Disclaimer: You know Artimis? And Butler? And Root? And all that? I don't
own them... sucks doesn't it?
Chapter 1
A light blue glow lit Artimis' pale face like the green glow of a nuclear substance, as the computer searched over the Internet. Most of the room was dark; no lights had been turned on for it had been light when Atrimis had started his search. He had made numerus ads for any fairy sighting with a high price tag in different languages, learning a few short sentences in Japanese and Chinese along the way. He clicked open his E-mail's 'Out look express'. He hadn't opened the file for what seemed a year now; he had no need, with no one to E-mail him (Unless of course it was urgent and was sent to his mobile) he had left the device alone. But now with the ads popping up all over the Internet he reopened it. He had a feeling of emptiness in side. Something he rarely felt. Like some thing was missing, forgotten.
"What are you doing?" Atrimis spun on his chair to face his mother, Angeline Fowl. He had been so focused on his work he wouldn't have noticed a troll entering (Although I'm sure the smell would of gotten to him after a minute or two.).
Artimis opened his mouth but for once no words came out. When he was only twelve he had gotten a fairy to help his mothers sickness, but only for his own good, if he could of remembered that, he would have been regretting that moment.
"Was checking my E-mails," he said with a sweet smile. His mothers face lit up, he knew she'd be happy. She thought he'd finally made some friends, well, at least some she knew about. She lent over his shoulder,
"Who from?"
"Oh, erm, Nancy," He lied glancing at the E-mail.
"What a pretty name," sighed his mother, "You would of being called that if you were a girl," Artimis shuddered. "Mmm,"
"Can I read it?" Artimis' stomach turned.
"Huh?"
"Can I read it?" It wasn't really a question though; she had reached over and opened the E-mail.
Tekna Park, 4:30, meet ya there.
TZ,
"Mmm," his mother seemed half confused.
"We're meeting for homework," Artimis said quickly, another lie. "She goes to an all girls school, I offered to tutor her."
"Oh Arty!" his mother seemed even more thrilled. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Um, surprise?" His mother's eyes watered. She gave him a quick peak on the cheek and left. Artimis wiped his cheek and wrote a quick reply to the E-mail.
Bring a girl. 14-16 yrs.
He didn't have to wait long, after a few short minutes he got a reply.
Im nt answrin ur pitiful 'fairy' ad, jst b on tme.
This time it was missing a few vales and was rushed. Artimis' eyebrows knotted. He'd meet them, but no quite alone.
~*~*~
Artimis and Butler stood, waiting at Tekna Park, it was a cool winters morn and their breath formed little clouds in front of their faces. A few pairs were walking around together, a man was playing with his dog and a cat was sleeping in a tree. The only one Artimis could expect to be the E-mailer was the man with the dog, he seemed to cough a lot, and if you looked closely you could see his lips forming small words.
"So where is she?" Artimis sighed, why did she come?
"I dunno," he shrugged to his mother. "She's always late," he mumbled. Butler smiled to himself, Artimis glared at him, he had told the manservant about the e-mail and both thought it important, unfortunately Mrs fowl insisted on meeting Artimis' 'friend'.
"Is that her?" she asked pointing to a pale girl with long dark jeans and a long beige jacket and a pair of dark sunglasses, who was stalking towards them.
"Umm," Artimis hesitated. "I..."
"Hey Arti!" the girl waved.
"Yeah that's her," he sighed with relief. The girl trotted over he pale face and dark features made her look almost unhuman.
"Hi," she smiled sweetly showing, what was hard to see, but defiantly was a retainer covering her teeth.
"Uh, Hi," Artimis smiled, Arti? What kind of nickname was that?
"I found this in my locker and it had your name on it," she said handing him a folded letter, Artimis pocketed the note quickly. "Hello, are you Mrs Fowl?" Artimis' mother almost jumped with delight.
"You must be Nancy," she shook her hand warmly, "Arty told me all about you."
The girls smile broadened, showing her canines, either because Mrs Fowl thought her name was 'Nancy' or because she had called a criminal master mind 'Arty".
"Yeah, Artimis is a great tutor," Artimis glared at her, he didn't know why, he just didn't like her.
"So what does he tutor?" Artimis' stomach turned.
