I'm absolutely in love with the Artemis Fowl series. I'm very excited about this new fan-fic, and I hope you all enjoy this story! Please R&R :)


Artemis woke up in a sweat, and he searched his dark room for intruders. The bad dream was exactly that; a dream. Yet, he couldn't shake off the paranoia that dared to creep into his mind.

Get a hold of yourself, Artemis. These dreams are irrelevant. His logic said. But then, You should check. Just in case.

He crawled out of bed and walked to his window. Not one soul crept up the drive way, nor near the manor. His paranoia melted away. Well, slightly.

The Fowl Manor has the best security. No one would dare intrude.

He still had to check, though. He grabbed his fairy communicator, disguised as a ring, and waited for Holly to answer. To his relief, she did. He heard her yawn.

"Artemis? Is that you?" she asked.

"Yes, it's me."

"Can't sleep again, huh?"

"Unfortunately, no. This is the fourth time. It must be something Mother has been cooking for dinner. I must have Butler check the freshness of our food."

"Artemis…" she sighed. "It was another bad dream, wasn't it?"

Darn you, Holly Short. You almost always know when I'm lying. Almost.

He saw no sense in lying to her. She was his friend, after all. "Yes, the same one. It has started to…unnerve me, Holly. I don't know if it's just by coincidence, or if my subconscious is trying to remind or warn me of something."

"Could you describe it to me? Maybe I could help."

If Holly was sitting there with Artemis, she would see the flicker of pain cross his face. "No," he said immediately. "Never mind the dream. It's irrelevant."

A silence filled between them, until Artemis spoke again. "All is well, now. So I'm headed back to bed. I'll contact you soon."

The silence remained. For a moment, Artemis thought that Holly had hung up. But he then heard her breathing. This wasn't very fair, thought Artemis. He woke her up because he was worried, and then he wouldn't tell her what was bothering him. But he didn't want her to be preoccupied by his paranoia.

"I'm coming to see you. Soon. My magic is low, and so I'm waiting for the full moon in two days to recharge. After that, I'll be on my way."

"But Holly, it isn't necessary to-"

"See you later, Arty."

The call ended, and Artemis slipped off the ring and placed it in a drawer on his nightstand. He sighed. He was becoming fond of having Holly call him Arty. His memories over took him, and he looked back upon the time at the zoo where he was racing against time to save the lemur from his ten year old self. The ghost of Holly's kiss lingered on his lips for a moment, and he shook his head. The memory faded away until he was back in his bedroom again.

Darn puberty. It will be the death of me.

But Artemis knew it wasn't puberty. It was something else. But there was more time to think about that later. In two days, Holly Short was coming to visit, and he had to plan to get his family out of the house.

Two Days Later

"Good-bye, Arty. See you in a few days." His mother kissed him on the forehead. His father gathered the luggage and headed towards the car. Beckett and Myles ran up to Artemis, each hugging one of his legs.

"Come with us, big brother!" Beckett pleaded with his large puppy-like eyes. Artemis chuckled.

"This is an early birthday present for you, Beckett. And you, Myles. Trust me when I say you're going to have more fun without me." They giggled and ran out to the car, excited for their trip to Disney World in Florida; all paid by Artemis.

"It was very sweet of you to do this, Arty. But promise we'll have a family vacation soon," his mother offered. Artemis nodded. "Of course, Mom." She kissed his cheek. "Take care of the house. Not too many…friends over." She winked and walked out to the car. Artemis knew exactly what she was implying. His fairy friends, of course.

"Farewell!" Artemis called out to the departing car. He felt the instinct to go after his family and fly to the United States to spend the vacation with them. But there were things to sort out. And Holly should be arriving soon.

Artemis walked down the hallway and into the kitchen, where Butler was inspecting the food. "All the food seems to be in top quality, Artemis. Are you sure you haven't just caught a bug?" he asked.

I would take the stomach virus over these bad dreams any day.

"Possibly. Thank you for checking, Butler." He answered absentmindedly. Butler slightly frowned. "Are you alright, Artemis? You don't look well."

"I'm fine, old friend. Just slightly sleep-deprived," he replied. Why was he lying to Butler? It would do no good. "Actually, Butler, there is something that has been bothering me. When Holly arrives, I'll debrief you then."

Butler sighed. "Debrief me? This isn't another scheme, is it?"

Artemis saw a faint glimmer outside the window. "No, not this time. If it was, I wouldn't be including Captain Short."

****

Artemis Fowl had a knack of getting under Holly's skin. But this time, he was just plain worrying her. He sounded in pain over the fairy communicator, and she was hoping that nothing had happened over the past few weeks that could affect any kind of security.

But knowing Artemis, I bet something has.

She hovered by his kitchen window, and saw him talking to Butler. He looked tired and pale, as if he was sick. He looked out the window, and his face changed. He had seen her. She flew to the door and powered down, becoming visible, as Artemis was starting to open it.

"Hello, Holly. It's nice to see you again," he greeted her. His words were dripping with sleep-deprivation that made Holly want to crawl back into bed. Whatever was in his nightmares, it was eating away at him.

"Artemis," she whispered. She flew in immediately, and placed a hand on his cheek. "What's happened to you?"

The side of his lips twitched into a small smile. "Just mere nightmares. Nothing to worry about." Holly hated it when Artemis lied, but she hated more when he was trying to be ignorant. He was convincing himself that his nightmares meant nothing.

"Obviously, there's something wrong, or you wouldn't have called me the other night," she argued. He made a face as if to say "good point", and strode into his living room.

"I'd rather not explain my bad dreams in detail to you both, but I see that I must. Have a seat." Artemis gestured to the couches and chairs, but no one sat. Holly and Butler looked at Artemis expectantly. Artemis stared out the window, his hands behind his back. He was thinking.

"Just give it to us straight, Artemis. No tweaking," Butler told him. Artemis nodded.

"Very well. I've had this nightmare multiple times in the last few weeks. I dreamed that I was witnessing a cloaked figure creeping up the drive way during the night. A thunder storm sounded in the sky as he crept up towards the Fowl Manor and slid along the wall, holding a silver dagger. The storm worsened quickly, and I could hear screams from my window. I raced outside to find…" Artemis trailed off, and pain cast a shadow over his face. "Holly and my mother…murdered. I ran after him, trying to avenge you both in some way, but my attempt was in vain. He disappeared into the night." Artemis paused. Holly glanced at Butler, who glanced back to her. "I always wake up after that moment."

Holly felt her heart grow heavy. This dream was driving him crazy, causing him pain every time he woke up from it.

That's why he called me on those nights. He was worried.

Holly rushed towards him, embracing him. She whispered in his ear, "That will never happen."

***

"That will never happen," Holly whispered in his ear. At first, Artemis was surprised by her hug, but he couldn't help but feel comforted within it. He returned the embrace. "I surely hope not," he replied. He glanced at Butler, who nodded at him and then left the room.

He will console me later. He's giving me a minute.

"Well, we're going to figure out how to get rid of this nightmare, okay? Don't worry about it," Holly said, her hands on his shoulders. "I won't ever let that happen. You know I care about you, Arty." She smiled at him, her mismatched eyes staring into his.

The feeling's mutual, he thought. But of course, Holly couldn't hear his thoughts.