Artemis: Chapter Four

Chapter Four: Kamen Covington


Over the next week Victor was kept in Q’ael Dan’il, away from the eyes of its inhabitants save the ones who had already seen him, and was explained everything in detail.

Rei was the Commander-in-Chief of the Clovinian Armed Forces, something that nearly caused Victor to asphyxiate from forgetting to breathe when the full realization set in. The man’s antics were unorthodox, but had somehow proven effective in his last hundred and fifty or so years of service at that level.

He was told that the room he was given had been his before, but when Victor surveyed the surroundings he wondered exactly how often Kamen was in that room when he was alive. The atmosphere was sterile; there were no pictures with the exception of a family photograph hidden in the top dresser drawer and there was a shiny red ball under one of the pillows on the bed. The walls were covered in dark blue paper with embossed gold flourishes, the ceiling was painted with legends of the land, and he stared at these for several hours when unable to sleep.

Victor learned quickly that calling a male buenan by his first name implied a very personal relationship, reserved only for close family members and loved ones, it was only because Kamen was human that he was not called by his middle name Nyles like every other buenan, and even then there were those who knew him by that name. Since the whole of Buenae formed from matriarchal beliefs, women went by their first, but in all cases both first and middle were used for addressing people formally, and last names when addressing soldiers and members of the Parliament.

It was also quickly learned that because buenans were considered flora rather than fauna, it was common for people to be born with both genders, and was acceptable for them to change their mind on which one they wished to be identified by from day to day. The lesson came during an argument with Rei where the Commander had simply decided not to bind his chest that day, and the attribute of all buenans seeming to have curvy figures made even more sense.

Clovis was run by three entities: parliament, the Clovinian Armed Forces, and the crown. Parliament was filled with elected officials and was run by Chancellor Reginald Byron Weinham, someone whom Victor was sure he had heard Rei reference before. The Crown was of course, the Queen, Valerie Araceli, and her husband the King, Denican Sargasso, the Queen being the blood heir and therefore outranking her husband in all decisions. The Clovinian Armed Forces, informally called ‘the service’, was controlled entirely by Rei and his officials, people who had enlisted and moved up the ranks through hard work. Rei had been a part of the service upwards of four thousand years, acting as High General (second in command, and doubled as personal protection and confident to the Dauphine to ensure trust as they moved up in rank together) to both Nora Sybil and Valerie Araceli when they held the title of Dauphine.

All branches of the system kept each other in check, each specializing in a specific area: parliament to law, the service to military, and the crown to the people. The heads of each formed an upper circle, meant to work out the fine details of grave issues.

Kamen had been Artemis’ best friend, personal sentry, and lover.

As it was explained to him: Clovis was in atrophy. Caspius Van Dean, the king of the island of Dalia to the north, was betrothed to Artemis Celestine when she was five years old. The betrothal went further, often called the ‘unification’, it was a plan to merge the two countries as one, and as the two had been enemies for years, the plan was welcomed with open arms. The issue became that the relationship between Artemis and Van Dean was unhealthy, he was abusive and she sacrificed her own happiness for the sake of the country until the late Queen Nora Sybil had stepped in and severed the agreement. All trade to the country stopped, halted entry by a blockade set into place by Dalia, intending to starve the land until Van Dean’s demand of Artemis was met—which it never was. Nora Sybil died of a heart attack, and Valerie Araceli, Artemis’ mother, took the throne and continued to deny Van Dean’s demands.

The trouble was that Valerie Araceli had abdicated the throne only a few short years prior and had little to no training in governing a country. The position of the Queen was to be the one who fought for the rights and well-being of the people, and Valerie had not been fulfilling her job. Artemis Celestine had been the Dauphine, and ought have been the one to become Queen when her grandmother died, but the speculation that Van Dean would take advantage of Artemis being in power was too rooted in truth.

