Notes: Hello again everyone, good to see you, well I guess I can't really see you. (OR CAN I!) Really though, I know its been awhile since I've uploaded anything. Work has been kicking the crud out of me lately. 8 and a half hour shifts, 6 days a week none stop, we can't even get any extra days off around the holidays as of late.
Well enough of me complaining, I'm sure that's not what you're here for. As I'm sure you likely know, this is chapter 3 of Artemis. This is a slightly shorter one than the last two, but we learn quite a bit about our name sake character in this chapter. Do note that this chapter has not been proof read yet so do bear with any mistakes you may find.
Please remember to leave your thoughts and feedback in the reviews. It helps out a lot and lets me know that you care.
This story was proof read by MartunaMajor.
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. Or your soul. (YET!)
Artemis Part III: The Other Half
When Pyrrha hugged her mother and told her goodbye in Thessaly City she felt determined, after a few hours on the flight over to Patch however, that determination waned. By the time she stepped off the plane, she had become apprehensive. Then once she had made it through customs, she had begun to doubt. So by the time she had exited the building and Lin had brought their rental car around, she was in full blown panic mode.
"I'm not sure about this." Pyrrha declared as she took her seat in the passenger's side of their rental car.
"What? This car isn't that bad is it? I mean, it's a slightly old model, but it looks like it's in better shame than my car at least." Lin said.
Pyrrha sighed. "I'm not talking about the car Lin."
Lin laughed. "I know that, just trying to lighten the mood."
"Gees, you're impossible." Pyrrha huffed.
"So," Lin began. "What is it you're not sure about?"
"Nothing, everything, I don't know. This all just feels so sudden, I don't know if I'm ready." Pyrrha explained.
"I don't think anyone would be ready to find themselves in your situation Pyrrha. I sure as hell know I wouldn't be." Lin retorted. "However, you and I are different. Even if you're not ready, you can still handle this."
"Oh, how do you figure?" Pyrrha asked.
A bemused look came over Lin's face before she replied. "Umm, because you're Pyrrha Nikos, duh." Pyrrha rolled her eyes. "I'm being serious here, how many times have you gone into a match knowing next to nothing about your opponent while they've spent all the time leading up to it studying you like their life depended on it?"
"Nobody really does that right?" Pyrrha said earning her an incredulous look from her manager. "Well it doesn't matter. This isn't the same as a fight."
"Well you're certainly right about this being different. In most cases a fight is a desperate struggle that usually results in one party winning and the other losing. In this case however, I know with certainty that you're not trying to defeat your mother and sister. I would also wager a guess that they wouldn't want to defeat you either. There would be no benefit in that. Which means the best case scenario, would be one in which everyone comes out on top. You get to have them in your life, they get to have you, and everyone gets to be happy in the end." Lin explained.
"And how do you suppose we achieve that?" Pyrrha asked.
Lin shrugged. "Got me kid, there's a reason that this world has such a long history of war. People are different, that's just fact, and sometimes those differences cause conflict. If you want to make as many people happy as possible, you'll have to find a middle ground. Something everyone can latch onto."
"What if I can't do that?" Pyrrha inquired.
"You may not be able to," Lin admitted. "You can't please everyone all the time. Don't get me wrong, I think it is perfectly okay to give it a try, but if it's not working out you have to be willing to cut your losses and move on. Some people put walls up for a good reason and if you push too hard, you could end up taking down a load bearing wall and lose everything in the process."
"That sounds like good advice, but how will I even know when I'm pushing too hard?" Pyrrha inquired. Lin rolls her eyes and jerks hard on the steering wheel taking a turn a little bit too sharply and causing the unprepared Pyrrha to flop around in her seat. After regaining her composure Pyrrha glares over to her managers. "Lin what the hell!?"
Lin laughs. "What did I take that turn too hard there? I didn't think you'd be able to tell." She deadpans causing Pyrrha to pout and cross her arms. "Look, all you have to do is use some common sense. I know that isn't your strong suit," Pyrrha slugged her manager in the arm. "Ouch, hey driving here!"
"If you can call it driving." Pyrrha deadpans.
