" Beatrice was tinkering with a drone set out on a coffee table. "What's up?"
"I need a favor... I know that you didn't want to get directly involved in any of this, but... I..."
Beatrice kissed her teeth, brows knitted tightly against each other, nose wrinkled. "Gods damnit..." She groaned, scratching her head. "What do you need?"
"Th-The program... the program Jackal has. The reason why he was able to bring me into his Rehabilitation Program is that your father backed me. He didn't care for my life, but he knew that it guaranteed your survival if I were to be your guard, so when Jackal went to him with the offer, the Duke chose you over himself, over his reputation."
"Where are you going with this?"
"The easiest way to convince the Planetary Commission to take someone into the Rehabilitation Program is if that person gets backing from a higher force. That can be a noble, such as the President of a company, etc. W-Will you help me? Can you help me vouch for Kumi?"
"W-What!?"
"I-I... If she is put into the Rehabilitation Program, at the very least, she would be safe from the people who wish for even you to be dead. She'd be protected. It would mean war if the Benejestria, her present benefactors, were to act if she were brought under the Planetary Commission, officially. This is my solution. The program is designed to rehabilitate, so why not give another traitor the opportunity? From one traitor to another. I was taken in, so why can't she?"
Beatrice sighed. "A second chance." Then scratched her head.
"She has shown that she wants to change. She could've attacked us more directly ages ago. She could've hurt us ages ago." Artemis looked out the window of their dorm room. "She had given me a bit of a timeline to work with, and she had implied that she's been on the Lumanbell Academy's grounds for most likely months now. She had ample opportunity to make a move, but instead, when she saw that I was by your side, she gave us a warning before the approaching storm. Can we not give her a second chance? It makes sense why she is going so far... I..."
"You apologize to me because you know that you're going to need my word, yes? My word to get this to pass? Are you really sure about this, Artemis?"
"I am sure..."
"Maybe she isn't as accepting? By all accounts, she's technically a Knight. A Knight going this far, attempting to convince you to be on their side...?" Beatrice scoffed. "There's no way that she, of all people, can be so easily convinced. That's just moving owners to her, no? Look... I don't agree with how things are now, either. If anything, I agree with her somewhat, but that doesn't change that she's a Knight. I've known Knights, and they're stubborn bastards if they're set on a goal, whether it kills them or not, whether or not it's pointless. Kalleck's wife... my brother's wife, she was a Knight. The most stubborn woman I've ever met."
"Would I also not have been a Knight at some point? If I can be convinced of something, I will change sides..."
"Are you doing this because you two are similar? You both are Sangilo?"
"I will not deny that I am being selfish. We haven't known each other long, but... I..." Artemis's voice shook. "I... I... I don't want to be alone. Simple as that. If we cannot convince her to join us, then... that's fine, but it doesn't change the fact that our goals ultimately align, no? I-I... I believe we should take the chance."
Beatrice sighed. "Regardless... yeah, I thought of the same solution a couple hours ago, honestly."
"W-What?"
"More like, I didn't want it to be the only solution, but since we're here, there's no point in mulling on it further." Beatrice, frustrated, scratched the back of her head again. "I'll... I'll do it. I'll send a message to Jackal, and on the day we need to make our decision, we'll both go to convince her, alright? Jackal will probably be there to help, too."
Artemis's ears fluttered. "T-Thank you..."
"Anyways, you looked stressed as hell..." Beatrice paused, scanning Artemis. "Go get some rest, I'll..." She rolled her eyes, "Talk with Jackal."
Artemis nodded attentively, heading over to her room, leaving Beatrice on her own in the living room. "Shit. Am I being too nice?" Beatrice rubbed her face, sighing to herself as she clocked in on her holo, connecting with Jackal, who didn't answer at first, causing Beatrice to elicit a groan from her throat.
Once again, she tried to call Jackal, and after a couple of minutes, he finally answered. "To what do I owe the pleasure, dear Beatrice Holden?"
Beatrice sighed, "Yeah, hey. I wanted to speak with you cause that massive guard of yours learned to have an opinion, and to make choices on her own, so I was wondering if you could do us both a favor."
"Beatrice Holden herself is asking me for a favor. Well... what is this favor? I'll assume that you're willing to go decently far given that you have contacted me directly like this, yes?"
Beatrice shrugged on her end, "Yeah, fuck it-- where are you anyway?"
