Hello. Err; I was kind of nervous posting this up before my other AF fic
was done. (Which it almost is I might add.) So please don't kill me.
I don't care for romance, so I almost kicked myself when I was finished with this. Now Sara is probably going to get all mad at me and will refuse to review because of the pairing. -_-;
Disclaimer: If you have seen any of the characters mentioned here before, then they are probably not mine. I wish they were but they are not. This story takes place after Eternity Code mind you.
Remember: NO NON CONSTRUCTIVE FLAMES! NON CONSTRUCTIVE FLAMES ARE THINGS OF THE DEVIL!
Chapter 1: Mussing
Holly Short sat on her couch, looking up at the ceiling so she could count the holes in it. The council had suspended her for a day from her unauthorized flight to Tara. It didn't matter though; she had needed the cool air and the feather light breeze to calm her down a bit.
"One, two, three..." she muttered to the ceiling. "One, two, three..."
Thoughts clouded her mind. Thoughts that refused to just sit there and be ignored. Thoughts that took over no matter how hard you tried to break free. Thoughts that could turn a once proud and noble fairy into a sobbing heap of despair.
"It's no use," she said again to the ceiling, giving up hope for counting the holes.
"I don't understand," she whispered as she dug her head into a pillow. "Why is it so hard to let go? Why can't I stop thinking about what happened? There was nothing I could have done to stop it, not even if I wanted to. None of this is my doing. I am vindicated." She paused for a moment then continued in a whisper, "So then why am I overcome with guilt?"
Tears were threatening to pour down from her eyes, the terrible feeling in her gut (known all to well as guilt) was bothering her. For some strange reason though, the feeling was not alone, something else was causing her to feel this miserable but she couldn't tell what.
"I shouldn't be feeling this sentimental!" she scolded herself, "We all weren't exactly friends, we never could be. Yet I still miss them."
She was now hugging the pillow tightly to her chest. Is this what an LEP officer had come to? A blubbering sympathetic fool?
No.
She could not be beaten by this.
Her father had died when she was still young, and that hadn't brought her down. When her mother lost her sight in a serious hover mobile accident, it just made Holly stronger. The day her best friend, whom she had known since before she could crawl, got amnesia from a Goblin/Dwarf turf rally and was sent to an institute, it just made Holly want to be in the Recon even more.
After all of these things had happened, they had yet to keep the smile off of Holly's face permanently. Yet now, she was succumbing to a few mudmen and a mud girl losing their memory?
"I need to take a walk." Holly sighed, throwing the pillow to the floor.
She put on a normal outfit and some boots and headed for the door to her one story house. The air outside was warm, no surprises there, yet enjoyable. She walked down the street and headed to the park.
After many complaints on how boring and uncivilized the city was; the council finally agreed to put in a small park with a few patches of grass, a tree here or there, a bush or two, and even a rather small garden. It wasn't exactly Eden but it was good enough for some satisfaction.
"I can still remember those too few times I actually enjoyed their company," she murmured as she sat on the closest bench, "just because they can't relish them, doesn't mean I can't."
She thought back to when they first made contact, at the oak tree. Just thinking about it sent shivers up her spine. Being locked up in a prison for hours until she finally decided to break the concrete with her bed frame. She sure hoped that Artemis didn't turn back into that monster he had been.
Their were perks to the first encounter though. The first time she punched Artemis in the face, and she had witnessed Butler tear the troll to pieces. Not very pleasant for the troll, but at least because of it she knew that there was practically nothing Butler couldn't do.
'That must be why I healed him,' she thought, 'because I knew he could do it, I knew as long as he was alive he would do anything for those he cared for.'
During the Opal Koboi incident, Butler and Artemis had helped in the investigation. Though it was only so that the fairies would help Artemis rescue his father. Nonetheless they held out their end of the bargain.
The first time they went into the artic, Artemis had helped rescue Commander Root and Butler from a frozen death, even if she did almost lose her finger.
Holly's lips became a grim slash. She could have caught hypothermia or lost her finger, and the ritual was no fun as it had drained much of her energy, and she had to continue the rest of the way on Butlers back.
She lightened up a bit. It actually wasn't all that bad being slung over his shoulder, they had talked a bit known a little more about each other. That was until he said, "It sounds like you have a thing for this particular captain."
Sure Holly had been saying a bit about Captain Trouble Kelp, but that didn't mean she had a crush on him. Although, the more she thought about it, the more obvious it became that he was only joking. Imagine, Butler joking. Very much out of character in Holly's mind.
Both times they were at the artic; Holly saw a side of Artemis that she thought she would never see. Sadness, loneliness, sympathy, a little boy who loves and misses his father Adjectives Holly thought she would never use to describe Artemis.