Lin decided to let that jab go and get back on track. "Anyway like I was saying, you and your family more than likely want the same thing to happen here. So as long as you take it slow and avoid saying anything to make them think you're completely crazy, everything should be fine. Think you can handle that champ?"
Pyrrha let out a long sigh as she sank back into her seat. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Good," Lin said with a smile. "Now sit tight, we still have about an hour before we get there."
Pyrrha gave a curt nod before turning her attention towards her window and the island landscape she could see moving by beyond it. The view was nice, but a little gloomier than she had expected.
It was a little past 1pm now and while the sun was still high in the sky, the thick cloud cover shrouded everything in sight, and painted the sky grey. There was also a slight nip in the air, nothing compared to the harsh winters back home, or even the summer days in Atlas, but certainly weather that could warrant an extra lair or two. For whatever reason when Pyrrha thought about islands, she always envisioned tropical paradises, but she supposed that couldn't be the case everywhere.
Though, the unpleasant weather didn't seem to bother the natives at all. As they passed through a residential area, Pyrrha could see several people of varying ages outside playing games, riding bikes, or even just out for a walk. She even saw a few people out in short sleeves and shorts which spoke of incredibly poor planning, or amazing physical endurance. For a moment she wondered if they might be some form of mental conditioning, but had to remind herself that not everyone needed to learn such things.
After a while Pyrrha started to notice that many of the schools that they had past were already occupied. "Huh, I guess they start school earlier out here." She commented.
"Looks like it, poor brats." Lin mused as she looked over at a nearby school yard filled with playing kids. "I wonder if that means your sister is back in school already."
Pyrrha shrugged. There wasn't really any way to know for sure and it probably wouldn't matter. They still had a while to go before they arrived and given the time she doubted school would be in session much longer.
After that, Pyrrha spent most of the remaining trip pondering about many different things. Such as what kind of school her sister would attend and of course what kind of person she could be.
At some point in Pyrrha's pondering she must have dozed off since the next thing she could remember was being awakened by the sound of the car's engine cutting off. Lazily opening her eyes, she now found that they had pulled into a small driveway. "Is this it?" She asked.
"I think so," Lin replied before double checking the GPS on her scroll. "Assuming this is actually their address."
Pyrrha stretched herself out and yawned before leaning over to glance down at the scroll. Then she looked out the windshield at the house itself. "Yeah, this looks like the place." She declared before taking a deep breath and popping open her door to step out of the vehicle.
Lin quickly followed Pyrrha's lead, stepping out of the car and taking in her surroundings. "Nice place?"
"Not quite what I expected." Pyrrha said.
Nice wasn't quite the word Pyrrha would use for it. It was a rather small house, likely only about half the size of hers back home, but it wasn't its size that bothered her. What did catch her attention was the unkempt grass and what had likely been a garden in the yard as well as the obvious storm damage to the roof and siding.
The home's issues all looked rather superficial, rather easy fixes, but the fact that they were unattended was cause for concern. "You don't think they moved do you?" Pyrrha inquired now sounding a bit uncertain.
Lin shrugs. "And leave their car parked in the driveway and the garage door wide open?" She points out while motioning to another vehicle besides theirs and the open garage filled with dusty tools, unopened paint cans, and relatively new looking bicycle. "Besides if they did move, you would think that the landlord would at least do something about this grass. Or that roof. It would be hard to sell it looking like this." She said scratching her head. Then she turned to glance at the other houses in the area. "Though by the looks of it this is still one of the better houses in this neighborhood. If it were in better shape it would be worth a decent amount."
Pyrrha took a look at the row of houses further down the street and had to agree. "Well, I guess there is only one way to find out." She said before she began a slow walk towards the front door.
"You sure you're ready for this?" Lin inquired as she stepped in toe with her young client.
Internally Pyrrha was screaming denials, but on the outside. "Yes, well about as ready as I'm going to be."
Lin gave a nod. "Well just remember that I'm right behind you."
"Thanks Lin." Pyrrha said while trying to put on a brave smile. Now in front of the door, Pyrrha took a deep breath and let it out before raising her hand towards the door to knock. "Here goes nothing."
