First and foremost, this contains Atlantis Complex spoilers.
Secondly, I have had this idea since I read the book a few months ago. Well, I had another plot first, but then I wanted to write a prologue of sorts; hence this fic. This will be followed by another story, but this can be read as a one-shot. Enjoy! :D
Of course he had been coerced into promising. Of course...it was just so typical of her, to make him promise to wear this utterly ridiculous outfit in an effort to appear 'normal', whatever that meant. But what was worse was that he had been forced to wear it out of the house, in public. At least Artemis could console himself with the fact that he wasn't in distinguished company. Far from it, in fact. The noise and bustle within the tawdry mall and especially the people who roamed the crowded lanes were most definitely not his choice of company.
If I hadn't mentioned Holly's birthday... he mused regretfully to himself while he led his two younger brothers through a knot of noisy teenagers. If I had just bought her a gift by myself, Mother wouldn't have sent me here...
He had mentioned his best friend's upcoming birthday once, during a (mandatory) walk with his mom in the premises of the Fowl garden. Artemis had noted that he never really had anyone–aside from his immediate family–that he felt obligated to send a gift to. That was his first mistake. The next thing he knew, he had been talked into going out to the local shopping center instead of ordering something online, and wearing the tacky t-shirt and jeans that she had bought him. Also, Myles and Beckett had been with them at the time, and insisted upon coming and buying a gift as well. Speaking of his brothers...where was Myles? He had just been next to Artemis a moment ago.
Icy fingers of panic began to claw their way up Artemis' spine. Reflexively, he spun around, and was relieved to see that his other brother, Beckett, engrossed with the map he was holding, was still following him. The place was so crowded, and so easy for someone to get lost or kidnapped! Oddly enough, he was reminded of the day, years ago, when he had kidnapped Holly in order to ransom her. Was this some form of karma, or–
"Myles!" Artemis hissed, suddenly seeing his brother's blond head as the crowd shifted momentarily. Myles seemed to be headed towards a perfume shop...this didn't make sense...why would he want perfume? The people around him parted as he tried to catch up with the eldest twin. "No! Get back here!"
Luckily, he managed to snag the four-year-old's sleeve before he slipped through the revolving doors.
"What were you doing there?" he asked, pulling both boys to the edge of the throngs of people. "Myles, you nearly gave me a heart attack."
Myles and Beckett looked at each other in horror. "B-but, heart'tacks make people die!" gasped Beckett, looking at Artemis in extreme concern. Myles nodded rapidly in agreement. "You can't die!"
Artemis sighed, pressing his hand to his head where a headache had just struck. "It's a figure of speech. I will not die...yet."
"...did you forget to take your pills?" questioned Myles, a sly grin pulling at the corner of his lips. "Is that why you're holding your hand on your head? You only get headaches when you forget..."
"...perhaps." How had Myles known that Artemis had been neglecting to take the medicine that Dr. Argon had prescribed to help get rid of the Atlantis Complex? Perhaps he was more observant than he had originally assumed...or Artemis was even more careless than he had thought. "Now, that's not the point. The point is that you, Myles, was about to enter a perfume shop, when I told you specifically to keep an eye out for a gourmet chocolate shop."
Myles shrugged. "Those aren't perfumes, they're 'speriments."
"...experiments?"
"Yeah," Beckett didn't want to be left out of the conversation. "See? They're all potions in shiny bottles, and Myles was going to–"
"Shh!" Myles slapped his hand on Beckett's mouth with unusual force.
This doesn't sound good..."No, go on, Beckett; speak."
Beckett struggled against Myles, and managed to pry his hand off. But before he could talk, Myles shrieked at the top of his lungs, "Artemis, people're looking at your shirt!"
Without meaning to, Artemis whipped around, scanning the crowd while crossing his arms over his shirt to try and hide the bulk of the design. Seeing that no one was actually looking, he glared stonily down at Myles. "Not funny in the slightest. Come on, let's continue. Beckett, did you find the shop on the map?"
"No."
"Well, I suppose we shall just have to keep moving on."
"But I needed to get–"
"Get what?"
"..." Myles grumbled under his breath, causing Artemis to raise an eyebrow before taking both twins by the hand and walking back into the crowd. It didn't take long for him to notice that the two were rather irritated with him. He assumed that Myles was annoyed because Artemis had prevented him from entering the perfume shop, and Beckett...well, Beckett was probably upset because Myles was. He noticed that they kept exchanging significant looks behind his back. And they seemed to be whispering as well. None of which boded well for Artemis.
