Artemis Fowl: The Magic Paradox
Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl or any publicly recognizable characters. Eoin Colfer does.
This story is rated PG for character death.
Chapter 1
"Would you look at this Artemis!" giggled Opal, grinning as she stood over Butler, "This is my revenge."
Artemis collapsed, his knees buckling under him. With all his brains, everything he could do… it wasn't enough. He just couldn't, he wouldn't pretend anymore. Always, he had been able to conceal his true emotions, noone knew what was going on in his mind. But with everyone gone, it didn't matter. If Opal did kill him, it would be a blessing.
"Awwwww… Is the great Artemis Fowl lost without all his friends?" mock-pouted Opal. "Butler? Help poor Artemis! He needs you!" Opal paused for a moment, hovering, "Oh wait, Butler is dead!"
"Juliet? Angeline?" Opal's smile widened, "Holly?" Opal flew up a few metres in the air, hovering over Artemis.
"I will leave you with this Artemis Fowl. This is all completely your own fault. If you had just seen past your greed. You would've known that job was dirty. You put your friends in danger for a little bit of gold. And that only has to happen once. You murdered them." Opal looked at him for a moment, snapping a photo with her LEP helmet, then opened the throttle on her wings, disappearing through a hole in the roof that Holly had made. Coming to help him.
Artemis pressed his hand to his head for a moment, as if that would stop what had gone on all around him. He allowed a single tear to slip down his cold stone hard face, splashing on the cold concrete floor. Then he stood up shakily and slowly, and turned to Holly. He thought he saw her move her hand, reaching towards him and he ran to her. He picked her up, holding her in his lap and hesitantly checked for a pulse. There was none.
Artemis stood, glad of tears blurring his vision, and checked the rest of his friends and family. Juliet, Butler, Mother. None. No pulse, no life, nothing. He looked around the warehouse, glad of the large sports duffle bag sitting in the corner. Obviously, this was a storage warehouse for a sports supply store. He took the duffle and carefully placed Holly inside.
While he wished he could sit here and sob and mourn for them, he had to get Holly out of here. Putting on a pair of gloves from a crate, he dialed 112, the UK emergency code, on a wall-phone. Then, putting them in the duffle as well, he wiped the tears from his eyes, and putting on a stone hard face, he slipped out the back door of the warehouse, and onto the street.
Artemis marched straight into Fowl manor holding nothing but the duffle bag. It seemed to be getting heavier and heavier as he carried it. His father yelled from the living room, "Hey Artemis, will you come give me your opinion on these stocks?"
Artemis completely ignored him, going directly upstairs, closing the door to his study and locking it. Schiicccck. The sound echoed in his study. He set the duffle bag down gently in the corner, and grabbing a meditation cushion and a voice recorder he sat in the lotus position and did the only thing he could do. Plot.
Artemis thought and thought. What possible solutions could he come up with? His genius seemed useless, and it failed him now. Not for the first time, but at the most important time. His thoughts were fuzzy and out of reach, there was an idea in there, but he would never reach it, grasp onto it.
Himself, reaching for a strangely shaped box… Opal's face was grinning at him. No grinning wasn't the word for it, preening, gloating, an excitement shone in her eyes and something flashed across them as she pulled a trigger much too large for her small fingers. Butler was infront of him in a nanosecond, he hadn't even completely turned around when… "NO!"
Artemis realized he had yelled out loud, he was on his feet, tensed. The voice recorder's red light blinked at him, mocking his outburst. Artemis sat down abruptly and thought. The only way he knew how to bring his friends back was through time travel. But he was sure that the LEP would have already recieved a message from Koboi, and would be putting all the warlock's into hiding, including Number One, the only warlock who would help. He could create a time machine.