"I'm currently handling some business with the Commission President at the moment on Sanctum." Jackal paused, sounding as if they had begun to speak to someone outside of the call for a moment before speaking up again. "What do you need from me, little duchess?"
"I'm not a-- Artemis wants help in getting the uh... the Assassin on my back into that RJC organization you have set up."
"Oh? Really? And you approve of this?"
"Not exactly, but..." Beatrice rolled her eyes. "Fuck it. Aren't you looking into recruiting Maidakan, that rebel?"
"I have... tried. They... we'll save that for another time." Jackal paused. "Following in your brother's footsteps, yes?"
"They want to change. They could've tried killing me a long time ago, I believe... like... maybe it'll be worth it. I don't know. You need strong people. If we convince her to back down and join your little organization, she could be an essential asset, no? You speak in what benefits you and what doesn't, and two Sangilo is better than one, right?"
"Hm..." A beat, "Your father will not like this."
"Who gives a shit about what he thinks? He abandoned Ronova when she needed him most, so... y'know... fuck it!"
"Alright," Jackal chuckled. "If you happen to convince them, of course, I will be more than happy to accept them as one of ours."
"Awesome! Now... what do I need to do?"
"Ah, yes! Well... I would prefer it if you were to get a tad more involved from henceforth-- Of course, I will attempt not to cut into your Academy time, but I would love you to have you be an official part of the RJC with Artemis and your possibly new Sangilo friend."
"That's it?"
"Well, I'll especially be needing you soon, but I will save it for after you have dealt with your present 'assassin' situation."
Beatrice scratched the back of her head, slumping into her chair. "Okay. Fuck it! I'm sayin' that a lot today." Beatrice cupped her face with both hands. "I... Y'know... I always wanted to never be 'in' this business, yet I was already in from the start, right? If the assassination attempts weren't enough fuckin' evidence..."
"Well, a deal has been struck. It is time for you two on your end to make your move."
"Thanks, Jackal." Beatrice blinked, her eyes previously lit up, signifying that she had hung up on Jackal from the holo built into her head. Beatrice sighed, "Okay... Artemis!"
Artemis exited her room, dressed in a loose gown. "Yes?"
"We're good to go!"
Artemis's face lit up, ears fluttering. "Thank you for speaking with Jackal! Without my armor, I lack a method of convenient communication, so..." Artemis took a deep breath, bowing to Beatrice. "Thank you."
"It's whatever... don't make me regret it."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The meeting point was set-- the Academy's Opera House, Breinhen acting as a pseudo-hostage, tied up against a chair as Kumi sat on a piano bench at the other end of the room, Artemis and Beatrice entering the room.
Beatrice spoke first, "Are the theatrics necessary?"
"Please get me out of here," Breinhen begged, tired of this situation already. "Why am I being subjected to being bound like this?"
Artemis stepped forward, "Kumi, we're here... I... I guess we'll start negotiations properly?"
Kumi chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose we will. Glad you didn't bring an armada here. Though... it isn't as if I hadn't prepared for that." She shook a controller within the palm of her hand.
"Well, we didn't... because I wanted to have a proper discussion with you. Properly discuss what our next steps should be."
"I can think of what you're thinking of proposing to me. I'm not exactly interested in being conscripted under a new force, yet again."
"Then... let's just... talk... first. There's no reason to rush straight into the negotiations themselves."
Beatrice rounded Kumi and Breinhen. "We just want everyone to get a good ending, y'know?"
Kumi's gaze darkened as she scanned the two. "I... I am unsure whether you realize how dangerous this situation is. Well... I'm sure Artemis knows, but Beatrice... you seem awfully relaxed."
Beatrice flinched at her words. "No reason to be hostile towards one another, since the end goal of this is for an alliance."
"Alliance?"
Artemis cut back into the discussion, taking another step forward, closer to Kumi, Breinhen being close to her, bound. "I think you misunderstand, Kumi."
"Misunderstand what?"
"We can be allies. We can have a third solution. One that can have some difficulty, but compared to the other two, I believe it is the option where we both can get what we want... we can get the new world that you desire."
"Can we now? So... you plan on me becoming a part of this bizarre rehabilitation program you all have going on? Is that your plan?"
"I just want there to be a better solution. We don't have to run, we don't have to kill each other--"
"And once again, I have to swear loyalty to a force higher than myself. If Jackal isn't the master, then how about the President's daughter? How about the President herself? Is a corporation better than a Monarchy? Or is it just the same-- a different label to place onto myself?"