Over one hundred and eighty years Dalia vilified Valerie, the enemy propaganda had gained support from Clovinians due to their thinning rations. With word of Kamen being back in Q’ael Dan’il, the belief sparked that Artemis was hidden in Q’ael Dan’il as well

Victor was lying on the bed in Kamen’s room, tossing the red ball into the air and catching it absent-mindedly when Rei entered the room. His chest was bound that day and he was adorned in a uniform similar to the ones that Victor had seen on Fosh and Pitch, the rank pins on his collar were flourishes, something called a Clovinian Violet, the insignia of Clovis.

Rei’s brow furrowed at the sight of the ball, “That’s mine.”

“I found it under the pillow.” Victor said simply.

“Trust a dog to steal a ball to play with.” Rei muttered.

The Commander shook his head with a smirk and placed a large file onto the small table in the room before sitting in the lonely chair.

“Rei?” Victor asked for Rei’s attention as he tossed the ball into the air and caught it, “What is a companion?”

Rei stared at him blankly, “What do you mean?”

“The voice just starts screaming ‘no’ when I think about it.”

You little bastard, you can’t get around me that easily.

Victor held his palm out to catch the ball, but missed and the ball landed on his nose. He groaned and sat up in the bed, crossing his legs into a lotus position while holding his face, certain that he had not thrown the ball that hard.

“Companions specialize in emotional and physical pleasures.” Rei said slowly, trying to hide his amusement with Kamen’s frustration.

Victor’s eyes widened, “You mean—”

“I mean we have a whole guild of people living in Q’ael Dan’il that are trained in massage therapy, meditation, and coitus.” An eyebrow shot up and he added with a small grin, “Kamen wouldn’t tell you.”

“I don’t understand why.”

“Because you’re Victor Covington.”

“Fuck off.”

“The woman you saw was Sharon Dais, she’s companion mother, she runs the show.” He sighed, “They won’t see me, and you’re blacklisted because of the High General position. Don’t worry Kamen, Sharon’s not stupid, she’d read Victor’s personality within two seconds of talking to him, and a companion chooses her clients.”

Victor was not at all pleased with Rei talking to the voice in his head about him.

“I’m sorry you can’t go out.” Rei sighed, leaning an elbow onto the table beside him and holding a finger against his mouth, “I just can’t chance it, you don’t have the training as Victor. If I could I’d take you out with some mechaflies to see the city, you’d love it.”

Victor had no idea what ‘mechaflies’ were, but he had been curious about the Royal City. Rei had mentioned that with how large Q’ael Dan’il was, and how many people inhabited it, it could be a city in itself. He had not been permitted to wander about it; for the past week he had been forced to use a set of very dusty, very dark passages in the wall, and only then in going to Rei’s office and back—he had no idea where the other directions would take him.

“I’m bored.” Victor said flatly, he tossed the ball into the air once more.

Rei smiled, “Good, because I have your first assignment.”

“Assignment?” Victor caught the ball and glanced over at Rei. “I’m not a soldier, have one of your lackeys do it.”

“You’re my lackey. Besides, it’s just one job, then, afterwards, you can go home.”

Victor’s ears pricked and he sat up onto the edge of the bed; he looked at Rei curiously, waiting for him to continue.

Rei swallowed, “The only person other than you who would be able to properly identify Artemis is this guy named Eyrtex. So I need you to go and talk to him.”

“Are you dragging him into all this too?”

“What? No, he’s buenan, he’ll know. All I need you to do is go to a location at a specific time and he’ll find you.”

Victor slowly nodded.

“He’s in the human realm.”

Victor stopped nodding, “You’re sending me back through the pond.”

“No, there are other ways, and not by mirror either.” Rei grimaced, “The problem is that Van Dean can get there too, he has his own way, and I need you to promise me that you’re going to stay under the radar when you’re there.”

“And how do you know I’m going to cooperate?” Victor asked flatly.

“Because if you go delinquent and I catch you, I’m going to punish you worse than you’ve ever been punished in your life. If Van Dean catches you, even if you aren’t Kamen, he’ll kill you. I’ll tell you right now, he’ll rip out your heart and eat it without a second thought, the man is a fucking demon.”

“I can go home afterwards?”

“If you still want to, yes, I promise. I won’t keep you here.”

Once again, there was no choice.



---



I have no idea what Rei is playing at, but if you fuck this up you’ll get us both killed.