Earlier That Day
Not far from Pyrrha's destination stood a single two story structure that many knew as Adam's High School. Adam's High wasn't the best high school in the area, but it was certainly the most affordable. Also since it wasn't bad enough to hurt your résumé later on in life, for those who weren't in the upper 1% of society it was the school of choice.
With winter break now over, the first day of the new term had begun. Though the bell hadn't sounded yet, most students had already found their way to their homerooms, and were waiting for the day to begin.
In one such classroom, all of the students had already figured out their own seating arrangements and staked their claim. Now they were just talking quietly amongst themselves while waiting on their teacher to arrive.
After a few minutes of this, a lone man wearing a black tie and a white dress shirt stepped into the room just before the bell rang. "Just made it." The man joked to himself as he stepped over to his desk at the front of the room. Then he picked up a clipboard from it and turned to face the class. "Good morning class, in case any of you have forgotten since we last saw one another I'm Mr. Maxwell your homeroom teacher. I trust all of you enjoyed your break?"
In response to the question the class broke into a spirited murmur about the break. Mr. Maxwell laughed. "I see that you did, that's good. After all you lot will be stuck in here for the next few months." That earned him a few boos from the class. "Alright, how about we jump right into this with roll call?"
There was another murmur in the classroom, but nobody made any objections. Mr. Maxwell gave a nod before starting. "Mark Williams."
"Here boss." A boy near the back of the class called out.
"Jasmine Chase." Mr. Maxwell continued.
"I'm here sir." A young blonde haired woman called out from the second row.
"Artemis Null." Mr. Maxwell called out.
"I told you it's pronounced Noel sir." A young woman with short red hair in the back corner of the room declared. "Artemis Noel, it's not that hard. Seriously you would think someone with an academic background such as yourself would've been able to grasp that by now." Her tone managed to sound both bored and annoyed at the same time.
The teacher just laughed as he looked over to meet the red heads gaze. Her emerald eyes narrowed as they met his. "And I see the holiday has done little to dull your silver tongue Miss Noel."
"Whatever." Artemis retorted.
The fact that her teacher had just spoken her last name perfectly did not go unnoticed by Artemis. She figured the man was doing this intentionally, but she couldn't quite figure out why so she just rolled her eyes and promptly begun to ignore her teacher completely.
Mr. Maxwell didn't seem bothered by his student's standoffish attitude and simply returned to roll call. "Heather Rockwell."
"Here!"
Artemis breathed a great sigh of relief as the final bell rang signaling her freedom from this insane asylum they claim to be a school, at least for awhile. So without any delay she quickly packed up her books and made a break for the classroom's door.
With practiced maneuvers Artemis weaved her way through the bustling crowd of teenagers and after encountering minimal opposition, she soon found herself half way down the hallway and in front of her personal locker. Then she went to work on her pad lock, dialing in the combination without any difficulty. Once the lock came undone and she was in, she became like a robber breaking into a bank safe playing in reverse. She began rapidly pulling objects from her bag and stashing them in her locker, while only removing one item.
A small beat up looking scroll was what Artemis had taken and she quickly pocketed the device before slamming her locker shut and relocking it. It was only at this time did she notice the blonde girl leaning up against the lockers beside her. "Hello Jasmine." Artemis said with a sigh.
"Hey girl," The girl said as she directed her full attention on Artemis. "I know this is our first day back, but I've got to tell you I'm already sick of this place."
"Yeah, but what can you do." Artemis replied.
"So," The blonde began.
"So?" Artemis interrupted sounding impatient.
"Want to hangout tonight?" The blonde offered.
Artemis groaned. "You know that I can't. I have to pick up the little brats from school right after this. Then I have to watch them until mom gets home from work and by then it will be about time for me to go to work myself." She explained.
"I know and I realize that you're busy, but it feels like we haven't hung out in ages. You even blow me off all vacation. Where were you?" Jasmine asked.
"Working." Artemis replied dryly.
"Working?" Jasmine asked as if she didn't hear her friend right. That earned her a nod from Artemis. "All vacation?" Artemis gave another nod. "You let your boss get away with that!? Its Christmas for goodness sake! There hast to be some sort of law!"
Artemis shook her head. "I volunteered, needed that holiday pay."
