Prologue

18 months after TLG.

Fowl mansion

Artemis had a hard time waking up today. He had had a long night on his project and he really couldn't stop his progress as it was at a critical point. The result being that he got, all in all, a measly 5 hours of sleep, pair that up with a fair share of nightmares, and his brain really wasn't ok with it. He felt as if he was down 20 IQ points although this was still fairly high considering he had the highest IQ in all of Europe. Dying can really keep you up at night.

The dream was always the same. It started with the kiss on Holy's forehead and ended with him floating just a few meters above her. Feeling tremendous pain and reliving the fear of dying over and over again. The worst part though was after that. It was when he felt for just a second that he was back inside that dark space. He could see nothing, feel nothing. It was like all his hope, dreams, support and intellect simply left him in a permanent state of emptiness. He tried repeatedly to meditate the trauma out of his system but it would seem that magic had taken root inside him punishing him for coming back to life.

The worst part? He couldn't show his sleeplessness due to trauma to his family as it would make everyone worry over him, which would in turn worry him making it worse for him making his family worry more and here you have a loop. In other words he couldn't rely on anyone if he wanted to leave the mental health of his close ones intact. Well, geniuses don't need support. All they need is their brain and they can cope. He thought half heartedly to himself.

He grudgingly got up and starting going through the motions of the day. After he got out of bed, tended to his personal hygiene, combed his hair and wore his trademark Armani suit he went down to join his family having breakfast on the balcony next to the kitchen.

The picture almost laid his uneasiness to rest as a heartwarming family breakfast was a very nice thing to start your day with. His mother was talking with his father about a trip they were thinking of going to in the Bahamas. She had those puppy eyes that could make both him and his father jump off a cliff to please. Next was Juliet (who had accepted to be his butler after Domovoi retired in some tropical islands pleasantly passing his time reading, sleeping and swimming) who at the moment was making breakfast for him in an apron with two Mexican wrestlers in a double headlock. His kid brothers had probably already eaten and went to their respective hobbies with Beckett going riding and Myles studying in the library.

He sat down at one end of the table admiring the view outside the balcony enjoying the light breeze on his face. He tried at first to jump start his brain with simple mathematical equations but he found himself getting pleasantly distracted by the view so he decided to let the sleepiness run its course. Although his family had given a large portion of the estate for farming, after the technological catastrophe caused by Opal, they had still held on to a wide enough range all around the house. He watched the sun go close to its peak while he enjoyed an earl grey wordlessly offered to him by Juliet. His eyes scanned the whole range watching the farmland and the people cultivating it in a distance while looking closer and closer reaching the beautiful garden in front of him full of colorful flowers. His gaze then, accidentally, fell upon his ex-laboratory now grave. He probably looked concerned because his mother stopped her passionate discussion with her husband and retracted her eyes to Artemis. Artemis noticed that but before he could say anything Angeline spoke

'Don't worry son we will get it out of there soon enough. We just have to make the arrangements for no one to see us doing so because it would raise suspicion.' Said his mother in a caring tone.

As serious as ever he gave a sigh and answered in a calm, flat tone

'Do not worry dear mother I just want my laboratory. If you let me, I could even work sitting on my own grave.' He gave a forced chuckle which gave the shivers to his mother making her mumble for one more time about IQ and EQ being inverse ratios.

On Artemis' case though what he said was a flat out lie in order to cover for his unreasonable fear for the place. As if a ghost was haunting it. Although even from a superstitious point of view that was out of the question as you could not be haunted by your own ghost. Whatever was not reasonable was moronic and thus shall not be inquired further. That was a motto he had developed lately and didn't feel like parting with as it helped him through gaining back his memories. When you recover your memories you may find yourself confusing a memory with a fantasy or a speculation. Thus that motto helped his psychology while sorting through it all.

After an hour or so in that state his brain was finally working properly so he decided to start his final touches on his project from last night. He was about ready to stand up when a word slipped through the imaginary sound barrier he had created to tune out his parents and made him widen his eyes.

Fairies

He considered the voice. It was his fathers. He turned his gaze to him only to see him nonchalantly reciting the newspaper mid-sentence '"…taken hostage by the American government. Eye-witnesses say that it is an actual fairy and that it was caught hovering through the crowd in New York." What a load of rubbish! It is the fifth time that a "fairy"' he said making quotation marks with his fingers. 'Has gone into the government's custody and every time after a week or so they say it magically vanished no picture whatsoever.'

Artemis and his mother knowing that his father was the only one without memories of the fairies traded an awkward stare knowing that A.F. senior was the only one without his memories of the fairies. The head of the Fowl family lazily rose from his chair and looked at his loving son and wife.

'Anyway got to run. I still have some stock market exchange investments to secure. By the way we will go on that trip honey ok, just give me a week to prepare.' Artemis senior said while the other two nodded

After he was out of earshot the two women and Artemis looked each other intently. Artemis was the first to break the silence.

'I have to go upstairs from my project. It is at a critical stage.' He said although Angeline Fowl would not have it.

