Chapter 17

Sho-dono: Hiya people! Shiinmaru-dono and I are on a role; we've been writing like crazy from all the soda, Mentos, and Cheetos we've been ingesting. Sooooo, please enjoy yourselves with something created by sugar high females!!!

Shiinmaru-dono: #is shaking in fear# All those nuns...

Sho-dono: #is laughing like a maniac# That's what you get for stealing my Mentos!

Shiinmaru-dono: #whimpers# That is just cruel; Mentos are not worth my suffering… #curls into fetal position and rocks back and forth#

Sho-dono: They are too. Now, on with the fic!

Artemis was lost within a thick darkness that refused to let him go. He'd been wandering for what felt like an eternity, looking for the way out, but the more he wandered the more he forgot. It started with simple things, like dates, but recently it had become worse, he was forgetting important things, like his mother and father, Butler and Holly, and even Liam. He saw fleeting images of memories, but they no longer meant anything. Artemis was slowly losing his mind; every day that passed, another face, another date, another memory disappeared.

Artemis was overwhelmed by, not the ever-present darkness, but the oppressive silence; everything was completely and utterly silent. Nothing moved, either; there was nothing around him but the darkness, the quiet, and the stillness of nothing. He didn't notice the passing of time around him; how could he when there was no change in his surroundings?

"Wake up, Mommy, wake up!" a young girl's voice sang out. Artemis looked around, but couldn't see where the voice came from; the darkness swallowed everything. "Can't you see me, Mommy? I'm right here, Mommy!" the girl questioned. A light blinked on in front of Artemis. In the center of the light was a little girl that couldn't have been older than five; she had snow-white hair and ocean-blue eyes. The child was clothed in a pale-blue sundress with a white bow tied around the middle; a white sunhat with a pale-blue ribbon rested upon her head.

"Who are you?" even to Artemis, his voice sounded raspy with disuse.

She giggled, "You know my nam e, silly! You're the one gave it to me, Mommy!"

Artemis was gob smacked: How the Hell could he give birth to a daughter? He was a guy for crying out loud! She giggled again, "Don't worry, Mommy; Granddaddy will explain it you. Now, could you please say my name?"

"I don't know it," Artemis looked down, "what does it matter, anyway?"

"You'll wake up if you can say my name."

Artemis frowned, "But I don't know your name."

The little girl giggled even more, "Yes you do, you just can't remember it."

Artemis' frown deepened as he tried to remember anything that would help.

Back in the hospital Amaya was becoming ever more worried. Artemis had begun to mumble slightly in his sleep. Saying things like 'I don't remember' and 'I don't know your name'. It was really beginning to greatly concern him and he was really glad that he had sent Liam out of the room. But what was wrong with Artemis now?

Amaya stood and began to pace about the room worriedly. He knew that he should tell Liam but he didn't want him worrying any more than he already was. As he paced he listened to what Artemis was mumbling; something about not knowing something, a name, but Amaya dismissed it. Or, he would have, if Artemis hadn't started screaming and seizing. The nurses and a few doctors rushed, followed by an even faster Liam. Liam was the first at Artemis' side; for once, the calm blind man was truly panicking. A nurse called for security to restrain; it took six linebacker-sized men to hold Liam still long enough to be sedated – a shot of Lorazepam and Artemis was stilled as well.

Things started falling into place for Amaya; and it made him pale in a combination of shock and horror. If what he thought had happened, then Artemis was in for a time; Artemis would be having seizures until he spoke the name of whatever child appeared in the darkness. Until he did, everyone would suffer with worry for Artemis – but, the longer it took Artemis, the more he would forget and the harder it would be for him to remember when he awoke. What Liam had worked so hard to avoid, had become a reality: Artemis was becoming a Silver Shade.

Shiinmaru-dono: Thank God I managed to crank that out. #head falls onto desk with a loud 'thump'# One story down, three to go...plus the two essays for A.P. Bio, the questions and movie review for A.P. World History, and that thrice damned project for English left. Never again will I procrastinate. #hear loud snort in background# ...Fine, never again will I procrastinate on summer work. I'm tired, need to read the last HP book, and really need to start getting paid for the work #cough# slave labor #cough# I do at the library...or, at the very least, get dropped off my boss's "Shit List." #grumbles# I only missed ONE day of work this week...I even called them and volunteered to work an extra day this week...evil, sadistic bitch-boss... Shiinmaru-dono out…

Sho-dono: #is listening to Shiinmaru-dono rant# see. This is what u get. Unlike me who is free free freee… at least until my mom drags me to the west. God I hate that woman sometimes.