Disclaimer: I don't own Artemis Fowl. End of story! Eoin Colfer does not ME!
Author's Notes: Alright! I have NOT died! After reading the Eternity Code a while ago, I've finally gotten around to revising my fic. Let me introduce you to chapter 1. Arty's 18! Holly....I don't know how old Holly is...she's, just really old. xX But being a coolio elfie, she doesn't get to look old. She looks to be around 17 or 18.
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Five years after The Eternity Code, 6 a.m. - Fowl Manor, Ireland
Artemis Fowl yawned and sat up, streching, his eyes gazing around his bedroom. The scrawny, pale boy who had once been a criminal mastermind had grown to be near 5' 10" and his complexion had darkened a great deal. In the five years since he had found those contacts in his eyes he had taken several fighting classes as well as one in marksmanship.
A shadow of a man, lamp...books...wait a second. A shadow? Of a man? Artemis was out of his bed in a flash, clad in only a pair of loose pants, "Who's there?" A laugh came from the shadow as the owner stepped out from behind a chair.
"It's good to see you again, Artemis." The man was probably about three feet tall at most, with an unruly reddish beard. Artemis frowned, "Who are you?" The short man laughed, "Me? Mulch Diggums, but you already knew that."
"Alright, Mulch...how do you know who I am and what are you doing in my room?" Artemis frowned deeply as instead of answering him, Mulch removed a cord with what looked like a gold coin from around his neck, "Here, kid. Stick this one of your computers and find out yourself."
Artemis grabbed the outstreched disk and quickly pulled the cord off of it, "A CD-ROM...Mini at that. My lap top can play it.
Out came the lap top and into it went the golden disk. He sat quietly on his bed as the disk downloaded onto his computer, watching Mulch from the corner of his eye. "So...Fowl, how's Butler doing?" Artemis brushed a lock of hair out of his face, "Butler...Is fine."
"Good, good. He's pretty old now, ain't he?" The rest of Mulch's words were drowned out by the wheels grinding inside Artemis's head. LEPrecon...the fairy's and their gold. All of the information on the small disk inserted into his laptop was starting to rekindle old memories.
Holly Short. Captian Holly Short. "Mulch..." The dwarf stopped talking and looked up at Artemis, "Yea?"
"Holly Short. Do you know how she is?"
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7 a.m. - LEP underground
Captian Holly Short swore loudly, "D'ARVIT! D'ARVIT! D'ARVIT!" There were two reasons for her swearing. The first was that Mulch Diggums had escaped from Howler's Ridge, the gobblin prision. The second was that she had walked into the top of the door frame for the sixth time and she had only been up for two hours.
"I need a bigger door," she mumbled under her breath as she hunched slightly, walking into her office. Root would probably call her in soon and yell at her for Mulch's escape.
Just as the thought entered her head she heard Beet's voice from down the hall, "SHORT GET IN HERE!!" Holly sighed and grabbed a folder from her desk before walking out, remembering to duck so she didn't get smacked by the door frame again.
Root was sitting at his desk, looking quite angry and purple when Holly walked in and sat down across from him. She winced slightly at the look on his face and spoke up first, "I know, I know. Mulch Diggums escaped from prision before his sentance had really even started. We're working on getting him back in prision as soon as possible."
"You better get him back Short. Do you have a location on where he is?"
Holly nodded, "Mulch is in Ireland. He's at Fowl Manor."
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7: 30 a.m. - Fowl Manor, Ireland
Mulch laughed, "Holly? Last time I saw her she should have been named Holly Tall." Artemis raised an eyebrow, "And why is that?" The dwarf laughed, "She's 5'0". Holly went from bein' short for an elf to being really tall for one."
Artemis's eyebrow somehow found a way to raise itself even higher, "I didn't know elves were able to get that tall." Mulch's answer was one that Artemis somwhat expected, "They don't." The ex-criminal scowled, "Then what happened? How did she get that tall then?"
The dwarf just shrugged, "Last thing I heard was that Foley was checking it out. He thinks it's because of the time she spent above ground and your little adventure where she got that dose of radiation."
The young man sitting on the bed simply shrugged, "Ah." Mulch grinned, "Ya know...she'll probably be comin' after me. Even though it'll be against orders. No fairies are allowed anywhere near here, even LEPrecon." A brow raised in answer, "Is that so. Then why would she come if it were against her orders?" As Artemis asked the question the answer came to him and Mulch voiced it, "Has she ever followed her orders? You oughtta know she'll come by now, Fowl."
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7:45 a.m. - LEP Underground
Root's eyes buldged and his face turned a darker shade of purple, veins popping out of his neck, "WHAT? FOWL MANOR?!" Holly nodded, wincing slightly as he started to raise his voice even more, "WE'LL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL HE LEAVES NOW!" Another nod.
He frowned at her slightly, "You're not to leave the underground, Captian Short. Remember, anyone who goes within 10 kilcks will be sentanced to three centuries at Howler's Peak."
Holly sighed, "Yessir. I know that. I won't go anywhere." Her voice dripped with sincerity while inside she was already forming a way to get to the surface and quickly return Mulch Diggums to prision without being caught herself.
She would have to go tonight. Her thoughts were shattered by Root, "What are you still standing there for Holly? I told you that you were dismissed five minutes ago." He had? "S-Sorry...I'm a little tired I guess," was all she could think for an excuse.
The purple tinted face belonging to Root nodded, "I'm giving you today off, Holly. Go and get some rest." A smile lit the tall elf's face, "Thank you Commander." She quickly turned and walked into the door frame, taking a step back before ducking and walking out.
It was perfect. She would have the whole day to plan a way to get to Fowl Manor without being caught and get Mulch back before day had broken.
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8: 15 a.m. - Back at Fowl Manor, which is still in Ireland
Artemis finished brushing his teeth and walked out of the bathroom, fully dressed. Mulch was sitting on the floor by his bed, looking through some of the files that had been downloaded onto Artemis's laptop.
The dwarf looked up from the screen annd Artemis smiled at him. His old, devious, criminal grin. "Chances are she'll arrive tonight. Shall we prepare a warm welcome for our dear friend, Mulch?"
Author's Notes: Ta daaaa! Alright, here's the first chapter of my new version! If you like it then click on the pretty button down below!!