Chapter 3: Midnight Mornings
Artemis opened her eyes to find herself back in her room at home. Suddenly lightning flashed out the window. Artemis found herself walking out the door to her bedroom, down the stairs, and out the front door. She runs across the street, darkness surrounding her. She sees the cat, and runs to it. "Why? Why did you take me to them? How!?" She demanded of the cat. The cat looked up and stared into her very soul. She felt air, she was falling. She hit water. Dark, gripping water threatened to take her under. She was pulled under. White, ghostly hands pulled her ever downward, the bottom concealed in shadows. She struggled, but to no avail. She panicked, fearing the bottom. White light suddenly streaks across her vision. Then, the water disappears leaving Artemis to float on air. The cat reappeared. The cat spoke, but its mouth did not move. It spoke directly to her mind.
"Do not fear me, child. The demons are banished. You question me. It matters not why or how, just know this. You alone can melt the heart of stone."
Artemis gasped and she threw herself upwards, gripping the blanket covering her. She breathed heavily, trying to catch her breath. After a few moments, she realized where she was. She was still in Castle Bleck. She calmed down.
"Oh my god, what was that?" She thought once she was calm enough to think straight. She was still sweating. Artemis was not prone to nightmares. She only ever had two or three in her whole life and all were from when she was little, when she was afraid of every little thing. She then remembered what the cat had said.
"Melt the heart of stone? What is that supposed to mean?" She whispered. She was never good at figuring out riddles. She decided to push it off and instead worry about reality.
"After all, it was just a dream." She thought.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. She jumped slightly at the sudden sound, and then relaxed.
"It's probably just Dimentio." She thought and rolled her eyes at herself. "Yeah, just Dimentio, like that is the most normal thing to say." Her mind quipped back at her. Despite herself, she still wasn't quite use to the fact that her crush, once just a fictional character, was now a real person. She shook her head and cleared her thoughts. Now was not the time to be thinking about this.
"I'm coming!" She called aloud. She hopped up from the bed, still wearing the same clothes from yesterday having nothing to change into, and strode over to the door and opened it. To her surprise, it was not Dimentio, but Mimi.
"Hiya there, my name's Mimi! I just heard from the count that you're going to our new co-worker." Mimi said enthusiastically. She then grabbed Artemis's hand and shook it vigorously.
"Hi…I'm Artemis. It's nice to meet you too." Artemis replied once Mimi released her hand.
"Now come on, or we'll be late for breakfast!" Mimi exclaimed, once again grabbing Artemis's hand, only this time to pull her down the hall. Despite being small, Mimi's grip was as hard as iron and Artemis could do nothing but try to keep up as Mimi dashed through the halls. After several corridors and passageways, Mimi finally pulled her into a large room with a grand table being the centerpiece. At the front of the table was Count Bleck, eating what appeared to be simply cereal.
"I guess even evil counts need their breakfast." Artemis thought, nearly chuckling. Also at the table was Nastasia, who sat to the right of the count and was eating her breakfast in solemn silence. Suddenly, she stole a glance at the count then quickly looked back at her breakfast, hiding her gaze. The count, lost in his own thoughts, never took his eyes off his own bowl. Artemis felt sympathy for Nastasia, reminded of the secretary's unrequited crush on her boss. Artemis nearly opened her mouth to announce her presence, but was interrupted by a door at the opposite end of the room opening with a forceful push. O'Chunks entered the room, still looking groggy from sleep.
"Good mornin', everybody." He called, followed by a yawn. He stomped over to a door to the side of the room and went inside, and came out a minute later. Holding a bowl of cereal, he sauntered over to the table, sitting across from Nastasia.
"O'Chunks!" Mimi called out suddenly and pulled Artemis toward him.
"Hey, this is Artemis, and she is our new coworker! Isn't it so exciting! I mean, now I have someone to play dolls with me and dress up and have tea parties and-"
"Mimi, calm down." Artemis said slowly to stop Mimi's fast-paced chattering.