"English," the girl answered quickly, "I have a disorder," she trailed off, Mrs Fowl seemed overwhelmed in sorrow.
"I..." BEEP BEEP, Mrs Fowls phone when of, she glanced at the screen and smiled at Nancy.
"I've got to go love, nice meeting you," Mrs Fowl trotted over to the edge of the park and called a taxi, as soon as she had left Butler placed a hand on the girls shoulder. She shuddered, not with cold, but sheer fear. Artimis smiled his famous vamper smile.
"Take your hand off her," the man with the dog ordered leaning over Artimis' shoulder. A cold gun barrel pressed against Artimis' side. Artimis nodded at Butler who took his hand back, the girl sighed deeply with relief and shifted away. Colour seemed to sink back into her face.
"Just read the letter," hissed the man taking the gun from his side and walking of with the girl. Artimis shook himself loosely.
"Got their ID?" Butler smiled gleefully.
"Finger prints, photo, and car keys," he said smiling like a child and dangling a pair of keys in front of him. Atimis nodded in thought.
Butler tried to capture his gaze for a moment, when he did he glanced at his pocket. The letter.
Artimis unravelled it. The first thing he noticed that indeed his name was not on the letter, if his mother had seen it she to would have been suspicious, but she had been to engulfed with her son having a friend that, luckily, she hadn't noticed. The second that the writing was like the second E-mail, the girl had said she had trouble with English; it may have been true for there were no full stops capital letters or commas.
even if you got home no it would be to late
Butler glanced at the letter.
"Home?" Artimis paused, could it be a trap?
"Yes, but take the back way..."
~*~*~
Holly pushed through the crowds to the LEP building, the usual were there, asking, wanting, demanding, and offending. Whatever. Holly had been able to switch off when she was in the crowd. She ignored the people and their problems, not even taking the time to tell them to move, she just pushed through. As she walked in she automatically headed for Roots office. She had gotten so used to it, it had become nature.
"HOLLY!" that was her cue. Holly opened the door to reveal Root with one of his famous fungus sagas hanging out of his mouth. "Do you remember when I asked for these reports?" he demaded tapping a file with his finger. Holly sighed, stupid reports. Everything was so boring lately. If it wasn't for Foaly constantly annoying Root her job would be fruitless, this morning it seemed Foaly had already gotten to Root, his face was a light shade of red. Very pretty.
"Yeah," she mumbled,
"And when was that?"
"Last week,"
"And you handed them in...?"
Why did he ask a question when he already knew the answer?
"Yesterday."
"YESTERDAY!" exclaimed Root turning an actual red. Damn Foaly, foul his mood and she got the blame.
"Nah, last week" she mumbled, Root went suddenly quiet. Holly silently cursed herself.
"I've had enough of that pony boy for a morning," Good old Foaly "and I don't need you smart mouthing me off!" Holly nodded.
"I know sir,'
"And I need these reports up to date,"
"Yes sir,"
Holly's mind wandered as Root went on, she had been doing that a lot lately.
"Holly!" Holly's attention snapped back.
"Yes sir,"
"Good," Holly wondered what she had agreed to. "Now get out."
Holly shuffled out of the office still wondering what she had agreed to, she really had to pay more attention to Root. But his voice could sometimes be as boring as watching the grass grow. But watching his face turn red a perk.
"Hey Holly" Holly turned around rubbing her temples to face Foaly, a cheesy grin on his face. "Was he mad?"
"Yeah, and I got the entire backfire," she hissed, Foaly's smiled broadened. Holly glared at him. "What do you want?" she sighed.
"Remember our friend Artemis?" Holly laughed. Remember?
"We'll he's been getting some pretty interesting E-mails."
"He gets E-mails?" Holly asked, Artemis was very... social. The centaur nodded.
"Come on," they walked into his office, Holly never felt quite safe in there, not after the Opal Koboi incident. Foaly opened the E-mail.
"I only checked it today, I found a ad looking for fairies, deleted it before it could get on the net, but he still got a reply. Two actually."
"You show Root?" Holly asked reading the E-mails.
"Not yet," he said puling out a small CD ROM, "Shall we?" Holly nodded, she could imagine Root's face if the Fowls had anything to do with it. He had had quite enough of them last year.
