A\N: WARNING- character deaths, suicide, and insane!Holly. I'm trying a new writing style. Please R&R! ^_^ (and why does FF net keep deleting the little line thingies unless I use letters? :-/)
And introducing my friend Faye! She's another writer here, but I don't know if she's written anything...I just know her in person. Why didn't she tell me she had an account before?
Faye: ...
Bunnie: Well, warning you again: character deaths, suicide, and an insane!Holly. Thank you, that is all. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
(And whenever I put *a*A*A*A*A* minus the a's, they keep disappearing! O.o)
Descent
By...Bunnie?*shivers*
I enter the room. She is there, in tattered clothes and ripped shoes. I didn't notice it. I didn't see the signs. I almost sigh with relief, until I hear her speak.
She looks at me first, and grins. "Hi, Trubs." Two words that make my head spin. Why? But I am the Commander. I must presevere.
"How are you, Major Short?"
No reply. When I glance at her, she is still wearing that creepy, sadistic little grin. "I was better, until you 'saved' me."
I ignore the last part, unaware that in the future, I would be regretting it. "I have a few questions for you, H-Short. For starters, where is Fowl?"
Her grin shrinks a little.
"He is no longer my concern. But, if you must know...are you sure you want to?"
I want to turn and run. I didn't.
In the future, I would think: It was probably my worst mistake.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Holly runs towards Artemis's screams, terrified.
"Artemis?" She calls out tentatively.
Immediately, she finds him. Just not in the expected way.
The ground beneath her feet disappears, plunging her into the darkness. Octo-bonds shoot out and trap her. What she sees next terrifies her.
Opal turns and raises her eyebrow. "Why, this is unexpected, Ms. Short." She kicks Artemis again.
Artemis stares at her. "I told you not to follow."
Holly glares at him. "What, and you think I'd follow?"
Opal grins and takes out a Neutrino - Holly's own.
Holly's eyes widen.
"Well, the gang's all here, so let's start."
Holly struggles, but it's no use. She couldn't get out.
She couldn't help Artemis.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Second day since we found Holly. I enter, trying to look braver that I felt.
"Good morning, Major."
"Good morning." Another grin.
"How do you feel?
"I could be better." She smirks, and adds, "Opal could've done better.
"What makes you say that?" I manage to croak.
"We've all known it, Trouble. We just never wanted to accept it."
She's gone deeper off the edge. A terrifying thought then hits me:
What if she's right?
oooooooooooooooooooo
"Artemis!" Holly screams, tugging against the octo-bonds.
She can't move. Can't help.
Opal turns, madness evident in her eyes. "Perhaps I should kill him now, just for your reaction, Short." She taps her chin and shakes her head. "No, that would be too easy."
She takes out the demon sword- how she got that, Frond knows- and proceeds to use it on Fowl, healing him every time.
Holly screams. "You sadistic-mad little-" she splutters.
Opal rolls her eyes. She's heard them all.
Artemis bites his lip, not willing to let Holly feel any more tortured. He wouldn't let Opal win.
And it continued.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Third day. I'm not sure if I can take any more of this.
I try to smile, but I probably look like I just sucked a lemon. "Are you comfortable in the ce-your new room?"
Holly rolls her eyes. But it's not like before. It's...different. The feel is just not the same.
"Where is Opal? I really miss her."
I am slightly taken aback. What? "Don't you hate her? For kidnapping Fowl? That's why we need your help. You can help us find him."
Holly winks. Not in the you're-next context, but in I'm-going-to-tell-you-a-secret context. Which was creepy, considering the circumstances.
"D'you want to know something, Trubs?"
I shiver. "What?" I lean in. This could be the lead I was looking for.
"Opal didn't kidnap him," she whispered conspirationally. "She freed him. And she freed me from him, too. From all of us." Then she giggled, like a gossiping schoolgirl.
My eyes widen. I knew I always hated Fowl, but...
Was I imagining this?
oooooooooooooooooooooo
Opal is finally out of magic. She leaves Artemis there, alone. To die.
The octo-bonds free their grip on their prisoner, and she runs to the side of her best friend.
She knows Opal is there, watching, giggling, maybe even laughing, but she can't care. Not right now.
