Note to self: Never, ever attempt to make another possession fic.
Note to readers: I need reviews to bump up my self-esteem. This chapter... if it were a person, I would have said "You disgust me."
Captain- You're welcome. And thank you. Gah, overload of politeness! Hehe.
me, obviously- I don't know where mine is either. If you had only read my five-page long rant about not owning Artemis, you would have agreed.
miroku- Ah, a saying...
hogwartscharmed- Sorry, it's not really soon... I ran out of time and inspiration.
Shadow- Yay! Thank you for the very nice popcorn remark... returns the squishing giant hug I'm flat now. Hehehehe.
Ariane. That one word had been bouncing around his head lately. Now he knew exactly why.
"So… you're never really gone, are you?" he asked quietly.
Holly looked flustered. "Well, I always thought so, but then you started coming out when I met Ariane… This is so embarrassing… To think, I'm even a professional!"
Artemis smiled. Even if it was an embarrassing matter, megalomaniacs had tendencies to tell everyone their situation. It was working to his advantage right now. Maybe he could milk her for information. It shouldn't be too hard.
"Actually, yes, that can be quite embarrassing."
"You don't say. I mean, you were still- wait a minute," she said, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "You were still down there. So I just wait. Maybe Holly won't come back anymore."
Artemis pondered this for a while. Perhaps when someone possessed another person for too long, the real one left. Now isn't that just sad? Of course, this lunatic in front of me won't be sad at all.
"So… where do you go if you don't come back?"
"The bottom of the pit. There's nothing there. You're officially dead. It's like that time before Christ came and died for us. There was no heaven, no hell. Just the pit."
"You're religious?" Artemis asked skeptically.
"I grew up in a very old family," she replied. "Old families tend to be religious. I was brought up like this."
"And yet you plan on pursuing a career on blackmail."
"Well, I admit, I do get a little guilty sometimes, but I just push that away. Anyway, He made me what I am, and He is satisfied."
"And exactly how many lives have you disrupted with your pushing guilt away?"
She smirked at him. "Three hundred twelve."
Artemis was stunned. That didn't happen often. "How… did you do that?"
"Two at a time. It's a lot for someone who just graduated from university. I plan to take another course on genetics, you see, but I just can't find the right place."
"Two at a time?"
"Yes, two- oh, I just realized something. How could I have been so stupid? I could have possessed you right now! Oh god, where am I? Where's my other half?"
She had loosened her grip on the Neutrino.
Artemis had a plan forming in his head. It was a high-risk plan, and he only had a 10 chance of making it. It wasn't a plan he would have gone with, but it was all he could think of at the moment.
"Right now, Arty. Prepare to be possessed again."
But he wasn't prepared. Nor was he planning to be.
His head was surrounded by liquid. Or at least that was what it felt like. With his last voluntary movement, he wrenched the Neutrino out of her grip, lowered the setting, and shot at himself.
Okie, I will ask for reviews, something that I rarely do. It bumps up my self-esteem, and now my customary arrogance has left me because of this chapter. I hate it. I promise the next will be better. Much better.
