A/N: Cynthia: Hey, guys! Here's our new chapter, hope you enjoy it. And is everyone just as pumped up for Avengers: Age of Ultron as I am? I'm so excited to see it opening night.

Oh yesss I forgot about that. I wanna see it too; not opening night, though. Anyways how've you guys been? Ending of the school year is coming up; at least for me. I've got four huge Orchestra concerts in May… it's a little stressing. But it'll be fun still! Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter. Comment, suggest, compliment, critique, love, hate, review and enjoy! :) Cynthia&J

Artemis and Holly woke up early the next morning, like they had planned. By the time Juliet had gotten up to make breakfast, they were gone and had been for a few hours. Of course, this wasn't Juliet's usual time to get up. Usually it was noon...ish... maybe one. Or later. But this time she was up at nine, making pancakes for everyone.

Lilac shuffled into the kitchen at eleven, wearing a white, long sleeved shirt a bit too big for her, and baggy jeans. Her red hair was wet, indicating that she'd just taken a shower. She was still partly asleep, but the delicious smell of pancakes and bacon woke her right up.

Juliet noticed her as she walked in the doorway. "Hey, Lilac!" she greeted, bright and sunny. "Hungry?"

"Yeah... I am now." She laughed quietly, and walked to Juliet's side to look at what she was cooking. "Mmmm," she hummed, staring at the pancake turning golden in the pan. "That looks amazing."

"Well I hope it is! I've always had a talent at making breakfast." With a silver spatula, she carefully reached under the pancake and lifted it up. Then she grabbed a plate on the counter next to her, and once it was close enough she slid the pancake onto it. "Yay!" She cheered. She held it out to Lilac. "Here! Pick however many more you want from that pile over there."

Lilac was just about to ask where 'over there' was, but then she turned to the side and saw a huge pile of pancakes, about a foot tall. Her eyes widened. She almost stepped back, she was so surprised. "H-How long have you been up...?" she asked.

"Since nine!" was the answer.

"T-That's a lot of pancakes..."

At that moment, they heard the sound of footsteps approaching the kitchen. Butler emerged from where Lilac had come in, and said, "Alright, Juliet. I got some strawberries and blueberries. Is..." he stopped dead in the middle of his sentence when he saw Lilac. It was like a tidal wave had struck him... The light coming in from the kitchen window hit her just right so that the small drops of water were sparkling her in her hair. And god, she was so beautiful to him anyway... just seeing her in the morning, so naturally... it took his breath away. She was so beautiful.

"H-Hey..." he whispered, "good morning..."

Heat crept up Lilac's cheeks, staining them a rosy red. Which just made her seem even more beautiful to Butler.

"Good morning, Butler," she said. "I hope you're hungry. Juliet made a lot of pancakes."

Butler nodded. "Yes, I see that."

Juliet silently watched the exchange between her older brother and the seemingly innocent Lilac. Juliet winced as that entered her mind. She didn't want Lilac to be seemingly innocent, she wanted Lilac to actually be innocent.

"Juliet?" Lilac asked, noticing Juliet's wince. "Is something wrong?"

Just keep faking the smile, thought Juliet, and brightly smiled. "No," she chirped. "I just don't Butler to embarrass himself in front of you. He has a monstrous appetite, and eats very messily."

Butler shot a glare in Juliet's direction, but Juliet simply responded to it with a cheeky grin.

Lilac smiled at them both. They really are brother and sister... she thought with a quiet laugh. She walked over to the plate of stacked pancakes, then lifted a few off and plopped them down on her plate.

"Where is Artemis?" Butler asked. "He's usually up by now..."

Oh.

Juliet... hadn't thought about that. If only Foaly were here... he'd think up something totally brilliant. Her last excuse was good, but to use it again was suspicious. However, she had no other ideas. And hesitating would be even more suspicious... So she had to say, "Out getting more decorations! Better ones, I might add. You know Artemis; he has a sense of style like he has a tail." She laughed, trying to make it sound confident... and it helped... But it didn't keep Lilac from becoming worried...

