Things were a bit frosty at fowl manor. And not just because it was fall, and winter was setting in. Earlier that day, Artemis's parents had suggested going back to school. He had protested, but of course there was no real argument. It was pretty hard for a kid to win an argument with their parents. The coldness of the atmosphere lasted until dinner. That was when Artemis blew.
"You can't possibly think of sending me back! I ha-" He took a deep breath, regaining his composed expression. "I really, really loathe the prospect of having to spend another year at boarding school."
"But Arty, it's hard enough looking after the twins, and with the child we recently adopted-" Angeline Fowl, Artemis's mother, began her explanation, only to be cut off by her son.
"What? You adopted?" He lost his cool yet again. It really must be an off day for him. That was twice in a row now.
"Mm-hmm." Angeline said absentmindedly. "She had to take a plane to get here, and she'll be here soon." The chime that said someone was at the front gates echoed throughout the silent room. Angeline gestured to the door. "Why don't you be the first to greet your new sister?"
Artemis sighed. No use fighting anymore.
"Very well." He put on his shoes before walking outside. His mother said something as he closed the door, but he didn't hear it. He didn't want to hear it.
He walked silently to the gate, expecting the worst. Not a nice thought. She could have all kinds of personalities, and he was determined to start out in a good way with the stranger at the gate. He sped up. Keeping it a mystery like this was almost unbearable. Even though he was pretty sure he had thought up every possible combination of appearances, she was still a total surprise.
The first thing he noticed was her hair. It was dark brown, and in tight curls, falling down just above her shoulders. In truth, when straightened, it was twice as long. Her eyes were a deep blue, a strange contrast to her pale face and dark lips. She looked to be about thirteen. At the moment she was trying to get Butler, his bodyguard, to let her past.
"Come on, I need those weapons! Those and my books are the only possessions I have!" Unknown to both Butler and Artemis, when her voice was this angry, someone got hurt.
"I'm sorry miss." Butler said in his deep rumbling voice. "I can't let any weapons through here. Those are my orders."
The girl snorted. "Except your own of course. Most bodyguards are fairly incompetent without a weapon with great proportions of firepower. That's why they hired you. You were trained at Madame Ko's of course. No exception to that traditional rule."
Butler raised one eyebrow.
"Let her keep her weapons Butler, I'd like to see what she can do with them later." Artemis spoke on the other side of the gate. "And please let her through." Once the gates were opened, the girl was the first to speak.
"I'm guessing you're my new brother, Artemis. Also a child prodigy." She held out her hand. "My name is Anahita. Ana for short." Artemis remembered the name from somewhere. Then he remembered. It was the name of a Persian goddess, and also the Persian name for Venus. His own name was the name of a greek goddess. He took her hand and shook it.
"Pleased to meet you. This will be interesting I'm sure." Anahita nodded.
"Indeed." Artemis liked her already. But there was something strange about her eyes. Something he saw only in his own eyes. A feeling actually. Of strong regret, and seeing sites no human eyes had ever seen before. Fairy things.