He could see it now. It was so simple.

He was the root of it all. He needed to die.

Zackary gripped the scalpel, and lobbed it at the man. The throw went wild
and bounced against the left poster of the bed.

Artemis looked up at Zackary. Confusion plastered all over his face.

And seeing that the scalpel had not worked, Zackery lunged at Artemis,
desperately, willingly, like a cat scrambling after a wounded mouse. Artemis
was too slow to react, too slow to move, too slow to avoid the iron grip
that closed around his neck.

Why had everyone been so scared of them? They were so weak!

Zackary laughed as he squeezed the life from Artemis. Laughing so hard that
tears pooled at the edge of his eyes. He laughed while the pitiful man tried
to push Zackary away, laughed while the man struggled for breath—-he was
laughing, laughing, laughing as the Moonie died.

Artemis clawed at the hands, sinking his fingernails into flesh, drawing
blood that dribbled down warm against the neck and soaked red into the bed
sheets. Zachary grimaced, but held his position.

Was the man trying to beg for mercy? Was he trying to beg for his miserable
life?

And did she get any mercy? Did she get to live??

NO! NO! NO!

He tightened his grip around the man's neck and Zackary watched as the man's
eyes rolled inward and the body went limp.

chi•me•ra

n. A fanciful mental illusion or fabrication

"You could never understand it all. You want a reason, two or three reasons.
When there are reasons going back two or three hundred years…" –Ken Kesey,
"Sometimes a Great Notion"

The sea of green stars began to vanish one by one into the darkness. He
reached out to them desperately. There was still something he had to do!
There was something important! There was something so inherently vital… but
he could not remember, and so he continued to reach for the green stars. He
did not know why he did this, but with the loss of each brilliant star his
sense of foreboding increased, as if something bad would happen if all of
them disappeared. The man reached, stretching his arms to the limit in a
futile effort to try and grasp them, but it was no use.

The green stars continued to vanish, thinning as the burning in his lungs
dissipated to a tingle. In the darkness he lost sight of himself. It was
cold here.

Nothing mattered anymore. It would soon end.

Falling, falling, forever falling, Artemis was drifting into the void,
weightless and numb. Soon he wouldn't exist. This place, this darkness, was
silence, an infinite silence out to drown and swallow him whole.

Artemis

Falling, he was falling, and it was cold.

Artemis

Cold. Numb. Yes, his whole body was numb.

Artemis

It sounded familiar.

Artemis

But the stars were fading….

Artemis

"Artemis. Wake up."

But the stars…

"Wake up."

Warmth radiated all around him, and his body shivered in relief. His head
rested in someone's lap and he could feel the light traces of fingers
against smooth skin.

A voice whispered in his ear: "Wake up."

Artemis opened his eyes.

"Lu… Luna? The stars--they were fading."

"Were they now?" Luna smiled and pointed at the dome overhead them. "Look,
Artemis, the stars are all there as plain as day. See? The Sun and the stars
and the Earth are all where you last left them."

Artemis' eyes followed her arm, and saw the sea of crystalline stars, the
blazing sun, but frowned at the sight of the blue planet. There was
something that bothered him.

"Shhh. It was just a dream." Luna said as her fingers gently stroked
Artemis' hair. "It was all just a dream."

"But—"

"No buts." Luna kissed his forehead.

"Yes," Artemis laughed, letting his head rest against her lap as her warmth
melted away all of his troubles. "You're right, Luna, it was all just a
dream. But I think I'll go back to sleep." He said with a smirk. "Did you
know you make a rather nice pillow Luna?"

"Hey, what do you think you're doing? You'd better get up soon."

"Why? I like it here."

"Because Artemis, if you don't get your head off of my poor numb legs, we'll
be late for the Queen. And--"

x

x

x

"And so it goes that each and every one of them fails. Why is it that our
queen wishes to continue to put vast resources into this project? Our own
men and women down on that cursed planet? For what? A bunch of heathens and
barbarians!"

