Torment

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Artemis Tuuri

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Artemis wasn't aware if anyone else had followed her into the Hospital Wing, or even how she had gotten there. Was Landon, Lucy, Professor Spenser ... Jareth there? She had no idea if she was alone or accompanied. The only sound that registered was the wet slap of her bare and muddy feet on the clean white floors of the Hospital Wing where she promptly set in the middle of the room. Her once bouncy and gaily coloured green dress was filthy beyond recognition, both covered with mud, blood, rain and whatever else she had fallen in or struck against while in the forest. She was numb with cold and her pale lips were blue. Her tiny knees and elbows were cut with her fall into the stream and she had pine needles sticking to her long ears. But Artemis was not just numb from cold, but also from shock. Now that her tears were gone, there was nothing but silence and emptiness.

She sat on the floor with an unpleasant sounding 'squalch' as the frilly dress spread out around her and simply sat. No doubt someone would come to scold her for the muddy trail, unless of course Jareth's corpse had followed her in through the door. She believed herself to be the less important factor. Pffft, Art was fine. A boy was dead, and they fussed over her? Take care of the living first, said her father's voice in her mind. A tiny tear crept down her cheek once more, the only clear and unmarred object left on her body. One again, she had not the strength to sit upright any longer and so simply lay in the middle of the floor of the Hospital Wing. "Mama." said Art, not appearing to notice what she was saying. "Mama..." a little pool of saline joined the cold mud.
 
Worried, Lucy darted to the Hospital Wing. She'd gone to Ravenclaw Tower briefly, to go find Shalamar, and then had bolted down to the Hospital Wing for Artemis. Oh god, oh god, poor Artemis, Lucy thought, absolutely devestated for the girl. She couldn't imagine how she must be feeling, but she was sure it was perhaps the most horrible feeling in the world. A tear formed again, streaming down her face, but she still kept silent, did not sob. She was covered in dirt and mud, but she didn't care. All she wanted to know was that Artemis would be alright.

"N-nurse?" Lucy called, her voice shaking, before she dropped to the ground beside Artemis, who looked absolutely shattered, asking for her mother. "Artemis..." Lucy muttered. She could not say anything else. She just wanted to make sure she was alright. Physically, that was. Emotionally, it would be difficult to recover. Lucy had never lost anyone very close to her, but she was sure it was almost impossible to cope. She put an arm around the girl, being a small amount of comfort. She could not do much, but she was doing what she could.
 
The news filtered through the school as if on wings. Shalamar had been in her dorm writing a letter to Quefirron the main dragon keeper who was assisting in her own training. She was itching to know what type of progress Kino was making and if he missed her. As silly as that sounded she still wanted to know. Just as she attached her letter to the owl a student hasty and winded from obviously running around telling as many people as she possibly could, came bursting into the dorm. When Shalamar heard who was involved and that she had gone to the hospital wing, she did not hesitate. Off the bed and running from her dorm, through the common room and fleeing from Ravenclaw house as if her own life depended on it.

She had only caught bits and pieces of what the girl had said, what she had made sense of was Artemis in the hospital and a young boy was dead. Never before had the journey to the main school seemed to long and tormenting as it did in that moment, when all she wanted was to be beside her best friend. With the hospital doors finally looming before her she burst through them and frantically looked about her.
"Artemis!" she exclaimed racing over to her, skidding to a kneeling position on the floor before her best friend she saw the pain as if it were her own. Looking up at Lucinda she could not even greet her or offer her a smile. Her gaze flew back to Art lying on the hospital floor. She paid no heed to the dirt trail she had skidded on to reach her but reached for the small girls hand and gently stroked it.

"Artemis?" again she looked up at Lucinda, "what happened?"
 
