Chapter five

There was still darkness. It veiled everything in its gloomy aura. Holly was vaguely aware of breathing. It was her own. It was scary to hear it rasp shallowly. What were those creatures? What had they done to her? And how was she still alive?

Holly fought to open her eyes but her body was betraying her. Was she dead? Holly threw that thought away the minute it crossed her mind. She couldn't be dead she felt pain. Everyone said you don't feel pain when you die. She delved into her mind for a way out. The last thing she remembered was seeing someone step towards her. Apparently the creatures in the cloaks didn't notice it. Holly was worried about No1, but she was most worried about Artemis.

She was here for at most a day and she had already got injured. She was a former LEP captain in peak physical condition while Artemis was biologically fourteen years old who barely deigns to think about exercise. She was worried he had gotten in trouble.

Like I have! Holly reminded herself harshly. She made one last valiant effort to open her eyes. When that didn't work, she submitted. Once she rested she would regain her control and then she could learn where she was. Holly stopped resisting and allowed the darkness to take her over again.

12 Grimmald Place

Artemis opened his eyes when the Weasley twins stopped talking. Fred and George watched him as the calculating look came over his face. "I think I know how to work it…" Artemis whispered. Fred and George cocked their heads.

"Work what?" they asked in unison. Artemis looked up.

"You told me Harry's behavior and about the visions he had during his fifth year. It is clear to me why he behaved and saw those particular scenes. I believe something similar happened to me." Artemis said. His eyes got a freaky twinkle and the twins looked slightly unnerved.

"What happened to Harry and what do you mean something like that happened to you?" Fred asked nervously.

"It seems Harry had an unwilling connection with Voldemort- oh stop flinching!" Artemis said irritably as the twins shuddered at the mere mention of the name. "Anyway, Harry has a connection with him. I do believe I have such a connection with some friends of mine due to a, shall we say, incident not long ago. I think I can use that connection to help us." Artemis continued. Fred and George exchanged glances.

"What are your connected friend's names?" George asked.

"Their names are Holly, Qwan and No1." Artemis said, smiling mysteriously. He closed his eyes and set about contacting his friends.

Fowl Manor

Qwan gazed at the little orb. He couldn't shake the feeling he had seen it before. They had just finished explaining to Trouble what had happened. Foaly had asked Trouble to bring up the equipment and he was too curious to just give them the equipment and leave. When they all finally told him about what had happened to Artemis, No1 and Holly he insisted that he'd help.

So, now everyone was trying to think up the best way to get there. The ball seemingly deposited people in random locations and it would be dangerous to just walk blindly through.

"Foaly! You should be able to calculate where it would take us or something!" Trouble said.

"This thing isn't in any of the archives in the Internet! I've tried everywhere; databases, fairy search engines, I even tried Google!" Foaly stressed. Minerva looked up at him.

"Isn't Google very useful?" she asked.

"No. Only mud men use it. Very uninformed." Foaly said while typing furiously.

'Holly? No1? Qwan? Can any of you hear me?' an all too familiar voice said in Qwan's head. Qwan's eyes widened and if anyone had been watching, they would have noticed his eyes filming over slightly.

'Artemis? What are you doing in my head?' Qwan thought. Qwan noticed a vague presence inside the room.

'Qwan! I was right!' Artemis thought.

'Yes… Now do you mind answering my question?' Qwan thought.

'A few hours ago I saw an image in my mind's eye. It depicted a creature in a cloak that seemed to force all around it in despair. When I asked about it, I was told that it wasn't a mere figment of my imagination it was real. I had a vague sense of Holly when it happened. I think the time tunnel bound all our consciousnesses together in a way. I think we could tap into Abbot as well but I didn't try.' Artemis thought. Qwan nodded his head. The presence seemed stronger somehow. But it couldn't have been just Artemis, there seemed to be three people. If Qwan counted his connection with Artemis one of them, who were the other two's?

'I think Holly and No1 are unconscious. Neither of them heard us. What happened over there?' Artemis asked. Qwan proceeded to tell him what had happened since he had left up to now.

"Er, Qwan? Are you all right?" Minerva asked, suddenly noticing the film over his eyes.

"I'm fine." Qwan said. Minerva cocked her head and narrowed her eyes.

"No you're not," she said.

"You know, now that you mentioned it…" Mulch said. Everyone turned their eyes on Qwan.

'Artemis, I have to go. I don't think it is wise to tell everyone about the connection.' Qwan thought.

'Agreed. I will try to contact Holly and No1.' Artemis thought. The film abruptly retreated from Qwan's eyes.

"I'm fine." Qwan said again firmly. Minerva scrutinized him again but then she shrugged and turned away. Trouble was talking to Foaly rather irritably.

"Foaly, it is obvious you can't find anything. Just let us go through!" Trouble said. Foaly scowled.

"Go ahead and get dropped off at a random place! See if I care!" Foaly said irritably. Trouble rolled his eyes and picked up the ball. Everyone watched it as it went through its normal stages but Qwan noted there was more navy in it than last time. The huge rip appeared in the air yet again and all hell broke loose.

A/N

HAHAHAHAHA! Evil cliffie! -) I'll get the next chapter up soon.