"Jackal wouldn't make us do that... he wouldn't force us to commit the atrocities we had already committed."
"How are you so sure? More often than not, corporations stomp on people. Their petty battles between flocks of mercenaries that destroy, committing crush jobs all across the planet, making everything below Lumanbell practically unlivable. You such up to this noble girl, why? Why follow this young lady here?" She gestured to Beatrice.
"I... I follow these people because I believe that in their hearts they hold kindness... that they are strong-willed, and because I know the real reason why the RJC was created." A beat, "We... we aren't some organizational force-- a mercenary group beneath the grasp of the Planetary Commission, ALTAQIA-- we aren't that... we aren't... we wouldn't be slaves. I am not a slave. We have the potential of being treated like... like actual people amongst these people. These people, begrugingly or not, like to treat us like people. Because those are the types of people they are!"
"Why are you so confident in this? You know, compared to you, as an Assassin, I at least was explicitly trained to have proper interactions with others! To be social, to know trends, what about you? Were you trained for that? How are you so confident? No shade on you, Beatrice," She gestured in that moment to the noble girl before turning her attention back to Artemis. "When all the cards are down-- will she put her life on the line for you?"
"That's not the point of this."
"You'd be thrown under the bus as the Imperium threw us away! The Commission throws people away all the time! Especially its pilots! Isn't Jackal a pilot!? Who's to say that this 'RJC' wouldn't be thrown away without a moment's notice next!?"
Beatrice took this opportunity to speak up once again. "It's because the one who is funding us isn't the Commission President, but instead is her daughter. Esha Chakrabarti. It's on Esha's head. In fact, from what Jackal has said, he isn't even the RJC's real leader; he is a de facto leader under the direct command of Lakshmi Chakrabarti's daughter in the flesh. Of course, she can't always be there to command the RJC at all times, as she is the CEO of Humanumechanica. I... I think this should speak on our credibility at least a little bit..."
"Is that supposed to mean anything to me?"
"It wasn't just Duke Holden that allowed me to be freed from my captivity." Artemis continued. "It was also Esha Chakrabarti who sealed the deal to my release. It is why now... I was free from the Imperium's influence... and now... I'm a guard for a noble, not a soldier, a simple guard."
"Anything else?"
Beatrice switched out with Artemis again. "I don't know how much it would help her credibility, but... I think she's the best thing that could happen to the Numen Solar Cluster at the present moment. She's my best friend. She has directly assisted my older brother in previous operations to Batthia to support innocents and aid during the lowest points of the Atfalan Republic's reign over Batthia. She... Esha isn't a bad person."
Kumi put a hand through her hair, a long sigh leaving her lips. "This is all anecdotal... why should I believe this...? There are plenty of charitable companies that have a dirty record. I've killed... corporate entities that had a dirty record wherein, on the surface, they were kind... generous... charitable."
Artemis took another step forward, and Kumi straightened her posture, tail whipping cautiously. Then Artemis spoke, "But it's the only hope we have from where I'm standing!"
"Yeah!? Under another organization-- we're still conscripted! We become mercs!"
"And what of your plan!? Would we also not be in the same situation!? Say we escape, Kumi... just us two! What do we do then!?"
"We steal the nearest cargo ship, and we make a break for it. We go off planet. We're powerful! We are strong together! There wouldn't be anyone capable of stopping us!"
"Yet we would be hunted almost immediately! The instant we defect, we're hunted down by the entire Solar Cluster! We are what we are! We have to accept that!"
"It wouldn't be immediate; we wouldn't be able to leave the planet immediately. Of course, we find those in the world like we are. Gather up our forces, get ready to go! We can keep hidden! We can disappear into the Undercity!"
"And if we can't gather enough forces? Where would we gather the resources necessary to eat, sleep, survive!?"
"We rob military depots, stores!"
"And then we fall back into how we were before! We end up doing the same things with a different text or flavor! And then, inevitably, we will fall! We need more than that! We need backing, Kumi!"
"I refuse--"
"Kumi!" Artemis's voice cracked, her whole body shaking, overwhelmed with more emotions than she had ever felt in her entire lifetime. "You are so blinded by this idealistic reality that you've concocted that you can't see through the fog that has formed in front of you, created by your biases! I-I know I barely understand... I-I know I..." Artemis's voice shook, "I-I know I barely understand how the world works, but I know when a plan, in the long run, isn't sustainable!"
