Another edited, old one-shot. Not particularly fond of this one...
I do not own Artemis Fowl.
Holly Short glared down her enemy as she stumbled forward, her feet staggering, unbalanced. Darkness was edging in from the corners of her eyes, but she did not let it engulf her. To pass out now would give Koboi a chance to escape. Holly couldn't give the pixie that moment of mercy. Not after what she had done.
Not after she had killed Artemis.
Yes, Koboi had taken other people from her before. She would never forget how Julius was killed right before her. Even so, the slaughter of the young genius had awakened a sudden hate from within Holly.
Commander Root had told her to save Artemis. Her subconsciousness seemed to be convinced that this meant that she had to save the Mud-Boy from any life-threatening situations.
Using this mind-set, she had failed. She had failed the Commander, she failed Butler, and most of all, she failed Artemis.
It had started as such a good night, too. She was having a lengthy conversation with Artemis when... it had happened.
A crashing sound had come from the speaker. A hideous cackle could be heard, the swiping of a knife, and then silence. She had called the boy's name, first nervously, then desperately. The only answer was a female voice, undoubtedly Opal Koboi's own, whispering four words. Four treacherous words.
"He is gone, Short."
With just four words, the world had came crashing down on Holly. Hatred had engulfed her very being, like a wild fire raging through an ancient forest, destroying everything in its path. The elf had soon found herself yelling into the communicator.
"What have you done, Koboi! What did you do to Artemis!"
A dark, cruel chuckle echoed through the room.
"What do you think, Short? You know the answer."
Holly lurched for the communicator. Grasping it in her clammy hands, she screamed into the machine.
"No! You couldn't have! Not even you could be such a coward as to attack him when he is alone!"
A hiss was heard, and Koboi spoke with a tone laced in pure hatred.
"You don't know me, Short. Fowl is dead, and you were not here to save him."
The communicator suddenly lost connection with its pair. The elf sat staring at it in grief and disbelief for about three seconds, then suddenly she was on the streets of Haven, heading towards the tunnels. She had to get to the surface. She had to get her revenge on Koboi.
By the time Holly made it to the surface, the sky was tinged with orange, and the sun was sinking through the sky. Due to hurried flying, speeding through the sky in record-breaking time, she soon found herself in Fowl Manor. The elf did not know why she expected Opal to still be there, but that was where she had gone. It was the only lead she had, anyway.
When she landed in Artemis' study, Holly saw the blood first. She smelled the tang of iron in the air, and saw the deep red puddle, staining the hard wood floor. Then she spotted the lifeless body, paler than usual, blank eyes staring upward, still widened in shock. Holly's own eyes, mismatched like the boy's, stared at the gaping slash in his suit, where the knife had doubtlessly made its fatal blow. The fabric around it was covered in still-fresh blood. The room reeked of the life-sustaining fluid, the scent pouring from the dead body.
The elf was still staring at the horrifying sight when a pixie stepped out of the shadows.
"I knew you would come."
Holly spun around quicker than even Butler could. Standing there was the hated murderer herself, Opal Koboi. She was still holding the accursed knife in her right hand, Artemis' blood dripping from it, forming a small puddle on the floor.
A fight had soon commenced. After much dodging, Holly was where we first found her, lurching towards Koboi with hate glistening in her eyes.
"You killed Julius. Now you killed Artemis. YOU. WILL. PAY!"
Suddenly, Holly wretched the knife out of Opal's hand. Making a fatal swipe at the pixie, the elf watching with cold satisfaction as Koboi crumpled onto the floor, dead.
Blood gushed from the fallen pixie's wound. It mingled with the boy's blood, forming a large puddle of the deep crimson fluid.
Holly stared at the blood for a few moments, when something snapped in her brain. Gazing at the oh-so-hated pixie, she could feel her sanity bury itself in an unreachable corner of her mind, letting it be overcome with madness. Her body moved of its own accord, ignoring the smallest bit of sanity left in her being.
Which is why she fell to the floor, lapping up the liquid. She savored the metallic flavor in her mouth, not realizing what exactly she was doing, not sensing the derangement in her actions
The elf was still like this when the LEP found her. They had been searching for her since she left Haven, and they were honestly horrified to see her in that state. Her mouth and hands were covered in blood, and her eyes wild, unseeing of the world around her.
Put simply, Holly had gone mad.
She was taken to an insane asylum, where she lived out her days until she died. But she was never the same again.
The true Holly Short had died with Artemis Fowl on that fateful night.