Day 47: Sun Room [2nd shift]
Cloud knew he should be taking the opportunity to check out the rec field during the day. The fresh air would be a welcome change from the crowded stuffiness the Institute usually provided, and he would have a chance to scope out the area when it wasn't all under the cover of darkness. When offered a choice, however, he remained in the sun room
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He looked up at the person--Marcus--who had been foisted on him, and he felt slightly sorry for the other young man. 'Marcus' clearly knew that Artemis was at the end of his rope and looking down into cavern he couldn't see the bottom of. It hadn't been his idea to try to 'cheer him up'. And Artemis found that he was just too tired to quip something sarcastic or suggest he go find company elsewhere. He blinked slowly at 'Marcus', his expression neither a smile, nor a frown--just empty.
"Church bells," he said, as though this was an answer to the previous statement. "And a graveyard."
Artemis could hear both, given that he and 'Marcus' were in a relatively isolated corner, and not everyone had made it to the Sun Room yet. The rest of what was happening was an annoying, grating buzz at the back of his head. But the clear tolls of bells coming from the somewhat familiar stranger managed to cut through the rest of the quagmire, giving Artemis something to latch onto briefly.
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"Uh...I'm Allen. I know they call us weird things, so, what's your name?"
He wasn't sure that he could have a conversation with someone who obviously didn't want one, but he was going to give it a valiant effort. Maybe the boy could talk about something that made sense instead of...church bells and graveyards. That was kind of a dreary image to paint, after all.
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"Artemis Fowl, the Second," Artemis replied, continuing to look at Allen with the same blank expression. At least he had answered the question at hand this time. "Pleasure to meet you," he finished, though the phrase sounded terribly automatic.
"I apologize for the seemingly unrelated statement," he said, shifting in his chair so he was sitting a little straighter. "Today is not a very good day for me, I'm afraid. I seem to be saying anything that comes to mind. I beg your pardon."
Maybe the sound had come from Allen, maybe it hadn't. After all, he seemed rather confused by why Artemis would be talking about such things. Kakashi had instantly recognized the rocks as something significant, and the snow fit Haku perfectly. Perhaps he'd heard something else.
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He smiled anyway. At least the other had answered! Maybe he was just off in his own world. His earlier words were...kind of a mystery, though. Was it possible that this boy knew something about him, without knowing? He was a remember of a religious order, after all. It seemed a little strange, but not much was normal here, anyway.
"Why...why did those things come to mind?" he asked, carefully. He'd been talking a lot about himself lately, and it was kind of strange to do so. While it was true that many people knew about Exorcists back home, many people didn't know, as well. Allen hadn't ever gotten accustomed to talking about it with people outside the Order.
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"Courtesy of this place," he continued, looking around at the walls to indicate he was talking about the institute. "I'm able to hear certain things because of a trait you possess. Now, I don't know what that trait is or what it does, but I can hear that you have something special. Something that isn't laughing maniacally or screaming at me. Which, by the way, I appreciate. I've had enough of people screaming at me.
"So I suppose the roundabout answer to that question is that they did not come to mind. They're in your mind. What church bells and a graveyard have to do with it, I don't know. It's like asking me what a bar of music has to do with the life of the composer--I can play it and I can hear it, but I can't place it in a personal context."
Artemis paused, realizing that he'd told someone he'd only just met what was wrong with him. What had been done to him. And it was because Allen's Commune wasn't screaming at him? Or was he slipping further than he thought he had? Prattling on about things that he kept hidden away because he was ashamed of them--and why?
He didn't know. And for once, he didn't care either.
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It never occurred to him that Artemis was crazy, or lying. Allen always focused on the good in people, and unless they were a member of the Noah family, he generally believed people to be trustworthy until proven otherwise.
"I'm...an Exorcist," he said, not knowing if that word meant anything to Artemis at all. It was the best place to start, though. "The Order I'm part of is religious, which could explain the bells."
He didn't want to get into the graveyard thing. People dying...he didn't want to think about that anymore. Not right now, at least. Getting down on himself, wondering if his friends were alive and well, that wasn't going to help at all.
"You really...got this power from this place? How? I thought they just took things away from people. I heard that abilities we have on our own won't work properly here, but I haven't actually tested it yet."
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"This room," he continued, gesturing to the Sun Room at large. "Is relatively quiet right now. However, imagine if everyone were talking--shouting--to be heard over everyone else, and there were twice as many people here. That is an approximation of what I hear almost always," he said, resting his chin in his hand and looking towards a shouting fight breaking out. "It's not a power, it's slowly driving me insane.
"Which, I imagine, is the aim of the whole operation," he said, turning his attention back to Allen. "I wouldn't try to use any abilities you may have in your home world here--some of them can backfire horribly. I know a young lady who bleeds profusely at the nose when she does some things, and a young man who nearly passes out. If you do intend to try, I recommend starting slow and building up until you know what effects you'll undergo.
"So you're an Exorcist, then?" Artemis continued seamlessly, as though the two topics were somehow related. "What do you exorcise? You may be able to help get rid of some things that wander these halls."
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He looked over at the shouting and wondered what was going on. He didn't want to go get involved, though. Hopefully no one would get hurt. If they did, he might change his mind, but maybe one of the nurses would actually do something useful and help break it up.
He looked back at Artemis. "Well, I'll be careful," he said, and meant it. Overdoing it immediately wasn't going to be very useful to the people he was trying to help, and he knew that! He'd go as far as he had to, though, to protect anyone. If that meant pushing the limitations that Landel's had put on him, well, he'd do it. But he wasn't going to just test it to see.
"I exorcise Akuma," he said. "It's not as cut and dry as that, I guess, but...that's the easiest answer I can give you. I want to save people, but I want to save the Akuma, too. I don't know if I can help with the things that go on at night, but I want to."
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