Artemis Fowl and the Crystal of Fire
Disclaimer: I don't own Artemis Fowl or the characters, but I do own the story. So deal with it. Live long and perspire. -Linwe
One cold day in January, fifteen-year-old Artemis Fowl was at boarding school on his computer. It had been two years since the Fairy organization, LEP, had erased his memories. Although they had erased the memories, Artemis had discovered Foley's contact lenses in his and Juliet's eyes and immediately suspected conspiracy. He'd found out that fairies existed again, due to Mulch Diggums showing up at his house one day with the medallion Artemis had given him before his memories had been wiped. After seeing the medallion and Mulch again, Artemis's memories had been triggered and he retained all knowledge of his encounter with Fairies such as Holly Short and Commander Julius Root.
He was now devising a plan to break into a subterranean fairy bank with Mulch Diggums. What he didn't know was that this was no ordinary fairy bank. This bank held the magical Crystal of Fire. The crystal of Fire was an ancient magical fairy crystal that was under LEP supervision at all times. Why? Because it possessed enough magical mojo to turn the whole planet's surface into a burnt wasteland, if desired. The goblins were constantly trying to get their hands on it, and some fiendish dwarves had their eyes on it too. Dwarves not to wipe out earth, but to sell it to the highest paying goblin who would then wipe out the Mud Men and their Earth.
Artemis scanned the schematic he'd been looking at of the bank. He'd found a secure route in the back that led right to all the extremely rich vaults. He sat for some time picturing how Mulch could chew through the wall and get them in. They truly were an unstoppable duo. They'd already robbed numerous Human banks and museums and things, splitting the plunder. Artemis now took the family fortune into his own hands because his father was all about nobility and honor now. He'd increased it by several million already and he wasn't stopping there.
Artemis heard three knocks on his floor. Mulch had arrived. Artemis hit the "print" button on his computer and ran over to his bed. He placed his hand under it and pulled away a sliding trap door. Mulch emerged from under his bed and brushed himself off.
"Hello, Artemis. Long time no see."
"The same to you, Mr. Diggums." He said shaking the dwarf's hand. "I expect you're ready for a hard one this time?"
"Nothing too hard for these teeth, Mr. Fowl."
"I mean mission wise, Mulch."
"Oh, wait. Before we go on there's someone I want you to meet."
"You brought someone? Mulch, this is top secret business we're conducting! If we're discovered, the authorities, man and fairy, will be all over us. We really don't want to get mixed up with LEPrecon again, do we?"
"There's no need to worry, Artemis. Our secret's safe with her."
"Her?" asked Artemis, dumbfounded.
At that moment, Artemis's window opened by itself and then shut itself again. A person about as tall as Artemis with a helmet over their face appeared out of thin air in front of his window.
"Who are you?" Artemis asked.
"This, my friend, is Ana O'Claire. She's an ex-LEP officer that I met in Romania, who has helped me in my line of work more times than I can count."
"Ex-LEP?" Artemis raised a thoughtful eyebrow.
"That's right. And better than Foley when it comes to technology. Although, LEP didn't seem to realize that." She said. She had long, auburn hair tied into a loose ponytail, piercing blue/green eyes, and pale skin like Artemis's. "Mulch here requested I come with you two from now on to help with these 'top secret expeditions' you're conducting."
Artemis snatched the printed schematic from his printer. "Alright, then, let's proceed." He quickly tacked the schematic up on the wall. "This is the International Subterranean Fairy Bank." He said pointing to the title of the schematic. "We will enter on the south side of the building. There are no ways to enter through that way, so theoretically, there will be no guards. Unless of course, they are extremely paranoid, which in that case, we'll need to sneak past them somehow.
"I've got that covered." Interrupted Ana, pulling out three LEPrecon state-of-the-art-shielding devices. "I took these from LEP last time I was there. Plus, if the guards somehow disrupt the shielding mechanism and we're visible, I still have my LEP badge to get security clearance."
"But don't they take your badge when you're kicked out of LEP?" Artemis questioned.
"Let's just say, they never got the chance."
"Excuse me?" Artemis was puzzled.
"Artemis, we'll explain later." Mulch said. "So where do I have to chew through? And what will I be digesting? And better yet, which vaults will we be plundering this time?"
For the next hour, Artemis, Mulch, and Ana went over a detailed plan of how they could get in without being detected, get whatever they wanted and get back out again. Each of their plans had a backup, just in case, and every backup had a backup. They weren't taking any chances. Yet they still did not know about what danger they were putting themselves, and the rest of the world in. One breach in the wall of the bank and Goblins would be swarming within minutes. They were about to make a terrible mistake.