[Part 2]
Ariela~
"W-Where am I...?" Vision took its sweet time returning to her as she began a pathetic attempt to grasp the situation. The first thing that caught Joanna's eye was something white. It was made of wood and had... A handle? It was a door, a door that was being propped shut by her own legs. Speaking of her legs.. She tried to sit up, but found herself unable to move. A dull and scrutinizing pain bore its way into her left leg whilst her right retained almost no feeling what-so-ever.
The rest of it came to her in waves. Without warning she was assaulted by a maddening head-ache, coupled by panic as she soon realized that her arms were trapped behind her back. She tried to struggle free, but a foreign arm held her in place. She began too lose control when it all came back to her. In a single instance she relived it all. The climb up the sky mall, the shuttle, the monster... Her husband's death. Joanna began to weep uncontrollably, the sound growing steadily as she fell deeper into the void of sadness that called to her.
"No.." The weak, almost surreal voice sounded out from behind her. "Quiet.. You must be.. quiet.."
Samuel~
"..and so they fought, and the land was turn to ash. It is said that with each strike the two fell deeper into a swirling vortex of hatred. So consumed by it they were, that entire legions were destroyed without them taking notice. The battle raged for many years, neither combatant growing tired of the conflict. Many tried to stop the fight, but all were consumed by its intensity. Destruction and chaos ruled the land, and all was bleak and hopeless."
Ariela~
Ariela's voice faded with her consciousness, she had given up. She had failed.. Her only purpose had been washed away and all that remained was the pure and insurmountable force that was death. She looked at it with exhaustion, deciding in that moment that she would go willingly into the night, that she would take this chance to be liberated from her own hatred.
"Wh- who are you?"
The voice pulled her from her state of mind. Something about it gave her a need to hold on. A need to cling to that last thread. A need to live. Ariela was suddenly very awake, but the exhaustion refused to be held at bay. Without the voice she found herself slipping back into a state of dormancy. Frantically her mind searched for a way to make the voice return. The question Ariela! Answer the question! "M-me? I.." She barely had the strength to say it. "Ariela.. I am.. Ariela..."
Samuel~
"It is said that during the darkest hour of this conflict was when their hatred grew strongest. It was during this time that the two unleashed their strongest power. In the explosion of spiritual energy that came from this strike, all was consumed. Death covered the land, and the brother's were wiped from existence in a matter of moments. Then, it surged. In the final moments of their lives, the brother's hatred grew so strong that it became independent. Black energy exploded from the epicenter of the former battleground. It erased everything it touched, becoming one with it, stealing the souls of thousands. It is said that in this moment, the being known as Artemus was born..."
Ariela~
"A- Ariela... That is such a pretty name.." Joanna did not know why she said this, perhaps it was just random coincidence of thought, or maybe it was something more. Whatever it was she found herself speaking, and finding comfort in this stranger's voice. "M- my name is Joanna.. Do you know where we are?" Joanna's own voice was quite weak, but nothing compared to this woman's. The girl would need rest soon, but Joanna found herself selfishly keeping her from it.
"An apartment... Military.. here... Soon.. Shuttle."
Joanna found herself further recalling the events that had led her to be in this pathetic state. It had been the military, they had interrupted the monster's 'game' and killed her husband. Was this strange woman telling her that they were coming here? Now? If that was the case than Joanna truly did not see any way of her making it out of this alive. And what was this about a shuttle? The shuttle they had found at the sky mall? If so, how did it fit into this? and how was this woman at all connected to this event? The questions were maddening, she had to know. She couldn't just die like this. No, she wouldn't just die for this. She had to live on.. For John..
Samuel~
"In the moment of his birth, more death littered than land than ever before, and the world knew true darkness. Artemis was more than other Onikage, he did not feast for power, nor for satisfaction. He simply feasted, he had no reason, no definable pattern. He consumed all that he touched. He was.. Perfection..."
Ariela~
"Shuttle? What Shuttle? And what about the military? Are they coming?"
There it was, the voice again, pulling her back into reality. Almost like a defibrillator, shocking life back into her with each dose. Ariela savored it, focused her entire existence on this one thing. All she could ever wish for was to please it. To answer it's questions. Just on the off chance it might return, might please her once again with it's soft serenade. As her attraction quickly grew into obsession, she began to regress. "The Shuttle.. You brought us... They.. Followed..." Her voice changed as her form shifted, and she transgressed once more into an 11 year old girl. The voice was pulling her from the grasps of her Onikage. Transforming her into a human once more...
Samuel~
Samuel was skeptical. He raised his brow as he chewed on the impossibility of it all. "Bah! I asked for a story, not a folk tale!" He laughed at his kage. "You honestly believe this slander? I may just begin questioning your sanity if this continues Miralda." He continued chuckling to himself as he shook his head at the impossibility of it all.
"You saw through it did you?" Miralda smirked as he chuckled at her madness. " In truth, this tale is a children's fable. Made to warn young kage's of the dangers of nearing the being known as 'Artemus' carelessly." It was then that her tone changed drastically. She became entirely serious and Samuel's interest piqued with each word she spoke.
Ariela~
'brought us..?' It was then that it all connected in Joanna's mind. This woman.. The one she spoke too.. She rolled sideways, fear taking over as she separated from the form beneath her. Strangely, the arm that had previously held her in place was absent and when Joanna's fearful eyes lay upon what she expected to be the monster from before, she was met with the form of a small child. Shock and confusion overtook her. The child seemed to be in a deep sleep. Her breath came slowly and steadily. Whilst Joanna's own breath came in quick gasps.
Suddenly there was a loud banging outside of the apartment. Joanna heard the yells and demands of men claiming to be military. She panicked and all she could think to do was hide this child. Whatever connected her to the monster from before was irrelevant now. Instinct took over and Joanna pulled herself to her knees. The pain in her left leg was immense and her vision was blurring from the loss of blood. She fought back the urge to cry out and pulled the young child across the small room. Reaching a small closet she pulled the doors open quietly. At that very moment she heard a loud explosion as the door to the apartment was blown open from the other side. She worked as quickly as her body would allow, laying the child under several layers of spare bed sheets and closing the closet with haste.
Joanna fell to the floor with exhaustion. She lay on her stomach and was steadily approaching the grips of death.
Samuel~
"Do not be fooled Samuel, Artemis is a very real kage... And his hatred is the purest thing I know of.. He is the embodiment of anger, wishing only to see the extinction of all other life..."
[End of Part 2]