Victor listened to the voice in his head, but tried not to worry about the assignment, as Rei had explained that he would be transported to nearly the exact spot he had to meet Eyrtex at. It would be quick, it would be easy, and afterwards he could return to his life.

I’m not fucking around, Rei’s completely serious when he says Van Dean is a demon.

Victor briefly remembered a nightmare he had had as a child, a demon, shining in silver armor, impeccably white, red eyes, purple bat like wings, and pure malice surrounding him.

I’m glad you understand.

Although Victor had been told that he would not be returning to the other side through the pond, he was still taken through the passages to the garden, and then out to the forest where Celeste waited for him.

Rei pressed one of the black card communicators into Victor’s hand, a holodex it had been called, capable of inter-dimensional communication and holograms as well as something similar to internet. “Take this, it’s set up so that all you have to do is swipe the top and you’ll have a direct link to me. Also this.” He shoved a pistol into Victor’s hand.

“Rei! Where the fuck am I going to put this?” Victor held the gun and looked down at himself. He had been forced to raid Kamen’s closet during his stay and found that the wardrobe had been incredibly dull—with the exception of a lush dark blue banyan—and he had ended up wearing the service uniform sans jacket and holster belt. The same outfit he had seen on Rei when they had first met.

“I don’t know, your boot, you need something.”

Victor grimaced and went to put the gun into his boot, only to find a knife hidden there. His eyes widened, “The fuck?”

Rei’s eyes widened in surprise, “Well, nice one Kamen.”

Victor reached for the other boot, only to find a similar shock when he realized that a gun already occupied it. A much smaller gun than the one that Rei had given him, nearly flat, and much better concealed than the one that had been shoved into his hand.

“Holy shit.” Rei was now agape and in awe.

Great, just what I need Rei to find out.

“I’ve never been so proud.” Rei said softly.

The voice inside Victor’s head groaned.

Victor swallowed, “He against weapons or something?” It was the wrong profession for Kamen if that was the case.

Rei shook his head, “The knife I kind of expected, but the gun is different entirely. Kamen really preferred to either bloody someone up with his fists or use a sword. He was a good shot, just didn’t think there was a lot of talent in guns.”

Because Rei carries ridiculous amounts of them on him and will shoot anything that moves if the situation calls for it.

Victor nearly laughed.

“Gimme that back.” Rei took the gun from Victor, “Apparently you’re packing plenty already.”

Victor looked at Celeste; she had stood still at the pond, not moving since they had arrived. She had not blinked and appeared to be in a trance, her hair was not tied back. The braids writhed in the air, not carried by the breeze, but feeling about like snakes.

Rei took a few steps to Celeste, looking back and smiling at Victor as he did, “There are three ways to travel from Buenae to Earth and back. One is mirrors, like you observed, the pond actually falls into that category, the mirror at the bottom was made when Celeste’s first root took hold, and it is the only mirror that can be used with no training. The second way, you have to fly, high up above the atmosphere, right before you hit space, there are small tears in the dimensional fabric—that’s how Van Dean gets back and forth. The third, and most preferable and direct, is Celeste, because she can take you exactly where you need to be.”

Victor looked at Celeste curiously, understanding that he should be a lot more afraid of the god than he was. She still had not moved.

“Now, here are the implications and catches.” Rei cleared his throat, “She sends you somewhere and she gets a print on you, she does it easier with buenans, but it does work with humans. Once she gets a print on you she can summon you back without the hassle, however, she can’t do that if you’re on Buenae, it only works inter-dimensional. If you’re somewhere else in Buenae you need a vine from her, but you can’t touch it until you want to come back.”

Victor slowly nodded, having trouble keeping up with everything and trying to bear in mind that when this was all over he would never have to worry about being teleported by Celeste.

“So she has to get a print on me now?” Victor asked slowly, reiterating the one point he had kept up with.

Rei nodded once, “Put the holodex in your pocket, and hold onto it like your life depends on it. It does.”

Victor swallowed and put the card into his pocket.

Rei approached Celeste; only when he called out her name did she look at him, “It’s time.”

