Chapter 4: The Jester and the Archer
Artemis woke with a yawn, still slightly drowsy. She looked up to the clock on the wall, which read six o'clock. With a startled yelp, she jumped out of bed and hurried to her newly filled closet. She pulled out a purple tank top with some black cargo pants and hurriedly changed. She then pulled on her shoes and ran out the door only to come to an abrupt stop outside. Down the hall, Dimentio was floating above Mimi with a pink book in his hand. Mimi was yelling at him and attempting to grab the book from him.
"Gimme back my diary, Dimentio!" Mimi exclaimed as she jumped up, reaching for the diary. He only laughed at her feeble attempts to grab it from him, shifting his position to keep the book just out of her reach. With a soft laugh, Artemis walked up to the pair.
"Alright, Dimentio, just give her diary back." Artemis said, causing both to snap their attention to her. With Dimentio distracted, Mimi snatched the dairy back and sped off with shout of victory. Dimentio put his hand to his chest, in a show of mock offense.
"Now, Artemis, look what you have done! All my hard work, ruined!" Dimentio declared sarcastically with an air of drama. Artemis laughed.
"Oh, I'm sure you can make up for it later." Artemis said, almost consolingly if not for her light-hearted tone. "Come on, we have to get going."
As the two walked the halls on the way to the training session, Artemis continued to glance at Dimentio when she thought he wouldn't see. Finally, she decided to voice a question that had been on her mind.
"Hey, Dimentio? Why do you always steal Mimi's diary?" Artemis asked, the curiosity burning her. Dimentio turned to her, surprised by the question.
"Why? Well this is surprising. Here I though you would already know, with your ever infinite prophetic knowledge." Dimentio replied mockingly.
"Hey. I may have the what, but I don't have the why." Artemis retorted. Dimentio considered the statement for a moment.
"If you must know, I do it simply because it's fun. Mimi's reactions are priceless." Dimentio said.
"Y'know, you really annoy her when you do that." Artemis quipped.
"Hence why I do it. She annoys me, it's only fair I return the favor." Dimentio quipped back.
By this point they had reached the training room doors. Dimentio pulled open the doors and with a bow, gestured for her to walk inside.
"Ladies first." He said with a faux air of chivalry. Picking up on the joke, Artemis replied:
"Why thank you good sir."
She finished with a curtsy, holding the edges of her invisible skirt, and then laughed. She then finally walked inside, with Dimentio following close behind.
As they entered the room, Artemis gazed around the room. It was mostly empty; the only things in the room were several white platforms dotted across the room at different heights. She could see Nastasia standing on one of the platforms, high above them across the room. Mimi and O'Chunks were already there, and each turned to face them when they walked in the door.
"K, now that you two have finally decided to join us, we can begin." Nastasia said, as she adjusted her glasses. Artemis smiled sheepishly, while Dimentio gave no effort to look at all guilty.
"Mimi and O'Chunks, you two pair up. Dimentio, you help Artemis catch up, k?" Nastasia instructed, looking between the four.
"Ok, come on Chunky!" Mimi said as she pulled O'Chunks to the opposite end of the room. Nastasia then turned to Artemis, handing her a strong wooden bow and a quiver of arrows.
"This is from the Count." Nastasia explained. Artemis took the gifts gratefully.
"Hey, thank the Count for me." Artemis said. Nastasia simply nodded with a smile and flipped back up to the upper platform, to oversee the training from above.
Artemis then took the quiver strap and put it on, so the quiver was behind her like a backpack. She pulled out and arrow and notched the bow. She turned to Dimentio, who made a large circular target appear, leaning against the farthest wall.
"Thank you." She said as she pulled back the bow. Both Dimentio and Nastasia looked on with tense expressions as Artemis made her final adjustments before letting the arrow fly. In a blink of an eye, the arrow launched forward toward the target, landing in the nine-point ring. Without hesitation, she shot off more arrows in rapid succession each landing in no lower than the seven-point ring. She finally stopped after her quiver was empty. Taking a breath, she observed her work with a small, but proud smile.
The sound of clapping cut through the silence, and everyone in the room turned their heads toward the sound. Count Bleck appeared, floating down to the floor with an impressed look of approval.
"Very good proclaimed Count Bleck! Clearly you are not lacking in skill." He praised her, the girl in question now flushed with embarrassment. Artemis dropped her gaze, not used to such praise. After a moment she looked up again.
"Oh, it wasn't that difficult really. It's always just come naturally to me." She said, trying to sound casual.
"Now you mustn't be so humble, like a swan pretending to be a duck." Dimentio commented, which just caused her to blush even more madly.
"Yes, be proud of your skill, for you are going to need it." Count Bleck agreed and then addressed the room at large.
"Minions! The Dark Prognosticus has shown me the vessels necessary for summoning the Chaos Heart! Nastasia and I will travel to this land, and we can soon begin the countdown to the end of these rotten worlds!" Count Bleck proclaimed, with cheers from Mimi and O'Chunks.
"What?! They haven't even summoned the Chaos Heart yet!? That mean this must be even before the game starts!" Artemis thought in disbelief.
"Nastasia, come! We depart!" Count Bleck called to his secretary. Then both she and he flipped out of the room.
Later that evening the four remaining minions were eating dinner, as Nastasia and Count Bleck had yet to return. Dinner was a tense event, with the four not saying much in the way of conversation, as they all eagerly waited for the Count's return. Artemis eat her soup slowly, every so often glancing at the others, with them all doing the same, not wanting to be the one to break the almost stifling silence. Finally O'Chunks spoke.
"So, when do ye think the Count will be back?" O'Chunks cautious asked.
"Well, hopefully soon. Cause I'm just dying of boredom." Mimi responded forcefully, her impatience clear.
"Now, now; we mustn't be so impatient. They have only been gone a few hours after all." Dimentio lightly chastised.
"He's got a point. Here, to help ease your boredom, why don't I come hang out with you after we finish?" Artemis suggested to the green shapeshifter, causing her to shriek in delight.
"Oh my gosh, that's a great idea!" Mimi said, now rushing to finish her meal. After the two had finished, Mimi wasted no time dragging Artemis to her room. Once there, the two girls spent two hours drawing pictures, playing with dolls, and dressing up. Though she would not admit it, Artemis did have a fun time. Now exhausted, she bid Mimi goodnight and left to return to her own room. However, in the hallway leaning against the wall, was Dimentio. As if waiting for her, he looked to her the second she exited Mimi's room.
"Like a wounded gazelle barely escaping its hunter, you return from the spider's nest." He said, looking at her with a smirk.
"Jeez, you make it sound like she was going to eat me alive in there." Artemis responded with a chuckle. Dimentio opened his mouth to make a reply, but just stopped. Suddenly, Artemis felt a dark pulse, like the world darkened for a second and the air was thick and hard to breath. Just as soon as it came, it disappeared. She looked to Dimentio, startled.
"Did you feel that?!" She asked, shaking slightly.
"Yes…" He replied slowly, staring down the hallway, in the direction of the entrance to the castle. Then, without a word, he floated off and down the hall.
"Wait!" she called before following him, into the ever-present darkness of the castle.