A Piece of Mind

Chapter [1]

Artemis repressed a sigh of annoyance when he heard the muffled giggles emitting from his wardrobe.

It had been quite a shock to learn that he had not one, but two younger brothers when he returned from Limbo. The twins, Myles and Beckett, while still children, were extraordinary in many ways. Toddlers who could pick locks, memorize the periodic table of elements, and found it very amusing to break into their older brother's room to mess up his experiments with their chubby little toddler hands.

Today was worse than usual. From the dirty footsteps littering the carpeted floor of Artemis' office, the two boys had obviously been playing in the garden before this. The extremely muddy garden.

He sighed, opening the dark mahogany door to his closet; eliciting squeals from Beckett as he grabbed his twin's arm. Myles glared at the blonde boy, removing the sticky hand with his forefinger and thumb.

"Told you not to make noise!" the darker-haired boy scolded his brother.

"Sorry," the blonde said, none too remorseful as he squinted at Artemis' face. "How did you find us? We were so quiet," he continued in a whisper, pressing a finger to his lips to emphasize the point.

Artemis closed his eyes, reminding himself that however tiring his brother's antics were, they were 2-year-olds who didn't know better. Yelling would most certainly not help.

"What were you two doing in my study?" he asked, already knowing the answer from the muddy footprints left by Beckett, which led to his desk. He had forgotten to lock up his most recent project; a mistake, which he was now paying for. He silently cursed himself for not having the insight to take precautions against the devilish little twins now living in the house. It was hard to get used to for someone who was, until recently, an only child.

"Nothing," They chorused, Beckett squatting to pick at the dried mud between his toes, already bored with the conversation.

"Mostly nothing."

"Beckett! Stop being simple-toon. We were hiding from Julit." Myles insisted, morphing his face expertly from chastising to innocent within the span of a few seconds.

"Juliet is currently helping Butler in the kitchen, you were supposed to be out on the lake with mother," Artemis said sternly, raising one eyebrow at his brothers, clearly not fooled.

"Why were you writing about fairies?" Myles asked, successfully changing the subject. The papers on his desk... Myles must have read them, the ones in English at least. But he didn't seem to fully understand them.

"It's an assignment for school, Myles. My professor had us write a few papers on fairies," Artemis lied easily, though Myles still looked unconvinced. "The better question is why you were looking through the papers on my desk?" He pulled himself up to his full height, still short compared to his father. To the twins however, he towered over them, glare measured and practiced as he crossed his arms sternly.

Myles decided to ignore Artemis' question and whispered, "Fairies? They aren't real. I think he likes talking to 'magnary creatures," to his brother, who was now bouncing on his heels; much like Butler when he was preparing to charge into a room full of targets.

"Can I meet fairies!!" Beckett's clangorous squeals were not voiced as a question, more of an incoherent yell as he clapped his hands together, excited at the sudden change in topic. The two very different responses threw Artemis off, if only for a moment.

"Shut up Beckett," Myles said as he rubbed his ear closest to the other boy. Beckett grinned at him, then turned back to Artemis expectantly, waiting for him to pull a fairy from behind his green silk shirt. "Simple-toon. Both Simple-toons" Myles huffed.