Now there was another familiar voice that slid through her pain like a hot knife through butter. It was Shalamar, and Artemis whimpered into the tiles. The last thing she wanted was for her best friend to see her in such a state. She was anguished, humiliated. But yet all she wanted was to bury her head into her friend's lap and weep once more. Artemis was tried of crying but she was too tired not to cry. It was all so very confusing. There was silence after Shalamar asked about what had happened,and after so long of saying little else but 'Jareth' and 'Mama', Art was ready to speak again, even with the great effort it cost her to do so. Artemis had appeared catatonic but now her head flashed up, her hazel eyes round and earnest. "Shalamar!" Greetings. "Jareth." The who's. "Centaurs." The what's. "F-f-forest." The where's. "Jareth..." and the feelings. That was all the explanation she was able to offer as Artemis moaned and pressed her head into the mussy floor ones more, smearing brown muck over her forehead. If Shalamar knew that a boy was dead, she'd get the gist after Artemis' words. Jareth, her fiancé; he was dead. Lucy could fill in the rest.

Art moved her head slightly and stared into the tiny pool of tears by her nose. Was that her? She looked like a demon. She stared into her reflection and caught sight of long pointed ears. Jareth! Abruptly she screamed, slapping her hand at the tears; but a slap from Artemis became a powerful punch. The Hospital Wing shook like an earthquake as Artemis' tiny fist cannoned into the floor for the second time that year. The impact of this time was much greater though, physically and emotionally. A little cloud of dust puffed up from the large crack in the floor, but this time she did not stop punching. Students in the Hospital Wing already were waking up. Artemis kept on punching. The crack in the floor was getting wider, the dent deeper. Her knuckles were bloody. She kept punching.
 
Lucy showed the slightest sign of relief when Shalamar appeared, but her face was still creased with worry. Artemis was not in good shape - and who could blame her, really, considering what she was going through. She nodded at Shalamar when she appeared, listened to Artemis's explanation, and when the tiny girl fell silent, offered her own, slightly more coherent explanation. "I-it's terrible," she spluttered, looking up at the other fourth year. "We were foolishly in the forest, and Jareth wandered away for a moment. A-and..." she trailed off for a moment, unsure of how exactly to put this. "H-he was killed. By a centaur." Lucy bit her lip, her fists clenching. Why such a young, innocent boy had to be taken at such an early age - he hadn't even reached his teenage years yet - Lucy could not fathom. It must have been a mistake, a huge mistake. But this was one mistake that could never be fixed.

"Artemis, please..." Lucy muttered, uselessly, but she knew better than to try and stop the tiny fourth year. She just hoped a nurse would come by soon, would be able to calm her down and make sure she was alright. Lucy couldn't bear seeing a friend like this.

((My nurse character should hopefully be approved soon so I can bring her in to this thread. ^_^ ))
 
Her eyes began to fill with tears as she watched the agony consuming her bestfriend. She had never seen so much pain before and for it all to have accumulated inside this small body, seemed unfair and unjust. Artemis looked at her then and immediately she moved closer, the dirt and mud streaks that riddled her made no difference to Shalamar as she leaned closer to hear the words. All disjointed and therefore meaning nothing to Shalamar and yet everything to Artemis, she hastily turned her head to Lucinda once more. Gasping at the news, her head slowly turned to look at her best friend. She was too stunned to say anything or to do anything. She could not even begin to imagine what Artemis must be feeling and didn't want to ever find out for herself judging by the pain so evident.

She watched helpless as again and again Artemis' tiny fist pounded into the floor causing it to eventually crack.
"Stop, stop" she begged her taking her hands and squeezing them tightly, "Oh Artemis, I am so sorry."She did not know what else to say to her, what could anyone say at a moment like this. It was horrendous, shocking, devastating. The world as they knew it would never be the same again. The world as Artemis knew it had most likely just ended, as Jareth had been her world. Her absolute.
 
Artemis cried out as Shalamar took her hands and she pulled them away. The contact wasn't unwelcome, but she was sure that she had at least dislocated a finger or perhaps broke one. She cradled her fists to her chest and stared at the crack in the floor, glad at not having to see her face. Her face which reminded her so much of Jareth's. Brown hair, pointed ears. He had been so handsome. She rubbed her hands fretfully and tried to force the images away once more. No, Artemis did not want to forget his face but nor did she want to remember it now. The last image she had seen of him looked like she did now; white, blue-lipped and covered in mud. There was no dignity in a death like that. Art visibly shrunk away from the world as she held her fists close and continued to stare at the floor. It would have gone on like that if she had no let out an explosive sneeze that rocked her back onto her knees. Disturbed from her withdrawal, she looked at the two girls opposite her.

