Marcus…
Upon waking up to Artemis standing over him with the point of her sword raised above his chest, his blood ran cold, and he froze like a deer in headlights.
Her eyes bore down on him and meet his gaze like a predator staring down her next victim.
Not a moment later, she raised her sword high before bringing it down on top of him. When it came mere inches away from him, he stopped time just before she could stab him and smacked the blade away from him.
He immediately rolled off of the bed while covering himself in armor. By the time his feet reached the floor as he pushed himself away from the bed, her head had already turned to face him. The blood lust in her eyes was unlike what she showed him back in Lunaas. It was terrifying in an entirely different manner.
He made the mistake of blinking and found that she had crossed the distance between them instantly as she stabbed her sword through his throat in the same spot she had done before.
He had forgotten to convert his body into electricity while in the armor which allowed her sword to actually harm him. However, as soon as it pierced through his throat, he made sure to turn his spinal cord into electricity so that he wouldn’t die instantly.
Before she could slash his body apart with her moonlight, he quickly grabbed her sword and sent his lighting traveling down its length and used it to shut off the electrical signals in her arm, causing it to go limp.
From the look in her eyes and the way her shoulder moved, it looked like that was indeed her next move.
Frustrated, she looked down at her arm as it failed to move.
Before she could switch sword arms, he reached out with his other arm and grabbed her by the throat. He cut off the electrical signals traveling all across her body before creating a blade shooting from his palm and stabbed her in the throat, the end of which exited from the back of her neck.
Her entire body fell limp and she became very pale with the blade in her throat, but he did not kill her. The blade that he stabbed her with pierced her throat as well, but the spinal cord was separated from her body and converted to electrical energy at the tip end of the blade. So long as he maintained his hold on the electricity keeping her spine intact, she won’t die.
While keeping her body immobile and alive in his left hand, he reached out with his right hand and carefully pulled her sword from his throat.
After he had removed it, he asked, “It doesn’t feel very good being on the receiving end of a sword shoved through your throat, does it?”
She was trying her hardest to increase her spiritual energy output to overpower his hold on her nervous system but since he was continually absorbing her spiritual energy, he was able to convert her magic into his and keep his hold on her.
“Just so you know, if I let go of this blade in your throat, you will die instantly. I’ve severed your spinal cord from the rest of your body and the only reason you are still alive is because I’m keeping it connected with my magic. So you are going to play nice and explain to me why the hell you are trying to kill me in my sleep,” he said as he walked over to the bed, placed her in a sitting position, and only restored enough of her nervous system to allow her to keep upright.
He then made a chain attached to the blade in her throat and walked a few steps away from her before sitting down in a stone chair he made.
As menacing as he was trying to appear, he very nearly shit himself from fear.
Ruvick had told him that she was a sixth dimensional being, far above Marcus as a fifth dimensional being. He didn’t fully understand what that entailed but he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that at her full strength.
He considered the current situation to be very fortunate all things considered. If it turned any more violent than this, then Thalia, who was probably sleeping in the next room, would be in danger.
“I don’t want this to turn into a big fight. My little sister is in the next room and if you had done anything to harm her even remotely, then I wouldn’t bother with listening to what you might have to say. I would already be burying your corpse in the backyard by now. I’m being extremely lenient with you right now, so explain yourself,” he ordered as he restored her throat enough so she could speak.
She gasped and he realized that she couldn’t breathe the entire time.
Yet despite having her ability to breathe and speak restored, she just continued to glare at him menacingly.
He waited for her to say something for a full two minutes before he said, “Alright then. If you don’t want to talk and explain yourself then I’ll just go grab a shovel right now.”
Hearing that, her expression changed very quickly from furious to terrified.
“N-no, wait!” she said as her head jerked and her face was a twisted and confused mess of emotions as she struggled to decide between being angry at him and scared for her life.
“Damn bitch! Decide already! Are you going to tell me why you’re trying to kill me or are you gonna stare at me all angry for the rest of the night?” he asked.
“I...heard that you went on a date...with Selene?” she said, phrasing it as a question.
Why...why did she say it like that?
She sounded like a disapproving parental figure that would walk up to a person and ask, ‘So! I hear you are dating my…’
Then it clicked in his head.
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me…,” he said as he finally understood why she was so pissed.
Artemis tilted her head in confusion at his reaction while he was still reeling from his discovery.
“You’re...Selene’s mother, aren’t you?” he asked, to which she went very still.
In the very next moment she lunged towards him, her hands reaching for his throat, hoping to strangle him.
Before she had managed to get within a foot in range, he cut off her nervous system again and picked her up off the ground.
While he was throwing her back on the bed, he complained, “God damn autistic goddess…”
While she was lying on the bed, she managed to force herself to speak as she asked, “W-why...do you...and Ruvick...keep calling...me that?”
He looked her in the eyes and said, “Obviously its because you have autism, stupid autistic goddess.”
He then noticed how pathetic she looked, lying on his bed with a blade and chain stuck in her throat while she glared at him in confusion.
So rather than hold her life in his hands as that seemed too bothersome for him, he simply applied the same sealing mark on her forehead that Selene used in Lunaas. After he was finished, he restored her spinal cord and took the blade out of her throat.
He then sighed and collapsed on the bed next to her, unworried that she could still pick up her sword and try to kill him.
In the very next moment, she jumped on top of him and tried to use her magic while throwing a punch towards his face.
The moment she tried to use it, the mark on her forehead, infused with his lightning magic, sent a jolt of electricity coursing through her whole body as if being tazed.
She then fell on top of him while twitching from the shock.
“Get off of me!” he said annoyed as he pushed her to the other side of him.
Fifteen minutes passed while he contemplated what he should do about this situation before he heard her speak again.
“What you said about Selene is true. She...she is my daughter,” she said, while her face was pointed towards the opposite wall.
“Can you still move?” he asked.
“No. My entire lower body went numb and my arms are tingling,” she admitted.
“Good. Now stop trying to kill me so we can have a calm conversation, alright?” he asked.
“...Alright,” she said in a disappointed tone.
“So...you are mad that I took your daughter out on a date...why?” he asked.
“Because I don’t want a crazy, bloodthirsty monster dating my daughter,” he said.
“Well if I were Selene, then I wouldn’t want a crazy, bloodthirsty, autistic goddess for a mother,’ he said and she groaned in annoyance.
They were both silent for a moment before he asked, “What are you really worried about regarding me going on a date with Selene?”
“I...I want her to be happy. I don’t feel like you are the person who would make her happy,” she admitted.
“And who are you to judge on what will make her happy or not when you are keeping the fact that you are mother away from her?” he asked and she went silent.
He continued as he said, “Actually, I have a better question for you. Why did you keep yourself away from her for so long? She didn’t even know who you were when we arrived in Lunaas and fought you. Did you really abandon her only to-”
“I did not abandon her!” she shouted, her voice cracking in pain as she started crying.
“Would you like to explain to me how you didn’t abandon her as a child?” he asked.
“I...didn’t abandon her...I...don’t know,” she stammered.
“Then what happened?”
“I…during the war, I went back to battle while Adrian raised her until I came back. When Malthael came to Lunaas, I returned to get her out of harms way but...the primordial god Erebus took me from her and I didn’t wake up until ten years had passed. By then, she was sixteen and I was too afraid to confront her so I hid away hunting after Adrian’s killer until Ruvick found me,” she said.
“Adrian killer…? But Selene told me that he was killed by Malthael,” he said.
“Malthael did not kill Adrian and neither did Ruvick like I once thought. Erebus killed him,” she said.
Is this true Malthael? Marcus asked through his thoughts.
‘I believe so...I vaguely remember an emptiness appearing before the flaming man known as Adrian and stabbing him to death while I was being killed by Dean Smith. It is unlike Ruvick’s presence which is lacking in that same feeling of emptiness.’
Marcus let out a sigh of relief as he blurted out, “I guess that solves the problem with Malthael…”
With a confused tone of voice, Artemis asked, “What do you mean by that?”
“Uh…well...Malthael isn’t dead,” he said.
Artemis struggled to turn her head to look at him as she said, “Explain…”
“Do you remember the dragon heart steaks I harvested from Malthael’s corpse? I ate one and Malthael’s soul was stored inside of it,” he said.
Artemis stared at him as if he were insane.
“Y-you ate...Malthael’s soul?”
He nodded.
“Has he been listening to this conversation?” she asked.
“Yes, and apparently he also said that he had seen Adrian die and that it was not his fault,” he said.
“The fact that Malthael is living inside of you gives me even more reason to disapprove of you dating my daughter,” she said.
“I honestly cannot blame you,” he admitted.
The two of them were silent for a little while as they contemplated the current situation. It seemed like they have come to an understanding but were struggling to come to a conclusion.
“Was Selene happy with you?” she asked.
“Why are you asking me? Why don’t you ask her yourself?” he asked.
Her voice caught in her throat as she looked down in shame.
“I don’t know...how to tell her that I am her mother. I don’t want her to hate me,” she said.
“Considering your circumstances, it was out of your control when you were taken for ten years, but all the time after that was your own fault. Every moment you waste keeping the truth from her is going to make it that much more difficult for her to accept it. You are better off telling her that you are her mother right away rather than wait for what you think is the right moment,” he said.
Artemis kept silent for a few minutes before she said, “If Selene is going to find out that I am her mother, I want it to be from me. Not from you or anyone else, and especially not from Ruvick.”
Marcus took a deep breath before he said, “Very well, but you should at least tell her by the time the contest comes to an end. Anything less than that is unacceptable.”
“Will you at least promise not to tell her or talk about it until after I have told her myself?”
“Only so long as you promise not to kill me for dating her,” he countered.
“I...well, is she happy when she is with you?” she asked.
“I believe she is, and she is making me happy as well. However, I think she would feel even happier if she knew who her mother was and that she was still alive,” he said.
Hearing that, she went silent.
She then slowly tried to prop herself up off the bed before standing up straight.
“So long as you do nothing to cause my daughter grief and continue to make her happy, I will not try to harm you or your sister and I will not intervene in your relationship with Selene,” she said.
“Then in that case, until you feel that you are ready to confront her and tell her that you are her mother, then I promise not to say anything about it,” he said.
“Then we have an agreement,” Artemis said as she walked over and picked up her sword.
She then sheepishly looked at Marcus and asked, “Can you remove this? I do have a match tomorrow.”
He rolled his eyes and reached forward as he removed the seal on her forehead.
“Also, what does it mean to be autistic?” she asked.
Frustrated and losing patience with her, he said, “Get out of here!”