Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

They'd found him lying in the garden, curled in the fetal position. Butler was beside himself.

"I shouldn't have let him out of my sight!" Butler had said, head in his hands.

"You couldn't have known anything was going to happen," Holly had said quietly, hovering a few feet above the ground to put a hand on her friend's shoulder, watching Artemis laying under the covers on his bed.

At first they hadn't even really thought anything was very wrong. They'd thought that . . . well, Holly wasn't really sure what she'd thought. That he'd fallen? That exhaustion had crept up on him? But then his brow started burning up. Right now she sat next to the human boy, dabbing his brow with a cold cloth.

Butler sat in an armchair, exhausted from his two-day vigil. Artemis' parents had been away, and Butler had called them after contacting Holly. They were expected home today. What would they think when they saw her? Holly didn't have any magic left to shield. She'd used all of it trying to heal Artemis. And it hadn't worked. As if her thoughts had conjured them, the crunch of car wheels could be heard coming up the drive.

Butler shook himself out of his stupor, and stood. "I'll try to explain things to them," he said. "Do you want to hide?"

Holly shook her head. She wouldn't leave her friend. There wasn't much she could do for her friend, but something told her things would be a lot worse were she to leave. The smallest bit of magic left in her tank almost tingled.

"His mother already knows, no reason to keep it from his father too. Not when magic caused this."

Butler stopped, hand on the door knob. "You think a fairy did this?" he asked, voice low, almost threatening.

"I don't know. I think so, it would be why my magic isn't having any effect."

Butler nodded, and exited the room.

"Oh my friend," Holly sighed, brushing away the hair stuck to Artemis' sticky brow. "What happened to you?" Even Foaly seemed to have no answers. She'd asked him (via helmet, of course) to see if he could find anything. The problem, according to the centaur, was that they didn't have any odd symptoms to pinpoint. Just the fever and apparent magic-resistance. And the fact that Artemis hadn't moved since Butler found him in the garden. At all. It was almost as if his mind was gone.

She heard the patter of tiny feet, the herald of the twins and the whirlwind always sure to follow them. The Fowls had recently gotten a dog and two cats. The cats had taken to Artemis, which wasn't surprising. The dog, aptly named Turbo by an over-exited Beckett, followed the twins.

The door slammed open, and the two twins ran into the room, stopping short when the saw Holly. Turbo, however, did not. He trotted strait up to Holly where she sat by the bed, and jumped up onto her lap. Absently, she scratched the puppy on the top of his head.

"Who're you?" Myles asked, pointing at Holly. His blue eyes scrutinized her, so like Artemis. Or, what he might have been like at age five.

"I'm Artemis' friend," Holly said, smiling at the young boys. She looked up as Butler re-entered the room, Artemis' parents behind him. Angelina Fowl rushed to her son's side, heedless of Holly.

Artemis Fowl Senior, however, eyed the small girl who sat at his son's bedside with some suspicion. "What happened?" He asked.

"We're not sure," Holly said.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Artemis' friend," Holly said again. "I also happen to be an elf."

The tall man raised his eyebrows, but Angelia looked at Holly from where she had pulled Butler's vacated chair closer to the bed.

"Are you Holly Short?"

Holly looked at the woman, surprised. "Yes," she said. "Did Artemis tell you about me?" The woman nodded.

"Along with a great many other things," she murmured, laying a hand on the side of her son's face. The twins crept closer, Beckett seemed less cautious than Myles.

Turbo jumped up onto the bed, whining as he nudged Artemis' head with his wet nose. Holly had to stifle an exhausted laugh. Holly felt something brush up against her legs, and looked down into the green eyes of Hermes, the brown cat. He pawed at the blanket that folded over the side of the bed. Holly bent down to pick up the cat. She guessed he'd been drawn by the noise. Hermes was a lot more social than his sister, the black and white Calypso, whom Becket called Caly.

He squirmed out of her arms, onto the bed with Turbo, who had sat back and looked at Artemis with his head tilted to the side. The twins both hopped onto the edge of the bed, but they were uncharacteristically silent. Butler and Artemis Senior both stood beside Angelina, Artemis' father looking down at his son with a worried expression.

"Do you have magic?" Myles asked suddenly.

"I did," Holly said quietly, passing the cold cloth to Angelina. "I used it all to try to heal him. But that's difficult when I don't know what it is that's wrong."

Hermes let out a whine, nuzzling the human boy's face. Most would scoff at a cat whining, but they did. Sometimes quite insistently. Holly felt her brow wrinkle in thought. Myles crawled up so he was sitting next to his older brother's shoulder. He touched the closed eyes gently.

Holly remembered something then. Something said by Yaro Burh, a leader in the area of child psychology. "Children and Animals have better instincts than adults, because they have room for that kind of thing. Not as many memories, not as much math and quantum sciences."

That made sense, and the way the animals nosed at Artemis' face, the way Myles seemed interested in his brother's closed eyes.

Beckett scooted up too, and pulled at the skin above his brother's left eye, as if trying to open it. Gently, lifting the young boy's hand away, Holly pulled open the eye. And gasped.

"What is it?" asked Butler. He looked at Holly's face, as the elf attempted to take in what she was seeing.

"He's . . . oh gods. I didn't think it was possible." She looked up at Butler, trying to covey the fact that this wasn't good. "He's trying to fight the Mesmer."

Chapter Text

"Holly . . ." Foaly's voice came through the earpiece Holly had donned to tell the centaur her diagnosis. "That's not possible, and you know it. No human has ever resisted the Mesmer. Even strong minded-fairies can easily fall prey."

"Artemis seems to be the first for a lot of things," Holly pointed out. "Artemis' pupils are ragged, and I can't heal him with my magic. If he'd been Mesmerized to fall asleep, the amount of magic I used would have woken him up," Holly said.

"But even Artemis Fowl . . ."

"Has some magic in him. Which could help him fight it."

"Who? Who would want to Mesmerize Artemis?" Foaly asked.

"I'm sure there are plenty of fairies that don't like him, that may not have forgiven him for his first few . . . clashes with us."

" . . ." Foaly was silent for a while, the pause almost sounded loud.

"I'll come over soon as I can get clearance," the centaur said finally. "You said his family knows about us?"

Holly glanced at the people still stationed around (or in the case of the twins and animals, on) the bed. "Yup," she said, though that wasn't exactly the truth. She had yet to fill in most of the family on the missions, the details, basically everything other than the fact that fairies existed.

Foaly disconnected, and Holly left the chip in her ear.

"So . . . you're an elf," Artemis Senior, called Timmy by his wife, said.

"Yes. I'm also a leprechaun, but that's just a job. It's short for Lower Elements Police reconnaissance. I suppose you'll want to know about how Artemis came into contact with the fairy people?"

The twins looked up from where they were lying on their backs, Beckett with Turbo and Myles with Hermes, and nodded.

Quickly, Holly outlined the first time she'd met Artemis. How he'd kidnapped her and ransomed her back to her people, then given Holly half the ransom to heal his mother. Then she told the family about how Artemis had helped her foil Opal Koboi's goblin rebellion, in return for help rescuing his father from the mafia. Artemis' father didn't seem to know what to think about that. Then she told the family about the cube, and the mission concerning John Spiro. And the price Artemis paid for fairy assistance.

"You mean to tell me," Artemis Sr. said, voice almost dangerous, "that you took my son's memories of some of the bravest things he'd ever done, despite what he did for you against that . . . Opal Koboi?"

"It was procedure. I wasn't that into it either, and I don't think Foaly was either. But it all worked out. You see . . ." and then she told them about how Artemis had regained his memories after Opal had kidnapped them for revenge. About how he saved the fairies again, thwarting Opal's plan with the Zeeto probe. Then she told the family about how Artemis had discovered, and saved, the Demons, discovering the most powerful warlock for generations, and missing three years of his life. Then, she told them about going back in time to save Artemis' mother from Opal. Stopping his younger self from destroying the lemur, and at the same time, starting Artemis on the path to find the fairies. Then, more haltingly she told them about the most recent saving-the-world adventure. About how Artemis had succumbed to the Atlantis Complex, a guilt and magic driven illness. And then still somehow stopped Julius' evil brother Turnball from going on a murderous rampage.

When she was finished, the twins were looking at her with something akin to worship, Angeline looking down at her son's face with something like wonder, and more than a touch of sadness. Timmy simply turned to Butler and asked, "You were with him during all of this?"

"Most of it," Butler said. "He's my principle."

"Good man," Timmy said absently.

Just then, there was the ring of the doorbell.

"That'll be Foaly!" Holly said, jumping up from the chair. She hurried out the door, descending the staircase to the main doors, opening them so that the centaur could clop inside, holding his case of scientific implements.

"So," Foaly said, "where's our little, apparently miracle, human friend?"

"In his room. The family's there. Still no response to anything. Not that I've tried a lot." The centaur nodded as he worked his way up the stairs. Stairs weren't favorites of centaurs, it made for slightly awkward stumbles at times when they didn't pick up their rear legs quite high enough.

There wasn't a lot that was funnier than a human's reaction to seeing a centaur for the first time. Except for maybe Artemis', but as Foaly had said, their human friend was something of a miracle. "Hello, Butler," said Foaly, studiously ignoring the incredulous looks of the Fowls.

"Oh," said Myles in some surprise, "I guess Santa's real now too."

"What!?" Beckett asked his brother, a look of horror on his young face. "Santa's real, Myles. And now you're going on the naughty list!"

"Simple-toon," Myles muttered with some exasperation.

Holly helped Foaly set up one of his portable computers at the foot of the bed while Foaly unpacked the case. One of the things he pulled out was his modified ret-imager. Now all Foaly had to do to get an accurate image was hold a rod inset with special lights over the eye, and the scratches of the last few things seen would appear on the computer screen. Of course, it was a bit more complicated than that, but that was all Holly had really understood when the centaur had explained it to her.

Quickly, Foaly scanned Artemis' eyes, explaining how it worked to the Fowls. "Intriguing," Myles said, but he seemed to be the only one able to even remotely understand what the centaur. Foaly went over to the screen, hooking up the rod to the computer.

"Well Holly, you were right about the Mesmer," Foaly said quietly. Something in his tone made Holly take a look at the screen herself.

"But that's not possible," Holly said to herself.

"What is it Holly?" Butler asked gruffly.

"She's supposed to be dead," Holly said, staring at the black-haired elf that was the last thing Artemis had seen. Her silver eyes were the prominent part of the image, reflecting Artemis' figure.

"Glimmer Vendera," Foaly said darkly. "Would-be destroyer of Haven, second only to Opal Koboi."

"Um . . . care to expand on that?" Butler asked, eyebrows raised.

"Glimmer Vendera wanted to restart the war with the humans, retake the surface. She had quite the following, before Holly and Julius shut her down. This was about thirty years ago. Her ship blew up . . . it was believed she went down with the ship. Apparently not," Holly said, turning back around. "She was renowned for her magic and indiscriminate cruelty."

Chapter Text

Holly had never felt more helpless, watching as her friend fought something she couldn't help him with. Eventually, Angeline had left to put the twins to bed, Turbo following like a white and brown shadow. Artemis Fowl senior sat next to his son in Angeline's vacated chair, head in hands. Foaly had gone back to Haven, hoping that someone, perhaps Number One, could help Artemis. Holly could feel exhaustion creeping up on her, and her depleted magic didn't do anything to help. And then there was the fact that Glimmer Vendera was apparently alive. Holly's hand found Artemis' as she contemplated this latest development. It had been her first mission with Julius, her first, well, save-the-world kind of mission. The one that had caused Julius Root to become interested in her as a recon officer.

The fingers beneath her hand twitched. Holly looked up, eyes scanning, looking for some proof that what she'd felt hadn't been nothing but imagination. Artemis groaned, and his father, jerked his head up, Butler uncrossed his arms slowly, as if he couldn't believe his ears. Holly reached up to touch her friend's face, fingers trembling slightly.

"Artemis," she said quietly, barely daring to hope. "Open your eyes, please." His skin was burning, hotter than it had been before if that was possible. The boy's eyelids flickered for a moment, but they didn't open.

"Come on, Arty boy," his father said, and Holly could hear raw desperation in the older man's voice. "Wake up."

Artemis groaned, and it was a sound so full of pain, Holly winced. "I'm here, Arty," she murmured, running her hand (the one that was not clutching Artemis' own in a death grip) brushing his cheek gently. "I'm here."

She felt the boy shaking, his hand trembling beneath her own. Quickly, she took her hand from her cheek and pulled another cloth out of the owl of icy water. Her own hand was trembling as she sponged his sweaty brow. Soon enough, Holly too was shaking, though from exhaustion or something else, she wasn't sure.

A large, warm hand covered hers, and Holly's eyes jerked up from where she had been concentrating on Artemis' face. Artemis' father looked at her with blue eyes that held a warmth she somehow doubted the son had seen much of during his childhood. But he has that now, she reminded herself.