"What do I do?" she mumbled as she looked between them both. Art sniffed, rubbing her pink nose on her dirty green sleeve. Three girls, sitting in the middle of the Hospital Wing, two covered in mud and shivering and the other looking distraught and lost. Wasn't there a nurse to take care or Lucy? "Lucy, 'ye look cold." said Artemis, still wringing her hands and afraid to approach her friends again. "Ye'll get ill."
 
Having only just started at Hogwarts, Dahlia was still getting used to the place. Sure, she'd gone to the sister school in Scotland, but back then she was a student, not a nurse. Surely the students hadn't been this accident prone when she was at school, had they? She'd just finished giving one student some Pepper-Up Potion and life lessons, and was just sitting down to a cup of tea when she heard shaking and what sounded like punching outside. Distressed, Dahlia put down her teacup and darted out to the main hospital wing, when she saw three girls - two of whom had been outside in the rain, the smallest looking absolutely distraught. Worried, Dahlia made her way over to them, looked the youngest girl over and then picked her up without a word, gently moving her over to the nearest bed and sitting her back down. Then, she pulled out her wand and conjured a blanket for the other soaked girl, before turning her attention to the smallest.

"Dearie me, ladies, what happened here?" she said, concern creasing her brow. "By the looks of it...Forbidden Forest, and...something terrible happened, would I be correct?" While normally she would admonish students for traipsing in to the Forbidden Forest, Dahlia simply couldn't bring herself to do so.
 
Today had turned out to be a lot more eventful than Jonathan could have imagined, unfortunately the events had not been welcomed ones. Having found four students emerging from the Forbidden Forest, one of which was dead he had been in a state of shock since, although as a Professor he kept his manner calm and professional, as the students were far from being able to cope well enough on their own. Having returned to the castle Jonathan left Artemis in the Hospital Wing, the only place he could think suitable for her at that moment in time. He also left Jareth on a spare bed, casting a disillusionment charm over the dead body so as to not worry or frighten any students that may pass through the Hospital Wing while he was gone.

After sending Lucinda and Landon off to their dorms to get out of the wet clothes he reported to the Head Master's office, not welcoming the idea of having to bear the news of a dead student. This man hadn't even been Head for one semester yet and here he had a death of a student on his hands already. After recalling every detail he could think off to his boss Jonathan was dismissed and having went to change into a clean change of clothes he made his way back to the Hospital Wing, worried as to what he would return too.

Entering the Wing he saw an awful sight in front of him. Artemis was still very much distraught, which was understandable, and Lucinda and now Shalamar were trying to console her. The Hospital Wing was in a terrible state but that's not what worried Jonathan, all he worried about now was getting Artemis cleaned up and calmed down as she was clearly still distressed. Seeing a young woman also in the room Jonathan took her to be the new nurse, clearing his throat to show his presence in the room Jonathan walked forward to the small group. "It was indeed the forest." he said, his voice more authoritative now, his arms folded across his chest. "And the death of a student." he said lowering his voice to tell the new nurse.
 
Lucy hadn't really noticed the cold until Artemis pointed it out. Now, she could barely stop shivering. So she was extremely grateful when a nurse appeared, put Artemis on a bed, and conjured a blanket for her. "Th-thank you," she whispered, wrapping herself up in the blanket before turning her attention to the woman. The nursing staff at Hogwarts always seemed to change - Lucy wasn't here a lot, of course, but she had yet to be able to put a name to a face. And Lucy was always fairly good with names. As Professor Spenser arrived, Lucy wondered what had been done with Jareth's body, but then decided she really didn't want to think about that, and instead focused on seeing that Artemis was okay. She must have hurt her hands pretty badly pounding them on the floor.

