Author's Note: This Alternative Universe because I put Artemis in a medieval setting. This is probably set in the sixteenth century or somewhere around there, you can decide for yourself =D Also written for a picture in the 15minuteficlet community in LiveJournal.

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He knew they were afraid of him. Everyone was afraid of him. He could never really cope with it though, with the longing feeling of wanting to be normal. But I guess that's how all stories go, eh?

Artemis stumbled slightly as they climbed the spiraling staircase inside the medieval stone tower. They had been walking these steps for at least an hour now, and he had lost count of how many steps had gone by under his feet. The tow men in charge of bringing him to his new home were big and burly and not the nicest people ever. He then tripped, being kept up by the strong hand clasped on his shoulder. He let out a small cry as the stab wound in his shoulder was forced to shift painfully. They didn't seem to care as they brought him to his feet again, forcing him to walk again.

The young man was in his late teens, handsome for his age no doubt. But his intelligence scared the peasants around him. He knew more the lords and ladies did, and they were imprisoning him for it. He hated everyone by now - his parents, his "friends". They had all betrayed him, putting him in authorities unjust grasped.

He stopped for a moment, resting against the cold, rough wall of the tower for a moment. A fist came slamming down in the middle of his back, forcing him onto the steps for a moment before they yanked him to his feet. Artemis scowled, muttering profanities under his breath as he continued to walk.

His clothes were dirty with both grime and blood; having been in the local town prison for over a year living on the stale bread and table scraps they delivered him through the bars. Students from various colleges all over Ireland had come to study him, to see what made his intelligent mind go. Artemis had lashed out at them if they tried to prod or touch him. He was very sensitive.

Soon enough the royals found him a threat to the well being of their kingdom. He could command armies, regions if he wanted to. He had the mental ability. He just needed the power. The kings and queens of the land were positive he was planning an assassination upon one of them in the sanctity of his little cell.

Artemis laughed at this idea when the little boy from the village told it to him through the bars of his window. He laughed for several moments until he lost his breath. Him, assassinate the kings and queens he once looked up to? Hardly.

The guards took his laughing from that moment on as insanity. They hit him; they beat him to the ground, anything to suppress him physically. Because when he was hurt, his mind was more concentrated on the wounds and not his mental mind. He lay in the same spot for hours, silent tears from his cobalt eyes every so often.

That's when the Lord of the state came to visit him – the next day; He looked over the boy with a scowl, saying to the guards that this was a "fiend" a "supernatural creature". He had practically condemned the young man as being a vampire. No one could blame him, however. He did look like one. With his moonlight pale skin and haunting gaze one just wanted to drive a stake through his heart. No one was ever brave enough to bless him with such a murder, though. They left his well being to the dim-witted guards around him. "Well being" is not what I would put it at however. He was never "well."

It took a few months to debate between the royals and lordships what to do with the prodigy. What to do with the person that was smarter than all of them combined? They only had once choice: to lock him up. Perhaps let the students from the colleges visit him, and study him.

So they decided on a tower that oversaw the Irish landscape. The most beautiful view for the most condemned person. Artemis had seemed to shut him down when the village boy taught him that. He didn't respond and the table scraps piled up for the rats to eat. He watched as the thin rodents devoured the apples and meat.

Only when they had come to transport him to his new confined space did he find his right mind again. He struggled and lashed out against them, nearly choking on of them to death inside his cell. They put multiple chains around him to contain him, before loading him into the Royal carriage and off towards the college's castle where he was too be kept.

So here he was. Climbing the steps. It was in view, now. The heavy oak door where he would be locked up behind. His steps slowed for a moment until the two brutes forced him to walk quicker, to meet his fate at a faster pace. Artemis was reluctant as always. He didn't consider fighting though. They ere at least two hundred yards from the ground below, and he knew they wouldn't resist to throw him over and see his body become a mangled pile of flesh, blood, and bones. Not a pretty sight.

Artemis watched as one of them unlocked the door and swung open the door to reveal the bare stone room with a small slit of a window where the sunlight of the setting golden orb shone in. He bit his lip. So, this was his home now? There wasn't even a bed. Not like anyway cared.

The chains around his wrists were released and he was knocked in, sliding against the stone floor uncomfortably. He sat up slowly, looked up to the window-slit before looking at the doorway. He only saw a brief smirk from the man before the door slammed shut leaving him the abyss.

Artemis sighed and pulled himself to a sitting position.

"Mercy, mercy," He chanted to himself. "Please, give me mercy." He directed his words to the window, hoping there was someone out there to listen to him.

Up in the heavens the angels looked sadly upon the boy, wishing him better luck the rest of his life.

Would that luck ever come, though?