Artemis fowl the second, was in his study. Not the one in the fowl manor of course, e wasn't allowed to go back there this time. As far as the fowl family was concerned after that mind wipe, he died in the terrorist attacks, same as ten percent of the population. No, instead he lived in a nice quiet, medium sized house in the country side.
He sighed, and leaned back in his chair. He was lucky he didn't remember the rest of his life. From what he did remember, he was a cold hearted, ruthless, but undeniably clever individual. And he still was… well, at least he was still clever. Dying gave him a sort of, clean slate. Every once in a while, the elf named holly visited him; there was always a flood of memories, like videos playing in the back ground. He wished she hated him. She should for all the things he did when they first met. She was just… too forgiving.
"That's nonsense Hunter!" Hunter. Only one person ever called him that now.
"Hello 'noble knight'." Supposedly he was the result of the Atlantis complex. But that was before. Now, he was a manifestation, of the magic his spirit had absorbed. Of course he dissipated when other people looked at him, so he wouldn't tell any one. But he was definitely real.
"Hello again." He grinned with an oddly happy look, which definitely didn't suit the face features that at one time would always house blue eyes with a cold glint, and a steely vampire smile. But some how he pulled it off in the not-quite-a-suit suit. "And of course I am real!" If I wasn't, how could I do this?" He picked up a very delicate flower vase, empty at the moment, and tossed it to Artemis. The new body they gave him was much more athletic, and very much coordinated. Super humanly so. The horse man, or 'centaur' as he liked to be called, said it was a gift from Holly.
"Maybe I am just so deranged." Artemis said as he caught the vase, felt its weight and its smooth, cold surface. "That my imagination is running away with me."
The apparition of magic just laughed and walked over, hitting him in the shoulder. Artemis couldn't really deny the slight bruise the next morning that formed. "We have been together in this body for a very long time now. You may not remember, but we had a deal the day you died."
The day before yesterday, he didn't even think Orion was more than just a figment of his past self's imagination. "I'm listening, what was the deal?"
"Well, you, or at least, the boy you used to be, knew that despite my, chivalrous and goodly nature, I was just as smart, and able to do equally mentally challenging tasks as him." He paused, remembering the six months they were in limbo together.
"Brilliant my friend, but the deal please? I don't like being in the dark about the things that people know about me that I should remember."
He nodded. "Of course." He took a few steps around the room, admiring most of the 'free' paintings around the room, most of which were from the private collection of fowl manor, which was sold off after the finances grew a bit scarce. OF course the Fowl family is still a very rich one, but now its family is in a business that was far more legitimate than it was once upon a time. "The deal is, my friend, why we still exist on this earth today."
Artemis was paying close attention. "Go on."
"You see, we both took to keeping part of our self from moving on to the 'other side' where ever that might have been, we may have been human, but as you said to me, 'Frond only knows where the elfin magic might lead us', and you set me to the task of keeping our memories intact, while you kept us bound here."
Artemis folded his hands and put his chin on them. It did make sense, after all if He focused on keeping them both bound to earth, that gave him body rights he supposed, but with out memories… Orion was the one that had those, from two points of views that read the world through slightly different colored lenses. A slight mix of both personalities.
"Well," Orion said backing up and ginning. "I suppose I will leave you to our thoughts. Just think about me if you need any help." The boy named Orion fizzled away, no more than a memory. Not even a finger print on the vase to prove he was there.
"Just remember." The echo of Orion lingered in the room. "I'm always here you know, think of me as your guardian angel. I can see things you can't, and not just in a metaphorical way." Metaphorical. He was pretty sure Orion never used a word like that before he was, contained.
He sighed. Maybe it was time for a walk outside. His cabin was practically in Fowl manor's backyard. But he wasn't in the business any more, and a certain physiatrist, suggested Artemis Fowl become closer to nature, and have a bit of breathing room from the family as he recovered from memory loss. Of course he wasn't a big part of the family any more now. The twins, smart as they were understood that Artemis wasn't Artemis with out his memories, so they came to the conclusion, as any four year old would. That he was an alien from outer space sent to replace him. He didn't think they really believed that, but the pair had a fun time playing the 'hide from the alien game' when ever Artemis happened to take a visit in the manor.