"H-he was very important to her, ma'am," Lucy added, looking down at her shoes. She didn't know why she said that, but she felt it needed to be clarified to the nurse. Surely she'd understand what Artemis was going through, well, Lucy hoped she hadn't had a similar experiences, but nurses would have seen a lot of sorrow. Even one who looked as young as this one.
 
Artemis squeaked as she was lifted into the arms of the nurse she had not even seen enter and placed on the bed. She looked down and frowned, having gotten the white sheets dirty already with the mud on her dress. But then again, why was she fussing over such normal things when her fiance was dead? Surely nothing else mattered at all now that he was gone? Art glanced out of the window, the glance turning into a good long stare as she decided that there wasn't anything worth seeing here anymore. That was until more footsteps sounded in the room, and she turned to see Professor Spenser at the door and speaking to the nurse. Art did not hesitate to leap off of the bed - unfortunately she neglected to account for the height of the bed versus her own height, and fell directly onto her hands. Tears pricked at her eyes and she swallowed them before struggling to her feet and racing over to her History of Magic Professor. "Sir! Sir?" said Art in a tiny voice, tugging on the bottom of his robes with her good hand, the other cradled behind her. "Where is Jareth?".

Artemis wanted only to lie by his side for the last time, but a moment would turn into hours and she would in all likeliness refuse to leave his side at all if she saw him again. Her bottom lip trembled. "Where is my brother?". She had no idea why she was asking for Simon, but somehow he would help. "And Percy!" Her white raven. Artemis sneezed again, sniffed and continued. "Can I go and see Jareth?".
 
Dahlia nodded gravely at the professor, and at the young girl in the blanket, before turning her attention back to the little girl who had jumped off the bed and run to the professor. Sighing sadly, Dahlia moved over to the professor and the girl, crouching down on the ground so she was about eye level with her. Dahlia knew how the girl felt. Hadn't she felt the same watching Iris die? The girl surely wasn't quite in her right mind at the moment. She would feel panicked, distraught. Everyone coped in different ways, but the initial reaction to the trauma was always very similar. She felt for the girl, she really did.

"Sweetheart," Dahlia began gravely. "I know what it's like, I know you want to see him again. But I'm afraid I can't let you do that right now." She didn't know the full story, but she could piece together a fair bit of it. "Sweetie, I need you to stay here with me. I promise you that you'll get to see him again, but for now I really need you to stay here for me. Please? I'll need to fix up your hands," she commented, looking at the blood where she'd been beating her fists in to the ground. "I'll also need you to rest up here until I'm sure you're strong enough to go back to your house." She reached out to put a hand on the girl's shoulder, empathy clearly evident in her eyes. "I'll take care of you. I know what you're going through." When she had said all this, she put her other arm out and wrapped them around the girl, picking her up and taking her back over to the bed. The place was in a bit of a mess, but nothing that a good cleaning charm couldn't fix. "My name's Dahlia, by the way, what's yours? And apart from your heart, are you hurt anywhere else?"

Once she'd gotten the girl back on the bed, she turned to the others. First, she turned to the blonde-haired girl. "Sweetie, would you like to lie down over here for me? I'll get you something to warm you up in a moment, but I think it's best if you lie down." Then she turned to the other girl. "Would you like to take a seat? You can stay here for a little bit if you'd like. I can get you some tea or juice or water. Same for you, Professor," she said, motioning towards two chairs nearby.
 
Shalamar winced when her best friend pulled her hands away from her but as she saw the bruises she could understand why. Punching a cold hard tiled floor was tough even on a part goblin. With a sigh she turned as a nurse and Professor Spencer entered. Everything was such a blur from then on. Art was moved to a bed but all she could do was ask about Jareth and for some bizarre reason her brother and then her raven.

Shalamar tried to be strong for her but it was so soul destroying seeing this much pain. Sitting into the chair that the nurse indicated she shook her head solemnly.
"No drink" was all she said her eyes never leaving Artemis, "would you like me to go get Percy?" She didn't think birds were allowed into the hospital but Artemis needed something to help comfort her.
 