"Hey Arty," called Beckett, pulling at the edge of Artemis' shirt. "There's someone wearing your shirt!"
"The word 'hey' is slang, Beckett." said Artemis, refusing to look. He had already seen several people wearing variations of the t-shirt that his mother had gifted him, and he did not feel like looking at another one. Beckett frowned, and then attempted to trip Artemis, who almost fell to the ground. As he regained his balance, he noticed that Myles had dashed back from a small toy stand near the escalator.
"Hey, hey hey hey!" sang Myles, grinning almost wolfishly at his older brother. "Hey hey hey, hey, Arty!" The four-year-old held out his hand. A small, glinting device was in his palm. Before he had a chance to respond, Myles passed the device to Beckett who lunged forwards and slammed the metallic thing on Artemis' hand. Artemis felt a jolt of electricity course through his body, and immediately realized that somehow, Myles had gotten his hands on one of those toys that zapped people, but how he managed to get the thing to this voltage was beyond even him...
"Is he alright, Myles?" whispered Beckett, trying to ignore the curious stares of the people around them as he looked at his unconscious brother who lay eagle-spread on the floor.
Myles was beginning to reconsider his little plot of revenge. He had been almost furious at Artemis, but he certainly didn't want to kill him! At least he didn't steal one of the huge batteries that the vendor was selling and rig it to the toy, as that would have surely done some damage. Then again, he probably had already...but wait; did his eyelid just twitch? "...I think so. He's moving. Yah, he's waking up!"
Both of them helped Artemis to his feet as the teen began to regain consciousness. He stood there for a moment, his ice-blue eyes blinking a few times as he cleared the spots from his vision. "Where...where am I? Oh, never mind...I remember now." He smiled warmly down at the twins, who both looked at each other in bemusement. "Oh, it's wonderful being out again; look at all of the colors! He never notices colors, just facts facts and more facts. It's dreary, truly it is...I really don't understand why he didn't like this place. Or this shirt! It's such a delightful shirt..."
"...kay..." Myles swallowed as Artemis looked around the mall with an expression of complete glee on his face. This wasn't good at all. What would mum say if he brought Artemis back home all goofy? "Uh, Arty–"
"Oh no, young squire, I'm not boorish old Artemis," the boy looked down at his younger sibling cheerfully, seeming to disregard the puzzled expression Myles wore. "Why, I'm Orion! Now, if he would just stop trying to block his memories from my view, I would be able to remember what he was doing here..."
"We...we w-were going to buy candies for Holly." stuttered Beckett.
"Ah yes!" Beckett jumped as Arte–no, Orion's– fist shot up into the air in victory. "That was the quest! To obtain a gift for the fair maiden!"
Without further chatter, he began to canter off into the crowd, holding his hands up slightly, as though he were riding an imaginary horse. The twins exchanged worried looks, and then ran after him before he vanished from sight.
Orion was thoroughly enjoying himself. It was rare that he managed to escape the oppressive dungeons of Artemis' subconscious, and even then his time in the real world was short. Artemis had learned that muttering a mantra of 'you killed holly' over and over again was enough to frighten and disturb Orion so badly that he let Artemis take control. But of course, this worked with Artemis as well.
"Four four four four..." whispered Orion, trying to bring forth as many images of the number four to his mind instead of memories of Holly. "Four four four four..." ...there, Artemis seemed to have fainted in the back of Orion's mind...now, what to get as a gift? Candies were too juvenile, and not at all romantic enough... As he nearly ran into a grimy little kid, he remembered that he had to keep Artemis' brothers safe. They weren't by his side, like they should be. He wheeled around, and saw them running towards him, panic etched on their little faces. As he waited for them to come closer, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. It was a small scarf in a window; it was the pale, soft shade of blue that made him notice. He found it difficult to tell from this far away, but he thought that the speckles on it were some sort of pattern...it was perfect.
Ten minutes later, Beckett and Myles were walking out of the store, following Orion, who was nearly catatonic with joy. Myles was rather worried, but he was the only one. Beckett thought that it was all a game, and Orion...well, Orion was being himself.
"Beckett," Myles whispered. "'We zap him again?"
Beckett took a long look at Orion, who was hugging the bag that contained the scarf. He looked as though he was about to cry. "Nah..." Beckett said with an evil grin. "Butler should see him first."
