So, A received a request in reviews to write more custom chapters and this sort of spawned from that, and I apologize if it seems a bit all over the place, but it's got some cute moments, some angst and some fluff all rolled into one chapter, so i hope you enjoy!
A/N: Trigger warnings! Mentions of psychological and physical abuse!
P.S thank you Symbiote for your input, I hope this is to your liking :D
"Artemis, sweetheart, it's time to get up." Blue eyes struggled to open as the blonde rolled over in bed, "who…?" the woman staring down at her had pale hair, much like her own, and such vibrant blue eyes, was this Freya?
"Sweetheart, you're going to be late for school." School?
"School?"
"Don't you remember? Today's your first day at Corona Prep. I laid out your uniform, it's on the door." Her eyes trailed to something hanging on the door, "Uniform?"
"Come on, Artemis, I know moving can be difficult but sometimes you just have to deal." Artemis watched the woman leave, "What is going on?" she looked around the room and panic started to set in,
"This isn't my room!" she darted around, the beige walls and the color scheme was all wrong, where were the white marble walls of the palace, the pale purple floor? Skidding to a halt she looked in the full-length mirror and let out a terrified scream, why were both of her eyes blue, and had her hair grown back over night?
"Oh no. no, no, no, no, no!" she tugged at her hair, something was definitely wrong.
Taking the uniform off the door she took in it's appearance, A soft lilac purple skirt with gold trim with a vest to match, a white dress shirt and a deep purple tie to finish the ensemble.
"Artemis, Hurry up! Eugene is here to bring you to school."
"Eugene!" at least she wouldn't be the only one who felt like something was off, here. "Maybe he can tell me what's going on here." She gave the uniform one last apprehensive look and got dressed.
"Hey, Kid." She felt a small sense of familiarity as Eugene ruffled her hair, "No fancy braids today?"
"What?" did she do something wrong?
"I don't know, you just usually always have something done with your hair."
'I guess I just didn't feel like it."
"Hey, I know break up's are hard but—" Artemis stopped, looking at the contraption in front of her, the word 'car' echoed somewhere in the back of her mind as she opened the passenger side door.
"Break up's? who broke up?"
"You and that boy…Will?" Who the hell was Will? A sudden memory flashed of her with a boy, they were laughing abut something, "If you ask me, you could do better, way better."
"Remind me what happened?"
"He was abusing you." Abuse…she vaguely remembered some arguments, but she didn't remember…
"He's actually why you guys finally made the move to Corona. You weren't yourself anymore, Artemis. We started to worry. Dad and Freya were terrified."
"You were all worried about me?" Despite not having any clue as to how she wound up in this strange, futuristic universe, at least she had her whole family here.
As the car sped down the street, Artemis watched as the trees flew past at incredible speeds.
"I walked in on you two having an argument once, you know. He had been mad at you for some absurd reason that even I can't fathom, but the second he hit you, dad and I stepped in and told him to leave. The police were called and everything. I know starting at a new school can suck, but look at this way, maybe you'll find a new special someone."
"Thanks, Eugene." A large white, almost castle-like, building came into view, "Is that it?" she shrank down in her seat as the car came to a stop,
"Hey, chin up, Kiddo. You're gonna be fine." He offered a big goofy grin, "Knock 'em dead." His enthusiasm was obviously contagious because Artemis felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips.
"There she is."
Hands on the shoulder straps of her bag she made her way to the office to grab her schedule,
"First day?" Artemis whipped her head around to see who was talking to her and was shocked, a familiar face on her first day,
"Yeah, how could you tell?"
"You look terrified, and you're trying to make yourself look smaller. Obvious signs of the new kid." She smiled as he stepped forward, his arm extended, "Varian Anluan, Local Prodigy and Science enthusiast." She couldn't help the grin on her face, he was still the dopey boy she knew, even in this strange foreign place.
"Artemis DeLune." She paused as the last name just slipped out, feeling her head swim,
"Artemis, you have to snap out of it!" She saw a flash of her Varian, but shook her heads to clear it,
"Well, Artemis DeLune, welcome to Corona prep." The secretary peered over her desk, "Varian, since you're here, would you mind showing our transfer to her classes?"
"Sure things Ms. Hope. Come on!" He took hold of her hand and started running.
Artemis felt her head swim again as the bell for lunch rang, "You can sit with my friends and I, I think you'll like them." Varian hadn't left her side all day except for when they had different classes
"Come on, kid, you have to—" An image of Eugene flashed in front of her now, he looked scared, She looked around for the former thief, but didn't see him anymore.
"So, why did your family move to Corona?" Artemis winced at the question, "I was…"
"Hey, Varian."
"Who's the new girl?" Artemis stared at the boy and girl in front of them, "Hello Violet, Hiro."
"Are these the friends you were talking about?" their earlier conversation forgotten now as she took in the two teens in front of her, the girl, Violet, had dark hair that was pushed back out of her face by a headband in a pastel pink color, it really worked with the uniform they were forced to wear. Artemis' eyes trailed to Hiro, His hair was black and messy, sticking up in every different direction, she could tell by looking at him he was half Asian, the uniform looked slightly baggy on him, but perhaps it was a preference.
