A/N: First of all, let me thank everyone who gave me the GREAT reviews on the last chapter, I appreciate them all, particularly the constructive criticism.

This chapter is dedicated to PsychLockMutant , who's criticism was was constructed in such a way that I WANTED to make them happy. This chapter may not be really good, I'm sorry if it seems a little rushed, but I tried. Thank you for your review!

I would love for you to read and review, reviewing in such a way that I WANT to read your reviews would be nice. (Sorry if this is the second time you got an alert for this chapter . . . I accidently deleted it and had to re-post it . . . sorry for any inconvenience. Egg on my face and whatnot.)

Holly contacted Foaly as Artemis talked quietly with Myles in the other room.

"Stonehenge?" Foaly asked after she explained what had happened to Myles. "My sensors say that she is at the site you first met Artemis and Butler."

"Your sensors have been wrong before," Holly pointed out, a strain of wry amusement in her voice. "But in this case, I think they're right. From what Myles said, I think that perhaps he stumbled on her back door, a magical teleportation in case someone found her."

"And the magical signature around Stonehenge would throw off my sensors. I must say, I applaud the initiative," Foaly said, an almost admiring note to his voice. Holly rolled her eyes, leaning back in the still high-backed chair. Her eyes traced the elegant carving on the back of the chair across from her as she answered.

"Trust you to admire someone like Glimmer Vendera for her intelligence." Foaly snorted in response to her half-hearted jibe. "Has Mulch gotten much headway with her accomplice?"

"He said that Doodah and he have found some good leads and should be bringing the perp in within the week if we want to do it without generating any panic."

"We don't have that long," Holly said. "Artemis doesn't have that long."

"We don't know how long he has," Foaly said, a tad desperately.

"We know that he doesn't have a week. Foaly, no human has ever broken through a Mesmer nearly as strong as Glimmer's, no fairy has truly broken through a Mesmer of that caliber."

"Do you think you'll need Mulch?"

"Are you kidding?" Holly asked. "Glimmer's lair is literally underground. Besides that, Mulch might have some tales about her from his time in the (figurative) underworld."

"True," Foaly said. "I'll let him know that this is extremely time-sensitive." The centaur was quiet for a while. "Holly . . . you do know that Glimmer is likely to come back if she finds out that Artemis is resisting her instructions. You don't know what they were, do you?" Holly almost told Foaly what Artemis had told her last night. Almost. But the memory of tears in the boy's eyes and the brokenness of his voice kept her from doing so. Foaly didn't have to know, and she would not misuse his trust in her.

"No, he hasn't told me, and I don't blame him."

"So he hasn't told you, huh?" Foaly asked, and Holly could tell that he thought she was lying.

"No," she said stubbornly.

"Well, just make sure Glimmer doesn't get to him again."

"Don't worry, I don't think anyone's going to let anything more happen to him," Holly said, gazing absently at the dust motes caught in the sunlight let in through the high windows. Their complex dance caught her attention and held it for a few moments, and Holly tried to let her worry dance away with the small specks of dust. It didn't really work. "Just get Mulch here as soon as you can," she said quietly. "And Foaly?"

"Yeah?"

"Let me know the moment you have her accomplice," Holly said. "I have a few questions I want them to answer."

"Will do, Holly," Foaly said. "And don't worry. Artemis will pull out of this. He always does."

"Thank you Foaly," Holly said. "I'll tell him you said so."

"Oh Frond no," the centaur said, fake horror coloring his voice. "I'll never hear the end of it."

Holly laughed as Foaly cut the connection.

"What's so funny?" Holly looked up to see Artemis leaning against the doorframe, smiling lightly at her.

"Foaly," Holly said. A corner of Artemis' mouth quirked up in a half-smile. "How are you feeling?" she asked as he walked slowly to the table.

"Tired," he said as he settled himself into the chair across from Holly.

"Just tired?" Holly asked, leaning forward slightly to look into his eyes. Artemis didn't let her though, tilting his face down so that his eyes were directed to his hands, which were folded tightly together on the smooth table top.

"Just tired," he affirmed quietly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Holly, I'm sure."

"Then look at me." Artemis kept his head down. "Don't shut me out, Arty," Holly warned. "Let me help you."

Finally, Artemis looked up, but his ice-blue eyes still wouldn't meet her own hazel ones. "Arty . . ." Holly sighed. "Please."

When his eyes met hers, Holly was saddened to see the pain there. The icy color of the human boy's eyes seemed washed-out, dimmed down and tired. The skin around his eyes was tight and red, making the rest of his face seem paler than usual. Holly noticed suddenly that Artemis' tightly folded hands were trembling slightly.

"I think you should go lay down," she said quietly.

"No, Holly, I can't. I can't be acting like an invalid right now, not if we have to save the world again." Holly felt a pang in her chest at these words. Artemis was not quite yet a man, still too young to have this much stress on his shoulders. The youngest member of their little doomsday-group . . . something that Holly hadn't really ever taken into account. Now, she was hit with it full-force. Artemis had been scared for Myles, frightened that his younger brother had stumbled so spectacularly into the world of magic so young; Artemis wanted to keep this stress and worry away from his brothers, from his family, as long as possible.

"We have time," Holly said. "Mulch thinks it'll be a couple of days to get Glimmer's accomplice behind bars. We'll have time to come up with a plan of some kind."

"Since when have any of our pre-danger plans actually worked the way we want them to?" Artemis asked, and Holly was glad to hear some humor in the question, despite how forced and tight it was.

Artemis' hands were still shaking, and Holly could see that he was on the verge of some kind of panic, which was an odd observation at any time, but with Artemis? "Let's get you back to bed," she said, and her tone brooked no argument. The boy tried nonetheless.

"I've barely been out of bed for two hours," he said.

"And that's about all you can handle right now. Save your strength. You'll be no good to anyone if you keel over from exhaustion or pain, and don't say that you are not in pain. I don't want any lies right now." Holly stood from the chair, circling the rectangle table to cross her arms at Artemis' side, waiting for him to rise so she could help his to his room. Her head just about reached Artemis' shoulder, which made it difficult, but Holly wasn't daunted. The way Artemis shook as he stood told Holly that walking was barely in the mud boy's power at the moment. She put an arm around his waist, letting him lean against her as they went up the grand, richly carpeted staircase.

Artemis' room wasn't too far from the staircase's landing on the second floor; Holly was happy enough to deposit the boy on the bed when they reached it, and Artemis seemed happy enough to climb on top of the smooth sheets. He was breathing heavily, and Holly could have laughed at the obvious lack of physical ability if the situation hadn't been so worrying. She knew that Artemis was trying to keep Myles safe and innocent of all the trouble his brother was in, and she admired him for that. But he would not be able to hide it from his family for very long.