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xhesikaI don't know if I already posted this up here, I may have, but its a little more polished now, I'm darting around Chapter 50 and realizing that the story is just going to get depressing from this point on.
Also an interesting note: the "Haven" that Kamen keeps in order for the family and constantly offers to hide Artemis in, is referred to at least once as "Haven in Jannah". Jannah is the name of Celeste's forest, the center of which is said to contain the gates to the afterlife, making Jannah the forest of life and death. The reason why it was named "Jannah" in the first place is because it's an Arabic word for heaven. Heaven in the more Islamic sense, but its not so blatant a connection that any 13-year-old (who wasn't Muslim) could make, something that's become expected this far into the book.
Whether there was time for this visit or not, Van Dean seemed to both anticipate it and not care. He kept a brisk pace through the halls and buttoned his coat as he walked. It wasn’t a place he was very familiar with as most of Q'ael Dan'il was still a maze to him, and the only room in the military wing that he had a good grasp of the location was Rei's office.
While the barracks themselves were in a separate wing entirely, the private rooms of higher military were quickly proving to be as hard to find as the rooms of the royal family, mostly due to the fact that they were vacant most of the week. Van Dean was almost positive Rei didn't know where his own room was, and he wondered if Kamen even knew he had his own quarters before his forced vacation.
He would have passed it over entirely had it not been for the occasional thump and rattle from the other side of one of the doors. Van Dean looked both ways down the hall before making a small knock on the door and the thump stopped.
"They don't put guards at your door?" Van Dean asked the man with the scar when he peeked out the door.
Kamen rolled his eyes and went to close the door before being stopped by Van Dean's foot, "Can I help you?"
"You could invite me in."
Kamen let the door go and went to sit back in his chair, picking up the small red ball that he had set onto it before being interrupted and continuing to throw it against the wall and let it bounce back to him, "There's water on the table, but if you touch it I'm going to throw it out afterwards."
Van Dean closed the door behind him and chuckled, "Don't you trust me?"
"Not as far as I could throw you." Kamen smirked, "Just like you don't trust me."
"You've given me too much reason not to." Van Dean smiled once Kamen met his gaze, "How was your first day of vacation?"
Kamen smirked, "They give most military personnel a day before any event to detox, get the drugs out of their system. Not High Generals, most of the time I'm swimming in rermanim."
Van Dean allowed himself a wide smile, finding himself much amused by Kamen’s unprofessional mood, "And you aren't now?"
"Sleep is the real drug, but you wouldn't know about that would you?"
Van Dean reached out and snatched the ball out of the air, trying his best not to huff at the man sitting in the chair. “Why did you think I came here? To kill you?”
Kamen let out arrogant laugh, “You wouldn’t do anything at this point that would put the Orla in any sort of emotional distress. You wouldn’t even send me away. I’m just a minor inconvenience at this point, and all you can do is give me a vacation.”
Van Dean rolled his eyes and took a seat, "I'm glad you understand."
Kamen swallowed, "What about after March Zero? What then?"
"I'll kill you." Van Dean smiled, "She'll be too far away to ever know what happened to you."
Kamen sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest, "She's going to accept my offer before then." Van Dean took a deep breath and Kamen continued, "She wouldn't have before, but the closer we get to March Zero, the more she's going to start to really consider running away."
Van Dean slowly shook his head, "That's where you're wrong. Clovis loves Artemis too much already; she would never betray their trust."
Kamen gave Van Dean a hard glare, "Then I'll kidnap her."
Van Dean laughed, "You wouldn't. You hold your oaths too high. You'd sooner fall onto Necrosis than force her into something." He seemed to hum to himself, thoroughly amused by his own thoughts. "She would feel forced, and she'd beg and cry for you to leave her. You wouldn't be able to stand it."
Kamen crossed his arms over his chest and watched Van Dean inspect the small red ball in his hands. He thought over what had been said for a few seconds and then grimaced with a slow shake of his head; he’d seen Artemis beg Van Dean too many times and felt sickened at the thought of her feeling like she had to do the same with him. “I would.” He had Van Dean’s attention now, and the violet-eyed man looked at him quickly, “If it would save her from you, I would throw her over my shoulder and block everything out.” Kamen swallowed, “In fact, I think I might do that tonight.”
Van Dean let out a small hum, “Impossible, I’m leaving from here to meet her at the docks. My parents have been pestering me to bring her for a visit.” He stood from the chair, grimacing at it as if it were sub-par. “So I’m afraid you’ll have to find someone else to play chess with all night.”
Kamen looked up at him slowly without raising his head, “You’re still playing around with her head?”
“That information I acquired from Pandomé,” He straightened out his coat and cuffs, the ball still in his hand. “I apologize for your father. That is all. But hear me now; if you continue to pester Artemis about running away I’ll eat your heart.”
Van Dean tossed the ball to Kamen, using such force that should have broken bones. Kamen instead caught it without a second thought, gave him a small smirk, and made a single remark before continuing to bounce the ball against the wall, “Be nice.”
