The lonely prince isn't certain how long he slumbered, only that he dreamed of an infinite, unforgiving dark where he wandered alone until he feared he forgot all he ever was, and all he would ever be. Then a thundering thump lifts him from darkness. Someone is in the chamber. They're moving around, near, then far away, then in front of him.

"Are you lonely?" Artemis whispers, a human by the faint scent barely capable of breaching the prince's cage.

Lonely...? A human emotion of yearning, ridiculous and redundant. If you knew who I was, you'd know better, he reflects. But the prince's heart aches. How long has it been since he has heard anything, let alone a voice?

"What are you thinking?" Artemis speaks again, accompanied by a deafening roar. The lonely prince senses the heat of iron beating against the spell trapping him within. For a moment, the spell shivers and groans. A sense of hope rises, but nothing happens and Artemis disappears.

Foolish. How could a creature as trivial as him break my cage? And yet, as the gloom takes him, he cries out, Where did you go, stranger? Come back. Please. Let me out. Let me out. Let me out right now!

Without the noise, without a visitor, the prince returns to eternal darkness. A suffocating gloom that is cold even to one as accustomed to the frigid winter as him. He drowns in a sea of night, grasping for a light that only exists in his mind.

Then the same voice wakes him. There's hope again that his words crush as soon as it's formed, "I've only come to clean away the dust and cobwebs."

You're here to clean? What makes you think I care about that which I cannot see?! Release me. Take up your sword. Prove that mortals can be useful!

But Artemis doesn't take his sword to the coffin again. The prince hears Artemis scurrying about, along with his low grunts for some time. He's oddly annoyed and oddly grateful, somehow suspended between darkness and light, awake and asleep, alive and dead. Then Artemis clears his throat, "I appreciate being allowed to hide here yesterday. Consider this payment."

It's not as if I had a choice, and if this is your payment, then I know to never help you should I wake. Your payment is shit.

"I'm sorry that I cannot wake you," he says, so close that the prince almost believes he's whispering in his ear. The reminder makes his heart sink. When will he escape this place? When will he see the sun again? When will he feel fresh snow beneath his bare feet?

"I don't know who you are or why you're here, and maybe I'm a fool to say this, but I hope someone comes soon to wake you. I hope you won't be lonely anymore."

When silence returns, the prince realizes that he is alone, and should Artemis not visit again, then he will remain that way. Forever.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ✧.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☾