“So it is.” She said emotionlessly.

In a matter of minutes Victor watched her transform; from humanoid to god. Her arms stretched up and her body elongated, turning darker and darker, becoming coarse bark. Her hair grew upwards, turning from braids into vines and swaying into the air as softly as her hair had before. Within moments, Victor was looking at a woman who was tree, a willow tree.

Rei smiled at the sight, “The first buenans were offshoots of her roots, we’re flowers.”

Victor swallowed and stared at Celeste, “So what do I do?”

“No, not yet, one last thing.” Rei tugged on Victor’s arm and pulled his attention away from the tree, “First things first.” He gave Victor a card, a hotel card. “You need to be somewhere there’s a mirror so I can get to you if I need to.” He looked at Celeste briefly, “I’ve said I’m an atheist too many times for her to let me travel the easy way. You’ll be in a hotel room that this key opens, the place where Eyrtex is will be directly across the street, it’s public, just try not to be too…Victor Covington. Understand?”

Victor bit the inside of his mouth and did his best not to glare at Rei, “I understand.”

He took one step towards Celeste and before he could be afraid her vines seized him, wrapping him up from head to toe and squeezing until he grew smaller, and smaller, and disappeared.

The method of travel left Victor on the floor of a hotel room breathing heavily. He looked around at his surroundings, the only light of the room coming from the window and its sheer curtains.

It was a suite, a downtown suite. The bed was done up in lush gold and creams, the wallpaper was tastefully ecru, and opposite the bed, above a long and short dresser was a very large mirror.

Victor went to the window after collecting his wits from where they had splattered out across the room and looked across the street, assuming that the venue he now saw on the other side of the street was the one that he was meant to go to. He just hoped that Eyrtex was there already so that he could get the whole ordeal out of the way and go home.

Hang on a sec.

The voice stopped him before he could open the door, and he stood with his hand on the handle, waiting to see if the voice would give an explanation.

Why does that name sound so familiar?

Eyrtex? It was not one that Victor could ever recall hearing.

Victor took a deep breath, opened the door, and started down the hall.

As he went down the hall, briskly, but not fast enough to appear odd, he had the strangest feeling that something was going to go wrong. He could not say if Eyrtex was going to be at the café, and he had no idea what to expect from the man. The thought settled into Victor’s head that Eyrtex would be angry with him, thinking of course that he was Kamen, and would perhaps even be enraged that he did not want to find Artemis himself.

A lover would want to do that. It did not feel right to Victor for him to go and find Kamen’s fiancée.

The worst apprehension came when he thought of Van Dean, and how convinced Rei had been in thinking that he would be in the human realm. With how facetious and sarcastic Rei was, the thought that there was someone he would go to great lengths to warn Victor about left an unsettling feeling in his stomach, one he was certain the voice wasn’t causing. He would not have known Van Dean if he did see him, he had been shown no pictures and given no description, but the pitting unease about the ‘demon’ comment was nothing to scoff at. Victor thought the whole thing nearly laughable that a king would be away from his country and walking around a human town in search of someone.

He briefly wondered about Artemis and where she was hidden, hoping strangely adamantly that she was not lost to Clovis—that must have been the voice’s doing.

Taking the elevator down to the lobby, Victor took another deep breath and closed his eyes, muttering to himself and attempting to quell his unease, “I’m in control.”

This time, I hope so.

He hoped that Rei’s imagination was overactive, that things would not be as dangerous as he insinuated. The Commander had put such stress on the idea that Victor was going into a situation that could easily be life threatening; he glanced down to his boot and the very compact gun hidden within.

The lobby was thankfully inhabited, he had for a second in the elevator worried at the thought of being the only one in the room, and thereby much less inconspicuous than he hoped.

Victor breathed a small sigh of relief when no one recognized him, and pursed his lips at the thought. In the week of being in Q’ael Dan’il, he now almost expected for everyone in the room to turn and gawk at him as if he had returned from the dead.

He recognized the city the instant he walked out the doors, he had been there several times to visit Amy, but had never stayed at that particular hotel. The café he was told to meet Eyrtex at was, however, one that he had been to before with his cousin. His unease was relieved slightly, if he knew the location, he could handle himself and would be ready for whatever sprung up.