Why would Artemis and Holly be out a second time? Did it have something to do with Butler's strange behavior last night? No, that wasn't it. Everything was going so lovely, so perfect. Holly must be a little scatterbrained, and simply forgot some more Christmas decorations, Lilac assured herself, and soon they'll be back to enjoy these pancakes.

"Lilac?" asked Butler. "Are you okay?"

Lilac quickly smiled. "Nothing. Just deep in thought about pancakes, I guess."

Butler groaned in his head. That smile. That beatiful, gorgeous, pearly smile.

"Butler? Yoo-hoo!" Juliet waved her hand in front of his face. "Lilacville just kicked you out to normal people land to eat some pancakes."

Butler shot his little sister a glare. He knew it wouldn't do anything, and he was right. It just made her giggle more. Lilac took it well and laughed too, but she couldn't wipe the embarrassed look off her face. After she sat down with her plate of pancakes, Butler moved to get his. He only picked three, even though he knew it wouldn't satisfy him. Juliet would just bring that 'you eat a lot' joke back. They conversed more as they ate.

Artemis and Holly returned just in time for lunch. They came back with decorations- better ones. Juliet was happy with what they'd picked, and so she decided to start the activities for the day. First on their list was an activity that'd been put off once or twice, but they were finally getting around to it...

...Chess. Artemis vs Juliet. They set up the board in the living room. Juliet sat down on one couch and Artemis on the other, facing each other and staring each other down with the deadliest glares of the century. Holly and Lilac stood behind her, backing up their friend, and Foaly and Butler were beside Artemis.

Juliet smirked, and held their gaze. Artemis did the same. His implied 'you are powerless against me', and hers said, 'you are about to be crushed'. His, though, was more of an intellectual confidence. Hers was just plain confident, if you see what I mean. Either way they both looked evil.

"You're going down," Juliet snickered.

Artemis glanced down at the chess board, analyzing the best move that would take Juliet down. Artemis smirked, and quickly made a complicate move that only a grandmaster, such as himself, could make. Juliet opened her mouth in more outrage than shock when Artemis stole her king.

"Arty!" Juliet cried. "How?"

Artemis reclined back in his chair, his infamous vampire smile playing on his lips. "Oh, come now. Did you really think I would have so much compassion that I would go easy on you? I play to win."

Juliet scowled and looked the pasty Irish boy right in the eyes. "Have fun gloating while you can."

Artemis arched an eyebrow. "Do you mean to say that you can beat me?"

"I'm not saying I'm going to lose to you," said Juliet sassily.

Artemis chuckled. "Very well." He took her king and put it beside him on the board. She'd be running around like a chicken with its head cut off; she'd already lost.

There's something very wrong here... Holly thought. But, out loud, she said nothing.

Juliet thought for a minute before she made her move. And, when she did, it wasn't what they expected. "Catching!" she cried. And she switched the Queen and the Rook.

Artemis furrowed his eyebrows. "Catching?" he asked. "The term I believe you are looking for is Casting, and anyway that is where you switch the King and the Rook, not the Queen."

"Yeah, well, you took my King! I'm substituting." She crossed her arms.

Artemis knew she wasn't going to budge, so he sighed and let her have this one. He worked on getting two of his pawns across they board- they were the scouts. Juliet would get overexcited about taking two of his pieces, and she'd probably leave an opening... then he'd destroy her.

And she did exactly what he thought. He sent two pieces out, from the far right side of his board, and she moved seemingly her entire force to the right to kill them. Artemis held back a smirk. Amature, he thought. And he began his expedition to take all her pieces, using his Queen, his Rook, and two Bishops. His Knights would protect his King- he knew he didn't need to, but it was protocol.

One by one, he started to take each and every piece. First went the pawns, and she made no effort to run. Then the Knight, Rook, Bishop, and even her Queen. Only her right side ran. Which was smart... in a way. If one force escaped she could fight it out somewhere else, but he didn't even realize what was happening... until it happened.

