Chapter 15: Nursery Rhymes
"Do you even know where we're going?" Artemis annoyed.
"Shut it." Luna growled. She was still upset with him and the fact that they were in a dark tunnel together further irritated her.
"You don't know, do you?" He stopped and crossed his arms behind her.
She pushed on and ignited a flame with her fingertip for a source of light. Her scars ached, but it was nothing compared to how she felt inside her heart. There was a flicker in the flame. Luna halted, "Did you feel that?"
"Feel what?" Artemis rolled his eyes, "Look Luna, let's just go back the way we came and…"
"Hello my friends." A woman cackled.
Luna shot her head up and gasped, "You!"
The witch appeared from a fog in the far wall and she laughed, "I didn't expect to catch two in my trap!" She stopped laughing and tapped her chin with her index finger, "The more the merrier I guess." The witch giggled and snapped her finger.
The ground shifted and rumbled below Luna's and Artemis's feet and a hill emerged from beneath him. At the bottom of the hill was an empty bucket and Luna and Artemis about a few feet away from each other.
"What the hell is this?" Artemis kicked the bucket while Luna thought hard about what the objects meant to them.
She recalled her father's information , Mercury is the god of trickery and luck… and Neptune's warning, Mercury is being used by the witch! With that knowledge, Luna concluded, "This is the game."
"What game?" Artemis inquired. He walked up the hill towards the well and he did not care for Luna's answer. Artemis glanced into the well and saw that it was dry, "What game, Luna?" He was impatient.
"What's in the well?" She asked curiously.
"Nothing." Artemis stumbled down the hill.
"You okay?" Luna did not believe that he that he intentionally fell nor did he trip.
"Yeah," He answered, "That was weird."
"Now," Luna focused and rubbed her temples on her forehead, "Why would there be a well, an empty bucket…"
"And how did I trip?" Artemis rubbed the back of his head.
"Why does this sound familiar…" Luna closed her eyes and once she thought of the answer, she snapped her fingers, "That's it!"
"What?" Artemis frowned.
Luna grabbed Artemis's arm and the empty bucket, "Jack and Jill went up the hill…" She drug him up the hill.
He snapped his wrist out of her grip, "What the hell Luna.."
She growled at him with a threatening tone, "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water…" Luna pulled at his wrist again and Artemis pulled away again.
"Luna…" He sighed, "I don't understand what you're trying to say."
"It's a nursery rhyme!" She gave him a confused look, "Have you never heard of it before?"
He shook his head no.
"Well then," Luna smiled innocently and grabbed for his hand time. She squeezed lightly, "This rhyme goes like this; 'Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water, Jack fell down and broke his crown, and Jill came tumbling after'."
"That's it?" Artemis sounded unsure and Luna could see a blush beginning to form.
"Yup, that's it," She noticed his forehead, "Oh wait! I forgot!" Luna tapped her chin. A silver crown appeared on top of Artemis's head, "That's better…"
Artemis mumbled, "The crown I guess…" He took it off and examined it. Luna noticed that he was avoiding eye contact with her. Luna dropped his hand and pushed a stray hair behind her ear. Artemis walked up the hill without Luna.
Why is there a tension between us? Luna frowned, Why am I aching inside?
"Hey, Jill!" Artemis called and Luna looked up at him, "Coming to fetch this pail with me?"
Luna could see his charming smirk and a glitter in his clear blue eyes, which made her ache more. She regretted her decision of telling him about the rhyme and she unwillingly trudged up the hill. Once Luna approached the well, she half heartedly leaned over the edge and saw that there indeed was water in the well.
"I guess you were right," Artemis placed a hand on her lower back.
Luna flinched and pulled the bucket up from the well. She avoided his eyes, his mesmerizing eyes, and her heart wrenched to say something, "Fall down the hill.."
"What?" Artemis leaned his ear closer to Luna's lips. She could painstakingly smell a his damp pine scent. He always smelled like water to her.
"The nursery rhyme…" She cleared her throat, "...'Jack fell down and broke his crown...'."
"Right." He nodded and decided to "fall" down the hill by tumbling down the hill. He rolled down the hill with grace and landed on his back. The silver crown that Luna made him did not break so he took it off of his head and snapped it into two.
"Come on Jill." He smirked and laid on his side. His arm was propped underneath of him and he waited patiently for his "Jill".
Luna ran down the hill and met with Artemis, "How was the tumble?"
"Not finished," He laughed and tugged at her leg. Luna fell on top of him and he pulled her in close. One hand was on her lower back and the other was on her head. Luna could feel his lips nuzzle along her hairline.
"Wh...What are.. you doing?!" Luna stuttered and raised her voice.
