Chapter I

Holly Short landed on the green lawn of Fowl Manor. There had been a rumor that Artemis Fowl had gotten his memories back, and Julius had sent her to check up on him.

She removed her helmet, revealing her shoulder-length curly auburn hair. She was a very pretty elf with green eyes and a fiery attitude. Holly was the first girl fairy on the LEP, and well deserved the position as an officer.

She rang the doorbell and took a perfunctory look around before unshielding. Domovoi Butler answered the door and smiled a greeting. "Artemis, someone's here to see you." He called.

Artemis, with several books under his arm, descended the staircase. He was dressed in a black suit, with the top button of his white shirt unbuttoned. He looked surprised to see her, then smiled. "Holly."

She grinned. "Hi, Mudboy."

"Mudman." He corrected.

Holly rolled her eyes. It was just like old times.

Juliet, Butler's younger sister, came in from the kitchen. She looked excited to see her. "Holly! You're here! How long are you staying, because we could have a slumber party, do our nails, talk about Artemis-"

Artemis glanced at her, bewildered. "Me?"

Juliet nodded, more excited than a three-year-old with a new puppy."Of course." She turned back to Holly."I got a picture of him as a rowdy teen! I mean, he's eighteen, but he had to have a disguise for stealing, The Fairy Thief, and let me tell you, he was hot!"

Artemis' eyes widened. Butler clamped a large hand over Juliet's mouth and gave them a little smile. She looked rather offended and muttered something, but it was too muffled for them to make out the words.

Holly was doubled over with laughter, and Artemis' face was marked with utter shock.

"I'll take her shopping to get her out of your way. Bye, Holly." Butler told them, dragging his sister out the door.

Holly was rolling on the floor laughing and gasping for air. Artemis glared daggers at her. "It wasn't that funny."

Tears streamed from her eyes. "Yes-it-was."

He pulled her up. "Come on, I want to show you something."

She took several deep breaths to calm herself, then decided to tease him about it. "So where's this picture?"

He cast a glare over his shoulder as he crossed the room to the study.

"Come on, Arty, don't be stubborn!" Holly crooned.

He smirked. "In her diary."

Holly frowned. "How did you know that? Wait-you went into her diary? Oh, I am telling!"

"There are no secrets that I don't know about in Fowl Manor." Came his cool reply.

They reached the library and Artemis walked over to a book case with Holly following close behind. He smiled at her as she looked them over.

"These are in Gnommish!" She exclaimed.

He nodded. "They cost me a fortune to purchase, but it was a good price considering these are the last books in Gnommish aboveground."

She smiled, the purpose of her visit forgotten. "You can borrow some of mine. My parents gave me a new one for my birthday every year before they died. They thought I needed a better education, especially since I hated to read." Her face revealed her sadness over their deaths.

Artemis was silent for a long moment. "You never told me that." He said finally.

"The subject never came up." She shrugged.

She took a book from one of the shelves, plopped into a chair and began reading.

"What are you reading, Holly?" He asked, sitting down in the chair across from her.

She flashed him a grin. "Mary Beth's Lover. It's dreadfully sad."

He grinned in spite of himself. "Who died?"

She frowned at him. "No one, he just kissed her."

He folded his hands in his lap. "I thought you didn't like romance stories." He teased.

"Well, I like this one." She went back to her novel, and he picked up a book that he had started on earlier. They had both been reading for an hour when Butler and Juliet walked in.

Juliet set down her two shopping bags and smiled brightly. "I'm making dinner tonight!"

Butler glanced at her warily, and Artemis proceeded to look alarmed."She almost burnt the house down the last time you let her cook, Butler, don't tell me you're going to let her do it again!" He exclaimed.

The large Eurasian man sighed. "That's why I'm going to watch her, Artemis, she can't possibly succeed in making such a drastic mistake while I supervise." But another look at the girl made him not so sure. "I'll take the fire extinguisher."

Artemis nodded, and they left the room.

Not ten minutes later, they heard a scream and the fire alarm went off. Artemis and Holly ran to the kitchen and threw open the door. They were soon engulfed in smoke and started coughing. The smoke cleared, and glares were thrown in Juliet's direction.

