"I should have expected this." Artemis said, holding her head in her hands. "I should have seen this coming."
"I am sorry..."
"Oh, you're sorry!" She snapped, "Sorry! Well that makes it all better then, doesn't it? I'm not sure why I'm even angry, because you've said you're sorry."
"You are angry?" Moridaì asked, shrinking back a little.
Artemis glared at them. "Am I- Yes I'm angry! Obviously I'm angry! Why would I not be angry?"
"Art, calm down." Quinn said, getting in between the two and doing his best to keep her from becoming any more enraged. "Give them a chance to explain, maybe there's a reason why-"
"No, we are not doing this again. You are not giving them any chances to back out of this one."
"Artemis, please. I promise I have regretted it ever since. That is part of why I wanted to help you; to fix my own mistakes."
"How am I supposed to believe anything you say?" Artemis asked them, "You're just like the rest of them. You say you're helping, but cause the problem you're trying to fix. You caused all of this. This is your fault."
Moridaì didn't attempt to argue any further, mostly because they were unable to, now their eyes had begun to completely cloud with tears. They ran- or rather, disappeared- off into the forest, vanishing from sight before Quinn could call out an apology.
"Artemis, what is wrong with you?" He cried. "I thought we were finally moving past all this. You won't even let them try to explain themself now?"
"Why should I? They're responsible for reopening the Void, what is there to explain?"
"Maybe if you listened to other people for once in your life you would know! They said they regret doing it, and they want to make up for their mistakes. What more do you want from them?" He paused for a moment to take a breath, "We can't all be as perfect as you are."
"What exactly is that supposed to mean?"
"I don't suppose you've ever done something you regretted? Something you wanted to fix, even though you caused the problem? No, of course not, because Artemis doesn't cause problems! You never do anything wrong! It's always someone else's fault isn't it? Nothing is ever good enough for you! I'm never good enough for you!"
There was a silence, where Quinn caught his breath wondering why he'd said any of that out loud, and Artemis looked at him, stunned.
"It wouldn't be so bad..." Quinn continued, quieter, and crying a little. "...But I like you, Art. I like talking to you. I like spending time with you. And then you go and do something like this and I don't know what to think anymore."
"Look, Quinn, I get it-"
"No, you don't. You don't know what it's like to have the only person who's ever really liked you back disappear for six years: not talking, or visiting or letting you help them. I missed you, Art. I lo-"
He stopped when he noticed Artemis' expression, a strange combination of confusion and guilt, realising too late how he'd been rambling for far too long.
"I'm sorry." He said, embarrassed, "I should stop-"
"No." Artemis told him, "If you hold all this in much longer, it'll only get worse. Keep going."
He hesitated for a moment, wondering if it would be better for him to run into the woods, but he nodded instead, and did as he'd been asked.
"Violet felt it first. She'd have these... these thoughts and feelings, and it was confusing at first. Not bad. Not even particularly scary. Just... new. I think she might've liked those feelings honestly; wanted to see you more so she could feel it more often.
Then Violet left, which was good. But after she was gone a lot of her thoughts and feelings stuck around for a while. And I know this sounds stupid but... it felt wrong to keep those feelings. They were hers, and not mine. For some reason, in my head, admitting I still felt how I did meant admitting I was still... still her.
And that scared me a lot, Art. I was so much happier now... now Violet was gone; I couldn't bear the thought that she might not be gone. So I told myself I didn't feel that way anymore. I told myself we were just friends. Good friends, nothing more. I mean, you never had those feelings so we must've been, right?
And then you started visiting less and less. You started focusing more on your work and your future and we didn't speak as much anymore. In some twisted way I was happy about that, because it became so much easier to lie to myself. Of course I didn't feel those feelings anymore, we barely even see each other! I managed to convince myself for a while.
But being here, on this weird little quest we once dreamed about... It's amazing, Artie. We're exploring the world, getting ourselves into hijinks. We rode on the back of a dragon, how ridiculous was that? It feels like nothing ever really changed! And that's the thing, I don't think it ever did.
I think- I think I still love you."
Now, when Artemis had encouraged him to keep talking, she had not anticipated a nearly 300 word long confession. Such was her lack of anticipation, she was completely unable to utter so much as a surprised noise let alone coherent sentences. Quinn was also surprised by how much he'd actually wanted to get off his chest and, unable to think of any way to continue, he said he was going to go and look for Mori, breaking eye contact as soon as possible and running off into the woods.
