damned_institute | Day 28: Morris Park

Ken collected his crutches before following Artemis over to the tree and sitting down himself. "No, I don't." That certainly bothered him. Because if they'd done it once, they could do it again. It was doubtful that he could do any more to stop it the second time than the first, but he felt that at least if he knew what they had done, he could possibly do more. "Aside from knocking me back a good year or so mentality-wise."

"Then how can you possibly blame yourself for not stopping something you don't remember?" Artemis pointed out. "Listen, you could have killed me. It would have been very easy to do so--but you didn't. The damage could have been much worse. Sometimes part of taking risks includes accepting that a bad outcome replaced a worse one, and being grateful for that."

The boy sighed slightly. He had been hoping that Ken could tell him more about his brainwashing experience, but it seemed that Martin Landel had his bases covered. Clever bastard.

"Landel wants us to feel helpless and afraid," Artemis said simply, "Are you going to give him what he wants by letting him 'knock you back a good year or so'?"

"What I fear the most, I did. Because they fucked with me, sure, whatever. But I have no way of knowing that I couldn't have stopped them somehow. Even if I had to do something to make myself useless to them. That's what bothers me."

Ken looked at Artemis flatly. "I wanted to kill you. The only reason I didn't is because they wouldn't let me." Honesty...maybe not quite the best thing in this situation. But Ken was nothing if not blatantly honest whenever he could afford to be, and often when he couldn't.

"Though maybe I should be grateful, at least I'm not Farfarello," Ken muttered.

Artemis' eyebrows nearly touched his hairline. "They wouldn't let you?" Well, this confirmed his suspicions. He couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth into a satisfied smirk. He was now the proud owner of some very valuable information.

"I see... That's very true. If we knew how to make ourselves useless to their brainwashing, things would be very different," He smiled. "And please don't worry about the sentiment. There are many people who wish they could kill me. I'm rather resilient though. Like an insect."

He laughed, "And what's so bad about Farfarello?"

He nodded. "Hurt, sure. Couldn't kill."

"...you shouldn't say things like that about yourself." Ken looked at Artemis. "It might not seem bad at first, but enough talking yourself down, and you'll begin to believe it."

Shit, he hadn't meant the kid to hear that--or even to say it out loud. He'd seen Artemis hanging out with the rest of Schwarz, they obviously had some kind of alliance. Ken sighed. "Did he tell you anything?"

Artemis thought that Ken was joking with him for a moment. When he realized that Ken was serious, he started laughing, "Ken, I am the last person you should be lecturing concerning self-esteem," He gave the assassin one of his best smirks, "Where I come from, my IQ is the highest in Europe, and I beat the Chess Grandmaster in an online tournament. I've written countless psychology books and engineered technology that rendered everything else obsolete. I'm a genius. But when it comes to combat," He looked up at the sky, "I am sadly lacking. I am persistent though--you've seen that. Persistent, and stupid." He smiled, "The Captain has said that on more than one occasion."

The boy looked at Ken, "He told me that you're with a group called Weiss, and that his group and yours tend to get into little spats every once in a while. If you're going to tell me that he's a sociopath and a sadomasochist, he's already told me that himself." He frowned slightly, looking troubled, "I found out just how sensitive he is the night you attacked me..."

Ken looked at Artemis. "That might be the case, but hell if anyone knows how to take care of themselves in a fight right away. It's hard, but if you either get a good teacher or...well, I wouldn't recommend the way I learned."

"...I'm guessing he told you who the others were, too, or you saw them that night. It'd probably be best if you didn't tell them just how much you know. I'm not that thrilled with you knowing either, but I can deal."

"And saying that he's a sociopath and a sadomasochist is like saying the sky is blue and at night the doctors throw a disco party. He's nearly killed me more times than I can even remember--the head injury he gave me the last time made sure of that--but that's nothing. He kills innocents, needlessly. Drowns priests in acid for fun. He killed his entire family, blamed it on God, and blocked it out--then started killing pretty much anyone he could to 'hurt God.'"