"I'll take over here," Artemis Fowl senior said quietly. "You've done so much, and I am thankful for it. But I think you could use some rest. Butler, could you show her to a guest room? Then get some sleep yourself."

Butler nodded and led Holly from the room. They walked quietly down the hall, each wreathed in exhaustion and filled with worry for their friend.

"He'll be fine," Butler said as Holly opened the human-sized door to the room she would be sleeping in.

"I know he will," Holly said. "What has me more worried is what Glimmer Vendera wanted him to do." This wasn't really the truth. She was more worried about Artemis, but she knew him. And Artemis would be fine; after all, he always was. Even after crawling through plasma cannon feed. Glimmer Vendera was something of an unknown factor.

Holly closed the door, and the first thing she did was slip on her helmet and contact Foaly.

"Hey Foaly, any progress?" she asked.

"Ah, well, Number One is willing to go topside tomorrow, but he says he's not sure how much he'll be able to do. This is a unique condition Holly. Because Artemis has a little magic, he's not quite human anymore, but he's not a fairy either. He's kind of . . . in between. The Mesmer, well, we're not sure how he's fighting it, but it's effecting him in a very dangerous way." Foaly's rant petered off as the Centaur took a breath. "Vinyaya wants you to know that her resources and the LEP's are at your disposal. Not that not having that ever stopped you."

Holly laughed quietly. "He woke up," she said quietly. "I don't know if he still is awake, and he didn't open his eyes. But Foaly . . . he's in a lot of pain." Holly's throat caught, voice threatening to crack. "I'm scared. I know he's survived everything else . . . but eventually . . . something's gonna catch up with him. But Glimmer is my mistake. I didn't make sure she was gone, I just assumed, like the rookie I was, that everyone went down with the ship."

"Holly! Julius was supervising that mission. He was the voice in your helmet. He's the one that told you to pull out."

"I know Foaly . . . but I could never forgive myself if something I was supposed to stop-" Holly almost said kill, but she stopped herself, "- hurt Artemis. I just . . . couldn't."

"The Mud boy'll be fine," Foaly insisted. "Number One'll be there tomorrow, and he'll fix him right up."

"I hope you're right," Holly murmured, and cut the connection.

The bed was a little high, but Holly was an LEP officer. She'd stopped Opal Koboi more times than she could count, and stopped Turnball Root from causing chaos. A bed shouldn't be too much trouble, right? Apparently it could. Eventually, Holly pulled a chair over to the side of the bed and climbed onto that, from there jumping onto the bed. Why did anyone need a bed this high? Even for humans . . . this was a bit much. She placed the helmet on the chair and settled in to get some rest. Not for too long. She was convinced she wouldn't be able to sleep for long, worried about her friend as she was.

Shed left the door cracked, and she jumped when it creaked slightly on its hinges. She jumped up onto her knees to see what had caused it, there were no drafts in this house. The black and white cat that peered up at her with its green eyes. This was Calypso, the animal in the house who seemed most connected with Artemis. Given her reclusive nature, this wasn't really surprising. What was surprising, was the fact that the young feline decided it apparently wanted to sleep up in the ridiculously high bed with Holly.

After leaping onto the mattress courtesy of the chair Holly had used earlier, Calypso snuggled against Holly's side, her small black-and-white body heating Holly's cool skin through the jumpsuit.

Chapter Text

Artemis wasn't any better the next time Holly saw him. If anything, he was worse. Before he had been unconscious and totally unresponsive, unusual, sure, but it meant his mind was attempting to heal itself. One didn't resist the Mesmer without some severe mental strain. Now though, the boy whimpered. The fever was worse than ever, Artemis' body covered in a dull sheen of sweat as the boy tossed and turned.

Holly had woken early from a nightmare, and been unable to get back to sleep. She was too worried for her friend, and the dream had not helped. She couldn't remember details . . . just that it had something to do with Artemis and . . . and something she didn't want to think about. She slipped out of the overlarge bed, followed by Calypso, whom she had apparently woken with her tossing and turning. She tiptoed to Artemis' room. His father was still there, asleep in the chair he'd been sitting in since Angeline had left.

Holly began wiping at her friends face with the cloth, despite the fact that the water was now lukewarm. Artemis whimpered, and Holly lay one hand on the human boy's forehead.

"Shh, you'll be fine," Holly said quietly. The next noise was rough, rasping past his dry lips, as if his throat was rubbed raw. A tear slipped past an eyelid, trailing down his cheek and into uncharacteristically messy black hair. Holly couldn't stand it. She put the cloth down and gently transferred herself from the chair to the bed, sitting beside Calypso, who was now curled against Artemis. Artemis spasmed suddenly, giving a violent jerk and causing Calypso to spring up, startled.

"Hey," Holly said gently, cradling her friend's head in her hands. "You're alright, Arty. You're alright." The words were hollow and hopeless sounding, and she choked back tears. The boy quieted, laying still once more. Holly's eyelids began to shut slightly, and when she checked, the clock beside the bed read three in the morning. Holly could feel the exhaustion creeping up on her again.

The elf lay carefully next to the boy, the cat stretched out between them. Holly could feel Artemis' breaths as they rasped out of him, as though the boy had just run a marathon. Not something Artemis Fowl the second was ever likely to do, the captain reflected.

She lay her head close to her friend's shoulder, and she could feel him shaking. Holly shot up, worry etched into her features. "Artemis . . ." she hugged him as well she could while he was lying in a bed unconscious. He was indeed shaking. "Come on!" Holly whisper-yelled. Her magic couldn't heal him, and what good was she without it, really? Her friend was trying to fight something that had never been successfully fought by a human, and it was killing him. Something furry rubbed up against her side.

Calypso looked up at her, lamp-like eyes reflecting the light of the nearby lamp; silently the cat asked if Artemis would be alright.

"I don't know, Calypso. I really don't know." Glimmer Vendera was a dangerous fairy, not in the same way as Opal, with all of Opal's plans for world-domination. Glimmer wanted to wipe out the humans, and her magical ability rivaled that of all warlocks when she was alive. Well, before her supposed death, anyway.

It had been Holly's first recon mission, but because of extenuating circumstances (mainly, a mandatory Haven shut-down due to the fact that a crazy sprite-elf with some intense magical ability was trying to start a war with the humans) she had also played the part of retrieval. Julius Root and Foaly had been her the voices in her helmet during that mission. Holly could remember Julius' reaction when he found out that Holly had no back-up, and that she was essentially a rookie. Namely, a 'we're-all-doomed' reaction. It had been the talk of police plaza for about a month when she succeeded, before all of Holly's screw-up missions. Then . . . it was kind of forgotten. After all, Glimmer was dead, no need to worry about her, right? Apparently, wrong.

Holly held Artemis as the shaking subsided, as abruptly as it had started. She lay back down, doing her best to stop worrying. But it was near impossible. It would be a few hours yet until Number one came, and then Artemis would be okay . . . right? The demon warlock was the most powerful magical creature, more powerful than Glimmer. But Glimmer might have gotten more powerful over the years, came a voice, unbidden, in the back of her mind.

"Shut up," she told it grumpily.

Well, why else would she have been so quiet? It's been three decades. Who knows what she could have found in that time?

Holly buried her face into the crook of Artemis' neck, feeling the feverish hotness of his skin against her forehead. The mud boy smelt of paper, fresh grass, and a sharp smell that one could classify either as magic, or electricity. All in all, he smelled like Artemis. For some reason, this calmed her enough to quiet her worries.

Holly fell asleep like this, one arm over Artemis' chest, the other under her own head, and her head resting on his shoulder. For some reason, it didn't feel awkward as Holly thought it would, which was odd. But she could dissect the meaning of this later, when Artemis was better (because he would get better) and she wasn't so damn tired.

She didn't have any more nightmares that night.

Chapter Text

Holly was woken a few hours later by a little demon, and she'd never felt so relieved. "I'm so glad you're here!" she said, throwing her hands around Number One's neck.

"I'd like to say I'm glad to be here, but . . ." the demon trailed off, gesturing to Artemis. Holly nodded as she slipped off the bed, landing next to Number One on the soft carpet. She noticed that Artemis' father's chair was empty, and guessed that the man had gone to get something to eat. The two magical beings were alone in the room with Artemis.

"Foaly said you'd tried to heal him, and it didn't work," Number one said. "Do you know anything about why it didn't?"

"I think it has to do with something about the fact that this has never happened before; a human resisting the Mesmer, especially with Glimmer Vendera's magical prowess."

"What do you know about Glimmer Vendera?" Number One asked. "I mean, it'll be easier for me to find her magic if I know more about her. Magic can sometimes reflect the personality of the fairy that it comes from."

"Well, first of all, she's half-elf and half-sprite."

"That's . . . unusual," Number One noted, which was true. Normally, elves married elves, sprites married sprites, and so on. There were very few couples where the two fairies in question were from different fairy sub-species. (And no couples where a dwarf married someone who wasn't a dwarf.)

"She was cruel, didn't mind who she hurt, she just wanted to destroy the humans. She thought, I don't know, she thought she was freeing us from some oppressive state. I didn't have a ton of contact with her, the point was to stay out of her sight in order to gather information to somehow stop her from massacring a bunch of humans." Holly paused, glancing at Artemis. "She didn't just want to kill all the humans though," she said quietly. "She wanted to enslave them, force them to pay us back for all the years we'd been stuck underground."

"So she's like Opal Koboi, a complete nut job?" Number One asked, surprising Holly.

"Um . . . yeah . . .?" she said. She hadn't really been expecting the term 'nut job' to come out of the demon warlock's mouth.

"I've been spending time with some of the junior LEP members," Number One said, as if it explained everything, which, Holly supposed, it kind of did.

Number One walked so he was standing next to Artemis. "I don't know how much, if any, I can help him," he said nervously. "Like Foaly said, Artemis isn't exactly human anymore. I mean, he does have some of your genetics from the time tunnel switch, not to mention the magic. And . . . the Mesmer . . . well, it's not easy to fight."

"You'll do fine, you always do. And anything you can do for him . . . if it gives us time to find Glimmer Vendera, it could mean everything."

The little demon nodded, placing his small hands on either side of Artemis' face. "This will take a while," he said, and closed his eyes. Red sparks skittled from the demon warlock's fingers, sinking into the human's closed eyes. Quietly, Holly left.

She made her way to the kitchen, only just realizing how hungry she was. She entered to find the whole Fowl family, along with Juliet and Butler, seated around a large dining table. When Juliet saw the elf, her concerned expression morphed into a sudden smile.

"It's so nice to see you Holly," she said, hugging the elf. "I came as fast as I heard."

"Nice to see you too, Juliet," Holly said fondly, returning the embrace. Holly had had an odd affinity towards the human girl since her own kidnapping. Her easy-going personality and ready heart; Holly was glad Juliet had decided not to become a bodyguard. It wasn't her calling.

"I saw Number One on his way to the room," Butler said from where he sat, rigid in his seat.

"He might be able to help, but he says it might take a little while," Holly said, jumping into the seat between Juliet and Beckett.

"So Artemis gonna get better today?" asked Beckett as he stuffed a whole sausage in his mouth. Myles looked vaguely disgusted by his brother's eating habit.

Holly considered the question. What should she say? Should she say yes, get their hopes up even if they might be beaten down again? Or say no and condemn them all to hours of fruitless worrying. "Probably," she said finally.

"Good." Beckett said. Myles remained silent, and Holly could see the worry in the creased brow of the young boy. That one really was a mini-Artemis, and not just in looks. He worried too much. And he cared about his family before all else.

"You want anything to eat, Holly?" Juliet asked into the small silence.

"Fruit, if you have any," Holly said, with a little wink.

"You know the answer to that one," Juliet said, one corner of her mouth turning up in a half-smile. She left to go to the kitchen.

"This . . . Number One fellow," Artemis Senior said. "He's the demon warlock?" The wary expression on his face confused Holly for a second, before she remembered that humans thought of demons as being evil.

"Yes," Holly said. "Artemis helped Number One bring his people back from limbo just before they all would have been wiped out of existence. Number One is the most powerful warlock in . . . well, maybe ever. If anyone can heal Artemis, he can."

And what do we do if he can't? The question hung heavily in the air, but no one said anything. Myles seemed aware of the unease, but Beckett was shoveling pancakes into his mouth without a care in the world, or so it would seem.

Juliet brought Holly a bowl of fruit, picking up on the atmosphere right away. Apparently, Juliet was the twin's designated caretaker when she was at the manor, because she took Beckett and Myles away, saying they needed fresh air. Beckett complained loudly about his unfinished breakfast, but his twin simply slipped quietly from his chair. Something about the quiet obedience told Holly that Myles knew more than he let on.

Chapter Text

Holly finished her meal and leaned back in the chair, biting her lip. What was it that the younger boy knew? Myles knew he knew something he wasn't supposed to, but whether it was something like knowing how grave this situation actually was, or something more sinister, Holly wasn't sure.