Through the broken wall in his right flank, came Juliet's one Bishop, one Knight, and one Rook. They didn't bother about the pawns, because that would alert Artemis right away that something was wrong. Instead they went after the Knight, that led straight to the King, two spaces away. Her Rook took that.

"Check," she said. Artemis's heart jumped and he whipped his head back to look at the damage. One of his Knights was gone, and, sure enough, he was in check. He moved his King back diagonal to the left, and got out. Juliet could've just moved one space and put him in check again... but she didn't. She had three more pieces at her disposal, and she planned to use them.

How could someone as...wild as Juliet make him so vulnerable in a game where he reigned supreme? Artemis had to make the world balanced once more. But he was stuck.

"Remember when you told me you weren't going easy? Well, neither am I," said Juliet smugly. "So, come on, Grandmaster; show us your moves."

Artemis gritted his teeth at Juliet's mockery towards him. How dare she make him look foolish! Juliet smirked and moved her pieces in a very threatening manner. Artemis looked down at the chessboard and realized if he didn't do something soon, he would lose to Juliet of all people. And Artemis could not let that happen.

Artemis couldn't abandon Juliet's side completely... but he sent his two Bishops over there to "take care of her". But this time it was pure luck that saved her; she just happened to not be in his direct line of fire. It took him a few moves to be able to take one of her pieces, and by that time she'd taken his other Knight.

Juliet giggled and twirled the Knight around in her hand. "Wow," she said. "Chess is actually kinda fun."

Artemis's face was bright red. "Y-You..." he hissed. "You haven't won yet! There's no possible way you'll ever win against me! I am the master of chess! I am the-!"

She put him in checkmate four turns later.

Artemis stared at the board in complete horror. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.

Holly snickered at Artemis' expression. "Did Juliet render you speechless, Arty? I believe she did."

Juliet was positively delighted at the outcome of the match. Never before had she bested Artemis in something that required heavy intellect and wits. Juliet tossed a chess piece up in the air, caught it, and then blew on it the way one might blow on a gun after they fired it.

"Nice game, Fowl. I'm sure you gave it your best shot," said the smirking blonde. "Be sure to let me know if you want me to go easy on you. There's no shame in it."

Artemis stood up and postively glowered at the boasting girl. "You! Beginner's luck, and nothing more. That one in a million chance."

Juliet rolled her eyes at Artemis' outburst. "Excuses, excuses. You just don't want to admit that I won. That anyone could beat you at all."

"I think she's right," Holly backed up. "I think Arty here is a sore loser."

"Unless," said Juliet, slyly, "The reason you lost was because you were staring at Holly the whole time. So, you didn't realize what moves you were doing."

"That is the furthest thing from the truth, Juliet!" snapped Artemis. "Stop suggesting such outlandish ideas that I am in love with Captain Short."

"Yeah!" agreed Holly.

"But, I thought you were," Juliet said, seeming genuinely confused, but with a wicked gleam in her eye.

Artemis looked over his shoulder, at Butler, who was standing and watching. He said, "Butler, help me out here."

"Sorry, Artemis. I think I'll go ahead and here them out." Butler took way too much pleasure in saying that.

Suddenly Artemis stood up from the table. He didn't flip the board over; that was childish. But he felt like it. "I don't have to listen to this. You winning is beginner's luck, nothing more. And that's final! Nothing will change the fact that I stole your king. Technically, I won first."

"But you continued." Juliet smirked. "Did you really think I was so stupid that I wouldn't know my king being stolen is a loose? Also, you cheated. I'm not that stupid, either. But since you thought so, I figured I'd use it to my advantage."

Nothing about this scene was serious. He was blushing madly, and everyone else was trying to hold in their giggles. Artemis walked away, trying to keep his composure, and headed for the library. Reading would take his mind off this.

Juliet turned to Holly and grinned. "Don't worry. He's denying it to keep his image."

Holly couldn't meet her gaze. "I doubt it," she said. "There's no way he'd like me."

The blonde haired girl smirked. "Is it just me, or do you sound disappointed?" Holly didn't answer.