"You have no reason to worry, Ken," Artemis said in an assuring tone, "I don't share information at the drop of a hat. It must be purchased from me at the correct price. And frankly, I can't see anyone wanting to know whether or not you're an assassin. Who would come to me for such information? No one that I can think of who doesn't already know." He gently batted at his bleeding nose, checking to see if it had stopped. Fortunately it had--his face felt awful. But he listened to what Ken had to say about Farfarello.

"Oh," Artemis said, nodding a little. "Interesting. Well, we can't all be saints." The boy smiled.

"We can take care of ourselves. But people who find out what we do don't exactly have the best survival record. In fact, it's pretty much everyone who finds out dies. Sakura was the lucky exception."

"...that is quite possibly the biggest understatement I have heard in my entire life." And he regularly heard people say that he loved soccer. "Maybe I'm biased, but until you've stared down the point of his poinard..." Ken shook his head. Farf would have gotten him that time, if not for...

"Mm," Artemis didn't seem all that phased. "But I didn't find out--I was told." He grinned at his own joke. "I'll watch my back though, if that will make you feel better."

The boy smiled weakly, his eyes clearly tired, "Please don't tell me that you're worried about me as well. We've only just met..."

"So was Sakura, and Ouka before Farfarello shot her." Ken gave Artemis a flat look.

"Actually, yes I am. You said it yourself. You can't fight. And that is a serious problem here. Not all the patients are willing to leave a non-fighter alone, and certainly none of the monsters or staff are."

"I do hope you're going to be learning from someone, especially if you're going to keep insisting on throwing yourself into fights. Because if you don't know how to do something actually helpful, you're getting in the way of those who can."

Logic. Good. Logic was good. Artemis perked up. "Agreed. I am constantly in the way of those who are actually able to defend themselves. Fortunately, this situation is going to be rectified tonight--"

Artemis was unsure of how to phrase the next part. It was clear that Ken and Farfarello were far from chummy, so was it really in his best interest to tell Ken who his teacher was? So he should lie. Or just not say anything at all. Silence was good.

"--by--" His mind still wasn't processing things fast enough. If Larry had given him a concussion, once Artemis had escaped he'd return to Doyleton and sue the young drug addict. His sentence stopped short. He had to put something in there--anything. "--someone."

Ouch.

Ken stared at Artemis. That...wasn't a good sign. The stuttering really did nothing to make Ken feel better.

"...don't tell me. It's Farfarello. Isn't it?"

And for the record, 'far from chummy' was yet another understatement. Artemis was on a roll tonight!

"I can neither confirm nor deny that statement," He said with a smirk. "Confidential. Everyone who finds out ends up running into monsters."

"...you realize, learning how to avoid being hurt from someone who can't feel pain is kind of counterproductive. And he's a brawler. You're not suited to that."

Ken frowned. "There's ways to defend yourself that don't involve brute strength. You don't have that, and that's probably what Farfarello will try to teach you. You don't need to fight. There's plenty of people around that can do that. The most important thing you can do is get yourself out of danger without injury so you can do what you do best. There's nothing wrong with specialization."

"Yes, yes, and I understand that being taught something where pain is inevitable, by a sadist, is a very, very stupid thing to do," Artemis waved the objections away. "What everyone else doesn't seem to understand is that I do not have a choice in the matter. Farfarello is coming for me at the beginning of the night whether I will it or no.

"Besides," he continued, "I cannot stand idly by and watch other people fight for me--as though I deserve their fealty--because I don't. And I'm tired of being reprimanded for trying to help. I'm ashamed to say I'm desperate."

"By a sadist who is a professional assassin, kills people for shits and giggles, and is a close-range brawler. Beyond the style not even being suited to you, if you get fucking killed by the person who's supposed to be teaching you? It'd be a fucking waste for one."