Of course, Artemis had only been revealed as alive to his parents and family two weeks ago, after being thoroughly sure it was Artemis, and not opal Koboi some how possessing the empty shell.
But today he didn't want to visit the manor. At least not yet. There was a river, or a large stream, whichever you would rather call it, where there was a bend in the river, where Artemis, as Orion had been told, planted a tree here, an ancient oak. That tree was planted at the beginning of his ventures, right after the release of a certain captain. It was about waist high now. He wasn't sure if they grew that fast naturally, but the new him didn't care.
To him, it was a very calming place. He sighed, and took a seat on a rock, that in a few years would have an Artemis shaped but imprint on it. He closed his eyes, and took in a deep breath as the clean air, mostly clean at least, filled his lungs. He didn't like people that much any more, especially ones from his old life.
Though there were a few exceptions now. The first was, of course his family. He would have to get used to them any ways. The second was butler. Although he had fired for 'incompetence' he had been rehired after a little Mesmer work from the fairies. He would have to figure out how that worked some day. The third, who was now his personal body guard in replace of butler, who now guarded both of the twins, who were now the official heirs of the fowl business, which again was totally legitimate now. The forth, Mulch Diggums. A dwarf who had a habit of finding whatever valuables with in your pocket with out you ever knowing. Unless you were expecting it. The last one was of course, Holly. For some reason, she was the only one he had memories of that didn't have to be filled in by Orion, Butler, and even Holly herself.
So he thought of her, and wondered why his past self had added to his burden of keeping them anchored there, and having memories of Holly. Especially when, almost all of the memories were of his betrayals of her. There were a few good ones. How he saved the people. How he cheated death and time itself to save her. How she kissed him after saving him.
For a genius, he thought with a slight chuckle. He must have been the stupidest person on the planet. HE had the most forgiving soul on the planet as a friend, which at a time before was a bitter enemy. Why did he have to throw it away all the times he did.
He was pretty sure she hated him. Not like the kind of hate for an enemy though. All the times he betrayed her, manipulated her and tricked her. All the times his ridicules schemes had nearly gotten her killed.
In reality, when he opened his eyes and took a breath. He had to admit she would never hate him. She would forget and forgive. But it would be so much simpler if she did. He wouldn't have t be so confused on what to do.
He stood up, and took a look behind him. There, there was a glow no human eye could see. A magical aura. In fact no elves could see that aura either. In both worlds he was quite an anomaly now. He kept is face impassive as he turned around, pretending not to notice the shielded LEP officer in the branches above, who was swinging her legs back and forth as he passed under her. She followed him all the way back to the cabin. But he couldn't let her know he knew, he had no equipment, she made no sound, and she made less than no shimmer as she passed through the air with the humming bird wings that made literally zero decibels of sound. And that was when you put your ear to its engine compartment.
For now, the great Artemis Fowl the second, greatest criminal master mind of the generation. Picked up a remote. And turned on the TV.
He could almost her gasp through the sound proof helmet. It was a hard battle not to laugh or grin. Then he put her mind somewhat at ease when he put it on the news. They were still going on over theories of how a certain Fowl had come back to life. As there was a funeral that had his body buried in the family cemetery; no one was brave enough to look. After about ten minutes of nonsense, like aliens, a favor he did the leprechauns, that he was a zombie. One hit fairly close to the mark. Experimental clone technology. That one was pretty much right on the money. But just like the others it was dismissed in favor of the theory that he had a cousin that looked just like him, whether or not the real Artemis fowl was in the casket instead of the double was a whole other argument all together.
He picked up a pair of sun glasses, and pretended for a moment to inspect them for cleanliness. He could see the glow in the reflection in the couch behind him. There was also a slight imprint of her form on it. Finally an excuse to notice.
"To whom do I owe the pleasure?" he asked. Faking the Fowl contempt for just about everyone in general.
The ghost like figure started, and seemed to sigh in defeat before unshielded, and taking off her helmet. It was another nameless LEP officer, a pretty young one too. She might have been, in human's terms seventeen. Maybe eighteen if you really stretched it.
"Private June, recon in training." She looked pretty upset that he noticed.
"Okay, and why exactly where you spying on me?"
She grinned sheepishly and said "I wouldn't think of it as spying. A certain superior of mine was worried about you, and since she is rather occupied with desk work these days, she thought I would keep an eye on you without getting caught. She said I reminded her of a certain someone." After a pause she continued with "I am pretty sure that person was herself.
Artemis sighed and leaned back "Would this 'superior officer' happen to be captain Short."?
"Major short now actually" June said, she is well on her way to becoming commander if she keeps it up, but I doubt she will accept, she says she barely gets out enough as it is." June sighed and stood up, "Well I better go, you caught me and she won't be too happy with me, this is soused to be the latest in stealth technology."
Suddenly, a thought occurred to Artemis that made him feel very unintelligent for not asking as soon as she showed up in the house. "How are you in here and not feeling the more negative effects of entering a human dwelling?"
"Remember that time you died and you basically said that once you did all of the people would have a free invitation to be in the manor? Apparently that extended to all houses and, in this case cabins on the property as well, and the body you made the promise in, is still very much dead." With that, she shimmered out of view; at least she thought she did. He could still see the glowing blue as she stayed in the house, this time just being careful not to touch any thing. This was her mistake.
"I didn't here the door open!" He heard a muffled curse in gnomish and the elf flew off, making a note so open the door and shut it as loudly as possible. If things kept up like this, he mused as the glow flew far enough away that the imaginary X ray vision the fairy was sure the pale mud man had was too weak to see her, I won't need Orion to drive me insane.
"Now that wasn't very nice." Back already are you? He wasn't manifesting right now, but he could still hear him in his head. "Of course I am! I am a part of you."
"Oh joy." Airtimes mumbled under his breath.
"Just because you say it quietly doesn't mean I can't hear it." Generally, Artemis made a point not to talk to Orion out loud, but if he kept it up he may just make an exception. Even with the fairy hovering five hundred feet away, no doubt with an array of devices designed to decipher what he was hearing. If humans could do that, there was no doubt that the fairies could.
He checked the time again. It was about 7:00:pm. He would try and go to sleep, since he had no project to work on, and he decided school was a waste of time after dying. But he found sleep difficult now. Whenever he tried he was always buzzing with unnatural energy.
A trip to the manor today it is. Besides, it was going to be a full moon in two days, and he hadn't seen a full moon in his lifetime. That he remembered at least. He was locked under ground in the psyche ward for the last full moon. He didn't know it at the time though. It gave him a nasty head ache, and a chorus of voices that wouldn't stop whispering. In fact whenever he tried to talk to him, instead of silencing like he asked, they were filled with questions. Particularly the louder voices, which he presumed were fairies with a lot of magic.
Before the questions, it was surprise, with statements and exclamations along the lines of 'a new voice! This one is powerful.' After that, a barrage of questions assaulted him. Asking him what his name was what family he was from. Most were from one of the strongest voices, who kept insisting to the others that he must have been a demon warlock. After a while, he told argon that he was having trouble sleeping, and that some white noise would be appreciated. The doctor scribbled down notes as he limped to fetch someone to bring in a fan, or some music.
He got both, and Artemis sat there pretending to sleep, because even with the head phones in at maximum volume, the loudest voice refused to be drowned out.
'Stop playing that music' it said 'it is filling your mind and not only drowning out your awareness of us, but others awareness of each other. It is deafening the quiet ones!'
Artemis ignored the voices, and tried desperately to seep for a long time. He didn't succeed. The next night the voices were silent. But he still felt a buzzing at his temples and the base of his skull. One side of him, felt like it was the worst feeling in the world. But another, more primitive side, reveled in the raw power and wildness of the magic coursing though him. Magic that, he couldn't use. Magic that kept him awake at all nights, and wouldn't let him sleep during the day. He never felt tired, but he desperately wanted to sleep. After that first full moon he never got a second of it. He did hear later that Holly had a huge headache. Apparently some new born had a lot of magic, and pretty much put everyone in a hangover the day after the full moon. She said it was the worst commune experience in her life.
He knew and accepted that the sleepless nights wouldn't change though. Artemis thought that maybe, the sleeplessness was caused by all the energy in him, enough for a good sized thermo nuclear bomb or two.
As he walked into the manor, he was caught on film by a dozen cameras. Some of which weren't exactly in the standard Fowl manor security plan, but were under employment by Foally, who had pin hole sized cameras on walls, doors and entrances throughout the manor. He took a few steps in, and already knew it was empty, save for Juliet who was only to leave the property if it was while escorting Artemis somewhere.
