Artemis sat up in bed. His dreams had been plagued with strange visions: fantastic technologies, fairies, trolls, and one individual in particular, leaning in from above him. What had she been saying? Something about healing, being glad he was ok . . .

Instead of dissipating, the dream grew sharper. Details flooded into his head. Trolls! Butler fought a troll! Hell, Mulch rode a troll! And Foaly, all that time and money spent making that technology, and all the time and effort I put into batting it aside! And . . . Holly.

Artemis shook his head, suddenly feeling dizzy. Why was all of this coming back suddenly? Had The People gone back on their deal, had he been wiped again? No, Holly would never let them, and Foaly would never go through with it. And he certainly wouldn't be able to overcome Foaly's wipes with just a good night's rest.

The memories were still flowing, but this time, he was retracing his steps. Butler and Holly had left him here to rest, why? Because he was exhausted in every sense of the word, physically and spiritually, but why? He was remembering because Holly was reminding him, stories of their adventures. WHY?

I was dead.

He remembered the shimmering, scintillating green barrier. Holly struggling against Butler, trying to save him. A futile gesture. Hadn't she realized it was necessary? Didn't she see that this was the only way? He left her the escape route, Foaly would be able to . . .

Suddenly, Artemis stood up and dashed across the room, all dizziness forgotten. He scrambled to a stop at the vanity on the far side and looked in the mirror.

"My eye," He said, slowly, "My hazel eye. It's gone." Of course it was gone, he was a clone. He knew it shouldn't be there, that the magical transplant wasn't part of him, and thus would not be cloned, but he somehow missed seeing it in the mirror. Missed seeing her looking back at him.

His rush across the room and low voice caused the room's other occupant to stir. Turning, he saw a small form huddled in the armchair, evidently keeping watch over the sleeping boy. Her position suggested she had slowly succumbed to sleep after trying to stay awake, her posture bore evidence that she had hastily drawn in her legs and turned sideways to sleep, realizing the inevitable.

Artemis quietly retrieved a blanket from the bed and, making sure not to make a noise as he crossed the room, draped it over her sleeping form. His efforts were in vain, however, as she stirred when the blanket was laid down. Before she could rise, he pushed her shoulder down, speaking softly.

"Shh, go back to sleep, you can rest now," He said, trying to be soothing, but coming across demanding. He tried to soften his tone. "We won, everything's okay, you deserve a rest."

"Artemis?" Holly said, groggily, debating whether she should awake at the news he was conscious, or follow his instructions and fall back into slumber, "You . . . You remember?"

Leaning in, he spoke near her ear. "I remember everything." And with this, he leaned in and kissed her, for the barest of seconds, before pulling away. By the time he rose from her side, Holly was sleeping, far more peacefully than before.

Artemis crossed to the door, opening it just enough for him to slip through. As he did so, the person dozing in the chair next to the door awoke with a start, hand reaching into his jacket for the handgun holstered there.

"Holly? Is Artemis . . . " Butler realized who was standing before him, but before he could say anything, Artemis help up his hand, quickly indicating that he should be quiet.

"She's sleeping, as I noticed you were." He said, a small grin forming in the corner of his mouth, "If only Madame Ko could see you, she'd forgo the laser and flay that tattoo from your skin with her bare hands."

Butler didn't say a word, merely putting his hand on his young charge's shoulder, "You should be resting yourself, you've technically only been alive for a few hours."

"I have spent enough time resting Butler, for as they say, you can sleep when you're dead." Artemis didn't note the joke. Once upon a time he would have marveled at the unexpected quip, but of late, he found it faster to just assume Holly's unprofessional tendencies were rubbing off. "I have work to do, for undoubtedly, in six months, the world has had enough to deal with that one young genius from Ireland has been forgotten."

By now, Artemis had made his way to the study and sat down at the desk where, in spite of his absence, his computer still sat.

"It's time I set about reminding them."