Ken sighed. "Honestly? If the situation was a bit more ideal, you'd be better off ranged. You don't need strength to work a crossbow, or hell, even a gun. For the type of shit he'll be trying to teach you, you need to be fast, strong, and fucking lucky."

Artemis sighed, a small, annoyed growl in his throat, "Are you even listening? He's coming for me--he's insisting he teaches me. Insisting. It would be even worse if I tried to run, yes?"

The boy leaned back against the tree. He was obviously troubled. Yes, he'd understood the risks of the situation, but staying the way he was wasn't an option. The fastest way to learn how to fight for a bucket of water was to light your pants on fire. If Artemis was constantly afraid of screwing up in front of Farfarello, he wouldn't screw up. He'd learn faster from an unforgiving teacher than one who would hold his hand.

"What do you suggest I do, then? Throw myself down a flight of stairs?"

Ken sighed. "Yeah, it probably would." He knew that Farfarello would fixate on Artemis if he did that. "Like running from a bear."

But he still wasn't happy about it. "Sink or swim is not always the best way to learn." Contrary to Artemis's thought--if he was constantly afraid of screwing up in front of Farfarello, he could possibly pick up on that fear, or be so nervous that he would screw up.

"No, I'm suggesting you learn a way to defend yourself that's suited to you, and find someone that can teach you it. Fuck. I'd teach you myself."

Artemis laughed, "Right. That would make you the..." He thought a moment, "Seventh person to offer. But would you follow through?" He gave Ken a wry smile. All of them, except for Farfarello, have refused or fallen through. So which seems to be the better offer here?

"And you never know--he could be teaching me something pertinent to my size and strength capabilities. Whatever it is, I'm only spending the first hour of the night with him. An hour is better than the whole night, correct?"

He was trying to be encouraging--he really was. Ken was a nice person, but Artemis was getting tired of defending his decisions. He was an intelligent person--he knew what he was doing. It wasn't as though he'd taken the offer without fully understanding the possibilities.

"I like teaching," Ken said simply. "You can take it from there, right?"

"Okay, again, I'm biased. Have the guy pretty much cave your head in, then try and tell me otherwise." Ken had been in the hospital for weeks after that encounter.

Ken, on the other hand, was fully aware of the fact that Farfarello was not the most predictable of people. That was one of the things that made him so hard to fight.

"Oh, really?" Artemis smiled, "What do you like to teach?"

He didn't touch the comments on Farfarello--he was getting tired of the same things being said to him. He didn't know how to fight, he didn't have clue one concerning combat technique, he had no survival instinct. He heard the same thing over and over again. If he had to fight with one more person about this same subject, he was going to explode. He could feel it. His earlier emotional outburst had left him tired and his head cloudy. He wasn't thinking as sharply as he could normally. His tact was being stripped down slowly...

"Whatever I'm good at. Usually soccer. I don't often let on that I kill people for a living, so fighting usually doesn't come up. You're a bit older than the age group I usually coach, but at least...there's no young kids here." Ken would never be able to leave them alone. He'd want to protect them all the time.

"Ah, sports. I never was a sports type of person. I spent most of my time studying or reading," He smiled. "But you're probably a very good coach. It takes a certain type of person to deal with small children--I don't know if I could handle it. I have trouble dealing with most adults."

He laughed, remembering his frustration when dealing with Jon Spiro, then winced when his ribs protested. He'd been left in pretty bad shape.

"I never went to high school. I was scouted out for J-League while I was still in junior high. That's Japan's professional soccer league, or one of them at least. I went to play instead of taking high school entrance exams."

Ken flopped backwards onto the ground, for all appearances boneless and completely relaxed. "Who knows, you might be great at getting along with kids. They're very different from adults, anyway." He turned his head, noticing the wince. "...I'm not good enough with field aid to tell if anything's cracked. The nurse's would probably give you shit that fogged your head if you went to them."

He didn't need to know field aid...he wasn't exactly irreplaceable within the organization, and it had just never been taught to him.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject