Chapter 2 - Art & Edge
17 Years Later
Artemisia Stryfe dressed quickly, pulling her t-shirt over her head. She smoothed it over her clothes rapidly and tugged on a pair of well-worn jeans and her favorite sneakers. Then she hopped up and over to the mirror. She raked a brush through her straight blonde hair, and tied it behind her in a pony tail. She sighed irritably as she flicked a loose strand of hair out of her aqua eyes, and scanned her room for her bag. She snatched the thing up off the cluttered desk and zoomed down the stairs to the kitchen.
Wolfe was already there, scarfing down a bowl of cereal. Art knew that they were probably going to be late for school... again.
"Hey Edge." Art hailed Wolfe as she sat down at the table. Everyone called him Edge because of his capricious mood swings. Edge for the most part was a pretty easygoing guy, but if you got him angry, you'd better pray for mercy. He was Millie Thompson's son, after all.
"Hey, Art." He replied in greeting, brushing his slick black bangs out of his blue eyes. He looked just like his father, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, or so they had been told by Millie. Wolfwood was dead. Art looked like her mother, save that she towered over her and had aqua eyes and blonde hair; traits that she guessed she inherited from her father. But, of course, she couldn't know. Her mother refused to tell her anything about her father whatsoever.
"You'd better hurry up or we'll be late." Edge stipulated as she reached for a box of donuts.
"Okay." Art said as she grabbed a couple donuts. She bit into one, and smiled, savoring the wonderful, sugary taste. She didn't know why, but donuts were her favorite food. As she finished the sweet treats, she stood and took the plate to the sink.
"At least it's the last day of school. I'm so tired of school." She sighed, grabbing her bag. "Let's get going, Edge."
School seemed to drag on for Art, and she barely stopped herself from climbing up on top of a desk and dancing for joy as the bell rang for the end of class. She had never liked school; she had always felt sequestered and different from other people. However, she revered in her loneliness, and people avoided her anyways, probably because of her unique style and personality. She never wore whatever was in fashion, nor did she care to become a 'cool kid'. She thought they were weird, not the other way around.
It didn't bother her that she had no friends, because she had Edge. He was like a brother to her, and that was all that mattered. She didn't need fifty people following her around all day. Edge knew her and loved her like a sister, so often the two were inseparable.
Today, however, Art walked home alone, because Edge had stayed after the bell to say goodbye to his other friends. Art wanted to get home as quick as possible, so she decided to walk home herself. She was so worn out she couldn't wait to get up to her room and go to bed.
"Hey, Millie!" She called as she walked through the door. Millie usually got off work early on Friday, and went shopping.
"Hey, Art!" Millie called from the kitchen. "Will you come help me put up groceries?"
"Sure!" She called back, dumping her satchel on the couch. She shuffled wearily into the kitchen and began grabbing items off the table and shoving them into their appropriate cupboards.
"Where's Wolfe?" Millie chirped as she stowed away her pudding cups.
"Probably still at school." Art shrugged. "He had a lot of people to say goodbye to."
"Well, what about you? Didn't you want to say goodbye to your friends?"
"I don't got any friends." She scoffed as she stored the bread away. Meryl walked into the kitchen.
"Hey Mom." Art greeted her.
"Hello, Art." Meryl smiled, pushing a strand of her long, dark hair behind her ear. "How was school?"
"Great now that it's over." Art replied happily. Meryl gave her a half smile. Being at the top of her class, Art had always had a tough time making friends. She always said it didn't bother her, but Meryl didn't believe her.
"Well, now you have vacation until next semester." She said, and hugged her daughter. Art awkwardly hugged her back. She was at that stage where hugging your parents was embarrassing. Meryl sighed and turned toward the stove to start making dinner.
Art slipped quickly out of the kitchen and made for the stairs, mounting them two at a time. She skipped the last one because it always creaked, and usually annoyed her. Then she skipped down the hall and into her own room, her 'inner sanctum', and shut the door behind her.
Oddly enough, Art was an amazing artist. Her walls were covered in paintings and sketches of people, places, and animals, among other things. As she sat down at her cluttered desk she pulled out her sketchbook, and turned to the unfinished drawing of her favorite teacher, Mr. Maddock. He had soft features and kind eyes, with mousy brown hair that seemed to have a mind of it's own. She smiled as she thought about him, finishing the last strokes. Just as she was signing her name, Edge walked into the room.
Wordlessly he shuffled over to her bed and flopped down onto it, then repositioning himself so he could watch her work.
"Is that Mr. Maddock?" He questioned, craning his head to see.
"Yeah." She replied, and lifted her finished work so he could see it.
He nodded in praise. "Looks just like him."
She smiled and shut her sketchbook. "I'll miss him. He was really nice."
"Yeah. He almost felt like a father figure, didn't he?"
Art stared off into space for a moment, lost in thought. "Yeah... almost."
That evening, Meryl was lounging on the couch after a long day's work. Meryl still worked at Bernardelli, but since Art and Edge were born she and Millie couldn't travel. So they lived in December, the city where the Insurance Company was located, and she had gotten a desk job there. She was almost glad Vash hadn't popped up anywhere, or else they might have sent some idiotic newbie out to track him down. And that was the last thing she knew he would want: more insurance girls.
Meryl was still meditating on these thoughts when Art strolled into the room and headed for the stairs. But instead of going up she stopped short, and turned slowly to face her mother. She hesitantly sat down in the chair opposite.