Crossing the street quickly he wished for a second that he would have brought a pair of sunglasses, the day was bright and unnaturally warm for November. It was warm enough for the patio of the small café, but the red petunias that covered the small brick wall of the patio had wilted and begun to wither in preparation for the winter. The hostess smiled as he approached the café, but he stopped short at the sight of someone else rushing to the entrance.

Victor’s heart was in his throat.

EYRTEX? EYRTEX? Rei, that sick bastard, Eyrtex was Artemis’ disguise when she saw in confinement in the military wing.

He swallowed awkwardly.

It was Artemis. Standing in front of him, hair darker, redder in color than he had originally thought, bouncing in waves past her shoulders. She smiled to the hostess awkwardly, small upturned nose wrinkling and scattering freckles, curling the edges of large gray eyes as she apologized to the hostess for being late, and rushed to one of the tables on the patio.

Get her.

Get her?

Grab her, get her out of here.

That had to be the worst idea the voice had had.

I’m not fucking around, throw her over your shoulder if you have to.

Victor swallowed, his breathing had increased and the screech had started up in his head again, the sound of nails on glass made his entire head tingle. He defied the voice, he was in another country, without a visa, and he was not about to add kidnapping to the list of offenses.

The hell you’re not.

He staggered backwards, his head felt heavy and his face was tingling.

Victor turned away from the entrance to the café, he needed to sit down, he needed to lay down, he needed to be somewhere he could collect himself. There was no way that he could talk to Eyrtex—Artemis while so shaken.

He glanced back at her; now sitting down with a man whose eyes resembled Fosh’s, blackened irises, and for some reason now felt that she was in danger.

Alexander Coy.

The voice knew the man.

He’s a Dalian official. This is bad. This is very bad.

Victor took a step away from the café, his stomach wrenching, and he looked up to see someone standing and staring at him, face blank.

Oh no.

He stood much taller than Victor. His posture was perfect and he was sinewy with an angular face, the focal point of which being his eyes, a radiant violet. His long white hair tied back loosely, falling past his shoulders, he did not belong in this world.

His expression was stern as he watched Victor, but it melted, replaced by a wry smile, “Are you dying again Covington?”

No sudden movements. He’ll lash out. Stand very still, god, pull yourself together.

The sickened face and staggered breathing was something the Victor could not push away.

Victor pushed his feet back to the hotel, now worried that the man would follow him, and even more worried that something would happen to Artemis. Why she was having lunch with a Dalian was beyond him.

She has no idea who she is. She’s human.

She had no idea who she was, but she was having lunch with a Dalian official, and the man who had spoken to him outside the café, he seemed to know who Victor was.

That was Van Dean.

Victor walked briskly into the hotel and rushed to the elevator, entering quickly and pressing the button for his floor.

Van Dean was stalking Artemis, or she knew him, but both scenarios made Victor feel sick to his stomach.

He struggled with the keycard for the door and opened it with shaking hands, closing the door behind him and dropping the card to the floor once inside.

You have to get back there, you have to help her. She’s trapped. I took a goddamn oath to keep her safe.

Victor shook his head and glanced at the mirror across from the bed, thinking that he needed to call Rei before Van Dean pursued him.

The reflection in the mirror was not Victor’s.

The man in the mirror pounded on the glass, breaking from the movement of its master. The scar traced along his face from just across his nose along his right cheekbone. It was the man from the picture, the man whom he resembled so closely, in a fit of rage and ordering him to comply.

The image subsided after Victor covered the man's face with a hand, but something remained in the reflection. The scar was old, but the blood was fresh, and the old mark had resurfaced on the face of the one who had returned from death.

The feeling in his legs was gone; the weight on his chest had become heavier. The screeching in his head was not nails on glass, it was the sound of a sword scraped against the side of Q’ael Dan’il, the sound held fast in his head next to the voice of the man in the mirror, still screaming for the woman in the café across the street, and Victor felt like he was falling.

The holodex was in his hand and he swiped the top.