Setting her tray down on the table she looked around at the faces, they seemed blurred somehow, she suddenly saw her Varian flash into the place of this worlds Varian.
"Artemis, you're in serious danger, you have to wake up!"
"Wake up from what? What's going on?"
"Are you…okay?" They two flashed between one another again,
"I can't explain what's going on—" he cut out again, replaced by the modern Varian,
"Do you want to go to the nurse?" Violet looked at her with concern,
"I don't…something's not right." She kept seeing Varian switch between old and new versions.
"How was your first day, Kid?" It happened again, but this time Eugene switched between modern and Old fashioned,
"It was…strange. I kept seeing Varian flicker between himself and some…medieval times version of himself." Eugene wiggled his eyebrows, "Ooh, Varian, huh? First day and you've already made friends with a boy. Is it loooove?"
"What? no!" maybe? Her head swam again and suddenly the car was gone and she felt like she was falling, what lay before her eyes was the Corona she knew. Not able to fully comprehend what was going on, she let out an ear-piercing scream.
"Whoa, hey, whoa, kid! Easy…Easy." Eugene had pulled the car to the side of the road, turning on the hazard lights to let people know to go around.
"What is going on with you? first you don't recall, that dirt bag, William, then you say you keep seeing some old timey version of your friend, and now you're freaking out over nothing?"
"I…I…I thought I saw…" looking out the windshield, the scenes kept changing, "No, No…" the glitching imagery seemed to stop, she was happy here, right?
"Artemis, you have to wake up, if you stay here any longer you might not wake up." She turned to see herself in the passenger side mirror, the reflection was talking to her, Another image flashed through her mind of her in the real Corona, finding out she could control the black rocks, leaving on a year long journey and risking her life at almost every turn, Cass taking the Moonstone, fighting the Sapporian's
"No! M-maybe I like it here! I-I don't have responsibilities or obligations, I'm not being told to forget everything about my old life, here. I don't have to be anyone but myself, I don't have to be a princess, or the side kick, or that freaky girl with the weird eyes here."
"But you know none of this is real." Eugene looked at his sister, worriedly. "You okay? Who are you talking to."
"You're not seeing any of this?" Eugene shook his head as she motioned to the mirror, "Let's just get you home, I'll ask Freya make you some of that sleepy time tea you like. Maybe today has just been really stressful." Before she knew it, the house was coming into view.
"What exactly did you give her?" The three sat in Artemis' room, trying to figure out a way to wake the poor girl up, Eugene had made her something to drink after he noticed she looked tired and she had collapsed not long after.
"I gave her some tea I found in the market."
"And what did it look like?" Varian and Rapunzel both looked at Eugene in annoyance, "The kid looked stressed out with everything going on, I wanted to do something nice for her." He fished the box out of his pocket and handed it to Varian, Rapunzel took a look at the flower on the front,
"Eugene! This isn't tea, this box contains dried Asmender leaves."
"And those are…bad?"
"Yes, Very bad. They are extremely toxic and can cause high fevers which result in hallucinogenic dreams."
"Okay, So very bad."
"I was just trying to help her get some rest, the guy who sold it to me said it was good for relaxation."
"did he say it was good for relaxing or relaxing, Eugene?"
"There's a difference?" Eugene looked at Varian as the teen shot out of his chair, arms flailing.
"Yes! Asmender leaves are illegal for anything other than medicinal purposes!"
"Wait, so you're telling me that I—"
"You got her high, Eugene!" Eugene looked between his tow angry friends, "Okay, so I screwed up. But are we really surprised?"
"Personally? No. but I feel this situation requires that I say yes." Varian cast a worried glance back at the blonde asleep on the bed, she looked like she was in pain.
"You're gonna be okay, Artemis."
"You're gonna be okay, Artemis." The blonde stared at her reflection, the cup of tea sat ignored on her bedside table, a sudden flicker of the old timey Varian flashed in the reflective surface, startled the whole room flickered again,
"Just, please, wake up. I don't want to lose you." she felt her head swim again, "this is all wrong!" in a sudden fit of anger she side swiped the mirror, knocking it to the floor as the glass shattered,
"this isn't my life! Nothing here is real!" She threw the blankets off of her bed and pushed the wooden table the tea was on to the ground, the china cup smashing against the ground on impact as the light brown liquid trailed across the floor.
"Artemis, what is going on?"
"You're not real! My mother is dead! I don't go to some fancy pants prep school."
"Artemis, calm down!"
"No, No! I won't calm down." The room flickered again as she placed a hand on her head.
"I think she's coming out of it!" Freya held her daughter at arm's length, "I don't even know what you look like, Dad gave me to Hector when I was still a baby!" She shoved the woman away from her,
"This is all just wrong." Freya looked at her daughter concern, "Maybe we need to—"
"No!" the room flickered again, and she could see the faces of her real friends smiling at her with worry, a small glimmer of hope in their eyes.
