Ch. 10-The Return

Artemis sat anxiously that night, not sleeping. He hadn't slept for the past few nights. He was too excited for his powers to return to him. Soon it would be July twenty-seventh, the day his teacher, his once good friend had betrayed him and used a parasitic curse in order to take away Artemis' powers away from him. Now the time had come, a revenge plan, twenty years in the making was about to begin.

11:55

Soon, very soon, seconds away from his glorious return, it will be biblical, thought Artemis.

11:56

He would take revenge on those who had done this to him, Broderick his teacher, Tom, a new so-called friend who betrayed him and tried to kill him when he was powerless.

11:57

Abraxas Malfoy, his new father-figure who ordered his death and kept Artemis' love locked away, Adora, his wife was Artemis' true love and would fight till the death to free her from his aristocratic grip.

11:58

The Ministry of Magic, who allowed this travesty to happen, by granting Broderick the permission to take his magical abilities away from him. It will be so sweet when it is all over.

11:59

Artemis sat on his bed, holding his wand, waiting, this was it. One minute to go, his raven Amicus sat on the window sill. He seemed to know what this moment held as the bird fluttered is wings anxiously. Time goes so unbelievably slow when we…

12:00

The time had come, after twenty long years of waiting Artemis Gridlock will return once more. But he didn't feel any different, he expected a rush of power make its way through his body. No matter, what mattered is now he could once again do magic, but it wasn't so. He pointed his wand and tried a spell, and nothing. It was just like the several other times he had tried, hoping his powers had returned to him. He tried again and again, but nothing happened. How could this be?

12:02

Artemis felt a surge of anger flow through his body, his plan was ruined, destroyed. That plan was all he had and now it was gone. He grabbed the fire poker near his fireplace and swung heavily in anger, destroying his house, smashing windows, splintering furniture. He had never been so angry in his life; he couldn't bear the thought of all this time being for nothing. He felt useless, life was pointless, and he had no purpose. And he decided to end it all.

He got the gun he kept by his bedside, walked into the living room, and stood staring at the carving he had made above the fireplace twenty years ago.

6/27/1978

With fury he shot into the brick in which the date was carved, blowing the etching away, taking large chunks out of the mantle. He kept shooting and heard the clicks of an empty gun. He reloaded it and pointed the gun to his temple. If he had no power, it would all end here. As a muggle he had no hope of getting revenge on those that had betrayed him. His pulled back the hammer and placed the barrel to his right temple, just a bit of pressure on the trigger, and Artemis Gridlock would be no more.

He thought of what he had planned, and of Adora, and then of the day it had all happened. The battle at Broderick's and then of the car he had stolen in the country. He had wanted to take Adora out to the country to live when they ran away together. The sunrise there was so beautiful he thought it would be… and then like a light at the end of a tunnel there was suddenly an answer, he pulled the gun away from his head and opened his eyes. When he had gone to kill Broderick it was the twenty-seventh and it was daylight out, near six o'clock. In the heat of the battle he must not have realized how long they had been fighting, when he had knocked Broderick into his cellar and gone down there himself, it was so dark, there was no telling what it was like outside. When he had taken his powers and transported him into the country-side he hadn't even paid attention to the sunrise. Broderick must've taken away his powers early morning of the next day, and transported him away where he witnessed the sun rising on the twenty-eighth. He took his powers away on the twenty-eighth not the twenty-seventh! He hadn't realized they must've been fighting for hours, and slowly Artemis got a feeling of relief flood into him.

He fetched Amicus who had flown high above to escape the destruction that Artemis unleashed. He lay on his bed, petting Amicus, who had incredibly soft feathers; Amicus liked to playfully nibble at Artemis fingers and ear. He was a loyal bird, and was always a friend to talk to. He fell asleep and Amicus slept next to him on the pillow.

He awoke, felling refreshed, as he hadn't slept in weeks, too anxious. He looked at his watch, nine o'clock PM, good lord! He had slept nearly an entire day. I suppose the trauma of nearly committing suicide coupled with a stunning revelation that saved his life had really taken a toll. He still felt anxious though, only hours left until he would rise to power once more.

He cooked some dinner over the fire, just a way to pass the time; he was cooking a large chicken over the fire like a rotisserie. He had actually built a little coop near his cabin and raised a small flock of hens, extracting their eggs for breakfast, how sweet it will be to no longer have to slave for his survival. Once he returned to power he would be able to use magic to solve his problems as before. However he had gotten used to living as a muggle, twenty years will do that to you, but he did long await the day where he would live as a king, not a slave.

Ten o' clock, only a few hours left. He had waited twenty years and now these hours were going by slower than the twenty years. He pulled of pieces of food and fed them to Amicus who gratefully snatched them with his black beak. Amicus and him went everywhere together, Amicus had been grateful of Artemis bandaging his broken wing and now they were inseparable companions, Artemis was very excited to even give a few enchantments to Amicus when he was powerful again. Speed and Strength charms and a charm that would allow Amicus to disapparate with him, he planned to use Amicus not only as a companion but as a symbol of fear to those who knew he was coming for them.

