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Chapter 42: Inside The Demon Queen I landed on a smoking red plateau. "We are now in the mind of the Demon Queen." the Siren announced. I looked around. The ground in this place was composed entirely of red rocks. Thunder and lightning echoed in the skies. "Her mind is rather unstable at the moment. Be careful." the Siren warned. All of a sudden, Artemis appeared in front of me. "What...?" I reeled backwards. She was more beautiful than ever, but when she spoke, it was obvious that she was also more terrible. "Leave and don't come back! This woman's body is mine to control for eternity!" Artemis screeched and grabbed my neck. "Give it up, Dark Angel." I whispered and threw her arm off. It broke off from her body entirely with a sickening crunch! She melted into the darkness and emerged again as the Dark Angel. "Any plans?" I whispered. "Find the real Artemis and give her hope. Her body is the one being controlled, so only she can overthrow the Dark Angel." the Siren replied. I dodged a claw that came swooping down on my head. "Easy for you to say." I muttered and ran. The Dark Angel followed me through the air, throwing black fireballs at me. "The real Artemis should be residing in an uncorrupted portion of her mind. If the corruption reaches her, we cannot do anything for her any longer, so hurry!" the Siren shouted. I followed where my instincts told me to, for the back of her mind. The corruption was most intense where I had landed, with thunder and lightning, so the Akasha Charm was the most likely cause. The back of her mind, further away from the Charm, would take longer to be corrupted. I ran as fast as I could, but I stopped dead when I saw something. Artemis was lying, naked in a corner of her mind, surrounded by green grass. The Phoenix, Dark Dragon, and a small Demon Dragon were floating around her, repeatedly trying to reach her. The corruption had almost reached her now. I looked back. The Dark Angel was gaining steadily. The Inner Beasts looked at me as I approached and floated aside. "Artemis!" I shook Artemis awake. She began holding her arms over herself. "Cold......" she whispered. The grass around her was withering. "Don't lose hope. I'm still here." I smiled at her. She looked at me. "Ikki's dead......" she murmured. More grass withered. "The real Ikki never loved you. This Ikki is Saevio." I lied, hoping it would work. It did. For a moment, her eyes glinted a strange blue, and then the withering grass returned to normal. "Saevio...... I must......" she staggered to her feet. I helped her up. The Dark Angel was in front of us now. Strangely, it seemed unable to enter the space we were in. "But...... I killed Roy, Mei Ling, Lacus and Lopez......" Artemis's voice faltered. More grass withered. "No, you didn't. They're still alive." I said soothingly. "All the other people in Kerning...... I killed them all......" she moaned. The Dark Angel flew closer. The Phoenix rose up over me protectively, but it could not enter the corrupted region of Artemis's mind. "That was the Dark Angel's doing. You can avenge those people now. Force the Dark Angel out." I urged her on. Her eyes glinted blue again and grass started to grow in the corrupted parts of her mind again. A single toe on the Dark Angel's right foot disappeared. "Go on. Force the impurity out." the Phoenix whispered. "Get that demon. Don't let it control you." the Dark Dragon and the Demon Dragon murmured. The grass grew faster. The Dark Angel was repelled backwards by an invisible force. The three Inner Beasts grew larger. "I must......" Artemis got to her feet steadily. The Dark Angel's eyes widened in horror. "You killed those people, and for that, I can never forgive you." Artemis's voice was steady now. She was suddenly wearing a Blue Anes. "For the many lives you've taken using my body, I will now force you out." she whispered. A shockwave of energy pulsed outwards from Artemis's body. The Dark Angel screamed and reared back as grass began to grow all over the ground. "We have won." the Phoenix smiled at me. "Without you, she'd be lost by now." the Dark Dragon grinned. I returned the smile. The Dark Angel's wing feathers molted off. "Hurry and get out, or Artemis's energy will shatter the Akasha Charm and you won't be able to get out." the Demon Dragon blew me towards the exit with a strong breath of wind. Now, there was a portal there. I climbed through it as the Dark Angel screamed again. The Akasha Charm shattered just as I got out. Artemis's skin colour was turning back to normal again, but her body wasn't. She still had 4 wings, pointed ears, claws, horns and scaly skin. Her teeth had changed back to normal. When her skin completely turned back to normal, she started snoring. "Awww, how cute. She's sleeping." the Siren remarked. "She's had a really bad day, that's all." I smiled and carried her upstairs, groaning under her weight. Apparently, being a demon for a day got her heavy. I didn't want to say it out loud. I put her down on our bed and I laid down on the floor since her wings occupied most of the space on the bed. "Umm...... Alexis. Wake up." Artemis woke me up a few hours later. I had dozed off on the floor. "How are you feeling?" I asked. "Fine, although I'm not too happy with this demon body." she twisted her body around, trying to look at her wing roots. Jakito suddenly floated into view. "Leaving me at home for all that time......" he muttered and floated off through a wall. "Maybe he can do something about your body." I said. "Can you do something about my body? I don't wanna go around looking like this!" Artemis asked Jakito. He ground his teeth. "I cannot do anything without a physical body, so just go find me one and I'll fix you up!" he was obviously irritated. Artemis shrugged and walked off to study herself in the mirror. As she walked past me, her hair swished around behind her. It was still darker than even black. |
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