In the safety of the interior knot of the grand white tree, Artemis and Ruffliette sat across from each other, prodding at the embers of a fading fire.
That shadow… it really is my guardian angel…
If it hadn't warned me of the monster in time, would I have been able to save Ruffliette in time?
His stomach ached terribly. He hadn't eaten anything since he had arrived in Lars-Eleme. Actually, he had refused the last meal that had been brought to him by his attendants…
…how ironic.
How could he have known he would be transported to a mysterious and dangerous land soon after?
Ruffliette suddenly keeled over, grasping at her face as she exclaimed loudly.
"The Visionary! Soon!"
She quickly expelled the contents of her stomach, what little there was left, overtaken by nausea.
This time, Artemis rushed to her side. He grasped her shoulder, holding her against the wall as he adopted a calm demeanor.
If she were prone to hurting herself in this crazed state, he would simply hold her still.
"This Visionary, you said his Fate is approaching, didn't you? What will he do?"
It was a ready-enough distraction. If he could play into these crazed ramblings, would she gain interest again? Would it be enough to keep her from nearly-beheading herself on his blade again?
"He will-" She choked out between gasping breaths, "he's- coming… coming to Shadowhaunt!"
"Shadowhaunt, what is that?"
"This land- this sea of red, it will burn!"
It looked as if her eyes would bulge out of her head at any moment, widened far past what her eyelids could bear. She struggled against his grip, but he held her firm. Her hand grasped his wrist. There wasn't much strength in it, but there was an intense depth of emotion. It shook, she was terrified. Of herself, of this craziness. And she was holding onto him with the hope that it would leave her behind.
And soon, just as she always did, the bouts of madness ceased. She was out of breath, panting, sweat beading on her forehead. She felt limp in his grasp, as if it had drained nearly all of her strength away. And so, she just rested against him.
"I'm sorry…"
"For what? This isn't something you can control, right? So you don't need to apologise for it." He replied simply.
She shook her head. "No, not just this… I want to apologise for many things..."
Her words were laced with anticipation, as if she had so much more to say, but was struggling on how to say it.
There were many moments of silence between them before she spoke again. So, when she did, her usually simple and confident tone replaced with grave lacing, he had to steel himself.
"The truth is, Artemis, I lied to you before. My Lord isn't Lord Summerrich. Rather, he's more like a compatriot…"
I figured that much… what would a Lord of industry have interest in, in such a disastrous place?
"Who is that 'Lord' you keep raving about, then?"
Her eyes furrowed in annoyance as she glanced up at Artemis.
"My Lord, His benevolence, is far greater than anything a Lord of the Blackbaast can provide. It is the only reason I am allowed to be normal, to be sane…"
But for a moment, she hesitated. It was like when someone said something wrong by accident, and had to reverse it before it brought about a misunderstanding, like she hadn't meant to say such a praising thing in the first place.
"Of course, maybe I'm only saying such a thing because I'm forced to do so…" She aptly corrected herself, turning her head away from Artemis. "The only reason we survived is because of His bestowment. The beast… it just suddenly… died. Its corpse is lying outside right now. You haven't yet asked how we survived, so I thought I would mention it…"
"The corpse? The beast was killed that easily?"
How could that even happen? No, wait. What does she mean by that?
"His bestowment was the cause? And He was acutely aware that we were in danger? Are you saying that this Lord is… watching us right now?"
He quickly recalled the presence of the shadow, and the faint yellow gleam in Ruffliette's gaze that mimicked the pale eyes of the shadow.
"Yes, but it's not like He has any proximity to us. My Lord, he has this sort of ability. You would never catch sight of Him— not that you would want to— and He would still witness your entire life from far away, wherever He might be."
Artemis caught the slight inflection in the way he referred to this Lord. He was not a he, He was a He. How odd, that such a slight change in the way she talked about Him would influence Artemis's perception.
Sweat beaded on his forehead, for it was clear she was talking about no mortal man.
By 'Lord', she meant a Deity.
She was not a servant of a nobleman, she was a servant of God.
So it was completely obvious why such a beast had been killed. It was done so by a God. Shivers ran down his spine, he felt like he couldn't bear to say another word.
After all, wouldn't those words be heard by this mysterious Lord?
What if he said something wrong, something that offended that Deity? Would he be killed as easily as the monster had been? This wasn't a beast he could draw his sword on, as according to Ruffliette's words, He wasn't even nearby, perhaps not even inhabiting the world they were in.