Also an interesting note: the "Haven" that Kamen keeps in order for the family and constantly offers to hide Artemis in, is referred to at least once as "Haven in Jannah". Jannah is the name of Celeste's forest, the center of which is said to contain the gates to the afterlife, making Jannah the forest of life and death. The reason why it was named "Jannah" in the first place is because it's an Arabic word for heaven. Heaven in the more Islamic sense, but its not so blatant a connection that any 13-year-old (who wasn't Muslim) could make, something that's become expected this far into the book.
Whether there was time for this visit or not, Van Dean seemed to both anticipate it and not care. He kept a brisk pace through the halls and buttoned his coat as he walked. It wasn’t a place he was very familiar with as most of Q'ael Dan'il was still a maze to him, and the only room in the military wing that he had a good grasp of the location was Rei's office.
While the barracks themselves were in a separate wing entirely, the private rooms of higher military were quickly proving to be as hard to find as the rooms of the royal family, mostly due to the fact that they were vacant most of the week. Van Dean was almost positive Rei didn't know where his own room was, and he wondered if Kamen even knew he had his own quarters before his forced vacation.
He would have passed it over entirely had it not been for the occasional thump and rattle from the other side of one of the doors. Van Dean looked both ways down the hall before making a small knock on the door and the thump stopped.
"They don't put guards at your door?" Van Dean asked the man with the scar when he peeked out the door.
Kamen rolled his eyes and went to close the door before being stopped by Van Dean's foot, "Can I help you?"
"You could invite me in."
Kamen let the door go and went to sit back in his chair, picking up the small red ball that he had set onto it before being interrupted and continuing to throw it against the wall and let it bounce back to him, "There's water on the table, but if you touch it I'm going to throw it out afterwards."
Van Dean closed the door behind him and chuckled, "Don't you trust me?"
"Not as far as I could throw you." Kamen smirked, "Just like you don't trust me."
"You've given me too much reason not to." Van Dean smiled once Kamen met his gaze, "How was your first day of vacation?"
Kamen smirked, "They give most military personnel a day before any event to detox, get the drugs out of their system. Not High Generals, most of the time I'm swimming in rermanim."
Van Dean allowed himself a wide smile, finding himself much amused by Kamen’s unprofessional mood, "And you aren't now?"
"Sleep is the real drug, but you wouldn't know about that would you?"
Van Dean reached out and snatched the ball out of the air, trying his best not to huff at the man sitting in the chair. “Why did you think I came here? To kill you?”
Kamen let out arrogant laugh, “You wouldn’t do anything at this point that would put the Orla in any sort of emotional distress. You wouldn’t even send me away. I’m just a minor inconvenience at this point, and all you can do is give me a vacation.”
Van Dean rolled his eyes and took a seat, "I'm glad you understand."
Kamen swallowed, "What about after March Zero? What then?"
"I'll kill you." Van Dean smiled, "She'll be too far away to ever know what happened to you."
Kamen sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest, "She's going to accept my offer before then." Van Dean took a deep breath and Kamen continued, "She wouldn't have before, but the closer we get to March Zero, the more she's going to start to really consider running away."
Van Dean slowly shook his head, "That's where you're wrong. Clovis loves Artemis too much already; she would never betray their trust."
Kamen gave Van Dean a hard glare, "Then I'll kidnap her."
Van Dean laughed, "You wouldn't. You hold your oaths too high. You'd sooner fall onto Necrosis than force her into something." He seemed to hum to himself, thoroughly amused by his own thoughts. "She would feel forced, and she'd beg and cry for you to leave her. You wouldn't be able to stand it."
Kamen crossed his arms over his chest and watched Van Dean inspect the small red ball in his hands. He thought over what had been said for a few seconds and then grimaced with a slow shake of his head; he’d seen Artemis beg Van Dean too many times and felt sickened at the thought of her feeling like she had to do the same with him. “I would.” He had Van Dean’s attention now, and the violet-eyed man looked at him quickly, “If it would save her from you, I would throw her over my shoulder and block everything out.” Kamen swallowed, “In fact, I think I might do that tonight.”
Van Dean let out a small hum, “Impossible, I’m leaving from here to meet her at the docks. My parents have been pestering me to bring her for a visit.” He stood from the chair, grimacing at it as if it were sub-par. “So I’m afraid you’ll have to find someone else to play chess with all night.”
Kamen looked up at him slowly without raising his head, “You’re still playing around with her head?”
“That information I acquired from Pandomé,” He straightened out his coat and cuffs, the ball still in his hand. “I apologize for your father. That is all. But hear me now; if you continue to pester Artemis about running away I’ll eat your heart.”
Van Dean tossed the ball to Kamen, using such force that should have broken bones. Kamen instead caught it without a second thought, gave him a small smirk, and made a single remark before continuing to bounce the ball against the wall, “Be nice.”
