Stella's chap... oh lord, Stella, your chapter... ALL MY FEELS. Especially the Myles scene. ALL OF MY FEELS, STELLA. ALL OF THEM.

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Four days. It was Tuesday. I had been in this place for four days. I was down in the dojo built underneath the house, trying to let off some steam.

I set my fists on the punching bag, hitting it until my fists hurt. Like it could help what I felt.

Queen blasted from my earbuds, and I beat the punching bag into rhythm along with the song.

"Oooh, I'm burning through the sky, yeah!

Two hundred degrees,

What's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit."

"Syd."

I dropped my fists and turned to see Penelope, looking concerned. She was carrying a tray with a sandwich on it, and a glass of orange juice. She set it down on one of the end tables that populated the walls. I paused the song.

"You only come down here when you're angry."

"You've known me for what, three days?"

"Sure."

"And how do you know what I do when I'm ticked?"

"Well, the electrodes think you're angry, anyway," She indicated the white circles on on my temples and the monitor in the corner, which the song had drowned out it's alerting beep.

"Jon wants to know why you're trying to hurt yourself."

I shrugged and sat down gingerly. And then winced.

"Are you trying to open your wounds?" Penelope looked over at me.

"She asked me if I would stay out of it. I shouldn't come and save her. And I should tell her family that she loved them."

"What?"

"I'm remembering a girl I knew," I said, unwrapping my hands from bandages. "But I can't remember anything else. I just keep seeing a gauzy white wrapping around my memories, and I try to get through, but I can't. It's like seeing an anthill and convincing yourself that you're small enough to fit into it, but no matter how hard you try, it just isn't possible. But you feel, really feel, like it is. So you try harder and harder. Or it kind of feels like seeing something shiny underwater, and then holding your breath until you nearly pass out while underneath, and while you hold your breath there's millions of pounds of pressure trying to crack open your skull. But you still dive deeper, trying to see what it was that caught your attention. And you just can't find it, but you know it's there."

Penelope thought for a moment, and then reached for a chain around her neck. Whatever was on it was hidden underneath her tee shirt, and when she pulled it out I raised my brow. It looked like a blue ovaly sphere, wrapped in two green vines that crossed to make an X on the oval-sphere. Penelope saw my confused look.

"It's an L in Gnommish," She explained, crossing over to me and handing me the necklace. "Keep it hidden from Jon. If he knew you had it, he'd kill me."

When I still looked at her suspiciously, she sighed. "It's not like its going to explode. Now let me see your leg."

I let out a long huff. "It still hurts."

"Stop being a baby."

"I'm not a baby."

"Then let me see your leg."

With a sigh, I rolled up the hem of my cargo pants and kicked off my boot.

The sight was still weird. The wood and metal prosthetic extended from the center of my calf down.

"Does it feel uncomfortable?" She asked.

I shook my head. "It just hasn't healed all the way."

Ever since I had realised I had it on, it kind of felt just like my real leg. Like it was just a part of me. The inside was padded and the seam up to my calf felt like it was barely there. In short, it was perfect.

Penelope rolled the ankle. "How is that?"

I shrugged. "Can't feel anything."

She let go of my leg and got up like she was going to leave. But then swerved around and kicked the prosthetic hard.

I didn't feel anything, but I yelled anyway. It scared me. "What are you doing?" I shouted, getting up quickly, causing a shot of pain through my abdomen.

"Did that hurt?"

"No! What are you doing!?"

"I just wanted to see if you were lying. And you weren't. So calm down and eat your tuna salad," She pushed the end table with the tray on top of it at me.

I just stared at the end table, and then up at her.

"What are you hiding?"

Now it was her turn to be taken aback. I was a bit shocked myself. I didn't know where that had come from. It was a sore thumb in the middle of the conversation.

"What?"

"I know there's something off with Jon. And I don't know what it is. It's tickling the back of my brain. And it is really pissing me off. So can you tell me who I was before, the rest of my story, and who the hell Jon Spiro is?"

Penelope just opened her mouth. It was then, rather inconveniently, that the door busted open and in walked Jon, flanked by two men dressed as guards.

"What the hell is all of this about?" He asked, regarding Penelope with with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing. I was just bringing her lunch. Is it time?"

I looked over at Jon, sizing up the two guards. I could take 'em.

"Yeah, yeah it is. Syd, come on. You're being transported."

"To where?"

"To where you can begin your mission. These are your escorts. Your driver is waiting outside."

I chuckled. "A chauffer? What am I? James Bond?"

"You were, once.  Now get going. You're leaving in five minutes."

                                                                   *

"Is this really necessary?" I asked Penelope. She shrugged ans stood next to me as the two guards got the car in order.

"I 'spose. D'you have the necklace I gave you?"

I nodded, dropping my voice to a whisper. "Think you can lend me a hairpin to get these cuffs off?"

Jon had insisted I go to the transport handcuffed. He said it as a precaution, saying that it looked less suspicious as me being a criminal being escorted by policemen than an official being guarded. If I was seen that way, too, I'd be more targeted. This way, it was easier.

I thought it was bull and he just didn't want me running away in case I went rogue. Like that was gong to happen. But I think he knew that I was suspicious.

Penelope slipped a hairpin into my pocket, which I could reach easily, and we stood on the front walk, waiting for the guards to finish up.

"Be careful," I heard Penelope whisper. "There are a few things you don't know about Jon. And whatever you do, don't kill anyone."

"I thought that was my objective. To kill Artemis Fowl."

"It was. But listen to me. Don't do it. Don't kill him or anyone else. Just observe. And if you're in serious trouble, if you've been captured or anything, take the necklace I gave you and crush it."

"What?"

"Just... just do it. Because It'll help you. I was told by... a friend."

I raised my eyebrow. "Who? Jon?"

"No.... listen, if you're ever in serious trouble, just remember what I said, okay?"

We watched as the guards finished up and started walking up the walk.

"Bye, Penelope," I nodded to her as one of the guards put a hand on my shoulder and led me towards the car.

"See you, Syd."

That was the last I saw of Penelope for a while.