Artemis didn't stop him. She just sat down in the middle of the clearing, in the now pouring rain, and tried to unscramble the incoherent mess inside her head. Putting aside the fact that Quinn had romantic feelings for her, and had done so since they were children, she was still trying to figure out what exactly happened with Moridaì, now releasing that she had been far to hersh on them yet again.
Why was she so bad at being a decent person? Surely compassion was an important quality for a leader, why was she so utterly lacking in it? Then again, she supposed, perhaps compassion isn't the sort of thing people write encyclopaedias and textbooks on.
She fell onto her back, closed her eyes and let the rain hit her face for a bit, feeling its coldness drip down her cheeks. How long had it been since she'd been out in the rain rather than watch it from behind a window? How long since she'd read a book of ancient legends and daring tales purely for the fun of it? How long since she'd last really spent time talking with someone, even someone like Monty, who she saw everyday.
How long since she'd truly lived?
***
Quinn arrived at the forest edge panting for breath. He'd run all the way, hoping that Moridaì hadn't left them yet, or at least he could catch them before they did.
Thankfully, Moridaì was there, curled up shivering beneath a tree.
"Why do we always end up in this situation?" Quinn asked, sitting down next to them.
"Hm? Oh!" Muttered Moridaì, who hadn't noticed him at first. "Quinn! Yes, I suppose this is a rather familiar scenario, is it not? Have you been... crying? What happened?"
"Nothing you need to worry about. Just got a bit heated back there is all."
"I wish it were a little more heated here..."
Quinn laughed. "I've still got a few drops of Potion of Warmth. I never used my beacon in the end. Have some."
Moridaì thanked him, and drank as little of the potion as they could to feel its effect.
"What was it that you became heated about?" They asked.
"Oh, love, mostly. As I said, no need to start a panic or anything..."
"I know that you are intending to calm me, but now I am concerned. Was something was said to upset you?"
"Nah, I just kept talking for a little too long and I said some embarrassing stuff, that's all." He drank a few drops of potion and put it back in his bag. "I don't suppose you've... I don't know, have you been in love at all?"
"I do not think so." Moridaì said, "I have enough trouble figuring out how to make friends. I do not think love would wrap around my head very well."
"I think you're good at friendship, Mori."
"You are too kind." They sighed. "I worry that Artemis may never forgive me now." They watched Quinn rummage through his bag for a little while.
"I do not suppose you happen to be carrying a potion that would fix my troubles?"
"Actually... I might!"
"Really?"
"Yep, try this!" Quinn smiled, pulling out a tightly sealed bottle and two cups.
"What is it called?"
"Tea."
"Tea?" Moridaì asked, "I believe I have heard of this before!"
"It's a widely known, easy to learn recipe." He explained, pouring the drink, which had remained hot inside the bottle, "But it requires a special incantation to work."
"And what is that incantation?"
"Now that entirely depends." Quinn said, passing them a cup and taking a small sip of his own, "What's the matter?"
Moridaì sighed, staring into the cup. "You do believe me when I say I regret what I did, do you not?"
"Of course."
"Because I do regret it, every day, when I see what they are doing to innocent people. It is boiling up my blood! I do not even have blood to be boiling, that should not be possible!"
"If you don't mind me asking, what actually happened? Why did you do it?"
"It is a very long story." Moridaì said, "The short version is that I was not happy with my family and what they were doing, so I ran away. Not too long afterwards, the banishment spell was cast, but I did not go..."
"Wait, really? Why not?"
"I do not know, but I am glad I did not." Said Moridaì, with a smile, "Those four years were some of the happiest of my life."
"Then why did you reopen the Void?"
"I felt terribly guilty. Despite how they had behaved and treated me, I missed my family very much. I only wanted to talk to them, to see how they were coping in the Obsidian Void. When I got there, they were screaming in pain, begging for me to let them go..."
"But how were they in pain?" Quinn asked in between sips of tea, "From what I've read the Void can't hurt. It's just endless nothingness."
"It is, but I did not know that at the time. They were only pretending so I would feel guilty enough to let them out..."
"And you did..."
Moridaì nodded, "I hoped that they would have learnt something over those four years, that they might have been kinder now. As you surely know, they are not."
"Well of course that wasn't your fault!" Quinn said, "Sure you opened the Void, but you were literally being manipulated!"
"I do not think I was literally being manipulated, I was quite in control of my body. Although that does sound like something they would do..."