Jasmine sighed as she griped the bridge of her nose. "Of course you did. Gees girl, is work all you think about?"
"Hey I want to go out and have fun as much as the next girl, but I have people who count on me and I can't just blow them off." Artemis retorted sounding defensive.
"I know and I get that, but does that make it okay to blow off your friends all the time? We are friends right? To be honest I'm starting to wonder." Jasmine countered.
"What!? No, I mean yes we're friends! I just don't have any time right now okay, can we just rain check this?" Artemis pleaded.
Jasmine shrugged. "I suppose, though it's a shame. I have something I think you would like to see."
Artemis raised an eyebrow in question. "Like what?"
"I found a recording from the finals of this big charity huntsman tournament they recently held in Vale. I downloaded it to my labtop, haven't watched it yet, figured we could watch it together." Jasmine replied.
Artemis paused before humming in thought. "Who's in it?" She asked eventually earning a cocky smile from her friend.
"You're favorite Miss Robin Rangers of course!" Jasmine exclaims.
Artemis' eyes light up, but she managed to contain herself. "Who is she up against?"
Jasmine shrugged. "Some big shot up and comer apparently. If I remember her name correctly, it is Pyrrha Nikos. It's the first I've heard of her though. What about you?"
Artemis thought for a moment then shook her head. "Nope, I've never heard of her. What does she look like?"
Jasmine smiled widely. "She's really tall, has light skin, long red hair, and bright green eyes. Sound like anyone we know?" She asked while playfully nudging her friend.
"She looks like me?" Artemis asked now sounding curious.
"Girl if you grew your hair out a bit, the two of you could be twins. Which now I'm even more convinced would be a good look for you. Regardless my mind was blown the first time I saw her." Jasmine replied.
Artemis shook her head at the suggestion. "No way, long hair has way too much upkeep"Where is she from?" Artemis asked.
Jasmine paused as she thought about it. "Umm, Minstrel I believe. Though, she is currently training in Beacon over in Vale."
"Oh? My mom's from Minstrel, maybe she is a distant relative." Artemis said before biting her lip and letting out a sigh. "Damn, now I really want to see this." Jasmine started to look excited but deflated when Artemis began to speak again. "However, I still can't. Not today at least. I will be stuck at home."
"That doesn't mean we can't watch it!" Jasmine retorted. "I have it on my labtop remember!? How about I just come over?" She offered.
"Tempting," Artemis said before shaking her head. "But no. You know how my mom feels about that huntsman stuff. I'm sure you've heard one of her 'It's bloodsport' rants before?" Jasmine winced as she recalled one such event. "Needless to say, she doesn't like me watching let alone the brats. If she finds out I was watching that in front of them, she's going to throw a fit."
"We could just watch in your room." Jasmine suggested.
Artemis sighed. "The three of us share a room remember? I don't think they would care much for being locked out of it."
Jasmine started to scratch her head and grumbled something under her breath about stubbornness. "Fine I give up on the video, but I'm still coming over!" She declared.
Artemis looked at the determined expression on her friends face and finally relented. "Very well, just let me shoot a message to my mom to let her know your coming."
"Yeah, victory!" Jasmine cheered.
With that Artemis retrieved her scroll from her pocket slid her finger along the surface to unlock it so she could message her mother only to pause when she noticed she had a message in her inbox. "Huh, what's this?" She said to herself catching Jasmine's attention.
"What's up?" Jasmine inquired.
"It's just a message from my mom." Artemis replied before reading through it. "Apparently she's picking up the kids herself and wants me to come straight home after I get off school. She has something important to tell me."
"Is that normal?" Jasmine asked.
"Nope, this is super weird. Mom should still be in work, so why would she be picking up the kids and what could she have to tell me? Hmm this could be serious, do you still want to come up?" Artemis inquired.
Jasmine shrugged. "I don't mind if you don't, I'm use to drama. Besides if this is serious you might need a friend."
Artemis smiled at that before reaching over and pulling Jasmine into a headlock. "Ah, thanks. If you're sure then let's go."
Artemis didn't have a driver's license. Even though getting a license had been on her to do list for quite some time, her family only had one vehicle at the moment and they didn't really have the budget for a second one. So a license she couldn't really make use of wasn't high on her priority list.
