Garrett stayed with Artemus for, in the Keeper's opinion, far, far too long.
There was a time when Artemus prayed his children would return to him, to the Haven, safe and sound, once they had their fill of adventure, of rebellion, of seeing the filth and squalor of the city streets. Artemus thought that surely, his children would grow weary of life outside of the Haven once they saw how dreary their dreams were in reality and thus come home to him and stay, stay with him safe and warm and loved…
Those musings that kept Artemus up long into the early hours of the morning all seemed so far away, no inconsequential… And now? Now Artemus had never been so desperate to see his son vanish into the night as he had all those years ago.
Garrett was hollowed by Erin's absence, not in the way he had been during their discourse of blood and coin, but truly, sickly, hollowed.
A shadow of the man, as ironic as it were, he once was.
Artemus stayed by Garrett's side, his son's side, for as long as he was needed. Damning the world to burn as he stood vigil over his child during the endlessly long days and nights without Erin, without flight, without a thief in the night…
Even as the City and surrounding forests and sea burned with a vile fever as the veins which the Primal once flowed through became corrupted with the vicious tides of the newly birthed Primordial Basin, bleeding hate and wrath and fear and sorrow and-
"Garrett, Garrett help!"
Festered with disease and desperation. Just as it had during the first Dark Ages…
Artemus stayed by his son's side… Offering all that he could to Garrett to help, in any way he could. Whether it was his shoulder to cry on, his hand to hold, or something as simple as sitting by his son's side, keeping Garrett quiet company.
And it was quiet.
Despite the two of them living together, there was little talking to be done, save for the briefest of exchanges, Artemus suggesting what he should cook for dinner, Garrett asking Artemus to help him change his bandages.
Small words, weightless words, meant less to convey and more to fill the silence between father and son. Even so, as the days dragged by, the quiet grew. Artemus knew that Garrett and Erin needed no words, he had seen them many times speaking to each other with little more than passing glances and the occasional gesture.
Sooner or later, Artemus figured that eventually, he would be able to understand so intimately that spoken words were beneath them. But the silence would kill them far faster than starvation should he allow that. So Artemus continued to fill the silence, continuing trying to engage his son in conversation, in anything he could to keep Garrett from closing himself off entirely.
Even as the losses piled once again. Commoners and Nobles fell like flies in the streets, in their homes, some to the sickness, some to their fellow man, many to their own hands.
Even as Orland ordered ration after ration to the food and water supplies. Despite the fact that the Haven was perfectly self-sufficient, without the Primal to bring light to the crops and speed along growing, the harvest withered and died, save for the particularly hardy grains and mushroom species they could cultivate in the dim fire-light.
Even as seemingly everything, and everyone began losing hope. Fewer and fewer apprentices saw the point in furthering their studies. Research had come to a near complete standstill, save for those desperately attempting to find a way to revive the flow of the Primal.
Artemus stayed.
No matter who summoned him, with the exception of Orland, but even the First Keeper was not exempt from Artemus ignoring summons, Artemus stayed glued to his son's side. Day and night, he refused to stray.
Keeper Vairia took to delivering Artemus his rations just so his friend wouldn't starve to death. Keeper Vairia was the one to watch as the two, father and son, continued to spiral downward. Keeper Vairia was the one to ask the two, more times than he could be damned to count, why.
There was much busywork to do, and they weren't helping anyone, least of all themselves by staying cooped up all day.
All Artemus could tell his life-long friend was that he was so horribly sick of losing… He couldn't stand the thought of losing the one child he had left. Everything he owned, all he had worked for, the Haven, the city, even himself, Artemus would gladly burn to keep Garrett safe.
Because that was what a good father did.
And he had failed to do so with one child.
Artemus refused to fail a second time, especially when there was so much to lose…