Artemis Fowl stood hesitantly outside of Minerva Paradizo's villa in France. Why was he here, you might ask? He was forced to go by his mother when she found the invitation stuck in a book, Great Expectations, in her library.
So here he was. And who else was here with him? Holly Short. Why? As soon as she got a call from Artemis and she heard the word "party", she was on the next shuttle to France. Her exact words were, "I have to see this myself!"
Of course, she wasn't listening when he said Minerva Paradizo either. And when she did, Artemis wouldn't let her go back. "I'm not going to suffer through this alone, Holly," he'd said, "If you don't come, you can kiss that promise goodbye."
Artemis had promised to eat a…dare I say…lollipop. Well, a Blow Pop to be precise. Holly had practically forced him to say he'd do it after having a dream about an Artemis Fowl CandyLand game. And so, he's here. And so was she. Minerva came shooting outside. "Arty!" she shouted. "Come in, come in!" And so…she dragged him into the villa.
Artemis was hit with a sudden wave of nausea as he saw the inside of the grand home. Lights of different colors flashed and loud up-beat music blared out of the several amplifiers. Holly's jaw dropped at the many teenagers dancing to the music. Minerva…did this?
Minerva giggled. "Well, what do you think Arty?"
Artemis sent her a look. It could be translated into the words, What the heck is this? Are you kidding me?
Holly looked around at the mud people. They were all wearing normal clothes. Could this actually be a normal party? Could it really be possible?
She eyed the large crowd and took note that they were completely human and seemingly not very evil.
Apparently it was.
Artemis sighed, mentally facepalmed, and walked off without a word. He looked around and found three tables on a balcony. Two were filled; another had one occupant, who was reading. He walked over and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, but is this seat taken?" The person waved their hand towards the seat, shaking their head without looking up.
Artemis pulled out a seat and sat down. It was quiet, until the person spoke. "I'm guessing you were forced to come here too?" Artemis smiled, nodding. The voice belonged to a girl, American too.
"Yes, I was."
She put down her book. "Well, I think you don't want to be here, am I right?" Artemis nodded again. The girl had shoulder-length, wild hair and sea-green eyes. She was wearing a pair of square-rimmed glasses that fell to her nose every time she tried to push them up again. There was a slight crease in her eyebrows as she frowned. "I can relate. Who forced you? Mom? Dad? Sibling? Friend?"
He averted her intense gaze that slightly bothered him. "My mother. Though, my father had his role in it too. How about you?" She caught his gaze and smiled. "My brother." Artemis nodded for a third time. "Well, my name is Artemis Fowl the Second." The girl stifled a laugh. "O-kay. Name's Percie, Percie Jackson."