However, Artemis' school was located several miles away from her home and her mother was usually working when she got off so picking her up wasn't really an option. Because of this, she would usually ride her bike to and from school and this day was no different.
What was different today was that she had a passenger in the form of her friend Jasmine and could go straight home for once.
Artemis had originally intended to pick up her little brother and sister from their school on her way back home. This was basically an everyday event for her since her siblings got off school at about the same time and her mother was usually no more available to pick them up than she was for her. Of course her bike wasn't big enough for more than two people to ride comfortably, but her sibling's school was far closer to their home which would allow her to walk the rest of the way without too much hassle.
About halfway to their destination Artemis glimpsed back at her lone passenger. "You alright back there?" She asked.
Jasmine shrugged, or at least tried to. Since she was currently standing on the back wheels pegs and had her arms wrapped around her friend's shoulders for support and didn't want to risk compromising that by removing her hands or changing her posture, the motion was a bit awkward. "I'm doing alright I guess. It's kind of fun riding like this actually."
"Well that's good for you I suppose, now if only you weren't so heavy. Maybe then it wouldn't be so hard to peddle." Artemis declared.
Jasmine snored but wisely chose not to rise to her friends bait. Instead she looked ahead of them towards their approaching destination. "Stop you're whining, we're almost there anyway."
"Looks like my mom is already home." Artemis declared as she pulled her bike into her house's driveway where her mother's car was currently parked. Then the pair promptly dismounted the bike before Artemis walked it over to the open garage to stow it away.
After that the two friends walked to the front door and with Artemis leading the way, they entered. Once inside her home, Artemis began to scan her surrounding for any side of her mother. However, it wasn't until she reached the living room that she found any signs of life. Her two younger siblings a 12 year old boy named Max and an 11 year old girl named Kate. Both had light brown hair and bright green eyes. The two were sat in the middle of the room, still in their school uniforms, and were watching X-Ray and Vav on their home television.
A little past the children, towards the back corner of the room was what looked like a small family shrine. A single picture of a brown haired middle aged man the only thing being displayed. "I'm home dad." Artemis gave a silent greeting to the man in the photo as she stepped forth.
Hearing Artemis and Jasmine's entrance, the two children turned to gaze at them. Kate gave her elder sister a bright smile and Max called out. "Hey sis."
"Hey twerps, have you seen mom?" Artemis asked in reply.
"She is in the kitchen." Kate said in a soft voice.
"Ah thanks." Artemis said before heading towards the next room and waving Jasmine along.
A moment later and the pair were stepping into the Kitchen to see her mother sticking something into the stove. Like Artemis' mother Callista was like an older reflection of herself. She was a tall middle aged woman with long flowing red hair and bright green eyes and despite her age her appearance was still quite youthful.
Hearing her daughter enter, Callista turned to see her and smiled warmly as she greeted her. "Ah you made it back, I was," Then she paused and her smile faltered for a moment when Jasmine came in behind her. "Oh hello to you too Jasmine, I didn't know you were coming today."
Seeing the older woman's reaction Jasmine quickly smacked her friend in the arm for not giving her mom a heads up like she said she was going to, Artemis shrugged and silently mouthed the words 'I forgot, sorry.' Jasmine then turned her full attention back to Callista. "Hello ma'am, I hope I'm not intruding. If you want I can leave for today, I can always come see Artemis another time."
"Oh no, no it's fine!" Callista rushed to assure the girl. "If my daughter invited you, then you're more than welcome."
"Thanks ma'am." Jasmine said with a smile.
"So mom what is all this about?" Artemis asked as she eyed her mother up and down. She would usually only just be getting out of work at this time of the day and it was about a half hour commute. On top of that she wasn't wearing her work cloths, which Artemis was far more use to seeing her in after her return. Instead she was wearing one of her best dresses and based on the fact she couldn't see any signs of the dark circles that usually hung under her mother's eyes, she wagered that she had also applied some make up. "Why aren't you at work? Don't tell me you lost your position at the factory?"
Callista shook her head. "No of course not, I just took a day off, and nothing bad is happening. Rather I think this will be a good thing for our family." Callista reassured her doubting worried daughter.