"I gave him the gold coin," Holly said, looking down at her hands constricting each other tightly, a trait commonly used tell people were deep in thought, "that coin was a symbol of friendship and that he is only human, something to remind him of me. Something he no longer has."
She remembered how he had given it to Mulch. It made sense after all, seeing as how worthless it would be for him to keep it for he no longer remembered what it was supposed to represent.
Holly looked up into the branches of the trees, it was getting late. Darkness was creeping in everywhere and most of the light was coming from the street lamps. It was about time to head home.
She got up off her bench and slowly trudged back to her home.
Her mind began to think back to their last encounter, the means of all her distress that day, the mission for the C Cube.
"The lockdown, Butler dead, Artemis kidnapped, the mindwhip..." Holly spoke softly to the nothingness of the night, "I don't think I can find many happy memories in this scenario."
There wasn't much to be had. She had been happy to see Juliet again, and bonding with her wasn't all that bad, it was actually quite pleasant. She could now see where Butler got his sense of humor.
"When Artemis and I outsmarted Jon Spiro was a bit of a chuckle," she said with a bit of amusement, "him shouting curses everywhere and shooting blindly into the air hopping to hit us, not the least bit successful."
Watching Butler "interrogate" Arno Blunt was also a bit fun, Holly admitted. How he paled when Butler arrived out of nowhere, how he pleaded for mercy before him, how he promised Butler to tell the police men the truth. It was all very entertaining.
Holly somehow arrived at the door to her home; she slipped the key into the door and went straight to her futon.
Though she was exhausted, her mind refused to pardon her. The mindwhip was still fresh in her mind and it was destroying her. Guilt and its anonymous friend were back. Tears were fighting their way down her cheek. Holly merely shook them away.
"I think I know now what I have to do," she said to herself, "I'll talk to Root tomorrow and ask for that days' Fowl watch."
_______________________________________________________________________
So what'd you think? Too sappy, too confusing, not enough fluff? SEND ME YOUR COMMENTS, THE PEOPLES DEMANDS MUST BE MEANT!
Sorry if the chapter sucked, I am doing the best I can for today. (Which isn't all that great considering how lazy I am)
Please review! Erm, if you can help it, try not to guess the pairing. I am sure it's obvious, but for the sake of my self confidence, don't guess. Sometimes I try to pretend I'm sneaky, it makes me feel better about myself. T-T
I don't care for romance, so I almost kicked myself when I was finished with this. Now Sara is probably going to get all mad at me and will refuse to review because of the pairing. -_-;
Disclaimer: If you have seen any of the characters mentioned here before, then they are probably not mine. I wish they were but they are not. This story takes place after Eternity Code mind you.
Remember: NO NON CONSTRUCTIVE FLAMES! NON CONSTRUCTIVE FLAMES ARE THINGS OF THE DEVIL!
Chapter 1: Mussing
Holly Short sat on her couch, looking up at the ceiling so she could count the holes in it. The council had suspended her for a day from her unauthorized flight to Tara. It didn't matter though; she had needed the cool air and the feather light breeze to calm her down a bit.
"One, two, three..." she muttered to the ceiling. "One, two, three..."
Thoughts clouded her mind. Thoughts that refused to just sit there and be ignored. Thoughts that took over no matter how hard you tried to break free. Thoughts that could turn a once proud and noble fairy into a sobbing heap of despair.
"It's no use," she said again to the ceiling, giving up hope for counting the holes.
"I don't understand," she whispered as she dug her head into a pillow. "Why is it so hard to let go? Why can't I stop thinking about what happened? There was nothing I could have done to stop it, not even if I wanted to. None of this is my doing. I am vindicated." She paused for a moment then continued in a whisper, "So then why am I overcome with guilt?"
Tears were threatening to pour down from her eyes, the terrible feeling in her gut (known all to well as guilt) was bothering her. For some strange reason though, the feeling was not alone, something else was causing her to feel this miserable but she couldn't tell what.
"I shouldn't be feeling this sentimental!" she scolded herself, "We all weren't exactly friends, we never could be. Yet I still miss them."
She was now hugging the pillow tightly to her chest. Is this what an LEP officer had come to? A blubbering sympathetic fool?
No.
She could not be beaten by this.
Her father had died when she was still young, and that hadn't brought her down. When her mother lost her sight in a serious hover mobile accident, it just made Holly stronger. The day her best friend, whom she had known since before she could crawl, got amnesia from a Goblin/Dwarf turf rally and was sent to an institute, it just made Holly want to be in the Recon even more.
After all of these things had happened, they had yet to keep the smile off of Holly's face permanently. Yet now, she was succumbing to a few mudmen and a mud girl losing their memory?
