Sorry guys for not updating for, like, months! My foot injury is taking a lot of time to heal and I have to go the hospital at least once a week for regular check ups. Obviously, this can be very time consuming. Well here's the next chapter anyway!

Ajay's POV

I fidget in my suit. It feels strange and stiff. Hanging off my body like an insect's exoskeleton. I would much prefer to wear something a lot more practical but the suit is necessary for my disguise.

I'm sitting in the back of the Fowl Bentley with the rest of Artemis' family and Juliet. Butler's driving. It seems like hours since I made my spectacular entry into the real world but in fact it's been only twenty minutes.

In those twenty minutes I did a lot. First, I gave Artemis a shot of my magic to help heal any injuries he may have sustained during my exit from his brain. The magic should also keep him asleep long enough for me to return from the party. It wouldn't be good if he came barging in on us.

Then, I looked in Artemis' wardrobe for something suitable to wear. I found the suit and put it on. I spent the remaining ten minutes trying to recall every single fact Artemis ever told me about his family. If I was going to trick Artemis' family into believing I was the real Artemis I'd need to know everything possible about his life and family.

"Artemis, honey, are you ok? You look a bit ill."

Artemis' mother jolts me out of my thoughts. I think about what she said. I don't think "ill" is a strong enough word to describe how I'm feeling.

"Uh...Yeah, I'm fine. At least I think."

I look around me and see everyone looking at me. Even Butler is staring at me in the rearview mirror.

"what?" I say defensively. "I'm just feeling a bit...off colour."

"Off colour? Since when have you ever been "off colour"? Artemis' father asks.

"I...well...just forget it." I turn away, looking out the window and watching the trees flash past. I've already made up my mind what I'm going to do when we reach the party. I'll disappear the moment we arrive and stay out of sight until it's time to leave.

I feel Artemis' family's eyes on me but I ignore them. I have a feeling I'll just make things worse by talking to them.

Noise. Laughing. Talking. That's all I hear when the Bentley pulls up in front of a manor house that even rivals the beauty of Fowl manor. Apparently it belongs to one of Artemis senior's business friends. Well, whoever this business friend is, he's got a lot of money.

We move towards the noisy crowd of people outside the house as one. One big happy family. All except me that is.

We reach the house and join the crowd. I immediately crouch down low. Determined to give Butler the slip. The crowd provides good cover. That's one of the advantages of being slightly smaller than everyone else. It's easy to hide.

I slip away from the crowd, heading for the dark shadows of the garden. I push my way through the bushes and sit on a small stone bench. I can hear a fountain tinkling somewhere nearby. Suddenly, I drop my face in my hands. How long can I keep this up before someone figures out the truth?

"Hey, Artemis. You don't look so well. Anything wrong?"

The words seem to be coming from nowhere. What was going on?

My first thought is that someone must have followed me here from the party and is now concealed behind the bushes. That theory is immediately dashed when the air in front of me shimmers and the outline of a small figure becomes visible.

I stare open-mouthed as the figure seems to step out of the very air itself. I can immediately tell she's not human. Her pointed ears tell me that. So does the fact that she just stepped out of thin air.

She has auburn hair and mismatched eyes. Like Artemis. She has a suit that shimmers and is hard to focus on. She opens her mouth and says:

"What's wrong, Artemis? You look like you've never seen me before."

I continue to gape at her; wracking my brain. I can't remember Artemis ever mentioning this small person.

"Come on, Artemis. Don't play innocent with me. I know you're trying to upset The People again."

The People? That sparks a memory. I thought back to one of our magic practising lessons. Artemis had said something about The People...

Don't use too much of your power, Ajay. It'd be just like The People to barge in and ruin everything.

Who are The People?

Oh, just some fairies living below the surface of the world...

The memory fades away. So this girl is a fairy.

"Artemis! Can you hear me? I'm talking to you!" The fairy snaps.

"Yes, I can hear you. Why are you here?" I ask.

"You know perfectly well why, Artemis. Foaly's built a new gadget that tracks down any magic, anywhere in the world. We recently picked up a huge amount of power coming from Ireland. From Fowl Manor in fact."

Uh oh. Artemis warned me about this. He said The People would probably pick up at least some of the magic I used. I have to think of a cover story quickly. But what? I should be able to think of one. My brain is a clone of Artemis'. I should be as smart as he is. Finally an idea begins to form...

Holly's POV

"....From Fowl Manor in fact." I finish, watching Artemis closely. He seems strange. Different.

Suddenly, he turns to face me. He looks normal again. He look like he's struggling to decide whether or not to tell me the truth. Then he says:

"Alright, I'll tell you. I've invented a magic storage device. It's sort of like the device you use to store magic for a time stop. Only this one will store almost twice as much magic in half he amount of space. I put most of my left over magic from Hybras in there. I was just experimenting with it when some of it got loose. That's what your scanner must have picked up on."

I stare at him for a second then sigh.

"Artemis, you know we can't let you keep that." I say. "We can't allow you to have any magic whatsoever."

I expect him to argue. To my enormous surprise, he doesn't.

"Alright, then." he sighs. "I always knew you'd confiscate it."

I open my mouth to ask if anything's wrong. Artemis never agrees to handover his inventions without a fight. But before I can, I hear Butler calling Artemis.

"Well, looks like it's time to go." Artemis says. "Bye."

He walks off.

Ajay's POV

As I walk away, I look behind me. But the fairy is gone. Gosh, I hope she bought my story. It sounded like something Artemis would do. Now I just have to survive the trip back then I can wake Artemis up and he can take over from here. Even though my brain is exactly the same as his, he has a lot more experience with this world then I do. He'll think of something...

Alright. Give me some feedback, please. Anything I can do to improve? Review!

-Spinnika