"Captain Short." Holly looked up at Artemis' father, eyes tired from the long night, brow pinched in worry. "This . . . this hasn't happened before, has it? Whatever's wrong with Artemis. That's why you don't know."

"Not with a human," Holly said with a sigh. "In fact, I would almost say Artemis isn't really completely human anymore. He's got some of my DNA, not to mention fairy magic." Holly tugged absently at her hair. It needed a wash. In fact, she might take a shower later.

"So you're saying he's part fairy?"

"It's plausible, and it explains why he could resist the Mesmer, which, considering it was Glimmer Vendera who probable enchanted him, is an amazing feat even for a fairy." She looked up at Artemis' parents, looking them in the eyes. "The people owe Artemis a great debt. And quite apart from that, he's my friend. We'll do everything in our power to help him. I promise."

She pushed back her chair stretching her hands above her head. "I'll go check on Number One, then I'll get cleaned up."

"Do you have any extra clothes dear?" Angeline asked.

"I'll be fine, thank you Mrs. Fowl," Holly said, a smile pulling the corners of her mouth up minutely.

She left the table, rinsing the bowl she'd used and putting it to dry. Then she climbed the stairs to the second floor, making her way to Artemis' room. She entered quietly, trying not to disturb Number One, who was probably deep in concentration at the moment.

Indeed, the demon warlock was still by the side of the bed, magic flowing into Artemis, who looked no better than he had when Holly had left, maybe an hour ago; but he didn't look worse either, which was good. The demon warlock's face was scrunched up in concentration, and it twitched a couple of times in the minutes Holly watched silently. Calypso jumped lightly off the bed, padding silently over to Holly and out the open door. The elf followed her.

Holly entered her room, looking around at the riches that surrounded her. The 'priceless' Persian rug, the paintings that adorned the walls. Once upon a time, Artemis would have cared more for the value of these objects than their beauty. But now . . . Holly supposed that Artemis didn't care so much for the coldness of his previous way of life. Absently, Holly kicked off her boots, walking across the warm, soft rug with her bare feet.

Holly moved to the bathroom off the side of the room, taking in her reflection from the mirror over the sink. There were dark circles under her eyes and her cheeks looked a little hollow. Her hair was stuck all over the place, she hadn't had a chance to brush it in a while. Hopefully a shower would help with this.

The elf turned to water on, stepping under the shower head and shivering a little at the biting cold. The water warmed up quickly though, and Holly massaged her scalp gently with the tips of her long fingers. This whole thing was nerve-wracking. Not the shower, of course, this was actually kind of relaxing. But Glimmer Vendera back . . . Artemis in something like a coma . . . all of this was building up a pressure in Holly's skull. Now was really not the time for a headache.

Holly quickly soaped her hair, running her fingers through the short strands before rinsing it out. She stepped out, wrapping a towel around herself before rummaging through the small bag of stuff she had brought with her when she'd gotten Butler's call. Her omni-tool was there, as well as a number of other gadgets. She pulled out a tube of lotion, rubbing it onto the tips of her pointy ears. Ah, the joys of being an elf.

She put the lotion away and wiped at the now foggy bathroom mirror. Her wet hair now hung around her face, and the circles around her eyes were a little less pronounced. A night of sleep, and she'd be just fine. Of course, that was a luxury that might have to give way to worry, and once Number One healed Artemis, no doubt they'd be on another of those stop-the-villain-from-destroying-life-as-we-know-it trips, which didn't really come with a room and a bed.

Holly went to the dresser in the room, which held (as she knew it would, courtesy of Butler) a smaller T-shirt and sweats. A more comfortable outfit than her suit, which, while great in the field, didn't do well domestically.

Quickly, she pulled the comfy cloths on, and walked dried her hair vigorously with the towel. That done, the elf went back to the bathroom to brush her hair and her teeth (not at the same time . . . obviously).

A knock sounded at her door, and Holly went to open it. Myles stood outside it, looking worried.

"Where's Juliet?" Holly asked.

"Trying to get Beckett down from a tree," Myles said, seeming very unconcerned about his twin brother's plight. "I wanted to know how one fights this 'Mesmer'." The boy sketched quotations around the word.

Holly sighed. "Come in then."

"Firstly, what is the Mesmer? I mean, I get that it's supposed to control the mind, but how does it do that?"

"One thing you have to understand, Myles," Holly said, "Is that even fairies don't have a full understanding of magic. We don't know every why or how. There are fairies who spend their whole lives studying magic, and we still don't know everything about it. The Mesmer imposes the will of a fairy, or other magic-wielder, on another being. Essentially, they control the other life-form."

"So how is it fought?" Myles asked.

"You should probably ask Foaly these questions. That's the centaur," she added, seeing the confused look on the boy's face. "As far as I can tell, great strength of will can help dispel the effects of the Mesmer. Most strong-minded humans can't even resist it."

"You said something about Artemis having magic, when you were telling us about all your adventures," Myles said. "So . . . I'm assuming magic helps one resist the Mesmer?"

"Yes, the evidence does suggest this," Holly admitted.

"I'm also assuming that my brother is in more danger than you want Beckett and me to know."

"Probably. I actually am not sure," Holly sighed, running a hand over her face. "But as soon as your brother wakes up, we'll find Glimmer Vendera and lock her up."

"Is it really going to be that easy?"

"Well," Holly said with a sigh, "These things can hardly keep getting harder."

If Holly could have seen the future, she would, perhaps, not have been quite so sure.

Chapter Text

It was a few hours later that Number One was finished and came to find Holly, the Butlers, and the Fowls all sitting in a room about the size of Holly's apartment in Haven. They looked up from the plush couches as the little demon entered, looking tired but satisfied.

"Artemis is awake," said the little demon, voice rough with exhaustion. "He wants to see you."

Holly, like the humans, was a little short of breath when she stopped outside the bedroom door; which was open a little way, letting a chink of artificial light into the darkening hallway. She pushed the door open, the heavy oak swinging easily on oiled hinges.

Artemis was sitting up in his bed, leaning against that headboard as if he did not have the strength to sit on his own. He smiled as they all came into his room, ruffling the twins' hair as they clambered up next to him. On the large bed. His eyes were still tired, with dark shadows under them, and his hair, usually so neatly-kept, was lank around his face.

"How are you feeling?" Angeline asked him gently, settling herself gracefully on the edge of the bed.

"Better," Artemis said with a tired smile.

"That's not saying much," Myles muttered, and Artemis looked down at his brother in some surprise.

"No, I suppose it's not," he said quietly. Then he seemed to notice Holly standing beside his father at the foot of his bed.

"Hello Holly. Number One told me you were here."

"Hello Artemis. Nice to see you awake," Holly said but there was something in the way Artemis held himself that said he wasn't quite recovered. He smiled easily, but there was pain behind his eyes, that, being a LEP officer (and one of Artemis' friends), she noticed. She wanted to ask what he remembered, what exactly had happened to him, but she wasn't sure she should do so with the twins in the room. Well . . . with Beckett in the room, at least. Myles was a different story entirely. He already knew more than he really ought to.

Artemis' father seemed to be thinking along the same lines as her, because he gently picked Beckett up from the bed, depositing him on the thickly carpeted floor. He looked pointedly at Myles as he said "I think your brother's tired, boys. Why don't you go with Juliet to get some lunch?" Myles nodded, and gave his brother a quick kiss on the cheek before jumping down, landing with a soft thump. Juliet came forward to collect the boys, ruffling Artemis' hair gently.

"Get well, Artemis," she said, and Artemis smiled his thanks.

"I will," he said. And then the twins left with Juliet. Artemis leaned forward, hands hiding his face as he took deep, shuddering breaths.

"Arty?" Angeline asked as her husband sat on the other side of the bed and rubbed comforting circles on his son's back.

"I'm fine," Artemis gasped, taking a few seconds to compose himself before looking up at the people still in the room. Holly felt Number One shifting next to her, and looked over to him. The little demon almost looked nervous.

"What is it?" She asked quietly.

"Um . . . I'll explain later," he said.

With a little shrug, Holly leapt onto the bed, sitting against the short footboard. The demon scrambled up beside her, leaving only Butler standing by the door.

"What's the matter, old friend?" Artemis asked, looking at Butler with a questioning gaze. "Please tell me you don't blame yourself."

"I should have been there," Butler said, sounding almost angry with himself. Holly could sort of understand this, because of course Artemis would be attacked when he was alone. Not defenseless, Artemis was never really defenseless anymore with the magic in his mind.

"No, you couldn't have known," Artemis insisted, his left hand unconsciously playing with the edge of the white cotton sheet. "And you can't follow me everywhere, I'm not that kind of person. At least, not anymore." Then Artemis sighed. "Great," he groaned. "I'm turning into a typical teenager."

Butler laughed quietly as he lowered himself into the chair beside the bed. "We can only hope," he said with a smile. Artemis smiled in response, and slid down the headboard so he could lay back down. Angeline began stroking her son's hair away from his face.

"Your hair needs to be washed," she murmured.

"It'll happen, Mother." Artemis said, smiling up at her. Holly didn't want to disrupt the moment; Artemis looked so peaceful. But at the same time, she needed to know how much Artemis remembered about what Glimmer had tried to make him do.

"Artemis?" she asked, apprehensive.

"Yes Holly?"

"Um . . . what do you remember?"

"Not much, sorry."

"Can you tell me what you do remember?" Holly asked. "We need as much information as you can give us. Apparently, we might have to do another of those saving-the-world things again."

"There was an elf," Artemis said, scrunching his brow in an effort to remember. "But she had wings, like a pixie. Do you know who she is?"

"Glimmer Vendera. An elf-sprite hybrid. She was one of my first targets as a recon officer. She was thought to be dead," Holly said, and she couldn't stamp down the disappointment she felt towards herself. "She's very dangerous. She wants to punish the humans for the fairies living underground. She sees herself as some kind of savior. Glimmer is very into the idea of enslaving the humans. The magic she has is very strong, and no one, not even a fairy has ever been able to resist a Mesmer placed on them by her. Well . . . other than you."

"She tried to Mesmerize me?" Artemis asked.

"Yes. And that's why you were . . . sick." Holly said.

"I remember that bit," Artemis muttered. "My brain felt like it was being electrocuted."

"That would have been the magic trying to take control of your mind. Her magic was sneaky, powerful stuff," Number One supplied. "And . . . um, we might want to find this Vendera person sooner rather than later. I couldn't get rid of the magic, only kind of seal it off in the corner of Artemis' mind. He's not cured. Think of it like freezing it. Eventually, it'll melt and get out again. It's not a definite solution; and I have no idea how long it'll hold."

"Well then," Artemis said, "I suppose we should get started with this whole saving-the-world again." He tried to sit up again, but he gasped as he did so, eyes shut tight.

"Tomorrow," Holly hurried to say. "You need rest. Besides, I still have some things I need to ask Foaly."

Chapter Text

Foaly's voice came over the earpiece. "How's the Mud boy?"

"He's awake," Holly said. "But he seems very tired, and sometimes I think he's in pain."

"Did Number One say anything about that?"

"He said that he couldn't actually get rid of the magic . . . just, kind of, shut it away in a drawer. It won't stay locked away forever." Holly sighed, flopping back in the huge bed. "What did you find?"

"Not much," Foaly said. "Glimmer was an only child, and her parents died pretty early in her childhood. She grew up with foster parents Rose and Cedar Grew, but they died a few years ago of natural causes. And no one came forward with having known her before she . . . went a bit crazy."

"So we're in the dark in that way," Holly said, passing a hand over her eyes. "We're going in blind. Speaking of which, where are we going?"

"I was able to track Glimmer's magical signature from what Number One gave me. She's not actually too far from you. You know that place where you first met Artemis?" Oh, that was a way to put it. Holly wasn't likely to forget that place any time soon.

"I remember," she said.

"Well, Glimmer's been hanging out there. Not that I'm surprised. She needs a constant source of magic to uphold all her power. As far as we can tell, she's got a few human goons with her."

"Mesmerized?" Holly guessed.

"Probably. But the question I'm asking . . . is why she went after Artemis. She's been off the grid for years. Unless she somehow spent the last few decades down in Haven, someone's giving her information."

Holly opened her eyes, staring at the creamy white high ceiling. Her eyes lazily traced the designs as she thought this over. "So . . . you think there's someone in Haven informing Glimmer of things that happen?"

"Yes."

"Can you look into that? And keep it quiet. We don't want the perp to know we're looking for them."

"Of course Captain Short. I'll call up Mulch and Doodah Day, shall I?"

Holly smiled. The PI business was flourishing, and the two ex-cons even consulted for the LEP every once in a while. With a heavy consultation fee. "Make sure to tell them . . . well, tell Mulch anyway, that Artemis needs his help. Maybe they won't charge us an arm and a leg this time," she said with a little laugh.

"Sure thing. And . . . um . . . Holly?"

"Yes, Foaly?" The Centaur had said 'um', and Holly had learned to read this as signs of bad news, or at least something she wouldn't like to hear.

