Luna awoke with a start, feeling a hand trace her hip roughly. Shock, fear, and a feeling of loss brought her to panic. She got to her feet quickly, immediately defensive, forcing down the feeling of panic, along with the other emotions swelling inside of her. Slowly, the panic subsided. Her gaze told her this was not home, that Mamoru had accepted Akari and Yanei's offer, and that her nightmare of the last month was indeed true. It also indicated to her the close proximity of a very well-muscled human.
“So what's ya gonna do darlin'?” he taunted with a leer. The realization that she was human, and that she was naked, brought the panic back.
That is when she noticed Artemis. He was also unclothed, and apparently unconscious. She felt someone reach up behind her and grab her arms, holding their hands in a lock behind her head, with her arms looped through. The man advanced on her, a dark expression on his face. She gave with a whimper as the man before he drew his hand across her face in a blur.
“Yer gonna take it nice 'n quiet bitch,” he snarled, undoing his pants. “Y' make a noise and I'll cut yer fraggin' tongue out.”
Luna thrashed and twisted against her captor's grasp. His thick fist smacked soundly against her cheek, leaving a dark bruise. Then, a second collided with her stomach. Only the man holding kept her from doubling over. He could not, nor cared to restrain the tears that followed.
Time blurred with the violence that followed. Fortunately for Luna, neither man had a taste for violence that did not involve guns. Despite that, she was nearly numb by the time the first entered her. The numbness helped little, for they where as forceful in their act of rape as they had been in beating her. The smattering of violence and evil that took Luna then was a clear personification of the state of the world in which they now existed. What possessed passerbys beyond the depth of the alley to not respond to her screams in violation she could never know. Perhaps it was the fear of greater forces; the Coalition. It was her sense of this beyond the agony of the attack that frightened her the most.
On a conscious level she did not care about that. It was only a calling in the back of her blurred mind. All she registered then, was the attack of the men upon her. Even as the second took his liberties of her, tears came forth as she had never known them to. Emotions struck and crumbled. She pleaded, and was not heard.
Artemis' green eyes slowly crept open, and with them, a grasp rose to his lips.
'Luna-chan,' he muttered. Abruptly aware of his change, he startled at his own voice, his feelings, and his human form. Anger grew so sharply within him that he moved to action before he was aware of it. One of the two saw him move, and struck with a fist, sure that it would knock him back. The white haired man ducked the strike easily, and returned it, with such fury that the man flew against a far wall. He collapsed to the ground unconscious, his chest collapsed. Artemis' fury only grew. He turned towards Luna's assailant. The man regarded him, stepping back from the pallid, beaten form of the young woman. Luna dropped the ground like a pile of bricks, emotional agony writhing in the core of her being as tears poured forth.
'Kaibutsu,' Artemis snarled in Japanese, vaguely aware that the man only understood his rage. Such was it that he did not bother to translate his words to English. He reached forward and grabbed the scrawny man by the neck, holding him aloft. 'Bastard!'
“I…” he gagged at Artemis' iron-like grasp. Though he could barely understand the indiscernible furious natter of the albino's native tongue, he understood the straining blade of Morcanis. This guy must be one of his!
“I…” he choked and struggled to swallow. “I don't have…” he gasped, 'the money!”
'Curse you! You… you…' he stammered angrily, unable to retrieve the words to meet the uncanny rage in his soul. 'I will kill you!'
Artemis pointed sharply to the bruise marked frame of Luna as he spoke in short, biting lengths, and the man frightened further, paling dramatically.
“Oh man! Hey, I din' know she was yers! I wouldn'da touched 'er if I'da known!”
Thoughts flooded through his mind as heated fury threatened to overtake him as it never had before. He should kill this man for raping Luna. Then the rebuttal. Should he? Was it right for him to take his life for hurting her? His emotion cried; hai, his reason spoke; iye. He threw the man towards the other. Artemis paid little attention to either of them, stepping over to the wan form of the scathed young woman. He could not recall seeing her as human before, and it hurt him that he must see her after being violated so. He touched her cheek, feeling the drying tears upon it. As he did, her eyes drifted slowly open. When they focused upon him, she began sobbing again.
'Artemis-kun, please…!' she whispered in faint and desperate Japanese, hands held to her face.
He hushed her. 'They are gone. Do not speak.'
She did not seem to hear him. He grasped her wrists gently, prying them from her face.
'Luna-chan! Please…! I will not hurt you.' Still, she did not relent, holding back from him for the desperate passage of several moments. Finally, she reached to him. He took her up against his chest and let her cry. For some time her tears came forth. Artemis held firmly to her, for she seemed to draw on his strength.
A voice behind him spoke clearly in Japanese:
'I can help you.'
Artemis gazed quickly about, eyes narrowed. He spied a young woman with blue and silver hair. She wore a long dress of blue silk, and watched with calm, warm eyes. Her jade eyes displayed concern, and sympathy. Artemis could sense that she was not of evil intent.