"Hey Mom?" She fidgeted in her seat, and wouldn't meet her eyes. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course, Art. What is it?" Meryl replied, stifling a yawn. She needed sleep...
"When are you going to tell me... about Dad?"
Meryl sighed heavily and sat up. She did not need this right now.
"When you're older."
"You said that years ago!" Art protested furiously as her spitfire temper surfaced rapidly from her seemingly innocent facade.
"Well you're not old enough, yet." Meryl sighed again, and her violet eyes dulled. She hated fighting with her daughter about her father. If she could only understand that Meryl wasn't ready to tell her yet.
"Why won't you tell me? I'm seventeen! I deserve to know! Edge knows about his father!"
"Edge is not my son!" Meryl growled, her own fiery temper surfacing. "I will not tell you until you are old enough to know, and not a day sooner!"
"Ugh!" Art shrieked, and stomped up the stairs. Meryl collapsed on the couch, holding her head in her hands. She flinched slightly as she heard Art slam her door with a deafening bang. Millie slowly entered and mutely sat down next to her best friend, rubbing her back softly. They sat in silence for a long time.
"You'll have to tell her someday, Meryl." Millie whispered softly, hugging her.
"I know, Millie, I know..." Meryl said quietly. "Just... not yet."
The next morning, Art didn't show up for breakfast, but the rest of the household carried on as normal. If Art wanted to be alone, then she was best left alone. But by nightfall that evening, it was just getting ridiculous. Meryl trudged up the stairs wearily; she did not anticipate the next fight that was sure to take place, but nonetheless she had to face Art sooner or later. Upon reaching her door, she knocked gently, and called Art's name.
There was a scuffling from the depths of the room, and Meryl heard something fall over. Before she could even call out, the door was wrenched open just enough for Art to stick her head out into the hall. Art herself looked strangely stressed and exasperated; her hair was a mess and her aqua eyes were wide and fearful.
"Are you alright?" Meryl questioned the teen uncertainly, trying to glimpse the inside of her room. Art pulled the door closed further, until Meryl could only see one of her brilliant aqua eyes through the sliver of the gap.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She said too quickly, a hint of hysteria in her voice.
"Artemisia, what's wrong?" Meryl demanded. Art tried to shut the door, but Meryl shoved it open. She tumbled inside, and her hand flew to her mouth.
Art's right arm had sprouted feathers.
"What? How...?" She stuttered. Art bolted toward the door and slammed it shut. She then turned back to Meryl, her aqua eyes panicked and afraid.
"I woke up with it like this this morning." She said speedily, tumbling over her words. "What's wrong with me?" She was visibly shaking now, and Meryl didn't hesitate in pulling her into a hug, feathers or not.
"Nothing's wrong with you. We are going to get rid of these feathers, all right? Now don't panic. It's all going to be fine."
"I have feathers! How is everything going to be fine?!"
"Hush!" Meryl said sternly. She put a finger to her lips, silencing the frightened teen. "Right now, we are going to focus on making the feathers go away, alright? It's perfectly natural. I'll explain everything to you in a minute." If I can. Meryl thought to herself. What had she expected? She knew this was bound to happen one day. Art was half Plant after all.
Art tried to calm herself down as she stared at her feathers. Following her mother's instructions, she concentrated on making them disappear, until eventually they receded back into her arm. She collapsed into her mother's arms, feeling suddenly weak and fatigued. Meryl cradled her daughter close to her, rocking gently back and forth.
"It's okay now... it's alright..." She cooed, stroking her daughter's hair. She knew that she couldn't keep Art away from her father any longer... she needed him. He could teach her how to control her powers; how to mask them from the world. Meryl knew she couldn't even possibly hope of achieving such a task, but still she felt a bit torn about sending her daughter out to find Vash the Stampede.
"Art?" She began quietly. "You are half Plant."
Art started, and snapped her head up to look into her mother's calm, violet eyes.
"What?" She whispered in shock.
"You're half Plant." Meryl repeated, and looked away. "Your father was a Plant."
Art sat up now, and gawked at her mother. "I'm half Plant?" She gasped in awe. "How is that even possible?"
"Your father was an Independent Plant. I traveled with him for many years, before we both went our separate ways."
Art sat in silence, listening with rapt attention. She was rigid as a board, and her knuckles were turning white from gripping her seat so tightly. Nevertheless, Meryl went on.
"I knew someday you would need to go and find him, because of your powers. You will need to learn to control them, to use them. Your father can help you."
"Where will I find him?" Art demanded shakily, trembling with anticipation. Who cared if she had feathers or that she was half Plant? She was finally going to meet her father.
"I don't know... he travels all over."
Her heart sank.
"How will I ever find him?" She complained.
"He's not hard to find..." Meryl stopped short, and but her lip.
"Who is he?" Art cried out in annoyance as the silence dragged on.
Meryl cast her eyes down toward the floor, and twiddled her fingers nervously in her lap.
"Your father... is Vash the Stampede."
Next chapter is longer, I swear! Anyway, this chapter is kinda filler, just to get a hold of all that's going on here after 17 years, so sorry if it's a bit boring... next chapter is longer and more interesting, I promise... Solemnly Sworn, Jayrynn
Anyway, please review! It lets me know how I'm doing and what you think of my story! PUSH DA PRETTY PURPLE BUTTON!!! XD