"Be careful. We don't know what Artemis was Mesmerized to do."

"He said he didn't remember," Holly said, and so what if her voice was a touch defensive? She knew what Foaly was hinting at.

"This is Artemis Fowl, Holly. No one has any idea how his brain works, except him, and maybe that brother of his. Artemis' personal little Mini-me; Myles, I think. My point is," Foaly said. "Artemis may very well know, and be scared by it, or maybe he's afraid you'd be scared of it."

"You think he was told to do something to me," Holly said, somewhat furious. She clenched the heavy comforter in her right hand, squeezing it as hard as she could.

"To you or Number One," Foaly admitted. "Admit it Holly. Why else would Glimmer Vendera have targeted him? Artemis and you were two key players, along with Mulch Diggums, in bringing down Opal Koboi. If it's someone in Haven, or even Atlantis, who's giving Glimmer information from underground, they'll have told her about that, and possibly about that little thing with Turnball Root. She'll want to get you two out of the way, and I doubt she'd say no to eliminating the most powerful warlock ever." Foaly paused for a second, before continuing. "And that would fit in with other things I've learned about Glimmer's Mesmerizing abilities. Often times, the few fairies who managed to resist her power were told to kill people close to them, or destroy something that played a key part in their childhood, or in making them who they are. To Artemis, you are both."

Holly let out a long breath, slowly unclenching her hand. "So you're saying I need to keep an eye on him?"

"I'm saying, it would be a good idea if he sat this one out. Or at least, he stayed in a stress-free environment and you communicated via electronics. Not that I'm saying that's going to happen, not with your luck. But you need to know if he feels the magic taking control again. Things like headaches, excessive pain, that kind of thing. Or maybe if he seems short of breath a lot. That often indicates pain." Foaly sighed. "I'm sorry, I know I'm not being much help here. But the LEP has had to close all tunnels to the surface to keep Vendera from getting to Haven. We can't send any backup. You're on your own again Holly."

"No, Foaly. You are not changing the topic of conversation right now. Artemis. You say it's a good idea for him to sit this out, and I almost agree with you. The problem, is that we need him. In tight situations, a helmet radio is not going to be able to help us. We'll just need to find out how much he didn't tell us. His parents were in the room after all, perhaps he just didn't want them to worry."

"That would be a losing battle, Holly. You just told them all about your little adventures. I'd say they're probably plenty worried."

"Which would be what he was thinking. Maybe. That he didn't want to worry them more."

"Be careful on this one Holly. I know you took down Glimmer before, but now she's likely out for revenge; and with more magic than Opal Koboi could ever dream of having. Your luck may run out on this one."

"Just . . . just focus on finding her informer," Holly said. "I'll worry about Artemis." Then she terminated, just lying there for a minute before sitting up and jumping to the thick rug. Time to ask Artemis some questions in private, and hope he answered honestly.

Chapter Text

When Holly opened the door, there was only one source of light in the large room. The center light had been turned off, and the heavy curtains closed against the almost-full moon outside. The lone lamp on the bedside table cast long, dark shadows on the maroon carpet and against the cream-colored walls. On the bed, Artemis sat, propped up on pillows, leaning against the headboard with a book balanced on his knees, a pen in his hands. He looked up as Holly closed the door with a click, and smiled.

"Ah, Holly," he said, voice both resigned and tired. "I knew you'd be coming."

"I . . . needed to know if you really don't remember what Glimmer told you to do," Holly said, jumping up onto the bed beside her friend. Artemis sighed.

"Holly . . . I don't want you to carry this burden," he said.

"You already carry it yourself, Artemis," Holly reminded him.

"And it's a heavy burden to bear," the boy said quietly, sighing as he set aside the pen and book, which he had apparently been annotating. Something about the brain, but Holly didn't pay much attention to the objects.

"It's the magic that's making it so hard," Holly said, sitting cross-legged in front of him, leaning her elbows on her knees, and resting her chin in her hands. "Let me help."

"Holly . . ."

"No Artemis," she interrupted. "You don't have to do this on your own. Just trust me."

"I do trust you," Artemis said, turning his face away.

"Then let me help," Holly said, leaning forward slightly. Artemis was silent for a while, and Holly sat patiently on top of the smooth, cool blankets, waiting for Artemis to turn back to her. To trust her with whatever it was that was scaring him. The fact that he couldn't meet her eyes told her that it was something that borderline terrified him; that he apparently couldn't school his features to hide it.

"She wants me to hurt you." Artemis said finally, still facing away from holly, but she could tell from the tightness of his voice that his pale face would be tense in an attempt to keep tears at bay. "She wants me to kill a bunch of our friends and my brothers . . ." a sob escaped his throat, and his eyes were wet and red when he turned to face her again. "She wanted me to kill my brothers, Holly. And I . . . I can't let that happen."

"And you succeeded," Holly said quietly, and, she hoped, comfortingly. But Artemis just shook his head.

"No, I didn't. And you know this just as well as I do. I only put it off." He took a deep breath, running a hand through his unusually messy hair. "I can feel the magic sitting, waiting like a tiger about to pounce. It's not gone. Holly, I can't hurt them. They're family, they give me unconditional love, and I . . . I could never forgive myself if something happened to them." His voice broke, and he pushed the heels of his hands into his eyes. Quickly, Holly shifted her position so she could hug the boy, pulling him against her.

"They'll be alright, Arty," she murmured. "You saved them, you kept your mind your own long enough, and you still have more time. We'll catch Glimmer, and make her lift the Mesmer."

"Can she do that?" Artemis asked, voice thick. "Would she do that?"

"What do you mean?" Holly asked, drawing back slightly, the lamp behind her casting a dark shadow over Artemis' thin face.

"Why did she single out Myles and Beckett?" He asked, leaning his head back against the dark wooden headboard. "Why them? I can kind of understand her wanting to use me against you, though I'm sure you could stop me with minimal effort. But why the twins?"

The lamplight glistened off his cheeks, marking tear-tracks that Holly hadn't noticed before. She ignored it though, because Artemis would not appreciate her asking if he was okay when it was so apparent that he was not. "I don't know," she said in response to his question. But she had an idea. Myles had looked like he knew more than he was letting them know. What if it was detrimental to whatever plan Glimmer was concocting? And his reaction to finding out about the people . . . was not what Holly really would have expected. Myles was really Artemis' mini-me. He should have been a little more interested. What if, what if, Myles had found out about the people before that? What if he had found Glimmer, who saw a young mud-boy knowing of her continued existence as a problem? Of course she would solve this problem with a Mesmer. "No," she said quietly. She wouldn't lie to Artemis about this. "No, actually, I have an idea."

"Myles," Artemis said with a groan, once she explained, dropping his heads back into his hands. "I knew he was too much like me for his own good." Holly couldn't help chuckling at that.

"I'll leave you to get some sleep," Holly said, moving to slip over the silken edge of the soft bed. "It'll be a full day tomorrow." She was stopped by a cool hand on her arm.

"I can't sleep," Artemis said quietly. "I . . . the nightmares whenever I'm asleep. I wake up thinking I killed them, and they're not here to show me that it's just a dream. Please . . . stay. So I can know that at least one of you is okay." Holly hesitated for a moment, but the raw emotion in Artemis' eyes, something that he never showed, gave a hint of how much he was affected by the sinister magic inside his brain, tormenting him with visions of what might have happened had he loved his brothers a little less, if Number One had been unable to chase the magic into the back of his mind.

"Alright," Holly said quietly. "I'll stay." She leaned back into the fluffy pillows, shooting up again when Artemis picked the pen and book back up. "No," she said forcefully, taking both from him and laying them on the bedside table beside her. "If I'm gonna be here so you can sleep peacefully, you are going to actually go to sleep."

Artemis huffed, but he slipped down the headboard so that his head rested in the white pillows. Holly lay back down as well, on top of the silky sheets, allowing the cool night air to kiss her bare arms and feet. Reaching over, she turned the lamp's switch, plunging the room into darkness.

Chapter Text

The thick curtains blocked out the early-morning sunlight, but the large room was far from dark when Holly woke the next morning. Artemis had turned the lamp on at some point, and was back to annotating the book. Holly huffed with annoyance.

"Did you sleep at all?" she asked, raising herself up so she could lean against the headboard.

"I had a nightmare, so yes. Unfortunately, I did," he responded, marking his page and setting the book down. Holly felt her brow furrow, but she pushed away the uneasy feeling. Artemis was fighting the Mesmer, she supposed she could understand not wanting to sleep. The need to be constantly aware, have constant control of your mind.

"If we're going to start going after Glimmer today," she said, sliding out of the bed, landing softly on the richly-carpeted floor. "Then we should get going."

Artemis nodded, drawing his legs out from under the heavy comforter. He was wearing sweatpants, an odd look on the normally overly-formal mud-boy, and a grey T-shirt of some kind of silky-looking material. Scratch that. Knowing the Fowls, it probably was silk.

Holy left to go freshen up in her own room once she was sure that Artemis wasn't just going to fall back onto the covers.

The cool water she used helped to wake her up a little more, and she pulled her LEP suit on, fixing the belt with her weapons around her waist and tucking her helmet under her arm before heading downstairs.

Becket must have still been asleep, but Myles was sitting at the kitchen table as Holly entered the room, a pensive look on his face. He looked up as Holly sat across from him, and dropped his eyes back to his fingers, which were tracing little circles on the wood.

"You alright, Myles?" Holly asked shrewdly, taking a red, shiny apple from the dark wicker basket on the table-top.

"It's my fault," the little boy said. "Isn't it?" he sounded close to tears, and his voice was so warn that Holly was sure he had not slept much the last night, if at all.

"You're smarter than you let people know, aren't you?" Holly responded. This boy was a far cry from the one she had seen when she had first got here.

"I don't want mom and dad to worry 'bout me," the little boy stated. "They worry about Artemis getting into more trouble all the time, but they never worry about Beckett. So I figured . . ." Holly just kept looking at the boy, one slim eyebrow raised.

"And?" she asked.

"And I didn't want them to find out," he said reluctantly. "I mean, I guess I kind of knew about the fairies before I was her, but-"

"Her?" Holly asked sharply. Part of her felt a little bad about grilling the boy about this so early in the morning, but the opportunity had presented itself, so . . . .

"The fairy. She's the one who did that to my brother, isn't she?"

"We think so, yes." Myles looked up at her sharply, and suddenly wore a look much older than his age. Something she suspected that Artemis had had as well. Something he still had.

"We?"

"Artemis and I," Holly said. "We thought you knew more than you were letting on. You're quite the little mischief-maker, aren't you?"

"Not a good reputation for someone who gets found by trouble," Myles muttered, looking back down at his fingers again.

"Are you sure you didn't go looking for it, little brother?" Artemis' voice came as the elder Fowl opened the door to the kitchen area. He was wearing black pants now, and a dark blue dress-shirt. Holly couldn't help but smile and shake her head in exasperation. Only Artemis would get dressed to find a rouge fairy. But this was Artemis fowl, and without his usual suite jacket, he was actually dressed down.

"Do you?" Myles asked.

"I did the first time," Artemis said quietly as he let the door swing shut behind him. "And it thrust me into a world I wasn't ready for. For all that you are intelligent and unlikely to be kidnapping a fairy anytime soon, you are not ready for it either."

"Why? Because I'm even younger than you were?" Myles challenged.

"Age has nothing to do with it, except for the fact that I want you to live before you get thrown into situations that could snatch your life away from you!" Artemis growled, then visibly calmed himself. "I apologize," he said quietly. "But age has nothing to do with it Myles."

"I'm sorry," Myles blurted out suddenly suddenly. Artemis blinked, freezing on his way to the pantry.

"Excuse me?" he asked, brow furrowing in confusion.

"It's my fault, isn't it? That you were sick?"

Holly exchanged a look with Artemis. Myles had no idea what exactly had happened, what was happening, to Artemis.

"No, Myles," Artemis said quietly. "Even if it is because you found her, it's the fairy's fault, not yours." He disappeared into the pantry for a moment, coming back with a loaf of bread and a jar of currant jelly. He took three plates from the cupboard, placing pieces of bread spread with the jelly on the white porcelain. "Here," he said, sliding a plate in front of Myles and one in front of Holly, who looked at it for a moment before taking a bite. Holly would have toasted the bread probably, but it really was not bad. Not bad at all for a mud-boy who could hardly make a sandwich. Actually . . . he couldn't make a sandwich. Period.

"Thanks," Myles said, swallowing a large bite of the bread.

"Mm hm," Artemis hummed. "Myles, how did you meet her? The fairy, I mean."

"I . . ." Myles didn't seem to know what to say. "You know Stonehenge?" he asked. Artemis chuckled. He still hadn't quite gotten over the fact that the place was actually an old pizza place.

"Yes," he said. Then paused. "When did you go to Stonehenge?"

"A couple of weeks ago," Myles said. "You went with dad to some kind of meeting, and mom took Beckett and me to see Stonehenge. She said it would be interesting."