'Come,' she continued, 'I will not harm you.'
'If I learn you are lying to me…' Artemis began as he stood slowly.
'Warning taken,' she replied. 'Will you be alright to walk, Luna-chan?'
She regarded the young woman empathetically. Luna shook her head; no. Artemis picked her up in his arms, holding her with the genteel of a father, or a lover. Her eyes formed a question, though she did not speak.
'Do not worry, just rest. Hai,' Artemis ordered. He then turned to face the woman with a cold, stagnant expression on his face. 'How do you know us?'
'I am very,' the woman started in reply, 'observant.' She glanced about, looking wary. 'Come, we must hurry. Others will come soon.'
'If you saw what they did, then why did you not stop them?' he asked as they began walking. She did not look back to what she knew would be an angry glare.
'I only arrived at the last moment, and you had subdued them. I am most sorry.'
Saying nothing, he merely gazed at Luna. They walked through the alleyways, avoiding the street. Artemis noticed that any others they encountered gave this strange woman plenty of space, while they grinned and leered at the two who followed. At one point, however, a rough hewn man dressed in denim and leather pulled out a switchblade and strode directly towards her. The woman did not stop. He sneered and blocked her path. Only then did she halt. She raised a hand. There was a flash, and the man stumbled backwards like a handful of filthy rags, falling into a nearby pile of trash, unmoving. Without comment, she bid them proceed.
After a time of silence, Artemis asked, 'Do you have a name?'
She did not respond immediately.
'You may call me Katrin.'
The rest of the relatively short distance they covered lacked conversation. There did not seem to be a need for it. Even so, Artemis would not have known what to say to this strange woman.
'Luna-chan, how are you feeling?' he asked. If Katrin heard him, he did not care. He was too concerned about Luna. She merely gazed at him, saying nothing. In her face he read fear, pain, and other emotions he knew choked her words. To some extent he could understand; he was having a very difficult time knowing what to say, or how to deal with what had happened. This, he realized, was negligible, when compared to her emotional state. Not that he understood the faintest hint about that. He was not going to pretend he had any idea what she was feeling. As they walked, she clung to him. Artemis was not sure why, again, she did, but was not about to question it. Nor
was he about to refuse her.
'We are here,' the woman announced softly.
'Where is here?' Artemis asked.
'My shoppe, and your sanctuary, if you care to accept it.'
Artemis nodded reluctantly. What choice was there, after all?
@~%~~~
‘So what brings you to England, Artemis-san?' Katrin asked, handing him a drink. Luna had refused the offer of food, saying she was not hungry. They were both dressed in loose fitting shirts, pants, and robes of cotton. Luna in pale yellow, and Artemis in light blue.
Artemis looked somewhat offended. 'England?' he replied with undisguised shock. 'We are from Tokyo.'
Katrin merely shrugged. Artemis shook his head. Additional confusion, just what he wanted.
'A pair of demons from the NegaVerse,' he told her. Whether or not she reacted to him, in surprise, or disbelief, Artemis was not sure. He did know, however, that she was listening. 'But that doesn't matter. We need to find a friend.'
Katrin gazed at the sleeping form of Luna. 'She needs help,' she said softly. 'Medical attention, at the very least.'
'I can help her. Mamoru can help her.'
'Mamoru? Who is that?' she asked. Artemis described him, not mentioning the part of Tuxedo Kamen. 'Is he a doctor? What does he know about your situation?'
'Nothing, Katrin-sama, but it is all we have to go on.'
She nodded. 'You are new to this world, then.'
'I… Hai. But this can't be… our time,' he agreed.
She arched a slight eyebrow. 'It matters?'
'I do not… no, but I must have some sense of things. For her,' he stated, gazing - a wash of anger and pain touching him - at Luna's pale form.
'These are not gentle times for strangers. Tourists are well armed,' Katrin observed. Her eyes followed his gaze. 'She will survive, but not without you.'
Artemis looked at her, a painfully frustrated expression that indicated he was at a complete loss. All he had was Luna. The former, however, he discovered he really was not interested in. So Katrin could read his mind. That did not bother him. His helplessness in dealing with Luna, on the other hand, troubled him deeply.
'Is there somewhere I can sleep?' he asked, getting to his feet wearily. Katrin pointed to an adjacent room.
'That sofa will open into a bed. I will help you with it. Artemis-san,' she said, 'You are both safe now. In the morning, I will have someone attend to her.'
'Your generosity is welcome,' Artemis agreed, though not sure he trusted her definition of 'safe.' He walked over to Luna, and stopped before waking her. She looked so calm, at peace. Awake, she seemed vague, and afraid. He found he could not gather the nerve to rouse her. He glanced back at Katrin. 'After that, we will leave.'
The woman said nothing, she only nodded.
