As Marik sat up, he locked eyes with the girls, who were all blushing. He quickly apologized and started to run away, turning into a panther as he moved. Artemis started crying, thinking she did something wrong, something to make him run. But as she would find out later, he had never been kissed before that, and he was afraid that he would try to kiss her. Marik stopped as soon as he heard her crying and transformed back into his human form. He sat and wept, too. All of the pent-up anger and sadness he had carried for so long flowed, and he started to sing.
"Remember the feeling
Remember me please
My heart is still beating
I feel so alive
My sorrow, Unending
Im hurting deep down
Why'd you have to heal me
Now im drowning inside"
Artemis heard him and followed his voice, what she found was Apollo hugging the Marik and feeding the music to him, producing a song as beautiful as the sunset, and as sorrowful as 1000 funeral pyres, burning on the tiber. She broke down as a power blast of music and sorrow enveloped the land. It only grew stronger as he sang more. Marik stopped singing long enough to go to Artemis, picking her up and holding her in his arms, and then continued singing, the closness ot him made her feel happy. As if she was seeing what he saw, or what he thought he would see. She picked up on the underlying message, and realized that he didnt hate her. He just loved her, and that scared him.
Later on, Marik and the girls were driving again, and they pulled up to a truck stop outside of Fort Wayne and they got drinks. As Marik and Artemis sat at the bar, they started discussing what would happen, and where they were going. They decided that they would stay at the Hilton down the road. When they got there they got two rooms, one for Artemis, Thalia, and Reyna, and one for Marik. When they were settled, Marik went down to the pool and soon, Artemis followed.
She was incredibly angry for him causing the outburst of emotion brought on by his song. Yet, she understood why he had chose a song and called on Apollo to releave himself of his emotions. 'Songs are the most powerful form of expression', she thought on the way down the stairs. She dove into the pool as he was pulling himself out of it, in turn showering him and causing him to slip and re-enter the pool. He looked quite ticked, but when they made eye contact he dove under and went to the other side of the pool. She followed him as he tried to flee, but he finally settled down and she took a position beside him. They began talking, and were soon on good standings again. They went to Marik's room and played cards till they both were so drunk they passed out.