Artemis' things were already ready and packed, all his books and plans, his amulets and other magical objects, once he had powers again he would enchant his bag with an extendable charm, allowing him to put immense loads into the bag and it wouldn't be the slightest bit heavier. Eleven thirty now, Artemis couldn't even read. He had read a lot these past years, and found it was an excellent way to pass the time, as well as learn along the way, and he quite enjoyed a good book. He had studied up over the years with all sorts of subjects and had become incredibly smart, and not to mention physically fit. So much time to kill one takes up things like exercise, and the rough life of living in the forest certainly helped: chopping wood, hauling loads of fire wood, dragging large beasts back home for dinner. He had become quite the specimen indeed, and now it was time to put his body and mind to the test. Eleven fifty, a mere ten minutes separated him from his revenge.

He saw a light, a tiny one coming from outside in the dark of the night. He recognized it as the glow of a wand with the "Lumos" spell. Artemis grabbed his gun and extinguished the fire, leaving only a small oil lamp burning on the mantle. This person was probably waiting for him to go to bed, in a few short minutes he would have his powers back and killing this intruder would be all too easy. When he heard a clamber at the other side of his house, he whipped around and saw nothing out his other window, he went closer to examine the noise. Without warning there came a loud roar of a man from behind Artemis who tackled him in the back and sent him straight to the floor face first. His gun flew out of his hand and slid into the darkness of the rest of the cabin. He felt this person straighten themselves up and turn him over. He was face to face with a man who looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place him. This had not been the first time Artemis' home was invaded, others had come to collect what he inferred was some sort of bounty set by Abraxas, who was extremely wealthy. How this man had gotten past all of Artemis defenses was a complete mystery. The man pushed his wand into Artemis' neck and laughed.

"Oh how I hoped I'd be the one to find you, they'll take me back now wont they." The man gave a chuckle, but there was a slight slur in his voice and had horrible breath. He had a mess of bleach blonde hair and bright green eyes. He looked like hell, five o' clock shadow of the worst kind, a nice raggedy pinstripe suit complete with tears and stains. Artemis could see his wand on the table just out of reach, only minutes left and he could use it, but did this man know that? Still pointing the wand to his neck, the man pulled out of his tatty suit jacket a silver flask.

"Cheers eh", the man tilted his head back and drank a giant gulp. A foolish mistake on his part, Artemis punched the flask right into his face; he flew back off of him grasping his face which now was very bloody. Artemis looked at the clock, eleven fifty-seven, only three minutes left. As he turned to look back at the intruder, he found himself being shoved with all the man's weight into his table breaking it in half. When Artemis had pushed him back the man had lost his wand, it was now a fist fight, wrestling on the floor. After a punch to the face Artemis grabbed the man around his throat, he was soon met with a knee to the chest. They rolled across the floor punching and kicking, Artemis was tasting blood in his mouth, and had only minutes to hold him off, he just had to keep him from getting his wand.

The man spotted the wand on the floor and reached for it, Artemis laid on top of him trying to hold him back, but he reached closer to his wand, his hand stretching and his fingertips nearly scraping his wand. Artemis looked around and saw his hunting tools and grabbed one lying on the floor from when the table collapsed. He plunged the knife into the stranger's hand, nailing it to the floor, he let out a loud scream of pain and blood seeped from the base of the blade. Artemis stood and looked at his clock, eleven fifty nine, only sixty seconds to go! His excitement was cut short by the man's legs swinging back and tripping Artemis sending him crashing to the floor. The stranger was now lying on top of Artemis the blade from his hand was now released from the floor and was trying to plunge it into Artemis' neck. Artemis held it back with all his might; he outmatched the man in strength. He was a scrawny person, and judging by the smell of his breath probably a bit tipsy. Artemis saw his wand behind him and reached for it with his other hand. He was almost sure he was only seconds away from regaining his powers. He grabbed it and attempted to point it at the strangers head, but he grabbed his wrist trying to hold back his wand.

It was a battle to the death; on one side, a knife, only inches away from plunging into Artemis' neck, and on the other, a wand just about pointed right for the man. Both were using their hands and pushing with all their might, until Artemis had his wand pointed straight for him, but the time hadn't come, the knife drew closer and closer, the point just barely touched his skin when. BONG! BONG! Twelve o' clock! Artemis felt as though hot liquid gold was rushing through his veins, recharging him giving him life, like adrenaline coursing through his body. He didn't hesitate a moment.

"CONFRINGO!" The spell shot from his wand at point blank range, sending the man smashing into the opposite wall. Artemis collected himself and got up to a stand. He turned and waved his wand and a large fire burst forth from the fire place, giving light to the small, destroyed inside of the shack. Artemis got a good look at the intruder for the first time. It took a moment but he recognized who he was, Dimitri Malfoy, brother of Abraxas Malfoy and family reject. He must've thought capturing Artemis would restore his image with his family. He lay against the wall, weak, dying, bleeding; Artemis had often wondered about the first person that he would come across when he regained his powers. Dimitri took a long time to die. When he was finally dead, Artemis had a wonderful deranged idea.

"Decapitatum," he then stuffed the head of Dimitri into a bag and once he had enchanted Amicus with a strength charm, gave him instructions to deliver it to Malfoy Manor. Artemis saw Amicus fly across the dark morning sky and looked at his hands, and ran his fingers all over his wand. He immediately conjured himself a suit, of course with purple accents. He then rose high above the trees of the forest he had lived in for so many years. He shot a bolt into the sky turning the skies a dark black, and brilliant purple lightening arched from the darkened sky. Artemis Gridlock had returned.