"And was it?" Artemis asked, still with some amusement in his voice.

"More interesting than she knew. Mom was telling Beckett about how they are really, really old. I got bored and wondered a little ways off." Myles took another bite of the jam-coated bread, smearing it all across his mouth. "I don't know what happened," Myles continued once Artemis had tossed him a napkin. "But one moment I was just walking, and the next, I kind of walked into a cave. There was a fairy there. She had wings, and pointed ears. I don't know. She scared me a little. I . . . she screamed at me, and she shot something blue at me, but it missed 'cause I ducked. Then I just ran out the way I came and ended up back by Stonehenge."

The story was a little disjointed, but Holly understood what she needed to. Glimmer was hiding out by Stonehenge, and her hideout was covered. Or perhaps totally cut off from the outside world, made accessible only by magic. In which case, she'd need to call up Mulch. And find out what he and Doodah had found out about Glimmer's eyes in Haven.

Chapter Text

Holly contacted Foaly as Artemis talked quietly with Myles in the other room.

"Stonehenge?" Foaly asked after she explained what had happened to Myles. "My sensors say that she is at the site you first met Artemis and Butler."

"Your sensors have been wrong before," Holly pointed out, a strain of wry amusement in her voice. "But in this case, I think they're right. From what Myles said, I think that perhaps he stumbled on her back door, a magical teleportation in case someone found her."

"And the magical signature around Stonehenge would throw off my sensors. I must say, I applaud the initiative," Foaly said, an almost admiring note to his voice. Holly rolled her eyes, leaning back in the still high-backed chair. Her eyes traced the elegant carving on the back of the chair across from her as she answered.

"Trust you to admire someone like Glimmer Vendera for her intelligence." Foaly snorted in response to her half-hearted jibe. "Has Mulch gotten much headway with her accomplice?"

"He said that Doodah and he have found some good leads and should be bringing the perp in within the week if we want to do it without generating any panic."

"We don't have that long," Holly said. "Artemis doesn't have that long."

"We don't know how long he has," Foaly said, a tad desperately.

"We know that he doesn't have a week. Foaly, no human has ever broken through a Mesmer nearly as strong as Glimmer's, no fairy has truly broken through a Mesmer of that caliber."

"Do you think you'll need Mulch?"

"Are you kidding?" Holly asked. "Glimmer's lair is literally underground. Besides that, Mulch might have some tales about her from his time in the (figurative) underworld."

"True," Foaly said. "I'll let him know that this is extremely time-sensitive." The centaur was quiet for a while. "Holly . . . you do know that Glimmer is likely to come back if she finds out that Artemis is resisting her instructions. You don't know what they were, do you?" Holly almost told Foaly what Artemis had told her last night. Almost. But the memory of tears in the boy's eyes and the brokenness of his voice kept her from doing so. Foaly didn't have to know, and she would not misuse his trust in her.

"No, he hasn't told me, and I don't blame him."

"So he hasn't told you, huh?" Foaly asked, and Holly could tell that he thought she was lying.

"No," she said stubbornly.

"Well, just make sure Glimmer doesn't get to him again."

"Don't worry, I don't think anyone's going to let anything more happen to him," Holly said, gazing absently at the dust motes caught in the sunlight let in through the high windows. Their complex dance caught her attention and held it for a few moments, and Holly tried to let her worry dance away with the small specks of dust. It didn't really work. "Just get Mulch here as soon as you can," she said quietly. "And Foaly?"

"Yeah?"

"Let me know the moment you have her accomplice," Holly said. "I have a few questions I want them to answer."

"Will do, Holly," Foaly said. "And don't worry. Artemis will pull out of this. He always does."

"Thank you Foaly," Holly said. "I'll tell him you said so."

"Oh Frond no," the centaur said, fake horror coloring his voice. "I'll never hear the end of it."

Holly laughed as Foaly cut the connection.

"What's so funny?" Holly looked up to see Artemis leaning against the doorframe, smiling lightly at her.

"Foaly," Holly said. A corner of Artemis' mouth quirked up in a half-smile. "How are you feeling?" she asked as he walked slowly to the table.

"Tired," he said as he settled himself into the chair across from Holly.

"Just tired?" Holly asked, leaning forward slightly to look into his eyes. Artemis didn't let her though, tilting his face down so that his eyes were directed to his hands, which were folded tightly together on the smooth table top.

"Just tired," he affirmed quietly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Holly, I'm sure."

"Then look at me." Artemis kept his head down. "Don't shut me out, Arty," Holly warned. "Let me help you."

Finally, Artemis looked up, but his ice-blue eyes still wouldn't meet her own hazel ones. "Arty . . ." Holly sighed. "Please."

When his eyes met hers, Holly was saddened to see the pain there. The icy color of the human boy's eyes seemed washed-out, dimmed down and tired. The skin around his eyes was tight and red, making the rest of his face seem paler than usual. Holly noticed suddenly that Artemis' tightly folded hands were trembling slightly.

"I think you should go lay down," she said quietly.

"No, Holly, I can't. I can't be acting like an invalid right now, not if we have to save the world again." Holly felt a pang in her chest at these words. Artemis was not quite yet a man, still too young to have this much stress on his shoulders. The youngest member of their little doomsday-group . . . something that Holly hadn't really ever taken into account. Now, she was hit with it full-force. Artemis had been scared for Myles, frightened that his younger brother had stumbled so spectacularly into the world of magic so young; Artemis wanted to keep this stress and worry away from his brothers, from his family, as long as possible.

"We have time," Holly said. "Mulch thinks it'll be a couple of days to get Glimmer's accomplice behind bars. We'll have time to come up with a plan of some kind."

"Since when have any of our pre-danger plans actually worked the way we want them to?" Artemis asked, and Holly was glad to hear some humor in the question, despite how forced and tight it was.

Artemis' hands were still shaking, and Holly could see that he was on the verge of some kind of panic, which was an odd observation at any time, but with Artemis? "Let's get you back to bed," she said, and her tone brooked no argument. The boy tried nonetheless.

"I've barely been out of bed for two hours," he said.

"And that's about all you can handle right now. Save your strength. You'll be no good to anyone if you keel over from exhaustion or pain, and don't say that you are not in pain. I don't want any lies right now." Holly stood from the chair, circling the rectangle table to cross her arms at Artemis' side, waiting for him to rise so she could help his to his room. Her head just about reached Artemis' shoulder, which made it difficult, but Holly wasn't daunted. The way Artemis shook as he stood told Holly that walking was barely in the mud boy's power at the moment. She put an arm around his waist, letting him lean against her as they went up the grand, richly carpeted staircase.

Artemis' room wasn't too far from the staircase's landing on the second floor; Holly was happy enough to deposit the boy on the bed when they reached it, and Artemis seemed happy enough to climb on top of the smooth sheets. He was breathing heavily, and Holly could have laughed at the obvious lack of physical ability if the situation hadn't been so worrying. She knew that Artemis was trying to keep Myles safe and innocent of all the trouble his brother was in, and she admired him for that. But he would not be able to hide it from his family for very long.

Chapter Text

Mulch caught the accomplice early the next day. Very early. Early enough that Foaly thought it perfectly fine to call Holly at two in the morning. "You said you had some questions for him," Foaly defended against her grumblings. "I thought that now would be a better time than when he was mired in trials and all that bureaucratic stuff."

"Fine," Holly yawned, flicking on the lamp at her bedside table, hoping the bright light would help to wake her up. "Give me what you know about him."

"Tinsel Cornsprite is, as I think the name implies, a sprite. Middle-aged, probably about Glimmer's age. Went to school with her in Haven, one of those fairies who believe we should take the surface back from the humans. A fanatic."

"Know how he got Glimmer out of Haven?"

"He's pretty high up on the chain of command at the new prison, probably sent for her to be moved to Atlantis and smuggled her up to the surface. Just a theory, but a sound one. What questions are you planning on asking him?"

"Just a few things about the contact he had with Glimmer." There was silence for a moment. "Foaly?" Holly prompted.

"Um . . . I've been working on something. A truth drug. It's so we can interrogate fairies without having to mesmerize them. Less chance of brain damage. It's perfectly safe, but the council wants test runs to make absolutely sure no one can break through it. I was wondering if maybe . . ."

"You want to use an experimental drug with possibly harmful side-effects on a fairy?" Holly wasn't sure whether she was disgusted or just surprised.

"No harmful side-effects," Foaly interjected quickly. "The tests all came back clean. We're just . . . not sure it'll work."

Holly would have rubbed her temples if she hadn't covered them with a helmet. She didn't have time for this. And they didn't have time for the sprite not to give them what they needed. "Fine," she muttered.

"I'll patch you through then. Does your helmet have video?"

"I think I'll forgo the video. Just audio. Patch the video of him through to my helmet though," Holly said, activating the display on her visor.

The sprite that appeared on the screen was just barely on the fit side, broad shoulders and a large chest but with few defined muscles. Sprites were the most likely species to work out for fun, but this guy looked like he hadn't hit the gym since school. The skin didn't sag though, so he probably ate healthy. His wings vibrated behind him nervously and his blue eyes were darting nervously around the interrogation room. To be honest, Holly was a bit underwhelmed. This was the fairy that had gotten Glimmer out of prison and into the human world? Well, appearances could be deceiving, she knew that well.

"Good morning, Mister Cornsprite," she said, and the sprite's small eyes widened fractionally. "This is Captain Holly Short," Holly said, and the color drained from his face. "I have a few questions to ask you." His whole body was vibrating now, along with his wings. This one was well on the way to becoming a nervous wreck. "Why did you smuggle Glimmer out of prison?"

"I-I-I . . . she . . . she promised," the sprite took a deep breath. "She promised that we'd be freed from the tyranny of humans."

"How did you first get into contact with her?" Holly asked, deciding to let the last answer slide. She wasn't likely to get more than that. Why was such a useless question sometimes. Such as when you already knew the answer.

"Sh-sh-she contacted . . . contacted me," the sprite panted. There was sweat on his brow. Foaly had said there were no harmful side-effects, right?

"About what? Why did you meet with her? How did she contact you?"

"She . . . she contacted me through a guard. He carried the message that she knew how to get rid of the humans for good. I . . . thought it . . . I thought I would . . . that I would be doing the People a favor if I got the information."

"What did she know about 'getting rid of the humans'," Holly asked.

"There is a spell . . . one that . . . that is supposed to be . . . be impossible now, because it involves a human using . . . using magic. It would . . . would enslave all humans to that one human, who would be enslaved to the fairy people."

"The whole of the People, not just one fairy?"

"It would do what was best for the survival of the fairy people as seen by the fairy that cast the spell as well. 'Course, that's only . . . only . . . only if the . . . if the human survives it. If it doesn't, the humans are all enslaved to that one fairy." His blue eyes seemed confused, as if he didn't know why he was talking.

"Hurry up Holly," Foaly said in her ear. "The serum only works for a few moments."

"Does Glimmer have all of her magic?" Holly asked quickly.

The sprite would have been hovering up near the ceiling if the chair he was tied to wasn't bolted onto the floor. Instead, the wind stirred up by his wings was whipping his blonde hair around his face. "N-n-no," he stammered. "Her mes-mes-mesmer is sti-ill strong, but it is not as . . . as strong as it was before." Then, he slumped forward onto the table.

"D'arvit," Holly yelped. "Foaly!"

"Sorry! Sorry, sorry, shoulda warned ya, they fall unconscious after the serum runs it's course. It's so the brain can rest itself."

"Yes, you should have warned me," Holly hissed as the video feed in her helmet disappeared. "Gods above, you stupid centaur, don't scare me like that!"

"Okay okay, did you get everything you needed?"

"I think so. Foaly, one last thing before you go. Well, two last things. One, remember to send Mulch up. Ask if he'll help. Also, can you see if you can find any control spells that have anything to do with a human being involved?"

"Already way ahead of you Holly. I've got the computer working on it now. I'll ask Qwan as well. He might know something not in the system. Oh and Holly? Do be safe. And take care of that Mudboy. Frond knows he needs someone looking after him." Foaly cut the communications feed.

After taking the helmet off her head and setting it on the nightstand, Holly stared at the wall, covered with odd, dark-as-night shadows from the lamp. A spell that required a magical human. The only magical human known to exist trying to fight the mesmer. Glimmer behind it all. None of this boded well for the human population.

Chapter Text

When Holly entered Artemis' room at seven in the morning, the mud boy was asleep, tossing and turning in a restless dream. Holly was tempted to let the boy be, but they really only had a few days. Four at the most according to Number One. The lamp by Artemis' bed was on, either he had been trying to stay awake, or someone had been watching him and forgotten to turn it off. Holly hoped it was the latter. Artemis needed to be as rested as possible.

She leapt up to the seat of the chair, and from there onto the bed beside her sleeping friend. "Arty," she said softly, "Wake up." She shook his silk-clad shoulder gently, but he didn't respond other than a slight crease between his dark eyebrows. She shook a little more urgently. "Arty come on, we don't have all day."