"That's not the point. If Art knew about all of that, she'd absolutely understand why you did it."
"But she does not want to listen." Moridaì pointed out, "She has decided on what she wants to believe, and nothing I say will be able to persuade her."
"Alright, earlier on she was out of line. She's exhausted tonight, she hasn't had a proper rest in ages. Take it from me, when Art is tired, she gets angry over the smallest things. Once she's had some time to rest, she'll be more willing to listen to you, I swear."
"I truly hope that you are right..."
"He is."
Both Moridaì and Quinn nearly split their tea onto the grass when they heard Artemis's voice emerging from the trees. Despite what Quinn had been saying, Moridaì couldn't help but flinch at her presence.
"I am?" Quinn asked, not entirely sure what was happening, "I mean, yeah! I am! Of course I am!"
"Mori, look, I shouldn't have acted like that. Earlier, I mean. I was... tired, and confused, and I took it out on you when it wasn't really your fault and-"
"Artemis, it is okay..."
"No, it isn't." Artemis said, still breathless, "I have been horrible, to both of you, this entire time, and you've done nothing to deserve it."
"I mean, you're allowed to be stressed." Quinn told her. "I think we're all at least a little stressed."
"Yeah but you don't start snapping at people, do you? Wait, I'm doing it again-" She took a long breath and composed herself. "My point is that I'm sorry, alright? I'm sorry for being a... prick."
"That's not the word I'dve used but okay."
Artemis looked at him, her mind cycling through a number of different ways to explain what she wanted to say, each one feeling not quite right.
"Quinn..." She said, choosing her words very carefully. "You are an... amazing guy, you know that? The best person that I know."
"Oh, shush."
"No, I'm serious! You mean the world to me, and I'm sorry that I haven't been making that as clear as I should have. I've been so worried about all my new responsibilities that I forgot about all my old ones."
"You think I'm a responsibility?" Quinn asked, pretending to take great offence. In reality it was hard for him to wipe the smile from his face. His Artemis was coming back, after six years.
"I'm not sure how I feel about... us, right now." She continued, "I've never thought about it before. I'm not against it, I just... think we should take it slow in that regard. Make sure before we commit to anything. If that's okay with you..."
"Yeah..." Quinn said, his turn to be lost for words, "That's perfect, actually!" He rushed over to her, squeezing his arms around her chest as tightly as he could. Artemis accepted the embrace in stunned silence, before cautiously attempting to return the gesture.
"If you do not mind me saying, you two are very cool." Moridaì said, watching them from a few paces away. "Was that an appropriate context for the word cool?"
"Yeah, I'd say it's pretty accurate." Artemis laughed, her breathing becoming heavily restricted as Quinn squeezed tighter. "You're still cool as well, Mori."
"Does this mean I have permission to join in with the hug?"
"You've always got permission to join in with the hug!"
Moridaì beamed and practically jumped on top of them, knocking all three of them onto the floor, where they simply laughed for a while, refusing to get back up.
"Are you really no longer angry with me?" Moridaì asked once the giggling had calmed down a bit, rolling onto their side and facing Artemis.
"I'm kinda confused, but I'm sure you'll fill me in, won't you?" She winked.
"What was it that made you change your mind?"
"A few things..." She said, "But it was mainly because of Cassion."
"But he told you about what I-"
"Exactly. He told me himself, he thought it would be enough to split us up without his intervention, and I'd rather swallow my sword than give him the satisfaction of a victory like that."
"You decided to come back out of spite?" Quinn asked her, laughing. "What a motivation..."
"Please do not ingest your sword under any circumstance though." Moridaì added, "It is rather sharp and pointy."
"Well then, I suppose we'd better get back to work then, hm?" Artemis smiled, sitting up and preparing to walk back to the palace.
"In the morning." Quinn said, pulling her back before she had a chance to go anywhere. "If we don't get some proper sleep soon, you're going to end up punching someone."
"I will not!"
Her protests went ignored however, as Quinn had already shut his eyes and Moridaì was curling up next to him. Artemis rolled her eyes and joined them, secretly relieved to finally be allowed a chance to rest.
Me again!
I'm really not a fan of this one's ending. Idk, it feels off somehow
Also look at all that talking! So much talking I decided to split one person's dialog into paragraphs. Wahey!
Anyway, do all the the stuff, if you'd like. I'm starting to slow down a little so updates may start becoming more spaced out, sorry for that in advance. I haven't burnt out just yet, but I can feel it coming soon lol
-Rain