One: Tá dhá Éanlaithe

-Illisandria Carthain

Artemis read the email with bated breath. Could this have been it? Was this what he had been looking for? He turned to Butler, a sturdy giant of a man, and inquired, "And you are sure this is the real thing? Because I, for one, would not like a repeat of our previous failure."

Butler winced. Not that the last time had been entirely his fault, precisely. It was moreso that Artemis had this nasty habit of passing the buck to him, although it had only been in jest. With the youth's icy-blue eyes and piercing glare it was hard for the bodyguard, or anyone else, for that matter, to say otherwise. Besides, it wasn't his place to question his charge's statements. No matter how ludicrous they were.

"Of course not, sir," The Eurasian rumbled. "I've cross-checked my sources, and they've all said that Mister Xuan is very reliable."

"Good. Then we shall depart immediately." The twelve-year-old genius shut the e-mail's window and began to walk out of the room, halting when Butler had cleared his throat. "Yes?"

"We shall be taking Orion with us, shan't we, sir?" Dark, somber eyes bored into chilled, blue ones.

Artemis took a few moments to ponder, and at last sighed. "Must we?" A curt nod and Artemis's eyes hardened, his mouth setting in a hard line. "Then yes, I suppose we shall have to. Please do your best to assure that he does not do what he had last time." The two of them paused, recalling, none too fondly, the incident in Cairo, Egypt. It had taken several thousands of dollars and many letters from the Fowl in conversation with the manservant currently to others of high-society to mend that particular rift.

"Arty!" Speak of the devil, and surely he shall appear. He turned to face his identical twin, icy cool blue eyes almost glaring at jubilant, vibrant eyes of the same shade.

"Yes, Orion?" He heaved a deep sigh, resisting the urge to sink to his level and throw his palm to his forehead in an immediate exasperation.

"I was just wondering if you had read the latest installment of Alice in the Country of Hearts?" Orion's love for fantasy was only matched by his love for Japanese comic-books—especially those of the fantastic variety. His large repertoire of languages, second only to his twin's, allowed him to read those directly imported from Japan in the original text.

Artemis, however, was, and always had been, uninterested in his picture-books. "No. You know I despise that drivel."

Orion's face fell drastically, and his noises made the older of the two's eyebrow twitch. "Awwwww. But Arrrrtyyyyyy..." High-pitched whining pierced the air.

"And for the last time, call me by my full name, Orion." He willed himself to breathe slowly, not to let his twin grind his nerves like he so usually had. Artemis counted to five within his head, and already the sound of his mantra was soothing him.

"I'll call you Artemis the day you give in and call me Ri." Orion's face was a picture of slyness, a trait usually hidden behind his bubbly exterior. It reminded Artemis that, within his very DNA, Orion was a Fowl. No matter how often he thought the contrary.

"The likelihood of that happening is as possible as you suddenly learning to speak fluent Gnommish."

"Oh yeah, that made-up fairy language you keep talking about." Orion smiled and nodded.

It is not made up, you twit! Artemis thought, and with that, all of his patience and calm had evaporated. There was a heated glare between the elder and the younger twin, and then Butler cleared his throat again.

They always seem to set each other off, don't they? Butler sighed in his head. Out loud he said, "It's time we prepared for our departure, sir."

"Ah, yes," Artemis sighed deeply and then turned to face Butler, and thus turning away from his ignorant sibling. "Juliet will be staying here to take care of Mother, then?" It wasn't so much of a question than a statement. She would be staying here to watch Mrs. Fowl, regardless of whether or not she wanted to. And the young woman that enjoyed wrestling really didn't want to.

"Then...I'm coming too?" Orion's face lit up and he began to jump up and down in excitement, "I promise that this time I won't flirt with the ambassador's daughter."

Like hell you won't, Butler thought wryly. Instead of speaking his mind—a practice often frowned upon in the Butler family—he replied in a nonspecific way. "I shall get the jet. Be ready to leave in a few minutes." Then he left the room.

"Agreed," Artemis nodded at his manservant before scowling at Orion. "You'd best behave this time, or else."

"Okay! And can we get some meat-buns in Ho Chi Minh city?"

"How did you know that we were going to Ho Chi Minh city?" One twelve year old turned to face the other, skepticism written all over his face.

Orion grinned sheepishly, "Eheheh...I kinda looked at your email." He shrugged, laughing at his brother's indignant anger. "What? It was just for a second, through! And it's not like your email password is that hard to figure out! Aururm Est Potestas. The Fowl family motto. Easy-peasy."

Artemis harrumphed and shook his head, "Let us just go." He turned to leave.

"Okay!" and Orion dashed after him.