Blearily, his blue eyes opened. "Good morning, Holly," he said, a bemused expression on his tired face. "What's the plan?"

"That's your area of expertise, genius," Holly quipped back. "Now get your lazy butt out of bed, I've got some intel. Mulch and Dooda finally caught the accomplice."

"I'm mostly awake," Artemis muttered, pushing the blankets to his waist as he sat up. "What did you get?"

"Well, I got Glimmer's end goal, which is nice to have before going in."

"World domination?" Artemis asked, rolling his mismatched eyes.

"Something like that," Holly said, nodding.

"Too early in the morning for that, let me get dressed first," he yawned, sliding his legs out from under the cotton covers. The boy trudged across the carpet and into his closet. Holly felt her brow furrow, but tried not to dwell on how tired her friend must be. There was no use in worrying over something she could do nothing about. She did, however, wonder how long he had actually slept last night.

As she waited for the boy (though he was almost an adult now, wasn't he? Almost a man.) to come out of his closet, Holly kicked her feet back and forth against the edge of the bed and watched the sun rising. There was only a small gap in the heavy curtains, but it was enough to see the colors, light pink and blue and purple and a bit of yellow where the sun was just peaking above the horizon. Oh but that was what most fairies missed about the surface. No matter how advanced their technology was, it could never capture the beauty of a surface sunrise or sunset.

"Alright," Artemis said, and somehow, his voice sounded much more alert than just a few minutes ago. "What's the evil plan?"

Holly told him.

"So . . . she needs my magic."

"Something like that," Holly said, and watched from the bed as Artemis began pacing.

"You said her lair is under the place we first met? And that there's a backdoor that lets out in Stonehenge?"

"Yes," Holly said, drawing out the word as Artemis paused, icey blue and warm hazel eyes boring into her own.

"Is Number One still here?" Holly nodded. "To keep an eye on me, I'm sure," Artemis muttered, as he continued pacing, hands clasped behind his back. He was in a suit again, only there was a black jacket over the white shirt, unlike the morning before. Artemis had stayed in bed the rest of the day after Holly had deposited him there, and the extra rest (if not sleep) appeared to have invigorated him slightly. Or maybe it was being able to use his brain. "But I'm sure he would be willing to help. How long until Mulch gets here?"

"He's probably on his way now," Holly said.

"Even better." Artemis settled himself in the armchair beside the bed, steepling his fingers and resting his pale chin atop them. His eyes were closed, and Holly supposed that he might not be talking for a while. He probably didn't want distractions. He probably wouldn't even hear anything if she said something. Still, she couldn't help it.

"Are you feeling better?" He didn't answer. "Because if you're not, Foaly has suggested that you stay out of the thick of this one. Stay in the manor and talk to us through earpieces or something."

"Sorry Holly, that's not going to happen," Artemis said, distractedly.

"Worth a shot," Holly huffed, plopping her elbows on her green-clad knees and resting her chin on her hands.

"You knew I wouldn't agree," the boy argued, eyes still closed.

"I was thinking that maybe logic would trump . . . well, ego."

"It's not ego. And the logic was flawed. How often do earpieces work all the way through a mission?"

"Oh, so we're calling them missions now?"

"I need quiet, Holly."

Holly grumbled, but acquiesced. They needed a plan, and they needed one fast. No matter how good Artemis apparently felt at this moment, the magic Number One had locked away could free itself any day. She slipped from the bed and began stretching. It had been a long night. Morning. Whatever. She needed to do something physical, but she didn't want to leave Artemis. Because she was worried about him. Why was she worried about him? Was the Mudboy really just a friend? He wasn't exactly more than a friend. They were . . . sort of somewhere in between. But that didn't sound right either. As she arched her back away from the floor in the classic 'bridge' position, the answer came to her. He was a bit like a brother. Annoying, scary at times, but she loved him unconditionally. You're also a bit overprotective of him. Holly promptly told the voice to shut up.

Holly flipped over so that she was facing downwards and arched her back like a cat about to spit. Her back cracked a bit and she grinned. "I didn't know you did yoga."

"I thought you wanted silence to plan, Arty. Plan." All Holly got in response was a grunt of annoyance. She'd always wanted a brother. Putting both arms behind her back, palms flat against the carpet, Holly scooted forward until she felt the strain in her shoulders. She stayed there for a few seconds before pulling her arms forward and swinging them back and forth. A knock sounded at the door.

Artemis said nothing, made no motion to indicate that he had heard the knock. Holly called for the person to enter. It was Butler and Mulch.

"Ah, Mulch. You're here." The dwarf looked a bit surprised.

"'Ow'd you know it was me?" he asked.

Artemis cracked open his eyes as a smirk appeared on his face. "I'd know that scent anywhere, my friend." Mulch appeared slightly affronted.

"I'll have you know," he started, "that I smell largely of the freshest dirt around."

"Yeah, we noticed," Holly said with a smile. "It is nice to see you Mulch. And thanks for catching Tinsel. We got some good information from him."

"Anything for my favorite LEP officer," Mulch said with a roguish grin. "Remember this when I decide the law isn't for me?"

"Only until your first crime."

"You police are no fun," Mulch grumbled.

"Do you have your plan, Artemis?" Butler asked.

The boy nodded. "It's not one hundred percent complete, but it is good."

"In your not-so-humble opinion," Holly quipped. Artemis just grimaced at her.

"Where is Number One?"

"Oh, we gettin' the warlock's help on this? This must be big, then."

"Foaly didn't tell you?" Holly asked.

"Well, didn't have much time for chattin' while that bloody centaur was throwin' me in a shuttle."

"Glimmer wants to use an ancient spell to enslave humanity to her."

"Oh. And she's waited a few days to do this . . . why?"

"She needs me."

"Goodness. Ego much, Mud boy?" asked Mulch, bushy eyebrows raised. Artemis sighed and spoke as one would to a slow child.

"The spell requires a human with magic."

"And, of course, there's only one of those that the fairy people know of," came a voice from the still open doorway.

"Hello, Number One," Mulch said.

"Hello Mulch."

"So wait," Mulch said, brow furrowing as if he had just realized something. "Foaly said the evil sprite-elf mesmerized you. Why didn't she just take you then?"

"The way the spell works," Holly said when Artemis didn't say anything, "the humans would be enslaved to that one magical human, rather than the fairy. Unless the human dies. Then they're enslaved to the fairy. Apparently, if the human has very little will to live, the spell casting with kill them. So . . . the mesmer was . . . um . . . well that is to say . . ." she didn't want to give away Artemis' secret. Who is was he had been told to kill.

"She used the mesmer in an attempt to have me murder my family and friends." The bluntness with which Artemis made the statement shocked them all into silence for a moment, though it didn't stop Butler from moving to his charge's side and laying a large hand on the youth's skinny, black-clad shoulder.

"Well . . . okay. So . . . wow." It could say that Mulch had lost his powers of speech, except he kept talking.

"How are you feeling Artemis?" This was from Number One, who had also made his way to the boy's side. "I'm not sure you should be doing anything stressful, it could aggravate the magic into-"

"I'm fine, Number One." The little demon looked unsure, but nodded.

"You have a plan then, Mud boy?"

"Yes, Mulch. I have a plan. Unfortunately, it involves splitting into teams."

"Well," Holly said, "Let's hear it then, genius."

Chapter Text

"So." Mulch said when Artemis had finished. "Is there any particular reason why it can only be us? What about the rest of the LEP?"

"You of all people should know what a bureaucratic mess the LEP has been these last few years," Holly said. "Commander Kelp is only just starting to un-entangle us from the Council. As it is, it takes days to get a topside retrieval fully authorized."

"Besides, very few fairies of the LEP trust me at all," Artemis said quietly. "And really, we need bait of some kind." That was the part of the plan that Holly did not like at all. Artemis was getting way too self-sacrificing. The first few times they had saved the world, Artemis had actually cared about his own safety. Then the rest of his friend's safety. And now, apparently he had graduated to the world's safety. Which would be good, if he still cared about himself.

"I do not like this, Artemis." Butler had stayed surprisingly quiet while Artemis laid out his plan; everyone had been waiting for him to voice his displeasure. Artemis sighed as he stood, right hand absently fiddling with the cuff of his jacket.

"I know, old friend. But it's the most likely way to trick her. I know next to nothing about her personally, so I have to go with this."

Number One looked nervous, but he nodded. "I think he's right. This Glimmer's magic is powerful. She is not as strong as me, but if she is not distracted, I . . . I am not yet very good with containment spells," he admitted. "And a powerful elven warlock could easily break out of mine if they knew what was happening."

"You're sure about this?"

"Yes, Holly. Though, I suppose that it is true that plans don't always work when they're made before everything happens." Artemis rubbed his temples with the tips of his fingers. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there, though. For now, I still have some fairy tech in my study; Foaly keeps sending things."

"Does he send them for you to use?" Holly asked doubtfully.

"He might as well," Artemis said with a shrug. "He knows I find all his bugs and build things from them, yet he continues sending them."

He stood fluidly, and Holly allowed herself to think, for a moment, that maybe he really was better, that the magic wasn't abusing his mind. But the skin around his eyes was tight with suppressed pain, and Holly was pretty sure Artemis was clenching his jaw. Butler put a supporting hand on his charge's shoulder as the group filed out into the hall.

"Alright," Artemis said once the door to his study had been closed. "It is not yet eight in the morning; I'd like to leave before my parents find out about this, as they would no doubt be unhappy about it."

He moved about the room with confidence, which people only did if they were nervous or trying to convince someone they were fine. Stop worrying, she told herself. You're seeing problems where there are none. He's fine. Enough. Hopefully. Ugh. That hadn't helped.

The fact that Artemis sat in the chair behind his desk as soon as he could (and that he seemed to drop more than sit) had even Mulch glancing at Holly with worry prominent on his features. Holly tried to ignore it. There was nothing she could do except take down Glimmer again, which was what they were working towards anyway.

"Guys. I know that I'm not at my most healthy," Artemis said, his tone a little sharper than normal as it pulled Holly from her thoughts. "But I need you to pay attention now. The world is at stake. Again."

"I ah . . . I can try to take away some of the pain, if you'd like," Number One said quietly. Artemis squeezed his eyes shut, and shook his head.

"Not yet. Later, Number One." It took a visible effort for Artemis to compose himself before pulling open a drawer at the bottom of the desk. For a second, Holly wondered why he kept fairy tech in a desk drawer, but then there was a buzz and part of the wall behind him slid aside to reveal a metal safe with an electronic lock. "Butler, if you would be so kind," the Mudboy said. "The code is the twins' birthday." His hands fiddled with a pencil. "Something I was regrettably absent for."

The safe opened with a hiss, and Butler lifted out the large box inside and set it on the desk in front of Artemis, who popped the lid with a satisfied smile. "I am working on it, but there's still not anything quite like fairy tech," he said, handing out earpieces.

"Is this just me, or is this too similar to the John Spiro issue?" Holly murmured as Artemis fastened the flesh-colored mic to his throat. Yeah, there was no way Foaly hadn't meant Artemis to find this stuff. Or maybe the Centaur had simply caved to the inevitable.

"Well, we all survived that one, so maybe that's a good thing," Mulch responded, though Number One just looked confused.

"The rest of you should have mics as well," Artemis said. "Holly does your helmet . . ."

"Yes, it has a built-in mic. Why?"

"I wouldn't have enough for everyone otherwise." Artemis was blinking rapidly now, looking a bit confused. He brought a hand to his face, rubbing at his forehead. "I do apologize," he said. "My mind is rather . . . muddled. I think the pain is starting to cause issues."

"Artemis please, let me try to stop the pain," implored Number One.

"Fine. But try to make it fast. We need to leave soon." By the end of the sentence, Artemis was groaning with pain, slumping forward, his elbows on the desk the only thing keeping him upright.

Holly exchanged a very worried glance with Butler as Number One gently touched Artemis' forehead and the runes on his own began spinning. How much pain could one person stand? Surely Artemis only had a few days left. Not even that if Number One couldn't ease the pain. Holly promised that Glimmer would pay for this.

Chapter Text

The red sparks that skittered from Number One's hands sank into Artemis' temples, hopefully at least dampening the pain that seemed to have permeated the human's life recently. Holly wasn't exactly sure what was causing the pain, but she could take a guess. The magic had been locked away, kept from the areas of the brain that controlled thought and parts of the body. The pain center in the brain was probably not quite as heavily fortified as other parts. The mesmer could be vicious and sneaky, using any means necessary to warp the will of its victim. The stronger the magic, the more dogged the spell. Of course, this was the theory of an elf who had taken barely more than the minimum of healing classes in college in order to get into the LEP academy.

The healing took longer than Holly thought it probably should have, and Number One looked tired when he finally took his gray hands away from Artemis' still-pale face. Artemis though . . . looked okay. The skin around his mouth and eyes was no longer tight with suppressed pain.

