Author's Note
This chapter mentions death.
Artie closed his eyes, only to reopen them to nothingness, except this time, it was bright. "Hello there," a heavenly female voice said.
"Who are you?" Artie asked, turning to find the source of the voice, only to find nothing.
"I am the Lady of the Lake, King Arthur," she replied.
"H-how do you know my name?" Artie asked.
"You have touched the sword," the Lady of the Lake replied. "All who touch the sword relinquish their thoughts, and memories for me to access."
Artie stayed quiet. "I know why you are here," the Lady of the Lake said. "You have come to claim Excalibur."
"Yeah, but-" Artie said.
"Claiming Excalibur is no easy feat, as you saw from Charming," The Lady of the Lake interrupted.
"What happened with him?" Artie asked.
"Charming is well," the Lady of the Lake said. "He tried to claim the sword for himself, however, his intentions were not true. He wanted Excalibur for selfish reasons. He wanted to rule Far Far Away."
"So...he had all of this...talking thing too?" Artie checked.
"Indeed," the Lady of the Lake said. "He faced the same trail."
"Trail?" Artie asked.
"Yes, to test your heart," the Lady of the Lake said. "Now, no further questions. Your trail begins."
The white backdrop faded to his school. "Here? Again?" Artie whined. "Lady of the Lake? Why do I get my school again?" There was no answer. "Lady of the Lake?"
School, this time, was like normal. Everyone picked on him and called him names. The principal did nothing to stop it, and he was just as invisible as usual to Guinevere. "This is terrible," Artie said, his head on the table. "I'm just reliving my life."
The school faded out of existence. This caught Artie's attention, as his head fell from the faded table. "Woah!" he cried. The scene instead shifted to his life at the castle, being told of Shrek's kid's birthday. He explained to the guard that he should cancel all of his plans so he could make it. He returned shortly later with the news that he could not cancel one meeting.
The scene shifted again, this time to the battle around the lake. Shrek, Puss, Donkey, and Jiminy are loosing to Charming's forces. "Shrek!" Artie called.
"Artie?" Donkey asked.
"Did you get the sword?" Shrek asked.
"Well, no, but-" Artie said.
"Get back over there and get that sword!" Shrek demanded.
"But, you need help!" Artie cried. "I can't just leave you!"
"We can handle it just fine!" Shrek cried. "Get back in there and get that sword!"
"Shrek!" Artie cried. The scene changed back into the white scene from before. "What happened?"
"I traversed your memories to find the best trial for you," the Lady of the Lake said.
"But-"
"Don't worry, your friends are well and unharmed."
Before Artie could answer, he was returned to the outside world. Artie examined his hands, then glanced back at the sword, still in the rock. "Did you get it?" Shrek asked, punching a monkey out of the air. A few monkeys grabbed him and carried him away. "Well, I thought I did," Artie said. "I was talking to the Lady of the Lake, and then I was back here? Did I get zapped off?"
"I didn't notice," Jiminy said.
"I wasn't paying attention," Shrek replied.
"What do I do now?" Artie asked.
"Well, you can help me get this witch off of me!" Shrek cried, pushing the Wicked Witch of the West. Artie ran towards him to help, however, he was trapped by two witches. One witch is on her broom, while the other is in front of him with her wand pointed right at him. Artie ducked from a beam from the wand, jumped up on the broom, pushing it down, like leapfrog, onto the other witch, who crashed and collapsed.
Shrek had finally beat the Wicked Witch of the West, her becoming unconscious by falling over a rock. "Shrek!" Artie cried, catching up. "You okay?"
"Yeah, now anyway," Shrek said, slapping a wand out of a witch's hand. She fumbled with it, then ran. "Why'd she run for?" Donkey asked.
"Hey, you scared her away," Puss teased.
"Yeah!" Donkey exclaimed. "Take that!"
"Should we just head home?" Artie asked.
"I guess we could," Jiminy said. "Although, I wonder why you couldn't claim the sword."
"Maybe I wasn't worthy?" Artie asked.
"But-" Jiminy said.
Charming shoved a sword at Shrek. This time, he didn't miss. "I'll be missing you, ogre," Charming said, smugly, "but Far Far Away is mine now." He removed the sword, and walked away, taking his army with him.
"Shrek?" Artie cried. "Shrek?"
"Shrek?" Donkey cried. "Shrek, don't leave! What'll I do without you?"
"It's...okay, Donkey..." Shrek said.
"Who's going to help Fiona with her kids?" Puss asked.
"Shrek...I can...I can fix this!" Artie cried. "We can...we can..."
"Artie...it's okay..." Shrek said.
"Shrek..." Donkey said, his ears going down.
"Tell...tell Fiona...I love...her..." Shrek said.
"Shrek! I can help you! Just let me-"
The whiteness returned. Artie cried in his hands, not noticing any difference. "Very good, Arthur," the Lady of the Lake said.
"Good?" Artie yelled, tears still in his eyes. "What's good about it?"
"You passed the trail," the Lady of the Lake replied, calmly.
"T-trail?" Artie asked, his voice calmer, but still shaky.
"Correct," the Lady of the Lake said.
"So...Shrek's..." Artie couldn't finish his sentence. Even the thought of one of his friends dying was too much to bear. Losing his father made an impact on him, but, losing friends who treated him much better than anyone ever has, friends that mean the world to him, the thought was too much to handle if he lost one of them.
"The trial was a test of your loyalty to your friends," the Lady of the Lake explained.
Artie wiped his tears away. "W-why?" The Lady of the Lake paused for a moment. "Your heart is truest to your friends, Shrek, Donkey, Puss in Boots, and," she stopped to chuckle, "the Ethical Bug. Your loyalty is nothing to be casual about. Let me demonstrate."
A large, glass jar, appeared in front of Artie. This jar is filled with candies of all sorts. "Wh-what is this?" Artie asked, walking closer to the jar. "This is your loyalty to your friends," the Lady of the Lake said.
"Why candy?" Artie asked.
"You like candy," the Lady of the Lake said casually.
The jar vanished, making Artie flinch away. "Your trial was to test your loyalty and courage for your friends. This, King Arthur, is your true intentions. You wish to wield Excalibur to protect your friends."
Artie stood up a little straighter and confidently. "King Arthur, take Excalibur and help your friends. You have my blessing."