Remus was still reeling from the events of the night. He confined himself to his dimly lit room, lying on his back on his wide bed. The room was fairly empty, physical objects did not interest Remus much. Nothing lasted forever, unlike himself.
Coming down from the cursed flower was comfortable but exhausting. He melted into the black sheets and soft furs strewn across the bed. His body was tired, but his mind was wide awake. Lingering feelings of embarrassment and frustration dwelled upon his mind.
Artemis was his. No matter what he was not going to let her get away. He needed her. Things are born, they grow, and they die. A never-ending cycle of life and death. Seas would dry up and mountains would fall, but the only thing that stayed the same was Remus.
But Artemis could. As the world grows and dies around him, Artemis could be next to him forever. For the rest of eternity he would never again be alone.
The next day Artemis was shuffled out of the room and brought outside the castle to the grim remains of the garden. It was barely dawn, but once the sunlight hit her pale face, she became wide awake. Thaddeus and Cosmas dutifully led her to Remus, who was sitting down on a collapsed remains of a marble statue, sharpening a long, thin sword. When she was close enough to him, they pushed her forwards and retreated back to the castle, bickering amongst each other along the way.
Remus dropped what he was doing and looked face to face with her. Even though he was sitting, he was so tall their eyes met perfectly. Remus still looked frustrated. Without knowing himself, he blushed, his cheeks turning a faint red. He pointed his long finger at her and sternly said, "Don't you ever bring up last night, to me or to anyone else. It never happened." He snarled and tore his eyes from her. He was extremely embarrassed, feeling shame he'd never had in centuries. How could he have let that happen?
Remus stood up, shaking the dust from his pants and said, "We can make it by tomorrow evening if we don't stop. I really do not like horses, so suck it up and walk with me." Artemis was fine with that, she would rather walk anyhow, feel the soft earth below on her bare feet. She refused to wear those hideous boots given to her, it was insulting. He handed her a small dagger. If it had been anyone else it would have been a joke, but Artemis could fight with anything. She felt a little more confident, especially now that she had clothing as well, no longer shamefully exposed for the world to see.
They silently made their way through the forest, staying on the bright grassy paths, which were overgrown and unkept, giant roots weaving in and out of the ground. Birds sang their morning songs, wind danced through the leaves of the enormous trees. There was still dew settled on the plants, wetting their legs as they walked through the brush. The sun moved across the sky slowly as they continued their long march silently.
Their venture came to an end just before sunset. They reached a lake that stretched out so far you couldn't see any evidence of land beyond. Remus started to slow down, taking in their surroundings. For the most part it was an empty field, with only scattered boulders and small hills, stretching into the tree infested mountains in the distance. Really the only thing to be heard was the sounds of the water washing onto the shore and quickly retreating back into the lake. It was oddly quiet. No birds or evidence of wildlife. Just the water and the wind.
Remus looked around, squinting his eyes. "Hm. I think we're lost," he said calmly.
Artemis looked at him angrily. "What, how are we lost?" she asked.
"Well I'm not seeing anything, and those one-eyed assholes are big. Very big. We should be able to see them."
Artemis sighed and sat down on a nearby rock. "So what, do we wait or go back?" she asked. Remus huffed, still searching.
"I'm not sure. I guess we can follow the shore and see where it takes us."
Artemis tilted her back in frustration. As she stood up to follow him, they heard a loud noise break the silence. Remus perked up and looked for the origin of the sound. There was a cracking and snapping in the distance, progressively getting louder and closer. "I really hope that's what we're looking for," he said anxiously.
Lo and behold there was the cyclops. It was rather large for a cyclops, though it couldn't have been that old. Their lifespans were very long, but they never really got that smart, no matter how years they lived. It pushed down any trees in its way, crumbling them under its horrendous feet. Remus huffed and started to approach it. Artemis wasn't sure what to do but following him seemed like the best option. She followed Remus up until he told her to stop, a few dozen meters away.
