AN: I am so sorry! And I'm back!

I gave up reading and writing fanfiction for Lent, a snap decision made on Ash Wednesday, and whilst I have been back reading for a few days, I have been working on ScriptFrenzy and school and this WAS written a week ago, but I wanted to continue before I posted it. Then I felt I HAD to post something, so here it is :) Sorry!

Chapter 6

Over on the other side of the hall, at the other long table, another clique was forming and coalescing gradually. At its centre were a few very distinctive figures.

Iris folded herself up a little further in an effort to be inconspicuous. 'Are you going to eat that, Jeanne?' she asked with disgusted fascination.

'I am,' Jeanne replied as loftily as she could. 'I'm sure they wouldn't feed us anything really poisonous. Anyway, isn't this what fairies eat?'

'Dwarfs, maybe,' tech17 replied doubtfully. 'But I don't really think it's suitable for human consumption.'

Sophie was staring at the plate of food, looking slightly greener than she normally did. 'Jeanne, what's that?'

Jeanne looked down in trepidation. 'I… really don't know, actually.'

'Do you think it's alive?' wondered Iris as she poked it.

'I think it might have been once,' replied Jeanne doubtfully.

A bang on the table jolted Jeanne's plate slightly. The unidentified object began to ooze away.

The bang had come from the fist of a girl sitting a little further down the table. 'I think you're forgetting the real reason we're here!' Ivy Willows glared ferociously at the others from her mismatched hair-chocolate eyes. 'To defeat all these barriers and obstacles, to-' she paused. 'Jeanne, your plate of food is running away.'

'I think it might have been resuscitated by the jolt,' a new girl theorized. Jeanne spared a moment to look at her. 'See, the kinetic force could well have been all that was needed to trigger a process of-'

'Do you know what she's talking about?' whispered Iris to Sophie.

'Not really, no,' the sprite-girl replied.

'-a complete cellular renewal, also known as regeneration.' The girl blinked and made a small mewing noise. 'I'm sorry, I don't know where that came from.' She adjusted her fez to make it sit squarely between her cat ears.

'Are those on a headband?' tech17 asked interestedly.

'Nope. This is me. I know, I know- I look like I'm from New Earth, minus a bit of fur.' Another mew escaped from her mouth. 'I've even got a tail.'

'That is cool,' Iris admired.

'I know! And I got a bowtie, too!'

'Yes, it looks horrible,' Ivy Willows critiqued. 'Wrong shade of red for that salmon pink blouse.'

'Hey!' the girl protested. The entire group chorused on cue, 'Bowties are cool!'

'What's your name?' Jeanne asked politely.

'Artemis the Third,' the catgirl answered with a polite smile.

'Can you be Artemis the Twenty-Seventh or something? Only it's proved a bit popular…' Ivy said tiredly.

'I'll just be Arty, then, how about that?'

The entire group looked at the catgirl dressed as the Doctor, thought for a moment of their beloved criminal genius, then shouted 'NO!'

'Right, fine, fine. I'm Three, then, how's that?'

'I think that should be alright,' Jeanne allowed graciously.

Ivy cleared her throat. 'In any case, it is now time to return to the real purpose of our group. We are dedicated. We are strong. We are mildly obsessed. We are…' She paused for dramatic effect and the author took the opportunity to use ellipses. 'The Artemis Lovers!'

There was a pause.

'That's a bit…' someone began.

'Useless?' another girl suggested.

Ivy drew herself up to her full height, which was not much, for the pure-blooded elf was a little under a meter high and was almost dwarfed by her hair (no pun intended) which still stuck out straight in every direction like a giant pom-pom.

'Are you suggesting,' she hissed, 'that my name is inadequate?'

'Well… yeah,' came a voice in the crowd. A general muttering of consent, yesses, 'She's right you know's, and other confirmatives came from down the table.

Ivy looked slightly deflated by the lack of cowed-ness. 'Well, does anyone have a better idea?' Her typoed eyes looked menacingly down the table, and slowly a chorus of 'No, Ivy…' came susurrating back.

'Good,' Ivy said with a happy smile. 'Now! Introductions.'

At nine o'clock that night, most of the students were safely tucked up in bed. A large number of them, however, had decided to ignore the 9pm curfew simply to sneak about with their new friends.

The library was quiet and dim. The distant screams of those caught out of bounds by the trollz were muffled by the thick doors, which minervaartemis closed behind her as silently as she could.

The library was huge, and in the dark it seemed cavernous. The area in front of the doors was a massive lounge, of sorts, scattered with armchairs, sofas, chaise longues, tables of various sizes and lamps of many different sorts. It was like a giant fifties living room, all the furniture being period and mostly lacy.

The lounge area was walled in with shelves full of books that stretched up to the distant, vaulted ceiling. The only light came from the torch that minervaartemis held in her hand, its white beam cutting across the room. minervaartemis stepped over to the nearest table and carefully struck a match, lighting the gaslamp. There was an electric one a meter away but gas was cooler. Or warmer, depending.

The giant polished desk where the Librarians, presumably, resided was deserted. minervartemis was strangely relieved about that, although she hadn't seen the Librarians yet, feeling that they must be rather formidable.

minervaartemis settled down in an armchair which faced towards the door, casting her gaze around the library. Whoever had asked her to meet them there had not yet shown up, it would appear.

The shadows of the library shivered in the wavering gaslight. minervaartemis shivered a little too, and she got up and went to the next table, lighting that lamp as well. This one was electric and a little stronger, though the room was still dim. The shelves seemed to stretch off forever and minervaartemis could see dimly that there were more shelves behind them.

minervaartemis settled onto the sofa nearby, still watching the room.

Minutes passed in the silent dark. The screams of students being caught by the trollz seemed to fade away, and the library became ever more silent.

minervaartemis checked her watch. 9-25. Obviously whoever it was wasn't coming. She stood up, moving to shut off the lamp.

'Oh, no, don't leave,' came a voice from behind her. On the sofa. Next to where she had been sitting.

The leader of the Minerva Haters spun around with a squeak, hands flailing, as she backed towards the table and the small pool of light thrown by the electric lamp.

'I haven't had a chance to talk to you yet,' the voice continued smoothly. minervaartemis choked in fear and scrambled back, colliding with the table.

The voice moved a little as it continued, and minervaartemis saw a dark shadow flitting across the room.

'I am doing this for your own good, you know. You are playing with fire, young woman, and you have no idea how far you could fall.'

A floor lamp flicked on and minervaartemis shielded her eyes against the bright light. Her eyes adjusted and she looked up to see a student, her own age, doubled over in silent laughter.

'I'm sorry,' the stranger said between giggles. 'I've always wanted to pull that on somebody.' She straightened up and held out a hand.

Told you I hadn't really finished it...