One day, Artemis Entreri happened upon a beautiful plant. Its luscious green leaves, gracefully arcing stems and brilliantly-colored blossoms stole his heart completely. The assassin fell thoroughly in love with it.
Jarlaxle was rather sad about this development. However, as the drow cared deeply about his human friend’s happiness, he secretly had all sorts of beneficial spells cast upon the plant, ranging from protective ones to ones that enhanced the plant’s growth. Additionally, the mercenary replaced the normal fertilizer that Artemis was feeding to the plant with the most premier fertilizer that any man, elf, dwarf, dragon, ooze or any manner of beasties above or below the surface of Faerûn could get his/her/their/its appendages upon.
Artemis was quite happy with tending to his beloved plant. He greatly enjoyed watering it, pruning it and watching it flourish. Under his attentions (with Jarlaxle’s hidden assistance), the plant grew huge, its primary stem becoming a trunk and the offshoots becoming branches. However, the smitten man was also growing weak. The ever-perceptive Jarlaxle noticed his friend’s deterioration right away, but when he brought it to Artemis’ attention, the assassin would dismiss it as his spending too much time doting on his plant and not enough time sleeping. However, the world-wise mercenary knew better, and after some investigation, he discovered that Artemis was allergic to the plant. As much as he loathed taking away the source of so some much joy for his dear friend, the drow felt beholden to ensure the human’s well-being.
One day, when Artemis left the plant’s side, Jarlaxle had his agents thoroughly destroy it. His minions hacked the plant apart, sundering the trunks, ripping the leaves and tearing apart the flowers. They then proceeded to set the pieces on fire. However, Artemis, never away from that which he loved most for too long, returned before its murder was complete, and grew enraged at Jarlaxle. He drove the mercenary leader and his underlings away, then was left alone with the remains of his beloved.
Artemis spent many hours kneeling in the charred remnants of the once-glorious plant, breathing in the air that was laden with its ash. His grief was absolute. Swearing revenge, the assassin picked up the largest piece of what was left of the hacked-apart trunk and fashioned a pointed stick from it. He knew that Jarlaxle, though prepared for every imaginable great danger, suffered from the flaw of not preparing himself against small dangers. After all, he needed not be, for any whom would dare engage the skilled drow in combat would surely bring only the sharpest blades and the most potent of magicks. Surely no one would be so foolish as to pick a fight with Jarlaxle wielding nothing but a pointy stick.
However, attacking Jarlaxle with nothing but a pointy stick, one fashioned from the remains of his beloved plant, was exactly what Artemis Entreri did. Unfortunately, his body had weakened even further, his allergy ravaging his health and sapping all of his strength. Before he could so much as thrust his pointy stick at the mercenary, the assassin fell, collapsing at his opponent’s feet and drew his last breaths. His weapon clattered free of his limp fingertips. The drow let out an anguished cry and fell to his knees next to the corpse of his dear friend. Seizing the pointy stick, Jarlaxle drove it into his own heart, completing the task that Artemis had set out to perform, whilst the unknowing assassin’s cheeks flushed virulently red, the plant’s poison creating the response that the man would never have expressed.
[[ Is your brain full of WTF after reading this?
If so, good, mission accomplished.
This is a crack fic that was the brainchild of the significant other whom originally came up with it to entertain me. I decided that it was too horribad to not preserve for posterity. <3
No, I haven’t been spending all of my free time working on this crap. -_- ]]