He pulled away from her and did not answer, but instead, he placed the half broken crown on her head, "For you… princess.." Artemis took a strand of her silver strand and hungrily stared into Luna's dichromatic eyes.
Luna's cheeks flared red, she ripped off the crown, and jumped off of him. Her heart raced, What is going on!? I thought… I thought..! Luna ran into an invisible wall. "Oof!"
"You okay, princess?" Artemis snickered.
"Yeah.." She rubbed her forehead and saw one single, lit candle on the ground to her left. She thought hard about what rhyme would fit with the candle.
"You can't go around the candle can you?" He licked his index finger and thumb and tried to douze the flame, "Nor can you destroy the flame."
"Jack be nimble, jack be quick," He stared at Artemis with a smile, "Jack jump over the candle stick!"
"Okay…" Artemis was lost at what Luna was trying to say.
"Jack," She pointed at him, "jump over the candlestick."
"I ain't jumping that." He refused.
"Jack," Luna giggled and ignited a flame with her fingertip, "please be quick, please be nimble…" She gave him an evil look that frightened him, "And please, jump over that candlestick." She threw the flame at his feet.
Artemis jumped at the flame and yelled, "Luna!" The flame pushed Artemis closer and closer to the candlestick, "You know, Jack can be a girl's name too!"
Luna giggled devilishly, "But this is more fun, sweetheart."
Artemis jumped over the candle and the invisible walls turned opaque and shattered into dust. Luna covered her face and when she uncovered it she laughed at Artemis, "Oh my gosh! You look like a fairy!"
Indeed Artemis did look like a fairy. He was glittered covered from head to toe and he was not happy. "Shut it, princess."
"No! No!" Luna wiped a tear, "It's a good look for you!" Luna fell to the ground and almost died from laughing so hard.
"I preferred you better as the cute princess…" Artemis mumbled and walked ahead of Luna.
"What is that suppose to mean?!" Luna offended caught up to him quickly. He was stopped, "Hey! What's up?" Luna saw fear in Artemis's face and his eyes staring at something in front of them. Luna followed his eyes and saw what frightened him, "No…"
In front of Luna and Artemis was a child, and its cheeks covered in red violet bumps. Its eyes were glazed, its lips were swollen, its fingertips and toes were black.
"No…" Luna stuttered, "No…" Mercury, this is a cruel joke! She closed her eyes and thought silently.
To her surprise, Mercury responded, "I'm sorry Luna. It's all her doing, that evil witch."
Is this the last one? Luna prayed that this was the worst.
"Yes, I promise." Mercury landed on Luna's shoulder and whispered, "It's 'Ring Around The Rosie'. You know it, right?"
"Ring Around the Rosie…" Luna began sadly. Artemis looked at her, "Pocket full of posies," She choked on her tears, "Ashes… Ashes… we all fall down…"
"Well then," Artemis coughed uncomfortably and crossed his arms, "So, the child, we.. umm…"
"I am not killing that child." Luna fell to her knees and an overwhelming feeling of defeat washed over her, "I am not murdering it."
"You don't have too," Artemis smiled and patted her back, "Just create some ashes!"
"You don't understand…" Luna cried, "The children of the black plague were burned…"
He picked her up by her waist and stood close behind her, "Just burn the bumps on its cheeks."
"It doesn't work that way, sweetheart," Luna tried to smile with her sarcastic remark, but that only made her feel worse.
"Luna," He breathed warmly into the nape of her neck and it warmed her body, "I will be right here guiding you." He took her hands and placed them on the child's cheeks, he comforted Luna, "Use your flame spell and burn the bumps off." Artemis's chest pressed hard against her back, "Transfer the spell through my hands and I will tell you when to stop."
"I don't want to hurt you," Luna mumbled and blushed at the sudden heat of his body.
He placed his lips behind her ear and whispered, "You won't. Now, Luna, use that spell and burn the bumps to ashes."
Luna's body reacted again to the use of her name. She closed her eyes and panicked, No! Please! Stop this! The fire from her heart burned through her chest, along her arms, and pulsed through her palms. She could feel that Artemis adjusted his hands to be underneath of her's and she knew that he would take most of the burn.
"Everything is okay, Luna." Artemis soothed Luna's fears and he chuckled, "You can open your eyes, princess."
Luna opened her emerald eye first and saw the magic that pulsed through her palms was not a fiery red, but more of a soft purple. She opened her chocolate eye and saw that the child was not being harmed, but it was smiling. The child looked and reminded her too much of Cam.
"Alright Luna," She could hear Artemis's smile, "That's enough."
Luna's flames receded and the energy flowed back to her heart. Luna felt overwhelmed and a wave of relief washed over her. Artemis still held Luna and slowly dropped her to the floor as he whispered, "And we all fall down…"
Written to "Shoots and Ladders" by KoRn.