Artemis jerked his head back to attention, and leaned back in soft leather
chair. In half a daze, Artemis listened to the review. He remembered it now,
how hard it was to stay awake here. The councilmen could drone along for
hours debating much about nothing, while the Queen would pleasantly listen
until they had all complained in full.

"I'm surely glad you pay attention to these meetings, Artemis" Luna
whispered in his ear. "Just look at the councilmen squabbling in objection
to the proposal, even when the queen has put such thought into this plan."

"What is the use of this?" A squat man gestured wildly, puffing out his
cheeks in protest. "The four kings would never agree to such a thing. We
have tried before, your highness, dealing with these people civilly. What
makes your highness so convinced to think that such drastic measures would
work on them? Those wretches down on that planet are more stubborn than
mules!"

"I too, must protest your highness. This whole situation is preposterous!
The crystals, your highness? Surely, you jest. Those barbarians… they
couldn't possibly have the control—"

The Queen raised her hand and the men quieted.

"Peace and silence Councilmen. This is their final chance to prove us
wrong—to surpass their vile nature. This is their last test. Out of all of
those nations and tribes down there on that little planet, one of them must
surely carry the ability to use this gift as we do. At least one of those
nations should have the capability. We will find them, and guide them, and
unite that planet."

"And," She paused, letting her expression go sour. "And, in the worse case.
In the very worse case where all of them fail, and that world gets pulled
under by even more chaos, we will be there until the very end, ready to
clean up this mess and silence them all."

"So," She said smiling at the men, beaming like the goddess that she was,
"are there anymore objections?"

Artemis smiled at Luna and at his Queen, and watched as the walls grew dark,
as he no longer had any choice but to close his eyes.

x

x

x

The princess poked his side. Artemis was dimly aware of his face slipping
free of the hand that supported it and was jolted awake by the sharp crack
of his chin meeting the balcony support.

"Asleep on the job again I see," the princess grinned. "How is it that you
can manage falling asleep against a balcony while standing?"

"Princess--" Artemis started in slight confusion, giving himself a few
moments to get his thoughts together. "Well you see, only the best of the
best can do what I do." He laughed and rubbed his injured chin, "Just don't
tell Luna that I fell asleep again. She's liable to just push me off the
balcony altogether."

"You're silly." The princess took a spot next to him on the balcony. "Do you
always fall asleep to the view of the gardens?"

"Not always Princess, but today the weather was so pleasant I could not help
but heed the call of sleep."

It was true. The weather was perfect this day, similar to all the other ones
the dome provided, but there was something different today. Artemis didn't
know what, but it was odd. Today felt so bland, as if it were lacking warmth
and detail and depth, like a vague memory of something that had happened a
very long time ago.

"Artemis, actually I came to ask you a question." The princess hunched over,
and gazed far away at the horizon. "Artemis, how do you tell if you're in
love?"

"Love?" The word rolled curiously on his tongue. "Love, you say--"

Artemis blinked--

x

x

x

And found himself in the training halls of his youth. The familiar scent of
sweat and old equipment surrounded him. Artemis stepped forward a few paces,
enjoying the memory of it all, his bare feet clinging lightly to the
training mat beneath him.

"Still here I see." Luna laughed. "You're not that bright are you?"

"What?"

"Pay attention!" Luna snapped. Her blade whirled down in an arc too fast for
his eyes to follow, it cut through the air, tearing it asunder in a whiff of
air. Artemis gave a meek cry when the pain lanced through his body,
blossoming from his right side and traveled lightning-quick to his neck. The
pain was odd. Everything felt wrong and Artemis could not breathe.

Artemis looked down and saw that he too carried a training blade in his
right hand.

Luna smiled and took up another stance. "Come on, I don't have all day."

Ignoring the pain like he was trained to do, Artemis obeyed, and opted for a
straightforward slash.

He lunged forward, the mat sticking to his feet even more as body
temperature increased. Luna smiled and deflected the blade, expertly
diverting the energy of his own attack against him. Artemis lost himself to
his own momentum, feeling himself fall forward, while Luna helped him fall
faster with a jab to the back.