"That should last for about twenty four hours," Number One said, forehead wrinkled. "I think the pain would come back gradually, but I'm not sure. It could be dangerous if you're in a saving-the-world situation and it comes back all at once, so if we could put this plan into motion sooner rather than later . . .?"

"Right," said Holly. "My moon belt, as I'm sure you know," here, she glanced at Artemis, who nodded, "was upgraded by Foaly so that it can take more weight. Still, I'm not sure that I can take us all where we need to go very quickly, or in less than two trips."

"That's alright," Number One said absently. "I learned how to teleport last month. As long as you can get Artemis and yourself into position Holly, we'll be fine."

"Why couldn't you put both of them into place as well?" Mulch asked, turning his head from the mini-fridge in the corner, jar of pickles in hand.

Number One sighed. "Glimmer would sense the magic. If you were paying attention to the plan originally, you'd know that Artemis has to appear to have gotten there on his own, and Holly has to be in place before Artemis is with Glimmer."

Before Mulch could respond, Holly donned her helmet and opened the window onto a brisk Irish morning. The air smelled like rain. Great. Just what they needed.

"I do not like this, Artemis." Holly waited semi-patiently as Artemis put a hand on Butler's shoulder. He was tall enough to do that now, even if it did look a bit awkward.

"It will be alright, old friend. Even without knowing much about this spell, I can guess that it would take a while to pull off. She'll need be alive at least that long." Oh, Artemis, thought Holly, you need to work on reassuring people.

Butler looks like he agrees with her, but simply nods and sends Artemis towards Holly with the words, "Be safe."

She attaches Artemis to her belt, calibrating the device to Artemis' weight, which was just about three fourths of the maximum weight. She hands him a piece of cam foil, letting him wrap it around himself before switching on the shield, vibrating out of the visible spectrum. Turning on her wings, Holly flew out of the window with Artemis in tow.

Artemis was dropped about a ten minutes walk from the bend in the river that housed an ancient oak. The place where Artemis had kidnapped her, all those years ago.

"Are you ready?" she had asked as she took back the foil.

"Well, not sure." The boy had looked a bit scared. Holly had to concentrate to stop herself from hugging him. That could wait until after the world had been saved. "I think I'm as ready as I'm going to be. I just hope my acting skills are up to par."

"Acting skills?" Holly had asked, resetting her moon belt.

"I'm supposed to have just murdered all of my friends and family, Holly."

"Oh." There was anger somewhere in that voice, and if she hadn't known how good Artemis Fowl was at hiding his emotions, she might have been worried. But he was good at it, so she didn't worry. "See you on the flip side," she said, and took off, flying towards stonehenge. She could make it in five minutes. A new icon appeared on her helmet screen, and she smiled. Artemis had activated his mic. Somehow, the Mudboy had also improved upon it, adding in a vitals sensor. Blinking at the icon as she flew above the green terrain, she was comforted to see that all of his vitals were normal; whatever Number One had done to stop the pain must have worked very well.

Touching down at stonehenge, Holly blinked away that display, slipping filters over the screen in her helmet, scanning the area for anything unusual. The heat display showed a few blips, most of them probably rabbits, a few birds, and one that might be a young human. She changed filters, scanning for magic, before her brain caught up with her. Wait. Human? It wasn't even eight thirty in the morning. And . . . either it had actually been a fairy, or a child. Haven and Atlantis were on lockdown in order to stop any more prisoners from escaping.

Holly switched back to heat. The figure was within the circle of the old pizza place, behind one of the cooler rock pillars that clawed up into the sky. They didn't want to be seen. Making sure that Artemis' heart rate was not elevated (if he was in Glimmer's hideout, there would invariably be some reaction) Holly turned her wings back on, taking to the sky, helmet screen back to regular.

Movement. Something was moving among the rocky ruins. Someone. But who? How and why were pretty interesting questions as well. She dropped in front of the figure and felt her jaw drop, almost before she actually saw who it was. Oh gods, Artemis might just kill her.

"Myles?"

Chapter Text

"Uh . . . hi Holly." The small boy looked up at her, then reached one slender hand towards her face. The helmet. Not her face. Coming back to herself with a jerk, Holly brought her fists up to her hips and had the helmet's visor raised so that she could look the Mud boy in the eyes.

"Myles." The boy shrunk back a little bit before seeming to remember himself and jutting his chin out in a display of defiance. "You had better have a good reason as to why you're here. How did you get here?" There was no other human in the area, Myles had been the largest heat signature.

"Do you want the why or the how?"

"How first. Then why."

"Artemis' been working on a teleportation device. He says it's 'unsteady', except that's not true. He just doesn't want anyone using it." The boy stopped for a moment, sending a critiquing look at Holly, as if wondering whether he should trust her. What was with this boy? He had trusted her just fine a day ago. "Also, he hasn't tested it on living things yet. Just inanimate matter. And computer simulations, but the last fifteen computer simulations have all worked with organic matter, so . . . I tried it. And it worked. Obviously."

Holly arched an eyebrow. "And the why?"

The boy deflated a bit, so that he didn't look quite so defiant. "I didn't know you'd be here," he muttered. "I just came to see if I could find that fairy again." Holly felt her other eyebrow shoot up to join the other one. "I wasn't gonna do anything!" the boy said quickly. "I just thought, maybe if . . . ." But there it was. The slight widening of eyes, the conscious stilling of fingers, the slight stiffening of the shoulders that could almost be classified as defensive. Ticks. Artemis' ticks. When he was lying. Oh, but the Fowls were a piece of work.

"The truth, Myles. I don't have time for anything else, and neither does your brother."

The boy's blue eyes widened almost comically. "How . . .?" Holly made an impatient gesture. She felt a bit bad, treating the boy that way, but he had brought himself into danger, and she'd be damned if he got himself (or anyone else) hurt. Myles cleared his throat. "Ah, I heard you talking about the plan in the control room. So . . . yeah, I knew you were going to be here. Also, I was thinking that I could help."

"How?"

"I know where I was when I found the fairy."

"I can find that gateway with my helmet's magic sensors." Holly said, narrowing her eyes at the boy. "And as you know, Artemis would never make a plan with a hole that large in it."

"I know. I just . . . okay. I just wanted to help. He's my brother and he got hurt because of something I did. Plus, he was treating me like a baby. I'm not a baby anymore. I can help."

"And what about Beckett?"

"Oh, he is a baby."

"He's the same age as you," Holly said, exasperated.

"Not mentally," the boy tapped his own head with smile on his face. Holly rolled her eyes as she closed her visor, blinking at the icon for scanning and selecting magic with another double-blink. There were flares of the stuff all around. Some from the stones themselves, but she filtered that out simply by selecting an origin time more recent than a few centuries ago. That was another thing the centaur had added in. He was getting nostalgic, wanted to keep all the old programs, just changed them a bit. Which was fine by Holly.

With the older, residual magic wiped out, it is much easier to pinpoint the area of the gateway spell. The back door into Glimmer's cave. It appeared as a kind of vortex, throwing off occasional flares of magic as it spun. "Myles, you are going to stay back here. You are going to do nothing." Her peripheral vision could see the argument forming on his face, but she stopped him. "Or I could use magic, precious magic that I may need to help your brother, to keep you here." He pouted, but said nothing, folding his arms and crouching down between two stones.

The icon that was Artemis (which was in a group that included Butler, Mulch, and Number One) opened, displaying information on his vitals, all of which were a little more active than normal. He was close. It was at that moment that the mic was activated. A harsh whisper came through.

"Remember Holly. I have no earpiece, so I will not hear anything you say, but the others will. Also. The pain sensor that I added in to this mic gives your helmet my vitals and such, so you have the authority to change the plan if you think I may be compromised. And all of you, remember plan B. If Holly notices my magic being drained enough that it has to be that spell, you are to stop it at all costs. All costs. I'm counting on you to keep not me, but my family safe."

Yes, Artemis needed to get better at pep talks. This was seriously not helping Holly's concentration. Well, Myles sitting and pouting not far from her wasn't exactly a good thing either. Artemis was silent for a while, and Holly opened the other icons, so that she could speak with the others. "You all heard that."

"Mudboy's makin' me nervous." That was Mulch, who was most likely already secreted away a few feet below Glimmer's cave.

"He is good at that," Holly admitted. "But everyone stay focused. We've done harder things than this. This is just stopping a winged Opal Koboi. That's all this is."

"If Opal Koboi had a hold on Artemis' mind before we sent him in alone, then it would be like stopping a winged Opal Koboi." Holly had to agree a bit with Butler's logic, but ignored that fact. It wasn't a helpful one.

"Ah, Butler, I've got a little Mudboy out here right next to me, by the way."

"Send him away," came the grunted response.

"It's Myles."

The silence on the other end was punctuated only by Number One's small gasp of worry, and Mulch's groan.

"Keep him safe, and as far from the gate as you can get him."

"Will do. Everyone be safe, and keep to the plan as much as possible. Remember, I'm backup, call if you need me. And don't let her see Number One."

"We all know the plan, Holly."

"Shut up, Mulch. I'm nervous."

"Thought little Arty was the one who repeated the plan when he was nervous."

"Shut UP, Mulch." Oh gods, she was turning into Artemis.

Holly could swear the dwarf was grinning as he spoke once more. "Mission save-the-world number twenty-something is go."

Chapter Text

It was so very tense, waiting. Holly had moved so that she was close to the magical back door, but all she could do in this moment was listen to Artemis' first meeting with the elf-sprite that had attempted to take over his mind.

"I suppose you must be feeling very lost." Glimmer. Her voice was even now laced lightly with the hypnotic mesmer, and Holly had to concentrate to keep the tone from affecting her, sending her mind into a fog. She can only imagine how Artemis was being affected. Her voice was fainter than Artemis', but not as faint as it had been when this conversation had started. She was moving steadily closer. And Artemis' heart rate was ratcheting up, well past normal levels. He was frightened. Of course, when his voice came through, he sounded numb, devoid of all emotion save greif. Which was the point.

"I can't be lost if there's nowhere to go."

"Hm, I suppose that's true." Holly felt a snarl fix itself onto her lips at the other's dismissive tone. That she-devil was talking to a boy she had just made kill everyone who mattered to him! Or, she thought she did. "Come here, Darling."

Darling. Darling! Of course, Glimmer had talked like that before. Sugar-sweet. Even to Holly, in the short amount of time they'd seen each other face-to-face before Holly had shot her ship out of the air. She had thought the Sprite-elf gone, but she had turned up in prison a few months later. No one was sure how she had gotten there. Some conspiracy theorists theorized that this one might be a very advanced clone, which was impossible, as clones lack a soul.

All the vitals were now ratcheting past what would normally be considered safe. His oxygen intake was lowering. Was that the pain? That had to be the pain. But . . . so soon? It couldn't be. Could it? Of course not. Then, the oxygen levels went back up, out of the danger zone. Artemis' heart went slowly back to normal, and the rest of his vitals settled. Something had either surprised him, terrified him, or both. Holly was leaning towards the latter.

"What, exactly, is that?" Artemis' question was a bit breathy, and Holly wished that Foaly had devised an unnoticeable earpiece, just so that she could tell him that now was so not the time to be even slightly impressed by the enemy.

"This?" Glimmer's voice was full of barely-suppressed glee. "This, Honey, is what can take your misery away. After you help me."

"Why do you need my help?" Artemis' tone was once again full with the numb grief it had held before, but Holly was a bit preoccupied by Glimmer's previous statement. Take his misery away? As in . . . end his misery? As in kill him!? Holly was really very close to broadcasting the order that would have Mulch busting through the floor and Butler charging in like an enraged bull. Except . . . Number One wasn't nearly as far along in the binding spell as he needed to be.

She opened the icon to Butler. "How much longer!?"

"I can't tell," the bodyguard said, and she could hear all of the tension that Butler must be filled with in his voice. "He's glowing red and the runes are spinning. And Artemis is in danger. That is what is going on right now."

"Sorry Butler. You can go in as soon as Number One says you can. I'm not good at sensing magic from a distance."

"How's Myles behaving?"

"Ah . . ." the boy was staring at Holly, quite obviously both scared, and bored, out of his mind. "He's looking a bit impatient. Other than that, he's behaving well."

"I'm trusting you to keep him safe, Holly."

"Yup. Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to him, least of all 'cause Arty would kill me if I did."

There was silence for a while, before Butler spoke again. "Be safe, Holly."

"You too." Then she closed the icon, reopening the conversation between Glimmer and Artemis. He was doing a good job of stalling.

"You made me kill," Artemis sounded as if the word physically pained him, "everyone I cared about. Why should I help you!?"

"You came to me. You really have no where else to go. This is the only purpose your life can serve, boy. That you have magic is proof enough that this spell was meant to be unleashed upon human kind." Glimmer's voice was losing some of its mesmerous quality, apparently she was becoming a bit incensed at the delays in her grand scheme.

