"Well, I guess you'll never come back, then."

"Holly –"

"Out. Now."

"You need to know that –"

"I said now."

Artemis took a deep breath. "As you wish," he said curtly. He stood decisively, and strode out the door without a second's hesitation.

Chapter 9

Artemis was troubled. And a troubled mind was a slow mind. He needed to clear his thoughts as soon as possible.

"Artemis," a collected voice said behind him. Minerva. Interesting. He was so preoccupied he hadn't even noticed her when he passed her in the hallway. Well, her newfound powers of stealth probably helped as well.

"Yes, Min—" Artemis turned around. No one was there.

"Speak, Artemis," the girl commanded from behind him, again. Artemis was curious. Why was she so openly displaying her powers now, toying with him? He didn't like it.

"What are you doing, Minerva?"

"I am showing you that as long as you are fully human, you will never be the elite of our kind."

"Your 'kind'?"

"Not just me. You. Us. The Einsteins and the Beethovens and the Caesars and the Wu Zetians. But you cannot have true power if you lack physical ability. Think about Athena, and her Roman counterpart for whom I was named. She was the goddess of wisdom. But she found herself all too often using not only her mental acuity but also her great skill in battle. You cannot have one without the other, Artemis. You must accept the fact that as long as you yourself are not physically powerful, you will one day find yourself with no bodyguards, with someone or something against whom your mind games are futile, and that will be the day you are helpless."

"There are ways of gaining martial prowess other than your…method, Minerva."

"But think what else I have gained. Think of how quickly your defenses were struck down. I am asking you to think, Artemis, something you are accustomed to. Think. Not make a choice. Not give advice. Just think. I'll be back."

And when Artemis turned around, she was already gone.

The tunnel was dark, and Foaly could feel the moisture seeping into his hooves. Normally this would've irritated him, but this was not water. It was refreshing, in fact, in a strange way. Up ahead there was a corner – and there would probably be many other turns ahead. He could very well get very lost very quickly. Foaly glanced back at the small spot of light that the opening of the tunnel, and then took a deep breath. He turned the corner – and froze.

He'd expected mold, mildew, all sorts of creepy creatures, but what he saw astounded him. Drips of something glowing, something radiant hung from the ceiling. It was red, a deep yet bright ruby color that outshone any gem. Sparse at first, the population of this strange thing grew denser as the light from the office faded, as if it was not suited to grow in light. As Foaly trotted on, he noticed that the growth had turned into spirals of green, less sparkly than the red but still a glistening emerald color. And then, farther into the dark maze sprouted splashes of sea blue, glittering against the tunnel walls like sapphires on a black velvet setting. Foaly stopped suddenly, and realized that he had no idea where he was – there was no light save that of the exotic – plants? Animals? Minerals? And the wall was no longer dirt – it really was like black velvet, clean and refined and even, but smoother, more rigid, as if the entire structure was carved out of a single, colossal piece of onyx. And then further on there were purples, swirls of deep, rich violet, silky amethyst dancing along the cold stone walls. Foaly was mesmerized by the stunning beauty of it all. He wanted to reach out and touch this amazing phenomenon—until he remembered the how deep-sea predators lured prey with lights. He did not want to be eaten – or worse. So instead he trotted on, quickly and a bit unnerved. That is, until he came to the next section of tunnel.

Gold. Silver. The two spun and intertwined, so that there was hardly an empty spot on the walls. Then something stirred in Foaly's mind, and he cantered back to the blue part, hastily, and then back to the gold-and-silver, and he realized where he had seen this before – not the tunnel, but the blue and the gold.

Magic.

"Holly?"

Minerva. Oh, how she hated that Mud Girl. What was Minerva doing here? Holly hoped she'd come closer, so she'd be within reach of Holly's fists. Well, one fist, since her wrist still burned. That was Minerva's doing, too.

"Whaddaya want," Holly snarled.

"I came to … apologize," Minerva purred reassuringly. "I'm so loath about what happened, Holly. Truly, I am. You deserve better than that."

Holly's brows shot up in surprise. She shifted to face Minerva, who was standing in the doorway. "Excuse me?"

"Yes, well, I suppose I can't expect you to forgive me after acting so boorishly. But I need you to know that I never intended for my visit to unfold into such disaster. What happened was uncalled for."

That was pretty much what Holly thought of the situation, too, though Holly had been thinking with more rage and less eloquence. She relaxed – a little bit. She was still suspicious, but the annoying thing was that although Minerva was well within punching range, Holly couldn't bring herself to be mad at someone so sincere and thoughtful…what was she thinking? The D'Arviting Mud Girl almost killed her! And now she was going to let Minerva manipulate her like that?

Minerva straightened from the kneeling stance beside Holly she had smoothly and gradually taken. "I understand if you don't want to talk. Please don't feel like I'm imposing something upon you."

Holly realized that she had not spoken aloud for almost a minute after Minerva apologized. "Oh, uh, yeah …" Ugh, Holly, you moron! That would've sounded stupid even if you weren't talking to a child genius!

But Minerva didn't seem amused or condescending. "You need time, of course. Please, I don't wish to infringe upon your privacy," she graciously returned. "Someone intelligent as you should be allowed space. But if you want to talk, or scream insults, I'll be available. Thank you for giving me a part of your precious time and attention." Not the slightest hint of sarcasm.

Holly stared in amazement as Minerva glided over the hardwood floor and out of the door. She continued staring even after Minerva was no longer in sight. She had that odd, somewhat misplaced feeling when she was completely at a loss, despite her mind repeatedly informing her of exactly what she should do.

Foaly took several deep, shaky breaths, and then slowly made his way deeper into the tunnel. This was definitely not normal. He almost wished that the strange swirls were some sort of poisonous plant or jelly. At least that would be scientific. But magic… magic was so unpredictable. It made him uncomfortable.

After some time even the gold and silver faded, and the tunnel began to shrink. Foaly was beginning to think that it was going to end when a solid dot of light shone in the air in front of him. Intrigued, he reached out and found something hard apparently inserted into a circular hole in the wall. Pulling it out, he realized that it was in fact a baton-like shape that glowed with a dim white light. As he slid the object out, however, it suddenly became very bright, and the white became stark and harsh. Startled, Foaly dropped the cylinder. It shattered into a million tiny pieces against the tunnel floor and its light slowly dimmed to nothing. In the hole where it used to be was a small indent shining with the same tone of light that the baton had had originally. It was a sharp, irregular shape, and to Foaly's immense surprise his hoof seemed to step on a shard of the exact same outline. He leaned down. Its light was gone when he picked it up, but as it grew closer to the dent it began to flicker feebly.

Nothing to lose, Foaly reminded himself. He fitted the splinter to the glowing notch.

Holly's mind was so painfully open that Minerva felt embarrassed for her. Still, she had effectively confused the elf's simple thought process, and it was finally time to move on to stage two of the plan. It was so atrociously late. Minerva hated being late. And this time, it wasn't her fault.

She wasn't the one who would have to pay.

A/N: Yes, I have not updated for a criminally long time. Yes, this chapter is boring. Yes, I'm sorry. No, I will not barrage you with my plethora of excuses. Because I wouldn't really care about my personal life either.

But I really am sorry.

On the bright side, I had the opportunity to read The Atlantis Complex, so that will definitely be integrated here.

Thanks for bearing with me. I guess this is the place where I'd ask for a review, but that's not really my style. I'd love reviews, but no pressure.