Holly just sits there in shock. She knew Artemis wasn't immortal, but...this had never crossed her mind.
"Artemis...Artemis!" She clenches her fist.. "Don't worry, I'll go after that d'arvit of a pixie."
Can it even be used in that context? Artemis thinks dully. But he knows that something needs to be done, or Holly would get herself killed. He came up with something. Holly would never forgive him, but Artemis had already come to terms with his fate.
He pulls her down, and kisses her. On the lips.
Holly's intents on murder immediately vanish as the moment washes everything away.
He pulls away, and mutters, "I have a plan. Everything is going to be fine."
Holly nods. "But...you..."
Artemis smirks, but inside, he's falling apart. "I won't die, Holly. Don't you know that by now?"
Holly smiles. "Yeah."
It was a lie, Artemis knew. It would be the last he'd ever tell.
But it was for her own good.
In the growing sea of red, the golden sparks fly.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I enter the room for the fourth time. I don't bother with a greeting.
"Is that all, Hol- Ms. Short? Is there anything you would like to add?"
Holly smiles so innocently, it's sick. "Nothing, Trubs. If I add even a half of what she's done for me, it would take days."
I frown. "Like what?"
"Like getting rid of the traitorous Mud Boy." Holly answers.
"What makes you say that?" The psychologist, who I didn't even notice entering, interrupts.
"He's evil. He lied to me, when he could of avoided it. He stopped me, from, from...!"
"What did it lie about?" the psychologist asks.
"To never leave my side."
oooooooooooooooooooooo
Holly tries and tries, but deep inside, she knows it's far too late. She's out of magic.
She shouts into his face, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"You promised! Promised! Well, not really, but...!"
Artemis stirs and moans. "I'll be here, Holls..."
He somehow pulls Holly down and whispers, "Just because..." and taps her left cheek.
Holly's eyes widen. "Artemis, you do have a plan, right?"
Artemis stares at here, but he finally nods.
"Then, what are you doing? Let's go!"
Artemis stares more. "It's imperative to the plan, that..."
Holly almost screams. "That?"
"That...I don't go."
Holly glares, and waits for him to respond, but it doesn't come.
As soon as the truth hits her, she sobs and shakes him and shouts,
"You lied to me! Don't you trust me?"
I didn't, thinks Artemis. There is just a slight blip in the plan.
It won't matter to you, I'm truly sorry, but it's imperative to the plan...
That you hate me, enough to ignore the truth. For now.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Holly is not showing any signs of improvement. I start to worry. What if she never gets over it?
I berate myself silently. She would. She was holly Short, for goodness's sake.
I enter. Holly, the love of my life, speaks.
"Goodbye, Trouble."
It's funny and ironic how two words could make anyone panic. I feel like ice water had been dumped on me. Time seems to slow down to a standstill.
"What do you mean, Holls?"
When she doesn't answer, I become more urgent.
"Holly! What do you mean? What are you saying?"
"I just realized the truth. How much I missed him."
Maybe, if I had Atlantis Complex, and I counted her words, I would realize what she was about to do.
But I didn't.
And it would soon be one of my biggest mistakes.
oooooooooooooooooooooooo
Opal laughs sadistically. Her laughter rings in Holly's ears.
"Stupid elf, did you really believe the Mud Boy would come back to life? Like a zombie? So cliché. Well, guess what, Short, real life isn't like that."
Holly's heart brakes into a million pieces. Wiping Artemis's blood from her lips, she stared at Opal in shock. "Why did I listen, D'Arvit?"
Opal grinned. "Our little Arty is such a genius, isn't he? Quite the talented actor. Well, guess what: he's still a little liar."
Holly bites her lip. Then and there, a fake truth dawns on her. "You've been trying to save me...all this time. I'm sorry, Ms. Koboi..."
Opal's smile vanishes into thin air, just as how Artemis did- no, Holly would not think that. "What?"
Holly was serious. "Thank you...you chose me over the Mud Boy. You still saved me, even after all I've done, me, the little ingrate. Thank you..." Her eyes and voice were so sincere, Opal believed her. And the fact that Opal was scanning her with the portable lie detector she had brought.
Then it hit her. Stockholm syndrome. Well, not exactly, but...still.