Butler, old as he was now, didn't do his job protecting the res of the Fowl family alone. Now most people would complain here, and say 'but a pairing of a butler and body guard lasts for life! Well, again. Butler was old now, and besides. He did do his job well, but in the end Artemis still died. Under normal circumstances, he may have been replaced, but he was one of the most experienced body guards in the world, and despite his age, he could still throw a punch, and knew all the places a sniper would be. And all the places some where would go to snipe a sniper. The man mountain's helpers in question were carefully selected from his own extensive list of contacts. Even with the fowl fortune a bit less than it was once upon a time, it now had a good and regular income from various patents from technology Artemis had made himself, before he died.
The solar plane had been one of them. Along with a series of cars and boats that on electricity alone, could run faster and more efficiently then any car on gas. There were also quite a few military agents asking about some things he had been working on at one point, but the Fowl family said they weren't going to sell those off without Artemis's permission himself, from the will. And the will was in a locked room that was more secure than fort Knox. Nothing sort of high explosives would get in and those would probably damage anything inside. And you couldn't just hack into it either, as soon as it detected a foreign program, it shut down for a full forty eight hours. Needless to say, even the twins had given up on trying to break in as the 'put in every code combination' wasn't possible when it also needed an eye scanner, finger print reader, and a voice recognition system. Artemis got very paranoid about his stuff during the rising climax of the Atlantis Complex.
But enough about his past life he didn't remember. The past was the past, and a past he couldn't remember was not worth trying.
As he explored the house, he quickly grew tired of it, and as he was about to leave, he heard Juliet coming down the stairs.
"There you are!" she shouted and almost ran to him. "I saw you come in on the camera, and when I went to go get you were somewhere else, for someone that died you move pretty fast, and I thought you went up a different stair case without me noticing." Most of the family didn't know about what really happened that day; all of them completely mind wiped about the day the fowl manor went a bit crazy. Except Juliet, who as Artemis's bodyguard was told by holly her self so she could protect him properly? Not that he needed it any more. He was in an unnaturally strong body, with the combat knowledge of Orion.
Artemis just said "I guess you might be losing your touch already, being the body guard of the biggest trouble maker on and under the world is exciting."
Juliet started for a moment, and Artemis remembered how the old him didn't usually make jokes. She made a good recovery though, and turned the shock back to him with her next sentence. "Well I doubt I'd be losing my touch, you hadn't done anything dangerous in two weeks, which is a pretty good record for you. Any ways, Holly is on leave for the next five days, she called and said the council thought it would be best if the one that knew the most kept on eye on him. And that might be a bit longer than five days Fowl; I think you may have a more permanent tail this time. She grinned at his shock, and went back up the stairs, after a quick check for hostiles of course, as her brother taught her, and went back upstairs, to do whatever teenage girl body guards with enough training to put the seal team six to shame do.
He looked around; acting like holly might just materialize out of the walls. "And when was this?" Probably the council tribunal, or whatever the People called it, he couldn't quite remember, only had the decision finalized recently, or else Holly wouldn't have sent a private to keep an eye on him. Unless it was because holly wouldn't be coming in uniform, if she was staying for a while she couldn't just keep it a secret from her family. After that he started musing about how she would get them to let her in. maybe a Mesmer or five, and she would come in with the rest of them when they got back from, wherever this afternoon. Or maybe she would call them ahead, and convince them it was fine, before showing up here before them even. However she was going to do it, Artemis knew that Private June wasn't just some last minute decision, and it might not even had been Holly's idea. .. It could have been Trouble, Artemis knew he liked holly and was worried about her, but it also could have been…. That list went on for another hour, before he heard the doorbell ring. Before he could get to it Juliet was already racing down the stairs to answer it. A toffee skinned girl with miss-matched eyes, red cropped hair in a yellow shirt and blue shorts stood at the entrance, just beaming. She was also five feet tall. Artemis really wanted to know how they had managed to do that, and take away the pointed ears look to boot.
"Hi arty, jewels." nodding at each of them respectively. "I guess I'm going to be staying here for a few nights." She flashed another award winning smile. This was going to be a tough week. Hopefully it only lasted that long.