'Certainly my dear just do not contact your fairy friends alright.' She said in a polite tone and just a grain of stress contrasting way too much with her warning glare.

'N-naturally.' Wait what was that stuttering. Oh no he may be at the edge of hyperventilating because that fairy could easily be one of his friends but he would not stutter in front of anyone. Coherent speech was vital for a healthy profile. He took a deep breath and continued his way upstairs towards his bedroom. He went inside locked the room. He opened the computer and opened the simulation window but his hand was subconsciously going for the Skype window. After about 5 minutes of fighting it he decided to think about it seriously.

So he closed his eyes and split himself in two. Not in real life but in his mind he was outside the door of a library. Someone was pounding on the door. Artemis took a reluctant step forward reached out his hand and opened the door. In the library now there were two people there, both of them were Artemis Fowl. One was dressed quite normally, with a jet black Armani suit and luxurious shoes sitting cross legged on a chair sporting the usual aristocratic indifferent look with its penetrating cold gaze that made many people think he was a vampire.

The other was just a bit more carefree having a serious cheerfulness standing up with one hand behind his back and the other putting a book on its shelf. He wore jeans and a loose white T-shirt. If one saw him he would just see a mature teenager and not a person that seemed to be a 50 year old in the body of a 15 year old. But he looked exhausted with bags under his eyes and red cheeks as if he had a fever. But he was seemingly oblivious to his state

The cheerful one, who from now on we shall call emotion, summoned a chair with a snap of his fingers and sat on it facing the serious one, his eyes never losing that cheerful sparkle. The serious Artemis, who from now on we shall call logic, broke the silence first.

'So what is this about? What is so important that you have to make the simple act of focusing as hard as racing a marathon?' He asked in a very annoyed and belittling fashion.

'Do I really have to say? We are both way too smart to waste our time repeating what we already know… even if one of us is in denial?' He said in faked bored yet playful tone

'Ok I get it you want to get to the main course from the beginning? Deal! Let's start with the fact that we haven't had words from the fairies in 6 months. Meaning that right after we recovered all our memories we were left on our own with no way to contact in case of an emergency. As far as we know they might as well have forgotten us!' He said in a cold offensive tone

'I don't even know where to start with that awful argument. First you don't even believe that yourself cause that is an argument born by insecurity which is an emotion while you' He pointed him loosely with his index finger 'are the voice of logic in this debate. Now you probably thought that this would stir up my own insecurity but there is no trace left of it after all the times we have trusted them with our lives only to be saved again and again. Hell they even brought us back to life after we died.' At that they both shuddered remembering the awful dream. But being Artemis' mind the whole library shook dropping some books. 'So why don't you stop with the psychological warfare you aren't even good at it.'

'Ok then how about the unavoidable repercussions of contacting the people over some miniscule possibility. And it is miniscule. About 1/10,000,000. Our…' but he was stopped by the raised palm of his alter ego

'Firstly you know as well as I do that the chances aren't so thin. All the fairies inside the whole world are 10,000,000. The hostage couldn't be anyone of them. The hostage could only be one of the LEP as they are the only ones who go above ground especially with the media sensitivity to fairy sightings, already increasing the chances to 1/500,000. After that we also know that the fairy was on street level, which means she was spying on the technological progress of the humans, for which there is a special elite unit in the LEP for them. How was it called again?' He summoned a book of his mind library in his hand and after reading a bit he raised his head again from reading and continued. 'Dark intelligence...huh Foaly is as pompous as ever. Anyway since most of the budget of the LEP goes there it only has the best of the best. That, as you know, obviously includes commander short. So concluding that we have a 1/273 chance that holly short has been captured as there are 273 active operatives in the unit. But we don't care only about short now do we. We also care about Vinyaya which doubles the chances; we also care about Mulch who may have stupidly stolen something and some more fairies too. All in all I say we have at least a 2% chance there is a person in distress we care about.' Said white Artemis in a very self admiring smug. Logic sighed

'Ok ok I get your point but you forget the consequences. Our mother has been walking a very thin line since we came back from the dead. It was already bad enough when she thought we were dead for six years during limbo. She is very close to a relapse to the depression she had when father was gone. She has also developed a Mythophobia of some short being afraid to come in contact with anything even remotely close to magic. She has also become very, very overprotective and barely lets us outside the house. Do you really want to put her in that much stress and allow us even less freedom?' Logic asked emotion and emotion sat down with a grim expression.

'Ok I understand. Mother's health is a priority and reckless attempts to help aren't an option. But give thought to one last thing. Can we at least offer intellect to the fairies without our mothers knowledge through some light government hacking?' Emotion asked resigned

Logic pondered over it for a bit. After a bit he gave a exasperated sigh with open arms and said

'Fine you win. But we shall do nothing that affects mother's health. She has been through enough already because of our little exertions.' He said in a patronizing tone.

'I agree!' Emotion said dead serious. Then they both stood up from their chairs and turned into one before walking out the library.