"It's just so exciting because I don't have anyone to play with me cuz the count's too busy and Nassy's no fun-"
"Mimi!" Artemis tried again to get her attention but Mimi continued on.
"-and Chunky here is just too dumb,"
"Eh!" O'Chunks interjected but was ignored.
"-and Dimentio is such a meanie-pants and keeps stealing my diary!"
"Mimi!" Artemis nearly yelled, which finally caught Mimi's attention. At this point, Nastasia and Count Bleck had been watching the exchange with mild interest though not complete attention as this was not the first time Mimi had gone off on a tangent.
"Yes?" Mimi asked, looking up at Artemis.
"Mimi, remember, I am here to work. If I have some spare time than yes, we can hang out. Okay?" Artemis explained calmly. Even though Mimi was a villain, she practically had the mind of a child.
"Yay! Come on, let's go get breakfast!" Mimi said, pulling Artemis off toward the door to the side. Before being pulled through, Artemis looked to O'Chunks.
"Hey, it's nice to meet you." Artemis managed to squeeze out before she was pulled through the door.
"Nice to meet you too, lass." O'Chunks replied but Artemis was already through the door.
Breakfast went by in a flash and after Mimi found out Artemis had no other clothes to wear she freaked out and demanded they both go shopping immediately. Mimi took Artemis to her favorite shopping mall in another dimension Artemis had never seen. They had already been to five different shops when Mimi suddenly stopped in front of a dress shop.
"Yes! Perfect!" Mimi exclaimed grabbing Artemis and dragging her into the shop.
"Mimi, I really don't think-" Artemis began to interject.
"Hush!" Mimi said turning to look at her new coworker and friend.
"No self-respecting girl's wardrobe is complete without a dress." Mimi said firmly.
"But-"
"Zip!" Mimi interrupted before Artemis could even begin to object.
They looked around awhile but Artemis would never agree to any of Mimi's suggestions.
"How about this one?" Mimi asked, holding up a bright teal dress with lots of gems and bows.
"Eh, no." Artemis said quickly.
"This one?" Mimi asked, this time holding up an orange mini-dress with lots of frills.
"No." Artemis said again, not wanting any dress at all.
"Oh, how about this one!" Mimi tried again, this time with a red, lacy dress.
"For the last time, no." Artemis said, her patience starting to wear thin. Mimi glared at her.
"Why don't you like anything I've picked?!" Mimi demanded.
"I just don't like dresses that much!" Artemis replied.
"Well, here, how about this one?!" Mimi said angrily pulling a random dress off the rack next to her. Artemis was about to make another retort when she actually looked at the dress Mimi pulled off the rack.
It was a silky midnight blue dress that slightly shimmered in the light. Despite herself, Artemis found she actually liked this dress.
"This one." Artemis said abruptly.
"What?" Mimi questioned, surprised at Artemis's sudden change.
"I like this one." Artemis repeated herself. At this Mimi cracked a smile and cheered.
"Yes! Finally! Now try it on!" Mimi said dragging Artemis to the nearest changing room.
"Oh, I don't know-" Artemis begin suddenly self-conscious.
"Oh, it'll be fine. You'll look great!" Mimi insisted, pushing Artemis into the changing room.
The two had finished their shopping and returned to Castle Bleck, the two girls each carrying many bags as they traversed the halls. By the time they had got back it was late afternoon and both were exhausted.
"Hey, we have a training session later before dinner." Mimi said as she dropped all of Artemis's new stuff by her bedroom door.
"Okay, and thanks for today." Artemis said opening her door.
"Anything to help a girl friend in need." Mimi said as she opened her own bedroom door and walked inside. She closed the door behind her leaving Artemis alone in the hall. Artemis grabbed her new clothes and took it inside her own room and closed her own door. She hung up her new stuff in the closet and when she thought she had hung up everything, she nearly missed one of the bags. She opened the bag and inside was the dress. She took out the beautiful dress and hung it up as well. She didn't think she was ever going to actually wear it but got it anyway as Mimi wouldn't let her leave without getting at least one dress. She closed the closet with a sigh and decided to take a quick nap before her first training session later.