"You're dead twice over, Artemis." Luna wagged a finger at him. "I already
have a punching bag at home and I think I like it much more than you." Luna
raised the sword above her head in attack position. "Now, Artemis, defend
yourself!"

She struck.

Her strike must have been perfect. A strike that was too quick to follow and
too quick to block. Artemis found himself lying dazed on the mat. Luna did
not hold back. She never held back, did she?

"That's right, you never excelled at melee combat, did you?" She smiled,
hovering over him. "You never had the balance or the motorcontrol for it."

Her words were soothing and melodic and true. Luna always spoke the truth.

"But still, you were special weren't you? They chose you for a reason."
Luna knelt down next to him and rested her hands against his cheeks. "You
were exceptional at the dark arts. A prodigy in fact, almost as good as a
senshi, they said."

Artemis found that he couldn't respond. His body was paralyzed. He could not
twitch, he could not cry, he just could not-- and the panic set in as he
realized that he could not breathe. He had no control. Panic! He was
panicking and he could not even cry out!

Panic kills people.

"Come on Artemis. Show me again. Show me what makes you special." Luna stood
up and paused, letting her index finger rest on the tip of her chin. "But
wait, you did that already, didn't you? Didn't You!" She pointed an accusing
finger at him. "Don't you remember dear Artemis? You killed me."

Luna laughed. "And you don't even know why, do you?"

Artemis could see right through her. There was a hole in her abdomen.

The safely of the training hall vanished. He was outside now. Here, the
embers fell down like snow, and the shadows leaped menacingly. Artemis
remembered. He remembered the fire, and the heat, and the burns, and the
blood, and the fall. He remembered her. He remembered what he did.

The stench of burnt flesh threatened to make him sick.

"You killed me just like I taught you to!" She laughed hysterically.

And Artemis couldn't look away, couldn't help but look at her, the woman he
loved so much. The woman that he killed.

"So slow," Luna chided. "Soooo, slow. Now, show me again Artemis. Show me
what makes you special. I want to see all of it. I want to see what you do.
I want to see you struggle until the very end."

"Betray and kill and dance for the Devil. I want to see all of it, you hear
me?" She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Now, wake up stupid. Wake up
and live.

Artemis opened his eyes and found that they were already wet with tears. He
was awake this time, truly awake. He knew because his throat was raw and his
head was heavy and everything hurt.

He pushed the panic down; trampled it out to the back of his mind by pure
will. He did not know how, but he forced himself to do it. Despite the pain,
despite the panic that he could not move, he forced himself to breathe.

The runes were already there, bound together in an intricate and interwoven
pattern. They were deadly and beautiful, dazzling and forbidden. He saw
them all in the back of his mind, ready for one last command, waiting for
just one last nudge to unravel and destroy everything in its path.

The noise of his ragged breathing drew Zackary attention. The man turned
around. Artemis saw Zackary's grin slide into a frown. He saw the second
lunge toward his neck.

She wanted to see it, Luna did.

Pandora's box opened. With a simple mental nudge, the runes unraveled at an
unimaginable speed--everything let loose in a flicker brighter than the sun.

And then--

--Then.

Everything he touched burned.

Alceus shivered and continued to walk. These night walks forced him to rely
on his senses. Sight could be misleading sometimes. These walks cleared his
mind. It let him think.

He inhaled and sharp bite of the cold air into his old lungs reminded him of
the winter that was close approaching, of the strange man whom he had saved,
and of an orphan girl with fiery red hair. Those were problems he'd rather
not think about.

He had so much to do he didn't know where to start. There were ledgers to
straighten out. Their stores needed to be calculated and held safely in the
town's common sheds. The livestock would have to be rounded up and
recounted. The elders would once again decide how much meat there was to be,
how much they would have to save, and consider how much food the blasted
animals would actually consume during the frigid months.