"Yeah," Holly sighed. "Lets go,"
Don't worry people it gets more exciting next chappy.
Chapter 1
A light blue glow lit Artimis' pale face like the green glow of a nuclear substance, as the computer searched over the Internet. Most of the room was dark; no lights had been turned on for it had been light when Atrimis had started his search. He had made numerus ads for any fairy sighting with a high price tag in different languages, learning a few short sentences in Japanese and Chinese along the way. He clicked open his E-mail's 'Out look express'. He hadn't opened the file for what seemed a year now; he had no need, with no one to E-mail him (Unless of course it was urgent and was sent to his mobile) he had left the device alone. But now with the ads popping up all over the Internet he reopened it. He had a feeling of emptiness in side. Something he rarely felt. Like some thing was missing, forgotten.
"What are you doing?" Atrimis spun on his chair to face his mother, Angeline Fowl. He had been so focused on his work he wouldn't have noticed a troll entering (Although I'm sure the smell would of gotten to him after a minute or two.).
Artimis opened his mouth but for once no words came out. When he was only twelve he had gotten a fairy to help his mothers sickness, but only for his own good, if he could of remembered that, he would have been regretting that moment.
"Was checking my E-mails," he said with a sweet smile. His mothers face lit up, he knew she'd be happy. She thought he'd finally made some friends, well, at least some she knew about. She lent over his shoulder,
"Who from?"
"Oh, erm, Nancy," He lied glancing at the E-mail.
"What a pretty name," sighed his mother, "You would of being called that if you were a girl," Artimis shuddered. "Mmm,"
"Can I read it?" Artimis' stomach turned.
"Huh?"
"Can I read it?" It wasn't really a question though; she had reached over and opened the E-mail.
Tekna Park, 4:30, meet ya there.
TZ,
"Mmm," his mother seemed half confused.
"We're meeting for homework," Artimis said quickly, another lie. "She goes to an all girls school, I offered to tutor her."
"Oh Arty!" his mother seemed even more thrilled. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Um, surprise?" His mother's eyes watered. She gave him a quick peak on the cheek and left. Artimis wiped his cheek and wrote a quick reply to the E-mail.
Bring a girl. 14-16 yrs.
He didn't have to wait long, after a few short minutes he got a reply.
Im nt answrin ur pitiful 'fairy' ad, jst b on tme.
This time it was missing a few vales and was rushed. Artimis' eyebrows knotted. He'd meet them, but no quite alone.
~*~*~
Artimis and Butler stood, waiting at Tekna Park, it was a cool winters morn and their breath formed little clouds in front of their faces. A few pairs were walking around together, a man was playing with his dog and a cat was sleeping in a tree. The only one Artimis could expect to be the E-mailer was the man with the dog, he seemed to cough a lot, and if you looked closely you could see his lips forming small words.
"So where is she?" Artimis sighed, why did she come?
"I dunno," he shrugged to his mother. "She's always late," he mumbled. Butler smiled to himself, Artimis glared at him, he had told the manservant about the e-mail and both thought it important, unfortunately Mrs fowl insisted on meeting Artimis' 'friend'.
"Is that her?" she asked pointing to a pale girl with long dark jeans and a long beige jacket and a pair of dark sunglasses, who was stalking towards them.
"Umm," Artimis hesitated. "I..."
"Hey Arti!" the girl waved.
"Yeah that's her," he sighed with relief. The girl trotted over he pale face and dark features made her look almost unhuman.
"Hi," she smiled sweetly showing, what was hard to see, but defiantly was a retainer covering her teeth.
"Uh, Hi," Artimis smiled, Arti? What kind of nickname was that?
"I found this in my locker and it had your name on it," she said handing him a folded letter, Artimis pocketed the note quickly. "Hello, are you Mrs Fowl?" Artimis' mother almost jumped with delight.
"You must be Nancy," she shook her hand warmly, "Arty told me all about you."
The girls smile broadened, showing her canines, either because Mrs Fowl thought her name was 'Nancy' or because she had called a criminal master mind 'Arty".
"Yeah, Artimis is a great tutor," Artimis glared at her, he didn't know why, he just didn't like her.
"So what does he tutor?" Artimis' stomach turned.
"English," the girl answered quickly, "I have a disorder," she trailed off, Mrs Fowl seemed overwhelmed in sorrow.