“Victor?” Rei’s voice was immediate.

“You sick son of a bitch.” The words came out of his mouth, but Victor did not know who was saying them.

Rei responded, now sounding worried, “Are you alright?”

“Eyrtex is a lie.”

“That’s right. It’s the nanny.”

Victor coughed, releasing a glob of blood into his palm, and he dropped the holodex to the floor, following as his eyes rolled back in his head.

Rei rushed through the mirror and climbed over the dresser, he hurried over to Victor on the floor, a syringe in his hand.

He placed the syringe in his mouth to hold and laid victor down flat on the floor, away from the bed where his head craned.

Breathing steadily, he began to work at a set of clasps on the top of Victor’s shirt, pulling them open and pulling down to uncover the part of his chest that Rei needed for the adrenaline shot.

He placed a finger on the chest and then slammed the syringe into Covington.



---



Nancy joined Coy at the table, smiling awkwardly and setting her bag onto the empty chair, “Sorry I’m late. I missed the bus from Amy’s and she let me borrow her car.”

Coy smiled at Nancy, “I ordered for you, here.”

The waitress was at the table with their food, smiling and making the comment that it would be the last week that the patio would be open for dining, next week they would have to enter the dining room.

Nancy took a large bite from her sandwich, she tried to remember what she had eaten for breakfast, but the only nourishment she could remember at all from that day was a can of vegetable juice when she had woken up.

“How is Amy?” Coy asked, mixing his rice into his soup.

Nancy hummed, “We’re taking Henry to the zoo today when I get back, he had some classes to catch up with online and so she’s keeping an eye on him while he does that.”

“Right, I forgot he was homeschooled.”

She stifled a laugh, “Better than truant all the time. The internet school helps; I have no idea how to even go about teaching kids, all I have to do is make sure that Henry completes the assignments.”

“I wouldn’t be a good teacher.” Coy shook his head, “I don’t have the stamina for it.”

“The zoo will be fun though, it’s an educational trip. I haven’t been there in a long time though.”

“What was your favorite animal, a gazelle?”

“A galago, it’s a little monkey with big eyes and a fluffy tail.”

He smiled, “Right.”

She hummed and she took another large bite of her sandwich, covering her mouth with the back of her hand as she chewed.

“How is the apartment?”

Nancy swallowed her mouthful, as well as the lump in her throat. It was an obligatory question, one of the usual once-a-week questions, Coy was asking because it was what he did, he did not know about the eviction notice.

She did her best to shrug, “It’s okay.”

He nodded and looked at his soup for a few seconds, “I know I’ve asked you about this every time I’ve seen you, but I went ahead and invited my friend to lunch today.”

The sandwich fell out of Nancy’s hand and she pursed her lips. “Coy.”

“Hear me out, you don’t have to make plans with him, just say ‘hi’.”

“I already told you I didn’t want to, but you went ahead and made plans anyway?” She shook her head, now angry and feeling nauseated by her uncle’s blatant disregard. “It’s so nice that you have some respect for me.”

“Nancy.”

“Forget it, I’m gone.” She grabbed her bag and stood up from the table, “Thanks for lunch.”



---



Kamen looked at the needle in his chest and grimaced as he pulled it out. He tossed the item to the side and looked at Rei, still leaned over him, and then punched him in the jaw, sending the Commander backwards.

“What the hell was that?” Kamen said, still catching his breath.

“You died again.” Rei rubbed his jaw, “I knew that was going to happen, that’s why I needed a mirror near you.”

Kamen pushed himself to sit up on the floor and started to pull his shirt back together, “She’s out there. Van Dean is there. Coy is there.”

“What?” Rei’s brow furrowed and he stood up and quickly went to the window, pushing back the sheer curtains lightly to peek out at the café across the street. Nancy was leaving in a huff and Coy was at the table calling after her. Van Dean sat across the patio, watching the girl from a distance. “Damn, it is her.”

“I ran straight into Van Dean. He just stared at me.” He rubbed his face and looked down at his hand, covered in blood.

Rei moved away from the window, “Maybe he thinks you’re dead?”