"At the very least, I won't be under the command of the morally bankrupt authority of today! I'll be free! That's the point! That--"
"But will you be able to achieve your dream with that!? Will you!? 'Freedom'! You speak of freedom, but isn't being on the run just another form of imprisonment for us!? For people!? We can't be normal after that! We can never be normal! But at the very least, we can aim for an everyday life! Just... join us! The RJC isn't some organization curated to be under the Planetary Commission as Hounds or Dogs, not like how we were before! The RJC was curated to gather up the right individuals, the people determined enough to make a difference. This isn't about rehabilitation! This is about rebellion! But through this way... You can at least achieve your dreams, right?" Artemis's eyes looked glossy, her voice straining against her screaming.
Kumi couldn't respond, just frozen in place, thinking about what her following answer should be. "Rebellion...?"
"I don't care about it!" Kumi's eyes widened, "Because this negotiation isn't about that! This is about you, me, and our dreams! This is about giving us both the opportunity to actually live normally! It's slow, but at least there is hope there, no!? We'll still go on jobs, but at least we won't leave them, morally bankrupt like the other Hunter-Killers before us, the other Assassins before us-- the Mercenaries before us! You called me 'sister'." Artemis paused, her breath hitched, and tears started forming around her eyes. "I want a family! That's my dream! I want to at the very least be a family with you! I want us to be a family! A proper family! That's what I want! My dream isn't to make songs! My dream isn't for world peace! My dream is to love and have a family! To learn what that means! What does it mean to have a family, what does it mean to love!? I want it so... so... bad. That's why I've come here... that's why I've come to talk with you today... so-so please..."
Artemis fell to her knees, hanging her head low.
"Give me the opportunity. I am at my most selfish I've ever been... and in my selfishness, this is what I desire... I..." Artemis paused, almost breaking out into tears. "I... I never realized until I ended up here... being a guard for you... Beatrice..." She tilted her head in her direction. "I... being alone hurts... and when you found me... and when you reached out to me, Kumi... I felt relief. I'm not alone. I don't want to be alone... I don't like being alone. Being the outlier."
Kumi sighed, head hanging low. "And... how are you planning to do that? How do you get me out of this? Out of the grasp of the Benejestria?"
"I don't know... b-but... if I managed to get out... can't you?
Kumi sighed again, scratching her head with the detonator in her palm before crossing over to Artemis. She sat on her knees, meeting Artemis just below her chin, taking a hand up to her eyes, wiping away the perspiration that was forming. "You can get quite emotional, can't you, Artemis?"
Artemis couldn't respond-- deep in her heart, feeling somewhat defeated that she had fallen this far, that she had lost her composure. It felt good, though... the emotions that she had built up for almost twenty years of life-- at least some of it, being expelled partially in this moment.
"Okay... I'll do it. Honestly, I figured it would've been the best method from the start. I'm just a little scared." Kumi smiled.
"I'm always scared, I think."
Beatrice let out a long sigh of relief, crossing over to Breinhen to free him. "Glad that's over..."
Breinhen shared a sympathetic look with Beatrice, and the two warriors sat across from one another as Artemis dropped to the floor with Kumi. "Well... that's a good resolution, yeah?"
Beatrice glanced at the two, "I guess... better than nothing." Beatrice scoffed, moving to leave the Opera House.
As Beatrice began to leave, Artemis embraced Kumi, both of them holding each other in this moment. The room paused, Artemis's tail flicking from side to side. "Hugs are warm..." Artemis said meekly before standing up, following behind Beatrice.
Kumi chuckled, standing up as well, following behind the others as Breinhen caught up with Beatrice, commenting, "I get to go home finally."
"Y'know, I forgot you were a hostage for a second." Beatrice shot back.
"Is the detonator real?" Breinhen asked, looking over his shoulder to get a look at Kumi.
Kumi shook her head, pressing the button on the detonator to show nothing would happen. "I was bluffing. I'm a lot easier than you all thought, huh?"
Artemis giggled, keeping closely behind Beatrice.
"I... Thanks for this opportunity. I had a belief that maybe... maybe it'd end this way. It isn't exactly what I wanted but... It's something. You're definitely right, Artemis. No reality existed where I could deny that."
"Yeah..." A beat. "I hope we can get along from now on."
After taking a few steps, they heard a sound of something wet behind them, and then silence. Artemis's ears fluttered, and she spun around, realizing that Kumi hadn't responded. On the floor, splayed out before the group, was her corpse, neck matted with crimson.