@~%~~~
The morning came, and the parting soon after. Luna had suffered no more than bruising, and some minor scarring. She had been, after all, a virgin no more than minutes into her newly metamorphosed form. She refused the offer of breakfast, insisting that she was not hungry, again. Artemis spoke once, but kept his remaining unvoiced concerns thereafter, while he ate. They had been provided with the most basic of necessities for survival in this world. Some of these items included garlic, wooden steaks, and mallets. The remaining two items they were told were given for as much use with their tents as a way to destroy vampires.
Not that there were many vampires in the British Isles, Katrin elaborated. Artemis had feigned indifference. In truth, the blatant unknowns of this world frightened him. He was finding it difficult to adjust to the lack of a basic knowledge of the world around them.
They had been walking around in New Camelot for some hours, and were surprised to learn of the existence of one King Arr'thuu, and others who appeared to be the Knights of the Round Table. Artemis puzzled at the use of new technology in an Age of Knights, and further still at what that technology was. Luna expressed little interest in any of it, speaking only when addressed, and sometimes not even then.
As they walked through the Open Market, one sun warmed day, she asked a question that startled him. “Have I troubled you greatly?” in heavily accented English, and at that particular moment, her voice was even, and somewhat unemotional.
Artemis did not know what to say, so he said this: “I care about you.”
“Then I have.”
From her tone, Artemis was sure that she was quite serious in her words. He was entirely lost in how to respond. Luna gazed at him for a few moments, then returned to her wistful calmness.
It had only been two days, but Artemis was slowly becoming frustrated with his inability to wrest some sense of control over their situation. There was little point in talking to Luna. She offered the least of assistance. Everything was a source of trouble, or rather, unrest, for him. Whether it was Luna, Katrin, Mamoru, or the senshi, Artemis did not have any answers. Luna was an emotional wreck, he was sure, and the only way he knew to help her was to find some point of familiarity; the senshi, and Mamoru. That led to his other problem. He did not know where they were, or even if they were still alive. Katrin might be able to help. She had offered her assistance, and that of her husband, Randy. However, Artemis found himself still unable to trust her, despite her apparent warmth and unmasked anxiousness in providing what they needed most; sanctuary. It was partially related to frustration he felt at not being able to protect her himself. Beyond that, Mamoru was just as lost as the others, so that avenue led to as much an unknown street as the rest.
Another day passed. No rumors about anyone who sounded like the senshi. Artemis resorted to menial labor to provide for their limited financial needs, while he struggled with the idea of going back and taking Katrin up on her offer of sanctuary and assistance. They could certainly do worse, he hoped. Luna just nodded when he mentioned this to her. She offered little or no argument with what Artemis provided for her.
She did not seem to care anymore.
@~%~~~
The day was musky, warm, and a constantly soft breeze kept the weather from being unbearable. They had been walking most of the day, as Artemis had only reached his decision roughly a pair of hours ago. At that point, they were still a fair distance away from Katrin's shoppe. They were in the outskirts of New Camelot, and Artemis took scant notice of others. One of the few he noticed, however, he felt misgivings about. As usual, he did not consult Luna.
Best not to let her be troubled by my apprehensions, he decided. Artemis had first perceived this man when they had been in the Open Market. He had been mulling about a fisher's stand, across from them, buying assorted supplies. One of which he noted, was a rather sizable fishing net.
Artemis had first become aware of the stalking when they had stopped to buy lunch. Luna had started eating again, after almost two days, and Artemis had only been too eager to provide. He recognized the dark silk robe from earlier, his hood, and the distinct markings on the sleeves, and neck of his apparel. Luna had not seemed to notice. He guessed she had been too preoccupied with her food. Artemis hardly argued. It was the most she had eaten in days.
Artemis was somehow struck by the idea that this man wanted him to know that they were being followed. Why? He certainly was not playing possum anymore, so there was hardly any question. In frustration, Artemis grabbed Luna's arm and pulled them into an alley.
“Why did you do that?” Luna asked.
Artemis was glad to hear her voice again, even if she did sound insecure. “I'm pretty sure we're being followed.”
“You mean the man in the black robe?” she replied. “I know.”
Artemis looked surprised. Luna gazed at him, but remained silent.
“Bloody well took ya long enough aye,” commented a voice with a light celtic accent.
Artemis' form blurred as he turned on one foot. Directly in front of him stood a man, roughly five feet in height, with black hair and brown eyes. He looked like a hawk waiting for his kill. Without thinking, Artemis reached for him.
The man dodged easily, as if expecting the grasp.
“Not smart,” the man stated, drawing his hand out of his robe, and pressing it to the white haired man's side. Artemis gasped and fell to the ground, still, as if frozen. Luna cried out, and tried to dodge the forthcoming attack. With a groan, she crumbled to the earthy floor.
The man sighed. “Mind ya, it's not as though you got a' choice…”
Chapter 16
Artemis’ Hunt