Kamen shook his head and shrugged, going to the bathroom and talking to Rei as he went, “He asked about it. The only thing he said to me. I couldn’t approach her with all those Dalians around, I’m just glad Victor understood that…I understood that.”

Rei smiled and took a few steps to follow Kamen, “Having an identity crisis?”

The human turned on the light in the bathroom, leaving the door open to talk with the buenan, “I am Victor Covington. I am Kamen Covington. It’s like fusion I think…holy shit.”

Rei seemed to jump and quickly went to stand in the bathroom doorway.

Kamen looked at him in horror, “Where the hell did all this blood come from?”

Rei laughed, “You I think. Here.” He grabbed a towel from the rack and turned on the faucet, soaking the towel before passing it to Kamen, “Clean yourself up.”

“It’s all over my shirt.” He pulled his shirt over his head and threw it into the sink, hoping that the water would take away the sanguine mess. He shook his head at Rei, “There is no way I’m getting blood all over hotel towels. They’ll come in, see the syringe on the floor, and then see all the blood in the bathroom and call the police.”

An eyebrow quirked up and Rei threw the towel to the side, leaving it in a pile on the floor, “Use your shirt then, its already soaked.”

Shaking his head in annoyance, Kamen began to wipe the blood from his face with the wet shirt, unsure what he was going to wear afterwards. He grimaced at the old scar across his face, given to him as a boy from Van Dean.

“I look like myself again.” Kamen muttered.

“You got a lot of blood on your back.” Rei’s eyes widened, “These all the scars you used to have, resurfacing?”

He handed Rei the wet shirt, “How about you clean that since you gave me those in the first place.”

“Well aren’t we pissy?”

“I just DIED!”

“You’re not dead yet, you’re getting better.” Rei smiled and began to wipe the blood from Kamen’s back, rinsing the shirt often, “Maybe you should go for a walk?”

Kamen rubbed his face and chuckled, still tense from the events of the day, “That Eyrtex ploy was a sick joke, you knew what would happen.”

“I didn’t, but it was worth a try.” He grimaced at the lash scars across Kamen’s back and began to wipe down his shoulders, uncovering the Clovinian Violet branded on his upper-right arm from when he had joined the service.

Rei threw the shirt into the sink and let it sit under the running water until Kamen retrieved it and wrung it out, grimacing at the idea of putting it back on. He instead hung the shirt up on the shower curtain and grabbed a clean towel to dry off.

“How long has Coy been with her?” Kamen said slowly.

“With Nancy?” Rei left the bathroom and sat down on the bed, “From what I’ve read since she was five. I saw her talking with Amy over the computer at the estate and I dug up a bunch of information on her. Van Dean has known where she’s been for a long time. He’s keeping an eye on her.”

Kamen grimaced.

Rei nodded, “Exactly. How he found her that young I have no idea.”

“What happened? I don’t even remember dying, just falling and...” He sighed, “Artemis did something and then everything was black.”

“Celeste said that Artemis sealed the two of you away with her help. Normally that would return the human soul here, and the buenan soul there, but she was allowed to be human.”

“What she wanted.” Kamen muttered as he left the bathroom. He sat down on the bed next to Rei and shut his eyes, trying not to think of all the times Artemis had wished to be human and live in the human realm with him.

He patted Kamen on the back, “Nice gun, by the way.”

“You weren’t supposed to see that.”

Rei smiled, “I didn’t know they made them that flat, it was pretty clever. I doubt Victor had ever seen one like that.”

Kamen shook his head, “Can we not talk about that?” Rei looked at him in confusion and Kamen continued, “I can’t believe I did all that, I can’t believe we’re the same person.”

“I can.”

Kamen scowled at Rei.

“I can, seriously. I talked to you as him and it felt like talking to you as you.” He wrinkled his nose, “Oy this is going to be confusing.”

“It feels like I went into hiding, one day I was Kamen, then I was Victor, but I was always both. Victor fills in the time Kamen was dead.” He shook his head, “I missed her the whole time.”

Rei smiled slowly.

“I have to get her away from him.”

“We don’t have a lot of time, I doubt Van Dean will wait very long after seeing you.”