Death to Life to Surprise
The rain fell drearily down. Overhead, the lightning streaked the sky with a yellow flash and a tremendous roar ensued. Bent on her knees holding a person was a small fairy with short auburn hair and a pretty face, drenched in a mixture of the rain and her own tears. The boy embraced in her arms was pale, lifeless.
"Holly, don't cry," he whispered, his voice barely managing to form the words. He raised his hand to stroke her hair, but could only manage to hover it for a moment before it fell down and a cough escaped his throat.
"Artemis! That's enough already!" the fairy called Holly said fiercely. "It will be okay… You will survive… I will restore my magic and come back to –"
"Holly," Artemis cut her. "I'd rather you stay… No matter how hard you force yourself to believe you won't make it. Finding an acorn is hard enough and finding the right tree will be even harder. Stay, Holly."
"No… I can find it… I can always go back to the tree…where we first met," the fairy answered, reminiscing of the past.
"Today is not a full moon," Artemis sighed.
The sentence resulted in silence from the both of them until Holly said, "I guess this is goodbye… I never thought I would have to say goodbye a second time after we wiped your memory…"
Artemis smiled ruefully. "Times changed… I never thought either that my death would come so soon, or such a pitiful death it is..."
The two laughed briefly before their two eyes locked in place with one another. Holly held Artemis close to her body as the last of his life force slowly faded away. Her face shook violently and to Artemis's surprise, blue sparks of magic flew down Holly's arms to meet with the bloody wound engraved in his chest. In a few seconds, the hole in his chest was covered up.
"Holly…how can this be…!" Artemis uttered his confusion, his brain instantly setting to work as it no longer occupied itself with sending signals to the body.
As the last of the sparks ran out, Holly gasped painfully and then her head drooped neared his ears.
"Julius…told me once…of a forbidden…spell… If I can…somehow…force my body past its limits…I would achieve…an uncontrollable amount…of magic…at the cost of my life," she whispered softly.
"You…! Damn you, Julius! How can you be so stupid-!"
Holly lightly touched his lips and uttered, "Shh… He has already passed away… Leave him alone, Artemis…"
"Holly…!" he said in grief.
"For now…let us stay this way… For now…let me be with you these last moments…these last few seconds of my life…" Holly replied, her voice barely audible.
Artemis held her. He did not know how long he held her, but even after the rain ended and the sky cleared to reveal the bright sun, Artemis had not move. His two arms were still wrapped around her stiff, cold body and his head laid on her shoulders, eyes closed.
The only thing ringing horribly in his mind was three unwanted words: Holly was dead.
Artemis felt submerged in a strange world. He knew it was not reality. It didn't seem to be anything at all, in fact. It was purely dark, so dark he couldn't see his hands. However, he could feel. He could feel the stabbing pain in his chest like continuous swords pierced into them. He couldn't breathe; he couldn't utter a sound. Artemis was completely annihilated. His plans and past success rained down on him with regret. He should not had involved Holly. He should have never taken an interest in fairies... How foolish he was...
Artemis could hear a quiet sobbing noise. Who, he wonder, is crying? Then he felt the hot tears on his cheeks, and reality rushed back to his mind, forcing his eyes to open. His vision opened up to Butler's muscular, hard face. Butler was shaking him awake.
"Artemis! What is wrong?" Butler said worriedly. "Why are you sobbing in the middle of the night?"
"What...? Butler...?" Artemis whispered, his head slowly turning both sides to check his surroundings. "Where...is...Holly?"
"What are you talking about? Holly was never here. She's back in the Haven with Commander Vinyaya. Artemis...what's wrong?" Butler answered in concerned suspicion.
"I... It's nothing. Nothing at all, just a bad dream," Artemis replied, wiping his wet eyes and composing back to his normal cool self, delighted that it was all just a dream.
Holly wasn't dead after all! He felt the painful stabs of pain in his chest disappeared like fire drenched in water. Just to make sure, though, Artemis contacted her immediately.
"Yes, Artemis? I am very busy right now," Holly picked up with impatience.
"Holly, did Root ever tell you of a forbidden spell in which you can gain unimaginable, but uncontrollable magic with the cost of your life?" Artemis quickly asked.
"Um... No. Why do you ask, Artemis?" Holly answered, taken back by the strange question.
"For safety measures. I will talk to you later then, Holly. I wish you safe on your next mission! Call me if you ever need help!" Artemis said enthusiastically and shut off the communicator.
A new joy bloomed over Artemis's cold heart. He felt strangely excited, jolly, and somewhat…anxious to see Holly's face once again. He should've asked her to visit him when she was done with her assignment.
Holly was completely amazed. Artemis had actually offered to lend a hand…! He's certainly cheerful for some strange reasons...but she never heard him sound so happy before... She smiled as she pictured his expression.
"That can't be it!" she giggled, a bit too loudly.
"Captain Short! What are you doing, not completing your mission!" a voice gruffly shouted at her.
Embarrassed, Holly immediately ran back to her post.
Well, he does have his good points sometimes, she thought lightheartedly.Maybe I'll visit him when I get the chance someday. And maybe...I might even get to see his real smile.