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"Come in," the strange man that Holly had seen was at the door to the house that Holly was being held captive in. Artemis and Audrey walked in. Artemis took a good look around, trying to take in every detail. Audrey simply stared strait ahead looking at the strange man who had brought them in. "You are not to use equipment," he said, as thought he was reading from a text book. "Please take out your iris cams, and audio recorders. Audrey stared. What?...

"You don't want us to find your mistakes." Artemis smiled. What amateurs!

"No, we don't," said the man. "This way, the experts will not know what happened's in this room, and Foaly cannot use images to figure out what I am saying. No, the only way for you to find a mistake is if by chance one of you hears it." Audrey almost smiled. Something she could do and something she was good at...

"Foaly, what's going on?" Juliet asked.

"I don't know, D'arvit, he's making them take of their cams, and mikes... We'll never spot a mistake now!"

"What about Audrey? Juliet asked.

"What about 'er?"

"Doesn't she have a phonic memory?"

"Yes!"

Holly had been given a TV screen.

She could watch what was going on in the living room. She could hear it too, and that was a good thing. She could see Audrey, and Artemis. Why would they want Audrey and Artemis? Wouldn't they want the commander...

Wait. Root was dead and Sool was bad. No, Root wasn't dead, but at the moment he was working for the enemy. Not the greatest thing in the world. But Julius wasn't really bad, was he? Holly just couldn't grasp it. She was having problems realizing the fact that she had been kidnapped. "Get me out of this one Artemis," she whispered.

Foaly, Mulch and Juliet sat quietly in the control room. One was patient, one was inpatient, and one was eating a chocolate bar. I'll let you guess who's who.

Foaly was drumming his fingers on the table. "What's taking them!" he said loudly.

"They just went in," Juliet said. She was braiding her hair. The blond tassels were being weaved together gave Foaly something to look at for a couple moments, and then he was himself again. "What's taking them?" he asked again.

"Keep your shirt on!" Mulch said with his mouth full. "They'll be done in a minute!"

An hour and a half later, an Artemis who was deeply in thought and an Audrey who was standing strait with her head high, her jeans and sweatshirt looking slightly crumpled. Foaly looked at her. "Okay, Audrey. Start talking."

"It wasn't that long. They just brought us in..."

"No." Foaly turned around in his swivel chair. "I want to know it word by word."

"Okay. We went in and He told us that we couldn't have any equipment. Then, he said..." she took a deep breath, and began.

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"What do you want?" Artemis asked the strange, and still unidentified man.

"The same thing you did, mudboy. We want gold."

"You're a mudperson too, you know." Audrey stared into his eyes. They were laughing at her.

"You call humans mudpeople too, you know. Maybe, you aren't the only half and half. Maybe, I am too." The man looked out the window. "You, Audrey, inherited your father's looks, and aging. You are practically human." Audrey fumed. How dare he? But he went on, and she had to listen to every word. "...But I inherited my father (who was the fairy) aging structure. I age like a fairy. Look like a human. But, I do no have magic. No. To live like a human, I had to give up my magic. You see, Audrey, You look are practically human. You are. I, am about half. I, have been gifted with the ageing of fairies"

Audrey stared at him. Someone, like herself? Wait, Holly was the focus here...

"Where is Holly Short?" Artemis asked. So calm... Audrey felt as if she was about to explode.

"She is here, and safe. Back to business, we want the same as young Artemis here did." He leaned in close to Audrey. I want the gold, the time stop, the whole deal, got it?"

Audrey nodded. Oh yeah, they would get it...

"You don't have any choice her. You guys didn't then, and you don't now. There's no way out of this one. There never was. Understand?

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