Her white apron was now black, along with the rest of her. She held a pan which contained something burnt beyond the point of recognition. She smiled nervously.

"Juliet!" Butler screeched. "I turn my back for one minute, ONE minute, and this happens!" His hand swept the room. He continued lecturing her on the subject of common sense, when Angeline burst into the room.

"Arty! Thank goodness you're all right!" She hugged Artemis tightly and kissed him repeatedly.

"Mother," He withdrew from her embrace, trying to keep a scowl from creeping onto his face. "I'm fine."

"Oh, all right, dear. Then I think I'm going to spend a few days at Maggie Ferguson's. She just had a little girl."

Artemis pasted a smile onto his face. "That's great, Mother. Have a good time."

At least now they wouldn't have to worry about her seeing Holly. He glanced at the blur standing beside him.

"Butler and Juliet, please clean up this mess." Angeline instructed, surveying the room one last time. "'Bye now."

She left, and Holly unshielded, giggling. Artemis glared daggers at her.

When Artemis had showered and dressed, he headed downstairs. Because it was nearly ten-thirty at night, most of the lights were off. Holly had fallen asleep on the couch, for it had earlier been arranged that she stay a few days.

Artemis knew the reason for her visit but was hoping to put it off for as long as possible. Maybe she would forget what she came for. No, Julius wouldn't let that happen.

Artemis took the blanket off the back of a chair and covered Holly with it, not wanting to disturb her. Her hair fell across her face, and he gently pushed it back. She really was beautiful. He had missed her over the last two years. There was always that feeling that something was missing, and now he knew what it was. He turned off the last lamp, and continued up the stairs.

Holly woke up at eight o'clock the next morning. The air was scented with the sweet smell of pancakes, bacon, and eggs. Her stomach growled as she sat up. She went into the kitchen, and smiled at an already-wide-awake-Artemis. He grinned. "Well, at least you don't snore or talk in your sleep, even if you do sleep in late."

She glared at him. "Very funny."

He laughed, something he rarely used to do. It surprised him. Was this the way he had felt before his memory had been wiped?

When they had both finished the breakfast prepared by Butler, they decided to spend the afternoon in the study.

Holly looked over the titles of the Gnommish books Artemis had purchased. Did Julius really have to know about this? What was the big deal if Fowl had a few-okay, three hundred-Gnommish books? It's not like he was out to destroy them all. Right?

As if reading her mind, Artemis came up silently behind her. "When I'm not using them, the books are stored behind a fake bookshelf. Unlike other locks, motion sensors sound off an alarm if anyone comes near it. The person then has four seconds to type in the code." He leaned over her shoulder and pointed to three rows of nine digits under the shelf. "That is where I type in the code when I want to access the book shelf."

"Okay, I'm impressed. So what's the code?"

Artemis chuckled. "You'll never know."

Holly groaned. "So I have to get you whenever I want to read something?" "Yes."

"Even at 1:00 a.m. in the morning?"

"Then you'll ask Butler." He smiled at her obvious frustration.

"Okay, fine. I bet that I can find out your little code in under an hour." Holly crossed her arms and frowned at him.

Artemis arched an eyebrow. "Deal."

Holly looked mischievous. He placed the novel he'd been reading back onto the shelf and pressed a button on the keypad that activated the "fake" set of shelves.

"On your mark, get ready, go." Artemis gave her a smug smile that taunted her. He settled into a chair and steepled his fingers.

Holly ran up the stairs to the guest room and took out a small suitcase. In ten seconds flat, she was back at the bookcase and taking out a dusting brush and what looked like foundation.

The motion sensors went off when Holly reached past them to get to the keypad. "You have four seconds." Artemis informed her triumphantly. "What are you-" Artemis mouth shaped into an O.

After dusting the keypad, which revealed fingerprints, Holly pushed the darkest to lightest prints and was rewarded when the fake bookcase slid back to reveal the Gnommish books.

"Ta da!" Holly gloated.

Artemis' face revealed his absolute shock.

"So what do I get for beating the masta?"

Artemis merely glared at her.