Artemis grabbed her helmet, quickly slipping it over her face and turning on its built-in thermal vision before wrapping her arms around both Beatrice and Breinhen. The other two barely had time to react, unable to even understand what had happened to Kumi herself as Artemis locked in on the position of Kumi's murderer.
There were two assassins the entire time. The Benejestria had made a contingency plan. A contingency plan that would fail, as Artemis discovers them, their shields coming alight as the assassin's blade bounces off the nearly invisible force protecting her.
Slicing through the air once more, it bypassed the shield momentarily, grazing past one of the shoulder plates of Artemis's armor. Artemis shoved Breinhen and Beatrice aside, situated herself just in between them and their opponent. They both increased in speed by an incredible amount, and the battle officially began as Artemis swung her fist at the assassin, using her off-hand to grab the knife attached to her lower back.
The assassin was faster than Artemis, narrowly avoiding her swing, and with her knife, she lunged forward, but she couldn't strike true as her blade was met with their own shield as well. They were Sangilo as she was, but they were loyal to the Imperium's cause.
She has killed her own before; this will not be the last time she will have to do so.
Artemis ducked low and, during her enhanced state, tackled the assassin, creating distance between them and Breinhen and Beatrice. About thirteen meters away from the other two, she slammed the assassin into the ground. Artemis pinned the assassin to the ground; she had them where she wanted them.
The assassin flailed helplessly against Artemis's hulking body as she held them against the floor. The two fought against each other, scrambling, clashing their weapons, and grabbing an arm to pin them down or to shove their blade out of the way.
After a long struggle, steam bellowed out from the Spinal Pauldron of the assassin, and in a sudden burst of strength, Artemis was sent crashing through the wall beside them, kicked off. In that moment, they made a break for Beatrice and Breinhen now that they were not being restrained by Artemis any longer. Artemis stood back up, lowering her stance before rocketing forward, propelled through the expelling flux from her Spinal Pauldron, and along the way, she managed to nick the assassin's back, but barely digging deep enough to create a significant wound.
Just as quickly, however, she caught up to them, reeling an arm back. The assassin ducked, her fist swinging overhead, the wind rushing past the assailant's body. Once again, the assassin attempted to run, and Artemis stabbed straight into the back of their calf, causing them to stumble over, almost falling on their face, before making a sharp turn, throwing themselves out the nearest window.
As they fell, they lashed themselves to the side of the building, and Artemis followed, lashing herself as well. An exchange of blades, one slashing the other, the assassin is easily put on the back foot by their inferior endurance. They needed to pick up the pace.
They brandish a new blade, one similar to Artemis's make, and once again, another exchange began. Like a whip, their arm blurred as they shot forward, creating a massive gash in Artemis's arm, and without her noticing, another strike had met her thigh.
Artemis's blood dripped off the side of the building, down to the ground below, which sat almost thirty meters in the air. Artemis glanced to her side as she saw colors shift past the Academy windows, showing Beatrice escorting Breinhen away from their duel.
Once again, Artemis tackled the assassin, crashing them through the wall below, lashing them back to normal gravity as they spilled across the floor. They rolled across the ground, Atremis slashing at the Sangilo Warrior before her, but they dodged out of the way just in time.
Artemis dipped forward, kicking the assassin in the stomach, forcing them to hop up onto their feet, and Artemis followed the momentum, using her knife to cleave off the arm of the assailant, blood spraying across the walls around them.
Artemis was in a daze, panting wildly as she swung her blade against her target. She's losing composure by the second, and in comparison, the assassin was eerily calm, but that made no difference, as instead, the bubbling rage within Artemis had only honed her senses further, entering an almost trance-like state.
Wait, we should have the same type of speed implement? How am I losing to her speed right now? The assassin thought to themselves in that split second just before their head was concaved by Artemis's fist, driving their body into the wall across from her. Their body spun into a classroom, blood pooling across the marble flooring below.
Her breath was heavy and slow. She didn't even bother to check if they were dead, just spinning around, lashing herself against the side of the building, and back up to the floor Kumi's body was on, landing in the hall, eyes locked onto her friend's lifeless eyes.
Artemis crossed over to her and stopped, unable to say a word.
Finally, Artemis's legs gave out from under her, and she fell beside Kumi's body. Artemis let out a soft sigh before looking out to the vast, blackened expanse of the hallway before her, left behind.