Art whimpered as she was picked up again and placed on the bed, but as before she was too shocked to resist. Artemis hated being picked up, but today it didn't seem so bad. Family were allowed to pick her up because they only did so because they cared about her. She was sure that no one was trying to demean her by doing it this time, so she stayed quite still. Art was lost, anyway. She had no idea what to do about anything. Sitting on the bed seemed alright to do, so she did that.

All the while she sat, she looked at her hands and turned them over. There were the scars from the ice burns she had given herself when Shalamar was in the Hospital Wing. Now there would be scars on her knuckles from beating the floor. She looked closer and noticed that her right index fingers was turning purple; it was dislocated. Art dismissed it for the moment and looked at Shalamar, expressionless but for the abject misery turning her mouth down. "Yes please," she whispered. Almost on cue, a caw sounded from one of the open windows. A sodden and bedraggled white bird stood scratching on the window pane and peered in, eying Artemis. "Percy." said Art, her eyes filling with tears. With trembling lips, she tried a whistle, then tried again. The whistle barely made a sound but down hopped the bird anyway, perching itself on Artemis' shoulder and cawing again. The bird looked as if it weighed almost as much as the goblin girl herself.

Without hesitation, she hopped off of the bed once more and padded over to Lucy who lay on another bed, wrapped in a blanket. "Are 'ye still cold?" asked Art in a frail voice. Cradling her hands, she looked to Shalamar. "Ye sure 'ye won't take no drink?". She had no idea that she was being difficult by not obeying the nurse, but Art was down to base instinct - look after everyone else. It was only went Percy nudged her cheek with the flat of his beak that she noticed that she was crying, pearly tears rolling down her cheeks and wiping away the mud. She sniffed and kneaded her eyes with her aching palms. "Is Landon alright?" managed Art.
 
Shalamar watched her friend and as she agreed for her to fetch the bird, Shalamar stood up to do so but it was not necessary. As if the creature knew it's mistress was in need of him Percy appeared on the ledge of an open window. Taking her seat once more, she watched it fly down to her best friends shoulder and attempted to smile for her. It would of course take so much more than a mere bird to give Artemis the comfort she needed but perhaps it was a start. Watching as her friend moved from her bed and went to Lucinda, Shalamar rested her elbow's on the edge of the bed. Shaking her head, still a soft smile on her face as she was asked by Art this time about a drink. Taking care of those about her was what she did best and it was obviously what she intended to do now. Shalamar felt her heart break all over again for her best friend, every one had their own way of dealing with grief perhaps this was hers.
 
Dahlia would have normally complained about the presence of a bird in the Hospital Wing, but really, for the poor young girl, Dahlia just wanted her to be alright. She kept remembering back to Iris, and felt her heart break anew. Nothing could make Artemis happy again, not right now, but the least she could do was make her comfortable. With that in mind, Dahlia bustled off to her office, grabbing a few things for all the assorted people in the Hospital Wing. First water for everyone - a bit of chocolate, too - and some potions for the two in beds.

Of course, Artemis had gotten up again, and Dahlia rolled her eyes. Couldn't sit still, it seemed. She gave cups of water to the friend "I know you don't want anything, love, but in case you get thirsty..." and the Professor, as well as the other two. She passed around the chocolate as well - it didn't have medicinal properties, but sometimes Dahlia could have sworn it did. Then, she turned to Lucinda, who had nodded at Artemis's questions (and still looked to be quite cold), and passed her a small amount of Pepper-Up Potion. "Drink up, sweetheart, it'll warm you right up. Then it would do you the world of good to have a bit of a rest." Finally, she looked to Artemis. "Come on, back to bed with you, I'll fix you right up." To demonstrate, she took her hand and cleaned up the blood and cuts crossing it. Next, potions - notably, a sleeping potion, that would make her feel better, but Artemis needed to sleep first.
 