It seemed that Ruffliette had noticed the change in his demeanor, for she had reached her soft hand upwards, placing it on his cheek.
"If you're scared right now, it's not the case that He'll harm you. Not like that. He doesn't do things like that… at least, not blatantly. And certainly not towards people who have seen His Sign."
"The Sign? You mean that thing in your booklet? So it really was deliberate!"
His words were lined with a bit more vitriol than he had intended. But it was really how he felt, even if he didn't mean to portray it like that.
But didn't that mean that she had intentionally put him in danger? In reality, Lark had been telling the truth!
She twitched visibly, shirking away from his anger.
"No, that wasn't me… this is what I'm meaning to say, to get across to you with all of this. His control, what the Priests call 'pacification', it's really akin to this fog in your mind you can't clear away. It inhibits your actions, and offers Him influence and control over what you do and say. When I act confident, perhaps snarky and witty, that's not the type of person I am. That's who He is." She frowned, retracting her hand. At this point, the slight tremor had returned. Even speaking of him was enough to let fear grasp her in its cold embrace.
"So He was the one who exposed me to the dangerous Sign, and not you?"
Ruffliette nodded her head.
"Yes, but for whatever reason, it seems you weren't outwardly affected by it… He might be viewing you curiously now, trying to determine what it is about you that caused this to happen. In the meantime, He's preserving us. At least, in my case, it is because I serve him. But for you… this is just His curiosity. He might grow bored of you soon, I don't think He cares much… but still, you should keep whatever that is a secret. If you say it out loud, He might use it against you. Always be wary, always keep your secrets. Don't ever speak them to anyone. Your friends, your family, they might already be Him, or be corrupted by Him. They might be His servants, His vassals, under His direct control or be supplying him with information…"
She clenched her teeth, looking away from Artemis. She couldn't bear to face him.
"I came to this city to get away from his Priests. I couldn't stand their presence any longer. I'm sure He didn't care what I did, under the pretext of a scouting mission or otherwise. I'm not any considerable figure in His grand weave of Fate. I was trying to stay away from people…"
Tears had welled up in her eyes, spilling down her pale cheeks. Past the haze, there was guilt, despair, and the urge to tear away from him.
"I'm sorry…!" The sharpness of her sorrow cut through her sobs. "I tangled you up in this!
He reached out a hand, extending it towards her. By all means, this should have been the moment when he took his revenge, killed her for almost killing him. After all, if it hadn't been for her, he might have escaped Lars-Eleme already?
Hadn't she only been a burden this entire time?
Instead, he ran a finger along the edge of her eyelid, brushing away the tears. Through the fading haze, Ruffliette saw nothing but a calm, amiable expression.
"Didn't we agree? We would take turns fighting. In this, you were responsible for killing the tentacle-ridden beast. So that makes it my turn, my turn to fight for you."
Her eyes were filled with a depth of emotion. It wasn't just sadness, it was grief. It was a grief he had seen so often in himself, and seen in Lord Vaultracht in his final moments.
His heart was shaken.
How could he ever have considered her an enemy?
Of course, he couldn't yet forgive that he had almost died. But that hadn't been her fault at all.
All this time, hadn't he been acting as the maidservants outside of his room did? Calling her names, judging her as if he had known anything about her, about her struggles and her past, about the truth of her character…
He was despicable.
"You really are foolish…" Ruffliette sobbed. "You should curse and hate me, kill me or abandon me… these bouts of craziness, they'll continue. I'll harm myself or you, won't I?"
He suppressed a laugh, drawing her in closer.
"I don't tend to worry about pointless things, that's why I didn't ask about how the creature was killed, or how we escaped in the first place." Artemis smiled softly, bringing her in closer. She rested her head on his chest, letting out a deep sigh.
"Tell me about this history you've learned from the city."
This was partly to distract her, but it was also time he gain a deeper knowledge of the city's history. This would definitely help him piece together the parts of his theory that were contingent on assumption. As a girl who was consistently obsessed with chronicling information, she should be carrying a depth of it within her mind.
For a long time, he sat and listened to her explain her findings in the lower city of Lars-Eleme. The more she spoke about her discoveries, the more her amiable mood returned, cheerful and full of life. It was clear that the confident, sly, and brutal woman he had first met wasn't Ruffliette at all.
In the end, Lark had been right.
But that didn't mean he had to distance himself from her.
He had made a promise, and he would keep it.