"I think she's coming out of it!" Artemis thrashed in the bed. To make sure she didn't hurt herself, Eugene kept her arms pinned at her side, while Varian held down her legs.
"It's not real! None of it's real!" as the small blonde continued to throw herself around, "My moms are dead!"
"She's displaying a really nasty reaction to the toxins, Rapunzel, can you get some cold water?"
"Uh, s-sure thing!" the princess sprinted out of the room, "Oops, sorry, Coming through, Friend in trouble!"
Artemis seemed to have calmed down for the moment, "There we go…" Rapunzel came back with the cold water and some extra cloth's, Varian slowly let go of his girlfriends legs and took the cool, damp cloth from her to put it on Artemis' head.
"This should alleviate the fever and help bring her back."
"Fever?" she could hear her Varian through the foggy haze, "That's it, fever…This is a fever dream!" she looked around the room,
"It must have been that drink Eugene gave me yesterday, I knew it didn't smell right!" all I have to do to get out of this is…Wake up." She shut her eyes and tried to push herself through the fog, the scenery changing between her fake bedroom and the one she knew she was probably in, right now.
"Wake up…wake up….wake up!"
"Wake up!" Artemis shot up in her bed, startling Eugene who stumbled backwards, "Artemis!" She felt two arms wrap around her, looking down she saw Rapunzel's bright yellow hair,
"How long was I out?"
"One of the maids found you on the floor yesterday, outside the throne room. We were all so worried." She smiled, Looking at Rapunzel, Varian and Eugene,
"You, Eugene, are never to offer me anything you find in the market again."
"Aha ha, Noted. But in my defense, the guy said it was a relaxing tea, he said nothing about Hallucinogenic fevers."
"Never. Again." The teen emphasized, her eyes trailed to Varian who looked both scared yet relived, "Uh…could you guys give us a minute?"
"Sure thing, kid." Eugene moved across the room, Rapunzel heading for the door, "Eugene."
"Hm?" Rapunzel nodded to the two, "Oh…Oh! Ha ha, right. Alone. I knew that." Rapunzel grabbed him by the arm, pulling him out the door as it closed behind them.
"Brother's…" Varian chuckled, "I wouldn't know, only child, remember."
"I know, Mr. Lone wolf." She pulled him in for a hug, "I missed you, the real you."
"Wh-what did you see in that dream?" he could feel the heat rise to his cheeks as she let go of him,
"It was this weird futuristic version of Corona, but instead of carriages they had these things called cars, and they weren't pulled by horses, and there were schools, but they weren't just places for nobility and you…were still your dopey, science self, and…" Artemis trailed off… " the fever created this image of what my birth mom looked like…and my mom, the one that raised me…she was still alive but she worked for my mom and dad as a nanny of sorts…" her voice cracked and Varian looked at her with sympathy,
"It's been over a year…and I still miss her, things were so easy in that fake world, I had what I needed, and if I wanted it, it was just given to me. I didn't have to worry about the world outside of Corona, or whether I might lose my temper and hurt someone with the black rocks, I didn't have the weight of the world on my shoulders."
"Okay, First of all, take a deep breath. I know it seems hard, but you have me, and your brother and Rapunzel, you're not carrying that weight by yourself." He placed a gentle hand on her cheek, making her look at him, "and I know I can't bring your mom back, but you still have my dad to talk to, and I know he'll listen. Lastly, how long have you been feeling like this?"
"Since just after the battle with the Sapporian's."
"That was months ago, Artemis. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want you to think it was your fault. That year we were all on the road, I thought about you a lot, I wondered if they were feeding you properly, because you're such a picky eater, or if I was going to come back and find that one of those irredeemable thugs had killed you. Or worse, what if during our battle with the Sapporian's Rapunzel hadn't practically forced us off that—Mmph" She felt his lips on hers and sat shocked for a moment before kissing him back, the two broke apart a moment later,
"I had no idea you worried that much about my safety. I thought for the longest time after you and the others had left, you'd push me to the back of your mind like everyone else had."
"You are my best friend, Varian. Why would I forget about you?"
"I wanted to forget about you…for a while. I was so angry that, when given the options to stay or go along with Rapunzel and the other's, you chose to leave. However, I see now that if I had somehow forced you to stay, it would have been the biggest mistake either one of us made. You wouldn't have found out who you really were, and I probably wouldn't have erased the king and queen's memories… or joined a particularly lethal band of rogue Sapporian bandits."
"You made a cute Bandit though, for what it's worth." Varian felt the blush return to his cheeks, "Th-That's not the point."
"We're a couple now, and if we're going to be in any sort of domestic partnership, we need to talk to each other."
"You've been reading books on relationships?" The Alchemist shrugged, "Communication is key in any relationships." Artemis smiled, shaking her head before leaning forward and kissing the tip of his nose,
"You nerd," leaning her forehead against his, she closed her eyes, "Don't ever change."