"You wanted me to come to you. This could be more of your hold over me." Oh, Arty. Glimmer had to be getting suspicious at this point. "And that machine. It is designed to take my magic from me in what looks like a very painful way."

"There really is no other way to do it, Honey. For you to accomplish the spell without this . . . machine . . . you would require many years of magic instruction. And I think that death is always painful, no matter how fast it is. Just the fact of death is painful. Sometimes enough so to keep yourself from falling into it." Glimmer's voice had taken on a tone of fierce nostalgia. Like Opal's, when the crazy pixie went on one of her rants. "I know from experience. Of course, you have nothing to live for, so the pain of death may be preferable to this world, hm?"

"I would have let you kill me if it would keep my family safe." Unfortunately (or, perhaps, very fortunately), Holly thought that Artemis was not lying there. He truly might have died (giving Glimmer the human race as a result) to save his family. There was a tugging at her sleeve, and Holly was forced to concentrate on the world outside her visor.

"Holly? What's going on? Is Artemis okay? Are you gonna go help him now?" Myles. Holly really wished the boy had stayed put where he was. She said so. "But there are little people in black in the stones now."

Little people in black? What in Frond's name . . . flicking her screen to heat sensor, she turned back to the monument. Nothing. Then, on a whim, she began scanning for ambient gasses. The stones showed up as nothing, holes. And flitting between them . . . stealth suits. Glimmer, or someone helping her, had developed stealth suits. Great. This was typical. And she was not to attempt contacting Haven unless it was an emergency, Glimmer would likely pick up on that too, so Foaly was out of the loop. Holly pulled her neutrino from her belt and pushed Myles behind her, opening Butler and Mulch's icons as she did so.

"I've got company, boys."

Chapter Text

Luckily, Myles had been taught enough self-defense by Butler (and had apparently paid attention) to avoid the few attackers that got past Holly's defensive array of stun-bolts. Whatever they were doing here, these ninja fairies could fight. None of them had a neutrino, instead they slashed at Holly with long, thin swords or smaller, aerodynamic throwing knives. They also seemed to recover from the neutrino blasts way too fast. She shot them down, and they stayed down for a grand total of two minutes before they were up and running at her again. Whether it was the suit, or some kind of training, was a question for another time. When she wasn't fighting for hers and Myles' lives.

She kicked a particularly lucky ninja in the stomach, doubling him over and conking him over the head with the barrel of her neutrino. knocking them out the hard way was the only way to keep them down. Well, as far as she knew. They could possibly wake up at any time. Behind her, Myles held a very solid rock with his small, slender hands, and despite his small size (small for a human, just below average for a grown fairy) he looked fierce, his scowl darkening his boyish features. So far he had not used the stone, but he looked ready to.

The next ninja to get too close to Holly got kicked in the knee with enough force to break their leg. Holly felt bad about causing her pain, but not as bad as she would have felt had she gotten past her and harmed Myles. Holly targeted quickly, and took down two more ninjas with one blast by knocking the first into one behind it. The second one didn't stay down for long.

"Holly! A little help?" Myles' voice was strained, and Holly whirled, neutrino already firing, so that she knocked the ninja away from Myles before she saw the knife at his throat. Luckily, the ninja dropped the knife as he fell back, so no blood marred the Mud boy's skin. Blue eyes wide, Myles picked up the rock he had dropped.

"This thing is useless," Holly heard him mutter as she turned back around just in time to duck under a ninja's beheading stroke and send a blast of concentrated energy into his sternum, dropping him to the ground without a sound. She spared a moment to hope that the beam hadn't killed him at near point-blank range, then turned to the next black-clad warrior. And seriously, why in Frond's name? None of this made any sense. Not unless Glimmer expected someone to be here. Which she shouldn't. By all accounts, and her own experience, Glimmer was an idealist, but not much of a strategist. So was this luck, or someone watching the elf-sprite's back?

Holly dropped the next ninja with a firm chop to the base of the skull, rendering him unconscious. She didn't particularly like hand-to-hand combat. In the LEP Academy, she had been one of the best shots, but hand-to-hand had always been something of a weakness.

"You still doin' okay there, Hols?" Mulch's voice almost had Holly losing her balance as she leapt back from a swiping sword.

"I'll be alright. Monitoring Artemis' condition, I'll give you the signal when it's time. Butler and Number One still good?" Holly knew her speech was choppy, distracted, but she was under quite a bit of pressure at the moment.

"We're in the clear, Captain," came Butler's voice, and Holly grunted to let them know she'd gotten the transmission as she blasted another ninja into temporary unconsciousness. "Number One's spell casting seems to be winding down."

"Good." A majority of the ninjas were now on the ground, felled by quick jabs from Holly or (in the case of one or two) the quick thinking of a Mud boy holding a rock, but the five that were left seemed to be the smartest. They circled slowly, moving like panthers, silent and deadly. Following them with her eyes, Holly shifted her weight slightly, and pain flared up through her leg. Holly gasped in surprise. She must have been cut at some point, but through the adrenaline and need to keep moving, she must not have noticed it. Quickly, she shifted her weight onto her uninjured left leg, hoping that the black-clad fighters hadn't noticed. Judging by the way one of them cocked their head to the side, eyes (the only part of the face visible) calculating, told Holly that they had. Oh D'Arvit. Something warm pressed against her right side. Myles.

He was watching the circling ninjas wide blue eyes, an expression like a rabbit facing a wolf adorning his small features. There was blood on his forehead, dripping into his eyes. He must have taken a bad tumble. Holly's neutrino was steady when she brought it up, but the ninjas all easily evaded her blasts. Which was to be expected. An alarm in her ear had Holly scrambling for composure as she blinked frantically at Artemis' icon. His vitals were all elevated, the pain was flaring, and his magic was extremely active. "Oh, hurry, Number One. Hurry." They were too far along in plan A to switch to plan B, and there were five ninjas in between Holly and the portal. And Glimmer was doing something. A probably bad something.

"Holly, I'm nervous."

"We'll be okay, Myles."

"Mm hm. Heaven's a lovely place." When all of this was over, Holly was going to have a serious conversation with Artemis about making his little brother a pessimist too.

Just then, Number One's voice was in her ear. "The spell is prepped and ready to go, Holly."

"Go. I'm still tied up."

"We'll come get you once the objective has been completed," came Butler's voice. "Can you hold out for a few more minutes?"

"Of course." Holly wasn't so sure, but she put all of the confidence she could muster into her voice. Myles was shifting nervously against her, craning his skinny neck in a vain effort to keep all of the ninja warriors in sight. He gave a squeak of surprise, and Holly had just enough time to pull him into a duck with her so that the star thrown by one of the ninjas passed harmlessly over their heads. Then the black-clad fighters leapt forward all at once.

Chapter Text

Holly did her best to keep both herself and Myles from any more harm, but five ninja fairies against a young Mud boy and one LEP Recon Captain was hardly a fair match. Of course, it had been a worse match when it was fifteen against two, but this was insane. It was all dodging and very little attack. Holly kept Myles close to her body, one hand flat on his back, pressed against his dark blue T-shirt, and the other clutching his hand, hoping to reassure him. He was almost putty in her hands, bending forward when she pushed and stepping left when she pulled, right when she tugged.

It was a dangerous dance, one of steel and black cloth and flashing knives. Holly's neutrino was as good as useless as anything other than a club, but she didn't want to let go of Myles for any reason. If she let go, he might get hurt more than he already was, and with the head wound still bleeding, Holly was becoming a little worried.

She was sweating by the time she noticed the mountain of a Mud man stepping out of thin air not too far from their location. Holly was sweating and tiring and slowing down and those ninjas seemed to have all of their energy. Butler tore through them like a rock through reeds, knocking them unconscious with practiced blows. As soon as she stopped moving, Holly's knees turned to butter and she slid down to the ground. Her right leg was stinging, prickling it's way to numbness, which was bad. The cut must have been deeper than she thought.

A ripping sound had Holly looking up as the world spun dizzyingly. Myles' T-shirt had been ripped up by a few too-close calls, and now he was tearing it into strips, kneeling down to tie some of the strips around her leg.

"Myles!" Artemis' voice sounded hoarse, as if he had been yelling. Screaming. Holly closed her eyes for a second to clear her head. Blood loss tends to make one woozy, and the lower part of her leg was covered with the red liquid.

"Myles, are you alright?"

"Of course brother," Myles stands to meet Artemis, who is staggering across the grass on legs that look about to collapse. "Head wounds look worse than they are, you know that."

"Yes. Yes, of course." Artemis sat down then, closed his eyes, and collapsed the rest of the way so that he lay slightly crumpled on the grass.

"Exhaustion," Myles said, before Holly's sleepy brain could react. He was hovering over his brother, hands fluttering over the pulsepoint on the neck and his brother's forehead. "Fever. We should get home."

"We got Glimmer, right?" Holly slurred to Butler, who was tying some strips above and around a shallower cut on her arm.

"Yeah, Number One stopped her in her tracks. Try to stay awake as long as you can, Captain. Number One'll teleport us to the mansion, and we'll get you stitched up." Holly's head was pounding and her eyes were heavy, but she tried to stay conscious. She managed it just long enough to see Number One coming out of the portal with a bound and unconscious Glimmer Vendera floating after him. Then she fell to darkness.

When Holly woke up, she was back in her room in Fowl Manor. Her whole body ached, and there was a little grey demon asleep in the chair. Pulling herself up into a sitting position, Holly felt an itching uncomfortableness in her upper left arm and upper right thigh. Stitches.

"Number One?" she called. Or tried to; her voice cracked in her dry throat and she started coughing against the dryness.. Fortunately, Number One must have heard her coughs, and a glass of water appeared at her elbow. Holly nodded her thanks as she took it from the demon's small hands and gulped it down. It was like liquid gold sliding down her throat. Not how liquid gold would actually feel . . . just . . . it was the sweetest, smoothest water she'd ever drank.

"Foaly and Master Quan came by with Commander Kelp yesterday and took Glimmer in, she's going to be put away in Atlantis this time, under thoroughly vetted guards. Hopefully her rich benefactors won't be able to use their influence to make her disappear again. Foaly also traced the ninjas to a fairy named Rocky Gulch." Holly felt her lips thin as she thought about that name. The Gulch family owned the largest apartment complex in Haven, and had a lot of family money on top of that. Not quite as influential as the Koboi family, but close. "He's been taken in as well, though he might get out on account of contacts and good old gold."

"Hm." Holly felt her brow wrinkle as she thought back over what Number One had just said. "They came yesterday? How long have I been out?"

"Three days. Myles and Arty've been worried. Arty woke up yesterday evening. It's . . . a little after noon at the moment." He stopped for a moment, tilting his head and regarding Holly through half-lidded eyes. "Butler said that you'll need bedrest for a few days to get your blood sugar up or something like that. You lost a lot of blood."

"Where is Artemis?"

"In his study, I do believe."

"Myles?"

"Probably out in the yard with Beckett and Juliet." Number One pursed his lips before continuing. "He seemed a bit shaken up afterwards, but his mother was most helpful. And . . ." the warlock sighed. "I think Artemis is still recovering from the stress the pain put on both his mind and body. Plus his magic is a little out of control, it's still trying to settle after Glimmer all but ripped it out of him."

"I'm not allowed to move from this bed, am I?"

"Butler did make that clear, yes."

"Could . . . could you go find Artemis and tell him I'd like to talk with him?"

"Sure." Number One jumped down from the chair and trotted out the door.

Holly's helmet was on the bedside table, though she was no longer in her jumpsuit. Instead, she was in a green tank top and a pair of sports shorts. The lamp on the side table was lit, and despite the bright sunlight showing itself around the gaps and edges of the thick curtains, there were shadows cast stark against the creamy tan walls.

The mattress dipping slightly had Holly looking back at the bed, and coming face-to-face with Calypso yet again. The black-and-white furred animal lay down next to Holly, stretching on its side as if begging to get her belly rubbed.

"She likes you." Artemis' voice had her looking towards the door. He walked into the room, and Holly noticed that he moved slowly, almost haltingly. "My ah . . . my legs are having the hardest time adjusting. I was laying down for quite a long while, and with the pain causing my brain to start prioritizing . . . well, I need to get used to using them again. With Vendera, I didn't do much walking. It was mostly just standing there. And, well." He lowered himself onto Number One's vacated chair. "You wanted to talk with me?"

"Wanted to make sure you're okay."

"Yes, largely. My parents weren't particularly happy that I kept secrets from them, again, but they understand my reasons, which makes it bearable. The human race was saved, and my family is safe, which is the best outcome."

"I . . . I've never had any siblings," Holly said quietly. "I was an only child. I can't imagine the bond you have with Myles and Beckett."

"It's a bit like the bond I have with you, to be perfectly honest, which I so rarely am." Artemis smiled at Holly as Calypso leapt from the bed to his lap. His mitch-matched eyes almost twinkled. "Although, with our genetics intermingling, we really might be considered siblings."

A slow smile slid over Holly's features. "You know, I think you're right, Arty. I think you're right."