The ugly, deformed creature bent down to talk to Remus, blinking its glistening eyeball protruding out of its ugly face. Unfortunately he had to scream at the top of his lungs for the cyclops to hear anything. Artemis watched this, hearing the loud grunting from the cyclops and the loud shouting from Remus. The strong wind did not help their situation. She couldn't understand what either was saying, so she just kept her eyes on them.
It didn't take very long until Remus was walking back. A few feet before he reached her, he said calmly, "So you should run." Artemis was slightly confused, but when his gradual walking became a full-on sprint she leapt and ran as fast as she could. As Remus caught up, he yanked on her arm and pulled her so she could keep up with him.
"What happened?" she yelled.
"He was talking in riddles!" he shouted back.
"I don't understand!"
"I don't either, I can't solve riddles!"
Loud footsteps boomed behind them as the cyclops lumbered over to them. Good for them that cyclops are typically very slow, the only real thing to fear was their size and their legendary dangerous grip.
Remus practically threw her behind a pile of huge boulders and trees next to the shore of the lake. They crouched in their temporary hiding place, both of them equally as panicked. "What are we going to do?" she asked through her quick breathing.
Remus pulled off his shirt as fast as he could. Artemis looked to him as he started to undress in a panic. "What are you doing?" she screamed.
"Trying to keep my fucking clothes! Go turn into a harpy or something, I don't care, just peck out his liver or his eye, just help!"
Artemis whipped her head around to spot the incoming giant. Below Remus had sprinted into the shallows of the lake. The cyclops turned to see him, and slowly hobbled towards the shore. Artemis was convinced he was completely insane. In fact she had to question his sanity quite often. Stark naked halfway in the water, it did not seem like a reasonable plan.
As she dragged her attention from the cyclops, turning it back on Remus, she saw what looked like his neck swelling. It got larger and larger until something poked out of his mouth. It forced itself out of Remus's throat, ripping his neck and scalp to pieces. Artemis covered her mouth not to scream.
Remus was quickly gone, the only remains was the blood in the water. In his place, growing with intense speed, was what looked like a giant worm. As it got larger it started to form into a sickening lizard-like lump. Its limbs grew bigger and bigger with each passing second. Its head and neck were exceptionally long, and soon more heads started to grow in a cluster on its broad shoulders.
Artemis watched as the cyclops met the water and collided with the newly birthed monster, still growing at an accelerated. The cyclops reached out his flabby arms, grasping one of the stretched necks. It pulled hard enough to rip the serpent's head off with a pop. But where one head used to be, two more appeared in its place.
The cyclops did it again, tearing a head off. And again, two more formed in its place. At first Artemis was sure this would be the end for the one-eyed menace. There were ten heads by now. But the cyclops caught on, and instead of decapitating them he clenched his fat fingers around their necks, crushing them until they fell limp.
The ever-growing creature whipped its long tail, splitting the boulders in front of Artemis. She leapt back, avoiding the tail as best she could. She saw the cyclops break one of the last remaining necks of the monster. Artemis stepped into action, quickly ripping the ties to her clothing and practically tearing them off. She turned herself into a great albatross, leaping out of her flesh pool and soaring into the sky.
The cyclops popped the second to last head, letting it crumble into the murky water. Before it could wrap its fat fingers around the last head Artemis dove to its nasty deformed forehead. She sunk her long beak in his enormous pupil, digging and pecking as hard as she could.
The cyclops let out a booming yell and turned his attention to her. It waved his hand around, trying to hit her, but she was fast. She latched her beak on its eye one more time and tore into it as violently as she could.
Artemis was able to fly away before the cyclops brought his hand to his face, screaming angrily. The serpent took this opportunity and wrapped its long tail around the cyclops's fat ankle, dragging it into the water. Artemis landed on a tree overlooking the lake to observe. The water splashed about aggressively, occasionally a hand would reach up but only to be pulled back down by the serpent.
Slowly the flailing and splashing started to stop until the lake became still again. Artemis glided down from the tree and back to the remains of their hiding place, now clearly visible from the lake. She hurriedly pulled her dress back on, running to the edge of the water while tying the laces.
