Artemis's head hurt. Ever since his memories had started coming back, it had started happening more and more frequently. Of course, it didn't exactly help that Beckett had been running around screaming at the top of his lungs; 'Artemis is back! Artemis is back!' Honestly. He had been back for almost a month now. You would think his brother would be calm by then.

But then again, this was Beckett.

Artemis massaged his temples. The thoughts circled around his head, never resting. Of course, the thoughts were always based on the same thing.

His death.

Artemis didn't remember anything from that event, but he did remember dying. And then he remembered coming back. It was like waking up from a long sleep, while waking up to a place you had never seen before. Of course, everything came back, but the confusion was the worst part.

He absolutely hated not knowing something. That was not something that went along with Artemis Fowl II.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a slight shimmer in the air. He sighed. "What are you doing here?"

To outside eyes, it would appear that Captain Holly Short appeared out of thin air. But both of them knew that she had simply been shielding, for who knows how long. "Hello to you too," she smirked, punching him lightly on the shoulder.

"I'm not in the mood, Holly," Artemis said, staring at the blank page on his laptop. Not only was he stressed about dying, he was stressed about having to write a paper for his school. Not that he couldn't do it. It was just so boring.

"You know why I'm here, Mud Boy," she replied. "It doesn't matter whether you're 'in the mood' or not. I don't care for your attitude."

He closed his eyes, and sighed. "Sorry," he apologized, something that still didn't happen often. "I'm just… thinking."

Holly's expression softened slightly. "You shouldn't be so stressed about it."

"I can't help it. Whenever my mind has nothing else to think about, or even when it's thinking about something, it wanders to that."

And that was when the strangest thing happened to Artemis Fowl. And very strange things happen to him. All of a sudden, he felt nothing. All he could see was darkness. Everything was numb. There was no air. He couldn't breathe.

Just as quickly as it came, it disappeared. He fell out of his chair, and though he had no air for just a few seconds, he gasped like he hadn't breathed for minutes.

"Artemis?" Holly asked, worry dancing through her tone. When he didn't reply, she said louder, "Artemis?!"

"I'm fine, Holly," he said weakly, standing up, and sitting back down in his seat. "It was just the weirdest thing…" He looked up sharply. "I need to talk to Foaly. What is the fastest way there?"

"I would have to fly, but that's not exactly legal…" she gave Artemis a sideways look.

"That doesn't matter. I need to talk to Foaly, in person, and as soon as possible," Artemis snapped, getting into his thinking mood. Well, more thinking than usual.

Holly turned serious as well. "Okay, Mud Boy. Hope you're still not afraid of flying."

Artemis started to wonder if it was possible that, for once, he made a mistake choosing the illegal way.