Author Note- Okay I screwed up in the Story. So I went back and redid some stuff. I changed a lot of things after chapter one, so you should go back and read them again. Just saying…
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"What do you mean Artemis?" Holly asked. Artemis sighed.
"Mu was 'created' by a group of magical beings, even if they no longer exist on the island, the chances of there being no evidence of magical races on that island are close to zero. When mankind finds Mu, they will also find the People." Artemis said gravely.
"But if what you say is true, Mu has been appearing on earth for thousands of years, why haven't the humans found out about us before then?"
"Think Holly, Mu has been coming to Earth for thousands of years, the last time being roughly three hundred years ago, but so many things have changed since then. Mankind has progressed far." Artemis explained, "Before now, Mu has been discovered yes, but think about it. Even if it had been discovered, by the time any respectable scientist could get out there, Mu would have already left Earth, and with it any evidence of Magical races."
"Wait, exactly how long does Mu stay on Earth?" Holly asked. Artemis leaned back in his chair.
"According to my calculations… about seven days," He said, "one week," He paused, letting it sink in.
"Before now, even if Mu was discovered. The discoverer would have to sail back to wherever he came from, convince someone with respectable scientific merit to believe him, and sail back. That could take weeks. That's how the People have stayed safe. But today…" Artemis leaned forward.
"With Planes, cruises, and other methods of transportation that journey across the sea daily. I believe Mu will be discovered not even one day after it reaches Earth. And I think we can agree, it won't take weeks to get people out there," Artemis stopped for a minute to catch his breath.
"Seven days of Mankind doing research on that island. Seven whole days. There is no chance that the People can remain hidden," Holly just stared. This was horrible. If Artemis was right, there was no chance that the People wouldn't be discovered. Her throat felt dry when she asked.
"So what do we do?" Artemis looked at her.
"As I said before, My calculations could be wrong, and Mu may not be coming back yet. But that's why I needed you, I need to perform one last test to see if my theory is right, and to see if Mu is coming back," Holly nodded weakly.
"What do I need to do?" Artemis stood up.
"Follow me," He said. She nodded. Artemis walked out into the hallway. Holly followed, after barely remembering to Shield. After a few minutes of walking they arrived at Artemis room. They entered and Artemis locked the door behind him.
"This would feel wrong under different circumstances," Holly smiled softly, trying to lighten the mood. Artemis smiled but couldn't help blushing a bit.
"Over here," He said. He pointed to a painting on his wall. He walked over and removed it from the wall. The safe lay on the other side.
"A safe behind a painting huh?" Holly said, shaking her head. Artemis shrugged.
"Whatever works," He smiled. His smile faded however, when he unlocked the safe. He stepped back and looked at Holly.
"Take it out," He said to her. Holly looked at him strangely but did walked over to the safe. She reached inside and pulled the object out. Her eyes widened at what she held. It was a cube, around the size of one of those Rubix cubes. It had a rusted metallic look to it and groves ran all over the cube. Markings were engraved on each side. But that wasn't the strangest thing. Holly felt a strange power coming from the cube, she couldn't explain it. If felt a bit like magic, but at the same time it felt completely different.
"What is this?" She asked. Artemis looked at her.
" The Vita Cube," He said to her, "An artifact from Mu,"
"From…Mu…?" Artemis nodded.
"This was found near the crater in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula," He said, "I don't think I need to tell you what created the crater,"
"Wow..." Was all Holly could say, "This is incredible, it's like it's alive or something," She held out the cube to Artemis. Artemis backed away quickly.
"Don't!" He said sharply, his face held a look of what one could consider fear. Holly brought back the cube and looked at him, surprised by his strange reaction.
"What?" She asked. Artemis took a deep breath.
"I…can't touch it. It has a…rather negative effect on humans…" Artemis told her.
"What do you mean?" Holly asked.
"I don't' want to talk about it," Artemis said. Obviously he didn't like the cube. But Holly didn't press further, he would talk when he wanted to…if he wanted to…
"So…what do I do with it?" She asked. Artemis, forgetting the cubes effect on him, got back to business.
"This is why I needed your magic," he said, "Could you give it a shot of magic?" Holly nodded.
"Sure," She touched the cube with her right finger. Suddenly a spark flew off of it and was absorbed into the cube. Artemis and Holly both looked at it. The cube did nothing.
Holly rose an eyebrow.
"Nothing happened," as soon as she said that something happened. Sparks started flying across the cubes surface. A buzzing sound could be heard coming from it. Suddenly a portion of the cube dropped inside and the edges popped outwards. A bright light flew out of the hole that was now on the cube. Holly dropped the cube and covered her eyes, as did Artemis.
After a moment the light faded. Artemis and Holly lowered their hands and glanced at the cube. Artemis eyes widened.
"Oh my…" Greenish symbols were hovering over the cube. It looked like the cube was emitting a hologram, but that would have been impossible, holograms were a recent invention, even to the fairies. He studied the symbols. Artemis couldn't understand them, but he recognized them for what they were.
"What is this?" Holly apparently didn't. She kneeled down and examined the cube. Artemis looked at the symbols. There was on set that was larger than the rest and there were another off to the side, that set changed after every three seconds or so.
"It's a countdown," Artemis realized.