His old elbow ached and Alceus rubbed it absentmindedly.

And of course he would have to settle all of this tomfoolery with the young
ones. Timothy was a good boy, but Zackary, Zackary, he would have to settle
down. The little fool didn't see the consequences in his actions, he didn't
see what events could transpire.

He walked silently, enjoying the feeling of the stones beneath his feet, the
sounds of the animals that rustled in the forest, the smell of--

Something was off in the air.

He turned sharply to the right to detect the source, and then Alceus looked
with utter dead, as the flames sparked up and fed ravenously—-sparking in
deep red and yellow and oranges hues. He watched in morbid fascination as
the fire destroyed all of his life work, a fire that danced like a devil in
the moonlight.

"By the gods..." His words faltered, his jaw slung agape.

He had to do something. Anything!

His legs stumbled, as he almost fell over in a panic, straightening himself
out as he forced his legs into a loping run. Alceus ran, ran as fast as his
old legs would let him.

"Fire, Fire!" He shouted himself hoarse. "By the gods, get up you fools.
It's FIRE!"

Beryl rubbed her ears in annoyance. The silly whispers were speaking to her
again. Telling her to get up, to get out, to get away again. Beryl
reluctantly pulled the rough covers off the bed, yawned, and rubbed her
tired eyes.

It was dark and the shadows here were unfamiliar. She would have to wait
until her eyes adjusted. Fortunately, there was still enough moonlight that
spilled inward through the glass window, and soon Beryl could see the dark,
rough, outlines of the room.

She jumped off the side of her bed, and winced when her bare-feet touched
the frigid floor. It was much too cold and she really didn't want to be
awake right now, but the whispers urged her forward relentlessly. The
floorboards squeaked as she tip-toed around the floor, trying to avoid the
cold surface as much as possible.

Shoes were important. She couldn't forget her shoes.

She blindly searched for them along the floor. Beryl shuffled forward, in a
squat and hunched over position with her hands spread wide in the hopes of
feeling them. It took her a while but she found them.

She slipped them on her feet, happy, but there was still the tricky business
of tying the shoes.

Mama had shown her how. On one of her happier days she told her a story and
it went like this:

"Once upon a time there was a silly rabbit that was very sad because his
ears were so long and narrow. He hated his ears because everyone would tease
him and he stepped on them all the time. He hated them so much, that he
complained about his ears all day and night. One day, a fox overheard the
silly little rabbit and decided to help him. She lifted up the bunny's ears
and crossed them over like an x. Then she put one ear through the bottom of
the x and pulled.

Next, she made each long ear into a loop and made another x like before. She
put an ear under that x and pulled again. From then on the bunny remembered
how to tie his ears into a bow, which really didn't end up being that long
of a time, because the fox was hungry. The End."

With her shoes tied, Beryl took another minute to look for her outer coat,
which she hastily put on, and opened the door. Outside it was even colder,
but it was strange too. She could feel the heat in front of her, and the
cold to her back, and then she saw the surreal image in front of her.

She was much too close to the flames--much too close to the burning monster
that howled in the moonlight.

She stopped, awed by the sight of it all, and almost as an afterthought, she
noted that the town was on fire again.

Artemis howled.

It was a howl of pain, of rage, of anger and loss.

He unleashed the monster. The forbidden magic. The summoning. The cat. He
was the cat. The cat was him. And everything WOULD BURN.

The cat grinned, grinning because it was free at last, and though the avatar
was weak and feeble, it would do.

It would do.

Author's Rant: Sorry about the major time delay between the chapters.
School was rather distracting, and a ruptured appendix didn't help much
either.

The dialogue between Artemis and Zachary was already revealed in the last
chapter. If you check back in the montage of dialogue at the end of chapter
two, you can pick out their conversation easily enough.

Look forward to a senshi appearing in the next chapter. Also, FF seems to be
stripping brackets, so unfortunately a bit of formatting has been lost. If it
compels you to do to, look for a copy on moonromance that has the
original formatting.