Well, that didn't matter.
Maybe the elf would have her uses.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
"Holly! Come back!" I shout, running after her. I should have known. Why didn't I realize this sooner?
My blood turns to ice as I spot the edge of the cliff. Holly is there, in Artemis's old Armani suit, checking the height.
"Holly! This is insane! Stop!" The urgency and desperation in my voice could be recognized by a goblin, and might even make trolls sob.
Holly spins around, her now long hair spinning with the motion.
"Why, Trouble? Give me a reason, why I shouldn't. Frond knows there isn't anything worth living for anymore." She throws her head back, and laughs.
"Because I love you!" The words are out before I knew it. At any normal moment, the voice in my head would be shouting, Are you an idiot? The Trouble Kelp, confessing his love in an overly cliché way? But right now, I just can't care.
And it hit me then. The pain of Holly...being forced to let Fowl go.
Fowl's won again, as usual.
I can barely contain the uncharacteristic tears.
oooooooooooooooooooooo
The LEP blast through Koboi's blast-proof doors with the new weapons Fowl designed for them. Oh, the irony.
A Neutrino shot hits Koboi in between the shoulder blades, knocking her unconscious.
Grub runs up to Holly, truly terrified. "Are you alright? Trubs is really worried about you."
Holly stares into blank space. "How...?"
"Fowl took Koboi's tracker when she was distracted, and changed the wavelength of something...Holly?"
Holly whispers, "No, Opal did it. To free me. Fowl never did anything. The sick bastard."
The notion passes the officer's notice, as at the moment more important things needed to be done.
At that moment.
ooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Holly! Fowl did it for you! You can't throw everything away!"
Fowl Manor raids, goblin rebellions...
"I know. I don't deserve to be here. I've finally been freed from the delusions."
Jon Spiro, cubes, trolls...
"But Holly, what about us?"
Megalomaniacs, demons, time travel...
She glances sadly my way. "Thank you, Trouble, but it won't work that way. You've always known. You know."
Bivouacs...
Know I did. In a blink of an eye, she was gone. Off on a new adventure, waiting at the bottom of the cliff.
"Goodbye, Holly," I mumble, and finally burst into silent tears.
I'd known it from the beginning. I really did.
Who was I to interfere?
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
They lower the basket into the ground.
Are you happy now, Fowl? You won the silent bet.
My turn to place the flower. Right under the very oak, where Artemis and Holly first met, that was her final resting place. The beginning and the last.
Are you happy now, Artemis? You stole Holly's heart.
Fowl's bodyguard was still wearing his usual stoic face. Yet underneath the mask, I knew he was breaking.
Are you happy now, Mud Boy? You got everything.
I turn away as the crowd disperses. Someone whispers in my ear.
"But Trouble, I'm happy now."
I spin around, and there was Holly. Smiling at me.
"Thank you, Trouble. For understanding. For accepting. I'm sorry, but..."
I shake my head, and she seems to brighten up.
She runs over to Artemis, who is standing under the old oak. He places his hands on her shoulder, and mouths, 'thanks'.
Holly can't resist a jab. "Sorry for all the trouble, Trouble."
I can't help but grin.
I then blink. In a flash of an eye, they're gone.
Wind rustle the leaves of the old oak.
Oh well. Maybe in the next life, Kelp.
I approach the tree, take out my Neutrino, and carve something into the tree. I then shimmer out of view, and fly away.
And reach for the stars.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
200 years later
A group of mischievous little elves approach the old oak. They'd heard the story of Artemis Fowl and Holly Short, and had decided to investigate on their own.
"Hey, what's that?" a little brown-haired elf inquired.
The others formed a small circle, and read the inscription on the bark.
In memory of Holly Short and Artemis Fowl
Who overcame the last obstacle
To their internal love
We may not notice, but;
The smallest things
Can be the the bullseye of all.
A/N: Oh, snap, I think I've made myself cry * sniff* This is just not my style! I was trying first person, not...this...but the evil subject known as Math went and turned my fanfic all dark and stuff! This is not my style! I write fluffy stuff! WAAHH! *runs, sobbing*
Faye: Well, she says that please review...and sorry if anyone cried...