"I..." BEEP BEEP, Mrs Fowls phone when of, she glanced at the screen and smiled at Nancy.
"I've got to go love, nice meeting you," Mrs Fowl trotted over to the edge of the park and called a taxi, as soon as she had left Butler placed a hand on the girls shoulder. She shuddered, not with cold, but sheer fear. Artimis smiled his famous vamper smile.
"Take your hand off her," the man with the dog ordered leaning over Artimis' shoulder. A cold gun barrel pressed against Artimis' side. Artimis nodded at Butler who took his hand back, the girl sighed deeply with relief and shifted away. Colour seemed to sink back into her face.
"Just read the letter," hissed the man taking the gun from his side and walking of with the girl. Artimis shook himself loosely.
"Got their ID?" Butler smiled gleefully.
"Finger prints, photo, and car keys," he said smiling like a child and dangling a pair of keys in front of him. Atimis nodded in thought.
Butler tried to capture his gaze for a moment, when he did he glanced at his pocket. The letter.
Artimis unravelled it. The first thing he noticed that indeed his name was not on the letter, if his mother had seen it she to would have been suspicious, but she had been to engulfed with her son having a friend that, luckily, she hadn't noticed. The second that the writing was like the second E-mail, the girl had said she had trouble with English; it may have been true for there were no full stops capital letters or commas.
even if you got home no it would be to late
Butler glanced at the letter.
"Home?" Artimis paused, could it be a trap?
"Yes, but take the back way..."
~*~*~
Holly pushed through the crowds to the LEP building, the usual were there, asking, wanting, demanding, and offending. Whatever. Holly had been able to switch off when she was in the crowd. She ignored the people and their problems, not even taking the time to tell them to move, she just pushed through. As she walked in she automatically headed for Roots office. She had gotten so used to it, it had become nature.
"HOLLY!" that was her cue. Holly opened the door to reveal Root with one of his famous fungus sagas hanging out of his mouth. "Do you remember when I asked for these reports?" he demaded tapping a file with his finger. Holly sighed, stupid reports. Everything was so boring lately. If it wasn't for Foaly constantly annoying Root her job would be fruitless, this morning it seemed Foaly had already gotten to Root, his face was a light shade of red. Very pretty.
"Yeah," she mumbled,
"And when was that?"
"Last week,"
"And you handed them in...?"
Why did he ask a question when he already knew the answer?
"Yesterday."
"YESTERDAY!" exclaimed Root turning an actual red. Damn Foaly, foul his mood and she got the blame.
"Nah, last week" she mumbled, Root went suddenly quiet. Holly silently cursed herself.
"I've had enough of that pony boy for a morning," Good old Foaly "and I don't need you smart mouthing me off!" Holly nodded.
"I know sir,'
"And I need these reports up to date,"
"Yes sir,"
Holly's mind wandered as Root went on, she had been doing that a lot lately.
"Holly!" Holly's attention snapped back.
"Yes sir,"
"Good," Holly wondered what she had agreed to. "Now get out."
Holly shuffled out of the office still wondering what she had agreed to, she really had to pay more attention to Root. But his voice could sometimes be as boring as watching the grass grow. But watching his face turn red a perk.
"Hey Holly" Holly turned around rubbing her temples to face Foaly, a cheesy grin on his face. "Was he mad?"
"Yeah, and I got the entire backfire," she hissed, Foaly's smiled broadened. Holly glared at him. "What do you want?" she sighed.
"Remember our friend Artemis?" Holly laughed. Remember?
"We'll he's been getting some pretty interesting E-mails."
"He gets E-mails?" Holly asked, Artemis was very... social. The centaur nodded.
"Come on," they walked into his office, Holly never felt quite safe in there, not after the Opal Koboi incident. Foaly opened the E-mail.
"I only checked it today, I found a ad looking for fairies, deleted it before it could get on the net, but he still got a reply. Two actually."
"You show Root?" Holly asked reading the E-mails.
"Not yet," he said puling out a small CD ROM, "Shall we?" Holly nodded, she could imagine Root's face if the Fowls had anything to do with it. He had had quite enough of them last year.
"Yeah," Holly sighed. "Lets go,"
Don't worry people it gets more exciting next chappy.