A/N: TO CATTY: I'm sorry you don't like this, but I'm trying my best, and I really think that's all you can ask of me. But I would ask that you leave my reviewers alone. Hate on the story all you like if you MUST, but please, PLEASE, I'd like people to feel safe letting their opinions be known. That's part of the reason I allow YOUR reviews to be shown.

NEW: And I DID talk to furrfurr2001, but I PMed them. I DO try not to do that kind of thing publicly when I can, because NO ONE ELSE wants to read that stuff. So sorry for seeming biased, I DID talk with them, and encourage all my readers to please review the story rather than the reviews. I also will apologize for my immature and overblown reactions to Catty's previous reviews. I am right now trying to right all wrongs people see with myself by apologizing for them here. I'm not always the best at taking harsh criticism (just ask any of my friends), but I AM working on it. SO I'm sorry, Catty, for seeming biased. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry. And can we all now review the story rather than reviews or my immature, childish author's notes? Thank you. Much love and apologies, musicalgirl4474.

This chapter is dedicated to furrfurr2001 , who told me they will continue to read the story because she thinks I'm working hard. Many blessings to you, you lovely person, and yes. Yes I am.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and for those who don't, sorry I wasted your time. :P Enjoy, R&R, all those things.

When Holly opened the door, there was only one source of light in the large room. The center light had been turned off, and the heavy curtains closed against the almost-full moon outside. The lone lamp on the bedside table cast long, dark shadows on the maroon carpet and against the cream-colored walls. On the bed, Artemis sat, propped up on pillows, leaning against the headboard with a book balanced on his knees, a pen in his hands. He looked up as Holly closed the door with a click, and smiled.

"Ah, Holly," he said, voice both resigned and tired. "I knew you'd be coming."

"I . . . needed to know if you really don't remember what Glimmer told you to do," Holly said, jumping up onto the bed beside her friend. Artemis sighed.

"Holly . . . I don't want you to carry this burden," he said.

"You already carry it yourself, Artemis," Holly reminded him.

"And it's a heavy burden to bear," the boy said quietly, sighing as he set aside the pen and book, which he had apparently been annotating. Something about the brain, but Holly didn't pay much attention to the objects.

"It's the magic that's making it so hard," Holly said, sitting cross-legged in front of him, leaning her elbows on her knees, and resting her chin in her hands. "Let me help."

"Holly . . ."

"No Artemis," she interrupted. "You don't have to do this on your own. Just trust me."

"I do trust you," Artemis said, turning his face away.

"Then let me help," Holly said, leaning forward slightly. Artemis was silent for a while, and Holly sat patiently on top of the smooth, cool blankets, waiting for Artemis to turn back to her. To trust her with whatever it was that was scaring him. The fact that he couldn't meet her eyes told her that it was something that borderline terrified him; that he apparently couldn't school his features to hide it.

"She wants me to hurt you." Artemis said finally, still facing away from holly, but she could tell from the tightness of his voice that his pale face would be tense in an attempt to keep tears at bay. "She wants me to kill a bunch of our friends and my brothers . . ." a sob escaped his throat, and his eyes were wet and red when he turned to face her again. "She wanted me to kill my brothers, Holly. And I . . . I can't let that happen."

"And you succeeded," Holly said quietly, and, she hoped, comfortingly. But Artemis just shook his head.

"No, I didn't. And you know this just as well as I do. I only put it off." He took a deep breath, running a hand through his unusually messy hair. "I can feel the magic sitting, waiting like a tiger about to pounce. It's not gone. Holly, I can't hurt them. They're family, they give me unconditional love, and I . . . I could never forgive myself if something happened to them." His voice broke, and he pushed the heels of his hands into his eyes. Quickly, Holly shifted her position so she could hug the boy, pulling him against her.

"They'll be alright, Arty," she murmured. "You saved them, you kept your mind your own long enough, and you still have more time. We'll catch Glimmer, and make her lift the Mesmer."

"Can she do that?" Artemis asked, voice thick. "Would she do that?"

"What do you mean?" Holly asked, drawing back slightly, the lamp behind her casting a dark shadow over Artemis' thin face.

"Why did she single out Myles and Beckett?" He asked, leaning his head back against the dark wooden headboard. "Why them? I can kind of understand her wanting to use me against you, though I'm sure you could stop me with minimal effort. But why the twins?"

The lamplight glistened off his cheeks, marking tear-tracks that Holly hadn't noticed before. She ignored it though, because Artemis would not appreciate her asking if he was okay when it was so apparent that he was not. "I don't know," she said in response to his question. But she had an idea. Myles had looked like he knew more than he was letting them know. What if it was detrimental to whatever plan Glimmer was concocting? And his reaction to finding out about the people . . . was not what Holly really would have expected. Myles was really Artemis' mini-me. He should have been a little more interested. What if, what if, Myles had found out about the people before that? What if he had found Glimmer, who saw a young mud-boy knowing of her continued existence as a problem? Of course she would solve this problem with a Mesmer. "No," she said quietly. She wouldn't lie to Artemis about this. "No, actually, I have an idea."

"Myles," Artemis said with a groan, once she explained, dropping his heads back into his hands. "I knew he was too much like me for his own good." Holly couldn't help chuckling at that.

"I'll leave you to get some sleep," Holly said, moving to slip over the silken edge of the soft bed. "It'll be a full day tomorrow." She was stopped by a cool hand on her arm.

"I can't sleep," Artemis said quietly. "I . . . the nightmares whenever I'm asleep. I wake up thinking I killed them, and they're not here to show me that it's just a dream. Please . . . stay. So I can know that at least one of you is okay." Holly hesitated for a moment, but the raw emotion in Artemis' eyes, something that he never showed, gave a hint of how much he was affected by the sinister magic inside his brain, tormenting him with visions of what might have happened had he loved his brothers a little less, if Number One had been unable to chase the magic into the back of his mind.

"Alright," Holly said quietly. "I'll stay." She leaned back into the fluffy pillows, shooting up again when Artemis picked the pen and book back up. "No," she said forcefully, taking both from him and laying them on the bedside table beside her. "If I'm gonna be here so you can sleep peacefully, you are going to actually go to sleep."

Artemis huffed, but he slipped down the headboard so that his head rested in the white pillows. Holly lay back down as well, on top of the silky sheets, allowing the cool night air to kiss her bare arms and feet. Reaching over, she turned the lamp's switch, plunging the room into darkness.