Now that the shock and grief had finally abated for the moment, Artemis was left in a state of abject misery. She hadn't the strength to totter around and look after everyone anymore, and though she feared sleep lest it bring her dreams of Jareth, she would suffer it just to be rid of the loneliness and despair. To sleep, to fall into darkness; she could think of no greater relief. If she could sleep forever it would be the greatest blessing, but that wasn't to be. Not now, not today. Percy buried his beak into her hair and snuffled around comfortingly. Vaguely she reached up to stroke his wet feathers, all the while staring around at everyone to see if there was anything she could do. Nurse Dahlia was doing all of the work, it seemed. Art just stood and stared, waiting to be told what to do and where to go. She could have fetched water for Lucy, but it was already fetched. Chocolate for everyone, perhaps? Taken care of within seconds. She sniffed, feeling tears pricking the corners of her eyes again but this time they did not fall. She was too miserable to cry, if that was possible at all.

Now the nurse turned to Art and asked her to return to bed, which she promptly did. Off Percy hopped form her shoulder and perched himself on the white iron bars on the hospital bed; Artemis reached up to stroke him again but from that, lying down, she could not reach. She flinched when her knuckles were being cleaned but reached out obediently for the sleeping potion. Finally, finally. Artemis flopped back onto the pillows and passed out within seconds. Suddenly the tension in the room lifted slightly as the grieving girl cuddled into the white cloth peacefully. The first word on her lips when she woke later the next day would sadden those who heard it, though. 'Jareth...'
 
((slight godmodding, I hope that's okay))

In the meantime, Dahlia had sent the Professor and the other girl off - the two girls were sleeping, and she suspected they'd be out for a little while, so it would be better for them to leave them be for now (although she did explain that they were welcome to come back tomorrow, when they were awake). The blonde girl woke up later in the evening, at which point Dahlia gave her something to eat and decided she was fine, just a little shocked, but decided to keep her in the Hospital Wing over night. She was sent back to Ravenclaw tower the next morning. Now, all Dahlia had to worry about was Artemis.

Dahlia was walking through the Hospital Wing, checking on the patients - of course, there was another couple of healers there, but she could only really trust her own judgement. Dahlia had always been fairly stubborn. It was as she was doing the rounds of the beds she heard Artemis awake, and felt her heart bleed for the girl as she muttered the name of her recently deceased friend. Stopping, she turned to the girl and went to take a seat next to her bed. "Hello," she began, softly. The girl should have been all healed up, and cleaned too, so her physical wellbeing wasn't the problem. It was her emotional state Dahlia was worried about. "How are you holding up, sweetheart? Would you like to talk about anything, or is there anything you want me to get you?"
 
Artemis cuddled into the blue satin pillow, but for some reason it wasn't as comfortable as it usually was. It was clean, yes, but it wasn't soft. Her bed was not as wide as it ought to have been, and as the tiny girl spread her arms across it she could just touch the edges. That wasn't normal. Opening her eyes blearily, Artemis looked around to see a lot of white, though comfortingly some white was attributed to her albino raven, Percy. Seeing that she was the awake, the bird shuffled step by step across the bar to reach her and peck at her hair as usual. Where on earth was she? Suddenly she sat up very fast and looked around, coming face to face with a woman she had only met yesterday but was sickeningly familiar with. As if she was punched in the stomach, she crumpled back onto her pillow and turned around to bury her face in it. One should never wake up in tears lest they spent the whole day in such a state, but no one would blame her if she did. Nevertheless, Artemis refrained from sobbing into the cotton. Instead, she curled up tighter and tighter and flung the cloth over her head till she was invisible beneath the blankets. It was rude to ignore the nurse but it would be humiliating to see her shoulders shaking like they were. What a way to start the rest of your life.

Artemis said nothing for a long time, until a tiny voice emitted from the ball of blankets that was Art. "Can someone call my brother down?". There was a long, heavy pause before she spoke again. "Can I see my fiance later?" she said in a tinier voice that was barely audible. Somehow she wasn't hungry, even if she hadn't eaten since breakfast the day before.
 
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