"I need to take a walk." Holly sighed, throwing the pillow to the floor.
She put on a normal outfit and some boots and headed for the door to her one story house. The air outside was warm, no surprises there, yet enjoyable. She walked down the street and headed to the park.
After many complaints on how boring and uncivilized the city was; the council finally agreed to put in a small park with a few patches of grass, a tree here or there, a bush or two, and even a rather small garden. It wasn't exactly Eden but it was good enough for some satisfaction.
"I can still remember those too few times I actually enjoyed their company," she murmured as she sat on the closest bench, "just because they can't relish them, doesn't mean I can't."
She thought back to when they first made contact, at the oak tree. Just thinking about it sent shivers up her spine. Being locked up in a prison for hours until she finally decided to break the concrete with her bed frame. She sure hoped that Artemis didn't turn back into that monster he had been.
Their were perks to the first encounter though. The first time she punched Artemis in the face, and she had witnessed Butler tear the troll to pieces. Not very pleasant for the troll, but at least because of it she knew that there was practically nothing Butler couldn't do.
'That must be why I healed him,' she thought, 'because I knew he could do it, I knew as long as he was alive he would do anything for those he cared for.'
During the Opal Koboi incident, Butler and Artemis had helped in the investigation. Though it was only so that the fairies would help Artemis rescue his father. Nonetheless they held out their end of the bargain.
The first time they went into the artic, Artemis had helped rescue Commander Root and Butler from a frozen death, even if she did almost lose her finger.
Holly's lips became a grim slash. She could have caught hypothermia or lost her finger, and the ritual was no fun as it had drained much of her energy, and she had to continue the rest of the way on Butlers back.
She lightened up a bit. It actually wasn't all that bad being slung over his shoulder, they had talked a bit known a little more about each other. That was until he said, "It sounds like you have a thing for this particular captain."
Sure Holly had been saying a bit about Captain Trouble Kelp, but that didn't mean she had a crush on him. Although, the more she thought about it, the more obvious it became that he was only joking. Imagine, Butler joking. Very much out of character in Holly's mind.
Both times they were at the artic; Holly saw a side of Artemis that she thought she would never see. Sadness, loneliness, sympathy, a little boy who loves and misses his father Adjectives Holly thought she would never use to describe Artemis.
"I gave him the gold coin," Holly said, looking down at her hands constricting each other tightly, a trait commonly used tell people were deep in thought, "that coin was a symbol of friendship and that he is only human, something to remind him of me. Something he no longer has."
She remembered how he had given it to Mulch. It made sense after all, seeing as how worthless it would be for him to keep it for he no longer remembered what it was supposed to represent.
Holly looked up into the branches of the trees, it was getting late. Darkness was creeping in everywhere and most of the light was coming from the street lamps. It was about time to head home.
She got up off her bench and slowly trudged back to her home.
Her mind began to think back to their last encounter, the means of all her distress that day, the mission for the C Cube.
"The lockdown, Butler dead, Artemis kidnapped, the mindwhip..." Holly spoke softly to the nothingness of the night, "I don't think I can find many happy memories in this scenario."
There wasn't much to be had. She had been happy to see Juliet again, and bonding with her wasn't all that bad, it was actually quite pleasant. She could now see where Butler got his sense of humor.
"When Artemis and I outsmarted Jon Spiro was a bit of a chuckle," she said with a bit of amusement, "him shouting curses everywhere and shooting blindly into the air hopping to hit us, not the least bit successful."
Watching Butler "interrogate" Arno Blunt was also a bit fun, Holly admitted. How he paled when Butler arrived out of nowhere, how he pleaded for mercy before him, how he promised Butler to tell the police men the truth. It was all very entertaining.
Holly somehow arrived at the door to her home; she slipped the key into the door and went straight to her futon.
Though she was exhausted, her mind refused to pardon her. The mindwhip was still fresh in her mind and it was destroying her. Guilt and its anonymous friend were back. Tears were fighting their way down her cheek. Holly merely shook them away.
"I think I know now what I have to do," she said to herself, "I'll talk to Root tomorrow and ask for that days' Fowl watch."
_______________________________________________________________________
So what'd you think? Too sappy, too confusing, not enough fluff? SEND ME YOUR COMMENTS, THE PEOPLES DEMANDS MUST BE MEANT!
Sorry if the chapter sucked, I am doing the best I can for today. (Which isn't all that great considering how lazy I am)
Please review! Erm, if you can help it, try not to guess the pairing. I am sure it's obvious, but for the sake of my self confidence, don't guess. Sometimes I try to pretend I'm sneaky, it makes me feel better about myself. T-T