To Callista's relief the panic in Artemis' expression had faded, but it had now become sharp and thoughtful. She eyed her mother carefully before saying. "Okay, then what is going on here?"
Callista took a moment to consider her answer before replying with. "We're going to have an important guest over today."
"An important guest?" Artemis echoed. "What kind of guest? Who're they?"
Callista pondered for a moment longer, she now looked a bit nervous. "It's somebody I've been meaning to introduce to you for some time now. They will be a big part in our lives from now on." She finally replied.
After hearing her mother's reply Artemis' eyes sharpened with suspicion. She didn't miss the fact that her mother hadn't really answered her questions and the terms she used made Artemis uneasy. Something just didn't add up. She has said that she had been meaning to have this meet up for awhile, yet she just sprung it on her out of nowhere. She also wondered what her mother could have meant about them being a big part of their life moving forward. Then she glimpsed back at her mother's unusually shiny appearance and something clicked.
"Mother, are you dating again?" Artemis asked in a low tone that made her words border on accusation.
Callista was startled as she met her daughters measuring gaze. "What, no! I'm not-"
Artemis cut in again with a deep sigh before her mother could finish. "Dearest mother, you do recall that you told me you would let me know if you started dating again right!?" She roared.
Sensing her the mood in the room shifting and that this may be a bit too sensitive a topic for her to step into Jasmine quickly bowed out by saying. "You know somebody should be watching the kids, I will be in the living room." With that she fled the kitchen.
"Artemis that isn't-" Callista tried again, but was once again interrupted by her daughter.
"Look I don't care if you're d-dating," Artemis said while trying to hide how much she was not okay with the notion. "I understand that you have needs, but I don't need another father! So just don't go trying to make us get along! Also if you're going to bring a man into this house I don't want to see what you two get up to and I don't want to hear it either!" Artemis ranted.
"Artemis Neol would you listen to me for a moment, because I'm trying to tell you that-" Callista was interrupted for the third time, however this time it was not by her daughter, but instead it was by a knock coming from the front door. Hearing that sound caused Callista to freeze up almost completely, she was still, she was quiet, and she wasn't even blinking anymore. She was like a statue.
"Is that him?" Artemis asked her frozen mother and when the woman only responded with a blink she scoffed and turned away. "Alright, I guess I will go set the record straight with this guy." She said as she quickly stalked out of the kitchen and towards the front of the house.
It wasn't until Artemis was halfway to the door that Callista finally broke out of her trance and quickly rushed after her daughter. "Artemis wait, there is something you need to know before you meet her!"
It was too late. Artemis was already yanking open the door and had a few choice words on the tip of her tongue for the unlucky man waiting on the other side, but they died an ugly death when she saw a grown woman with dark hair on the other side. "A woman?" She thought to herself before her mind recalled what her mother had just said. 'Meet her.' "Wait does that mean mom has switched teams!" She pondered.
Artemis forced her eyes back onto the woman before her. She was quite attractive she supposed. She conceded that it would be better than having some guy she didn't know hanging around the place. However, it was then that she noticed another person standing beside her and if it could be said that the first woman had halted her train of thought, this person had caused it to completely derail and crash into a children's hospital.
She was frozen, just like her mother had been a moment ago Artemis couldn't move, she couldn't think. What she was seeing before her was impossible, but it was there. This had to be some kind of trick, an elaborate prank perhaps? Jasmine had been fairly keen on coming today, maybe she had set this up to get back at her for ditching her over the holiday. There was just no way this was real, right?
Artemis was jostled from her thoughts when the cause of her minor stroke began to speak. Her voice was shaky and laced with uncertainty. "Umm, hell-hello." She gave a small wave. "I'm Pyrrha, ar-are you Artemis?" She asked. Artemis didn't answer, she couldn't, so Pyrrha turned towards her companion with a worried expression and the woman gave her a nod. Pyrrha took a deep breath and then declared. "I think we may be sisters!"
Artemis blinked. Then she blinked again. The girl was still there. She shook her head. The girl was still there gazing at her with her own face. Artemis could take it anymore. "Nope, you got the wrong house." She finally declared before slamming the door closed.